A crop party is a modern quilting bee. A group of friends gather to have girl friend time, sharing joys and sorrows while preserving memories and creating a special keepsake.

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Vintage Christmas Kitten



I have loved cats all my life so how could I not buy this Christmas Kitten stamp by Stampenous?  I stamped her with Cocoa pigment ink and heat embossed her with clear detail powder.  What I love about clear embossing powder is that not only does it give you the ability to emboss in any color pigment ink you have, but unlike color powders, any stay bits don't show.  I embossed it because my original intent had been to use watercolor pencils, but as I looked at the paper I wanted to use I decided that dry pencils would echo the texture of the print, so I went to work with my Prismacolor pencils.  The one drawback was that the raised embossing makes it difficult to bring the color all the way up to the lines.  Can we just say that this adds to the vintage feel of the card?  In keeping with the vintage theme I sponged all the edges with Cocoa ink.  The sentiment from Close to My Heart's Holly Jolly Christmas is also embossed.  To accommodate the bulk of the twine I used regular foam tape to pop up the kitten and thin foam tape to pop up the white panel.

Here is the inside:



The the sentiment is also from Holly Jolly Christmas and the holly from To You and Yours.  The layout is based on this Freshly Made Sketch:



Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Cream and Green Holly by DCWV, Colonila White, Ruby, and Cocoa cardstock
Ink:  Cocoa pigment and dye inks, Prismacolor pencils
Stamps:  Christmas Kitten by Stampendous, Holly Jolly Chrismas, To You and Yours
Embellishments:  Clear Embossing powder by Ranger, Fern thick twine

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful



I'm still playing with black and white, but this time with a pop of pink and this Atlantic Hearts Sketch:



Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Herat unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Charlotte, La Vie En Rose (both retired), Black and White Daisy cardstock
Stamps:  Your Beautiful Self, Be Your Own Kind of Wonderful (retired)
Ink:  Black, Marvy Uchida Le Pen, Tender Pink ShinHan marker
Embellishments:  Black Sparkle Flourish (retired)

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Fall is Finally Here




The temperatures are in the 70's and the humidity tolerable.  Never mind that the leaves are green and I'm still wearing sandals, fall is finally here!  That means it's the season for black cats and pumpkins (and chocolate).  I made my first Halloween card of the season using Close to My Heart's Artistry Cricut cartridge and this sketch from Atlantic Heart's Sketch Challenges:



One thing to remember about cutting the cats on page 10 is that setting the dial on the same size for all of them will result in cutouts that are nowhere near the same size.  To get cats that were similar in size I cut the sitting cat at 1.75 inches, the playing cat at 1.5, and the walking cat inside at 1.25.  You may have noticed that I did not punch out the hearts.  The pumpkin can be found on page 44 and was cut at 1.25.  The paper is from the long retired Moonlight pack.  Here is the inside:



Now my husband wants me to make ten for him to give to people on his team at work!  Now why not check out some more takes on this sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenges?  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Moonlight (retired), Olive (retired), Goldrush, Saffron, Black and Colonial White cardstock
Ink:  Smokey Plum and Olive (both retired)
Stamps:  Holiday Tags, Eek and Shriek (both retired)
Embellishments:  Black sequins
Other:  Artistry Cricut cartridge

Monday, September 19, 2016

Adult Coloring with Heart






In honor of National Stamping Month, Heart 2 Heart Challenges wants to see something with a stamp from Close to My Heart.  Now I love adult coloring books, so it is no wonder that I love the retired Ornate Blossoms set:



Plus it reminds me of India, a country that has fascinated me since I was barely a teen (We won't say how many years ago).  Normally I would think in terms of using bright, fully saturated colors maybe with some gold embossing, but lately I have been playing with black and white, a combination that can also be bold.  After "coloring" a few with my journaling pen. I used this Freshly Made Sketch to make some cards to show the possibilities with this stamp set.



My first thought had been to use a white background with a black border, but after cutting the stamp out using the corresponding Thin Cut and seeing the white border I got to thinking about a black background:




I attached the stamp with thin foam tape and the sentiment with thick foam tape to give the card some dimension and added a few white enamel gems.  Then, just for grins, I made a card as I originally envisioned it in black and white:


Lastly, because I couldn't resist, I got out my embossing stuff and ShinHan markers and made a version in color:




To emboss the edge of the sentiment I pressed the edge straight down into the Versamark pad and then into the embossing powder.  Using my tweezers kept my fingers from being burned while heating.  I embossed the Peacock strip using a border folder from Cuddlebug.  I do not remember the name.

There you have it:  Three ways to play with Close to My Heart's Ornate Blossoms stamp set.  Thank you for stopping by!  Now why not check out some more inspiring takes on this sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and see some more CTMH stamps at Heart 2 Heart Challenges?   Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, All Close to my Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Saffron, Peacock, Black and White Daisy cardstock, La Vie En Rose (retired), Florence (retired)
Stamp:  Ornate Blossoms (retired), A Friend Like You (retired)
Ink:  Black, Marvy Uchida LePen, Poppy, with Golden Yellow, Peacock Green and Carmine ShinHan markers, a border embossing folder from Cuddlebug
Embellishments:  White Enamel Gems, Gold and Black sequins, Ranger Princess Gold embossing powder

Sunday, September 18, 2016

Thinking of You Card





The Ornate Blossoms (retired) stamp set from Close to My Heart makes me thing of India and screams for being embossed with metallic gold and colored with fully saturated hues; however, I wondered what would happen if I did it in black and white, so I went to work with my LePen journaling pen to make a card following this Atlantic Hearts sketch:




I decided that I liked the sentiment off center and popped it up with thin foam tape to give it some dimension.  I played around with black sequins and then black sparkles but was happier leaving my card unembellished.  Then I decided it needed something, so I went with the sparkles.  This is what it looks like unembellished:




Which do y'all think works better?  Thank you for any design advice and for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Black and White Daisy cardstock
Stamps:  Ornate Blossoms, Sincere Expressions (both retired)
Ink:  Black plus Marvy Uchida LePen 


Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Father Daughter Card



The theme of one of the Heart 2 Heart challenges for August is "Boys Will Be Boys."  Yes, boys will be boys, then they grow to be men, and sometimes they become fathers.  My husband is the best father you could ask for, and I make it a point to let him know this on a regular basis.  This card is an example of thinking beyond the theme of a paper pack.  These papers, which work beautifully for a summer theme come from "Chalk It Up," Close to My Heart's back to school paper pack from last year.  The sentiment was snipped from a zip strip from last year's Seaside pack.  I popped up both the sentiment and the background panel to give the card a little bit more dimension.

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Chalk It Up (retired), Seaside (retired), Chocolate and Colonial White cardstock
Embellishments:  Chalk It Up Assortment (retired)

Monday, August 29, 2016

Bath Time for Baby



A new laptop and issues loading the lateest version of Photoshop means that although I have done quite a bit of crafting this month, none of it has been posted.  Time to catch up!

The first Heart 2 Heart challenge for August is to make something featuring the Florence product line from Close to My Heart.  Florence's bright summery colors beautifully compliment these shots of my daughter giving her "baby" a bath.  Although my preferred orientation is vertical, when I started shooting I found that she was moving out of the frame, so I switched to shooting horizontally.  This meant my photos had extra space at the sides which detracted from the image, but the photos could not be cropped down to 3x4 without decapitating baby, so I had to go with square photos.  By the way, this week's challenge theme is "hip to be square," but that is for another project.  

The Rose Gold foil banner in the lower left was made by putting a strip of tape on Colonial White cardstock and then cutting the banner.  I used 1/8 inch and 1/4  punches to create the centers of the flowers.  The title comes from the retired Nursery Charms stamp set and the flourish was cut using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge (page 59) and then trimmed.

Thank you for stopping by!  Now why don't you head over to the Heart 2 Heart Challenge blog  to see some other ways to use Florence.  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Florence (retiring August 31), Colonial White and Peacock cardstock
Ink:  Peacock, Marvy Uchida LePen journaling pen
Stamp: Nursery Charms (retired)
Embellishments:  Florence Complements (retiring August 31), Florence sequins (retiring August 31), Rose Gold foil tape, Poppy thick twine
Other:  Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge (retired)

Sunday, July 31, 2016

Sightseeing With Heart 2 Heart



Please excuse the quality of this photo.  I had to use my phone, the lighting is poor, and I am trying to enter this into Heart 2 Heart's sightseeing challenge just under the wire.  I will post a better picture in the morning.

My daughter was in the hospital and was given a four hour pass so that we could go on a riverboat cruise with my husband's employer.  Although we live six blocks from the James River, "our part" is full of rapids.  It was interesting to see part of the river below the Fall line.

I used Regatta paper and the Artbooking Cricut cartridge to make this layout.  I hate my handwriting, so I used my computer to print the journaling and then cut out the border from one of the PML cards in the pack and put it over my journaling.

In case you were wondering about the title, in the Navy liberty is when you have permission to leave the ship at a port of call.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:

Paper:  Regatta, Sapphire, Pomegranate, Glacier, and White Daisy cardstock
Ink:  Le Pen
Other:  Artbooking Cricut cartridge

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Throwback Thank You Card




My fabulous scrappin' friend, Susan, found an awesome place to have a crop retreat, so I needed to send her my share of the deposit.  Of course, that meant making her a thank you card.  I was inspired by Heart 2 Heart's challenge to use retired materials.  That would be just about everything on this card including the ink.  Only the Colonial White cardstock and Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge are still available, although the Art Philosophy cartridge is scheduled to be retired this Sunday.  The paper is Florentine  (not to be confused with Florence) which I sponged with Desert Sand.  Oops!  Desert Sand is still available, too.  I have had the material that I used to make the wreath for so long that I cannot remember exactly what it is or where I bought it.  I think it may be heavy duty upholstery thread.  It is much thicker than thread but not as thick as hemp and comes on a large spool.  The bird and flower are Color Ready Wooden Trinkets which I colored with Creme Brulee and Twilight ink.

Here is the inside.  I did not think and wrote the note before I photographed it.




Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Florentine, Olive and Colonial White cardstock
Stamp:  Thank you
Ink:  Olive, Twilight, Creme Brulee
Embellishments:  Color Ready Wooden Trinkets, Tan opaque, Black sparkle, regular thread for the stitching (Walmart), some kind of thread I don't remember what

Friday, July 29, 2016

Magical Birthday Kitty




Normally I struggle with guy cards except when I need to make a card for my brother who is owned by a black cat.  Then it's Close to My Heart's Artistry Cricut cartridge to the rescue.  I thought the Magical paper pack with its mostly primary colors would complement my black cat die cuts purrfectly and guess what one of this month's themes at Heart 2 Heart Challenges just happens to be?  That's right, Magical!  The clean crisp colors in that pack lend themselves to a CAS card which is the challenge for this week at Addicted to Stamps and More.  For the layout I used this Freshly Made Sketch:





Here is the inside of the card:






Thank you for stopping by!  It has been a while since I posted and I've missed y'all.  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Magical (to be retired August 31), Honey, Black and White Daisy cardstock
Stamps:  Holiday Tags (to be retired July 31), Love My Cat (to be retired July 31)
Ink:  Black, LePen marker
Embellishments:  Magical complements (to be retired August 31),  Red Enamel Heart (to be retired July 31)
Other:  Artiste (to be retired July 31) and Artistry Cricut cartridges 

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Heart 2 Heart Party Animal Challenge



The theme of the last Heart 2 Heart challenge for February is "Party Animals," so I made this layout featuring some of the pony pictures from my daughter's aftercare program when she was little.  [And I just realized I have not included the dates on my page.  Oops!]  To understand the title and main picture it helps to know that until she was about eight, her primary means of communication was American Sign Language.  She did not know the sign for "ride" when she had her first pony picture taken, so she used the closest sign she knew which meant she told everyone that she was "driving" the pony. 

It is after midnight, so I am going to post this to meet the deadline for the challenge, get some sleep, and come back later to tell y'all more about this.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Monday, February 29, 2016

My New Lighthouse Stamp





I have a new lighthouse stamp!  Many of y'all know of my fondness for the Cape Henry lighthouse in my hometown, Virginia Beach.  There is, however, another lighthouse that has also occupied my heart for many years.  You see, my family, all of whom (except me) live within spitting distance of both ocean and bay beaches, rents a beach house in the Outer Banks near Cape Hatteras.  Yes, we invade someone else's hometown.  Cape Hatteras is the site of the tallest brick lighthouse in the United States.  In case you are thinking the the designer of this stamp took artistic license drawing the lighthouse so close to the beach, I can assure that this is where the Cape Hatteras lighthouse stood until 1999 as concern grew that the encroaching ocean would wash it away.  In a feat of modern engineering, the lighthouse was moved 2900 feet inland where it will hopefully stand for years to come.

To break in my new stamp I made a quick sympathy card following this Freshly Made Sketch:



The lighthouse stamp, by the way, is no longer manufactured but still available.  Google "Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Stamp."  Caution:  Some sellers are asking a ridiculous amount for it.  I got mine for $7.00 plus shipping.   For the card I used Tommy paper (retired) and distressed the edges with Cocoa.    My only embellishment is a bird from the color ready Trinkets Wooden Shapes which I colored with two layers of Outdoor Denim and heat set each time with my craft heater.  The new micro dots came in handy for attaching him.  

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Tommy (retired), Outdoor Denim (retired) and Colonial White cardstock
Stamp: Look to the Light. 
Ink:  Outdoor Denim (retired), Cocoa 
Embellishment:  Bird from color ready Trinkets Wooden Shapes (retired but still available in the clearance section)

Monday, February 22, 2016

Freshly Made Sunrise




I have needed way too many "thinking of / praying for you" cards lately!  This time I needed one for a man.  Since lighthouses are usually a safe bet for guy cards, I broke out Close to My Heart's Seaside Greetings stamp set and, following this Freshly Made Sketch, began stamping.



I masked off the fence and water portion of the lighthouse stamp before inking it with Cocoa ink because I thought it would blend better into the dune and fence stamp.  After I stamped the images I let them sit for a long time, as in overnight, but an hour would have done it.  I wanted to make sure the ink did not bleed when I sponged over it.  I cannot tell you how I sponged the background because I just kept layering different colors until I liked how it looked.  Once I was done I added the sentiment in black.  The scalloped edge, meant to evoke waves, is pPacock and a bit of Seaside (retired) paper.

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Seaside (retired), Colonial White, Desert Sand and Peacock cardstock
Ink:  Cocoa, Black, Desert Sand, Flaxen, Saffron, Sapphire, Peacock, Whisper, Smoothie, Sorbet, and Galcier
Other:  Scallop punch

Sunday, February 21, 2016

My Favorite Paper Meets Atlantic Hearts Sketch 147



This Atlantic Hearts Sketch is the perfect one for Heart 2 Heart's challenge to use our favorite paper pack because it is what I call a sample sketch.  It allows you to showcase most if not all the papers in a given pack:





Before I began there were two problems I had to solve.  The first was that this mathamatically challenged art major had to figure out what size to cut the pieces.  I finally managed it, and to keep from having to figure it out again and to give y'all a head start should you want to use this sketch in the future, here is a cheat sheet for a 6 1/2 by 5 inch card with a background panel that is 5 7/8 by 4 3/8.



Now for the second problem:  What is my favorite paper pack?  It is probably Majestic Blue of which I have only a few pieces left, and if you have seen the Seinfeld episode about being "spongeworthy" you will understand my reluctance to use it for anyone other than the most special people in my life.  So what do I do?  I could use my favorite "pretty" paper (For Always), my favorite Christmas paper (Frosted), My favorite guy paper, (Timberline), or my favorite currently available paper (Charlotte).  As you can see I opted for Charlotte.  I edged each of the "sampler" pieces with a bit of black ink before attaching them to the background.

For embellishments I started with the Springtime Wishes stamp set which I stamped with Momento ink, colored with watercolor pencils, and cut out with the new coordinating Thin Cut.  I added a piece of a Small Black Flourish (retired but available on clearance), a heart from the Charlotte assortment and a black sparkle.  The final embellishment is a chipboard piece from the Charlotte assortment and a black sparkle.  The sentiment is from  the Sincere Expressions stamp set.

So there is my favorite current paper sampler.  Now please head over to Heart 2 Heart and Atlantic Hearts for some inspiration.  The Atlantic Hearts challenge is closed, but you have until the end of the month to enter the Heart 2 Heart favorite paperpack challenge.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Charlotte, White Daisy and Champagne cardstock
Ink:  Black and Black Momento ink
Stamp:  Springtime Wishes, Sincere Expressions
Embellishments:  Charlotte assortment, Small Black Flourish (retired, but available on Clearance), Black sparkles
Other:  Watercolor pencils, Springtime Wishes Thin Cut

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

A Valentine for My Husband




Because my DH occasionally reads my blog, I have had to wait to post this Valentine which I am entering in Heart 2 Heart's "Two" challenge.  After all, Valentine's Day is the day to celebrate love between two people.  I was inspired by this card by Jennifer Dykstra and used this tutorial to learn how to make a gatefold card with a window.  I have been doing a lot of playing with Black, White, and Red lately, so I thought I would add some Champagne to soften the effect, except that the paper that appears to be Champagne cardstock is actually a shimmer paper that I found at Michael's.  I cut the hearts with a Spellbinders Nestabilities set and then followed the directions to emboss the shape to get the outline on the smaller heart.  The triangle accenting the sentiment is the bottom half of a heart cutout with a few sparkles thrown in (because y'all know I love sparkles).  I cut the flowers using Close to My Heart's Artiste Cricut cartridge and used Black Epoxy Bubbles and Tan Opaques in the centers.  I placed the flourish so that both hearts were required to complete it to symbolize how my husband and I, two very different people, compliment and complete each other and that together we have made our marriage work for 38 years so far.  (I was a child bride...)  You may remember that this particular flourish in the retired Pearl Opaque Flourish set was composed of all small pearls.  I felt it was getting lost, so I spliced in some larger opaques from the large flourish that came with the set.  The smaller heart, sentiment and triangle are popped up with foam tape.

Here is what you see when you open the "gate:"




I had to splice in a piece of a flourish leftover from another project on the smaller heart.  I cannot believe that I managed to line everything up inside and out!  Both sentiments are from January's Stamp of the Month, Beloved Bouquet.  The cutouts have left me with extra heart halves which I am using to make a second card.  See, there is that number two again...

Thank you for stopping by!  Now please check out some other interpretations of the word "Two" at Heart 2 Heart Challenges and maybe even enter a project of your own.  You have until the end of the month to complete any of the February challenges.  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  La Vie En Rose, Ruby, Black, and White Daisy cardstock, shimmer cardstock by Recollections
Ink:  Black
Stamp:  Beloved Bouquet (retired)
Embellishments:  Pearl Opaque Flourishes (retired), Tan Opaques (retired), Black Epoxy Bubbles (retired), Black ribbon from I don't remember where, Black sparkles (retired)
Other:  Artiste Cricut cartridge, Heart Nestablities by Spellbinders

Monday, February 15, 2016

Heart 2 Heart and Color My Heart Joint Challenge



The ladies over at Heart 2 Heart and Color My Heart Color Dare Challenges are sponsoring a joint challenge with the theme of "Share the Love" in the colors Black, White Daisy and any or all of the reds: Cranberry, Pomegranate, or Ruby.  This was my cue to break out my new Artistry Cricut cartridge and make a Valentine for my daughter following this sketch from Try Stamping - or Not - on Tuesday:




All the shapes can be found on page 10.  After cutting the large heart, I covered it (and the paw cut out) with strips cut from Snowhaven, La Vie En Rose, Charlotte, the retired version of Cranberry Fundamentals paper, and Cranberry cardstock.  I edged some of the strips with black ink to create the super thin black lines.  Here is the inside:




Can you tell we like cats in our house?  Thank you for stopping by!  Now why don't you head over to Heart 2 Heart, Color My Heart Color Dare, and Try Stamping - or Not - on Tuesday Challenges for some inspiration and maybe even enter yourself?  We would love to see your work!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to my Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Snowhave (retired), Charlotte, La Vie En Rose, Paper Fundamentals (retired), Black, White Daisy, and Cranberry cardstock
Ink:  Black
Stamp:  Holiday Tags (not in the current catalog but still available)
Embellishments:  red enamel hearts
Other:  Artistry Cricut cartridge

Monday, February 8, 2016

Words of Comfort



This just under the wire card is based on the Freshly Made Sketch by Narelle:



My daughter is due home any minute, so I will have to tell you about this later.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Balloons for Atlantic Hearts Sketch 145




This is the first time I have played with Close to My Heart's Kaleidoscope Paper.  I love the crisp. clear colors!  I based it on this Atlantic Hearts Sketch:




I cut the balloons using the Artiste Cricut cartridge (Happy Birthday key) and sponged the edges with ink to give them some dimension.  Then I cut slivers of white cardstock, coated them with liquid glass, and placed the balloons over top so that the liquid glass pushed through the hole to emphasize the highlights.  The front row of balloons and sentiment are popped up with foam tape.  Here is the inside:



Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Kaleidoscope, Pacifica, Gypsy, Pixie, Canary, Sunset, Pear and White Daisy cardstock
Ink:  Black, Pacifica, Gypsy, Pixie, Canary, Pear, and Sunset plus black journaling pen
Stamp:  Card Chatter - Birthday (retired)
Other:  Artiste Cricut cartridge

Monday, February 1, 2016

Heart 2 Heart One



If you have been following my blog for a while or have seen this post from 2013 that is still getting hits (!), you may remember that I love the lighthouse stamp from the retired Perfect Day set because it reminds me of the Old Cape Henry Lighthouse in Virginia Beach where I grew up.  What I have not mentioned is that on the beach is the First Landing Memorial Cross to commemorate where the Jamestown settlers first landed in the New World and set up a wooden cross to thank God for their safe arrival and to claim the land for England.  Nearby on the bay is First Landing State Park where I grew up camping with the Girl Scouts (when it was called Seashore State Park) and where we spent Christmas night in a cabin with my sister and her husband.  This travelogue is a round about way of introducing Heart 2 Heart's first challenge of the new year, "One."  This can be interpreted any number of ways, so I decided to scrap the pictures I took the next morning at the beach.

First of all I have to tell you that I totally cased the sand dune border from Amie Kiger.  Please head over to her blog and check out the card she made for her daughter.  For this page I used paper from three retired packs, Seaside, Footloose, and Timberline.  I lightly sponged most of the edges, not so much to distress them, but to define them.  The lighthouse, flying birds and bird on the fence are from the Perfect Day stamp set, the sand dune fence is from Seaside Greetings, and the shell and sentiment from Treasured Friendship.  I used the Artiste Cricut cartridge to cut the letters.  I plan to do my journaling on the computer, so I have used temporary adhesive to attach a piece of Colonial White so that you can see where it goes, along with the date.

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Seaside, Footloose, Timberline, all retired, Colonial White cardstock
Ink:  Cocoa, Slate
Stamps:  Perfect Day (retired), Treasured Friendship, Seaside Greetings
Other:  Artiste Cricut cartridge

Friday, January 29, 2016

Happy Birthday Page with Heart





For at least twenty years the only place my daughter has wanted to celebrate her birthday has been at Kabutos, a Japanese style restaurant where they cook at the table.  Until she was diagnosed with Celiac we would purchase the birthday package where they delivered, with great flourish, a decorated piece of cheesecake, sang happy birthday, and took a picture.  Now we have cake at home and ask them to take a picture with our camera, or in this case because I forgot it, my phone.  One of my New Year's resolutions is to make at least one scrapbook page a month, so using this layout by Kim Broedelet that I found on Pinterest, I made one featuring this year's Kabutos picture.  

Now one of the Heart 2 Heart challenges for January is "By the Number" which should be no big deal since we all date our scrapbook pages.  Right?  In the spirit of the challenge I decided that rather than bury the date at the end of my journaling, I would make the date and her age a little more prominent.

First of all I have to say that I absolutely love Close to My Heart's new Charlotte paper, so you may be seeing a lot of it from me.  I cut the picture mat (page 66) and numbers using the Artbooking Cricut cartridge and the ticket (page 25) and banner (page 49) with the Art Philosophy cartridge.  The Artbooking cartridge is designed to cut everything on a given key in proportion to fit a specified page size, so I had to make some adjustments.  In this case, the picture mat I wanted to use is sized for a 4x6 photo on a full 12x12 page when you set the dial at 11 inches.  Because I cropped the picture to 3x4.5 (three quarters of the original size), I multiplied the specified dial size by .75 to determine what dial size (8.66) to use.  Does this make sense?  The numbers were cut using real dial size which overrides the "cut in proportion to the page" feature and cuts at the dial size you select.  Much easier, no math!

You may wonder why I did the corners like I did.  You see, my handwriting is so bad that people often tell me they can't read it which makes me so nervous as I write that I make mistakes which makes the situation even worse.  For this reason I prefer to do my journaling on a computer.  I wanted to have the journaling go around the perimeter of the page, so I needed a way to hide the seams created by the strips of paper.  I think the black of the journaling around the edges adds an extra pop to complement the B&T paper.  Here is a "before" picture for comparison.



By the way, sharp eyes may notice that two of the squares are from Nervermore, a Halloween themed paper which has way more possibilities than just that one holiday.  I used the Charlotte accompaniments to embellish the page along with some black bitty sparkles in the centers of the flowers.

My scrapbooking resolution has been met for January, although I am working on a layout for Heart 2 Heart's "One" challenge that I hope to post this weekend.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Charlotte, Nevermore (retired), Whisper, Black, and White Daisy cardstock
Ink:  Champagne and Black plus a Black ShinHan marker
Stamps:  You Mean the World to Me (retired), Cherish the Day (retired)
Embellishments:  Charlotte Accompaniments, Bitty sparkles, Whisper thick twine
Other:  Art Booking and Art Philosophy Cricut cartridges

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Frozen Heart 2 Heart Challenge




The theme of one of Heart 2 Heart's January challenges is Frozen which pretty much describes what has been on the ground around here since Friday.  The good news is that the temperature has been above freezing since Monday.  The bad news is that it takes a while to melt 15 inches of snow.  To put it in perspective, four inches brings Richmond, Virginia to a stand still, but it could be worse.  Northern Virginia got 30 inches!  In honor of all the snow I made this Christmas card featuring this adorable ice skating penguin.  Am I the only one who thinks he looks like he is pooping snowflakes?  I stamped him with black pigment ink and embossed him with clear detail powder before coloring him with a ShinHan alcohol marker.  To give him some sparkle, I added a few drops of red Stickles.  I cut strips of paper from Close to My Heart's retired Snowhaven paper to create the bottom half of the card and popped up the panel with thin foam tape so the baker's twine could pass under it without leaving a bump.

Thank you for stopping by!  Now why don't you check out some more creations over at Heart 2 Heart Challenges?  You have until the 31st to enter any of the January challenges.  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Snowhaven (retired), White Daisy and Black cardstock
Ink:  Black pigment ink, Carmine ShinHan marker
Stamps:  Warm Wishes (retired), A Very Merry Christmas (retired)
Embellishments:  Red Stickles, red baker's twine, Clear detail embossing powder

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Birthday Card for My Daughter



Yes, this is a birthday card for a girl.  My daughter has never met a sport she doesn't like, but baseball is her first love. This make her the perfect child for my husband, the sports addict.  Every year Santa Claus brings her season tickets to the Richmond Flying Squirrels, the double A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants,so the two of them spend the summer at the Diamond enjoying father daughter bonding time.  It makes perfect sense that I would made her a Squirrels themed card.  I started by printing their logo on photo paper and cutting it out.  The baseball was made with a circle punch on which I hand drew the stitching.  I made the stripes by cutting strips of Snowhaven Paper, a winter themed paper.  Never let yourself be limited by what a product is designed for!  The layout is based on this sketch from Sunday Stamps:




Thank you for stopping by!  Now why don't you head over to Sunday Stamps to see what others have done with this sketch and maybe enter your self?  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Snowhaven (retired), Cranberry, Whisper, and White Daisy cardstock, glossy photo paper
Ink:  Cranberry, Carmine ShinHan marker
Stamp:  Say It in Style (retired)

Sunday, January 10, 2016

A Milestone Birthday




I made this birthday card for my husband using this Atlantic Hearts sketch:




It doesn't show well in the photo that the bubbles are gold metallic paper and the "foil" on the bottle gold embossing powder.  Here is the inside:



I will have to come back later to tell you more about this card as Downton Abbey awaits.  Until then, Hansi