A Black Cat Birthday

 

Usually I struggle with birthday cards for men, but never for my youngest brother who is owned by three cats, one of whom is all black.  Every window in his  house has at least one cat perch in case the window sills are not comfortable enough for his little darlings.  Can you say spoiled?  In case you think I am poking fun at him, I have two who have my husband and I wrapped around their paws.  Okay, on to challenges!  

Seize the Birthday wants to see die cuts and The Paper Players want something clean and simple featuring pets.  This die set from Impression Obsession is the purrfect one for his card.  Each ""window is popped up with foam tape and the sentiment is from a long retired Close to My Heart set, Holiday Tags.  Here is the inside:

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

A Kitty Birthday Card for Daddy

This is a birthday card for my daughters, two legged and four, to give to their Daddy AKA Soft Touch.  Here is the inside:

The cats, fish, and yarn were cut from and old Spellbinders set.  The sentiment on the front is from Simon Says Stamp and the one on the inside from Kat Scrappiness.  I can't believe I made a card with no stamping or ink of any kind!  I started this card for the Cut It Up Birthday Challenge and I guess you can say I took the die cut part to heart.  I also plan to enter this in The Seize the Birthday and Happy Little Stampers Anything with a Die challenge.

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Freshly Made Henna Elements

This Freshly Made Sketch has so many possibilities that I am sure I will be using it long after the challenge closes tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. EDT.  Thank you, Cecile!  When I saw it Wednesday I knew I wanted to play with it using Altenew's Henna Elements stamp set, but finding the time was another matter with my garden competing for my attention.  It's that time of year...

The square with the flower is popped up with foam tape.  What you may not be able to see in the photo is that the stamping is just as intensely black as the border because I stamped it twice.  How did I manage to stamp something twice in exactly the same place?  I used a MISTI which was a Christmas gift from my husband.  It tells you something about how crazy my life has been that I am only just now trying it out.  If you are not familiar with a MISTI, here is a video that shows it in action.   I'm sorry about the ad in the beginning, but it is the most succinct and complete video that wasn't trying to sell it I could find.  Tonic and Tim Holtz have a version set to hit the market soon.  I will say there is a learning curve.  Sometimes the paper will shift when you lift the lid, so you should check the position of the paper each time you stamp, even if you are using magnets to hold it in place.  Secondly, to avoid smudging your paper, it is a good idea to wipe excess ink from the lid after inking our stamp if you are using clear polymer stamps.  Ask me how I know.

Here is the inside:

I used acrylic blocks for the inside stamping because my MISTI is not large enough to accommodate a ten by five inch piece of paper.

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used:
Paper:  Black and White Daisy cardstock from Close to My Heart
Ink:  Black from Close to My Heart
Stamps:  Henna Elements by Altenew, Just to Say... and Say It All by Close to My Heart
Other:  MISTI by Sweet Petunia

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

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 

Christmas Doodles

The ladies over at Heart 2 Heart Challenges want to see some doodles, so with this card as inspiration, I cut some ornaments using Close to My Heart's Art Philosophy and Artistry Cricut cartridges and began playing.  This first card is more like what most people think of when they think of doodling:  lines and repetitive patterns that grow into something.

I used a sponge dauber and black ink along the edges of the ornaments and sentiment border to ground them against the white background.  The sentiment border may look like doodling, but it is actually a piece of paper from the new La Vie En Rose paper pack.

For the second card I revisited my favorite way to doodle when I was in high school.  I always liked creating designs that mess with your eyes. 

The graphic below the stamped sentiment is a sliver of the retired version of Black Paper Fundamentals.  Both cards are embellished with a few black sparkles because y'all know I like sparkles...  Although the black sparkles have been retired, you can always make your own by coloring a clear sparkle with a black ShinHan marker.  

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to my heart unless otherwise noted:

Paper:  Black Paper Fundamentals (retired), La Vie En Rose, White Daisy and Black cardstock

Ink:  Black

Stamps:  Merriest Christmas (retired), A Very Merry Christmas (retired)

Embellishments:  Black Sparkles (retired)

Other:  Art Philosophy and Artistry Cricut Cartridges

Freshly Made in Black and White

When I saw this Freshly Made Sketch, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to use my new Spellbinders die cut, Medallion One.

At first I was planning to use metallic gold paper and a dark color, maybe Close to My Heart's New England Ivy or Outdoor Denim, but as it often happens I began to see things differently as I played.  Sometimes I forget how much fun it is to work in black and white which requires me to focus strictly on the graphic design.  I used a retired stamp set, Universal Backgrounds, to stamp the musical notes on the banner and a Shin Han marker to add antennae to the butterfly.  I do not know remember who made the butterfly die cut nor where I bought it.  Finally I added a bitty Black Sparkle to the center of the medallion and a larger one to form the head of the butterfly.  The sparkles are set to be retired at the end of this month, so stock up while you can.  You know I did!

For the inside of the card I used Your Own Kind of Wonderful, one of my favorite sets from the current catalog, along with a sentiment from the Artfully Sent collection:

Thank you for stopping by!  Now please check out some more designs at Freshly Made Sketches and, if you are a Close to My Heart fan, I encourage you to consider entering Freshly Made Sketch challenges as it seems to be dominated by fans of another company's products.  Let's show folks what Close to My Heart has to offer!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Black and White Daisy card stock
Ink:  Black and a Black Shin Han marker
Stamps:  Just to Say (Artfully Sent collection), Your Own Kind of Wonderful, Holiday Tags, Universal Backgrounds (retired)
Embellishments:  Black Sparkles (soon to be retired)
Die cuts:  Medallion One by Spellbinders. Unknown butterfly  die cut