A Card Inspired by a Goody Bag

This has been a rough year for my family and I had to let a lot of Christmas traditions go for now, but I made sure to hold on to the ones that connect us, including the little Christmas bag of treats that I make for neighbors.  As I was putting the bags together I found myself thinking the design would make a nice card. 

When I saw that this week the Color My Heart Color Dare is to use Glacier, White Daisy, and Kraft with the addition of black if desired it was a clear signal to adapt the design to a card using this Atlantic Hearts Sketch:

In a bit of serendipity, The Curtain Call challenge is to make a project inspired by this "Winter Wonder" themed picture:

In addition the Frosted Designs challenge theme is "White as a Snowflake."  Wow!  I could meet four challenges with one card.

Now all I had to do was make the card. First I cut and embossed the snowflake using a Spellbinders Shapeabilities die cut set, Create-a-Flake Five, with my Cuddlebug.  The sandwich to cut is A plate, C plate, die cut with cutting ridges up, cardstock, B plate.  To emboss, leave the cut shape in the die cut and make a sandwich with A plate, die cut with cutting ridges up, tan embossing mat, two pieces of cardstock, two B plates.  Next I used a Spellbinders Netabilities set to cut the hexagon and sponged around the edges with White Daisy pigment ink.  I stamped the background with the White Daisy ink and a stamp from Winter Wonderland (retired) and embellished it with sparkles that I had colored using a Cerulean Blue Light ShinHan marker.  The hexagon is popped up with foam tape.

So there you have it:  one card, four challenges, and a head start on next year's Christmas cards.  Thank you for stopping by!  Now why don't you go check out some of the other enteries in these challenges to be inspired or maybe even enter one yourself.  I would love to see your work!  Until next time, Hansi

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

Paper:  White Daisy, Glacier and Kraft cardstock

Ink:  White Daisy pigment ink, Cerulean Blue Light ShinHan marker

Stamps:  Winter Wonderland (retired)

Embellishments:  Bitty Sparkles, Hemp from Michael's

Other:  Create-a-Flake Five Shapeabilities and Nestabilities Hexagon die cuts by Spellbinders

Color My Heart in Sunset, Olive and Blue Denim

Here is a scrap your stash card featuring this week's Color My Heart Color Dare colors of Sunset, Olive, and Blue Denim.  I started with this sketch from Mojo Monday:

This sketch screams for a use scraps kind of card, so I chose Close to My Heart's Lucky, an oldie that goes back to the days when B&T papers were not printed on cardstock and just happens to feature the challenge colors.  I sponged the edges with Desert Sand and was very careful when attaching the strips because thin paper does not lend itself to repositioning.  I used sponge daubers to color and outline two Milepost Shapes (retired) and backed the star with another star cut from cardstock before attaching it with foam tape.  To complement it I added stars from the Scaredy Cat Assortment.  The sentiment is from one of the sets that comes with the Artbooking Cricut cartridge.  I used Post-it  Notes to mask off sections of the stamp before inking and stamped it twice, first with Cocoa and then Olive.  The clear acrylic of CTMH's stamps makes it easy to stamp twice and keep the parts of the image aligned.

Thank you for stopping by!  Now why don't you check out the other creations at Color My Heart and Mojo Monday and perhaps even enter one or both of these challenges yourself?  I would love to see your work!  Until next time, Hansi

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

Paper:  Lucky (retired), Victory, Bamboo, Sunset, and Colonial White cardstock

Inks:  Desert Sand, Olive, Blue Denim, Cocoa

Stamps:  Artbooking Cricut Bundle 

Embellishments:  Scaredy Cat Assortment, Milepost Shapes (retired)

Color My Heart in Shades of Blue, Yellow, and Orange

The Color My Heart Dare this week is to use Crystal Blue, Pacifica, Honey, and Goldrush which just happen to be the colors in Close to My Heart's retired Dreamin' paper pack.  This was not a particularly original idea on my part as three out of seven design team members have used this pack.  I scraplifted this from the talented Cassandra Bennett whose card you can see here.  Have you ever had a paper pack that you love so much that you have a hard time deciding which of the papers you want to use because you love them all?  Then this is the card for you!  It is also a great way to use up scraps.

The easy part was cutting .5 inch by 3.75 inch strips and sponging the edges with Saddle ink.  The fun part was weaving them together while keeping the strips parallel and evenly spaced.  It helped to work on my Versamat, but a piece of graph paper would work just as well.  Once I had everything how I wanted it, I carefully lifted the ends of the strips that were on top and  and used a dab of Bonding Memories glue to stick them to the strips below.  This helped stabilize  the piece while I applied adhesive to the back and transferred  it to the card base.  After the fact I realized that I could have used little bits of Washi tape on the front to hold everything in place, applied adhesive to the back, attached the piece to the card base and then removed the Washi tape.  

Although I used this design for a get well card, it would work well for birthday cards, etc. and be suitable for a guy.  I don't know about y'all, but I am always looking for ideas for masculine cards.

Thank you for stopping by!  Now please check out more of Cassandra's work at her blog, Cassandra's Scrappin' Bliss, and then head on over to Color My Heart and see some other creations using Crystal Blue, Pacifica, Honey, and Goldrush.  Better yet, take the dare yourself.  We would love to see your work!  As always, if you do not have a specific color, feel free to use the closest one you have and include any neutrals you like.  Until next time, Hansi

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

Paper:  Dreamin' (retired), Colonial White cardstock

Ink:  Saddle, Pacifica

Stamp:  Big Hug

Embellishments:  Brown Opaques (retired), Antiqued Copper Mini-Medley (retired)

Color My Heart in Sunset, Honey, and Red Barn

This week the Color My Heart Color Dare is to use Sunset, Honey, and Red Barn, a nice fall combination which also happens to be featured in a long retired Halloween paper, Mischief.  After I cut two pumpkins using Close to My Heart's Artbooking Cricut cartridge, I used the same technique as I did with this card to get a three dimensional effect.  I should say after I cut my second set of pumpkins because the first time I forgot to set my Cricut on real dial size and cut little half inch pumpkins. It is important to remember that when using the Artbooking cartridge the elements are cut in proportion to each other to create a page.  If you want an element to be a different size you have to set it to real dial.  The Cricut thought I was making an inch and a half sized scrapbook page and cut my pumpkins accordingly.  Here is the inside of the card:

For the layout I used this Freshly Made Sketch:

Now why don't you head on over to Color My Heart and Freshly Made Sketches to be inspired by other creations and maybe enter one (or both) of the challenges?  We would love to see your work!  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

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

Paper:  Mischief (retired), Red Barn, Bamboo, Sunset, and Colonial White cardstock

Ink:  Black, Red Barn, Sunset

Stamps:  Eek and Shriek, Wicked (retired)

Embellishments:  Black Mini-Medley Accents

Other:  Artbooking Cricut cartridge

A Big Hug in Lagoon, Sorbet, and Flaxen

I'll bet that y'all thought I had given up card making (or at least blogging about it).  It sure felt like that to me!  Life and family issues have been complicated.  This week, however, I did get a chance to make a card for the Color My Heart Color Dare to use Lagoon, Sorbet, and Flaxen.  You may notice that I substituted Bamboo because I do not have Flaxen paper yet.  To help me keep the strips of paper parallel I used washi tape to secure my card at an angle on my Versamat and then just used the grid marks to guide me

The flowers are retired Color-Ready Wooden Garden Shapes.  I used opaque pigment ink to color them because with dye inks the color of the wood shows though and affects the color of the finished product.  The lagoon flower looked almost green when I used dye ink.  Plus, the pigment ink provides a richer color.  

Now why don't you head on over Color My Heart to see some other projects using these colors, or better yet, take the dare yourself?  Remember, you can use any brand of products and if you don't have a particular color, just use the closest one you have.  We would love to see your work!  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time (which hopefully will not be another two months), Hansi

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

Paper:  Lagoon, Sorbet, Bamboo, Chocolate, and Colonial White cardstock

Ink:  Chocolate, plus Lagoon and Sorbet pigment inks

Stamps:  Big Hug

Embellishments:  Color Ready Wooden Garden Shapes (retired), Brown Opaque (retired)

Color My Heart in Pacifica, Crystal Blue, and Red Barn

This week's Color My Heart Color Dare is to use Pacifica, Crystal Blue, and Red Barn to create a project which dovetails nicely with Heart 2 Heart's "Rhapsody in Blue" challenge.  I started by using pigment inks and clear detail powder to stamp and emboss the girl and sentiment from Close to My Heart's "Dreamer" stamp set.  Then I sponged over the girl with Pacifica dye ink.  To add texture to the background panel, I used Crystal Blue pigment ink to stamp the butterfly from the set diagonally across a piece of Crystal Blue cardstock.  The sequins came with the Ivy Lane Workshop on the Go Cardmaking Kit.  I had to add a few Blue Sparkles...  If it weren't for the embellishments I would say that this is almost CAS.

After being away from my craftroom and the bloggersphere for a while, it feels good to be back.  Thank you for stopping by!  Now why don't you head on over to Heart 2 Heart and Color My Heart to see some more creations?  Better yet, why not take the Color Dare yourself?  If you don't have the exact colors, just use the the closest ones you have.  We would love to see what your creation!  Until next time, Hansi

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

Paper:  Crystal Blue, Red Barn and Colonial White cardstock

Ink:  Pacifica, with Pacifica, Crystal Blue and Red Barn pigment inks

Stamp:  Dreamer

Embellishments:  Sequins, Blue Crystals (retired)

Other:  Clear Detail embossing powder

Color My Heart In Sorbet, Creme Brulee and Crystal Blue

I am sorry that I have been MIA this month.  Family issues have kept me away from my craftroom, so it has been a joy to finally create something again.  It is time for a new Color My Heart Color Dare.  This week the dare is to use Sorbet, Creme Brulee, and Crystal Blue with the option of using Juniper and Sky as well.  In other words, if you want to make it easy on yourself, Close to My Heart's paper pack, Balloon Ride. That's what I did.  I started with this Freshly Made Sketch:

I fussy cut one of the balloons along with the clouds from a background and texture paper and inked the edges with Saddle to help it stand out.  Although Saddle is the brown that "goes with" this paper pack, I chose to use the softer Champagne and Cashmere cardstock to compliment the pastels in the balloon.  I used a Sorbet alcohol marker to color a white brad to make the center of the flower and hold the hanger in place.  Just a heads up:  Close to My heart is retiring alcohol markers, so they are available only while supplies last.

Now why don't you take the Color My Heart Color Dare?  As always, if you do not have these exact colors, use the closest ones you have.  We would love to see your work!  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Balloon Ride, Cashmere, Champagne, and Colonial White Cardstock
Ink:  Saddle plus Sorbet alcohol market
Stamp:  Joyful Birthday (inside)
Embellishments:  Colonial White grosgrain ribbon, Spring Blossom Mini Medley, Just Blooms Paper Shapes (all retired)

Color My Heart in Sweet Leaf and Crystal Blue

This week at Color My Heart we dare you to use Sweet Leaf and Crystal Blue, a nice spring combination.  And you know that with spring come high school and college graduations.  Here is the first of three graduation cards that I need to make over the next ten days.  I have never been sure if this stamp in the retired Circle of Love stamp set is a flourish or a flowering plant.  I chose to take the plant route by stamping and embossing it with Sweet Leaf pigment ink and clear detail powder and coloring the open areas with  Crystal Blue and Sweet Leaf alcohol markers.  I embellished it with Blue Sparkles and anchored the sentiment with a Pewter Badge Button.  That's one graduation card down and two more to go.

Thank you for stopping by!  Now why don't you head on over to Color My Heart Color Dare to get some inspiration and perhaps enter your own creation?  We would love to see your work.  As always, if you do not have these exact colors use the closest ones you've got.  Until next time, Hansi

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

Paper:  White Daisy, Slate, and Sweet Leaf cardstock

Ink:  Sweet Leaf and Crystal Blue pigment ink, Sweet leaf and Crystal Blue alcohol markers

Stamps:  Circle of Love (retired), Limited Edition (retired)

Embellishments:  Blue Sparkles, Pewter Badge Button, clear detail powder

Color My Heart in Honey, Outdoor Denim, Pacifica, and Indian Corn Blue

It is time for another Color My Heart Color Dare.  This week the dare is to create something using Honey, Outdoor Denim, Pacifica, and Indian Corn Blue along with any neutrals you choose.  It just so happens that these are the colors in a retired Close to My Heart paper pack, Pemberly.  Lately I have been playing with what some folks call, "use your scraps cards" but I call "sampler cards" which often have a clean, graphic design suitable to send to a guy.   I was inspired by this card on Pinterest.

Thank you for stopping by!  Now why don't you head over to Color My Heart to get some more inspiration and then take the dare youself?  If you don't have these exact colors, use the closest ones you've got.  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Pemberly (retired), Outdoor Denim, Pacifica, Indian Corn Blue, and Colonial White
Ink:  Desert Sand
Stamp:  Thank You (retired)
Embellishments:  Durables Triangle Studs

Color My Heart in Goldrush, Ponderosa Pine and New England Ivy

This week's Color My Heart Color Dare is to use Goldrush, Ponderosa Pine and New England Ivy, and I have to admit that I totally cased this card from Fiona Whitten.  I do not have any Ponderosa Pine paper, so I made some by stamping Colonial White cardstock with Geometric Backgrounds in Ponderosa Pine followed by Universal Backgrounds in Cashmere and sponging on a little chocolate.  I used a scalloped square punch from Friskars and sponged the edges with Chocolate.

Thank you for stopping by!  Now please head on over to Color My Heart to see how others have used Goldrush, Ponderosa Pine and New England Ivy or, better yet, make something yourself and enter the challenge.   Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Florentine (retired), Flirty (retired), Colonial White and Kraft cardstock
Ink:  Ponderosa Pine, Cashmere, Chocolate
Stamps:  Geometric Backgrounds, Holiday Tags, Universal Backgrounds (retired)
Embellishments:  Durables Triangle Studs
Other:  Punch by Friskers

Color My Heart With Sky, Sweet Leaf, and Topiary

I am so in need of spring!  Aren't we all?  This week the Color My Heart Color Dare is to use Sky, Sweet Leaf, and Topiary, a nice "springy" combination.  As I have mentioned before, I do not have any Topiary ink or cardstock.  It is the only Close to My Heart color that I do not have.  Topiary is a green that is between New England Ivy and Garden Green (retired).  After experimenting with both I decided that when sponged over Sky paper, Garden Green looks the closest to Topiary.  I used CTMH's Artiste Cricut cartridge to cut the flower in three sizes (page 73, shift + accent 1 at 3.0, 2.34, 2.5 inches).  After sponging the edges with Garden Green to give them some definition, I shaped them by wrapping the petals around the handle of my quilling tool and giving the ends an extra pinch with my fingers.  Then I stacked them with foam tape between the layers.  I cut the center out of White Daisy (page 54, accent 3, 1 inch), sponged the edges with Champagne, and added a Green Epoxy Bubble in the shade closest to Sweet Leaf.  To finish the flower, I cut leaves from Garden Green (page 54, accent 4, at .75 and 1 inch), sponged with them Sweet Leaf, and curled them with my fingers.  Here is a close up:

To make the panels I used the Tiffany Embossing folder from Cuddlebug to emboss two 4 x 5.25 inch pieces of White Daisy cardstock and then cut them.  I like that embossing folder so much that I used it on the inside as well:

Thank you for stopping by!  Now why don't you take the Color My Heart Color Dare to use Sky, Sweet Leaf and Topiary along with any neutrals to create something to share?  If you don't have those exact colors, use the closest ones you have.  I did. We would love to see your design!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Sky, Garden Green (retired), Champagne, White Daisy cardstock
Ink:  Garden Green, Sweet Leaf, Champagne
Embellishment:  Green Epoxy Bubble
Other:  Tiffany embossing folder by Cuddlebug



Color My Heart With Skylark

This week's Color Dare showcases Close to My Heart's new Skylark paper which features Juniper, Lagoon, Sweet Leaf, and Skylark Yellow.  If you do not this paper pack you can still play by using the closest colors you have plus any neutrals.  I will have to admit that I totally cased  this card by Elisha Smith.  I think of Skylark as a feminine paper, but as you can see, it can be masculine.  Here is the inside:

Thank you for stopping by!  Now please go check out some other creations using Skylark at the Color My Heart Color Dare, or better yet, create something of your own and enter it.  You have until 9:00 p.m. central time to enter.  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Skylark, Lagoon, Kraft and White Daisy cardstock
Ink:  Cocoa
Stamp:  Holiday Tags
Embellishments:  Durables Triangle Studs

Color My Heart in Goldrush and Topiary

It is time for a new Color Dare!  This week the colors are Topiary and Goldrush.  When I saw this week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch I thought about this butterfly from the retired "Find Your Style" set (which as you may have figured out by now is my all time favorite Close to My Heart stamp) and this flourish from the Swirls Around set which is currently my second favorite Close to My Heart set.

Then I checked out this week's  Heart 2 Heart challenge and would you believe it?  This week's challenge is flourishes!  I love it when three challenges work together so easily.  Before I could make the card I got word that my cousin has a rare and particularly aggressive form of breast cancer.  I knew that this card would be for her and, as she is a woman of strong faith, this sentiment from the "Look to the Light" set was the one to use.

To make the butterfly I inked the stamp with sponge daubers which made the colors softer, cut it out and sponged around the edges to intensify the colors and finally sponged the tips with Cocoa.  I used liquid glass to attach just the body so that the wings would stand up.  After all the stamping was done, I used my ruler with the guide holes to make sure my piercing was straight and evenly spaced.  |Lastly, I used a Goldrush alcohol marker to color some bitty sparkles and applyied them to the flourish.  This is just a heads up:  Close to My Heart will be retiring all of the Exclusive Inks markers sets, so they are now available only while supplies last.

Now I have to tell you a secret.  I do not have any Topiary ink or paper, so I used New England Ivy.   If you want to play the Color My Heart Color Dare and don't have the exact color you can still play using the closest thing you have.  Now please go check out all the creative projects at Color My Heart,  Heart 2 Heart Challenges, and Atlantic Hearts Sketches.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Goldrush and Colonial White cardstock
Ink:  Goldrush, New England Ivy, and Cocoa plus a Goldrush alcohol marker
Stamps:  Find Your Style (retired), Swirls Around,  Look to the Light
Embellishments:  Bitty Sparkles, Brown Opaques (retired)

Color My Heart With Ruby, Sunset, and Cotton Candy

I have some exciting news!  I was invited to be on the design team for the Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge! My first card as a designer is for the Ruby, Sunset and Cotton Candy challenge.  It also features one of the new Hostess Rewards stamps, Unicorn Dreams.  I stamped the unicorn with Versamark, embossed it with Clear Detail powder and then sponged the challenge colors over to make the unicorn appear.  Next I used Post-It notes to mask part of the "Don't quit your day dream" sentiment before inking the stamp with Versamark so that only the word "dream" would be stamped on the card and embossed it with White and Pearl embossing powders mixed together.  To provide the sparkle that all unicorns should have, I used Bitty Sparkles from Close to My Heart and some star shaped rhinestones that I found at Michael's.

Thank you for stopping by!  Now please go over to the Color My Heart Color Dare page to check out some other beautiful creations using Ruby, Sunset, and Cotton Candy.  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all from Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Ruby and White Daisy cardstock
Ink:  Ruby, Sunset, and Cotton Candy dye ink, Versamark
Stamp:  Unicorn Dreams
Embellishments:  Bitty Sparkles, Star rhinestones (Recollections), Clear Detail embossing powder (retired), White and Pearl embossing powders (Recollections)

Color My Heart in Juniper

This week the Color My Heart dare is to use Juniper, a color I used to use a lot but haven't lately.  Thank you, Sarah, for bringing my attention back to it.  Caroline, at Caroline's Creations, has done some pretty work using resist stamping techniques which has inspired me to give it a try.  I stamped the image with versamark, heat embossed it with clear detail powder and then sponged over it with Juniper ink.  While I had my embossing supplies out, I went ahead and stamped the sentiment with Black pigment ink and used the clear detail powder to emboss it as well.  This is my first attempt to color the Color Ready Seam Tape by Close to My Heart.  I had a lot of trouble.  I sponged on the color, and it looked fine wet but it dried with water marks.  Does anyone have any tips for future attempts?  Here is the inside:

I used this layout from Freshly Made Sketches:

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all from Close to My Heart:
Paper:  Champagne, Black and Colonial White cardstock, Perfect Day (retired)
Ink:  Black Pigment, Juniper, Bamboo, and Versamark
Stamp:  Aspire (retired)
Embellishments: Tan Opaques, Chocolate Shades Mini Medley (retired), Color Ready Seam Tape, Clear Detail Embossing Powder