Freshly Made #66

I have been going through withdrawal!  Yes, I know I have done three recent posts, but all those cards were made before Christmas.  Today, I finally had time to make a new card.

 

 

I love Close to My Heart's Silhouette paper which was discontinued ages ago.  This was a way to use just a little bit from my dwindling stash and, by augmenting it with card stock, get the feel of it.  The butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch.  The remaining shapes were cut using the CTMH Artiste Cricut cartridge.  The layout is the current (for the next 36 minutes) Freshly Made Sketch pictured below.  I left some room below the medallion to stamp a sentiment when I know what I will use this card for.

 



 

 

 

 

Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time,  Hansi

 

 



More Catching Up

Making the Advent tree ornaments made me think of the Designer Tag layout from the Close to My Heart book, Wishes, so I made a few extra tags to use for cards.  Unless otherwise stated, all materials are from Close to My Heart.

 

 

I check the "While Supplies Last" section on my Close to My Heart consultant's page frequently because you never know what goodies you will find.  Last September it was the Mistletoe level 2 assortment for only $2.50, so I bought five packs.  I used the red flowers on my cats' Christmas cards (Yes, Luna and Phoebe send cards to some of their kitty friends.) and the white ones for these cards.  What you can't really see here is the metallic gold ink from Color Box that I sponged lightly on the green card stock to give it a gold pearlized affect.  The paper is Mistletoe and the stamp, Snow Flurries.

 

 

 

 

More Mistletoe paper with metallic gold sponged on the green.  The Sentiment is from October's Stamp of the Month set and the flourish from Love Life.    The metallic ribbon is by Offray.  I like the vintage feel of this one.

 

  

 

 

This is Wonderland paper with stamps from both the Snow Flurries and Snowflakes sets.  I used the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge to cut the ornament and snowflake.

 

I plan to enter these cards in the Heart 2 Heart Christmas challenge.  Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time,  Hansi

Catching Up

The last Heart 2 Heart challenge of the year, posted December 9th, is Christmas.  No problem!  I was doing nothing but Christmas at the time.  The problem was that I had no time to post.  Now to catch up:

 

 

One of my husband's gifts will not ship until mid January, so I tucked the shipping notice into this card I made based on a Mojo Monday layout using Close to My heart's Wonderland paper and Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.  I could not help but include the sentiment from CTMH's Snow Flurries stamp set.  Yes, you can call me sappy...

 

 

 

I think it made a nice stocking stuffer.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi



'Tis the Season Revisited

In my last post I wrote about making cards for two families who would be spending their first Christmas without a loved one.  Upon further reflection, I decided that although the cards should not scream "Merry Christmas," they should give some recognition to the fact that it is Christmas, so I remade them using the same layout from Freshly Made Sketches but with Wonderland paper from Close to My Heart along with a bit of metallic paper from Michael's.  The brad comes from CTMH's Mistletoe Level 2 Assortment which was recently on sale "while supplies last." 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time,  Hansi

'Tis the Season

In this season of joy feelings of loss can be more acute.  I need cards for two families who are facing their first Christmas without a loved one.  This week's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches fit my wish for something simple.

 

 

I decided not to use a Christmas theme, so I used Pemberly paper from Close to my Heart..

 

 

 

 

Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time, Hansi



I really should be decorating...

This week's Heart 2 Heart challenge is a layout for a format I have only used twice before:

                                        

 

 

 

The three boxes and long horizontal format made me think of the Captured Moments stamp set.  I combined it with Wonderland paper, one of my all time favorite paper packs, a sentiment from October's Stamp of the Month, Very Merry Christmas, and the flourish from Wicked, the Halloween Stamp of the Month from last year.  I think the flourish complements the font of the sentiment. 

 

Now back to putting up the Christmas decorations.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

 

 



Advent Tree Tags/Ornaments

Tomorrow is the first Sunday in Advent.  In my church we put up trees with ornaments labeled with the needs of some community programs that we support.  It works like the Angel Tree in that you take an ornament, purchase what is needed to return to the church and are encouraged to hang the ornament on your tree to make the recipient a part of your Christmas.  I have always loved making the tags, and the Cricut makes it so easy, particularly when you use the auto fill feature.  I believe ornaments need a little (or a lot) of shine to take advantage of the lights on the tree. 

 

 

 You can be subtle about it with some dabs of metallic ink, pearls, or metallic glue.  I love how dabbing a bit of gold ink across the surface of the green ball gives it a golden pearlized effect when the light catches it from an angle.

 

 

 

 

 

You can kick it up a notch with some embossing, dabs of glitter glue or a sparkle or two.

 

 

 

 

Or you can go all out by using some prisma glitter along with your glitter glue or sparkles.   I used  Close to My Heart's Art Philosophy and Artiste Cricut cartridges to cut the tags and all CTMH products except for Color Box Gold and Silver pigment inks and Stampendous embossing powder in PEARLustre Sapphire.  I am hoping now that CTMH is carrying pigment inks that they will eventually offer metallic inks.

Needless to say, with making over a hundred ornaments, I did not have time to make a card for this week's Heart 2 Heart Glitter It Up challenge.  Then again, I think some of these ornaments meet the criteria...  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi



Another Heart 2 Heart Christmas Card

I had so much fun making a Christmas card with "non-Christmas" paper that I made another card for the Heart 2 Heart Christmas Challenge.  This time I had planned to use Flirty, but decided it needed some brightness.  I am not a fan of Flirty Yellow or Flirty Orange,so I pulled in some Stella.  I guess you could call it Flirty Stella.

 

 

I used the Mojo Monday 268 layout from last week.  Yes I am running behind...  

 

Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time, Hansi

 





A Heart 2 Heart Christmas

Christmas was the theme of last week's Heart 2 Heart Challenge.  Great!  I have already made my  Christmas cards which were modeled after a previous challenge, so now what?  Since I will be giving a few gift cards this year, I made a card to tuck one into.  When I first saw the Mojo Monday 261 sketch, my brain said "Christmas ornament," but I had already designed my cards.  This was a chance to follow through on that thought.  To further challenge myself, I opted to use paper that was not "Christmas" paper.

 

This is Avonlea paper from Close to My Heart with shapes cut using the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge.  The snowflakes are from the Snowflakes and Snow Flurries stamp sets, the sentiment from the Very Merry Christmas, Stamp of the Month from October, and that little flourish along the banner?  Yes, it's from, Wicked, a Halloween stamp set.  Never let the intention of a stamp or paper hold you back from using it!  Of course, I had to throw in some bling.  I love the sparkles from the Avonlea Cardmaking Kit!  I hope they will someday be offered as a stand alone product. 

 

This week's H2H challenge theme is bling, so I am making a second card, also with "non-Christmas" paper.  In the meantime, thank you for stopping by!  Hansi

Christmas Cards!

I told y'all how grateful I was to be able to go on the crafting retreat, but never showed y'all what I made!  Traditionally I make Christmas cards at the fall retreat.  This year I played off the black and white cat card I posted a few weeks ago. 

 

 

 

 

This Inkadinkado stamp screams for sparkles  and the sentiment from Close to My Heart's stamp set compliments it "purrfectly."  The snowflakes were easy to make thanks to the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge and co-ordinating stamp from the CTMH Snowflakes set. 

 

Thanks for stopping by.  Until next time, Hansi

Mojo Monday 267

This week's Mojo Monday sketch did not appeal to me until I turned it vertical.  Then I began to see a birthday card for one of my scrappin' friends.

 

 

 

 

This is the Close to My Heart paper pack, Stella, with heavy use of CTMH's Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.  For the flower I cut three <flower 7> in sizes ranging from 1.75 to 1.25 inches and a one inch <flower 4>, sponged Cocoa ink along the edges to create a line to separate the layers without distressing, curled the petals, stacked the layers and attached them with foam tape.  The tag is a hybrid of  <tag 3> and <tag 4> layer with a small piece Lagoon paper behind the cutouts to give them some pop.  I love the photo hangers, and when I did not see them in the new catalog, I stocked up.  Cocoa ribbon completes the look.

 

Thank you for stopping by. Until next time, Hansi

 



Gratefulness

The theme for the Heart 2 Heart Challenge for November 12, my mother's birthday, was gratefulness.  My first thought was how grateful I felt that my amazing mother, who has had type 1 diabetes for 76 years and broke her hip the previous Wednesday, was coming home from the hospital on her birthday.  Her birthday card is in the previous post.  I also thought about how thankful I was that Mom was doing so well Friday morning that I could spend the weekend at a crafting retreat surrounded my loving, supportive friends. If ever there was a time I needed to be with them, this was it, and I owe a debt of gratitude to three people who made it possible  I made them thank you cards adapting the "On With the Show" scrapbook layout from the book "Magic."  This also gave me a chance to use my new Pirouette stamp.

 

First up is Ginny, who organized the weekend.  She and I both love the Silhouette paper pack which has been retired but, happily, is available on Studio J.  When it comes to using paper from my dwindling  stash, I am very particular, but Ginny is definitely worth it.  To make the flower I cut three flowers of different sizes using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, filed the edges to expose the white core of the cardstock, sponged the edges with Bamboo ink, curled the petals, and stacked them.  The sentiment is from the Thank You stamp set.

 

 

 

Next is Julie, with whom I was supposed to make lunch on Saturday.  After Mom fell, I did not know until Friday morning if I would be able to go.  Julie, bless her, told me not to worry and shopped for all the food.  Then on Saturday while I was tied up with calls from family concerning Mom's discharge planning,  Julie put everything together.  This is the new Avonlea paper with a sentiment from the Avonlea Cardmaking Kit.  This is one of those papers which features mostly colors which are not available in ink, Twilight works in place of teal.

 

 

 

Last, but most important, is my husband, Tim, who not only spent the weekend being a single parent to our very special daughter who requires more care than your average kid, he worked from home Friday afternoon, so I could leave Friday morning.  This is my current favorite paper, Le Belle Vie with the new black sparkle flourish and a sentiment from the A Friend Like You stamp set stamped with Vineyard Berry.

 

So there you are, three people to whom I am grateful for making it possible for me to go on the semi-annual Good Shepherd Crafting Retreat.  Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time, Hansi

 

 



Mojo Monday 266

Just under the wire again!  Mojo Monday sketch this week:

 

I used it to make a birthday card for my amazing mother who has had Type 1 diabetes for 76 years, broke her hip last Wednesday and,tough old bird that she is, is supposed to come home from the hospital tomorrow which happens to be her birthday. 

 

 

 

I used La Belle Vie paper and cut the flower and lace using the new Artiste cartridge from Close to My Heart.  I do not know exactly when we will celebrate her birthday, but I have a card ready for her and will make a cream cheese bourbon pound cake, her favorite, when she is settled in at home.  Happy Birthday, Mom! 

 

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

 

Heart 2 Heart Photo Inspiration Challenge

For this week's Heart 2 Heart Challenge we are asked to use this photograph to inspire us to create something.

 

  

The colors and design in the chairs made me think of the Florentine paper pack from Close to My Heart so, of course, I made cards.  I like to keep a few cards to send to friends to offer encouragement, comfort or just say hello.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bird and "A friend is..." quote are from the Find Your Style stamp set, the distressing in the medallion and "How beautiful a day..." from Beautiful Friendship (Isn't that an appropriate name?), and "You are in my prayers" from Card Chatter - Sympathy.  The butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch.  Sometimes I got for quick over Cricut.  Inset smiley face here...

 

 

Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time, Hansi

 

 



Mojo Monday 265

Nothing like getting a project in just under the wire!  First, here is this week's Mojo Monday sketch:

I decided my finished card had too many "borders,"  so I literally cut one off and attached the front to another card to end up with this:

I started with Smokey Plum because that is a color used in the Avonlea Card Workshop, but when I was trying to figure out what size to make the rose and got out one I had made in Vineyard Berry (You may recognize it from my blog header.) to check the size, I decided I liked Vineyard Berry better.  This card gave me a chance to play with some shapes I had never used from the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge as well as use some old favorites.  Red sparkles and pearl opaques provide the finishing touches.

 

 

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi



Keeping It Neutral

This week the theme for the Heart 2 Heart Challenge is neutrals, and since I have been in a black and white mood, I just had to play.  I adapted the Small Wonder layout from Wishes to make two 4.25 x 5.5 cards.  The cardstock, inks and embellishments are from Close to My Heart as is the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge I used for the cutouts.

I love how the cardstock's white core gives definition to the flower's petals.  The swirl is the leftover trimming after cutting a flower for another project.  It was too interesting to throw away.  I left some space below the butterfly to stamp a sentiment when I know what I am going to use this card for.

I wish CTMH would come out with an elegant cat stamp.  In the meantime, sparkles fit "purr"fectly on this stamp from Inkadinkado.

I enjoy the challenge of creating without relying on color for interest.  Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time, Hansi



I Hate Cancer!

I hate cancer!  But don't we all?  The husband of one of my scrappin' friends was diagnosed with cancer a few days before their wedding a little over a year ago.  Then came surgery and chemo with all it's side effects.  Six months after he finished it has reared its ugly head again.  I made this for them.

I have seen this layout in a number of places with no attribute, but the first one I saw and my favorite is on Angel Shifflet's blog, Happy Scrapin' & Stampin'.  This is done in one of my favorite  papers, Florentine, distressed with Cocoa.  The bird is from the "Find Your Style" set stamped in Twilight and Cocoa and attached with foam tape.  The sentiment is from "Card Chatter - Sympathy."  A few adhesives from the Mocha set finishes it off.  All materials are from Close to My Heart.

Inside I left plenty of room to write a personal note.  I am sorry that they have to fight another battle and hope this card brings them some comfort.

Thanks for stopping by.  Until next time, Hansi

Monday Mojo #264

At Stamp Group Monday, we made cards with stacked poinsettias cut from the new Close to My Heart cartridge, Artiste.  I thought it might be fun to make a flower using the same technique and, lo and behold, this week's Mojo Monday sketch is the perfect layout to use:

 

Can you believe this paper, Moonlight, is Close to My Heart's Halloween paper?

 

 

 

Using the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge, I cut five <flower 8> in sizes ranging from 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches, curled the petals, distressed them with Petal and Grey Flannel inks, stacked them and attached the completed flower with two pieces of foam tape stacked on each other.  I used the masking technique to stamp the sentiment from the Love Life set and finished with a frame from the pewter mini medley accents, some opaque pearls and a piece of ribbon.  All are from Close to My Heart.

 

 

 

 

This card is for Tim, who brings me roses for no reason.  Sometimes I wonder if the folks at the Fresh Market think we fight a lot.  Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time, Hansi

Cruisin' for Sympathy

Cruisin' was not my favorite paper in the Close to My Heart spring/summer catalog, but the Scrabble tile paper was perfect for a Father's Day card for my Scrabble/Words With Friends loving husband, so I ordered it anyway.  The flip side of the paper is an argyle which works well on a sympathy card that I made for a friend whose 14 year old dog crossed the Rainbow Bridge.  If you are not familiar with the Rainbow Bridge, you can read the poem here:  http://www.rainbowbridge.com/Poem.htm. 

 

The butterfly is one of my favorites from an old Close to My Heart set, Say It in Style.  I inked it in twilight and then dabbed black around the edges before stamping.  Black opaques make up his body.  I love to use butterflies and usually only glue the body, so that the wings can "flap."  Sometimes I stamp on the background to make a shadow.

 

 

I hope this card brings some comfort to my friend.  Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time, Hansi

 



Mojo Monday 263

No, you did not sleep though the weekend!  It is indeed Saturday. Mojo Monday is a challenge blog.  On Mondays, Julee Tilman or one of her designers posts a sketch of a layout, challenges you to interpret it and then post a link to your blog to show everyone what you came up with.  It is really interesting (and inspiring) to see what other people have made.  To make myself stretch, I am going to play along each week which is one reason I have started this blog.  Here is the sketch from last Monday:

 

 

Here is my card:

 

 

 

For my first attempt at piecing, I used the flower in the Card Word Puzzle from Close to My Heart, with Indian corn blue, honey, and vanilla cream inks on vanilla cream paper, .  I used the Art Philosophy cartridge to cut the butterflies and tab.   I also used Pemberly paper, outdoor denim and desert sand inks and brown opaques, all from CTMH.

 

I like this layout so much that I will definitely keep it in my regular rotation.  Now go see what others have done.   http://www.mojomonday.blogspot.com/  Thanks for stopping by.  Until next time, Hansi



Has It Really Been That Long?!

It is hard to believe Tim and I have been married for 34 years.  Of course I was a child bride...  When I saw the La Belle Vie paper in the new Close to My Heart catalog, I knew that it was the paper I wanted to use to make an anniversary card. It has a romantic feel and a French theme which is perfect for my husband who loves Paris.

 

 

Although the paper is two sided, I wanted to preserve as much of it as possible for other uses, so I used the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge to cut the card from colonial white card stock and then cut a rectangle and traced the edge to make the cover.  Then I glued a small strip of the back side of the paper to the inside:

 

 

 

I used the same cartridge to cut the text box and flowers and embellished with the sparkle flourish, also from CTMH, and some ribbon.  My one complaint about the new papers is that some feature colors that are not available as ink.  For La Belle Vie, the only colors that are available as ink are black, bamboo, and sweet leaf.  Fortunately, vineyard berry, a recently retired color, co-ordinates well.  I am pretty happy with this card.  It looks like me.

 

Thank you for stopping by my new blog!  Until next time, Hansi