Living Out Loud and to the Fullest

One of my scrappin' friend's husband had surgery to remove twenty four tumors from assorted organs in his abdomen followed by a 90 minute chemo bath before closing him up.  Needless to say, this was major surgery.  He was supposed to spend ten days in the hospital, got out after eight and walked three quarters of a mile the day after he was discharged!  He made me think of this stamp.  No, I would not call him a sk8ter dude, but i admire his desire to live life to the fullest.  I stamped the sentiment using White Daisy ink and then heat embossed it in white.  Here is the inside:

The layout comes from this Freshly Made Sketch:

One of the challenges over at Heart 2 Heart is to use buttons. I usually use maybe one when making a bow on a card, so this was a challenge for me. I thought about how using gears in a layout might lend itself to using multiple buttons.  I also plan to enter this card in the Freshly Made Sketch challenge because I used their layout even though I would hardly call this card "clean!"  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all from Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Later Sk8er, White Daisy cardstock
Stamp:  Live Out Loud (retired)
Ink:  Outdoor Denim, White Daisy, Outdoor Denim alcohol marker
Embellishments:  White embossing powder, buttons from Lagoon and Slate Mini Medley (Lagoon retired), brads from Pear Mini Medley (retired)







A Freshly Made Card to Go With a Freshly Made Dinner

One of my scrappin' friends has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and is going through the stress of arranging for treatment while keeping her family going with their assorted activities.  I made this card using the Freshly Made Sketch below to go with the dinner that I will be taking to them tomorrow.  Yes, I know I have used this butterfly a lot lately, but of all my butterfly stamps, this one fit the paper and sentiment the best.  Here is the inside: 



I also plan to enter this in the Heart to Heart  challenge to Button Up.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all from Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Majestic Blues (retired), Bamboo and Colonial White cardstock
Stamps:  Find Your Style (retired), Be Still
Ink:  Chocolate, Bamboo, Outdoor Denim, Sky, Gypsy
Embellishments:  Color-Ready Seam Binding Ribbon, button from Pewter Mini Medley

Sketch used: 





Sending Hope and Comfort

 

 

I have two friends whose husbands are fighting cancer.  One has been fighting for some time; the other is just beginning his battle.  Both are people of strong faith.  When I ordered this stamp I was specifically thinking of my first friend and her husband, but now I am using it for the other as well.  The paper comes from a very old Close to My Heart paper pack which I believe is called Majestic Blue.  I chose the compass theme because sometimes we just have to let go and let God determine the direction.  I used this sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:



 

Thank you for stopping by! Until next time, Hansi

 

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

Paper:Majestic Blues (retired)

Ink:  Cocoa, Blue Denim, Pacifica

Stamp: Be Still

Embellishments:  Natural Twill Ribbon (retired), Pewter Badge Buttons

Other:  Artiste Cricut cartridge



Rose Blossom Mother's Day

 

 

 

I love the new challenge blog, Rose Blossom Garden, which challenges us to use a particular key on Close to My Heart's Artiste or Art Philosophy cartridges.  The current challenge is to use the Mother's Day key on Artiste.  This is truly a case of letting go of what I planned to make and going with the flow.  White Daisy with Ruby, Black and Silver became Colonial White with Ruby, Blush and the new Brown Glitter paper.  It doesn't show in the photo, but there is a pink cast to the glitter that comes out when combined with Colonial White which I played on with Blush ribbon.  I just love the color ready seam binding ribbon now that I know how to color it without water marks.  Thank you again to my fellow bloggers who responded to my plea for help!  I made the flower by cutting four tulips in Ruby, sponging them with Ruby ink, folding them in half and gluing them together.  I also twisted the leaves (after sponging them, of course).  Here is a close up:

 



 

 

Neither of the sentiments really suited the card, so I cut away the parts I did not want from the #1 Mom circle. I also trimmed the extra curly cue off the leaves and hand cut the stem and extra green pieces below the flower.  No one says you have to let the Cricut do all the cutting!  The layout is adapted from this one from Unscripted Sketches, a fun challenge blog which features highly adaptable sketches:

 

 

 

Fortunately I plan to hand deliver this card, because I would sure hate to mail it.  Plus I cannot imagine not seeing my mom on Mother's Day, although I know that time is approaching.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

 

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

Paper:  Colonial White, Ruby, and Olive cardstock, Brown Glitter

Ink:  Ruby, Olive, Blush

Embellishments:  color ready Seam Binding Ribbon

Other:  Artiste Cricut cartridge, Paper Lace embossing folder by Cuddlebug





A New Challenge in the Rose Garden

There is a new challenge in town! The Rose Blossom Garden Challenge is designed to help you explore the possibilities with Close to My Heart's Art Philosophy and Artist Cricut Cartridges.  On the first and fifteenth of the month, they will challenge you to create something using a particular key on one of these cartridges.  The first challenge ever is to create something using the "Happy Birthday" key on the Artiste cartridge.  You do not have to use CTMH products (except, obviously, for the assigned Cricut cartridge), but of course, being sponsored by independent CTMH consultants they would be happy if you did.  I saw this cute little stamp at A.C. Moore when picking up some new Cricut mats, and since it was a cat and I cannot walk out of a craft store with only one thing...

Rather than color in the stamped balloons, I covered them with balloons cut on the Cricut:

To give the balloons some dimension, I sponged them with ink of the same color as the paper, layering it on to keep the shading soft.  To make the highlights more interesting, I cut slivers of white paper which I coated with liquid glass and then placed behind the hole on each balloon so that the liquid glass oozed through the hole.  This made a cleaner shaped highlight than if I applied the liquid glass directly on to the balloon.  Of course some of the glass oozed out under each balloon, so how did I keep it from sticking to my work surface while it dried?  I worked on a Silpat, a silicon baking mat that you find in stores like Sur la Table.  I also wrapped a bit of black upholstery thread around the bottom of the balloons.  As for the rest, I sponged the words a bit and hand stitched around the edge with more of the upholstery thread.  I had to decline Luna's offers of "help" several times!  My CTMH ruler made it easy to place the holes evenly around the edge.  Now what did I do with the "Birthdays" leftover after using the "Happys" on the front?  I put them inside:

I choose Twilight, Pear, and Buttercup because they are this week's colors over at  Color My Heart Color Dare.  Thank you for stopping by! Until next time, Hansi

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

Paper:  Twilight, Pear, Buttercup and White Daisy cardsock, Chantilly

Ink:  Twilight, Buttercup, Pear, Black

Stamp:  by Inkadinkado

Embellishments:  Liquid glass, black upholstery thread by Coats and Clark

Other:  Artiste Cricut cartridge







Pun Fun With Heart 2 Heart

The first Heart 2 Heart challenge for April was Pun Fun.  Now many members of my family can come up with the most clever puns, but alas, I did not inherit the pun gene, so I have lifted one from an old petite perks set.  Thank you to my fellow bloggers for offering tips on how to color Close to My Heart's color ready seam binding ribbon.  I used Pam's Korte's technique which involves placing a piece of plastic on your surface (I used my Silpat) and then swiping the ribbon between it and the ink pad.  It came out beautifully with no watermarks.  I recommend cutting an extra inch so that you have an end to hold on to.  I sponged the background with White Daisy pigment ink which gave it a suede texture. This is the first time I have tried to adhere something to CTMH's new glitter paper.  My usual adhesive did not stick, but liquid glass did the trick.

I used this layout from Unscripted Sketches:





Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all from Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper: Cruizin', Twitlight, Juniper, Grey Flannel (retired), and White Daisy cardstock, Silver Glitter paper
Ink:  White Daisy pigment, Black and Twilight
Stamp:  Petite Perks (retired)
Embellishments:  Black Mini Medley (retired), Silver Stickles, Color Ready Seam Binding Ribbon
Other:  Cricut Art Philosophy (branch) and Artiste (owl) cartridges

Dancing in the Rain with Heart 2 Heart



After completing the card in my last post, I found myself thinking how much it looked like the ballerina was dancing in the rain.  That lead my to think about one of my scrappin' friends who was having a birthday.  She has weathered her share of storms, but thanks to her faith, has learned to dance in the rain.  I have been wanting to try this resist embossing technique I saw on the Our Daily Bread blog.  Because the dancers already have the swirls in them, I did not do the first round of stamping.  I used a sponge wedge and dabbed lightly in layers with Lagoon and Cotton Candy.  After stamping and heat embossing the dancers with clear detail powder, I sponged over them with Outdoor Denim.  Thanks to keeping it light and layering, the effect is soft and misty with the colors on the bottom showing through.  I heat embossed the sentiment (the only way to get it to show) and created some raindrops with liquid glass.  Needless to say, I have no stamps with an appropriate sentiment for the inside, so I made my own using Word:



Did I mention that the theme at Heart 2 Heart is Raindrops Keep Falling...?  And the folks over at Papercraft Star want us to use a stamp?  This card is a perfect fit, not only for two of my favorite challenges, but for the showers we are having this morning.  Thank you for stopping by! Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all from close to My Heart:
Paper:  White Daisy and Outdoor Denim cardstock
Inks:  Lagoon, Cotton Candy, and Outdoor Denim
Stamp:  Aspire (retired)
Embellishments:  Clear Detail and White embossing powders, liquid glass

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









For Always With Smoothie for Papercraft Star

 

Time to play with Close to My Heart's For Always paper pack and another color of cardstock. This week's choice is Smoothie.  The theme for this week's Papercraft Star challenge just happens to be Seeds/Garden which fits nicely with the floral pattern and one of my favorite stamp sets, Cherished Flourishes.  I stamped the image with Black pigment ink, heat embossed it with clear detail powder and then embellished it using the new pink glitter gems.  Here is a close up of the flower:

The minute I saw the theme involved a garden I thought of this sentiment from the Blessed stamp set:

 

 

This card is for my grandmother who I don't get to see very often since she retired to Maine and enjoys gardening as much as I do.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

 

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

Paper:  For Always, Smoothie and White Daisy cardstock

Ink:  Black dye based and pigment inks, Slate

Stamps:  Cherished Flourishes, Blessed (both retired)

Embellishments:  Designer Brad in Pewter (retired), Pink Glitter Gems

Other:  Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge