Heartfelt Inspiration From a Photo

 

Two posts in one night!  Let's just say I am playing catch up.  This past Saturday I had the pleasure of spending the day with some of my Scrappin' Friends.  I know two families who are in need of prayer, so my first project was to make cards using this photo from the Heart 2 Heart photo challenge.

 

Photo challenges are always fun because there are so many directions you can go in.  I decided to pick up on the colors and, surprise, surprise, the flowers.  (If you have been following my blog for more than a week or two you will know that flowers are my thing.)  The flowers for both cards were cut using Close to My Heart's Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.  I sponged the surface lightly with Smoothie ink and then dabbed some of the edges a bit for good measure before bending and layering them.  The sentiment was stamped with Slate pigment ink and embossed with clear detail powder.  I love the flexibility of being able to emboss in whatever color pigment ink I have.  Thank you, CTMH for coming out with them!  The sparkles on this one are sort of amber from Recollections.

 

 

For this second card I used what is becoming one of my favorite techniques, resist embossing.  I stamped the corner with Versamark, used clear detail powder to emboss the image, and then sponged over with Whisper ink to make the image appear.  One of the cool things about CTMH's new alcohol markers is that you can color plastic and glass (although I have found the colors may not be as brilliant).  I used a Smoothie marker to color some clear epoxy bubbles and clear bitty sparkles to "sprinkle" across the corner.

 

So there you are:  two cards that I hope will bring comfort.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

 

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

Paper:  Smoothie, Crème Brulee, and White Daisy cardstock, Bliss (retired)

Ink:  Whisper and Smoothie plus Slate pigment ink, Smoothie marker

Stamps:  Be Still, Rock the Block (retired)

Embellishments:  Clear Epoxy Bubbles from the Avonlea Card Workshop on the Go (retired), Bitty Sparkles, Amber sparkles from Recollections, Clear Detail Powder

Other:  Heritage embossing folder from Cuddlebug









My Favorite Colors With Heart

 

 

This week the ladies over at Heart 2 Heart Challenges want to know what color(s) make us happy.  That is easy!  My favorite color scheme has always been the cool side of the color wheel from blue green around to the violets.  In high school art I finally learned that this is called a cool analogous color scheme and June's Stamp of the Month from Close to My Heart is the just the stamp to show it off.  The best way to keep alcohol markers from smearing a stamped image is to emboss it before coloring.  This is where the new pigment inks come in handy.  Just sprinkle on some clear detail powder, heat, and you have an embossed image in any color ink you happen to have.  No wonder CTMH is retiring their color embossing powders!  You don't need them if you have pigment ink.  After embossing and coloring my stamps, I very carefully cut them out and then dabbed a little bit of Outdoor Denim dye ink around the edges to camouflage any white paper showing.  Y'all know how I feel about fussy cutting, but this allowed me to layer the components and pop up the flowers with foam tape.  This first card is a Birthday card for my sister who has a little bit of hippie in her.  Here is the inside: 

 

 

 

I also embossed the inside.  Yes, it might be a little much, but I wanted to color the flower and this for my baby sister...

After paying with a bolder presentation, I decided to try something a little softer for a friend who was ordained in the United Methodist Church last weekend.  I did this one the same way but with silver embossing and a greater emphasis on the lighter blues and blue greens.  I popped up the flower and the sentiment.  At first I was going to use silver glitter paper as my inner border, but it was a little too sparkly. 

 

 

I had a couple of leaves left over to use on the inside:

 

 

 

 

 

So now you know my favorite color scheme.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

 

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

Paper:  White Daisy, Outdoor Denim, Smokey Plum and Whisper cardstock

Ink:  Outdoor Denim pigment ink and Outdoor Denim and Smokey Plum dye inks, Ponderosa Pine, Juniper, Lagoon, Twilight, Pacifica, Sky, Gypsy and Smokey Plum alcohol markers

Stamps:  A Flowering Bunch (June SOTM), September 2011 SOTM, Card Chatter Birthday

Embellishments:  Purple Sparkles, Clear Detail and Silver embossing powders



 





Another Freshly Made Lighthouse

This is the second card I made playing with the Perfect Day stamp from Close to My Heart and the resist embossing technique.  For this one, I stamped in Versamark and embossed with clear detail embossing powder.  As I sponged over it, the image appeared as a lighthouse might appear out of a fog.  I have always loved this stamp as it reminds me of the Old Cape Henry Lighthouse where I grew up.



Again, the layout is this one 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:  White Daisy cardstock, Majestic Blue
Ink:  Bamboo, Desert Sand
Stamp:  Perfect Day
Embellishments:  hemp, a wooden button from Joann's
Other:  Clear Detail embossing powder



A Freshly Made Lighthouse

What a weekend!  After spending Saturday with some of my Scrappin' Friends, I went home for a belated Father's day celebration with my family.  "Home" is where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean and on the corner stand the Cape Henry Lighthouses.



The Perfect Day stamp set from Close to My Heart has always reminded me of the old lighthouse.  Monday I had some fun playing with it using the resist embossing technique where you heat emboss an image and then sponge over it.  This is the first of two card I made using it and this layout 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:  Heavenly Blue and White Daisy cardstock, Majestic Blue, plus a paper bought at Micheal's ages ago.

Ink:  Bamboo, Desert Sand

Stamp:  Perfect Day

Embellishments:  White embossing powder, hemp, buttons from Joann's









Color My Heart With Honey



Ever have one of those projects that ended up nothing like you originally planned?  I knew exactly what I was going to do for this week's Color My Heart Challenge to use Honey with neutrals.  I was going to use this week's sketch from Mojo Monday and the June Stamp of the Month from Close to My Heart and Color-Ready Seam Binding Ribbon and Black Sparkle Flourishes and... and it just wasn't working.  Rather than force it, I had to accept that this was one of those times when I just had to let go of my idea and let the Holy Spirit (or creative spirit or whatever inspires you) take a hand.  I like this much better.  I have no idea what the retired stamp I used is because I got three pieces of the set as a door prize on a Scrapbook Day.  I love the little metal tags which are part of the retired Black Mini Medley sets.  Fortunately they are currently available in the "While Supplies Last" section on your consultant's website so stock up!  I did.  I cut the large Black Sparkle flourish to make it fit and added some pop to the stamp with a small black sparkle.  The dragonfly also has a sparkle head.  Now what about that tulip that I heat embossed and carefully colored?  I used it inside:



I am trying to tell myself that the swirls and dots will tie it to the front.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all from Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Honey, Black, and White Daisy cardstock
Ink:  Honey dye ink and alcohol markers, black marker from ZIG
Stamp:  Can someone please help me with this?
Embellishments:  Black Sparkle Flourish, Black Sparkles, Color-Ready Seam Binding Ribbon, Black embossing powder, Color Ready Garden Wooden Shapes

 

 

 

The layout I didn't use:



 



A Heartfelt Tropical Goodbye

 

One of my Scrappin' friends is moving to Tacoma, Washington.  I am going to miss her very much and had to make a card to tell her so.  I thought I would send her off with a card that reminds her of warmth and sunshine, something she will not have so much of in the Pacific Northwest.  As timing would have it, the theme of one of the June challenges over at Heart 2 Heart is "If You Like Pina Coladas - Let's Go Tropical!"  When I think of the Tropics I think of sunshine, lush vegetation, hibiscus flowers, and clear, turquoise water.

I tried several new things with this card starting with creating a flower that looks somewhat like a hibiscus. First I cut five petals in Colonial White cardstock using the Cricut Art Philosophy (page 65) cartridge from Close to My Heart which I then trimmed to get the rough scalloped edges.  I then used my dry embossing/scoring stylus to score the surface, sponged them with Blush, Smoothie and Tulip, and finally ruffled the edges before gluing them onto a small circle.

 Next, I needed to suggest some lush vegetation.  A while back, Vicki Wizniuk did several posts on her blog, Wizard's Hangout, featuring the ink and emboss technique where you apply ink to the inside of your embossing folder before inserting and embossing the paper.  I dabbed the inside with Topiary, Lagoon and Pear pigment inks, pushing the pad down a bit to get a little bit of ink in the "valleys" of the flourishes before embossing on Pear cardstock.  I covered the embossed dots with Stardust Glitter Glitz and then colored them with alcohol markers in Cotton Candy layered over Sorbet because I did not have a Smoothie marker.  I do now :)  Here is the inside, where you can see the embossed paper before I embellished with the glitter glitz.

 

 

 

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

 

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

Paper:  Pear, Lagoon, Smoothie and White Colonial cardstock

Ink:  Topiary, Lagoon and Pear pigment inks, Blush, Smoothie and Tulip dye inks, Sorbet and Cotton Candy alcohol markers

Stamp:  Beautiful Friendship

Embellishments:  Brown Sparkles, Stardust Glitter Glitz

Other:  Embossing folder from the Paper Studio (I do not know the name of the pattern)







The Father's Day Card That Almost Wasn't



As my daughter played with the Photo Booth app on my iPad, I knew I was going to use one of the thermal images for her Father's Day card.  Did I print one then?  Of course not!  I had no idea that the storm Thursday would knock out our power and cable service and that when the power was restored Friday, that we would still not have cable.  This meant no internet which meant no printing off the iPad because using the internet to access our wireless printer is the only way I know how to print off the iPad.  Fortunately, the cable guy came today and Tim and our daughter spent the afternoon at the Diamond rooting the Richmond Flying Squirrels, their favorite father daughter bonding activity, which gave me a chance to get to work using the layout from Unscripted Sketches:



I swiped all the paper edges with Outdoor Denim, sponged over the embossing with Outdoor Denim dye ink and Pear pigment ink, and sponged the sentiment edges with Outdoor Denim to make it stand out.  The white panel, gears and heart which is coated with liquid glass are popped up with foam tape.  I got it finished with about an hour to spare.

 

As I mentioned in my last post, the theme this week over at Heart 2 Heart is Tool Time which can mean tools or people who use tools (like a father, perhaps) so I plan on entering this card in that challenge as well.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all from Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Later Sk8r, White Colonial and Cranberry cardstock
Ink:  Outdoor Denim plus Pear pigment ink
Embellishments:  Pear Mini Medley (retired), Liquid Glass
Other:  Artiste Cricut cartridge, Clockworks embossing folder from Cuddlebug

Father's Day in the Rose Garden

Greetings from wind ravaged Central Virginia!  Our power is back on but not the cable which means no internet, so here I am with an iced latte in my neighborhood coffee shop.  As I told y'all in my last post, changing the card size left me with an extra stamped kitty with balloons, so I put it to good use with this Father's Day card using this layout from Freshly Made Sketches:

I love this layout and already have another idea buzzing in the back of my brain.  Over in the Rose Blossom Garden the challenge is to explore the Father's Day key on the Artiste Cricut cartridge from Close to my Heart which is appropriate given that Sunday is Father's Day.  The Heart 2 Heart challenge this week is Tool Time which can mean a tool (like my Cricut which took my cardmaking up a major notch) or someone who uses tools (like a father), so with this card I am killing three birds with one stone so to speak.  I explained in reasonable detail how I made the balloons in this post plus you can see what the stamp looks like without the balloons pasted over.  Here is the inside.  I hope I did not go over the top by putting some of CTMH's new brown glitter paper behind the "DAD."

I guess I should mention that this card is for Luna and Phoebe aka the Feline Moon Goddesses to give their daddy.  Our two legged child will be giving him her own card.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Typeset, Brown glitter paper, Juniper, Creme Brulee, Vineyard Berry, and Colonial White cardstock
Ink:  Juniper, Creme Brulee, Cocoa and Vineyard Berry (retired)
Stamp:  Cat from Inkadinkado
Embellishment: Liquid Glass
Other:  Cricut Artiste cartridge



Color Beth's Birthday in Pink, Orange and Yellow

Why is it that I can remember the birthdays of my childhood friends but don't know it's the birthday of a friend from adulthood until facebook tells me to wish them a happy birthday and suggests I send them a gift from Starbucks?  Yes, once again I am late with a birthday card for a friend.  I love this cat stamp and my friend loves cats so...

I love the cat but am less fond of the balloons, but the Cricut Artiste from Close to My Heart took care of that.  I cut them at 1 1/4 inch (page 70), sponged them with ink to give them some dimension and embellished with a bit of liquid glass. 

The first time I stamped him it was for a five inch card and then realized he was a bit too cramped, and in order to use this layout from Freshly Made Sketches with the layers I was envisioning, I needed to make the card a six inch square. 

I stamped him again on a slightly larger square and will use the first one on a Father's Day card.  Here is the inside of the card:

The Color My Heart dare this week is to use a pink, yellow and orange of your choice, so I used Smoothie, Sunset and Buttercup from Close to My Heart.  This stamp is going to look familiar to regular followers of the Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge because I used it to make this card for a dare last April, but as you can see, I used a different presentation.

Now to get this card in the mail!  Thank you for stopping by! Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Mayberry (retired), Buzz and Bumble, Smoothie, Sunset, Buttercup, Cocoa and Colonial White cardstock
Ink:  Smoothie, Sunset, Buttercup, and Cocoa plus a brown marker from ZIG
Stamps: Card Chatter - Birthday, cat from Inkadinkado
Embellishment:  Liquid Glass
Other:  Artiste Cricut Cartridge