The Great Outdoors With Heart 2 Heart

The theme of the last Heart 2 Heart Challenge for June is the great outdoors.  I used an old paper pack, Victory, An old stamp set, Life is a Journey, and a layout from Close to My Heart's Wishes Card Confidence Program, a helpful book with lots of layouts (complete with dimensions), tips, and techniques to make this card of encouragement.  I distressed most of the pieces with Chocolate except for the sentiment on which I used Outdoor Denim followed by Chocolate.  The tag was cut with the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Victory (retired)
Ink:  Chocolate, Outdoor Denim, New England Ivy
Stamps:  Life is a Journey (retired)
Embellishments:  Durables Triangle Studs, White Hemp (retired)
Other:  Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge

A Day Filled With Fun and Ribbon

I may not have been able to go the the Close to My Heart convention this week, but I was able to see the new catalog online.  I cannot wait to play with the new products!  There is a new Cricut cartridge that is to cardmaking as Artbooking is to Scrapbooking.  Since it will not be available until August, I went back to the first CTMH cartridge, Art Philosophy, to make this card for Heart 2 Heart's "Bows and Bow Ties" challenge to use ribbon or a bow.  Where is the ribbon in this card?  I cut up Colonial White Rosette Ribbon to make the "ice cream."  This ribbon has been retired but is available until tomorrow at midnight mountain time as part of a CTMH celebration of Jeanette Lynton's 30th anniversary in the stamping and scrapbooking industry.  If you place an order for $50 or more, you can purchase a gift package of supplies valued at $50 to $65 for only $30.  There are six gift collections to choose from.  Colonial White Rosette Ribbon is part of both the Delightful Ribbon and Trim and the Extraordinary Embellishments collections.  You can see all of the collections here.

Now, about this card...  I started with this sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:

The triangle patterned panel is a 4x6 card from the Surf's Up Picture My Life Program which I trimmed.  To make the cone, I cut a 2.5 inch circle and scored it with my paper trimmer.  CTMH has a scoring board in the new catalog which would have made this much easier.  I then folded in the sides to make a cone shape and trimmed the top to make it curve downward.  The parts of the circle that I folded under formed tabs that I could attach to the card with Glue Dots, allowing the cone to puff out a bit.  Lastly I used Liquid Glass to glue on the rosettes which I layered until they looked like a scoop of ice cream.  The banner was cut with the previously mentioned Art Philosophy cartridge and strung with White Hemp (retired)  I cut the prongs of the Creme Brulee brads (retired) and attached them and the hemp with more Liquid Glass.  I swear Liquid Glass will hold anything securely!

This will probably be a birthday card as I have several people in my life with summer birthdays.  I will complete the inside when I know for sure who I am going to give it to.  In the meantime, thank you for stopping by!  Now please check out Heart 2 Heart Challenges and Freshly Made Sketches for some more inspiration.  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Surf's Up (retired), Clementine (retired), Lagoon, Saddle, and Colonial White cardstock
Ink:  Chocolate
Stamp:  Part of the Art Philosophy Cricut package
Embellishments:  Flamingo Dots, Colonial White Rosette Ribbon (retired), Creme Brulee brads (retired), hemp
Other:  Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, Surf's Up Picture My Life Program.

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

Happy Birthday to a Cat Mom

I have a friend whose children all have four feet and pointy ears, so I had to use this stamp from Inkadinkado for her birthday card.  I started with this sketch from Try Stamping on Tuesday:

The twist this week is "anything that makes you happy."  I love cats and like sending cards to people, so I think I have that covered.  The printed paper comes from the delightful Once Upon a Time Mat Stack by DCWV which I bought on a whim at Ben Franklin (I think).  You can't see it in the photograph, but there are discrete bits of bronze glitter on the flowered paper.  It makes me think of a secret garden which is why I selected the second print which is reminiscent of a brick wall.  Of course gardens have to have butterflies!  This one was cut from Close to My Heart's Ariana Coral cardstock using a Martha Stewart punch and sponged with Spring Iris ink which, unfortunately, is retired.   I repeated the motif inside:

Now to get this card in the mail.  Thank you for stopping by!  Now why don't you check out the other creations at Try Stamping on Tuesday.  This challenge is closing in 45 minutes (can you say cutting it close?), but there is a new sketch up to play with.  I would love to see what you do it.  Until next time, Hansi

Material used, all Close to my Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Once Upon a Time Mat Stack by DCWV, Ariana Coral, Cocoa, and Colonial White cardstock
Ink:  Cocoa, Spring Iris (retired), Buttercup alcohol marker
Stamps:  Cat by Inkdinkado, Joyful Birthday
Embellishments:  Clear Bitty Sparkles, Pink Sparkles (retired) Purple Sparkles from Hampton Art, Brown Opaques (retired)
Other:  Scallop punch by ek Success, Butterfly punch by Martha Stewart

Mojo Monday Meets Heart 2 Heart to Give Encouragement

A friend from church could use some encouragement right now.  What I love about Close to My Heart's "Look to the Light" stamp set is that the Bible verses are appropriate for a number of different types cards for my friends of faith.  I have made sympathy, thinking of you, encouragement, confirmation, and even graduation cards.  I started with this sketch from Mojo Monday:

I chose to use mostly blues in order to enter the Heart 2 Heart "Rhapsody in Blue" challenge.  After stamping the tree and sentiment in pigment ink and heat embossing them with clear detail powder, I colored the tree with alcohol markers.  I used CTMH's new stripes embossing folder to give texture to the banner.  To give the card some pop, I added some butterflies cut from Ariana Coral cardstock using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.  I gave them some dimension by sponging the edges with Smoothie and then Outdoor Denim ink and attached only the bodies so that the wings can flap.  A few Clear Bitty Sparkles in the tree and Blue Sparkles (retired) for the butterfly bodies add some light because you know how much I like sparkles.

The Mojo Monday challenge closes in a few minutes, but you can always go over and check out the other cards for some inspiration.  The Heart 2 Heart "Rhapsody in Blue" challenge is open until the end of the month, so you have plenty of time to create something emphasizing blue and enter it.  Why don't you give it a try?  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Ariana, Ariana Coral, Outdoor Denim, Crystal Blue and White Daisy cardstock
Ink:  Smoothie and Outdoor Denim with Black and Outdoor Denim pigment inks, Crysal Blue, Sky, Outdoor Denim, and Sorbet alcohol markers
Stamps:  Look to the Light, A Tree
Embellishments:  Blue Sparkles (retired), Clear Bitty Sparkles
Other: Clear detail powder, Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge, Srtipes embossing folder

Graduation Season

After almost a month of being distracted by family issues, I got a day of much needed paper therapy and girlfriend time.  Not only was this good for my soul, but it provided a chance to get caught up on graduation cards.  "tis the season...

First up is a card for my cousin's daughter who just graduated from high school and has a ROTC scholarship.  My family, which leans heavily towards the Marine Corp and Navy, is so proud of her (even though she has gone Army).  I cut the butterflies with the Art Philosopy Cricut cartridge and sponged the edges with Black.  I used colored bitty sparkles to accent the ricrac border and carry the colors into the upper piece.  I am so sorry that Close to My Heart has retired the colored sparkles.  I do not know where I am going to find bitty ones when I have used up my stash.  I used this Atlantic Hearts Sketch:

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

Paper:  Sarita, Gypsy, Lagoon, Cotton Candy and Colonial White cardstock

Ink:  Black

Stamp: In the Moment

Embellishments:  Black Sparkles, Pink and Purple Sparkles (retired),  Colonial White RicRac (retired) 

Other:  Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Next is a card for a friend who went back to school at, shall we say, a mature age and now has graduated from divinity school.  The vine is from a long retired set, Cherished Flourishes.  I forgot how much I like playing with that set!  I used the Artiste Cricut cartridge to cut leaves and then curled them.  The layout is this one from Try Stamping on Tuesday.  The added twist is "Girlfriends."  No problem as this is a card for a girlfriend created at a crop with girlfriends.

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

Paper:  Ivy Lane, Hollyhock, New England Ivy, and White Daisy cardstock

Inl:  Ink:  Olive, Black

Stamps:  Look to the Light, Cherished Flourishes (retired)

Embellishments:  Ivy Lane Assortment, Purple Glitter Gems, Purple Sparkles (retired)

Other:  Artiste Cricut cartridge

Lastly is this card for one of the college students to whom I send care packages.  She just received her bachelors degree in education, but is in a five year masters program which means I still get to continue sending her packages and will be making another card for her next year.  She likes owls and her school colors are blue, white, and silver.

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

Paper:  White Daisy and Pacifica cardstock, Silver Glitter paper

Ink:  Pacifica

Stamps:  Limited Edition (retired), Literary Owl from Stampendous

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi