Fall is Finally Here

The temperatures are in the 70's and the humidity tolerable.  Never mind that the leaves are green and I'm still wearing sandals, fall is finally here!  That means it's the season for black cats and pumpkins (and chocolate).  I made my first Halloween card of the season using Close to My Heart's Artistry Cricut cartridge and this sketch from Atlantic Heart's Sketch Challenges:

One thing to remember about cutting the cats on page 10 is that setting the dial on the same size for all of them will result in cutouts that are nowhere near the same size.  To get cats that were similar in size I cut the sitting cat at 1.75 inches, the playing cat at 1.5, and the walking cat inside at 1.25.  You may have noticed that I did not punch out the hearts.  The pumpkin can be found on page 44 and was cut at 1.25.  The paper is from the long retired Moonlight pack.  Here is the inside:

Now my husband wants me to make ten for him to give to people on his team at work!  Now why not check out some more takes on this sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenges?  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Moonlight (retired), Olive (retired), Goldrush, Saffron, Black and Colonial White cardstock
Ink:  Smokey Plum and Olive (both retired)
Stamps:  Holiday Tags, Eek and Shriek (both retired)
Embellishments:  Black sequins
Other:  Artistry Cricut cartridge

Adult Coloring with Heart

In honor of National Stamping Month, Heart 2 Heart Challenges wants to see something with a stamp from Close to My Heart.  Now I love adult coloring books, so it is no wonder that I love the retired Ornate Blossoms set:

Plus it reminds me of India, a country that has fascinated me since I was barely a teen (We won't say how many years ago).  Normally I would think in terms of using bright, fully saturated colors maybe with some gold embossing, but lately I have been playing with black and white, a combination that can also be bold.  After "coloring" a few with my journaling pen. I used this Freshly Made Sketch to make some cards to show the possibilities with this stamp set.

My first thought had been to use a white background with a black border, but after cutting the stamp out using the corresponding Thin Cut and seeing the white border I got to thinking about a black background:

I attached the stamp with thin foam tape and the sentiment with thick foam tape to give the card some dimension and added a few white enamel gems.  Then, just for grins, I made a card as I originally envisioned it in black and white:

Lastly, because I couldn't resist, I got out my embossing stuff and ShinHan markers and made a version in color:

To emboss the edge of the sentiment I pressed the edge straight down into the Versamark pad and then into the embossing powder.  Using my tweezers kept my fingers from being burned while heating.  I embossed the Peacock strip using a border folder from Cuddlebug.  I do not remember the name.

There you have it:  Three ways to play with Close to My Heart's Ornate Blossoms stamp set.  Thank you for stopping by!  Now why not check out some more inspiring takes on this sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and see some more CTMH stamps at Heart 2 Heart Challenges?   Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, All Close to my Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Saffron, Peacock, Black and White Daisy cardstock, La Vie En Rose (retired), Florence (retired)
Stamp:  Ornate Blossoms (retired), A Friend Like You (retired)
Ink:  Black, Marvy Uchida LePen, Poppy, with Golden Yellow, Peacock Green and Carmine ShinHan markers, a border embossing folder from Cuddlebug
Embellishments:  White Enamel Gems, Gold and Black sequins, Ranger Princess Gold embossing powder

Thinking of You Card

The Ornate Blossoms (retired) stamp set from Close to My Heart makes me thing of India and screams for being embossed with metallic gold and colored with fully saturated hues; however, I wondered what would happen if I did it in black and white, so I went to work with my LePen journaling pen to make a card following this Atlantic Hearts sketch:

I decided that I liked the sentiment off center and popped it up with thin foam tape to give it some dimension.  I played around with black sequins and then black sparkles but was happier leaving my card unembellished.  Then I decided it needed something, so I went with the sparkles.  This is what it looks like unembellished:

Which do y'all think works better?  Thank you for any design advice and for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

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

Paper:  Black and White Daisy cardstock

Stamps:  Ornate Blossoms, Sincere Expressions (both retired)

Ink:  Black plus Marvy Uchida LePen