Egg Shaped Easter Cards for Heart 2 Heart

The ladies over at Heart 2 Heart Challenges are challenging us to use our Cricuts.  Like I really need to be encouraged to use mine!  As I have been on an Easter card kick, I cut some egg shaped cards using the Art Philosophy cartridge from Close to My Heart.  I then used the same cartridge to cut the flowers and bunny parts.  Here is a link to Tracie Cassidy's blog, Cre8ting From the Heart, where she shows how she created a bunny that I adapted to make chocolate bunnies.  To make their tails, I dyed some retired Rosette Ribbon by putting it in a zip-loc bag along with a teaspoon of alcohol and a few drops of Cocoa re-inker and squishing it around.  Once the ribbon was dry, I cut off individual rosettes, stitched around the back of each with a needle and thread and pulled it tight to make puff balls which I glued on with Liquid Glass.

After I cut the flowers (Art Philosophy p. 50) in graduated sizes from Cotton Candy, I scored each one from the center outwards with a scoring stylus to give them texture.  For the flower above, I sponged a little Gypsy along the very edge of the petals and then sponged over it more heavily with Hollyhock.  The flower on the card below was sponged with Holly Hock alone.  For each bunny card, I cut two strips of grass (Artiste p.73) from Sweet Leaf, flipped one over, sponged the tips of both with Topiary and layered them with one slightly lower than the other.  I then embellished each bunny card with Shimmer Trim, Aqua and/or Famingo Dots, and Base and Bling Floral Accents (retired).  I replaced the Clear Sparkle in the center of each Floral Accent with a Purple Sparkle or Aqua Dot to complement the respective Shimmer Trim.

I do not know what color paper I used for this last card.  It was in my stash and may be a retired CTMH color or something from Michael's.  

I sponged around the edge with Juniper followed by Silver Metallic pigment ink from ColorBox which gives it a vintage feel.  The Flower was made the same way as the flowers on the bunny cards with White Daisy cardstock and Gypsy ink.  One of the things I like about CTMH's acrylic stamps is that you can bend them onto a curve as you adhere them to the acrylic block.  That is what I did with the leaf stamp from the "Love This" set which I then stamped with the Silver Metallic ink.  I embellished the card with Clear Bitty Sparkles, Purple Sparkles (retired), Small Clear Sparkle Flourishes, and a Base and Bling Floral Accent.

Although I could never forget how much I love my Cricut, I do sometimes need reminding of how much fun making a shaped card can be.  Thank you for stopping by!  Now why don't you head on over to Heart 2 Heart for some inspiration and then maybe enter the challenge?  The folks over at Heart 2 Heart and I would love to see what you come up with.  Until next time, Hansi

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

Paper:  Buttercup, Cotton Candy, Sweet Leaf, White Daisy, Cocoa and mystery color cardstock

Ink:  Cocoa, Topiary, Gypsy, Holly Hock, Honey, and Juniper along with Silver ink from ColorBox

Stamps:  Love This, Some Bunny (sentiment inside)

Embellishments:  Teal and Purple Shimmer Trim, Aqua Dots, Flamingo Dots, Base and Bling Floral Accents (retired), Purple Sparkles (retired), Clear Bitty Sparkles, Small Clear Sparkle Flourishes

Color My Heart for Easter

This week's Color My Heart Color Dare is to use Sunset, Smoothie, Lagoon, Sweet Leaf and Buttercup along with any neutrals to create a project.  I know what you are thinking.  Aren't those a lot of colors to try to combine?  Think spring!  I have used them for Easter eggs, but you could easily make colorful flowers or butterflies.  

I started by cutting a mess of eggs using Close to My Heart's Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.  Then I got out my Cuddlebug, a brayer, and ink and began to play.  Looking from left to right, to make the second, fourth, and fifth eggs I embossed each egg, flipped it over, and inked the back using a brayer.  By inking the back side, the design stayed white while the background was colored.  I know people who ink their folders directly, but this way I had more control over the final shade and only had to wash my brayer when changing colors and not my folders as well.  After inking the fifth egg, I used an alcohol marker to color in the white impressions.  For the third egg, I positioned it on the diagonal on the new CTMH striped folder to emboss it, used my brayer to ink the resulting stripes with Smoothie, embossed it a second time positioned so that the stripes were at an angle to the first set, and used my brayer to ink those with Buttercup.  The first egg was the most complicated.  First I embossed it with the new Quatrefoil folder and inked it with Lagoon.  Then I  embossed it again positioned at a different angle and inked again with Lagoon.  Finally flipped it over and embossed it a third time and inked it with Sweet Leaf.  The second and fourth eggs were popped up with foam tape.  Can you believe I used no embellishments?  If it it didn't  have so many colors, you could call this CAS  (clean and simple)!

I had so much fun, that I am gong to have to make some more cards with eggs, just so I can play some more.  Thank you for stopping by!  Now please go visit Color My Heart to see some more projects using these colors, or better yet, take the dare and create something using Sunset, Smoothie, Lagoon, Sweet Leaf, and Buttercup along with any neutrals you like and enter the challenge.  Until next time, Hansi

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

Paper:  White Daisy and Lagoon cardstock

Ink:  Sunset, Smoothie, Lagoon, Sweet Leaf, Buttercup and Black along with a Buttercup alcohol marker

Stamp:  Some Bunny (available only as a hostess reward)

Embossing Folders:  Quatrefoil, Dot, and Stripe by CTMH, Scalloped Edge and Baby's Breath by Cuddlebug

A Freshly Made Easter Card

Here is an Easter card based on this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

I stamped the eggs with pigment ink, heat embossed them with clear detail powder, and then after cutting them out, sponged around their edges with dye ink.  I cut two strips of grass using Close to My Heart's Artiste Cricut cartridge (page 73, .75 inches), flipped one, sponged the tips with Garden Green (retired) and layered them.  It doesn't show well in the photograph that I attached a Green Epoxy Bubble to the center of the button.  The sentiment is from the Some Bunny stamp set that is available only as a hostess reward.

Thank you for stopping by!  Now please go over to Freshly Made Sketches to see more interpretations of the sketch.  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Ariana, Sweet Leaf, Champagne, and White Daisy cardstock
Ink:  Blush, Crystal Blue, Garden Green (retired), and Cocoa with Blush and Crystal Blue pigment ink
Stamps:  Easter Eggs (retired), Some Bunny (hostess reward)
Embellishments:  Color-Ready Seam Binding (retired), White Glitter Button (retired), Green Epoxy Bubble, Pink Glitter Gems
Other:  Artiste Cricut cartridge

A Freshly Made Easter Basket

I so need spring!  The flowers are starting to come up, and some are even blooming, but it is still cold most days.  This is a most unusual spring, but Easter is coming and it is time to think about Easter cards.  When I saw this Freshly Made Sketch, I found myself thinking about Easter baskets.

You just can't have an Easter basket without a chocolate bunny!  I owe a tip of the Easter bonnet to Tracie Cassidy who posted this diagram on her blog, Cre8ing From the Heart.

I will be back to tell y'all more about this card including a tip on making the pretty bow, but right now motherhood calls.  That never happens to any of y'all, does it?  Until this evening, Hansi

Chocolate Bunny for Easter

Here is one last card for the Easter challenges over at Heart 2 Heart and Papercraft Star.  When I saw this card on Tracie Cassidy"s blog,  Cre8ing From the Heart, I just had to make a chocolate version of the bunny.  I mean, what is Easter without a chocolate bunny?

Here is the inside:



Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time,  Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Chantilly, Pear, Saddle, White Daisy and Crystal Blue cardstock
Ink:  Chocolate, Blush, Twilight, Buttercup, and Sweet Leaf
Stamps: Easter Eggs (retired)
Embellishments:  White grosgrain ribbon from the dollar store, button, green epoxy bubble
Other:  Cricut Art Philosophy and Artiste cartridges, Cuddlebug Floral Fantasy embossing folder





Chantilly Freshly Made

I ordered the Chantilly paper pack because I thought it would be good for little girl birthday cards, but didn't think I would have much use for it otherwise.  The joke was on me.  After making tow birthday cards, I made a welcome baby boy,congratulations and now two Easter cards, this one using this week's layout at Freshly Made Sketches:

I cased the egg from Fancy Melissa who made this wall art.



One of the things I like about Close to My Heart's acrylic stamps is that you can bend them, so I was able to make the sentiment follow the shape of the egg.  Here is the inside:

I am entering this card in the challenges at Heart 2 Heart and Papercraft Star where the theme is Easter.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

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

Paper:  Chantilly, Pear, Crystal Blue and White Daisy cardstock

Ink:  Blush and Blue Denim

Stamps:  Easter Eggs (retired) and Say It in Style (retired)

Embellishments:  Bitty Buds Assortment (retired), Garden Wooden Shapes

Other:  Cuttlebug Geometric Rings embossing folder, Cricut Artiste and Art Philosophy cartridges







Unscripted Easter

Spring break did not coincide with Easter this year, and most of the college students I know are not coming home for the weekend, so today I put all the chocolate, Peeps and jelly beans that would fit in small "If it fits, it ships" boxes to send them along with a card.  I used this layout from Unscripted Sketches:

The theme for the challenges at Heart 2 Heart and Papercraft Star is Easter, so I will enter this in those challenges as well.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close 2 My Heart unless otherwise noted:

Paper:  Chantilly, White Daisy cardstock

Ink:  Sweet Leaf, Twilight, Blush, Blue Denim

Stamps:  Easter Eggs (retired), Say It in Style (retired)

Other:  Cuddlebug Floral Fantasy embossing folder, Cricut Artiste cartridge