Time for Christmas Cards

For some people late August means the start of a new school year.  For me it is time to get serious about making Christmas cards.  In January I resolved to play a Christmas themed challenge each week to get a head start, but as with many resolutions, let's just say I got side tracked.  Now to recommit...  The ladies over at Jingle Belles Rock (got to love a blog with a name like that) are playing Tree Skirt Tic-Tac-Toe, a Christmas version of Beach Blanket Bingo:

Now if you have followed my blog through a Christmas season, you will know that I love sparkles and snowflakes, so it was a no brainer to play the center vertical column of Bling, Die Cuts, and Snow which I combined with this Freshly Made Sketch:

It worked out to being a double play with the diagonal of Glitter, Die Cuts and Stamping.  I started by cutting a snowflake using Close to My Heart's Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge and then stamping and clear embossing it with a stamp from the retired Frosted Cardmaking Workshop.  Next I used a sponge to rub on some Crystal Blue and Whisper inks to expose the stamped image and then some metallic Silver by Color Box to guild the edges.  While I had my stamps out I stamped a sentiment from Holiday Tags and embossed it with Ranger Silver Super Fine embossing powder which is available from Close to My Heart.  I love how smoothly it melts.  I ran the background panel through my Cuddlebug with using an embossing folder from Darice and put the card together, popping up the snowflake up with foam tape.  Finally it was time to bling up my card with some Tan Sparkles on the snowflake and Silver Stickles in the background.

I made two other versions of this but like the one above best.  Which one do you like best?

Thank you for stopping by!  Now head on over to see some other beautiful cards at Jingle Belles Rock and Freshly Made Sketches and maybe be inspired to enter yourself.  You have until tomorrow, Monday, at 12:00 PST to enter the Freshly Made Sketches challenge and September 9 for the Jingle Belles Rock challenge.  Until next time, Hansi

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

Paper:  Frosted (retired), Frosted Gray (retired), Whisper, Champagne, and Colonial White cardstock

Ink:  Crystal Blue, Whisper and Versamark

Stamps:  Frosted Cardmaking Workshop (retired), Holiday Tags

Embellishments:  Silver Stickles, Tan and Blue Sparkles (retired), Ranger Clear and Silver Super Fine embossing powders

Other:  embossing folder by Darice

Celebrating the 200th Freshly Made Sketch

Last week was so hectic that I never did get into my craft room, but I did manage to sneak in this morning to make this card following this sketch from on of my favorite challenges, Freshly Made Sketches:

Did you notice the sketch number?  That's right!  Freshly Made Sketches is celebrating its 200 challenge.  That's almost four years of challenges!  Running a challenge blog is a lot of work and many don't last very long.  Thank you to the ladies over at Freshly Made Sketches for their continued dedication.  

Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time, Hansi

 

A Lighthouse Birthday

My youngest brother and sister have birthdays two weeks apart, and of course, I have missed them both.  First up is the card for my brother based on this Freshly Made Sketch:

I used one of my favorite techniques, resist embossing, in which you emboss your stamp image using Versamark and clear detail powder and then sponge over it with ink (preferably dye based) to make the image appear.  When you finish, wiping the embossing with a sponge or paper towel will make it pop even more.  I combined the Perfect Day stamp set (retired) with Timblerline paper (retired) and added a sentiment from Holiday Tags and a couple of grey sparkles (soon to be retired).  The lighthouse panel is popped up with foam tape to give it some dimension.

On the inside I used a sentiment from Card Chatter - Birthday (retired) along with another image from Perfect Day stamped in second generation Ponderosa Pine, which will be retired the end of this month.:

I also plan to enter this card in the Seize the Birthday challenge to use embossing.

I know that I have used a lot of retired products in this card.  Stay tuned for my sister's card which features current products and a hint as to what is coming in the new Close to My Heart catalog.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Timberline (retired), Colonial White and Avolea Teal (retired) cardstock
Ink:  Twilight (retired), Ponderosa Pine (soon to be retired), Lagoon, Black
Stamps:  Perfect Day (retired), Holiday Tags, Card Chatter - Birthday (retired)
Embellishments:  Gray Sparkles (soon to be retired), Clear detail powder

Freshly Made in Black and White

When I saw this Freshly Made Sketch, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to use my new Spellbinders die cut, Medallion One.

At first I was planning to use metallic gold paper and a dark color, maybe Close to My Heart's New England Ivy or Outdoor Denim, but as it often happens I began to see things differently as I played.  Sometimes I forget how much fun it is to work in black and white which requires me to focus strictly on the graphic design.  I used a retired stamp set, Universal Backgrounds, to stamp the musical notes on the banner and a Shin Han marker to add antennae to the butterfly.  I do not know remember who made the butterfly die cut nor where I bought it.  Finally I added a bitty Black Sparkle to the center of the medallion and a larger one to form the head of the butterfly.  The sparkles are set to be retired at the end of this month, so stock up while you can.  You know I did!

For the inside of the card I used Your Own Kind of Wonderful, one of my favorite sets from the current catalog, along with a sentiment from the Artfully Sent collection:

Thank you for stopping by!  Now please check out some more designs at Freshly Made Sketches and, if you are a Close to My Heart fan, I encourage you to consider entering Freshly Made Sketch challenges as it seems to be dominated by fans of another company's products.  Let's show folks what Close to My Heart has to offer!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Black and White Daisy card stock
Ink:  Black and a Black Shin Han marker
Stamps:  Just to Say (Artfully Sent collection), Your Own Kind of Wonderful, Holiday Tags, Universal Backgrounds (retired)
Embellishments:  Black Sparkles (soon to be retired)
Die cuts:  Medallion One by Spellbinders. Unknown butterfly  die cut

Freshly Made Snow

Tomorrow night we are supposed to get our first snow of the season.  (That third of an inch that melted by 10:00 in the morning we got a few weeks ago doesn't count.)  They are calling for six to eight inches which in these parts is considered serious snow, so you know where I will be tomorrow morning.

My Yankee readers can stop laughing now.  In honor of the pending snow and because I am trying to get a head start on Christmas, I used a snowflake theme for this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

I started by using Close to My Heart's Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge to cut the snowflake (page 27), used Versamark to stamp it with the snowflake from the Frosted cardmaking workshop, and heat embossed it with clear detail powder.  Normally when I do resist embossing I use a sponge to dab on ink.  This time I used a sponge dauber to rub on Whisper and Crystal Blue inks to get a softer effect.  To complete the snowflake element I sponged the edges with Silver metallic ink by Color Box and embellished with a small circle cut from glitter paper using a hole punch and a blue sparkle.  The sentiment is from the "To You and Yours" stamp set.  Both the snowflake and the sentiment are popped up with foam tape.

I used a snowflake folder by Darice to emboss the center panel and embellished a few of the flakes with grey bitty sparkles.  My stitch guide made it easy to pierce the border evenly and in a straight line.

Thank you for stopping by!  Now I am going to finish my grocery list.  Until next time, Hansi

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

Paper:  Frosted (retired), Frosted Blue (retired) and White Daisy cardstock, Silver glitter paper

Ink:  Whisper, Crystal Blue, and Slate along with Silver metallic ink by Color Box

Stamps:  Frosted cardmaking workshop (retired), To You and Yours 

Embellishments:  Blue Sparkle (retired, but you can use a ShinHan marker to color a clear one), Grey bitty sparkles

Other:  Snowflake embossing folder by Darice, Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

A Freshly Made Heart

It's February, the month of Valentine's Day, so it comes as no surprise that the theme of the first Heart 2 Heart Challenge of the month is "Home is Where the Heart Is."  I have to admit that I followed this Freshly Made Sketch pretty closely, but what can I say?  I need a few Valentines to enclose in my college care packages.

I started by cutting a heart using Close to My Heart's Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge and some strips from Snowhaven.  I applied adhesive to the heart, laid down the strips including a bit of black glitter paper for good measure, flipped over the heart, and cut away the excess.  I planned to add some black sparkles to the centers of the flowers except that I did not have enough, so I used a black ShinHan marker to color some clear bitty sparkles and used those instead.  I ran a sponge with black ink along the very edge of the heart and the polka dot strip with black to help them stand out.  Black hemp, red enamel hearts, and a sentiment from the Holiday Tags stamp set complete the card.

Thank you for stopping by!  Now why don't you check out Freshly Made Sketches and Heart 2 Heart Challenges for some more inspiration?  You have until the end of the month to enter any of the February Heart 2 Heart challenges.  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Snowhaven, black glitter paper, black, red, and white daisy cardsstock, black glitter paper
Ink:  Black with black ShinHan marker
Stamp:  Holiday Tags
Embellishments:  red enamel hearts, bitty sparkles, black hemp (retired)

Heart 2 Heart Birthday Color

One last card just under the wire for the Heart 2 Heart January challenges:  For this challenge you are assigned a color based on your birth month.  My birthday is in March which means I made a card featuring Thistle, one of Close to My heart's new colors.  I need a sympathy card for a friend from my church, so it was a no brainer for me to go to the "Look to the Light" stamp set for a comforting Bible verse and my favorite stamp, the butterfly from the retired "Find Your Style" set.  I inked it up with Thistle and Whisper using sponger daubers and after cutting out the image sponged a little black along the edges of the wing.  I embellished with black sparkles and CTMH's new White shimmer trim.

I used this Freshly Made Sketch for the layout:

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Merry Penguins

This week's Merry Monday challenge is to create a Christmas card featuring critters with this inspiration photo:

Cute little critter plus snow meant only one thing:  the ice skating penguin from a retired Close to My Heart set, Winter Wishes.  I embossed him with clear detail powder to help him pop, colored him with a ShinHan marker, and while I was coloring, colored a bitty sparkle to give him a sparkle butt.  Amy Kiger would be so proud!  I wanted to use this sketch from Freshly Made Sketches and pop up the center panel like several of the designers did.  They call them inspiration projects for a reason...

There was one problem.  I wanted to make a border using use a strip cut from Snowhaven which had black on each side.  I was concerned that with the center popped up, you would be able to see the edge of the border if I used a white card base.  The solution was to use a black card base.  To keep the white core from showing I ran the edges of the borders across a black ink pad.  This is what the card looked like without the center panel:

To make the center panel I used the Cricut Design Space to cut the opening and then embossed it using a folder by Darice.  Anytime I am going to emboss a shape or something with an opening I always do all the cutting first so that I can position the paper in the embossing folder so that the embossed design compliments the shape. That is how I got the snowflakes to dance around the opening. I cut a red and white strip for the horizontal element but decided it was too much red and and that a strip with black and white and a touch of red would work better.  Rather than waste the first piece, I used it on the inside:

I used ShinHan markers to put black dots at the center of the flowers and color the ornament and a chalk marker in the ornament's center.  This helped integrate the colors.

This card was also an opportunity to relive my childhood and play Tic-Tac-Toe with the ladies over at Heart 2 Heart Challenges:

Sketch plus Cricut plus embossing gives me three in a row horizontally.  This might even be a two way if you consider that this card could be suitable for a guy.

Now I have two Christmas cards ready for next year.  Thank you for stopping by!  Now why don't you visit Merry Monday, Freshly Made Sketches and Heart 2 Heart for some inspiration and maybe enter them yourself?  I would love to see your work!  Until next time, Hansi

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

Paper:  Snowhaven, Black, White Daisy, and Cranberry cardstock

Ink:  Black pigment and dye inks, Black and Carmine ShinHan markers

Stamp:  Winter Wishes (retired)

Embellishments:  Bitty Sparkle, red baker's twine from Michael's, black button (retired)

Other:  Snowflake embossing folder by Darice, Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

A Freshly Made Snowflake

This card was a lesson in perseverance and letting go of my original ideas.  To start with, I wanted to used this Freshly Made Sketch:

I also wanted to use this snowflake die cut by Tim Holtz which caught my eye at Hobby Lobby.  The cut shape is not particularly exciting, but once embossed with the accompanying folder and inked up it is beautiful.  (To see how to use this Sizzix product in a Cuddlebug check this post.)  I used a brayer to spread Gold metallic ink on the embossed design and then sponged Gold and Bronze along the edges.  For the background I had planned on lightly stamping small snowflakes, but once I put the embossed snowflake over them I found that it was too busy and made the snowflake hard to see.  I then thought about sponging the background with gold and letting it fade out around the edges.  I decided I would practice on my already stamped piece before cutting a new layer.  That is when the inspiration hit.  I could make the inner part solid to make the snowflake show and then fade into the smaller flakes as though they were emerging from the glow of the big snowflake.  

Next it was time for the sentiment.  I had been planning on cutting "Peace on Earth" from some antiqued gold paper but the letters did not show well against the snowflake.  Then I thought about deviating from the sketch and stamping directly on the card to the lower left of the snowflake because the sentiment stamped on a piece of Colonial White placed over the snowflake seemed to cover too much of it.  Finally I remembered that I had a "Peace" stamp in a smaller font, and the shortened, smaller sentiment stamped on a bit of Colonial White cardstock fit right into the angled parts in the center of the flake.  I attached it with foam tape and was almost done!  I decided that a border of antiqued gold cardstock did not fit the softness of the rest of the card, so I lightly sponged some gold on the edge of the main layer, pressed the edge into to stamp pad to get a gilded look and attached it to a Colonial White card base.  The last step was to embellish with a clear sparkle because y'all know I love sparkles...

I am pretty pleased with how this card (finally!) came out.  It may be a little softer and more distressed than the criteria for Freshly Made Sketches, but I worked too hard on it not to enter it.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used:
Paper:  Colonial White cardstock by Close to My Heart
Ink:  Gold and Copper by Color Box
Stamp:  Scandinavian Wishes (retired) from Close to My Heart, the small snowflakes were done with a very old wooden stamp with no label from I don't remember where
Embellishment:  Clear sparkle from Close to My Heart
Other:  Snowflake die cut and embossing folder set by Tim Holtz

Celebrating NOvember with Heart 2 Heart

This month the ladies over at Heart 2 Heart Challenges are celebrating NOvember with each challenge involving some sort of no, that is something you are not allowed to use or do.  I have added my own theme of sNOwflakes.  Don't get me wrong.  I love snowflakes as a design element, but the real thing is another matter.  I like snow if we get enough to shut everything down for a day or two, say eight to 10 inches, and then melt quickly.  You Yankees and Canadians can stop laughing.  Unfortunately we are more likely to get two or three inches which is only enough to make the roads a mess and you are still expected to go to work, but schools will be closed, so you need to make alternate arrangements.  Really, y'all can stop laughing now.  The thing is, here in Richmond, Virginia you never know which it is going to be.  We have had "slight accumulation" forecasts turn out to be 16 inches which is why we always go to the grocery store to stock up anytime the slightest possibility of frozen stuff is called for.  To tell you the truth, we Richmonders like to enjoy our snows (as long as we have plenty of bread, milk, eggs and toilet paper) which is why we close down or find that we just can't make it into work.  Seriously, I don't think my little one way street has ever seen a snowplow.  Yes, I do love snowflakes as a design element, so here we go.

First up is the NO stamps challenge:

That was easy enough.  I have a Cricut and Cuddlebug.  As I have mentioned before, I love the elegance of Close to My Heart's Yuletide Carole paper, particularly when paired with metallic paper and/or ink.  It doesn't show in the photo, but the gold paper and distressing around the edges of the black paper is metallic.  To get a nicely gilded edge, I first heavily sponged around the edges and then, holding the paper straight up, pushed each edge into the soft stamp pad.  I lightly sponged the edges of the snowflake and patterned panel with black.  This card is based on the Atlantic Hearts Sketch:

The next Heart 2 Heart challenge was NO ink.

Hmmm.  This was a little more interesting because I like to use ink to define edges, create dimension, etc. and, of course no ink rules out stamping unless you don't consider Versamark to be an ink, which I do.  I was inspired by this card I saw on Pinterest.  The image is no longer on the blog page, but you can see it on my pin.  The use of texture and the clean look of white and a neutral attracted me.  Thanks to my Cricut and Cuddlebug, I could get by without ink.

For the next challenge the rule was NO embellishments.  

No embellishments?!  There is a reason why they call them challenges, because this one was definitely a challenge for me.  I assumed that embossing also counted as an embellishment.  And how can I do without sparkles?  I did use a little bit of glitter paper in the center of the snowflake before attaching it with foam tape for some dimension.  I used this Freshly Made Sketch but put the ribbon element, in this case a punched border, on the bottom because it fit my design better.

The last challenge had NO rules. 

Great!  I could just make a card! After punching the snowflake border and sponging gold metallic ink all around the panel, I sponged the very edge of a strip of gold and put it behind the openings.  The ornament is edged with a bit of black ink and popped up with foam tape.   I used this Freshly Made Sketch as my inspiration:

There you have it, just under the wire, four sNOflakes for Heart 2 Heart's NOvember challenges.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

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

No Stamps Challenge:
Paper:  Yuletide Carol, Black and Colonial White cardstock with gold metallic cardstock from Michael's
Stamps:  none
Ink:  Black (edges of snowflake and patterned paper), Gold Metallic ink by Color Box (edges of black paper)
Embellishments:  Yuletide Carol assortment, Tan and Pearl opaques (retired), Black ribbon from I don't remember here
Other:  Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, Holiday die cuts by Spellbinders

No Ink Challenge:
Paper:  Colonial White cardstock with Gold Metallic cardstock from Michael's
Ink:  none
Stamps:  none
Embellishments:  Pearl opaques (retired), Colonial White satin edged organdy ribbon (retired)
Other:  Art Philosophy and Artbooking Cricut cartrigdes, Stripes and Quatrefoil embossing folders

No Embellishments Challenge:
Paper:  Yuletide Carol, Colonial White, Champagne and Black cardstock with Bronze Metallic cardstock from Michael's, black glitter paper
Ink:  Black (stamp and edges of patterned paper)
Stamp:  Very Merry Christmas (retired Stamp of the Month)
Embellishments:  none
Other:  Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, Snowflake punch by Martha Stewart, Snowflake border punch by ek Success

No Rules Challenge:
Paper:  Yuletide Carol, Black cardstock, Gold Metallic cardstock from Michael's
Ink:  Black (edges of Gold cardstock and patterned paper), Gold Metallic ink by Color Box (edges of Black cardstock)
Embellishments:  Black sparkles, Tan opaque (retired), Black ribbon from I don't remember where

Freshly Made Snowhaven

In my last post I showed y'all a birthday card featuring Close to My Heart's new Snowhaven paper.  Now here I have used it in a more conventional way to make a Christmas card following this Freshly Made Sketch:

For the focal point I wanted to pick up the motif in the border, so I used CTMH's Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge to cut the star on page 25 and then cut it through the center like a pie to get the diamonds.  A Black Epoxy Bubble forms the center.  I couldn't help myself and added some of the new Red Hearts for a bit of fun.  My choice of sentiment was influenced by the fact that this paper pack reminds me of a warm winter sweater.  Here is the inside:

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

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

Paper:  Snowhaven, Glacier, Black, Cranberry, and White Daisy cardstock

Ink:  Black

Stamps:  Very Merry Christmas (retired stamp of the month)

Embellishments:  Red Hearts, Black Epoxy Bubbles

Love Birds Freshly Made Sketch 157

I love Close to My Heart's Christmas paper, Yuletide Carol!  It is so elegant and lends itself to more than just Christmas projects.  This card, based on this Freshly Made Sketch, is the first of two romantic cards illustrating non Christmas uses.

I lightly sponged the edges of each piece with Cocoa ink to help them stand out against the planned Colonial White background.  (Actually, I started by sponging the circle with Saddle, decided it was too red, and sponged back over with it Cocoa.)  This made for a delicate card which was pretty, but I decided that the images popped more against the Kraft paper background which also gave the card a somewhat more masculine feel.  The sentiment comes from the Big Hug stamp set.  What?  You say you don't see a "Love" stamp?  That is because I committed sacrilege by trimming the "Love is All You Need" sentiment with a pair of tiny manicure scissors.  I can always put both pieces on a block and stamp the original image but, in the meantime, saved myself the hassle of trying to precisely mask off the rest of the sentiment.  I used another sentiment from the set on the inside:

I am going to put this in my stash of cards for my bird loving husband because you can never have too many "I love you" cards to give for no special occasion.

Thank you for stopping by!  Now why don't you check out the rest of the cards inspired by this Freshly Made Sketch?  You may even be inspired to enter a card yourself.  You have until tomorrow, Monday, at 3:00 p.m. eastern to enter.  Until next time, Hansi

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

Paper:  Yuletide Carol, Colonial White cardstock, Kraft paper, Brown glitter paper

Ink:  Saddle and Ruby

Stamps:  Big Hug

Color My Heart in Sunset, Honey, and Red Barn

This week the Color My Heart Color Dare is to use Sunset, Honey, and Red Barn, a nice fall combination which also happens to be featured in a long retired Halloween paper, Mischief.  After I cut two pumpkins using Close to My Heart's Artbooking Cricut cartridge, I used the same technique as I did with this card to get a three dimensional effect.  I should say after I cut my second set of pumpkins because the first time I forgot to set my Cricut on real dial size and cut little half inch pumpkins. It is important to remember that when using the Artbooking cartridge the elements are cut in proportion to each other to create a page.  If you want an element to be a different size you have to set it to real dial.  The Cricut thought I was making an inch and a half sized scrapbook page and cut my pumpkins accordingly.  Here is the inside of the card:

For the layout I used this Freshly Made Sketch:

Now why don't you head on over to Color My Heart and Freshly Made Sketches to be inspired by other creations and maybe enter one (or both) of the challenges?  We would love to see your work!  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

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

Paper:  Mischief (retired), Red Barn, Bamboo, Sunset, and Colonial White cardstock

Ink:  Black, Red Barn, Sunset

Stamps:  Eek and Shriek, Wicked (retired)

Embellishments:  Black Mini-Medley Accents

Other:  Artbooking 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.