Going Out of My Comfort Zone With Washi Tape Part 2

As I have mentioned before, I am done with this cold weather and am in serious need of spring, so I made a couple of flowers and continued to play with washi tape and this Atlantic Hearts Sketch:

First I combined the black lacy tapes I couldn't resist from Micheal's with Close to My Heart's Silver Geometric tape and some strips of Black Glitter paper and added a pink flower to make a romantic card for my husband:

Next I used CTMH's Silver Geometric, Smoothie Striped, and Juniper tape from the Christmas catalogue to make a birthday card with a tropical feel:

To make the flowers I started by using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge to cut flower 7 (page 39, 2.5, 2.25, 2.0, 1.75 inches for pink flower, 2.5, 2.25, 2.25 for white) out of Colonial White cardstock.  Next I used an embossing stylus to score lines from the center outward on each flower.  For the pink flower I sponged the whole flower with Blush working lighter in the center and heavier at the edges.  For the white flower I sponged the very edges with Smoothie.  Then I shaped the petals with my fingers.  The centers are Colonial White Paper Flowers (sponged with Juniper for the white flower) that were retired years ago and Pewter Designer Brads.  I used foam tape to attach the completed flowers to the cards.  Here is a detail view of the pink flower. 

I have to thank the ladies at Atlantic Hearts for giving me the inspiration to try washi tape.  I am a convert.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Smoothie, Colonial White, and Black cardstock, Black Glitter paper
Ink:  Smoothie, Blush, Slate
Stamp:  Holiday Tags
Embellishments:  Geometric Silver, Juniper (retired), and Smoothie Striped Washi Tape with Black washi tapes from Michael's, Colonial White Paper Flowers (retired), Pewter Designer Brads, Gray Sparkles
Other:  Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Going ouside of My Comfort Zone With Washi Tape

When I saw this Atlantic Hearts Sketch I thought about washi tape:

Washi tape is the big thing now... and I have most of the Close to My Heart versions... and I bought a pack with three rolls that screamed my name at Michael's... yet it makes me nervous.  With paper, I move pieces around and maybe try more than one color before I glue it down.  Although you can, if you are very slow and careful, remove washi tape, it just doesn't have the same flexibility if you want to play with your design.  You might say it requires some commitment.  Well it was time for me to get out of my comfort zone and play.  I had several ideas which was okay because I have to send Valentine's Day care packages to the college students in my life which means that I need four valentines.

First I combined Close to My Heart's Silver Geometric tape with the black lace, black geometric and musical notes tapes that I bought at Michael's and, to add to the shine, some narrow strips of Black Glitter paper.  Amie Kiger  would be so proud of me!   Rather than try to trim the washi tape, I just folded it around to the back.  I had to do a little trimming in the corners.  The sentiment is a combination of "A Little Everything" and "Say It in Style" (both retired). 

That pretty, bright red is Tulip which is, unfortunately, retired, so for my next card I switched to Ruby.  I Used CTMH's Ruby Chevron and Slate Polka-Dot with the two black tapes from Michael's and, of course, the black glitter paper.  Usually I sponge on the corresponding ink to hide the white core that shows though after embossing, but this time I left it visible to complement the distressed feel of torn washi tape. 

For my last card in this series I used the black tapes from Michael's, Ruby Chevron tape and the Silver Geometric along with the Black Glitter paper.  After I applied the tape I used a Nestabilities die cut from Spellbinders to punch out the heart.  I was afraid that the Cricut would pull up some of the tape as it sliced along the paper.  (Have any of y'all tried using a Cricut to cut paper that has been covered with washi tape?)  I then repeated the die cut on some black cardstock, placed the washi covered paper on top of the black cardstock, lined up the heart shaped holes and attached them, and then trimmed the black cardstock to form a narrow border.  The plan was to use half a roll of foam tape to attach it to a Ruby card, but after laying the panel on a the Ruby card base, I thought the Ruby border made the card too dark, so I put a square of Ruby cardstock on a Colonial White card base positioned so that the heart would be red but the border would be white.  Then I used half a roll of foam tape...

 Here is a close up so you can how the washi taped panel is popped up with the Floral Accent nestled in the well, so to speak.

Now what about that washi taped heart that I punched out?  I used it to make another card with this week's Freshly Made Sketch:

After having so much fun with washi tape and valentines I continued the fun with a couple non valentines which will be in my next post.  In the meantime, I have to pack some boxes and get them to the Post Office in the morning.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Ruby, Tulip (retired), Black and Colonial White cardstock, Black Glitter paper
Ink:  Ruby, Tulip (retired), Black
Stamps:  Holiday Tags, A Little Everything (retired), Say It in Style (retired)
Embellishments:  Ruby Chevron, Slate Polka-Dot, and Silver Geometric Wasi Tape, black lace, geometric and musical note washi tape from Michael's, Black sparkles, Base and Bling Floral Accents (retired)
Other:  Nestabilities heart die cut, Paper Lace II embossing folder by Cuddlebug

Color My Heart With Ruby, Sunset, and Cotton Candy

I have some exciting news!  I was invited to be on the design team for the Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge! My first card as a designer is for the Ruby, Sunset and Cotton Candy challenge.  It also features one of the new Hostess Rewards stamps, Unicorn Dreams.  I stamped the unicorn with Versamark, embossed it with Clear Detail powder and then sponged the challenge colors over to make the unicorn appear.  Next I used Post-It notes to mask part of the "Don't quit your day dream" sentiment before inking the stamp with Versamark so that only the word "dream" would be stamped on the card and embossed it with White and Pearl embossing powders mixed together.  To provide the sparkle that all unicorns should have, I used Bitty Sparkles from Close to My Heart and some star shaped rhinestones that I found at Michael's.

Thank you for stopping by!  Now please go over to the Color My Heart Color Dare page to check out some other beautiful creations using Ruby, Sunset, and Cotton Candy.  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all from Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Ruby and White Daisy cardstock
Ink:  Ruby, Sunset, and Cotton Candy dye ink, Versamark
Stamp:  Unicorn Dreams
Embellishments:  Bitty Sparkles, Star rhinestones (Recollections), Clear Detail embossing powder (retired), White and Pearl embossing powders (Recollections)

Something Old, Something New

Marie Flayer AKA the NJ Stamping Queen posted this card on her blog for the Try Stampin' on Tuesday Challenge, a new challenge for me, and I not only loved the card, I was intrigued by the sketch and decided to play along.

This was my first chance to play with Close to My Heart's new paperpack, Skylark.  I decided the left hand long panel needed a bit of brown, so I used this season's petite perk stamp set to add the dragonfly.  While I was at it, I stamped him in second generation ink in the lower left corner.  The panels are all sponged in Chocolate ink which is not one of the colors in the pack, but I prefer it to Desert Sand when it comes to sponging.  A bird from the Skylark Assortment and a few Aqua Dots provided the finishing touches. 

With that card finished, I decided to try a vertical variation using a very old pack, Bliss:

Everything about this card is old and retired.  I cut the butterfly out of the B&T sheet and attached only the body so his wings could pop up.  The other embellishment is a piece of ribbon from the Crème Brulee Ribbon Assortment held in place with a Colonial White Brad which was colored with a Sorbet Alcohol marker (the only non retired item I used) and a Filigree Charm.  The panels were sponged with Grey Flannel.

So there you have it:  Two cards, one made with virtually all new products and one made with retired items.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

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

First card:
Paper:  Skylark, Colonial White, Juniper and Kraft cardstock
Ink:  Chocolate
Stamps:  Sincere Expressions, Petite Perks
Embellishments:  Skylark Assortment, Aqua Dots

Second card:
Paper:  Bliss (retired), Colonial White and Grey Flannel (retired) cardstock
Ink:  Grey Flannel ink (retired), Sorbet alcohol marker
Embellishments:  Filigree Charm (retired), Colonial White Brad (retired), Crème Brulee Ribbon Assortment (retired), Brown Opaques (retired)

One More Spotlight on CTMH's White Core Cardstock

This is one more post spotlighting the white core of Close to My Heart's cardstock for the Heart 2 Heart "In the Spotlight" challenge.  To add even more texture to your embossing you can use a sanding block lightly over the embossing to expose the white core.  This card also provides a sneak peak at the Skylark paper and embellishments from the Spring catalogue that goes live tomorrow.  Outdoor Denim is not one of the colors in the pack, but I like how it goes with the Skylark colors.  I sponged the circle with Sweet Leaf and embellished the sentiment with some Blue and Green Sparkles which were retired last season.

The layout is this sketch from Mojo Monday:

They are trying something new this year.  In the past the last challenge of the month was a choice of a circle or square card.  This year it will be a tall thin card.  Thank you, for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Skylark, Outdoor Denim, Sweet Leaf, and White Daisy cardstock
Ink:  Outdoor Denim and Sweet Leaf
Stamp:  Be Stll
Embellishments:  Skylark Assortment, Blue and Green Sparkles (retired)
Other:  Leafy Branch embossing folder from Cuddlebug

Heart 2 Heart goes Two Faced

My Yankee and Canadian friends are going to laugh, but when you are used to highs in the mid to upper forties, these days where the temperature cannot even make it to freezing are too darn cold!  Last week we even had one day when it only make it to 16!  To paraphrase Jimmy Buffet, I need to fly to Saint Somewhere.  Maybe that is why I like the paper that comes with Close to My Heart's Cloud Nine card kit.   Although orange is not my favorite color unless combined with maroon (Go Hokies!), the addition of Honey and Lagoon gives this paper a tropical feel.  I knew immediately that I wanted to use it in the Heart 2 Heart Challenge to use both sides of a paper. 

No, this is not a Close to My heart stamp.  You know how when you run into a craft store for something like adhesive or a Cricut mat you can't walk out without something extra?  I could not resist this cat:

I think the balloons' busyness detracts from the cat, so I covered them with balloons cut with CTMH's Artiste Cricut cartridge which I sponged and embellished with highlights created with Liquid Glass.  Here is a more detailed description of the process.  I also used the Artist cartridge to cut the sentiment and diamonds at the bottom.  Here is the inside:

The layout is based on this Freshly Made Sketch:

Thank you for stopping by! In the meantime, I am waiting for summer!  Until next time, Hansi

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

Paper:  Cloud Nine B&T, Honey, Sunset, Lagoon, and White Daisy cardstock

Ink:  Honey, Sunset, Lagoon, and Black



Stamps:  Sentiment from with stamp sets included with the Art Philosophy cartridge, Inkadinkadoo
Embellishments:  Liquid Glass
Other:  Artiste Cricut cartridge

White Core in the Spotlight

 

For the Heart 2 Heart Challenge, "In the Spotlight," I am going to spotlight one of the advantages of the white core in Close to My Heart's cardstock.  As soon as I saw this Atlantic Hearts Sketch, I knew I wanted to feature a flower like the one I used on a card for my husband last year:

 

 

 Now in order to make this flower pop, you have to sponge the edges of the petals to give them definition and then shape them.  The issue was that I wanted my flower to be Indian Corn Blue with Hollyhock edges for this week's Color My Heart Color Dare and Hollyhock sponged over Indian Corn Blue would just show up as purple.  This is where the white core of CTMH's cardstock is a real advantage.  I used a file (to be retired January 31, but you can also use a nail file or small piece of sandpaper) to remove the top layer of blue around the edges so that I would be sponging Hollyhock on to the exposed white the white core which would not distort the color.  Then I shaped the top three layers by putting my thumb and index finger below each petal and pressing the nail of my other index finger into the "V" much like I was crimping a pie crust.  That made a crease in the middle of each petal with the edges curling to the side like a three dimensional heart.  I then wrapped the bottom petals around the handle of my paper piercer to make them curl down.  After stacking them, fastening them with a Filigree Charm brad embellished with a Pink Glitter Gem, I attached it to my card with a piece of Foam Tape.  Here is a close up:

 

 

I wish I had posted this Tuesday night when I finished the flower because on Wednesday I saw that not one, but two, members of the Atlantic Hearts design team had made layered flowers using the same shape cut with  the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.  I guess that cliché about great minds thinking alike is true.  

 

Thanks for dropping by!  Until next time, Hansi

 

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

 

Paper:  Indian Corn Blue, Hollyhock, and White Daisy cardstock

Ink:  Hollyhock

Stamps:  Twirls Around

Embellishments:  Filigree Charms (retired), Pink Glitter Gem, Bouquet Assortment (retired)