Color My Heart With Skylark

This week's Color Dare showcases Close to My Heart's new Skylark paper which features Juniper, Lagoon, Sweet Leaf, and Skylark Yellow.  If you do not this paper pack you can still play by using the closest colors you have plus any neutrals.  I will have to admit that I totally cased  this card by Elisha Smith.  I think of Skylark as a feminine paper, but as you can see, it can be masculine.  Here is the inside:

Thank you for stopping by!  Now please go check out some other creations using Skylark at the Color My Heart Color Dare, or better yet, create something of your own and enter it.  You have until 9:00 p.m. central time to enter.  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Skylark, Lagoon, Kraft and White Daisy cardstock
Ink:  Cocoa
Stamp:  Holiday Tags
Embellishments:  Durables Triangle Studs

Going Shabby Chic With Heart 2 Heart

This week the ladies over at Heart 2 Heart want to see some Shabby Chic, a hot trend in paper crafting and home décor.  I started with this Atlantic Hearts Sketch and the new Ivy Lane paper pack which has a feminine, distressed look about it.

After distressing the edges of the foundation layers with Cocoa and attaching them I got busy with embellishments and just layered them on.  I even layered embellishments on top of embellishments!  I used a border punch from EK Success to make some lace which I topped with some retired ribbon.  I used the frame from the recently retired Pewter Mini Medley to frame the sentiment and layered on some more ribbon and a sparkle.  I added a sparkle to the center of the purple flower from the Ivy Lane Assortment and put the Hollyhock flower from the same pack on a Filigree charm.  Of course I had to use some sparkle flourishes.  Yes, to me Shabby Chic is about lots of embellishments and layers.

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Ivy Lane, Bamboo and Colonial White cardstock
Ink:  Cocoa, Smokey Plum
Stamp:  Unity (retired)
Embellishments:  Pewter Mini Medley (retired), Sweet Leaf ribbon (retired), Ivy Lane Assortment, Base and Bling Floral Accent (retired), Filigree Charm (retired), Pink Glitter Gem, Clear Sparkle, Sparkle Flourishes
Other:  Punch from EK Success

In Love with Heart 2 Heart

Have you ever looked at a Cricut shape and wished you had a dimensional for it?  Well wish no more!  Caroline at Caroline's Creations regularly publishes links to tutorials, one of which was this post about a faux letterpress technique.  In it Jennifer McGuire also shared her technique for making a dimensional sentiment which I in turn used to create the sentiment for Heart 2 Heart's challenge to "Let Love Inspire You."  I used the Artbooking cartridge to cut each letter three times out of Colonial White cardstock, glued them in a stack and then topped them with the letters cut from Medium Brown glitter paper. 

For the rest of the card, I used the Art Philosophy cartridge to cut the card on page 65 twice, once at 5.50 and once at 5.0 inches.  I trimmed off the back on the smaller card to save to use as a layer on a future card, ran the front piece though my Cuddlebug with Close to My Heart's new Quatrefoil embossing folder and then layered it on to the larger card base.  I used the Artiste cartridge to cut the flowers and leaves (page 54). To give the leaves some definition and dimension,  I lightly sponged the edges with some Copper metallic ink from Color Box then curled them.  A few Brown Opaques (retired) added some pop to the flowers.  To keep the opaques from being buried too deeply, I filled the centers of the flowers with Liquid Glass, let it dry, and then attached the opaque.

For the layout I used this Freshly Made Sketch:

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Colonial White cardstock, Brown Glitter paper
Ink:  Copper by Color Box
Embellishments:  Brown Opaques (retired),  Colonial White ribbon (retired),  Quatrefoil embossing folder
Other:  Artbooking, Artiste, and Art Philosophy  Cricut cartridges

A Freshly Made Blue Lotus

I am so in need of spring, so y'all may be seeing more flowers from me until the real ones finally come up.  This one adorns a card inspired by this Freshly Made Sketch:

 

I will be back later to tell y'all all about it.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Color My Heart in Goldrush and Topiary

It is time for a new Color Dare!  This week the colors are Topiary and Goldrush.  When I saw this week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch I thought about this butterfly from the retired "Find Your Style" set (which as you may have figured out by now is my all time favorite Close to My Heart stamp) and this flourish from the Swirls Around set which is currently my second favorite Close to My Heart set.

Then I checked out this week's  Heart 2 Heart challenge and would you believe it?  This week's challenge is flourishes!  I love it when three challenges work together so easily.  Before I could make the card I got word that my cousin has a rare and particularly aggressive form of breast cancer.  I knew that this card would be for her and, as she is a woman of strong faith, this sentiment from the "Look to the Light" set was the one to use.

To make the butterfly I inked the stamp with sponge daubers which made the colors softer, cut it out and sponged around the edges to intensify the colors and finally sponged the tips with Cocoa.  I used liquid glass to attach just the body so that the wings would stand up.  After all the stamping was done, I used my ruler with the guide holes to make sure my piercing was straight and evenly spaced.  |Lastly, I used a Goldrush alcohol marker to color some bitty sparkles and applyied them to the flourish.  This is just a heads up:  Close to My Heart will be retiring all of the Exclusive Inks markers sets, so they are now available only while supplies last.

Now I have to tell you a secret.  I do not have any Topiary ink or paper, so I used New England Ivy.   If you want to play the Color My Heart Color Dare and don't have the exact color you can still play using the closest thing you have.  Now please go check out all the creative projects at Color My Heart,  Heart 2 Heart Challenges, and Atlantic Hearts Sketches.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Goldrush and Colonial White cardstock
Ink:  Goldrush, New England Ivy, and Cocoa plus a Goldrush alcohol marker
Stamps:  Find Your Style (retired), Swirls Around,  Look to the Light
Embellishments:  Bitty Sparkles, Brown Opaques (retired)

Atlantic Hearts Sketch 42

I have been needing way to many of these kind of cards lately.  For this one I used this Atlantic Hearts Sketch and a new Close to My Heart Paper, Ariana.

Ariana is one of those papers that uses colors unique to the pack, so I layered Blush, Sorbet and Ruby to resist emboss the lily.  I love the Ariana Gray cardstock that I used for the mats and wish was a permanent color.

Thank you for stopping by!  Now please go over to Atlantic Hearts to see how others have interpreted this sketch.  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Ariana with Champagne, Ariana Grey and White Daisy cardstock
Ink:  Sorbet, Blush, Ruby, Outdoor Denim
Stamps:  Sincere Expressioins, Lovely Lily (retired)
Embellishments:  Filigree Charms (retired), ribbon by Craft Essentials, Clear Detail embossing powder

Happy Valentine's Day!

Continuing my theme of using nontraditional colors for valentines, I made this one for my husband with a new Close to My Heart paper pack, Ivy Lane.  Of course the love of my life deserves something special, so I used this tutorial from Splitcoast Stampers to make a three dimensional card.

I used the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge to cut the flower ((page 69) and hearts (page 26) and the Artiste cartridge to cut the leaves (page 54).  I sponged all the edges except those of the flower and card base with Smokey Plum.  I love the small sparkle flourish and am so happy to see that they are now available in black (even if I didn't use them here).  Just to make sure there was enough sparkle, because you can't have too much, I put one in the middle of the flower and some bitty sparkles down the side panels.  The inside was as much fun to do as the outside.

Did I mention that the theme of this week's Heart 2 Heart Challenge is "Hearts Galore?"  You know that I will be entering this card in it!  Thank you for stopping by.  Now please head on over to see more hearts.  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Ivy Lane with Hollyhock, Sweet Leaf, White Daisy and Bamboo cardstock
Ink:  Smokey Plum
Stamps:  Scandinavian Wishes (retired), Happy Valentine's (retired)
Embellishments:  Small Sparkle Flourishes, Bitty Sparkles, Clear Sparkle
Other:  Art Philosophy and Artiste Cricut cartridge