It's an Art Philosophy Blog Hop!

I originally entered this in the Challenge Me Monday challenge at Fantabulous Cricut blogsite. I've been too busy to create anything new so I'm also posting this for the CTMH Art Philosophy blog hop. The challenge here is to use something from the Art Philosophy cartridge in creating your project and it is hosted by Lisa Stenz, a wonderfully talented CTMH consultant. You can find Lisa's Creative Corner blogsite here.
Thanks to fellow CTMH consultant Susan Koeferl who posted on our bulletin board and recommended this great blogsite that features Cricut made projects. You can check it out here. They have something special going on everyday there! "Holiday cards" is the theme for this week's Challenge Me Monday challenge. I made 2 cards, each with Close To My Heart products and their exclusive Art Philosophy cricut cartridge. The first card used Cranberry CS and ink, A1115 A Holiday stamp set, Bliss paper and holographic paper (non ctmh). The Art Philosophy cartridge was used to cut the scalloped oval and scalloped oval with trees cut out. They can be found on page 52 of the Art Philosophy booklet and the measurements I used were 2.25 for the top layer which was decorative layer shift button. The background oval was cut at 2.75.

The second card is very similar but I changed the color of the papers, ink and greeting. The new colors are Holiday Red and Topiary CS. The greeting is from B1381 Holiday Cheer. I used Bonding Memories Glue Pen and Prisma glitter to make the outside edge sparkle. (My first attempt was to glitter the entire green oval but then the pop up dots would not stick so I glittered only the outside edge so I the top layer would stay attached!)

These cards were easy to do and fun to make. It took me way longer to write this blog about them than to create them! Which one do you like better?

Happy Thanksgiving!

The holidays are a hectic time yet so enjoyable! I've made some thanksgiving cards and treat holders but haven't had the time to post them as I was busy preparing for company. These are the ways I've used the Close To My Heart Art Philosophy cartridge to make the colorful turkeys. Thanks to fellow CTMH consultant Connie Saulsbury for sharing the directions for these cute turkeys. Visit her blog here for details. I made a big batch of them, some of which I made cards with but the majority of them I attached an easel stand to the back and put them in with customer orders that I delivered last week. Everyone loved them! Here are some photos:

Yesterday I used my new Gypsy to figure the size to make the treat holder from page 22 of the Art Philosophy cricut booklet. (Font Layer shift) It was a lot of fun to just look at it on the screen and then connect it to the expression machine and just cut it. I measured an Andes Mint at 1 x 1.25 and played with the size on the gypsy. The first one I cut was the correct size and fit 2 Andes mints. (I think it would be 4.5" without using the gypsy). I used old B sized wooden CTMH stamps to decorate and closed the treat box with raffia. I made 12 of these and put them at each guest's place setting. They were a big hit!

I plan to do the same thing with Christmas papers next month. Thanks for visiting my blog and happy holidays to all!

:) Marie

November Constant Campaign--Holiday Wishes and Clean and Simple Sketch Challenge

Close To My Heart is offering a fantastic holiday stamp set called "Holiday Wishes" for just $5.00 (valued at $17.95) with a purchase of $25 in acrylic stamps during November 2011. I received mine yesterday and had a blast making these cards today. There are coordinating Art Philosophy cricut cuts to match these stamps. These are the stamps that come in the set and I managed to use every one of them in these 4 cards. All products used are from Close To My Heart.

This first card is based on the Clean and Simple Stamping Sketch FTL164 which can be found here.It features "Believe" paper, Topiary and Holiday Red CS and Topiary Ink. Lines were embossed on the Holiday Red CS and then distressed with a sanding block. The star and banner were cut on the cricut with CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge.

The next card features "Wonderland" paper, Twilight CS, and Blue and Green Sparkles. After stamping with Twilight Ink, the images were stamped in Versamark and then clear embossed with Polysparkle Tinsel Embossing Powder (CTMH retired).

The tree in this card was stamped in Sweet Leaf Ink on Sweet Leaf CS. The birds were colored with a Tulip marker. The same image was then stamped in Versamark and embossed with Polysparkle Tinsel and then Topiary Ink was rubbed across the tree. The background paper is CTMH "Mistletoe" (retired).

The final card features Vineyard Berry CS and Ink. Bronze glitter gel was applied at the top of each stocking and Stardust glitter gel was used on the angel halos and wings.

Sensational 60th Birthday Card for H2H and Card Patterns 137 Sketch Challenges

Here is a very special card that I made for a very special friend. The challenge at H2H is to use a number on the card and the sketch for card patterns is at the end of this post. The card is 5" x 6.5" and all the supplies used to make this card are from Close To My Heart.

The Art Philosophy cricut cartridge was used to cut the banner, scalloped oval, oval, numbers and dragonflies. (I LOVE all the things we can cut with this cartridge!) Elemental, White Daisy, Pacifica and (retired) Metallic cardstock papers were used. The white paper was distressed with Pacifica ink and sponged with Bamboo ink. Friendship alphabet was used to stamp the word "sensational" with 2nd generation Pacifica ink and then clear embossed. Blue and Green Sparkles embellish the numbers. I'm sure that Arlene will appreciate this one of a kind card--she's a great friend and avid stamper. Thanks for stopping by to check out this card--if you want to know any more details please comment below.

Happy 50th Birthday Jackie Boyle and Card Pattern Challenge 136

Today is my sister's 50th birthday and I made her a card following the Card Pattern Challenge 136. Usually I write a message on a sticky note inside so she can reuse it but she won't be able to do that this time! This is a special one of a kind card for a very special person. The greeting was printed from the computer.

This was the sketch:

Paper Bag Pocket

This project was inspired by another Close To My Heart consultant, Ms. Aaron Brown, who posted on our bulletin board. When I saw this project I just knew that I would have to make it. I made 4 of these to thank the women who ran my 2 golf leagues. Each pocket holds 4 cards and envelopes with various sentiments. The stamp set is now retired "Tee Time" and the patterned paper and ink are also retired--True Teal. I picked these colors as they coordinated with the ribbon that I used. The flourish stamp is from the "You and Me" special promotion set from May 2011. I used my sewing machine to seal the pocket closed although you could easily use a strong glue. Here are a series of photos of this gift. It was easy to do!

You can find directions and a video tutorial on Aaron's blogsite here. Thanks for visiting. Have a great week! :) Marie

H2H Sketch Challenge with Roxie and Hooray Bouquet

This week there is a sketch challenge at H2H challenge blog. Here it is:

My card uses Close To My Heart products: Roxie paper, vanilla cream CS, D1491 Hooray Bouquet, Cocoa and Hollyhock inks. The vertical strips are from the end of the Roxie paper--don't you love the scallops?

Thanks for looking!

Made with Cricut Scraps and H2H Challenge

Now that I've been playing with the new CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge I've accumulated quite a bit of scraps from which my shapes have come from. I challenged myself to find ways to use some of these scraps. Here is what I started from:

This first card was made with the Hollyhock paper from which the "ticket" shapes were cut. The greeting is from Harvest Happiness (C1463) set. Outdoor Denim and Indian Corn Blue CS was also accent the card. The dark blue circles were cut with a regular hole punch. As this card has 3 colors and no patterned paper it qualifies for the Sept. 19th H2H challenge.

The next card also qualifies for the H2H Sept. 19 challenge with the following colors: Goldrush, Autumn Terracotta, Barn Red and Colonial White. The frame for the leaf on the top right was sponged with goldrush ink. The leaves and greeting were embossed in Goldrush EP (now retired).

This card was made sponging through the scraps with Autumn Terracotta and Goldrush inks. It was very fast and easy to do.

The final card I have to share with you today uses Hollyhock, Black and White Daisy CS so it would also qualify for the H2H challenge. The inside of the flowers was made with a Ranger product called Liquid Pearls.

Pair-A-Phrase Cards

September is National Stamping Month and to celebrate it Close To My Heart is offering a special double stamp set for FREE with a $75 purchase. These are the stamps and greetings included in this great set:

Here are the cards I've made with the set:

The above card features the new CTMH paper called Wonderland with a background square of Twilight CS. The image was stamped in chocolate ink and colored in with Chocolate and New England Ivy markers for the branch and leaves and then colored pencils for the owl.

The next card uses Miracle paper and the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge. The snowman and greeting was stamped in Crystal Blue ink and was colored with pencils and then embellished with a glue pen and Prisma Glitter.

The bicycle card was inspired by the glittery ribbon that I found at a craft store. It matches the CTMH Pear CS and ink very well so I just had to use it! The shapes were cut with the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge and is backed with Sky CS. The image was colored with pencils and the greeting comes from D1187 For Every Occasion.

The last of these cards was made with Autumn Terracotta CS and retired B&T paper and Honey CS. The utensils were stamped onto a scalloped circle which was cut with the CTMH 2" Scallop Punch.

Thanks for stopping by to check these cards out. I would love you to leave me a comment. Have a great week full of creativity and fun! :) Marie

Roxie and Card Patterns Sketch 130

Today FedEx delivered some new CTMH paper and I couldn't wait to do this sketch. I love the simplicity of the design. I used Roxie paper which is card stock weight and doubled sided--plaid on one side and floral print on the other and the greeting is from the very versatile Salutation Seals Stamp set. The greetings include Congratulations, Thinking of You, I Love You, Happy Birthday, Celebrate and Thank you. The greeting was stamped in Hollyhock ink on Colonial White paper. The bling on the smaller circles are cream opaque adhesive gems from CTMH. Thanks to Card Patterns for providing wonderful sketch challenges and to all who share their artwork to inspire other. Happy Labor Day weekend! Enjoy!

Wicked--August Stamp of the Month

In my last post I showed a non-Halloween card made using the Close To My Heart August Stamp of the Month called Wicked. Today I'm posting a Halloween card using the greeting from the same set so you can look in the previous post to see what is included in the stamp set. For my design I used a pattern from the Wishes Card Confidence book which was card #2 in the Season's Greetings workshop with CTMH colors Colonial White, Sunset, Gypsy and Black. The greeting stamp fits perfectly into the "Shape 1" pattern from the new CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge. I used Gypsy ink for the greeting and Black ink to distress the edges of the card front and greeting. I used a background stamp from the Harvest Happiness (C1436) stamp set which is in the new catalog. The greeting is mounted over some raffia--doesn't it look as if it could have come from a witch's broom? Some of the paper edges were distressed with the distressing tool. This was a really simple card to do. I hope you've enjoyed checking it out and I hope that it inspires you to create cards that are fun for you too. Thanks for stopping by!

CTMH Color Dare #6 with Art Philosophy and Wicked

At Diana's CTMH Color Dare Challenge this week the colors are Sky, Topiary, Cotton Candy and Honey. In addition to using the specified colors I used the following CTMH products: Art Philosophy cricut cartridge for greeting and scalloped circle, the background stamp from the August Stamp of the Month called "Wicked" and the Wishes Card Confidence book pattern called "Right Design" on page 42. It was easy to follow the pattern and lots of fun to make. Enjoy!

CTMH Color Dare Challenge #5 using Art Philosophy Cartridge

Have you heard about the new Cricut cartridge called "Art Philosophy" available from Close To My Heart yet? It's just fantastic--I've had the original cricut for years yet only used it once. Now I can't stop playing with it! This special cartridge also comes with 3 coordinating stamp sets and 3 sets of Dimensional Elements. Check it out on page 13 of the new catalog here.

The other day I was just having fun cutting out shapes using the new cricut cartridge and then I thought I could use the shapes in a challenge. As I perused the consultant bulletin board I came across a new challenge series that interested me. It is called "CTMH Color Challenge" and can be found here. I probably would not have chosen to put these colors together yet I enjoyed the challenge. Diana's challenge for this week was to use these CTMH colors: Pansy Purple, Garden Green, Holiday Red, Amethyst, and Black. I liked that I could use as many of these colors as I wanted and did not have to use all of them.

My card was made using all but 1 of the listed colors--I forgot about black when I was designing the card yet it didn't matter. The patterned paper was from very old CTMH Pansy Purple B&T paper which I colored with Garden Green and Amethyst markers. The shapes cut from Art Philosophy were 2 3/4" Garden Green Circle1, 2 1/2" White Circle1, 2 3/4" B&T Circle3 Layer, and 1 1/2" B&T Banner2 Card. The greeting is from the Salutation Seals set and was stamped in Pansy Purple Ink and then clear embossed. the inside circles of the scalloped circle was colored with Pansy Purple Ink and then Liquid Glass dots were applied. I used Garden Green Ink to stamp the swirl stamp from the You and Me stamp set. (That swirl is my new favorite background stamp!) Hope you like it.

There is a special birthday coming up this week so I used the same sketch I came up with in different colors and AP cricut cut numbers. I also used my Cuttlebug embossing folders to texturize the papers. Thanks for stopping by to take a look. Have a great week!

Clean and Simple Challenge FTL 153

When I have time I enjoy doing card sketches. The Clean and Simple Challenge can be found here. This one came pretty easily to me using Close To My Heart products. I used Kraft CS, Crystal Blue CS, Treasure Life Stamp set (D1306) and For Every Occasion stamp set (D1187) and Chocolate ink.

The colorful stripe came from the tear off strip from one of CTMH's new cardstock weight patterned papers from the Dreamin' pack. I love being able to use every little bit of paper! Thanks for looking!

H2H Juvenile Birthday Challenge

Here is a card that I made for my nephew's upcoming birthday that fits in with the challenge found here. I used the new CTMH paper pack called "Dreamin", Goldrush Paper, Pacifica Ink and Card Chatter--Birthday and Friendship Alphabet stamp sets. The CTMH Scallop Circle Punch was used for the numbers. The stripe with circles is from the tear off sheet from the paper. (CTMH ID on one side and usable accent on the other--how cool is that?) Liquid Glass was applied to the numbers and the accent stripe to give it a shiny look.

Enjoy! I'll be "dreamin" of ways to use all the fabulous new CTMH products. If you haven't seen them yet you can check them out here. Thanks for stopping by!

Napkin Rings from Toilet Paper Tubes--H2H Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Challenge

Here is a really simple way to create your own napkin rings. Just cut a strip of patterned paper and glue to 1/2 of a toilet paper tube. I used CTMH Paper Garden (retired) and Bonding Memories Glue.

You can check out what others have created to participate in this challenge here.

Have fun! Marie

Hope for Japan and Card Chatter--Sympathy

These cards are being submitted to the Hope for Japan Blog Hop which can be found here. Thank you Leanne Dudley for hosting this blog hop!
Close To My Heart is donating all proceeds from the sale of this stamp set for the Japan earthquake and tsunami relief efforts and it is specially priced at just $5.00! The stamp set looks like this:

The first card uses Sunflower, Autumn Terracotta and Colonial White cardstocks with Chocolate and Autumn Terracotta Inks. (Through digital image manipulation the outer border appears to have a bluish tint but the base layer is actually Colonial White.)

The second card uses Sky, Hydrangea (retired but I still love this color!) and White Daisy cardstocks with Hydrangea ink. (There is actually a 1/4" white border around this card which may be difficult to see).

The greetings came from D1476 Card Chatter Sympathy which has become one of my favorite greeting sets--for much more than Sympathy cards!

Thanks for stopping by to visit my blog! Have a great week of creativity!
Marie

New Products from CTMH Linky Party Blog Hop

Thank you Tresa  for setting up this Linky party for Close To My Heart consultants to share products from the new catalog which goes live next week! I have been involved with rubber stamp art for 20 years and have accumulated quite a few stamps (mostly CTMH!) and the new stamps I appreciate the most are stamps with messages which can be used on the front or inside the cards. Card Chatter--Birthday is a new stamp set which is very versatile.

This card  was made with this set:

The greeting was stamped with Cranberry Ink onto Sunny Yellow cardstock.  The patterned paper is from the new Fanfare collection. An Outdoor Denim brad attached white grosgrain ribbon on the side.  It was easy to do--especially since I followed a pattern called "Small Wonder" from the Wishes card making book!  This book is a wonderful resource!

Other greetings in the new Card Chatter--Birthday set are pictured below:

Now it is time for you to check out other new product ideas

CTMH January Stamp of the Month and H2H Challenge

The theme of this week's Heart 2 Heart Challenge is cards featuring animals or insects.  The CTMH January Stamp of the Month "Find Your Style" features a bird, butterfly, dress form and shoe with a friendship greeting and the words Love, Soar, Friend and Beautiful.  Here is my entry for the Heart 2 Heart challenge this week:

The bird is black embossed onto a piece of gold holographic gift bag paper (it was broken and I had to find another use for the pretty paper!) The ovals were made with the Coluzzle knife and template.  They are mounted onto Wings paper.  Soar was stamped in Black ink onto Twilight CS.

I also had fun playing with the Shoe stamp and a variety of colors:

The above card features Twilight, Hollyhock, Black and white cardstocks.  The greeting is stamped with Hollyhock ink and trimmed with an old Fiskars scissors called Bowtie.  Licorice Opaques Adhesive Gems adorn the shoe and paper.

In the next card, the shoe was stamped all over Sky CS with Pacifica Ink:

Pacifica, Pear and Holiday Red cardstocks were also used. Red sparkles adorn the shoes and horizontal trim.  Thanks for checking out my latest creations.  Feel free to leave comments. :)

You can check out what other CTMH consultants have done with the January Stamp of the Month set here: