Fantabulous Cricut #95 Label it!

I love all the things you can do with Close To My Heart Art Philosophy cricut cartridge! This week's Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Me Monday is to use a label on your card. There are so many that I could choose from from this fantastic cartridge! I decided to also make a fun shaped card--scalloped circle--so from the Art Philosophy cartridge.

Cricut cuts I used: Scalloped Circle card feature from page 31 at 4.25"; Circle #2 from page 31 at 3.75"; Shape 8 from page 47 at 2.5"; Decorative layer from page 47 also at 2.5". I used CTMH Wonderland paper, white daisy paper, strip of Twilight paper, Twilight ink, versamark ink and clear embossing powder. The greeting is from CTMH Say it in Style--a very versatile set. Thanks for stopping by!

Art Philosophy Cut Embossing Folders--I made my own!

I have always loved the look of dry embossing folders on cards and am anxiously looking forward to Close To My Heart coming out with a line of them that would coordinate with our stamps. (I don't know of any company plans to do this and I am wishful thinking about it!) In the meantime I came across a Youtube video about making your own embossing folders out of recycled materials such as cereal boxes. This is the video clip that I inspired me. Here are my shamrock cards:

I used my Gypsy to create a page of shamrocks from an Art Philosophy tag on page 50 of the AP booklet. I "hid" the outline and the hole on top so I could just use the shamrock image. I then copied, pasted and arranged the shamrock images on my Gypsy. I used a sheet of white chipboard that I had from another project but I could have used a cereal box too. I used the multicut feature on my Gypsy set for 3 cuts. My blade pressure was 5 and speed was set at 4 with a regular blade. I popped out all the shamrocks and used one of CTMH Finishing Files to smooth the rough edges in the negative part.

I cut 2 pieces of chipboard at 4 3/8 x 5 3/4 and used masking tape at the top to make an embossing folder. (For the folder I used a 12 x 12 piece of cardboard that came with CTMH Memory Protectors. I found that this was very sturdy and more difficult to cut through so I used it as the folder pieces.) Next I put the shamrocks back into the sheet and placed it inside of the folder.

I then applied small amounts of 3M Quick Dry Adhesive to the just the shamrocks. Look for the tiny white dots in the photo. (Be careful not to get it too close to the edge or it may leak through and adhere the other side of the chipboard to that side also.)

I closed the top of the folder over the insert and placed 3 hardcover books on top. I let it dry for about 10 minutes and then carefully peeled back the bottom layer of negative shamrocks.

Then I placed the shamrocks back inside the negative frame before applying glue. I then applied dots of glue to this side, closed the folder, covered it with books and let it dry.

Now when I open the folder it looks like this:

I place my paper in the middle of my folder and run it through my Cuttlebug using from bottom to top: A platform, B platform, embossing folder with paper inside, B platform. (Depending on the thickness of your materials you might want to add a piece or 2 of cardstock or chipboard to apply more pressure to the embossing sandwich.)

Details about the cards at the top of the post: I used Close To My Heart retired wood stamps for the greetings and the retired color "Kentucky Green" which I think is the best match for anything to do with St. Patrick's day and shamrocks. On the first card I chalk colored 2 of the shamrocks with retired CTMH chalks--Kentucky Green. I used a CTMH sanding block to lightly distress the top of the second card. The square mat is made from Pear cardstock and the edges of the scalloped circle were outlined with a Kentucky Green marker.

H2H Challenge--Photo Inspired Card

This week's Heart 2 Heart Challenge is to create a card based on a photo. There are so many possibilities! I liked the branch in the photo best so I featured that image in my card. I used CTMH Brown Bag, Chocolate, Bliss and Olivia papers. The leaves were cut using the Art Philosophy cartridge and were dotted with bronze glitter gel. The greeting is from D1444 A Little Thanks. Here is what I came up with:

The photo that inspired my card is here:

What kind of card will you make based on the photo? Go on over to http://www.heart2heartchallenges.blogspot.com/2012/01/photo-inspired-challenge.html to join us!

Clean and Simple Sketch Challenge FTL 174

I love the look of clean and simple cards and this week I found time to make and enter a card. All products used are by Close To My Heart including Fanfare paper along with Cranberry, Pacifica, Sunny Yellow and White Daisy. The card sets are D1475 Card Chatter--Birthday and C1483 Harvest Happiness. I used the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge to cut out the scalloped ovals. Here is the card which I rotated to suit my vision:

Here is the original sketch:

Thanks for looking!

Card Word Puzzle with Sweetheart Paper--Can you help me think of phrases?

The greeting from this set is from Close To My Heart and will be available on February 1 here. It is a collection of words that can be combined to create your own greetings with beautiful flower images too! Here is a photo:

Here is the first card I made with this set. I used CTMH Art Philosophy cricut cartridge to cut the label, tulip ink, black cs and cotton candy cs stripe. The featured paper is CTMH Sweetheart paper which is on clearance right now. ($3 for 12 sheets of patterned paper and 10 sheets of coordinating cardstock.) You can get it here but hurry!

After I photographed the card I decided to add some bling:

Here is a list of all the words included in this set listed alphabetically:
C1494 Card Word Puzzle
A at an anniversary all and a are
B bridal beautiful birthday by belated because
C congratulations celebration
D do
E ed
F from for
G
H have happy
I is ing
J just
L little let
M my miss makes me many much
N note never
O our or of
P
Q
R retirement
S shower sad somethin’ s sorry
T the to think thank
U us up
V very
W with wonderful wish will
Y your yourself you
Z

Here are a list of phrases that I came up with. Can you help me add to this list?

Card Word Puzzle PHRASES
A an anniversary is wonderful, a birthday is wonderful
B belated birthday belated anniversary
C congratulations
D
E
F
G
H have a happy birthday (retirement, anniversary) happy for you, happy for your retirement, happy with you
I
J just a little somethin’ for you, just a note for you, just a little birthday celebration
K
L let us wish you a happy birthday (anniversary, retirement)
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S sorry to miss you, sorry for your retirement
T thank you, thank you from us, thank you very much, think for yourself
U
V
W wishing you a happy birthday (anniversary, retirement, bridal shower)
X
Y you are beautiful, you are wonderful, you are missed
Z

I look forward to hearing from you with more phrase suggestions using this terrific new stamp set! Thank you for leaving your comment below:

Mojo Monday Sketch 224

I really like the simple sketch from Mojo Monday this week and decided to play along. My card features Bliss and Sweetheart patterned papers from Close To My Heart along with Tulip, White Daisy, Cotton Candy and Black CS. The greeting is from C1461 Salutation Seals set by Close To My Heart (retiring as of 2-1-2012).

Mojo Monday Sketch 224:

H2H and Fantabulous Cricut Challenges using Art Philosophy

I'm entering these cards into 2 different challenges this week. The first is H2H challenge where we are to use CTMH colors Amethyst and Crystal Blue and add some "bling". The second challenge is from Fantabulous Cricut where we are to create something with a snowman or snowflake. I used the Close To My Heart Art Philosophy cartridge to cut out the snowflakes and ovals and added Clear Sparkles as the snowflake centers. The greeting is from D1187 For Every Occasion (retiring as of Feb. 1, 2011). I used both Versamark ink and Crystal Blue ink at the same time so I could clear emboss the greeting without having to stamp it twice!. The oval cutout is popped up by a layer of chipboard underneath.

Here is what the card looked like before I added the oval cutout:

Which card do you like better and why? I'm looking forward to your opinion. Thanks for stopping by!

Inspired By Challenge #6

This is a "garage inspired card". After looking at the photo provided by the Inspired By blogsite I tried to capture the colors of the storage bins in my card. In order from top to bottom the colors are all from Close To My Heart--Sky, Dutch Blue, Indian Corn Blue, Moonstruck, Pacifica. I used a Cranberry flourish cut by CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge to imitate the bike in the photo. The ovals were also cut using the Art Philosophy cartridge and the greeting is from CTMH Card Chatter Birthday Set. I curved the edges of this stamp set and I like how it turned out.

Here is my card:

Here was the inspirational photo:

I had fun designing this card from a garage photo. What do you think of my interpretation?

Card for Day 1 of Online Card Class

After making the previously posted Thinking of You card with tone on tone dimension I then used the negative remnant from the dragonflies to make a card from Day 1 by Maille Belles. This card is 6 x 6 to accomodate the dragonfly strip. In her example Maille used markers to color her negative image in stripes (and also suggested stamping) but I prefer the simplicity of the shapes themselves. The strip is raised by 3D Foam Tape. The greeting is from CTMH D1444 "A Little Thanks". The ink is CTMH Spring Iris. I love being able to use diecut negatives and not throwing anything away. (Please excuse the shadow over the right hand side--I was trying to photograph using natural light near a window and I think I got an inadvertent shadow from a tree branch)

Thanks for stopping by!

Card for Day 3 of Clean and Simple Online Class

Fellow Close To My Heart consultant Lisa Stenz shared with us this online cardmaking class and I decided to sign up for it. Information about the class can be found here. Yesterday's class (Day 3)featured Tone on Tone Dimensional Cards and I just had to try it! Jennifer McQuire recommended using 6 layers of the same diecut shape underneath the card color to make the images pop. I used chipboard instead to reduce the time and number of cuts. The paper color is CTMH Spring Iris. The diecut dragonfly shape is from CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge and was cut at 1.5". The greeting is from D1476 "Card Chatter--Sympathy" and is white embossed.

Thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave a comment if you have time.

My Rock the Block Challenge--Day 7

Well I'm meeting my challenge with this post (and I still have more Rock the Block ideas to share!) I love this set and the stamps in it can be found here. Today's card is a Valentine's Day card suitable for anyone--a friend, parent, sibling or sweetheart. This card features the corner floral stamp as the background frame for a cricut cut window card. To achieve this effect I stamped the widest edge of the stamp on each of the 4 sides of the card. I used the Art Philosophy cricut cartridge to cut out the card, the window overlay and the hearts. The colors are White Daisy, Cotton Candy and Tulip. The greeting is from "Mad About You" and is stamped on the inside of the card. A trio of small hearts were stamped, matted and popped up with 3D Foam Tape. Clear sparkles were added to accent each heart.

Thanks for viewing my cards and have a great day filled with creativity and fun!

Clean and Simple Sketch Challenge FTL 172

I love the design of the Clean and Simple Sketch Challenge this week and used it as inspiration for my card. It can be found here. My card uses Close To My Heart products including Dreamin' paper, Buttercup Gingham (retired), Pacifica Ink, Art Philosophy and Hooray Bouquet stamp set. All edges were distressed with a foam brush and Pacifica Ink. Blue and white Bakers' Twine was tied around the middle of the card to complete the card.

Here is the sketch that I followed:

Thanks for taking a look at my artwork and for leaving a comment if you have time.

My Rock the Block Challenge--Day 6--Sympathy

I'm back to using the corner stamp today--my favorite stamp of the Rock the Block set which can be found here. The CS colors are Garden Green and Twilight. I used Twilight ink to stamp the corner floral stamp and the greeting. Next I stamped over both images with Versamark ink and then embossed with CTMH Polysparkle Clear embossing powder (retired). I carefully cut out the corner floral image and used foam tape to raise it up. Licorice adhesive gems (CTMH) were placed on the flower centers. The greeting is from B1369 Rosy Regards also from CTMH.

Thanks for visiting my blog. I still have lots of great ideas of how to use this set!

My Rock the Block Challenge--Day 5

I'm using 2 new stamps from the Rock the Block special January promotion. You can view the rest of the stamps in the set here. I love the two background stamps that come in this set! I used Blush ink for the fishnet background and swirl and Chocolate ink on the greeting. The swirls are accented with CTMH Stardust Glitter Gel. "Thinking of you" is from D1476 Card Chatter--Sympathy which is a very versatile set. The accent stripe was made with Cranberry and Blush CS. This was an easy way to stamp without having to line up the pattern!

H2H New Year Challenge--Use an Unused Stamp

Congratulations to all those chosen to be designers at H2H! Thank you for your talents and commitment of time and energy to inspire the rest of us! This week's challenge is to use a stamp that you've never used before. The specifics can be found here. The stamp set I've chosen to feature is D1444 A Little Thanks--there are many of these stamps that I've not yet used so I was up for the challenge. (This stamp set is also being carried forward in the new Idea Book which is out on February 1.) I've used the small bouquet as a bottom border and the greeting as a focal point. I also used Rectangle 8 from the Art Philosophy cartridge to enhance the greeting. The colors are White Daisy, Cranberry and Pacifica. The edges of the white rectangle and pacifica rectangle were distressed with cranberry ink. Here is the card:

Here are the stamps that are in D1444 A Little Thanks:

Thanks for visiting my blog! Come back again soon!

My Rock the Block Challenge--Day 4

Today's card features 3 of the stamps from the Close To My Heart Rock the Block January promotion which can be seen here. The paisley stamp and red circles stamps were applied over Elemental paper. A one inch Cranberry stripe was glued over the bottom of the card and then the greeting was placed over that. The "You Rock the Block" greeting was stamped twice with the inner portion done in red and lifted by using foam tape while the scalloped square was stamped in Pacifica. A Blue Sparkle was placed over the o in the word you. This was a really simple card to make. I'll be back tomorrow with yet another Rock the Block card. Thanks for joining me!

My Rock the Block Challenge--Day 3

Although I love the large corner floral stamp which I featured the last 2 days, I also like the other stamps in this set. Today I'm sharing a card that was made with a circle border stamp from the Rock the Block set. The paper colors are White Daisy, Moonstruck and Pear. The ink colors are Pear and Dutch Blue. The font is from the "A Typeface" set. The Pear colored bottom stripe was cut with the Art Philosophy cartridge. I used a Dutch Blue marker and a ruler to draw a line on the White Daisy strip and embellished with CTMH Clear Sparkles.

You can see all the other stamps in this set at this link.

My Rock the Block Challenge--Day 2

I really like the corner floral stamp so I used it again for this Valentine's Day card. I used Cranberry Ink on Blush CS and carefully cut out the image. I used Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive as it has a thin nozzle and glued down the edges while placing the corner edge on the bottom. The love greeting is also from CTMH from the Card Commentary set(retired). I used a small piece of scrunched up plastic wrap and Blush ink to color the background with a faux marble appearance. To complete the card I cut a piece of gold speckled tulle, accordion folded it and used a twist tie to keep it together and then tucked it into the pocket.

Check out my previous post to see all the other stamps that are available in the Rock the Block January promotion from Close To My Heart.

My Rock the Block Challenge--Day 1

Happy New Year! One of my goals this year is to create more cards and to share them more often so I am promising myself to post a new card everyday for a week. I will be using the Close To My Heart special offer during January 2012 called "Rock the Block" which features a stamp set and collage blocks. For more details check out this link.

These are the stamps that were designed to fit on the 2 x 2 collage blocks:

My Day 1 card uses Buttercup, White Daisy, Spring Iris and Lagoon CS, Lagoon, Moonstruck, and Spring Iris inks. The ovals were cut using the CTMH Art Philosophy cricut cartridge. The ink was applied to the large floral stamp using a tissue to sponge 3 different colors onto the stamp before stamping onto the paper. The greeting is from D1475 Card Chatter--Birthday. Pearl adhesive gems were placed onto the flower centers.