10 Minute or Less Holiday Card for Cas-ual Friday CFC83 and 10 Minute Craft Dash #9

Most of my Christmas cards this year were done with this idea. The challenge this week at Cas-ual Fridays and 10 minute Craft Dash #9 is to make a holiday themed card in 10 minutes or less and this card qualifies. Last year I purchased some glittery poinsettia 12 x 12 scrapbook paper (Recollections brand) on sale at Michaels after the holidays and knew I would use it for something!

 It was too pretty to cover with photos so I cut around the flowers and then glued them on to card bases, added a background silver metallic stripe and a greeting from Close To My Heart stamp set "Wonderful Season', a dot of Buttercup Liquid Pearls and I was done!  Once I had all the supplies out I started the timer and found that it took me only 4 minutes and 19 seconds to make this card from start to finish!

Inside the card reads "a Merry Little Christmas".  Because there are so many different sized poinsettias on this paper I was able to make a variety of different cards.

     


Thanks for stopping by!  Wishing you a wonderful new year filled with fun and creativity!
:) Marie

Ellie's Birthday Card Using Try Stampin' on Tuesday Sketch

My wonderful niece Ellie turns 14 on Thursday, January 3rd and I made her a special card.  I followed the Try Stampin' on Tuesday sketch and used some new and old Close To My Heart products and a Cuttlebug folder. After the Cotton Candy CS was embossed it was distressed with a sanding block from the CTMH Sanding Kit.  I used the Artiste cartridge to cut the numbers from the new Glitter paper available February 1st or in the December--January Who's Your Valentine special promotion available now.  The paper is from Close To My Heart Sweetheart paper packet (retired).  I also used the Artiste cartridge to cut the Accent 4 frame from page 60 at 3".  The edges of the frame were lightly distressed with Slate ink and a Round Sponge.  3D Foam Tape was used to raise the frame up from the rest of the card.  The silver stripe on the bottom is Silver Shimmer Trim which is backed with adhesive to make it really easy to apply.

The sketch from Try Stampin' on Tuesday:

 
 Ellie likes to play in my craft room when she comes to visit and I think she will like this card.
Thanks for stopping by!   Have a wonderful new year filled with fun and creativity!
:) Marie

Color Dare #23--Sky and Gypsy--A Tribute to Toby

This week I have the honor of being a guest designer for Color My Heart Color Dare #23--Sky and Gypsy.  (You can view my winning entry that earned me this spot here.)  Last week my local quilt store closed it's doors forever and I wanted to do something special for it's owner, Toby, who has decided to retire and enjoy her new grandchild.  I have been wanting to make a card with a quilting theme for a long time and thought these colors would work together nicely in this format.  The CTMH patterned paper that I used was from Believe (blue with dots), Hooligans (darker purple--Gypsy and outside lighter purple scalloped edged border) and Magnifique (light blue squares in the center).  I also created my own "fabrics" by stamping images from the Love Life set with Sky and Gypsy inks.  The light purple center squares were made with a sponge and Gypsy ink.  I chose this particular quilt pattern because it was very similar to a pattern made by the quilt store owner called "Namchee Bazaar"--there were even smaller 1/2 square triangles and squares that I eliminated to make it easier to do.   Here is a helpful hint--when assembling these small pieces--glue them on to a piece of grid paper.  (The grid paper I used had 1/2" squares).   After I had all my pieces glued down I used a dry embossing folder by Darice (Plaid) and my Cuttlebug machine to add some texture.  The greeting is from the For Every Occasion set and was stamped in Versamark ink and Gypsy ink and then clear embossed.

This card truly was a labor of love and appreciation for all the wonderful times I spent sharing my love of quilting at Toby's store and all the inspiration I found there with all the people who worked there.

Thanks for stopping by!  Please consider joining in on the challenge this week at Color My Heart.  Have a wonderful week filled with fun and creativity!
:) Marie

Color Dare #22 Twilight and Sweet Leaf

Twilight is one of my favorite Close To My Heart colors and it is featured in this week's Color My Heart Color Dare paired with Sweet Leaf.  The Twilight strips on my card are from the Florentine paper pack (retiring Jan.31).  The stamp is from the December Stamp of the Month called Year Round Cheer.  I used a 2.25" circle punch to cut into the Twilight paper and then stamped the image in Twilight ink onto the Sweet Leaf base.  Embellishments I used are Silver Shimmer Trim, Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel and a Silver Metallic pen. All products are available on my website through links provided here.

If you want to see other examples of these two colors together please check out these links:  Baroque Borders, and  Rock the Block sympathy card,



Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fun week filled with fun and creativity!
:) Marie

Artiste Cut Gift Card Holder Using Freshly Made Sketch #65

I've been making cards that will hold gift cards for my teenaged nieces and nephews for Christmas and have been having fun using the Close To My Heart Artiste cartridge to do so. I followed the Freshly Made Sketch #65--love their sketches!  The scalloped edged card was cut at 5" and can be found on page 55 of the Artiste handbook.  I used a double sided paper that was given to me as a gift many years ago.  The patterned paper is old CTMH Holiday Red B&T paper.  The tree is from Christmas Love and was stamped onto Sunny Yellow CS (now retired) in Topiary ink and embellished with my favorite accent--Stardust Glitz Glitter gel.  The Merry Christmas greeting is also from Christmas Love and stamped in Topiary ink.  A strip of Topiary CS goes under the tree.  I used Buttercup Liquid Pearls to color in the yellow star at the top of the tree.

It was very easy to assemble this card.  Here are pictures of the inside including the bank gift card.

This greeting is from a very old rubber mounted CTMH greeting set called Christmas Fun Set.

This greeting is from the October 2012 Stamp of the Month set called Very Merry Christmas.
I'm also entering this card into the Forever Friends Fortnightly Challenge (Christmas theme), Exploring Cricut "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" and Top Tip Tuesday (Anything Christmas theme with special rules).

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful week filled with fun and creativity!
:) Marie

Dynamic Duos #33 Black, Gold with a Music Option

I was intrigued by the Dynamic Duos #33 challenge to combine black and gold with a music option so I made this card.  I used Close To My Heart products 4 My Friend and Universal Backgrounds stamp sets, Gold Embossing powder, Metallic papers (retired) and Black and White Daisy papers and Black ink   The hearts were made with a small punch.

  I am also entering this card into the following challenges :
 Seize the Birthday Linky Party #1

and Black Tie Fridays #13 to use glitter. (I think metallic papers and gold embossing powder qualify).








Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful week filled with fun and creativity!
:) Marie

Color Dare #21 and Try Stampin' on Tuesday #95

I'm combining a color challenge--Color My Heart Color Dare #21 Buttercup--with a sketch challenge by Try Stampin' on Tuesday #95.  Along with the Close To My Heart color, Buttercup, I used Black CS, Black ink and white ribbon.  The greeting is from Card Chatter--Sympathy and the dragonfly image is from the Pemberly Workshop on the Go stamp set.  I randomly stamped the dragonfly stamp and then outlined the images with one of my favorite embellishments--Stardust Glitz Glitter gel--to add some "texture" to the Buttercup CS.

The card:

The sketch:

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful week filled with fun and creativity!
:) Marie

Tealight Snowman Ornament Placecard for FCCB# 140

Karen Day, a fellow Close To My Heart consultant, posted tealight snowman ornaments on her blog last week and that's where I got the inspiration to make these adorable tealight snowman ornament placecards for my holiday table. (According to her blog post her inspiration came from Pinterest).  I just thought that these snowman tealight ornaments were so cute and envisioned personalizing them and using them to assign seats at my holiday table and for my guests to keep.  The theme for Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Board #140 involves snow or snowflakes and this project qualifies.  I used various 3/8' ribbons, 1/8' ribbons, an orange alcohol marker to color the flame tip for the snowman's nose, black CS, a black sharpie marker, a CTMH gold metallic marker, white uniball signo pen and glue dots to adhere the hat and ribbon hanger. The placecard ornaments sit on top of a cap from an old 35 mm film canister with some polyfil stuffing on top of them to look like snow.  (I think that other bottle caps would work just as well).  I used the hat from the Bonus 3 Home Decor & Vinyl overlay from the Ultimate Creative Sampler Cricut cartridge cut at 1.25" to cut out the hats.

Thank you, Karen Day, for inspiring me to create these cute little gifts!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful week filled with fun and creativity!
:) Marie

Paper Players #124 and Freshly Made Sketches #64

I love snowmen which is the theme for Paper Players #124 and I like how this snowman fit into the current Freshly Made Sketches #64.   The snowman is from the retired Close To My Heart set called Share the Magic and the greeting is from the retired CTMH set called Holiday Wishes.  I also used a snowflake cuttlebug embossing folder and silver metallic paper from CTMH (retired).  The patterned paper is from the Wonderland Paper pack (retired CTMH).  The bottom edge of the white paper was edged with a Martha Stewart punch called Drippy Goo and embellished with Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel. The bottom card layer is Outdoor Denim from CTMH.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful week filled with creativity and fun!
:) Marie

Color Dare #20--Smoothie, Cranberry, Olive and New England Ivy

I've recently become a fan of Pinterest and got my inspiration for this card from here.  This card features the colors from Close To My Heart Pear and Partridge paper and was made for Color My Heart Color Dare #20.  The colors from top to bottom are Smoothie, Cranberry, Olive and New England Ivy.  These paper strips were dry embossed with the Cuttlebug Musical Flourish folder.  The Pear and Partridge paper was glitzed up with Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel--one of my favorite quick techniques for adding a little extra sparkle.  The greeting was stamped in Black ink and is from A Timber (retired CTMH).

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great week filled with fun and creativity!
:) Marie

Try Stampin' on Tuesday #94

Here is a quick card I made on tuesday morning, 3 hours before the challenge ends, for Try Stampin' on Tuesday #94 sketch challenge.  I used Close To My Heart Sweetheart paper (retired) and CTMH Love Life stamp set with Cotton Candy Ink.  The greeting is from the Card Chatter-Sympathy stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful week filled with fun and creativity!
:) Marie