Sneak Peak--Blossom Smiles for Freshly Made Sketch #179

On April 1 Close to My Heart's new Seasonal Expression catalog will be revealed.  This card was made with two new products--Blossom paper and Smiles Begin With You.  Using the Freshly Made Sketch #179 I created this card:

Close to My Heart products used:

     White Daisy CS

     Blossom paper--available April 1

     Smiles Begin With You stamp--available April 1

     Lagoon CS

     Sorbet CS

     Sorbet Ink

     Lagoon Ink

     Your Own Kind of Wonderful--butterfly accent

     Copper Shimmer Trim

     Shin Han Touch Markers--Leaf Green, Turquoise and Golden Yellow

Other products:

      Wink of Stella--white (shimmer on butterfly)

This Blossom paper is my new favorite!  Isn't it just gorgeous?

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

:) Marie

Happy As A Bee Meets Paper Players Sketch #237

There is a new Seasonal Expressions catalog from Close to My Heart debuting next week which I couldn't wait to use with some retired CTMH paper called Buzz and Bumble.

Close to My Heart products used:
     Buzz and Bumble paper (retired)
     Autumn Terracotta CS
     Champagne CS
     Happy Everything stamp set--available April 1
     Perfect Fit Birthday set
     Cocoa Ink
     New England Ivy ink
     Gold Shimmer Trim
     Copper Shimmer Trim
     Brown and Tan Glitter paper
      3D Foam tape
     Shin Han Touch Golden Yellow marker

Here is the Paper Players card sketch that inspired me:

I'm also entering this card into the Seize the Birthday Anything Goes theme challenge.

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

Celebrating Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #100--Blog Candy Alert!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge has posted it's 100th sketch challenge!  I'm going to be giving away a Close To My Heart stamp to one lucky US reader in celebration of this event so be sure to scroll down to the end of this post for more information.  Be sure to check out what the rest of the Design Team has posted as many of them will be offering prizes also.

Close to My Heart products used:

     Art Philosophy cartridge for frame cuts

     White Daisy CS

     Canary CS

     Paper Bird stamp set (Hostess reward set available April 1)

     Season of Thanks

     Thistle Ink

     Black Ink

     Moonstruck CS (retired)

     Moonstruck Ink (retired)

     Just Blooms flower sponged with Thistle Ink (retired)

     3D Foam Tape

    

Other products

     Lavender pearls by Want 2 Scrap

     Tiny wiggle eye

Are you wondering how I was able to perfectly line up the purple bamboo image?  It was with a cool new tool I found called the MISTI (Most Incredible Stamping Tool Invented).  The manufacturer is My Sweet Petunia and you can find lots of You Tube videos on it's use.  I love using it!

The theme of this week's Bitten by the Bug challenge is "Frame it" so I'm also entering my card into their challenge.

Here is the fabulous 100th sketch by Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge:

You have until Sunday evening to join us with your direct link.  We hope you have fun with this sketch AND enter it in our challenge.

On to the Blog Candy notice:

Can you believe it; we have reached Sketch 100! Everyone at Atlantic Hearts Sketch challenge is so excited to celebrate this milestone with all of our followers and participants.

To celebrate Sketch 100 we will be giving our some blog candy and all you have to do is visit our fabulous design team members blogs and leave a comment on their design for Sketch 100 and you are entered.

 We will be drawing several names at random from the comments. To increase your chances of winning, leave comments for all of the design team members!  And to be fair, you can only win 1 time!  Please invite your friends and family to join the fun!

Thanks again for being part of our challenge community and we are all looking forward to the next 100 fabulous sketches and your awesome creations!

Happy Crafting!

The Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge Design Team

Lauren Moore

http://laurenctmhcraftings.blogspot.com/…/atlantic-hearts-s…

Marie Flayer (that's me!)

http://njstampingqueen.blogspot.com/…/celebrating-atlantic-…

Lisa Mensing

http://thecraftingcave.blogspot.com/…/sketch-100-with-atlan…

Linda Norman

http://www.scrappytherapy.com/…/atlantic-hearts-sketch-chal…

Brandi Robinson

http://crzy4scrapbooking.blogspot.com/…/sketch-100-from-ahs…

Stephanie Keats

http://stephsshoebox.blogspot.com/…/happy-100th-atlantic-he…

Wendy Coffman

http://www.stampingrules.com/…/day-30-atlantic-hearts-sketc…

Jasmina Bursic

http://jazzy-crafts.blogspot.com/2015/03/ahsc-100.html

Michelle Stewart

http://mycreationswithmichelle.blogspot.com/…/ahsc-100-time…

Kelly Janes

http://papercraftingwithkellyjanes.com/2015/03/23/ahsc-100/

Candra Holmes

http://www.paperdragonfleur.ca/…/atlantic-hearts-sketch-cha…

Lisa Bzibziak

http://www.facebook.com/l.php…

Barbara-Ann Himelman

http://barbarahimelman.blogspot.com/…/03/lets-celebrate.html

Laura Davidson

http://www.lauraleesdream.blogspot.ca/…/ahs100-birthday-car…

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

:) Marie

Simple Shamrock Card for Bitten by the Bug

Many thanks to Melanie Brown of Courtney Lane Designs for sharing the Design Space cut file for this card.  I changed the color scheme, eliminated the stitching and added some edge distressing.  I'm entering it into the Bitten by the Bug Luck of the Irish challenge.

Close to My Heart products used:

     Artfullly Sent cartridge 

     White Daisy CS

     Kentucy Green CS (retired)

     Pear CS

     Gold Metallic paper (retired)

     Edge Distresser

Other

     Gold edged ribbon

Here is a link to Melanie's card.

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

:) Marie

Always Lucky Plate for Bitten by the Bug

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day earlier this week and I made this plate (filled with yummy brownies) as a hostess gift for our friends who hosted the party.

The font for the gold greeting is from Art Philosophy and the shamrocks also came from the Art Philosophy cartridge.  I just love how easy it was to do this with Design Space and Cricut Explore.  The vinyl is Oracal 631.  

I'm entering this into the Bitten by the Bug Luck of the Irish challenge.

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

:) Marie

It's Hard Being Green--Use Your Stash Blog Hop

Welcome to another Use Your Stash Blog Hop!  If you are coming from Darlene's blog you are on the right track.  Didn't you just love her green project?  You'll see who is next on this tour at the end of this post.

Would you believe that the paper on my green card is more than 15 years old?  It is Clover Meadow 12"x 12" Background and Texture paper from Close to My Heart and long ago retired.  I couldn't decide which pattern to use so I chose four of them!

The banner was stamped in Pacifica Ink and the greeting was stamped in Clover Meadow Ink and colored in with a Clover Meadow marker.  (The gold holographic tape was purchased in a Dollar Tree and is pictured here.)

Please go on to be inspired by the talented Cassandra Bennett's blog post.  If you get lost along the way you can stop at Teresa Morrow's blog for the complete list.

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

:) Marie

Stay Lucky Card for Retrosketch #156 and Sweet Stamps #213

If you are looking for the Color My Heart Color Dare #134 card please go here.

I loved this Retrosketch sketch and lucky for me the deadline was extended another week!  The theme for Sweet Stamps challenge this week is "Luck" so I'm linking up with this challenge also.

Close to My Heart products used:

     White Daisy CS

      Kentucky Green CS (retired)

      Gold Shimmer Trim

      Doodled Designs stamp

      Year Round Cheer stamp (retired)

      Stoneware Texture stamp (retired)

      Topiary Ink

      Golden Ember ink (retired)

      3D Foam Tape

      Gold Brads (retired)

Other products:

      Shamrock brads (Oriental Trading Co.)

Here is the Retrosketch #156 sketch I followed:

    

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

:) Marie

Sneak Peek for Color Dare #134

Welcome to another Color My Heart Color Dare challenge post.  This week we are inviting you to play along and use the following Close to My Heart colors:  Cotton Candy, Lagoon, Olive along with Black and White Daisy.  (If you don't have these CTMH colors yet you may substitute similar colors so don't let that stop you from joining in on the fun!)

My card features a soon to be released Hostess Rewards stamp called "Exotic Flower".  It is from the second Seasonal Expressions catalog which will be available April 1 through August 30 2015.

Close to My Heart products used:

     Cotton Candy CS

     Black CS

     White Daisy CS

     Exotic Flower stamp

     Happy to Be You (from Seasonal Expressions 1)

     Black Ink

     Cotton Candy Ink

     Lagoon Ink

     Olive Ink

     Sponge Daubers

Other products:

      White Opal Liquid Pearls

I must admit that I was not thrilled about combining Olive with Lagoon and Cotton Candy but I really like how this card came out. 

So now it's your turn to take the Color Dare challenge--the challenge is open until Thursday, March 26 at 9PM CT.  Link up your blog post here.

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

:) Marie  

Nautical Birthday Card with Atlantic Hearts Sketch #98

Welcome back to another Joyful Stars Blog Hop!  We are a group of eleven Close To My Heart consultants who are sharing products currently available in the Annual Inspirations or Seasonal Expressions catalogs.  We hope to inspire you to create something just for the fun of it.  If you are coming from
Joyce's blog you are on the right track.

This month I was able to combine a couple of challenges with this card that I made for my son who is serving in the US Navy.  This card is 5" x 6.5" to accomodate the size of the sailboat.

Close to My Heart products used:

     White Daisy CS

     Seaside Paper 

     Pacifica CS

     Seaside Greetings stamp set

     Pacific Ink (2nd generation for the sailboat, but 1st generation for greeting)

Other products:

     Border punch by Fiskars     

Here is the Atlantic Hearts Sketch that was the inspiration for my card layout:

This was a really fun sketch to work with.  If you feel inspired to follow the sketch you can link up your creation here.

Other card challenge entries:

     Cardz 4 Guys--sailing theme

     Seize the Birthday

Now it's on to the next stop of the Joyful Stars blog hop. (If you get lost on the blog hop please go back to Joyce's blog for the complete list.)  Please go visit Nancy Brown's blog.  I'm sure she'll have something delightful to share with you.

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

:) Marie

     

Feel Better Soon for Nacho Average Challenges #131

I've been playing with my paper stash lately and made this card for a sick aunt using the Nacho Average Challenge sketch #131.

Close to My Heart products used:

     Orchid Bouquet CS (retired)

     Dutch Blue Fleurs des Jardines  (retired)

     Moonstruck Ink  (retired)

     Say it in Style message stamp  (retired)

     Your Own Kind of Wonderful butterfly stamp

     Harvest Bouquet Kaleidacolor Ink  (retired)

     Blue Sparkles  (retired)

     Rub and Remove Eraser

The "smudged" effect on the words was made by using the Rub and Remove Eraser over the inked

greeting.

Here is the Nacho Average Challenge Sketch #131 that I followed:

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

:) Marie

More Mojo Monday #387

One of the Facebook Cricut groups I subscribe to put a call out for cards to help an elderly developmentally challenged man celebrate a milestone birthday.  Since I love making cards I took the challenge.

Close to My Heart products used:

      Confetti patterned paper (retired)

      Tulip CS (retired)

      Star Spangled Blue CS (retired)

      Artbooking cricut cartridge (to cut circle, scalloped circle and numbers and Argyle border)

      Perfect Fit--Birthday stamp

      Tulip Ink (retired)

      3D Foam Tape

Other products

     Holographic paper--source unknown

Do you recognize this card layout?  It is the same as in my previous post--Mojo Monday #387

Don't you love how the same sketch layout can produce such different results?

I'm also entering this card into the Seize the Birthday--Masculine Challenge

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

:) Marie

Remember Roxie?

Roxie paper was one of my favorites from Close to My Heart a couple of years ago so I took it out to make a special birthday card for my beautiful 18 year old niece.

Close to My Heart products used:

     Roxie paper (retired)

     Artbooking cartridge (doily and letters)

     Brown and Tan Glitter paper

     Opaque Pearl Adhesive Gems

     Sorbet Ink (to color the flower)

Other products:

      Silver Shimmer paper by Recollections

      Flower by Prima

The inspiration to make this card came from Mojo Monday #387:

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

:) Marie

Life is Good--Sharing a DS Cut File

Here is my first attempt at applying vinyl to glass.  I designed this simple trivet using one of my favorite mantras "Life is Good" and the Art Philosophy Cricut font.

The glass cutting board was purchased at Dollar Tree and the Gold Vinyl is Oracal 631.  If you have a Cricut Explore and would like to duplicate it the cut file can be found here.

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

:) Marie