Kraft Tag Birthday Card for Retrosketches #151 and Seize the Birthday

One of my wine loving friends is having a birthday so I adapted the Retrosketch #151 to make this card.

Close to My Heart products used:

     Smokey Plum B & T paper (retired)

     Kraft CS

     Shin Han Touch Markers--Lavender, Sap Green and Barely Beige

     Art Philosophy--tag cut

     Black Ink

     Bakers Twine Neutrals Assortment

     Smokey Plum Bigger Brads (retired)

Other products

     Fiskars stamp set "Aged to Perfection"

Here is another version of this card design using different stamps from the same set:

This card has a stripe of CTMH Champagne paper that was run through the Cuttlebug machine with a Darice "Corks" folder and Saddle Ink.

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

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

:) Marie

P.S.  If you are interested in a Blog Giveaway please see this blog post--deadline to enter is midnight          ET Feb. 6.

     

Use Your Stash Blog Hop--Remember True Teal and Vineyard Berry?

Welcome to the Use Your Stash Blog Hop!  This is the first time I'm participating and I'm happy to be joining this awesome group of Close To My Heart consultants.  If you are coming from Shirley Ross's blog you are on the right track.  We are trying to use up some favorite items that have been discontinued from Close To My Heart. We are going with a Christmas theme this month.

My card features retired colors True Teal and Vineyard Berry.

I adapted the idea for this card from this card that I found on Pinterest.

Close to My Heart products used:'

      Artiste cut mittens at 1"

     Teal CS (retired)

      Vineyard Berry CS (retired)

     White Daisy CS

     Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel (retired)

     Bakers Twine Neutrals Assortment

     Twinkle Brads (retired)

      Wonderful Season stamps (retired)

      Sponge Daubers

      Vineyard Berry Ink

      Teal Ink

Other products:

      Cuttlebug Pinking Stitches embossing folder

      Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder

Your next stop on this blog hop is Sheila Bennett's.  Have fun remembering all those great CTMH products as you move through this blog hop!

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

:) Marie

     

Color Dare #117--Pick Your Own CTMH Orange!

Welcome back to another Color My Heart Color Dare post!  Which Close To My Heart Orange will you choose?  We challenge you to select just one orange from the Close To My Heart palette (Sunset, Sorbet, Autumn Terracotta or Goldrush) which you can combine with neutrals such as tans, greys, white, black and browns.

My card features the Close To My Heart color Autumn Terracotta. (You may substitute similar colors if you don't have any of these CTMH colors yet).

Close To My Heart products used:

     Champagne CS

     Chocolate CS

     Autumn Terracotta CS

     Colonial White CS

     Holiday Tags stamp set

     Season of Thanks

     Chocolate Ink

     Autumn Terracotta Ink

     Artiste cartridge to cut jigsaw panel (pg. 57 Accent 1 Shift cut at 2.5" 3 times in 3 papers)

     Bakers' Twine Neutral Assortment

     3D Foam Tape

     

I am also entering this card into the following challenges:

     HIMCR (Hiding in My Craft Room)--any holiday

     Card Concept--Thank "Fall"--"Clean and Layering"

     Take Heart Challenges--Anything Goes--include one CTMH item

Come check out what the Color Dare Design Team has created.  We would love to see you enter our color challenge by linking up here.  You have until Thursday, November 6 at 9PM CT to enter.  There are several blog badges to be won along with a prize to one randomly drawn entry every month.

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

:) Marie

Snowhaven Stripes with a Freshly Made Sketch

This card was inspired by the sketch #155 at Freshly Made Sketches.

Close To My Heart products used:

     Artbooking cartridge--tag cut

     Glacier CS

     Snowhaven paper

     Black CS

     Belated Birthday

     Neutral Bakers' Twine Assortment

     Black Ink

     Warm Grey Shin Han Touch Alcohol Marker

     Peacock Green Shin Han Touch Alcohol Marker

Other products:
     Ribbon--unknown source

Here is the Freshly Made Sketch that inspired me:

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

:) Marie

Hearts Galore with a Freshly Made Sketch #123

The Heart 2 Heart challenge this week is to feature hearts and the current Freshly Made Sketches #123 sketch makes it easy to do!

Close To My Heart Products used:

      Ruby CS

      Ruby Ink

      Black Ink

      Baker's Twine Neutral Assortment

      3D Foam Tape

      Mad About You stamp set (retired)

      Sweetheart Paper (retired)

Here is the Freshly Made Sketch #123 that inspired me:

     

I'm also entering this card into The Pink Elephant Challenge #237 with a Valentine theme.

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

:) Marie

Color Challenge Time at Sunday Stamps

Welcome back to another Sunday Stamps Color Challenge!  We love to have you join us in using these challenge colors in your creations.  This week our challenge colors are White, Yellow, Green and Kraft.  Please use ALL of these colors and post a direct link to your blog entry. 

My card was made following the RetroSketches #100:

It is a 6 x 6 card with Sunny Yellow B & T paper (retired CTMH), Topiary CS, Sunny Yellow CS, Kraft CS and Topiary Ink.  The focal image was made by first clear embossing the numbers (Friendship Alphabet--retired CTMH) and then stamping the acrylic block in Topiary ink, spritzing it with water and then onto the paper.  The other embellishments are a star hole punch, licorice adhesive gems and Baker's Twine Neutral Assortment.

We can't wait to see what you create using these colors!   Please use a direct link to join us here and include a link back to us in your blog post.  (Feel free to post our color graphic too to let your readers know about our challenge.)  You have until Friday, February 21 at 6PM EST to enter this challenge.

Please take the time to visit the rest of the Design Team's blogs and leave them some appreciation.
Hayley, Joan, Brenda, Holly, Steph and Kathya.

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

:) Marie

Happy Autumn Flowers in Barn Red for Color Dare #72

This card was made following the Atlantic Hearts Sketch #31 two weeks ago for this week's Color My Heart Color Dare.  I stamped the background flowers from Happy Autumn in Versamark ink and clear embossed over Champagne CS and then sponged with Barn Red Ink to give the details. The background mats are Barn Red CS.  The greeting stamp is A True Thank You.  Other accessories are Neutral Assortment Baker's Twine and 3D Foam Tape.

I'm also entering this card into a new blog challenge I found called Sarah Hurleys Challenges #87 which challenges us to "Create Your Own Background."

Stop by Friday morning for a new Color My Heart Color Dare post and on Sunday morning for a new color challenge for Sunday Stamps.

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

:) Marie

Tee-rific Birthday for Sunday Stamps Challenge #54

Welcome back to another Sunday Stamps Challenge post!  This week we are using a sketch designed by Hayley.  Don't you just love it? I do!

 

I used this sketch to make a masculine birthday card.  There are lots of golfers that I send birthday cards to.  

The background paper is Victory (retired Close To My Heart).  The golfer and golf balls are from Tee Time (retired CTMH) which is matted with Avonlea Green (retired CTMH) and Outdoor Denim.  The banner golf balls and tees were stamped in Outdoor Denim ink and placed over a piece of Bakers Twine Neutral Assortment and popped up with 3D Foam Tape.  The "Have a Tee-rific Birthday!" greeting was generated on my computer.  I ran the printed greeting through a cuttlebug folder from the reversed side so the circles appear to be golf ball dimples.  It was pretty quick to make this card and I will be doing more of these for my lady golfer friends too.  

Now  it's your turn to join in on this challenge fun!  You have until Friday,evening, July 26 to link up your creation here.

Please take the time to visit the rest of the Design Team's blogs and leave them some appreciation.
Hayley, Joan, Brenda, Holly Steph and Kathya.

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

:) Marie

Dynamic Duos #35 with Mojo Monday Sketch #276

Last evening I received some new Close To My Heart papers and stamps and had to use this adorable "Cozy Cat" as soon as I could today.   This happy cat will appear in the new Close To My Heart catalog on February 1 as will the light green Chantilly paper.  Dynamic Duos #35 colors this week are Saffron and Certainly Celery and I substituted CTMH Buttercup and Sweet Leaf.  I really liked the sketch from this week's Mojo Monday #276 and decided to use it.  The cat was stamped twice--once onto Buttercup B&T paper (retired CTMH) and then again on Chantilly (soon to come CTMH).  The cat was popped up from the cushion using 3D Foam Dots. Don't you LOVE how the background circle and border have the same pattern to them?  They were made with the CTMH Artiste cartridge (circle is accent 4 from page 31 cut at 3.5"and the border is accent 4 shift cut at .75".)  I started with a 5" x 6.5" card to accomodate the large circle and trimmed it a bit to have the border end up perfectly on the card.  A tiny drop of Silver Glitz Glitter Gel was applied to the cat's color.  The grey and white twine on the border is from the Baker's Twine Neutral Assortment from Close to My Heart.

Here is the Mojo Monday Sketch:

Here are the Dynamic Duos Colors:

 

If you like color challenges like I do, please come play with us at Color My Heart Color Dare.  This week's colors are Close To My Heart Ruby and Indian Corn Blue--submissions are due Thursday evening at 9PM CT.

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

Color Dare #25 Ruby and Indian Corn Blue

This is my first week on the Color My Heart Color Dare Design Team and I'm very excited to be sharing this very special card with you. Our colors for the challenge this week are Close To My Heart Ruby and Indian Corn Blue.  This is the first time that I've ever made a step card and I found the basic directions for cutting the base of it here.  It was pretty easy to do and fun to challenge myself with a new card fold.  The patterned paper in the center of the card is from very old CTMH Indian Corn Blue B & T paper.  The stars were cut from the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge (star5 from page 40) at varying sizes from 1" to 2.5".  Each of the stars was layered with one layer on 3D foam dots to add dimension.  The greeting is from 4 My Friend and was stamped in Ruby ink.  My favorite CTMH embellishment is Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel and I used it for the star centers on the sides of the card and 2 of the stars on the center panel.  The star on the lower left side was stamped with Love Life star stamp.  I used a red button and white twine from the Bakers Twine Neutral Assortment to finish the card.

Here is a side view:

 

Please stop over at Color My Heart Color Dare to see what the rest of the fabulous Design Team have created.  (These are some seriously talented ladies and I'm looking forward to seeing their Ruby and Indian Corn Blue submissions myself!)  We would love for you to play along with us this week too!  The deadline for submitting a papercrafted project (card or otherwise) is Thursday at 9pm CT.

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

:) Marie

 

Transportation Theme at Exploring Cricut and My Time to Craft

Here is my entry for this week's Exploring Cricut challenge called Planes, Trains and Automobiles and for My Time to Craft #190.  My favorite cartridge is Close To My Heart Artiste which doesn't have those vehicles so I chose a hot air balloon which it does have. The "Oh Happy Day" banner is also one of the coordinating stamps that come with the Artiste Cricut Collection and the "Birthday Greetings" stamp is from Just a Number which has a wonderful assortment of sayings that can be used inside a card also. The greeting was first stamped in Versamark and then stamped in Ruby ink and then Clear Embossing Powder was applied with a heat tool.  The sky paper is very old computer paper which I thought would fit as an appropriate backdrop for the hot air balloon.  The base of the card is Desert Sand CS and the balloon was made with Ruby CS and Elemental paper pack.  I used Silver Shimmer Trim (which is also adhesive) between the sky and base of the card.  A couple of small strands of black baker's twine attach the balloon to the basket.

 

 

Thanks for taking a look at my card! 

 

I will be celebrating my 100th post as a blogger soon.  I am planning some type of giveaway but am open to hearing your suggestions too. What kind of requirements should I have to be eligible to win?  Please leave a comment below if you have any suggestions for me.  (I think this is post #97 already!)

Freshly Made Sketch #53 Entry #2

If you haven't seen my previous post this week's Freshly Made Sketch #53 is here:

 

 

Card #2 is 6" square. The alternating stripes are from the Zip Strip of the Clementine pack and strips from the Florentine paper pack. The stripes were placed on a Creme Brulee background over black CS. The bottom layer is Clementine paper. Black Baker's Twine was placed under the black 3" circle. the greeting is Happy Birthday from 4 My Friend.



The circles were cut from CTMH Cricut Artiste cartridge and the greeting was embossed with Black embossing powder.

I can't decide which one I like better. Which one do you like better? Thanks for taking the time to look at my blog post!
Happy Creating!
:) Marie

Got Ruby? and Color Dare Challenge #10

As the winner of Week #8 of the Color Dare Challenge I was invited to be this week's guest designer--what an honor! I spent many hours today coming up with these cards which feature the new Close To My Heart color Ruby. For this challenge we are also allowed to use neutral colors. I couldn't decide which card to submit to Sarah so I'll be surprised by what she selects. Here are the cards I created using Ruby ink or cardstock. Card #1 uses stamps from these sets: Salutation Seals, Hooray Bouquet and Love Life. The Ruby CS was put through the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots folder. The centers of the flowers were glitzed with Stardust Glitter Gel. Color Ready Seam Binding is the stripe between the white embossed greeting and a square of black CS. The edges of the card were distressed with Ruby Ink and a 1" foam brush.

Card #2 uses the Happy Birthday stamp from 4 My Friend and a swirl stamp from Love Life, a square of Black CS and Kraft CS. I used "Square 5" from the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge to cut the Kraft CS before stamping the greeting. I used a small swirl stamp from Love Life to stamp the background of the card base. The white stripe was embossed with swiss dots cuttlebug folder and then I rubbed the Ruby Ink pad over it for the red color. A small bow made with Color Ready Seam Binding Ribbon adorns the top left corner.

Card #3 uses a greeting from Christmas Love and the poinsettia flower from the Art Philosophy stamp collection. The flower was white embossed. I adapted this card from a design called "Locket" in the Card Confidence Originals book which recently retired. A small strip of Cocoa CS is behind the greeting.

Card #4 was cut with the Art Philosophy cartridge "card shift" on page 65 and the white label was cut at 2.25" from "decorative layer shift" also from page 65. A strip of construction wall tape was placed on the card base to add some texture. The greeting is from Card Chatter-Sympathy. There is a strip of Black CS which is embellished with Grey Wool twine from the Bakers' Twine Neutral Assortment. Licorice Adhesive gems embellish the cut out flowers. A strip of White Daisy CS was placed behind the card front so you can see the pretty flowers that Art Philosophy cricut cut.

Card #5 uses the rose from Card Word Puzzle, the leaves from Harvest Happiness and the sympathy greeting from 4 My Friend. The leaves were stamped in Topiary and the rose was colored by rubbing a paintbrush with ruby ink and then rubbing it onto the rose. The scalloped cork element is from Evergreen Cork Shapes. The black and white patterned paper is from the inside of a security envelope!

Thanks for stopping by to check out my artwork! If you've been inspired please take the time to leave a comment. :)