Color Dare #235--Dreamin' Big

Welcome back to another Color My Heart Color Dare challenge blog post!  This week we are featuring colors from the Close to My Heart Dreamin' Big paper pack.  There are 10 fabulous colors in this collection and we are challenging you to use at least 4 of them (excluding the neutrals) and without adding new colors.  

My usual creative process for the Color Dare challenges involves finding a sketch challenge to use. This week I decided to feature some of the zip strips and thus came up with my very own card layout.

Close to My Heart products used:
     White Daisy CS
     Dreamin' Big paper pack
     Dreamin' Big Cardmaking Bundle stamps and                     Thin Cuts
     Black CS
     Black Shin Han Touch Marker
     Slate Ink
     Whisper Ink
     Clear Shimmer Brush

Here is a tip to use when you want to "pop up" those diecut items (like my two butterflies above).  Use the Thin Cut dies to cut thin craft foam and then glue it to the bottom of the item and then to the card front!  It is much easier than cutting pieces of 3D Foam Tape to fit.

Here is the Color Dare Color Graphic--just click on it to get to check out what the rest of the fabulous Design Team has to inspire you.

Other challenges I'm linking this card to:

     Stampin' Royalty--Spring

     Southern Girls Challenge #155--Pop it up with                     Foam

     Cards in Envy--Keep it Simple
     Between the Folds--Dreamin' Big
     Happy Little Stampers--Anything Goes with Dies

Something really nice happened to me last week and I'm offering some blog candy (craft supplies) to a lucky winner.  Please go to this blog post to read more.

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

:) Marie

p.s. If you like what you see on my blog please consider "following" me by email or in your blog roll so you don't miss out on any of my fabulous card making ideas. You can sign up on the right sidebar. 

     

Thin Cuts Blog Hop

Welcome to our Close to My Heart Technique Blog Hop!  We will be featuring projects made with Close to My Heart Thin Cuts.   If you have come here from Gina Brandstetter's blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog:  http://ifyoublingit.blogspot.com/p/stamp-of-month-blog-hop-list.html. 

Our Technique blog hop is featuring  Thin Cuts because they are all on sale for 25% off through March 31!  This month we have 18 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using Thin Cuts and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

My first card features the Sugar Rush Cardmaking Thin Cuts Bundle and an inside Twist and Pop treatment.

Close to My Heart products used:
      Sugar Rush paper
      Sugar Rush Cardmaking Bundle--Thin Cuts and                           Stamps
      Canary CS
      Chocolate CS
      Chocolate Ink
      Pomegranate CS
      Pomegranate Ink
      Sea Glass CS
      Clear Shimmer Brush
      Ink Blot stamps

Other products:
      Cricut Design Space--Edwardian font
      Gold Cricut pen

My card layout was inspired by this Sketch Saturday sketch #454:

Card #2 features an Artbooking overlay, Some Kind of Wonderful Thin Cuts Bundle and Thank You Thin Cut. Colors are White Daisy, Pixie, Sapphire cardstocks with Tangerine and Raspberry Adventure Fundamentals patterns.

I'm also entering this card into the Happy Little Stampers--Anything Goes with Dies challenge.

Now "Hop" on over to Wendy Kessler's blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Remember, the Thin Cuts 25% sale is only available until March 31!  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get these tools at a 25% discount!

You can see other Thin Cuts projects I've created here, here, here, here and here.

Something really nice happened to me last week and I'm offering some blog candy (craft supplies) to a lucky winner.  Please go to this blog post to read more.

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

:) Marie

p.s. If you like what you see on my blog please consider "following" me by email or in your blog roll so you don't miss out on any of my fabulous card making ideas. You can sign up on the right sidebar. 

 
   

Hello Lovely Numbered Birthday Card

It's hard to believe that my niece is now twenty so I had to make her a personalized card.  She has bright red hair which made me think of CTMH Sorbet which coordinates nicely with the Hello Lovely paper pattern I chose.

Close to My Heart products used:

     Happy Birthday Thin Cuts

     Flower Market Cricut Cartridge ("20th" was                    written in Design Space)

     Hello Lovely Paper

     Colonial White CS

     Sorbet CS

     Fern CS

     Clear Shimmer Brush

Other:

     Cricut Gold Pen

I used the Try Stampin' on Tuesday Sketch #312 for my card layout:

I'm also entering this card into:

 Heart 2 Heart challenge to "Use Your Tools".  (My goal is to participate every week in March and so far I'm 2 for 2.)  

Through the Craft Room Door--Anything Goes

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

:) Marie

p.s. I'm giving away some blog candy (craft supplies).  Please visit this blog post for more details.

Happy St. Patty's Day Card with Atlantic Hearts Sketch #203

It's Monday and time for a new Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge blog post!  We hope you will find the time to enter the challenge this week.  This card came to me pretty easily using the "unlock" edit button in Design Space to elongate the shamrock wreath into an oval shape.  Here is the Design Space cut file if you would like to reproduce this card.

The gold embossed sentiment is a very old Close to My Heart wood stamp.  The cricut cut Flower Market shamrock wreath was cut from White Daisy cardstock.  When the piece was still on the cutting mat I painted all but the white flowers with "Douglas Fir" Twinkling H2O watercolor paint which adds a really pretty shine to it.  The white flowers received an application of the CTMH Clear Shimmer Brush. The background color is Glacier cardstock.

Here is the Atlantic Hearts Sketch #203 that I followed:

On Wednesday all of the Design Team members projects will be on the AHSC blog to inspire you.  We would love to have you share your project with us!

Other Challenges I'm entering this card into:
     Glitter and Sparkle #230--Use Some Green
     HeARTful Stamping Challenge--Green plus stamp

     Craft for the Craic--Green and Glittery
     Cut it Up--Think Green
     Creative Knockouts--Lots of Green

Something really nice happened to me last week and I'm offering some blog candy (craft supplies) to a lucky winner.  Please go to this blog post to read more.

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

:) Marie

Three Patterned Papers for Crafting by Designs Guest Designer Post

Several weeks ago I was delighted to be named a Spotlight Winner over at Crafting by Designs and as a result I was invited to be a Guest Designer.  The challenge was pretty simple for me--use 3 patterned papers.  As a Close to My Heart consultant I have lots of patterned papers that coordinate nicely with each other.  My card features 3 patterned papers from the Dreamin' Big paper pack.  

Here are the pretty patterns in the Dreamin' Big paper set:

Close to My Heart products used:

     White Daisy CS

     Dreamin' Big paper pack

     Poppy CS

     Juniper CS

     Flower Market cricut cartridge (sentiment)

     Clear Shimmer Brush

     Coral Reef Sequins (retired)

     Bitty Sparkles

     

Other products

     Gypsy Wanderings floral image

My card layout was inspired by this Sketch Saturday sketch:

I'm also entering this card into the Heart2Heart 

Time to Dream "Dreamin' Big" challenge and Dare2Bartzy--Lots of Layers challenge.

Please head on over to the Crafting by Designs blog and see what the fabulous Design Team has to inspire you in the 3 Patterned Paper challenge.

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

:) Marie

Color Dare #232 Meets Sketch Saturday #451

Welcome back to another Color My Heart Color Dare challenge blog post!  It's a four color challenge this week--use all and only these exclusive Close to My Heart colors:  Fern, Sapphire, White Daisy and Lemon.  As usual if you don't have these CTMH colors yet you may substitute similar colors so you can still join in on the fun!



I really love how these colors look together and ended up with 2 fun cards made with the Happy Birthday Thin Cut.  First I ran a 4.25" x 5.5" piece of White Daisy through my Xyron machine and then placed strips of Fern, Lemon and Sapphire right onto the adhesive.  Next I lined up the Happy Birthday Thin Cuts and used small pieces of washi tape to lightly adhere it to the striped panel before running it through the Big Shot machine.  I also cut the sentiment out of thin craft foam to pop up the sentiment on the first card.  The small confetti stamp from the Wise Guy Birthday card was stamped in Lemon over the white background.  I added some Blue and Green Epoxy Bubbles and White Sequins from Calypso sequins to the card fronts for finishing.

Here are close up pictures so you can see the sparkly Clear Shimmer Brush on the sentiments.

Close to My Heart products used:
     White Daisy CS
     Fern CS
     Lemon CS
     Sapphire CS
     Happy Birthday Thin Cuts
     Wise Guy Birthday stamp set
     Lemon Ink
     Clear Shimmer Brush
     Green and Blue Epoxy Bubbles (retired)
     Calypso Sequins (retired)

Other products:
     Thin White Craft Foam
     White Ric Rac Ribbon

Here is the Color My Heart Color Dare graphic that sparked my color creativity:

     
Stop by the Color Dare challenge blog and check out what the rest of the fabulous Design Team has to inspire you.  You'll be amazed--we all started with the same 4 colors and created such unique cards.

Saturday Sketch challenge was also a big inspiration to creating these cards: 

 

Other challenges:
     Double D challenge--Ric Rac
     Paper Shelter--Masculine 
     Stampin' Royalty--Dies
     Seize the Birthday--Inlay Die-cutting option
     Ooh La La Creations--Die Cuts
     Cut it Up--Birthday

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

Hello Lovely Birthday Card for Color Dare #231

Welcome back to another Color My Heart Color Dare challenge blog post!  This week we are challenging you to use all and only the colors from the Close to My Heart "Hello Lovely" paper pack.  (Well if 8 colors is too much of a challenge just use as many as you can.)  Of course if you don't have these exclusive CTMH colors yet just substitute similar colors so you can still join in on the fun.

The focal image flowers were fussy cut from one of the Hello Lovely patterned papers.  Here is a closeup so you can see how sparkly the Clear Shimmer Brush really is:

Close to My Heart products used:

     Hello Lovely paper

     Colonial White CS

     Sea Glass CS

     Sorbet CS

     Sorbet Ink

     Fern CS

     Whisper patterned paper from Sugar Rush paper 

           packet

     3D Foam Tape

     Clear Shimmer Brush

     White and Gold Ribbon

     Happy Birthday stamp from the Artfully Sent                      Cricut collection

Here is the Color Dare challenge graphic.  Just click on it to be inspired by what the rest of the Design Team has to share.  We hope you'll be able to find the time to play along with.

My card layout was inspired by this Try Stampin' on Tuesday sketch.

Other challenges this card is being linked to:

     Seize the Birthday--Inlay Die Cutting Optional

     Between the Folds--Hello Lovely paper packet

     Sunny Day Crafting--Optional Diecuts

     Inspiration Destination #122--Anything Goes

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

:) Marie

      

     

Sugar Rush Card for Joyful Stars February Blog Hop

Welcome back to the February Joyful Stars Blog Hop! We are a group of Close to My Heart consultants who share something each month on the 9th and at 9PM EST. If you are coming from Krista Hershberger's blog you are on the right track. (The complete lineup is also on Joyce's blog in case you get lost.) Have fun being inspired!

My card came to me fairly quickly as I was going through my Sugar Rush paper pack. I chose to cut out one of the PML cards and feature it on the front of my card--no inking at all!

The sentiment inside my card was created with the CTMH Flower Market cartridge and Design Space.

Close to My Heart products used:

     Sea Glass CS

     Pomegranate CS

     Sugar Rush paper

     Canary CS

     Blossom CS

     Flower Market Cricut Cartridge

     Clear Shimmer Brush

     Simple Chevron Embossing Folder

Other:

     Cricut Silver Metallic Pen

My card layout was inspired by Freshly Made Sketch #274:

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:

     Sunny Day Crafting--Box Cards or Regular Cards

     Inspiration Destination--Anything Goes

Now it's time to hop on over to my friend Jennifer Benner's blog.  I'm sure you'll be inspired by what she shares.

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

:) Marie

p.s. Stop by tomorrow to see what I'll have for the new challenge at Color My Heart Color Dare blog--a challenge blog featuring Close to My Heart exclusive colors.

     

Adore You Meets Freshly Made Sketches #268

Happy New Year!  With a new month comes a new Close to My Heart Stamp of the Month--Adore You! This lovely set contains 12 stamps and can be used for Valentine's Day, wedding, anniversary or love notes.  I used 2 of the stamps with Freshly Made Sketch #268 layout to make this pretty card.

Here is a closeup photo so you can see the gorgeous sparkle created by the CTMH Clear Shimmer Pen:

Close to My Heart products used:
     White Daisy CS
     Whimsy Fundamentals patterned paper
     Thistle CS
     Black CS
     Raspberry CS
     Adore You stamps
     Black Memento Ink
     Shin Han Touch Markers--Tender Pink, Peony Purple, Vivid Green, Carmine
     Clear Shimmer Brush

The complete set of stamps can be purchased for just $5. with a $50 qualifying purchase here:

Here is the Freshly Made Sketch that inspired my card layout:

I thought I had signed up to participate in the Yahoo Groups CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop but somehow with all the holiday activities  I missed the signup deadline.  If you want to get other wonderful ideas to use this Stamp of the Month I encourage you to check out the blog hop that will start Sunday evening, January 1 at 9 PM EST here.

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:

     Sunny Day Crafting Challenges--Anything Goes

     Brown Sugar #231--Anything Goes

     Inspiration Destination Challenge--Anything Goes
     Simon Says--Anything Goes

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

:) Marie

   

Color Dare #224 Meets CAS Challenges #366.

Here is the last Color My Heart Color Dare challenge for 2016! We invite you to use the designated Close to My Heart colors to create something you like.  (Of course if you don't have the exact CTMH colors yet you can substitute something similar so you can still join in on the fun!)  This year we are extending the usual one week challenge to 3 weeks (ending 9PM EST January 5) so you have plenty of time to join us over the holidays.  

Our colors this week are:  Cranberry, Crystal Blue, Willow and White Daisy.  My card features stamps and thin cuts from the Thankful for You Thin Cuts Bundle.

Here is a close-up so you can see how sparkly the Clear Shimmer pen made the swan's bill and wings.

Close to My Heart products used:

     Thankful for You Thin Cuts Bundle

     White Daisy CS

     Adventure Fundamentals Paper (Willow green pattern)

     Cranberry CS

     Crystal Blue CS

     White and Gold Ribbon

     Clear Shimmer Brush

     Willow Ink

     Crystal Blue Ink

     Scallop Punch (retired)

Other product:

     Stitched Oval Die by Katscrappiness.com

     Tiny wiggle eye

Here is the Color My Heart Color Dare graphic.  Just click on it to get to the challenge blog to check out what the rest of the awesome Design Team has to inspire you.

     

My usual creative process often starts with pairing the color challenge with a current sketch challenge.  I often consult the Paper Playful blog to find other challenges to inspire me.  This week I found the Crazy 4 Challenges blog in which you can use any of their sketches for the whole year.  I chose challenge #341.

I'm also entering my card into the Sunny Day Crafting challenge where it is always Anything Goes.

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

:) Marie

Flower Market Sunflowers in Paper Play Sketch #21

Here is a card I made with the new Close to My Heart Flower Market cricut cartridge using Paper Play Sketch #21.

Close to My Heart products used:
      Flower Market Cricut cartridge     
      Champagne CS
      New England Ivy CS
      Goldrush CS
      Canary CS
      Saffron CS
      Chocolate CS
      Clear Shimmer Brush (on flower centers and 3 chocolate accents)

Here is the Paper Play Sketch #21 that inspired my card (rotated 90 degrees)

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

City Sidewalks for Color Dare #219 and Mojo Monday

Welcome back to another Color My Heart Color Dare challenge blog post.  This week we are challenging you to use all and only the colors from the City Sidewalks paper packet.  (Of course, if you don't have these Close to My Heart colors yet you may substitute similar colors so you can still join in on the fun). The featured colors are Black, Cranberry, Lagoon, Peacock, White Daisy and Willow.

Close to My Heart products used:
     Willow CS
     City Sidewalks paper
     Cranberry CS
     Season of Magic stamps (poinsettia stamp)
     Cranberry Ink
     Holiday Tags stamps (retired)
     Peacock Ink
     Clear Shimmer Brush (on poinsettia and snow on paper) 

Here is the Color Dare graphic.  Just click on it to check out what the rest of the fabulous Design Team has to inspire you.

 

This is the Mojo Monday Sketch that inspired my card layout:

 I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:

     Sunny Day Crafts--Anything Goes

     Cardz 4 Gals--Contemporary Christmas 

     Sweet Stampin' Christmas--Anything Christmas

     Inspiration Destination--Anything Goes 
     Scrapping4Fun Challenge #78--Christmas

Are you ready to take the Color Dare challenge this week?

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

:) Marie

Flower Market Pumpkins for Joyful Stars Blog Hop

Welcome to the November Joyful Stars Blog Hop!  We are a group of Close to My Heart consultants who share something each month and at 9PM EST.  If you are coming from Debi Brile's blog you are on the right track.  (The complete lineup is also on Joyce's blog in case you get lost.) Have fun being inspired!

I made this card for my sister's birthday.  She loves everything "pumpkin" so I got to use the latest Close to My Heart Flower Market Cricut cartridge to create a birthday card for her.  The stamped greeting is also from the Flower Market Cricut collection.  The "frost" on the pumpkins was made with the new Clear Shimmer Brush.

Close to My Heart products used:
     Flower Market Cricut collection
     Pansy CS
     Colonial white CS
     Sunset CS (recently retired)
     New England Ivy CS
     Goldrush CS
     New England Ivy Ink
     Clear Shimmer Brush

I'm also linking this card up to the Cards in Envy Pumpkins challenge.

Now it's time to head on over to Betty Locco's blog to see the awesome project she has to share this month.

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

P.S. If you like what you see on my blog please consider becoming a follower of my blog so you won't miss any of my fabulous projects.


     

Flourished Anniversary Card

What do you do when you have interesting flourishes leftover from a previous card?  You make another card!  This week the challenge at Bitten by the Bug is to make a card with "Flourishes".  When I made my first card for this challenge I had used the "A Quilted Christmas" cricut cartridge for the flourish at the bottom of the card.  I had actually cut the design several times so I could inlay the holly berries in green thus I had a couple of New England Ivy flourishes left over to use.  My sister's wedding anniversary is this week so I chose to make an anniversary card.

 

Close to My Heart products used:

     Oh Deer! Paper packet

     Sea Glass CS

     New England Ivy CS

     New England Ivy Ink

     Say it All stamps (retired)

     Shin Han Touch Marker--Carmine  

     Clear Shimmer Brush (apTape

     

Other products:

     Grey Kraft paper (Recollections)

     Heart shaped punch by Family Treasures

Here is the first card I made with flourishes from "A Quilted Christmas" for the Bitten by the Bug challenge.   Which card do you like better?

 

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:

     Sunny Day Crafting--Anything Goes

     A Bit More Time to Craft--Anything Goes

     Naughty or Nice--Punches and Diecuts

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

Haunted House Card for Color Dare #217

Welcome back to another Color My Heart Color Dare challenge blog post!  This week we invite you to use all and only these colors:  Sweet Leaf, Sunset, Black and White Daisy.  (If you don't have these Close to My Heart colors yet feel free to substitute something similar so that you can still play along!)

My card was so easy to make!  I just went to Design Space, found my Artfully Sent cartridge, slid the papers and mats into the Cricut Explore and glued the pieces together.  So simple!

Close to My Heart products used:

     Artfully Sent Cartridge (recently retired)

     Black CS

     Sunset CS (recently retired)

     Sweet Leaf CS

     White Daisy CS

     Say it All stamp (recently retired)

     Sunset Ink

     Clear Shimmer Brush (applied to the moon)

     Black Marker (color bats over the moon)

Here is the Color My Heart Color Dare graphic. (Just click on it to see what the rest of the fabulous Design Team has to share).  We would love for you to join us in our gallery.

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:

     Sunny Day Crafting--Anything Goes

     Hanna and Friends #260--Halloween/Autumn

     Star Stampz--Halloween

     Fab n Funky Challenges #324--Halloween

     Simon Says Wednesday Challenge--Anything Goes

     Die Cutting Divas--Halloween

     Craft Cardmakers--Things That Go Bump in the Night

     Paper Girls #114--Halloween

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

:) Marie