Freshly Made Sketch # 319 with Holographic Dreams Paper

Here is a quick birthday card I made with some brand new (to me) holographic paper (Holographic Dream by Craft Smith) using the fabulous Freshly Made Sketch #391:

The next photo was taken from a different angle so you can see different shades of the beautiful holographic paper:

The solid colored card stocks are Sapphire and Willow from Close to My Heart and the Birthday greeting is a retired CTMH stamp set called "Just a Number".  The sentiment was black embossed onto silver metallic paper from the Paper Cut and raised with 3M Foam Tape.

Freshly Made Sketch #319:

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

      Seize the Birthday--Anything Goes

      Simon Says Wednesday--Patterned Paper

      Shopping Our Stash--Out with  Old, In with                   New

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

:) Marie

Atlantic Hearts Sketch #235

Welcome back to another Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge!  This birthday card is for a dear friend of mine who loves birds.  I chose to use the Bloom cricut cartridge (part of Access subscription) and Creative Cards cartridge to create this card.  If you would like to replicate my card you can use my Design Space file here.

 

The colors from background to foreground are from Close to My Heart:  Pomegranate, New England Ivy, Colonial White and Goldrush for the flower centers which was brushed with the Gold Shimmer Brush.  The sentiment is from a retired stamp set called "Just a Number" stamped in Pomegranate ink.  The birdcage was cut from a metallic take out container lid because I didn't have any silver metallic cardstock.  

Are you ready to see what you can do with this sketch?  You have until Sunday evening, October 29 to share your creation with us 

here.  We look forward to visiting your blogs.  Be sure to check at the AHSC blog on Wednesday to see all the fabulous Design Team creations.

 

I'm also sharing this card with the following challenges:

     Shopping Our Stash--Use a Sketch 

     Creative Craft Cottage--Use a Sentiment 

     Daisy Chain Challenge--Happy Birthday

     Dream Valley Challenges--Birthday 

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.

    

Dream Pop for Color Dare #45

Dream Pop is a special promotion of Close To My Heart Papers that was available the month of May with a qualifying purchase. The Color My Heart Color Dare challenge this week is to use these colors in a papercrafted item.  (If you don't have this paper yet you can substitute similar colors--see the palette here).  Many of the pages are photo ready cardstock sheets and I took the subject of my card from the bottom corner of one of these 12 x 12 sheets.  My card is 6.5" wide x 5" high so the entire owl could fit on the card.  The picture frame in the top left corner is from Frame Flair and was stamped on Whisper CS with Slate Ink.  The punny greeting inside the frame is from Just a Number and was stamped in Bubblegum ink (vintage CTMH) and clear embossed. (Owls are reputed to be "wise" and I thought this was a great saying to use with this card--it made me smile to make that connection anyway!)  I used 3D Foam Tape to lift the frame off the sentiment.  To finish the card off I added wiggle eyes, flower center Clear Sparkles and accented parts of the owl and flowers with my favorite quick embellishment--Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel.  Here is my completed card:

 

Here is the pre-bling card:

 

It took me less than 5 minutes to add the "extra" touches to make my card more attractive and it was certainly worth the time to do it.  It's those little things that make a big difference! (In my humble opinion!)

I'm also entering this card into the Heart2Heart Challenge Creature Feature.

Now it's time to check out what the rest of the fabulous Color Dare Design Team and special Guest Designer for more inspiration at Color My Heart Color Dare.  We hope you will play along with us this week!

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

:) Marie

Happy 80th Birthday Bobby G. and Seize the Birthday #13

Here is a very special card I made for a family friend who just turned 80!  He used to own a car dealership so I thought this old wooden stamp--Retro Roadster--from Close to My Heart would suit him just fine.  I couldn't figure out how I would put the number 80 on the card and then looked at the blank license plate and promptly put in the year 1933.  I followed the Seize the Birthday Sketch #13 to make this card.  Some of the supplies I used were Lucky paper (CTMH retired), Outdoor Denim Ink, Versamark Ink, Clear Embossing Powder, Whisper CS, Darice Steam Punk embossing folder, Sanding Kit, 3D Foam Tape and Just a Number.

Here's the Seize the Birthday Sketch:

    

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

:) Marie

Fresnly Made Sketch #81 for Black Tie Friday #24 Black and Yellow

I love the simplicity and clean lines that the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #81 offers so I used it for a card using black and yellow for Black Tie Friday #24.  All the products used are from Close to My Heart (although some are retired): For Always Paper, Sunny Yellow B & T paper, Just Blooms Flowers, Fanfare brads, Just a Number stamps, Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel (applied to the flower lines and edges) Black Ink and black picot ribbon (from Michael's).  This card came together quickly enough to be able to make it and post it here within an hour of the posting deadline for Black Tie Friday!

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

Color Dare #32--Lagoon, Pear, Outdoor Denim

Welcome back to my blog!  Today's post features a new challenge from Color My Heart--it is Color Dare #32 and it features the Close To My Heart colors Lagoon, Pear and Outdoor Denim.  These are the focus colors for the new CTMH Paper Packet called Later Sk8r.  This is the first time that I am combining these colors together and I love how they look together!  The Skipping Stone Design Sketch #71 caught my eye on Pinterest and I thought it would work well with these 3 colors.  I made a rosette (sometimes called a yoyo) using the CTMH Artiste cartridge (page 62 Accent 3 Shift cut at 1.25") with the Later Sk8tr patterned paper as a backing for the Salutation Seals greeting (stamped in Outdoor Denim and Lagoon inks and hand cut and layered with 3D Foam Tape).  I used Silver Glitz Glitter Gel for the tiny flower centers and the three dots on the right hand side.  It was really easy to assemble this card using this fabulous sketch.

Overachiever that I sometimes am, I decided to make another card to share with you using these colors.  I was inspired by this card from the For Always Workshop on the Go Kit  which can be found in the top right hand corner of page 37 in the Spring/Summer 2013 Idea Book.  I used several different paper strips from the Later Sk8r Paper Packet cut at 1.25" x 3.75" with opposite corners rounded using the CTMH Corner Rounder.  The Birthday greeting is from Just a Number and was stamped in Outdoor Denim ink.  I cut 4 starbursts using the Art Philosophy cartridge (page 23 decorative layer shift cut at 1.25")  The edges of these four pieces were distressed with Outdoor Denim ink and they were popped up off the card using 3D Foam Tape.  Opaques Mocha Adhesive Gems were placed inside the starburst cutouts.  This was another simple card to make.  (For me making decisions about what shapes and design take much more time--there are so many wonderful options to choose from with the Close To My Heart product line!)

I had a lot of fun meeting this challenge and I hope you will too!  If you don't have Close To My Heart colors you may substitute something similar.  Please post your papercrafted item to the Color My Heart Color Dare blog and link back to your blog post so we can come and leave you some love.

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

:) Marie

Surf's Up for Seize the Birthday #4

It's masculine week at Seize the Birthday #4 and Close To My Heart has several new paper packs that lend themselves to making masculine cards.  Today I used the Surf's Up paper pack along with the Just a Number stamp set.  The background panel is Lagoon CS and the focal image is matted with Pacifica CS.  The male surfer was cut out and popped up from the card with 3D Foam Tape.  I love these bright, cheery colors!

 

Here's the Seize the Birthday #4 Sketch:

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

Catch the Bug--Anything Goes

Simon Says--Anything goes

If you like a good color challenge please consider joining in the Color My Heart Color Dare #28.  Entries are due by Thursday, February 7th at 9PM CST.  You don't have to use only CTMH colors but they must be pretty similar:  Goldrush, Twilight, Ruby, Gypsy, Cotton Candy and Juniper.  See my card here.

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

:) Marie

Color Dare #27--Sweet Leaf, Topiary and New England Ivy

We are very happy that so many wonderful papercrafters have participated in our Color Dare this past week.  For Color Dare #27 our colors are monochromatic shades of green--Close To My Heart Sweet Leaf, Topiary and New England Ivy.  I was in a whimsical mood when I designed this card and wanted to use the cute owl that comes with the "Whoo's Your Valentine" January promotion. (details here).  I stamped him in each of the indicated colors and mounted them on black rectangles and gave them very tiny wiggle eyes.  From top to bottom the background panels are New England Ivy gingham (retired), Topiary CS and Sweet Leaf from Miracle (retired).  The stamps come from "Just a Number" and were stamped in New England Ivy ink.  I had fun making this card and hope it brings a smile to your face too!

Now, it's your turn to use the greens.  Please join in on the fun and link up your creation using Sweet Leaf, Topiary and New England Ivy (you may substitute a similar color if you don't have these Close To My Heart products yet) to Color My Heart Color Dare by Thursday, January 31st at 9pm CT.

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

Fun with Puns--Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Me Monday 398

When I saw the title of this challenge I immediately thought of using my new Close To My Heart stamp set called "Just a Number". I also used the elephant from the "Zoology" stamp set.

I used the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge to cut the label (decorative layer of oval 3 on page 42 cut at 2.75")and the hill (oval 3 on page 42 cut at 2.5" and then cut in half). The card size is 6.5" x 5". Paper colors are Sky, Desert Sand and Olive. Ink colors are Moonstruck and Grey Wool. I used a Martha Stewart edge punch called Drippy Goo to make the grass. 3D foam tape was used to pop up the elephant's ear and pop him up on the grass. Hope you find it funny--remember "elephants never forget!"