Quick Cards for July Joyful Stars Blog Hop

Welcome back to another 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 Debi Brile's blog you are on the right track. (The complete lineup is on Joyce's blog in case you get lost.) Have fun being inspired!  

This month I've created a few cards using new Thin Cut Dies from the current Seasonal Expressions catalog (ends August 31) called It's Your Day and A Big Thank You.  These dies are 3.75" x 5" to fill up an A2 card base quite nicely.  It is so quick to make cards with these fabulous Thin Cut Dies!

My first card was created with the current challenge colors (Mink, Bashful and Pacifica) from Color My Heart Color Dare which is celebrating it's 300th challenge featuring Close to My Heart colors.  (A Mystery Box of CTMH products is being offered as a prize so check out the requirements here).  Bashful Shimmer Brush was added to the candle flames for a bit of sparkle.

This next card was made with New England Ivy card stock (soon to be retired color) and patterned paper from Fresh Air Paper Pack (available through August 31).  Although it's difficult to see I applied the Gold Shimmer Brush to the candle flames.

I remembered that I had some Nuvo Crystal Drops in my stash and applied them to the candle flames.

This next card uses Lemon Card Stock, Pacifica Card Stock  and a Cranberry Card Stock strip.  (Cranberry and Pacifica are among my favorite colors but they will be retired at the end of August.) The Clear Shimmer Brush was used inside the heart for a bit of sparkle.

Now head on over to Michelle Loncar's blog.  I'm sure you'll be inspired by her project! 

I'm also entering these cards into the following challenges:
     Heart 2 Heart--Anything Goes with CTMH products
     Seize the Birthday--Option to use Sequins
     

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.

Color Dare #300--Bashful, Mink and Pacifica

The Color My Heart Color Dare Design Team is celebrating our 300th challenge with a prize giveaway!  We've made lots of changes over the years and we are happy to still be going strong.  Although we LOVE Close to My Heart colors and products you don't need to use them to join in the fun--just use similar colors without adding new colors to your creation.  (It is always acceptable to use Black and White Daisy to any of our color challenges unless specified not to). 

This fortnight we are challenging you to combine these fabulous Close to My Heart colors:

My card features stamps from last year's Constant Campaign called "From the Heart".  The background panel is Bashful Card Stock that was randomly stamped with a flower in Bashful Pigment Ink and then Clear Embossed.  Next Pacifica Ink was rubbed over the flowers with a Sponge Dauber to make the flowers "pop".  The Pacifica frame is accented with Bashful Pearls.  The greeting and flower spray on the Mink panel was stamped with Pacifica Pigment Ink and clear embossed.

Here is another view so you can see how shiny the Clear Embossed Pacifica Pigment ink is:

Please head on over to the Color My Heart Challenge Blog to read about the Prize Giveaway details and to get creative inspiration from our fabulous Design Team.  Our challenge will remain open until Thursday evening, July 19 at 10 PM CT so you have plenty of time to play along.  We can't wait to see what you create!

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

     Incy Wincy Designs--Use Flowers

     A Bit More Time to Craft--Anything Goes

     World Wide Open Design Team Challenge--

          Anything Goes

     Crafting By Designs--Anything Goes

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.

50th Birthday Card with Atlantic Hearts Sketch #267

Here is another fabulous Atlantic Hearts Sketch for you to try!  

The background is Crystal Blue card stock with a black stripe, Pomegranate striped panel from Enchantment Paper Fundamentals and a Pacifica pennant.  The rays on the circle was gold embossed with a stamp from the Central Park Scrapbooking set.  The birthday greeting is from the Close to My Heart retired Balloon Animals stamp set.  I used shiny metallic black paper to cut the "50" using the Nursery Rhymes cricut cartridge.

What can you do with this wonderful sketch?  Here it is in black and white.  

Our challenge is open until Sunday evening June 10.  We would love to see what you can create!  You can link up here.

I'm also submitting this card to the following challenges:

     Crafty Friends Challenge--Happy Birthday

     Hiding in My Craft Room--Use 4 Colors

     Always Happy Birthday--Summer Birthday                        Option

     Seize the Birthday--Patterned Paper

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.

     

Color Dare #286 With Sketch Saturday Sketch #506

The last Color My Heart Color Dare challenge of the month features a Tic Tac Toe board for you to choose from.  We've been featuring colors from the Close to My Heart Stargazer color palette in March so now you get to choose which colors in vertical, horizontal or diagonal rows you want to combine.

Close to My Heart products used:
      Sapphire CS
      White Daisy CS
      Canary Ink (focus panel was "smooshed")
      Pacifica Pigment Ink
      Sapphire Ink
      Adventure Fundamentals Paper (Pacifica)
      Flower Market Cricut bundle stamp greeting
      Chelsea Gardens butterfly stamps
      Clear Shimmer Brush

My choice is from the left column:  Sapphire, Pacifica and Canary.  White Daisy and Black are "free" to use also. 

Just click on the above graphic to get to the Color Dare challenge blog to see what the rest of the fabulous Design Team has to inspire you.  Our challenge is open for two weeks to give you plenty of time to play along with us.  We look forward to visiting your blogs and commenting on your projects.

Here is the wonderful Sketch Saturday sketch that inspired my card layout:

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

      Simon Says Wednesday Challenge--Anything                  Goes
      Double D Challenges--Just "Wing it"
      Seize the Birthday--Toppings options "Birds"
      Through the Craft Room Door--Anything Goes
      House That Stamps Built--Anything Goes
      Crafty Gals Corner #162--Anything Goes

Just a reminder that Color Dare #285 (Bashful, Pebble and Raspberry) is still open until Thursday, April 5th.  You can enter this challenge here.

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.

     

      

Color Dare #284 Meets Try Stampin' on Tuesday #359

Welcome back to another Color My Heart Color Dare challenge blog post!  This fortnight we are inviting you to combine the following Close to My Heart exclusive colors:  Glacier and Pacific with an option of Silver.  Black and White may also be added but please do not add any other colors for this challenge. If you don't have these exact colors yet you can substitute similar colors so you can still play along with us!   I used a very simple sketch from Try Stampin' on Tuesday to create a birthday card for my niece.

Close to My Heart products used:

     Pacifica CS

     White Daisy CS

     Whimsy Fundamentals Paper

     Silver Glitter paper

     Artbooking Cricut Cartridge

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

Our challenge is open for two weeks and will close at 10 PM CDT on Thursday, March 29.  We look forward to visiting your blogs to comment on your artwork.  (If you don't have a blog you can post your project on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram and copy the URL and paste it into our Linky tool.)

Here is the Try Stampin' on Tuesday sketch that inspired my card layout:

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

     Always Happy Birthday--Option--use patterned                    paper

     Creatalicious Challenge--Anything Goes--Option-                Birthday

      Seize the Birthday--Option Teal and White

      Through the Purple Haze--Anything Goes

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.

      

Sunny Thoughts for Freshly Made Sketch #321

This card is for a very special young lady who loves the color purple.  The big, bold sentiment is from the upcoming Close to My Heart February Stamp of the Month called Sunny Thoughts which will be available starting Thursday, February 1.  I cut pennants with Design Space and found this interesting accent in the Home Accents cartridge (available in Access subscription).  The card size is 6.5" wide by 5 inches high.

Close to My Heart products used:
     White Daisy CS
     Pansy CS
     Pacifica CS
     Sunny Thoughts stamp set
     White Glitter paper
     Pansy pigment ink
     Clear embossing powder 
     Rose Embossing Folder

My card layout was inspired by this fabulous Freshly Made Sketch #321:

 

If you would like to replicate my card you can use my Design Space file here. 

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

      Aud Sentiments Challenge--Anything Goes

      A Bit More Time to Craft--Anything Goes

      Card Mania Challenge--Monochromatic

     

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.

Golf Themed Birthday Card for Freshly Made Sketch #306

There's another fabulous sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week and it inspired me to make a birthday card for a golfing friend.

Products used:

     Pacifica CS by Close to My Heart

     Colonial White CS retired Close to My Heart

     White and Gold Shimmer CS by Recollections

     Black CS by Recollections

     Memento Black Ink

     Golf Scrapbook paper--source unknown--found at                Tuesday Morning

     Tonic Golf Ball, Tee & Turf Die

Here is the fabulous Freshly Made Sketch #206 I followed:

    

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

     NBUS #12--Anything Goes with Never Before                    Used Stuff--Tonic Golf Ball, Tee and Turf                     Dies

     Seize the Birthday--optional Balloons--the ball on               the tee somewhat resembles a balloon on a                   string....

     Glitter 'n Sparkle--Happy Birthday--the golf ball                     was cut from Shimmery cardstock.

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.

From the Heart Meets CAS Colours and Sketches #241

From the Heart is a special promotion from Close to My Heart to celebrate National Stamping Month.  The complete set comes with a set of gold foiled die cut pieces to make 10 interactive stand-up cards and lovely floral and large sentiment stamps.

I needed to make a get well card for a friend so I chose the above sentiment stamp and combined it with the color challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches.  My Close to My Heart Color Substitutions are Emerald, Pacifica and Pansy.  

Here is the CAS Colours & Sketches color palette that inspired my card:

This card is also being entered into the following challenges:

     Colour Crazy Challenge--Anything Goes

     Simply Papercraft--Anything Goes

     Craft Rocket Challenges--Something Beginning               with "F"--(flower)

     Moving Along with the Times--Sentiment as Focal                   Image
      Addicted to CAS--Floral

   

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.

     

Masculine Birthday Card With Heart 2 Heart Sketch

I love the new two toned solid cardstock by Close to My Heart!  One side is darker and the other side lighter which coordinate so nicely together.  Today's card uses Pacifica cardstock and ombre Adventure Fundamentals using a Heart 2 Heart sketch.

 

The greeting is from Card Chatter Birthday which was retired from Close to My Heart several years ago. 

Here is the fabulous Heart 2 Heart Sketch that inspired my card.  (Apparently I forgot to look at the sketch when I put the card pieces together as it is oriented differently--a bit of "artistic license" perhaps!)

 

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

    Seize the Birthday--Anything Goes 

    Crafty Friends--Birthday

    Craft for the Craic--Something with a triangle

    Kitty Bee Designs--Birthday

    Addicted to Stamps and More--Anything Goes 

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.

Golf Themed Get Well Card for Atlantic Hearts Sketch #211

Welcome back to another Atlantic Hearts Sketch challenge blog post!  We have another fabulous sketch for you to try this week!

When I first saw the sketch, I thought of using flowers but then I remembered that I wanted to make a get well card for a golf buddy who just broke his ankle and I changed the flowers to golf balls and the flower stems to golf tees.  Thinking "outside the box", wouldn't you agree?

The scalloped circle was cut in Design Space using the Elegant Edges cartridge.  The golf tees were from an image I had uploaded.

Close to My Heart products used:

     Live Beautifully paper (gold foil dotted                               background)

     Pacifica CS

     Whisper CS

     Emerald CS

     Sea Glass CS

     Sea Glass Ink

     Laughing Lola Cardmaking stamp (stamped on                    circle inside)

     Black Memento Ink

     Kiss it Better stamp (retired)

     Tee Time stamp (retired)

     Ranger Silver Fine Detail Embossing Powder

     Black and Gold Ribbon

We hope you find time to play along with our challenge this week!  We look forward to visiting your blogs and commenting.

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

     Crafty Cardmakers--Add a Sentiment

     My Time to Craft--Masculine

     Inspiration Destination--Masculine

     Crafting with Friends--Anything Goes

If you would like a chance to win a new Cricut Explore please visit my blog post here for more details.  

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. 

     

Color Dare #240--Some Kinda Wonderful Colors

Welcome back to another Color My Heart Color Dare challenge blog post.  This week we are featuring the colors from the "Some Kinda Wonderful" paper pack. There are a lot of colors in this palette and we are challenging you to use at least 4 of them without adding any colors not in the palette.  

Close to My Heart products used:
     Glacier CS
     Simple Chevron Embossing folder
     White Daisy CS
     Willow CS
     Pacifica CS
     Get Better Soon Stamps
     Raspberry Ink
     Memento Black Ink
     Black and White Dots
    Some Kind of Wonderful patterned paper (black                 flag)
    Distressing Kit

Here is the Sketch Saturday sketch that inspired my card layout:

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

     Cuttlebug Mania--"A Nice Cuppa..."

     Three Amigos Blog Hop Challenge April--Some Kinda     Wonderful
     Heart 2 Heart--Some Kinda Wonderful

     Between the Folds--Some Kinda Wonderful

     Through the Craft Room Door--Anything Goes

Here is the Color My Heart Color Dare graphic--please click on it to view what the rest of the fabulous Color Dare Design Team has to inspire you.

If you get a chance to enter our challenge you could submit your project to these other wonderful blogs who are also featuring the Some Kinda Wonderful paper pack: 
     Three Amigos Blog Hop Challenge April                          (ends 4/30)

       Between the Folds--Some Kind of Wonderful                    (ends 4/24)

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. 

Three Ways to Create Background Stamped Panels

One of the weekly challenges this month at the Heart 2 Heart challenge blog is to use background or random stamping. (I've now completed 3 of the 4 March challenges and will finish the 4th one soon.) Using the Hello Lovely Cardmaking stamps I created three different cards using the same stamps.

Card #1--White embossed and then watercolor painted:

Card #2--Clear embossed and then sponge colored with Poppy and Fern inks

Card #3--Stamped with Memento Black ink on White Daisy paper

Which one do you like best?

I'm sharing these cards with these challenges:

     Heart 2 Heart--Background Stamping

     Simon Says Wednesday--Anything Goes

     Cards in Envy--Black, White and Pop of Color

     The Male Room--Colours

     CAS Colours and Sketches--Sketch

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. 

Hooray Bouquet for Color Dare #199

Welcome back to another Color My Heart Color Dare challenge blog post. This week we have a 4 color challenge--Pacifica, Sunset, Cranberry and White Daisy.  My flowers were cut with the soon to retire CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge and stamped with the soon to retire Hooray Bouquet stamp set.

Close to My Heart products used:

     Pacifica CS

     Cranberry CS

     Sunset Ink

     Cranberry Ink

     White Daisy CS

     Art Philosophy cartridge

     Hooray Bouquet stamp set

     White Shimmer Trim

     3D Foam Tape

Here is the Color Graphic for Color Dare #199.  Just click on it to get to our challenge blog to be inspired by the rest of the fabulous Design Team.  We would like you to use all and only these colors but if you don't have these Close to My Heart colors yet you may substitute with similar colors.

My card layout was inspired by this fabulous sketch from Freshly Made Sketches #242:

I'm also adding this card to the Simon Says Stamp Shimmer challenge.

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

:) Marie

Artistry Meets Color Dare #197--Pacifica, Canary and White Daisy

If you are looking for the Joyful Stars Blog Hop post please go here.

Welcome back to another Color My Heart Color Dare challenge blog post!  This week we are featuring just 3 Close to My Heart colors.  They are Pacifica, Canary and White Daisy.   I just love these three colors together!

Close to My Heart products used:

     Pacifica CS

     Canary CS

     White Daisy CS

     Artistry cartridge

Other products

     Cuttlebug Happy Birthday embossing folder

Here is the Color My Heart Color Dare graphic.  Just click on it to get to our challenge blog to be inspired by the rest of the fabulous Design Team.  We would like you to use all and only these colors but if you don't have these Close to My Heart colors yet you may substitute with similar colors.

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

:) Marie