Cardinal Christmas Card for Three Challenges

It's a snowy day in the Northeast so why not make a Christmas card?  I was inspired by the Tuesday Morning Sketch # 236, the February color challenge by 52 Christmas Card Throwdown and a theme challenge by Merry Monday #95 to use an animal on your card.

Close To My Heart products used:
    To You and Yours Stamp Set
    Black Ink
    New England Ivy CS
    White Daisy CS
    Ruby CS
    Ruby Alcohol Marker
    Pear and Partridge Paper (retired)
    Mistletoe Paper (retired)
    Lace
    Opaque Adhesive Gems
    Metallic Paper  (This retired pack from D.O.T.S. had Black, Gold and Silver Metallic paper.)

Here is the Tuesday Morning Sketch I followed:

The "twist" requirement is to add pearls and lace.

Here is the Color Graphic from 52 CCT:

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

:) Marie

Pear and Partridge for Freshly Made Sketch #115

I'm just starting to make my holiday cards and was inspired to try this Freshly Made Sketch #115.

Materials Used:

    Pear and Partridge Paper (retired CTMH)

    Cashmere CS

    Ruby CS

    Holiday Tags

    Ruby Ink

    Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel

This is the sketch that inspired me:

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

:) Marie

H2H Challenge--"Brown Paper Packages Tied up with String"

The Heart 2 Heart challenge this week comes right from a song--can you guess which song it is from?  "Brown Paper Packages Tied Up with String" is our theme this week and you can interpret it any way you want--just be sure to use some Close To My Heart products!    (Answer at the bottom of the post--hint it is from a Broadway musical).

 

Close To My Heart Products Used:

Cranberry CS

Pear and Partridge paper (retired)

Kraft paper

Burlap Ribbon

Harvest Baker's Twine

Bronze Shimmer Trim

A Little Gift stamp--paper pieced from Kraft, Cranberry and Champagne)

Chocolate Ink

Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel

I've got a brown package and lots of string--I removed a few strands of burlap to create spaces to weave the twine through and left it ragged on the edges.   How will you be inspired to create using our theme this week?  Please use a direct link to enter here.  We look forward to visiting your blogs.

Answer:  the phrase comes from the song "My Favorite Things" from the musical "Sound of Music".  

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

  

I don't know about you but I'll be singing it in my head all night now!  

Check out what the rest of the Design Team has to inspire you:

Brittany, Carol, Kelly,  Haley,  Lucy and our Guest Designer Wendy leave them some well deserved comments.  

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

:) Marie

Polar Bear Holiday for Sunday Stamps Challenge #58

Welcome back to another Sunday Stamps Challenge post!  This week we have a terrific sketch by Steph to inspire you:

 

This is a sketch I will be using over and over again because it is so simple and easy to use!  I used a brand new Close To My Heart stamp set called "Polar Bear Holiday" for it's delightfully fun image and versatile greeting.  The background paper is from "Pear and Partridge" (retired CTMH), the scalloped edges were punched with the new Scallop Border CTMH punch from Cranberry CS.  The polar bear was "paper pieced"  (i.e. stamped 3 times to layer the elements). The scarf was stamped onto old Cranberry B & T paper and the spots were colored with a Cranberry marker.  The polar bear was stamped with Black ink onto White Daisy CS. The sled was stamped in Desert Sand ink on Colonial White CS.  The greeting was stamped in Cranberry ink.

Here are the rest of the stamps in Polar Bear Holiday:  

 

If you just have to have this adorable stamp set feel free to order it from my website here if you don't have a local Close To My Heart consultant.  Here is another card I made recently using the skating polar bear.

We can't wait to see what you create using this sketch!   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 sketch graphic too to let your readers know about our 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.

I'm also entering this card into Top Tip Tuesday Challenge # 109--Paper Piecing.

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

:) Marie

Color Dare #20--Smoothie, Cranberry, Olive and New England Ivy

I've recently become a fan of Pinterest and got my inspiration for this card from here.  This card features the colors from Close To My Heart Pear and Partridge paper and was made for Color My Heart Color Dare #20.  The colors from top to bottom are Smoothie, Cranberry, Olive and New England Ivy.  These paper strips were dry embossed with the Cuttlebug Musical Flourish folder.  The Pear and Partridge paper was glitzed up with Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel--one of my favorite quick techniques for adding a little extra sparkle.  The greeting was stamped in Black ink and is from A Timber (retired CTMH).

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

Pear and Partridge for Freshly Made Sketch #55

This holiday card was made with the Close To My Heart Art Philosophy cartridge, papers and glitter gels. I cut 4 trees from page 52 at 1.75",  folded 3 of them in half and glued them together on the 4th tree as a base. This was mounted over a 2" Bamboo CS circle. The vertical stripe is Cranberry CS and the green horizontal stripe is the reverse side of the Pear and Partridge paper. The red ornaments on the tree were made with Red Glitter Gel and the base paper was dotted with Stardust Glitter Gel. All of these supplies can be obtained through my website.

 

 

Here is the sketch:

 

Thanks for stopping by.  I invite you to check out this blog post for information about a giveaway I'm offering in celebration of my 100th blog post.

 

 

Freshly Made Sketch #50 and Cas-ual Fridays 67--Use a Banner

Here is a birthday card made with holiday paper! It is new CTMH Pear and Partridge with Desert Sand and Cranberry CS.  (The green stripe is the reverse side of the patterned paper).  It was made using the Freshly Made Sketch #50 rotated 90 degrees.  Cas-ual Fridays 67 challenge is to use a banner or flag.  It was easy to cut this flag using the new CTMH Artiste cricut cartridge which comes with 3 coordinating stamp sets! I am having so much fun making cards and 3D items with this new cartridge!  The flag is popped up with mounting tape. and I used Stardust Glitter Gel on the red/pink elements on the patterned paper and the top of the flag to add some sparkle.  I really like how it turned out and hope you do too!

 My card:

 

 The sketch:

Thanks for stopping by and thanks to all the artists who provide these wonderful challenges!