Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #227

Are you ready for a new Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge?  My Design Team card uses the new Ribbon Border Die, Adventure Fundamentals Paper, Raspberry cardstock, Silver Glitter paper and the retired Perfect Fit greeting stamp from Close to My Heart.  It was really easy to put this card together with these wonderful products!

 Here is the fabulous Atlantic Hearts Sketch this week:

 

Be sure to stop by the Atlantic Hearts Sketch blog on Wednesday to see what the rest of the fabulous Design Team has created to inspire you.

We hope you are inspired to create using this sketch!  You have until Sunday evening, September 3rd to share your artwork in our gallery here. 

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

     Heart 2 Heart--Anything Goes CTMH style

     Seize the Birthday--Anything Goes

     World Wide Open Design Team Challenge--                       Anything Goes 

     Crafty Friends Challenge--Birthdays

     In the Pink--Anything Goes

     Crafty Gals Corner--Punches and/or Dies

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.

Your Own Kind of Wonderful in the Watercolor Blog Hop

Welcome to our Watercolor Blog Hop!  We will be featuring the Watercoloring products from Close to My Heart such as our Watercolor Paints and our Watercolor Pencils.  If you have come here from Kathy Burrow'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. 

This month we have 30 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using Watercolor Products 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! 

My project features a technique called "Watercolor Lifting".  Basically you paint your panel and then clear emboss your images.  Next you paint your panel with plain water to lighten the colors so your embossed images are darker.  It's pretty easy to do!

Here's a close up so you can see how shiny the silver embossed panel is:

Can you guess how I got the silver embossed dots on the butterfly?  Okay, I'll tell you--I used a small Q tip cotton swab dipped in Versamark ink pad and then applied silver embossing powder and a heat tool.  I got the Happy Birthday Greeting from the Perfect Fit Birthday stamp set.

Close to My Heart products used:

     Watercolor Paper

     Watercolor Paints

     Art Philosophy cartridge Pink dotted butterfly

     Versamark Ink

     Clear Embossing Powder

     Ranger Silver Embossing Powder

     Your Own Kind of Wonderful stamp set

     Perfect Fit Birthday stamp

My card layout was inspired by Freshly Made Sketch #226:

Now "Hop" on over to Lela Norris' 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! Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get the products I used in this project.

Here are some other projects I've made recently using the Watercolor Paints:

     Monochromatic Blue Watercolor Card

     Spring Critters Frog Card

     Watercolored Striped Card

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

:) Marie

     

Happy As A Bee Meets Paper Players Sketch #237

There is a new Seasonal Expressions catalog from Close to My Heart debuting next week which I couldn't wait to use with some retired CTMH paper called Buzz and Bumble.

Close to My Heart products used:
     Buzz and Bumble paper (retired)
     Autumn Terracotta CS
     Champagne CS
     Happy Everything stamp set--available April 1
     Perfect Fit Birthday set
     Cocoa Ink
     New England Ivy ink
     Gold Shimmer Trim
     Copper Shimmer Trim
     Brown and Tan Glitter paper
      3D Foam tape
     Shin Han Touch Golden Yellow marker

Here is the Paper Players card sketch that inspired me:

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

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

More Mojo Monday #387

One of the Facebook Cricut groups I subscribe to put a call out for cards to help an elderly developmentally challenged man celebrate a milestone birthday.  Since I love making cards I took the challenge.

Close to My Heart products used:

      Confetti patterned paper (retired)

      Tulip CS (retired)

      Star Spangled Blue CS (retired)

      Artbooking cricut cartridge (to cut circle, scalloped circle and numbers and Argyle border)

      Perfect Fit--Birthday stamp

      Tulip Ink (retired)

      3D Foam Tape

Other products

     Holographic paper--source unknown

Do you recognize this card layout?  It is the same as in my previous post--Mojo Monday #387

Don't you love how the same sketch layout can produce such different results?

I'm also entering this card into the Seize the Birthday--Masculine Challenge

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

:) Marie

Color Dare #104--Lagoon, Honey and Ruby Birthday Card

Welcome back to another Color My Heart Color Dare challenge post!  There are only three Close To My Heart colors in this challenge (neutrals such as white, black, beige and greys are also allowed and if you don't have Close To My Heart colors yet you can substitute something similar).

My card features Jubilee paper--which retired today.  I cut a square of this beautiful Honey colored patterned paper and backed it with Ruby CS.  Underneath the panel is a Lagoon stripe with Paradise Assortment Bakers' Twine.  

Close To My Heart products used:

     Jubilee paper

     Ruby CS

     Lagoon CS

     Ruby Ink

     Lagoon Ink

     White Daisy CS

      Bakers' Twine Paradise Assortment

     Perfect Fit Birthday

     Red Sparkles

     3D Foam Tape

I'm also entering this into this week's Seize the Birthday challenge.

Check out what the fabulous Color My Heart Color Dare Design Team has to inspire you. You have until Thursday, August 7 at 9 PM CT to enter your papercrafted creation here.  We look forward to visiting your blogs and seeing what you create with the colors Honey, Lagoon and Ruby.

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

:) Marie

     .

Another Color Dare #69 Card Using Freshly Made Sketch #112

This week's Freshly Made Sketch intriqued me and I immediately thought of using the new Charming Chevrons stamp set. (page 13 of CTMH  2013 Holiday Gift Guide here).  I  still had the current Color My Heart Color Dare colors on my craft table so I decided to use them again.  From top to bottom the colors are Goldrush, Smokey Plum and Olive.  The Colonial White background was run through the Cuttlebug machine with the Darice Plaid Embossing Folder.  The stars are from the Perfect Fit--Birthday stamp set stamped in coordinating inks. I was trying to make the chevrons looks like rockets.   The "Celebrate" ribbon is from American Celebration (retired CTMH). The card size is 5" x 6.5".

Here is the Freshly Made Sketch #112 I followed:

We would love to see what you can do with these colors.  You can join the Color My Heart Color Dare here.

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

:) Marie

Swirls Around Birthday Card for CAS(E) This Sketch #45

Swirls Around is one of my favorite new Close To My Heart stamp sets and I was happy to use it in this sketch challenge:

The swirls were stamped in CTMH Cashmere and Cranberry on White Daisy CS and mounted onto Cashmere CS.  The birthday greeting is from Perfect Fit--Birthday. (I did separate the Happy and Birthday so I could arrange them as below).

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

:) Marie

Sunday Stamps #55--Brown, Lavender and Turquoise

Welcome back to another Sunday Stamps Challenge post!  (If you are looking for the Color My Heart Color Dare post please go here).  This biweek we are challenging you to use these 3 colors in your card--Brown, Turquoise and Lavender.  Two of the colors I'm using are retired CTMH--Tropical Blue and Amethyst while the Desert Sand is still available.  It's great to use up your stash, wouldn't you agree?

The greetings are all from Close To My Heart Perfect Fit--Birthday set.  The patterned paper is retired Desert Sand Victorian paper.  The ends of each banner were dotted with white Liquid Pearls. 

Now it is your turn to play along.  Click on the challenge picture below to be taken to the Sunday Stamps Challenge blog where you can use a direct link to link up.  Entries are due by August 9, 2013 at 6PM Eastern.

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 linking this card up to the current Keep It Simple challenge for birthdays.

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

Color My Heart Color Dare #50--Surf's Up Gold, Surf's Up Teal, Crystal Blue, Sorbet with Ponderosa Pine Option

Welcome back to another Color My Heart Color Dare post!  This week's challenge focuses on the Close To My Heart colors from the Surf's Up Paper Pack  (Surf's Up Gold, Surf's Up Teal, Crystal Blue, Sorbet).  The use of Ponderosa Pine is optional and I chose to use it as a solid background.  When I'm asked to combine a lot of different colors I tend to use card layouts that have lots of smaller pieces.  I found my inspiration for this layout on pinterest and you can view it here.  The greeting was stamped with Sorbet Ink from Perfect Fit Birthday and I actually cut the stamp into two unconnected words so I could arrange it like this on the card  The squares were cut at 1.25" and then two of the opposing corners were rounded.  Here are 3 different versions:

 

Next I added some 1/4" hole punched circles from Grey and Black Glitter paper:

Last I added some Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel to all but 3 of the pieces to accent the patterns in the paper.

 

Here's a tip that might make it easier for you to participate in this challenge.  Sarah Stone suggested this tip a while ago--use the B & T sampler pack that consultants often purchase to show customers.  If you are not a consultant or don't have any of these colors you may substitute similar colors but try to limit your color palette to just the 4 or 5 colors listed with neutrals.  Lagoon and Honey would be good substitutions for Surf's Up Gold and Surf's Up Teal that come in the Surf's Up Paper Pack.

We hope you can play along with us this week!  You can link up your papercrafted creation (does not have to be a card) here.  Please use a direct link when you enter the challenge and be sure to provide a link back to Color My Heart Color Dare so your readers will be able to find us.  

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

Sarah, Pam, Lela, Amie, Caroline, Becca, Marie.

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

:) Marie

Artiste K Key for Rose Blossom Garden #7 Using Atlantic Hearts Sketch #10

My daughter-in-law had a big birthday yesterday so I made her a one of a kind special card.  Following the Atlantic Hearts Sketch #10 in combination with the Artiste K Key challenge from Rose Blossom Gardens #7 was pretty easy to do.  I love playing along with blog challenges that support the use of Close To My Heart products as these two sites do!  It was a great sketch and the Artiste K page had fun elements to work with.  I wanted to highlight her milestone birthday--the big 30 so I cut the numbers at 1.25" using Artiste from a repurposed foil take out lid.  (The silvery metallic lid did not photograph well here).  The frame behind the numbers was cut from Dreamin' paper (retired CTMH) accent 2 pg. 58 at 3.25"--this piece is actually a mini-album page so I turned it so the binding holes were on the bottom and then concealed by the horizontal stripe. The mat for the frame was cut at slightly more than 3.25".  The White Daisy background was dry embossed with the Cuttlebug Anna Griffin Poppy folder.  The flower accents were also from page 58 accent 4 cut at 2.75" and 1.5" from Goldrush CS  and Dreamin' paper.  The greeting is from Perfect Fit--Birthday and was stamped in Indian Corn Blue.  Silver Glitz Glitter Gel was applied to the smaller flower center and the tips of the larger flower.   The three round accents were made with a 3/8" hole punch from the same paper as the blue and white frame and then glitzed with Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel.  The base of the card is Pacifica CS--one of my favorite Close To My Heart colors.  The card was 5" wide by 6.5" tall.  The "30" and "Celebrate" greeting were popped up with 3D Foam Tape.  I really like how this card came out and will probably replicate for other special birthday cards.

Here is the foil lid that I cut the numbers from (I did set the Cricut machine pressure to 5 as it is somewhat thicker than regular CS).

Please consider playing along with these challenges.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful week filled with fun and creativity!  Be sure to stop back Friday morning to see what I'll be posting for the new Color My Heart Color Dare!
:) Marie 

Rose Blossom Garden Challenge #2 with Seize the Birthday #14 Sketch

The current challenge at Rose Blossom Garden is to use a cut from the Artiste cartridge "Happy Mother's Day" key.   I chose to use the crown (accent 4 shift at 1.5") cut from Close to My Heart Black and Grey Glitter paper and adorned with Pink Glitter Gems.  Whisper CS was used on the top of the card and the bottom of the card features Lucy (CTMH retired) paper cut up in strips.  The card size is 5" x 6.5".  The oval mat is Wildberry CS (CTMH retired).  The stamped circles are the back side of the Lucy paper.  "Celebrate" and "Happy Birthday to You" are from Perfect Fit--Birthday Stamp Set and "It's Your Day" is from a very old wooden CTMH Superset with a spring theme.

 

The sketch is from "Seize the Birthday" #14:

 

I had fun making this card and I imagine the person who receives this card will feel like a queen!
Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful week filled with fun and creativity!
:) Marie

Color Dare #36--Claire Colors--Blush, Hollyhock, Sunset and Outdoor Denim

Thank you, Sarah Stone, for coming up with another great color challenge!  This week's Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge uses the colors found in the new Close To My Heart paper pack called Claire (Blush, Hollyhock, Sunset and Outdoor Denim).  This is one of my favorite new color packs from Close To My Heart.  My first card features a floral panel from Claire, 1.5" circles from Sunset, Holllyhock and Blush cardstocks and a Bamboo background.  The Outdoor Denim flower overlays were cut with the Art Philosophy cartridge.  I cut apart Colonial White Rosette Ribbon and used it as the flower centers on the right.  The vertical stripe is CTMH new Slate Polka Dot Washi tape.  The greeting in the lower right corner is from Perfect Fit--Birthday.  I applied some Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel (my favorite embellishment!) to parts of the flowers in the left panel.

My next card uses white as a neutral color with a Hollyhock randomly stamped background.  I chose the round medallion type stamps from the Artiste Cricut Collection Kudos stamps as it reminded me of the Doily theme on the main panel.  The Outdoor Denim panel  was dry embossed and distressed to expose the white core of the cardstock.  I cut out one flower from the Claire paper and popped it up from the Hollyhock strip with 3D Foam Tape and glittered it with Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel. 

We would love to have you join us in this challenge!  Just link up your papercrafted creation to Color My Heart Color Dare by Thursday evening, April 4 by 9PM CST.  Check out what the rest of the Design Team has created for this challenge.  They would be thrilled if you would comment on their work too!

Oops!  I almost forgot to mention that there is a prize for the winner this week:
Hollyhock  Zipper Lace and Blue and Green Epoxy sparkles:



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

Seize the Birthday #11--Feminine Card

The challenge at Seize the Birthday #11 this week is a feminine card.  I used the new Close to My Heart Chantilly paper as the focal panel and stamped the greeting from Perfect Fit--Birthday in Ruby ink.  The White Daisy background was run through the Cuttlebug using the Geometric Rings embossing folder.  The finishing touches on the card were easy--drops of Pink Glitz Glitter Gel on the white background and Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel on the Chantilly paper.  The sketch was really simple to follow yet can be interpreted in so many ways!

(The contrasting background in my light box is the reverse side of this beautiful Chantilly paper).

Here is the Seize the Birthday Sketch:

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

:) Marie