H2H New Year Challenge--Use an Unused Stamp

Congratulations to all those chosen to be designers at H2H! Thank you for your talents and commitment of time and energy to inspire the rest of us! This week's challenge is to use a stamp that you've never used before. The specifics can be found here. The stamp set I've chosen to feature is D1444 A Little Thanks--there are many of these stamps that I've not yet used so I was up for the challenge. (This stamp set is also being carried forward in the new Idea Book which is out on February 1.) I've used the small bouquet as a bottom border and the greeting as a focal point. I also used Rectangle 8 from the Art Philosophy cartridge to enhance the greeting. The colors are White Daisy, Cranberry and Pacifica. The edges of the white rectangle and pacifica rectangle were distressed with cranberry ink. Here is the card:

Here are the stamps that are in D1444 A Little Thanks:

Thanks for visiting my blog! Come back again soon!

My Rock the Block Challenge--Day 4

Today's card features 3 of the stamps from the Close To My Heart Rock the Block January promotion which can be seen here. The paisley stamp and red circles stamps were applied over Elemental paper. A one inch Cranberry stripe was glued over the bottom of the card and then the greeting was placed over that. The "You Rock the Block" greeting was stamped twice with the inner portion done in red and lifted by using foam tape while the scalloped square was stamped in Pacifica. A Blue Sparkle was placed over the o in the word you. This was a really simple card to make. I'll be back tomorrow with yet another Rock the Block card. Thanks for joining me!

My Rock the Block Challenge--Day 3

Although I love the large corner floral stamp which I featured the last 2 days, I also like the other stamps in this set. Today I'm sharing a card that was made with a circle border stamp from the Rock the Block set. The paper colors are White Daisy, Moonstruck and Pear. The ink colors are Pear and Dutch Blue. The font is from the "A Typeface" set. The Pear colored bottom stripe was cut with the Art Philosophy cartridge. I used a Dutch Blue marker and a ruler to draw a line on the White Daisy strip and embellished with CTMH Clear Sparkles.

You can see all the other stamps in this set at this link.

My Rock the Block Challenge--Day 2

I really like the corner floral stamp so I used it again for this Valentine's Day card. I used Cranberry Ink on Blush CS and carefully cut out the image. I used Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive as it has a thin nozzle and glued down the edges while placing the corner edge on the bottom. The love greeting is also from CTMH from the Card Commentary set(retired). I used a small piece of scrunched up plastic wrap and Blush ink to color the background with a faux marble appearance. To complete the card I cut a piece of gold speckled tulle, accordion folded it and used a twist tie to keep it together and then tucked it into the pocket.

Check out my previous post to see all the other stamps that are available in the Rock the Block January promotion from Close To My Heart.

My Rock the Block Challenge--Day 1

Happy New Year! One of my goals this year is to create more cards and to share them more often so I am promising myself to post a new card everyday for a week. I will be using the Close To My Heart special offer during January 2012 called "Rock the Block" which features a stamp set and collage blocks. For more details check out this link.

These are the stamps that were designed to fit on the 2 x 2 collage blocks:

My Day 1 card uses Buttercup, White Daisy, Spring Iris and Lagoon CS, Lagoon, Moonstruck, and Spring Iris inks. The ovals were cut using the CTMH Art Philosophy cricut cartridge. The ink was applied to the large floral stamp using a tissue to sponge 3 different colors onto the stamp before stamping onto the paper. The greeting is from D1475 Card Chatter--Birthday. Pearl adhesive gems were placed onto the flower centers.

It's an Art Philosophy Blog Hop!

I originally entered this in the Challenge Me Monday challenge at Fantabulous Cricut blogsite. I've been too busy to create anything new so I'm also posting this for the CTMH Art Philosophy blog hop. The challenge here is to use something from the Art Philosophy cartridge in creating your project and it is hosted by Lisa Stenz, a wonderfully talented CTMH consultant. You can find Lisa's Creative Corner blogsite here.
Thanks to fellow CTMH consultant Susan Koeferl who posted on our bulletin board and recommended this great blogsite that features Cricut made projects. You can check it out here. They have something special going on everyday there! "Holiday cards" is the theme for this week's Challenge Me Monday challenge. I made 2 cards, each with Close To My Heart products and their exclusive Art Philosophy cricut cartridge. The first card used Cranberry CS and ink, A1115 A Holiday stamp set, Bliss paper and holographic paper (non ctmh). The Art Philosophy cartridge was used to cut the scalloped oval and scalloped oval with trees cut out. They can be found on page 52 of the Art Philosophy booklet and the measurements I used were 2.25 for the top layer which was decorative layer shift button. The background oval was cut at 2.75.

The second card is very similar but I changed the color of the papers, ink and greeting. The new colors are Holiday Red and Topiary CS. The greeting is from B1381 Holiday Cheer. I used Bonding Memories Glue Pen and Prisma glitter to make the outside edge sparkle. (My first attempt was to glitter the entire green oval but then the pop up dots would not stick so I glittered only the outside edge so I the top layer would stay attached!)

These cards were easy to do and fun to make. It took me way longer to write this blog about them than to create them! Which one do you like better?

Happy Thanksgiving!

The holidays are a hectic time yet so enjoyable! I've made some thanksgiving cards and treat holders but haven't had the time to post them as I was busy preparing for company. These are the ways I've used the Close To My Heart Art Philosophy cartridge to make the colorful turkeys. Thanks to fellow CTMH consultant Connie Saulsbury for sharing the directions for these cute turkeys. Visit her blog here for details. I made a big batch of them, some of which I made cards with but the majority of them I attached an easel stand to the back and put them in with customer orders that I delivered last week. Everyone loved them! Here are some photos:

Yesterday I used my new Gypsy to figure the size to make the treat holder from page 22 of the Art Philosophy cricut booklet. (Font Layer shift) It was a lot of fun to just look at it on the screen and then connect it to the expression machine and just cut it. I measured an Andes Mint at 1 x 1.25 and played with the size on the gypsy. The first one I cut was the correct size and fit 2 Andes mints. (I think it would be 4.5" without using the gypsy). I used old B sized wooden CTMH stamps to decorate and closed the treat box with raffia. I made 12 of these and put them at each guest's place setting. They were a big hit!

I plan to do the same thing with Christmas papers next month. Thanks for visiting my blog and happy holidays to all!

:) Marie

November Constant Campaign--Holiday Wishes and Clean and Simple Sketch Challenge

Close To My Heart is offering a fantastic holiday stamp set called "Holiday Wishes" for just $5.00 (valued at $17.95) with a purchase of $25 in acrylic stamps during November 2011. I received mine yesterday and had a blast making these cards today. There are coordinating Art Philosophy cricut cuts to match these stamps. These are the stamps that come in the set and I managed to use every one of them in these 4 cards. All products used are from Close To My Heart.

This first card is based on the Clean and Simple Stamping Sketch FTL164 which can be found here.It features "Believe" paper, Topiary and Holiday Red CS and Topiary Ink. Lines were embossed on the Holiday Red CS and then distressed with a sanding block. The star and banner were cut on the cricut with CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge.

The next card features "Wonderland" paper, Twilight CS, and Blue and Green Sparkles. After stamping with Twilight Ink, the images were stamped in Versamark and then clear embossed with Polysparkle Tinsel Embossing Powder (CTMH retired).

The tree in this card was stamped in Sweet Leaf Ink on Sweet Leaf CS. The birds were colored with a Tulip marker. The same image was then stamped in Versamark and embossed with Polysparkle Tinsel and then Topiary Ink was rubbed across the tree. The background paper is CTMH "Mistletoe" (retired).

The final card features Vineyard Berry CS and Ink. Bronze glitter gel was applied at the top of each stocking and Stardust glitter gel was used on the angel halos and wings.

Sensational 60th Birthday Card for H2H and Card Patterns 137 Sketch Challenges

Here is a very special card that I made for a very special friend. The challenge at H2H is to use a number on the card and the sketch for card patterns is at the end of this post. The card is 5" x 6.5" and all the supplies used to make this card are from Close To My Heart.

The Art Philosophy cricut cartridge was used to cut the banner, scalloped oval, oval, numbers and dragonflies. (I LOVE all the things we can cut with this cartridge!) Elemental, White Daisy, Pacifica and (retired) Metallic cardstock papers were used. The white paper was distressed with Pacifica ink and sponged with Bamboo ink. Friendship alphabet was used to stamp the word "sensational" with 2nd generation Pacifica ink and then clear embossed. Blue and Green Sparkles embellish the numbers. I'm sure that Arlene will appreciate this one of a kind card--she's a great friend and avid stamper. Thanks for stopping by to check out this card--if you want to know any more details please comment below.

Happy 50th Birthday Jackie Boyle and Card Pattern Challenge 136

Today is my sister's 50th birthday and I made her a card following the Card Pattern Challenge 136. Usually I write a message on a sticky note inside so she can reuse it but she won't be able to do that this time! This is a special one of a kind card for a very special person. The greeting was printed from the computer.

This was the sketch:

Paper Bag Pocket

This project was inspired by another Close To My Heart consultant, Ms. Aaron Brown, who posted on our bulletin board. When I saw this project I just knew that I would have to make it. I made 4 of these to thank the women who ran my 2 golf leagues. Each pocket holds 4 cards and envelopes with various sentiments. The stamp set is now retired "Tee Time" and the patterned paper and ink are also retired--True Teal. I picked these colors as they coordinated with the ribbon that I used. The flourish stamp is from the "You and Me" special promotion set from May 2011. I used my sewing machine to seal the pocket closed although you could easily use a strong glue. Here are a series of photos of this gift. It was easy to do!

You can find directions and a video tutorial on Aaron's blogsite here. Thanks for visiting. Have a great week! :) Marie

H2H Sketch Challenge with Roxie and Hooray Bouquet

This week there is a sketch challenge at H2H challenge blog. Here it is:

My card uses Close To My Heart products: Roxie paper, vanilla cream CS, D1491 Hooray Bouquet, Cocoa and Hollyhock inks. The vertical strips are from the end of the Roxie paper--don't you love the scallops?

Thanks for looking!

Made with Cricut Scraps and H2H Challenge

Now that I've been playing with the new CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge I've accumulated quite a bit of scraps from which my shapes have come from. I challenged myself to find ways to use some of these scraps. Here is what I started from:

This first card was made with the Hollyhock paper from which the "ticket" shapes were cut. The greeting is from Harvest Happiness (C1463) set. Outdoor Denim and Indian Corn Blue CS was also accent the card. The dark blue circles were cut with a regular hole punch. As this card has 3 colors and no patterned paper it qualifies for the Sept. 19th H2H challenge.

The next card also qualifies for the H2H Sept. 19 challenge with the following colors: Goldrush, Autumn Terracotta, Barn Red and Colonial White. The frame for the leaf on the top right was sponged with goldrush ink. The leaves and greeting were embossed in Goldrush EP (now retired).

This card was made sponging through the scraps with Autumn Terracotta and Goldrush inks. It was very fast and easy to do.

The final card I have to share with you today uses Hollyhock, Black and White Daisy CS so it would also qualify for the H2H challenge. The inside of the flowers was made with a Ranger product called Liquid Pearls.

Pair-A-Phrase Cards

September is National Stamping Month and to celebrate it Close To My Heart is offering a special double stamp set for FREE with a $75 purchase. These are the stamps and greetings included in this great set:

Here are the cards I've made with the set:

The above card features the new CTMH paper called Wonderland with a background square of Twilight CS. The image was stamped in chocolate ink and colored in with Chocolate and New England Ivy markers for the branch and leaves and then colored pencils for the owl.

The next card uses Miracle paper and the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge. The snowman and greeting was stamped in Crystal Blue ink and was colored with pencils and then embellished with a glue pen and Prisma Glitter.

The bicycle card was inspired by the glittery ribbon that I found at a craft store. It matches the CTMH Pear CS and ink very well so I just had to use it! The shapes were cut with the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge and is backed with Sky CS. The image was colored with pencils and the greeting comes from D1187 For Every Occasion.

The last of these cards was made with Autumn Terracotta CS and retired B&T paper and Honey CS. The utensils were stamped onto a scalloped circle which was cut with the CTMH 2" Scallop Punch.

Thanks for stopping by to check these cards out. I would love you to leave me a comment. Have a great week full of creativity and fun! :) Marie

Roxie and Card Patterns Sketch 130

Today FedEx delivered some new CTMH paper and I couldn't wait to do this sketch. I love the simplicity of the design. I used Roxie paper which is card stock weight and doubled sided--plaid on one side and floral print on the other and the greeting is from the very versatile Salutation Seals Stamp set. The greetings include Congratulations, Thinking of You, I Love You, Happy Birthday, Celebrate and Thank you. The greeting was stamped in Hollyhock ink on Colonial White paper. The bling on the smaller circles are cream opaque adhesive gems from CTMH. Thanks to Card Patterns for providing wonderful sketch challenges and to all who share their artwork to inspire other. Happy Labor Day weekend! Enjoy!