Color Dare #21 and Try Stampin' on Tuesday #95

I'm combining a color challenge--Color My Heart Color Dare #21 Buttercup--with a sketch challenge by Try Stampin' on Tuesday #95.  Along with the Close To My Heart color, Buttercup, I used Black CS, Black ink and white ribbon.  The greeting is from Card Chatter--Sympathy and the dragonfly image is from the Pemberly Workshop on the Go stamp set.  I randomly stamped the dragonfly stamp and then outlined the images with one of my favorite embellishments--Stardust Glitz Glitter gel--to add some "texture" to the Buttercup CS.

The card:

The sketch:

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

Tealight Snowman Ornament Placecard for FCCB# 140

Karen Day, a fellow Close To My Heart consultant, posted tealight snowman ornaments on her blog last week and that's where I got the inspiration to make these adorable tealight snowman ornament placecards for my holiday table. (According to her blog post her inspiration came from Pinterest).  I just thought that these snowman tealight ornaments were so cute and envisioned personalizing them and using them to assign seats at my holiday table and for my guests to keep.  The theme for Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Board #140 involves snow or snowflakes and this project qualifies.  I used various 3/8' ribbons, 1/8' ribbons, an orange alcohol marker to color the flame tip for the snowman's nose, black CS, a black sharpie marker, a CTMH gold metallic marker, white uniball signo pen and glue dots to adhere the hat and ribbon hanger. The placecard ornaments sit on top of a cap from an old 35 mm film canister with some polyfil stuffing on top of them to look like snow.  (I think that other bottle caps would work just as well).  I used the hat from the Bonus 3 Home Decor & Vinyl overlay from the Ultimate Creative Sampler Cricut cartridge cut at 1.25" to cut out the hats.

Thank you, Karen Day, for inspiring me to create these cute little gifts!

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

Paper Players #124 and Freshly Made Sketches #64

I love snowmen which is the theme for Paper Players #124 and I like how this snowman fit into the current Freshly Made Sketches #64.   The snowman is from the retired Close To My Heart set called Share the Magic and the greeting is from the retired CTMH set called Holiday Wishes.  I also used a snowflake cuttlebug embossing folder and silver metallic paper from CTMH (retired).  The patterned paper is from the Wonderland Paper pack (retired CTMH).  The bottom edge of the white paper was edged with a Martha Stewart punch called Drippy Goo and embellished with Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel. The bottom card layer is Outdoor Denim from CTMH.

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

Try Stampin' on Tuesday #94

Here is a quick card I made on tuesday morning, 3 hours before the challenge ends, for Try Stampin' on Tuesday #94 sketch challenge.  I used Close To My Heart Sweetheart paper (retired) and CTMH Love Life stamp set with Cotton Candy Ink.  The greeting is from the Card Chatter-Sympathy stamp set.

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

Color Dare #19 and Try Stamping on Tuesday #93

The Color My Heart Color Dare #19 has been extended for a week due to the Thanksgiving holiday which gave me a chance to participate.  The colors are from Close To My Heart--Hollyhock, Cranberry and Sweet Leaf.  I followed the sketch from Try Stamping on Tuesday #93.  The swing card was cut using the Artiste cricut cartridge at 5.5" from page 52 (Accent 3 Shift).  I started with White Daisy cardstock as my base and then added the Sweet Leaf patterned paper from the retired Miracle paper packet. The top part of the card was texturized using a wadded up piece of plastic wrap and Hollyhock ink--a faux marbling technique I used to use almost 20 years ago!  The rose stamp is from Card Word Puzzle and the inside greeting is from Card Chatter--Birthday.  I used Cranberry Ink over Hollyhock CS to stamp the images.

Have you ever nearly finished a project and then smudged it up? (look at the right side of card) This is very frustrating for a Virgo like me!  How could I fix it?

I used 2 ribbon pieces instead of 1 so I could cover it up. The stripes were retired ribbons from Close To My Heart--White Daisy and Cranberry and the ribbon is red twine (unknown source).  Here is the completed inside of the card:

Thanks for stopping by to visit my blog.  Please consider sharing your artwork on these 2 fabulous blogs.  Have a wonderful week filled with fun and creativity!
:) Marie

Black Tie Friday #10 and Sunday Stamps #24

Several of my fellow Close To My Heart consultants are promoting this relatively new challenge blog site called Black Tie Fridays.  This is the 10th challenge and they are hoping to have 10 players this week.  The challenge is to use black and a diecut--neutral shades of beige are also allowed.  I followed the Sunday Stamps #24 sketch this week which I really like.  The patterned paper is retired Silhouette from Close To My Heart.  The medallion was cut with the Artiste cartridge--accent 3, page 56 at 2.25".  The stamp is from Salutation Seals.  A piece of Silver Shimmer Trim goes underneath the center panel with a thin strip of the Silhouette paper.  Licorice Opaque Adhesive Gems adorn the top left and bottom right corners.

A second version of this card has a silver metallic ribbon punch with the licorice gems.  Which do you like better?

Here is the Sunday Stamps sketch #24:

Thanks for stopping by!  Please consider playing along with these 2 challenge sites.  Have a wonderful week filled with fun and creativity!
:) Marie

Friday Mashup #85 and Fantabulous Cricut #138

This week's Friday Mashup #85 challenge is to use leaves and/or a thank you theme.  I immediately thought of the Olivia paper (retired Close To My Heart) that was sitting in my stash and the cricut Artiste cartridge to make a quick card.  "Give Thanks" was cut at 2" and can be found on page 78 of the Artiste handbook.  I also used Barn Red CS and Honey CS.  The ribbon is a gold metallic curling ribbon that I bought last holiday season at Walmart.  The challenge at Fantabulous Cricut this week is "Be Ye Thankful" which the card also fits.

 
I'm also entering this card into two other challenges that I recently found and liked:
pause,dream and enjoy challenges #46--thank you projects
Card Makin' Mamas--Thanksgiving/Thank you
Use it Tuesday--Be Thankful

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

Freshly Made Sketch #61, Dynamic Duos #29 and Cas-ual Fridays #79

Here is my card using Freshly Made Sketch #61 with the Dynamic Duos #29 colors of Marina Mist and Black--the dessert option to use a snowman.  I substituted the Close To My Heart color Crystal Blue and used CTMH Wonderland paper (retired) as the background.  The snowman is a very old wooden stamp by CTMH.  The silver strip is Silver Shimmer Trim and it is topped with black and white twine from the Bakers Twine Neutrals Assortment also from CTMH.  The patterned paper and snowman image have been dotted with Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel which has to be my very favorite embellishment!

I'm also entering this card into Cas-ual Fridays #79 Winter Blues challenge.

Thanks for stopping by to look.  Have a wonderful week of fun and creativity!
:) Marie

Sunday Stamps Guest Designer for SSC23

I'm very excited to be a guest designer for Sunday Stamps this week--a site that I recently found and love!  It is a color challenge:

The closest colors that I have that match these are from Close To My Heart.  I used Cocoa, Autumn Terracotta and Goldrush.  It was a lot of fun to play with these fall colors which gave me so many wonderful ideas that I couldn't decide what I liked best so I made 3 cards.

Card #1--leaf cut is from Art Philosophy cartridge (page 43 branch 1 cut at 2.5") and the center panel is raised using 3M foam tape  as in the second photo.  The greeting is from Card Chatter--Sympathy and is embossed with Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder (retired CTMH)

Card #2 is a design from Jeanette Lynton's Wishes Book.  The stamps are from the Harvest Happiness set.

Card #3 has clear embossed leaves on the colored portion which adds some texture.  The greeting is also from Harvest Happiness by CTMH.

Do you have a favorite?  We would love to see what designs you come up with--please join us!
:) Marie

Mojo Monday #266 and Color My Heart Color Dare #18

Mojo Monday Sketches are always fun to do!  I like the combination of angular lines and round elements that they often present to us.  I'm combining this with the Color My Heart Color Dare #18 and using new exclusive colors available in selected paper packs from Close To My Heart.  The colors are Flirty Raspberry, La Belle Vie Pink and Avonlea Teal.  I jazzed up the papers with dots of Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel--this is one of my favorite embellishments!  I used Salutation Seals for the greeting, Kudos from the Artiste Bundle for the frame behind it and the star from Casual Expressions.  I used retired ink colors of True Teal and Wildflower which were also clear embossed.  The scalloped circle was cut with the Art Philosophy cricut cartridge. (circle 3 at 2.25")  If you just have to have these cool colors you can get them from my CTMH website here.

I'm also entering this card into Sweet Stamping Challenge--Anything Goes and Heart2Heart Challenge to say Thanks.

Thanks for stopping by to look at my artwork.  Have a wonderful week full of fun and creativity!
:) Marie

Top Tip Tuesday #89--We're All Heart

Just this week I made this card for my sister and her husband's 20th wedding anniversary which fits into this challenge by Top Tip Tuesday to use a heart on a project.  All products are from Close To My Heart and are available on my website here (although some have been retired from CTMH).  The jigsaw puzzle heart was cut from the Artiste cartridge on page 57 at 2.75" from Dotty for You paper and Colonial White CS.  The colors are Autumn Terracotta and Goldrush.  The anniversary greeting came from "Life is Tweet" which was a Stamp of the Month this past June.  I wrote in "20th" with a gel pen.

My Tip:
  To get a more intense color from dye based inks clear emboss the image.  First I ink my stamp with Versamark and then the chosen color ink.  Stamp your image onto the paper and then sprinkle clear embossing powder over it and heat set.  It is so easy to do and then you don't have to have all those jars of embossing powder and stray pieces of embossing powder are invisible!

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

Fall Card for Numerous Challenges

Happy Election Day!  I've had some fun playing in my craft room this morning and found a way to combine 4 challenges into 1 card. I started with the Close To My Heart colors selected by Color My Heart Color Dare which are Sunset, Smoky Plum and Sweet Leaf and followed The Sweet Stop Sketch. I also used a Cuttlebug folder.  The Sweet Leaf patterned paper is from an old CTMH Winter Cozy Background and Texture package.  I used both the CTMH Artiste cartridge (ribbon--accent 3 page 55 at .75" and leaves--3D object shift page 54 cut at 1") and CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge (Oval 4 cut at 2.25" and oval 4 layer cut at 2.25" from page 54).  The sparkle is provided by Almond Glitz Glitter Gel.  The only ink on this card was the edge of the inner oval was edged with Sunset ink and the ribbon was edged with Black ink.

Sweet Stop Sketch #183:

Pile it on #45--Make it Sparkle
Sweet Stop Sketch #183--sketch
Fantabulous Cricut #136--leaves
Color My Heart Color Dare #17--Sunset, Smoky Plum, Sweet Leaf
Sweet Stampin Challenge--All that glitters

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

Challenge Me Monday #135 and Cut it Up--Give Thanks with a Twist #5

After birthday cards, thank you cards are the ones I send out the most.  This card came together very easily using last week's Sunday Stamps sketch.  I am submitting it for Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Me Monday #135--Seeing Dots and Cut it Up--Give Thanks with a Twist (must use a diecut).  The diecuts are from the Close To My Heart Artiste cartridge and the Thanks stamp is from the Casual Expressions Occasions stamp set which was made to coordinate with the Artiste cartridge.  The paper is Clementine also from Close To My Heart with a strip of Twilight with Smoothie ink.  The brownish diecut is actually the reverse side of the patterned paper.  The embossed dots are from a Cuttlebug folder.  Almond Glitz Glitter Gel was used to add some sparkle  to the Clementine paper and after marker coloring the tiny flowers I used Stardust Glitz  Glitter Gel on them. 

On the second card I used the zip strip from the Clementine paper instead of the Twilight strip.

I'm not sure which look I like better--what do you think?  Thanks for stopping by--have a great week filled with fun and creativity!
:) Marie

Color Dare #16 - Cranberry, Autumn Terracotta, Goldrush, & Honey

This week's  Color Dare Challenge is to use Close To My Heart colors Cranberry, Honey, Autumn Terracotta and Goldrush--I love these 4 colors together! I used a WeaverZ template by Fiber Scraps (purchased years ago and finally used) to make the background and used the Thanks stamp from Close To My Heart.  The woven background was inserted into the black background by using an old slot corner punch that Close To My Heart used to carry.

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