October Joyful Stars Blog Hop

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

My card this month features a new stamp set from Holiday Expressions called "Season of Magic".  The colors are Sea Glass, Ruby and Oh Deer paper.  The ribbon is Black Shimmer Ribbon from the Holiday Expressions catalog.  Inks are Fern and Ruby.

Here is the Mojo Monday #468 Sketch that inspired my card layout.

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

     Crafting When We Can #129--Christmas Comes Early theme

     Ribbon Girls--Anything Goes

     Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas--Turquoise or Aqua Christmas

Now head on over to Debi Brile's blog to see the awesome project she has to share this month.

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

:) Marie

     

Color Dare #211--Poppy, Fern, Saffron and Colonial White

Welcome back to another Color My Heart Color Dare challenge blog post.  This week we have some lovely fall colors for you to play with:  Poppy, Fern, Saffron and Colonial White.  As always if you do not have these exact Close to My Heart colors yet you may substitute similar color so you can still play along.

Close to My Heart products used:
     Colonial White CS
     Saffron CS
     Poppy CS
     Fern CS
     Lovely Leaves stamps
     Poppy Ink
     Saffron Ink
     Fern Ink
     Sponge Daubers

Other
     Cricut Alphabet

Here is the Design Space cutting file if you are interested.

My card layout was inspired by Nacho Average Challenge #180:

 

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

     Stampin' Royalty #346--Fall Theme

     The Three Muses Challenge--Autumn Colours

     Sunny Day Crafting--Anything Goes

Here is the Color Dare Challenge Graphic:

 

Please head on over to the Color My Heart Color Dare blog to be inspired by the rest of the fabulous Design Team.  We hope to see your creations in our gallery this week!

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

:) Marie

Flower Market Calla Lilies Sympathy Card

Close to My Heart has a new cricut cartridge called Flower Market and I used it to create these sympathy cards:

All the flowers were cut from Recollections Shimmer cardstock White Gold and Champagne.  I just love how shiny and pretty these papers are!  Of course I could have used CTMH White Daisy and Colonial White papers and added the new Clear Shimmer Brush to get the same effect but it hadn't yet arrived for me to use.  The leaves and stems were cut from Fern CS and the flower centers are Saffron CS. The sympathy greeting comes from the retired stamp set called Sincere Expressions.

Card #1:  

The above card has the new Whimsy Fundamentals Sweet Leaf patterned paper, White Daisy CS,  Peacock CS and Peacock Ink.

Card #2:

This card uses Peacock CS and Fern Ink.

Card #3:

This card uses Whimsy Fundamentals Crystal Blue patterned paper, Peacock CS and Crystal Blue Ink.

Which card do you like best?

These cards were inspired by the Freshly Made Sketch #248:

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

:) Marie

Thank You Card with Case This Sketch #179

The card sketch at Case This Sketch #179 really appealed to me and I was able to find the time to make a quick card.

Close to My Heart products used:

     White Daisy CS

     Peacock CS

     Artiste banner stamp (stamped on the reverse side)

     Doodled Designs

     A Thousand Thanks stamp

     Happy to Be Friends stamps

     Fern Ink

     Peacock Ink

     Saffron Ink

     Glacier Ink

     Glitter gems (retired)

Here is the wonderful sketch that I followed:

Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge Blog is celebrating their 200th challenge with a prize giveaway this week.  Please go here to check out how you can win a FREE pack of Close To My Heart paper. 

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

:) Marie

Color Dare #192 Meets Mojo Monday #446

Welcome back to another Color My Heart Color Dare challenge blog post.  May is National Scrapbooking Month and Close to My Heart is celebrating with a special offering of a fabulous paper pack called Happy Times (FREE with $60 purchase) and a coordinating stamp set called Happy Times only available in May.  Here is a picture of the beautiful papers:  

Color Dare #192 is to use all and only the colors from the Happy Times paper packet plus gold:  Fern, Canary, Cotton Candy, Glacier, White Daisy and Gold. (If you don't have these exact CTMH colors yet, feel free to substitute similar colors so you can still join in on the fun.)

My card features a brand new stamp set called "A Bunch of Love" that has coordinating dies called Thin Cuts.  The shiny gold mat was cut from the large striped gold and white paper from the Happy Times set.

Close to My Heart products used:

     Happy Times paper

     White Daisy CS

      A Bunch of Love stamp

     Artfully Sent Just to Say stamp greeting

     Fern CS

     Fern Ink

     Cotton Candy CS

     Cotton Candy Ink

     Tender Pink Shin Han Touch Marker

     Golden Yellow Shin Han Touch Marker

     Sap Green Shin Han Touch Marker

Other products:

     Heart punches

The inspiration for my card layout came from Mojo Monday #446:

Now it's your turn to get creative--how will you use all and only these fabulous Happy Times colors?  Come check out what the rest of the awesome Color My Heart Color Dare Design Team has to inspire you.

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

:) Marie

Case This Sketch #167 in Yellows

This card was inspired by Case This Sketch #167.  I really liked this sketch and made several cards which will be posted separately.

The banner colors from top to bottom are Canary, Honey and Saffron.  The floral accents were stamped in Versamark ink and clear embossed on Canary, Honey and Saffron cardstocks.  A sponge dauber was used to apply Fern ink to give the flowers some definition and then they were fussy cut with microtip scissors.  A dot of White Opal Liquid Pearls was applied to create the flower centers.

Close to My Heart products used:

     White Daisy CS

     Fern CS

     Saffron CS

     Honey CS

     Canary CS

     Fern Ink

     Canary Ink

     Honey Ink

     Saffron Ink

     Sending Love stamp (greeting)

     Laughing Lola Cardmaking kit stamp--banner (retired)

     Hello Paradise flower (retired)

     Sponge Dauber

     Versamark Ink

     Ranger Fine Detail Clear Embossing Powder

Other products used:

    Liquid Pearls--White Opal

Here is the Case This Sketch #167 graphic that inspired me:

     

I'm also entering this into Seize the Birthday floral theme, CAS on Sunday floral theme and Double D challenge--Yellow is a Happy Place to be theme.

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

:) Marie

Use Your Stash Blog Hop Cricut Craze

The theme for our Use Your Stash Blog Hop this month is "Cricut Craze".   As Close to My Heart enthusiasts we have 5 wonderful cricut cartridges to choose from--over 3500 images!  If you are coming from Michelle Loncar's blog you are on the right track.

My project started with a tag with a shamrock on it from the Art Philosophy cartridge.  I attached it to a rectangle in Design Space and then separated the shamrock out and made several different sizes of it.  I am freely sharing the Design Space cut file here.  The inspiration for using this color came from the Heart 2 Heart challenge to use the color Fern.

My card uses Art Philosophy cartridge, White Daisy CS, Fern CS, Fern Ink and Holiday Tags stamp set.

The inspiration for my card came from the Sunday Stamps Sketch #122:

When I cut my card on the cricut I cut two pieces--one to be used on the card and the second to be used as a stencil.  Here I used Topiary Ink and a Sponge Dauber to create the second card.  I was inspired by the CAS on Sunday Challenge #79 to Stencil it.

I've been playing with my Close to My Heart Watercolor Paints lately so I decided to paint the shamrocks that came out of my stencil piece and glue them to a card.  I masked off the inner piece with large post it notes so I could paint the outside border the same color as the shamrocks.  I used Clear Embossing Powder and Versamark Ink to stamp the greeting before I painted over it in green.  Soon after painting I used a soft cloth to rub the paint off the embossed letters.

Before you run off to see Wendy Kessler's project please leave me a comment and let me know which card you like best.  Will it be the shade of green that you prefer, the technique used or something else?

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

:) Marie

Beloved Bouquet for Case This Sketch #156 and Inkspirational Challenges #100

My favorite new stamp set has to be Beloved Bouquet (Close to My Heart January 2016 Stamp of the Month) and I just can't stop using it!  Today's lovely card uses the Baby's Breath stamp in "shades of green" for the Inkspirational Challenge #100 called "Blast from the Past".

Close to My Heart Products used:

     White Daisy CS

     Peacock CS

     Fern CS

     Beloved Bouquet stamp

     Balloon Animals (February stamp of the month) frame

     Just a Number (birthday stamp--retired)

     Peacock Ink

     Fern Ink

     3D Foam Tape

My inspiration for the card layout came from Case This Sketch #156:

Since it is a birthday card I am also linking this to the Seize the Birthday Clean and Simple challenge.

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

:) Marie

p.s.  If you are looking for a great color challenge this week check out Color My Heart Color Dare.  

    

Watercolored Stripes for Color Dare #170

Welcome back to another Color My Heart Color Dare challenge blog post!  This week we are challenging you to use the following colors:  White Daisy, Cashmere, Cocoa, Fern and Cranberry.

I started my card by painting wavy stripes on my white daisy panel using the ink pads. ( I squeezed the closed ink pad lid against the ink pad to create a source of ink and added a little water and brush which gives a lighter tone).  From top to bottom my stripes are Cocoa, Fern, Cashmere and Cranberry.  The deer is from the Artbooking cartridge.

Close to My Heart products used:

     Artbooking cartridge

     White Daisy CS

     Fern CS

     Cranberry CS

     Cashmere CS

     Cocoa CS

     Cocoa Ink

     Fern Ink

     Cashmere Ink

     Cranberry Ink

     Holiday Tags stamp

I'm also entering this card into the Heart 2 Heart "Watercolor Wonder" challenge, the Cards in Envy "Extra Layers" challenge and Stampin' Royalty #305 "Winter Theme".

Now head on over to check out what the rest of the fabulous Design Team has created to inspire you. The challenge will end on December 3 at 9PM CST.  Hope you can join in on the fun!

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

:) Marie