Aged to Perfection for Friday Mashup #186

If you are looking for the Color My Heart Color Dare challenge post please go here.

There is always an interesting challenge at the Friday Mashup and I play along whenever I have the chance.  This week we are asked to follow the sketch, or use an "unexpected element" or "mash it up" and combine both.  I went with "mash it up" and I must admit that I've never seen my "unexpected element" (cork slices) on a card before and who knows, maybe I'll start a new trend!

This card was made for a wine loving friend and has a greeting similar to one of my all time favorite sayings "Like fine wine, improving with age."

Close To My Heart products used:

     Smokey Plum CS

     White Daisy CS

     Black Ink

     3D Foam Tape

     Shin Han Touch Markers--Lavender, Sap Green and Pastel Peach

     White Embossing Powder (retired)

Other products:

     Aged to Perfection stamp set by Fiskars

     Used Cork--sliced

Let me know what you think of my new embellishment idea.

This is the challenge graphic from the Friday Mashup:

This was a really fun sketch to work with!  Many thanks to Holly and the Design Team for providing such fun challenges!  I would love to be part of this Design Team.

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

:) Marie

Frosted Snowflakes for CAS(E) This Sketch #37

Today I was inspired to enter the challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch.  The sketch features hexagons and many people used them already so I decided to use a snowflake image instead.  The snowflake comes from the Frosted Cardmaking Kit from Close To My Heart which will be available on August 1 from my website.  The first card uses Crystal Blue CS as a mat and Crystal Blue ink for the snowflakes.  The greeting was stamped in Twilight Ink.

The next card has a reversed color scheme--snowflakes are white embossed.

Which card do you like best?

 

Here is the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch #37:

These cards were really fast and easy to make!

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

:) Marie

Masking 101 for Heart 2 Heart Challenge

I'm very excited to be sharing with my Close To My Heart friends in this first post for the Heart 2 Heart Challenges Design Team!  This is a challenge blog run by Close To My Heart consultants and featuring--you guessed it--Close To My Heart products.  Our challenge this first week of July is to share something made using a "Masking" technique so I chose one of my favorite CTMH stamps called "Cozy Cat" to illustrate this technique.  Here is my finished card:

I started with a 5.5" x 4.25" piece of White Daisy CS.  How did I get 3 cats on this piece?   I started with stamping the cat in the center first.

Next I  made a "mask" by stamping  the cat onto a piece of yellow Post-it Note.  I turned the notepad upside down so that the pillow base was over the "sticky" part.

Then I cut the mask out right on the lines.

Next I placed the mask over the stamped image.

I stamped to the right of the cat and onto the mask.

Then I reinked the stamp and placed the cat to the left partially covering the mask.

I then removed the mask and voila--3 cats, 2 appearing to be behind the center cat!

 
After I had my three cats stamped, I used the following Close To My Heart Alcohol markers to color them in: Honey, Ruby, Whisper, Pacifica, and Topiary.  Each marker set comes with a lighter and a darker marker of the same color so it made it really easy to get two tones on each pillow.

The Whisper CS mat was cut at 6" x 4.75" and the Pacifica base is 6.5" x  10" (card folded in half). The sentiment on the Ruby CS panel (1.25" x 6.5")is from Love Life and was embossed with White Embossing Powder.  If you have been following my blog for any length of time you probably know what my favorite embellishment is--Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel which I applied to the cats' collars.

Would you like to join us in this masking challenge?  Create a papercrafted item using mostly Close To My Heart products and use a direct link to link up here.  You must mention Heart 2 Heart Challenges and link back to us in your blogpost if you enter the challenge.  You have until the end of the month to post it here.  We will pick winners at the end of the month for each of the challenges of the month. We look forward to seeing what you create!

Check out what the rest of the Design Team has to inspire you:
Brittany, Carol, Kelly and Haley.


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

Heart Card for Numerous Challenges using Dynamic Duos #36 Colors

The challenge at Dynamic Duos this week is Real Red and Black with a Valentine theme.  Close To My Heart will be introducing new patterned papers in their new catalog which goes live on February 1 and "For Always" is among those wonderful new papers.  I've used it here as the background panel which is placed over Ruby CS.  The Ruby heart was cut with the Artiste cartridge at 2.75" accent 2, shift, page 51 and the black scalloped heart mat behind it was cut at 3" accent 2, page 51.  Love was stamped with White Daisy Ink and then embossed with White Daisy Embossing Powder.  A strip of Black Tulle Ribbon was bunched up and attached to the patterned paper before the heart and ribbon trim were attached.  The pleated ribbon is Riding Hood Red which is retired from Stampinup! 

There are many other challenges this week that are using a Valentine or hearts theme and I am also linking this card up to:

Inky Chicks #2 Becky's Bingo--Ribbon, Sentiment, Flowers

Pile it on #3--Have a Heart

Craft Us Crazy--Love or red theme

Really Reasonable Ribbon #64--Valentine's Day, Love & Ribbon theme
Crafty Ribbons Challenge #37--Love, Romance, Anniversary
Pink Gem Challenge #63--Embossing

If you like color challenges like I do, please come play with us at Color My Heart Color Dare.  This week's colors are Close To My Heart Black, White and a pop of color (your choice of CTMH color)--submissions are due Thursday evening at 9PM CT.

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