Outside My Box – Color Dare #204

Have you had a chance to participate in one of the Color My Heart Color Dare challenges?  Even if you don’t link up I hope you’ll at least give our color combo’s a try.  Color Dare #204 took me completely outside my box and I’m so excited to say – I LIKED IT!

When I pulled my colors (cardstock and inks) I was pretty sure this was going to be the challenge I pulled my hair out over.  What on earth was I going to create?!  I thumbed through the originals book and found a pattern that I liked – it had a great big leaf and a smaller one and an idea was born.

My card starts with a base of Sweet Leaf and then the middle panel is a scrap from Sangria it is made up of tone on tone boxes so I felt it matched the little squares of Eggplant that I would add.  I took a piece of Flaxen cardstock and embossed it with the Chevron Embossing Folder for some texture.  The Pretty Petals stamp set was inked in Eggplant and Flaxen and and was cut using the Art Philosophy Cartridge both will be retiring at the end of July so make sure you get yours ordered today.  If you don’t have a consultant I’d be happy to help you here.

I hope you’ll hop over to the Color My Heart Color Dare page to see what the other DT members have done and link up your own project.  All the instructions to link up are right there on our home page.

Thanks for stopping by…see you next week!

 

 

 

Sweet Summertime – Color Dare #203

Welcome to another Friday and a brand new color dare challenge!  This week the Color Dare is to use the sweet colors of summer – Canary, Sorbet, Crystal Blue and White Daisy.

I love it when the Color Dare takes me outside my normal “grab a paper packet mode” and makes me stretch my imagination a bit.  I started with a base card in Crystal Blue and cut an inch off the front.  The Sorbet piece is cut with the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge and attached to the inside of the blue, when the card is closed a bit of the white panel on the inside shows.

The stamp I used is a long retired wood stamp (one of the original DOTS) that was brought back a few years ago in the My Acrylix style.  The sprinkle of flowers makes me oh so happy!  I mounted it to a frame of Canary cardstock and then colored it in with the Shin Han Markers.

To finish my card I added a bit of shimmer trim and a piece of our white twine.  Every once in a while simple is the way I like to roll.

Now it’s your turn!  Head over to our home page and learn how to link up your entry – you have until 7 PST Thursday to link up…don’t have a blog no worry – you can link up to our Facebook page and play along too!

Hope you have a fantastic weekend and find some crafty time…thanks for stopping by!

 

Happy Times – National Scrapbook Month

Welcome to the National Scrapbook Month Blog Hop – today we have over 30 Close to My Heart Consultants sharing their art using the Happy Times paper packet.  If you have come here from Helen Gullet’s Blog you are on the right track.  If you started here that’s ok, too, the blog hop is a great big circle and you can just work your way around.  If you get lost around the way you can find the complete list on Melinda’s Blog

Happy Times might be labeled as a paper packet for National Scrapbook month, but my first love is card making!  Today I’m bringing you a shaped card from the Art Philosophy cartridge using the Happy Times Paper packet.  I just fell in love with the bold floral that I used for the background.  The sentiment is stamped in Fern using the new Bitty Birthday stamp set from the new Seasonal Expressions.  The flower is from the Happy Times coordinating stamp set which I stamped and then fussy cut.  The pink enamel gems finished off my card.

The Happy Times Paper Packet can be yours for free during the month of May with a qualifying purchase!  This fun paper includes beautiful florals, gold foil details and more!  You can also purchase this paper packet for just $14.95 US with no purchase requirement.  There is also a coordinating D-sized My Acrylic Stamp Set Happy Times available that coordinates perfectly with the papers.

Now hop on over to Sheila Bennett’s Blog to see what Happy Times she brought you!  Be sure to visit all the consultant blogs to gather some amazing inspiration using this beautiful paper pack and stamp set.

The Happy Times Blog Hop corresponded with the Color My Heart Dare this week so I linked up to the challenge.  The design team created some amazing artwork using this paper packet as well so stop by and take a look after you finish with the Blog Hop!

Remember that Happy Times is only available during the month of May.  Contact your Close to My Heart or (click here) to see how you can get this paper packet for free.

Thank you for stopping by!

 

 

Jump on it July – July Constant Campaign

Welcome to the Jump on it July Constant Campaign Blog Hop – we are the Close to My Heart consultants that bring you the Stamp of the Month Blog Hop.  This month we are featuring the Hostess Rewards Stamp sets found in the Annual Inspirations catalog.  If you’ve come here from Kathy Burrows’ blog you are on the right track, if you’re just starting here don’t worry we are a great big circle and if you click the links at the end of each page you’ll eventually end up right back where you started.  .  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

It wasn’t hard for me to decide which Hostess Stamp Set to use because getting to purchase the exclusive hostess stamp sets without having to book a party is like Christmas in July!  I chose to create my artwork with the Be Jolly set, 4 magnificent sentiment stamps perfect for the inside or outside of your Christmas Cards.

After spending 4 days at the Close to My Heart Convention in Disneyland, I was missing my crafting time.  Not that I didn’t get some there (that artwork will be coming soon) but it’s just not the same as spreading out and making your own inky mess.  I knew I wanted to do a square card and rarely do I reinvent the wheel so I reached for my Wishes book and used the All Squared Up pattern.  If you haven’t added our How To Program Books to your collection stop everything right now and go buy them.  Honestly you will ask yourself how you survived without them.

I wanted to keep my cards simple so I stuck with a traditional Christmas palette of Topiary and Ruby in both cardstock and ink.  I did spruce them up a bit with a touch of glitter paper behind the Art Philosophy Cut sentiment and a few Clear Sparkles.  For a bit more I added either a cricut cut holly or tree to the inside.

Now hop on over to Paige’s blog and see what she has to share…I’m sure it’s absolutely amazing!  Be sure you visit all the other consultants blogs to get some fun ideas and remember the Jump on it July campaign only runs through the end of July!

Choose Happy – SOTM Blog Hop

Welcome to the Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!   We are featuring March’s SOTM, which is “Choose Happy”, a set of 14.

If you have come here from Pam’s, 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 over 60 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month’s SOTM 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! Here we go!

Although I felt this set was initially going to be hard to work with, it didn’t take me long to figure that the frames would work well for both a scrapbook layout or a card.  I chose to go in the card direction (no big surprise there I’m sure).  I looked through the “Wishes” Card Confidence Book that has over 100 card patterns.  I chose two that focused on using a frame.

The first card comes from page 59.  I used the Wooden Frame and added Cricut cut letters from the Artfully sent cartridge to for a fun Father’s Day Card.  I wrapped a piece of bakers twine around to keep the embellishment simple.

My second card is a take of the pattern on page 120.  First I cut the shape from the Art Philosophy Cartridge and then stamped the frame around it.  I placed a piece of B&T from Hopscotch along the bottom inside of the card so that it would show through the opening and then layered the sentiment “Choose Happy” on a pennant to the front of the card.

                                

Now “Hop” on over to Chris Lathian’s blog to see what Creative Caper she’s been up to! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Remember, the March SOTM is only available until March 31st!  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount!

Using My Stash for AH Challenge # 77

 

When I saw Sketch 77 at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge I knew immediately that I wanted to play along.  It also helps that my life seems to be settling into a routine with the addition of a 9 year old in the house.

Although I knew I wanted to play, I wasn’t sure until I sat down at my desk what I wanted to do.  The card screams Christmas and initially I reached for some retired Christmas paper, but I’m just not ready to give up the mostly good weather we are having in the PNW and focus on Christmas.  So I dug through my paper stash to see what else I had and the Free to Be Me (retired) paper jumped right out with it’s pretty gold polka dot vellum.

I love that one side of the paper is embossed to give it some texture.  I cut the scalloped edge and the zig-zag circle from the Art Philosophy cartridge and adorned the center with the Happy Birthday stamp from B1467 You Mean the World to Me.  I finished my embellishing with some Gold Shimmer Trim – it covers up the little piece of card stock under the vellum and a photo bracket from the retired Tulip Mini Medley as I’m not much of a bow girl.

I’ve got my fingers crossed that my card will be good enough to appear in the top 3!  Check out the other entries here.

Happy Crafting!

Tracey

It’s Been A While

 

It’s been a while since I participated in the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge, it doesn’t mean I haven’t been stalking their blog for ideas and yesterday I had good intentions of getting a card entered, but the time difference doesn’t seem to compute inside my head.  I might show that card later in the week because I was really proud of my outside the box thinking.

Sketch 68 appears to something that would fit the floral category, but with a package of Scaredy Cat paper sitting on the corner of my desk how could I not choose to do something with a Halloween theme?

There is actually very little stamping on my card – just the sentiment!

The ovals were cut using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge and the Haunted House is from Artbooking.  It reminds me so much of the haunted house from the Casper cartoon I watched as a child.

I hope you’ve enjoyed stopping by today and will check back again soon.

Tracey

Pinterest Inspired

 

Sometimes I feel that even though I’m inspired by things that I “pin” on Pinterest that I really don’t take the time in real life to make them.  It’s sort of like when I was playing Farmville on Facebook and my husband suggested that instead of watering the crops virtually that my own flowers were dying in real life.  So after my little inspiration search I decided that I’d pick a couple of the cards that really were going to challenge me.

I love playing with shaped cards so this Viva la Verve card inspired me to use up some scraps and think outside the square box.  The top card is the sketch I printed from the internet and the bottom card is mine.

 

Here’s a close up of my card

 

I started by cutting a Outdoor Denim card base using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.  I love all the shaped cards that this cartridge has to offer and I had several circle cards to choose from.  I then pulled scraps from my Claire paper packet (I’m still on my journey to kill my stash).  When I was laying out the pieces for my card I really thought that if I embossed the square with the DOTS embossing folder that it would tie it in nicely with the dots in the large floral B & T.  My flower was also cut from Art Philosophy using Blush cardstock and another scrap of Claire B & T it was all layered and attached with a retired bling brad.  I added a clear sparkle flourish for some WOW factor.

The lesson I’d like to leave you with is that if you use Pinterest to get inspired, make sure you put that inspiration to work for you…get away from your computer and into your craft room.  There is no joy to crafting if you don’t craft!

Tracey

Box of Boo!

 

I’m trying to use up as much of my stash as I can before my new order comes from the Annual Inspirations.  I decided to control my urges, but I still must use up my retired product to make room for the new!  One of the fantastic benefits of being a Close to My Heart Consultant is the ability to order new product one month early, if you’d like this same benefit please contact me and I’ll tell you about the other wonderful benefits of belonging to one of the greatest sisterhoods in paper crafting!

My neighbor recently discovered box cards online and after a couple of unsuccessful attempts called for some help.  We set a date to stamp and I turned to my favorite tutorial website for instruction.  I knew that she was wanting to make these for Halloween so I sorted through my stash to see what I had in the Halloween department!  I came up with a few scraps from the Mischief (now retired) paper pack and used the Creepy Creatures C1522 and Magic Potions C1509 both still available.

This is the box closed – as it will be mailed.  The fence and moon are cut from the Artbooking Cartridge.  The fence is on three sides of the box and have been layered 4 times to give it depth.

This is the box opened.  I used cuts from the Artbooking, Artiste and Art Philosophy Cricut cartridges.  The bats and “boo” are mounted on strips of acetate which gave them some extra height.  I also added stamped images to the B & T paper.

I can’t wait to try a few more of these fun boxes!

Happy Stamping!

Tracey

Nice Neutral Newlyweds

Welcome to the Everything ABC’s Blog Hop!

For this hop we will be featuring the letter N.  This may be the name of a paper, a stamp set or an embellishment.  Whatever the crafter has chosen as their M element will be featured in their post.

If you have just hopped onto my blog, please start at the beginning at Linda’s blog ~ Scrappy Therapy.  If you’re coming from >>> you’re on the right path.

My “N” is two fold…a neutral card using the Newlyweds stamp.

               

I love Close to My Heart’s Embossing Folders  the Damask Embossing Folder leaves such a nice clean, deep impression.  I especially love using it on our white daisy cardstock for it’s elegant look.  I wanted a simple and elegant look for this wedding card so I kept with a neutral palette of black & white.  The card front is tied with a piece of black Baker’s Twine and the Newlywed car is mounted on 2 inch square cut from the Art Philosophy cartridge, the square is then cut again at 2 1/4 from Black Glitter Paper.  I know I’ve mentioned that I love our Glitter Paper because it doesn’t “shed” and works slick as a whistle in the Cricut.

As you know I think it’s just as important to decorate the inside of the card so after stamping “Oh Happy Day” from the Artiste Collection Bundle I topped it off with silver and black Shimmer Trim.

I hope you’ll hop on over to Catherine’s Catscrapbooking where you’ll discover her use of the letter N.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tracey