All That Glitters From the Heart



I love playing the challenge blogs except for the frustration that comes when I see the Close to My Heart consultants playing with the new CTMH products for a month before they are available to the rest of us.  Well, I have my new catalogue, and I have made my wishlist and planned my spending for the next six months.  (You know, of course, that the For Always paper pack is at the top!)  Now I just have to wait until tomorrow.  In the meantime...

The Heart 2 Heart challenge this week is to use glitter, so here is a valentine with silver glitz and (!) glitter ribbon.  I used the Cricut Artiste cartridge to cut the heart and then ran it through my Cuddlebug with a folder from the Paper Lace II set.  The brads from the Spring Blossom mini medley and the paper flowers are retired as is the color Tulip which I just love, although Ruby seems close.  I combined sentiments from the "A Little Everything" and "Say it in Style" stamp sets.

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Color My Heart in Shades of Green

 

 

For this card I combined the Color My Heart Color Dare to use New England Ivy, Topiary, and Sweet Leaf with Unscripted Sketch #195.  I  used sponge daubers to ink the stamp and then to apply additional color to the stamped image which comes from one of my favorite, long retired Close to My Heart sets , "Find Your Style."  Dry embossing with the Cuddlebug folder "Musical Flourishes" adds interest to the background.  Over all, this is a pretty simple card that I hope will bring comfort to a friend.

 

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time,  Hansi

 

 

 

 

 





Freshly Made Sketch #70

 

 

It seems like I need quite a few "Thinking About You/Praying For You/Wishing You Well" cards.  I made this one with the Cruisin' paper pack from Close to My Heart along with some CTMH embellishments and a sentiment from "Say It in Style," a versatile and, unfortunately, retired stamp set.  I owe a big thank to Susan who brought her Martha Stewart butterfly punch to scrapbook day for me to borrow and play with just long enough to realize that I needed to buy one for myself.  I like to glue just the bodies down, so the wings can pop up.  The layout was based on this sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.

 

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi



 

A DynamicDuo Valentine for Tim

 

After playing with the Close to My Heart Stamp of the Month using black on white with a pop of color, I found myself thinking about white on black with a pop of red and how dramatic that might be, so I random stamped with Versamark and than embossed the design in white to make sure the roses really popped.  The flourish (page 60 cut at 2 1/4) and rose (page 69 cut at 2 1/4) were cut using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.  I finished it off with some black and red sparkles.  This is the inside:

It just so happens that the Dynamic Duos color challenge this week is to pair black and red with a valentine theme.  Perfect!

 

 

 

I still have leftover flourishes in black that I am playing with and plan to get them up soon.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time,  Hansi

A Pop of Cotton Candy

 

 

 

I love working with black and white, so how could I resist the Color My Heart dare to use black and white with a pop of color?  I had just gotten the Close to My Heart January Stamp of the Month which I could not wait to play with and the Freshly Made Sketch had this really cool diagonal, so I put my Cricut and the Art Philosophy cartridge to work.  To accommodate a sentiment, I split the swirly shape (page 60 cut at 1 3/4 inches) and then traced a template of copier paper to cut some white cardstock on which I had random stamped the roses from the SOTM, after which I realized I could have just used my template as a mask and stamped directly on the card...

  

 

 

 

I lightly filed the edges of the petals of my rolled roses (page 68 cut at 2 inches) to give them some definition and cut off the first two petals before rolling so that I would have a larger center to accommodate a pink sparkle.  I used a sentiment from the Card Chatter Birthday set and popped it up with some foam tape.  I also used the SOTM on the inside of the card and sponged a little Cotton Candy ink around the white cardstock to give a subtle pop on the inside.

 

 

 

 

This is the layout from Freshly Made Sketches:

 





 

 

I had a lot of fun with this card.  I also had to cut a few swirls before I settled on the right size, so I am making cards with those which I will post, hopefully, tomorrow.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

 

 





Heart 2 Heart Cocoa Challenge

 

 

The theme for the Heart 2 Heart challenge this week is Hot Cocoa as in the drink or the Close to My Heart color.  I love to use Cocoa when I want to make bold colors, such as those found in the Stella paper pack by CTMH, pop.  All the shapes were cut using the Artiste Cricut Cartridge.  To make the flower, I cut four flowers (accent 1, page 73) in sizes ranging from 2.5 to 1.5 inches, sponged the petals with Olive ink, molded the petals into a boat shape and stacked them with pop up foam between the layers.  I finished it off with an antique copper brad.  Here is a closer look:

 

 

 

 

 

I used this layout from Mojo Monday: 











 

 

Now I think I will go enjoy a cup of the other kind of cocoa on this snowy evening.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Snow Much Fun at Heart 2 Heart Challenges



When I saw the theme of the first Heart 2 Heart challenge of the year was snow, all I could think was "Seriously?!  Do you know how many snow flakes I made leading up to Christmas?  Well, my nephew's birthday card has penguins and snow, I can enter that."  After having to rethink my husband's birthday card, I was left with this embossed piece of Close to My Heart's Outdoor Denim cardstock that had a sprinkling of pearl embossing powder in the negative space.  As part of exploring what I can do with my new Cuddlebug (Again, thanks, Tim!), I lightly sanded it and found myself thinking of swirling wind, so I combined that piece with White Daisy cardstock by CTMH and metallic silver paper I bought at Michael's, used the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge to cut the snowflakes, embellished it with a snowflake brad from the retired Mistletoe mini medley set that was featured in "While Supplies Last" over the summer and attached the result with pop up foam.

I could save this for next Christmas, but I think next time it snows I will send it to one of my Yankee friends who likes to complain about our lack of snow.  You know who you are.  ;)   Thank you, as always, for stopping by.  Until next time, Hansi

Another Birthday Card



This is a second take on  Freshly Made Sketches current layout.  I have had to separate it from the first because, although you can enter more than on card in the challenge, it's linking tool will not accept the same URL twice.  For this one, I used Champagne and Smokey Plum cardstock, slate satin polka dot ribbon, blue sparkles and more clear bitty sparkles, a slide from a retired mini medley and another sentiment from "Say It In Style," a very useful set of stamps, all again from Close to My Heart.

I will be back in a few days with more birthday cards.  In the meantime, thank you for stopping by.  Until next time, Hansi

'Tis the season of Birthdays

 

 

This is the time of year when it seems like every time I turn around, someone in my life has a birthday coming up.  I have made cards for my husband, daughter, and nephew.  Now it is time to make cards for friends.  Yes, you have seen this stamp from Inkadinkado a few times before.  I love cats and sparkles, so this is my go to stamp, particularly when the person I am sending it to is owned by a spoiled rotten cat.  Both of these are based on a layout from Freshly Made Sketches.  For this first take, I used Moonlight paper, a button from the pewter mini medley, purple sparkles and clear bitty sparkles, long retired ribbon and a sentiment from the "Say It In Style" stamp set, all from Close to my Heart.

 



 I have a second take on this layout in my next post.  Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time, Hansi

This Birthday Card is Not for a Boy

If you know my daughter, then you know this card is not for a boy.  She loves all sports, but baseball is her first love, so she and Tim spend their summers at our local minor league park where they are longtime season ticket holders.  I used Cranberry, Grey Wool, and Daisy White cardstock, Cranberry brads and a sentiment from the Say It In Style stamp set, all from Close to My Heart, along with baseball themed paper from A. C. Moore and 3D stickers with pop up foam by Paper House.  The layout is based on this Monday Mojo sketch:



 

 

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi



Neutral Color Dare

 

 

I knew it!  When I posted  a card for Freshly Made Sketches last week I found myself thinking "How much do you want to bet there will be a neutral challenge next week that this card will be too late for?"  Wouldn't you know it?  The Color My Heart Color Dare challenge blog's first challenge of the new year is to use only neutrals.  There are a number of color challenge blogs, but I am going to start doing this one occasionally because it uses Close to My Heart colors, so I don't have to try to figure out which colors are equivalent to ones used on other blogs.  Anyway...  Tim needed a thank you card which meant neutrals with no embellishments, so I used Bamboo, Colonial White and Black and a sentiment from *Hansi hangs her head in shame* Stamp It Up.  What can I say?  My sister has a friend who is a demonstrator, so I sometimes receive their products as a gift.  Not being able to help myself, I snuck in a little embossing with the Tiffany Cuttlebug folder which I very carefully trimmed around the edges.  The end result is a clean, suitable for a man to use, unHansi card sooooooo:

 

 

 

 

I made a second card with the same layout, colors and embossing, but used the Artist Cricut cartridge to add some embellishments.  I sponged the edges of the flower petals with Bamboo and a touch of Desert Sand to give them a vintage feel, sponged lightly over the embossing with pigment inks in Bamboo and Colonial White to give it some pop and used a sentiment from the CTMH set, "Thank You."  A few black sparkles completed the card.

 

Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time, Hansi 





A Lesson In Letting Go

 

 

 

Today is my husband's birthday which, of course, means I needed a card for him.  Although I make pretty, romantic "I love you/appreciate all you do" cards for him through out the year, I feel like his birthday card should be more "manly" and masculine is always a challenge for me.  I had an idea for a card which played off his interest in astronomy, but no matter how many times I reworked it, I just didn't like the result, so I let go of that idea and made this card instead.  I should mention that he is an avid Scrabble player.  I have seen a number of cards featuring pieced wedges and decided to give it a try.  The papers are "Lucky," "You and Me" (A special kit which was never in a catalog), "Victory," "Cruisin," and "Typeset" combined with Bamboo and Outdoor Denim cardstock.  I clipped the prongs off the brads and attached them to the star with liquid glass and then attached the star with pop up foam.  I am sorry that the Milepost Shapes are on the retirement list.  The sentiment is from the "Blue Ribbon" stamp set.  On the whole I am happy with the this card and see it as a reminder that sometimes you have to let go of your plans and be open to something new.

 

Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time, Hansi



Sunrise, Sunset

 



I find myself thinking about the song, "Sunrise, Sunset" from "Fiddler on the Roof."  That little boy got a driver's license, then he graduated from high school, and now (OMG!) my nephew is turning 21.  But you know?  He is still enamored with penguins, just as he was as a toddler.  When I saw these stickers a few months ago at Michael's, I had to get them for him.  To evoke the feeling of not so pristine snow, I used the "Cracked" folder from Sizzex to emboss the top part which also gave me an excuse to play with my new Cuddlebug (Yes, you can use other maker's folders in it.) and a punch by EK Success along the bottom.  I also used Close to My Heart's liquid glass for the first time to get a glossy 3D effect on the Cranberry cardstock.  The Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge made cutting the numbers and circle a breeze.  I based my layout on this sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:

 

The package had a second adult penguin, and not wanting to waste a perfectly good penguin, I peeled off the pop up foam and put him inside.  The sentiment is from CTMH's "A Little Everything" stamp set.

 

  

 

 

 

In terms of a card and gift, I am ready for my nephew's birthday.  Whether I am ready emotionally remains to be seen!  I am going to enter this into the Heart 2 Heart "Snow Much Fun" challenge.  Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time, Hansi



My New Toy!

I finally have a chance to play with my new Cuddlebug, a Christmas gift from my husband.  It only seems only fitting that he should get the first card made using it.  You know, sort of a "Thank you, I love you and by the way, this is what the gadget you got me for Christmas does" kind of card.



This week's Mojo Monday sketch was a good layout to start with.  I used a folder from the Heritage set to emboss some Champagne card stock from Close to My Heart.  This is becoming one of my favorite colors.  The pink cast gives it a softness that most other neutrals lack.  The rest of the paper comes from a small (4.5 x 6.5 inch) pad called Once Upon a Time by DCWV that I picked up when checking out the new A. C. Moore arts and craft store.  To make the flower I cut four <flower 8> in graduated sizes using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, sponged the edges with Saddle layered over Smokey Plum, curled the petals, used a Colonial White Designer Brad (retired) topped with a brown opaque to hold them together and attached with pop up foam.  The little tag is from the Colonial White (I know it looks blue in the photo) Mini Medley (retired), the button from the new Antique Gold Mini Medley and the sentiment from the "For Evey Occasion" stamp set.  The ribbon came from the Dollar Tree.  This is the inside of the card.

 



Many of the papers in the paper pad are embossed or have glitter on them which may not agree with my Cricut, so I had to (gasp) cut the heart by hand.  On the whole I am pretty pleased with how this card came out.  I stumbled across A Blog Named Hero which is challenging its readers to try something new, so I think I will enter this card.

This is the Mojo Monday layout I used:

 

 

Now it is time to make a birthday card for my nephew who is turning 21.  I am sure I can find a way to work in some embossing...  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi