Inspired By #8 {party card}

Another Inspired by challenge for you. I'm hooked on these challenges, they seem to push my creative boundaries! Here is the pic for us this week~


I really liked the graphic design and clean lines. I stuck with the same color combination, but chose to use more creams and less orange. Take a look~

I pulled out an old index card and sponged the edges to further it's aged look. To achieve the lines on the "Party" sentiment I inked the letters in black then stamped on some journaling lines of another stamp before stamping on the index card. The chipboard arrow was inked up with a stamp pad and marker. Other than the twine {twinery} all product is Close To My Heart.

Non-Traditional Valentine Colors

Over on the Ribbon Carousel Challenge Blog we are invited to create a Valentine project with "Non-Traditional" Valentine colors. We typically see the red, white, and pink colors in many projects and decor for Valentine's Day! It usually looks like Cupid stormed all the stores directly after Christmas! By using some lovely whimsical papers {Florentine} and this sweet image {Childhood Portrait} you can clearly see that it is still a Valentine.

By the way...Ribbon Carousel is having a BIG giveaway! Look at this stunning carousel, isn't it fabulous?! Go to the blog to get all the details.

Rock the Block

Time is running out to get this wonderful promotion! I thought I would share my creation for anyone that is "on the fence" about purchasing the Rock the Block promo!



Not only do you get the brand new blocks with tray, but you also get this awesome "E" size stamp set.


I decided to create my blocks with some of my favorite family photo's of 2011.

I used the new Stella papers that can be found in the upcoming Spring Idea Book. This little sentiment above can be found on the border of one of the papers, as can the 'love' shown in the picture below.

I also snuck in a sentiment from a new stamp set called "Family Love", also coming soon in the Spring Idea Book. The flower that you see here is from the coordinating canvas embellishments to the Stella papers. Peel and stick canvas with bright vivid colors...GORGEOUS!

If you miss this promotion, don't worry! You can always order the blocks in the new Idea Book and use any of the beautiful paper packets and coordinating products to complete your project.

Inspired By #7

Last week I was selected as the winner of the Inspired By challenge #6, see it here. Once I saw this week's photo I was definitely inspired and had to play along.

I love the converse shoes. I can totally see my own daughter doing this for her wedding. She is a big fan of converse shoes and the color green, but they would be {lime} green!!



For my card I wanted to pick up the lovely color combo of grey and yellow, which I've been doing a lot lately in much of my card making. I wanted the white to be minimal and really just pop the green in there with a fun ribbon! This card also gives you a sneak peek and my absolute favorite new stamp called Card Word Puzzle found in the new Spring 2012 Idea Book. Hope you like it!


Be sure to visit the Inspired By Blog and play along with the challenges, it's fun and addicting!

Heart 2 Heart Inspiration Photo Challenge

This week on Heart 2 Heart challenges we want to see what inspires you from this photo. Is it the design, the textures, or the colors?



In this photo, I was intrigued by the leaves, the vintage looking tags and the crystals. Not to mention the wonderful cork texture, which I tried to actually incorporate cork, but did not succeed!

Instead of cork I did some background stamping on Kraft cardstock. Next, I knew that the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge had the perfect leaf and vine image. After it was cut out I added some Create-a-Shade paint with a bit of green re-inker in it and some glitter. It added the perfect shimmer I needed to match the photo. The tags were simple to cut also and I found little images that worked well for the design. The bird is under a clear plastic sticker which I found at a craft store a few years ago. This was the best way to incorporate that "crystal" type embellishment.


Here is another view.

All products are Close To My Heart except the clear bubble circle thingy ; ) !

Be sure to play along this week at Heart 2 Heart! Thanks for stopping by!

New Year Hike Layout

One very common resolution is to get healthy, eat better and exercise more! We started our year with this resolution in mind by taking a family hike through the beautiful desert and red rock landscape.

Another resolution for me personally is to scrapbook in a more 'timely' manner. I usually start every year with good intentions and stay caught up until summer vacation. That's when we travel and I come back with 200 or so photo's! I get a bit overwhelmed and before you know it we are heading back to school, holidays and those fall sports and hobbies that take up the weekends.

As I try to complete my 2011 album still, I'm attempting to stay current on my 2012 album. I pulled out some older papers for these photo's from our hike. They work well with the gorgeous red rocks and blue skies, making sure not to take away from the focus. Another product I used for the first time is the Make-it-Count Irresistibles Numbers. These were introduced for the first time in the Fall/Winter Idea book, but will also be available in the new Spring Book page 129. I'm a big fan of all the Irresistibles products and these are no exception. They are so simple to use, simply add whatever color ink you want and adhere to your project. In addition to the numbers they added new Persnickety Journaling Spots. You will see these soon on an upcoming project!

See how fabulous these Irresistibles Numbers look!

H2H Wintery Color Challenge

It's a color challenge on Heart 2 Heart this week. Our colors are Crystal Blue, Amethyst and White Daisy or Colonial White. I obviously used some Kraft cardstock to warm up this "chilly" palette. The snowflake was cut out on the Kraft paper using the Art Philosophy cartridge, then mounted on some blue Wonderland paper. We were also dared to throw in a little glitter or sparkle too. It's hard to see from my photo, but the tiny white dots all around the snowflake have a little shimmer to them!

The bottom of the card also says "warm winter wishes". All product is Close To My Heart except the punch to create the scallop border.

Be sure to see all the beautiful artwork and try the color challenge yourself on the Heart 2 Heart Blog.

Inspired By #6 {Every Mile a Memory}

Take a look at this photo! This is the inspiration photo this week at a fairly new challenge blog called Inspired By. I wish my garage was this organized and colorful!!

Pinterest

I loved the little scooter in the photo, but did not have a stamp with one. This is what I came up with instead.


Laurel Seabrook is the owner of this new challenge blog and a very talented artist. You can find her other blog in the right hand column on my home page. Please visit her challenge blog and play along!

All product used is Close To My Heart!

Birthday Memories Card

This appears to be just a simple Birthday card, but there is a "surprise" inside!

It all begins with a Kraft scallop edged card base. The scallop is tucked on the inside and everything is held together with a belly band and brightly colored twine.

Once the band is removed you slowly reveal the "surprise" inside this card!

Here it is all the way open. It's like a PARTY inside a card! Quickly it becomes a 3D Birthday wish and mini album to record those special memories! There is space for 3 large photo's and a journaling space to write down all the details. I love the hanging pennant banner!

Here's a side view of those cute pennants!

A top view to show the scallop border. It makes me think of a store front and we're getting to peek into all the fun!

Bicycle Mojo Monday {223}

Great sketch on Mojo Monday this week. I wanted to play along and I was inspired by a card that fellow consultant Vicki Wizniuk did. Take a look at her card here as well as all the inspiring artwork on Mojo Monday!

{The inside of the card says "DREAMS"!}

All product is Close To My Heart

It's New! {take two}

When I first heard about our challenge this week on Heart 2 Heart, I immediately went to this new stamp that comes in the Art Philosophy Cricut Kit. I had only used a couple of the images, but not this adorable pennant yet. When I saw that another Design Team Member used the same stamp, I grabbed those Valentine Lanterns instead. I still wanted to share my card with you, because the more ideas the better, right!



Here is the stamp set. You can "clearly" see what stamp images I already used!


I used bright playful colors on a black & gray base. {Mischief paper}

I used small black button brads between the pennants and Lots of Dots irresistibles stickers sponged in black ink.

I used some sand paper on just a section of the gray cardstock to reveal the white core allowing my "birthday" sentiment to really POP!

Please be sure to check out all the fabulous artwork at Heart 2 Heart Challenges Blog!

It's New! {sort of}

It's the first challenge of the year at Heart 2 Heart Challenges! Yeah, I'm so excited!
My very first challenge as a Design Team Member was to show some love to a new stamp or one that has not been inked yet!

I was showing lots of love to this not-so-new stamp called Paper Lantern {C1458}. You will see it in the new Spring Idea Book on page 90. I also thought I could get a head start on my Valentine cards. As you can see by this picture, I had used some of the images on this stamp, but did not ink that cute heart lantern yet!

Here is a great tip I learned from some other consultants. When you get a fresh new stamp, it's shiny and slick and does not bond well with the ink at first. The solution is to rub the stamp on your skin picking up oils and creating a film on your new stamp. Now it will adhere to ink much better. I also try stamping a few times in a light or neutral color like bamboo or blush to avoid too much discoloration.

Here is a closer look at each card as they are all unique and different from one another.

The inside of the card uses sentiments from A Little Everything {D1408} and the "love" on the outside of the card is from one of the stamps in the Art Philosophy Kit.

Card base: White daisy die-cut cards {Z1473}

Colors: blush, tulip, sky, kraft, chocolate

Papers: jingle, animal cookies

Twine is not CTMH, but we have new twine in the Spring 2012 book! woo hoo!

Please visit the Heart 2 Heart blog to see the other talented Design Team artwork and play along with us! Thanks for stopping by!

Ter.RUFF.ic!

New Year's Resolutions... Love them or hate them? I suppose it's a good opportunity to set new goals, why not begin at the start of a new year.

One of my smaller goals is to get out and walk at least 30 minutes everyday. I also decided I needed to take my slightly over weight beagle with me. It will be good for the both of us. Have you ever tried walking a hound dog though? She wants to sniff and track the entire walk. I figured if I walk the same path each day, she will realize it's familiar and will no longer need to stop along the way. When she walks good for me she will be rewarded back at home. {She stopped to taunt a great big Husky and Rottweiler the other day, which I found slightly amusing, so she still got her treat!}

Having some canning jars left over from Christmas crafts, I decided to make a little jar to keep her "cookies" in. It's much more stylish than the bags they come in. She also recognizes the sound of the lid spinning off already!


The jar and top of the lid are decorated in some older Cherry-O papers. The dog is from an old stamp called Puppy Love. The label is glued then held around the jar using some simple blush grosgrain ribbon.

Be sure to check out the other artwork at the Ribbon Carousel Challenges Blog!