Pun Intended with Heart2Heart

This week at Heart2Heart we're having fun with puns. I chose to use the December Stamp of the Month, A Little Bit of Pun (see sidebar for image of the full stamp set). These cute stamps would be great for making Valentine's Day cards and much more. I paired it with the Season of Sweetness stamp set for my card.

The tag and dotty border both come from Season of Sweetness. After stamping them, I added the light bulb and sentiment from the Pun stamp set leaving room for the Black and Gold ribbon to go in between.  I then added hearts--also from the Pun stamp set--in Pomegranate ink. I painted all the hearts and inside filament of the light bulb with the Shimmer Brush then covered the light bulb with Liquid Glass.

Here's another card I made using the same light bulb image.

In order to get my images evenly spaced, I used a ruler and pencil to create a grid. I sometimes get so caught up in the latest and greatest that I forget to go "old school" and use simple tools. I used a light touch with the pencil lines so they were easy to erase. I colored the images with Copics then painted them with the Shimmer Brush. Love that subtle sparkle. I decided against covering them all with Liquid Glass. To make sure the sentiment showed up well against the red card base, I used my MISTI and stamped it three times with Black Momento ink.

Because we just moved, my craft room is still in the process of being set up. I hope to have my light box up soon so I can take better pictures. These cards were photographed under a fluorescent light. Yeah...not so great. 

This is my last post as a Heart2Heart Design Team member. It's been a great privilege to be part of this talent group of ladies. I hope you will join us for this challenge and share your creativity with us.

I'll be buckling down to get some writing done in the next couple days and then I'm off with the hubs to have Christmas in Washington State with our kiddos. You may not see me for a long time, so please enjoy your holidays and we'll see you soon!

Until next time,

Becca

P.S. The current Seasonal Expressions CTMH catalog expires at the end of this month as does the Stamp of the Month. Be sure to order before the end of the month and keep in mind that supplies are limited to stock on hand.

Silver & Gold

In light of our move next week, my Christmas cards are already done and out the door. But it can't hurt to start preparing for next year, so for this weeks' combined Silver & Gold challenge with Heart2Heart and Color My Heart, I made a super simple card.

To create the ornament, I adhered strips of Gold and Silver Shimmer Trim to cardstock, taped down the ornament die cut from the (Silver and Gold Cardmaking stamp and coordinating dies), and ran it through my Cuttlebug. I then ran the two letters through using Silver Glitter Paper with new Block Alphabet die cuts.

I used gold and silver pigment ink (retired) for the string and sentiment, lining them up by using my MISTI. I started with the sentiment which comes from Gingerbread Friends. I cut my stamp apart to get just the "Wishing You" then topped it with the string and bow which are also from Silver and Gold Cardmaking.

Off to put my craft room supplies in boxes and bags so the movers can take them away. It's only for a short time, but it makes me sad. As always, I'll pack up some supplies to craft "on the road" to tide me over until the full craft room is back up and running.

Please join us at both Heart2Heart and Color My Heart this week. We love seeing your inspiring creative projects.

Until next time,
Becca

H2H Challenge with the Color of the Year: Bashful

This week at Heart2Heart we are highlighting projects using Close to my Heart's color of the year: Bashful. I'm deeply in love with this color. Truly, madly, and deeply. I couldn't stop at just one project so I did two, both utilizing the direct to paper technique. As always, products available for purchase are in italics with built in links for your shopping convenience.

For the first card, I began by creating a frame using two MFT stitched dies. Next, I ran Bashful paper through the Rose embossing folder and applied Bashful ink by carefully running the pad over top of the raised portions to highlight the pattern. I kept my ink pad flat and used a gentle hand. Once the ink dried, I cut the "B" out of the center using the Block Alphabet-Thin Cuts set. I backed it with very, very old gold paper with a butterfly pattern, positioning the paper behind the "B" so some of the pattern showed through. I glued the Bashful paper straight to my card base then mounted the frame over top of it with 3-D Foam Tape. The final touch was cutting out the baby's name from the birth announcement, cutting a V into each end, and attaching it to the card with glue on the ends and foam tape in the center.

On this card, I started by swiping Bashful ink over patterned paper from the Basic Fundamentals paper packet (on sale this month!) I kept swiping until I achieved full coverage. It's a little difficult to judge since the ink won't apply evenly. You have to let it soak in and dry some to make an accurate assessment. The paper will curl on you a bit, but it's not a problem. Just place it under a catalog or magazine when it's almost dry and let it sit overnight.

For the background, I started with another die cut from MFT.  I love the extra frill the scalloped border gives this card. Next I added another piece of Bashful paper, this one run through the Buffalo Plaid embossing folder. You might recognize the stitched rectangle behind the elephant. It's the center piece from the first card. The MFT die set I used is stitched on both the inside and outside of the cut which makes it doubly useful.

I stamped the elephant from the Sweet Baby set onto my altered Basic Fundamental paper in Black ink, then stamped just the tail again on the base of the white stitched background. I cut the elephant using the matching die cut, but I didn't like the border. A plain border would have been fine, but the pattern outside the lines of the elephant was too distracting for my taste. Micro-tip Scissors to the rescue. I trimmed close to the line, cutting off the tail completely, then ran a black marker along the edges so no white showed. After gluing the elephant down, I added some shading with markers and then some sparkle with a Shimmer Brush. I stamped the circle "Sweet" in Charcoal ink, added "Baby" from the Baby Animals stamp set in Black ink over the top, cut it out with a circle die, and added it to the card. Finally, I accented with retired Dreamin' Big sequins and Bitty Sparkles.

Because all Fundamental products are on sale this month, I stocked up. You might see more of this Bashful altered patterned paper in the future. (Translation: I loved what adding Bashful did to this paper so much, I covered an entire 12x12 sheet of it.)

Please come join us at Heart2Heart this week. We love seeing everyone's creativity!

Until next time,
Becca

Sympathy Card with Enchantment Colors

Our challenge over at Heart2Heart this week is "Enchantment Abounds." I chose to use colors from the Enchantment color palate plus one neutral brown for a sympathy card. As always, links to the products used are embedded into the description for your shopping convenience.

I began with Colonial White cardstock which is retired (but I have a TON of). White would work just as well. Using the Artbooking Cricut cartridge, I cut the circle background overlay and tag. I later trimmed off part of the tag which is why you won't find the exact shape on the cartridge. The card base is 4.25, the circle overlay is 4" H, the center square is 3x3, and the tag is 1.4" W.

Using Beautiful You, I stamped the base and middle layer only of the two smaller flowers in Saffron / Goldrush (larger flower) and Poppy / Ruby (small flower) then added the smallest leaf in Fern / Nutmeg. I stamped another of the middle size flower using all three layers, adding Ruby as the third stamped layer, plus the mid-size leaf and vines on a separate piece of cardstock then used the coordinating die cuts to trim them out. (NOTE: links provided include both the Beautiful You stamp set and coordinating die cuts. Click here if you only want the stamp set.)

I stamped a sentiment from Heartfelt Thoughts in Ruby on the tag, selectively stamping parts of the image in order to get two lines of text. After I had my sentiment stamped, I cut down the tag using a paper trimmer.

Before gluing down the 3x3 square and tag, I used Sponge Daubers to brush Saffron ink on the edges. I glued everything down except the top flower which was added with Foam Tape for some dimension. Because the card is square, I was able to extend one of the leaves over the edge for more interest and it will still fit in a standard A2 envelope. The final touch was three Gold Glitter Gems.

All month Close to My Heart is running an amazing special on Enchantment and the rest of the Fundamentals products. Seriously...it's incredible! Click here for a full description, and here for a full description of all the specials running this month, including the Stamp of the Month which you won't want to miss.

I am (unfortunately) off to make several more of this same sympathy card. They say death comes in threes, and it's true in my case. I'll probably make a few extra to have on hand.

Before I go, here are a few picture of Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina. I was able to tour this gorgeous mansion and part of the 8,000 acres on last Friday. The house was decorated for Christmas while the leaves were putting on a full display of Fall glory.

Until next time,
Becca

BeYOUtiful

This week at Heart2Heart our theme is Be-YOU-tiful. I chose to use the Beautiful You stamp set for this watercolored card.

The stamp set comes with multi-layered images. I clear embossed the middle layer of all three floral images over watercolor cardstock. Then I painted with red, yellow, purple, and blue allowing each color to dry before adding the next. I embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder over vellum paper. There are a few ways to select only the letters you want from a sentiment. I chose to ink carefully just the parts I wanted and then brush away excess powder from whatever I didn't want.

I hand trimmed my vellum into a banner, folding the excess over the top of the 4 x 5.25 watercolored base. To secure the vellum, I sewed with a zig-zag stitch and pulled the top thread through to the backside of the paper before using a copious amount of foam tape to secure to the card base.

This is a relatively simple card, although it's somewhat time-consuming in execution just because you need to let the water coloring dry. I'm no expert at water colors, but I do know that the trick to controlling where the color goes is to "paint" with clear water first, add the color, and then leave it alone to dry.

It was my birthday on Saturday. My husband took me to a plantation near Charleston, SC with the oldest formal gardens in the US. It was a wonderful few days of unplugging and letting go of my deadlines and his class projects. Here's my favorite picture of our trip. It's the Mill at Middleton Place as seen through the branches of an oak tree dripping with Spanish Moss.

I hope you all are enjoying Columbus Day, and all of us at Heart2Heart look forward to seeing your creations this week.

Until next time,
Becca

Heart2Heart Goes Negative

Negative implies something bad, but this week at Heart2Heart we're showing you how to use negative space in positive ways.

I used a circle die cut from My Favorite Things for the stitched edge, but you can use any circle die or a die cutting machine like a Cricut to create the same effect.

Here's a close-up on the flowers. (Remember, this set is only available until the end of the month. Shopping link below.) I stamped them with all three layers then used the stamped images as guides for adding color with pencils and a white gel pen. I used a white colored pencil quite a bit, too, as you can see on the tops of the leaves. It didn't show up as much on the flowers which is why I went back over them with the gel pen.

CAS on Sunday's weekly challenge is "Color Me Pretty with Pencils or Markers" so I'm linking this card to them.

I cut the flowers and leaves out and layered them both over and under the circle cut. The center front flower was added using foam tape for even more dimension.

After the centers were colored, I added dots with a black pen.

The inside of the card is lined with a 4 x 5.25 piece of patterned paper from the Enchantment Fundamentals Paper Pack. This is the Pomegranate color.

Once the card was basically done, I closed it up to eye where I wanted the sentiment to go and stamped with Eggplant ink.

As you are reading this, I'm probably hunkered down while Irma does whatever damage she's going to do here in South Carolina. I wrote this post on Friday before she hit Florida. The latest models show her heading away from where I live, but it's been difficult to concentrate on much of anything while waiting for this monster. I've never been in the path of a hurricane, and it looks like there's never been one like this. Go big or go home, I guess.

Until next time,
Becca

Shopping List:

• From the Heart Nt'l Stamping Month Special (stamps only)
• From the Heart Nt'l Stamping Month Special (stamps and pop up card bases)
• Bashful Ink
• Pixie Ink
• Blossom Ink
• Sweet Leaf Ink
• Willow Ink
• PrismaColor Pencils (no link)
• White Gel Pen (no link)
• White Daisy Cardstock
• Enchantment Fundamentals Paper Pack
• Micro-tip Scissors
• Foam Tape
• Glue Pen
• MFT Inside&Out Stitched Circle Dies (2.75" diameter)

Anything Goes CTMH Style

The new Seasonal Expressions catalog goes live September 1, and it is full of inspiration and beauty. A couple of my favorite things are the die cuts and "Happy Day Workshop Your Way Cardmaking Kit. I never purchase a kit unless I can use the stamp set multiple ways once the paper is used. Here's one possibility I made for this week's H2H Challenge: Anything Goes CTMH Style. Everything except the die cut is from the WYW.

The "Thankful for You" die cut comes as three separate pieces, so you have tremendous flexibility. Here I cut it from a panel of White Daisy cardstock and backed it with Charcoal cardstock.  I used this same set of dies on the cards in this post. You'll be seeing a lot of these dies over the next few months.

I colored the flower, leaves, and edge of the banner with Copic markers and then fussy cut them with my Micro-tip scissors. I used foam tape to mount the die cut panel to the card base, glued the banner and leaves over top, then used a little more foam tape to add the flower. So simple and easy!

I'll update this post with shopping links once the new products are live for purchase on September 1. (NOTE: now updated!) You won't want to miss the September National Stamping Month special, either. Go to this post for a sneak peek. And, if that weren't enough, the September Stamp of the Month is fab!

Okay...I'll quit gushing now...but, folks, these upcoming products are why I became a consultant. I simply couldn't wait to get them in my inky fingers.

Until next time,
Becca

Shopping Links:

• Thankful for You Thin Cuts
• Happy Day WYW
• White Daisy Cardstock
• Charcoal Cardstock
• Black Momento Ink
• Micro-tip Scissors
• Foam Tape

H2H Sketch Challenge

My new consultant kit showed up, so despite my writing deadline (and that I've already taken several crafty breaks), I got inky. Ever since the sketch for this week's challenge was posted for the design team, this is the card I've seen in my head. I was tempted to change it when I saw a similar design from Alyson, but why not show two variations on the same sketch and same paper pack?

Once deadlines are over, I'm going to tackle learning how to make videos. In the meantime, I'm including some process pictures.

I started with a 4.25 x 5.5 piece of White Daisy Cardstock and used my paper trimmer to cut it at a diagonal. I wasn't worried about getting the corners exact because I knew I'd be cutting them off. 

Next, I cut a 2 x 6 piece of patterned paper from the new Adventure Fundamentals. Such gorgeous watercolor images in this pack!

Then I taped the white cardstock over the patterned paper in a spotlight rather than straight, laid a rectangular die cut from My Favorite Things over the top and ran it through my Cuttlebug.

What I should have done is put a piece of Washi tape over the top to keep everything together so I could turn it over for the next step.

Live and learn.

I had to refit the pieces inside the die to add these pieces of Washi so I could open up the top pieces for the next step.

After opening the white pieces like a door, I laid a 2x6 piece of Vellum Paper over the top, added tape runner over the inside of the white cardstock, and closed the door.

I might have been able to add the vellum into the original die cut, but I wasn't sure how many layers the die would take. Instead, I trimmed off the excess with Micro-tip Scissors.

Once I had the top panel done, I mounted it to a piece of Pacifica Cardstock using foam tape. I made sure to have plenty of tape along the seams where the patterned paper and white cardstock overlapped to keep everything secure. I left the Washi tape from the above picture in place, too.

I centered the panel on my card base and then added the sentiment which is from Short and Sweet stamped in Pacifica pigment ink and embossed with Clear Powder. I used another MFT die to cut the stitched circle.

To accent the sentiment and make it feel a little bigger, I added three White Enamel Dots.

I have about five more birthdays and an anniversary left in the month. I really need to get this story written. Wish me luck, I'm goin' in!

Until next time,
Becca

Shopping Links:
Short and Sweet Stamp Set
White Daisy Cardstock
Adventure Fundamental Paper
Pacifica Cardstock
Vellum Paper
Adventure Pigment Inks
Micro-tip Scissors
Black and White Enamel Dots
Clear Embossing Powder
MFT Stitched Circles
MFT Stitched Rectangles
Adhesive Runner
Craft Heater
Paper Trimmer

Celebrating Friendship with Heart2Heart

One of the great things about the army life is that you make lots of friends who then scatter in lots of different directions. It makes the country feel smaller when you have a friend in every corner. Keeping up with them all takes some effort, so I love that Heart2Heart chose "Friendship" as the theme for this week's challenge. I decided to use some old, some current, and some really old CTMH products for this card:

Another great thing about the army life is that it forces me to look through every stamp and paper pack I own every few years as it gets boxed up on one end and unloaded on the other. I get a refresher on why I loved the products enough to purchase them in the first place, which encourages me to pull them out and use them again. The teacup is a fairly recent product - a Stamp of the Month in March 2017. The tag and steam stamps are wood-mounted, so I think that means they are around fifteen years old. The paper is Ariana from the Spring/Summer 2014 catalog. The sentiments are both current and come from two different sets: "Sweet" is from the Artbooking companion stamps, and "memories" comes from "Finding the Words" (the whole stamp says "the memories" so I masked off the first word).

I stamped the tea cup three times: once on the vellum tag, once on the floral pattern side of the paper, and once on the green background. I did a lot of fussy cutting then glued the separate pieces to the vellum. After coloring the back side of the vellum to get the blue inner rim, I also added some shading with grey markers. The strings are Flaxen Thick Twine held in place by Liquid Glass.

I stamped everything in Outdoor Denim so, to create my double line border on the background matte of Ariana, I simply hand drew the lines with a blue ball-point pen.

The inside of the card says, "Good times are even better when shared," and comes from the same Tea-riffic stamp set as the teacup.

Off to bury myself in the writing office. Big, humongous, fiery deadline breathing down my neck.

Until next time,
Becca

H2H In Stitches

Oh, how I have missed crafting...not to mention I'm behind on sending a few cards for birthdays, anniversaries, and the like. But then I found out that a writing colleague was diagnosed with breast cancer. Before I could get a "Praying for You" card done, she had a biopsy and was told her lump was benign. Halleluiah, amen!!

I wanted to send her a card to let her know I was thinking of her anyway, so I decided to use the cheerful dots from the Little Dreamer paper pack with a fun sentiment from the Flower Market coordinating stamps to make this card for the H2H In Stitches Challenge this week:

I'm complying with the "stitches" theme in several ways...surgery stitches, laughter that has you in stitches, and the cross-stitch pattern on the banner from the Whimsy Fundamentals paper pack To get the sentiment to stand out, I used pigment ink (Emerald). I really wanted to use my sewing machine to stitch a border all the way around my polka dot piece before mounting it to the card base with foam tape, but my sewing machine is still in a box. 

The assembly guy comes on Monday to put my craft cabinet together, and then I can get it loaded up and be back in business. Yes, it's a lot of work for only five months, but it's necessary to my mental health.

I hope you will come join us at H2H this week and give us your best "in stitches" project.

Until next time,
Becca