H2H Challenges: Texture It

When I first thought about tackling the Heart2Heart challenge, Texture It, I naturally thought of our texture paste and the cool dimension it can offer to your crafting projects.  I decided, however, to "texture it" WITHOUT the use of texture paste.

My card is modeled after the card featured on p. 5 of the Jan./Feb. 2020 CTMH Idea Book.  I love the woodgrain texture found in the Spruced Up paper pack (and I absolutely adore the Spruced Up Cardmaking stamp set and Thin Cuts!).  I paired it with the lush texture of the Julep Velvet ribbon.  I think that the grittiness of the black shimmer trim adds another layer texture.  Continuing the theme, I used a vellum die cut from the Celebrate Today collection and then accented my Thin Cuts scalloped circle with Diamond Stickles for even more texture.

What do you think?  I'd love a comment before you go!  Be sure to check out all of the H2H Design Team's inspiration, and join us for any (or I double-dog dare you to participate in ALL) of February's challenges.  You have until Saturday to join us.

Best Friends Furever Cut Above Kit/Christmas Gift Recap

Close To My Heart has an adorable Cut Above kit called Best Friends Furever (that fits our 6"x8" Everyday Albums).  You can use the dog side or the cat side of each element of the collection- or like me use both!  I decided to make three identical ones of our pets for my husband and me plus both of our daughters.  They were supposed to be a Christmas present, but because I got sick, they were more like New Year's/Epiphany gifts.  (I did get them finished before the girls went back to college.)

The title page features two of our three current furbabies, Bella and Jellybean.

After I made this layout of Kodiak (yes, that is our now 21-year-old laying with him), I realized that I needed to include a lot of journaling, so I just made a cardstock strip that I added in.

Our next pet was Franklin.  I hid my journaling under his photo so that I could make everything fit.  (Flip flaps don't come with the kit, but I absolutely love to keep them on hand because I never know when I'm going to have more photos than layout design space.)

We mourned Kodiak for quite a while before buying Shadow.

We got Remy in 2010 and still have him today.

The right page uses two sets of flipflaps to include all that I needed to say.

Bella is our current dog, and at first we thought she was our missing Shadow.  She has grown on us, even if she is the most unappreciative rescue I think I've ever seen.

My husband found this adorable, near-dead kitten in early June last year.  I did not want another dependent, but now I can't image our lives without this little Jellybean!

Here are our three current furbabies.  I am hoping to get a picture of the three of them together at some point, but that may be an impossible task.

If you'd like to learn more about the Best Friends Furever Cut Above Kit (or to order your own), click HERE.  It goes together really easily following the provided instructions, and of course you can customize it to your heart's content!

Stamptacular Stamps + Thin Cuts Blog Hop

CTMH has a really fun Stamptacular special running right now on select stamps, stamp sets, and stamp sets/Thin Cuts bundles!  If you haven't seen it, be sure to check it all out HERE or on your consultant's website.  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Brandi's blog.  From here you'll visit Michelle's blog next.)  The projects I'm sharing all use the Spruced Up Cardmaking stamps and Thin Cuts.

This card is a CASE (copy and steal exactly- or almost exactly) of the card featured on p. 5 of the Jan.-Feb. Idea Book.  You can see how I layered the pine bough and bird onto the scalloped circle Thin Cut.

If you look closely you can see that I inked up the pine bough in Espresso and New England Ivy.

My second project is a layout of photos from a day hike we took last year on the Appalachian Trail.  (You can see more about this layout HERE if you're interested.)

My final project is on the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #356, but rather than continue with the Spruced Up collection, I tried pairing it with the Celebrate Today collection.

At first I was going to make a bluebird, but after using the Bluebird cardstock I decided to make a yellow bird (possibly a goldfinch?) instead.  I used my Citrus triblend marker and attempted some shading.

Thank you for letting me share some of my favorite projects with the Spruced Up cardmaking stamp set and Thin Cuts!  I really love this set!  Please leave a comment before you hop on over to Michelle Loncar's blog next.

{Click HERE for all the hop participants and their blogs.}

M-Fold Card

In the fantastic blogosphere, I stumbled upon a cute card fold, the M-fold, that I had to try.  (Sorry that I can't remember who to give credit to!)  I think the ladies at my recent anniversary card extravaganza liked the card too.

Start with a 5.5"x11" piece of card stock for your card base, and score it at 1.25", 4", and 6.75".  Decorate each panel as you like.  (As you can see in my photo, above, it is hard to get the card to lay flat for a photo, but it will fit easily into an envelope.)

I cut my medallion with my scalloped circle Thin Cut and then cut a Thin Cut White Daisy circle for the center.  I stamped the sentiment from the February stamp of the month, Cherishing Her, in black.

I liked piecing the zipstrip heart piece all the way across each section of the card.  You will need more than one zipstrip to do this!

Since I used the the Celebrate Today collection, I'm entering this card in the Color Dare #380 challenge.  Give this fun "fancy" card fold a try!  It wasn't hard to make at all.

February CTMH Technique Blog Hop: Color Your World

Welcome to the Color Your World blog hop!  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from the magnificent Michelle Loncar's blog.  From here, you'll visit creative Cat's blog next.)  While there are so many beautiful ways to color our world, I wanted to focus on our Spectrum Noir Tri-Blend markers.  (I needed some incentive to try to learn to use these beauties!)

 I used the February stamp of the month, Cherishing Her, with its beautiful flower bouquet and lovely sentiments, paired with the beautiful Julep ombre paper from the Mix-In collection.

Here's my marker palette:

(If you can't read it, I used Pale Pink, Hydrangea, Lavender, Light Yellow, and Light Green blends.)  If I remake this card, I will probably try the ombre marker technique behind my sentiment in Hydrangea instead of Light Green.  I think it might "pop" more that way.

I did stamp part of the center flower on scrap White Daisy card stock, color, fussy cut, and pop onto the card front with 3D foam tape to give the card some extra dimension.  I also used Black enamel dots for the flower centers to add more texture.  I might try a little Wisteria shimmer brush on top of my purple coloring next time and see what happens.

Thank you for hopping by!  Please leave a comment before hopping off to Cat's blog to continue the circle of gorgeous colors.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!  While my husband and I have never been huge fans of the day (Hello, 50% off on 2/15!), we do acknowledge and appreciate each other and especially our girls.  I used my current Craft with Heart card subscription to send my girls this card (the kit provides materials for two of each card):

 Both card styles are 3"x4" and include everything you need except adhesive.  Even the 3D foam tape from the shaker window is used on the first card.  I love how the heart on the card front hides the circle shape of the shaker!  (In this case, however, more silver star confetti is better than less!)  I did add the black enamel dot to the card from my stash; everything else was included (except adhesive) in my Craft with Heart Card subscription.

My second card went to my sweet niece, who is a freshman in college like our younger daughter.  (My brother and I are experiencing empty next syndrome together!)  I added Pink Taffeta Stickles glitter gel to the pretty little flowers, because I know that my niece expects/needs some bling in her life!

Here's hoping that these Valentine cards arrive on time, but even if they don't, they were made with love for three precious young women!

Happy Valentine's to you and yours!  May you have love in your heart, whether it is romantic or platonic, because as the Beatles say, "All you need is love!"

Spruced Up Valentine Cards

When you think of the Spruced Up collection, you probably don't think Valentines, but I think that it worked well for a non-romantic/thinking of you type of card.

I used a card sketch from Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 4 and two retired stamp sets, Card Chatter - Love and For Every Occasion.

I hope that my recipients enjoyed them as much as I did making them!

February Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: Cherishing Her

The February Close To My Heart stamp of the month, Cherishing Her, is a beautiful collection to, well, do just that.  Please hop along this monthly blog hop to get so many great ideas with this beautiful set.  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Alyson's blog.  From here, you'll visit Brenda's blog next.)

My card uses a quick sketch from Make It From Heart, Vol. 4 and the Celebrate Today paper collection.  The pretty pink heart paper was already "splattered," and I cut it from the CTMH/Cricut Artbooking cartridge.

Before assembling my card pieces, I grabbed my Mint shimmer brush and flicked it onto my card base.  It's hard to see in the picture, but it adds a pretty touch to this quick card.

The following beautiful cards were created by members of my CTMH team (including mine on the bottom right).  Don't you love the versatility of this stamp set and paper collection?

Here are a few more:

The card on the left features white embossing on vellum with marker coloring on the back.  So pretty!

The card in the middle also uses markers but check out our cool new holographic paper that changes color depending on the angle!

Finally, here's a close up of the card on the left.  Thanks again to my TEAM for these beautiful "stamples."

Thank you for hopping by!  Please leave a comment before hopping off to Brenda's blog to continue the circle of beautiful creations with the February stamp of the month.

{Click HERE for all the hop participants and their blogs.}

National Papercrafting Month: All Around Creativity

Close To My Heart is offering not 4 but FIVE versions (the 5th one just announced!) of a really pretty home decor project, All Around Creativity, through the end of February.  Here's my version:

I added the Sangria card stock, ribbon, ink, and adhesive, but everything else came right out of the kit.

I ended up only using one small flower (edges sponged with Sangria).  I added a Sangria hole punch circle to the center and then added Liquid Glass to give it some shine.  I did use every single piece of greenery.  (Some of the single leaves are attached to the back and just peek through.)

My letters are cut at 2-1/2" from the CTMH/Cricut Artbooking cartridge.  The heart is from Flower Market, and I've already forgotten what size it was.  (My first one was too big, but I'll use it for something else.)

If you'd like to see the other options or order a kit for yourself, please visit my website HERE (only available through the end of February). Thanks for letting me share my take on this project with you.  Mine is already hanging on our wall!  If you order one and need any help, just let me know!  I recommend Liquid Glass to adhere everything.