Jackson August Stamp of the Month Birthday

This masculine birthday card was easy to make with a sketch from Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 2, the Jackson paper pack, the August stamp of the month, bronze shimmer trim, and a triangle Durables stud.

Lots of what you see here is retiring in just a few days (at the end of the month), so be sure to grab what you want before it's gone!

Support the Panthers! Fall Sports Intro 2015

Our high school released a Fall 2015 Sports video, and both of my girls are in it because of band.  At about 0:35 you'll see our senior on clarinet, and at about 5:25 our freshman on bass drum.  Continue watching, because the end of the band section (at 5:35+) made me laugh.  Their show this year is "The Incredibles," and of course I think they're doing an incredible job!  Our first game is tonight, but Little Bit won't be there. :(  She's home with cold/flu symptoms (but at least her earache seems to have gone away).

August Stamp of the Month Thanks

Time is running out to grab the August stamp of the month, Framed!  This simple card uses the retiring CTMH colors Barn Red, Autumn Terracotta, Goldrush (which ISN'T retiring), Olive, Ponderosa Pine, Indian Corn Blue, Outdoor Denim, and Smokey Plum for a fun rainbow effect.

The three frames in the August stamp of the month can all be cut with the new CTMH/Cricut Artistry cartridge, making this card even easier!  To embellish the card, we used gold polka dot washi tape and (retired) baker's twine.

THANKS for stopping by!

Balloon Wishes Birthday

Tonight, we celebrated a BIG early birthday for a dear family friend.  This card, made at yesterday's card class, seemed like a great choice for her birthday card.

We started by stamping the Balloon Wishes stamp set balloon in black on the pretty Blossom B&T and on scrap card stock.  After coloring the balloon with the easy-to-use, smooth ShinHan Twin Touch markers, we cut out the balloon and basket then adhered to the card.  I accented the Happy Birthday banner with two of the markers.  A little teal shimmer trim added some bling without detracting from that beautiful stamped balloon.

We had a lovely time at dinner tonight!

I am going to have to link up this balloon card to the Heart 2 Heart challenge, Ticket to Ride.  It's been a great ride!  Happy birthday, JC!

Artfully Sent Wedding Card

My husband's second cousin once removed got married earlier this month out of town, so his family held a reception this past weekend in honor of the new Mr. and Mrs.  (Unfortunately I didn't think to snap their picture!)  Her bridesmaids wore beautiful deep red/burgundy dresses, so when I found my last Cranberry metal bloom from the Brushed Assortment, I knew that Cranberry was the red I would use for their wedding card.

This tiered cake card is one of the choices on the CTMH/Cricut Artfully Sent cartridge.  After cutting the card at 7" on Cranberry card stock to make a 5"x7" card, I then cut a piece of White Daisy card stock at 9.5"x6.5" to line the inside (and make the beautiful wedding cake).

I used silver shimmer trim for the "bow" with that gorgeous Cranberry metallic bloom at the center, and grounded the cake onto two pieces of red shimmer trim.  I went back and added a sparkle on each "swoop" of the pretty cake design.  On the inside, I stamped "Best Wishes" from the sentiment set from the Artfully Sent collection.

While I didn't manage to get a picture of the bride & groom, I did get someone to take a family picture.

H2H Challenges: Good Day, Sunshine!

The heat is still on here in the South, so the Heart 2 Heart Good Day, Sunshine challenge is perfect for these long hot days!

I found this cute cut on the NEW CTMH/Artistry collection, and I thought it paired perfectly with the NEW Zoe Workshop on the Go (paper pack and stamp set).  While I was trying to make the starburst look like a sun, I think it ended up looking more like a flower!  It's still cute though with its nested gold and coral sequins.  All of the stamping is part of the Zoe WOTG stamp set.  I used Slate for both sentiments after stamping the arrow in Canary on Canary card stock.

Be sure to check out all of the H2H designers' creations this week to put a little sunshine in your life.  Be sure to join us before the month is out!

Artistry Coffee Cup Card

Even though I am not a coffee drinker, I do love coffee ice cream and the occasional mocha frapp.  With today being the third day of school and tonight being my second class of the semester for my EdS degree, I may have to become a coffee drinker! For some reason, the tall coffee cup on the new CTMH/Cricut Artistry cartridge begged me to make a card!

I knew that I wanted to use White Daisy and Topiary to honor a certain well-known coffee chain.  I cut the cup (p. 6) at 4.75" on White Daisy card stock and then the sleeve onto Topiary.  Do NOT change your dial size, and do NOT use the "Real Dial Size" key.  CTMH & Cricut have taken all the guesswork out of these images that overlay!  I stamped "enjoy" onto the Topiary sleeve with Black ink.  After cleaning my stamp, I inked up one of the hearts to stamp in the top right corner of my Whisper card base followed by the second heart, same technique.

I cut a piece of Black Basic Fundamentals card stock for the sidebar of the card (which you can see in the angled picture, above), then a piece of black shimmer trim, followed by some green washi tape from the retiring Boardwalk washi collection.  Talk about easy!  How do you take your coffee?

H2H Challenges: Ticket to Ride

Of course the title "Ticket to Ride" makes me think of the Beatles' song!  (Are you humming it now?  Sorry!)  Ticket to Ride is the theme of the current Heart 2 Heart Challenge, and our summer to trip to Dollywood fit perfectly!

Even though it was hot and we got rained on, Dollywood was not crowded.  We had such a fun, relaxing time together!  Because I had taken so many pictures, I decided to use Studio J and the Jackson collection to preserve these memories.  The cute tickets are part of the Studio J collection.

Now it's your turn to share your ride with us at H2H.  Be sure to check out our Design Team's inspiration too!

CTMH/Cricut Artistry Cartridge Blog Hop

Did you see that Close To My Heart and Cricut have unveiled a new exclusive cartridge collection, Artistry?!?  It joins the CTMH/Cricut family (Art Philosophy, Artiste, Artbooking, and Artfully Sent), and you are going to love what Artistry has to offer!  My favorite blog hop group has banded together again to show off some of what Artistry can do.  (If you're already hopping, then you should have arrived from Brenda's blog.  From here, you'll visit my Heart 2 Heart design team member Nikka next.)

This card was so much fun to make!!!  When I saw the typewriter pieces on p. 7, I grabbed my NEW Zoe paper pack, added some black card stock, and started cutting.  (Each piece of the typewriter is cut at 2.5".  Leave the real dial size OFF so that the pieces will work together in the correct proportions.  They are already sized to work together.)  I started with a Black card stock base, then Sorbet, then White Daisy, and finally a piece of Slate B&T.

The banner is another cut from Artistry (p. 34 @ 2.5") and uses one of the three Artistry stamp sets on the collection, Love Right Now.  For its Sweet Leaf polka dot mat, I used the back of the Slate B&T from the typewriter and repeated my banner cut @ 3".  I inked up the sentiment stamp in Sorbet ("you") and Black for the rest and then stamped onto the pennant.  I colored in the two words using Glacier and Sweet Leaf inks with my blending pen.

The glasses are another fun Artistry cut (p. 40)!  I set the dial at 0.5", and the border was just over 4.25" long.  Perfection for the card front!  I used my blending pen and Glacier ink to make the glasses look a little more realistic with a little "glare" on the lenses.

You probably have noticed the cool NEW Coral shimmer trim and Enamel Glitter Duos Green Triangles.  So fun!

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to visit all the stop on our Artistry hop to see the possibilities with this new cartridge and its coordinating stamp sets and to get lots of great ideas!  Visit NIKKA next!

Click HERE for all the hop participants and their blogs.

H2H Birthday Bash and Framed Background Tutorial

At Heart 2 Heart Challenges, we are throwing a birthday bash (or at least challenging you to celebrate with us!)  I have had so much fun making cards with the August stamp of the month, Framed, and thanks to all the sentiment choices, several have been birthday cards.

If you saw the card that I made for the August stamp of the month blog hop, then you know how I excited I am about the stamp set Framed and how much I love using the frames to create a cool background.  Today I have a more feminine card for you with the same techniques.

This card uses paper from the retiring, while-supplies-last Seaside paper pack.  You can see how I used the same frame to create a background on the Colonial White focal panel and on the Kraft card base.  For the focal panel, I stamped the frames repeatedly with Glacier ink (and our clear stamps make them sooo easy to line up!) and then the Happy Birthday sentiment in Desert Sand.  For the card base, I stamped the frames in Desert Sand and then added For You on the two frames you can clearly see.  Here's what the background looked like when I finished stamping the frames.

I hope you'll try stamping the frames repeatedly yourself.  You'll see how easy it is to do with our amazingly beautiful, clear Close To My Heart stamps!  You also need to join H2H's Birthday Bash!

August Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: FRAMED!

The August stamp of the month, Framed, is one of my favorite stamp sets!  I have had so much fun playing with this set that I don't even know where to begin.  You're going to find several ideas here, plus all along our monthly Stamp of the Month Blog Hop.  (If you're already hopping, then you should have arrived here from Terrie's blog.  You'll hop to see Michelle's project next.)

When I saw all the cool frames and sentiments in the Framed stamp set, I knew that I wanted to try to create a background with one of the frames.  This card was made especially for my brother, whose birthday is today!  (Happy birthday, Brian!!!)  I used a card sketch from Originals and started with stamping the frame with Glacier ink in the center of my Colonial White panel, and then I easily lined up the clear stamp to stamp again to the left and the right of the main frame.  I used the notches of the stamp to help me line up my stamping for the top and bottom rows.  Since I was using the Jackson paper pack, I stamped the birthday sentiment in Cocoa in the center and then accented it with Ocean sequins.  Finally, since he's learning to play the guitar, I embellished with the metal guitar from the Jackson assortment and tied it off with some chunky Glacier twine.

Click HERE for all the hop participants and their blogs.

I have a more feminine birthday card to share with you later this month, but today I wanted to include a recap of a few birthday cards I made with the August stamp of the month, Framed, that I have shared previously here on my blog in case you missed them.  This next one is a patriotic birthday card that I made for a Yankee Doodle Dandy of a friend on her Fourth of July birthday.  (Complete details HERE.)

Another friend just turned 17, so I made this fun card for her.  (Complete details HERE.)

Thanks for getting FRAMED with me!  To see the rest of the great FRAMED ideas, click to go to Michelle's blog next!