Featured Paper Collection Blog Hop: Grateful Heart

Welcome to the Grateful Heart featured paper collection blog hop!  Grateful Hurt is such a pretty set for fall, and fall is finally here in the mountains of north Georgia.  Be sure to hop through this hop to get lots of great ideas with the Grateful Heart collection. (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Shirley's blog.  From here, you'll visit Michelle next.)

My first two cards use the Grateful Heart Cardmaking stamp set along with the paper collection.  For both, I stamped, colored (with Shin Han Twin Touch markers), and cut out my butterflies before adding them to the card fronts.  The Hello Friend card is embellished with New England Ivy burlap ribbon, and some gold glitter gems accent the Thank You card.

My third card uses the October stamp of the month, Thanks & Giving, with more gold glitter gems and gold shimmer trim.  I colored the wreath with my Shin Han Twin Touch markers again.

Here are two other Grateful Heart projects I've already posted on my blog (but you might have missed).

A layout about our house blessing in July has a pocket page to hold cards.  (Learn more HERE.)

My nephew is a huge Harry Potter fan, so his birthday card uses both the Boutique and Grateful Heart collections.  (Learn more HERE.)

Thank you for visiting my blog!  I'm grateful for everyone who stops by, and I really appreciate your comments.  Continue on the hop by going to Michelle's blog now.

Just Married Card

A sweet friend is getting married today, so I made her this card using the retired CTMH/Cricut Artfully Sent collection.

The card base is Linen card stock that I lined with White Daisy card stock.  Her colors are burgundy, blush, and navy, so I used retired Bashful glitter paper for the bow on top of the cake (and a retired Bashful bow accent).

We don't carry Navy shimmer trim, so I colored silver shimmer trim with my Marina Blue Shin Han Twin Touch marker.  I colored it several times, letting it dry between layers, to get the dark blue sparkle.

Best wishes to the new Mr. & Mrs.!

Happy Birthday to our Favorite Muggle!

If you're not a Harry Potter fan, then you may just have to pass on this post!  Today my nephew turns 12, so I made him this card for his birthday prior to his trip to Harry Potter World at Universal Studios.

All of the cuts were made on black card stock from the CTMH/Cricut Artistry cartridge.  I used a combination of Boutique and Grateful Hearts paper with a stripe of black shimmer trim.

We love you, Alex!  Have a very happy birthday!

Holiday Sparkle/Seasons of Joy Blog Hop

Close To My Heart is really getting into the festivities this year!  Right now, you can purchase the Holiday Sparkle card kit and of course the Seasons of Joy Cricut collection which we are featuring on this blog hop. (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Darlys's blog.  From here, you'll visit Michelle Loncar's blog next.)  Hopefully we will showcase the Christmas Blessings collection in a hop later this year.

Instead of creating a 5"x7" card, I cut my card front down to a 5" square to use the shaker portion on this simple layout, a sketch from Reflections.  I used the striped piece, the bird, and the sequins from the kit.  I added Tis the Season paper and silver shimmer trim.  It will be so easy to add my holiday photos to this layout!

To further match the shaker to my layout, I sponged Clover ink on the frame.

Thanks for checking out my quick twist with the Holiday Sparkle kit!  Be sure to continue along the hop to Michelle's blog after leaving me a comment.  Thank you!

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

Paste-fully Creative (CTMH Technique Blog Hop)

Have you seen Close To My Heart's new texture pastes and wondered what that's all about?  You'll learn lots about our new texture pastes along this blog hop.  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Melissa's blog.  From here, you'll visit Michelle's blog next.)

I decided to use the ice cream cone cut from the CTMH/Cricut Artistry collection, cut at 4" from a piece of Toffee card stock.  I stamped the "stripes" to give the cone a more authentic look with Toffee ink and the lined stamp from the CTMH/Cricut Flower Market collection.  I applied the opaque paste to the ice cream portion of the cone.  Instead of smoothing it out with my palette knife, I left it kind of "creamy."

*NOTE: The stripes that I had stamped on the cone bled into the first layer of texture paste (and it wasn't pretty!)  I applied another coat and it stayed white.

Now you might be wondering where the white went!  I used my Sugarplum shimmer pen to paint the ice cream/texture paste!  It doesn't sparkle very much but the color is very pretty.

Thanks for checking out my texture paste project.  I'd love a comment before you hop over to Michelle's blog next!

H2H Challenges: October Sketch

Heart 2 Heart is offering up a scrapbooking challenge based on a recent Make It From Your Heart blog post.  (You can see it HERE.)  Here's my interpretation of this sketch pattern.

My version uses the Boutique collection plus Pixie card stock and ink to match my mother-in-law.

Isn't the Boutique Cardmaking  stamp set a lovely addition?  (I'll add my journaling later.)

Thank you for letting me share a bit of my family with you!

Be sure to check out the H2H Design Team's interpretation of this sketch!  We'd love for you to add your take to our challenge!

October Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: Thanks & Giving

Welcome to the October stamp of the month blog hop highlight the heartwarming Thanks & Giving stamp set.  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Kimberly's blog.  From here, you'll visit Debi's blog next.)  I was really excited to get my hands on this set!

 My first project is a layout of our house blessing this summer.  The Grateful Hearts collection was a great match to my two pictures!  (We were having such a great, sacred time that no one took pictures!)

The left page uses a combination of stamped images from the Thanks & Giving stamp of the month and Picture My Life cards from the Grateful Heart paper pack.

For the right page, I made a pocket based on a "Bottom Border" sketch from Reflections.  On the top of the page, I glued down two of our cards and then added the "Remember This" sentiment and arrow from the stamp of the month set.

I stamped the "Thankful" stamp with New England Ivy and then inked up ONLY the "To" of "Together" to make the phrase on the center panel.  I stamped "gather" in Sapphire and "Together" and the heart with Pomegranate.  The solid flowers are Saffron with the outlines in Goldrush.

How do you like those adorable cork shapes?

Since my home is gray, I decided to stamp the house image first in Mink and then color it with my waterbrush.  The heart and chimney were watercolored with the waterbrush in Pomegranate.  Once the image dried, I stamped it again in Sapphire.  You HAVE to love our clear stamps for perfect realignment!

Before I introduce my next project, take a peek at all the images available in this timely stamp set.

Here is a quick simple card with the Boutique collection and a sketch from Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 1.

Both of my projects use the new Mink twine.

Thanks for taking the time to visit!  Your comments mean a lot to me, so I hope you'll leave one before you hop on over to Debi's blog to continue to see some amazing Thanks & Giving projects!

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