Bamberg!

Here I am...one layout closer to getting my riverboat cruise album done!  I had these pictures printed and the layout selected when I saw the palette designated for this weeks Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge.  I love the combination of Slate, Whisper, Pomegranate, Fern, White Daisy and Black. These colors are just perfect for these pictures!

Design credit goes to Donna Cosgrove

In addition to White Daisy, Black and Slate cardstock, I used the following patterned papers:

• The weathered wood is from the No Worries packet--Seasonal Expressions 2
• The Pomegranate dot is from the Enchantment Fundamental pack--2016-2017 Annual Expressions
• The Fern patterned paper is from the Hello Lovely packet--retired.

The challenge also used silver as an option. The Silver Sequins from CTMH have a matte finish that were perfect for this more rustic look.

The gals on the Design Team really outdid themselves this time...each of their projects are beautiful!  I really encourage you to click on the link and check out their artwork!

Color Dare #247

Some Kinda Wonderful!

This week  Color My Heart Color Dare is challenging us to use at least four of the colors in the Some Kinda Wonderful paper packet. By using three of the patterned papers and a pair of the zip strips, I was able to use all the colors listed.  I used the Some Kinda Wonderful--Scrapbooking stamp set for all the stamping on the bottom, the title and the embellishments.  The sequins are from the retired Magical set...they made me "a whole lot of happy"!  The paper packet and stamp set will also be retiring on April 30th...I hate to see them go!

Design Credit--Pattern 09 Make it From Your Heart,Volume 1

To find more inspiration using these fun colors please visit:

Color Dare #240--Some Kinda Wonderful Colors

This is also posted at 

Heart 2 Heart What a Wonderful World

All Creatures Great and Small

I love the theme for this week's Heart 2 Heart Challenge...All Creatures Great and Small.  I chose to highlight one of the smaller creations in our world when I created this layout.  I really like these little partridges.  This Stamp of the Month features all five of these little loves along with the hearts and sentiments used.

Because this layout features a picture of my husband and myself along with our children and families at Christmas, I chose to use retired White Pines on the side border.  The background paper is the ombre pattern from Sugar Rush.  I added strips of Sweet Leaf and Saddle cardstock as well as Poppy Shimmer Trim. The stamping was done with Saddle and Poppy inks.

Flock Together, the April Stamp of the Month, is available for $17.95 or only $5.00 with a $50.00 purchase.  Contact me to order or visit my website, www.suebruch.closetomyheart.com, to order online.

For more "Creature" inspiration, please visit:
Heart 2 Heart Challenges--All Things Great and Small

Wonderful!

For this week's Color Dare challenge, I chose to highlight the Some Kinda Wonderful--Scrapbooking stamp set D1716.  The Peacock background paper is from the Enchantment Fundamental set and the Willow paper is from the Some Kinda Wonderful paper packet.

 The White Daisy circles were cut 1.5 inch on the Cricut and stamped with the dotted circle from the Some Kinda Wonderful--Scrapbooking set with willow ink.  I cut two banners on the Cricut and stamped them with Peacock and Willow inks.  I trimmed the Willow piece within the wavy lines and bumped it up with thin foam adhesive onto the Peacock piece. The embellishments are from the Black and White Dots set.

I will be sending this card to a young man to congratulate him on his theater performance.

Enchantment Fundamentals Z3254

Some Kinda Wonderful Paper Packet X7217B   Available through April 30th.

Some Kinda Wonderful--Scrapbooking D1716   Available through April 30th.


For for ideas using the very pretty colors, Peacock, Willow and White Daisy, please visit
'
Color My heart Color Dare #238

Fun Colors!

Even though I have purchased the inks and cardstock of the purples in Close to My Heart's line, I rarely go to them when I am doing a card or layout.  Call me "purple challenged"!  So I was happy today when I saw that we are to create with Thistle, Lagoon, Tangerine and White Daisy for this week's Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge.  I love how challenges push my comfort zone!

This week a friend invited me to participate in a summer flower "twinchie" (2 inch square) swap.  I chose to use my twinchie on this card.  This was a fun project using a really fun color combination!

For more ideas, please click on this link:

Color Dare #237--Thistle, Lagoon, White Daisy and Tangerine

Tea Time!

It is Tea Time at Heart 2 Heart Challenges.  It is the perfect opportunity to feature projects created with Tea-riffic, the March Stamp of the Month at Close to My Heart.  Judging by the number of cards and layouts I have seen on our CTMH boards and on Pinterest, this set has been very popular.  However, this sort of put me in a dilemma...it seemed like all the good ideas were taken!  So I sat down with absolutely no idea where I was headed and just let it happen.  Here is what I came up with..

The background paper is from the Hello Lovely pack and I stamped it with the floral design from the stamp set.  The background on the White Daisy cardstock was stamped with second generation Desert Sand after the tea cup was stamped.  The cup was colored with the Light Orange Shinhan marker.  

The Tea-riffic Stamp of the Month is available through March 31st for $17.95 or just $5.00 with a $50.00 purchase.  Visit my website www.suebruch.ctmh.com to order and to see other monthly specials.

For more Tea-riffic ideas, be sure to visit
Heart 2 Heart Challenges Tea Time

Dreamin' Big

I love color and it rather fascinates me how different colors look together.  When the 2017 Seasonal Expressions 1 was introduced, I immediately fell in love with the colors featured in the Dreamin' Big paper pack.  So when the Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge announced this week's challenge was using some or all of the 10 colors, I was just in hog heaven!

Design Credit to Kelly Holifield, Paper Sketches

I accomplished my goal of using all 10 colors by using a couple of the patterned papers as well as stamping tone on tone on the Sorbet cardstock.  I trimmed a zip strip in half and used it as a bottom border.  The most fun was creating the circles.  I stamped the actual circle with a stamp from Wheel of Life (D1545-retired) and then stamped and trimmed the quilt like pieces from the Chantilly WOTG stamp set (C1553-retired).  Each one is a different color. To break up the white, I masked the circles and used slightly thinned black acrylic paint to speckle the background. The title was done on the Cricut and the embellishments are from the Black and White Dots.  I argued with myself about adding more dots, but decided to leave well enough alone.

I need to be honest...I fussed over this one and it took more time than I really should be spending on a single layout. However, I am pleased with the results and am glad I challenged myself to expand my creativity.

For more great Dreamin' Big color combinations, please visit

Color Dare #235--Dreamin' Big Colors

Tool Time!

This week Heart 2 Heart is featuring projects created with the Thin Cuts and/or the Embossing Folders available from Close to My Heart.  I chose to use the cupcake from the Sweet Birthday Thin Cuts assortment (CC1156).  It coordinated with the Sweet Birthday stamp set (B1532).  So here is my card:

Design credit goes to Mojo Monday.
I used a mix and match combination to create this card:

Sugar Rush Paper Packet X7215B

Some Kinda Wonderful Paper Packet X7217B

Cardstock:  White Daisy, Raspberry and Canary

Sugar Rush--Cardmaking Stamp Set C1671

Sweet Birthday Stamp Set B1532

I used my die to cut cupcakes from the White Daisy cardstock and the Sprinkles pattern from Sugar Rush.  I stamped the image on both cuts. They were shaded with a very pale marker from my equipment stash.  I used the Cherry Pink Shinhan marker to color the "wrapper"  I trimmed the top of the patterned paper cupcake and layered it with Thin 3-D Foam Tape.

Please take a look at the two paper packets used on this card.  They are both from the 2017 Seasonal Expressions book and will be available until April 31st.

Thanks for looking at my blog this week!  For more inspiration, be sure to visit the Heart 2 Heart blog. Heart to Heart

All Things Green!

This week, Color My Heart Color Dare is challenging us with "Pick your Greens" You can use 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 of these CTMH greens  (Sweet Leaf, New England Ivy, Fern, Emerald or Willow) with White Daisy. Using Gold is optional.  I have chosen to use Sweet Leaf, Fern and New England Ivy to create my card.  These colors were selected because they blend so well together. I lifted the design from the 2017 Seasonal Expressions 1, page 30.

The background paper is from the Whimsey Fundamental assortment.  Cardstock used is White Daisy and New England Ivy.  Other patterned papers are both CTMH and are from my ever growing scrap stash.  Stamp sets used are Dreamin' Big-Cardmaking and the WYW Here for You Cardmaking Kit.  Although not really evident in the picture, the butterfly and the scroll are both heat embossed with gold. I used Gold Glitter Paper as a mat and embellished with dots from the Black and White Dots.

For more "Green"inspiration please visit:

Color My Heart Color Dare

Fun with Mix and Match!

It is Team Ruby's time to shine again at Heart 2 Heart Challenges.  This time we are creating mix and match projects, using papers from different paper sets or mixing patterns as stripes and dots.  I tried to do a little of all this.

Design credit to Leslie Germain

"

The backgound paper, the black and white "stripe", and the zip strip are from the Some Kinda Wonderful pack while the Honey and white polka dot is from the Magical pack.  The "Panther" paper is from my stash.  The title was cut on the Cricut with a file on Design Space.  For fun, I used the snipping tool on my PC to copy the tweet about her accomplishment...in my mind 22 of 25 freethrows is just pretty darn awesome!

This was just a really fun layout to make!

Be sure to take a look at what the rest of the Design Team has created.
Heart 2 Heart Mix and Match This & That

This has also been entered in the Make It Monday 81 challenge on Memory Nest.
Memory Nest Make it Monday 81

Vacation pages!

So many pictures...not enough hours in the day!  In between scrapping pages of the grandkids, I have been getting a few done of our river boat cruise last summer.  The first picture shown here will be submitted to Heart 2 Heart for the Crazy for Complements challenge.  Complements from Close to My Heart are an assortment of stickers/embellishments that are available for each of the Paper Packs as well as the Fundamentals.  Mainly for scrapbooking, they are also perfect for card making.

The background paper is from the Rustic Home Fundamental pack and the Honey strip and mat are from the 2015-16 Fundamentals. The Juniper paper as well as all the Complements are from the Dreamin' Big Workshop your Way.  Design credit goes to Paige Stirling Fox.

Here are a few more vacation layouts.  Feel free to contact me for more information on any of them.

Design credit to Stacy's Scrap Corner

Design credit to Close to My Heart

Design credit to Susan Stringfellow

Be sure to visit Heart 2 Heart for more Complements ideas.

Heart 2 Heart Crazy for Complements

Hello Lovely!

I have once again created a card that I am submitting to several challenges.  I have used the Hello Lovely paper packet from Close to My Heart with a sketch from Mojo Monday to create this sympathy card.

In addition to the Hello Lovely paper, I added Desert Sand and Colonial White cardstock.  The banner was shaded with Bamboo ink.  The sentiment is from the stamp set that comes with the Workshop Your Way Here for You kit and is stamped with New England Ivy. The flower was cut from White Glitter paper with the Artistry Cricut cartridge from CTMH.  The leaves were cut from Fern and New England Ivy cardstock, also with the Artistry cartridge. The bling and the gorgeous Blush ribbon are also from CTMH.

For more inspiration, please visit:

http://colormyheartcolordare.blogspot.com/2017/02/winners-color-dare-230.html

http://heart2heartchallenges.blogspot.com/2017/02/hello-lovely.html

http://colormyheartcolordare.blogspot.com/2017/02/color-dare-231-hello-lovely.html

http://btfchallenges.blogspot.com/2017/02/challenge-40b-hello-lovely-paper-packet.html

Tuxedo: Black and White

The challenge at Heart 2 Heart this week is Tuxedo: Black and White.  I love the clean and classy look of black and white projects so this was right up my alley.

 

The design for this layout is my own. I used all Close to My Heart products.  The patterned paper is from Jeepers Creepers, a paper set from the 2016 Seasonal Expressions book.  The cardstock is Black and White Daisy.  I used the Hello Lovely--Cardmaking stamp set and Thin Cuts bundle to create the large floral embellishment. Although you can't see it on the photo, I did use the Clear Shimmer Brush to add some sparkle to some petals and leaves. On the black panel, I used a small stamp from the same set and heat embossed the images with retired Black embossing powder and embossing ink.  This will work equally well with black pigment ink and Clear Embossing Powder.  The card was finished off with White Shimmer Trim and a few Bitty Sparkles. I chose to omit a sentiment from the front of this card...I like it just fine without it!

For more Black and White inspiration, please visit Heart 2 Heart Challenges
http://heart2heartchallenges.blogspot.com/2017/02/tuxedo-black-and-white.html

I would love to see your project there also!  Directions are on the Challenge blog.  Questions?  I am here to help!

Mojo Monday Meets Color Dare

Hi!  Today I was able to create a card that meets the requirements for both the Mojo Monday and the Color Dare Challenges.  Look at how great Saffron, Pixie and Whisper look together...who would have thought?

The patterned papers are from the Dreamin' Big Paper Packet (X7218B).  The stamp is from Delight in Everything, unfortunately a really old, old set.  I was glancing through Wishes, a card idea book from Close to My Heart and noticed how they used the stamp.  I think it is perfect on this card...don't you?

For more ideas, please visit:

http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/2017/02/mojo-monday-483-contest.html

http://colormyheartcolordare.blogspot.com/2017/02/color-dare-230-pixie-saffron-whisper.html

Springtime Card Class

Good morning!

I have finally been able to nail down a date for a card class.  I will be featuring some of the papers and stamps from the 2017 Seasonal Expressions 1 catalog.  I think you will love the patterns that range from fun donuts to cute bugs to really lovely flowers.

Here are the details:

Class will be held on Wednesday, February 22 at 6:30 p.m.  If that time is too early for anyone, come when you can...I will make sure you have your cards completed before you leave for home.  Once again, it will be at my home.

• The class fee is $15.00.  I will supply all supplies except tape runners.  I do ask that you bring one or two to the class. If you desire, you can also bring favorite basic tools such as scissors or a stamping mat.
•  I prefer prepayment by check or Pay Pal.  If using Paypal, my email address is suebruch47@gmail.com.  If paying by check, my address is 13301 N. 950th Ave., Granville, 61326.
• There is no purchase required.  However if you choose to order  Close to My Heart products that night, I will deduct $5.00 from your class fee for all orders over $25.00.  If you have prepaid, I will deduct that amount from your order total.
• No need to bring drinks or a snack... I will provide those.
• So I can have the class kits prepared, I ask that you RSVP by February 15th.. If I have forgotten anything or you have questions, please feel free to contact me.

Please feel free to invite your friends.  I am looking forward to seeing you!

Sue

Fall in Love with...

This week's Heart 2 Heart Challenge is called "Fall in Love with..."  Ok, I thought of all the obvious...I can document falling in love with my husband, my children or (for sure), my grandchildren...all of which would be wonderful projects.  However, I have spent a lot of time this week thinking about how I show my love.  Helping others on the mission trips we have taken with Ron's brother's church is one way I have been able to do so.  This layout documents our 2016 trip to Biloxi.

I based my title on the Bible verse outlined by the heart.  My journaling is lengthy, but writing it helped me work through some things.  Don't be afraid to let your pages express your feelings for where you are in your life. Thank you for allowing me to share some of mine.

All the products used in this project are Close to My Heart.  The design is called Nice and Simple and it is from Imagine, one of the design books available from CTMH. The patterned paper and embellishments are from the Dream Big packet.  I added White Daisy, Poppy and Glacier cardstock. The title was cut on my Cricut with the Don Juan font, found on my computer.  The hearts were cut with the Hearts Thin Cuts dies.

To see more ways to "fall in love" with CTMH, visit Heart 2 Heart Challenges.
http://heart2heartchallenges.blogspot.com/2017/01/falling-in-love.html

Season of White

The second Heart 2 Heart Challenge for 2017 is "Season of White".  While my first thought was to do a project with a snowy landscape, I decided to think a little bit out of the box and create a Valentine. I kept everything white, but couldn't resist adding the sentiment in red.  Featured on this card is the January Stamp of the Month Adore You S1701.  The image was heat embossed and the flowers accented with the Clear Shimmer Brush.

Additional Close to My Heart products used:
White Daisy Cardstock 1385
Silver Pearl Embossing Powder (retired)
Shimmer Brush--Clear Z3293
Cranberry Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad Z2816
Heart Embossing Folder (retired)
Thin 3-D Foam Tape Z2060

Be sure to visit the Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog for more "Season of White" inspiration!

http://heart2heartchallenges.blogspot.com/2017/01/season-of-white.html