Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is quickly coming up and this week at Heart 2 Heart Challenges, we are inspiring you with paper projects to celebrate your mother or special lady in your life.  I chose to once again use the Beautiful Friendship paper packet and coordinating stamps to create my card.  (For more inspiration, click on "Older Post")  Design credit goes to Julee Tilman of Mojo Monday.

This card is for my mother-in-law.  Even though she is a resident in a health care facility, suffers from dementia and does not always respond to us in a positive way, she is still beautiful to me.  I hope the card makes her smile.

Products used are all Close to My Heart except for the paper doily. The baker's twine is retired. 

• Beautiful Friendship paper packet
• Beautiful Friendship--Cardmaking Stamp and Thin Cuts Bundle.  The stamp set is also available without the dies.

Z4180--$22.95

Be sure to visit Heart 2 Heart Challenges to see the beautiful projects the design team has created for you!

Till later,

Sue

Workin!

Another month of the Scrapbook and Cards Today Online Class is in the books!  I was inspired by the sketch to create this layout about our 2018 Mission Trip to St. Augustine, FL.  Because it was such a successful and rewarding week, I decided to document it.

All the supplies are from Close to My Heart.  The patterned papers are from the retired Jack packet. The arrows and the title were cut on the Cricut.  I actually cut the title four times...one with patterned paper (this is from No Worries) and three times with White Daisy cardstock.  I glued all the layers together to create a title with dimension.  Yes, it was a little bit of a pain in the rear, but I love the results.  I hope you can see the dimension in this picture:

So are you inspired?  No Cricut to cut your letters?  You may want to consider the Thin Cuts Alphabet from Close to My Heart.  It is 25% off until the end of March!  Visit my website or contact me for ordering information.

Until next time...

Sue

Celebrating Ribbon!

Hello!  It is Team Ruby's turn again at Heart 2 Heart Challenges and this week we are Celebrating Ribbon!  For my ribbon choices, I selected the Blue Burlap Ribbon (Z3325) and the White Burlap Ribbon (Z3323) along with the Red Shimmer Trim (Z1848).  While Shimmer Trim is not technically a ribbon, it can certainly be used it its place. The burlap ribbons are new in the Seasonal Expressions 2 catalog and will be available through the end of August.

 I used my die cutter and the largest of the Star Dies (Z3261) to cut the star from a 4 x 5 1/4 inch piece of White Daisy.  I applied adhesive to my card base and then applied the ribbon and Shimmer Trim at a 45 Degree angle.  I used the Thin 3-D Foam tape to adhere the top piece to the card base.  Liquid Glass was used to adhere the die cut. The stamping was done with an old stamp set called Kaboom  in Cranberry and Sapphire ink.  Silver sequins finished it off.

This is a design that came to me at some odd moment...I really like how it turned out.  I hope you like it too.

For more "ribbon" inspiration, please visit:

Heart 2 Heart Challenges--Ribbon!

Eggplant, Canary and Slate

I love when I find inspiration in two different challenges.  I was again able to create a card that meets the requirments for Mojo Monday and the Color My Heart Color Dare Challenges.  I love the fun sketch and colors. I really think this card has a masculine feel and would work well for the men in your lives.

The products used are all from Close to My Heart.  The Canary patterned paper is from the Whimsy packet.  Cardstock used was Canary, Eggplant, Slate and White Daisy.  The sentiment was stamped with a stamp from the Birthday Sparkles Set (B1537) and Slate Ink. The stars were cut with the Stars Thin Cuts (Z3261). The sequins are from the retired Magical Sequin Set.

For more inspiration visit: 

Color My Heart Color Dare #239

Mojo Monday #493

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

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

Silver and Gold!

I am honored to be chosen to be on the 2017 Heart 2 Heart Challenges Design Team!  About two times a month I will be contributing to the blog post announcing the current challenge.  I am looking forward to coming up with designs using Close to My Heart Products.

The first challenge for 2017 is Silver and Gold.  I have chosen to create a card appropriate for a wedding or anniversary.  If you have a friend that loves bling, it can even used for a birthday.

The wreath on this card was cut with the Thin Cuts Wreath die (CC1157) and stamped with the Wreath stamp (A1193).  The wreath was embossed with Silver Embossing Powder (Z2067) and

 the sentiment (retired) was embossed with Princess Gold embossing powder (Z2066).  While I used retired paper for the background, there is a similar pattern included in the Uptown Fundamentals paper pack.

Wreath A1193 

Please visit the Heart 2 Heart Challenges blog to see what the other design team members have created.  While you are there, be sure to submit your email to follow the blog.

http://heart2heartchallenges.blogspot.com/2017/01/silver-and-gold.html

Are you ready for Christmas?

Doesn't someone ask you that every year?   My answer is a resounding "No!".  It is no different this year, but I am starting to get a handle on it.  I completed my last cards a few nights ago and have them all mailed--one thing off my mind!

A few words about how I do Christmas cards.  I first check out the CTMH Idea Books and online resources.  Next, I stalk Pinterest.  Ah yes, Pinterest!  I have saved so many posts with awesome designs.  While I would love to make one of each, it is just so much more efficient to choose 6-8 and make several of each.

This card design was the last one I did and was created with the Woodland Wishes stamp set and coordinating Thin Cuts dies. I cannot locate the original and therefore am unable to give design credit...my apologies to the designer. I added white glitter paper for the snow and a few Bitty Sparkles for a little bling.  The stamps and Thin Cuts are perfect for masculine and winter cards.  They are from the Holiday Expressions catalog and will be retiring on December 31st.

Woodland Wishes D1696

Woodland Wishes Stamp  and Thin Cuts Bundle Z1405

I am hoping to get to my craft room a few times in between gift wrapping and food preparation.  The creative process of making cards and scrapbook layouts calms me.  

As this may be my last post before Christmas, let me take this opportunity to thank you for reading my blog and all your kind comments.  I am wishing all of you and your families a blessed Christmas and wonderful New year.

Merry Christmas,

Sue

Out of My Comfort Zone!

You probably heard my moans and groans this morning as I was looking at this week's Mojo Monday sketch.  Now I am entirely linear in my layout style.  I mean a ruler is my best friend as I attempt to straighten something that is a 32nd of an inch off square.  So imagine my angst when I saw the large rectangle element sitting at an angle!  Agh!

However, I have vowed to work with some online sketches even if I have to take those dreaded steps out of my comfort zone...so here is my project for this week.

I used two of the Picture my Life cards included in the Florence paper packet (X7208B).  These cards, intended for use in pocket scrapbooking projects, also work wonderfully on cards like this one or journaling blocks in your normal scrapbooking. The large embellishment was cut with the Ornate Blossom Thin Cut ((Z3227) and stamped with an image from the Ornate Blossoms stamp set (D1687).  

Other Close to My Heart products used include:

White Daisy cardstock (1385)

Shinhan markers (Carmine, Peacock Green and Marigold--although I think I should have used Golden Yellow)

Say it All stamp set (C1632).  This is a hostess only set available until July 31st.

Florence Sequins (Z3213)

Momento Black Ink

Just for fun, here is another card I made with the stamp set.  Reminds me of the coloring books popular right now.

For more creative inspiration, please visit the Mojo Monday Blog:

http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/2016/07/mojo-monday-456.html