H2H Color Challenge: Emerald, Smoothie, Canary, Peach & Glacier

Welcome to this week's Heart to Heart Challenge where we are creating and sharing artwork using the colors in the title of this post.

I invite you to join us for this and other monthly challenges by linking up to us on our Blog. Be sure to incorporate Close To My Heart products in your creation. That's all that is required!

I enjoyed making this fun but simple card using the So Much Happy product line. The floral image is one of the stickeres from the Complements and I stamped the small butterly, and sentiment, from the April Stamp of the Month.

Enjoy the month and hopefully the beautiful weather we hope to enjoy!

"Favorite Tool" - Heart 2 Heart Challenge

This week at Heart 2 Heart we are highlighting our "Favorite Tool". I have a lot of favorite tools so it was hard to decide what I wanted to use. Thankfully, this artwork tied into another task I needed to complete so I headed this direction.

A tool that is on the top of my list these days are our Thin Cuts. They, paired with a diecut machine, like the Cuttlebug I use, are great for adding various elements on artwork.

Our diecuts are of top quality and come packaged on a magnetic sheet, for easy storage. This is the set I used called "Cruisin' to Adventure". While the images screamed "little boy" to me, I couldn't help but also see great use for the images and sentiments for many other occasions.

And the Stitched Circle Thin Cuts, also used here, are great for accents and other fun elements on your artwork. You can see all of the Thin Cuts we have available by clicking on this link.

I created this 6" x 8" mini scrapbook page as a fun way to preserve a treasured memory and love that it fits easily into our Everyday Life Album.

Hop on over to Heart 2 Heart and connect with us on this or our other March challenges. We would love to have you!

Emboss It! - CTMH Technique Blog Hop

Welcome to this month's Technique Blog Hop where we are creating around the theme, "Emboss It!" Participants can incorporate any kind of technique in their artwork and I am excited to see what they have chosen. 

If you are coming from Carrie's Blog, you are on the right track. You can find a complete list of participants at the bottom of this post. 

For my artwork I created a 6" x 8" scrapbook page, perfect for fitting in our Everyday Life Album. 

I chose to use the Playful Scallops Embossing Folder for some added texture on this page. Run through my Cuttlebug on Lemon cardstock, I like the dimension it provides.

The stamped elements are from the March Stamp of the Month, "This Happened". It has great images for scrapbooking or other papercrafting projects. The journal tag is interactive. 

It's time to head on over to Valerie's Blog to see what she has to share with you. Please make your way there and consider leaving a comment before you do so. 

Happy hoppin'!

List of Participants:

1. Melissa Robinson *YOU ARE HERE*

2. Valerie Kapsha

3. Catherine Nowak

4. Darlys Recker

5. Maz Wood

6. Katy Taylor

7. Lauren Moore

8. Terry Metzger

9. Carrie Simmonds

In Any CASE...

Join us twice a month as we CASE, “Copy And Selectively Edit”, artwork created by the Art Department of Close To My Heart as showcased in the current Idea Books and our Make It From Your Heart How-To Books.

On the 2^nd and 4^th Thursday of each month, at 7 pm CST, we will direct you towards a piece of art and recreate it using the exact products or others that compliment its initial design. Tips, techniques and assembly directions will be shared in detail to help you recreate them on your own.

As you reproduce the items we have shared, post them on social media using the hashtag #ctmhinanycase. We will randomly search that hashtag and reward those who CASE our items. Winners will be announced on our blogs so be sure to follow us!

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We did take a couple of weeks off, from CASEing, as both of us have been super obligated to other CTMH events and "life stuff". But...we are thrilled to be back with you today.

I couldn't resist using the "Bible Verses" stamp set featured on page 7 of the Idea Book. THIS stamp set can only be obtained if you're a Hostess. Contact either of us for more details. 

While I love the pocket cards that were showcased, I decided I wanted to make a greeting card that followed that of the one in the bottom left pocket. With changing up the size, I decided to add some color and sparkle. Shall we?

You can see how I used the design for the basis of my card, with a little "twist". That's what CASEing is all about, right? Have a point of inspiration and then run with it! 

I'm a bit limited in supplies since I am creating in a hotel room in California so I decided on this. I like the simplicity of it, really wanting to draw attention to the sentiment/scripture. 

The Playful Scallops Embossing Folder added some texture, as did the Silver Glitter Paper. To get the two-toned sentiment, I first stamped the image in Glacier and then the bottom portion on Lagoon. This is a fun and easy technique to incorporate into any artwork. 

Head on over to Melinda's Blog to see how she CASEd the identified card above. 

When you CASE a card from CTMH, or one of us, tag your photo of it on social media with #ctmhinanycase. We're always perusing the web to see what we find so we can award winners with some goodies!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Love Blossoms Blog Hop

Welcome to our Blog Hop where we are featuring the products contained within the beautiful, "Love Blossoms" kit, that is only available through the end of this month.

This kit contains items to create 12 beautiful greeting cards, with various sentiments. In fact, when you buy all the products together, you get them at a 20% discount.

Should you only choose to get the stamp set, these beautiful floral images and greetings, are great for various occasions. 

These are the beautiful pre-designed cards, although you can do with the supplies as you choose. For this Hop we were challenged to use the kit contents on our artwork so it will be fun to see what everyone has designed.

If you are coming from Haley's Blog, you are on the right track. You can find a complete list of participants by clicking here.

In trying to decide what I wanted to do, after falling in love with the cards we created with the kit, I settled on using the spotlight technique. I have done it before, and seen it used, with floral images and thought this would be perfect for it.

I stamped the image multiple times on a piece of White Daisey cardstock and then used Raspberry ink to color the flowers, using the shaded image in the set. Because of the intricate details of the design of the solid images, there is natural shading provided, making it seem like I am a talented artist. I so love when that happens for me!

The leaves and purple flowers (of which I have no idea what they are LOL) were colored in, using the ink pads, with a Waterbrush Pen! (I love them!)

To create the spotlighted image, I first finished the floral piece of stamped paper. Then, I used the Thin Cut Circle to cut out an image. Using the stitched circle from the Shaker Card Thin Cuts, I cut the border out of Thistle cardstock. Both of those pieces were 3-D onto another circle.

While the card is a little busy from what I am used to, I truly love how it turned out; and I hope you do too!

(I CASEd this card design from Stampin' Savy.)

Thanks so much for stopping by and now, please head over to Cat's Blog. I'm totally excited to see what the other Consultants have created to share with us!

Happy hoppin'!

This Happened - March Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Happy March! Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop where we are featuring the "This Happened" stamp set.

This wonderful set has fabulous images, especially perfect for scrapbooking. However, I wanted to work it into a card and have shared that creation with you below.

If you aren't familiar with this monthly special, in quick summary, you can get this stamp set for $5 with a $50 purchase. For additional information, contact me directly or you can visit this area of my website. Be sure to add it to this month's order!

If you are coming from Megan's Blog, you are on the right track. You can find a complete list of participants through this link.

I decided to incorporate the banner images and this sentiment into my card, keeping it relatively simple. A piece of patterned paper and cardstock, and some banners, and that's about it. 

That cute heart is also from the stamp set. I love using it, and the ribbon, as a little accent. 

Keep making your way around the hop by heading to Cat's Blog. I know you'll love what she has to share with you!

Have an awesome month!