Love Card for Color Dare #486

 I have been able to do a bit of crafting over the weekend, thanks to the challenges and prompts I keep finding!

This week's Color Dare was quite specific, but one I could manage!

I started off with a Candy Apple card base, complimented by Lilac and Flamingo colours for my other colours.

I added Black and White as my neutrals, and finished off with some Purple Glitter Gems .

I hand stamped all the little xoxos onto the Candy Apple hexagon, and the 'love" is a a thin cut. 

You will notice that this is a gatefold card too, so it will open up for a message to be written inside.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Sweet Girl Birthday card

I am loving the colours of the new Sweet Girl collection- the pastel pinks paired with deep blue are just gorgeous!

I was inspired by Stefani's card to make a card featuring the Happy Birthday sentiment framed by some watercoloured flowers.



I'm linking this card up with the Color Dare #342 and I used the Middle Row across as well as the extras of Fern, Heather and White Daisy.

Dress Up Details

One thing about me is that I love costume parties- they are my chance to explore a completely new character and create a fabulous outfit!

Recently I was invited to a 40th birthday where the theme was Activewear. It instantly made me think of Kath and Kel from the Australian TV show Kath and Kim, where the couple get fit and healthy together in their activewear. I knew I had to recreate this look and so off we went to the party dressed up as this couple.



I scrapbooked my two favourite photos of us from the evening- the "look at me" is one of Kath's sayings and I embraced her whole character, even copying her walk and holding handweights.



I used bright colours as well, since our outfits were pretty colourful!



This layout used lots of retired bits and pieces that I had been stockpiling, as I am definitely trying to shrink my craft stash (so that I can buy new craft things of course!) and I found the glitter stickers and a glitter heart in the perfect colours to complement the bright pink.

I was inspired by this sketch at Sketches In Thyme.



I also created some elements based on this mood board over at the Color Dare challenge. I used hearts, the colours and the little birdie sticker to create the vibe of this mood board in my layout. Even my washi tape strips have little hearts on them!



Thanks so much for stopping by my blog- I hope to see you again!

Card Captions Sympathy Card

A fellow CTMH consultant recently shared some gorgeous cards using the January SOTM and it inspired me to create my own version using this new stamp set as well as my new Feels Like Home Paper Packet.

It is hard to see on the photo, but the bottom half of the white panel is also embossed with my new Dots Embossing folder!



This card is going to another consultant who recently lost a family member.

I'm joining in with the Just Add Ink Something New Challenge, as well as the Color My Heart Colour Dare of Black, White and a splash of one other colour.

Christmas Cutie card

I love the whimsical look of traditional holiday cards paired with cute elements, and I knew I had to create something cute when I saw the Crafty Catz "Too Cute" challenge.

Paired with some other challenges to get my creativity mojo going, I started off with a Kraft base and then layered up elements. I embossed the Kraft base with a woodgrain embossing folder for some extra interest.

This sketch made it easier for me to figure out the look I was going for- thank goodness for sketches!

The sweet little deer is a leftover embellishment from an old White Pines kit, and I used the new Stitched Circles thin cuts to frame my sentiment, which I stamped in New England Ivy ink.



Of course I needed to added some sparkle, so the last layer was created with some gold glitter paper.

I am linking up to the following challenges:
Color My Heart- Color Dare #320
Paper Players- Theme Challenge PP421
Crafty Catz Challenge- Too Cute
Just Add Ink #436- Sketch

Sending you Hugs

I love the new Seasons Mix In paper for adding to the core paper packets, but they are also great for a stand alone patterned paper option.

As soon as I saw the Monochromatic Green Color Dare Challenge and the Foliage Seize The Birthday Challenge I remembered the beautiful Seasons Mix In paper and got to work.

My friend is having her birthday tomorrow and she is having a rough time, so I created this card using her favourite colour- Green. I hope she likes it!



I sponged the sentiment circle so that the contrast wasn't as stark, and added some second generation stamped leaves to the 3D flower.

I matted the entire piece of patterned paper on green cardstock to also add to the soft look of the card with minimal contrast, so that the sentiment would really stand out.

I created the sentiment by masking off parts of a large sentiment stamp and stamping the words I wanted in New England Ivy Ink.

Thank you for stopping by today!

Products used:
Cardstock: New England Ivy, White Daisy
Embellishments: Grateful Heart Complements
Ink: New England Ivy
Paper: Seasons Mix-In

Thanks and Giving

I wanted to use the October Stamp of the Month a bit more since I had only used it on scrapbook layouts, and so I recreated a card layout I do quite often.



I stamped the leaf image in White Daisy on the dark purple cardstock, and then stamped the matching leaves in Fern in the centre panel. I also stamped the title in Eggplant and layered it with some Sugarplum glitter paper.

This is such a fun and easy technique to do with any image and I love the colours together.

Thanks for stopping by today!

I used the leaf image to play along with The Paper Players theme this week  and I loved the colour combo that came up with this week's Color Dare.

Products used:
Cardstock: Eggplant, White Daisy, Sugarplum Glitter Paper
Ink: Eggplant, Fern, White Daisy
Stamp set: Thanks and Giving

Witchy Well Wishes

For those of you who know me, you will know that musical theatre is a huge passion in my life. I am currently involved in The Witches of Eastwick, which opens tomorrow night (eeek!)

My best friend is in one of the lead roles as the music teacher Jane, so I wanted to make her a card to tell her how proud I am of her and also wish her well for opening night.

I combined three challenges to inspire me to make my card.

I firstly got inspired by this sketch from The Paper Players.

I then used the colour combination of the bottom two rows of this week's Color Dare Tic-Tac-Toe Board.

And lastly, following Just Add Ink's challenge I added a Twist by using birthday paper and a Halloween Cricut cut to create a good luck card.

And here is the finished result!



I used my new Music Speaks stamp set to create the stamped music note border as well as the sentiment, but I wanted the witches hat to be the main focus with an underlying music theme. I am pretty happy with the balance of themes and colours in this card and I hope my friend likes it!

Creating with Build-A-Picnic

Those who know me know that I love wine- it's probably my third hobby after theatre shows and crafting!

When I saw the Build-A-Picnic stamp set, I had to have it just for the adorable wine bottle and wine glass stamp, but the whole set is adorable.

I am sharing two cards using this stamp set today.

The first card was at the request of my friend, who wanted a male retirement card with psychedelic colours and wine theme. Sounds rather random but I was able to make it work!

I sponged the background of the card and matted it with some Willow paper, and then added a Cricut stripe overlay over the sponging. I then added a small sentiment and the wine themed stamps.



I am entering this card in the Color Dare challenge and the H2H anything goes challenge.

My second card was more minimalistic, focusing on the sweet picnic basket and food. I added a simple embossed cloud panel and a strip of striped paper to break up the white but still keep this CAS. I am entering this second card in the CASology Cloud challenge.



I love the versatility of this stamp set and I can't wait to use it for my summer picnic pages!

Sweet Baby elephant card

Sometimes I struggle to create a baby card when I am unsure if it will be a boy or a girl, but I still like to incorporate pinks and blues into baby shower cards.

I was luckily inspired by the Color Dare and Addicted to CAS challenges this week.

I knew I wanted to use the baby elephant die cut and stamp set, and the rest of my card just came together- I love it when that happens!



I added a few grey embellishments but I still think the overall affect is quite simple and clean.

Have a Super Birthday!

I haven't had much of a chance to play with my Super Boy stamp set yet, so when I saw that the Heart 2 Heart Challenge this week was Superheroes I immediately pulled out the stamp set.

I was also inspired by the Color Dare, and used all of the colours apart from Linen and Nutmeg.

Finally, I'm linking up my card with the Anything Goes Birthday challenge over at Seize The Birthday!



I used a Juniper and Glacier Fresh Air background, and added a sentiment stamped in Juniper ink backed on Gold Glitter Card. I stamped the Super Boy and coloured him in then popped him up on 3D Foam Tape, and added some doodles and White Enamel Dots to finish off the card.

Now he's ready for my son's 6th birthday party this weekend- I can't believe how fast my boys are growing up!

Fresh Air Father's Day card

I am really enjoying all the challenges a the moment, and I knew I wanted to play along with this week's Color Dare challenge over at Color My Heart as I had lots of Fresh Air paper scraps.

I started off with the Glacier spotted paper scrap and the card grew from there. The spots inspired me to create a spotty embossed background, and then I used a Father's Day stamp set for the sentiment.



I added some strips of extra paper and cardstock behind the sentiment to anchor it, and finished off the card with some Glacier twine.

Have you been crafting with Fresh Air? Let me know- I'd love to see your creations!

Hey Beau-TEA-ful

I'm having lots of fun with the May Paper Packet from CTMH, and I especially love the matching teapot die!

I'm always a fan of a hot cuppa on a cold day, and here in New Zealand we've been having  a few of them recently. What better way to warm a friend's heart than with a cute teapot inspired card?





I embossed the cardstock before cutting the teapot shape out, which I think matches the floral paper well.

The sentiment snuggled perfectly between the two teapots, and then I added some ribbon and glitter gems to complete the look.

I used Sapphire, White Daisy, Bashful and an additional colour of Smoothie, Heather and Canary in the patterned paper to join in with this week's Color challenge. This is such a beautiful colour combination!

Joining in with Color Dare

For the Love of Stamping!

Hello and welcome to our CTMH Featured Products Blog Hop. This week our featured product is stamp sets.

If you have just joined us you can start here and continue on, as this is a circular hop or if you get lost along the way you can find the complete list at the end of this post.   If you came here from Annette you are in the right place. Now on to my project:

I love the Shower Flowers stamp set for a solid floral image, perfect for this technique!

I started off by painting a piece of the Watercolour Paper in the Jeepers Creepers featured colours- Pansy, Willow, Raspberry, Tangerine, Lemon and Lagoon. In order to get a good match with the specified colours, I used the watercolour guide (available from your consultant).



I then stamped some flowers from Shower Flowers onto the dry piece of paper with Versamark ink, and heat set using clear embossing powder.



I then swiped the paper with clean water, removing any excess with a paper towel. This allows the colours to come through strongly where the embossing is, and leaves a lovely watercolour background for the rest of the panel.



Here is the finished card with a sentiment added stamped in black ink and matted on Lagoon cardstock. I also added some light grey sequins.



You can see how the shiny colours show through using this technique, and the possibilities are endless as you can use any solid stamp and any colour combination!

Thank you for checking out my project. If you would like to purchase our featured product of the week or any additional supplies you can buy them here. If you enjoyed my project please comment below as we love feedback! Next on our blog hop is Corinna from Corinna's Crafts. Make sure to check out her amazing work featuring this same product.

See you on Wednesday 19th October as we will be featuring the Swan Lake Paper Packet! Have a great day!

Complete list of blogs participating:

1. Annette Clark  

2. Lauren Moore 

3. Corinna Murphy

4. Donna Digby 

Linking up with BTF and Color Dare. 

A Happy Heart

I have Halloween paper scraps everywhere today- and a lot of the purple patterned paper meant that I could play along with the Color Dare this week.

I put together some papers from retired paper packets using Eggplant and Thistle patterned paper, matted on Black cardstock. The White Daisy circle was stamped with the sentiment in Pansy ink and a black wreath. I also added a small strip of the Thistle Shimmer Trim.



I thought the pattern was a diamond print but on closer inspection it seems to be spiders! Oh well, I still think the finished card is cute and very purple.

More scrapbooking today for me as the weather is rather gloomy- school holidays start tomorrow so I will not have a lot of time in the next two weeks to play in my scrap area. That means that today is full of paper, Cricut cuts and lots of bling! I may even make a few more purple cards.

S1608 Purr-fect Halloween Australasian Blog Hop

Hello and welcome aboard our August SOTM Australasian Close to My Heart Blog Hop.

If you have arrived here from Doris then you are in the right place, and this is also the start of this month's hop!

If you landed here by accident, no problem, please join in by following the link at the end of this post.

Today I would like to share with you a creation which features Close To My Heart’s August Stamp of the Month- Purr-fect Halloween.

Halloween is not as huge here in New Zealand as it is in America, however this stamp set is way more versatile than just Halloween projects.

I created this card for my friend who always jokes that she is going to end up as a crazy cat lady-this stamp set sentiment was purr-fect indeed!



I used the Art Philosophy Frame cricut cut and stamped the frame in Sweet leaf ink, then added the sentiment in Eggplant ink. I cut the cat pocket card from the Artfully Sent cricut collection. The Flaxen paper was leftover from the Regatta paper packet, and I also used a purple bow I had in my stash and some green epoxy triangles. I am entering this card in the Between The Folds Creative Cuts challenge and the Color My Heart Color Dare of Eggplant, Flaxen, Sweet Leaf and Colonial White.

This exclusive Stamp of the Month  is only available during August. It can be yours for just $10 with a qualifying order of $75 or for $33 if ordered separately from your CTMH consultant.

I'd love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop, Scrap Stamp Share.

Have a Blast!

This weekend I have created a card based on Just Add Ink (Just Add Paper Piecing) , Seize The Birthday (Bold and Bright) and the Color Dare (Crystal Blue, Sorbet, Canary and White Daisy) challenges.

My nephew is turning four on Tuesday, so I made a space themed card for him. I inked up my star embossing folder and ran it through the Cuttlebug with  piece of White Daisy cardstock to create the background.



I then paper pieced the rocket ship and added a sentiment to match!

I am really pleased with the end result- the rocket is popped up on foam squares for some dimension and I love how the inked stars came out.

A red, white and blue birthday

Happy 4th of July to my American readers!

I wanted to take part in some patriotic challenges with Color My Heart and Curtain Call, but I also didn't need a specific USA card so I used the colours to inspire a birthday card.

 

The cupcake was inspired by the cherry as I always think of a cherry on top of any cakes.

Simple layers of Colonial White and Ruby cardstock, with some embossing, stamping and shimmer trim.

I stamped the sentiment in second generation Ruby and Sapphire ink to give a lighter tone and make the cupcake really stand out as the bold feature of the card.

I popped the cupcake up on foam tape to give some added dimension to the card.

Thanks for stopping by today!

A Baby Girl layout for CD#198

This week's Color Dare was the perfect prompt for a baby girl layout I needed to do.

This layout used some retired Lollydoodle paper and White Enamel Shapes, as well as a Hostess stamp set and the tag stamp from Packages, Boxes and Tags. The pink rectangles will have photos on them and I will add journalling to the tag.



The Z monogram was cut on my Cricut in three layers of cardstock and then glued together to create the title and focal point.



This stamped banner was the perfect saying to welcome a baby girl! I also added some pink twine to he journal tag for some textural interest.



I can't wait to add the photos- as they are not of my children I will not be sharing them here but rest assured she is adorable!