Stenciled Background with So Tweet

This week at Heart 2 Heart, we want to see you Get Inky!

I recently went to a fun consultant training day, where one of our projects was this adorable card using the new So Tweet Stamp Set and Thin Cuts. 

I absolutely love chickens so this was one of the first stamp sets I purchased when the new catalogue came out. 

We created the background of this card by using the Stencil Pack 2 and sponging over this with Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide Ink. We then stamped the sentiment and the little flower icon in Raspberry Ink on a diagonal to line up with the diagonal lines. I then added the thin cut chick with the balloon that I had coloured using my markers, and stuck it to a Stitched Bracket Thin Cut that I splattered with Raspberry Shimmer Brush. 

The finishing touch was to add some Gold Glitter Gems- what do you think?

Add a Border

It's time for another challenge at H2H!

I decided to use the fun new Sweet Safari papers combined with the February SOTM, Doodled Borders.

I added a large title cut from my Cricut and some Red stickles on the birthday banner- this card came together so quickly and easily!

I stamped two of the borders in Bluebird and Avocado ink, and then added a zip strip and some paper from Sweet Safari- this paper pack is for more than just babies and zoo adventrues.

If you have a fun border project, feel free to link up with us at H2H!

Happiest Place Blog Hop

Welcome to our Happiest Place Blog Hop!

If you have come here from Michelle's Blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog.

This month we have 14 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this special collection and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

Here in New Zealand we don't often get to go to Disneyland, but of course the Happiest Place collection is much more than that! I have visions of graduations, birthdays, anniversaries, important celebrations- the list is endless.

I was going to share a black tie event layout but my order didn't arrive until late yesterday so I have only had time to whip up this quick masculine card before heading out to my partner's father's birthday.

One of my favourite things about this collection is the Silver Foil coordinating cardstock- here you can see I used at a feature for this card.



I kept with a red, black and white theme since the recipient is a Crusaders Rugby fan and these are the team colours. The stamps are from the Party Time set and then I added a Candy Apple Stitched Circle and some Black and White Dots for a fun little embellishment.

Now "Hop" on over to Gina's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas!

Eat Cake

Being stuck at home this week has given me some time to finally play along with some of the craft challenges floating around the internet.

One of old favourites, Fusion, had this as their challenge this week.



I used both the sketch and the image to create this quick and easy card.



I used some Seaglass cardstock and framed it with gold foil tape, then simply added a slice of cake and the sentiment. It is hard to capture the gold foil in a photo but it is very shiny in person!

I am hoping to get a lot more crafting done in the coming month, as I will have a lot of weekends and nights free at home due to the lockdown situation here in New Zealand, so please come back soon to see what else I have been creating!

S1905 Besties May SOTM Australasian Blog Hop

Welcome to our Australasian Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring May's SOTM, which is To My Bestie, a set of 19 stamps.  If you have come here from Doris' Blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around.

On of my lovely workmates has her birthday today so of course she needed a fabulous birthday card!

I stated off with gold glitter- because glitter makes everything better! I also stamped the sentiment and embossed it with Gold Embossing Powder to match.



I coloured the balloons and added some sequins plus some of the new patterned paper from the Sweet Girl paper packet framed by Sapphire cardstock.


Now "Hop" on over to Doreen's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Remember, the May SOTM is only available until the 31st May!  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount!

Black and White Birthday

I'm joining in with the fun Seize The Birthday theme this week of Black and White!

I have been asked to make lots of masculine birthday cards recently, and so black and white seemed to be a good choice for a neutral card that could be used for anyone.

I found some leftover black and white paper scraps and I wanted to use one of my new birthday stamps, and I came up with this card:



I really like the simplicity of this card- yes it has a lot going on but it's only one layer, which I find easiest for posting cards.

I can see this card being in other monochromatic themes as well- how awesome would this look in a bright blue or a summery peach colour?

Thanks for stopping by today!

21st with Stargazer

When I first saw the Stargazer pack I loved the space theme, but it is also awesome for masculine projects in general.

I am heading to a 21st tomorrow night (I'm getting to the age where my friends' children are adults now too!) and I decided to make the birthday boy a special card.

I used some scraps from the Stargazer paper plus a die cut 21 to put this card together. I added some yellow sequins to add an extra touch of embellishment- I felt like this card had enough going on and so I did not add a stamped sentiment.



I hope this young man likes his card- it's a bit of a different style for me as I usually need to stamp somewhere but I'm very happy with the finished look.

I'm linking up this card with Seize The Birthday-Sequins and the Happy Little Stampers diecut challenge.

Making Waves Birthday Card

My niece turns two today, and so of course I had to make her a birthday card!

I used some scraps left over from my Making Waves kit, which is mermaid and beach themed- although you can't really tell by this card. The patterned paper has a starfish and floral pattern on it, and so I added some extra star stamps to mirror this theme.



I stamped the circle in Bashful ink with a subtle polka dot pattern to mimic the ribbon patter and the purple polka dot paper strip.

Ribbon is a great way to add interest and texture to a card, and I also added a couple of glitter gems.

I'm linking this card up with the Seize The Birthday challenge- Beachy Birthday and the Craft Rocket Birthday challenge.

Back with a Birthday Bash card

Wow- it's been a long time since I've been crating due to a number of reasons- the most likely being that I moved house at Christmas and it took me a while to set up my craft space!

I have finally got back into things and one of my first creations was this masculine birthday card, created for the Birthday Bash challenge at H2H.

I used the April Stamp of the Month for the Celebrate title, and the best day ever was already preprinted on a pocket page card, which I then matted on Peacock cardstock.

I used the stars from the Stargazer cardmaking set to add some extra interest to the card.

It feels good to be getting back into scrapbooking and cardmaking, and I am looking forward to sharing more of my creations with you!

Get Your Kraft On!

One of my favourite cardstocks to work with is Kraft, which is the theme of this week's challenge at Heart 2 Heart!

I dug into my retired stash for this card, including the Jackson paper pack and Teddy Bear Birthday stamp set. I stamped the teddy bear in Chocolate ink directly onto the Kraft cardstock and embellished with Bronze and Aqua shimmer trim.



The teddy bear was matted onto Chocolate cardstock and I used Kraft for the base of the card. Now I have a cute card for a little boy.

We would love to see your Kraft creations over at H2H!

Copy That!

I love being inspired by Pinterest, other blogs, magazines and of course the gorgeous CTMH Annual Inspirations!

This  week's challenge at H2H is to choose something from the new CTMH Idea Book to recreate your own way! (Don’t have a new Idea Book? Either contact your consultant or view online at http://www.closetomyheart.com/ctmh/products/online-idea-book.aspx)

I have been busy creating with the Wise Guy Birthday stamp set, and was inspired by these gorgeous cards in the book.

I used Cranberry, Saffron and Peacock colours as well as Black ink to recreate one of the cards for a masculine birthday.



I had so much fun creating the sprinkle border! It was actually a lot easier than I thought, and something I will be experimenting with more in the future.



How will you be inspired by the Copy That prompt? Link up here!

I am also linking up with Seize The Birthday this week, a great challenge for birthday cards!

New Product Worldwide Blog Hop

Welcome to our New Product Blog Hop!  We will be featuring all of the new goodies from the Annual Inspirations that went live on August 1st.

If you have come here from Donna's Blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog.

This month we have 26 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using new and exciting CTMH products on their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

I am loving so many new products, but I tried to focus on just four new things for this project.

I used the new Blossom Cardstock as the backgound for this card and also the Cricut cut oval to back the cake. The cake and cake stand are from the new Wise Guy Birthday stamp set.

I placed the cake on a 4x4 patterned paper piece from the new Hello Gorgeous #Life Cards- not just for mini albums, these cards are great for cardmaking and scrapbooking too!



I stamped the sentiment under a strip of the new Whimsy Ribbon.



For a final touch, I added some of the new Shimmer Brush over the cake to make it sparkly- every card needs a bit of bling!



Now "hop" on over to Michelle's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas!

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 Floral Birthday Card

Challenges have been helping my creative juices flow this week, and I thought that the Seize The Birthday floral topping would work well with the Color Dare this week!

I used a lot of different base and shade stamped flowers, then fussy cut them and placed them together to form a border. I then stamped some leaves behingd the cut out flowers. I added a strip of striped Thistle paper, and the bottom of the card is the Juniper Fundamental Paper.



The flowers are from Blossoming Expressions and Flowers for Mum, which I thought made a lovely combination for a floral bouquet.

The sentiment was stamped in White Daisy ink and cut from a piece of Thistle cardstock.

This card will be winging its way to my mother in law next week for her birthday!

Celebrate!

Today I am linking up with Color My Heart and Seize The Birthday. whose challenges I combined to make this birthday card.

I love keeping all my paper scraps, but I end up with a massive bag and so this card design is one of my favourites for using up those extra bits and pieces. Paired with a bold sentiment and some sponging, this card came together quickly.



I did have to add some little hearts and bling to the card, but I love how the Fundamentals paper does most of the work for me!

This card will be perfect for my sister in law's upcoming birthday, and this card could easily be recreated with other scraps I have lying around. Playing with embossing folders would be a fun take on this card too!

You're Number One!

This week at H2H Challenges, since the FIRST month is beginning, use the number 1, the idea of "first," or some other interpretation to kick off the first month of the year!

My nephew's 1st birthday is coming up, and I wanted to make a fun birthday card for him.



I cut out the number 1 using my Cricut, and embossed the white cardstock with the Confetti Dots embossing folder. I backed it with the retired Confetti Wishes paper, and used Canary and Pacifica cardstock for matting.

The last thing I did was to stamp the sentiment using the Hostess stamp set Birthday Wish.

How will you interpret this challenge over at Heart 2 Heart?

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #140

Today is the last Atlantic Hearts Challenge for 2015!

I always need birthday cards, and so I decided to make a generic birthday card for my stash using this sketch and a colour combo suggested at an online crop I did earlier this month.

I stamped the background of this card with Sorbet ink on Sorbet cardstock, and cut the candles from the Artistry cartridge in Ruby and Crystal Blue cardstock. I added a little bit of Gold Foil Tape to the back of the candles, and also a strip below the sentiment.



I added a bow to the top of the card with Poppy twine, and the finishing touch was the sentiment stamped with Ruby ink.

We would love to have you join us for the last sketch of 2015 over at Atlantic Hearts!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #136

Another week, another sketch!

I have been trying to use up my scraps before I dive into my new pretty paper packets, and I had some old feather vellum printed paper that I thought I could use as a card background. I then replaced the stripes with feathers and I was away- the card came together in my mind and then it was just a matter of cutting different feathers from the Cricut Artistry collection.



The sentiment was also cut from the Cricut and stamped using one of the exclusive Cricut stamp sets, and I added 'birthday' from the retired belated Birthday stamp set. Lastly, I added some Bronze Shimmer Trim to hide the straggly ends of the feathers!

If you are inspired by this week's sketch, you can join in here.

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #132

Once again I needed a quick card, and the AHSC sketch for this week was a great starting point.

I wanted to use the new embossing folder, and then added some Fern cardstock and the old Fundamentals paper. Along with a cricut cut medallion and banner, this card came together very quickly. I used some of the Fern Thick Twine to finish off the card, and added some stamping.



These colours are unexpected, but I think they work together well! We would love to see your interpretation of this week's sketch over at Atlantic Hearts.

CTMH supplies used:
Cardstock: Fern, Honey, Thistle, White Daisy
Embellishments: Confetti Embossing Folder, Fern Thick Twine
Ink: Cocoa, Fern
Paper Packet: Whimsy Fundamentals Paper Packet
Stamp sets: Lifting Spirits, With Toppings