My Teenage Valentine

I used to be able to give my eight grandkids cute little valentines, but now most of them are in grades 7 to 12. When I saw the graph patterned paper in the new Heart Happy paper pack, I knew that would be perfect for one of my grandkids, especially if I die cut the right side with the torn notebook paper die instead of just a scallop.  The Color My Heart Color Dare was great for this one, too.

.I used Carolina, Peach, Smoothie, Mint, and Gold.  This weeks sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge was just right for adding a trio of hearts:

Here's a better photo of the Mint XO, hugs and kisses,  paper from the paper pack:

I die cut the edge with Thin Cuts-Decorative Borders, the hearts with the Stitched Hearts die, the arrow from Cricut Flower Market, and the sentiment from Cricut Artbooking.

Thanks for visiting! May you be blessed as you share your love with all the valentines in your life!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #302
Aud Sentiments Challenge #220 - Love or Valentines sentiment
Color My Heart Color Dare #329 - Love of Color
Craft Rocket Challenge #56 - Valentine
Cuttlebug Mania - Be My Valentine
Dream Valley Challenge #195 - Love and Kisses
Simply Create Too #146 - anything goes, option- use hearts

Verse of the Day:

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Matthew 5:43-45 KJV

Color Dare Hello

I wanted to make a feminine card that I can give to my sister. It's rather generic so I can write an appropriate message inside. She's playing the waiting game between medical tests and doctor visits. She has a pituitary tumor and doesn't know yet what the surgeons will want to do depending on the size. She's constantly in my prayers. The unbelievable thing is that she's my second sister with a brain tumor. The positive thing is that the first one was removed without too many negative side effects.  I'd be happy for you to pray for my sister, Susan, too. Her health isn't good due to a muscular dystrophy that keeps her in a wheelchair much of the time.

I was inspired to make this card using the Color My Heart Color Dare #300:  Bashful, Pacifica, and Mink. I was also inspired to use more than two dies by the Crafty Cardmaker's Challenge. I cut the Bashful doily patterned paper from Beautiful Friendship using a doily piece die from Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlet. I added a Mink heart border with the CTMH heart border die and the retired CTMH "hello" die for the sentiment. I used Cricut Artbooking to cut two Bashful pieces. I stamped the CTMH doily-type pattern ("Sweet & Lovely" Artbooking Cricut Bundle stamp set) on the light side of the smaller one and matted it on the darker, larger piece. I stamped the pattern using Bashful ink, restamping two times to make it dark enough to show the lovely pattern. To embellish I added Bashful glitter paper and Bashful pearls.

Thank you for visiting! May you be blessed as you bless others with your creations.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Color My Heart Color Dare #300 -  Bashful, Pacifica, and Mink
Crafting from the Heart #214 - anything goes
Crafty Cardmaker's Challenge #215 - used more than two dies
Heart 2 Heart Challenge - Anything goes
Paperminutes #545 - Ornamente
Pearlie Sparkles Challenge Blog #30 - Girlie + use pearls
Word Art Wednesday Challenge #342-343 - anything goes

Micah 7:18 (WEB)
Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity,
and passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage? 
He doesn’t retain his anger forever, because he delights in loving kindness.

365 Promises of God - Promise #191: I forgive sins and I love to show mercy.

Color My Heart Dare Using the Make Waves Tic Tac Toe Board

Here are three cards I made using the CTMH Make Waves-Cardmaking stamp set with its accompanying Thin Cuts Die and Cricut Design Space.

I'm sharing this first card with the Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge. All of the sentiments were white embossed on Pansy cardstock.

I used the top row across to make some fun cards, adding Pansy as an extra color. (I'm sure the Make Waves Shimmer Trim is Lagoon!)  Since the heart cut is Emerald waves design, I cut the background for both cards using Cricut Artbooking on Cricut Design Space to look like waves, too. I unlocked the size and altered it to fit 5.25" x 4."  You can use my file if you have that cartridge. The embellishments are Make Waves Sequins and Gems.

I have one more card using the waves cut background and the Make Waves -Cardmaking stamp set. Thist one still uses the same colors with the addition of a Sorbet crab and some retired Sea Glass cardstock behind the waves, a color not on the board.

Thanks for visiting!

I'm sharing the first card with the following challenges:

Cards in Envy - Give it some heart
City Crafter Challenge #401 - die cuts
Color My Heart Color Dare #281 - Tic Tac Toe Board
Unicorn Challenge #29 - love/valentines

Seasonal Expressions New Product Blog Hop

This month Close To My Heart released another fabulous Seasonal Expressions 1 catalog full of new products and inspiration. Our blog hop today is highlighting some of the new products. If you just came from Miss Carrie's Creations you are on the right path. You can find the complete list of participants at Melinda Everitt's blog. 

I chose to share the newest Make It from Your Heart, Vol. 4 how-to book for making cards. The pages are printed on very heavy cardstock. I placed mine in one of the Everyday Life notebooks I had previously ordered.

Each pattern on the left includes measurements of each panel for a 4.25" x 5.5" card. The opposite page on the right shows two sample cards using the pattern.

What I loved was that the patterns are basic and open for adding any variety of sentiments, stamped images, and embellishments. I like to add clusters of these to finish my cards. Here's what the background looks like for pattern #7 that I used.

Here are three samples showing variations in clustering as I finished each card using the same pattern base. I only used the following colors from the Color My Heart Color Dare #275:

Leaves and flowers were gold embossed on Bashful and light Fern cardstock before die cutting.

Both of these versions use the stamps from Chelsea Gardens Cardmaking Stamp and Thin Cuts die set.

The third card uses another new stamp set, He Is the Way. The Bashful colored paper on the sides is a new one from the paper pack, Make Waves.

Now you are ready to see what Wendy Kessler has created for you!

New Stamp sets used:
Chelsea Gardens Cardmaking Stamps:


He Is the Way

:

Other embellishments used: Bashful Glitter paper, Bashful Pearls, gray gems from Chelsea Gardens Dots and Gems, Bronze Sequins, Rose Embossing Folder,  White and Gold Twine, Basics Ribbon Pack.

Love You Always Card with Color Dare #252

This week's Color Dare is to use Emerald, Sea Glass, Raspberry, White Daisy, Black and the option of Silver. 

I used this week's sketch from Atlantic Hearts Challenge:

I used patterned papers from the Adventure Paper Fundamentals pack that is about to retire at the end of this month, Black papers from the Uptown Fundamentals and from Some Kinda' Wonderful, as well as White Daisy, Emerald, and Sea Glass cardstocks. I will miss Sea Glass when it retires this month! I added silver glitter paper, silver sequins, Emerald ribbon, White Shimmer Trim, and Black enamel dots on the Cricut cut wreath. The black and white baker's twine is long retired along with the sentiment from the Sending Smiles Cricut  Bundle. The Hearts embossing folder and Hearts Thin Cuts dies that I used are also retired.

Thank you for visiting! May you spread lots of love with your crafting!

Color Dare Friendship Cards

I have three friends who have a strong dislike for some specific color. I always liked all colors, but when CTMH introduced new colors last fall, I wasn't sure that I liked Emerald very much. This week's Color My Heart Color Dare changed my mind. I took the challenge purposely to see what I could do too help myself like this combination. Playing with color combinations is a great learning experience.

I wanted to use a couple of wreaths cut using the Cricut Flower Market cartridge. I embossed the white panel with words and had the wreath encircle the word HAPPY, LIFE was included, too. I stacked two black twig wreaths for more thickness. I cut flowers and berries for both wreaths using the same cartridge but different pages. I was going to share my cut file, but lost internet connection when I went to save and lost the file.

My second card ended up being my favorite:

Both cards have a strip of white shimmer trim and the second one has a die cut word cut from Black Glitter paper and stacked on two more black cardstock words for extra thickness. Now I can't wait to send them to a couple of friends I haven't seen in a while.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you'll be bold enough to try something new you've never tried so both you and the recipient will be blessed!

I'm sharing this last card with the following challenges:

4 Crafty Chicks #343 - punches or dies (used Cricut wreath and thin cut "hello")

Aud Sentiments Challenge #176 - any sentiment except birthday

Color My Heart Color Dare #236 - Pacifica, White, Black, Emerald

International Art and Soul #4 -  Embossing

CAS Butterfly Birthday Card

I'm usually glad my daughter doesn't read my blog. Having a busy job, four kids, sports, and school activity chauffering doesn't leave much time for reading her mother's blog. So I can post the card I'll be giving her this month. I loved the soft color palette at the Color My Heart Color Dare. The colors gave me the idea of butterflies.

I used Cricut Design Space to cut the white embossed panel with the butterfly cutouts and matching butterflies. If you have the Cricut Explore and the Artbooking and Artistry cartridges you may use my cut file.  I love the Confetti dots embossing folder because you get fewer dots in one area which is great for stamped sentiments. I popped up the white panel but adhered the solid butterflies by pushing them down onto the base layer. The cut butterflies were adhered with the wings folded up a little and a rolled up glue dot under the main body part.

I also made a second cards with the opposite colors:

Thank you for visiting! May God bless your crafting and bless the recipients of your creations!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
A Gem of a Challenge #187 - add a butterfly

Color My Heart Color Dare #229 - Pixie, Saffron, Whisper, White Daisy
Inky Chicks #78 - CAS
Little Red Wagon Challenge #381 - companies whose products I love to use, mine are Close to my Heart and Cricut
Unicorn Challenge #18 - butterflies and/or hearts
Word Art Wednesday #270 - 271 - anything family friendly

Pink Christmas Gifts Greeting

 

This is Breast Cancer Awareness month, so pink is in! Jingle Belles challenge ladies donate $2.00 to the Breast Cancer Research Fund for each pink card entered in their challenge! When I saw the color dare at Color My Heart Color Dare I envisioned Christmas gifts all wrapped in pink. The color dare is to use only White Daisy, Pixie, and Cotton Candy, so I pulled out those inks and some retired paper fundamentals that matched those colors. This was so fun and easy I made more than one.

The gifts are each 2" square so the card is 6.5" x 5."  The sentiment was stamped with Cotton Candy, a recently retired ink.  It's one of the small stamp sets that's only 2.95, perfect for small spaces. I used the CTMH Snowflakes Embossing Folder for the background, White Twine, White Glitter Paper under the sentiment.  The Pixie Twine was also recently retired. Since I'm trying to use up my retired CTMH papers I decorated the insides as well:

(Sorry, CTMH friends. I just had to use this verse by Dawn McVey from Papertrey Ink because it emphasizes the best gift - Christ's gift of salvation. Thank you, Dawn!)

Thank you for visiting! I hope you'll consider entering some pink cards in the Jingle Belles challenge and help support research for curing breast cancer!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
All Sorts #385 - Let's make it PINK
Color My Heart Color Dare #215 - White Daisy, Pixie, Cotton Candy ONLY

Crafty Catz #342 - all tied up
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas #303 - cute or anything Christmas goes
Daring Cardmakers - seriously monochromatic
Jingle Belles Challenge - Pink Christmas

Mojo Monday 455 Masculine Birthday Card

Creating  and taking pictures of creations is more difficult when I'm spending the summer in our motor home "babysitting" three grandsons. Yet I know this is the task God has given me for such a short time. Before I know it, they'll be grown, just like our children. At their current ages (14, 11, 10) we can talk about a lot of subjects that give me an opportunity to subtly plant seeds of scripture, wisdom, or kindness and then pray that the seeds will sprout into God's wisdom or kindness in their hearts and lives.  Spending so much time with the boys prompted me to make a masculine card for this week's Mojo Monday sketch and Color My Heart Color Dare.  I thought the colors would be great for a nautical masculine card.

I was also inspired at Alphabet Challenge to ink it up, which I did by distressing the image panel edges and swiping ink across the area to represent sea and/or sky. Since the sailboat image seemed to be blowing in the wind, I hand cut a cloud shape for the circular shape in the sketch.  The blue anchor strip is cut from a retired piece of  CTMH Regatta paper. The sapphire blue and ruby red cardstocks are from Enchantment Paper Fundamentals which is one of the many papers about to retire and be replaced by more delights for paper addicts like me. You can find the whole list under "Going Soon." I used blue Magical sequins and Bitty Sparkles to embellish. The image (from Seaside Greetings) was stamped a second time, fussy cut and pop dotted with thin 3-D foam tape.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Alphabet Challenge - I for Ink it Up

Cards Und More #162 - summer fun, beach, sea theme

Color My Heart Color Dare #200 - Ruby, Sapphire, Colonial White

Mojo Monday #455 - sketch

Paper Creator's Crafts #49 - Just for Men

 

Mojo #446 A Mother's Love Card

This weekend we'll be celebrating Mother's Day. My own mother passed away several years ago, but I cherish the memories that we shared, the positive influence she had on my life, and I am still scrapbooking wonderful moments with Mom. My mother-in-law, at age 91, is my other mother. She amazingly still lives at home with no illness, no arthritis or pain. She's a retired teacher and choir director and has always been amazing. In addition, I have three Mother's Day cards to make for our daughters and daughter-in-law.  I only wish I could make enough for every mother I know because they are all wonderful, loving ladies who exemplify motherhood with their caring ways!  Motherhood is a challenge, a blessing, and I think, the most important job in the world!

Here's the first one, inspired by this week's sketch at Mojo Monday and the color dare at Color My Heart: use shades of orange and Colonial White.  I used Sorbet and Poppy with Colonial White.

I started with the Sorbet "Love" card from the recently retired Charlotte paper pack and added the darker Poppy bracket shape from the new Florence papers, also one of the pocket scrapbooking cards that I cut. I added the Poppy letter stickers from the Fundamental Stickers Enchantment Pack.  The flowers were stamped with Poppy ink and fussy cut, putting a sparkle in the middle. They are from the stamp set, Flowers for Mom..The background was embossed with the Heart embossing folder. I added some Sorbet sequins and long-retired Colonial White crocheted ribbon.

I had saved a Mother's Day poem called A Mother's Love by Helen Steiner Rice. It was perfect for the inside. The small strip on the right page was cut off the "Love" panel on the front. I have plenty of room under the sentiment to write my own message of appreciation.

Thank you for visiting. I hope this gave you some inspiration for your own cards! May God bless you as you "mother" the people God has placed in your life. May He help us show gratitude to the mothers He placed in our lives and show us ways to honor them.

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.  Exodus 20:12

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Color My Heart Color Dare #191 - Shades of Orange and Colonial White
Crafty Boots - Monochrome Challenge
Dragonfly Journeys - Mama Mia Challenge #55 - i.e. Mother's Day
Fantasy Stampers Challenge - Monochrome
Jo's Scrap Shack Funday Friday Challenge #136 - Mother's Day
Mojo Monday #446 - sketch
Paper Minutes #433 - Mother's Day/Father's Day
Robyn's Fetish #314 - Mother's Day cards
Word Art Wednesday #228-229 - anything uplifting
 

Color My Heart Color Dare #187 - Greens and White

I find the colors of spring so refreshing after a long, drab winter. I used to read Beatrix Potter's stories to my children. Mother Rabbit said,"Green is good for the eyes." I totally agree.


I was inspired to make a card with lots of greens at the Color My Heart Color Dare. Here's a quick card I made mixing shades of Close To My Heart greens: Fern, Pear, and Topiary Paper Fundamentals matted with New England Ivy.

After I stamped the butterflies I realized I'd leant my green markers to a friend, so I colored the butterflies from the set Your Beautiful Self using watercolor pencils and a Vivid Green ShinHan marker. I painted over the watercolor pencils with a Blending Pen.  I embellished each square with glittery Green Triangles. The sentiment is from A Thousand Thanks.


Thanks for visiting! I hope you're enjoying the beautiful colors of spring (or fall) where you live!

I'm also sharing this with the following challenges:


Cute Card Thursday #420 - Something shiny
Paper Playful Challenge #243 - Spring Delights

Card for a Speedy Recovery

Perhaps because I'm an aging baby boomer I seem to know more people all the time who have surgeries, hospital stays, injuries, or physical therapy. Because they're not really ill a get well card doesn't often seem appropriate. So today I made one "for a speedy recovery." That sounds better.

I was inspired by the Tuesday Throwdown Theme of "under the weather," the Color Dare at Color My Heart and the sketch at Atlantic Hearts.

  

The budding stems and the jar were cut using p. 2 of Cricut Artistry and the Cricut Explore.  I unlocked the images in edit and made the heighth and width different proportionally to fit what I envisioned. I love that editing feature! I was thinking of pussy willows so I colored the buds on the branches white using a chalk marker. I embossed the Peacock mat then lightly rubbed the Peacock ink pad over the raised design. The background paper with the light Crystal Blue stripe is from the new Penelope paper pack. The diamond patterned paper used to make the vase is, too, but the pattern is harder to see in my photo. The stamp used is from the set called Kiss It Better. I love the get well sentiments in that set!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Atlantic Hearts Sketch #143

Color My Heart Color Dare #177 - White Daisy, Whisper, Peacock, Crystal Blue 

Creative Knockouts #125 - Embossing

House of Cards January Challenge - Embossing

Moving Along with the Times #12 - Embossing

PDE Linky Party #107 - anything goes

Tuesday Throwdown #277 - Under the weather

Word Art Wednesday #218 - anything uplifting

6.5" x 5" Card Recipe (All CTMH):
Paper - Penelope, Whisper CS, Peacock CS
Ink - Peacock
Stamp - Kiss It Better B1508
Accessories - White Shimmer Trim, Whisper Thick Twine, Cricut Artistry, Quatrefoil Embossing folder, White Chalk Marker