Oh Baby!

I'm playing along this week with the Heart 2 Heart challenge blog, and this week's challenge is all about babies.  Be sure to head over & check out the rules - enter ANY of this month's challenges and you could win an awesome prize package from me or another CTMH consultant!

Here's my card for this week's challenge:

 

I thought I would keep it sweet & simple.  I used papers from the Miracle line, our new Kraft Color-ready Borders, the  Baby Love stamp set, and ink pads in Heavenly Blue and Crystal Blue.  My rosette was made with a 1.5" strip, scored every 1/4".  I finished off with some simple embellishments, using the lightest green from the Sparkles Blue & Green assortment (currently on backorder until 3/28).

Thanks for stopping by; I hope you find time to play along with us!

It's a Miracle!

I can't believe I finally used all but the smallest scraps from my Miracle kit. Who would have ever thought that just two pieces of patterned paper would go so far? I did add some cardstock/card bases and embellishments to the mix, but in the end I wound up with the two layouts (4 pages) shown in the kit guide as well as eight cards in various sizes and designs. Not bad for my $5, plus stuff from my enormous stash! I have shown a couple of the cards in previous posts, but I've decided to show everything again here so you can see it all at once, as well as a list of the extra supplies I added. (I haven't journalled my layouts yet, as I really need to have more brain power for that than I have had this week, lol.) I apologize in advance for the long post today!

Here's layout #1 from the kit, and below the same layout with the Flip-Flaps open.


Next is layout #2 from the kit, and below the a closeup of the same layout with the Flip-Flaps open.

What I like most about these layouts is the Irresistible chipboard accents. You can color them any color you desire to match your photos. I used Bubblegum pink in the first layout, and Tulip in the second layout. I wouldn't have thought about using flowers & butterflies for a Thanksgiving layout before, but I think it looks just great!

Now for the cards I made to use up the rest of the paper.

First I made this note card for Mojo Monday. My additions for this were some twill tape and a sentiment stamp, plus I used a border punch.

Next I made this 5"x7" Mom card for the H2H challenge sketch. I added some paper flowers, a corduroy brad, some "gems", alphabet stamps, and foam adhesive. I cut the circles using my Cricut.

Since I made the Mom card, I made a masculine card next, using CTMH's new Clear Cards (available May 1st). I pulled out a discontinued set of farm stamps with a tractor image I just love. I chose to use Barn Red to add in, since my dad is a "crops are green, tractors are red" kind of farmer!
The second picture really shows how these clear cards can give some awesome dimension simply by knowing how to layer. I adhered the Barn Red CS to the back of the card, the green PP to the inside right of the card, the striped PP to the inside left of the card, and the image to the front of the card. Before adhering the image, I used brown Staz-On ink to stamp my barbed wire image once on the inside right (I was covering a seam!), and twice on the outside over the stripes. I cut out my image using an out-of-the-box technique, sponged the edges to imply earth and sky, and adhered it to the front.

I loved making that Clear Card so much, I tried my hand with the other shape in the package, a scalloped circle, and went back to a more feminine look. I again used my Cricut to cut my circles, adding a scrap of Sweet Leaf CS, and some Colonial White CS for both the inside left and right, perfect for note writing. The Sweet Leaf was cut 1/4" larger so it appears as a border around the floral PP when the card is closed. For this card, I added paper flowers & leaves, some "gem" flowers & circles, a piece of light green ribbon, and a sentiment stamp.

Next I made a fun little gift card holder, by elongating a card template in the Wishes book. The button serves as a "handle" to pull the enclosure card out of the pocket. There is plenty of room to write a note on the front, with the gift card attached to the back using just a mini glue dot so it's easy to remove. I added just a couple of cardstock scraps to this, and cut out the baby buggy using my Cricut and the Mother's Day limited edition cartridge.

For my final three note cards, I pulled out some card bases in solid blue and green, and also added some scraps of CS and more light green ribbon. The first two use the same sketch pattern, just different colors.

I first made a monochromatic green card using the back side of the floral PP. I sponged the edges of the PP with Topiary ink, and the Colonial White CS with Bamboo ink. I added some of the remaining brads to my tree for dimension, then assembled everything.

The second card using this sketch also uses May's stamp of the month set, Cherish the Moment.

Finally, I made a patchwork-type card using the last scraps of PP and the last 2 brads from the kit. The stamps are from the July stamp of the month set, Happy Forever. (That little hedgehog looks just as great simply stamped in a neutral color as he would colored!) I also added a piece of light green ribbon.

If you read this far, you deserve a reward! I'm going to give one lucky person their very own Miracle kit! In order to win, you need to 1)be a Follower of my blog and 2)leave a comment by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, April 29, 2010. I'll select a random winner on Friday morning (4/30).

Good luck!

Heart 2 Heart Challenge 3

It's week 3 of the new Heart 2 Heart challenge blog, and this week's challenge is a card sketch challenge. It took me a couple of days to decide what to do with this sketch. I've really been trying to use up my scraps lately, instead of "saving" them for later. When there are only small pieces left I tend to forget about them if I don't use them right away, so I've been trying to use up my Miracle kit leftovers this week.

With this card, I've finally used up the last of the Irresistible chipboard shapes and MyStickease (except for a scrap probably too small to use). And there are still plenty of paper pieces and brads left from the kit, so I'll probably be finishing up a few more cards with it this week. Once I get it all used up, I'll post a picture showing everything I made from it (as well as a reminder of the few extra things I used along the way).

I wanted to use a lot of blue in this card, so I added 3 colors of CS to my leftovers. I made a 5"x7" card base using Twilight CS, then a 4 3/4"x6 3/4" panel of textured Crystal Blue CS from a scrap. I then cut a 3 1/2" circle from textured Sweet Leaf CS using my Cricut and the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge. (TIP: I leave this cartridge in my Jukebox in the "default" spot because I use it so often for these basic shapes.) I then cut two 1/2" x 5" strips from the striped paper, and a 3 1/4" circle from the floral paper.

I sponged the edges of the Crystal Blue CS and floral paper with Twilight ink and the Sweet Leaf CS & Irresistibles leaves with Olive ink. I stamped "Mom" using Believe Caps and Believe Lowercase in Twilight. I assembled the paper layers using my Tombow Monoadhesive. I sponged the smaller of two identical flowers in Twilight, then stacked them with a Sweet Leaf corduroy brad. I adhered all of the Just Blooms flowers, chipboard, and gems (source unknown) using Liquid Glass adhesive. I cut a small piece of dimensional foam adhesive and stuck it to the back of the MyStickease butterfly, then powdered the rest of the back to remove the stickiness. I then sponged the edges with Twilight, folded up the wings, and adhered it to the card.

This will make a great Mother's Day or birthday card. (My mom's birthday is also in early May.)