CELEBRATING PURPLE FOR SPRING and EASTER

As February draws to a close, several of the challenges this week chose the beautiful purple color of the amethyst gemstone of the month.  In addition, there was an embossing challenge.  So this card, and the two below that follow the same design, work perfectly for these three challenges!

These cards all make use of the CTMH Pansy Purple carstock, ink and coordinating watercolor pencils (the Just Us Girls and Shopping Our Stash challenges).  For the background of the bunny card, I used the new Playful Scallops embossing folder (Z4231).  For the cards below, I used the retired Rose embossing folder (Z3343) which is available on the CTMH clearance page!  All of the image bases were cut with the new Stitched Rectangle Frames (Z4260).  The sentiments were then stamped and heat embossed on a strip of vellum paper.  The entire embossed strip was overlayed on the image base and wrapped around the embossed panel (two types of embossing for the Just Add Ink challenge).  I love using vellum this way to allow the background image to show through, but still highlight the sentiment.

The stamp sets used for these cards are (all from Close to My Heart)
  
Bunny card

• image from "Bunny Basket" M1211
• image colored with watercolor pencils
• sentiment from "Egg-stra Special D1828

Sympathy card

• image and sentiment from "Know that I Care" C1752
• ink on flowers is second generation Pansy

Easter Morning card

• image and sentiment from "Easter Sunday" C1766
• flowers colored with watercolor pencils 

Be sure to click on the challenge links above to visit the sites to see other great creations with these themes. 

If you are interested in any of the products I used, check out my Close to My Heart website - scrappingail.closetomyheart.com

Thanks for stopping by! 

SPRING SHAKER CARD

After dealing with 20" of snow over the weekend, I'm happy that I can bring a little spring into my life with this card!  It's going to take awhile for those piles of snow to disappear, even here in Northern Arizona!  So it will be fun when I get together with my classes later this week that we get to focus on Spring and Easter.  I used the I Heart Us Cardmaking stamp set (C1760 from Close to My Heart) for the flowers and sentiment on this card.  This shaker card, and the one for Easter shown below, were inspired by the sketch for Mojo Monday.  You can see the sketch above, and notice that instead of the little strips used as accents, I switched it to leaves and flowers.  Still in the same place, just a different element.  I love the fact that sketches give me a starting point, but I can interpret them the way that works for what I what to showcase.  In addition to the Mojo Monday challenge, I am also entering this card in the Allsorts SPRING challenge.  You can pop over to both of those challenge blogs by clicking on the links above and check out what other creations people have designed.

What I love about the shaker card is how easy it is to put together.  Close to My Heart came out with a set of dies for the base circle and the stitched overlay - along with a foam circle and acetate circle for the whole shaker element.  Add some sequins and you are set to go!  Here's a link to a video I did last fall for a Christmas shaker card I did that shows how quickly these go together!

So here's the Easter card I mentioned before - the same basic design, but it doesn't have all of the elements in the sketch.  It was so fun to make with the Egg-stra Special stamp/die set from Close to My Heart (Z4262).  

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my creations!  Hope your week is off to a great start.

HEARTFELT SENTIMENTS - February Stamp of the Month

Heartfelt Sentiments is a beautiful stamp offered as the Stamp of the Month in February by Close to My Heart. It's a BIG stamp, and thanks to some inspiration from a fellow consultant friend Jennifer Kelly over at Paper Traditions, I have this great card to share with you. The large image from the stamp set is used as a backdrop for a smaller sentiment. I used the new Stitched Rectangle Frame dies to create the black border and the white sentiment block. I also added the lovely Butterfly Friendship stamp to give a little dimension. Jennifer shared how to have versatility with this stamp - hope you give it a try.

The stamp is available only during February. You can purchase it for $18.95, or if you place a $50 order on my CTMH website, you can get the stamp for only $5! Such a deal.

Click here to pop over and check it out.

LAYERED FLORAL CARD - Mojo Monday #508

Last week I shared a clean and simple card.  Today's creation is using the same stamp image, but with several layers behind it to create an elegant background.  I followed the sketch for Mojo Monday.  You can click on this link to see the other creations following this same design.  It's amazing how each person interprets the sketch and the variety that is presented in the gallery.

I used the Feels Like Home background paper (Close to My Heart) for the base of the card, and added white glitter paper and silver foil accents.  The cardstock banner is raspberry.

The stamped and die cut image is from the CTMH set Budding Peonies (which comes with coordinating dies).  I used watercolor pencils to color and shade the flower.  It was a fun card to create.

I will be using this card in my April stamp classes - so stay tuned to see what else will be offered both in March and then April!  Thanks for stopping by!