Heart2Heart Challenges: Keepin' it Neutral

Whew--its been some time since I last posted. We were away for 5 days, then catching up at work and with laundry and groceries at home. Last weekend I attended an all-day workshop on how to use Copic alcohol markers, at Heather's Stamping Haven.  Some great ideas which I hope to feature here.

But! Now back in the krafting saddle, which brings me to this week's challenge at Heart2Heart!

The assignment this week is to create a card using one or more neutral shades: black, white, off-white, grey, kraft.  Close to My Heart completely revamped their neutral/basic colour family this past summer, coming up with such new shades as Whisper, Slate, Cashmere, Champagne and Saddle.

I chose to stick with a more sepia-toned palette, of Colonial White, Desert Sand and the natural shades of burlap. The subdued colour scheme meant the texture of the fabric, stitching and lace takes visual precedence. The card design was inspired by Andrea Ewen's post for CASE Study Challenge #107.

A closer look at the burlap hearts: I created templates/patterns for them from cardstock, using shapes on the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge. I was afraid attempting to cut them directly with on the Cricut cutting mat would end in stringy disaster. The burlap does cut cleanly & easily with Sizzix dies, however. The lighter shade is CTMH's burlap ribbon. The darker shade I bought at my local fabric store. You can colour the burlap ribbon with alcohol markers, too, for a different shade.
The lace was also purchased at the fabric store, but the bling button and embroidery floss are CTMH.
"Thanks" is from the stamp set "For Every Occasion" D1187, currently available, which has a ton of sentiments for, you guessed it! every occasion.

Here is another version, intended as a wedding card. I used the stitched mat dies from Lil'Inker instead of machine-stitching on this one.

Head on over to the Heart2Heart site to see the beautiful creations by the rest of the DT.You have until Nov. 3rd to link up projects for any of the challenges this month (October).

Happy crafting and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!