Sweet baby...

Hello crafty friends!

Here’s a cute idea found on Papertrey Ink’s blog:  defining a heat-embossed image with repeated “confetti” or cluster stamping.
PTI's samples used circle or star images for “thanks” and “celebrate” cards.  I needed to make a  “welcome baby” card for my husband’s colleague, and thought hearts would be a sweet alternative.
The word “baby” was stamped in Versamark ink with an alpha stamp set from Close to My Heart, then heat-embossed in white.  A selection of  heart images were stamped in cascading arcs, in different coloured inks, over the card panel. They were clustered over the word BABY so that it “appears” in the midst of the hearts.  I wiped a tissue over the word to clean off any stray ink.  A patterned paper mat, wrapping of baker’s twine and little tag completed the card. 
My husband’s admin assistant says he always tries to take credit for making the cards as our initials (added to the back of the card, with the date of creation) are the same...check for inky fingers, I say!

Happy stamping,

Caroline

Merry Christmas to All! Atlantic Hearts Sketch #35

 Best Christmas wishes to all my crafty friends!

Crazy day to be posting (needless to say, this one was pre-scheduled), but there IS a sketch challenge out there for you this week, from Atlantic Hearts:

You have until Sunday night to link up, so maybe a little crafting time will be available later in the week...

Here's my card:

I took a little more freedom than usual with the sketch. The stamps and dies for the cup full of cocoa are a long-time ago gift from my sister, from Papertrey Ink. I used the silver washi tape from the CTMH Sparkle and Shine pack as the horizontal element and the candy-cane stripe paper from the same pack as the background. The sentiment was stamped on vellum--something I've been seeing out in the blog-o-sphere, which allows you to still see the image underneath, but still add detail.

The red glitter accents were cut from the CTMH red glitter tape, with a simple hole punch!

Another look:

So sweet friends, enjoy your day, and see you in blog-land!

Happy Christmas,

Caroline

Jewel Tones--Color My Heart Dare #52

Color My Heart Dare #52...this must mean the first anniversary of the Color My Heart challenge blog! I'll have to check on that with creator, Sarah Stone.



The design team is now taking turns, posting every other week, and I'm really happy with this week's challenge palette:  a trio of jewel tones,

TWILIGHT
OLIVE and
RUBY

Prompted by this image from an on-line catalogue, Keepsake Quilting (a GREAT place to go browse for design ideas, BTW),

I decided to stick with an Amish theme and showcase those colours against a backdrop of basic black.

The quilt blocks were made using a couple of different dies. The background square is from my fave Lil'Inker's Stitched Mats series. The actual templates are from a die I purchased from Simon Says Stamp, Wplus9 Quilt Cuts 2. For a pattern like this, I recommend using a die or punch to get your shapes perfectly-sized. I can tell you, from years of experience quilting, that there is nothing more annoying than having to repeatedly trim a seam to get it to fit.

We attended the wake for a friend's father last weekend, and needed a sympathy card, so the sentiment from Papertrey Ink, Quilter's Sampler was perfect.

✄✂✂✂✄

Now it's your turn!

How do those beautiful saturated colours inspire you?

Go visit the Color My Heart blog to see some more lovely creations by the design team, then break out your scissors and ink and get crafty. We love seeing your work!

Remember, the challenge colours do NOT have to be Close to My Heart. Use what you have.

You have until next Thursday, July 25th, to link up your project.

Happy crafting,

Caroline

Supplies:

Cardstock in Colonial White, Black, Twilight, Olive and Ruby (CTMH)

Ink in Black

Lil'Inker Designs Stitched Mats-Squares

Wplus9 Quilt Cuts 2

Papertrey Ink Quilter's Sampler Sentiment stamp set