Frosty Days with AHSC

Another week, another sketch challenge!

The angular frames threw me a bit as I had no die cuts, but then I came across this PML Card that reminded my of the sketch look and so I figured I can get my Christmas cards for 2023 started early!

I used some old Kraft spotted paper to stamp and fussy cut the reindeer from this month's Stamp of the Month, Frosty Days, and added a red nose and a cute green scarf that was also paper pieced. 

I also couldn't find my scallop die cut so I improvised with two layers of another shape in red glitter and an old paper that i inked around the edges for more contrast. I then added some more red glitter shapes and stamped the sentiment below.

Thanks for stopping by today!

September/October Catalog New Product Blog Hop

Welcome to our Seasonal Catalogue Blog Hop!  We will be featuring all of the fun items that are available now in the September/October catalogue.  If you have come here from Haley Dyer, the Inky Scrapper, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog. 

This month we have 15 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

It's never too early to be thinking about Christmas cards, and when I saw the A Furry Merry Christmas stamp set I had to get it!

I coloured this adorable stamp set using Watercolour Pencils and placed the sentiment on some Papaya Cardstock. I then matted the card using  the new Pumpkin Spice Paper Packet (the stripe works for Christmas too!) and added some cute little crosses in first and second generation Papaya Ink using the new Pumpkin Spice Scrapbooking Stamp Set.

I added a fun sprig background using different leaves I cut from the new Holly and Ivy Digital Art Collection and then embellished the berries with the Holly and Ivy Die Cuts as the red glitter circles were the perfect size!

Now "Hop" on over to Maureen's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! 

Christmas in July Blog Hop

Welcome to our Christmas in July Blog Hop!  We will be featuring a whole lot of fun Christmas themed items that CTMH has available.

If you have come here from Darlys' Blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog. 

This month we have 14 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations on their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

I always need Christmas cards, and they are sent all around the globe, so I decided to embrace the wintery feel since it has been rather cold here in New Zealand!

 To prepare the base of my Christmas card, I cut a snowflake stencil using my Cricut and the City Sidewalks Cartridge, and sponged over it using Glacier ink and a Sponge Dauber. This created a lovely, soft snow background for my card and the stencil can be used again!

I then cut some houses out of the same City Sidewalks Collection using Pewter, Blue Belle, Flamingo and Sapphire cardstock and layered them together. I placed these on my stenciled card base and framed in more Blue Belle cardstock. 

I added some Diamond Stickles to the base of the houses to make it look like snow, and lastly stamped the sentiment in Sapphire Ink from the Merry,Merry stamp set. 

Now "Hop" on over to Maureen's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! 

Christmas in July with Double Trouble

This week I have a combined challenge for you- featuring Heart 2 Heart and our fun sister blog, Double Trouble!

Being in New Zealand, we do have our midwinter Christmas here and so I have been happy to sit in my craft room and create in this cooler weather.

For this card, I pulled out my old Merry, Merry stamp set that has just been re-released by CTMH, as I love the wreath! I stamped the wreath in Avocado ink and the pine cones in Toffee, and then added a bright Candy Apple sentiment.

I pulled out an old Christmas paper that had some holly springs in it, and then matted the wreath and paper on Kraft Paper.

My finishing touch was a bow made from burlap ribbon for the Double Trouble optional part of the challenge. What do you think?

Australasian Jingle Joy Blog Hop

Hello and welcome aboard our Jingle Joy Australasian Close to My Heart Blog Hop. 

If you have arrived here from Maz then you are in the right place. 

If you landed here by accident, no problem, please join in by following the link at the end of this post. 

Today I would like to share with you a creation which features Close To My Heart’s November Featured collection, Jingle Joy. 

I wanted to make a card that had the cute little Santa from the Jingle Joy Cardmaking Stamp Set as the feature, but I also wanted to create a great background. The starburst background made from Jingle Joy Paper Packet, Raspberry Cardstock and White Daisy Cardstock was so much fun to make!

The card has lots of dimension and layers- thanks to my handy 3D Foam dots I was able to keep everything from being too bumpy. The matching thin cuts made cutting out the Santa a piece of cake!

A full video of instructions on how to make this card will be posted very shortly so stay tuned!

If you not have a consultant please contact me or place an order here.

I'd love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop, ScrappyChicks.

Holiday Cards Blog Hop

Welcome to our Holiday Cards Blog Hop!  We will be featuring a whole lot of ideas for Holiday themed cards today, I can't wait! If you have come here from Gina's Blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog. 

This month we have 18 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using CTMH products on their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

I decided to have a go at creating a Twist Gate Fold card using the Comfort and Joy Paper Packet, along with the stamp set found in the Comfort and Joy Cardmaking Workshop. 

It is a fun card on the outside, and then it opens up to reveal a message on the inside!

I simply used a Comfort and Joy PML card for the inside sentiment, but you could get really creative with stamped sentiments or handwritten notes- even a Christmas photo of your family. 

I added a sentiment and Christmas tree to the front using the Comfort and Joy Cardmaking Workshop stamp set, along with Scarlet and Evergreen ink. I adhered these with foam tape so that they would help to close the card but also so they wouldn't get int he way when you open it. 

The finishing touch was to add the Carnation Red Liquid Pearls to the Christmas tree to make it a bit more festive!

 If you would like full instructions on how to create this card, please click here. 

Now "Hop" on over to Pam's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get any of the amazing products featured on this blog hop.

Christmas Candles

It's nearly Christmas time! OK well we still have a while to go, but Christmas has come early at Heart 2 Heart Challenges this week. 

I really liked the little candles in the Jolly Characters stamp set, and I thought it matched really well with the candle themed paper from the Comfort and Joy Picture My Life cards. I used the Multi Circle Windows Thin Cuts to cut the PML, and added the candles plus some star clusters and a sentiment in the spaces. I also added a few blobs of Black Diamond Stickles for a little bit of bling.

I added the thin cut overlay using some Thin 3D Foam Tape for a little bit of dimension, and my card was done!

We'd love to see your Christmas projects this week over at Heart 2 Heart. 

Australasian Comfort and Joy Blog Hop

Hello and welcome aboard our Comfort and Joy Australasian Close to My Heart Blog Hop. 

If you have arrived here from Megan's Blog then you are in the right place. 

If you landed here by accident, no problem, please join in by following the link at the end of this post. 

Today I would like to share with you a creation which features Close To My Heart’s October Featured collection, Comfort and Joy. 

I love the Comfort and Joy Cardmaking Kit, and once I had made up the cards I wanted to find other ways to use the stamp set.

I really love the Christmas tree as I prefer a more traditional look, and so I paired the tree with one of the fun tartan patterns from the Comfort and Joy Picture My Life Cards. 

I stamped one tree in New England Ivy Ink, and then stamped again to create a second generation lighter colour of the same ink. I stamped the sentiment from the card kit using Scarlet Ink, and the 'sending' was actually from the October Stamp of the Month, With All My Love.

I added some Black Shimmer Trim behind the trees to anchor them to the card. My finishing touch was to use the Carnation Red Liquid Pearls (which comes in the cardmaking kit, yay!) to add some red decoraitons to the tree to make it more Christmassy. 

This exclusive collection is only available during October. If you do not have a consultant please contact me or place an order here.

I'd love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop, Kimmy Adds Sparkle.

Holiday

This week, Anything Goes at Heart 2 Heart challenges with a Holiday theme!

I had some scraps left over from my Cedar and Pine kit, and I still hadn't used my gorgeous Nutcracker sticker from the sticker sheet. I simply framed him with the plaid Evergreen paper, which I matted with Candy Apple cardstock. I then added a simple sentiment and a cute little holly cluster at the side. 

I can't wait to see your holiday themed projects over at Heart 2 Heart challenges- we would love you to link up and spread some holiday cheer.

December SOTM Blog Hop- Reindeer Crossing

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring December's SOTM, which is Reindeer Crossing, a set of 10 stamps.  

If you have come here from Haley's Blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog. 

This month we have 17 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

I really loved the deer silhouette in this stamp set, and wanted to create some masculine Christmas cards using this particular stamp.

For the first card I started off with the background paper from the Mix In Paper Packet that has all of the reindeer names on it- perfect to match with this stamp set! I then added a banner with the silhouette and one of the sentiments stamped onto it in Toffee ink. I used a Zip Strip for contrast and added some Holly Jolly Dots. Lastly, I stamped the pine frond and embossed it with clear embossing powder to keep a little bit of colour in the card.



For the next card, the base paper was from the Cedar and Pine Paper Packet. I used a Zip Strip from the Mix In Paper Packet to anchor the middle panel, and added a little bit of Burlap Ribbon for a rustic feel. The trees were stamped in second and third generation Evergreen ink from the Cedar and Pine Scrapbooking stamp set., and once again I used the deer silhouette and one of the sentiments from the SOTM stamp set.

Now "Hop" on over to Darlys' Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Remember, the December SOTM is only available until the 31st December!  

If you would like to see a layout I have created using this stamp set, please click here.

Black Friday

The theme this week at Heart 2 Heart challenges is Black Friday! Black Friday is a huge sale day in America, and now it has crept into online sales as well here in New Zealand.

I interpreted this by using Black Shimmer Trim and a Black stamped sentiment on my card, as well as Black in my patterned paper and stamping.

This Christmas card is great for creating in bulk (I have to make 150 of these!) and the cute fussy cut bow is my favourite part of the card. I used a non-Christmas paper on this card as my colour specifications for my customer were blue and black, and I really like how this has turned out with the touch of red added to create that Christmas feel.

Holly Jolly Australasian CTMH Blog Hop

Hello and welcome aboard our Holly Jolly Australasian Close to My Heart Blog Hop.

If you have arrived here from Danielle- Scrappychicks then you are in the right place.

If you landed here by accident, no problem, please join in by following the link at the end of this post.

Today I would like to share with you a creation which features Close To My Heart’s November Featured collection, Holly Jolly. I'd particularly like to share the adorable Holly Jolly Cardmaking Kit as I knew I had to have the elves the moment I saw them!

This kit comes with enough materials to create 16 Christmas cards- plus the sweet little elves can be used on other projects too!

I changed up the cards slightly by doing half with the suggested paper and then turning the paper over to the other side to create a different look.

First up is the Special Delivery card, where the elf is holding a sign stamped on Peach cardstock.



This design gives you the opportunity to doodle some borders and I love how it makes the sentiment pop!



This peeking elf has fast become my favourite design- see him as well on this project.



Lastly, I love the candy stripe look of this design and that sentiment is so great- even my seven year old loves it!



These cards are all ready to be sent out to my friends and family for Christmas and I hope they love receiving them as much as I enjoyed making them.

I'd love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop, Doreen.

Oh What Fun CTMH Australasian Blog Hop

Hello and welcome aboard our Oh What Fun Australasian Close to My Heart Blog Hop.

If you have arrived here from Doris then you are in the right place.

If you landed here by accident, no problem, please join in by following the link at the end of this post.

Today I would like to share with you a creation which features Close To My Heart’s December Featured collection, Oh What Fun!

This bold and bright collection is perfect for the holidays.

I love the striped paper in this collection, and wanted to use it to create a fun Christmas card. I trimmed the paper so that the more traditional green featured, and also used the zip strip and the thin striped paper.

The December was stamped in Clover ink and mounted on the Raspberry cardstock.



I loved the little Santa and I discovered that the Santa face from the Oh What Fun Felt Shapes layered perfectly with the thin cuts! This added some extra dimension to the card.

I also decided to use the striped paper in a non-Christmas themed way, and created this birthday card using the It's Your Day Thin Cuts.



I added some shimmer to the candles using the Sugarplum Shimmer Brush and cut the thin cut twice so that I could use a lighter colour for the sentiment but have the frame and candles in a darker colour.

If you do not have a consultant please contact me or place an order here.

I'd love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop, Doreen Watkins.

Products used:
Cardstock: Glacier, Lagoon, Mint, Raspberry, White Daisy
Embellishments: Oh What Fun Felt Shapes, Sugarplum Shimmer Brush
Ink: Clover, Raspberry
Paper Packet: Oh What Fun
Stamp sets: Oh What Fun Cardmaking, Oh What Fun Scrapbooking
Tools: It's Your Day Thin Cuts, Oh What Fun Thin Cuts

Christmas Cutie card

I love the whimsical look of traditional holiday cards paired with cute elements, and I knew I had to create something cute when I saw the Crafty Catz "Too Cute" challenge.

Paired with some other challenges to get my creativity mojo going, I started off with a Kraft base and then layered up elements. I embossed the Kraft base with a woodgrain embossing folder for some extra interest.

This sketch made it easier for me to figure out the look I was going for- thank goodness for sketches!

The sweet little deer is a leftover embellishment from an old White Pines kit, and I used the new Stitched Circles thin cuts to frame my sentiment, which I stamped in New England Ivy ink.



Of course I needed to added some sparkle, so the last layer was created with some gold glitter paper.

I am linking up to the following challenges:
Color My Heart- Color Dare #320
Paper Players- Theme Challenge PP421
Crafty Catz Challenge- Too Cute
Just Add Ink #436- Sketch

Noel Christmas Card

I'm well and truly into Christmas card making mode, and I am loving the is The Season Paper Packet for all of my backgrounds.

I've been trying to use challenges for inspiration, and so this week I made a card based on the following challenges:

Craft Rocket- Christmas is Coming
Happy Little Stampers- Anything Goes With Dies
Double Trouble- Christmas with Tic-Tac-Tuesday


I chose the bottom Tic-Tac-Tuesday line and went with stamping, red and plaid plus I used a die and made a Christmas themed card.



The Noel sentiment is die cut from my Cricut machine, and I stamped the holly leaves and fussy cut, then added the berries directly onto the cardstock.

This card was then blinged up a bit, and now it is ready for sending!

Products used:
Cardstock: Candy Apple, White Daisy
Cricut Collection: Season of Joy
Embellishments: Grey Gems
Ink: Candy Apple, New England Ivy
Paper Packet: 'Tis The Season
Stamp set: Christmas Countdown

November SOTM Blog Hop - Seasonal Trees

Welcome to our November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring the beautiful Seasonal Trees stamp set, a set of 23 stamps.

If you get lost at any time please head on over to Melinda's Blog to get back on track. If you've arrived here from Miss Carrie's Creations then you are in the right place.

I decided to play with both a winter and a summer tree theme, so that I could showcase two separate trees.

The fist one had to be a Christmas card tree, since Christmas is coming up and even though I live in New Zealand I do send a lot of cards overseas to the colder climates. I used the base of the tree and then used my chalk pen to add some snow to the tree truck and branches. I used white pigment ink with the base stamp set to add to the snow effect. I then added a little red ornament to the tree to make it more Christmas themed and stamped a simple sentiment.



After that I needed something warm, so I stamped the palm tree and this funny but accurate holiday sentiment and matted it with Sapphire cardstock. I wanted to keep the background simple so I used the beautiful Sapphire ombre paper from the Seasons Mix-In Paper Packet.



I pooled some of the clear shimmer pen over the stamp set and re-stamped the image to get a shimmer overlay on the palm tree as well. This is a fun way to precisely add glitter to a stamped image.



Which card do you prefer- summer or winter?

Now "Hop" on over to Krista's Crafty Corner to see her work. Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas!

Products used:
Cardstock: Candy Apple, Espresso, Sapphire, Toffee, White Daisy
Embellishments: Shimmer Brush- Clear
Ink: Candy Apple, Espresso, Fern, Sapphire, White Daisy
Paper: Seasons Mix-In