"Out with the Old, In with the New" - Heart 2 Heart Challenge

Welcome to the first Heart 2 Heart Challenge of 2021! I hope these first few days of the year have been great and indicate how this new year will continue for you and your family.  

This year, at Heart 2 Heart, the Challenges will be posted on the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month, allowing you to focus on two theme. You have until the end of the month to participate. We invite you to join in the creative fun as often as you can. 

REMEMBER: Because this is a challenge focused on incorporating Close To My Heart product, be sure to use at least one CTMH product item in your creation. (If you don't already have a Consultant from whom to purchase the products, I would love to support you! You can shop on my website.)

To get things started in the new year, I'm excited to share two greeting cards I made for this theme of "Out with the Old, In with the New". Here they are! 

I decided to use the same card pattern, from Make It From Your Heart - Volume 4, with two different sets of pattern paper, one old and one new! This pattern is great, especially for leftover papers, since it only requires strips. 

This birthday card was made using the Serenity paper pack. While the Serenity Collection has officially retired, you might be thrilled to know it still remains on my website! The blues and florals of this collection make it one of my favorites and I want it to stay! 

To create the accent on this card, I fussy cut one of the flowers from the patterned paper. Of course, you can tell, I couldn't resist using Glitter Paper for my creations. This card incorporates both Blue Belle and Sapphire Glitter Paper. I think they are currently my two favorite colors. 

The sentiment I used is from this "Sentiments by Melissa Esplin" stamp set. It's one of my favorite go-tos since it has a beautiful script font for various occasions. (How many times have I used the word 'favorite' in this post? LOL Can you tell I'm kind of in love with quite a few CTMH products?!) 

As for the "new", I created this card with the "Happiness Lives Here" paper packet and the January Stamp of the Month (you can view a post about it here). Outside of using the Blue Belle Glitter Paper again, I couldn't resist tossing in an accent of Gold.

I wish you all the best this year, with Heart 2 Heart, and look forward to you participating in our Challenges in 2021! Be sure to link up to the respective Blog posts and show us your creations! 

Have a great first full week of the new year! 

"Blissful Brackets" CTMH Technique Challenge

 

Welcome to our Technique Blog Hop where we show you some fun ways to use brackets, while incorporating Close To My Heart products. Our Hop is called, "Blissful Brackets".

If you are coming from Michelle's Blog, you are on the right track. You can find a complete list of participants at the bottom of this post, if you were to get lost along the way. 

I enjoyed creating this celebratory card while incorporating various products and simple techniques that kept the focus on the occasion. 

The "Par-tay" stamp set I used has these fun images that I've enjoyed using on a variety of birthday cards. They are great for using your favorite coloring medium. I chose our Tri-blend Markers.

The beautiful script sentiment is from this "Sentiments by Melissa Esplin" stamp set. I used Silver Embossing Powder on it, which is striking on the Sapphire cardstock.

So as to where the bracket theme ties in, CTMH has some top-quality Stitched Thin Cuts (aka dies) in this Brackets Bundle. The one I selected provides a great background for the greeting. 

And last, but not least, that striped Silver Foil paper - that cannot be truly appreciated from the photos - is from the Silver Foil Patterns Paper Packet. It is absolutely beautiful and comes in a variety of patterns, as shown above.

Here is a close-up of the details. 

I appreciate you stopping by. Consider leaving a comment before you head to Danielle's Blog to see what she has to share with you. Be sure you make your away around the entire Hop. You're sure to be inspired. Happy hoppin'!

List of Participants:

1. Melissa Robinson *YOU ARE HERE*

2. Danielle Wagner

3. Wendy Kessler

4. Haley Dyer

5. Alyson Mayo

6. Darlys Recker

7. Brandi Robinson

8. Tamara Sandwisch

9. Lauren Moore

10. Cat Nowak

11. Michelle Loncar

"Jazz It Up!" with Blog with Friends

Welcome to "Blog with Friends" where I join five other bloggers as we focus our content on the theme of "Mardi Gras". You'll find images, and their links, at the bottom of this post so be sure to go check out what they have to share with you! 

Unsure how I wanted to tie in Mardi Gras with my love of papercrafting, I decided to incorporate the color scheme is this celebratory card. By using the balloon stamp image and coordinating Thin Cut from the Celebrate Today Cardmaking Workshop Kit I kept it pretty simple but sparkly. 

The gold accents were incorporated through the use of a few products. Balloons were cut out of Gold Glitter Paper, accents on the balloons were created through the use of Golden Rod Stickles Glitter Gel, and I had to include a bow on the strings. They were tired using Gold & White Ribbon. And last, but not least, the beautiful "celebrate" sentiment is from the "Sentiments by Melissa Esplin" stamp set. (If you aren't aware, we are celebrate Stamptacular this month where you can get stamp sets for up to 50% off. HUGE SAVINGS! Click on this link to find out more.)

While you're here, be sure to make your way around to my friends' blogs. They will appreciate it and you'll find some great content. 

Make it a great week!

Karen of Baking in a Tornado

Lydia from Cluttered Genius

Jules of the Bergham Chronicles

P.J. at A ‘lil HooHaa

Kia from The Ground Beneath My Feet