H2H - Photo Challenge

This week at Heart 2 Heart we're having a photo challenge!  I've gotten very far behind in my scrapbooking, so I used this as an excuse to work on my daughter's album.

I apologize for my laziness in taking pictures.  The layout on the left has a flip flap and I didn't feel like trying to get the layout back out of the sheet protector to photograph it.

These pictures are from my daughter's first birthday party.  I made the invitations and kept one to put in her album.  I cut the card on the fold and put the front in the flip flap, and then put the inside of the card directly on the layout.  This way you can open up the invitation and it's totally protected!  (Also, I got to sneak in another picture of her.)

I kept the layout fairly simple, because I love the patterns and colors of the Lucy papers.  I used the Art Philosophy cartridge for the swirls and the journal box, and added some ribbon to both pages, and that was it.

It's not too fancy, but sometimes you just have to keep moving!  Thanks for visiting!

H2H - Polka Dots & Stripes

This week at Heart 2 Heart we're playing with polka dots & stripes.  My first thought was the Dotty For You paper pack - of course!  I took a moment to look at the inspiration projects, and found the inspiration for a Mother's Day card.

This is the specific item I based my creation on: 

I liked the circles on the layout and how the title worked with it.  So I pulled out my 1.25" circle punch and used it to punch out pieces of patterned paper.  Then I had the Cricut crank out a bunch of 1.5" Colonial white circles.

I spent FOREVER laying out the circles to get them to look just the way I wanted them to.  It was a lot trickier than I expected!  Some arrangements just did *not* look right.

To embellish I used a few brads & buttons and a pair of flowers.

I really like the original inspiration layout, and might give that a try sometime, too.  At least I won't have to mess around with the circles again - Close To My Heart has them perfectly arranged and it would be easy enough just to duplicate what they did.

A little dotty, a little stripey...hope you enjoy it!

H2H - April Showers Bring May Flowers

This week at Heart 2 Heart we're playing around with flowers!  I have so many flower stamps and there are so many possibilities with the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, that I didn't know where to begin.  I've been seeing a lot of "rainbow" creations lately, and that provided the inspiration for my card.

I started by stamping the same flower from the Card Word Puzzle Stamp Set 5 times and cutting them all out.  I knew I wanted to cut the front of the card a little short and let the flower petals hang over the edge. Next I pulled out that popular Dotty For You Paper Packet and created the vertical bars.

I pulled out some of my older stamp sets to create the sentiment, which I stamped on a shape from the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.  One Mother's Day card down, one to go!  I hope you decide to join in the fun of this week's challenge at H2H!

H2H - Stitching!

This week at Heart 2 Heart we're asking you to show us what you can do with stitching!  I've done "faux" stitching before, but just recently tried using the new CTMH ruler to do "real" stitching.  I used to cross-stitch, and I'm finding it fun to play around with needle & thread again.

This week, I made a birthday card in Lagoon, Smoothie, and Sunny Yellow.  I stitched the background swirls with black thread.

To help me get the swirls just right, I stamped some swirl images on the back side, like this:

Then I used the ruler and stylus to poke tiny holes along the images.  I didn't bother with every single swirl.  By flipping the cardstock over, I could see what my design would look like.

Originally, I planned to stitch the entire swirl, but after I started, I realized I liked the "dashed line" look better.

Then I used the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge to dress-up the card, and finished by adding some bling.

I'm very excited to see what sort of stitching projects you come up with!  I hope I'll see you around at H2H!

H2H - Hoppy Easter!

This week at Heart 2 Heart we are celebrating Easter and Spring.  I decided to make a CAS card using only stamping and embellishments.

I used the Easter egg stamps from CTMH's Sensational Season to create flowers in Dutch Blue, Sunset, Smoothie, and Creme Brûlée.  Then I added buttons to the centers.

I recently bought CTMH's ruler and decided to try it out on this card.  I used the ruler to punch holes in the card and then I hand-stitched the border across the top.  This is my first attempt at "sewing" on a card, and I enjoyed it.  It did take a little time, but it's a pretty effect and I managed to keep the reverse side looking neat.  (I meant to take a picture of it, but forgot!)

I'm happy with my cheerful little card.  What will you create this week?  Be sure to share with us at H2H!