An Owl Christmas - Mojo Monday 272

     I thought I was done with my Christmas crafting for the year & had even put away all my Christmas papers. Then I checked out the Mojo Monday sketch for this week.  It doesn't specify it has to be a Christmas theme.  However, an immediate idea came to mind.

     I fell in love with the adorable owls from the Whooo's Your Valentine stamp set which is part of Close To My Heart's Constant Campaign through Jan. 31.  A $35 purchase qualifies you to get the Whooo's Your Valentine kit for just $10...all the supplies & stamp set to make 12 treat tubes.

     I combined those owls with Pear & Partridge for this charming little take on Santa's laugh.

EnJoy!

Our Thoughts Are With You

     I love doing the Color My Heart Dare, but it was hard to concentrate with the horrific news out of Connecticut.  Then an idea and an address to send cards to Sandy Hook Elementary School was posted in the CTMH Facebook group Sister Chat. I can picture the students returning to school after Christmas break sad & weary, only to be greeted by card & letters from all over the USA and perhaps the world!  What a wonderful way this would be to bring some cheer back to their precious building.
     CMH Dare #22 uses Twilight and Sweetleaf.  I cut the card from page 36 of Artiste at 5" in Twilight card stock. I used a small piece of Sweetleaf to back the heart cut-out. I folded a length of Black Tule in thirds to wrap around the top of the card. The heart is stamped in Twilight on Sweetleaf CS from the Adore stamp set (A1123). The angels are from Angel Sent (A1099), and the sentiment is from A Blossom (A1121), all stamped in Black.  The flower is cut from page 39 in Art Philosophy (again using Twilight & Sweetleaf CS) and sponged in Twilight ink. After alternating colors and curling the ends of the petals, I finished it with a large black Licorice Opaque (Z1335).

EnJoy!

It's a Buttercup Christmas!

Color Dare #21 - Buttercup

   This week's Color My Heart dare is simply Buttercup with black & white accents.  I decided to use 3 techniques. One is Cluster stamping as featured in this week's CTMH Clearly the Best technique video.  The 2nd is one of my favorites...triple stamping.   Third is heat embossing with CTMH pigment inks.

   For my 1st card I created a cluster using the large ornament from Ornamental Cheer (D1520) and a variety of snowflakes from Snow Flurries (D1384). I stamped on Buttercup card stock with White Daisy pigment, sprinkled with clear embossing powder, & used my heating tool.  I separated the layers with black cs.  As you can see, the white just didn't pop enough.

   So, I decided to try again. This time I used Buttercup pigment on Black cs. I chose to twist my layers & separate with White Daisy cs.  I'm still not happy with how the embossing turned out. The Buttercup color seemed to have been a bit lost. 

   Interesting try, however I just might have to enter a different card as well if time permits.  For now I must get ready for my 1st ever craft fair tomorrow morning.

A Partridge in a Pear Tree

Tis the season...actually I have been making Christmas crafts for almost 2 months in preparation for my 1st craft fair on Dec. 8th.  This is a personal stretch for me, so wish me luck!  I did pause today to check out the new dare on Color My Heart.  Dare #20 uses the complementary colors Smoothie, Olive. New England Ivy, & Cranberry.  These just happen to be the colors of Close To My Heart's Pear & Partridge paper.  I love this paper & have used a lot of it.  Here are 2 items that will be decorating my house this year...a NOEL banner (which uses another paper along with Pear & Partridge) and a large 3D star that can be used a s a tree topper or (in my house) hanging in a corner nook.

EnJoy!

Peaceful Christmas!

  Color My Heart Dare #19

   I'm honored to be chosen as this week's guest designer for Color My Heart Dare #19.  This week's colors are Cranberry, Hollyhock, and Sweetleaf.
   I chose to use the card on page 36 of the Cricut Artiste cartridge in Sweetleaf cardstock as my base. I then cut a slightly smaller version of the same card in Cranberry.  I attached a 1" strip of Hollyhock inside the card to fill the heart.

   The dove & sentiment are from the Blessings of Peace stamp set (B1406). The dove is stamped with Hollyhock pigment ink on Sweetleaf cardstock & heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  I used the back of the stamp to make a coordinating shape in White Daisy cardstock to help the dove pop out a bit more. (Thanks for the idea, Sarah.)

EnJoy!

Supplies Used:  Cranberry, Hollyhock, Sweetleaf, & White Daisy cardstock

                          Hollyhock ink & pigment, Cranberry ink

                          Clear embossing powder/ heat tool

                           1/8th inch wide white ribbon

Color My Heart Dare #18

I can't help but to brag a little...I won last week's Color My Heart Dare.  Now I get to be the guest designer for next week's dare.  Here is Sarah's write-up:

Hey everybody! Welcome to the color dare for Close To My Heart's exclusive color pallette! You're in for a surprise today. But first, congratulations to Joanne Barnes. She won the color challenge from last week with her card using Smokey Plum, Sweet Leaf and Sunset! Technically, she broke the rules by adding an extra color (Honey, maybe?), but I'm just smitten with this card. I think it's the ribbon, or maybe the cute little coffee beans. Anyway, I made an exception for you, Josie, just this once. ;)

This week's challenge is to use three kit-exclusive colors for our dare this week:

Flirty Raspberry, La Belle Vie Pink, & Avonlea Teal

I went for "keep it simple" with this fun present card inspired by Brittany Fitch at http://craftypapercreations.blogspot.com/.  There are so many different ways this card could be used.

EnJoy!

P.S.  I just love the bow from the Cricut Artiste Collection!

Latte Love - Color My Heart Dare #17

This week's colors are triadic, secondary colors:

Smokey Plum
Sunset
Sweet Leaf

     For today's challenge I'm using my newest stamp set, Cup of Cheer, B1404.

And my new favorite embellishment, Colonial White Rosette Ribbon, Z1800.

EnJoy!