Chase Those Clouds Away

Hi everyone!  Today I am sharing another card with the Martha Stewart Scallop Dot border punch that I picked up recently.  Hope it can help to brighten your Monday!  :)

I really like how easy it is to use these border punches.   I also rounded the corners on this one to match the other curves.  The sentiment is from the Card Chatter--Sympathy from Close to My Heart.

These clouds are stamped in black (first and second generation) from the Chantilly Scrapbook Workshop on the Go and cut out by hand with my micro-tip scissors.

This hot air balloon is from a retired stamp of the month.  I used a puddle pad to stamp it in a rainbow of colors!   You can see more about it HERE where I first used this little cutie.  If my friend, Shelly ever blogs hers, I can show you where I got the idea!  Hint, hint, Shelly!   :)

UPDATE!!!  OK, so Shelly blogged hers way back in April and I missed it!!!  Completely!!! HERE is the link!  :) 

See you later!  :)

Five Faves #2 and Rainy Days of Spring

Hi everyone!  How are you coming along with that assignment I gave you yesterday?  Still thinking about it?  ;)  Well, we have three down, and only two of my favorite Close to My Heart embellishments left to share with you this week!  Ready?  Here we go!

It is actually storming as I write this, and the grey skies that come with spring are one of the first signs of nature brightening up--ironic, no?  Without the rain we could not expect to see green grass or brightly colored springtime flowers.  I absolutely love sentiments that use this concept as inspiration, and I found the perfect one to use on this card I made for Heart 2 Heart's latest challenge to make something with a rainy day theme. 

I used the Chantilly Scrapbooking Kit My Acrylix set to make this rainbow colored umbrella.   I used my Five Faves #2 to add a sparkly little scallop border and handle....Glitter Paper!!!  I had to add some sparkle as a reminder on this one that in the gloom of rainy days there is the promise of hope for things to come.  :)

I stamped these little raindrops using a teeny tiny stamp from the Chantilly Cardmaking Kit with Sky Pigment Ink from the Whimsey Exclusive Inks Mini Pigment Pads Set.  These pigment inks sit on top of the paper so show up a bit brighter on colored cardstock.  Dye inks soak into the paper, thus loosing just a bit of its own color in the process.  Look at the difference below when stamped on Whisper CS...

pigment ink on the left with glitter glitz, dye ink on the right

I added some Glitter Glitz to the raindrops after they dried.

I decided to give the inside of the card the royal treatment too...

 This card came together just as I imagined it, so major WIN for me today!  :)

Now, I realize this sentiment I chose isn't available any longer, but one of our newest Close to My Heart My Acrylix stamps has JUST the perfect expression included...B1421 Scrapbook Statements--Women.  It is the one on its side, of course, lol!  The only reason that I didn't use this one, is that I don't have it yet!  ;)

Heart 2 Heart Takes on Daylight Savings Time

Happy MONDAY!  Wait, what am I saying?!?!  Actually, I really do mean it--this is my first Monday as Guest Designer for the Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog, so I am super-excited to show you the project that I gave you this teeny tiny peak of yesterday.  I have to say that I was quite impressed with my iPhone pic!  ;)

Are you ready for the first challenge of March Madness?  Here it is:  Daylight Savings Time!

Now, when I think of coming to the end of Daylight Savings Time, I think...more sunshine, baby!  That means winter is about to make a final exit and usher in some warmer days.  In anticipation of many warm, sunny, sparkly days ahead, here is the card I made.

Can't you feel the warmth of this sunshine?  I used the round frame from the Frame Flair My Acrylix Stamps to make this beaming sun breaking out from behind the cloud.  This is one of my FAVORITE new stamp sets in the Spring and Summer Idea Book.  The stamp set that comes with the Chantilly Scrapbook Workshop on the Go completes the center of the sun.  I love how the rays of tan glitter paper add even more warmth to the card.  The sunbeams are created with stamps from the Patterned Pennants My Acrylix stamps using Honey, Buttercup, and Goldrush Exclusive Inks on White Daisy and Buttercup Cardstock.  Here is a peek at how I laid out the paper on the card...and then just snipped off the ends so they were even with edge of the card.

The bottom blue patterned paper is from the Surf's Up Paper Packet.

This gorgeous ribbon is the Close to My Heart Color Ready Seam Binding Ribbon (For those of you who have seen my Hot Cocoa Tutorial, I can say it now, lol!!!)  I used our Goldrush Reinker, a ziplock baggie, and a spray of stamp cleaner to color it up and crinkle it.  I love this look and the subtle variation this method gives the color.  I tied up the double bow with some white bakers twine and added a little antique gold button to top it off.  I also added some tiny sparkles from the Sparkles Brown and Tan Assortment around the frame of the sun.

All of the shapes that I used for the sun and cloud are cut from the Cricut Artiste and Art Philosophy Cartridges.  I absolutely love how easy they make it to create shapes to match our stamps!

I hope you will share your interpretation of Daylight Savings Time with us over on the Heart 2 Heart Challenges this month.  You have the whole month to create something and link it up!  I can't wait to see what you make!  This month, for March Madness, you just might win a prize!!!  Thanks so much to the DT at H2H for having me along for the ride!  :)

Damask Divas Chantilly Blog Hop

Welcome to another Damask Divas Blog Hop!  (March 1st all links will work!) Thanks so much for stopping in to see the many ways you can put your Chantilly Paper Packet to use!  If you came from Shirley's Blog, then you are in the right place.  If not, just check out the line-up at the Damask Divas Blog.

Chantilly just might be my favorite paper of all time!  Of course, I am a girl who likes to change her mind, so let's just be realistic and call it my favorite for the moment, shall we?  ;) 

I made this shadow box frame for my cousin and her hubs who had their second darling little baby girl in February.  I simply love creating these personalized frames for people who order them from my Etsy Shop.  They are fabulous gifts for new parents and easy to customize.  This is also my entry for the Heart 2 Heart February Challenge, Love is in the Air.  It has been tortuous waiting to link it up until we had the blog hop because I finished this project before Valentine's Day!!  ;)  It was totally perfect for both assignments though, so well worth the wait.

The background paper for this frame was made by dabbing my Twilight Exclusive Ink onto a piece of White Daisy Cardstock with my handy dandy sponge dauber.  I used it all over the paper and then cut out the section that I liked the best.

I used a few different Close to My Heart My Acrylix stamp sets for this one.  The Chantilly Scrapbook Workshop size C set I used for the clouds is currently available and the retired sets I used are Capture the Date, Moments in Time, and February Word Puzzle.  I used all these retired sets for numbers and lettering, so they would be very easy to substitute.  :)

The hot air balloon is a gorgeous cut found on the Close to My Heart Artiste Cricut Cartridge.  It usually has a flag on top of the balloon, but I just cut that off.  ;)   I added a bit of baker's twine to attach the basket.

These letters that spell out "olivia" are the glamour glitter alphabet stickers.

I placed one of the Chantilly zip strips along the bottom of the frame for a bit of grounding effect.  I really love the looks of this particular strip.  The sentiment at the bottom of the artwork melts my heart.  I positively had to place a heart in the basket being carried away...snif!

I hope this has inspired you to create your own beautiful paper piecing!  Have fun on the rest of our blog hop--you won't believe your eyes!  Cydney's blog is your next stop!  :)  Don't forget to enter the rafflecopter giveaway on the Damask Divas Blog for a chance to win a Close to My Heart My Acrylix Stamp Set!!!