Oh Happy Day!

Hello Happy Monday to you!

This week we have a sketch challenge at Heart 2 Heart Challenges. I love the sketch challenges, of all the challenges the sketches are my favourite, I just love having a road map to throw together a quick card, layout or even a home decor project. 

This card was super easy to throw together and I used Claire (retired) for it as I was making a birthday card for my friends 7 year old daughter and how can you go wrong with Claire for a little girl. I also cut out the cupcake with my Cricut Artiste cartridge twice and stamped it in Sunset on one and Hollyhock on the other and pieced the two together to get two toned affect. 

Products Used:

Paper:

- Claire (retired)

- Colonial White, Blush (retired), Outdoor Denim

Stamp Set:

- Cricut Artiste Birthday

Cricut: 

- Cricut Artiste

Ink:

- Hollyhock

- Sunset

I hope you will join us and share your interpretation of this sketch with us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Brandi

Happy Days - H2H Challenge card

Happy Monday! Today we bring you a new challenge at Heart 2 Heart Challenges (H2H). This week is all about (shhh) Guilty Pleasures (shhh). It is time to own our quirks and what our guilty pleasures are. For me this was a challenging challenge. I have a lot of guilty pleasures and could not really decided what to do, then I was going to do a top 10 list of my guilty pleasures and I just could not figure out how to make it into a scrapbook page so I decided to make a card with my biggest guilty pleasure...TV! I really love TV all kinds of TV but if we really want to talk about guilty pleasures I will go out on a limb and admit to being a HUGE reality TV junkie. There it is, I am a reality TV junkie. Here is a list of a few of my current reality TV indulgences:

1. Real Housewives of Orange County
2. Real Housewives of New York
3. So you think you can dance
4. Dance Moms
5. Sister Wives
6. My 5 Wives
7. 19 Kids and Counting
8. Wahlburgers (goes hand in hand with my NKOTB obsession!)
9. Return to Amish
10. Gyspy Sisters, My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding, etc. 
11. Ice Road Truckers
12. Duck Dynasty
13. Highway Thru Hell
14. Border Security
15. Beyond Scared Straight
16. Tackle my reno
17. Property Brothers
18. Love it or List it
19. Long Island Medium
20. Who do you think you are?

Ok, so I think you all get it, I am a Reality TV JUNKIE! I do like dramas and sitcoms too, 

Now onto my project, I made this card to represent my love of TV...reality TV and how it reminds me of simpler times. 

While trying to figure out what to do for this challenge I kept thinking of this old fashioned TV stamp I had and it kept popping into my mind. It reminds me of how TV has changed and really not for the better. I know reality TV is trashy and sensational for the most part but it is what I watch when scrapping the day / night away as I do not need to give it my undivided attention, it just kind of runs in the background. 

Products used:

Paper:

- Notebook (retired)

- Colonial White, Chocolate, and Bamboo card stock

Ink:

- Chocolate

- Black

Stamp:

- C1446 Retro Tech (retired)

Embossing Folder:

- Quaterfoil

Distressing:

- Sand paper (not CTMH - TLC retired company not in business)

Happy Fall - H2H Challenges

Happy Fally Y'all!

This week the challenge over at Heart 2 Heart Challenges (H2H) is to use your favourite tool. I used two. My favourite tools are my Cricut machine and specifically my CTMH cartridges, they truly are the only ones I use anymore. I also love my CTMH stamps. Like my Cricut they are so versatile. 

Products Used:

Paper:

- Caprice

Ink:

- Bamboo

Stamp:

- D1371 Many Thanks

Cricut:

- Cricut Art Philosophy

Thanks for stopping by and visiting. Try to be crafty each day!

:)

Brandi

Happy Birthday....H2H Favourite Technique

This week we have a fun challenge for you from the Heart 2 Heart Design Team and I would also like to think an easy one too.....use your favourite technique on your paper crafting project. 

For my project I actually did one of my favourite techniques and just to mix things up I tried a new technique that is one of my favourites on others projects. 

The first technique I used is distressing, I love the look of the edges when distressed in either Chocolate or Cocoa ink. The second technique is stitching on my layout. I love the look of it on others and one of my new Close to my Heart tools is the Stitch Guide with Foam Mat

Now onto the pictures of my layout:

Thanks for stopping by!
Brandi

Happy Birthday - H2H favourite stamp challenge

Happy Monday!

It is time for some more artwork and this time it is not school related...YIPPPEEE!

I had some friends over the other night and I got to work on some scrapbook projects. For this weeks Heart 2 Heart challenges this week the challenge is to use your favourite stamp set on your project. This one was a bit more challenging than I had originally thought it would be; I have so many favourites!

I chose to use a couple of images from some of my favourites. From the stamp set D1506 Family Love I used the saying "Family...together we have it all." I just love that line because really without our families we are nothing. From the set D1407 Piece of Cake, I used one of the birthday cakes, I just love these dainty pretty cakes. The last stamp set I used is C1429 Party Pennants. I used this on the cute little pennants and the Happy Birthday. I love that it is a Dainty set and works so well with the sweet cake. 

Products used:

Paper:

• Card stock: Colonial White, Indian Corn Blue, and Barn Red
• Grace (retired)

Stamps

• C1429 Party Pannants (retired)
• D1407 Piece of Cake (retired)
• D1506 Family Love (retired)

Ink:

• Barn Red
• Honey
• Indian Corn Blue

What is your favourite stamp set? Let us see your work over at Heart 2 Heart challenges this week!

Thanks for stopping by and until next time, happy scrapping!

Brandi

H2H Challenges - It is that time of year....

The most wonderful time of year....back to school time! We are T-minus 9 days until the wee ones are all back in school and we have a routine and order back in our lives. I always chuckle and think of an old commercial for the office supply company Staples had at this time of year, I did not have kids when it was popular and airing but I did get it and now that I have 3 school aged girls, I SOOOO get it. If you would like to see the commercial, you can view it here.

Now while I am super duper excited to see my girls off to school, they are actually more excited than I am. My youngest is starting Kindergarten this year and is so over the moon excited to start school, she has been there a lot with all the volunteering I do and seeing her sisters go off to school every day on the big bus, it has been to much for her to bear and now it is her turn to go. 

To start the year off on the right foot and to introduce myself to our girls new teachers I am making each of them a welcome back card so I can give them my information and a few tips on our girls and their personalities and quirks (they have quite a few quirks!)

Here is the first of the cards I have made so far. 

This card is my design team entry for the Heart to Heart Challenges. The theme this week was inspired by food and well I am not inspired by apples but it went well with this teacher card and an apple is a food, yeah this teacher card was inspired by apples....that is my story and I am sticking to it....tee hee hee!

To see more awesome work from the talented ladies over at H2H just click here.

Products used:

Paper:

- Scholastic (retired)

- Outdoor Denim, Ruby and Colonial White card stock

Ink:

- Ruby

Stamp:

- B1407 School is here

Ribbon:

- Burlap (retired)

Embellisments:

- Artisan Durables

Cricut:

- Art Philosophy

Thanks for stopping by today!

Brandi

A - B - C - 1 - 2 - 3!

Sing along with now....A - B - C - 1 - 2 - 3!

This week over at the Heart 2 Heart Challenges (H2H) we are all inspired by a songs. I had some school pictures for my oldest daughters Senior Kingergarten year to scrapbook and my first thought was the song by the Jackson 5, ABC. I know, not to terribly original but in all honesty every time I see these pictures sitting there this song runs through my mind. 

I loosely followed the Scholastic Workshop on the Go with this layout but had to alter it up a bit due to just the two pictures. I also apologize for blurring but I do not have permission to post pictures of our daughters until the adoption is finalized and I do not have the permission from the parents of all the students in her class either. With our situation, I take online privacy very seriously. 

I do have a couple of embellishments I would like to add but I was running out of time at the crop last night and did not have everything with me. 

Products used:

Paper:
- Scholastic
- Champagne, Cocoa, and Outdoor Denim card stock

Ink:
- Ruby
- Outdoor Denim

Stamps:
- Party Pennants

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my artwork. For more great designs be sure to check out all the work at H2H!

Brandi

Some like it hot! - H2H Challenges

I love warm weather, I hate cold weather! So this weeks theme is right up my alley. This week at H2H - Heart 2 Heart Challenge is "Some like it Hot" that is all the information given to us, so go with what ever inspires you around the theme "Some like it hot." For me I instantly thought of hot weather and the things we love to do in the warm / hot weather and I instantly thought of the pool. We have a summer membership to go to any of the pools in our city any time they are open and we have been spending a lot of time there so far this summer. I designed this layout to showcase some of the many pool and swimming pictures we have taken already this summer. 

Products used:

Paper:
- Surf's Up

Embellishments:
-Surf's Up assortment
- Sparkles Assortment - Blue and Green
- Shimmer Trim - Teal

Cricut:
- Cricut Artbooking

I typically order all my prints for a year at a time and I am waiting for a good deal on prints, once I get the prints I will add them to my layout and do the journaling. 

Thanks for stopping by!
Brandi

Friends are the spice of life! H2H challenges

As I mentioned in my last post with art work that I am on a mission to reach out to some friends who are near and dear to me that I have been slacking on being in touch with. This post brings to us another card for a friend of mine. 

To make this card I used the challenge from Heart 2 Heart challenges (H2H) and the theme this week is The Spice of Life. It could be a spicy color combination, a spicy recipe, or a spicy night out?

I will be honest, I struggled with this challenge. I do not have any spicy nights out, I do not eat spicy food...so I was left with a spicy colour combination. I brought out my old Clementine papers, it is about as spicy as I could find. I guess I really need to add a bit of spice to my life...lol The outside of the card reads, "Friends, lil you are...." and the inside reads, "the spice of life." The sentiment was done on my computer as none of my bazillion Close to My Heart Stamps were working for me on this card. 

Products used:

Paper:

- Clementine (retired)

- Card stock: Champagne and Creme Brûlée

Embellishments:

- Sparkles Assortment round - Brown and Tan

- Flowers - Unknown (not CTMH)

- Buzz and Bumble Assortment

Thanks for stopping by and remember it is never to late to reconnect with someone!

Brandi