THD Challenge 16–Feeling Fall

Hi Everyone and welcome to The Heart Desires Challenge for September!

Fall is just around the corner, though I’m not quite ready to make the transition.  How about you?

Most Seattlites struggle with 80 degree days and yearn for the cool and rain– not me!  I love the seasons, but struggle with transitions, and frankly summer is always snatched away too soon. The older I get, the grumpier I get when summer comes to an end! We’re also experiencing some pretty gnarly weather in Seattle due to numerous wildfires around Washington and in Oregon. Last night’s full corn moon was red again and our sun has been a neon pink orb the last few days as the ash and smoke hang in the air and cover homes, inside and out–more fall cleaning!  It’s pretty surreal– an odd natural beauty born of disaster, lightning, a changing climate, and human carelessness. Certainly many places around the globe are experiencing difficult, and disastrous, seasonal transitions as well. Change is challenging no matter how or when it happens!

So why not head over to The Heart Desires where change is  good and our challenges are more fun?

The colors, patterns, and my thoughts of Central California Coast, where I traveled this summer and where life is all about the beach and surfing, particularly in and around Santa Cruz and Big Sur all influenced my design.  How I’d love to own or rent an Airstream or Vanagon and just live for a month or two traveling up and down the coast!

I created a fall duo with the Flora & Fauna Camper set and Carta Bella’s Autumn & Jen Hadfield’s Warm & Cozy papers, available at The Heart Desires store.

The Warm & Cozy papers are perfect for making these little epoxy buttons.

I used the Concord & 9th Layering Leaves Die to create my “surfboard” cut from cherry wood veneer.

The wheels were cut twice to create the silver rims, and then I used Matte Sprinkles for the tires.

The envelope die isn’t available at the Heart Desires– it’s an exclusive Neat and Tangled product, but it makes the best wrapper for pretty much every card.

Finally, the inside is finished with some ombre aqua washi, reminiscent of the ocean & echoing the tires on the bus!  You might also note that the blue of the table in the challenge picture also inspired the use of this color– aqua and orange are such an amazing combo!

Since I’m posting this feature a day late, I’m also over on the Heart Desires blog today, Thursday, with another card featuring the Flora and Fauna Camper!  Head over there and learn more about it!

That’s it for me!  Here’s to smooth transitions, happy trails and good vibes!

Hang loose!

When you post your entries, feel free to tag us on social media!

#thdchallenge, #theheartdesiresstore #thdstore

THD Challenge 15!!

Hey everyone! 

You’re going to love this month’s challenge!

Some of my favorite colors happening here!!

I’m vacationing this week in sunny California (well, sunny that is after the fog burns off, as I’m in Central CA!) and these colors scream Santa Cruz boardwalk, so I brought my finished card along for a photo op here! Here the narwhal is overlooking Santa Cruz wharf and the freaking majestic Monterey Bay!

You can find the Neighborly Narwhal at the Heart Desires store, along with the Gina Marie cross-stitch circle/rectangle dies and WeRMemory Keepers Next Level embossing folder! Everything is layered on a gold cardstock base!

Santa Cruz Boardwalk Photo by Kate Lorenzini 

Hope you’ll play along with us this month!

THD Challenge & Celebration

Hello Everyone and welcome to a special THD Challenge for July!

We just celebrated Toni’s birthday and the 4th of July, and now we’re celebrating the first anniversary of The Heart Desires Store with a sale and a new THD Challenge this month with a hop where you could be a winner! 

Here’s our current inspiration!

This month’s Hop Rules

There are up to 3 opportunities to win a $20 gift certificate to the store.

• Leave a comment on the challenge post on the blog, on IG, and/or FB. You must be a follower of each platform you comment on for your vote to count.
• Enter the July challenge for an additional chance to win a $10 gift certificate. Don’t forget to link back to the challenge in your personal post.
• Winners will be randomly selected from the eligible entries and announced August 2 so you have plenty of time to comment and enter.

Challenge Rules

• NEW:  A randomly selected participant each month will receive a $10 gift certificate to the store. Who doesn’t like an excuse to shop?!
• NEW:  If you would like to be a guest designer on the blog, please add GD next to your name when you enter.
• Don’t worry. We’ll still be choosing our favorites and offering the opportunity for the winner to guest design for the challenge.
• Challenges will run from the first Wednesday to the last day of each month.
• Enter up to 3 times and combine with no more than 5 challenges, including ours.
• Include the challenge inspiration pic or link in your post.
• The challenge winner will be invited to be a future guest designer.
• Most importantly, have fun!!!!

When you post your entries, feel free to tag us on social media!

#thdchallenge, #theheartdesiresstore

Oh, and did we mention a sale?

And now for how I was inspired by our challenge graphic!

 

I pulled together some things old, some things new for this one!  I had a few leftover Waffle Flower floral die cuts that had been colored with Brushos from my card in the April challenge. While I was playing around with them, I realized they could double as both fireworks and anemones!  Here they are playing the role of the latter!

I love how they look with the Memory Box underwater collage dies.  The inner panel was cut from hand-colored alcohol inked glossy paper; the outer from the Gina Marie cross-stitch die. The top one is adhered with a cute clip from Michael’s mermaid line!

The inner panel was colored with Distress inks and then sprayed with Heidi Swap Color Shine.  I then stamped a sentiment from Waffle Flower’s Flora Cat Play.

I put a clear dot from Tear Drops and Clear dots in the flower’s center.

Finally, I added one of my sequin strands that uses a variety of sequins, including Hero Arts Ombre sequins and some anchor washi from Target on the inside!  The base paper is from an old collection from Glitz Design.

Thanks for celebrating with us! I look forward to seeing what you create this month! Click on any of the links below to purchase items used in my card for 20% off!

Supplies from THD Store:

Memory Box Seaweed Collage and Underwater Collage Dies; Waffleflower Flora Cat Play sentiment; Gina Marie Stitched Rectangle die; Distress Ink Tumbled Glass Mermaid Lagoon; Ranger Mini Ink Blending tool; Ranger Watercolor paper; Brushos Ultramarine; Hero Arts Ombre Sequins

 

No Drama, Llama! It’s THD Challenge 13!

Well, there are no llamas in this month’s inspiration photo, but there are some pretty fantastic images, and to say nothing of the color scheme.  I love the citron, red and grey combo– so unexpected and not a combo I would usually work with, which makes creating even more exciting. I hope you’ll feel the same way because we want you to help us celebrate a whole year of The Heart Desires’ challenges!

Here’s some more inspiration to get you started~

First up, No Drama Llama!

Flora and Fauna’s newly launched products are fabulous and Tonya has most of them in the store!

I love the llama die cut, and here I have cut it once from card stock, once from fun foam/Stick it, and then stamped it using one of the cats from Waffle Flower’s Flora Cat set!

The back of the cat created a curved line that worked perfectly with the lines of the llama.

I’ve also covered the rest of the llama with Flower Soft and inlaid glossy black cardstock into the reins.

I have also used Waffle Flower’s Hey, Hello, Hi die cut for the sentiment.

Inside, I used Concord and 9th’s Sophisticated Script letters to create some of the sentiment.

I created another card using the grey, black, citron and red scheme.

First I stamped a Concord & 9th Tree Ring in Unicorn White ink, heat set, and water colored with Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, and Shabby Shutters Distress Inks.  Tonya has many of the Distress Inks and new Oxide Distress Inks in store!

I used the Distress Inks to splatter a background on to Ranger Watercolor paper.
I layered the rest of the elements and finished with the Waffle Flower sentiment.

Here’s how it all wrapped up!  Taking my cue from the green and bamboo plates in the inspiration photo!

So how will you help us celebrate our anniversary this month? In what ways might you stretch your stamps and supplies that will surprise you? I cannot wait to see how we’ve inspired you!

Thanks for playing along with us for the past year– here’s to this month and the next eleven!

THD Challenge #12: Flights of Fancy

When I think of this month’s challenge graphic, fancy free comes to mind.  This is absolutely one of my favorite inspirations of the year– and our team really rose to the challenge in their bold and fanciful interpretations.  Can’t really get better than aqua, hot pink and silver or gold.  Look at those old books stacked up (those colors–swoon) or that gilded table setting; not to mention the dress with that bag!

Last month’s turnout was stellar, and I hope you will participate again, and bring your friends to this colorful party!

I’ve incorporated the colors, butterflies, florals and even books into my piece– and I’ve even upcycled!  The craft/art world sadly generates quite a bit of plastic and waste, so I try to reuse as much of the packaging as I can, and recycle what I cannot.  Here I have used a glossy cardboard purple-dotted background piece from a selection of paperclips. It is cut from the Gina Marie Cross Stitch rectangle die.

My card also features a favored technique you’ve seen me use before with the Altenew Wild Hibiscus florals and butterfly stamped on vellum and, this time, patterned paper, then heat embossed.  This set is designed for Mother’s Day, which is coming up soon, so I will be featuring the set in a future post that also uses our challenge graphic.  Stay tuned!

Where are the books in my design?  Well, hidden a bit, but I have cut a strip from Maggie Holmes’ Chasing Dreams paper collection that matches our inspiration graphic perfectly. This paper is a line up of vintage books– and all our colors are featured!

 

I am having a serious love affair with these Doodlebug Design Matte Sprinkles.  They are exactly  like the old-fashioned button candy that comes on the paper strips.  I loved this candy as a kid, but hated getting the paper off the candies.  The goal was a perfect peel-away.  Nothing worse for a kid with hyper-sensory processing than eating paper!  I am a really tactile person, and certain textures create extremely negative responses. But these little epoxy dots, I really, really want to eat. The colors are ridiculously delicious too. (No sprinkles were hurt or consumed in the making of this card)

Finally, I used Waffle Flower’s With Love die for the sentiment, adhering only one corner and popping it up for dimension.  You know I love my dimension and texture!  The inside is finished with some ombre washi.  If you are wondering about the phenomenal background paper– well, sadly it is no longer available.  This is truly a one-of-a-kind card because it uses a scrap of old Basic Grey paper.  Amy and I horde our Basic Grey, but it comes out every now and again for special cards!  I sure do miss that company!

But Tonya’s has many great items from some of your favorite companies– so this month play along, possibly with some new goodies from THD–check out her updated selection!

I can’t wait to see how you’re inspired!

Take flight!