Heart 2 Heart Challange

I just joined Close To My Heart this month as an independent consultant because I love to scrapbook AND because they had such an awesome deal that was too good to pass up!  I'm still not sure I'm going to be able to make this a business but I know how much I will use the products I got.  It was like Christmas in May when I received my kit.  Check out all you can get ($300 worth of products) for $65 this month only!
This week on Heart to Heart Challenges they wanted us to show our favorite technique.  Well I'm still learning so many different techniques (and having so much fun doing it!) but I think my favorite so far is sponging.  I love the look of sponging, the easy of making subtle or more intense color and the way you can coordinate your colors with any of the 60 exclusive inks offered. I especially like that I can make my white cardstock ANY color!  In this layout I used the sponge to ink the letters in the title and the circles to make the pink flower.

   Last week Stephanie Huber showed us how to make these flowers.  They were so easy once I got the hang of it.  It did take me a few tries.  You can use the circle punch to make six circles.  (I used the cricuit for these because I wanted my flowers slightly smaller)  Then I sponged the circles with smoothie ink.

Then I folded the circles to form a cone.

After making six cones, I glued them to a slightly larger circle with the points meeting in the center, added a brad and . . . FLOWER! 

I loved them so much I used them to make a card and I'm sure I'll use them in more layouts of my little girl!
Just another reason I am enjoying Close To My Heart!