Last Christmas Card of 2017 for AHSC #244

Hello again, crafty friends!  I truly hope everyone had a truly wonderful Christmas holiday!  Several of my family members got sick over the holidays so we haven't been able to get together with everyone just yet but maybe this will just help us extend the magic of the season.  At any rate, I procrastinated a lot less this season but I still found myself running behind for a couple of projects so I managed to get one more Christmas card put together and this week's sketch at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge worked out perfectly for what I had in mind. 

This card is for my best friend's daughter who happens to have Downs Syndrome, and she is one of the sweetest people I have ever met.  She is still a big believer in Santa and she has gotten into adult coloring books just lately (which is what we got her for her gift this year) so I thought it was only fitting to work in some watercolors on her Christmas card to show her I still like to color too!

details:  I started with the Christmas themed paper from the first year I discovered CTMH, which is called Believe.  I used black Memento ink to stamp this adorable Santa and reindeer images from last year's Reindeer Bells set, which I then filled in with watercolor pencils.  To frame the images, I ran pieces of white and Topiary (retired) cardstock through my Cuttlebug using this scalloped die with an embossed stitched border from My Favorite Things (MFT) and pieced them together.  For the sentiment, I used Versamark ink and white embossing powder with the retired Say It All stamp set.  Due to the stamped images I chose, I will also be submitting it to the Christmas Critters theme over at the Heart 2 Heart Challenge.

And now I officially done with the last of my Christmas cards and gifts and ready to get started on my goals for 2018, which definitely included more crafting projects!  I hope crafting continues to be in your future too, and that you find time to play with this week's sketch at AHSC.  As always, you have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 12/31/17, to link your project HERE.

Thanks for stopping by happy crafting in 2018!  ~~  Annette

Silver and Gold Anniversary Wishes

Hello again, crafty friends!  I found inspiration from this week's sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge to make a festive - and shiny - anniversary card for my husband.  I designed it so that it looks like a "happy new year" kind of card because we actually eloped on December 31st over 30 years ago.

There is also a Silver and Gold theme going on this month at the Heart2Heart challenge blog this month, and it's been a long time since I've played along with their challenges so it will be a fun bonus for me to add this card to their gallery.

details:  I started with an 5.5 x 4.25" base of gold foil paper.  I ran a 5.25 x 4" piece of black cardstock through my Cuttlebug with the retired CTMH confetti embossing folder, and then I used a handy little hole punch tool from the Martha Stewart collection to punch out each of those holes so I could back the black with the gold paper and hopefully the pattern would look like shiny champagne bubbles rising to the top of the glass.  I then cut strips of silver and gold foil paper as well as strips of silver and gold glitter paper, all at 5/8 x 4", ran the glitter papers through the retired scallop border punch, and adhered them onto the the foil papers to create a scalloped interpretation of the 4 horizontal lines element of the sketch.  I used gold embossing powder and Versamark ink to heat emboss this sentiment from the retired Say It All stamp set on black paper backed with more silver foil.  The image of champagne glasses is from the M-sized Good Cheer stamp set (you will need to mask or carefully "amputate" the image to get the glasses without the sentiment in the middle), stamped with black Memento ink on White Daisy cardstock backed with another layer of both silver and gold foil papers.  I couldn't resist adding one more touch of sparkle by filling in the champagne glasses and bubbles with the gold shimmer brush, one of my favorite embellishments!

There are so many possibilities with this sketch at AHSC and we would love to see your take on it.  As always, you have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 12/17/17, to link your projects HERE.  You can also check out the rest of the design team's creations by following THIS link.  Happy holidays!  ~~  Annette

Blush and Gold Birthday Wishes for AHSC #240

Hello again, crafty friends!  Michelle Stewart has brought us another fabulous sketch to work with this week at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge, which I used for inspiration for a birthday card for my daughter.  Before I get into the details, I want to encourage everyone to share their take on this week's sketch by linking your projects HERE by 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 12/3/17.  You can also view the rest of the design team's creations by following THIS link. 

My daughter's 23rd birthday was this week and I wanted to make her a card that was both a little more grown up than the cards I've made her thus far.  She has several blouses that are either pale pink or white with gold accents and they have become the favorites in her wardrobe, so that was the inspiration for this card's color scheme.

details:  All products are from CTMH.  In order to size the banner and medallion elements the way I wanted, I had to upscale to a 5 x 7" card base.  I used gold foil paper for the base layer and then I used my Cricut and the retired Art Philosophy cartridge to cut this scalloped rectangle from Bashful glitter paper.  The white paper with gold foil hearts is from the current Silver and Gold kit and the balloons were cut from white and gold glitter paper at 1.5" using the retired Artiste cartridge, tied together with white and gold twine, and popped up with thin 3-D foam tape.  The other half of the triangle was a little trickier:  I started with the lighter side of the Bashful cardstock and over that I layered this clear, gold dotted acetate "paper" from the All About the Gold fundamental papers from the 2016-17 Idea Book.  Since it's clear acetate, I ran the piece through my large Xyron so there was a fairly consistent, widespread adhesive coverage.  For the banner, I used Versamark and gold embossing powder to heat emboss this sentiment from the retired Card Chatter - Birthday stamp set on white cardstock, backed on another piece of gold foil paper.  The base of the medallion was punched from gold foil paper using the retired 2" scallop punch.  The smaller scallop was cut on the lighter shade of Bashful cardstock, again using the retired Art Philosophy cartridge, at 1.5" and a duplicate medallion (with a 1.32" circle sliced from it) was cut from gold glitter paper.  I decided at the last minute, once I had my Cricut put away, that the medallion needed another layer so I cut one from white cardstock using my Cuttlebug and the smallest die from the basic circles Thin Cuts set.  The numbers were cut from gold foil paper at 0.658" with the alpha from the retired Artbooking cartridge.

For the inside, I used Pixie ink to stamp another sentiment from the same Card Chatter - Birthday set.  I used Bashful glitter paper and gold foil paper with the retired gift Thin Cut die to create the present in the left corner, and Bashful glitter paper with the smallest of the retired hearts Thin Cuts dies (the thin heart is from the actual die shape and smaller, "solid" heart is the "negative space" piece that was left over).  And that's all there is to this one... except for the mess I made and now have to clean up, LOL.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Warm Winter Wishes for AHSC #238

Hello there, crafty friends!  Once again, Michelle Stewart has brought us another fabulous sketch to work with this week at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and our design team has come up with a great variety of projects to share with you.  For my project, I went "old school" and broke out mostly retired products for a snowman themed holiday card.  Let's get started!






details:  I have always loved this Wonderland paper kit and have been hoarding my last pieces.  However, one of my dearest friends is fond of snowmen and this was the prettiest snow-themed paper I had in my  stash.  The main colors for this kit were Crystal Blue, Spring Iris, Heavenly Blue, and Twilight so I tried to incorporate those colors as much as possible, starting with a base of Spring Iris CS.  I created the snowman from the Flakey Friends stamp set, starting with Slate ink on White Daisy CS.  I stamped the image twice so I could fussy cut, color, and layer parts of the image.  I sponged Spring Iris ink onto the scarf and hat sets and then used the same colored ink marker to darken some of the areas.  I used the Mahogany ShinHan alcohol marker for the arms and the Light Orange for the carrot nose.  I stamped the sentiment from last year's Cozy Christmas set in Crystal Blue and the banner in Spring Iris using this spring's Hello Lovely cardmaking set.  I used the smaller of the 2-piece snowflakes Thin Cuts set and white glitter paper for the large snowflake and the largest of the 4-piece basic ovals Thin Cuts to cut a piece out of the top layer of paper and another from a coordinating piece to inset.  For the smaller flakes in the lower left corner and framing the snowman, I used a mini snowflake punch from an off-brand called Studio G which I picked several years ago at Wal-Mart.  I punched some of the snowflakes from white glitter paper and last year's Sea Glass glitter paper.  Then I sponged and blended Crystal Blue, Heavenly Blue, and Spring Iris onto the slick white back of an off-brand silver foil paper, which I have done before as it gives an almost-pearlescent finish when inked, and punched some more mini snowflakes at random from those blended colors, which I also added to the sentiment banner.

Don't forget to check out the rest of the design team's creations and we'd love to see your take on this week's sketch too!  As always, you have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central time on Sunday, 11/19/17, to link your projects HERE.  Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Navy, White & Gold for AHSC #236

Hello again, crafty friends!  Once again, Michelle Stewart has brought us another fabulous sketch to work with this week over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.  As soon as I saw it, I knew it was time to challenge myself to something I'd been thinking about for some time.  Let's get started!

The holidays can be difficult for many of us, particularly after the loss of a loved one.  Some very dear friends have lost not one but two sons in recent years to a rare disease, Epidermolysis Bullosa or EB for short, and the children born with this condition are often referred to as "butterfly children."  So I've been trying to come up with butterfly themed cards to send them every now and then to let them know I'm thinking of them, and lately I've been thinking about how to best create an image of two butterflies flying out of a jar, and this week's AHSC sketch lent itself perfectly with what I had in mind.

details:  I needed some space to play with for this one so the white card base is 5 x 7" and the Sapphire blue paper with white lines (from last year's Enchantment fundamentals by CTMH) is 4.75 x 6.75."  I used the retired Art Philosophy cartridge for the butterfly images, using the gold-flower imprinted paper from the Live Beautifully kit for the base and gold glitter paper for the top layer.  I used another paper from the Live Beautifully kit (white with small gold dots) and a scallop border punch for the 3 horizontal stipes.  I chose white cardstock and gold foil paper with another cut from the AP cartridge to frame this sentiment from the retired "Say It All" set, which was stamped with sapphire ink.  I used the Flower Market cartridge and white vellum to create the jar, which was embellished with white and gold ribbon.  BTW, choosing an adhesive that looks good under vellum can be tricky but I liked the way the look I got after I ran the die cut through my Xyron adhesive applicator; it gave a uniform coverage that I thought made the vellum look even  more like a glass jar where it secured to the paper.
Bonus: for those that have both the Art Philosophy and Flower Market cartridges and want to create their own versions of this card:  https://design.cricut.com/#/landing/user-project/72796141

So that's all there is to this one.  We would love to see your take on this sketch too!  As always, you have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 11/6/17, to link your projects HERE.  You can also check out the rest of the design team's projects as well the top 3 from last week's sketch by following THIS link.  Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Halloween Monsters for AHSC #234

Hello and welcome back, crafty friends!  Michelle Stewart has another fun sketch for us to work with this week at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.  I miss celebrating Halloween now that there aren't any little ones at my house so I decided to have some seasonal fun with this week's project

details:  I started with the Jeepers Creepers paper pack, which was last year's Halloween kit from CTMH.  I used two of the patterned paper from the kit as well as two of the PML cards.  I broke out a retired alpha stamp set called Tiny Typewriter and Lagoon ink to create the sentiment I wanted in the word bubble.  I also used Lagoon ink to create the upside down monster from the Monstrous Halloween stamp set and Thin Cuts, which I positioned on Pansy cardstock.  I fussy cut some tiny monsters from one of the kit's zip strips for embellishments and added some light green glitter glue to create a "slime trail" under the purple monster.  I love these colors and the whimsical monsters so much, I think I'm going to have to make this card part of a layout of the various costumes my kids wore when they went trick or treating.

You can see what the rest of the design team came up with by following this link.  Of course, we would love to see your take on this sketch as well.  As always, you have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central to add your projects HERE.  Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Ribbons of Courage for AHSC #232

Hello again, crafty friends!  Today's project is especially dear to me as every October I create a pink ribbon card in honor of my mother, who lost her battle to a rare form of breast cancer.  I have been planning this card for months and I was so pleased when this week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge had the perfect sketch for what I had in mind.  **Please allow me a moment of your time for my annual public service announcement:  Early prevention is the best weapon in the fight against breast cancer so please schedule your annual mammogram and take a minute to remind your friends, the lives of our loved ones are worth fighting for!**
Before we get to the details of this card, I also want to remind you that you have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 10/8/17, to submit your take on this sketch, which you can do HERE, and you can check out the rest of the design team's AMAZING creations here.

details:  Not only is this cause very dear to me, but this card incorporates several of my current favorite craft supplies.  As soon as I saw this Ribbons of Courage stamp and die set from Stampin' Up, I fell in love with it and knew it would be the centerpiece of this year's pink ribbon project.  I was so happy this week's sketch had those "ribbons" at the bottom so I could add these adorable Thin Cuts Hearts Border.  And I am totally in love with this Stronger Together stamp set; not only does this set contain 8 sweetly supportive sentiments that will forever be in style, but all proceeds of this set have been designated for Red Cross relief funds for our friends and neighbors affected by the recent wildfires and hurricanes.  Seriously, so much heart went into the elements of this card from so many sources, it truly touches my heart and I am so happy to share it with you!


COVER:  I started with a 6 x 4" card, which was actually cut at 6 x 12" as this is a tri-fold card.  I used this floral patterned paper from the Basics Fundamentals collection as the base layer , using the lighter "flip side" of Pewter cardstock (5 3/8 x 3 1/2"), and the lighter side of Bashful cardstock on top of that (5 1/16 x 3 1/4").  On the center panel (4 7/8 x 3 1/8"), I used Bashful ink for the "swipe" of color from the retired Brush Strokes stamp set.  The sentiment is from the Stronger Together, stamped with Pewter ink.

I used the Hearts Border Thin Cuts to create this two-layer border with the lighter shade of Pewter cardstock for the base and Bashful glitter paper for the delicate row of hearts for the top layer, using a glue pen for adhesive.  Then I used Pixie ink to stamp this floral ribbon from the SU Ribbons of Courage set on the lighter shade of Bashful cardstock, die cut the ribbon, and popped it up with bits of 3-D foam tape.

INNER FOLD:  The Pewter ink was a tad too dark for this sweet littler wreath from the retired White Pines cardmaking stamp set, so I went with Heather instead.  Likewise, the Bashful ink was a little too light to stand out when paired with the wreath image, so I used Pixie ink for this sentiment from the retired Here For You Workshop Your Way kit.  I used the glue pen and negative space hearts from the border cut on the cover to embellish the wreath with the tiny pink hearts.

INSIDE:  I purposely kept this inside of this card super simple, using Pewter ink with another sentiment from the Stronger Together stamp set, as I planned this card with plenty of room for lots of signatures so that a group (whether it's a group of coworkers, fellow church members, or a group of besties) to come together to show support for their newly diagnosed loved one.  After all, a great support team is invaluable in fighting any illness, particularly cancer.

 A lot of heart, and a lot of time and effort, went into this one but I'm very pleased with how it turned out.  And while I hope and pray it isn't needed for anyone I know anytime soon, it will be ready to round up support should that day come.  Until we find a cure, we have to fight cancer together.

In loving memory of my mother, Diane, who was and will always be my hero.  ~~  Annette

From The Heart for CTMH Featured Products Blog Hop

Hello again, crafty friends!  Welcome back to another edition of the Close To My Heart (CTMH) Featured Products Blog Hop.  This week's hop features CTMH's From the Heart stamp set and interactive card kit, which is available only during the month of September in honor of National Stamping Month.  It has been a busy summer and we are a small group of hoppers so we took a bit of a break and this week it's just Corinna and myself, but we are back and ready to go just in time to start gearing up for the holiday season!  Let's get started:

This is the photo CTMH gave provided of the stamp set and card kit together.  As you can see, it's stunning with virtually endless stamping possibilities.

And this is what I chose to do with the stamp set:

 

It took some trial and error to find the color combos I liked and then a little bit of practice with layering the stamps but it was totally worth it.  I will post the colors I used at the end of the post, but first I want to share a couple of tips I used in making this card:

1.  I found it easier to stamp the darker color first, regardless if that was the base layer of the "effects" layer.
2.  For the darker color of ink, I used the traditional stamping technique and firmly pressed the mounted stamp onto the ink pad once or twice to ensure full coverage.  Then for the lighter layer, I used a combination of the rock & roll method and lightly patting the stamp onto the ink pad so that there was less-than-full coverage which I feel lent a more dimensional, almost watercolor look to some of the images.

I really urge you to pick up this From the Heart stamp set, and perhaps the combined stamp and card kit, before they're gone.  Not only are the flowers gorgeous, but the images will give you a fun chance to stretch your stamping abilities and there is a set of sentiments in this set that you will be able to use in your cardmaking for years to come.

Don't forget to hop on over to Corinna's blog to see what projects she has created for you, you'll be glad you did!  I hope you will join us again on October 4th for the Beary Merry Christmas hop, too.  Thanks for stopping by and happy stamping!  ~~  Annette


Purple flowers:  Eggplant & Pansy with Canary and Flaxen (for the dots) for the centers

Pink flowers:  Raspberry for both layers (I just patted or dabbed the stamp onto the ink pad for the lighter layer but you could also do a second generation stamp) and Canary for the centers

Yellow flowers:  Tangerine & Lemon

Blue Flowers:  Pacifica (first generation for the lines and second generation for the main flower) with Willow for the stems (hint:  stamp the stems first, it's much easier to line things up that way)

Leaves:  Sweet Leaf for the base (again, rock and roll it and/or tap/pat it for a lighter, variegated look) and Willow for the veins and darker half-leaf

PAPERS:  Willow for the card base, Pansy for the panel behind the sentiment, and Raspberry for the sentiment which was die cut using my Cuttlebug and the retired Hello & Thanks Thin Cut die set

Sweet Tidings for AHSC #230

Hello again, crafty friends!  I have been planning several Christmas cards but didn't intend to actually start making them for another week or two, but something about this week's sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge just put me in a festive mood.  I tried several variations on this sketch but this is the one I kept coming back to and fine tuning, and I am finally happy with it... I think, lol.

We would love to see your take on this week's sketch, too.  As always, you have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 9/24/17, to play along and you can link your project HERE.  Don't forget to check out the rest of the design team's projects too, you are sure to be inspired by what they've created for you!  Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

details:  I started with the City Sidewalks papers (retired) and I chose to focus on 3 colors: Willow, Cranberry, and Glacier.  The 5 1/2 x 4 1/4" card base is on Cranberry cardstock; the 3 x 4" green patterned panel is from City Sidewalks and the diagonal striped piece is one of the zip strips from that kit.  The center panel and mini banners are cut from Cranberry, White Daisy, and Glacier cardstocks.  

All the stamped images are from a new set called Season of Sweetness.  I used Nutmeg ink to stamp the cookie images on Colonial White cardstock (retired) and then I stamped the images on White Daisy and fussy cut them - yes, even the TINY pieces of the Christmas tree cookie - and layered them onto the Colonial White pieces as I was trying to make them look like frosted sugar cookies.  I don't know how well I succeeded with that, but I can tell you I did succeed in starting a craving for sugar cookies!

Falling For You, So Blessed and AHSC #228

Hello again, crafty friends!  Autumn is my favorite season and it's fast approaching, but I couldn't wait any longer to break out some fall themed craft supplies and this week's sketch from the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge provided the perfect opportunity.  Let's get started!

details:  I started with the Falling For You paper pack and I chose to focus on three particular colors from the kit:  Fern, Goldrush, and Nutmeg.  I cut the green orange leaves from one of the patterned papers in this kit, and the green stripe and brown banner are also patterned papers from the same kit.  I used black Memento ink to stamp this feather image from the September Stamp of the Month, Feel So Blessed.  I used sponge daubers to layer Almond, Toffee, and Nutmeg inks.  To add a little more dimension to the colors, I used the Clay ShinHan marker to fill in some of the lines.  I also used the Feel So Blessed stamp set for the sentiment which was stamped in Nutmeg.  For a little shine, I used a scallop border punch and a strip of gold glitter paper for the bottom border strip, punched a heart shape out of the same paper.  I had some retired puffies sets lying around and discovered there were some tiny gold glittery leaves so I added a trio of those in the upper corner as well.  Have I mentioned that autumn is my favorite season?

Don't forget to check out the design team's projects, you are sure to be inspired!  We would love to see your take on this sketch, too!  As always, you have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central to link your project, which you can do HERE.  Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Thinking of You for AHSC #226

Hello again, crafty friends!  Michelle Stewart has provided us with another fabulous sketch to work with this week at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge blog.  There are endless possibilities with this one and we would love to see your take on it.  As always, you have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 8/27/17, to enter your project HERE.  Happy crafting!  ~~  Annette























details:  I recently came across these pretty papers from the long retired Sophia kit from CTMH and I thought they would be a great choice for this sketch.  I used washi tape to line up the largest two basic circles dies to form the circular frame for this "thinking of you" sentiment from the new Sending Prayers set.  I finished the card up with a white paper flower, various brads, and the smallest size of the Bashful pearls.

Birthday Roses for AHSC #224

Hello and welcome back, crafty friends!  I am so excited to finally share this post, as not only has Michelle Stewart given us another fun and fabulous sketch to play with but this is also the start of a new term with new Design Team members at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge blog, but this is also my first project featuring new product from CTMH's new Annual Inspirations Idea Book.  It's like Christmas in August!

details:  CTMH has introduced Bashful as their Color of the Year and I thought it would be the perfect starting point for this  card.  I started with a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" card base in Bashful and a 4 x 5 1/4" layer of White Daisy.  I used the rose embossing folder on the two side panels and ran a thin strip of this retired dark pink glitter paper through the scallop border punch.  The rose was created with the Beautiful You layered stamp and coordinating Thin Cut die set using Bashful, Pixie, and Pomegranate inks for the flower and Fern and New England Ivy for the leaves.  When the flower was complete and I had it placed where I wanted it, I also went over it with the clear shimmer brush and added one of the smaller white pearls.  I used Pomegranate ink with the A Bunch of Love stamp set for the sentiment and the Hello Lovely stamp set and coordinating Thin Cut for the frame (both of which are retired now).

We would love to see your take on this week's sketch, too!  As always, you have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central to share your creation, which you can link up HERE.  Also, I hope you take time to check out the rest of the Design Team's projects and maybe stop by their blogs and show them some love and welcome our new members.  Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  Annette

Jack Meets CTMH Featured Products Blog Hop

Hello and welcome back to another installment of the Close To My Heart (CTMH) Featured Products Blog Hop.  This week we are bringing you inspiration from the Jack paper kit and/or its coordinating stamp sets.  While this was supposed to be part of a hop, life gets busy sometimes so I'm the only one officially participating this week but make sure you check out the whole post as I have included a fabulous Guest Designer project from a talented CTMH Consultant named Kim Wolff - you will definitely want to check it out!

In case you aren't familiar with it, Jack is a fun, outdoorsy collection with lots of possibilities.  It's great for masculine cards, which I never seem to have enough of, so I came up this this retirement card for our favorite auto mechanic.  Not only has he been a friend of the family for over 20 years, but he is a good mechanic and honest businessman, and although he has hasn't actually announced his retirement yet he has been talking about it more and more and we will be lost without his work and professional advice!

All products are from CTMH.
papers: Black cardstock & Jack kit
stamps/ dies:
Wreath and coordinating Thin Cut,   Hooked On You, and the No Worries stamp and coordinating Thin Cut, Basic Circles Thin Cut (2nd largest one in the set)
ink:  Black Memento ink

And now, as promised, here is an absolutely adorable Christmas card recently shared HERE by Kim Wolff:

Isn't it fabulous?!?!  Please make sure you take a minute to visit her Facebook business page to show her some love and encouragement.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will visit again on 8/16/17 when our theme will be Back To School.  Happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Wild Things for AHSC 222

Hello again, crafty friends!  Michelle Stewart has come up with another great sketch for us to play with this week at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and I can't wait to see what everyone makes out of this one.  A few weeks ago I was gifted with a cute little stamp set by a young crafting friend and this sketch gave me the perfect opportunity to ink it up.  Let's get started!






details:  I don't have a name or manufacturer for the stamp set that the monkey, vines, and boy and girl came from, but the sentiment is from CTMH's retired Wild Wonders set.  The card base is cut from Topiary CS, the patterned paper is from the Calypso kit, and I used Sunset CS to back the sentiment piece.  The monkey was stamped using Chocolate ink on Cashmere CS, and the boy/girl images were stamped on watercolor paper with black Memento ink and colored with a variety of ShinHan markers.  Although you can't really see it in the picture, I popped the girl image up with 3-D tape for a little added dimension and visual interest.

This was a fun sketch and we'd love to see your take on it, too!  As always, you have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central to link up your projects, which you can do HERE.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting! ~~ Annette

School Kids Retirement Card for CTMH Featured Products Blog Hop

Hello and welcome back to another installment of the Close To My Heart (CTMH) Featured Products Blog Hop.  July is Stampaganza! month which means it's time for our month-long Buy 2-Get 1 Free special on our fabulous My Acrylix stamps, which makes this the perfect time to use STAMPS as the theme for our hop!  It's a short hop this week, just me and Tara Hendrickson from Tara's Treasure Trove, so don't forget to hop on over and see her *adorable* project and FYI, it's her  first time joining our little hop so be sure to leave her a comment to welcome her aboard!

BTW, you'll have to pardon the blurry photos for this project.  It was specially commissioned by just about the dearest, sweetest lady I know: my sister-in-law's mother who also happens to be my neighbor, Erma.  She wanted a unique and humorous retirement card for a lifelong friend who just decided to retire from being a paraeducator in our school district for many years.  As soon as Erma and I talked, I knew what stamps I wanted to use but then time got away from me and I was cutting it really close to the surprise party friends had planned for the retiree, and I nearly forgot to get a photo after my hard work so I had to settle on snapping a hurried pic with my tablet.

 details:  I started by using this lovely watercolor-patterned Crystal Blue paper from the recently retired Whimsy fundamentals pack for the sky.  I used my journaling pen to draw "hills" on this Emerald patterned piece from the Prickly Pear kit.  I needed a lot of words in a little space for this sentiment so I printed it on White Daisy cardstock on my computer, trimmed it to size and rounded the corners, and backed it with this flowered piece that's also from the Prickly Pear kit.  All the stamps the card front are from the School Kids set and were colored with a variety of ShinHan markers

For the inside, I used the ruler image from this set and Black Memento ink on this gray woodgrain patterned paper from the Rustic Home Fundamentals paper pack (isn't it great how CTMH sized that to fit so perfectly on an A2 sized card?!?!).  I used markers and the other two childrens' images from the School Kids set along with these adorable heart-shaped balloons from the Happy For You stamp set, which also provided the sentiment I used here.  I am happy to say Erma was thrilled with this card and I was so glad to help make a little something for two dear friends.

This card was just a little bit "simpler said than done," that's all there is to it but I loved how it turned out.  Don't for get to hop on over to see what Tara has in store for you, and please come back on Wednesday, 8/2/17, when our next theme will be the Jack paper kit and/or the coordinating stamps.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting! ~~ Annette

Flowery Thanks for AHSC #220

Hello again, crafty friends!  I took a week off from crafting to get my home in order so we could host a family dinner for my husband's 50th birthday, and it feels like I've been gone forever!  And while I dearly love celebrating holidays and occasions with family and friends, I am ready to get back into my old, familiar routine again.  So I thought it was only fitting to create a thank you card for my sweet sister in law who was a big help, and this week's sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge was perfect for the occasion!



























All products are from Close To My Heart:
New England Ivy cardstock was used for the 7 x 5" card base.
Pink variegated paper was from retired Happy Times (HT) kit cut at 6 3/4 x 4 3/4."
Flower patterned paper was also from HT, cut at 6 1/2 x 4 1/2."
The banner was cut at 5 1/2 x 3 1/4" using the same pink variegated paper.
The Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge was used to cut the scalloped oval from NE Ivy cardstock using at 2."
The center oval was from White Daisy cardstock using the Thin Cuts - Basic Ovals (largest of 4).
The sentiment was stamped with New England Ivy ink using the Scripty Thank You stamp and colored using the following ShinHan alcohol markers:  Sap Green, Leaf Green, Tender Pink, Cherry Pink, Light Orange, Marigold, Golden Yellow, and Clay.
The rolled flower was cut using the AP cartridge using the   setting at 3" and held together with Liquid Glass adhesive, and a retired medium sized pearl was added to the center.  The leaves were cut freeform from a zip strip from the HT kit.

We would love to see your take on this fabulous sketch.  As always, you have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 7/16/17, and you can link your projects HERE.  You can also follow this link to view the other design team members' projects.  FYI, the AHSC team is recruiting new members so if you have an interest is creating a sketch-based project every other week for a 6-month term, you can find out how to apply by going to THIS PAGE.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting! ~~ Annette

Friendly Fun with AHSC #218

Hello again, crafty friends!  I hope your summer is off to a wonderful start.  Even though my youngest is 22 years old, summer is still a busy time.  There is more yardwork to do, more housework as we live on a gravel road so dusting is an endless chore, and there are lots more things we want to go do.  And if you live in the midwest like we do, summer is also fair time, whether that means county, state, or both!  So when I needed to whip up a quick thank you card for my best friend, it was no surprise I ended up using this fair-themed paper with this week's sketch at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge blog.  Let's get started!



details:  All the things I used for this project are retired CTMH products.  I started with the Jubilee paper pack for all three panels of patterned paper and a piece of Honey cardstock to back the middle layer.  The yellow button is from the Honey collection of embellishments, the crocheted flower is from a White Daisy collection, and I swear the buttons were from a large assortment of buttons I got when I first got started as a consultant.  The "friend" sentiment is from last year's National Stamping Month campaign, using Cranberry ink.  Ok, I guess at least one product is a current one, LOL.

This is another fun sketch and we would love to see your take on it, too!  As always, you have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 7/2/17, to play along and you can link your project HERE.

Thanks for stopping by and have a happy, crafty summer!  ~~  Annette

Camping Fun for AHSC #216

Hello, crafty friends!  I hope your summer is off to a great start.  We're in a hot, stormy weather pattern here in the midwest so I've been very appreciative of air conditioning while I craft.  Once again, Michelle Stewart has brought us a fabulous sketch to work with this week at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.  I admit, I found this one a bit of a challenge at first but once I got started the ideas were flowing and I kept changing my mind as to what theme I wanted to go with.  Ultimately, though, I couldn't resist making this camping themed piece to serve as a cover page for one of those inexpensive, clear pocket 4 x 6" photo books you can pick up just about anywhere.  I have collected almost everything camping related that CTMH has put out, even though we don't go camping.... yet. I'm trying to talk my husband into getting a small camper someday as I'd like to do some traveling when he retires in 10 years or so,  but I'm already partially disabled and I think having a camper will make it easier for us to take trips.

At any rate, I hope this sketch gets your creativity going and that you find time to share your creations with us.  As always, you have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 6/18/17, to link your projects, which you can do HERE.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting! ~~  Annette

cardstock:  Slate, black, and watercolor paper
inks;  Memento black ink
markers:  warm grey 7, turquoise blue, cherry pink, metallic silver
patterned paper:  all 3 papers used were from the Jack kit
stamps:  Adventure USA and Camper Crazy (both are retired)
embellishments:  Slate Twist Ties, Enamel Hearts (red), and Timberline Assortment (all retired)

No Worries for CTMH Featured Products Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to another Close To My Heart (CTMH) Featured Products Blog Hop, where this week the spotlight is on the No Worries paper kit, it's color palette, along with the cardmaking and/or scrapbooking stamp and coordinating die cut sets.  The soothing colors and tropical beach themed images are sure to put you in the mood for a getaway at the beach... or at least for a margarita!  If you came here from Corinna's blog you are in the right place but hops are circular things so you are welcome to jump in anywhere along the way and simply follow the links to make the rounds.  A complete list of this week's participants is included at the end of this post in case you get lost along the way.  Let's get started!

Even though it's very unlikely my family will ever vacation on the beach, I couldn't help but fall in love with this No Worries kit!  For this double layout, I used my favorite pattern, #15, from the Make It From Your Heart Vol. 2 how-to book.  I used the "FAMILY" chipboard letters and several stickers from the complements pack, and if you look in the bottom left corner you will notice that I took the outline of the "together in the sun" sticker, placed it on white cardstock, and cut it out to make a photo mat for a 3" circular photo.  All the papers and zip strips are from the No Worries kit with the addition of one piece of Sapphire cardstock behind the title, and I sanded the cardstock to fit in with the distressed style of the chipboard letters.  I like my layouts fairly flat with but a bit of texture, so I added a strip of blue burlap ribbon to each side of the center panel and then I also added some of the white burlap ribbon to a 5 x 7" piece of cardstock to make an additional photo mat.  I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do with this layout, but I'm really pleased with how it came together and I can't stop looking at it.  My husband has always wanted to see the ocean... maybe if I leave it out for him to see, it will inspire him to start planning our first real get away!

And that's all there is to this one.  Now it's time to hop on over to Lauren's blog and see the awesome artwork she has created for you.  Don't forget to stop by again on Wednesday, 6/21/17, when our theme will be stamping techniques.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Complete list of this week's participants:

1.  Lauren Moore

2.  Corinna Murphy

3.  Annette Clark (here)

Watercolor Farm Scene for AHSC #214

Hello, crafty friends!  Michelle Stewart has brought us another great sketch to work with this week at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge that has multiple layers and tons of possibilities.  I played around with several different ideas with this sketch but this is the one I kept coming back to, so this is the one you get to see, lol.

First, a little backstory.  Several years ago, shortly after the death of our son, we began what has become an annual tradition of spending the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend with my stepbrother on his farm.  Fast forward a few years, I was nervous but honored to have a little bit of a hand in getting him together with his second wife.  He had two daughters and she had three, and now two of their daughters have gotten married and one has had a baby, so our annual traditions continue but have gotten a bit noisier and more crowded, which makes them even more fun.  Truly, it is a blessing to see their family so happy and enjoying their get togethers back on the farm and we love being a part of it all, and I wanted to drop them a note - or a card, in this case - to thank them for continuing to include us and give us something to look forward to in what is otherwise still a rather sad holiday for us.

details:  I have quite a mixed collection of long-retired patterned papers CTMH used to sell based on individual color, and I'm tired of these lovely papers sitting around collecting dust.  Since I knew I planned on going with a brightly colored farm scene, I decided to dig through these old B&T's for some primary colors for the base layers.  In this case, I used Outdoor Denim, Sunny Yellow and a solid piece of Cranberry.  I used Black Memento Ink to stamp this farm scene  from the Homegrown set on one piece of  watercolor paper and the fence on another, and then used my watercolor paints to bring color to the scene.  I fussy cut the fence and glued it onto the panel in place of the ribbon shown in the sketch.  I chose this sentiment from a retired stamp set called "Country Born" and layered it on this gingham-tablecloth stamped image from the "Summer Days" set which coordinated with the Mayberry paper kit from several years ago.

And that's all their is to this one.  Our design team has come up with quite a variety of projects for you based on this week's sketch, and we would love to see what you come up with too!  As always, you have until 10:55 pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 6/4/17, and you can link your project HERE.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette