More Hello Lovely for AHSC #200

Wow, it's our 200th sketch at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge already!  I have been a follower of this challenge blog since it first began, and the sketches and all the artwork have provided endless inspiration while challenging me to stretch my creative boundaries.  So whether this is your first time with us or you're an avid follower, I hope you enjoy it and find as much inspiration here as I have.  And while I'm on the subject, I want to say a huge THANK YOU to Michelle Stewart and all design team members, past and present, for sharing their creativity with us all!

Ok, gushing over, on to this week's sketch and project.  As soon as I saw this week's sketch I began making plans to revisit one of my all time favorite creations and actually had everything laid out to begin cutting, when I decided that would kind of be like cheating.  So it was back to the design board and I found myself turning to the beautiful Hello Lovely kit again...  No surprise, since I can't keep my hands off of it and there are scraps, complements, and coordinating stamp and die cut sets strewn across my craft area.



details:  I used Cricut Design Space and the CTMH Artiste cartridge (retired) to create and weld this grid and frame which I cut  at 5 1/4 x 4" on New England Ivy cardstock.  I backed the lighter floral panel of the Hello Lovely kit.  I used blush shimmer ribbon, this Sorbet-colored frame sticker from the Hello Lovely complements, and this sentiment from the Hello Lovely cardmaking stamp and die cut set stamped in a gold metallic ink from ColorBox.  It still needed a little extra something so I took the liberty of adding two tiny rose stickers from the same complements kit.  I have already made all the cards I need for upcoming family weddings, which are both in April, but I really see this one for an outdoor, June wedding...  I'm sure one will come along eventually!

I love this sketch, it's fairly clean and simple but it works for elegant cards too.  I hope you find time to try your hand at it this week and share your creation with us.  As always, you have until 11 pm Eastern/10 pm Central on Sunday, 2/26/17, to play along and you can link your projects HERE.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Hello Lovely Wedding Card for BTF Challenge 40

Hello again, crafty friends!  Even though it's been a fairly mild winter where I live, I am still longing for spring so I've been having a great deal of fun playing with the beautiful floral and spring colored geometric patterns in the Close To My Heart "Hello Lovely" kit for my design team submission for this week's challenge at the Between The Folds Bi-Weekly Challenge Blog.

I was particularly inspired by this week's sketch over at Mojo Monday so I used it as my starting point.  I used a standard 4 1/2 x 5 1/2" card base in Desert Sand and cut the dot patterned Sorbet paper for the foundation layer.  I cut a piece of Colonial White cardstock at 3 1/2 x 4 5/8" and punched the edge with a scallop pattern and topped that piece with a 2 3/4 x 4 5/8" panel.  I used one of the PML cards from the Hello Lovely kit and trimmed the 1/4" from the top of this 4 x 3" vertical panel and dovetailed the bottom to form the banner shape.

For embellishments, I used the medium and small hearts from the Hello Lovely complements placed on the same patterned paper as the foundation layer and fussy cut around them.  I used my favorite white and gold ribbon to form the bow which is tied around this antique rose charm which is the last one from the first set of Base and Bling set that CTMH came out with.

For the sentiment, I used Desert Sand ink with the retired Mr. and Mrs. set.  I can't help but feel this paper kit lends itself perfectly to wedding cards and layouts, but maybe that's because there are a couple of spring weddings coming up in my family!
The Hello Lovely kit is also this week's theme at the Color My Heart Color Dare and one of this month's themes at the Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog so I will be entering this card in both of these challenges as well as the sketch challenge at Mojo Monday.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Thin Cuts for CTMH Featured Products Blog Hop

Hello and welcome back for another installment of the Close To My Heart (CTMH) Featured Products Blog Hop.  This week we are bringing you projects made with CTMH's exclusive Thin Cut sets that work with Cuttlebugs, Sizzix, etc.; some of these die cuts stand alone and others are made to coordinate with particular stamp sets so when you put them all together, the creative possibilities are endless!  If you arrived here from Corinna's blog you are in the right place, but hops are circular so you are welcome to jump in at any point and follow the links until you've made the rounds.  A complete list of this hop's participants is included at the end of the post in case you get lost along the way.  Now it's time to play!

I just got my Dreamin' Big cardmaking thin cuts bundle the other day and I couldn't wait to get my hands on it.  The card I've made today is one I've had planned since I first saw this set and it is made with a particular friend in mind:  she lost her mother at a very young age, while my friend was expecting her first child, and this has had a devastating impact on her.  Since the mother's totem was always the dragonfly, naturally my friend has come to love them too and her friends and family are always on the lookout for something special for those difficult "anniversary" dates my friend struggles with, so I'm hoping she will enjoy this one.

details:  As stated, I chose to work with the Dreamin' Big cardmaking card and die cut set and the Dreamin' Big paper kit.  I started with a standard 5 1/2 x 4 1/4" card base and used the retired Art Philosophy to cut this frame from the Goldrush patterned paper at 3 1/4". I layered the Whisper woodgrain patterned paper behind that and carefully used my trimmer to cut out a window to remove part of the gray paper and added a 1" strip of the flower patterned paper at the bottom.  Then I positioned the dragonfly Thin Cut die where I wanted it, used a spare bit of washi tape to hold it in place, and ran it through my Cuttlebug to make a cutout in the front of the card.  I used some scrap cardstock and made another cut and taped that to the front of my card so that the cutouts were aligned, closed my card and stamped so that the dragonfly base image is actually on the inside of the card.  Then I took the piece that had been cut out of the card base and stamped another dragonfly image on it using Slate, Glacier, and Juniper inks.  I made

some small slits from the top and bottom of the wings to close to the body, positioned the cut out over the closed card to make sure the stamped die cut was aligned with the die cut cut-out, and glued the dragonfly over the stamped base image (if that makes sense).  Once the adhesive was dry, I bent the wings and then went over them with a clear shimmer brush.  I used Poppy ink and one of the sentiments that came with this set for the inside of the card, and for the final touch I added a strip of white shimmer trim.  I haven't yet decided on a sentiment for the cover.

Here is another card I made last week with the hearts thin cuts, some retired patterned paper, the January 2017 Stamp of the Month "Adore," the lovely gold foil XOXO patterned ribbon from the Uptown ribbon pack, and a touch of white and gold ribbon to tie the hearts together.

And now it's time to hop on over to Donna's blog to see the lovely project she has in store for you.  We hope you will stop by again on Wednesday, 3/1/17, at 8 pm Central when we will be more projects made with the Dreamin' Big kits.  Happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Complete list of this week's participants:

1.  Corinna Murphy

2.  Annette Clark (here)

3.  Donna Digby

4.  Lauren Moore

Easter Bunny Wishes for AHSC 198

Hello again, crafty friends!  This morning is the snowiest day we've had in my neighborhood so far this winter but luckily I had already planned an Easter card filled with lovely spring colors and this week's sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.  Let's get started!

details:  I chose this colorful Kaleidoscope paper from last last spring and paired it with the February SOTM, "Easter Bunny."  I used chocolate ink to stamp the image on Champagne cardstock and then stamped the dress part of the image onto this patterned piece from the same kit using Gypsy ink (retired).  I was pleasantly surprised how well the Tender Pink ShinHan marker showed up on the Champagne cardstock for the inner ears.  I then used the Artistry cartridge to cut the banner that corresponded with this banner from the same stamp set and stamped the image in Pear ink (also discontinued).  The circle behind the bunny is another pattern from the Kaleidoscope kit and the circular frame was cut using retired Sunset cardstock, with Gypsy cardstock for the base.  To finish this sweet little card, I used my last piece of Pixie extra thick twine knotted and stapled to the patterned piece.  I can't wait for Easter to get closer so I can get this sent to my best friend's daughter, who is just about the sweetest soul you could ever hope  to meet!

This was another super fun sketch to work with and we'd love to see your take on it.  You can find the link up HERE and you have until 10 pm Eastern/11 pm Central on Sunday, 2/12/17 to share your project.

Happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Using Ribbon for BTF Challenge #39

Hello again, crafty friends!  This week's theme at Between The Folds Bi-Weekly Challenge Blog is to use ribbon, and we have plenty of lovely options to choose from between the current Annual and Seasonal Idea Books (plus a couple of additional choices in the clearance section of our online shopping sites).  Let's take a look at what caught my fancy this week:

details:  I started with a strip of this heart patterned paper from CTMH's retired set of fundamental papers.  I paired that with this lovely gold metallic XOXO printed ribbon from the gorgeous Uptown Ribbon Pack on the top and bottom of the center panel.  I used the Hearts Thin Cuts die set and red glitter paper to make two sizes of hearts which I knotted together with a piece of white and gold ribbon.  For the sentiments, I used black Memento ink and the January 2017 Stamp of the Month set "Adore You" (with the "and" from the retired Card Word Puzzle set) on the left, and the stamp set from the retired Heartstrings WOTG on the right.  Simple to make but simply lovely in person!  The only thing I dislike about this lovely Uptown ribbon is how hard it is to get a good photo of that metallic gold, my poor photography skills just can't do it justice.

We would love to see what you like to create with the various ribbons CTMH gives you to choose from, so if you find some crafty time in your busy week you can add your link HERE and, as always, you have until 10 pm Eastern/11 pm Central on Monday, 2/13/17, to share your projects.

Happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Hello Lovely for CTMH Featured Products Blog Hop

Hello and welcome back to another installment of the Close To My Heart Featured Products Blog Hop, where this week we are featuring products from the Hello Lovely kit.  If you have just come from Corinna's blog you are in the right place, but hops are circular so you are welcome to jump in at any point and simply make the rounds.  I have included the links for all this week's participants at the end of this post in case you get lost.  Now on to my project!

One of my first cousins in getting married in a couple of months and as soon as I saw the Hello Lovely paper I knew I wanted to make some cards for the bride and groom.  Their colors are pink and silver so I have taken the liberty of adding some silver.  I also couldn't resist using this beautiful lacy die cut even though it is not from CTMH, but it just seemed perfect for all things wedding related.  To add another little touch of silver, I used silver embossing powder to heat emboss and then die cut this rectangular frame from the Hello Lovely cardmaking bundle (which includes a C-sized stamp set and coordinating die cuts) and then I stamped the sentiment using Fern ink.  For embellishments, I used one of the sweet little individual rose stickers from the Hello Lovely complements and one of the kit's rose patterned zip strips.  I loved how easy and beautifully this all came together and I have to say, I think this is one of the most versatile kits and color combinations we've had in a while.  Now I can't wait to show it to the bride!

Thanks for stopping by, and now it's time to head on over to Lauren's blog to see what loveliness she has in store for you.  Don't forget to stop by again on Wednesday, 2/15/17, when we will be bringing you projects featuring more of CTMH's Thin Cuts.  And if you're a fan of CTMH products, whether as a consultant or customer, and have thought about sharing more of your projects online, this blog hop is for you!  Leave me a comment if you'd like more information or head on over to our Facebook page.  It's a closed group so you will have to submit a request to join, but that doesn't take long and this is a no commitment, drop in and out as you wish, kind of group and we're a small, close knit circle so we have the time to help you if you run into trouble.  There is always room for one more and we'd love to see your projects too!               Happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Complete list of this week's participants:

1.  Corinna Murphy

2.  Annette Clark (here)

3.  Lauren Moore