Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Easter Wishes for AHSC #204




Hello, crafty friends!  Michelle Stewart has brought us another fabulous sketch to work with this week at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.  Just wait until you see what she and the other design team members have to show you, so much fun and inspiration!  As always, we would love to see your take on this sketch and you have until 9:55 pm Eastern/8:55 pm Central on Sunday, 3/26/17, to link your projects HERE.  Thanks for stopping by!  ~~  Annette
details:  I went with a 6" square base for this sketch.  I layered these Thistle and Canary patterned papers from the Whimsy Fundamentals along with Thistle and Canary cardstocks.  I used another of the Thistle fundamentals and the Art Philosophy cartridge to cut this scalloped frame at 3 1/4."
I used a variety of retired Easter stamp sets:  the gold embossed cross from the "Rejoice" set; and both the sentiments stamped in Thistle are from the "Greatest Love" set.  I cut down the banner sentiment and rounded the corners, and then I used the Golden Yellow ShinHan marker to add color to a pair of the smallest sized white enamel dots from the Black and White Dots.  This card might be a little heavy on the Thistle for some but I made it with my stepmother in mind, and purple is her favorite color.  :-)

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Dreamin' Big Layout for BTF #42



Hello and welcome back, crafty friends!  I don't know about you, but I am *SO* ready for the official start of SPRING!  So it's great timing to get to work with the Dreamin' Big kit for this week's theme at the Between The Folds Bi-Weekly Challenge blog.


details:  As soon as I saw the Dreamin' Big paper kit I knew I wanted to make a layout featuring this adorable insect patterned paper and the butterflies from the Dreamin' Big cardmaking stamp set.  I used two of the 6 x 4" PML cards from this kit, trimmed them down 1/4" on each side and matted on the black diagonal stripe patterned paper from the kit.  I used a 4 x 6" mat of Whisper cardstock for a photo mat and 3 x 3 1/4" panels of Goldrush, Glacier, Juniper, and Poppy for a grouping of smaller photo mats.  Both zip strips are from this kit as well, and of course I used Poppy, Sorbet, Saffron, Juniper, and Glacier inks to stamp a rainbow of butterflies positioned above the main photo mat.  Although I haven't been able to lay my hands on the pictures I want to use, this will be the perfect layout for day my daughter took part in an award ceremony for a poetry contest in elementary school and she got to meet the author of a series of children's books about nature.  There is quite a story behind that day and both my children enjoyed those books for years, so I can't wait to finish it.

There are endless possibilities with this kit, and I hope you will find time this week to try your hand with it.  Our Dreamin' Big theme at the BTF Challenge blog is open until 11 pm Eastern/10 pm Central time on Monday, 3/27/15, and you can link your project HERE.  We'd love to see your projects!

Happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Masculine Card for AHSC #202



Hello and welcome back, crafty friends!  I am so glad you found your way here for today's project with this fabulous sketch by Michelle Stewart.  It only took one look to decide this sketch would be a great pairing with the stamp and paper I had in mind for my brother's birthday card and everything came together quickly.  Let's get started!


details:  I started with the long-retired Victory paper kit from CTMH.  I love the colors in this one!  I then turned to the Hooked On You stamp set which is absolutely perfect as one of my brother's favorite things to do is to go fishing, and stamped the image on Colonial White using Black Memento Ink.  After some debate, I went with watercolor pencils to bring this image to life.  When I was finished coloring and blending and things had dried, I added a few touches with the gold shimmer brush to mimic the natural shimmer fish scales often have.  The banner image is another part of this stamp set, and I used Chocolate ink on Colonial White cardstock so that the letters/sentiment would stand out amidst the somewhat busy background/colors.  This particular stamped image coordinates with a cut from the Flower Market cartridge but I chose to fussy-cut it this time as I was running a little tight on space and needed a close cut.

We would love to see your take on this sketch, too!  You have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 3/12/17, to link your projects.

Happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Working with Complements for BTF #41B

Hello and welcome back, crafty friends!  This is our second week of working with our Complements theme over at the Between The Folds Bi-Weekly Challenge Blog.  CTMH currently has 15 different complements kits to choose from, ranging from the ones that coordinate with the paper packs in our seasonal kits, ones that coordinate with the various color palettes showcased in our Annual Idea Book, to stand alone kits.  Factor in that many colors in the CTMH palette cross over among various complements and paper kits, the mix and match factor provides endless possibilities!


For this particular project, I chose to pair the Uptown Fundamental papers with the new Springtime complements, particularly the pieces with gold foil.  I had a special set of photos to work with that were taken at the annual Y-Teens father/daughter and mother/daughter banquets from each year my daughter was in high school.  We never knew what background the photographer would bring for each event so while there was a lot of burgandy, there were other contrasting colors in this grouping as well so I needed a neutral background that wouldn't clash with any of the photos.  I thought the white and gold background would add a little emphasis on fit the bill while the metallic gold can be hard to photograph, I was really happy with how this project turned out.


details:  I used a 12 x 12" base of White Daisy cardstock and cut two of this white and gold striped paper and the white and gold dotted vellum papers into 6" squares which I alternated.  I used the gold foil "grow," "bloom," and the ampersand (not to mention the white-and-gold comma carefully placed) in the white spaces as they were already covered in metallic gold, but the "smile" was white color-ready chipboard.  I knew it was going to have to be spaced over both white and gold due to its size, so I used my gold shimmer brush to go over it so it wouldn't blend in to either background stripe, and I used a gold heart to dot the "i."  I used my watercolor paints with the gold embossed white chipboard pieces to incorporate some of the colors in the backgrounds of the photos and tie into the title.  I painted another shape and used the gold letters from a retired fundamental stickers kit in the corner, but I could have used my Cricut to cut the letters from one of the wide gold strips in the leftover striped paper.  Also, here's a tip:  If you choose to paint these accents, go over the gold lines with a twisted paper towel or napkin once the paint is dry and that will remove any paint on the metallic embossing so that the gold stands out again.  How fun is that?!?!  So these lovely fundamental papers and complements helped me finally get this challenging group of photos scrapped together a mere 4 years after my daughter's graduation, lol.

We would love to see how use put the various CTMH Complements kits to work in your cards and layouts so if you find time in your busy week to create with them, you can share your project by linking it HERE.  As always, you have until 11 pm Eastern/10 pm Central on Monday evening (3/13/17 for this particular challenge) to link your project.  Happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Dreamin' Big for CTMH Featured Products Blog Hop

Hello and welcome back for another installment of the Close To My Heart (CTMH) Featured Products Blog Hop, where this week we are bringing you projects featuring the Dreamin' Big paper kit, it's color palette, and/or the Dreamin' Big cardmaking stamp and coordinating die cut set (which is 25% off during March).  If you have come here from Corinna's blog you are in the right place but hops are circular so you are welcome to jump in anywhere along and follow the links until you've made

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.  Now on to my project!


details:  As stated, I started with the Dreamin' Big paper kit.  I chose the gray woodgrain patterned paper for my A2 card base and then used this pattern from Make It From Your Heart Vol. 2 book of scrapbook and card patterns.  I played around with various combinations before settling on this sentiment from the Dreamin' Big cardmaking stamp set  stamped in Poppy ink on a 2" square piece of White Daisy cardstock.  I backed that piece with another white square that measured 2 1/8" and adhered Poppy Thick Twine with a glue pen and then trimmed the corners so they didn't stick out.  I backed that finished square with another of the same dimensions using another patterned paper from this kit and Poppy cardstock.  To finish off the card, I cut a strip of Glacier cardstock and embellished with 2 small and 1 large gold Durable Triangle Studs (no longer listed in the Idea Books but on clearance while supplies last).

And that's all there is to this one.  Now you're off to visit Lauren and see what magic she has in store for you.  I hope you will join us again in two weeks, on 3/15/17, when our theme will be Glitter and Shimmer.  Until then, happy crafting!  ~~  Annette


Complete list of participants:

1.  Corinna Murphy

2.  Annette Clark (here)

3.  Lauren Moore

4.  Donna Digby