Santa In July for AHSC #274

Hello again, crafty friends!  I broke out some oldies but goodies to play with this week's sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.  I didn't plan to start on Christmas cards just yet but the first two ideas I had for this sketch didn't quite pan out, so I was inspired to think outside the box... or calendar page.  In addition to creating this card for this week's AHSC design team submissions, it meets the themes for a couple of other current challenges so I will be entering it to the Heart2Heart Challenge Blog for their Christmas In July; the Double Trouble Paper Crafting Challenge Blog for their Christmas Only theme; and the Three Amigos Blog Hop Challenges for their embossing theme.

details:  All products used are from CTMH and almost all of them are retired.  I started with the red "plaid" from the Believe paper kit.  The stamped image is from a set called I Believe (C1427) and inked in Holiday Red.  The scalloped edge frame was cut in Topiary CS using the Art Philosophy cartridge, and I used Pear colored mini-brads to add a little extra interest.

The tag is from the Home for the Holidays (SOTM in 2014) and was cut using the Art Philosophy cartridge.  The sentiment from the Santa Claus set (C1567) and was initially cut from the Artbooking cartridge but I was a little pressed for space so I ended up trimming it up a bit by hand.  Both images were stamped using a Sweet Leaf mini pigment ink pad, covered in clear embossing powder, and heat embossed.

I used some Topiary mini chevron ribbon to for embellishment and to secure the tag.  I used the scallop border Thin Cuts with white glitter paper.  To get a scalloped edge on the base layer too I cut the white glitter paper first, glued it so that the very edges of the scallops met the edge of the patterned paper, then positioned the solid-piece scallop thin cut over the glitter paper, taped the straight edge in place, positioned the piece so that the scallops faced the opening of the Cuttlebug, and then I just rolled them into the device only until I could feel the increase in pressure that indicated a cut was being made.  I had to finish trimming the dips between one or two sets of scallops but otherwise it worked very well.

And that's all there is to this one!  Don't forget the weekly deadline at AHSC is 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 7/29/18, and you can enter your artwork by going HERE.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Patriotic Thank You for AHSC #272

Hello again, crafty friends!  We have another fun and fabulous sketch to work with this week at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.  To make things twice as nice, we have partnered with the folks at the Double Trouble Paper Crafting Challenge Blog for their 3-2-1 recipe and sketch challenge.  How fun is that?!?!  We at AHSC always love to have you play along, but I sincerely hope you take time to also play along, or at least check out, the Double Trouble challenge as well as this is just their 4th challenge and they are already off to a fabulous start!

details:  I started with this awesome fireworks-themed designer paper I've had for ages (and cannot identify, sorry).  After going through all my color swatches, I decided that Sapphire and Cranberry were the best matches so those are the colors I went with.  I ran the Sapphire cardstock through the confetti stars embossing folder, the Cranberry cardstock through the stripes embossing folder, and then I sanded both to get the white core to show through.

I used Sapphire and Cranberry ink with the retired Vintage USA stamp set to get those distressed star images.  I used the basic stars Thin Cuts to cut the smallest star from white glitter paper.  I also used the glitter paper to frame the stars and to add those three stars in the lower left corner per the sketch.

For the banner, I used Sapphire with the Thank You (M1185) stamp, Cranberry ink with this banner image from the retired Hello Lovely stamp set, and finally ran that through the coordinating Thin Cut die.

This is one of those sketches that has endless possibilities, 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, 7/15/18, to enter your creations HERE.  And don't forget to stop by and check out, and hopefully play along, with the Double Trouble Paper Crafting Challenge Blog.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette