Hello Pumpkin for AHSC #282

 Hello again, crafty friends!  I have a cheerful little card to show you today based on this week's sketch at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge blog and some new Halloween themed products from the new CTMH Seasonal Expressions catalog.  I really miss having young children to dress up in costumes and having trick or treaters, so I'm not sure who I will give or send this card to, but I sure had fun putting it together!  Before we get started, though, I want to let everyone know how much we enjoy seeing your artwork too and that you have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 9/23/18, to link your projects HERE.

details:  Both the black and white diamond patterned paper and the star patterned paper are from the new Hello Pumpkin paper pack, and the starred panel is set on another layer of Nectarine (one of eleven new colors just introduced).  Both the sentiment and the adorable pumpkin image are from the Hello Pumpkin cardmaking stamp set (which can be purchased with or without the coordinating die cut set).

To make the pumpkin image, I first stamped the striped pumpkin image and then the solid image in Nectarine ink, followed by the outline in Momenta black ink.  Then I practiced on scraps a bit so I could stamp the face and stem at the same time.  I stamped the stem image on a piece of scratch paper,cut it out, and used it as a mask so I could use a sponge dauber to apply Willow ink without worrying about the green bleeding over into the Nectarine.  I then ran the completed image through my Cuttlebug with the pumpkin die cut.  I didn't have the stem quite limed up so that the die matched up but I only had to trim that piece a bit and it looked fine.

I also used my Cuttlebug and the largest of the Basic Circles dies to cut a circle of the lighter shade of Lemon cardstock to make what I *hope* looks like a full moon.  To add to that effect, I used another sponge dauber and applied Lemon ink about 1/4" around the edges, and Nectarine ink on the very edges.  The banner behind the "moon" and pumpkin is just a 7/8" wide strip of Lagoon cardstock.  For the finishing touch, I added a few Lagoon colored puffy stars that were part of the Complements set from a retired Halloween themed set called Jeepers Creepers.

And, once again, that's all there is to this one!  I don't know about you, but I love this time of year:  I love the warm afternoons and chilly evenings, the start of a new school year, and that nice little lull between the end of summer and the busyness of the upcoming holiday season.  At least for me, it's also a time to pause and take stock of all I have to be grateful for, and I find myself inspired not just to create cards and scrapbook pages but to tidy up the house to get a jump start on preparing for holiday guests, and I actually enjoy cooking more!  I hope you that wherever you are, whatever the season, you find yourself inspired and grateful for the little things that make up the life you have built for yourself and your loved ones.  And should you find a little time to be creative and play with us at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge we would love to see what you come up with!

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Birthday Wishes for AHSC #280

Hello again, crafty friends!  I've had such a busy week that I've had to start and stop several times with this project based on this week's sketch from the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and I'm not sure it's exactly what I started out to create, but it was fun to pull out some older products and make something new with them so here we are!

details:  All the papers used for this cheerful birthday card are from the retired paper kit called Confetti Wishes.  I started with creating a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" card base of Thistle cardstock and a 4 x 5 1/4" panel of this super cute birthday candle-patterned paper.  In the center is a 2 x 3 1/8" panel of Canary cardstock, and then I cut a 1/7/8 x 3" piece of this patterned paper, being careful to cut out just the piece I wanted so that the "happy birthday" cloud was at the center.  For the banner on the left, I cut a piece of 4 x 1 1/16" rectangle of retired Pacifica cardstock and a 3 15/16 x 15/16" panel of this diagonally striped paper and dovedtailed them both.

The balloons are from a retired set called Balloons, stamped them with Memento black ink on white cardstock and colored in with the following ShinHan markers:  Leaf Green, Golden Yellow, Peony Purple, Marine Blue, and Turquoise Blue, fussy cut, tied together with separated strands of black hemp twine, and the dotted balloon was popped up with 3-D tape.

In place of the sentiment banner you see in the center of the sketch, I chose to create a sentiment banner instead.  I used the curved stem piece from the MFT Stamps stitched flowers die cut set with Thistle cardstock for the line to attach the mini banners to, which are just pieces fussy cut from the zip strip from this Confetti Wishes paper set.  I used Pacifica ink with the "to" from a miscellaneous Christmas gift tag stamp set and the long retired Tiny Typewriter alpha from CTMH.  I added a Thistle-colored, heart shaped enamel gem from the retired purple hearts enamel and glitter duos to one mini banner and some bitty sparkles between each of those banners.

And at long last, it's done!  I think this is a fabulous sketch and I hope you can find some crafty time in your busy weekends and can share your projects with us at AHSC.  As always, you have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 9/9/2018, to submit your creation, which you can do HERE.  Don't forget to stop by and check out the rest of the design team's projects, too, they have some really fabulous artwork to share with you!

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette