Just Treats for AHSC #284

Hello again, crafty friends!  Fall has officially started here in the middle of the USA and it's by far my favorite season.  Not only do I love the weather, the changing scenery, and the end of my seasonal allergies for a few months, but I really love the holidays!  So as soon as I saw this week's sketch at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge blog, I knew I would use it for my first project featuring the September 2018 Stamp of the Month but I'm sure this set will see lots of use this holiday season.  Before we get to my project though, I just want to remind everyone that we love to see all of your AHSC sketch based projects too, and you have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 10/7/18, to link your artwork HERE.  Now let's get started!

details:  I really love the colors in this Grateful Hearts paper pack so I knew I wanted to pair it with the "thankful" sentiment from this set.  I started with a base of Pomegranate cardstock and this lovely multi-colored floral piece of patterned paper.  I flipped the sketch to suit my taste but otherwise stayed true to it, so that meant I needed three horizontal banners.  I chose to work with more Pomegranate as well as Goldrush and New England Ivy.  One of the things I love about this patterned paper is the watercolor look it incorporates, so to carry that look over to the banners I decided to use the traditional/darker color for each one as the base with a slightly smaller layer on top of each using the lighter shade.  When I had my banners cut out and was playing around with them, I was a little disappointed with how plain they looked so after some trial and error, I used Pomegranate, Goldrush, and New England Ivy inks with the retired Season of Thanks (D1604) background stamp set and I LOVED how that turned out!

For the centerpiece, I used the largest of the 4 Basic Circles Thin Cuts dies, which measured 3" in diameter, so the sentiment would completely fit inside it.  I stamped in Espresso pigment, covered the image in clear embossing powder and heat set it.  I then used the small round waterbrush and the "pick up" method to pick up Pomegranate, Goldrush, and New England Ivy inks from the inside of the lids of the stamp pads and transferred it to the lettering and "splash" or leaf effects on the stamped image.  I then used the retired Art Philosophy cartridge's image at 3 1/2" on both the dark and light shades of Espresso cardstock.  As I played around with placement before I adhered the pieces together, I thought the white circle/sentiment needed a little something more so I used a fingertip sponge dauber with traditional Espresso ink, and I'm really glad I tried that as I felt it really helped carry out the tone-on-tone kind of thing I had going with the banners.  

And that's all there is to this one, at least so far.  I haven't quite decided how I want to decorate the inside of the card but I do know I want to send or give it to my best friend of  *37 years* for Thanksgiving, just to let her and her family know how truly thankful I am to have them in my and my family's lives.  I really hope you can find time to play with this week's super versatile sketch and to also share it with us, we are thankful and blessed to have such a wonderful group of people sharing their talents and skills with us at AHSC.  

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

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

Happy Mail for AHSC 264

Hello again, crafty friends!  Wow, I missed one of my bi-weekly challenge posts and it feels like I haven't posted in forever.  Even though I have been a busy little crafter, I just haven't taken time to share it all.  However, I had a ball with this week's sketch from the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge blog and I can't wait to share it with you.  I admit, this is another sketch I found a bit intimidating at first but once my idea came together I pulled out all the stops.  Let's get started!

details:  I started by creating a custom background on White Daisy cardstock using a hostess-exclusive stamp set from the SE1 Idea Book, called "Sent and Delivered," and Heather ink and my WeRMemory Keepers stamping platform.  For a little added pop of color, I dug up my Studio G punch that features 4 tiny hearts and punched sets from scrap pieces of Raspberry and Pixie cardstocks and adhered them to the envelope images.

For the horizontal stripe, I used the retired chevron border punch to create a base out of Heather, Raspberry, Pixie, and White Daisy cardstocks.

I used the retired Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge to create this postage stamp image by selecting the slider tag image and contouring the slots, and sized the image to 2 1/4".  I then used VersaMark ink and white embossing powder to heat emboss the main sentiment.

For the element on the right, I used Raspberry ink to stamp this image of 3 wavy lines onto white cardstock.  I then used Raspberry ink again for the "special delivery" sentiment that is set on an oval, and then I fussy cut that image and popped it up with 3-D foam tape.

For the final element, I used the smallest size in CTMH's new 4-piece set of stitched heart Thin Cut dies to create this charming little heart from a scrap of Raspberry cardstock.

I hope you enjoy looking at this card as much as I enjoyed making it.  I hope you will also take time to check out the rest of the design team's creations for you, and we would love to see your take on the sketch too!  As always, you have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 5/20/18, to link up your creations, which you can do HERE.  Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Your Ticket for AHSC #260

Hello again, crafty friends!  Slowly but surely my family and I are getting back into the swing of things after numerous health issues among us and the passing of my beloved 104 year old grandfather.  So when it was time to sit down and craft this week;s sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge, I wanted to create something with a fun and festive feel to it and this paper immediately came to mind.  Let's get started!

details:  I started with this fun paper from Carta Bella from their Circus Party collection.  I used Cricut Design Space to edit a basic ticket image from the Art Philosophy cartridge and cut it in black CS, and on the bottom of that image I used Versamark and white embossing powder to heat emboss the "you're invited" sentiment from a retired set called Simple Invites.

I used the It's A Date stamp set with black Memento ink to create the little calendar image on Tulip cardstock (retired) which I then ran through my Cuttlebug with the largest of the basic tag Thin Cuts and hand-trimmed that down a bit to make it fit the sketch the way I wanted.  I also ran some older black and white twine from Darice through the top of the tag.  For the "29" image, I used black ink with the retired small Chocolate alpha on Lagoon cardstock, and centered the stamped numbers in an older Darice punch of a 1 1/4" squre with tattered edges.  I then touched up the edges of both the tag and square with more black Memento ink and a sponge dauber.

I was thinking of using this piece as a template invitations to upcoming crops and I love the clean, graphic look of it but I am not entirely happy with the embossed sentiment.  I will have to play with it more to see if I simply pressed the stamp too hard, if I need to use a different sentiment, or if I will have to use a lighter color for the ticket so that the sentiment can be stamped in black ink.  Still, this was a fun sketch to work with and I think I will play with it some more on my own time.  We would love to see what you do with it too!  You have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 4/22/18, to play along and you can enter your projects HERE.  If you need a little inspiration, you can also check out the design team's creations using this week's sketch.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  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

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

Mother's Day Cameo for AHSC #208

Hello, crafty friends!  There are so many possibilities for this week's sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge but from the very first time I saw it, I knew what I wanted to do with it.  I even made a couple of variations and had a little trouble figuring out which I liked best, but in the end this is the one I went with:








details:  All products for this card are current or retired Close To My Heart.
Hello Lovely patterned paper
New England Ivy, Fern, and Colonial White CS
Sorbet and Desert Sand inks
White and Gold Ribbon
Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge cuts
Sweet Moments stamp set (retired)

We would love to see your take on this sketch, as well.  As always, you have until 10:55 pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time/9:55 Central  on Sunday, 4/23/17, to play along and you may link up your projects HERE.

Happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Sugar Rush for CTMH Featured Products Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to another installment of the Close To My Heart (CTMH) Featured Products Blog Hop, where we are playing with the Sugar Rush paper kit or it's color palette of Blossom, Canary, Pomegranate, Raspberry, Sea Glass, Tangerine, Whisper, and White Daisy.  It's a short hop this week as several of our regular participants are on vacation so it's just Corinna and I, but we are certainly glad you stopped by and we hope to see you again on Wednesday, 2/1/17, when we will be featuring the fabulous Hello Lovely paper kit.  Until then, happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

details:  Once I had this sweet paper kit in hand, it didn't take me long to figure out that I wanted to make a mini album of family recipes and birthdays with some photos and journaling added in.  Also, I had this super cute stamp set called His and Hers that was one of my first purchases with CTMH but had never gotten used, and I knew it would be perfect to complete this title page.

All 3 patterned papers are from the Sugar Rush kit.  I cut the base piece (white paper with words in gray) at 8 3/8 x 6 7/8" so it would be the same size as the pages in the 2017 Everyday Life Planner Pages.  I used the love Thin Cuts die and the Pomegranate patterned piece from the kit as the starting point for the center panel, and then planned and fitted everything around that.  I used the retired Art Philosophy cartridge to cut the "made with" from additional pieces from the same kit and placed them on the gray panel cut to 4 1/8 x 4 1/2" and added a 1 x 4 1/2 strip of the donut patterned paper on both the top and bottom, gluing each piece to a piece of White Daisy cardstock and then cutting that down to size.  I cut a piece of Whisper cardstock to 6 1/4 x 4 3/4" and inked the edges with Whisper ink.  I used Cricut Design Space and the Plantin cartridge to customize the zig zag border and then went over those border pieces with the clear shimmer brush to try to give it a glazed look like the icing you might find on a donut.  I then used a second generation stamping of black Memento ink to stamp the oven image on white CS, the dish towel on the Sea Glass square-patterned paper, and the apron image on the pink striped patterned paper.  I used the fussy cut the all stamped images, colored the glass on the oven door with the Warm Grey 7 ShinHan marker, the pot on the stove with the Warm Grey 4, the stripe on the dish towel with Turquoise Blue, and the pocket and strings on the apron with Tender Pink.  This page is all I have for my album so far but I had so much fun making it, I can't wait to work on it some more!

Complete list of participants:

1.  Annette Clark (here)

2.  Corinna Murphy

Sugar Rush Color Palette for BTF Challenge

Hello and welcome back, crafty friends!  This week's theme at Between The Folds Bi-Weekly Challenge Blog is the Sugar Rush paper kit.  Unfortunately, I didn't order my kit in time so I challenged myself to get creative with the color palette.  Since my first craft love was stitching and fabric crafts, I decided to piece a quilt block card to send warm winter wishes to a good friend.

 details:  I began by cutting a 6" square card from White Daisy cardstock and a 6" square piece from Whisper for the base.  I used the retired Art Philosophy cartridge to cut the shape at 5 1/2" from White Daisy.  When I removed the paper from the cutting mat, I used my trimmer to trim the piece down to a 5 1/2" square and adhered the negative space pieces for the base of the quilt block.  I then cut the same sized star using the layer function from Sea Glass, Canary, and Blossom cardstock.  I used the outline or frame piece from the Sea Glass and then alternated the Canary and Blossom pieces.

I used Sea Glass ink and the twisty lines stamp from the Way To Go set in each of the corners for the "quilting" and the background stamps that came with the Flower Market cartridge on the Canary and Blossom pieces using Tangerine and Pomegranate inks.  I also used the Pomegranate ink with the stitched line stamp from the retired Elemental WOTG set for the border.  To finish off my "quilt," I used Raspberry ink to stamp the center button from the retired Buttons, Bits and Bobs set, and then I went over the button with my clear shimmer brush and secured it to the card with white twine.  I love how it turned out and can't wait to give it to my friend, probably with a loaf of strawberry bread fresh from my oven.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out the other fabulous projects at the BTF Challenge Blog.  I also hope you find time in your busy week for a little crafting and decide to play along with us.  As always, you have until 11 pm Central time on Monday evening (1/16/17 for this challenge) to link your project using the link you can find here.  One last note, if you love creating with Close To My Heart products, we would love for you to consider joining our design team!  If you are interested, you can find more information on our current design team call by going here.

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

Shabby Chic Wedding Card for AHSC #176

Hello and welcome back, crafty friends!  Here in the USA we just celebrated Labor Day, which is the unofficial end of summer which is fine with me as I have always been a big fan of autumn.  While some people get inspired when spring rolls around, whether it's to clean, redecorate, or get crafty in other ways, I feel my best in the fall.  Maybe that's why I felt brave enough to use this latest sketch by Michelle Stewart for Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #176 to venture into unknown territory...  I made my first attempt at a shabby chic card!  It's not as fabulous as the more experienced shabby-chic'ers that always inspire me, but I'm pretty tickled with it for my first try so let's get started!

details:   Later this month we will attend the wedding of a Young woman whose family and ours have known each other forever, and the bride and groom have planned a very country, somewhat rustic themed wedding with their colors being brown (barnwood), white, and mint.  So when I decided to use this sketch to make their wedding card, the first thing I did was to get out this lovely chevron barn board-patterned paper by The Paper Studio, which I cut to 5 x 7".  I cut a 3 3/4" panel of white CS and used Sea Glass ink and the heart stamp from the retired Charming Cascades set to stamp the background pattern and then I used my edge distresser to give that piece a rough, worn looking edge.  I then used CTMH's retired Art Philosophy cartridge to cut the 3 1/2" frame from Sea Glass glitter paper plus a solid shape in the same size in white CS to back the frame.  On that piece, I created a light watercolor background by pressing the closed Sea Glass stamp pad together so that ink was deposited in the lid and then "picking up" the ink using the medium flat waterbrush.  Then I used Saddle ink to stamp the ampersand image from a retired set called Mr. & Mrs., and Sea Glass ink to stamp the words and adhered those three layers to the card.  I used heat embossing and white embossing powder to stamp the congrats sentiment from another retired set called The Happy Couple.  Then came the really fun part:  the embellishments.  I dug out all kinds of things to try but ended up using a variety of retired (and some previously unused) CTMH products:  I hand cut leaves from a wide burlap ribbon, I layered 3 paper blooms and sponged one with Saddle and another with Sea Glass to make the body of the flower with the middle toned Mocha Opaques faux pearl in the center.  My rustic flower felt like it was lacking something so back to the stash I went and after several ribbons failed to impress me, I remembered seeing a recent post that had a pretty little clutch of string behind a focal point image, so I opened up a package of white waxy flax and that did the trick.  I finished the card off by adding a trio of pearls in the bottom corner:  the largest was another of those mocha opaques, the smallest was one of the white ones, and the middle sized was another white one which I colored with my turquoise blue ShinHan alcohol marker.

So, that's how  I created my first shabby chic wedding card.  I hope you will take time to check out all the projects our design team and participants have come up with this week, and hopefully you will find time to create and share your own project based on this sketch from AHSC and share it with us.  As always, you have until 11:55 p.m. Eastern/10:55 p.m. Central on Sunday, 9/11/16 to link up.

Happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

New Fundamental Kits for CTMH Featured Products Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to the Close To My Heart Featured Products Blog Hop, where this time we are showcasing the new Fundamentals line of products.  This newest version of CTMH's Fundamentals line has a little something for everyone so this should be an especially fun hop and we're so happy you could join us.  If you found your way here from Corinna's blog you are in the  right spot, but as always hops are circular things so you are welcome to jump in anywhere along the line and make the rounds.  In case you get lost, you can find a complete list of participants at the end of this post.  Now on to my project:

I am *so* happy with the way this turned out!  I have been envisioning something like this for quite a while but nothing I put together quite hit the mark, but as soon as I saw this pattern in the new Fundamentals line, I new I could finally make it work.  For this photo, I have the page in an open frame but my plan is to place it in a 12 x 12" frame with a glass front so that it can be used as a dry erase board.  Not only will this probably find it's way onto the gift table for one of several weddings on my calendar in the next few weeks, but it will probably become a staple when I do vendor and craft fairs as well.  And this was so easy to make, I just cut 2 equal sized panels of the fundamentals papers and 2 pieces of CS which I then embossed and sanded, and inked the edges of all 4 panels before adhering them to a 12 x 12" base of white CS.  Then I used my Cricut Explore and the CTMH Art Philosophy (for the "today" and "because...") and Artistry cartridges (for the I Love You, cut twice with "love" fussy cut from the dominant color).  And that is all there is to this one!  Now it's time for you to hop on over to Lauren's blog to see what she has in store for you.  I hope you will join us again on 9/7/16 when we will be featuring projects using CTMH's Thin Cuts, plus this will be the first hop using new products from the Seasonal Expressions idea book so there's going to be lots of fun and inspiration you won't want to miss out on.  Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Complete list of blogs participating:

1.  Annette Clark  (here)

2.  Lauren Moore

3.  Donna Digby

4.  Jennifer Bennett

5.  Corinna Murphy

Animal Greetings from CTMH Featured Products Blog Hop

Hello, craft friends!  I hope you are ready for a big dose of CUTE 'cause the little critters (15 in all) in the Animal Greetings stamp set are absolutely adorable.  Added bonus:  this stamp is part of Close To My Heart's ongoing Operation Smile program, which raises funds to provide life-changing cleft lips and palates for children around the world.  How awesome is that?!?!  But hurry, this stamp won't be available much longer but rest assured, something equally as awesome will take its place so that Operation Smile can continue its mission of sharing smiles with children and their families.

So, on to the hop.  As always, hops are circular so you should have found your way here from Corinna's blog but you can jump in anywhere at any point and follow the links until you've made the rounds.  I have also included a list of all our participants in case you get lost along the way.  Now it's time to share my project with you.

I've said this before but this time, I REALLY pulled out all the stops and my craft room is unbearably messy at the moment, but it was worth it because I had a blast putting it together.  This was another instance where what I had planned ended up being nowhere near what I ended up with, lol.  I used the magical paper and embellishments, cuts from the Artbooking cartridge for the photo mat and film strip, and the Art Philosophy and a tricky little bit of planning to cut out the LOVE circles as well as the black circles they are matted on.  Hopefully you can see the cute little mouse friend in the corner and the sentiment in the word bubble, which are from the Animal Greetings set.  I used multiple ShinHan alcohol markers to color in the mouse and, for a little extra fun, the word "bomb" and the actual bomb image are from a previous Operation Smile stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by and now you can hop on over to Jennifer's blog to see what she has in store for you.  Also, please stop back by on Wednesday, Aug. 10, when we will be bringing you vacation themed projects made from and featuring Close To My Heart's line of products.  Until then, stay cool and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Complete list of blog hop participants:

1.  Annette Clark (here)
2.  Jennifer Bennett
3.  Corinna Murphy

Shaker Birthday Card for AHSC #166

I can't wait to share this fabulous sketch Michelle Stewart has given us to work with this week at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge  #166.  Isn't it great?!?!  There are so many possibilities for this one but I needed a really special card for my sweet husband's birthday, which is July 5th.  Some people who have a birthday on or close to a holiday feel slighted but that's not the case for my guy.  He was adopted by a 50-year old couple who had never had children and lived on a farm, and other than numerous family dinners he didn't get to just "run around town" or hang out with kids his own age outside of school.  The exception, however, was the 4th of July:  both of the small towns nearest where he grew up had really big annual events either on the 4th or the weekend after, and my in-laws couldn't always keep up with their spirited and rambunctious son so these were the only times they just turned him loose, and this his how his "birthday season" began at an early age, lol.  In past years I have made him cards to celebrate his "season" but never one that really had a 4th of July theme, so that's what I went with this time.  Also, I really wanted to make a shaker card at long last, lol.

The details are a little long for this one so I will add those at the end.  I really do love this week's sketch and I want to encourage you to play along with us at AHSC (don't forget, you have until 9:55 pm Central time on Sunday evenings) or at least check out the other projects based on this fabulous sketch.  Also, we are recruiting for a few more design team members and you can check out the details concerning that or share your project by going to this post.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy 4th of July!!!
Annette


details:  For the base of the card I cut a 4 1/2" card base from Pomegranate CS and a 4 1/4" square from Whisper and layered them.  I cut a 4 x 2" panel of Sapphire CS and ran it through the confetti stars embossing folder and sanded the raised image so the stars stood out.  I cut another 4 x 2" piece of this striped paper for the bottom half; sorry, I don't know the brand BUT you could easily duplicate this card by using strips of CS and a star punch or the row of stars image from the Artistry Cricut cartridge (p. 41 of the booklet) or the cut out star on p.50.  I also added a piece of white and gold ribbon where the two panels met.
For the shaker part in the center of the card, I used the Art Philosophy cartridge for the gold glitter paper star (/layer/shift at 2 1/2") and then I cut the same image several times with white CS and hand trimmed out the swirls so I had just the outline shape.  I cut apart a damaged page protector and glued it to the back of the gold star, trimmed it down, and then glued the remaining white stars on layer by layer.  I took an off brand 1/4" star punch to some scraps of dollar store foil craft papers, dropped them "inside" the star, and backed it with a cut of the same star's base image so that the shaker had a solid back.  
I finished off the card by stamping and fussy cutting two images from the retired "Kaboom" stamp set (the June 2014 SOTM) in Whisper, Pomegranate, and black inks.  I had initially planned to use an off-brand gold ink for the "you're the bomb" image but the words didn't stand out quite well enough.  Luckily there was some gray in the striped paper and I realized I had used Whisper for the card base to complement that, so I was able to go with Whisper ink for to tie that color/image in.  This was a little more elaborate card than I usually do for my husband but he's especially excited for his birthday this year since he gets a 6-day weekend and we have several day trips and family get events planned, so I think he'll get a kick out of it.

Calypso Birthday for Between The Folds Challenge

Hello, crafty friends!  It's officially summer and here at my home in Iowa that means heat, humidity, and lots of family get-togethers for all the summer holidays and birthdays, particularly my sister's and husband's as their celebrations are just days apart and fall on either side of the 4th of July.  Luckily, the theme this week over at the Between The Folds challenge is birthdays and the theme over at Heart 2 Heart Challenges is Calypso paper!  My sister is a big fan of pink and I already had the paper, stamps, and embellishments in mind, I knew her card would come together quickly so I created hers first.  She is a sweet, gentle soul so I wanted to create a soft but whimsical card for her.  Hopefully this will bring a big smile to her face and earn me a hug!  

details:  I started with a piece of Lagoon CS and the speckled Calypso paper for the card base.  Then I cut the and corresponding layer from the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge (p. 52 of the booklet) at 3 1/2", the plain oval image in white and the layer image in Calypso's pink watercolor-looking paper.  For the accents, I used the turquoise blue, leaf green, peony purple, and tender pink alcohol makers to color the retired Opaques faux pearl gems.  Each of the stamped images was done with Black Memento Ink and fussy cut from the May Stamp of the Month, Celebrate With Cake, using a scrap piece of the striped 4x 6" printed piece for the candle and the yellow and white wide-striped Calypso paper for the banner with Lagoon ink for the sentiment.

And that's all there is to that one!  Thanks for stopping by to take a look and please take time to check out all the fabulous birthday-themed projects at this week's BTF Challenge, and we'd love to see your creations too!  Entries for BTF can be linked up until 10:55 p.m. Central on Monday, 7/4, and the Calypso challenge over at Heart 2 Heart runs through June 30th.  Happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Graduation Card for AHSC #160

I can't believe it's time for another group of young people to be graduating high school and college!  Luckily, Michelle

Stewart over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge has given us another fun and fabulous sketch to work with so while this card had a lot of elements and was a tad time consuming, it actually came together quite easily. 

details:  I cut a 4 x 6" card base from Lagoon CS.  The star pattern is from the new Magical paper kit.  The blue in this kit is actually Crystal Blue but I was pleasantly surprised that it blended so well with the Lagoon as our recently consolidated school's new colors are teal (I use Lagoon), black and silver.  I used the stamp set that came with the Artiste cartridge (2 3/4" in black ink) for the center medallion and the same shape cut at 1 1/2" using a brushed silver paper from TPC Studio for the smaller medallions along with the retired 1 1/4" punch and Lagoon CS for the centers.  The graduation cap image is from the retired Congrats Graduate stamp, the diploma from the retired Diploma Day set, and the "Congratulations Graduate" sentiment was heat embossed (Versamark and silver Ranger embossing powder) using the retired You Did It stamp set.  I used the Art Philosophy cartridge to cut the pointed border at 1" and then trimmed it down so that just the points remained.  The sentiment in the lower corner is also from the Congrats Graduate set.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look and please take time to stop by Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge to check out the projects by the rest of the design team.  Don't forget, you have until Sunday, 5/22, at 9 pm Central to share your project with us too!

Happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

CTMH Featured Products Blog Hop - Complements

Hello again and welcome to this installment of the Close To My Heart Featured Products Blog Hop where this week we are shining the spotlight on Complements.  If you found your way here from Corinna's blog you are in the right place, but hops are circular so you are welcome to jump in from any point and continue on till you've made the rounds.  At the end of this post there is a complete list of participants in case you get lost.

I confess, I haven't bought many of the CTMH complements kits in the past just because I'm less of a sticker person and more of a stamping enthusiast.  However, the creative folks at CTMH have really taken everything to the next level of awesomeness this past year and I had a hard time choosing which set of complements to work with for this project.  In the end, though, I had to go with the Charlotte set again.  You see, my son was born with an especially severe seizure disorder; so severe that he had seizures nearly every day and it took just a couple of flashes from a camera to put him into another one.  So we had to be really careful taking photos and we only got a handful of professional portraits during his lifetime, and only these two with both him and his sister.  Naturally, these pictures are truly priceless so it seemed only fitting to use the Charlotte complements with all their lovely gold foil accents.  The only thing I added that was not from either the Charlotte paper kit, complements, or Treasured Puffies featured with this set is the stamped camera, which was from the recent Share the Love campaign.  I also used the Art Philosophy cartridge to cut the background shapes in both the pink striped patterned paper from the kit and Slate cardstock.

Thank you for stopping by and letting me share this very special project with you.  The next stop on the hop is the Lauren, and I hope you will check out the lovely and inspiring projects each of our participants have come up with.  Please join us again on Wednesday, April 6th, for our next hop when we will be featuring Fundamental Stickers.

Happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

CTMH Featured Products Blog Hop: Complements

1.  Lauren Moore
2.  Melissa Robinson
3.  Catherine Nowak
4.  Kim Loewen
5.  Corinna Murphy
6.  Annette Clark  (here)

Nautical theme for Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge

Hello, crafty friends!  I was really inspired to make a card based on this week's sketch at Atlantic Hearts sketch Challenge but some weeks are crazier than others.  I had a crafty Sunday all planned with plenty of projects, starting with this card, but a young friend came over for some scrapbook lessons and since one of the things I love most about being a consultant with CTMH is teaching people the joys of memory keeping, I decided real life came first.  So, I actually missed the deadline for the challenge BUT I've had this card on my mind all week and I wanted to make it for my hubby's valentine, so I made it anyway.  He wasn't in the Navy nor does he own a boat, but he absolutely loves the water and this sentiment couldn't be more true, he really IS my anchor!  We've been married 29 years and in that time we've had our share of "rough seas" but he always keeps my spirits "afloat."  I think that's pretty important in a mate!

details:  I ended up using all retired products for this one.  CTMH has a lovely new nautical themed paper called Regatta but I didn't have any on hand yet, but I still had some of this lovely Tommy paper, and all the papers I used are from that kit.  I fussy cut the anchor from one of the pages and used a punch to cut another one and layered them before popping the image up with 3-D take and using the natural colored decorative hemp CTMH carried several years ago for the "rope."  I created my own sentiment using the Keyboard alpha in Outdoor Denim ink.

 A note about the inside:  One of  the reasons I wanted to use this paper was because I'd created most of these elements from it for a card last year but that project just never came together.  However, I really liked that curvy arrow (from the Artbooking Cricut cartridge) and the little "scroll" that I originally cut with the Art Philosophy cartridge and rolled and distress inked with Brown Bag.  The little compass is stamped and cut from an old monthly special set called, "Pair A Phrase," which was the cutest set and one I continue to use quite often.

And that's it for now.  Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Halloween treat boxes for CMH #116

I kept telling myself I wasn't going to craft for Halloween since I'm now an empty nester, but then I decided to send treats to my daughter and her roommates at college.  And, as I'm sure any crafter can understand, once I got started crafting these cute little treat boxes I couldn't stop!  LOL  Luckily, there are a couple of Halloween-y challenges this week so I am submitting this at the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog and over at the Color My Heart where this week's challenge it to use Sunset and Thistle (which just happen to be prominent colors in Close To My Heart's Scaredy Cat paper kit).

Anyway, I used some of the Scaredy Cat papers as some discontinued paper kits, 3 of CTMH's exclusive Cricut cartridges, as well as a discontinued stamp set for the "Happy Halloween" sentiment with the bat, and the Perfect Fit stamp sets -- I love working with these sets!

Happy (crafty) Halloween!  Annette

  

details:  Art Philosophy cartridge was used to cut all treat containers as well as the scalloped circles in the center and the corresponding shapes for the Perfect Fit - Frames 2 stamp set.  The PF - Halloween stamp set was used for the smaller center shapes which could be cut with the AP cartridge or a 1 1/4" punch.   Jack o'lantern faces were cut from the Artbooking cartridge and the spider from the Artiste (with off-brand orange glitter glue for the eyes.  I chose to emboss the spider web design (from Paper Studios) rather than try to glue it onto 3-D projects.  The "Happy Halloween" sentiment with the bat is from an older, discontued CTMH set I borrowed from a friend; I can't find the name but the number is D1381).  White background/polka dot paper is from retired Spellbound kit and the darker fry box and spiders are from the Mischief kit, which is also retired.

some get well hugs

Oh, life can get so busy sometimes!  What projects I have been working on lately have been for my own enjoyment so I have not taken time to post them here but I will soon have more free time on my hands to catch up on posting those projects.

At any rate, this week's color combo at the Color My Heart challenge was to use Buttercup and Hollyhock.  My best friend Kathy's daughter, Jackie, is an incredibly gentle and caring soul but the necessity of having a 2nd major surgery in less than a year has even her disheartened.  Her favorite color is currently bright pink and so when I saw these colors, I knew I had to make a special get well card to try to put a smile back on her face.

Although I have yet to get her mom to join me in scrapbooking, as a good friend Kathy listens patiently and sometimes looks at my current projects and pattern books when she comes by to visit, and she really liked the "hugs" card (pattern 19) in Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 1 so naturally I used that pattern for Jackie's card.  I used the Art Philosophy cartridge to cut the letters at 3/4", the Artiste cartridge for the shape (p.61) at 1", and I colored a set of (retired) color ready borders with markers in the appropriate colors.  I recently purchased some old patterned B&T papers from another another consultant so it was fun to find and play with some papers in the CTMH palette but with different patterns than what we currently have.  What can I say?  I am totally addicted to CTMH and papercrafting!  I can't wait to bake a batch of strawberry bread (a little tradition between Kathy and me, we always share a batch when times get tough) and pay a visit to my besties when they get back home!

Happy crafting!  Annette

a valentine for my sweetheart

Even though I had a card in mind based on this week's sketch at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge, I hadn't planned on crafting but my sweet husband is quite under the weather today and has barely left the couch (which is right beside my craft area) so I have been keeping him company while making a Valentine's card for him.  I will also be entering this card in this week's challenge at the Heart 2 Heart challenge blog (where the theme is 'let love inspire you') and the Pile It On challenge where the theme is dots and/or stripes.

details:  All products are from Close To My Heart.  I used the retired Sweetheart paper kit (one I've been hoarding forever, lol) which features Cotton Candy as well as the discontinued colors Baby Pink and Tulip.  I used the Art Philosophy cartridge for the lacy hearts border and the shape I stamped the sentiment on, and I used my Gypsy to "hide" the cutout pieces in order to make my own "shadow" on black cardstock to place behind  the pale pink to make it stand out.  I used black ink to stamp the sentiment from last year's January stamp of the month, Happy Valentine's.  I also  used all 3 sizes of black sparkles that come in the package to anchor the empty space on the tag.  FYI, the horizontal border at the top of the card was pieced together from various strips of the Sweetheart scraps, as I felt like it needed something to balance that space and that element needed to have some color but not be as busy as the main paper.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Valentine's Day to you and  your loved ones!
Annette