"Positive-ly" perfect sketch

Don't you love it when a project comes together?  This week my daughter asked me to make a card for her friend who was just named the head of the chemistry club at their college.  I knew I had the perfect stamp in the new supplies I got on Thursday and I had hoarded several scraps of a very fitting paper, but I wasn't sure just how I was going to pull the various elements together as I had them pictured in my mind.  Then I found this darling sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches which is one of several challenge blogs I follow, but I  had not posted to this one yet.  Anyway, after a little tweaking on my measurements to be able to use as much of the designer paper as I could, this is what I came up.  The actual stamped image of the proton had 1 large and 3 small dots and I was over the top when I dug through some more of my stash and found these very complimentary gems that were a perfect fit, both in size and color!

details:  All products are from Close To My  Heart.  The "periodic elements" patterned paper is from the retired Superhero set.  The stamped images in the sentiment panel as well as the blue panel were from the Positive Chemistry stamp set.  The card base is on Cranberry CS and the blue is a retired shade called Sky.  I hope my daughter's friend enjoys receiving the card as much as I enjoyed making it!

Happy crafting, Annette

hearts aflutter for combined challenges

I have chosen one of Close To My Heart's new paper kits for this card which was inspired by the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and this week's color combo at CAS - Colours and Sketches.  I used a dragonfly image for my main motif and I was going for a very light, ethereal look which came out well in person but was very hard to photograph.

details:  All products are from CTMH.  All 3 designer papers are from the new Skylark paper kit.  I used Chocolate cardstock for the base and used Chocolate, Sweet Leaf and Lagoon inks to sponge/stamp the discontinued Quick Cards - Dragonfly card which is discontinued, BUT there is a dragonfly stamp included in the Skylark scrapbooking Workshop On The Go (mine hasn't arrived yet and I was just too impatient to wait for it, lol).

 On a side note, I originally posted this card without the Lagoon and white diagonal stripe border but decided it needed a little pop of color since I had gone so light with the dragonfly, so the original version is shown below.

Thanks for stopping by & happy crafting!  Annette

{original version}

Love You to Pieces

I have spent a relaxing evening making cards while watching movies with my husband and when I came across an unfinished project from a year ago I immediately knew I could put it to use for a couple of current challenges.  I am using the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches and also sharing at Heart 2 Heart where the challenge this week is "two faced" or to use both sides of a designer paper.



details:  All products are from Close To My Heart.  I used the discontinued Roxie paper kit for the pieced heart as well as the card base as well as the discontinued Tulip for the banner.  I cut black shimmer trim in half to line the banner on the cover as well as the border inside the card.  I used Tulip ink for the sentiment from last year's "Happy Valentine's" Stamp of the Month on the cover and from the Stitch Wonder stamp set inside the card.  The large puzzle piece heart on the cover as well as the puzzle piece border on the inside were cut using the Artiste Cricut cartridge.

Happy crafting, Annette

combined challenges using Nativity scene

My holiday season got off to a somewhat unfortunate start as I fell at the beginning of November, injuring my right hand and I was unable to use it much for several weeks so I have had to forego a lot of the crafting projects I had in mind.  So now that I'm back in action I'm having a few issues with my hand and having to do a lot of range of motion type exercises so for the moment I really can say crafting is my therapy!  :-)  Anyway, I have always loved the Glory to God stamp set but haven't used it much so I was determined to use it this season and I have found not just one but two challenges I can enter this card for.  One is based on this week's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and the other is for Color My Heart where this week's challenge called for  using Barn Red.  I paired it  with  Champagne and Chocolate, my two favorite neutrals in the CTMH palette.  I also added some gold embossing for the Christ child's halo as well as the stars.

Happy (therapeutic) crafting!  Annette

my "spin" on Freshly Made Sketches #73

For whatever odd reason, the first thing I thought of when I saw this sketch from Freshly Made Sketches this week was the Ferris wheel cut on CTMH's Artiste Cricut cartridge, and that made me think if my husband because he's such a boy at heart, LOL.  Anyway, it took a bit of thinking before I could piece it all together in the way I wanted to make a Valentine as unique as our lives together but I think I pulled it off and that boyish smile on his face was worth the extra time I took with this one.
Details:  As I mentioned, I use the Artiste cartridge for the Ferris wheel with Whisper for the circular part of the frame and then I cut the other pieces (which are grouped together as one image) in white and sponged the center support piece with Whisper ink.

I used the Dotty 4 You paper pack for the sky/cloud background as well as the gondola pieces, which I simply glued the pieces I had cut out of white CS on the back of the patterned paper and cut out each piece so the dotted paper showed on the front.  The heart image is in Smoothie using The Happy Couple (D1539).  The patterned paper at the bottom is from the Later Sk8r paper kit (X7167B) and I used Outdoor Denim CS behind the white banner.  Because I had a lot to say in a little space, I cut my CS to a size that would fit in the computer and typed my sentiment and then cut it to size.

For the inside, I used the Smoothie colored paper from the Dotty 4 You kit and cut a heart frame using the Art Philosophy cartridge and centered it over the sentiment, which was also done on the computer.  All in all, this is not your typical or traditional Valentine card but, well, that just wouldn't be our style.  Happy crafting, Annette

 

Freshly Made Sketch #63 - just the sketch I was looking for!

 

                                                                 I have to give a big "thank you" to the gals at Freshly Made Sketches for posting the *perfect* sketch at the perfect time.  I have been saving a particular paper kit for my daughter's 18th birthday because it contained her favorite shades of blue and she loved the graphics.  Problem was, I couldn't figure out how to make a card out of this paper and keep the main graphics intact.  Although I had to take some liberties with it, my problem was solved as soon as I saw this week's sketch.  

So here is my take using the long retired Close To My Heart paper kit "Magnifique" and the Art Philosophy cartridge to cut the frames for the sentiments on both the front and the inside using Lagoon cardstock.  The "happy" and "birthday" stamps are from the Card Word Puzzle (C1494), the "th" from the Typeface alphabet (A1117), and the "18" is from this month's Stamp of the Month set, Capture the Date.