Flowery Thanks for AHSC #220

Hello again, crafty friends!  I took a week off from crafting to get my home in order so we could host a family dinner for my husband's 50th birthday, and it feels like I've been gone forever!  And while I dearly love celebrating holidays and occasions with family and friends, I am ready to get back into my old, familiar routine again.  So I thought it was only fitting to create a thank you card for my sweet sister in law who was a big help, and this week's sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge was perfect for the occasion!



























All products are from Close To My Heart:
New England Ivy cardstock was used for the 7 x 5" card base.
Pink variegated paper was from retired Happy Times (HT) kit cut at 6 3/4 x 4 3/4."
Flower patterned paper was also from HT, cut at 6 1/2 x 4 1/2."
The banner was cut at 5 1/2 x 3 1/4" using the same pink variegated paper.
The Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge was used to cut the scalloped oval from NE Ivy cardstock using at 2."
The center oval was from White Daisy cardstock using the Thin Cuts - Basic Ovals (largest of 4).
The sentiment was stamped with New England Ivy ink using the Scripty Thank You stamp and colored using the following ShinHan alcohol markers:  Sap Green, Leaf Green, Tender Pink, Cherry Pink, Light Orange, Marigold, Golden Yellow, and Clay.
The rolled flower was cut using the AP cartridge using the   setting at 3" and held together with Liquid Glass adhesive, and a retired medium sized pearl was added to the center.  The leaves were cut freeform from a zip strip from the HT kit.

We would love to see your take on this fabulous sketch.  As always, you have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 7/16/17, and you can link your projects HERE.  You can also follow this link to view the other design team members' projects.  FYI, the AHSC team is recruiting new members so if you have an interest is creating a sketch-based project every other week for a 6-month term, you can find out how to apply by going to THIS PAGE.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting! ~~ Annette

Happy Times Thank You Card for AHSC #168

Hello, friends!  My daughter has been asking me for several weeks for some feminine thank-you cards but between my tendency toward procrastination and several extra busy weeks, I just got around to making some. I'm not sure whether she's just happy to have them done or truly likes what I came up with, but either way they met with her approval so it's a win for both of us!  Here is today's card, based on this sketch by Michelle Stewart for Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #168.  Don't forget to head on over there to check out everyone's projects, and we'd love for you to share your creations too!  You have until Sunday, 7/17, at 10 pm Central.  Happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

 details:  I started by cutting a 5" square base with this lovely flowered print from the Happy Times paper pack, a retired promotional kit.  I used the minty green pinstriped paper from this kit to back the medallion and make the banner.  I used the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge to cut the decorative medallion ( decorative layer as seen on p.51 of the handbook) at 2 3/4" and another one of the same size out of white CS so I could use the center for the stamped sentiment, which was done in Glacier ink with the Victorian Gratitude stamp.  I colored a few of the retired Bitty Pearls with the turquoise blue and marigold ShinHan alcohol markers.  I also made a bow from the white and gold ribbon and adhered it to the banner.

For the inside, I cut the same shape at 2" with the patterned paper from the front and 2 1/4" using Blush.  I used Blush ink and an old hostess-exclusive stamp set called A Huge Thanks for the sentiment, and added the zip strip from the same flowered paper to finish it off.

I used the image from Art Philosophy cartridge to cut 2 3/4" piece of the flowered paper and a 3" piece of Blush CS.  Then I used Blush ink and the retired Vogue alphabet and the 1 1/4" punch to cut that out, and the Art Philosophy cartridge to cut a 1 1/2" circle out of Blush CS and layered all these together to add a feminine monogram for the envelope, along with the remaining bit of zip strip that I used inside the card.  Thanks for stopping by!  AC

Happy Times for a Friend

Hello, again!  I went "old school" and spent a lot of time on this layout featuring the Happy Times paper kit for this week's challenge at Between The Folds.  This paper is so versatile and so much fun, but don't forget that it's only available for the month of May in honor of National Scrapbooking Month!

Basically, I used the diagonal barn board looking paper in this kit and cut it into strips which I reverse dovetailed for the picket fence look, along with a pair of 12 x 1/4" strips placed horizontally behind the fence for a realistic look.  I backed this with the lovely multi-colored floral paper.  The photo mat measures 6 1/2 x 4 1/2", cut from the variegated magenta piece.  I initially tried to use the   pale yellow/diagonal pinstripe piece for the sentiment but it didn't stand out enough, so i used the top piece of that same variegated paper instead.  The sentiment is from the Someone Special stamp set, done in Pomengranate ink.

So, I thought I was done with this one but I just wasn't satisfied with it.  I decided to enlarge the photo mat, overlap the sentiment/title a bit, and add a little "bluebird of happiness" from the March Stamp of the Month "Sunshine Birdies" and a happy little kitten from the Friendly Pets set, both of which I stamped on scraps from the Happy Times papers and fussy cut.  I'm not sure if it would look better to anyone else, but it's much more my style.   Isn't it fun what a few little changes can do to a project?

And that's all there is to this one.  Now, I just have to get a good photo taken of me and my best friend of 35 years!  Don't forget to check out all the amazing projects featuring this lovely paper over at the BTF challenge blog and I hope you will share your artwork with us as well.

Happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Happy Times for AHSC #158

I am so excited to share this project with you today!  Not only has Michelle Stewart outdone herself with this fabulous and versatile sketch to challenge us with for Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #158, but I got to use CTMH's new kit "Happy Times" in honor of May being National Scrapbooking Month.  And finally the icing on the cake was that this paper helped me put together this card I've had in mind for a dear and lovely couple's upcoming wedding, which is barn themed with mint as the primary color.  This card was especially important to me as the young couple have been together since they were in high school plus the bride's mother was a childhood friend of mine, a high school friend of my husband's, and she was one of the witnesses when my husband and I eloped and got married by a Justice of the Peace.

details:  As stated, I used  mostly the Happy Times kit.  I planned to use the piece that looks like whitewashed wood but there wasn't enough contrast when I actually paired it with the mint striped and white-with-mint outlined flowers.  Luckily I have just a bit of a paper stash (ha ha) and after comparing several pieces, the one I liked best was this gray-based barn board looking paper from the long discontinued Dakota kit.  I used gold embossing powder and Versamark to heat emboss all the sentiments on the cover from the Mr. and Mrs. stamp set.  I used a bit of my favorite white and gold ribbon and the (retired) Gold Puffies for the heart.

For the inside, I again used gold heat embossing for this sentiment from The Happy Couple stamp set set on the same mint striped panel from the four squares on the front.  I backed that with a bit from the gold and white striped paper in the Happy Times kit and fussy cut the dovetails.  I am super happy with the way this one turned out but it is so hard to get a good photo of shiny embossing or metallics, I just don't feel like my photo does the card justice.  Don't forget to pick up a pack of this Happy Times paper during the month of May, it is so lovely and versatile it's sure to be a big hit.  I also invite you to play along with us at AHSC where there is never a shortage of inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting,  Annette