Complements Theme for Featured Products Blog Hop

Hello and welcome back to another installment of the Close To My Heart Featured Products Blog Hop, where this week we are bringing you projects using a variety of  our Complements.  There is a coordinating Complements set for each current paper kit in the Seasonal Idea Book as well as multiple stand alone sets with their own individual themes.  If you came here from Corinna's blog you are in the right place but as hops are circular, you are welcome to jump in anywhere along the way and simply make the rounds.  A complete list of this week's participants is included at the end of this post in case you get lost along the way.  Let's get started!

I chose the Hello Lovely paper and complements for this layout celebrating my mother.  Her life was too short and I have very few pictures of her, so naturally the ones I do have are very precious.  It has taken me several years of "playing" at scrapbooking and paper crafting to build my skills so that I feel I can finally give those photographs and the memories behind them the love and credit they deserve. Not that my work will ever be "perfect" because our art and our skills, just like our lives themselves, are ever changing and growing but I am happy with what I have created from these photos *today.*

details:  I used the Hello Lovely paper kit and coordinating Complements.  The "my beautiful" and hearts are in part of the complements (the word "family" is also included but I chose not to use it), as well as the heart stickers by the word "mother" and at the edges of the smaller photos.  The Sea Glass piece in the middle with the year on it is also one of the stickers from this kit, as is the small banner by the top picture.  I used Rose Gold foil tape along the edges of the corner pieces, and then I used Cricut Design Space and Flower Market cartridge to cut "mother" at 1.75" high in both Colonial White and Desert Sand and layered them slightly off centered for a shadow font.  The year was cut using the Cricut font.  I layered the bottom 3 photos with Fern, Sorbet, and Desert Sand and for the top photo, I fussy cut one of the 4 x 6" PML pieces from this kit so I could use it to frame the main photo.

And that's 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.  We hope  to see you back in two weeks on May 3, 2017, when our theme will be the gorgeous Live Beautifully kit, a special collection of papers, stamp set, and/or Workshop Your Way kit.  Until then, thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette


Complete list of this week's participants:

1.  Corinna Murphy

2.  Annette Clark (here)

3.  Lauren Moore

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

More Hello Lovely for AHSC #200

Wow, it's our 200th sketch at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge already!  I have been a follower of this challenge blog since it first began, and the sketches and all the artwork have provided endless inspiration while challenging me to stretch my creative boundaries.  So whether this is your first time with us or you're an avid follower, I hope you enjoy it and find as much inspiration here as I have.  And while I'm on the subject, I want to say a huge THANK YOU to Michelle Stewart and all design team members, past and present, for sharing their creativity with us all!

Ok, gushing over, on to this week's sketch and project.  As soon as I saw this week's sketch I began making plans to revisit one of my all time favorite creations and actually had everything laid out to begin cutting, when I decided that would kind of be like cheating.  So it was back to the design board and I found myself turning to the beautiful Hello Lovely kit again...  No surprise, since I can't keep my hands off of it and there are scraps, complements, and coordinating stamp and die cut sets strewn across my craft area.



details:  I used Cricut Design Space and the CTMH Artiste cartridge (retired) to create and weld this grid and frame which I cut  at 5 1/4 x 4" on New England Ivy cardstock.  I backed the lighter floral panel of the Hello Lovely kit.  I used blush shimmer ribbon, this Sorbet-colored frame sticker from the Hello Lovely complements, and this sentiment from the Hello Lovely cardmaking stamp and die cut set stamped in a gold metallic ink from ColorBox.  It still needed a little extra something so I took the liberty of adding two tiny rose stickers from the same complements kit.  I have already made all the cards I need for upcoming family weddings, which are both in April, but I really see this one for an outdoor, June wedding...  I'm sure one will come along eventually!

I love this sketch, it's fairly clean and simple but it works for elegant cards too.  I hope you find time to try your hand at it this week and share your creation with us.  As always, you have until 11 pm Eastern/10 pm Central on Sunday, 2/26/17, to play along and you can link your projects HERE.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Hello Lovely Wedding Card for BTF Challenge 40

Hello again, crafty friends!  Even though it's been a fairly mild winter where I live, I am still longing for spring so I've been having a great deal of fun playing with the beautiful floral and spring colored geometric patterns in the Close To My Heart "Hello Lovely" kit for my design team submission for this week's challenge at the Between The Folds Bi-Weekly Challenge Blog.

I was particularly inspired by this week's sketch over at Mojo Monday so I used it as my starting point.  I used a standard 4 1/2 x 5 1/2" card base in Desert Sand and cut the dot patterned Sorbet paper for the foundation layer.  I cut a piece of Colonial White cardstock at 3 1/2 x 4 5/8" and punched the edge with a scallop pattern and topped that piece with a 2 3/4 x 4 5/8" panel.  I used one of the PML cards from the Hello Lovely kit and trimmed the 1/4" from the top of this 4 x 3" vertical panel and dovetailed the bottom to form the banner shape.

For embellishments, I used the medium and small hearts from the Hello Lovely complements placed on the same patterned paper as the foundation layer and fussy cut around them.  I used my favorite white and gold ribbon to form the bow which is tied around this antique rose charm which is the last one from the first set of Base and Bling set that CTMH came out with.

For the sentiment, I used Desert Sand ink with the retired Mr. and Mrs. set.  I can't help but feel this paper kit lends itself perfectly to wedding cards and layouts, but maybe that's because there are a couple of spring weddings coming up in my family!
The Hello Lovely kit is also this week's theme at the Color My Heart Color Dare and one of this month's themes at the Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog so I will be entering this card in both of these challenges as well as the sketch challenge at Mojo Monday.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette