Easter Bunny Wishes for AHSC 198

Hello again, crafty friends!  This morning is the snowiest day we've had in my neighborhood so far this winter but luckily I had already planned an Easter card filled with lovely spring colors and this week's sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.  Let's get started!

details:  I chose this colorful Kaleidoscope paper from last last spring and paired it with the February SOTM, "Easter Bunny."  I used chocolate ink to stamp the image on Champagne cardstock and then stamped the dress part of the image onto this patterned piece from the same kit using Gypsy ink (retired).  I was pleasantly surprised how well the Tender Pink ShinHan marker showed up on the Champagne cardstock for the inner ears.  I then used the Artistry cartridge to cut the banner that corresponded with this banner from the same stamp set and stamped the image in Pear ink (also discontinued).  The circle behind the bunny is another pattern from the Kaleidoscope kit and the circular frame was cut using retired Sunset cardstock, with Gypsy cardstock for the base.  To finish this sweet little card, I used my last piece of Pixie extra thick twine knotted and stapled to the patterned piece.  I can't wait for Easter to get closer so I can get this sent to my best friend's daughter, who is just about the sweetest soul you could ever hope  to meet!

This was another super fun sketch to work with and we'd love to see your take on it.  You can find the link up HERE and you have until 10 pm Eastern/11 pm Central on Sunday, 2/12/17 to share your project.

Happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Watercolor Fun with BTF Challenge

Hello and welcome back, crafty friends!  This week at the Between The Folds challenge blog we are creating with a water theme.  The first thing that came to my mind was all the paints, brushes, watercolor pencils, watercolor paper, and resist pattern watercolor Picture My Life cards for quite some time but I simply hadn't taken the time to actually sit down and try them, but now that I have you can be sure my paint brushes will be getting a workout.

I've had this hostess rewards stamp set called Unicorn Dreams (now retired) for some time but could never quite decide what I wanted to do with it.  And while I knew I wanted to break out my watercolor paints for this challenge, I was a little stuck coming up with a project so I decided to make something for myself, just for fun, and enjoy the experience of playing with something new to me.  I admit, I need to play around a bit more with heat embossing in combination with watercolors as this silver embossed unicorn is a bit patchy close up, but it's just for me and I actually kind of like that some of the background paints come through in places, it seems to make the unicorn image even more mystical.  I backed my 3 1/2 x 5 1/2" painted panel on a 4 x 6" piece of the retired Kaleidoscope paper for a little added color fun.

We'd love to have you join us this week at Between The Folds Challenges and share your watercolor or water inspired projects.  It's fun and it's easy, you just have to use some CTMH product (and let us know what you used if it isn't obvious) and you have until 10:55 p.m. Central on Monday, 8/29/16 to link your projects.  Happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Positive Thoughts for AHSC #170

Hello, crafty friends!  The talented Michelle Stewart has provided us with yet another fabulous sketch to play with this week at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.  I kept thinking of so many things I wanted to do with this sketch, I had trouble narrowing it down but I finally settled on this quick little card I've had in the back of my mind for some time.  So without further ado, here's my project for today:





details:  Sorry for odd angle but I wanted a close up for this one due to the light color of ink I used for the stamping and so you could see the details.  I started with the purple patterned paper on the bottom half which is from the soon-to-be-retired Kaleidoscope papers.  Not only is purple my favorite color and this is a lovely, watercolored shade of Gypsy, but shortly after this paper was released, CTMH also released the "On The Plus Side" stamp and I knew I wanted to use Gypsy ink on white CS to get a reverse pattern of the one from the kit.  I backed these pieces with a piece of Gypsy CS, the border is actually a piece of white CS covered with the thick green roll of the Limeade Washi tape set.  For the sentiment, I carefully inked this stamp from the Positive Chemistry set with Pear, Gypsy, and Sunset inks, and the panel behind that is another piece from the Kaleidoscope kit.  I used Sunset ink to stamp this image, also from the Positive Chemistry set, and then I used the Marigold, Leaf Green, and Lavendar ShinHan alcohol markers to add color to the large and small white pieces from the set of Gray Enamel Gems.  I haven't finished the inside yet but I plan to use a sentiment from the retired Card Chatter - Sympathy set which reads, "happy thoughts coming your way."

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out the AHSC blog to see all the fun and amazing projects based on this sketch.  Our weekly challenges run through Sunday evenings at 11 pm Eastern/10 pm Central so you have plenty of time to play along, and we'd love to see your creations!  Also, this is the last week to apply to our design team so if you want to apply, you just need to post your creation before this challenge ends and make sure to put "DT" behind your name when you title your post.

Happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Planner Page for AHSC #156

I just adore this week's sketch at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.  As soon as I saw it, I knew that I wanted to use it to make my own divider page for my Everyday Life album; the only "challenge" I had was carving out the time to make it.  This project took a bit of time as I wanted to create a Cricut file in case I wanted to make more dividers or pages in the future, but it was totally worth it because as much as I LOVE my planner album, I love to customize it even more!

details:  I used the lovely Kaleidoscope paper kit and adhered that to a base I created on white CS, just to give it some extra sturdiness and so I could sponge ink onto the divider tab so it would be in keeping with the water color theme.  I used the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge to cut the frame in Gypsy CS.  I used the Brushstrokes stamp set in Pear, Gypsy, and Pixie inks for the brushstroke images.  For the sentiment, I used a consultant-only stamp set, masking the image so I could basically divide the entire image into three parts, stamping the top and bottom ones in Gypsy and then using Versamark and gold embossing powder to heat emboss the word "life."  To finish it off, I added two different sized hearts from the Treasured Puffies as well as the white and gold ribbon.  This is one of the few times I feel like one of my projects turned out better than I had envisioned it, and I know I'm going to enjoy using it in my planner every day!

Thanks for stopping by and I really hope you will play along with this week's sketch challenge or at least stop by the AHSC blog to check out the fabulous projects from the participants as well as the rest of the design team.  Happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Between The Folds Challenge #18B: Embellishments

This week's challenge at Between The Folds Challenge Blog is to use Embellishments.  Luckily, CTMH gives us plenty to choose from!  Enough that I had a really hard time choosing a project so I "cheated" and made several little projects, which are all tags I've made to add to gift bags for upcoming birthdays and special occasions.  I will share the details for each tag at the end of this post but first I just want to say that there are so many possibilities with this challenge, I want to encourage you to share your creations with us (you have until Monday, 4/11/16, at 11:55 p.m. Eastern/10:55 p.m. Central).  And don't forget to check out the inspiration from our design team and the other participants.  Happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

details:  All tags were cut using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge (image is shown on p.40, cut at 3" and the layer feature for the same key/page).

Make A Wish tag:  Wish stamp set in Pomegranate ink, Pixie Extra Thick Twine, Silver Sequins, Flamingo Dots, Bitty Sparkles, and La Vie En Rose paper.

Wishing You tag:  Belated Birthday stamp set (retired) in Sapphire ink, Whisper Thick Twine, Silver Foil Tape, Durable Triange Studs (silver), and Urban paper and white cardstock.

Everything Is Better tag:  Better With a Friend (retired hostess rewards stamp set) in Black ink, Red Enamel Hearts, and La Vie En Rose paper colored with Carmine ShinHan marker.

Happy Birthday tag:  Heartfelt Birthday Wish stamp set (retired) in Gypsy ink, Green Shimmer Trim and Enamel & Glitter Duos Purple Hearts, and Kaleidoscope paper.  I stamped the image twice, once on the card and once on the patterned paper (both times in Gypsy), and then I fussy cut the image on patterned paper and glued it in place.

Awesome Birthday tag:  Card Word Puzzle (retired) and the Say It All hostess rewards stamp sets in Sapphire ink, one of the buttons from the Urban Complements collection and Durable Triange Studs (gold), and Urban paper.

First time entry for Craft Your Passion challenge blog

Good morning, all!  I am a big fan of fall and while I have enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather we've had so far this month, I have to admit I'm ready for a few crisp evenings and the upcoming holiday season.  So when my daughter requested a card for a college friend who prefers a spring palette, I found it a little challenging to switch gears.  I also wanted to come up with something especially pretty as this young woman is an art major, but after a few days' thoughts I finally came up with something I'm pleased with.  Plus, I got to ink up several stamps I hadn't used yet as well as break into a new paper pack, AND this will be my first entry over at the Craft Your Passion challenge blog (where the theme is always 'anything goes') so this project was a win-win-win for me!


details:  All products are from Close To  My Heart.  I used patterned paper and cardstock from the Kaleidoscope kit which features Pear, Canary, Pixie, and Gypsy.  One of the papers has this pretty striped pattern which starts out green, transitions to yellow and then to pink.  I love playing lines against curves so I rounded the corners on each of the layers/banners and chose a sentiment stamp, Wavy Blooms, that features cursive writing.  The small butterfly images are from a set called Your Own Kind of Wonderful.  I used this set again for the sentiment on the inside of the card which I positioned within one of the images from the Frame Flair set.  This stamp set is Cricut compatible but I chose to fussy cut it this time because I wanted the stamped image to be as close as possible to the edge of the paper since I was using tone-on-tone.  I used the rock and roll stamping technique for the butterfly in the corner, and that stamp is from the retired Brushstrokes Workshop On The Go set, which lends itself really well to the colors and patterns in the Kaleidoscope kit.


I think that's it!  Happy crafting, Annette