Watercolor and Embossing for AHSC #256

Hello again, crafty friends.  I am stretching my wings and trying something a little new to me for this week's sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.  Before I share my project, though, I want to say we love seeing all our participants' AMAZING artwork and remind you that the deadline for submissions for this week's sketch is 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 3/25/18, and you can link your projects HERE.  Now on to my project:

details:  While the purpose of most cards is to share joy or send cheer, I have found that once in a while it's meaningful to let someone know you understand what they're going through.  Sadly, there are a lot of people near and dear to my family who are experiencing big struggles right now so while I'm not sure who I will send this to (or even if I will send it it all), my heart and thoughts have been heavier than usual and this card, which is quite a bit darker and bolder in color than I usually create, is the result.  I started with a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4" base of black cardstock topped with a 5 3/8 x 4 1/8" panel of Lagoon, and another black panel measuring 3 5/8 x 2 5/8" topped with a 3 1/2 x 2 1/2" panel of watercolor paper.  Before I put the pieces together though I used several ShinHan markers (Turquoise Blue, Peacock Green, Marine Blue, and Lavender) and the colorless blender marker to create a sort of twilight themed watercolor background.  Once that had piece had dried, I used VersaMark ink and white embossing powder to heat emboss this image from a retired stamp set called Paper Garden.  For the sentiment, I used Pansy ink with another retired stamp set called Beloved Bouquet.  I ran the stamped sentiment through my Cuttlebug using the banner die from the retired Sugar Rush cardmaking stamp and die set and then inked the edges with a sponge dauber and Peacock ink.

So while there were several steps to this one, it really was fairly simple to do.  While I'm still deciding if I like such dark, dramatic colors I do think I will continue to practice my alcohol marker blending with other color combos and stamp sets as I like the overall effect.  Also, don't forget to stop by HERE to see what the rest of the AHSC design team have created for you.  Trust me, you will be glad you did!  Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Working with Complements for BTF #41B

Hello and welcome back, crafty friends!  This is our second week of working with our Complements theme over at the Between The Folds Bi-Weekly Challenge Blog.  CTMH currently has 15 different complements kits to choose from, ranging from the ones that coordinate with the paper packs in our seasonal kits, ones that coordinate with the various color palettes showcased in our Annual Idea Book, to stand alone kits.  Factor in that many colors in the CTMH palette cross over among various complements and paper kits, the mix and match factor provides endless possibilities!

For this particular project, I chose to pair the Uptown Fundamental papers with the new Springtime complements, particularly the pieces with gold foil.  I had a special set of photos to work with that were taken at the annual Y-Teens father/daughter and mother/daughter banquets from each year my daughter was in high school.  We never knew what background the photographer would bring for each event so while there was a lot of burgandy, there were other contrasting colors in this grouping as well so I needed a neutral background that wouldn't clash with any of the photos.  I thought the white and gold background would add a little emphasis on fit the bill while the metallic gold can be hard to photograph, I was really happy with how this project turned out.

details:  I used a 12 x 12" base of White Daisy cardstock and cut two of this white and gold striped paper and the white and gold dotted vellum papers into 6" squares which I alternated.  I used the gold foil "grow," "bloom," and the ampersand (not to mention the white-and-gold comma carefully placed) in the white spaces as they were already covered in metallic gold, but the "smile" was white color-ready chipboard.  I knew it was going to have to be spaced over both white and gold due to its size, so I used my gold shimmer brush to go over it so it wouldn't blend in to either background stripe, and I used a gold heart to dot the "i."  I used my watercolor paints with the gold embossed white chipboard pieces to incorporate some of the colors in the backgrounds of the photos and tie into the title.  I painted another shape and used the gold letters from a retired fundamental stickers kit in the corner, but I could have used my Cricut to cut the letters from one of the wide gold strips in the leftover striped paper.  Also, here's a tip:  If you choose to paint these accents, go over the gold lines with a twisted paper towel or napkin once the paint is dry and that will remove any paint on the metallic embossing so that the gold stands out again.  How fun is that?!?!  So these lovely fundamental papers and complements helped me finally get this challenging group of photos scrapped together a mere 4 years after my daughter's graduation, lol.

We would love to see how use put the various CTMH Complements kits to work in your cards and layouts so if you find time in your busy week to create with them, you can share your project by linking it HERE.  As always, you have until 11 pm Eastern/10 pm Central on Monday evening (3/13/17 for this particular challenge) to link 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