Wedding Congrats with AHSC #174

Hello and welcome back, crafty friends!  One of the things I love most about paper crafting is being able to really customize cards or gifts for special people on their special occasions, so I took this occasion and this sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge to create a card for my lovely step-niece and her groom for their upcoming wedding.  They gave chosen yellow, navy, and gray for their wedding colors, which aren't exactly traditional colors, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't going to find many cards to choose from in a store with this color combo so I was extra happy to be able to create something unique for the happy couple!

details:  I started with a 6 x 4" card base cut from Sapphire CS.  I then ran a 5 3/4 x 3 3/4" piece of Canary CS through my Cuttlebug using the retired Heart embossing folder and did a little sanding to make the hearts stand out.  I used some scraps from the retired Charlotte kit for the stripes on the left and the base of the sentiment panel.  I used Sapphire and Canary inks and some Canary CS scraps with the retired "The Happy Couple" stamp set for the cake and bride & groom cake topper and another retired set called "4 My Friend" for the sentiment.   I wasn't sure exactly where this one was going when I started but I'm pleased with how it turned out, and now I have to get busy designing and cutting some vinyl to adhere to a glass block they want to use for a mixed sand sculpture in place of a unity candle.  I have 5 step-nieces and this is the second one to get married, and both have asked me to create something for the wedding day, and I'm so happy and honored to do this for them and hope I will get to help when the next 3 are ready to tie the knot!

This is another fun and versatile sketch to play with, and we'd love to see your take on it.  You can find the link up HERE and you have until 10 pm Central on Sunday, 8/28, to enter.  Even if you can't play, I hope you will take the time to head on over to the AHSC challenge blog where I guarantee you will find some inspiration!  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