Just Treats for AHSC #284

Hello again, crafty friends!  Fall has officially started here in the middle of the USA and it's by far my favorite season.  Not only do I love the weather, the changing scenery, and the end of my seasonal allergies for a few months, but I really love the holidays!  So as soon as I saw this week's sketch at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge blog, I knew I would use it for my first project featuring the September 2018 Stamp of the Month but I'm sure this set will see lots of use this holiday season.  Before we get to my project though, I just want to remind everyone that we love to see all of your AHSC sketch based projects too, and you have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 10/7/18, to link your artwork HERE.  Now let's get started!

details:  I really love the colors in this Grateful Hearts paper pack so I knew I wanted to pair it with the "thankful" sentiment from this set.  I started with a base of Pomegranate cardstock and this lovely multi-colored floral piece of patterned paper.  I flipped the sketch to suit my taste but otherwise stayed true to it, so that meant I needed three horizontal banners.  I chose to work with more Pomegranate as well as Goldrush and New England Ivy.  One of the things I love about this patterned paper is the watercolor look it incorporates, so to carry that look over to the banners I decided to use the traditional/darker color for each one as the base with a slightly smaller layer on top of each using the lighter shade.  When I had my banners cut out and was playing around with them, I was a little disappointed with how plain they looked so after some trial and error, I used Pomegranate, Goldrush, and New England Ivy inks with the retired Season of Thanks (D1604) background stamp set and I LOVED how that turned out!

For the centerpiece, I used the largest of the 4 Basic Circles Thin Cuts dies, which measured 3" in diameter, so the sentiment would completely fit inside it.  I stamped in Espresso pigment, covered the image in clear embossing powder and heat set it.  I then used the small round waterbrush and the "pick up" method to pick up Pomegranate, Goldrush, and New England Ivy inks from the inside of the lids of the stamp pads and transferred it to the lettering and "splash" or leaf effects on the stamped image.  I then used the retired Art Philosophy cartridge's image at 3 1/2" on both the dark and light shades of Espresso cardstock.  As I played around with placement before I adhered the pieces together, I thought the white circle/sentiment needed a little something more so I used a fingertip sponge dauber with traditional Espresso ink, and I'm really glad I tried that as I felt it really helped carry out the tone-on-tone kind of thing I had going with the banners.  

And that's all there is to this one, at least so far.  I haven't quite decided how I want to decorate the inside of the card but I do know I want to send or give it to my best friend of  *37 years* for Thanksgiving, just to let her and her family know how truly thankful I am to have them in my and my family's lives.  I really hope you can find time to play with this week's super versatile sketch and to also share it with us, we are thankful and blessed to have such a wonderful group of people sharing their talents and skills with us at AHSC.  

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Hello Pumpkin for AHSC #282

 Hello again, crafty friends!  I have a cheerful little card to show you today based on this week's sketch at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge blog and some new Halloween themed products from the new CTMH Seasonal Expressions catalog.  I really miss having young children to dress up in costumes and having trick or treaters, so I'm not sure who I will give or send this card to, but I sure had fun putting it together!  Before we get started, though, I want to let everyone know how much we enjoy seeing your artwork too and that you have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 9/23/18, to link your projects HERE.

details:  Both the black and white diamond patterned paper and the star patterned paper are from the new Hello Pumpkin paper pack, and the starred panel is set on another layer of Nectarine (one of eleven new colors just introduced).  Both the sentiment and the adorable pumpkin image are from the Hello Pumpkin cardmaking stamp set (which can be purchased with or without the coordinating die cut set).

To make the pumpkin image, I first stamped the striped pumpkin image and then the solid image in Nectarine ink, followed by the outline in Momenta black ink.  Then I practiced on scraps a bit so I could stamp the face and stem at the same time.  I stamped the stem image on a piece of scratch paper,cut it out, and used it as a mask so I could use a sponge dauber to apply Willow ink without worrying about the green bleeding over into the Nectarine.  I then ran the completed image through my Cuttlebug with the pumpkin die cut.  I didn't have the stem quite limed up so that the die matched up but I only had to trim that piece a bit and it looked fine.

I also used my Cuttlebug and the largest of the Basic Circles dies to cut a circle of the lighter shade of Lemon cardstock to make what I *hope* looks like a full moon.  To add to that effect, I used another sponge dauber and applied Lemon ink about 1/4" around the edges, and Nectarine ink on the very edges.  The banner behind the "moon" and pumpkin is just a 7/8" wide strip of Lagoon cardstock.  For the finishing touch, I added a few Lagoon colored puffy stars that were part of the Complements set from a retired Halloween themed set called Jeepers Creepers.

And, once again, that's all there is to this one!  I don't know about you, but I love this time of year:  I love the warm afternoons and chilly evenings, the start of a new school year, and that nice little lull between the end of summer and the busyness of the upcoming holiday season.  At least for me, it's also a time to pause and take stock of all I have to be grateful for, and I find myself inspired not just to create cards and scrapbook pages but to tidy up the house to get a jump start on preparing for holiday guests, and I actually enjoy cooking more!  I hope you that wherever you are, whatever the season, you find yourself inspired and grateful for the little things that make up the life you have built for yourself and your loved ones.  And should you find a little time to be creative and play with us at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge we would love to see what you come up with!

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Birthday Wishes for AHSC #280

Hello again, crafty friends!  I've had such a busy week that I've had to start and stop several times with this project based on this week's sketch from the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and I'm not sure it's exactly what I started out to create, but it was fun to pull out some older products and make something new with them so here we are!

details:  All the papers used for this cheerful birthday card are from the retired paper kit called Confetti Wishes.  I started with creating a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" card base of Thistle cardstock and a 4 x 5 1/4" panel of this super cute birthday candle-patterned paper.  In the center is a 2 x 3 1/8" panel of Canary cardstock, and then I cut a 1/7/8 x 3" piece of this patterned paper, being careful to cut out just the piece I wanted so that the "happy birthday" cloud was at the center.  For the banner on the left, I cut a piece of 4 x 1 1/16" rectangle of retired Pacifica cardstock and a 3 15/16 x 15/16" panel of this diagonally striped paper and dovedtailed them both.

The balloons are from a retired set called Balloons, stamped them with Memento black ink on white cardstock and colored in with the following ShinHan markers:  Leaf Green, Golden Yellow, Peony Purple, Marine Blue, and Turquoise Blue, fussy cut, tied together with separated strands of black hemp twine, and the dotted balloon was popped up with 3-D tape.

In place of the sentiment banner you see in the center of the sketch, I chose to create a sentiment banner instead.  I used the curved stem piece from the MFT Stamps stitched flowers die cut set with Thistle cardstock for the line to attach the mini banners to, which are just pieces fussy cut from the zip strip from this Confetti Wishes paper set.  I used Pacifica ink with the "to" from a miscellaneous Christmas gift tag stamp set and the long retired Tiny Typewriter alpha from CTMH.  I added a Thistle-colored, heart shaped enamel gem from the retired purple hearts enamel and glitter duos to one mini banner and some bitty sparkles between each of those banners.

And at long last, it's done!  I think this is a fabulous sketch and I hope you can find some crafty time in your busy weekends and can share your projects with us at AHSC.  As always, you have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 9/9/2018, to submit your creation, which you can do HERE.  Don't forget to stop by and check out the rest of the design team's projects, too, they have some really fabulous artwork to share with you!

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Central Park Neighbors for AHSC #278

Hello again, crafty friends!  I've been working on a card for a very special person and this week's sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge was perfect for what I had in mind.  I will also be submitting it to the "Lovely Layers" theme at the Heart2Heart challenge and the "Blast From the Past" theme at the Three Amigos Blog Hop challenge (for #15 "machine die cutting" and #16 "embossing").

When my husband and I first began looking into buying our current home, the first people we told were our neighbors-to-be, Carl and Sandy.  They were a wonderful couple that we looked up to from the moment we moved into town and the thought of becoming neighbors as well was just the icing on the cake.  Fast forward a decade and a half, and sadly Carl has passed away and Sandy has an early form of dementia and is no longer living in her home.  I hadn't visited her yet because I honestly didn't think she would still recognize me but her daughter told me she brought Sandy back to her house for the afternoon and as they drove by my house, Sandy stated, "Oh, I'm so glad Annette got that house, I just loved having them for neighbors!"  Well, that completely made my day!  So I am planning to visit her soon but I wanted a special card to give to her, one that was pretty and cheerful and reflected what a special friendship we have been blessed to share.  I really hope she enjoys it, I have missed seeing her radiant smile and would love to bring one of those smiles on her face.  Anyway, here it is:

details:  I started with the Central Park paper pack and coordinating cardmaking stamp and die cut set.

Keeping in mind that Sandy's house is a cheerful yellow and mine is a pale gray, I wanted to incorporate those two colors as much as possible.  I used Pacifica cardstock, the Lemon and white striped/watercolor patterned paper from the Adventure Fundamental paper collection, more Pacifica, and this brick-patterned paper from the Central Park kit.  I used another lovely pattern from this kit that features various houses, trees, bicycles, and hot air balloons for the first vertical rectangle, inked the edges in Pacifica ink with a sponge dauber.  For the next vertical rectangle, I used Bashful ink with the cascading hearts pattern from the retired "Charming Cascades" stamp set, and inked the edges with Bashful ink again.

To create the houses, I used the Pacifica pigment ink pad to stamp the smallest house images from the Central Park cardmaking set twice on watercolor paper, cover with clear embossing powder, and heat setting it.  Once they had cooled, I pressed the centers of my Lemon and Mink ink pads so some of the ink was transferred to the inside of the lid.  Then I used a medium waterbrush to pick up the ink from the lid and paint it onto the houses.  For the die cut heart in the center, I used the pretty lace-patterned Blush paper from the Beautiful Friendship kit with the second-smallest of the stitched heart Thin Cuts dies.

For the sentiment rectangles, I used Mink and Lemon cardstocks, the retired "Tiny Typewriter" alphabet stamp, and Heather ink (I tried Mink but it wasn 't quite as dark as I thought it should be).  I used a small Momenta alphabet die cut set to cut "chance" from the same brick patterned paper, and "hearts" from the Bashful and white polka dotted paper (also from the Central Park kit).  Now all I need is a couple of daisies in a small vase, tied with a pink ribbon, and I'm all set to visit my sweet neighbor again!

Just a quick reminder:  You have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 8/26/18, to play along with this sketch at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge (you can enter your project HERE), and 11:55 pm Eastern/10:55 pm Central on Friday, 8/31/18, to enter your project in the Lovely Layers theme at the Heart2Heart Challenge (which you can submit HERE).  I hope you find time in your busy week for some crafting (hey, it's back to school week if you have kiddos!) and can share your art with one or even all three of these challenges, or at least take a stroll through their websites to get inspired by all the fabulous artwork you will find there.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Feline Fun for AHSC #276

Hello and welcome back again, crafty friends!  I had so much fun with this project I just can't wait to share it with you.  Usually I start with a particular sketch I want to use but this week inspiration struck first and I was lucky enough to be able to combine my idea with the sketch for my design team duties (or should I say, privilege) for the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.  And, as I love to combine projects with other challenges so that I can help promote the efforts of my fellow crafters, I will submit this one to play along in the Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge #303 (Tic-tac-toe grid based on the colors in CTMH's Central Park kit); Challenge #6 over at the Double Trouble Papercrafting Challenge blog (Anything Goes/decorate the inside of your card/combine with a previous partnering challenge blog); and the Three Amigos Blog Hop Challenge #17 (Time Warp theme, use your choice of any past theme from 2018, my project qualifies for #16-embossing and #15-die cutting).  Trust me, it's way easier than it sounds, and a ton of fun so let's get started!

details:  I got my inspiration from wanting to combine this "spotted" patterned paper from the Central Park kit with the super cute Cat's Meow stamp set.  I used Lemon and Mink cardstocks to create a layered base.  I also used Heather CS with the largest of the basic ovals Thin Cuts and White Daisy CS with the largest of the stitched oval Thin Cuts to create a base for the central of the sketch.  I used black Memento ink to stamp the silhouette image of a cat on that oval base as well as the cat emoji faces and the outline of the word bubble (all from the Cat's Meow set mentioned earlier).

For the horizontal border piece, I used the side of a piece of Poppy cardstock with the solid-looking piece from the hearts border Thin Cuts dies, and the traditional shade of Poppy for the heart-frames border, which I then touched up with my clear shimmer brush to add a little shine and to also help differentiate the shades.  I used Poppy ink for the "hello" sentiment, which is from a retired set called Love My Cat, and popped up the word bubble with some 3-D foam tape.

 

For the cat paw borders, I used Mink ink with a part of the M-sized Paws stamp set (I "amputated" part of the stamp to make it easier to work with for this project, but cut it in such a way it will easily fit back together for future projects).  I used Poppy ink with the two smaller-print sentiments (from Cozy Cat and Love My Cat) and black Memento for the "purrrfect" sentiment and the cat silhouettes, all three of which are from Cat's Meow again.  The ball of yarn image is from Love My Cat and I stamped it on the card in Lemon, stamped it in black ink on Lemon cardstock, and fussy cut and adhered.

I should note, I chose the Lemon, Poppy, and Mink colors to work with the Color My Heart Dare, which is also a previous challenge partner over at the Double Trouble Papercrafting Challenge Blog, which allows me to enter it for play in both of those challenges, and the die cutting and embossing qualifies for two past themes at the Three Amigos Blog Hop Challenge.  And, of course, this sketch is for AHSC and for once I am *EARLY* with a project so this sketch will be open for play starting Monday morning, 8/6/18, and you will have until 9:55 pm Eastern/10:55 pm Central on Sunday, 8/12/18, to link your projects.

Thanks for stopping by happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Santa In July for AHSC #274

Hello again, crafty friends!  I broke out some oldies but goodies to play with this week's sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.  I didn't plan to start on Christmas cards just yet but the first two ideas I had for this sketch didn't quite pan out, so I was inspired to think outside the box... or calendar page.  In addition to creating this card for this week's AHSC design team submissions, it meets the themes for a couple of other current challenges so I will be entering it to the Heart2Heart Challenge Blog for their Christmas In July; the Double Trouble Paper Crafting Challenge Blog for their Christmas Only theme; and the Three Amigos Blog Hop Challenges for their embossing theme.

details:  All products used are from CTMH and almost all of them are retired.  I started with the red "plaid" from the Believe paper kit.  The stamped image is from a set called I Believe (C1427) and inked in Holiday Red.  The scalloped edge frame was cut in Topiary CS using the Art Philosophy cartridge, and I used Pear colored mini-brads to add a little extra interest.

The tag is from the Home for the Holidays (SOTM in 2014) and was cut using the Art Philosophy cartridge.  The sentiment from the Santa Claus set (C1567) and was initially cut from the Artbooking cartridge but I was a little pressed for space so I ended up trimming it up a bit by hand.  Both images were stamped using a Sweet Leaf mini pigment ink pad, covered in clear embossing powder, and heat embossed.

I used some Topiary mini chevron ribbon to for embellishment and to secure the tag.  I used the scallop border Thin Cuts with white glitter paper.  To get a scalloped edge on the base layer too I cut the white glitter paper first, glued it so that the very edges of the scallops met the edge of the patterned paper, then positioned the solid-piece scallop thin cut over the glitter paper, taped the straight edge in place, positioned the piece so that the scallops faced the opening of the Cuttlebug, and then I just rolled them into the device only until I could feel the increase in pressure that indicated a cut was being made.  I had to finish trimming the dips between one or two sets of scallops but otherwise it worked very well.

And that's all there is to this one!  Don't forget the weekly deadline at AHSC is 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 7/29/18, and you can enter your artwork by going HERE.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

Patriotic Thank You for AHSC #272

Hello again, crafty friends!  We have another fun and fabulous sketch to work with this week at the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.  To make things twice as nice, we have partnered with the folks at the Double Trouble Paper Crafting Challenge Blog for their 3-2-1 recipe and sketch challenge.  How fun is that?!?!  We at AHSC always love to have you play along, but I sincerely hope you take time to also play along, or at least check out, the Double Trouble challenge as well as this is just their 4th challenge and they are already off to a fabulous start!

details:  I started with this awesome fireworks-themed designer paper I've had for ages (and cannot identify, sorry).  After going through all my color swatches, I decided that Sapphire and Cranberry were the best matches so those are the colors I went with.  I ran the Sapphire cardstock through the confetti stars embossing folder, the Cranberry cardstock through the stripes embossing folder, and then I sanded both to get the white core to show through.

I used Sapphire and Cranberry ink with the retired Vintage USA stamp set to get those distressed star images.  I used the basic stars Thin Cuts to cut the smallest star from white glitter paper.  I also used the glitter paper to frame the stars and to add those three stars in the lower left corner per the sketch.

For the banner, I used Sapphire with the Thank You (M1185) stamp, Cranberry ink with this banner image from the retired Hello Lovely stamp set, and finally ran that through the coordinating Thin Cut die.

This is one of those sketches that has endless possibilities, and we would love to see your take on it.  As always, you have until 10:55 pm Eastern/9:55 pm Central on Sunday, 7/15/18, to enter your creations HERE.  And don't forget to stop by and check out, and hopefully play along, with the Double Trouble Paper Crafting Challenge Blog.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette