Seasonal Expressions 1 2018 Blog Hop

For today's featured Blog Hop, we are showcasing products found int our new Seasonal Expressions Catalog.  If you came here from CAT's Blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog. 

This month we have approximately 20 Close To My Heart consultants sharing their creations using new products from our Seasonal Expressions catalogs.To start just click on the links at the end of each blog post to move to the next one! Here we go!

For my project I decided to make a card for Mother's Day, and I used the Bonne Fete des Meres(A1216) which is found in the International Section.  I used a pattern from the Gimme Some Sugar collection, and colored the image using GY234 Leaf Green, and RP198 Tender Pink ShinHan Markers. I added a mat under the image in Heather, and some Whisper Twine.

Here is a close up of the image, I used the Colorless Blender Marker to soften the colors. The image is stamped using Memento Black Ink....I use this because I find that I get less bleeding than when I use the Archival Black Ink.

Now "Hop" on over to Melinda's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Remember, the November SOTM is only available until November 30th!  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount!


Always craft with  <3

CTMH Christmas Card Blog Hop

Welcome to our Christmas Card Blog Hop! 

We will be featuring Christmas Cards using products found in our Holiday Expressions catalog.  If you have come here from Wendy's Blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog. 

This month we have approximately 20 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using CTMH products on their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

For my cards I used the scraps I had left over from creating some other projects after playing with Beary Christmas.  I added some Cranberry cardstock, white shimmer trim and some red gems.  I used the Gingerbread Friends stamp and thin cut, and the sentiment comes from the Beary Christmas Cardmaking stamp set.

Now "Hop" on over to Cat's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount!


Always craft with  <3

AHSC #111 & a Thank you!

Wow, I've been missing in action from my own sketch challenge for quite some time now.  Between work, a shoulder injury and the kids I just haven't had any time for myself and crafting.  My main concern was keeping the challenge running, I knew I had to make sure that the posts were up and that we were able to provide you all with excellent digital sketches.  So I've been working with 3 members of the design team and they have been learning how to take the sketches and make them digital. So a huge thank you to Shari, Brandi and Chris.  Also, there have been a few other design team members who have been helping with the running of the challenge blog, Candra, Jessica and Barbara, a big Thank you to you 3 ladies too.

Now onto my creation for Sketch #111.

I whipped this card together pretty quickly actually since I like to stamp a whole bunch of the same image and colour(colouring relaxes me) them for future creations, or if someone orders a card they seen. The patterned paper is retired Ivy Lane that I pulled out of my scraps, and then I used a scrap of Autumn Terracotta cardstock and used the scallop border punch.  I love our shimmer trim, and thought that the Gold Shimmer Trim really dressed this card up, followed by the Gold Bling Gems. The stamp is Quick Cards - Japanese Blossom (A1155). I added a little faux stitching along the edge to finish it off.

I hope you will head on over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge now and visit the design team, remember, everyone loves to get a little blog love, so leave them some comments.

AHSC #98 Dream Big

Recently at my very first Creative Camp I taught a few classes, and the first class I taught combined 2 techniques.  Applying ink using Painters Tape and Heat Embossing.  I decided to use the pieces from this class to make my card for this week's challenge.

Here is the sketch:

Here is my creation:

I used Seaside pattern paper, and Crystal Blue Cardstock, the ink colors are Slate, Glacier and Crystal Blue.  I heat embossed the butterfly in Silver Embossing Powder and stamped the sentiment in Black Ink.  The butterfly and sentiment are from the Stamp set Your Own Kind of Wonderful (D1627).

Now head on over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and see what our design team has created this week.

Happy Birthday Card from AHSC

I am always in need of brithday cards, how about you?  Everytime I blink it seems I need a birthday card.  Either the children are being invited to a kids party,family or friends are having birthdays, or my husband will ask for one for a co-worker.  It just seems like when I go looking for one, I'm all out. So my mission now is to try to create lots of quick and simple birthday cards to have as my go-to cards.

Here is this week's sketch:

I went digging through my scraps and pre-cut files to see what I could use up from my extras that I have colored and cut for other creations and put everything together.  This card is what I came up with.  

I hope you will now take a few minutes and head over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and see what our design team has created to inspire you.

Home for the Holidays for AHSC #78

I simply love this month's SOTM, Home for the Holidays.  The polar bear stamp is just adorable, and I've used him to create other cards.  Today I used him for this weeks sketch over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.

Here is the sketch:

Here is my creation using Snowhaven paper and October's SOTM.

Now I hope you will head on over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and visit our Design Team, this week we have another fabulous guest designer, Jen Patrick.  So stop on by and check out the amazing artwork we've worked hard to create for you.

Christmas Cardinal featuring Artfully Sent

Well, yesterday was World Cardmaking Day, and I challenged myself to produce 80 cards.....well I met my goal and I've been asked to give some instructions on how I created my cards.

The first one I'm showcasing is the Cardinal card.

I used 2 cartridges to create this card, the NEW Artfully Sent and Art Philosophy.

I used the cut found on page 27 on the sleeve key.  It is set as a 7" cut, however with the Explore machine I am able to manipulate the size of the card, and made this a standard A2 size (4.25 x 5.5).

The card base is cut in New England Ivy Cardstock, and then backed with White Daisy.

The pennant is cut twice, once in Ruby (3.25 x 2.25) and then in White Daisy (3 x 2).  I stamped the sentiment from the  Merriest Christmas stamp set (B1468) in Ruby Ink.  The Cardinal is colored using ShinHan Alcohol Markers in Sap Green, Leaf Green, Marigold, Carmine and Bronze .  I then fussy cut it out and popped it using 3D foam tape.

I hope you liked my card, and if you would like to purchase any of the supplies used to create this card you can purchase them here or you can contact me. 

Sparkle and Shine meets AHSC #73

This week I have been trying to get caught up on all my computer projects, I've had some blog hops, and other projects on the go, and it's really hard to do so when your computer isn't working properly.  Well, we solved that problem and went out and bought a new computer.  We are getting the old one fixed(only a little over a year old, so not really old at all) and will have that as a back up.

Anyway, I've still a bit behind in my scheduled projects, as I'm writing this post and doing all my linking well after the time in which our sketch challenge goes live.....

Here is this weeks sketch:

Here is my card:

I used the Christmas themed paper from last year, Sparkle & Shine.  I really loved this paper.  I added the scallop border as I thought it needed a little more detail since it was such a very clean and simple design.  I think it still has that CAS aspect, just polished a bit.  The sentiment comes from the Perfect Fit - Holidays stamp set and is stamped in Juniper.

I hope you decide to play along with us this week, but before you get crafty, head on over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and visit all of our designers to get inspired.  This week our guest designer is Brandy Ortiz-Lees.

Birthday wishes with AHSC #71

This weeks sketch is super fun, and I have tons of ideas floating through my head for ways to use the sketch.

I decided to go with my original notes with my sketch, and just changed out the image I had planned to use.

Here is the sketch:

 

Here is the card I made:

Supplies Used:

Crystal Blue Cardstock

Black Cardstock

White Daisy Cardstock

Seaside Greetings Stamp Set

Black Ink

Black Epoxy Bubbles

3D Foam Tape

Now head over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and visit with our Design Team to see what they have created to inspire you.

Yuletide Greetings for AHSC #68

I really had fun redesigning my card for this sketch. As I've told you before in previous posts that I normally write down my intentions for my sketches...but I don't always follow through with my notes.

This is the case for this week's sketch.

Another reason why I didn't follow my notes for this sketch is I ended up being called into work and didn't have a chance to finish it the way I wanted too....either way, I am happy with how it turned out, and will be making more of this card for my craft markets.

Supplies:

Yuletide Paper

New England Ivy Cardstock

ShinHan Alcohol Markers 

New England Ivy Ink

White Daisy Cardstock

Artiste Cartridge

3D Foam Tape

Now, I would love it if you would head over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge, visit each of the Design Team and leave them some blog love.  We all like hearing from each of you.  Have a inky day!

Creating with AHSC #67

I've been really busy creating many projects for various reasons, submissions into magazines, blog hops, and of course my sketch challenge.  I was playing around with the new markers and decided to use them as a feature on this week's challenge along with one of our new colours, (we have 5 new colours) Thistle.

Here is this week's sketch:

Here is my creation:

I really had lots of fun playing with the stamp set Happy Birds(C1600). First I stamped with Versamark Ink on a piece of White Daisy Cardstock and added Clear Embossing powder so that the sentiment would remain white.  Then choosing Thistle Ink and Lagoon Ink to compliment each other I used my sponge daubers to create my own patterned paper.  For the flowers I stamped them in Archival Black Ink and heat set them so there would be no bleeding of ink.  I used Marigold(YR24), Turquoise Blue(B68), Peacock Green(BG61), Golden Yellow(Y222), Lavender(P83) and Peony Purple(P282) ShinHan Touch Twin Markers. 

I fussy cut out the flowers and adhered them using 3D Foam Tape, wrapped some twine around the coloured paper and adhered it to my cardbase.

I really hope you enjoyed my creation, and that you will continue over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge, where the Design Team will be sure to inspire you even more with their creations.

AHSC #65 - Congratulations

I think it's kinda funny when I get stuck on my own sketch......even with my notes wrote beside it on what I want to use, when the time comes to actually create it, it doesn't come together.

This isn't the first time this has happened either, but I didn't give up, and I managed to create a card that I'm very happy with.

Here is this week's sketch:

Here is my creation:

I started with a White Daisy cardbase, and layered a piece of pattern from Balloon Ride.  I then cut an oval from one of my cricut cartridges from a second pattern from Balloon Ride.  I choose Desert Sand as my mat and the colour for stamping my sentiment from Casual Expressions (D1525).  The flowers and leaves are from A Mother's Love a Hostess stamp.

I hope you will take the time to hop on over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and check out the amazing creations from our Design Team.

Thinking of You AHSC #64

I have difficulty making masculine cards....whether it is birthday, sympathy or just a thinking of you card.  So when I sketched out this card I had a vision for it, so wrote down what I planned for it.

Here is the sketch:

This is my creation for this weeks sketch:

So I  used Autumn Terracotta Cardstock and for the 2 panels I stamped a background image in Chocolate Ink, the stamp is In The Background(D1540).  The panels are matted on White Daisy Cardstock.  I stitched a partial circle using Chocolate Embroidery Floss on the main layer.  To tie the 2 panels together I added Chocolate Brads and Autumn Terracotta Baker's Twine.  I distressed the main piece with Barn Red Ink, and the sentiment is stamped in Chocolate Ink from Casual Expressions(D1525).

Now head on over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge to see what our talented, super creative Design Team has created using this Sketch.

Love Who You Are w/AHSC #63

From the moment I sketched out this week's design, I knew what I wanted to create.  After 3 attempts to get it just right I had to get up and walk away from my craftroom.  Yesterday I spent the day reorganizing and trying to get my head wrapped around my own design.  I was in a funk.....

What do you do when you get in a creative funk, loose your mojo?

This morning, I woke up, and had a new idea in my head, so down to my craft room I went.  I dug out my embossing powders, my versamark ink, some pigment ink and my heat gun.

Here is this week's sketch:

Here is my creation:

I started with a piece of White Daisy Cardstock and used the versamark ink for the 2 sizes of swirls from the Stamp Swirls Around(D1551) and heat set it in a silver embossing powder.  The Sentiment is from a retired stamp Fashionista which is long retired. It is stamped in Outdoor Denim pigment Ink and heat set with Clear Detail Embossing powder.  I then took sponge daubers in Pacifica, Outdoor Denim and Indian Corn Blue and swiped across the whole card giving it this hazy look.  Taking some metal bling flowers to add to the swirl and tada!  Masterpiece!

Thanks for checking out my creation today, and I hope you head over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and share some love with our Design Team. 

Filled with Joy AHSC #62

It's been a pretty busy weekend for me, and I was really in a creative block even though I had a FREE Crop day here for my customers.

While they all did alot of crafting and I starting working on my organizational efforts for all my scraps.  I will show you on a later post this week what I managed to get sorted.

Here is the sketch for this week:

Here is my card:

I used Balloon Ride for my mat, and added a layer of White Daisy CS and then added a piece of Sorbet CS before adhering my image.  This stamp is coloured with the exclusive Alcohol Markers, I used Pear, Sorbet, Juniper and Honey.  After I finished colouring, I added some bling to finish off the look.  Since the stamp was a sentiment, it didn't need anything else.  

Thanks for popping by, and I hope you can head over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge to see what our amazing Design Team has created to inspire you.

Live Fully with AHSC #61

I had this lovely card envisioned in my head, I sat down to make it and it just didn't come together.  Instead I created this card using neutrals, and I have to say I really am happy with how it turned out.

Here is this week's sketch:

Here is my card:

I started with a Cocoa mat for the base and each layer.  I used Bamboo, Desert Sand and Cocoa Ink for the flowers, and the sentiment is stamped in Cocoa.  I used a piece of the Burlap Ribbon and wrapped it around the main layer before adhering it to the Cocoa Cardstock base.

The stamp used is long retired, but I really am partial to it, Treasure Life (D1306).

Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you have time to head over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge to check out the creations from our Design Team.

AHSC #60 A Butterfly Pleases

I knew exactly what I wanted to create when I drew up this sketch many months ago.  It became so much easier to produce with the Paper Fundamentals Basics Assortment.  The paper package is so versatile that is made this creation quick to put together.

Here is the sketch:

Here is my card:

The stamp set I used for this is called Bugs & Hugs (D1535).

I hope you will head over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and visit our Design Team to see how they used this week's sketch to create amazing artwork.


I drew for the winner of the stamp set by having my oldest daughter draw a name and the winner is "Danielle Hill", congratulations!

AHSC #59 Laughter, smiles and Lilacs

I've been having so much fun creating new projects the past 3 days that I almost forgot I hadn't finished my card for this weeks sketch.  I had all the elements ready, just needed to put it together.  Have you ever done that?  Started something, put it away, then came across something you just had to try to forget that the previous project was completed and you had a deadline.

Leave me a comment telling me about your unfinished projects, and I'll enter you in a draw for this stamp set; Owls (B1450).

Isn't this just the cutest stamp set. Remember to check back next week to see who has won.

So here is this weeks sketch:

Here is what I've created:

I started with a white cardbase and then I layered a piece of patterned paper from the Balloon Ride collection.  The sentiment is from You are my Happy a campaign stamp set from last year, and it is stamped in Lagoon Ink on White Daisy Cardstock which is matted on Lagoon Cardstock.  I used the retired Colour Ready Ribbon and inked it with Lagoon Ink.  The flowers and leaves are from the hostess stamp set  A Mother's Love (B1447).  This stamp set can only be purchased by a hostess, so if it is a must have, contact me to book your home gathering.

So, dont' forget to leave some blog love, then hop on over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and check out the fabulous creations from our amazingly talented Design Team.

Wedding card meets AHSC #58

So, my parents are going to a wedding this month for our cousin.  My mother asked if I could make a card....I decided to use this week's sketch to create my card.

Here is the sketch:

Here is my card:

I used some antiqued paper, and used the backside for the faux ribbon and some hemp for the bow which is wrapped around the faux paper ribbon.  The silhouette of the Bride and Groom is popped with 3D foam tape, and had been distressed to flow with the antique look.

Now pop over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge to see what our design team has created using this week's sketch.  

Bee Happy with AHSC #57

I had so much fun creating my card for this week's sketch challenge. I used the Free To Be Me paper package which is May's Promotion for National Scrapbooking Month.  This paper is just so versatile, with textured/embossed cardstock, double sided patterned paper and 2 sheets of velum.

Here is this week's sketch:

I altered the sketch just a little bit to fit my card based on the stamp set that I chose to use.  I used Happy Hive a stamp from Jeanette's Archived Collection.

Now, I hope while you are sitting back enjoying your coffee, you will also head over to our Sketch Challenge Blog, and check out the rest of the Design Team's creations.