An Autumn Happy Birthday

This week's sketch is a great one for me, as I love grid designs!

I used my Gnomes for Autumn Paper Packet scraps to create this card, as well as the Scrapbooking stamp set and thin cuts from this collection for this beautiful flower. 

I can't remember which stamp set I used for the sentiment, but I stamped it in Mocha Ink on Honey Butter Cardstock, which I also used for the base of the card. I then added some Gold Glitter Paper to the back of the sentiment, and a strip to the bottom of the card. 

Ahoy There!

 I love the sketch this week at Atlantic Hearts, as it is so versatile!

Here's my take on this sketch using some leftover scraps from my Cape Cod Paper Packet, as well as the Cape Cod Digital Art Collection cut using Sapphire, Bluebird, Periwinkle, White Daisy and Toffee Cardstock.

The sentiment is from a retired travel themed stamp set, which I thought fit perfectly!

I did add the zip strip along the top to "anchor" the pennants and keep with the nautical theme. The finishing touch was some pearl embellishments since they also remind me of the sea.

Storybook Birthday Card

Welcome back to another week of cards inspired by AHSC sketches!

My niece had her second birthday on the weekend, and my ten year old son wanted to help me make a card for her. Of course, the Storybook collection was perfect and combined with the sketch, this card came together so easily!

We used some Blue Belle glitter paper for the background, and added a sticker and die cut from the Storybook collection. The sketch had some cloud-looking parts too, and so I used some cloud thin cuts and my son sponged around them and adhered them with foam tape. He even coloured in the horn and the mane and tail of the unicorn with my Watercolour Pencils. 

Didn't he do well? Its so nice to hang out at my craft desk with him.

Thanks for stopping by today to check out my interpretation of the sketch, and we do hope youll join us for your own ideas at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge!

Frosty Days with AHSC

Another week, another sketch challenge!

The angular frames threw me a bit as I had no die cuts, but then I came across this PML Card that reminded my of the sketch look and so I figured I can get my Christmas cards for 2023 started early!

I used some old Kraft spotted paper to stamp and fussy cut the reindeer from this month's Stamp of the Month, Frosty Days, and added a red nose and a cute green scarf that was also paper pieced. 

I also couldn't find my scallop die cut so I improvised with two layers of another shape in red glitter and an old paper that i inked around the edges for more contrast. I then added some more red glitter shapes and stamped the sentiment below.

Thanks for stopping by today!

I'm back with a new Design Team position

 Well, after a six month hiatus I am back into crafting and thrilled to announce that I have accepted a position on the Atlantic Hearts Design Team!

Here is the first sketch I am creating with them, and I decided to dig into some of my scraps as I was unpacking some of my older craft boxes.

Some of you make recognise some of the older papers and embellishments, and I also used some die cuts from an old wreath kit for the leaves. I'm using up the last of my woodgrain paper, one of my favourites, and so I added a small circle of this behind the sentiment, which is form the December 2022 SOTM.

Here's a close up of some of the layering details, and I always love dovetailing papers on my cards and layouts so this sketch was very me. 

I hope to share plenty more crafts with you in 2023!

Mother's Day-Stitched Together

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there!

I love the tongue in cheek sentiments of the new Mother stamp set, Amazing Mother, and so I had to use one on my Mother's Day card!

I took inspiration from this sketch to create my Mother's Day card, as well as the Angel Mother challenge over at Heart 2 Heart..

I love the colour combination of this card- the pretty patterned papers in the Stitched Together collection made it easy to create a fun, floral look with the cheeky sentiment! I added some red gems and red shimmer trim from my stash, as well as fussy cutting a flower from the Stitched Together PML cards.



I'd love for you to join us over at H2H challenges this week to show us your Mother themed projects.

for the Bride and Groom

I've attended a few weddings already this year, and have another couple lined up for later on in this year. That was reason enough to replenish my stash of wedding and engagement cards, and I was inspired by the new True Love collection and this week's sketch at Atlantic Hearts.

I decided to use the soft Sage paper paired with touches of Sapphire and Eggplant.



I stamped some rows of hearts using Sage ink, then stamped the sentiment over top. I then fussy cut some flowers that I stamped from the same set and added some flourishes behind the edge flowers in second generation Eggplant ink.

I finished off the card with some simple pearls in the centre of the Sapphire flowers.

I really like the colour combination, and the sketch made it easy to get inspired!

Mr and Mrs

I was recently invited to a wedding and I was also asked to create a card for a lot of people to sign. I knew that the wedding colours were red and green, and so I started with a base idea of Candy Apple and Sage together and then went from there.

The bold sentiment was cut from my Cricut, and then I used the Bunches of Love stamp set to create a floral focal point in the wedding colours.

I'm really pleased with how this card turned out and I hope the bride and groom liked it!


I flipped this week's sketch at AHSC to use as the basis of the design, as I felt that the bold title looked better at the top.

I'm also entering this card in the Double Trouble Flowers challenge!

Sunshine and rainbows

Its 2019 and I'm back into the swing of things in my craft room!

There's a whole new Ideas Book full of amazing goodies, and this beautiful striped paper immediately caught my eye. Paired with rainbows, it was just the happy pop of colour I needed to get my crafting mojo started for the year.

I used the sketch from Atlantic Hearts to create a cheerful rainbow card.



The paper and the rainbow chipboard piece were a perfect pairing with this sentiment from the January Stamp of the Month.  I added some holographic sequins for extra sparkle and texture.

I am also entering this card into Double Trouble Challenge #18- pairing the circular sequins with squares and rectangles, plus linking up with Atlantic Hearts. I also think this fits the optional twist of birds, as the song "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" has a line about birds flying over the rainbow.

Thanks for stopping by on my first post of 2019 and I hope to share lots of crafty goodies with you this year.

Products used:
Cardstock: Bluebird, White Daisy, Willow
Embellishments: I Heart Us Complements, I Heart Us Sequins
Ink: Bluebird
Paper: I Heart Us Paper Packet
Stamp set: Card Captions

Merry and Bright

I'm getting well into the swing of things with my Christmas card making, and I really enjoy taking inspiration from sketches and challenges.



Today I combined the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and the Heart 2 Heart colour challenge to create this Christmas card.



I used the beautiful red tinsel embossing powder to create the sentiment, and then the rest of the card flowed from there! A background Christmas stamp helped to anchor the three strips and I used layered stitched circles for dimension. n order to get a touch of Nectarine, I finished off the card with some black and orange stars from the Hello Pumpkin Complements.

I hope to start sharing a lot more Christmas cards- my craft room is covered in Christmas themed paper right now!

Products used:
Paper: Tis The Season Paper Packet, Enchantment Fundamental Paper Packet
Cardstock: Ruby, Charcoal, Mink
Ink: Black, Versamark
Stamp set: Merry Trimmings, Merry and Bright
Embellishments: Hello Pumpkin Complements, Red Tinsel Embossing Powder
Tools: Stitched Circles Thin Cuts

New Baby with Boutique

My friends up in Auckland have just had their baby girl, and I am excited to go visit soon!

Of course I needed to create a baby card, and so I got inspiration from the Atlantic Hearts sketch this week.



I've been waiting to use my new Baby Animal Doodles stamp set and it paired perfectly with the Boutique papers.



Here is the completed card!

I used a PML card behind the panel and also a strip of ribbon.



I chose to use the giraffe because I love the pops of Saffron in the paper.



I stamped the sentiment in the new colour of the year, Sugarplum, and I added some dots around the giraffe using one of the accent stamps from the September Stamp of the Month, Just Treats.

Thanks for stopping by!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #192

I am totally loving the sketch this week at Atlantic Hearts! 

I know Christmas has been and gone but I just had to share one last Christmas card that I created based on this sketch.

I used some Kraft cardstock paired with the retired Yuletide Carol Paper Packet, and then added a tree from the Woodland Wishes stamp set (with the matching Thin Cuts!) stamped in Fern ink.



I also stamped the sentiment in Fern ink using a retired stamp set.

To create the stripes from the sketch I used the Fern Twine, and the finishing touch was a small gold star on top of the tree.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas- after all that food and fun I hope you will have time to relax and join in with this week's sketch challenge.

Oh Deer!

I am loving the new Oh Deer! Paper Packet for Christmas layouts, but I wanted to showcase its versatility as more than just a Christmas and Winter paper.

I was inspired by the Oh Deer! theme challenge at Heart 2 Heart and the sketch at Atlantic Hearts. I decided to create a layout using the star paper from the paper packet to create a Guy Fawkes themed layout.

The stars in the Oh Deer! Complements were perfect for the star embellishments, and I added a Zip Strip as well. The title was cut from my Cricut on Bamboo cardstock, and I will add the photos on the three round photo mats.



I love this swirly star paper, and it would also be great for birthdays and New Year themed layouts!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #188

Christmas card making is in full swing, and I have been using a lot of my scraps to get the most out of my paper packets!

This week's sketch at AHSC is perfect for all those little pieces left over that I just can't seem to throw out. 

This Christmas card was made using City Sidewalks paper with coordinating Willow cardstock, which I embossed using the Diamond Embossing Folder. I used the large sentiment as my second square, which I stamped in Willow ink and embellished with sequins.



Now all I need to do is repeat this design using other scraps of patterned paper and this sentiment stamped in a coordinating ink colour to create a stash of Christmas cards!

City Sidewalks Australasian CTMH Blog Hop

Hello and welcome aboard our City Sidewalks Australasian Close to My Heart Blog Hop.

If you have arrived here from Shaunna then you are in the right place.

If you landed here by accident, no problem, please join in by following the link at the end of this post.

Today I would like to share with you a creation which features Close To My Heart’s City Sidewalks collection- a colorful Christmas combination sure to get you in the festive mood!

I am combining today's card with the sketch at Atlantic Hearts.

 

I random stamped my own background using Willow and Peacock inks, which are two of the colours that feature in the City Sidewalks paper packet. I then added a large strip of the Cranberry paper, and then a smaller strip of the green and blue design.

I stamped the sentiment and frame in Peacock ink on White Daisy cardstock, and added some retired red sequins as the finishing touch.

I'd love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop, Maz Wood: aMAZing Close To My Heart Creations.

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #184

When I saw this week's sketch at Atlantic Hearts, I knew it would be perfect for using up the Zip Strips that come with the CTMH Paper Packets.

I used the Zip Strips from this month's featured Paper Packet, Jeepers Creepers, behind a sentiment from one of the paper packet's Picture My Life cards. I stamped the 'It's Your Birthday" sentiment in Pansy ink from a retired Hostess Rewards birthday stamp set to make this into a cute kid's birthday card.



The finishing touch was one of the adorable monsters from the Monstrous Halloween Thin Cuts Bundle, which I stamped in Willow ink and adhered to the card with 3D Foam Tape.

This sketch is so versatile- we would love to have you play along this week!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #180

I am in love with the With You stamp set, and I knew it would pair perfectly with this week's sketch at Atlantic Hearts.

I paired this stamp set with the Swan Lake Paper Packet and the coordinating Black Shimmer Ribbon. The background was created using a non-CTMH embossing folder.



The flower was cut from the Flower Market Cricut cartridge and stamped in Poppy Ink. I added a Black Gem to the centre of the flower to tie it all together. The sentiment was stamped in Black ink and is from a retired Stamp of the Month, Candlelight Garden.

The finished card is very elegant in my opinion, and I love the colour combination of Black, Poppy and White! What do you think?

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #178

Another beautiful sketch this week over At Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge!

I was totally inspired to use a lack, white and grey colour scheme for a floral card after seeing a beautiful card on Instagram by Martha (stampartpapel).

A black and white sympathy or get well card is always an understated option, and I left the sentiment vague so that it could be used for either occasion.



I cut the flowers using the new Flower Market cartridge, and then layered them on top of the sentiment strip. The sentiment is from one of the Flower Market exclusive stamp sets and was stamped in Black ink. The finishing touch was some Grey Enamel Gems down the side of the Whisper background.

I hope this card has inspired you to create your own black and white card, and we would love to you have you join in the sketch this week!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #176

I can't believe I had a whole day to craft last week- the time was well spent and I absolutely fell in love with some of the new products that had been burning a hole in their delivery box! 

One of the cards I created was based on this week's sketch at Atlantic Hearts.

I grabbed the new items in front of me and set to work!

I started off with a Colonial White card base, and added some of the papers from the Rustic Home Fundamentals. I also added some of the All Together Complements for the flowers and the decorative strip.

The leaves were stamped in Chocolate ink from the September Stamp of the Month Blessed Beyond Measure, and the sentiment was also stamped in Chocolate ink from one of the Flower Market exclusive stamp sets.



I really like the rustic simplicity of this card, and I will be playing more with this colour combination! Fingers crossed I get another day all to myself to craft again soon- I have been flat out this month and September is looking even busier.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #172

This week's sketch At Atlantic Hearts immediately made me want to play with my new Whimsy Ribbon Pack!

I also stamped a sentiment from the new Love Your Face stamp set as the main focal feature.



This card will be going to a friend of mine who is struggling in life right now, to let her know I am thinking of her and that everything is going to be OK.

If this sketch or my card has inspired you, we would love for you to play along this week!