Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #136

 

Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #136!   So here is another card using heat and dry embossing together.  I used a White Pearl embossing powder on this one and some of it did get on the raised parts too, but I don't mind... I like the way it looks.  A little hard to capture it in the picture, but is just created a nice soft shimmer on it.  I opted for my ribbon and bow as my vertical elements here instead of the strips... I tried some strips of glitter paper, but it just wasn't working so I decided to go with the ribbon instead.  Is it cheating?  I don't think so, but I'm pretty liberal with my sketch interpretations...lol!

The cute little cup images are from a Poppy Stamps set that you'll see much more of in a couple weeks during the Holiday Coffee Lovers Blog hop... I got the reverse image by stamping the cup on an acrylic block and transferring the image onto the paper... colored, placed a gold embossed snowflake on them, cut them out, popped them up and of course... liquid glassed them...  The sentiment is from the Close to My Heart set, Holly Jolly Christmas.  Sequins and beads are from Paper Sweeties (see the snowflakes and the gold) and Pretty Pink Posh (clear sequins and beads).  Also used the combo of plain white seam binding ribbon and the netted ribbon from Funkie Junkie. 

 

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to hop on over to Atlantic Hearts and play along this week!

 

 



Dreamcatcher Ornament

 

This is something I've been thinking about for a long time.  I love dreamcatchers.  I have a board on Pinterest dedicated to them because there are so many beautiful variations.  All different shapes and materials and colors.  For my center I used a doily made by a friend of a friend who was nice enough to share with me.  The flower on top by the bow is a combo of one I crocheted (behind) and another one made by the other, much more talented crocheter...lol.  Mine is behind because... well.. it's not nearly as pretty.. lol...but it had some gold thread in it and I wanted to include one of mine in this as it is a gift.

 

I started with another frame ornament from Hobby Lobby.  It was not my intention when I took the frame apart to paint it with some gesso to give it a base.  I planned on making another shaker ornament.  And as I looked at it hanging there drying with the frame all by itself it struck me that I could make a dreamcatcher with it... and then I thought of the doilies and as luck would have it there was just one in there the perfect size and shape.  So... I knew I wanted to use gold and since the doily was cream that was my color scheme.  I used some gold embossing paste and a lace stencil and added the lacey texture to the frame.  When that dried, I added a couple layers of gold metallic acrylic paint.  Then I took the doily and some gold double layered metallic thread I had and attached it to the frame also weaving some of the gold thread through the doily along the way.  I glued the crocheted and paper flowers, gems and feathers on.

 

For the hanging parts, I cut some feathers from the Cricut cartridges Artiste and Southwest out of white glitter paper and glossy gold paper.  I chose some lacey ribbons in white shades and tied them all on.  Then I thought the rusty bells from Paper Sweeties would be a nice addition.

 

 

My final addition was the little cherub piece that I found in a box of old jewelry parts that I had taken apart and kept for just such occasions instead of selling them in a garage sale for a quarter or taking them to Goodwill.  I thought they would make meaningful additions to something else I'd make.  This one was on an earring that a friend of mine gave me when we were teenagers... she picked it out because I loved Van Halen and it resembled one of their album covers.  I think it's perfect for this ornament.

 

This one will be hard to let go of, but I did make it as a gift so it will be off in the mail this week (hopefully... ).  But not to fear, I will make another for myself eventually.

 

Thanks for stopping and don't forget to come back tomorrow for Atlantic Hearts!

Shaker Love!

 

So, yeah... I've been making a few shaker cards lately... but I did just go crazy buying sequins at Paper Sweeties and Pretty Pink Posh.... so... I have to use them!!  Paper Sweeties has some limited edition snowflake sequins that are oh so pretty... 

 

Here I used that piece I cut out of my embossed background before I used it yesterday.  I stamped my cute little penguins from CTMH's Season's Greetings stamp set (as well as the sentiment), colored with the Shin Han markers and a little bit of Wink of Stella and cut them out.  The pink paper is old Fundamentals.  The frame was cut from glitter paper in design space.  I placed a rectangle on the screen.. made it the size I wanted... duplicated it, sized it a bit smaller (left the frame wide enough to fit some pop up tape).  I placed the rectangles one on top of another, selected both of them and chose to Align and Center.  Then while both were still selected, I Attached them so they would cut at the same time.  I still have the inside piece of glitter paper to use on another card... perhaps a shaker... perhaps this weekend :).  If I was really thinking ahead I could have placed a third rectangle on top and made a second frame for later use... Note to Self.



 

From an angle you can see the penguins a little more clearly... the caveat to the shaker is they are hard to photograph.. but oh so cool and pretty to look at and play with.  Oh... another tip I learned long ago from my crafty friend Melanie who you can find here, I always adhere a few sequins towards the top of my shaker base so even when it's just standing still they appear to be floating... (and... I usually adhere a few outside the box... cause the almighty sequin just can't be contained!)

 

Thanks for stopping by again!  Don't forget to come back Monday!

Believe in the Magic...

 

 

I started this one last week, but didn't want to finish it 'til my new Paper Sweeties snowflake sequins came and they did so here it is!  I've been playing around with using Versamark on my embossing folders and embossing the background.  I like the effects I'm getting... you get a different look depending on which side of the embossing folder you are going to heat emboss on.  I used my holographic embossing powder for this one.  Love the look (and I cut a square out of the center that I knew was going to be covered up so I could use it on another card... otherwise it was just wasted hiding away back there... ).  Basically I inked up one side of my embossing folder with Versamark by just dabbing the ink pad on it, placed the cardstock in the folder and ran it through the Cuttlebug.  Only the raised parts on the folder  (mostly) were covered with the ink.  Then I sprinkled the embossing powder on the cardstock and heated it up.  I'll be playing with this a little more... ooh... maybe with the snowflakes :)

 

I used the Paper Sweeties Sweet Cuts Stitched Tags #2 to cut out the mitten from felt for this one.  I cut two... one in white and one in pink and then I used gold thread in the stitched lines left by the die.  The stitched tags dies not only cut out the shape, but also a little stitched line... so cute!  The little netted iridescent ribbon came from Funkie Junkie and I tied it along with some plain white seam binding ribbon for more bulk.  I used one of the Paper Sweeties snowflake sequins on top of the bow and layered a regular sequin and some bling in the center.

 

Thanks for stopping!  Hope to have more for you this weekend, but don't forget to stop by on Monday for the new Atlantic Hearts!  There is still time to play along this weekend.... give it a try!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch #135

 

Welcome to this week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge!

 

Made a quick and easy card for this week's sketch because my main goal this weekend was to get those ornaments out of my head I posted yesterday.  I used a PML card for the Snowflake/Holly background and the "Joy" was the cutout from the little frame I cut out of Artistry or my scrapbook page last week.  Added a little baker's twine, badge button and a few cute sequins and done!

Also got a chance to use a new snowflake embossing folder I just got recently... love using the bakers twine now in bunches of colors instead of just one single... I think it's my new fave... gives me a little more bulk like ribbon and the cuteness of the twine...

I'm also entering this card into the 12 Months of Christmas Challenge #11-Sparkle!

 

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out the other artwork over at Atlantic Hearts and play along!

Christmas Ornaments with Reindeer Bells and Twinkle

 

Been busy today getting these ornaments out of my head.  I was in Hobby Lobby while I was on vacation and bought a package of cute little "photo" craft ornaments that I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with and last night it struck me... they would be perfect for shaker ornaments!

 

 

So the frame already had a kind of well in it that was just deep enough for the shaker, but I decided to add a little bit more depth and put some foam tape under the glitter/acrylic square I made using the acrylic piece that came with the ornament as a photo cover and some glitter paper.  On this one I covered the frame with paper using modge podge and then painted over it with enamel glitter paint.  For the inside,  I used the oh so cute Reindeer Bells set stamped on a watercolor background.  I filled it with some Paper Sweeties sequins including the new snowflake ones that are a limited offering in her shop. 

 

On this one, I painted the frame with some Rusty Paper paint I got a couple months ago and used last month's Stamp of the Month to heat emboss the sentiment.. added a few extras to the top... I think it makes a nice rustic looking ornament... also used a Paper Sweeties rusty bell...love those!

 

Thanks for stopping and don't forget to come back tomorrow for Atlantic Hearts!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challege #134

 

Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #134!  When I saw this one, I immediately thought scrapbook page... and then I though White Pines PML and my many many pictures from last Christmas (really 2nd Christmas) when the boys came to celebrate the holidays with us in January.  My youngest is in the food industry and is unable to take time off during the holidays and so we celebrate via Skype on Christmas morning and then they both come out in January for a big in person celebration.    It was hard to take a picture of this one... the heart stencils are in a gold and shimmer which didn't come through in the picture as well as the spray that is on the background... looks kind of brownish... but it is much prettier in person.

 

Check out the shaker pocket below:

 

This is "part of" a group of layouts about us getting (trying to get) a big family pic on ugly sweater Christmas Night.  And trying to get the dogs to cooperate also (in later pages to come).  Anyway, PML cards and page protectors are gonna make it easy to get all of those pics scrapped quickly! 

The main layout is my sketch project and it was a really fun page to put together and I was able to use so many different elements.

Stop on over to Atlantic Hearts this week and take the challenge!

 

Back on the Christmas Kick!

 

Back to Christmas Cards it is!  I'm preparing for the workshop next weekend but took a few minutes to make a couple more cards with leftover PML cards.  Leftover-funny because they don't feel like leftovers...lol... Hoping to bring you a scrapbooking layout before the end of the weekend as well (also with said "leftovers")

 

 

The White Pines Complements along with the PML cards make it so easy to create a quick and beautiful card....

Talk about leftovers.... I picked up this negative space that was leftover when I cut some trees out a few weeks ago and threw this together with some Complements, a PML card (or part of one) and a badge button from the White Pines Assortment.  It has never been so easy to create such different cards in a short period oftime....

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #133!

 

Welcome to Challenge #133 at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge!  Still on break from Christmas cards although getting back to it soon.  I made this one using Paper Sweeties Happy Cake Day and Let's Party Sweet Cuts and Images.  Also, one of my new favorite sentiments sets, Sweetie Pie (which also has a cute little Emma outfit on it).  The papers are from the old retired CTMH Paper Fundamentals set and the Badge Button is from Lawn Fawn.  The twin is a little Paper Sweeties and a little of the packaging that came in a recent Lawn Fawn purchase... it was holding my items together and of course I saved it and now I've used it!.. I really like the way all the mixed colors make a cute little rainbow bow.  As always I've added some Paper Sweeties sequins and it's a celebration!

 

Don't forget to check out all of the great artwork over at Atlantic Hearts!

Happy National Cappuccino Day!!

 

So... Happy National Cappuccino Day!!  Today I'm celebrating with my Pumpkin Pie Spice flavored cup of coffee and some crafting time in my room.  This project is also for the November Paper Sweeties Inspiration Challenge.  I used a lot of leftovers from other projects here and Sangria Paper.  The jar and With Love sentiment are from Paper Sweeties Mason Jar set and the You're My Cup of Coffee sentiment cup is from Hero Arts.  Went for the feeling of some coffee along with your morning toast.  (Although I did make myself a breakfast burrito this morning...lol!)

 

Thanks for stopping and don't forget to check out the Paper Sweeties Challenge!

 

 

 

Wish Upon a Star

 

 

Used Paper Sweeties Wish stamp set for the background/sentiment... this was inspired by one of the Design Team members' project, Angel Johns November Inspiration Challenge card.  You can see hers here.  I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with it once I got done stamping it...lol... I didn't want to cover up all of the Wishes... so I picked one and built the rest of the card around it... you know I love my shaker cards...lol!

 

Thanks or stopping and don't forget to come back Monday for the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge!

Big Wish, Wish Big!

 

So when I started this one.. it was gonna have a lot of blue in it... not sure what happened.. but I like it!!

 

I used Paper Sweeties Wish Sweet Cuts, Birthday Banners Stamp Set and Sweet Cuts, and images from Sending Sweet Thoughts (cupcake).  I am normally very picky about matching my colors, but this time I went all out and used all kinds of shades of the pink so I'm ok with it because, well, I meant to do it!...

 

On to the next.....

Happy Cake Day!

 

So before I get back to Christmas cards, I'm enjoying some brightly colored birthday cards.  For this one I've used Paper Sweeties Happy Sweet Cuts, images from the Happy Cake Day stamp set and ... of course... a few sequins...

 

The papers are from CTMH's old retired Paper Fundamentals.  The new packs are really nice, but I also still love the old papers and this one with the hearts on it is obviously one of my favorites...lol!

 

I also used a little piece of one of the straws available in the Paper Sweeties shop... I pinched the end so I could slide it under the cake and added some little blue tinsel garland.  The cake I watercolored and then used liquid glass and prisma glitter to make it sparkle just a bit more.

 

Thanks for stopping!

Three Amigos Blog Hop November 2015 Edition

 

Welcome to the Three Amigos Blog Hop!  We are three CTMH consultants and good friends that like to challenge each other every month to create something with Close To My Heart products.  This month's challenge was to use White Pines and or Urban papers (or both) on a project.  Challenge.... HA!

 

I decided to use both!  As you are well aware, I've been making lots of Christmas cards using White Pines paper, Complements and now.... the assortment!  The Urban papers are pretty "neutral" printed papers that really can be used along with so many other papers for either masculine or feminine... or Holiday themes.  I think this might be the most masculine card I've made with it so far...lol... and there is ribbon and sequins on it!  The woodgrain background paper is from Urban and the rest is all White Pines (aside from the Paper Sweeties rusty bell and sequins..but this should not be a surprise..oh!  And the sentiment is from PS Holly Jolly Holiday set).

 

So!  Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out what Donna and Susan have in store for you... it's such a short hop... only three stops... check it out!

Mini Me?

Let me apologize up front for all of the words.....

 

 

I'm linking this up to a challenge at LESSology.  The challenge is to make something altered with a Dress Form.  This may be a stretch, but I did dress up Emma :) so I figured why not give it a go?  I'll definitely be checking back with this challenge blog because I think it will push me to do more of this type of project which I LOVE to do, but I get so overwhelmed getting started and also along the way.  But I keep remembering that whatever you do, if you don't like it... change it!  And have fun!  You should give it a try.  This challenge runs through the end of the month.

 

I got a birthday gift at work in August from a very sweet friend and co-worker.  And part of it was this tin that had a couple notepads in it.  Honestly I think I was more excited about the tin than the notepads...lol!  It had a window in it and immediately I said, I'm gonna make something with this!  So when I was trying to decide how I was going to present the coming story I knew how I wanted to dress Emma, but not what kind of project I would make... maybe a card?  And then I remembered the tin.  I should have taken pics along the way, but I have no patience for that... once I got going that was it.  The tin was silver and I had Pat spray paint it white for me.  I was going to do it myself, but I don't think he trusted me and from the mess he made I'm kinda glad I let him do it...lol!  I had gotten some tips and a beautiful tin from a new blog friend, Mitra so I decided to try some of them out.  (See her post here.)  I started by using a Tim Holtz stencil to add some texture paste in a lace pattern to the front and back... hmmm... I should have photographed the back... but it's like the front without a window... so I think you can imagine that.  When that was dry, I added some gold Perfect Pearls over the texture.

 

 

Then on the inside more texture past in a grid pattern and when that dried, I painted over it with some pearl paint mixed with Lagoon re-inker.  First I brushed it on and then I kind of dabbed at it to make it a little more textural in the flat areas.  While that was drying, I used Paper Sweeties Pretty Posies Sweet Cuts, stamped them with the coordinating stamp set with Versamark and then embossed them in gold.  Pulled out the old watercolors and added some additional color to the already pretty papers leftover from one of last year's special paper packs.  Of course I crinkled them, uncrinkled them and sprayed them with gold color shine.  After everything was dry, I proceeded to use liquid glass and popup tape to add all of the flowers plus some leftovers I had stamped for the Mason Jar wedding card (stamped from Party Time).  Probably the trickiest part was strategically letting only certain things show through the window.  I also added a few crocheted flowers (my very favorite embellishments).  These were not made by me or mom, but instead a friend of a very sweet friend, Tracey.   You can see her beautiful projects here.   I've been kind of hoarding them and will only use them for special projects... and this is a special project (and hopefully soon I'll have another one coming).  I cut the leaves from some gold linen paper I found at Hobby Lobby.  I added lots of Paper Sweeties gold sequins, creamsicle ribbon, and the sentiment and some gold bling gems from CTMH, as well as the wooden bird and I cut the acetate and gold heart from the new PML overlays.

 

This altered tin has been a labour of love this weekend.  So... what you've all been waiting for... some of you have probably been wondering what it is with me and Emma.  I couldn't put my finger on it and then one day I was looking at some old pics:

 

 

IDK... do you see what I see?  Maybe not... maybe I'm crazy... but....

Don't forget to stop back tomorrow for the Three Amigos Blog Hop!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #132

 

Happy November!  Welcome to this week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge!  I'm also entering this into the Paper Sweeties November Inspiration Challenge.

 

The papers are Close to My Heart's Sangria.  I think this is one of my favorite paper packs in the new Idea Book and I haven't used it until now.  As soon as I saw the Paper Sweeties Inspiration picture I thought of these papers (minus the purple...lol).   I cute the leaves from Paper Sweeties Pretty Posies Sweet Cuts and the tag from Stitched Tags #1 Sweet Cuts.  The banner is also from the Paper Sweeties Be Happy Sweet Cuts.   I embossed the Champagne and Desert Sands pieces with CTMH's Woodgrain Embossing Folder and of course sprinkled Paper Sweeties sequins all over the place.  Oh!  Remember those PS Rusty Bells I was speaking of in my last post... added one just because I could....

 

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to play along with both challenges ... Atlantic Hearts is weekly and Paper Sweeties is monthly... check out all of the great artwork at both sites!

 

Don't forget to come back tomorrow for the Three Amigos Blog Hop!

 

 

Holly Jolly Christmas!

 

Hope you're not tired of these PML card cards yet!  How could you be since they are all different?! 

 

I used Memento ink to stamp the deer from Holly Jolly Christmas and then watercolored and cut him out.  The blue background is also watercolor and then I used a small and large PML card behind.  This is one of my favorites... I just love that reindeer!!

 

I added some ribbon from Michael's, of course Paper Sweeties sequins and a little gold bell (although I wish last weekend while I was doing all of these I had my rusty bells from Paper Sweeties (you'll see), some gold jewels from CTMH and of course my fave Art Philosophy flowers.

 

Stop back later and don't forget the Atlantic Hearts Sketch tomorrow!