Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #78

I'm loving the new Artfully Sent Cricut Cartridge from CTMH.  There are so many options for cards or just to cut out pieces for cards.  On my entry for this week's Atlantic Hearts Challenge I used one of the pocket card pieces (the piece with the "enjoy" cutout on it) and the fox is also from the new cartridge.

 

I also used the Chalk It Up papers (love the color combo in that one!) as well as the Chalk It Up Assortment, Feathers and You Mean The World to Me stamp sets; black shimmer trim, and some black epoxy bubbles.  I punched the bottom edge with the Chevron punch and the bow is using some baker's twine.  Oh!  And don't forget the black enamel stars from the Scaredy Cat Assortment.

 

Thanks again to Atlantic Hearts for the inspiration!  And thanks for stopping by!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #77

 

This week's challenge at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge was great for one of the many swing cards on the Close to My Heart Artfully Sent Cricut Cartridge.  I've been wanting to play more with it and I found that the I had to modify the idea I had in my head a bit because it was different than I thought, but happy with the way it turned out.  Love this style because decorating the front IS decorating the inside.  I am not good at decorating the insides of my cards because my brain is spent by the time I get the fronts done...lol!  This was fun and I'm going to try a lot more of these.

 

I used the Seaside paper for the woodgrain background and the paper fundamentals as accents (the Thistle paper).  I pulled out next month's Stamp of the Month It's the Little Things for the flowers and the butterfly main sentiment are from Your Own Kind of Wonderful.

 

Thanks for stopping by my blog and don't forget to click on the link above and check out the other entries for the sketch challenge as well as the beautiful work by the design team.  And while you're there, try a challenge!  It's a new one every week and if nothing else it will get your creative juices flowing... a great jumping off point.

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #76

 

This is my interpretation of the sketch for this week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.  I made the overlay myself by laying out different cuts of the word "Happy" from the Artbooking cartridges on my Gypsy (if you don't have a Gypsy then I'm sure you can do the same and maybe even easier on the Cricut Craftroom.  Then after I cut it out on the Cricut I added some colored cardstock behind some of the words.

 

The colors are Pixie, Glacier, Pear and Lagoon.  The balloons are from Artiste using one of the stamp sets that come with the cartridge.  The sentiment is also from the same stamp set.  Of course... I had to add the little owl.  It wasn't in the plan, but there she sat waiting to be colored and added to something in my little tray of random stuff I didn't use on other cards.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #75

Great Sketch Challenge this week at Atlantic Hearts.  It was very versatile and easy to work with and gave me a great place to start on my card with lots of room for artistic freedom...lol!

 

  I've been wanting to get going creating with this month's CTMH Stamp of the Month Home for the Holidays.  It's a great mostly holiday set and uses some of the cuts from the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge (an oldie but a goodie).  I wanted to use the set with some non-traditional colors so this is what I came up with.

 

The background is embossed with the CTMH Quatrefoil embossing folder.  I stamped a border with the candy stamps in the set on the white cardstock behind the bear and then a few extras to add as embellishments.  The colors are Pixie, Pear, and Lagoon with a bit of black and whisper.  I colored the wrappers in with markers.  The postage stamp and tag cuts are from Art Philosophy.  I had cut a whole page of images for this set and found that one of the tag sizes was perfect for a sentiment from the Be Jolly Hostess Set.  A little liquid glass, some glitter, a few gems here and there, ribbon and done!

 

Thanks for stopping by and if you've been having trouble lately getting started try one of the challenges out there to get your creative juices flowing!  Also, thanks to all the people who run these challenge blogs!

Shin Han Markers

 

 

I am having a blast with the Shin Han alcohol markers CTMH is carrying now.  Here I used them with Happy Birds stamp set and Confetti Wishes paper.

 

I did love those old water based markers and the way they coordinated with our colors, however the possibilities with alcohol markers are so much greater.  CTMH carries an assortment of 24 colors and the blending marker.  You can use the markers to just color.  Simple.  But the coverage you will get is so much nicer than with water based inks and you don't get streaks.  You simply color in and the best technique I've found is to start at the edges and then color in small circles. 

 

You can layer colors if you don't have just the color you want.  For instance on another card I needed my carmine marker, but "somebody (mom)" was using it so I took my golden yellow and colored with that first and then went over it with my Cherry Pink.  Great match to the Cranberry paper I was using.  On the elephant I colored in an earlier post I didn't have a light enough gray so I colored the base with Tender Pink first and then went over it with one of the warm grays and what a great affect and I got the look I was going for.

 

You can color different inks on an acetate sheet and use the blending pen to mix and apply them to your project.

 

You can use the blending pen to clean up little mistakes (coloring outside the lines-although sometimes that's a cool look too) or to add texture because it can be used to take away color.

 

You can use the markers to color your clear Sparkles any color you want if you don't have just the right color handy!

 

And so much more... I'm still learning but having lots of fun doing it.  Thanks for stopping by!

Three Amigos Mini Blog Hop October

This month's challenge was to create something using one of the great Hostess Rewards stamp sets available at a great low price when you host a qualifying gathering.

 

Since it's time to start getting my Christmas cards made I chose Be Jolly, the oh so cute Christmas sentiment set. 

 

What I love about this set is that it's more than just your average sentiments.  They are fun and you can easily add color by coloring in parts with markers or colored pencils, and I added even more color by just lightly tracing the branches with green and highlighting the berries with red.  The cute little owl peaking out from the corner is not from this set, but a hint to what you might find inside.  I decided to use the sentiment as the highlight of the front of my card because on the inside.......

 

 

I've been playing with the new Artfully Sent cartridge and it's chock full of great card patterns including pop-up cards as well as envelopes, and plenty of cuts that can be used in your scrapbooks or cards of your own design.  On the inside of this card the presents pop out when you open the card.  I used the Owls stamp set to add these two little cuties and cut the sentiment using the Artbooking cartridge.  This was a fun card to make!

 

 

A few more details:  The paper is from Snowhaven; I colored the owls, mistletoe and sentiment on the front with the Shin Han markers.

 

Thanks for stopping by and now you can hop on over to Donna's page to see what she has in store for you!