Adorable...Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #14

Monday means SKETCH CHALLENGE TIME over at the Atlantic Hearts blog.  This week's design is particularly versatile and would work for many different-occasion cards.

There is always room for some flexibility with a sketch challenge, but this time I definitely wanted to take advantage of that large flower silhouette, by making a big fat flower, playing with some Noor! Design dies sent to me by my Dutch crafting friend, Corina.

Floral Flourishes Dies

I started out cutting the nested flower shapes from some double-sided CTMH paper. Then spritzed them with water, then played with a "smooshing" tool and my McGill foam mat.  After they had taken on the shape I was looking for, I set them aside to dry while I assembled the rest of the card.

The colour scheme comes from the current 10-Minute Craft Dash palette, 

but there was no way I was going to get this baby done in ten minutes...! But I did like the blue and coral colours paired with kraft paper.

The background is embossed with a large dots Cuttlebug folder; the focal mat is textured cardstock cut with a Nestabilities die.

Flourishes, cut with a Paper Smooches die, add some whimsy. The sentiment comes from Paper Smooches' "Good Gab" stamp set, heat-embossed onto a Simon Says Stamp tilted banner die. Notice the new bling from CTMH!

Lots of dimension, eh? Not exactly mail-able, but this one will be hand-delivered to hubby for his birthday this week.

So! I'm sending you off to the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge blog, to see the new sketch up close. Creations by the other DT members will be posted on Wednesday of this week, and you have until midnight, Sunday, August 4th to link up YOUR take on the sketch.

How will you interpret it?
Can't wait to see your creation!

Happy crafting,

Caroline

CTMH Supplies Used:

Cardstock: Kraft, White Daisy, Smoothie, Pacifica

Patterned Paper: Elemental (retired)

Ink: Versamark, Pacifica dye ink

White detail embossing powder

Bling: Base & Bling Floral accents Z1883; Bitty sparkles Z1263

Other Supplies:
Nestabilities: Labels #2 dies
Joy Craft/Noor! Design: Floral Flourishes dies
Paper Smooches: Flourishes #1 die set
Simon Says Stamp: Tilted Banners die set
Cuttlebug: embossing folder (large dots)
Paper Smooches: "Good Gab" stamp set.

Many THANKS (Mille Merci)--Atlantic Hearts Sketch #13

 Don't you love SERENDIPITY? 

I'm not talking about the spaceship from the sci-fi series Firefly, although that is a Bredeson family favorite (EDIT: I always get it wrong--the spaceship is SERENITY!).

I mean when the stars align to produce several good things at one time.

Last week, a co-worker asked for some design help, decorating the favour boxes for her upcoming wedding. I brought some examples in, showed her the various options for adhering ribbon, and sent her off to Michael's for paper flowers. She couldn't find anything she liked as much as the one I had made, so we decided to have a crafting session at noon-hour. We made 24 adorable, dimensional flowers in 60 minutes (there's a craft-dash moment for ya!). So, good thing #1 was that Erika can now proudly tell all her guests that she made and decorated the beautiful boxes herself.

Good thing #2 is that I now know her colour scheme. 

I had planned to make her a gift of some thank-you notes; now they will be colour-coordinated with her wedding theme.

Good thing #3 is the sketch from Atlantic Hearts this week.

I thought it lent itself very nicely for use with a new stamp-n-punch set.  I bought this from a Stampin' Up friend, specifically because all the sentiments were in French (Erika is francophone).

So here's the result of all that happy coincidence:

The shades of blue are all CTMH: Outdoor Denim, Pacifica and (retired) Dutch Blue.

I incorporated a button, although not exactly where specified on the sketch.

Good thing #4 was "shopping the stash" for the ribbon treatment. 

The satin ribbon is an inexpensive Michael's purchase, but the bow is faux. Its actually a length of ribbon folded in three, and tied to the main strip with a piece of navy Scrapper's Floss from Karen Foster. Did you buy any of that stuff ~8 years ago? It was all the rage but I could never figure much use for it. Now that's changed!

I made half a dozen cards in this design,

and plan to make another 1/2 dozen with a different sketch, featuring more of the Dutch Blue shade.

Most serendipitous!

For more crafting magic, visit Atlantic Hearts to see the sketch up close; DT projects will be posted on the site this Wednesday, and you have until Sunday night (July 28th) to link up and show us your stuff!

Happy crafting,
Caroline

Supplies Used:
Cardstock: White Daisy and Outdoor Denim (CTMH)
Inks: Outdoor Denim, Pacifica, Dutch Blue (CTMH)
Buttons: CTMH blue collection
Lil'Inker Designs' Stitched Mats--Rectangles die
Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder
Fiskar's Eyelet border punch
Ribbon: Michaels
Scrappers Floss by Karen Foster
Punch-n-stamp set "Médallions séduction Stamp Set " Stampin'Up

Jewel Tones--Color My Heart Dare #52

Color My Heart Dare #52...this must mean the first anniversary of the Color My Heart challenge blog! I'll have to check on that with creator, Sarah Stone.



The design team is now taking turns, posting every other week, and I'm really happy with this week's challenge palette:  a trio of jewel tones,

TWILIGHT
OLIVE and
RUBY

Prompted by this image from an on-line catalogue, Keepsake Quilting (a GREAT place to go browse for design ideas, BTW),

I decided to stick with an Amish theme and showcase those colours against a backdrop of basic black.

The quilt blocks were made using a couple of different dies. The background square is from my fave Lil'Inker's Stitched Mats series. The actual templates are from a die I purchased from Simon Says Stamp, Wplus9 Quilt Cuts 2. For a pattern like this, I recommend using a die or punch to get your shapes perfectly-sized. I can tell you, from years of experience quilting, that there is nothing more annoying than having to repeatedly trim a seam to get it to fit.

We attended the wake for a friend's father last weekend, and needed a sympathy card, so the sentiment from Papertrey Ink, Quilter's Sampler was perfect.

✄✂✂✂✄

Now it's your turn!

How do those beautiful saturated colours inspire you?

Go visit the Color My Heart blog to see some more lovely creations by the design team, then break out your scissors and ink and get crafty. We love seeing your work!

Remember, the challenge colours do NOT have to be Close to My Heart. Use what you have.

You have until next Thursday, July 25th, to link up your project.

Happy crafting,

Caroline

Supplies:

Cardstock in Colonial White, Black, Twilight, Olive and Ruby (CTMH)

Ink in Black

Lil'Inker Designs Stitched Mats-Squares

Wplus9 Quilt Cuts 2

Papertrey Ink Quilter's Sampler Sentiment stamp set

Friendly Fluttering...Atlantic Hearts Sketch #12

What's your recipe for card creativity?

This question was posed by my blogging friend Lyndal a couple of weeks ago.  My response is similar to hers, in that there are usually several ingredients.

1. A great sketch:
   
   In this case, Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #12;
   
   
   2.  A colour combination: 
   
   Color My Hearts' Dare #51: Bamboo, Desert Sand and one other colour;
   
   
   3.  A theme or element that has caught my eye over the past week:
   
   This gorgeous postcard image coloured with chalk inks, from a Paper Wishes' "Simply Ann" tutorial.
   
   
   I threw in one of my favorite cutting dies, Lil' Inkers' Stitched Mats-Rectangles, and voilà, this card:
   
   I used Desert Sand and Bamboo as mats, on a Colonial White card base. I stamped the butterfly from the retired CTMH set Find Your Style (D1452) in Memento Rich Cocoa, as I intended to colour it with alcohol markers, and didn't want any colour bleeding. I used two shades of Honey marker, then added just a touch of Sorbet for a hint of warmth... (so strictly speaking, it doesn't count for the Color My Heart challenge, but I'm going to link it anyway!).
   The ribbon is a remnant from my stash.
   Here it is head-on:
   
   I've been seeing a lot of butterflies bursting out of cards on some Stampin' Up blogs, so this is my version--stamping a large image on a too-small base. 
   
   
   Head on over to the Atlantic Hearts challenge to see the sketch. You have until midnight next Sunday to link up your version.  What will inspire your creation?
   ☀☀☀
   Happy Crafting,
   Caroline

I left my Heart in...Atlantic Canada!

Hello crafty friends!

It's an exciting day here in the nation's capital. My first post as a design team member of the new sketch challenge group, Atlantic Hearts!

I'm so pleased to be joining a Canadian challenge blog, plus Michelle and Darla do a great job organizing their team and coming up with stimulating designs.

Here's the inspiration for this week:

The trendy ombre look really appeals to me, and I took this sketch very literally.

I cut a series of graduated shades of red & pink, adhering them together with double-sided tape.

Back side

front side!

Then I played around with a couple of ideas.

For the first card, I did some negative die-ctting, taking the the sentiment out of my ombre panel. Some pink baker's twine and a big button finish that one off.

For card #2, I ran the panel through with an embossing folder, and used the positive die-cut sentiment this time.
This one is embellished with a crocheted flower, tied on with embroidery floss and a sparkle button.

So here's my message to Atlantic Hearts:

for letting me play with you each week!

Now head on over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. Monday mornings, you'll find this week's sketch and the rules for playing along. The design team's creations are revealed every Wednesday. This way, you have some time to interpret the sketch in your own way. I'd love to see what you come up with!

Happy crafting,

Caroline

Supplies:

cardstock in Ruby, Hollyhock, Cotton Candy, Blush and White Daisy (all Close to My Heart)

Embossing folder:  Sizzix

Die-cut word "Thanks":  Paper Smooches

Baker's Twine in Strawberry: The Twinery

Button & embroidery floss: my stash

Crochet flower and bling button: Close to My Heart

Surf n' Summer--Color My Heart #50

Some hot up here in Ontario this week. Love it, because all kinds of summer fruit is available--strawberries, watermelon, yummy!

The colours for this week's Color My Heart Color Dare are a bunch of summer shades, chosen from the   Surf's Up paper pack from Close to My Heart.

I used sketch #10 from the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge for my card:

Going along with the summer fruit theme, I did some stamping and paper-piecing with an old retired Close to My Heart set, Summer Sweetness.

Here's the result:

I added some Liquid Glass to make the melon seeds nice and glossy. Some Opaques Licorice Adhesive gems reinforce the seedy theme. I stamped the "rind" of the watermelon with Ponderosa Pine ink, then brushed on some Lagoon ink with a paintbrush, for a shaded look. The sentiment comes from the Chantilly Workshop-on-the-Go. I stamped it twice in two shades of ink, which gives some shadow.

See some more inspirational projects with this colour palette by Amie, Becca, Lela, Marie, Sarah and Pam.  Then break out your ink-pads (gold, teal, coral, light blue) and join the Color My Heart dare this week! The challenge runs through Thursday, July 11th.

Happy crafting!
Caroline

Supplies (if not mentioned above:)

Card stock in Ponderosa Pine, White Daisy, Lagoon

DP: Surf's Up paper pack

Inks: Ponderosa Pine, Sorbet, Lagoon, Black

Foam tape

Oh, Those Summer Nights...FMS #92

Just under the wire with a submission to Freshly Made Sketches challenge #92:

I will come back later and fill you in on the materials I used for this card, but basically, I rotated the sketch and took it pretty literally.  Focussed on the summer night sky, which is marvelous seen from our cottage on the beach (no light pollution). **edited**Used a panel in navy blue, die-cut with Simon Says Stamp's Circle Border die, mounted over silver holographic ripple paper from Paper WIshes, for some MAJOR twinkle. The Nike-like swoosh is cut from Wausau paper's pearlescent cardstock, also available at Paper Wishes. Alpha-stamps are Keyboard Uppercase from Close to My Heart.**

I added some mini sparkles, coloured with alcohol markers, to create the constellation of Orion, complete with red Betelgeuse on on shoulder...

Hope you can see it!

Check back with Freshly Made Sketches tomorrow--oops--Tuesday for a new sketch to try!

Happy Canada Day,
Caroline