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New Sketch #608 from 

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge 

It's a busy week or two ahead here with lots of holiday meet-upevents with friends, some wrapping, and baking still to be done. My cards are finished and mailed, and only tag-making is holiday related.  I'm ready and excited to move my crafty time into the next season.

My card uses Gina K Designs Dazzling Dahlia stencil inked with the Carnation and Spruce trios. The sentiment and postage detail were inked in Christmas Pine to match the card base.  I cut the stenciled image with a tiny postage die.  It's brutal cutting up a pretty piece like that! But I love this look.  Hope you will join the challenge this week!

Love & Joy

 December is a busy month and I should be shopping or decorating, but I am 'procrafternating' ( Tom K @ Gina K Designs).  It is much more fun to do a little crafting and there were some great challenges out there for inspiration.

My card is embossed with Spellbinder's Hexi Snowflake folder, and uses dies cuts from Pretty Pink Posh - Stitched Hexagons to make a frame popped up with foam tape, and snowflakes both white and silver from Simon Says Stamp.  I foiled a sentiment in silver and added it to the frame.

 Inspired by and linking to:

Can You Handle the Pressure  Anything Goes/Winter Fun

Cut It Up    #318 Sparkle and Shine

Tic Tac Toe  #262   White on White + Frame + Metallic

Jolly Christmas

 

One more Christmas card for the new sketch #660 at

Try A Sketch On Tuesday

I used a gel print background and adhered it to a Christmas Pine card.  The image and sentiment are Gina K Designs stamp and die set, Under the Mistletoe.  I colored with Copic markers, and put some Glossy Accents on the berries.  Now I just realized that mistletoe berries are white... hmm. Well, it's festive at any rate. lol

Hope you will check out he blog and join us in this challenge!

AHSC 606

This week's new sketch #606 at 

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge!

offers a great opportunity to use some pretty scraps.  I tried two cards.

This was not my day ...made some poor decisions about color and spacing.  Do you have days like that?  What's in my mind sometimes just doesn't always work out the way you hoped. But I had fun trying. Hope you will too, and share on the AHSC blog.  :-)

Happy Holidays

 

Welcome to the new challenge sketch #659 at Try A Sketch On Tuesday

My design team card uses some gold matt paper and the Corbel ornament die from Simon Says Stamp, a stitched square die from MFT, and pine bough cut from a Flora and Fauna die.  The sentiment was foiled.

Thankful

 What a marvelous weekend I had at a craft retreat!  Twice a year we rent a big house and spend three days laughing, eating, and sharing. Ten of us this year all doing different things - there are quilters, cross-stitch, knitters, wood burning, and me with paper and ink.  

My card was inspired by the new sketch challenge this week at Atlantic Hearts, and we are collaborating with the Double Trouble challenge to "Stitch It Up."  Well, mine comes by using stitched dies, but that counts :-)  Check out their post and get into some crafty trouble.

WELCOME to Challenge #180 - Let the Troubles Begin!

This Challenge runs from

Monday, November 18th thru Sunday, December 1st

"Stitch It Up"

THING 1: Trouble Maker

says, "Our requirement for this challenge is simple... use stitching somewhere in your project. There are many possibilities for using paper scraps, stencils, and even embossing folders to create patchwork, quilting, and/or knit designs. Consider using punch- or die-cutting, hand or machine sewing, piercing, hand-drawn stitching, needlework or cross-stitching, etc... so, keep calm and stitch on. 'Stitch It Up' and show us your creativity

I stenciled a gate fold card base and used Gina K Designs stitched dies for the label, circles, and sentiment.

Sunflowers

 Finding my crafting mojo again after being away for almost two months traveling in East Asia.  It was very hot there and coming back to the PNW to the cool, gray rain has been a shock :-)   So as I reached for things warm yellow felt quite comforting. 

The new sketch #658 at Try A Sketch On Tuesday is my inspiration today. The My Favorite Things gingham pad for the background and Gina K Designs Breath of Sunshine kit for flowers and sentiment. 

It will be fun to be able to visit blogs and comment once again, so I hope you will join the challenge!

Linking also to our sister challenge Double Trouble - "Lots of Layers"  

Always lots of fun to be had there.  Check out their challenge #179 and have some fun.

Playful Penguins

 Back in the USA after nearly two months travel in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Japan.  It was hot and humid in all places, so returning to chilly and wet PNW has been quite an adjustment. 

The craft room felt quite welcoming - so this weekend has been a fun time to pull out the holiday stash of stamps and papers and to catch up with my Design Teams.

The new sketch #602 at 

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge is a great one for fun layers.  I took some liberty and replaced the floral images with penguins from Gina K Designs Playful Penguins set.  They were colored with Copic markers.

I hope you will join the challenge and share your creation at AHSC.   The Design Team has lots of inspiration for you - they add their cards to the blog on Wednesday, but the challenge link is open for you now.  Happy crafting!

Whimsy

 

Good morning!  Today's sketch for

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge 

provided me with a great deal of fun. There were so many ideas that I wanted to try...first thought was stencil and paste. But I have wanted to draw or paint some odd shapes and fill them for a while. I love watching videos of folks water coloring and then drawing them. I just happened to have my Posca pens on the table because grandchildren have been painting rocks, and I used those on a heavy weight dark brown paper.  Instead of doodling, I stamped with a variety of small stamps from Gina K Designs. Finally, some accents were added with a gold pen and a white Gel pen.  Ribbon from my stash.    Hope you will play along!

Paper Butterfly

Happy Monday morning and welcome to a new sketch at                                Atlantic Heart Sketch Challenge

I have made a small Z-fold that opens for the inner panel element.  The patterned papers are from an old scrapbook magazine. I used some leafy dies to cut out from the edges of the same paper, used a butterfly from my embellishments drawer and some CTMH metal studs from my stash.  Kind of a 'found materials' card.  I love how it came out, and how it reinforces my procrastination about cleaning out the craft hoard :-)  The sentiment is from Gina K Designs You Are Enough mini set.

Thankful-Grateful-Blessed

 

Monday morning means a new sketch at

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge!

My DT card uses some papers from my stash, a few Altenew embossing folders, some splatter, twine, die cuts from Lawn Fawn and Mama Elephant, and a sentiment from Gina K Designs.

I love cutting leaves from watercolor scraps :-)

Hope you are having a lovely day and that you will play along with this week's challenge!

Double Dare!

 A fun double challenge pairing at

Try A Sketch On Tuesday!

Sketch #655 is partnering with Double Trouble #175,                          "Any Way You  Punch It"    

My Design team inspiration card uses both die cuts from Simon Says Stamp and a really old Martha Stewart punch to create the silver snow flakes. The background is some hoarded paper from a retired Close To My Heart collection.  The silver heat embossed sentiment is from Gina K Designs Feeling Frosty set. I added a lot of silver Liquid Pearls because I just wanted over-the-top sparkle :-)

I sure hope you will play along!  Just a note:  Double Trouble will closes this challenge Sunday, Sept 29th, while TSOT's runs for three weeks and will be closing its challenge on Wednesday, Oct 6th.  

AHSC #594

Good Morning!

This new sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge was a good opportunity to use some patterned paper from my scrap box, a die-cut sentiment from Poppy, and Nuvo Jewel Drops embellishment. A fantastic sketch for a quick, sweet card.  

Hope you'll join the challenge!

Looking Ahead

Try A Sketch On Tuesday #654   

Looking a bit ahead with a Thanksgiving card in September!

My DT inspiration for this sketch uses gingham paper and stamps from Gina K Designs. The images and sentiment are from the Absolutely Autumn set.  I colored with alcohol markers, and the little pearls are from my embellishment stash.

Hoping you will join the challenge at TSOT.

Embossing Fun

 

Good Morning!

Sharing my DT inspiration for Sketch #592 at               Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.

I just love doing this technique! This time I embossed with Spellbinder's Meandering Floral folder, and using small blending brushes inked with various bright colors on the debossed side, and then over all with black.  This made a full sheet and I am excited to create at least one more card with the piece.  The Daisies and Leaves die cut from Simon Says Stamp looked like a perfect match. The heat embossed sentiment if from Gina K Designs Delicate Florals set.

Flower Swag Birthday

 New challenge at Try A Sketch On Tuesday!

This sketch had me stumped for a while - there was no shape in my stash to cut that elongated oval.  I tried several things, but nothing looked good.  So I have taken some liberties with the sketch. I used the Flower Swag border dies from Simon Says Stamp to form that portion of the sketch. I cut the background denim blue piece by cutting and flipping the shadow part of the die. I cut the flowers three times and stacked them and colored with Copics and did some inlay.  I cut another and snipped two sections to use as the accent embellishments. The heat embossed sentiment is from Gina K Designs The Good Life set.  the patterned paper was purchased in Japan when I was there this spring.

Looking forward to seeing how the creative crafters out there interpret this sketch.  Hope to see you linked up to the TSOT blog!

Crescent Mandala

Happy Monday morning!

I had such a wonderful time creating my Design Team card for the new sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge!  I'm working ahead because of some lengthy travel plans, and so two nights ago I woke up with this idea in my head.  Do you dream crafting, too?!

Well, I got up and got the cuts made and figured out the measurements and scoring before going back to bed.  I wanted the beautiful open pattern to show and still have a place for a personal message inside.

The mandala die is Gina K Designs Crescent Mandala. I cut two and adhered them together for added strength. The flowers were stamped, stenciled and cut using her new Wishful Florals set. The sentiment is from her new incentive set.  The inks used are Gina K Peach Bellini, Sweet Mango, Jelly Bean Green and Fresh Asparagus. I added some dots of gold to the flower center with Brutus Monroe Shimmer Splash, Gilded.

Please check out the new sketch and see all the designer's inspiring creations Wednesday. Join the challenge!