Monday 27 August 2018

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #279

It's time for a new sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. Here's this week's sketch to inspire you

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Here's my card



I started with Unity Stamps' Little Moments Big Life stamp set, stamped twice side to side. I added color with Prismacolor Premier colored pencils. Let me tell you, there is a difference in quality between the Prismacolor Premier and Prismacolor Scholar colored pencils. If you can afford it, go for the Premier colored pencils. The colors go down much smoother. I trimmed the panel to 3.5" x 2.75" and added a black mat to the panel. I found some colored cardstock, that complemented the colors of colored pencils used to complete the card. I felt that it needed something a bit more. So, I used my scoring board to score horizontal lines on the pink strip to add a bit of texture and dimension. 

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you're inspired by the sketch and join us this week.
sue

Monday 20 August 2018

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #278

How is it possible that it's already Monday? Time is definitely flying by. It's time for a new sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. Here is this week's sketch.

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Here's my card





I took a bit of liberty with this week's sketch. Instead of three flowers, I chose a three-layer cake, arranged vertically. At the Stamp & Scrapbook Expo in Puyallup WA, I took a course where we were given The Stamps of Life Triplit Cake2Stamp and Sizzix Triplits coordinating dies. I used them, with Hero Arts Strawberry, Hero Arts Butter Bar and Versafine Onyx Black inks. For the sentiment, I masked off section of the sentiment, to have two sections "happy happy" and "birthday". I used some patterned paper to add some more interest (and to follow the sketch LOL!). I popped the three layer cake and candle up with dimensionals. 

Hope you'll be inspired by this week's sketch and join us.

Thanks for stopping by

sue

Tuesday 14 August 2018

The Merry Christmas Challenge August 15th

It's HOT! Almost too hot to think about Christmas. Hoping that working on Christmas cards will help to cool me off ... not working!

It's time for a new challenge at The Merry Christmas Challenge, where the challenge is always


Anything Goes + Christmas

Here's my card



For this card, I used three images from Sunny Studio Christmas Icons stamp set. I inked them with Versafine Onyx Black ink and added color with Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers. I like how intense the colors are (I did not add water, although that is always an option). I cut the images so that the panels ended up 1.5" x 1.5". I matted them with black cardstock. I added a Christmas plaid printed strip 1 7/8" x 5.5" behind the stamped images. The sentiment is from Paper Smooches Christmas Sampler stamp set.

Looking forward to seeing what you create.

Thanks for stopping by
sue

Monday 13 August 2018

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #277

It's Monday and time for a new sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. Here's the sketch.

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Here's my card




When I saw the sketch, I thought about using some washi tape for the horizontal lines. I have some diagonal stripe washi tape in different colors by Queen & Co. I pulled out three of them - teal, purple and bright green. I rotated the sketch to a landscape card. I arranged them onto my card. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink - Keep It Simple Thank You stamp set, stamped with Versafine Onyx Black ink. I added some glittery adhesive dots to complete the card.

We'd love to see what you create with this sketch.

Thanks for stopping by
sue

Friday 10 August 2018

Tropical Bliss Blog Hop






Welcome to the Tropical Bliss Blog Hop

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This is a blog hop featuring projects inspired by the tropical sun and fun of summer!


Connie Can Crop is the beginning of this fun filled hop! You should have arrived from visiting Angela

This is a one day blog hop, but you have until Sunday at 10pm to finish hopping and leaving your love for all of these talented crafters.


We have an awesome sponsor for this hop!!

ANGELA CORCORAN 
WITH MERMAIDS & MONOGRAMS

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One lucky winner is going to win all these goodies!!

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What do you need to do to win? Easy... become  a follower of each of the fabulous blogs in this hop and leave each of them a comment letting them know what you like best about their projects.

You will have until 10 pm Sunday to finish the hop and leave your comments on every blog to be eligible to win. 
Winners will be announced on Wednesday 8/15/18 at Connie Can Crop.
Be sure to follow everyone and leave a comment along the way!


I made two cards for this blog hop. I mean, who doesn't love all things tropical?

Here's my first card


I was away at a Crafters Retreat and went shopping for some "Tropical" inspiration. I bought a sheet of patterned paper by Imaginisce, called Shell-A-Brate. I cut a 4"x4" panel and used a stamp set I purchased at Island Paperie on Maui, called Island Life B to stamp the aloha at the center of the panel. I matted the panel with cardstock, matching one of the shells on the printed paper. I felt that I didn't really "do much" for this card so I thought I'd make another.

Here's my second card


I used the same stamp set as the first card, Island Life B available at Island Paperie on Maui and a Gina K's wreath builder stencil. I stamped the palm leaf image with Hero Arts Field Green ink, eight times, as I rotated the 4"x4" card panel within the stencil. I added a hibiscus flower, stamped with Hero Arts Pale Tomato ink for a "pop" of color. I added the sentiment, stamped with Hero Arts Charcoal ink to complete the panel. I double matted the card to finish off the card.

I'm the last stop on our blog hop. Thanks for hopping with us.


Here's our line up in case you get lost along the way.

Monday 6 August 2018

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #276

It's the start of a new week which means that it's time for a new sketch challenge at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. Here's the sketch

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Here's my card


A few weeks ago, while I was browsing Facebook, I saw an opportunity to be a {Growing in Unity} girl for one week and I grabbed it. My responsibility was to create 5 cards showcasing Unity Stamps products and I would receive a stamp set of my chose, up to a $52 value. Not bad, eh? While I was trying to decide which Unity Stamp sets to choose, I came across the Little Moments Big Life set and made a card using the set. I loved the set so much that I used it again for this week's card. I stamped the image twice, side by side and colored in the flowers and leaves using Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils. I used a Prismacolor Premier blender pencil to even out the color. I cut the ovals using Creative Memories Custom Cutting System. The sentiment is from Paper Smooches Salutations stamp set die cut into a tag using Impression Obsession's Mini Rectangle Tags 1, which is popped up with dimensionals. I found some patterned paper to complement the colored image.

Thanks for stopping by
sue

Thursday 2 August 2018

STAMPlorations/National Coloring Book Day BLOSSOM BLISS Blog Hop and Linky Party

STAMPlorations is releasing a new coloring book to celebration National Coloring Book Day and we're having a party - well, OK a blog hop and linky party (no cake, sorry)! You can find the blog hop here. I was so excited to be a part of this blog hop, until I realized that my coloring skills need some work! Well, good thing there are 34 card front designs and I'll have lots of practice. One thing I have noticed that it's important (at least to me) to use good quality colored pencils (pencil crayons for you Canadians, eh!). It really makes a difference in the quality of the coloring. I have found that with the better quality pencils, you get better coverage (less individual pencil lines) and the pencils seem creamier (the color gets applied with less effort).

I have three projects to show you.



Love the beautiful coloring pages of the Blossom Bliss. For this card front, I used Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils. I had heard a lot of good things about these pencils and they did not disappoint. They are very creamy. I chose to keep a lot of white space on this coloring page and added only a bit of color. The sentiment uses a stamp from STAMPlorations Fond Expressions 2 stamp set.



For this card, I used Prismacolor Premier colored pencils and colored in the entire panel. I added a sentiment using STAMPlorations Noteworthy 2 stamp set.



For this card, I went back to the Faber-Castell Polychromos colored pencils for this card. I was trying to work on shading (I need more practice). It's very relaxing. The sentiment uses STAMPlorations Fond Expressions 2 stamp set.

There is a free sampler at STAMPlorations for you to color and link up. We can't wait to see what you'll create. There will be 2 winners from our blog hop and linky party.


  • one (1) will receive a copy of Blossom Bliss and $15 GC to the store -- randomly drawn from entries in the linky party
  • one (1) will win a $10 GC to the store -- randomly drawn from all comments left on the STAMP blog and designers' blogs.


Linking up and commenting is from August 2 to 9, with the winners announced on August 10.

Thanks for stopping by
sue


Wednesday 1 August 2018

House of Cards - August 2018

YIKES! I'm late. I guess that's what happens when you go out of town for a week. Everything goes a bit crazy - well, despite my best plans (I thought I had things under control), some things get missed (like flipping the calendar to the next month). Hope there aren't too many English teachers here because that was likely not one sentence!

Anyway - there is a new challenge at House of Cards

Use Patterned Paper and/or Colors

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Here's my card



I looked through my collection of 6x6 paper pads for printed paper that used the colors in this month's inspiration. I chose the Wildflower 6x6 paper pad by Carta Bella. I cut three 1.75" x 4" strips and adhered them onto an A2 card. I then cut at 0.5" x 5.5" strip and adhered it horizontally across the three wider strips. For the sentiment, I used Hero Arts Year Round Sentiments and punched it out with Stampin' Up's oval punch. I matted the sentiment using Stampin' Up's scalloped oval punch.

We'd love to see what you create using this month's prompt &/or photo inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by
sue