Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #105

It is time for another sketch over at the Atlantic Hearts Challenge Blog...



.. and today I can give testimony to how quick a card can come together when you use a sketch design. As I was "cleaning" my craft room  (getting a little distracted in the process) and organising & filing away paper scraps, pre-coloured images and die-cut shapes I came across a little collection of pieces that co-ordinated beautifully and I knew would be perfect for this sketch... amazing what you can do with scraps!!

I reversed the basic sketch design layering some small pieces of cardstock, some pink & purple paper (from a yet to be released paper pack!! - so stay tuned!) then cut a strip from a card found in the For Always - Picture My Life Program to form a border. I then added some faux stitching lines with a black Marvy® Uchida® LePen™ Journaling Pen.

The cluster of flowers was created with some small flower images from the Wavy Blooms Stamp Set - they were coloured using ShinHan Touch Twin Markers and a layering technique in colours of Cherry Pink, Tender Pink, Peony Purple and Lavender. The centres were embellished with Black Epoxy Bubbles. The flowers were then layered over a flourish and leaf shape left over from a previous project cut from the Cricut® Art Philosophy Collection.


Don't forget to pop on over to the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and take a peek at all the inspiring ideas - play along with us and post your creations based on this sketch too... it is a lot of fun!



 

Commemorating Anzac Day

Anzac Day is when we honour and reflect on the impact of war, conflict and peacekeeping operations in Australia's history. Today marks a milestone in this history - the centenary of the Gallipoli landing by the ANZAC's on the 25th April 1915.  The centenary of World War is of special significance for all Australians - it remains our mostly costly conflict in terms of deaths and casualties and its effects touched the lives of nearly every Australian family and community....mine included - my Grandfather at just 17 years of age served on the Western Front in France and Belgium. Anzac Day always brings back memories of marching with him on as a young child.

This year I have been touched by the 5000 Poppy Project a heartfelt project that invited crafters across Australia to participate in a tribute of respect and remembrance. The aim of the project was to create a massive field of handmade poppies to display as a visual tribute in Federation Square, Melbourne... and oh my goodness what an amazing and emotionally moving sight it is. 

The poppy is a symbol of commemoration tied to the history of the Armistice of 11th November 1918. During World War 1 red poppies were among the first plants to grow in the devastated battlefields of France and Belgium. Poppies have also become synonymous with the Australian War Memorial and was adopted as the symbol for all the centenary celebrations. My daughter has had an ANZAC focus in her classroom this week and her little Grade 1/2 class have been very engrossed in her lessons. They even made their own paper poppies to add to a wreath they laid at their schools Anzac service. She also shared the story of her great grandfather and encouraged the children to do the same. Sharing real stories about their relatives has helped them connect with what they had been learning this week, making it a much more authentic learning experience.

The poppy making continued at home with a little card creation that I made, colouring in an image from the Wavy Blooms stamp set using ShinHan Touch Twin Markers. I kept the card simple and respectfully classic in design, adding only a strip of random stamping ( partially stamped using a 2nd generation stamping technique ) and a few touches of gold in way of embellishent. The sentiment was computer generated and printed onto White Daisy Cardstock 

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #103

It is time for another sketch over at the Atlantic Hearts Challenge Blog - this sketch is very classical in style but it is also extremely versatile... be sure to head over and see the design teams fun interpretations.

I chose to follow the main elements of the sketch and one of my favourite stamp sets of the moment!! - called Shower Flowers

I stamped the  3 large flower images in Canary Ink with black centres and then the outer edges of each flower was distressed with Honey Ink...  just to give the petals a little more definition. One of the images was also "popped up" with some 3D Foam Tape. The sentiment was cut from the label style washi tape found in the Boardwalk Washi Tape Pack and my ribbon element was created using the black twine from the Baker's Twine Neutral Metallic Assortment. Other black accents were added by way of pen(faux stitching)

Don't forget to pop on over to the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and take a peek at all the inspiring ideas - play along with us and post your creations based on this sketch too... it is a lot of fun!
 

Seasonal Expressions #2 - Blog Hop

This blog hop is featuring  products in Close To My Heart's recently released  Seasonal Expressions Idea Book/Catalogue #2- whatever season you are experiencing in your life - birthdays, holidays, anniversaries...you are in the right place to find the perfect artistic tool for preserving and celebrating your memories. The Seasonal Expressions products debuted on the 1st April and are available right through until the 31st March 2015.
 

If you have come here from Tracey Pierce's Blog  you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here...with me and work your way all around. If you get lost along the way, you'll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog – simply click here.

 

This month we have over 40 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations featuring these new products combined with other wonderful Close To My Heart products on their blogs. Be sure to check out all the fabulous art work they have to share - just click on the link at the end of this post to begin the journey!

The Seasonal Expressions is jammed pack with so many adorable goodies that I found it difficult to decide which one to feature today. However, being a huge fan of Mini Albums and an Embellishment addict! I thought I would combine my love of both.

Two new Mini Albums were introduced this month - the My Creations™ Mini Folio and the My Creations™ Mini Mix Album.The Mini Mix Album is a cute album that includes a mix of vellum, white cardstock, and kraft (4" x 4") pages with a white chipboard cover. I thought it would make a lovely birthday gift for my BFF and set about pre-decorating the pages in readiness to add photos.

The cover was decorated with papers from the Blossom Paper Pack, a title... cut from the font included with the Cricut® Art Philosophy Collection, some Oceanside & Coral Reef Sequins... then some of the gorgeous new metal/enamel pieces from the Blossom Assortment were added to the cover design to give it that perfect finishing touch!!

One of my favourite products released in the new Seasonal Expressions is the Carnival Washi Tape Pack - it contains 3 rolls of washi tape including a label based tape with 8 different sentiments making them ideal to cut, trim and alter for a variety of projects... again, perfect for my Friendship Mini Album!

For these pages I also "tore" one of the vellum pages from the album and cut to size to use as a journaling or photo mat. The little heart shape is also from one of the newly released embellishment packs - the Bubbly Enamel Shapes. I used more of the Carnival Washi Tape label sentiments along with some Blossom Complements stickers and sequins to decorate some of the other pages in this album.

I'd love to show you more pages in this album but I don't want to spoil all the surprises for my friend!! - I hope you have enjoyed these little "sneek" peaks"?!

Thanks for visiting my blog and if you haven't already been there or started from the very beginning of this blog hop?? -  now is the time to "Hop" on over to the lovely Catherine Nowak's Blog  to see what she has created...and don't forget to visit all the Consultants at their blogs to check out some great crafting inspiration and other fun ideas! 

Happy Easter

Hopping by today to wish you a very Happy Easter and to share one of the paper pieced cards I have been making to accompany my Easter gifts.

Paper piecing is a great technique for using up all your small paper scraps and the large Easter Egg image in the Hopping By stamp set is perfect for doing just that!

I used 3 different paper packs to piece together my multi-coloured egg - Brushed, Blossom and Hopscotch and they all worked so beautifully together. I loved the stitching featured in the image design and decided to continue this throughout the card by adding faux stitching around the white mats using the black Marvy® Uchida® LePen™ Journaling Pen. The card was then finished off with some scallop edging, created with the Scallop Border Punch , a touch of glitter using paper from the Teal Glitter Paper Pack and some coloured sequins...a mix from both the "new" Oceanside and Coral Reef packs.

The little vase of tulips in the background of my photo was inspired by this art work image from the new Seasonal Expressions #2 idea book/catalogue ( released yesterday!!)

 

 

I love up-cycling old jars and bottles and using the Glacier Extra Thick Twine to do this is just so so clever!!! I knew the minute I saw this idea I would see lots of twine creations coming out of my craft room. If you want to try this yourself ?? - don't forget Close To My Heart now have 4 colours of extra thick twine to choose from - Flaxen, Thistle, Pixie and of course Glacier - they are all available from my Online Shop.

 

 

Creating these little home-décor masterpieces is very easy, all you need to do is apply a thin layer of Liquid Glass to the surface of the jar/bottle and carefully wind the twine all the way around the outside until it is covered - don't you love how simple that is??!

 

I hope you have a lovely weekend and the Easter Bunny brings you something "eggs-tra" special

 

April Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

  

 

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!

We are featuring the April Stamp of the Month - called Typed Note...it is jammed packed with 19 individual stamp images.  If you have come here from Chris Robertson's blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here with me and work your way all around.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog - simply click here.

This month we have almost 70  Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations featuring the Stamp of the Month combined with lots of other wonderful Close To My Heart products. Be sure to check out all the fabulous art work everyone has to share - just click on the link at the end of this post to begin the journey!

I love Close To My Heart's Stamp of the Month concept and the stamp sets offered are amazing! ...  not only can you purchase them at a discount price but they are some of the most versatile stamp sets you will ever add to your collections. This set is "jammed packed" with sentiments - there is certainly something for every occasion and the distressed typewriter image is the perfect icon to showcase them. I have become a little addicted to this stamp set as you will see from the cards I am sharing today.

April is also the beginning of the Seasonal Expressions #2 /  mini idea book/catalogue and the release of some fabulous new products including the Blossom Paper Pack and the Friendly Pets stamp set I have used for this card.

I have been using lots of Picture My Life™ cards in my projects lately and have even enjoyed making my own versions with different background stamps. The textured background used in this card design was one of these creations. I stamped a 4" x 3" rectangle of White Daisy Cardstock with one of the images from the Distressed Backgrounds using Black Ink then cut each of the corners with the Corner Rounder. The cute little cat was stamped and paper pieced with papers from the Scaredy Cat Paper Pack and the "new"  Blossom Paper Pack - a puffy heart sticker was added from the  Chalk It Up Assortment for some additional cuteness. All the faux stitching was done using the Marvy® Uchida® LePen™ Journaling Pen - the .5mm fine tip is fabulous for tiny precision detail.

... and just so you know how addicted I am to this month's Stamp of the Month here is a collection of cards I whipped up in just a few minutes... following similar sketch patterns with the Fundamental Paper Assortments - quick, easy and lots of fun!

Thanks for visiting my blog and taking a "peek" at my card projects..... and if you haven't already been there?? -  now is the time to "Hop" on over to Beth Naumann's  blog and see the art work she has created for you... don't forget to visit all the other Consultants at their blogs to view some great crafting inspiration and fun ideas! Remember, the Stamp of the Month is only available until the end of February!  Contact your Close To My Heart Consultant (or click here) to see how you can purchase this stamp set and receive a discount!....order now and create your own "Typed Notes"!