Betta Half - AHSC #314

Hello and welcome to this week's card sketch using the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. 

This was a fun card to make because I just got this stamp set from Hero Arts and was really looking forward to using it for the first time! It's a multi layered stamp set that requires no coloring of the Betta fish body because the ink colors you choose do all the work for you. I have kept Betta fish as pets for quite a few years now and their natural beauty never ceases to capture my interest. 

The subtle bubble background paper was something that I made well over 10 years ago and had saved in my stash, so I was very happy to find the perfect way to put it to good use. You can't tell from the pictures, but I did color in the seaweed with a clear sparkle brush pen for some subtle shimmer.

EDIT UPDATE: Ok, so I knew when I finished this card 2 weeks ago that something felt "off" about it...I just felt like it needed a little something more! I looked through all my border stickers and couldn't find what I was looking for, so I took the blog pictures anyway and moved on to a different project. THEN, when I sat down to edit these photos and write this blog post, it hit me...skinny silver glitter washi tape... THAT is exactly what this card needs, lol. So I added it and guess what? I think I was right - It really draws the eye to the fish as the focal point and it's perfect now! What do you think??? Did you like it better with or without the last minute addition of the washi tape?

Until next time~

Cactus Hello - AHSC #310

Hello again and welcome to the month of April! Hopefully spring is now headed to your neck of the woods, but if not you can always try growing succulents indoors like the ones I feature here today on my AHSC design team card using this week's sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. I will also be entering it in the following challenges @ The Paper Players for "Tic Tac Toe" (on the diagonal using diecut/embossing/floral), @ Dare2BArtzy for "Anything Goes" and @ Penny Black and More for "Going Round in Circles". 

I have admired succulents for a long time and successfully kept aloes and Thanksgiving Cactus alive over the last few years, but after the harsh Midwestern winter we are coming out of I decided to try my hand at acquiring a larger indoor succulent collection to help keep the feeling of spring alive all year long. (below, is a pic of the first 6 babies I just got a few weeks ago...all have been re-potted and are doing well) 

When I looked through my stamp collection, I was very happy to find that I already owned several nice sets that contained succulent or cactus images...the card today was made by combining plant stamps from a  Stampin' Up set with pot stamps from a Close to my Heart set. Turned out to be the perfect combination!

I fussy cut all the plant and pot images and then mounted them flat to the card front. I also used a diecut from Spellbinders for the "hello" edgecut and then carefully dry embossed selectively the area below with the tiny circle dots to tie it together with the blue pattern paper at the top of the card and add some dimensional interest.

That's it for me today, but I would love for you to join us in our sketch challenge and I am sure you will be seeing more succulents featured on cards here in the future too.

AHSC #306 - Pink Peony Birthday

Welcoming March and the coming of spring using soft, pretty colors and lovely peonies this week! Designed using sketch #306 from the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge , I made this card for my Grandma's upcoming birthday... 

My card differs slightly from the sketch in where I placed my bow, but that's only because I had to hide a mistake I made while embossing (at the last minute) in the bottom right corner of the card, lol.

I kept it simple on the inside but loved being able to showcase the shade differences in Close To My Heart's (CTMH) colored cardstock...man, this cardstock is brilliant! One side is the darker shade and the other side is the lighter shade...it's like having 2 pieces of co-ordinating cardstock in one and I am loving using it! It's quickly becoming my "go-to" cardstock!

Fine Detailed gold embossing powder is the key to capturing all the gorgeous details in these peony stamps (also from CTMH). A little bit of sparkle pen traced over the charcoal grey sentiment and just 3 mini gold pearls completed the look.

Come join in the fun with us over at Atlantic Hearts and until next time~

Happy Bird-Day

Today's design team project uses the latest sketch from Atlantic Hearts and a cute layering bird stamp set that I received with one of my British craft magazines several months ago and am just finally getting around to using for the first time! 

Since the branch and leaves are all one stamp, in order to get them to have two different colors I had to color the stamps up first with water based markers -after stamping the image I then went over everything with a water brush to try to help the colors flow better. It didn't work perfectly, but it'll have to be good enough, lol!

The bird layers I stamped in 2 shades of brown plus the slate blue. This stamp set also came with 2 matching die cuts, so I used them to cut out the bird and his wing for dimension on this otherwise CAS card.

After stamping the sentiment in the slate blue, I then die cut the whole stamped panel out and layered it on to the front of a slate blue card front.

Until next time~

Old Oak Birthday

Today's design team project for Atlantic Hearts uses sketch #264 and one of the oldest stamp sets in my stash...the always classic "Lovely as a Tree".

I  kept everything simple so that the focus would remain on that majestic tree!

The patterned paper is from Creative Memories from many years ago. The tan background I just made using the small leaf stamp and some brown ink. The sentiment is heat embossed in white.

That's it for me today -until next time~

CAS Petite Floral Hello

Today's card is my design team project for this week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. 

I will also be entering it @ Stamps & Fun = Creativity for "Clean and Simple", @ Get Creative for "No Pattern Paper", @ Simon Says Stamp for" Trio of Something" and @ Just Us Girls for " Wild Card Week: Clean and Simple".

I love the look of colored pencil on Kraft cardstock, so that is what I did here.

The sentiments, butterfly and flower are from various SU! Paper Pumpkin subscription stamp sets and the banner is from a weekend banner/planner stamp set.

The scallop die cut is from Fun Stamper's Journey and the stitched square is from Itsy Bitsy.

This card is a cute and petite 4" x 4" square and I did use a corner rounder too.

Until next time~

Jingle All the Way

Welcome to another new month and another Christmas Challenge @ Happy Little Stampers!

Since the optional theme was Reindeer, I chose this cute digital stamp from Craftin' Desert Divas and used this sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches. (The card is a 5 x 7 size.)

Both the front and inside sentiments are from a Paper Pumpkin kit from Stampin' Up.

The coloring was done with my Chameleon colored pencils.

That's all from me today...until next time, happy crafting!