End of Summer Blog Hop

Welcome to the Blog Hops with Heart End of Summer Blog Hop! You might be arriving here from KELLY'S BLOG. You'll find a list of all the hoppers at the bottom of this post.

For this month's hop I thought I'd finally get around to sharing my winning layout from this Summer's Convention Layout Contest. It's honestly one of my favorite things that I've ever made. I love how the Layout Contest themes make me scrapbook something that I might not otherwise have thought to put down on paper.

This year's theme was to tell an important story. I was STUMPED for the longest time. What story is most important. What's relevant? How in the world do you get started? Then one night, I kid you not, I literally dreamed this layout into existence. I woke up and it just came together like no prob, Rob...I am not a quick scrapbooker and this one just flowed out lickety split.   

I used a watercolor over rocks technique for the background, the watercolored letters, and the flowers. You pile small pebbles or glass stones onto watercolor paper and mist them well with a spray bottle. Then you drop watercolor onto the rock piles and let it seep down onto the paper. I let it dry overnight because I was afraid to disturb the watercolor. It's super fun to do, and the resulting background/painting is so lovely and bright.

Next up on the hop is JAYMA'S BLOG. I can't wait to see what all these amazing artists have made! Happy hopping!

End of Summer Hop:

Katy

Stephanie

Amie

Kelly

Wendy (You are Here)

Jayma

Becca

Color Throwdown Special Wishes Card

I was so honored to be chosen as a Color Throwdown Featured Stamper. This week I get to be a Guest Designer over at Color Throwdown, where they always have gorgeous color inspiration challenges. This week's challenge is pink, yellow and gray, and I've chosen Bashful, Canary, and Pebble inks for my card creation.

I'm still playing with the September special stamp set, so this is also a sneak peek post of a set that's not quite yet available. I stamped the Bashful CS background with the So HAPPY for You sentiment repeatedly in Bashful ink. Then I embossed another panel of Bashful CS with a big dot folder. I used the back/lighter side of the cardstock for these pieces. I matted my embossed panel onto some Canary Fundamentals patterned paper with a subtle stripe and tore the bottom edge.  

I handcut a white tag that I outlined with a hand dotted outline. I double stamped the Special Thoughts & Wishes sentiment in Canary yellow and Pebble Gray. Then I stamped the sentiment again on scrap white cardstock so I could trim out the smaller words and accent them by sponging the edges with Bashful ink. I colored the Pebble stamped floral image with all three ink colors, and added a second layer of the center flowers popped up with foam tape for dimension. I topped my tag with a spray of pale pink organdy ribbon and a pink heart open center button. I also applied yellow Stickles to the button center, the yellow floral spray, and the flower center.

See how pretty the Color Throwdown Inspiration photos are? I hope you'll pop over this week and join the fun!

You're In My Heart Card

Welcome back to another week of fun sketches over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge!

I just got this adorable new Avery Elle Heart Frame die and it put me in the mood for a sweet lovey dovey card. I grabbed some Whimsy Fundamentals dot paper and dug into my stash of washi tape to fill in the outlines of the sketch. Then I drew a line of stitches all around my card base.

I cut the Heart Frame twice, once in Bashful Cardstock and once in Bashful Glitter paper. Then I trimmed out the glitter hearts from that frame and glued them to the CS frame using Liquid Glass. I fussy cut the HEART part of the sentiment (a sneak peek of the September special) and added it to the white Cricut cut heart I popped up in the center of my heart frame. a few pink pearls finished off this quick and easy card. I hope you'll pop over to Atlantic Hearts to play along with this week's cute sketch!

Annual Inspirations New Product Blog Hop

Welcome to the Annual Inspirations Blog Hop! This hope we have 26 fabulous creations using the new goodies from the new Annual Inspirations Idea Book. You may be arriving here from ALYSON'S BLOG, and you'll find a link to all the blogs on the hop HERE.

I chose to play with the new Whimsy Fundamentals Line. The line features a paper packet in pretty pastels which I paired with the Inspire Complements. I also added some of the new Color of the Year cardstock, called Bashful. I'm linking this project up to the Paper Issues Take 5 Tuesday Challenge (Cardstock, Patterned Paper, More than 1 photo, Sticker, Diecut). 

I love the white glitter chipboard accents from the Inspire Complements pack. I combined the SPARKLE piece and a heart image with my title cut using the new font in the You Are Here Cricut cartridge. You also can spy a few of the hearts from the new Thin Cuts - Heart Border Die, which is literally probably my most favorite new thing. Here I trimmed out individual outline hearts from the border to add a delicate touch to my clusters. Both shades of pink cardstock you can see here are from the same sheet of Bashful cardstock - totally loving the new doublesided cardstock! One side is the full shade, and the backside is a lighter tone of the shade. Our color choices just doubled (yay!) but we still have the same lovely white core perfect for distressing and paper tearing.

I am still adoring my watercolor paints, too, and I'm still using the same pan from last year. Hooray for long lasting supplies! I laid down a patch of water before dropping in the colors and let them move naturally. I came back after it was dry to add a few speckles too. That Sunshine elements came from the Inspire Complements, and I just trimmed off the yellow sun part to tuck the edge under my photo mat. Then I popped the center part of that sticker up with foam tape above my photo mat and now it will be so easy to slide in my photo!  

Next up on the hop is GINA'S BLOG. Check out all the new Annual Inspirations goodies online here, or ask your consultant how to get a copy of your very own. Happy hopping!

September SOTM Sneak Peek

I sat down at my desk to create something for my team to make at our meeting on Sunday. I was stuck for a while, as my desk is literally covered in Whimsy pastels, and the September Stamp of the Month is a gratitude/autumn-y feeling kind of set. I popped over to Color Throwdown, and the challenge this week was also pastels, like the ones covering my desk, so I decided "Why not?" and got down to business. 

I used the new palest pink Bashful cardstock and ink combined with second generation Thistle and Lagoon to go along with the Color Throwdown challenge. I was working off the sketch over at  CAS(E) This Sketch, with the wider border on the right and the banner overlapping the edge. I filled the pink border on the right with the openwork heart image, which I also sprinkled around my feather work as well. I got to use my new Tim Holtz stamp platform for placing the Thanks and that arrow border, which made it way easier to line the border up over multiple cards. I don't know if you can see it but I applied shimmer pen to all the feathers for a subtle shine, then finished off the card with a few teeny sequins. 

The feathers were stamped using both the front AND the back of the feather stamp image. First I inked the back or solid side of the stamp, swiping the ink off and then stamping off before adding it to the card so the image would be distressed and lighter. Then I flipped the image back to the front side on my block so I could stamp it again with the same color full strength on top of the feather "shadows".  The September Stamp of the Month won't be available until September, of course, but I hope you'll forgive me for this little sneak peek!

Thanks A Latte Froggie Card

I'm back today with a new sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and a bit of Whimsy fun!

The striped paper is from the new Whimsy Fundamentals pack. I added some stamped Sweet Leaf cardstock (border image from Thanks a Million) that I edged with a scallop border punch and the new Ribbon Border Thin Cuts Die. The bow wasn't facing the direction I need it to face, so I cut it off and reassembled the border to fit my card better. That adorable little frog and his punny sentiment are from Punny Pals, an super cute set that also happens to supports the amazing work of Operation Smile. I colored him in using Shin Han Alcohol markers and adorably large googly eyes.

I cut the Coffee Cup using the Sweet Leaf green dotted Whimsy Fundamentals paper and Kraft Cardstock. The image is on the new You Are Here Cricut Cartridge. I used the font from that cartridge to write then cut the THANKS A LATTE sentiment banner, too. I'm linking this card up to the Heart 2 Heart Friends challenge, because I'm so grateful to all my awesome friends! I hope this little froggie inspires you to hop on over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge to play along with this week's sketch!

August SOTM Blog Hop

Welcome to the August Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! This month you'll find 22 fabulous SOTM creations on the hop using School Year, a set of nine Back to School themed stamps. You might be arriving here from DARLYS'S BLOG. If you get lost along the way you can find the full list of hoppers here. 

I chose to highlight a single image from this set, the pencil. I stamped a row of pencils along the bottom of a panel of Watercolor paper using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. Then I misted the watercolor paper heavily with water. I dropped watercolor paint onto the panel, helping the color to move along in stripes across the panel. After the paint had dried I went back to stamp the sentiment in Tuxedo Black across the top. I added some hand drawn lines around the card front edge using a journaling pen, as well as some clear Shimmer Brush on each pencil.

 I'm linking this project up to the Just Us Girls Something Old/Something New Challenge. My Something New is the new Stamp of the Month, of course, and my something old is the sentiment from Little Dreamer (which is retiring soon) and my extremely well loved watercolor paint palette.

Be sure to ask your consultant about the August SOTM or click here to get yours before it's gone! Next up on the hop is GINA'S BLOG. Happy Hopping!