Category: Seven Hills

Challenge: October Sketch

10/14/2017

Over at Seven Hills Craft Blog, there is a new sketch challenge: "... a simple sketch to play with. You can twist it, flip it, change the shapes to suit - as long as we can see the general starting point for your inspiration was our sketch... "

I didn't twist flip or change shoes... I just went with what they showed, using dies and a monochromatic color scheme.

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Altenew “Sweet Friend” (ALT1859)
Dies: Sizzix Thinlits “Stitched Circles” (662229) and “”Dimensional Stars” (661595)
Inks:” Altenew Crisp Dye Inks “Autumn Blaze”, “Orange Cream” and “Firebrick”
Papers: Paper Studio “Kraft Cards” (697201); Idea-ology Paper Stash “Motif” (TH93112); scrap Bazzill orange and white card stock
Adhesives: RedLine 1/8” Embossing Tape

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Challenge: Spotlight It!

9/15/2017

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Seven Hills has issued a challenge for September 2017: Spotlight It! We are to "'highlight' one area of our card either through the use of colour whilst the rest is black and white, by using a frame to pick out an area, mats and layers over stamping, or even by creative use of die cuts!"

I opted for using a die-cut circle in a black-and-white card cover through which watercolored version of the same card showed through.

I started by stamping the same images (using my MISTI and lots of masks) in Altenew Crisp Dye inks of three colors - Lava Rock for the cover and Caribbean Blue and Bamboo for the spotlighted backdrop::

I hadn't decided which part I would spotlight yet so I watercolored a larger portion of the backdrop than I would need, using more Altenew Crisp Dye Inks and Intense Pencils:

I die-cut circle in the cover using a Sizzix Thilits die and overlayed it on the backdrop:

I added a sentiment, matted the card on lime green and layered it on a glossy white card cut to fit; I added more color to the spotlighted area once the card was assembled so the spotlight area would show more contrast.

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Altenew "Adore You" and "Painted Greetings"
Dies: Altenew "Adore You" (ALT1493) and Sizzix Thinlits "Stitched Circles" (662229)
Inks: Altenew Crisp Dye Inks "Bamboo", "Parrot", "Moss", "Olive", "Caribbean Sky", "Arctic", "Persian Blue" and Sapphire"; Inktense Pencils "Sky Blue" (1200), "Apple Green" and "Leaf Green"
Papers: Paper Reflections Greeting Cards "Glossy white" (GRC010004), scrap of white card
Adhesives: ScorTape

I'm also entering this in the Altenew Card Blog Challenge for September 2017. The color palette and inspirational photo are shown below:

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Challenge: Choice of Three Color Palettes

8/7/2017

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Over at the 7 Hills blog,, the challenge for August 17 is to create a project using at least 3 colors from one of the palettes providied and at least one product they sell: I chose the left palette from the ones shown below:

I seem to be in a yellow and teal mood this month but it is a color scheme I really relate to.

I stamped a background using Altenew Stamps and two colors of Altenew Crisp Dye Inks, applied a "wash" of a third Altenew Crisp Dye Ink over the stamped background, and stamped a sentiment using another Altenew Stamp set and a fourth Crisp Dye Ink.

I stamped a butterfly image from a third Altenew stamp set on turquoise card, again using Crisp Dye Inks, and colored it with a blending pen, two colors of Crisp Dye Inks and a gold marker pen. After layering the background on a scrap of turquoise card and attaching the butterfly, the resultant card is shown here:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Altenew "Live Life in Color", "Bejeweled" and "Painted Greetings" sets
Dies: ALtenew "Bejeweled" die set
Inks: Altenew Crisp Dye Inks "Buttercream", "Caramel Toffee", "Sunkissed", "Dusk" and "Desert Night"
Papers: Golden Oak card pre-pack in "sparkles - silver" (P1043); Ranger Watercolor Paper (ISW 39532) and scraps of turquoise card stock
Adhesives: ScorTape

I am also entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for August 7: Happy Birthday

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Challenge: Die Cut a Die Cut

6/4/2017

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Seven Hills wants us to take a die cut and die cut it again, creating a different version of the original. The usual rules apply, including using something that is sold in the Seven Hills shop.

I have a die set by Concord & 9th which is sold at Seven Hills, but I'm not sure that this kind of die-cutting is what they mean for the challenge. I decided to use it to comply with the product requirement but also to use two sets of Sizzix thinlits dies to create a frame for the Concord & 9th image.

First I apologize for the fuzziness of the photos --- I took them in a darkened room and couldn't see that they weren't in focus...now it's too late to retake them.

My first step was to die cut a "Stitched Rectangle" in black card stock and then cut a "Stitched Oval" in the resultant rectangular diecut. I layered this "frame" onto striped paper and then onto glossy black card. I die cut a sentiment with another Sizzix thinlit in the glossy black layer:

I backed the block-letter sentiment dicta with gold shimmer paper:

Next, I used the Concord & 9th die set on the glossy black and gold shimmer papers.This die set has one set of dies designed to make a card closure and a second set of dies cut the holes in the wings; a third die was for the butterfly body.. I cut the butterfly wings from the card using the closure dies and then applied the second set of hold to create the butterfly pattern; I layered gold glimmer paper (also cut with the closure dies) behind the black die-cut wings and added a gold shimmer body to create a compete butterfly:

My final step was to attached the butterfly to the "frame" and attache then entire image to an ivory notecard:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Dies: Concord & 9th "Butterfly Card Dies" (10165), Sizzix Thinlits "Stitched Rectabgles" (6621189), "Stitched Ovals" (661188) and "Adventure Words: Block" (660212)
Papers: Paper Studio Value Pack Notecards "ivory", black and glossy black yardstick; glimmer gold paper; and black-and-ivory striped paper
Adhesives: Viva Las Vegas "Miracle Tape"; Ranger Collage Glue Stick

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Challenge: May Color Palettes

5/9/2017

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Seven Hills Crafts Bog has issued a challenge for May 2017 involving three possible color palettes:

Challenge rules include to pick 3 colours minimum from any of the 3 schemes and to use at least one product sold at Seven Hills' shop.

I elected to go with the palette on the far right and picked Altenew Crisp Dye Inks in three color ways to match the palette. I used two Concord & 9th stamps sets and one Concord & 9th die set to create my card.

First, I used Altenew Crisp Dye Inks to create two watercolor backgrounds on watercolor paper. The background on the left was made with "Frosty Pink", "Coral Berry", Ruby Red", "Frayed Leaf", and "Forest Green" (to match the pinks and greens in the palette). The middle card was made with "Midnight Violet", "Deep Iris", "Lavender Field" and "Soft Lilac" (to match the violet in the palette). The third piece of card was direct-to-paper using "Evergreen":

I die cut a butterfly and butterfly body from the purple and green pieces, respectively; stamped detail on the butterfly using Archival ink; and colored in the detail with a Distress Marker and paint pen before assembling this butterfly:

The background (on the left) needed some detail so I stamped, at random, several images from the Concord & 9th Wildflower stamp set using "Coral Berry" and "Frayed Leaf".. I also Stamped a sentiment from the butterfly stamp set in "Evergreen":

I layered the background onto a scrap piece of green card and then onto an ivory card base and attached the butterfly:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps Concord & 9th "Butterfly Beauty" (10164) and "Wildflower" (10064) stamp sets
Dies: Concord & 9th "Butterfly Card" die set (10165)
Inks: Altenew Crisp Dye Inks "Frosty Pink", "Coral Berry", Ruby Red", "Frayed Leaf", "forest Green", "Evergreen", "Midnight Violet", "Deep Iris", "Lavender Field" and "Soft Lilac"; Archival Watering Can"; Distress Marker "Black Soot"; Sigmo Uni-Ball "white"
Papers: Scrap green card, Ranger watercolor paper and Paper Studio Value Pack Notecards "ivory"
Adhesives: Viva Las Vegas "Miracle Tape"; Ranger "Multi Medium Matte"

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Challenge: April Sketch Challenge

4/15/2017

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Seven Hills has a sketch challenge for April 2017:

I played around with dies and ribbon to get the basic sketch onto a card front. I then added some Altenew "Spring Daisies", popped up with foam dots, and a sentiment heat embossed in gold to complete this card:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Altenew "Spring Daisies" set and "Sketchy Cities America 2" set
Dies: Sizzix "Stitched Ovals" (661188) and Altenew Coordinating die set for "Spring Daisies"
Inks: Archival "Jet Black" Distress "Scattered Straw" and "Tea Die"; Versamark
Embossing Powders: Creative Beginnings "Gold-regular"
Embelishments: Offray Ribbon, 7mm in "Antique Gold"
Papers: scraps of gold metallic and white card
Adhesives: Scor-Tape; Xyron 500 sticker maker: SK Tool 3-D Dots

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Challenge: Tic Tac Toe

3/8/2017

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Seven Hills Craft Blog has issued a challenge for March 2017. We are to "play" tic Tac Toe with the following chart and pick a row, any row, to design our project. We can go up or down or across or on the diagonal. Lots of options here!

Animals Watercolour Bold Shades

Embossing Big Words/Letters People

Patterned PaperPastel Shades Die Cutting

I went from top left to bottom right for my little notecard (marked in purple).

First I stamped my Big Letter "U" with Versamark and heat embossed with a glittery purple EP. Next I added the word "Thanks" in Archival "Jet Black".

Next step was to stamp four animals from a Hero Arts Stamp set, run them through my Xyron 500 sticker maker, color them with Distress Markers and die cut them with the coordinating die set.

I arranged the animals on the card front and "Voila!":

Products used on the card were:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! "All About U" and Hero Arts "Raining Cats & Dogs" (CM151)
Dies: Hero Arts "Raining Fluff Cuts" (D1369)
Inks: Versmark; Archival "Jet Black"; Distress Markers "Worn Lipstick", "Black Soot", "Pumice Stone", "Vintage Photo", "Dried Marigold", "Barn Door" and "Tea Dye"
Embossing Powder: Comotion Clear Tops "Bright Orchid Violet" (161331)
Papers: scrap white card; precut notecard in a linen finish
Adhesives: Xyron 500 sticker maker

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Challenge: two color palettes with a similar theme

2/7/2017

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This month, Altenew and Seven Hills have issued color palette challenges.

The Altenew Challenge, posted on February 1, 2017, which must use an Altenew product as a focal point, uses a photograph and a four color palette brighten the dark and grey outside typical of February:

The Seven Hills challenge, posted on February 2, 2017, which must use a product sold in their shop, provided three photos and five or six shades in a two-color palette for each:

I started with the Altenew challenge and used three of the colors in the palette (fuschia, green and white) and an Altenew stamp/die set as the focal point. I stamped images from the Lotus stamp set on colored paper using Altenew Crisp Inks and die cut the with coordinating die set. I also cut a border strip from an Authentique 6x6 pad of paper which matched the color palette. I layered the images and the border strip on a top-folding note card and added a sentiment in Crisp Ink and water ripples with a Distress Marker:

Products used in making this card were:

Stamps (and dies): Altenew Lotus stamp and die (1055) bundle; sentiment stamp from an unknown company
Inks: Altenew Crisp Inks “Ruby Red” and “Evergreen”; Distress Marker “Scattered Straw”
Papers: Paper Studio value Pack Notecards “white”, Authentique “Collection: Infused” 6x6 pad (INF009); scrap pink and green card
Adhesives: Ranger Collage Glue Stick; Viva Las Vegas “Miracle Tape”

I like the looks of this card a lot and decided to CASE my own card using the Seven Hills yellow/grey palette in the challenge. Like the Altenew card, I stamped the images using Altenew Crisp Inks on colored card and die cut them. I cut another coordinating border from an Authentique 6x6 paper pad, layered the images and border on the top-folding note card and added a sentiment stamped in Crisp Ink and water ripples with a Distress Marker:

Products used in making this card were:

Stamps (and dies): Altenew "Lotus" stamp and die (1055) bundle*; sentiment stamp Hero Arts* (F3262)
Inks: Altenew Crisp Inks* “Evening Grey” and “Paper Bag” ; Distress Marker “Pumice Stone”
Papers: Paper Studio value Pack Notecards “white”, Authentique “Classique: Beauty” 6x6 pad (BEA016); scrap yellow and gray card
Adhesives: Ranger Collage Glue Stick

* Altenew and Hero Arts are both sold in the Seven Hills shop, although it may be that th Hero Arts stamp is "out of print"...

The difference: the color palette and the arrangement of the flowers… I like this pair of cards enough that I think I will make a few more, using different color palettes (perhaps the other two proposed by Seven Hills) and different sentiments.

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Challenges: a merger of two

1/21/2017

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Since Seven Hills requires as a condition of entering their challenges that something sold in their store be used, I have a tendency to use my Altenew stamp and die sets as they are the ones I have the most of in their shop inventory (Hero Arts is a runner up). And Since Altenew offers a monthly challenge at roughly the same time as Seven Hills, I decided I"d try to merge these two this month.

Seven Hills wants this sketch to be followed for their January 2017 challenge:

while Altenew wants this photo and/or color palette to be the inspiration for their January 2017 "Inspiration":

Use either the colors, the composition, the elements, the texture or any combination. Altenew products should be the focus, but other companies’ products can be used.

I started by stamping the horizontal bars from the Seven Hills sketch on scrap paper, adding a sentiment, timing the paper and layering it on a mustard colored card and then a white note card:

Next I stamped an Altenew "Spring Diasiy" in Arvhival "Potting Soil" and Distress "Fossilized Amber", fussy cut it and placed it on the final card:

I think the card does comply with the sketch provided and the inks and papers I used were the closest I could come to the color palette. The Altenew stamp set satisfies both the Seven Hills and Altenew requirement for product focus.

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Altenew "Spring Daisy" and Simon Says Stamp "Jumbo Stripes"
Inks: Archival "Potting Soil", Distress Inks "Fossilized Amber" and "Antique Linen"
Papes: Paper Studio Value Pack Notecards "white"; Bazzill "Yellow Hues"; scrap antique and winter white cardstock
Adhesives: Multi Medium Matte; Viva Las Vegas "Miracle Tape"

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Challenge: A Color Challenge

10/4/2016

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The October Challenge on Seven Hills Craft Blog is to choose one of the three color palettes provided

pick at least THREE shades from it and feature a product or products sold in their shop.

I chose the colors on theright--- shades of blue and green, and for my product lines, I chose Altenew.

I stamped the Altenew "Spring Daisy" flower stamps in shades of Altenew inks from the "Cool Summer Night" collection. I stamped the leaves in shades of Versamargic chalk inks. I then used the matching "Spring Diasy" dies to cut out the finished flowers and leaves so they could be arranged on the face of a top-folding note card. Finally, using Altenew "Desert Night" ink, I stamped a sentiment from the "Spring Daisy" stamps set.

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Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Altenew "Spring Daisy"
Dies: Altenew "Spring Daisy"
Inks: Altenew "Cool Summer Night: ("Desert Night", "Dusk", "Ocean Waves" "Sea Glass"); Versamagic chalk inks "Aloe Vera, "Oasis Green"
Papers: Paper Studio note cards "white"; white card stock
Adhesives: ranger Collage Glue Stick

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