Double Trouble #64 and Colour Dare #407 - Daisy Thinking of You

Welcome to this week's Double Trouble Challenge and Colour Dare challenge!

Double Trouble is pairing up with Colour Dare so we are posting a few days earlier than scheduled. 

Thing 1: Trouble Maker says, "You make me happy when skies are grey, so let's make someone happy with a Friendship project (i.e. Get Well, Thinking of You, Thank You, etc.). NO Birthday, Holiday or Celebration projects.

You can stop here...

OR you can go to Twisted Sister's color twist to be eligible to enter Double Dare's partner challenge.

Thing 3: Twisted Sister says, "Let's start with using any shade of grey and then brighten the day with your choice of TWO additional colors... and NO cheating with more than two additional colors. You are free to use black, white and/or silver.

Thing 2: Double Dare says, "If you have taken on Twisted Sister's color palette above, it also matches the Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge #407. Click HERE to enter your project and qualify for an additional chance at the Double

Trouble Random Draw.

NOTICE: Our 5th Monday Challenge "Something, Anything, Everything will be starting early on Friday, August 28th and will run to Sunday, September 6th.

At first glance, this looks like a very bland colour challenge - until you realize that any two additional colours can be used in addition to greys. I chose to use purple and yellow. The daisy stamps are triple layered stamps so I used three shades of purple and three shades of yellow. 

The base of the card is Charcoal cardstock with Pebble Cardstock on top. I embossed the Pebble cardstock with the Rose Embossing Folder and then added a piece of striped Charcoal paper and a yellow patterned background paper across the top of the card. The daisies were stamped (6 stamps per daisy!) and die cut. The sentiment was stamped with Pansy pigment ink and embossed. The darkest purple sections on the daisies were brushed with the Clear Shimmer Brush. A few purple gems and some silver embellishing thread were added to complete the card. 

Come and join us at Double Trouble and Colour Dare and show us how you use the palette 

shown above. 

You have two weeks to link up your project - please note the end date for Double Trouble is the same as that for Colour Dare (Thursday, August 27).

We can't wait to see what you create! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: Boutique Paper Pack, Basics Fundamentals, White Daisy Cardstock, Pebble Cardstock, Charcoal Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock 

Stamps: Rooted in Nature (SU), Beloved Daisy (Altenew)

Inks: Pansy Pigment Ink, Lemonade, Canary, Saffron, Lilac, Thistle, Pansy

Accessories: Beloved Daisy Dies (Altenew), Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Purple Gems, Silver Embellishing Thread, Rose Embossing Folder, Clear Shimmer Brush

Enjoy,

Alyson

H2H - Green Thumb

Welcome to this week's Heart 2 Heart challenge! 

The theme this week is "green thumb". That could be about plants or using green on your project.

I can’t keep a plant alive for the life of me... I have a little cactus on my window ledge and it's a miracle it has lasted this long. Consequently, this theme is about the colour green for me! 

I chose to use the Green Apple patterned paper from the retired Blue Skies paper pack. It was paired with some woodgrain and Sapphire paper along with Lemonade ink. I embossed the sentiment using white embossing powder. The flowers were stamped with Lemonade and I used the Green Apple Shimmer Brush to add colour to the centers along with a coloured sparkle. A piece of Mink twine was wrapped around the card.

Come and join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us how you interpret the "green thumb" theme. 

You have until the end of August to link up your project. 

We can't wait to see what you create! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Blue Skies Paper Pack, Blue Skies Coordinating Cardstock, Rustic Home Fundamentals, White Daisy Cardstock, Sapphire Cardstock, Green Apple Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock 

Stamps: Simple Florals 

Inks: Lemonade, Green Apple, Versamark

Accessories: Simply Florals Thin Cuts, Petal and More Dies (SU), Mink Twine, White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Green Apple Shimmer Brush, Clear Sparkles, Bitty Sparkles, ShinHan Marker (not CTMH)

Enjoy,

Alyson

TSOT 469 - Thinking of You

Welcome to this week's Try Stampin' on Tuesday challenge!

The sketch this week appears to be a very simple one... and I have to say that I struggled with this and what to do. The optional theme is to create your own background. I decided to go with that and use that piece for the main element of my card. 

I used 3 floral stamps and 2 branch stamps to create my background. The flowers were all stamped in shades of purple and the branches were stamped in Peacock and Mint. Once my background was finished, in order to cut a partial circle as large as the sketch shows, I had to dig out my very old Coluzzle. Anyone remember that? I used it to cut partial circles on both the stamped background and the Peacock cardstock so I could layer the pieces. 

I stamped the sentiment with Versamark ink and embossed it in white. That piece was layered on Lilac cardstock and then a ribbon was tied around it. The whole card was placed on the same Lilac cardstock for the base. I added a few Mint coloured enamel gems and various shades of Stickles to the centres of the flowers. 

Come and join us at Try Stampin' on Tuesday and show us how you interpret the 

sketch shown above. 

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

We can’t wait to see what you create! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Lilac Cardstock, Peacock Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock 

Stamps: Treasured Memories, Autumn Wreath Builder (Gina K Designs)

Inks: Peacock, Mint, Pansy, Thistle, Lilac, Versamark

Accessories: White Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Mint Stickles, Silver Stickles, Diamond Stickles, Thistle Ribbon, Mint Enamel Gems 

Enjoy,

Alyson

AH 380 - Fresh as the Morning Dew

Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #380!

This week's sketch lends itself to several layers and with so many paper packs available with coordinating patterns, one of those sets is perfect for this challenge. 

I chose to use some coordinating papers from Kaisercraft from the Morning Dew collection. I love the colours and patterns in these papers. 

All the panels of patterned paper were matted using Peacock cardstock. I stamped a tiny sentiment and die cut it along with the same colour border. I added some silver embellishing thread and a few sparkles that I coloured to complement the papers. Easy! 

Come and join us at Atlantic Hearts and show us how you interpret the sketch shown above.

You have until Sunday evening to link up your project. 

We can’t wait to see what you create! 

Products used are Close to My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Linen Cardstock, Peacock Cardstock, Morning Dew Paper Collection (Kaisercraft), Neenah Solar White Cardstock 

Stamps: Mini Messages (Hero Arts)

Inks: Peacock

Accessories: Basic Circle Thin Cuts, Circle Dies (Nestabilities), Silver Embellishing Thread, Sparkles, ShinHan Marker (not CTMH), Thin Foam Tape 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Double Trouble 63 - What's Up Dog?

Welcome to Double Trouble Challenge #63!

This week, it's all about embossing (hot/wet or cold/dry) and critters. If you use a critter on your project, we encourage you to link up with the 2 Crafty Critter Crazies challenge as well. That link can also be found on the Double Trouble challenge post. 

I pulled out a stamp set that I love but haven't used often - called Lucky Dog by MFT. I based my card on a sketch from Make It From Your Heart Volume 2. The dog bone papers were combined with a panel of cardstock that was dry embossed using a paw embossing folder. I sanded the embossed panel to bring out the images in white. The dog image was stamped with Pewter embossing ink and heat embossed before being coloured. I added some grass and the sentiment at the bottom and then placed some silver embellishing thread behind the panel before adding it to a mat. A thin strip of silver ribbon was added to the cross piece of Pewter cardstock. Finally, a few blue glitter gems finished off my card.

Come and join us at Double Trouble and show us your embossed projects. Add a critter if desired. 

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

We can't wait to see what you create! 

I am linking my card up to the 2 Crafty Critters Crazies challenge as well. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Friends Fur-ever Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Canary Cardstock, Carolina Cardstock 

Stamps: Lucky Dog (MFT)

Inks: Bluebird, Pewter Pigment Ink

Accessories: Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Paw Embossing Folder (Darice), Silver Ribbon (misc.), Sanding Block, Pewter Journaling Pen, Blue Enamel and Glitter Dots, Tri-Blend Markers, ShinHan Markers, Thin Foam Tape, Silver Embellishing Thread

Enjoy,

Alyson

Starburst Cards

I love the effect of starbursts and wanted to create a couple of cards using that technique. 

The first one is a masculine card - I used 5 patterned papers to create the starburst. The sentiment was stamped in 2 colours and die cut. A small border of ruby hearts was stamped at the bottom and then some coloured sparkles were added. 

The second card is MUCH more involved... There are 4 mini starbursts, each 1 3/4" square. I used the three embossed star papers from the Happiest Place paper pack to create those starbursts and when they were complete, they were mounted on Silver Foil paper. The background was embossed with the Stitched Circle embossing folder. I had to emboss in two steps as the folder is 5"x 7" in size and the paper is 5 1/2" square. It meant lining up the previously embossed section exactly to ensure there would not be any extra embossed parts. I splattered the background with the Black and Lemonade shimmer brushes. A few flowers were stamped, coloured and fussy cut. The sentiment and the flowers were mounted with foam tape and a few black dots were added as well as some silver embellishing thread. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart:

Paper: Timber Paper Pack, Mix-In Paper Pack, Happiest Place Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock, Glacier Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Silver Foil Paper, White Daisy Card and Envelopes 

Stamps: Timber Cardmaking Workshop, Floral Celebration

Inks: Fern, Sapphire, Intense Black, Black, Ruby

Accessories: Timber Cardmaking Thin Cuts, Tri-Blend Markers, Silver Shimmer Trim, Clear Sparkles, Stitched Circles Embossing Folder, Black and White Dots, Black Shimmer Brush, Lemonade Shimmer Brush, Silver Embellishing Thread, Foam Tape

Enjoy,

Alyson

August Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the August SOTM Blog Hop! 

This month, the featured stamp set is called Floral Celebration and the images are great for colouring and for stamping plus there are two awesome sentiments. 

You should have arrived here from Michelle Loncar's blog. 

If you get lost, a list of all participating consultants can be found on Melinda Everitt's blog. 

I do a lot of colouring and wanted to do something different with this stamp set. I used only the open floral images and I stamped them on white cardstock using Versamark. That ink can be hard to see so I worked from the largest flower to the smallest one, covering as much of the paper as possible trying not to overlap images. That was then heat embossed with white embossing powder. I used Carolina, Bluebird and Sapphire inks (from light at the edges to darker in the middle) to sponge over the card, bringing out the white flowers. A stitched frame cut in Sapphire was added around the outside. 

I cut out a section using the Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts and created a shaker with the frame. The sentiment was stamped on the inside piece along with a few tiny flowers and I added silver loose sequins and confetti stars. The card front was mounted on foam tape so the shaker is embedded within the card and a few loose sequins were added to the centre of the largest flowers.

I hope you enjoyed my card. 

The next stop is Brenda Lapp's blog.

I am sure she has amazing artwork to share with you!

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Sapphire Cardstock 

Inks: Versamark, Carolina, Bluebird, Sapphire 

Stamps: Floral Celebration

Accessories: Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts, Acetate (not CTMH), Silver Loose Sequins, Confetti Stars, Foam Tape, White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool 

Enjoy,

Alyson

CD 405 - Hello Friend Tic Tac Toe

Welcome to this week's Colour Dare challenge!

We have a tic tac toe board for you this week featuring the colours from the Summer Vibes paper pack. 

I chose to use the diagonal line of Smoothie, Lemonade and Fern. 

I also added Glacier, Nectarine and Candy Apple as those colours are in the patterned paper I selected. 

I began by die cutting some stitched rectangles and then fitting the paper inside them. The flowers were stamped with Intense Black and coloured with the Tri-Blend markers. I also used the Lemonade Shimmer Brush to highlight sections of the flowers. The sentiment was stamped in Fern and brushed with the same shimmer brush. Some gold embellishing thread was added behind the sentiment and I added a few gold glitter gems. 

Come and join us at Colour Dare and show us how you use the tic-tac-toe board shown above. 

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

We can't wait to see what you create! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Summer Vibes Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Smoothie Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock 

Stamps: Petal Palette (SU), Budding Peony 

Inks: Intense Black, Fern

Accessories: Stitched Rectangle Dies (GMD), Petal Palette Dies (SU), Lemonade Shimmer Brush, Gold Embellishing Thread, Gold Glitter Gems 

Enjoy,

Alyson

H2H - Colour Challenge with a Hummingbird

Welcome to this week's Heart 2 Heart challenge! 

It's all about colour this week - specifically Peacock, Sage, Glacier and Saffron. If you don't have those specific colours, use the closest matches possible but be sure to include some Close To My Heart products in your project. 

Here are some projects using the colours listed above. 

I have been experimenting with the Borgello technique - sponging shades of colour beside each other and then turning the paper to cut it into strips. The strips are then adhered intentionally misaligned. The effect is so cool. I used Sage, Glacier and Peacock inks to create my background. I added a stitched rectangle cut from Peacock cardstock to the outside of the card. 

I stamped and die cut some flowers and a hummingbird. They were coloured - Saffron for the flowers and a combination of the other three colours for the hummingbird. I added some old gems to each of the flower centres and die cut the sentiment using Peacock cardstock. The last step was to brush the flowers wth the Clear Shimmer Brush. 

Come and join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us how you use the colour palette shown above. 

You have until the end of July to link up your project. 

We can't wait to see what you create! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Peacock Cardstock 

Stamps: Hummingbird Thanks (PPP), Wild Rose (PPP)

Inks: Peacock, Sage, Glacier, Intense Black 

Accessories: Wild Rose Dies (PPP), Hummingbird Thanks (PPP), Hello Sunshine (Creative Expressions), Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts, Tri-Blend Markers, ShinHan Markers (not CTMH), Blue Gems, Clear Shimmer Brush

Enjoy,

Alyson

Summer Vibes Cube Card

A while ago, I posted my first attempt at a cube card. I have completed two more 

since that time. 

The first one shown here was created using the Summer Vibes paper pack and a great floral stamp set called Simple Florals. I stamped all of the leaves and flowers in coordinating colours and used them to decorate the panels on the cube. A little bit of gold embellishing thread was used and I painted the insides of the flowers with Stickles. Bulky embellishments don't work on a card like this because it can’t be folded flat with dimensional embellishments. 

The second cube card was created using the Timber paper pack and the Mix-In paper pack. I chose to use Cricut cuts to embellish the panels of the card, making this one a masculine birthday card. 

It's amazing how the same design can look so different with the use of different papers! 

Products used are all Close To My Heart: 

Paper: Summer Vibes Paper Pack, Timber Paper Pack, Mix-In Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Candy Apple Cardstock, Fern Cardstock, Sapphire Cardstock, Ruby Cardstock, Almond Cardstock, Mink Cardstock, Pewter Cardstock, Sage Cardstock, New England Ivy Cardstock, Espresso Cardstock 

Stamps: Simple Florals 

Inks: Fern, Glacier, Candy Apple, Nectarine, Lemonade, Smoothie

Accessories: Cricut Collections: Complete Creativity, Artbooking, You Are Here, Artiste, Artistry, Basic Shapes

Simple Florals Thin Cuts, Gold Embellishing Thread, Diamond Stickles

Enjoy,

Alyson