Cut It Up 349 - You are Amazing

 Welcome to Cut It Up Challenge 349!

The theme for this challenge is "this makes me happy". 

I love florals - and I also love sending unexpected cards to others, just to brighten their day. Both of those things make me happy!

I used a set of stencils to create the floral image, blending a mix of pink, yellow and orange for the flowers. I cut that piece with a stitched rectangle die and die cut a second, larger rectangle from black cardstock. The sentiment was stamped at the bottom and I added a die cut "you" just above that. The front was adhered to the mat layer with thin foam tape and the last layer was adhered to a white card base. Easy! 

Come and join us at Cut It Up and show us how you interpret this challenge.

You have until Monday, February 16 to link up your project. 

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy,

Alyson

Arch Extended Gatefold Card

 I posted a card like this one a while ago. This is the one that I taught in my group and I used nested arch dies.

The front has a coverplate die that was sliced in half to put a piece on each side. The deer were added to the front and I used a single deer on the inside of the card. The background for the inside was ink blended and it shows through all the arches. I added white glitter paper to each arch to simulate snowbanks. 

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Cut Out Hearts Card

 I saw a card like this on Pinterest and wanted to create it myself. 

The bottom of the card front was lightly inked with blue ink and a heart stencil. I stamped several squares with a text stamp and then die cut hearts from each piece. They were arranged above the stencilled section and I added a piece of twine across the images. A small sentiment was stamped on a tag and tied to the twine. Some iridescent gems were added around the card. 

Enjoy, 

Alyson

TSOT 688 - Missing Your Smile

 Welcome to Try a Sketch on Tuesday Challenge 688! 

The sketch is shown below. 

I stencilled a flourish with purple AstroPaste and let that dry. The plumeria image was stamped, stencilled and die cut and I also embossed a silver outline on vellum. The vellum piece was offset under the coloured image and adhered at the side. A sentiment was stamped at the bottom. I dragged my ink pad around the edge of the card base so it would match the dark purple in the flowers. Some silver gems were added around the flowers. 

Come and join us at TSOT and show us how you interpret this challenge. 

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy, 

Alyson

HQCOL February - Happy Bird-Day

 Welcome to Heart'sQuest Celebrations of Love and our February challenge!

This is always a celebration of love challenge - birthday, wedding, anniversary, engagement or sympathy. The optional theme for this month is Valentine's Day. 

I chose to make a birthday card. 

I stencilled the clouds first and then stamped the trees and stencilled the leaves. The mice and birds were stamped, coloured and die cut and I also stamped a sentiment. The images were arranged on the grassy base and I stamped a smaller sentiment and some music notes near the images. The sentiment was placed at the top and I brushed parts of the birds, hats and jackets with a clear shimmer brush. The card front was adhered to a kraft border and then a white card base. 

Come and join us at HQCOL and show us how you interpret this challenge.

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

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy, 

Alyson

DT 209 - CAS Thinking of You

 Welcome to Double Trouble Challenge 209!

The small graphic is below - please visit the Double Trouble Challenge blog for detailed information. 

I wouldn't usually consider a coloured card to be clean and simple, BUT Thing 3 wants a colourful background... I chose a purple and mint colour scheme and die cut ribbon strands from light purple cardstock, Those were adhered to the mint piece and I added the dark purple circle flourish on top. I glued in the light purple centre pieces and added a stamped sentiment across the middle. No embellishments - just clean and simple. 

Come and join us at Double Trouble and show us how you interpret this challenge. 

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy, 

Alyson

HQ for Shaped Cards and Tags - Thankful for You

 Welcome to Heart'sQuest for Shaped Cards and Tags and our February challenge! 

This challenge is always about tags or shaped cards. 

I used a set of dies from The Stamps of Life to create this thankful card. 

The dies honestly do all the work for this - I just chose the papers. Since the sentiment is all about thankfulness, I decided to add some hearts along the sides. I didn't have a lot of choice of colours as the papers were blue, cinnamon and peach so I stayed with those colours. I added a smaller heart to the centre of the larger ones and I placed a gold gem in the centre of the smallest hearts. There is a panel inside the card to write a message. 

Come and join us at HQFSCAT and show us how you interpret this challenge. 

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

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy,

Alyson

DD February - Hello Fun Fold Card

Welcome to Dragonfly Dreams and our February challenge!

The theme for this challenge is shaped cards or fun fold cards. 

I love fun folds - they are my favourite kind of cards to make. This is a style I have made a few times but it creates so much of an impact when it is opened. 

I chose a black, white and turquoise colour scheme. The papers were layered and the base of the card was assembled. I die cut two large flowers and a bunch of greenery from white cardstock and inked the pieces. They were splattered with water and assembled. I placed the flowers in the opposite corners with appropriate greenery. The sentiment was originally silver glitter paper on vellum but it didn't show up very well so I cut another piece from turquoise cardstock and offset it on top of the glitter word. The cards fold flat to 6x6 for mailing and there is a place on the back to write a message. 

Come and join us at Dragonfly Dreams and show us how you interpret this challenge. 

You have until February 27 to link up your project. 

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy,

Alyson

PS February - Heart Vine

Welcome to Pearly Sparkles and our February challenge! 

The theme this month is hearts. 

I used a vine die but I altered it to accommodate all the hearts. This is a picture of the die cut in its original form. 

I cut off the edges of all the small images. The word "you" was die cut (I also cut the shadow but didn't use that). I was down to my last piece of dark green cardstock so I cut everything from the centre of that piece. That piece was used for the border of my card - shown below.

I added the hearts to the vine. The backgound was lightly inked with Tattered Rose Distress Oxide ink and I added water to some Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide ink to splatter the card. The vine image was placed on the left side and I stamped the bottom of the sentiment before adding the word "you" on top. A few scattered hearts were placed around the sentiment and I used a clear shimmer brush to add some sparkle to the hearts. 

Come and join us at Pearly Sparkles and show us how you interpret this challenge. 

You have until February 28 to link up your project. 

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Just Because Stems Card(s)

 This card is from the 30 Minute Card Making Stash Dash.

The parameters for this challenge were as follows: Type of Card: A2 Portrait, Colour: orange, Embellishment: shiny, Technique: fussy cutting and Occasion: just because or get well soon. 

I lightly ink blended a background using shades of yellow, orange and red. The image was stamped across the card with black ink and I stamped the sentiment on one side. I fussy cut a piece of gold foil cardstock to cover the bottom of the stems and placed the card front on a gold foil mat and then a black card base. I finished in about 18 minutes - probably a record for me! 

After I had time to look at the card, I decided to colour the flowers and leaves as well.

Which is your favourite? 

Enjoy, 

Alyson