H2H - Hello Friend Card

Welcome to this week's challenge at Heart 2 Heart!

It's all about technique this week - and creating your own random stamped background. This is not hard to do at all. 

Just select at least three stamps - and work in triangles. Each stamp should form a triangle when it is stamped three times. You will see a "random" pattern emerging as you do this - and don't be afraid to stamp off the edges of the paper as well because patterns don't end before the edges of the paper! It really is very easy to do. 

Once you have your stamped background, use it on your project - it's that easy :) 

I chose to use some leaves and flowers to create my background, along with the occasional heart. I chose a floral cluster to go in the bottom left corner and a sentiment around which I also stamped. 

The close-up shows the shimmer on the floral cluster which doesn't show up in the large photo. 

Come and join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us your random stamped project. You have until the end of January to link up with this or any of the other January challenges. 

We can't wait to see what you create!

Products used are all Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Feels Like Home Paper Pack, Fern Cardstock, Linen Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: I Heart Us Cardmaking, Budding Peony

Inks: Sugarplum, Fern, Sapphire, Intense Black

Accessories: Gold Glitter Gems, ShinHan Markers, (not CTMH), Sugarplum Shimmer Brush, Clear Shimmer Brush, Foam Tape

Enjoy,

Alyson

Variety of Sympathy Cards

I was asked a while ago to create some sympathy cards for a friend. I don't think anyone likes making sympathy cards as they are never for an occasion for which we want to create... however, it is always nice to have a handmade card on hand. 

These ones were quick and easy - all are from patterns in Make It From Your Heart - Vol.4. 

I also chose the colour schemes from Love of Colour. 

I did a couple of each card to make things go a little faster. 

The first card was based on a flourish die from Penny Black. The papers are all retired Fundamental papers with ribbon placed lengthwise. 

The second card was based on a Memory Box die called Stem Triptych and I love how the stem is broken into three parts.

The last card was based on three dies from Creative Expressions called Queen Anne's Lace. I love the look of these when they are cut and I decided to group them together and 

tie the bottom with a bow. 

Hopefully these cards will be put to good use!

Products used are all CTMH unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Sweet Leaf Cardstock, Canary Cardstock, Ballerina Cardstock, Whimsy Fundamentals, Fern Cardstock, Sage Cardstock, Mint Cardstock, Peacock Cardstock, Falling for You Paper Pack, So Much Happy Paper Pack, Almond Cardstock, Espresso Cardstock, Peacock Cardstock, Saffron Cardstock, Documented Paper Pack, White Daisy Cards and Envelopes

Stamps: Say It All, Know That I Care

Inks: Sweet Leaf, Mint, Peacock, Espresso

Accessories: Pink Gems, Yellow Sequins, Yellow Seam Binding (unknown), Yellow Thin Ribbon (unknown), Whimsy Ribbon Pack, Thistle Skinny Ribbon, Goldrush Twine, Green and Silver Twine (SU), Peacock Ribbon, Elegant Die (Penny Black), Queen Anne's Lace Die (Creative Expressions), Stem Triptych Die (Memory Box), Foam Tape

Enjoy,

Alyson

CD 325 - Happy Roses

I am so happy to be back on the Colour Dare Design Team again! 

This is my first challenge of the new year and I LOVE this colour scheme... almost all intense, dark colours plus Glacier, which is one of my favourites! 

The challenge is to use at least three colours but you can use all of them if you wish. I chose to use all of them, plus white. 

The Heather (grey) comes in as the woodgrain background. I die cut the flowers in the purple shades and the "leaves" with the blue/green shades. Bitty Sparkles were added just for a bit of interest. I stamped the sentiment using the rock 'n roll technique with both Sugarplum and Eggplant inks. 

Come and join us at Colour Dare and show us how you use the palette shown above. You have two weeks to link up your project. Don't forget that although we use Close To My Heart names to identify the colours, you are welcome to use any products to create your project. 

Products used are listed below:

Paper: Gimme Some Sugar Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Eggplant Cardstock, Peacock Cardstock, Glacier Cardstock, Sugarplum Cardstock, Sugarplum Glitter Paper (all CTMH), Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Sentiment Collection (Penny Black)

Inks: Sugarplum, Eggplant (CTMH)

Accessories: Bitty Sparkles, Basic Circle Thin Cuts, Stitched Circle Thin Cuts (CTMH), Springtime Impressions Thinlets, Petals and More Thinlets (SU)

Enjoy,

Alyson

AH 298 - Nesting Birds Card

Welcome to a new year and my first post back with Atlantic Hearts! 

I LOVE wreaths on cards and this is an adorable one... This sketch lent itself so well to a wreath and some little birdies on a branch! 

I die cut the wreath, branch and birds and placed the birds so it looks like the mama bird is watching her little ones. The woodgrain paper was a perfect backdrop for this scene. Although the sketch didn't call for s sentiment, I thought it looked empty without one so I added a small one in the left corner. 

I brushed the birds with the Sugarplum Shimmer Brush - a close-up of that can be seen below. 

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. 

Products are as follows: 

Paper: Feels Like Home Paper Pack, Fern Cardstock, Charcoal Cardstock, Sugarplum Cardstock, Sugarplum Glitter Paper (all CTMH), Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Budding Peony (CTMH)

Inks: Charcoal (CTMH)

Accessories: Sugarplum Glitter Gems, Sugarplum Shimmer Brush (CTMH), Green Ribbon, Swirly Scribble Thinlets (SU), Woodland Branch Die, Resting Birds Die (Memory Box), Black Sharpie Marker

Enjoy,

Alyson 

The Important Things LO

Welcome back to Heart 2 Heart! 

I hope you had an amazing Christmas holiday! 

Now it's time to get back into the swing of things here at Heart 2 Heart. 

The first challenge of the year is titled "The Important Things". Different things are important to people - family, friends, pets, heirlooms - something might be important to someone and it's not our place to determine what that is. Everyone has an "important thing" in his/her life. This week at Heart 2 Heart, it's time to celebrate those important things! 

I have some very important people in my life, but I can't possibly celebrate all of them in one post. I wish I could! However, for the purpose of this post, I chose to do this twofold. The family below is very important to me. They are from my church family and are such an inspiration. This layout was actually a Christmas gift and was framed for them. 

The papers in this layout were a real mix from a variety of paper packs... It was hard to find the right combination of papers to work with the colours in the picture. I had piles of paper packs piled up with sheets pulled from about 20 paper packs until I finally found what I wanted! 

I used watercolour paints to splatter the background - and I am still finding blue paint on my white studio furniture today as it was too cold to do that outside. It is amazing how far paint travels in that process! The title was stamped with pigment ink and embossed. 

The other little details were added after the photo was placed and the large Cricut cut pieces were adhered. I am so happy with how this turned out. 

Truly, the important things matter. Celebrate yours! 

Come and share your important things with us at Heart 2 Heart - you have until the end of January to link up you project. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Linen Cardstock, Espresso Cardstock, Ruby Cardstock, White Glitter Paper, Fresh Air Paper Pack, Boutique Paper Pack, Jack Paper Pack, Grateful Heart Paper Pack

Stamps: Grateful Heart Cardmaking, Chelsea Gardens Scrapbooking

Inks: Black, Espresso, Charcoal, Ruby, Sapphire, Sapphire Pigment Ink

Accessories: Flower Market Cartridge, Gold Shimmer Brush, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Watercolour Paints, Paint Brushes, Thin Foam Tape, Foam Tape, Gold Pearls, Gold Flecked Gems, 3-D Foam Dots

Enjoy,

Alyson

Wood Squares Birthday Card

I have several masculine birthdays coming up quickly and those types of cards are some of the most difficult for me to create. Relying on Pinterest is almost always helpful and today, I found a terrific card that I completely CASEd. 

Full credit goes to Kristie Marcotte for this design. Her blog is terrific - well worth checking out! This card must have been created way back as I scrolled through several pages but didn't see it there. 

I wanted to do something that had at least two shapes in it 

to meet the requirements for the 

Double Trouble design challenge. 

I only met the first part of the challenge as 

I don't have any birds on my card 

and I didn't enter any additional challenges...

Woodgrain is so perfect for masculine cards so I wanted to use that as much as I could for my card. The background is embossed with a hardwood pattern and I used two wood-type papers for the square grid. Love how this turned out. 

Products used are as follows: 

Paper: Espresso Cardstock, Almond Cardstock, Fresh Air Paper Pack (all CTMH), Wood Textures DSP (SU), Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Happy Birthday (CTMH)

Inks: Espresso (CTMH)

Accessories: Basic Shapes (Cricut), Basic Circle Thin Cuts, Stitched Circle Thin Cuts, Gold Pearls (all CTMH), Hardwood Embossing Folder (SU)

Enjoy,

Alyson

Celebrate - Happy 2019!

I have had this card created for some time now... realized late last night that I never got around to posting it. 

With a Celebrate sentiment, it is perfect for the New Year! I chose the blues and pinks from the Oh What Fun paper pack from Close To My Heart and and cut a couple of branches from the Flower Market Cricut cartridge. Some old ribbon and a couple of buttons finished off the card. 

Happy New Year and best wishes in 2019! 

I will be back again shortly with projects for Heart 2 Heart, Atlantic Hearts and I am back on the Design Team with Colour Dare as well! 

See you in the new year :) 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Oh What Fun Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Pomegranate Cardstock, Pixie Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Silver Foil Paper, Neenah Solar White Cardstock
Stamps: Celebrate
Inks: Lagoon
Accessories: Flower Market Cartridge, Scallop Thin Cut, Basic Circle Thin Cuts, Stitched Circle Thin Cuts, Hello Lovely Cardmaking Thin Cuts, Turquoise Ribbon (unknown), Grey and Silver Button, Pink Button, Pink Waxy Flax

Enjoy,
Alyson

AH 296 - HAPPY Eclipse card

Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Sketch 296! 

This seems like a very basic sketch - with room for a super large sentiment! 

I thought it was perfect for an eclipse card - one where the letters are raised on a dark background. The hardest part for me was choosing the stamp to create some sort of background for the letters... I finally settled on a new stamp that I purchased - from Penny Black called Fragrant Flowers. 

I used a single stamp from the set and randomly stamped around the white cardstock using Willow ink. I coloured in the flowers using two shades of watercolour pencils and then used a clear shimmer brush to blend the colours. The leaves were coloured using a single shade of green and also blended. 

The letters were die cut and then raised using foam tape to create the eclipse effect. To stay somewhat close to the sketch, I added some gold foil tape above and below the letters. 

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. 

Products used are as follows: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Thistle Cardstock, Pansy Cardstock (all Close To My Heart)

Stamps: Fragrant Flowers (Penny Black), Banner Wishes (Close To My Heart)

Inks: Willow, Versamark (all Close To My Heart)

Accessories: White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Gold Pearls, Gold Foil Tape, Block Alphabet Dies, Clear Shimmer Brush (all Close To My Heart), Merry Christmas Thinlets (SU), Watercolour Pencils (Derwent), Foam Tape (unknown)

Enjoy,

Alyson

Heartfelt Sympathy card

I was asked by a friend to create a sympathy card - and these always have to be created right away as the need is immediate. 

The Boutique paper collection from CTMH is such a pretty set of colours and patterns and it was perfect for this purpose. I chose to use the Peacock, Glacier/Mint and Peach colours within those papers. The pattern is from Make It From Your Heart - Volume 4. 

My friend was thrilled with this card and is mailing it out today - exactly the reason that we create handmade cards, right?

Products used are all Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: Boutique Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Peacock Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Know That I Care

Inks: Peacock, Mint, Peach

Accessories: Blending Pen, White Pearls, Foam Tape, Pool Party and Silver Twine (SU)

Enjoy,

Alyson

Heart 2 Heart - Shaker Ornaments

Welcome to another Heart 2 Heart challenge - this one titled Season's Greetings. 

As Christmas Day is just around the corner, this is my LAST Christmas card. All of mine were sent out long ago but I wanted to make one last shaker card for this challenge. 

I chose to use a blue and silver colour scheme. The blues are a mixture from Close To My Heart - Carolina, Bluebird and Sapphire. I used the snowflake paper from the "Tis the Season" paper pack for the front of my card and using die cuts for the ornaments, I stamped the images underneath. Piecing the foam tape took forever to ensure there was a "pool" for the sequins for each ornament. 

An old and a new stamp set combined for the ornaments and the decorative branch above. 

Merry Christmas to you and yours - although I will be back on December 24th with another card for my other design team :)

Come and join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us your Season's Greetings projects. 

You have until the end of December to link up with this and any other December challenges. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: 'Tis the Season Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Bluebird Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock, Acetate Sheet (Staples)

Stamps: Adorn-able, Oh What Fun - Cardmaking

Inks: Versamark, Carolina, Bluebird, Sapphire, Sapphire Pigment Ink

Accessories: Silver Embossing Powder, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Oh What Fun - Cardmaking Thin Cuts, Foam Tape, Loose Sequins - Silver

Enjoy,

Alyson