Monday, April 6, 2026

AH 676 - Happy Bird-Day

 

Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge 676!

The sketch is shown below. 


The diagonal striped panel drive the colours for my card. I stencilled a cobblestone background using several of the colours on the paper strip. I added a green strip with a gold ribbon and a pink die cut scalloped border on either side of the striped paper. The mouse and bird were stamped, coloured and die cut and I added them to a lightly inked panel as per the sketch. 

Come and join us at Atlantic Hearts and show us how you interpret this sketch. 

You have until Sunday evening to link up your project. 

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Sunday, April 5, 2026

DD April - Hello Friend

 Welcome to Dragonfly Dreams and our April challenge!

The theme for this challenge is clean and simple (CAS). 

I made a card using a design that I really love. A piece of patterned paper was adhered to the card base and I fussy cut white cardstock on an angle and then trimmed the lower piece to leave an opening on the card front. The sentiment was stamped on the same angle as the opening and a white die cut floral image was placed across both panels. I added a small gold bow to the base of the flowers. 

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

You have until the first Friday in May to link up your project. 

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Saturday, April 4, 2026

Cat Sympathy Card

 A good friend of mine recently had to put down her precious cat. That's the hardest thing about pets - they don't live as long as we do and there is always that inevitable time that arrives...

I chose a heart opening with a rainbow to represent the Rainbow Bridge. The background clouds were stencilled and the cat was die cut from black cardstock as a silhouette against the rainbow and the white background. I outlined the clouds with clear Stickles. There is a sentiment inside the card that reads "No matter when we lose our furry friends, their love lasts a lifetime". 

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Trio of Easter Cards

 I don't send Easter cards but the latest Let's Stamp Together class was an Easter themed class. These cards are super cute! They were all about ink blending, embossing and shakers. 

Enjoy, 

Alyson


Friday, April 3, 2026

Cut It Up 353 - Welcome Baby

Welcome to Cut It Up Challenge 353!

The theme for this challenge is baby (or kids).

I chose to make a slimline card. The images were stamped, coloured and die cut. I lightly blended four colours of ink down the card front and die cut the background with the openings. I also die cut rings to go around the openings. The images were placed behind the openings and I stamped "welcome" at the top and added the block letters to spell the word baby further down. I used coordinating Stickles to fill in the holes around the circles. 

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

You have until Monday, April 13 to link up your project. 

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy, 

Alyson

HQCOL April - Plumeria Birthday

  Welcome to Heart's Quest Celebration of Love and our April challenge!

This is always a challenge for celebrations - birthday, engagement, wedding, anniversary or sympathy. 

I chose to create a birthday card as I never seem to have enough of them on hand!

I splattered the card front with black paint and added three strips of gold foil paper along the left side. The image was stamped, stencilled and die cut and add to the front with a two part sentiment. A few gold gems were placed around the image.

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

Thursday, April 2, 2026

HQFSCAT April - Typewriter Card

 Welcome to Heart's Quest for Shaped Cards and Tags and our April challenge!

This is always a challenge for shaped cards or tags. 

I made a typewriter card for this challenge. I used my Cricut to cut the base shape and I die cut a note piece with a heart at the top. Silver glitter paper was added behind the typewriter keys and I placed the paper so it appears to be coming out of the typewriter. The typed sentiment was stamped in black - typical font from an old style typewriter. 

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

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

PS April - Heart Smile Card

 Welcome to Pearly Sparkles and our April challenge!

The theme for this challenge is something old, something new.

I chose old papers and a new die set (the hearts) for this challenge. 

This paper is from SU and I have had it for ages. Olive green is definitely not a go to colour for me but this was a good opportunity to use it up. I cut two pieces and placed a strip of gold down the centre. That piece was adhered to a light green mat and then a dark green base. I added thin gold ribbon behind the embossed sentiment and then placed three gold hearts around the sentiment. 

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

You have until April 28 to link up your project.

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy,

Alyson

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

TSOT 692 - Cacti Trio

Welcome to Try a Sketch on Tuesday Challenge 692! 

The sketch is shown below. 

I stencilled the background with blue ink on blue cardstock. The two light purple panels were embossed and added to the card front. I die cut some plant pots and cacti images and adhered them to a hexagon that was lightly inked with blue behind the images. The sentiment was stamped at the bottom. I added a few silver shimmer gems around the hexagon. 

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

Monday, March 30, 2026

DT 213 - Bunny in Basket

Welcome to Double Trouble Challenge 213!

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

I die cut all the pieces for the bunny and assembled him. Once I die cut the basket, I realized the bunny was awfully large to fit in the basket... so it's an oversized bunny! The images were assembled and placed on a blue oval with a black mat. I also matted the plaid paper with black. A sentiment was added at the bottom and I used a white gel pen to add some details.
3 - die cuts 
2 - colours
1 - sentiment

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