PML Blog Hop

Welcome to the PML (Picture My Life) blog hop. This blog hop features Picture My Life cards and they are available both in the themed paper packs as well as in some individual packages as well. The bloggers on this blog hop have selected some of the PML cards that they love and have used them in a variety of ways. Enjoy the tour! 

You should have arrived here from Vickie O'Dell's blog. 

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

I chose to use the Be-YOU-tiful PML cards. It is such a fabulous collection of cards with a terrific variety. The two PML cards on my greeting card are the background (the flowers) and the main card with the row of flowers. I stamped a sentiment at the top using the stamp set "Beautiful You". Very carefully, I used a thin paintbrush and tapped some dark grey paint on top of the card just to add some interest. The ribbon is stapled to add pleats along the side. I brushed the pink flowers with the Bashful Shimmer Brush and the other flowers with the Clear Shimmer Brush. 

The next blog on this hop is Darlys Recker's blog.

I am sure she has something wonderful to share with you.

Products used are all Close To My Heart:

Paper: Be-YOU-tiful PML Cards, Bashful Cardstock, Blossom Cardstock, Peacock Cardstock

Stamps: Beautiful You

Inks: Juniper

Accessories: Peacock Stitched Ribbon, Scallop Border Die, Stapler and Staples, Bashful Pearls, Watercolour Paints and Paintbrush, Bashful Shimmer Brush, Clear Shimmer Brush

Enjoy,
Alyson

CD 289 - Sending Hugs

Welcome to another Colour Dare challenge! 

This week, the palette is a mix of pink and green with a grey thrown in for good measure. I decided to  pull out my favourite leaves from Chelsea Gardens and some Flower Market flowers and combine them with a circular sentiment for my card. 

The floral centres came with the flowers and they were cut using white glitter paper. The gems are retired and I can't even recall the name of them but they are a perfect match to the raspberry colour! I coloured the inside of the leaves with a ShinHan marker. I also pierced holes all along the edge of the woodgrain piece but that is hard to see in the picture. 

Come and join us at Colour Dare and show us how you use the palette shown above to create something. You have two weeks to link up your project. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Gimme Some Sugar Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Raspberry Cardstock, Black Glitter Paper, White Glitter Paper

Stamps: From the Bottom of my Heart, Chelsea Gardens Cardmaking

Inks: Juniper, Black

Accessories: Flower Market Cartridge, Artiste Cartridge (ret.), Pink Gems (ret.), Chelsea Gardens Cardmaking Thin Cuts, ShinHan Marker, Piercing Tool, Corner Rounder

Enjoy,

Alyson

AH 260 - PURRfect Cat card

Welcome to Atlantic Hearts - Sketch 260!

I decided to pull out the Punny Pals stamp set for this week's sketch. I love the sentiments that go along with these adorable little critters. The PURRfect little cat trio fit just nicely in the top right corner for the image on the sketch. I used Cricut Design Space to create a cutout similar to that on the sketch and I used the Basic Fundamentals to stay with a grey colour theme, just adding a bit of red to highlight the tags that the cats are wearing. 

Come and join us at Atlantic Hearts and show us how you interpret the sketch shown above. You have until Sunday night to link up your project. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart 

Paper: Basics Fundamentals, Charcoal Cardstock, Linen Cardstock, Ruby Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock

Stamps: Punny Pals

Inks: Tuxedo Black Memento Ink

Accessories: Artbooking Cartridge, Art Philosophy Cartridge (ret.), Punny Pals Thin Cuts (ret.), ShinHan Markers, Enchantment Ribbon Pack, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape

Enjoy,

Alyson

H2H - Out of this World

Welcome to another challenge at Heart 2 Heart! 

The theme this week is Out of this World! Close To My Heart has an awesome paper pack called Stargazer that is perfect for this challenge - but I didn't have a need for that particular paper pack so I didn't purchase it. Consequently, I had to think a little bit outside the box for this challenge. Astronauts, spaceships and other out of this world items weren't options for me. 

However, I have always loved the northern lights. They way they can light up the sky and create such gorgeous patterns and appear in various colours simply amazes me. There is a technique to create this effect on cards. I found a great tutorial on You Tube and used that. I have to credit the artist whose card I pretty well copied - her name is Debbie Henderson and the link to her video is here. I loved how she added the trees and I happened to have the same stamp... It added so much more to the card. 

Come and join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us your Out of this World projects! 

You have until the end of April to link up your creations. 

Be sure to use at least some Close To My Heart products in your artwork. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock

Stamps: Inspired Words, Lovely as a Tree (Stampin Up)

Inks: Pansy, Raspberry, Lagoon, Tangerine, Fern, Pacifica, Charcoal, Black, Versamark

Accessories: White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, White Gel Pen (not CTMH)

Enjoy,

Alyson

Color Dare 287 - Friend Wreath Card

Welcome to Colour Dare Challenge #287! 

I LOVE this week's colour challenge... Blossom, Bashful, Silver, Black and White. It would be pretty hard to do anything masculine with those kinds of colours but I suppose it is possible if you think hard enough... anyone can do anything with colours these days :) 

I decided to go the absolute feminine route - flowers and pearls on a wreath. Like I said, totally feminine. I designed this first in Cricut's Design Space and then put it to paper. The flat flowers are from the Hello Canada cartridge - one of the province's flowers although I did alter the colour scheme. 

Even though my photo shows varying shades of pink, the cardstock is ALL either Blossom or Bashful and I didn't even use the reverse side of any of the papers. Sometimes, photography can be difficult to get the correct shades... The only white is on the background paper - lines separating the Bashful pattern.

Come and join us at Colour Dare and show us how you use the palette of colours shown above. 

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

Entries are due by Thursday, April 19 at 10pm EST. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Gimme Some Sugar Paper Pack, Bashful Cardstock, Blossom Cardstock, Silver Foil Paper, Silver Glitter Paper, Black Glitter Paper

Stamps: Beautiful You

Inks: Black

Accessories: Flower Market Cartridge, Hello Canada Cartridge, Artiste Cartridge (ret.), Cricut Shapes (not CTMH), Scallop Border Punch (not CTMH), Bashful Pearls, Pink Gems (ret.), quilling Tool, Silver Sharpie Marker (not CTMH), Bashful Shimmer Brush

Enjoy,

Alyson

AH 258 - An Abundance of Tulips!

Welcome to another sketch at Atlantic Hearts!

Spring is all about tulips - and multi-coloured tulips are the best kind of tulips! I knew right away what  was going to do when I saw this sketch... The surrounding edge was going to be a stitched die with a collection of tulips as the focus. These tulips are from an Altenew stamp set and are triple stamped. The background was stamped with a retired CTMH stamp called Beloved Bouquet and the sentiment is also from an Altenew stamp called Beautiful Inside. 

I brushed the flowers with the Clear Shimmer Brush and took a second photo that shows that so much better. I also finished the inside of the card and that is also posted below. 

Inside of card

Come and join us at Atlantic Hearts and show us how you interpret the sketch shown above. You certainly do not need to use flowers for the sketch image - that happens to be what I chose :) 

You have until Sunday evening to link up your project. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Raspberry Cardstock, Pansy Cardstock, Fern Cardstock

Stamps: Beloved Bouquet (ret.), Tulip (Altenew), Beautiful Inside (Altenew)

Inks: Tuxedo Black Memento Ink, Lemon, Saffron, Pixie, Raspberry, Thistle, Eggplant, Fern, New England Ivy

Accessories: Artiste Cartridge (ret.), Little Dreamer Glitter Gems (ret.), Tulip Dies (Altenew), Stitched Rectangle Dies (Gina Marie Designs), Clear Shimmer Brush, Thin Foam Tape

Enjoy,

Alyson

April SOTM Blog Hop - Colour Your Life

Welcome to April's Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! This month, we are featuring the stamp set "Colour Your Life" - a set of 12 stamps. This stamp set has three large words, perfect for colouring in with markers, watercolour pencils or another medium of your choice. There are also great connecting words to connect the larger words to create sentiments, perfect for scrapbooks or cards. The bloggers along this blog hop will certainly show you many ways to use this stamp set, so sit back and enjoy the tour. 

You should have arrived here from Shelly Mendenhall's blog. 

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

The stamp set looks like this.

I chose to create a card using the large word KIND from this stamp set. I wanted to pair it with a couple of other connecting words so I chose "always" and "be". I stamped all three words using Pigment ink so they could be embossed for greater emphasis. 
The surrounding flowers were cut from the Flower Market cartridge. Some were flipped and pieces were cut and placed in other areas to accommodate their location better. I wanted them to frame the sentiment. 

I had to colour the parts inside the word KIND using Sharpie markers as the ShinHan markers were just a little too thick and the colouring sections were just so tiny... A quick brush of the Pansy papers and the inside flower edges with the Clear Shimmer Brush and this card was finished!

The next blog on this hop is Darlys Recker's blog.
I am sure she has something wonderful to share with you. 

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

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Thistle Cardstock, Pansy Cardstock, Willow Cardstock
Stamps: Colour Your Life
Inks: Pansy Pigment Ink, Willow Pigment Ink
Accessories: Flower Market Cartridge, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Clear Shimmer Brush, Sharpie Markers (not CTMH)

Enjoy,

Alyson

H2H - Cut it Out!

Welcome to another challenge at Heart 2 Heart! 

This week, the title of the challenge is "Cut it Out". It's all about cutting - using Thin Cuts (dies), Cricut cuts or fussy cutting (old-fashioned scissor cuts), we want to see your cut designs in your project! 

Considering that the March promotion at Close To My Heart is all about the sale of Thin Cuts (our die cut line) this is a very timely challenge! 

I chose to create a card using a sketch that I have had in my Pinterest file for some time - and I stayed true to the sketch as you will see as I posted the sketch under my card. I love the sketch design and I found that it worked really well as I was deciding what I wanted to do so I didn't have any need to change it at all. I was able to find a flourish on the Artbooking Cricut cartridge where I just trimmed off the ends to fit on the right side. I actually built my card in Design Space to make sure the everything fit perfectly first (except the leaves and flowers). 

The size of the card is 6x6 inches. The flowers are from the Beautiful You stamp set and the leaves are from Chelsea Gardens Cardmaking. Both have coordinating Thin Cuts. 

Come and join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us how you cut your way to happiness! You have until the end of March to enter this challenge or any of the other March challenges. Be sure to use some Close To My Heart products in your project. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: Adventure Fundamentals, Blossom Paper Pack (ret.), White Daisy Cardstock, Pewter Cardstock, Raspberry Cardstock, 

Stamps: Beautiful You, Chelsea Gardens Cardmaking, Create Kindness - Special (ret.)

Inks: Peacock, Lagoon, Eggplant, Pansy, Raspberry, Blossom, Pixie

Accessories: Artbooking Cartridge, Whimsy Ribbon Pack, Thin Foam Tape, Clear Shimmer Brush, Sharpie Markers (not CTMH)

Enjoy,

Alyson

Colour Dare 285 - All About Pink!

Welcome to another Colour Dare Challenge! 

This week's palette is about pink - lots and lots of pink (well, a little bit of light grey thrown in for good measure, and of course black and white if you desire). 

I decided to go back to a retired stamp - A Budding Friendship, for my flowers. I love the two-step stamping process and the ability to use second generation stamping to make the inside of the flowers a lighter shade. This set is terrific in that the inner stamp makes the flowers look quite realistic because it doesn't completely fill them in with colour - it has some bare spots and I really like that look. I fussy cut the flowers and stamped the centres using Pebble ink. 

I used Chelsea Gardens Cardmaking for the "greenery", which I coloured in using a marker that is the same colour as the grey shade, Pebble. 

The arrangement is set on a background of black glitter paper and then on Raspberry cardstock and finally on a white card base. 

Come and join us at Colour Dare and show us how you use the palette shown above. 

Use all and only the colours shown - you may also add Black and White if desired but do not add any other colours. 

You have until April 5 at 10PM EST to link up your project. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Raspberry Cardstock, Black Glitter Paper

Stamps: Chelsea Gardens Cardmaking, A Budding Friendship (ret.)

Inks: Tuxedo Black Memento Ink, Raspberry, Bashful, Pebble

Accessories: Chelsea Gardens Cardmaking Thin Cuts (ret.), ShinHan Markers, Clear Shimmer Brush, Pink Gems (ret.), Flamingo Dots (ret.)

Enjoy,

Alyson

AH 256 - An Extra Special Friend Card

Welcome to another sketch at Atlantic Hearts! 

This week, I decided to play around with the orientation of the sketch (rotated it 90 degrees) and also added a few elements to it. It is still obviously the same sketch, just enhanced a little bit. That's what I love about sketches - there is so much you can do with them! 

I used all Close To My Heart cardstock and inks but other stamps, dies and embossing folders for this card. On the embossing folder, I sanded ONLY the leaves to provide some added interest. That can be seen in the detail photo under the main photo, along with the shimmer on the flowers. Since I needed fairly tall flowers, some of them didn't reach very high so I stamped and cut out clusters of circles to cover the "ground". I love the sentiment - and I split it into two sections - part at the top and part at the bottom. The ribbon just seems to add a nice finishing touch.

Come and join us at Atlantic Hearts and show us how you interpret the sketch shown above. You have until Sunday night to link up your project. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Willow Cardstock, Raspberry Cardstock, Bashful Cardstock

Stamps: Extra Special (Altenew), Artsy Flower Parts (Simon Says Stamp)

Inks: Tuxedo Black Memento Ink, Raspberry, Willow

Accessories: ShinHan Markers, Sanding Kit (ret.), Clear Shimmer Brush, Embossing Folder (not CTMH), Artsy Flower Parts Dies (Simon Says Stamp), White Grosgrain Ribbon (ret.), Stitched Border Dies (Gina Marie Designs), Foam Tape

Enjoy,

Alyson