Finally! A New Card this Week!

It has only taken me until now to get around to creating something that I can actually post on my blog this week. I have been creating Christmas gifts most of the week... things that I can't post here, unfortunately. 

However, I finally took some time away from that task and created a card. I have lots of birthdays coming up right after Christmas and I don't expect to have a lot of time in the next month or so to be creating extra cards so I better get around to doing it now! This one was based on a sketch that I pinned to my Pinterest board. My collection of card sketches is growing pretty significantly but I like that because there is always something I can find that will "fit the bill" when I need something to work with. 

I haven't used my Stella paper in ages and decided to pull it out for a change today. I will miss this paper when it is gone - it is definitely one of my favourites! 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Supplies are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted: 

Paper: Stella Paper Pack, Colonial White Cardstock, Olive Cardstock, Chocolate Cardstock
Stamps: Card Chatter - Birthday
Inks: Lagoon
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Artiste Cartridge, Blue Ribbon (not CTMH), Spring Blossom Paper Flowers (ret.), Pearl Opaque Adhesive Gems, Foam Tape, Corner Rounder

Where am I?

I apologize for my lack of posts this week... I have been busy writing Christmas cards, making Christmas gifts, wrapping gifts, shipping gifts... you get the idea. It has been a very hectic week but I think I am almost finished as of this evening - and it is now time for me to head out to my weekly choir practice so no more crafting this evening. 

I will attempt to get back to some normal craft projects tomorrow if time allows. 

Thanks for your patience :) 

Alyson

Video - The Right Tools...

The Corporate staff at Close To My Heart have put out a video showing some of the wonderful tools available that help to make our lives as crafters easier. When I watched this, my first thought was, "I need to get that!". 

Take a look! 

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Bling and Glitter Love You Card - H2H Challenge

November's last challenge at Heart 2 Heart (and my last as the Guest Designer for November - boo hoo...) is all about bling and glitter. The goal is to add sparkle to your creation this week! I went back to my favourite colours for this card, which will be given to my dear husband today, just to let him know how much I love him. He helped me a lot yesterday with some computer issues and he was SO patient as I can get really uptight when I don't immediately understand something. He worked with me for a long time to sort out some blogging and photo storage problems and he really helped me out a lot. So, he will likely find some glitter on his breakfast plate this morning... 

It took me a long time to lay each of those sparkles in that heart and each banner piece is covered in Prisma Glitter (as was I when I finished this card...)

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Supplies used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted: 

Paper: Dotty For You Paper Pack (ret.), Lagoon Cardstock, Black Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock
Stamps: 4 My Friend
Inks: Lagoon
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Nestabilities (not CTMH), Embroidery Floss, Clear Sparkles, Embossing Folder (not CTMH), Sanding Kit, Bonding Memories Glue Pen, Prisma Glitter

Peace on Earth Card - Try Stamping on Tuesday Challenge

I decided to enter a new challenge this week - it is called Try Stamping on Tuesday. They provide sketches and I LOVE sketches so I decided to give it a go. 

It's another of those non-traditional coloured Christmas cards. Since I am a sucker for music, being a musician myself, I wanted to incorporate music notes into my card as I have a lot of musical friends so I used that as my background. This site also requires that you stamp on your cards and Close To My Heart is all about stamping so what better way to incorporate the two? I also wanted to use my Christmas tree die cut that I just adore. 

The sentiment is difficult to read as it is small as I embossed it with Clear Detail Embossing Powder and Glitter - it says Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men. 

So, here is the finished product. The sketch is shown below the card. 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Supplies used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Sky Cardstock, Pacifica Cardstock
Stamps: Christmas Love, Universal Backgrounds
Inks: Pacifica, White Daisy Pigment Ink
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Tree Die (not CTMH) Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Prisma Glitter, Heat Tool, Bitty Sparkles, Sparkles, Blue Ribbon (not CTMH), Blue Baker's Twine (not CTMH)

A Very Merry Christmas - Freshly Made Sketch Challenge

I'm back to my favourite colour - Avonlea Teal. I just cannot get enough of this colour and I am SO hopeful that Close To My Heart will add it to their colour palette before too long! I have looked all over for a co-ordinating ink pad and I have not been able to find one so I have been using Twilight as it is the closest match I can find. The pigment ink is a bit darker than the regular ink so that helps a bit. Paired with silver, they make the perfect Christmas combination.Unfortunately, this was photographed at night, so the colours turned out really dull... I SO need a good camera (and lessons in photography and photo editing skills..) Are you reading this, Dave??? Christmas is just around the corner...

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Avonlea Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Silver Glitter Paper (not CTMH)
Stamps: A Very Merry Christmas
Inks: Twilight Pigment Ink, Versamark
Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Silver Embossing Powder, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Bitty Sparkles, Silver Shimmer Trim, Teal Striped Ribbon (not CTMH), Teal Satin Ribbon (not CTMH), Silver Metallic Marker, Silver Glitz Glitter Gel, Foam Tape

Merry Monday Flag Card

I can't believe that before too long, it will be time to stop making Christmas cards! I know that most of mine are made now - I just have to get down to actually writing them and that's the part that I dread as it always takes me so long. 

As for Christmas shopping, I am heading to the One of a Kind Christmas Show in Toronto tomorrow and I always look forward to that! It is such a fabulous show with hundreds of vendors, each with individual items for sale. I get most of my gifts at that show, so I am looking forward to a busy, but exhausting day! 

The Merry Monday sketch is a flag/banner-like sketch this week. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the long rectangle and the Merry and Bright stamp set was perfect. 

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Supplies used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Pear and Partridge Paper Pack, Colonial White Cardstock, New England Ivy Cardstock

Stamps: Merry and Bright

Inks: New England Ivy, Cranberry

Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Pear and Partridge Complements, Corner Rounder

Dakota Thank You Cards

We have so many people to thank now that Dave's surgery is complete and we are back at home. The care that he received at the hospital was beyond what we ever could have hoped for - from the nursing staff to the doctors and everyone in between. There was one nurse in particular who was in his room at least every 15 minutes to check up on him... It makes you wonder how they deal with all the patients that they have! 

Anyone who knows me knows that I love to work with sketches and I have two of the cards completed today. I was able to pull some cards from my stash - thankfully. These two were made using the Dakota papers and I have shown the sketches for each card below the card itself. I keep a board just for card sketches on Pinterest so hop by my Pinterest board and check that out if you are interested. There is a direct link to my Pinterest account on the right side of my blog if you scroll down a bit. 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Supplies used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted: 

Paper: Dakota Paper Pack, Whisper Cardstock, Pacifica Cardstock, Sky Cardstock
Stamps: Thank You (ret.), A Little Thanks
Inks: Pacifica
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Slate Mini-Medley Collection, Border Punch (not CTMH), Colonial White Waxy Flax, Black and Grey Sparkles Assortment, Corner Rounder
 

Christmas Star for H2H

The Heart 2 Heart Challenge this week is a Christmas Challenge. Anything Christmas is acceptable so I decided to create a Christmas Star. I love the way this turned out! Everything from the colours to the greenery just makes me think of Christmas. Our tree and decorations are up now and I have a special place on my wall for this star. 

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Supplies used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Pear and Partridge Paper Pack

Stamps: None

Inks: New England Ivy

Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Art Philosophy Cartridge, My Creations Star, Black Tulle Ribbon, Baker's Twine - Harvest Assortment, Bitty Sparkles, Adhesive Springs, Quilling Tool

Thank You So Very Much!

Thank you to everyone who sent emails, cards, texts or called me this past week. I am so overwhelmed by the number of people who not only read my blog, but felt like they needed to do something for me or for my husband, Dave. You have truly strengthened my faith in humanity and you have made this past week a little more bearable for both of us. I am so sleep deprived at the moment that it is amazing I can actually put this into words...

Dave's surgery was very successful. The doctor was able to burn off the ends of several veins that were causing problems for him and. although we will not know how successful the surgery was for a few months, Dave is doing well right now. He is back at home and resting as much as possible. He is not allowed to lift anything and climbing the stairs is limited to once a day (so only at bedtime). He tries really hard not to be demanding and he really wants to be self-sufficient, so that makes my life a little easier. He really is a good patient. His recovery will take several weeks at least. 

I, however, intend to be back, creating, this week. I had a huge workshop on Saturday and my office is a total mess right now but as soon as that is cleaned up and I am functional again, I will be back to posting regularly. 

Thank you again for your patience while I was away and for your support and many prayers. I am so lucky to be associated with such wonderful followers on my blog :) 

Alyson

 

H2H Gratitude Card and a Special Message

The Heart 2 Heart Challenge this week is to create something that shows gratitude or something for which we are thankful. I know the US Thanksgiving Holiday is coming up shortly (we celebrated Thanksgiving in Canada way back in early October), but gratitude is something that should always be in our hearts.

This card is extra special for me because it represents family and family is very important to me. It just so happens that this will be the only post that I will be able to make this week as early tomorrow morning, my husband, Dave, and I are heading to Toronto as he is having heart surgery later this week. I knew that when I created this card a while back. Both our immediate families are down to just our moms now although we do each have brothers and sisters although none can be there with us, nor can our moms as they are unable to travel. He has some tests to be done tomorrow and the actual surgery is early Thursday morning. Fortunately, he is under the care of a world-class surgeon and his team and for that, I am truly grateful. I know they will take excellent care of him and repair his heart as it needs to be done. I will not have access to a computer while I am away but I will have my I Phone with me and I can access my email and my blog (but cannot post). Any and all comments and prayers are welcome. 

Meanwhile, here is the card I made for the H2H Challenge. I love Avonlea and I wanted it to reflect both the love I have for Dave and the rest of my family as we approach this very difficult situation together. 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

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

Paper: Avonlea Paper Pack, Slate Cardstock, Whisper Cardstock, Avonlea Off White Cardstock, Avonlea Teal Cardstock
Stamps: Family Love
Inks: Twilight Pigment Ink, White Daisy Pigment Ink
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Slate Satin Polka-Dot Ribbon, Teal Ribbon (not CTMH), Slate Mini-Medley Collection, Brocade Assortment, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Foam Tape, Embroidery Floss - Neutral Assortment

 

November 11 - Remembrance Day

Today is November 11 - Remembrance Day in Canada and Veterans Day in the US. It is a day to remember our War Veterans, living or passed away. This is a day that is always very difficult for me as my father was a World War 2 Veteran but he did not like to talk about his time in the war. He found it very difficult to discuss his experiences as they brought back terrible memories for him. Fortunately, a few years before his passing in 2006, my younger brother was able to sit down with him and record a conversation on cassette tape with my dad where he was able to ask him a number of questions and my dad answered a lot of them. I have listened to that tape many times over and it contains not just war stories but memories of much of my father's life as a child and as a young adult. I will be forever grateful to my brother for taking the time to make that recording for each of us in my family as it is a treasured memory that we now each have of our dad. 

I hope today that you take the time out of your busy schedule to do more than just pause for a moment of silence at 11am - that you attend a service to remember the veterans who fought for your freedom - many of whom are still fighting today. 

Dad - I love you so very much and I admire you for feeling so strongly about standing up for your country when they needed you. 
You taught me so much about being a person whom others can count on, and being a reliable and contributing member of sociey. I draw on lessons you taught me each and every day, hoping that they will continue to make me a better person - a person who was more like you. 

You have always been my hero and you always will be. 
I miss you so very much. 

All my love, 
Alyson

Dec. 25th Card - in Lagoon

That's right - another non-traditional Christmas card! I am slowly getting through my Christmas cards and will hopefully have enough of them made by the beginning of December that I won't be in panic mode like most people! 

The Pirouette stamp is one that I wasn't sure how to use for the longest time until I realized that I didn't have to use the whole stamp! It makes a wonderful background image as seen here. And with Lagoon being one of my favourite colours in our palette, I simply had to do this card using that colour! I thought maybe the black sentiment would be overwhelming but I like the way it turned out.

Enjoy, 
Alyson

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

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Black Cardstock
Stamps: Pirouette, Perfect Fit - Frames, Perfect Fit - Holidays
Inks: Lagoon, Black
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, 1 1/4 inch Punch, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (not CTMH), Foam Tape

Christmas Kisses

I bet you were wondering about the title of this post... It is also the sentiment on my card today. I have had this beautiful ribbon for so long and not had an opportunity to use it until now. I also wanted a berry-like vine to hang down but the only other one that I had wasn't quite right, so I used the one from, of all all stamp sets, the Flirty Workshop on the Go! Who would have thought that a summer/fall stamp set would have been suitable for a Christmas card? It's amazing what different stamps can be used to create sometimes! 

I think I am going to have to take a photography course in the very near future.. I have been using Picasa to edit my photos and sometime (like today) the colours are just not quite right. I used Pear cardstock and ink for this card and it appears more like Sweet Leaf in the photo. I just haven't been able to get the colours to look the way they are supposed to lately... Perhaps a better camera would help as well! I don't have to nerve to delve into the world of Photoshop on my own - it scares the daylights out of me, but I definitely need to do something to improve the quality of my photographs.

Enjoy, 

Alyson

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

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Pear Cardstock

Stamps: Flirty Scrapbooking Workshop, Merry and Bright, Sans Alphabet (ret.) 

Inks: Black, Pear

Accessories: Green Ribbon (not CTMH), Baker's Twine - Neutral Assortment, Liquid Applique, Heat Tool

My Bird Wishes You A Merry Christmas!

There are so many wonderful ideas on Pinterest, I don't know where to begin sometimes... This idea caught my eye immediately. 

The greenery is a combination of Cricut cuts, Nestabilities and punches. The bird is from our Artiste Cartridge along with a punched wing from a punch that I have. 

From there, it was a matter of layering everything together until it just looked right. I love the final effect. The bird stands out so nicely among all the greenery. 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Products are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, New England Ivy Cardstock, Olive Cardstock, Desert Sand Cardstock, Cranberry Cardstock
Stamps: Christmas Love
Inks: New England Ivy
Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Art Philosophy Cartridge, Nestabilities Dies (not CTMH), Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (not CTMH), Branch Punch (not CTMH), Bird Punch - wing (not CTMH), Foam Tape, Mocha Opaque Adhesive Gems

Noel Card - Avonlea Teal and Silver

It's another non-traditional Christmas card! I found this one on Pinterest and fell in love with the design. I immediately thought of the tree from last year's Holiday Wishes stamp set. This is the first time I have tried embossing origami paper... it embosses very easily but the hard part is cutting it to size and handling it afterwards. It is SO thin and requires a lot of care so it doesn't get damaged. 

Avonlea Teal is my favourite colour at the moment and the closest ink colour match I can find is Twilight. I used our Pigment ink and then stamped over it with Versamark to make sure it would accept lots of embossing powder mixed with glitter. That's hard to see in the photograph. 

This could be one of my favourite Christmas cards to date. 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Supplies used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted:

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Avonlea Teal Cardstock, Silver Origami Paper (not CTMH)
Stamps: Holiday Wishes (ret.), Christmas Love
Inks: Twilight Pigment Ink, Versamark
Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Prisma Glitter, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Silver Shimmer Trim, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (not CTMH), Heat Tool, Teal Ribbon (not CTMH)

First Post as H2H Guest Designer!

This is my first post as Heart 2 Heart's Guest Designer for the month of November! I actually had this done a few weeks ago and it has been sitting on my desk, awaiting the chance to share it with you. 

The photo below was the inspiration for the artwork this week. 

When I looked at it the first time, I initially saw the grapes and the fruit arrangement. I love pears so I decided to go with that theme. I also love the table runner and the black napkins. So, I have a card and a little "arrangement" to go together as an invitation to the "Pearfect Fall Party".

My photography was not very good though, and the green looks a lot lighter than in real life - the actual green is a lot closer to the real colour of the pear in the photo than it appears in the art photo. The Desert Sand in the La Belle Vie paper pack matched the brown in the photo and the black in the same paper pack was a good mix with this colour palette. 

Enjoy, 

Alyson

All products are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted:

Paper: La Belle Vie Paper Pack, Pear Cardstock, Colonial White Cardstock, Black Cardstock

Stamps: Mayberry

Inks: Smokey Plum

Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Artiste Cartridge, Pearl Opaques, Baker's Twine - Harvest Assortment, Pink Polka Dotted Ribbon (not CTMH), Greenery, White Flowers and Flower Stems (not CTMH), Computer Font (ret.), Foam Tape

You Make Me Smile Card

It has been a long time since my Clementine paper has seen the light of day! I have been so busy with so many other projects lately, that I just haven't had time to pull it out. 

This pattern caught my eye and I immediately thought of how well the Twilight papers would work in the pattern. A few Cricut cuts here and there and it didn't take long to make. There is no stamping - the sentiment is from the zip strip in the paper pack and the flower is layered in quarter inch increments so it came together really easily. 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Products are all Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Clementine Paper Pack, Creme Brulee Cardstock, Sweet Leaf Cardstock
Stamps: None
Inks: None
Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Cottage Assortment, Buttons - Blue Assortment, Sorbet Waxy Flax (ret.), Blue Ribbon (not CTMH)

Greetings Card

I decided to play around with our alcohol markers a bit. I have never been a colourer so this was a real challenge for me and I am not sure whether I like the result or not. The card looks a lot different in real life than it does in the photograph. I find that the lighter markers are much easier to blend than the darker ones seem to be, but that may just be my inexperience working with them. I also think embossing the stamp first might have helped the overall effect as I stamped the flower in Slate rather than in Black ink. The colours here don't look the same at all but on the actual card, the colours in the flower are almost an exact match to the paper flowers!

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Supplies used are all Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted:

Paper: Smokey Plum Cardstock, Gypsy Cardstock, Slate Cardstock, Colonial White Cardstock

Stamps: Love Blooms, 4 My Friend

Inks: Slate Pigment Ink, Slate Regular Ink

Accessories: Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (not CTMH), Gypsy Markers, Smokey Plum Markers, Floret Paper Flowers, Purple Paper Flowers (ret.), Purple Sparkles