Sympathy Card - old Waltzing Mouse Sketch

I create cards for a woman at my church who is responsible for sending cards to people who cannot make it to services due to illness, etc. and she asked me to make her some sympathy cards as well. Sympathy cards have always been difficult for me and I always turn to sketches for guidance and this one is no exception. The sketch is a past one but that doesn't mean it isn't usable! 

Avonlea was my paper of choice and I made four of this particular card and will make four of another type for her as well (I just haven't made it that far today with trying to wrap up end of the year stuff, etc.)

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Supplies used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Avonlea Paper Pack, Colonial White Cardstock
Stamps: Words of Comfort
Inks: Colonial White Pigment Ink
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Slate Polka Dotted Ribbon, Neutral Baker's Twine Collection, Slate Mini-Medley Collection, Heat Tool

Flirty Birthday - Can you Say PINK?

Boy, I am going to miss this paper pack when it retires at the end of January! Good thing I have stocked up on my supply and have lots of it in my stash. 

I found a card similar to this one on Pinterest and thought it would be an interesting card to make. I chose to random stamp my own background as I didn't want the multiple colours in the Flirty paper.  I wanted it to remain pink. I found this gorgeous ribbon at a ribbon store in an artsy section of Toronto - had my colour wheel with me and made sure it matched the Raspberry colour in this paper pack. It has a beautiful floral pattern on it that is a bit difficult to see in the photo. Several stamp sets were used as well. I love the way it turned out!

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted:  

Paper: Flirty Paper Pack incl. Raspberry Cardstock, Bamboo Cardstock
Stamps: Scroll Album Workshop, Love Blooms, Happy Birthday (ret.), Bless This Nest (ret.) 
Inks: Razzberry Pigment Ink (not CTMH), Black Pigment Ink, Black Dye Ink
Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Art Philosophy Cartridge, Fuschia Satin Ribbon (not CTMH), Blush Alcohol Markers, Cotton Candy Alcohol Markers, Sparkles, Pearl Opaque Adhesive Gems, Foam Tape

Thinking of You Card and MERRY CHRISTMAS WISHES!

This is my last post before Christmas. And it's not even a Christmas card... All mine have been made, attached and/or sent! I am just working on cards for the fun of it now. 

However, I have been extremely busy the past while. There are 3 services at my church this evening - the first one at 6:30pm is a children's Nativity Pageant and I am accompanying our Junior Choir on my clarinet. The second one at 8:30pm is a service of lessons and carols and our choir is also singing a beautiful Cantata, which we have practiced for several weeks. We sang one song from it at yesterday's service and it was very well received so I expect there will be a full house there this evening. The final service at 10:30pm is a Communion Service.

It is such a magical time of year - everyone seems to be in such a good mood, with smiles and hugs, greeting one another. My wish for Christmas is that people would treat each other the same way all year round as they do at this time of the year. 

On that thought, I created this card - a Thinking of You card. I have no idea who will eventually receive it but I love the way it turned out.  

I wish you and your family all the best this Christmas and always. May the love of God fill your homes and each other as you celebrate together. 

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock

Stamps: Card Word Puzzle, Casual Expressions

Inks: Pacifica Pigment Ink

Accessories: Alcohol Markers: Sky and Sky Light, Pacifica and Pacifica Light, Alcohol Blending Marker, Blue Ribbon (not CTMH), Blue Glitter  Strip (not CTMH), Baker's Twine Neutral Assortment, Sparkles - Blue and Green Assortment, Glitz Glitter Gel - Stardust and Silver

So Thankful For... Card (and a very frustrating day...)

Today did not start out as a good creative day... I decided to try a new type of card - a triple folding card. The preparation and everything went just fine. When I had finished the stamping (for which I had used the Pirouette stamp), my hand was killing me from the pressure needed to get a consistent image but the backside of the card had been laying on the foam pad and was covered in ink residue... not able to be rescued after about 2 hours of work as I needed the backside for my overall plan. Maybe I'll come back to this another day...

 

Then I went to work on the card below. All was good until I reached the point of using the Pirouette stamp again - it wasn't quite large enough for what I wanted. So, off to the Cricut to cut the doily for the size I did want. Then I found out that stamping over an uneven image was not successful - how to get around that? I thought about stamping the plants first, then laying the doily on top but I didn't like the look. Maybe vellum, but it was too overwhelming. Ahh... a transparency!But adhering a transparency is always so difficult and I didn't want any additional brads, etc. The adhesive I use is fine for a few days and then eventually loosens and falls off - it is ok for scrapbook pages where you can hide the adhesive with embellishments but not wonderful for cards that are handled. I decided to cut the transparency larger than the white cardstock and score it so I could tape it around the back - worked like a charm!

So, after a frustrating day when I thought I would make a few projects, I ended up getting just one card finished... Maybe more tomorrow. 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Pear Cardstock
Stamps: A Friend Like You, Treasure Life (ret.) 
Inks: Black, Black Staz-On
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (not CTMH), White Pleated Ribbon (not CTMH), Baker's Twine - Neutral Collection, Transparency (not CTMH) 

From the Heart Card - Cardabilities Sketch

I decided to try another new challenge today - Cardabilities. I really liked the design of this card although I wasn't able to match it exactly. I think I came pretty close. I am learning a lot about my new Cricut Expression 2 machine and how to make multiple cuts of the same image and things like that... all that takes time. What I really need to find is a clear copy of the image pages from the back of the Artiste booklet. I have tried to enlarge them from the booklet online but my copies are so blurred that they are useless. I need a full page copy of each layer (Accent 1, Accent 2, etc.) and am not sure how to go about getting them! 

Anyways, my card is created using the La Belle Vie paper pack along with some burlap. 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: La Belle Vie Paper Pack, Black Cardstock
Stamps: None
Inks: None
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Artiste Cartridge, Burlap Ribbon, Pink and Purple Sparkles, Olive Alcohol Marker, Quilling Tool 

Thanks Card - Sketchbook Saturday Challenge

I love the sketches from the Sketchbook Saturday Challenge site but this is the first one I have ever tried. I guess they always seemed really intimidating to me. Once again I really felt like using Flirty paper today - maybe knowing that the paper is going to be gone shortly has something to do with it and I have a ton of it left! 

I loved the opportunity to cluster items on this card - that is one of my favourite techniques. I am always in need of thank you cards so this was a perfect time to add one more to my collection. 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted. 

Paper: Flirty Paper Pack, Colonial White Cardstock, New England Ivy Cardstock
Stamps: Love Blooms, Thank You (ret.) 
Inks: Black Pigment Ink, New England Ivy
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Cotton Candy Markers, Alcohol Blending Pen, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (not CTMH), Silver Shimmer Trim, Slate Mini-Medley Accent Collection, Autumn Lane Assortment, Boutique Assortment, Floret Paper Shapes, Sparkles Flourishes, Bitty Sparkles, Foam Tape

Whoo's Your Valentine... Just One...

I have been so busy the past week with two things - trying to learn the ins and outs of a Cricut Expression 2 machine (wow- lots of differences!) and learning to use an I-Pad as well. The focus has been on the I-Pad so the E2 has only been turned on once - have to get to that this week! 

So, I only had time to make one of these little Whoo's Your Valentine creations before my daylight was totally gone and I had to photograph it on a table in my craft room. I love the idea of this kit but I am anxious to try different things with it as well. But they sure are adorable! 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Whoo's Your Valentine Kit
Stamps: Whoo's Your Valentine (comes with kit)
Inks: Ruby, Hollyhock, Slate
Accessories: Stylus, Pink Jellybeans

Happiness Card - CAS(E) This Sketch Challenge

I haven't used Flirty paper in a while and it was calling me this morning, especially when I saw the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch Challenges. This is a new site for me but I really like their sketches and decided to try out one of them. I knew I wanted to mask flowers for the sketch. I also turned the sketch upside down and put my sentiment at the opposite end.

I didn't do many of the Workshops on the Go from this catalogue but I sure love the Flirty WOTG Scrapbook Workshop stamp set - I keep going back to that set for a variety of things. 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

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

Paper: Flirty Paper Pack, Colonial White Cardstock
Stamps: Flirty Scrapbooking Workshop
Inks: Sunset Pigment Ink. Ponderosa Pine, Razzleberry Pigment Ink (not CTMH)
Accessories: Autumn Lane Assortment, Foam Tape, Glitz Glitter Gel in Pink, Stardust and Almond

Age is Just a Number Card - Mojo Monday Challenge

Dakota... I am liking this paper pack more and more. I love adding Sky blue to it - I find that it seems to match better than the Crystal Blue listed in the colours that are supposed to match.

I had just enough of the blue ribbon left to do this bow and the ribbon across the card - that is now the end of my blue CTMH ribbon... do I order more, knowing it is being retired or wait to see what is coming in the new catalogue? I don't tend to hoard older products so I am thinking that I will wait and see. If I still want it, I can always take my chances and see if there is still some left in January and get it at that time.

I can't wait to see the paper packs in the new catalogue - hopefully there is a good mix of masculine and feminine packs like there were in the current one - and ones that can be used for both, like Clementine and Avonlea (so glad those are both staying put for another round as I love both of them!) 

Anyways, here's the card, based on the sketch shown below. 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Products are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Dakota Paper Pack, Sky Cardstock, Whisper Cardstock, Pacifica Cardstock
Stamps: Just a Number, Frame It Up
Inks: Barn Red, Pacifica
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Blue Designer Ribbon Collection, Baker's Twine Neutral Assortment, Licorice Opaque Adhesive Gems, Foam Tape

Finally Finished!!

Finally! I have finally rearranged my Pinterest card sketch boards to reflect the huge number of card sketches I was beginning to collect. I also took the time here to sort and organize some of the challenge blogs that I visit regularly and sort them into the boards that provide sketches and those that do not. They can be found down the right side of my blog, below the list of Close To My Heart Consultant blogs. 

I wanted to post the Got Sketch blog but it is a copyright blog and cannot be posted. There are WONDERFUL sketches available on that blog both for scrapbooking and for cards - just search for "Got Sketch" online and you will find it. 

As new sketches are posted on the blogs I have highlighted here, I will add them to my Pinterest boards. 

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Retiring Product List

Below is the list of products that are retiring as of January 31. Some of them are actually gone already! They are available while supplies last and once they are gone, they will not be restocked, so if there are items on this list that you wish to purchase, I strongly suggest that you do it sooner rather than later.

Contact me to place your order or you can order through my OBA if you choose. I will try to keep this list updated with items that have sold out. Items that are gone already have been stroked out. 

2012 Autumn/Winter Idea Book Retiring List
(the page number is listed after the item)

Z1349 Shimmer Designer Brads 127

Z1360 Rhinestone Designer Brads 127
Z1361 Brads Red Assortment 127
Z1362 Brads Pink Assortment 127
Z1363 Brads Blue Assortment 127
Z1364 Brads Green Assortment 127
Z1365 Brads Basic Assortment 127
Z1387 Wooden Designer Buttons 125
Z1391 Buttons Clear Assortment 125
Z1395 Irresistibles™ Eclectic Chipboard Die-Cuts (the alphabet) 130
Z1465 Irresistibles™ Make-It-Count Numbers 130
Z1681 Dimensional Elements  Numbers 131
Z1761 Dimensional Elements Ornaments 131
Z1762 Dimensional Elements Snowflakes 131
Z1765 Color-Ready Arbor Wooden Shapes 130
X7147C Stella Complements Canvas Shapes 68
X7148C My Stickease® Pemberley Assortment 68
X7150C My Stickease® Victory Assortment 69
X7153C My Stickease® Florentine Assortment 69
X7158C La Belle Vie My Stickease® Assortment 38
X7160C Flirty Complements Dimensional Elements 50
X7161C Moonlight Complements Dimensional Elements 56
X7162C Pear & Partridge Complements Glittery Rub-Ons 62
Z1464 Milepost Shapes 128
Z1466 Bling Assortment 128
Z1695 Urban Felt Alphabet 130
Z1696 Keepsake Felt Alphabet 130
Z1709 Just Blooms® Petals Paper Flowers 129
Z1460 Foundry® Ribbon Slides 126
Z1711 Foundry® Binder Clips 126
Z1712 Foundry® Number Plates 126
Z1461 Décor Journaling Spots 129
Z1687 Bohemian Assortment 128
Z1689 Timeless Charms 128
Z1692 Tough Tags 128
Z1694 Bouquet Assortment 128
Z1741 Haunted Assortment 128
Z1749 Autumn Lane Assortment 128
Z1763 Boutique Assortment 128
Z1772 Dimensional Elements In Color—Holiday 128
Z1393 Mini-Medley Accents Black Collection 126
Z1316 Designer Ribbon Cocoa Collection   124
Z1385 Designer Ribbon Blue Collection 124
Z1615 Designer Ribbon Red Collection 124
Z1616 Designer Ribbon Green Collection 124
Z1388 Newsprint Rub-Ons 130
Z1700 Dark Chocolate Tapestry Velvet Rub-Ons 126
Z1733 Black Tapestry Velvet Rub-Ons 126
Z1743 Festive Velvet Rub-Ons 126
Z1742 Parlor Velvet Rub-Ons 126
Z1407 6" x 6" Olive Quick Pic™ Album 122
Z1408 6" x 6" Pansy Purple Quick Pic™ Album 122

Z1054 My Creations® Display Album 132

Z1378 My Creations® Banner 132

Z1614 My Creations® Memory Game 132

Z188 Craft Jars 120

Z1352 4 1/2" Colonial White Circle Cards 123

Z1353 4 1/2" White Daisy Circle Cards 123

Z1731 My Originals® Sweet Surprises Card Kit 123

X7147B My Reflections® Stella Paper Packet 68

X7148B My Reflections® Pemberley Paper Packet 68

X7150B My Reflections® Victory Paper Packet 69

X7153B My Reflections® Florentine Paper Packet 69

X7158B La Belle Vie Paper Packet 38

X7160B Flirty Paper Packet 50

X7161B Moonlight Paper Packet 56

X7162B Pear & Partridge Paper Packet 62

Z1252 Cutting Knife 135

G1041 Workshops on the Go® Avonlea Cardmaking Kit 22

G1043 Workshops on the Go® Pear & Partridge Cardmaking Kit 66

G1040 Workshops on the Go® Spellbound Cricut® Kit 14

G1042 Workshops on the Go® Scroll Album Kit 23

G1044 Workshops on the Go® Advent Calendar Kit 67

G1045 Workshops on the Go® Avonlea Scrapbooking Kit 21

G1046 Workshops on the Go® Clementine Scrapbooking Kit 29

G1047 Workshops on the Go® Dakota Scrapbooking Kit 35

G1048 Workshops on the Go® La Belle Vie Scrapbooking Kit 41

G1049 Workshops on the Go® Scholastic Scrapbooking Kit 47

G1050 Workshops on the Go® Flirty Scrapbooking Kit 53

G1051 Workshops on the Go® Moonlight Scrapbooking Kit 59

G1052 Workshops on the Go® Pear & Partridge Scrapbooking Kit 65

Spring/Summer 2012 Idea Book Retiring List

A1104 A Tweet 90

A1111 A Tulip 68

A1116 A Melody 94

A1122 Bravo 92

A1128 Quick Cards—Shell 80

A1129 A Rainbow 85

B1365 Spring Up 71

B1369 Rosy Regards 67

B1374 Bee Happy 83

B1397 He Is Risen 74

B1402 My Peeps 72

C1439 Enjoy Life 95

C1440 Take a Picture 93

C1442 Tailor-Made 94

C1450 Eclectic Edges 99

C1452 Delight 71

C1455 Aspire 96

C1456 Heartfelt Treasures 68

C1457 Happy Camper 84

C1458 Paper Lantern 90

C1473 Remarkable Wreath 70

C1474 10 Things 105

C1485 Super Powers 47

C1498 Country Life 82

C1499 Perfect Day 80

D1195 The Works Alphabet 117

D1222 Tiny Typewriter Alphabet 117

D1296 Chocolate Alphabet Small 114

D1301 Hodge Podge Alphabet 114

D1303 Classmate Alphabet 114

D1462 Splendid Day 77

D1464 Card Chatter—Love 106

D1467 Trees & Things 76

D1472 Simple Memories 66

D1478 Bingo Alphabet 113

D1505 Roar! 89

D1508 Diverse Backgrounds 102

D1509 Magic Adventures 78

D1511 Kick Back 81

E1013 Field Trip Alphabet 114

Video - "Cluster Luster"

The Close To My Heart gals, Kristine and Monica are back, this time with an awesome video about cluster stamping. It is am amazing technique that allows you to group stamps together for some terrific effects. 

Take a look! 

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Friends Card - Freshly Made Sketches

My card for the challenge at Freshly Made Sketches this week is made from the La Belle Vie papers. I love the colours in this paper pack and I wanted to bring out the Sweet Leaf green along with the pink and black. I also turned the sketch completely around. I know a lot of people have a hard time with this paper pack due to not having coloured inks (other than the basic colours) that match the papers but Smokey Plum is a terrific alternative. I used the pigment ink here just for a stronger shade of colour. I'll be really sad to see this paper pack retire - I feel like I have barely used it since Convention! 

Enjoy, 

Alyson

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

Paper: La Belle Vie Paper Pack (include cardstock available only with this paper pack), Black Cardstock, Sweet Leaf Cardstock

Stamps: Beautiful Friendship

Inks: Smokey Plum Pigment Ink

Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Border Punch (not CTMH), Corner Rounder, Sparkles - Blue and Green Assortment

Changes to Pinterest

If you happen to check my Pinterest page, you will notice some changes there. I am in the process of rearranging some things. I use my Card Sketch board so often and there were so many pins in there that I was getting overwhelmed every time I opened it up to look for something. Another pinner I follow had a GREAT idea - she separated her sketches by company/blog! I am in the process of doing that now. So, if you open my Card Sketch board, you will notice that there are a lot of sketches missing - they have been placed into other folders to make them easier to find for everyone involved. 

Over time, I plan to do this with my Scrapbook board and my Card that Inspire Me board as well. All will take time but it will eventually get done. 

Thanks in advance for your patience as I try to get my life organized :)

Alyson

4 My Friend Card - Mojo Monday Challenge

This card led me to some challenges this morning. I really wanted to use our Colour Ready Seam Binding so I spent the time dying it, then drying it with our heat tool to get a crinkled effect (burning my hands in the process (there HAS to be an easier way to do that...). I really wanted to gather it on my card and in the past, I have never had a problem attaching it using Scor-tape. So I built my card, and attached my Scor-tape in 2 rows so I would have enough room to gather my ribbon and for some reason today, the ribbon refused to stick. I tried again, but no - absolute refusal - the ribbon had an attitude or something... I tried gathering the ribbon on a separate piece of tape and then attaching it, but that didn't work either... So out came the Liquid Glass but it didn't want to stick to that either. The ribbon was dry but it wasn't sticking to ANYTHING today. So, I had to bite the bullet and use something else. Sometime when I have some extra time, I am going to try my technique again and see what happened because I have done that before and it worked just fine...

So, here is my card - using different ribbon than I had intended... 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Supplies used are all Close To My Heart (except the green ribbon...)

Paper: Florentine Paper Pack, Twilight Cardstock, Olive Cardstock, Colonial White Cardstock
Stamps: 4 My Friend
Inks: Twilight
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Artiste Cartridge, Cocoa Designer Ribbon Collection, Green Ribbon (I don't want to discuss it...), Mocha Opaque Adhesive Gems, Paradise Paper Flowers, Old Paper Flowers (ret.). Foam Tape

Perpetual Calendar

This Perpetual Calendar was made using the guide created by fellow consultant, Lisa Stenz. If you are not familiar with Lisa's work, be sure to check out her blog at http://lisascreativecorner.blogspot.ca. Lisa creates some of the most beautiful artwork I have ever seen and she has taught at every Convention I have been to (4 in total so far, 5 this summer as I have already registered for the one at Disneyworld and can't wait!) She willingly shares her templates and this is one of them. I have created several of these calendars as Christmas gifts and have used several other templates of hers as workshops and to create other Christmas gifts as well. 

I had to create one of these calendars for myself - in Lagoon of course - my most favourite colour. Some of you know that when I was packing for Convention last summer, as I was putting my outfits together, I noticed that every single outfit that I had packed was turquoise, white and black. How can you tell that these are my three favourite colours?? I am seriously considering painting my craft room turquoise. All my accessories are white - it would match perfectly! 

This photo was taken yesterday... and the one part of this project that you don't see is that the calendar can also lean back if you choose by attaching the back of the card box to the top of the box. You can see those details on Lisa's blog. 

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Products are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Dotty For You Paper Pack (ret.), White Daisy Cardstock

Stamps: Casual Expressions, Glamour Lowercase Alphabet

Inks: Black, Lagoon

Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, My Creations Card Box, My Creations Blocks (2), Black Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Hook and Loop Dots, Sponge Dauber, Cutting Knife

H2H Challenge - Birthday Card

The challenge this week at Heart 2 Heart is a sketch - my favourite type of challenge! And when I saw it, I noticed that it was a really L-O-N-G sketch, so I had to dig out my long cards for this one!

I must be one of the very few people who are completely finished with my Christmas cards - and they are actually written and mailed. I spent most of last week making Christmas gifts and those are almost finished, so now I have some time to work on some other things, like hemming pants, catching up on bill payments, cleaning up my craft room - fun stuff like that. I also have a lot of commitments at my church right now - our choir is really busy and I am also playing my clarinet with the Junior Choir, so I actually have to practice since I haven't played for ages! And remarkably, my Christmas shopping is also finished - I am ahead of the game this year and it feels good for a change! 

Anyways, back to the Heart 2 Heart Challenge. I chose to use Stella papers again to work on another birthday card. I got out my sewing machine as I have some work to do with it right after I finish this post! I chose to place my sentiment in the middle of my three elements rather than on the side. I love the Stella colours and I still have a lot of this paper. I am hoping that there will be a paper pack similar to it when the new catalogue is released!

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Supplies used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted: 

Paper: Stella Paper Pack, Chocolate Cardstock, Colonial White Cardstock
Stamps: Casual Expressions
Inks: Lagoon
Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Stella Canvas Stickers, Bohemian Assortment, Lagoon Embroidery Floss (not CTMH), Lagoon Thread (not CTMH), Hook and Loop Closures