January SOTM Bloghop - Cross-Stitch Wishes

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We will be featuring January's SOTM, "Cross-Stitch Wishes", a set of 13 stamps.  If you have come here from Krista's Blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around.  

This month we have approximately 50 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

Here is a picture of the images in this stamp set. 

 

For my card, I chose to use the retiring For Always paper. It is one of my favourite paper packs because it is so versatile as any colours can be used with it. I chose to add Lagoon and Gypsy (my two favourite colours). I know this stamp set is all about being able to stamp cross stitch patterns without having to cross stitch but I just HAD to cross stitch them anyways (it's that OCD/perfectionistic thing...) I also chose only the words that I wanted for my card. I used our spray pen with Lagoon reinker, rubbing alcohol and water to colour the White Daisy cardstock before I stamped and stitched the words and also to create the medallion. The Silver Shimmer Trim was coloured using a sponge and Gypsy Pigment Ink. The background For Always paper was coloured using our regular Gypsy ink and a sponge. The Lagoon stitching around the edge was created using our regular ruler. I used 3 strands of embroidery floss for that but just one strand of floss for the cross stitching. A few of our Base and Bling pieces helped to finish off the look.  

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

Paper: For Always Paper Pack, Black Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Gypsy Cardstock
Stamps: Cross-Stitch Wishes
Inks: Lagoon, Gypsy, Gypsy Pigment Ink, Lagoon Reinker
Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Silver Shimmer Trim, Sponges, Sponge Daubers, CTMH Ruler, Piercing Tool, Lagoon Embroidery Floss (not CTMH), Foam Tape, Spray Pen, Rubbing Alcohol (not CTMH), Black Mini-Medley Accent Collection, Base and Bling Purple Jewels, Base and Bling Teal Jewels

Now "Hop" on over to Sarita's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Remember, the January SOTM is only available until the last day of January! Click here to see how you can get this stamp set for just $5 this month! 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Mika's Christmas Greeting

With Christmas almost here, I received a very nice gift from a friend of mine. Actually, the gift wasn't for me, but for my puppy, Mika. She is just over 5 months old (and weighs 4.5 pounds now) and my friend bought her 6 beautiful outfits! Some are for indoors and some are for outside. She is getting used to wearing some clothing but things with hoods are not her favourite. However, bows in her hair have proven to be VERY difficult. Anything with a clip, she can shake out in one try... The groomer she sees gave me a bunch of dental elastic bands and suggested sewing small flowers onto those. That works better as I can wrap them around a small piece of hair several times but Mika hates it! She rolls around on the floor and paws at them, trying to get them out! For this outfit, I used a few of our Ruby Mini- Medley Collection flowers but I need to stiffen them with a fabric stiffener. I think it will just take time for her to get used to them. 

So from Mika and me, 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Alyson

Be Still Card for a Special Friend

This card is for a woman I met recently at a seminar I attended for people who are separated or divorced from their spouses and facing the holidays, most for the first time, in a completely new setting. It is a difficult process for those of you that haven't been in that situation and having someone else to rely on can really be helpful. 

It is also the first time I have done any crafting for a very long time, other than the Stamp of the Month Blog Hop, so that's a good thing for me. Maybe I will finally get my mojo back and get back into creating again. I do really miss it!

 

This card was created using the Sparkle and Shine Paper Pack and Textiles. Product details are below. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Sparkle and Shine Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Juniper Cardstock, Slate Cardstock

Stamps: Be Still

Inks: Juniper Pigment Ink, Ruby Pigment Ink

Accessories: Sparkle and Shine Textiles, Ruby Chevron Ribbon, Sparkles Flourishes, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Leftover Sparkles from Frosted Cardmaking WOTG Kit, Red Flowers (not CTMH)

Enjoy, 

Alyson

 

Dec SOTM Blog Hop - "Special Care"

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We will be featuring December's SOTM, "Special Care", a set of 6 stamps.  If you have come here from Kami's Blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around. A complete list of blog hoppers can be found here if you get lost. 

This month we have approximately 55 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

Here is a picture of the images in the stamp set. 

For my card, I chose to use Baby Cakes paper.It's the first time I have used this paper for anything and I really like the Buttercup paired with the Slate. I stamped the background using 2nd generation Slate ink. The Sunset gives it a nice touch of a bold colour without being overwhelming. I think this stamp set would be awesome used on layouts with young children in particular (just my humble opinion).

Supplies used are all Close To My Heart:

Paper: Baby Cakes Paper Pack, Buttercup Cardstock, Slate Cardstock, Colonial White Cardstock
Stamps: Special Care
Inks: Slate, Sunset
Accessories: Baby Cakes Assortment, Silver Shimmer Tape, Scallop Border Punch, Foam Tape, Harvest Baker's Twine

Now "Hop" on over to Elizabeth's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Remember, the December SOTM is only available until the last day of December! Click here to see how you can get this stamp set for just $5 this month! 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

"Follow Your Heart" Mini Album (from Convention)

Yes, it has taken me this long to get around to finishing my projects from Convention... isn't that awful?? With no creative juices for the longest time, my projects sat partially done until now and most people don't know how sick I really was at Convention so I just barely got started on any of the projects to begin with. It felt good to get this one done. I am going to give it to a friend as a gift so there are no photos or journaling included. 

If you are debating whether to purchase the Artbooking Cartridge, this is a good reason to show you why you NEED it! I believe all the Cricut cuts for this project were done with that cartridge. I found when I got to the end that I was missing a few cuts and had to improvise a bit but like they say in the scrapping world, "There are no mistakes, just opportunities to embellish!"  

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Laughing Lola Paper Pack, Lagoon Cardstock, Topiary Cardstock, Honey Cardstock, Whisper Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Kraft Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock, Colonial White Cardstock
Stamps: Geometric Backgrounds
Inks: Lagoon, Black, Topiary, Honey
Accessories: Artbooking Cartridge, Laughing Lola Dimensional Elements, Laughing Lola Assortment, Foam Tape, Grey Wool Baker's Twine

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Female Birthday Card

A good friend of mine has a birthday coming up shortly and when I saw this card in the new Make It From Your Heart Book, I knew it would be perfect for her. I didn't vary from the pattern at all - used everything exactly as it was, including the same stamp sets. I only used different paper. I chose to use Sarita paper as the colours are nice and bold. 

I love the way it turned out. I really need to make a stash of birthday cards so I am not scrambling at the last minute all the time! It just feels so good to want to create again!! FINALLY!!

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted: 

Paper: Sarita Paper Pack, Colonial White Cardstock, Gypsy Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock

Stamps: Perfect Fit Frames 2, Holiday Tags

Inks: Outdoor Denim, Cotton Candy, Lagoon

Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Turquoise Shimmer Tape (not CTMH), Foam Tape, Red, Purple and Pink Sparkles (ret.)

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Frosted Cards with an Extra Twist

I loved the idea of taking the Frosted Card WOTG and changing the colours to Slate, Whisper and Twilight (Vicki Wizniuk comes up with the most amazing ideas!!) So, I took her idea and just went one step further with it. I used the cutting guide and I did not change anything else - I simple played around with the pieces of paper allotted per card along with the embellishments and saw what I could created within those limitations and this is what I came up with. The original card is shown first, followed by my four "re-creations". 

  So, just by changing some ink colours and the placement of a few simple pieces of paper, these cards can look very different. It was fun trying this out. Before anyone emails me to ask, YES, feel free to scraplift any of these ideas - anyone could have done this. It wasn't hard - just time consuming, more than anything else. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Frosted WOTG, Twilight Cardstock, Whisper Cardstock, Slate Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock

Stamp: Frosted Cardmaking WOTG

Inks: Twilight, Slate, Whisper

Accessories: (comes in the WOTG Kit - Frosted Sparkles, Glitter Hemp), Foam Tape

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Masculine Birthday Card

Almost everyone I know has a hard time creating cards for the men in their lives... it seems that there are always places for flowers and ruffles but it is so much more difficult to make masculine cards. I decided to use the Huntington Paper Pack - the same one I was assigned to teach at Convention - to create this male birthday card. 

I chose to add the Sarita Textiles as well to give it a lighter colour scheme with the Autumn Terracotta as I wanted to keep it to three colours. The pattern is from the Make it From Your Heart Volume 2 book. The Slate and Barn Red are very dark colours and the Autumn Terracotta brings a nice touch to the card by adding that pop of colour. I also used a flower (who says male cards can't include flowers??) from the Flirty Collection and some Rosewood Mini Medley accents. A bit of stitching, pleating of textiles and it's done!

Supplies used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted: 

Paper: Huntington Paper Pack, Barn Red Cardstock, Autumn Terracotta Cardstock, Whisper Cardstock

Stamps: Heartfelt Birthday Wish

Inks: Barn Red Pigment Ink, Barn Red Alcohol Marker, Orange Copic Marker (not CTMH)

Accessories: Corner Rounder, Rosewood Mini-Medley Collection, Sarita Textiles, Foam Tape, Off White Embroidery Floss (not CTMH), Stitch Guide, Flirty Accessory (ret.), Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (not CTMH)

Enjoy, 

Alyson

November SOTM Blog Hop - "Illuminate"

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We will be featuring November's SOTM, "Illuminate", a set of 15 stamps. There are so many possibilities, both for cards and for scrapbooking with this stamp set! I love the banner, but I didn't have a chance to use it on the card I chose to create, but that would be a terrific addition to holiday cards or summer cards! If you have come here from Kathleen's Blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around. A complete list of blog hoppers can be found at Melinda's Blog.

This month we have approximately 45 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

Here is a picture of the images in the stamp set. 

For my card, I chose to use Laughing Lola paper. I love the intensity of colours in this paper pack and the fact the it had gold was perfect for the candles as well. I chose to use some black hemp to dress it up a little bit and to get the hemp to lay where I wanted it, I coated it with a very thin layer of Vaseline to make it a little easier to work with. The Aqua Dots were a perfect addition to the center of the bows. For the sentiment (and it's a little difficult to see here), I used Lagoon and Black pigment inks and just altered the colours beside each other. Yes, this can dirty the lighter ink pad if you're not careful but I have multiples of each and use certain ones just for this purpose. I also used the Black pigment ink pad to stamp with as it gives so much more intensity than the regular ink pad. The candles are embossed with gold powder.

Supplies used: 

Paper: Laughing Lola Paper Pack, Black Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock
Stamps: Illuminate
Inks: Black Pigment Ink, Lagoon Pigment Ink, Versamark Ink
Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Corner Rounder, Gold Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Black Hemp, Vaseline, Aqua Dots, Laughing Lola Assortment

Now "Hop" on over to Elizabeth's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Remember, the November SOTM is only available until the last day of November! Click here to see how you can get this stamp set for just $5 this month! 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

3 More Christmas Cards

For my Christmas Card Workshop, these are the other three cards we will be creating. 

This first card doesn't use any stamping at all but a lot of cuts from the cricut instead. I like the way the red glitter gel sets off the poinsettia flowers just that tiny little bit. I also bent up the leaves and flower ends to give them more dimension. And rather than using the typical Christmas colour of Cranberry, I chose to use Ruby instead - a darker, more intense red. 

The next card did not photograph very well, but I love the idea behind it. The paper is from Laughing Lola and our Glitter paper. Some will be made using the Gold Glitter Paper and some using the Silver Glitter Paper - depends how fast I run out of each... It's difficult when you don't have an ink match for the purple in this paper pack... so I opted for gold (and silver) instead. The sparkles are coloured using a purple Sharpie marker.

The last card design is from the Make It From Your Heart Vol.2 Collection. I love these little penguins and wanted to use them on at least one card. The hemp baker's twine was a perfect match with the Frosted Paper and a wooden button finishes off the look - simple but cute. 

 

Supplies used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted:

Paper: Frosted Paper Pack, Laughing Lola Paper Pack, For Always Paper Pack, Ruby Cardstock,, White Daisy Cardstock, New England Ivy Cardstock, Colonial White Cardstock, Twilight Cardstock, Gold Glitter Paper

Stamps: Merry and Bright, Wintry Wishes

Inks: Versamark, Cocoa Pigment Ink, Twilight Pigment Ink, Twilight Alcohol Marker

Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Artbooking Cartridge, Artiste Cartridge, Red Shimmer Trim, Reg Glitz Glitter Gel, Pearl Opaque Adhesive Gems, Gold Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Bitty Sparkles, Scalloped Punch, Corner Rounder, Purple Ribbon (not CTMH), White Ribbon (not CTMH), Hemp Baker's Twine, Wooden Button (ret.), Colonial White Brads (ret.)

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Starting on Some Christmas Cards...

I have my annual Christmas Card Workshop coming up mid-November and I had to get the cards finished so my customers could see what we will be creating. I cased some of my cards from Pinterest (LOVE that resource) and some others from the new Make It From Your Heart Guide.

Below are two of the cards (we do 25 in total - 5 each of 5 designs, so it is kind of like a marathon...) that we will be creating. 

 I like the simplicity of this first card - using the Pirouette Stamp as the background and then just embossing a sheet of the same coloured paper, this could be done with any colour. I did use a retired stamp set - last October's Stamp of the Month - Very Merry Christmas. 

Before I decided to do this card, I made sure that I could get silver foil paper in bulk at a local craft store first. Usually it is purchased as part of an origami package where you get a bunch of mixed colours and I didn't want that. I also really wanted to use a Memory Box branch die and I like my customers to know that I am not 100% tied down to CTMH. The bird is cut from the Artiste Cartridge in 2 sizes for emphasis. 

Supplies used are Close To My Heart excepted where noted:

Paper: Pacifica Cardstock, Black Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock, , Outdoor Denim Cardstock, Sky Cardstock, Silver Foil Paper
Stamps: Very Merry Christmas (ret.), Yuletide Greetings, Pirouette
Inks: Pacifica, Outdoor Denim
Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Cuttlebug Embossing Folders (not CTMH), Clear Sparkles, Foam Tape, Bitty Opaque Pearl Adhesive Gems, Outdoor Denim Chevron Ribbon, Memory Box Branch Die (not CTMH)

Enjoy, 
Alyson

October SOTM Blog Hop - Scandinavian Wishes

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We will be featuring October's SOTM, "Scandinavian Wishes", a set of 12 stamps. I think this is one of my favourite stamp sets in this entire Idea Book. There are SO many ways to use it and so many possibilities, both for cards and for scrapbooking! If you have come here from Elizabeth's Blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around.

This month we have approximately 60 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

A picture of the stamp set is shown here: 


I chose to use Sarita papers to create my card as I very much like holiday cards that use non-traditional colours. I really wanted to do a window card and I used the Artbooking Cartridge to create the window itself. (this is a 5x7 card). The Sarita Textiles form the curtains that hang around the window and that was quite the task... between the top overhang, the sides and the pull-backs, there was a lot of sewing, cutting and gathering but I like the way they turned out in the end. The reindeer image is embossed with Clear Detail Embossing Powder and Glitter. 

Supplies Used: 
Paper: Sarita Paper Pack, Outdoor Denim Cardstock, Gypsy Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock
Stamps: Scandinavian Wishes
Inks: Pigment Inks: Gypsy, Lagoon, White Daisy  
Accessories: Artbooking Cartridge, Clear Sparkles, Sarita Textiles, Pinking Shears (not CTMH), Foam Tape, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Prisma Glitter, Heat Tool

Now "Hop" on over to Vicki's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Remember, the October SOTM is only available until the last day of October! Click here to see how you can get this stamp set for just $5 this month! 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Explanation and a Little Surprise at the End

I know people keep blogs for various reasons and I really appreciate my followers. I also know that I have not posted forever and there have been reasons for that. Some of those, I am going to explain now so that people know what is going on with me. 

Before I left for Convention, I knew that I had a very large mass growing somewhere on the left side of my abdomen. It was approximately the size of a small bowling ball and it was causing me a great deal of discomfort, mostly in the form of nausea, but periodic bouts of drop dead pain attacks, which I tried to hide the best I could. I knew I was facing major surgery but I also had to have cancer testing done to see if the mass was cancerous or not. Either way, due to medication I take, major surgery was a huge risk for me and I had an anesthetic consult before I went to Convention. The odds were laid out clearly - I had approx. a 15-20% chance of not surviving this surgery at all. That's pretty tough to hear but I knew I couldn't go on the way things were going. 

Upon arriving home, I moved into a new apartment as my husband and I had split up. I was then a victim of a horrendous domestic assault of which I won't go into details (it was not my husband who did it). I was badly hurt and eventually did go to the police. The individual was charged with and plead guilty to assault, assault with a weapon and breach of parole. He spent about a month in jail and is now on parole and is not to have an contact with me directly or indirectly. I have been going for counseling to deal with the terrible nightmares and guilt that I have about this event. I have never experienced anything like this before and don't expect to ever again. Fortunately, the police were wonderful to deal with although I never want to have to give another statement as long as I live. 

Just a few days after that, I had the MRI tests in Toronto (about 75 minutes south of here). Fortunately, the results came back negative although my surgeon was still very skeptical with the types of symptoms I was experiencing. Our local hospital is undergoing major renovations and being the summer, only about half the operating rooms are available and so my surgery wasn't booked until August 22. The day arrived and I was so nervous. A friend took me there and my mom had come down as well (she's 85). Just moments before the surgery, the anesthetist who had done my consult came out to see me. He sat with me and took my hand in his. So many doctors try to "play God" but not this man. I had had him before when I had my gall bladder removed and I fought to have him for this surgery as well. He told me that God was watching over the two of us and all the staff in the OR. He said the God had equipped him with the knowledge, the tools and the skills to keep me safe and that was his only priority was to keep me safe. We sat there for a few more moments and then he asked if I was ready. Of course the answer was no but he took my hand and led me into the OR. My surgeon is the same way - compassionate, comforting, etc. But this anesthetist also has a terrific sense of humour and right away made me laugh as he began the insertion of the IV (I remembered that sense of humour from the last time...) 

Anyways, after I was out and they got started, there were major complications in that they didn't find what they expected. The mass was definitely there but my surgeon had been under the impression it had been attached to my ovaries and was planning to remove my ovaries and tubes with it. It was apparently attached to my bowel instead. It ended up that there were (in addition to the 2 anesthetists), 7 specialists in my OR that morning, including my surgeon (a gynecologist), another gynecologist, 2 general surgeons, a urologist and 2 others that I can't recall. I guess it was quite a circus in there with lots of people having their say. No cancer was found but the mass was removed and a small piece of my bowel were sent to pathology just to be certain. The surgery itself took the better part of 4 hours and the pain afterwards was incredible. I had to be sedated again until they could get control of that. I was in the hospital for almost a full week and am feeling much better now. I still can't do any lifting or anything like that yet. 

However, through all of this, I have just lost my motivation to create. When I arrived at my apartment, my CTMH bundles were waiting for me and they remained in the boxes for almost 2 months before I even unpacked them. Even now, I am just starting to feel like creating again, so hopefully this continues. I am currently working on my Stamp of the Month Blog Hop piece and I want it to be extra special since I haven't done much for so long. 

So that's, why I have been out of the picture for so long. I apologize to all of you who come to my blog, expecting something and there is nothing there. However, I DO have a little surprise for you if you have read this far. I do have a new roommate. Her name is Mika and she is just 9.5 weeks old now. She is a Maltese/Yorkie cross and she has brought new meaning to my life. Isn't she precious??

 

So, on Oct.1, I WILL have a SOTM post up and I am hoping that more posts will follow as I think I have finally hit the creative mode once again. 

Thanks for reading my story and maybe understanding a little better where I have been all this time. 

Alyson

Laughing Lola Cards

Finally, I have finished some cards.... it seems to take me forever, but I guess that comes from slowly healing from surgery and not being able to concentrate for long periods of time just yet.

These are cards that I will use for an upcoming workshop. Those of you who are reading this and are interested in the workshop, details are on my Workshop Link at the top of my blog. 

This first card is based on a card made by Pam Korte. The sketch is from our new Make It From The Heart Book but I loved the way she added the flowers to the black cardstock. This is also the only card where the inside is finished as well - the others just have white cardstock inside and can be customized as desired.

The second card is based on a Freshly Made Sketch design but I saw a card by Allisa Chilton using this colour combination and just loved it! Since my customers won't be purchasing the Complements, I had to create the flower using the Laughing Lola WOTG stamp set.

The next card was found on Pinterest. There is simply no better place to go for ideas!! And yes, it does use some non-CTMH products (Nestabilities) as I wasn't able to find the correct dimension rectangles...

The last card was also found on Pinterest. It's a little hard to see the print here but I love the simple elegance of this card.

The list of supplies below includes everything for all 4 cards. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted: 

Paper: Laughing Lola Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Gypsy Cardstock, Whisper Cardstock
Stamps: You Are My Happy, A True Thank You, Happy Birthday (ret.), Laughing Lola WOTG, Hello Tweety, Swirls Around
Inks: Black Pigment Ink, Gypsy Pigment Ink, Hollyhock Pigment Ink, Whisper Pigment Ink, Black, Lagoon, Markers: Gypsy, Copic BG13 (not CTMH)
Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Art Philosophy Cartridge, Clear Sparkles, Slate Polka Dot Ribbon, Nestabilities (scalloped rectangle, rectangle, label - not CTMH), Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (not CTMH), Corner Rounder

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Video - Artbooking Made Easy

I know I have been absent from my blog... two reasons for that. I recently had major surgery and and am finally feeling like creating once again and second, anything that I have created hasn't been photographed as I have a new camera and I haven't had 30 seconds to figure out how to use it!!

So in the meantime, corporate has released some awesome videos and this is one of them. If you have not yet purchased the Artbooking Cricut Cartridge, this will definitely make you want that cartridge. It is amazing! Enjoy all the things that Carly will show you in this clip. 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

The LAST Extravaganza Items

Today marks the last post of Extravaganza artwork! You must be sick of Huntington papers by now!!

However, since I am headed to the hospital for major surgery in 2 days, I don't expect to be creating anything new for a while... when I do, though, you can be sure it will be posted here. 

The final two items are both banners - one is small and the other is very large.

The first one (the small one) was mounted on one of my boards. I love this little banner. I used the Jute Ribbon as the base to hold it all together and then used several elements from the Wooden Mini-Medley to dress it up. Each square is mounted on Olive Cardstock with Green Glitter Paper on top. I then coloured in our Irresistible Hexagons, alternating between Barn Red and Autumn Terracotta, but making sure I had 4 different designs. Our circle punch took care of making 4 perfect circles for me and the letters were stamped using the new Framework Alphabet. A "FUN" clothespin at the top, and it was all finished. 

The other banner is the one that I mounted across my table in my booth. It had to be mounted straight across and this took me a long time to do... I really wanted to get away from all the reds and oranges that I had been using and focus on the grays in this paper pack so I chose to use the greys along with the greens. Unfortunately, the photos of this (in order to show you the details) are split up. The banner reads the word "AUTUMN" but I could not take it all in one photograph so you will see it end to end but in parts. 

I chose to use our Slate Satin Polka Dot Ribbon as my base and add to it. I used some of the zip strips from the paper pack and scallop punched them. The stamp set I focused on was "You Only Live Once". The flowers and sentiments were all stamped in Pigment Ink and embossed with Clear Detail Embossing Powder. Clear Sparkles were used to highlight the banner and lots of Baker's Twine was used as well. I graduated the colouring on the letters (all from our DE Monogram Collection), starting with Whisper and gradually moving toward New England Ivy, using sponges. (and that button on the N is really green - my camera picked it up as orange for some reason..) So, here it is...

So, that ends my Extravaganza artwork for this year. I hope you have enjoyed viewing the items and I love hearing what you think so please leave me your comments! 

Products are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Huntington Paper Pack, Olive Cardstock, Colonial White Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock,  Green Glitter Paper

Stamps: Framework Alphabet, You Only Live Once

Inks: Barn Red, Autumn Terracotta, Cocoa, Olive, Whisper, Slate, Olive, New England Ivy, Pigment Inks: Olive, New England Ivy, Slate, Olive Alcohol Marker

Accessories: Jute Ribbon, Wooden Mini-Medley Collection, Irresistibles Hexagons, Circle Punch, Mini Clothes Pins, Slate Satin Polka Dot Ribbon, Baker's Twine Neutral Assortment, Baker's Twine Harvest Assortment, Huntington Assortment, Clear Sparkles, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Scalloped Punch, Dimensional Elements Monograms: A, M, N, T, U

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Extravaganza Artwork - Miscellaneous Items

Today's items to show you from Extravaganza range from some that were mounted on my display boards to another that was on display on my table. 

The first items are our pillow boxes. I realized very quickly that if I filled them with anything other than cotton balls, they would be to heavy to attach on the display boards... I also used these for one of my giveaways, containing the most amazing smelling (and tasting) tea imaginable! The were simply created using strips of paper from the Huntington paper pack, then decorated a bit with Jute Ribbon or Baker's Twine and I used the Huntington Stickease for the sentiment. 

I love our Muslin bags and for the purpose of my boards, they too, were just filled with cotton balls to keep them light. I did my demo using these bags to show how easy it is to mix Pigment Inks. (and actually stamped one upside down... oops....) and then included a Monsters Inc Disney Pin. People seemed to like that. For these ones, I used a lot of the images from the Artbooking stamps that come with the Artbooking Cricut cartridge (particularly the "Sweet and Lovely" set) Everything is stamped using Pigment ink. 

The last item today is simply a collection of flowers made using the Artbooking Cartridge, mixed with some branches and pine cones. I added a few pieces of Jute Ribbon for interest. The container is just a plant pot I had around the house and I just wrapped it with matching paper. Before I placed anything inside, I cut a foam piece to sit high in the pot and covered it with grey stones although you can't even see any of that. I also added some Mocha Opaques to the center of each flower. Very simple and easy but it makes a nice fall centerpiece. 

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

Paper: Huntington Paper Pack, Autumn Terracotta Cardstock, Barn Red Cardstock

Stamps: Artbooking Stamp Sets, Love This

Inks: Barn Red, Pigment Inks: Barn Red New England Ivy, Olive, Autumn Terracotta, Cocoa, Alcohol Markers: Barn Red, Autumn Terracotta

Accessories: Pillow Boxes, Muslin Bags, Jute Ribbon, Bronze Shimmer Trim, Huntington Assortment, Huntington Stickease, Neutral Baker's Twine, Rosewood Mini-Medley, Mocha Opaques, Clear Sparkles, Quilling Tool, Ceramic Container (not CTMH), Branches and Pine Cones (not CTMH), Foam and Grey Rocks (not CTMH)

Enjoy, 

Alyson