June Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - "Ice Cream Dream"

Welcome to June's Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! This month, we are featuring the stamp set "Ice Cream Dream" - a set of 7 stamps. Anyone who loves ice cream will adore this stamp set! The bloggers along this blog hop will show you several ideas, so sit back and enjoy the tour. You should have arrived here from Jen Rubio's blog. If you get lost, a list of all blogs can be found here. 

The stamp set looks like this.

I chose to create two cards using this stamp set. Both are created using the Artfully Sent Cricut Cartridge. 

The first is simply a collection of images from the stamp set above a sentiment on the card. The inside of the card is shown underneath. 

The second card is a slider card. A friend of mine loves both dogs and ice cream so I decided to combine the two of them just for her! 

I hope you enjoyed my projects. The next blog on the hop is Paige Dolecki's blog. I'm sure she has something wonderful to share with you as she is super talented! 

You can get this stamp set for just $5 this month with only a $50 purchase. Visit my shopping site here. Remember this stamp set is only available until June 30th! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted.

Paper: Confetti Wishes Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Canary Cardstock, Pacifica Cardstock, Crystal Blue Cardstock, Thistle Cardstock, Pear Cardstock

Stamps: Ice Cream Dream

Inks: Archival Black Ink, Slate Pigment Ink, Crystal Blue, Pacifica

Accessories: Artfully Sent Cartridge, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape, ShinHan Markers (some not CTMH), Blue and White Twine (not CTMH)

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Atlantic Hearts Sketch 109

The sketch at Atlantic Hearts this week is a layered one - one of my favourite types of sketches to work with. It allows for so many options - patterned paper, cardstock or just about anything in between. 

I have a lot of birthdays coming up so I pulled out Close To My Heart's wonderful spring paper pack, Brushed, to create my card. I didn't do any stamping at all but relied on my Cricut for the design and the sentiment. 

Won't you join us at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge this week and show us how you interpret the sketch above? 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted: 

Paper: Brushed Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Canary Cardstock, Pixie Cardstock, Hollyhock Cardstock
Stamps: None
Inks: None
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Artbooking Cartridge, Pink Polka-Dot Ribbon (not CTMH), Foam Tape, Green Sparkles (ret.)

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Heart 2 Heart - Extra! Extra! Read All About it!

The challenge at Heart 2 Heart this week is Extra! Extra! Read All About it! That can take the form of newsprint, text, important news or another form that you may consider that we may have totally not considered that fits the theme. 

I chose to go with the idea of newsprint but in a very understated manner. If you look carefully at the card I have created, the newsprint is embossed on the lagoon cardstock and that is where it shows up on my creation. A birthday is definitely a newsworthy event but I didn't exactly want to put a banner on the card stating "LOOK HERE - someone is celebrating a birthday" because as some of us get older, I find that fewer and fewer people want attention brought to their birthdays...

So, here is my creation...

Won't you join us at Heart 2 Heart Challenges and show us your interpretation of the theme this week? You have the entire month of May to get your entry in! 

Products used at Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Blossom Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Sunset Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock

Stamps: Holiday Tags

Inks: Glacier, Lagoon

Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Artbooking Cartridge, Embossing Folder (not CTMH), Dark Turquoise Ribbon (not CTMH, Light Turquoise Ribbon (not CTMH), Aqua Dots, Foam Tape

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Anniversary Card using Blossom

A friend of mine asked me to create an anniversary card for some friends of hers who are celebrating a milestone anniversary shortly. Apparently they love butterflies so I was asked to incorporate butterflies into the card. I decided to use the Blossom Paper Pack and an old Mojo Monday sketch as the basis for my card. It is 5 x 7 in size so as to fit the largest butterfly. There is also a butterfly inside the card. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Blossom Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Sunset Cardstock, Glacier Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock
Stamps: Say It in Style (ret.)
Inks: Lagoon, Sunset
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Turquoise Ribbon (not CTMH), Bling Pins (ret.), Clear Sparkles, ShinHan Markers, Foam Tape, Scallop Punch

Enjoy,
Alyson

Atlantic Hearts Sketch 107

For the sketch this week at Atlantic Hearts, I decided to use some beautiful papers that I found in a discount bin at a scrapbook store. I chose to purchase the package because I love the colours in the papers more than anything else. 

There are a few sheets in the package that have some extra designs on them and I used one of those for the center image. I just cut it out and mounted it on cardstock. I stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment and added some covered twine along with a button. I love the final effect. The card is bold without being totally overwhelming. 

Join us at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and show us your interpretation of this week's sketch! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Patterned Paper (not CTMH), Gypsy Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock
Stamps: Holiday Tags
Inks: Pear, Gypsy
Accessories: White Button (ret.), Teal Twine (not CTMH), Foam Tape

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Heart 2 Heart Challenge - Mum's the Word

This week at Heart 2 Heart, the challenge is "Mum's the Word". That can be taken literally as in Mum or Mom for Mother's Day, which is what I did, or keeping something under wraps, as in a secret. Or you may find yet another meaning. That's one of the great things about Heart 2 Heart Challenges is that there can be so many ways to interpret a challenge! 

I needed a Mother's Day card, so this challenge was a perfect way for me to create that card and still complete the challenge :) 

I pulled out my favourite paper pack - Blossom - to create my card. I used a sketch from the Make It From Your Heart - Volume 2 book. A few Cricut cuts later, some glitter paper and embellishments and this was not a difficult card to complete at all. The tops of the stick pins were coloured using a ShinHan marker (green) and a Sharpie marker for the orange one. I tried using a ShinHan marker to do the orange one but it wasn't dark enough so I had to resort to my Sharpie marker for that one. I am sure my mom will love this card! 

Join us at Heart 2 Heart Challenges and create your project today. 

You have the entire month to enter any of the challenges at Heart 2 Heart so get your 

creative mojo going and join us! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: Blossom Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Sunset Cardstock, Teal Glitter Paper
Stamps: Perfect Fit Frames, Holiday Tags
Inks: Pear, Lagoon, Sunset
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Bling Stick Pins (ret.), Teal Base and Bling Embellishments (ret.), Laughing Lola Assortment (ret.), Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape, Lagoon Baker's Twine (ret.)
ShinHan Markers, Sharpie Marker (not CTMH) 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Cards for Church Committee

I am once again creating cards for my church when someone is ill or suffering a loss in his/her life. You may recognize these designs from previous blog posts - I just recreated them using different colours or sentiments, rather than trying to find new designs. Using something that works is much easier than reinventing the wheel, right? 

The For Always paper pack is so easy to work with - and I chose to use it to create two of the cards... it goes with just about everything. I'm so glad I stocked up on it before it retired! The third card is created using the Heartstrings paper. 

Supplies for all three cards are listed below: 

Paper: For Always Paper Pack, Heartstrings Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Pacifica Cardstock, Pixie Cardstock, Topiary Cardstock, Colonial White Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock
Stamps: Card Chatter - Sympathy (ret.), Say It in Style (ret.), Perfect Fit Frames 2, Swirls Around (ret.), Stampin' Up Stamp (not CTMH)
Inks: Pacifica, Pixie, Topiary, Slate
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Artiste Cartridge, Memory Box Dies (not CTMH), White Organdy Ribbon (ret.), Piercing and Scoring Tool, Pink Gems (ret.), Black Striped Grosgrain Ribbon (ret.), Memory Box Dies (ret.), Grey Striped Ribbon (not CTMH), Lagoon Zipper Lace (ret.), Embossing Folder (not CTMH) 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Christmas Card Class - Yes, it is the wrong season...

I am taking an awesome online Christmas card class that began early in April. It is organized by Justine Hovey, who is an amazing crafter! More information on this class be be found by contacting Justine here (the price is SO reasonable - and it's not too late to join in on the fun!) She posts a new project each week that includes step-by-step instructions AND a complete video as well. The best part is that by the end of November, I will have approximately 40 Christmas cards completed (assuming I create at least one per week), so I won't feel that awful CRUNCH when the holiday season rolls around and I run out of time to make all those handmade cards! That's what I love about it. And I can alter the products to use my stash of supplies without having to go out a purchase a pile of new products as well :) I have also re-learned some older techniques and brushed up on a few skills I had forgotten about, so that's terrific! 

I wanted to show you what I have created to date: 

This one is open behind the multiple-embossed silver tree. 

This week's theme was "ugly cards" but since I didn't have any really ugly Christmas stamps, I decided to use a humorous approach instead... 

Enjoy, 
Alyson