Atlantic Hearts Sketch 144 - Sending Hugs

It seems the sketches at Atlantic Hearts just keep getting better and better! Maybe I just love them more and more :) I decided to break out my favourite colour combination for this card - black, white and turquoise. The flower just called out for the Wavy Blooms stamp set and I wanted to use the La Vie en Rose paper pack since it has the gorgeous black and white patterns in it.

This is what I ended up with - and I decorated the inside of the card as well since I wanted to colour more than one flower. Since the sketch is so terrific, I stayed very close to it.

Join us at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge this week and show us your interpretation of the sketch shown above. You have until Sunday evening to enter your project.

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: La Vie en Rose Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock

Stamps: Wavy Blooms, Sending Love

Inks: Black Pigment Ink, Black

Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, White Shimmer Trim, Silver Sequins, Clear Sparkles Assortment, ShinHan Markers - Peacock Green, Turquoise Blue

Enjoy,

Alyson

Friends Card - Colour My Heart Challenge

The colour challenge this week at Colour My Heart includes Peacock - one of my favourite colours in the CTMH palette. After some thought, I decided to combine winter and spring since we are having a terribly cold winter here right now. It was very later arriving but now that it is here, we have been hit hard with a ton of snow and very cold temperatures. These colours are perfect for winter But, I am also thinking toward spring so this card represents a little of both - blooming flowers but in a winter colour theme :) 

The flowers are in 4 layers - the same flower but in 4 sizes to give them depth. The lightest circles from the Blue Enamel and Glitter Dots are a perfect match to Crystal Blue. I even broke out the spray pen for this project! For some reason, my Peacock stamp pad tends to look very dark - almost like navy blue... 

This is the inside of my card. I had some extra Cricut pieces left and decided to use them on the inside as well. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Whisper Cardstock, Crystal Blue Cardstock, Peacock Cardstock, Enchantment Fundamental Cardstock (Peacock), Whimsy Fundamental Cardstock (Crystal Blue)
Stamps: Pretty Petals, Hello Blooms, Beautiful Friendship
Inks: Peacock, Whisper, Peacock Reinker
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Artiste Cartridge, Artbooking Cartridge, Teal Shimmer Trim, Spray Pen, Blue Enamel and Glitter Dots, Thin Foam Tape, Scallop Border Punch

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Charlotte Workshop Cards

The following cards were created using the Close To My Heart workshop guide created by Denise Anderson-Turley. It's amazing that we have so many consultants willing to share their talents with us for the purpose of creating workshops for our own customers (which I have done). 

I did alter some of the cards slightly. One of them was to have a white on white background and I wasn't a fan of that so I changed the background cardstock. I also played around with the cardstock backgrounds and changed the B&T papers with some of the cardstock matches that were suggested. I added Slate to the mix as well. I used some different sentiments and I chose to use only the bulk sparkles to keep the cost down for my customers (as opposed to the Grey Enamel Dots). 

I love the way these turned out. My original for each card is shown on the left (with some of the changes) and then the extras that I created are on the right (both cards are the same so only one is shown with the other behind). 

Thanks, Denise, for all your hard work in preparing this workshop! 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Charlotte Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Sorbet Cardstock, Whisper Cardstock, Slate Cardstock, White Daisy Cards and Envelopes
Stamps: Springtime Wishes, Happy Birthday (ret.), Framed (ret.), Have a Happy Day (ret.), Big Hug
Inks: Tuxedo Black Memento Ink, Black
Accessories: Springtime Wishes Thin Cuts, Watercolour Paints, Paintbrush Set, Bulk Sparkles, Thin Foam Tape, Corner Rounder

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Heart 2 Heart - By the Numbers

The challenge at Heart 2 Heart this week is By the Numbers. That means to incorporate numbers into your project in some way. I am also entering my project into the Colour Your Heart Colour Dare Challenge and the colour combination this week is Back, White, Whisper and Slate - all very basic neutrals. I decide to use the numbers to create a row as part of the decor of my card, which also includes the recipient's age somewhere along that line... However, that will remain a secret. 

I wanted to add a little something extra to my card and I discovered that one sheet of the Silver Sequins just happened to be an exact match to Whisper - and they worked perfectly with my card. 

Be sure to join us at Heart 2 Heart - you have the entire month of January to enter any of the challenges posted this month! 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Basic Paper Fundamentals Cardstock - Black, Slate, Whisper
Inks: Black, Whisper, Slate
Stamps: Say It All,   Live, Laugh, Love,   Keyboard Uppercase Alphabet
Accessories: Artistry Cartridge, Thin Foam Tape, Foam Tape, Silver Sequins, Chevron Border Punch, White Shimmer Trim, Black Shimmer Trim

Enjoy, 
Alyson

My Little Precious Layout

I have had the pieces for this layout sitting on my desk for almost 2 months... Being away from home for a long period of time didn't give me a chance to complete it and then once it was completed, I had to fit it into the week between a few other posts.

So, finally, here it is. This is my precious Mika. She hates having her picture taken so it is unusual to catch her actually looking at the camera with a decent expression.

The title was a challenge - I stamped the letters with Memento ink but the ink still bled when I tried to blend the marker colours. I wanted to include the journaling under the title so I

added a flip flap and decorated the bottom of it so that part would show through. The journaling is written above that and on the back side of the card. I have no problems cutting my page protectors so I can open them up to read the journaling in my albums. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Pear Cardstock, Thistle Cardstock, Gypsy Cardstock, Peacock Cardstock, Adventure Fundamental Cardstock (Lagoon), Enchantment Fundamental Cardstock (Peacock), Patterned Paper (not CTMH)
Stamps: Framework Alphabet
Inks: Black Memento Ink
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Artiste Cartridge, Artbooking Cartridge, Artistry Cartridge, Kraft Letters (ret.), ShinHan Markers, Clear Sparkles Assortment, Flip Flaps - Small Assortment, Lagoon Zipper Lace (ret.), Teal Ribbon x 2 (not CTMH), Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape, White Hinges and Brads (ret.)

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Atlantic Hearts Sketch 142 - Watercolour Card

Sketch 142 at Atlantic Hearts this week is one that I just loved so I decided to stay about as true to the sketch as you can get! I even kept the bottom design as a flower, exactly as in the sketch... how is that for remaining true to the original design? 

After cutting a background from one of the CTMH Cricut cartridges to use for painting my background, the paint ended up going through several of the openings and after using it twice, it was curling up and I really didn't want to take the time to cut another one. To ensure that they cut accurately, I have to cut twice and that takes quite a bit of time. Instead, I used a plastic stencil and taped it down. That worked perfectly. 

So, here is the card - in pink and purples with a touch of green - love the way it turned out. 

Join us 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: Thistle Cardstock, Eggplant Cardstock, Pear Cardstock, Watercolour Paper
Stamps: None
Inks: None
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Artistry Cartridge, Artbooking Cartridge, Purple Enamel Gems, Watercolour Paints, Paintbrush Set, Plastic Honeycomb Stencil (not CTMH)

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Colour Dare - Thinking of You Card

This is my first time entering the Close To My Heart Colour Dare Challenge - and I did it because I love the colour scheme for this particular challenge. 

The colour combination is Glacier, Silver and White - how cool is that (literally - a cold colour scheme)? I had a definite idea in mind before I started - I knew I wanted to do a wreath but since we are past Christmas, I didn't want it to be a Christmas-based wreath - more something for a friend. 

Working with limited colours can be difficult, especially when silver is limited at times. I decided to emboss the wreath in silver and then add the leaves in Glacier and the flowers in white. The remaining parts of the card were easily done - a few embellishments in silver, the Fundamental paper in Glacier, along with some stitching using floss in a colour as close to Glacier as I could find. I decided to stamp the sentiment in Slate as it was as close to silver as possible and wasn't as stark as black. Some clear sparkles mimic silver and that finished off my card. I'm happy with the way this turned out. The photography really doesn't do it justice - it is a lot prettier in real life. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Glacier Cardstock, Whimsy Fundamental Cardstock Pack (Glacier)
Stamps: Say it All, Doodled Designs
Inks: Slate, Versamark
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Silver Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Quilling Tool, Clear Sparkles Assortment, Silver Shimmer Trim, Silver Tape, Thin Foam Tape, Diamond Embossing Folder, Turquoise Embroidery Floss (not CTMH)

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Heart 2 Heart - Number 1!

It's so good to be back! Thanks to everyone for the personal messages and emails. My mom is doing a lot better but it was (and continues to be) a very stressful time for my family. I am SO glad to be back to creating once again. 

You're Number 1! That's what Heart 2 Heart is all about for the first challenge of the year. January is the start to a new year with everything about firsts. And first can be anything you want it to be. I chose to do a birthday card and focus on how important that individual is! The actual birthday greeting is inside the card as shown below. 

Using a colour scheme of Peacock, White Daisy and gold, I chose to use some of the Fundamental cardstock and just a few embellishments. The pattern for the card is taken from Make It From Your Heart - Volume 2. 

Join us at Heart 2 Heart Challenges to show us how you interpret the FIRST challenge of 2016. You have the entire month of January to enter any of the challenges this month. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Peacock Cardstock, Paper Fundamentals - Peacock
Stamps: Birthday Funnies, Joyful Birthday, Cricut Artiste Collection - Kudos
Inks: Peacock Pigment Ink, Peacock
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Fundamental Assortment - Peacock, Gold Foil Tape, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Foam Tape, White Enamel Stars, Gold Sequin Assortment

Enjoy, 
Alyson