Heart 2 Heart - THREE!

The challenge this week at Heart 2 Heart is Three! Since it is the beginning of March (well officially, not until tomorrow), and March is the third month of the year, the theme is THREE! So anything you can create that represents three is a go!

I decided to stretch it this time as I really didn't want to create a card with a three on it... I decided instead to do a layout that contained THREE photographs. This is a layout of my beautiful doggie, Mika.

The journaling explains how she is a dog who loves to burrow under the blankets and she was so tired that she couldn't even keep her eyes open (as you can see by the bottom picture). I don't very often get good pictures of her as she hates having her picture taken so this was a lucky set of pictures.

I used an old sketch from Pinterest as my guide and cut a stencil from the Artbooking cartridge to provide a bit of added interest up top on the paper.

This shows a close up of the photo area...

Join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us your interpretation of THREE. You have the entire month of March to enter any or all of the challenges posted this month. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Slate Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Glacier Cardstock
Stamps: None
Inks: Whisper
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Artiste Cartridge, Artbooking Cartridge, Artistry Cartridge, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape, Grey Enamel Gems, Silver Sequins, ShinHan Marker, Black Sparkle Flourishes - Small (ret.)

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Atlantic Hearts Sketch 148 - Charlotte

Like I have said every time with Atlantic Hearts, the sketches are simply awesome! I just rotated this one 90 degrees and instead of using a circle, I filled that space with flowers instead. I added my sentiment along the side of the card as well. 

I chose to stamp the flowers directly onto some of the patterned papers to create a little more interest but that is difficult to see in the photo. Same with the Bitty Sparkles at the ends of the black strips. Such is life with photo editing at times... 

Join us at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and show us your interpretation of this sketch. You have until Sunday evening to link up your project. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Charlotte Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Whisper Cardstock

Stamps: Holiday Tags, Springtime Wishes

Inks: Tuxedo Black Memento Ink, Slate

Accessories: Springtime Wishes Thin Cuts, Coral Shimmer Trim, Silver Foil Tape, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape, Silver Sequins, Bitty Sparkles, ShinHan Marker

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Cut Flowers Card

With so many birthdays coming up in the next couple of months, I have lots of birthday cards to create. 

This one came as a result of several leftover flowers from a layout that I created a few days ago ( to be seen later as it is for an upcoming design team challenge). 

I decide to place the flowers at the edge of the card and then cut around them as I wanted the side of the card to reflect the shape of the flowers. I stayed with just three colours - Lagoon, Glacier and White. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Lagoon, Cardstock, Glacier Cardstock, Adventure Fundamental Cardstock Pack (Lagoon)
Stamps: Framed (ret.)
Inks: Lagoon, Glacier
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Teal Glitter Paper, Teal Shimmer Trim, White Shimmer Trim, Aqua Dots

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Penelope Cards

The cards below are all created using the workshop guide created by Christine Adams. They are adorable and I love them I can't wait to put them to use! I won't be using these as a workshop, though, simply due to the extensive amount of time that they took to create. The cutting took quite a bit of time but the assembly took even longer and I didn't add the foam tape as suggested for the vast majority of the cards, either! 

There were two of each card created - for a couple of them, both of the cards are shown here as they are slightly different.

The list of supplies at the end includes ALL the supplies for all the cards. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Penelope Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock

Stamps: Spring Critters, Sending Love, Love Right Now (from Cricut Artistry)

Inks: Black, Crystal Blue, Thistle

Accessories: Artisty Cartridge, Corner Rounder, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape, Penelope Complements, Playful Puffies, Limeade Washi Pack, Silver Shimmer Trim, Pixie Extra Thick Twine

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Heart 2 Heart: Colour Challenge

This week at Heart 2 Heart, we have a colour challenge. It is shades of red, black and white. I love working with black and white and the La Vie en Rose paper pack is one of my favourites because any colour goes with it. It just happens to have a gorgeous sheet of red and pink flowers enclosed with it but I didn't choose to use that for my card. Instead, I chose a piece of paper from the Sangria paper pack - and I just happened to pick a piece that was quite uniform in colour, considering it is the piece that fades in and out with various colours from that paper pack. It is almost uniformly Pomegranate in colour. 

I have wanted to use the Little Things stamp for ages and this was the perfect opportunity! 

Join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us your interpretation of red, white and black. You have the rest of February to enter any or all of the challenges posted this month! 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: La Vie en Rose paper pack, Sangria paper pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock
Stamps: Little Things
Inks: Black
Accessories: Foam Tape, Sangria Assortment, Grey Enamel Gems, Silver Sequins

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Atlantic Hearts 146 - Hoppy Birdy

Loving the sketches at Atlantic Hearts - so much so that I am staying very true to them! This one had me thinking about an upcoming birthday... and the individual has a good sense of humour, so I decided to capitalize on that. The Penelope paper pack has gorgeous colours for spring and there is a beautiful sheet covered with birds that gave me the idea for this card. I used part of one of the Picture My Life cards for the bottom of my card. The rest of it was cut from the Cricut and the sentiment was stamped - a perfect fit for the card! 
I am also going to add this card to the Heart 2 Heart Challenge this week, even though I am on the design team there, as Penelope is my favourite current paper pack. 

Join us at Atlantic Hearts 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: Penelope Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Thistle Cardstock, Eggplant Cardstock, Pear Cardstock, Topiary Cardstock
Stamps: Curlicue Alphabet (part of the Artfully Sent Cricut Collection)
Inks: Crystal Blue
Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Artbooking Cartridge, Artistry Cartridge, Thin Foam Tape, Foam Tape, Bitty Sparkles, Purple Hearts Enamel and Glitter Gems, Pink Shimmer Trim

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Colour my Heart Colour Dare - Charlotte Colours with Blessed Card

The challenge this week at Colour My Heart is to use the colours associated with the Charlotte paper pack - a paper pack that is so popular right now. I decided to do something very different. Rather than using the papers from the paper pack, I used just the colours from the pack and one image from the related stamp set. I wanted my card to stand out from the rest and I hope that no-one else has the same idea! 

I love the bush-type stamp from the January Stamp of the Month - Beloved Bouquet, so I used that image for the background. A coupe of ShinHan markers were able to give me a close match to Sorbet for the flower. The following inks were used to create the background - Slate, Whisper, Champagne and Sorbet. 

I love the way this turned out but I had to practice a few times on scrap paper to work out which colours would blend together in the best combinations. 

Be sure to enter this week's challenge at Colour My Heart. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Whisper Cardstock
Inks: Black Pigment Ink, Black 
Stamps: Springtime Wishes, Beloved Bouquet (ret.)
Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Artistry Cartridge, Springtime Wishes Thin Cuts, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, ShinHan Markers, Sponges

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Feathers Birthday Card

A good friend of mine has a birthday coming up and I often find it very difficult to create masculine birthday cards. This one is completely CASEd from Pinterest. I was looking around there for ideas and I came across a gorgeous card created by Carolyn King. I completely lifted her idea because I loved it so much and it was perfect. Check out her blog if you wish - she has a lot of terrific ideas! 

For this card, I chose a colour scheme of Sapphire and the Whisper paper from the Urban paper pack. For the feathers, I stamped two of them using a combination of Glacier and Whisper inks. Another was stamped in Black and the last was coloured in using a variety of ShinHan markers. The twine is just some that I had left over. I actually used a straightening iron to take the kinks out of it so it would sit flat - a trick I found on Pinterest. 

So, here is the final product...

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Urban Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Sapphire Cardstock, Neutrals Fundamental Cardstock Pack (Black)
Stamps: Feathers, Just to Say
Inks: Black, Whisper, Glacier, Tuxedo Black Memento Ink
Accessories: ShinHan Markers, Scallop Punch, Diamond Embossing Folder, Corner Rounder, Twine (old CTMH?)

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Happy Birthday Pleat Fold Card

With so many birthdays coming up in the next several weeks, any opportunity I can take to create a card for that purpose is a wonderful opportunity. This card is for the Colour Dare Challenge Blog - I LOVE the colour combination this week - Pixie, Thistle, Glacier and White. 

I really wanted to try a pleat fold and I love the way it turned out. 

The flowers are actually stamped in Pixie but it's very difficult to tell from the photo - Thistle and Pixie look very similar under the lighting that I use. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Penelope Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Glacier Cardstock, Whimsy Fundamental Cardstock Pack (Pixie)
Stamps: Holiday Tags, Springtime Wishes
Inks: Thistle, Pixie, Glacier
Accessories: Glacier Thick Twine, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape, Purple Hearts Enamel and Glitter Duos

Enjoy, 
Alyson

February Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - Balloon Animals

Welcome to February's Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! This month, we are featuring the stamp set "Balloon Animals" - a set of 13 stamps. This set of stamps is terrific for creating cards or layouts for kids who are celebrating a birthday or other event or even for the young at heart! The bloggers along this blog hop will show you several ideas, so sit back and enjoy the tour. 

You should have arrived here from Michelle Jones' blog. 

If you get lost, a list of all blogs can be found here. 

The stamp set looks like this.

I decided to create a simple birthday (or other event) card with this stamp set. Using the colourful Penelope papers, I used those for the background and the banners and then stamped the balloon animals in coordinating colours. This card came together very easily and I just added a few of the Treasured Puffies for some interest. So simple and easy... 

I hope you enjoyed my project. 

The next blog on the hop is Lauren Moore's blog. 

I'm sure she has something wonderful to share with you.

You can get this stamp set for just $6 this month with a $50 purchase. 

Visit my shopping site here. 

Remember this stamp set is only available until February 29th! 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Penelope Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock

Stamps: Balloon Animals

Inks: Pear, Thistle, Honey, Crystal Blue, Black

Accessories: Black Journaling Pen, Treasured Puffies

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Heart 2 Heart - Two!

The challenge this week at Heart 2 Heart is two! Two because it is the beginning of February, so it is the second month of the year. So, two of something, the number two, seconds - however you interpret "two". 

I chose to create a card that has the number "2" on it. Not intentionally, this card has absolutely no stamping on it at all... it is entirely created using images from the Cricut. I intended to use stamps to stamp my numbers but I also wanted to use a wreath with a bird and by the time I cut that in the size I wanted, the stamps I thought I might use ended up being just a little too large, so cricut cuts worked out better... C'est la vie! 

So, I ended up with a 5x7 card - no idea who the eventual recipient will be, but I think it is kind of cute :) 

Join us at Heart 2 Heart to show us your interpretation of two. You have the entire month of February to enter any of the challenges this month! 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Penelope Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Topiary Cardstock, Thistle Cardstock, Pixie Cardstock, Eggplant Cardstock

Stamps: none

Inks: none

Accessories: Artbooking Cartridge, Artistry Cartridge, Clear Sparkles Assortment, Black Journaling Pen, ShinHan Marker - Lavender

Enjoy, 

Alyson