Atlantic Hearts 166 - A Friend Like You

I decided to take some liberties with this week's sketch at Atlantic Hearts... I wanted to do something other than just a cluster in the centre of the card. So, I pulled out one of my all time favourite stamp sets and added the awesome flourish along the top and side of my card. I also added a sentiment. 

This was somewhat of a test for me - it is the first time I have used the ShinHan markers to colour on vellum - and I sure learned a lot. The markers don't blend well on the vellum - they just move the colours around and it runs into each other, creating a new, mixed colour - not blended but really taking on the last marker colour. I also found out that if you colour over the white embossing, it does NOT come off - and these flowers were three of about 12 that I coloured - it is SO difficult to stay within the lines of the embossing! I also covered the final colour with the Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Pen which is what gives the flowers and leaves their gorgeous shine. The sentiment is from another of my favourite stamps - "A Friend Like You". 

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

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Cotton Candy Cardstock, Vellum Paper

Stamps: Wavy Blooms, A Friend Like You (ret.), Dreams Come True (ret.)

Inks: Cotton Candy, Pear, Versamark

Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, White and Gold Ribbon, Bling Gold Glitter Gems, Foam Tape, White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, ShinHan Markers, Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Pen (not CTMH)

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Roommate Gift

Now that the Close To My Heart Convention start date has passed and Laura has received this, I can finally post it on my blog.

I wanted to create something for her that I thought she could use to record her Disney memories but at the same time, if she chose to use it for another purpose, she could do that, too.

I went back to an old 4x4 album that Close To My Heart used to carry and used that - it was the perfect size and allowed me to use a variety of papers but still keep mainly to her favourite colour of blue. I incorporated a fair number of flip flaps along the way and gave her lots of opportunities for journaling but she could also add photos in those places as well. The last pages have also been hole punched so if she wants, she can join the album into a circle or if not, it can sit in a long line - her choice.

It is finished on both sides and I purposely did all the stamping in pigment inks so the ink will not fade if it is on display in a room.

I also did a set of 8 creating cards for her and decorated a box in which to place them. They are for various occasions and I hope that she finds them useful. I didn't post those here.

Thanks for being my roomie, Laura! I trust we will both have an amazing time :)

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: Penelope Paper Pack, Regatta Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Pear Cardstock, Pomegranate Cardstock, Sapphire Cardstock
Stamps: You Are My Happy (ret.), Documenting Moments, Happy Times (ret.), Noted, Springtime Wishes (ret.), Charming Chevrons, All the Details, Bushed Scrapbooking Workshop (ret.), Treetops (ret.)
Inks: (all Pigment inks) - Honey, Pomegranate, Crystal Blue, Sapphire, Pear
Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Penelope Complements (ret.), 4x4 Mini Album (ret.), Enamel and Glitter Duos  - Blue Dot, Florence Sequins, Silver Shimmer Trim, Green Shimmer Trim, Silver Foil Tape, White Twine, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Branch Die (not CTMH), 2" Scallop Punch (ret.), Playful Puffies (ret.), Sharpie Marker (not CTMH), Flip Flaps - Small Assortment, Sponge Daubers

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Heart 2 Heart - Calypso

Heart 2 Heart's challenge this week is Calypso! I LOVE this paper pack - it has some of my favourite colours and the patterns are fabulous. I decided to focus on the turquoise and pink combination for my card. 

I also love a stamp set called A Bunch of Love. Although I didn't use the bunches of flowers, the main sentiment is priceless - and I decided to use that as the focus of my card. It is embossed in white. 

Be sure to join us at Heart 2 Heart this week and show us how you use the Calypso Paper Pack to create a project of your choice. Remember that you have the entire month of June to enter any or all of the challenges this month and you must use some Close To My Heart products in your artwork. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Calypso Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock

Stamps: A Bunch of Love

Inks: Versamark

Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Artiste Cartridge, White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Florence Sequins, Bitty Sparkles, White and Grey Enamel Gems, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape, ShinHan Markers, White Twine

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Some Things... Card

I had a little time to play in my scrap room and I stamped and coloured some images a while ago. They have been sitting at the side of my desk for a quite some time. Yesterday, I saw a gorgeous card that piqued my interest and it is the inspiration for this card. That card can be found at Suzanne Reynold's blog here. I loved the idea of the doily behind the flower. She is anxious to see what I did with her idea... 

The bright pink, shiny Origami paper is something I picked up several years ago at a scrapbook store... don't even remember where it was located. I bought a LOT of it in various colours and haven't done anything with any of it! It was difficult to cut using the Cricut as it had to be on a very light setting since the paper is very thin. I used part of it to mimic a ribbon at the bottom as well. The little gems are retired jewels from Close To My Heart. 

This is the inside of the card - just enough room to write a message to the recipient. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Happy Times Paper Pack (ret.), White Daisy Cardstock, Pear Cardstock, New England Ivy Cardstock, Pink Origami Paper (not CTMH)

Stamps: Birthday Blooms (not CTMH), Rose Wonder (not CTMH)

Inks: Tuxedo Black Memento Ink, Slate

Accessories; Art Philosophy Cartridge, Licorice Adhesive Gems (ret.), ShinHan Markers, Thin Foam Tape

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Thank You Doggie Card

Mika (my small doggie) will be going to stay with some friends of mine when I go to the Close To My Heart Convention and they have a large Golden Retriever named Lily. Mika thought it would be best if she made friends by bringing a gift for Lily, so here is the card (we) created to go along with the bone that we are giving her to try and make friends... 

Funny story about the bone... It was sitting on my desk earlier today and I heard Mika whining and crying but I couldn't figure out where she was as she wasn't in any of her usually haunts. I found her on my desk chair (which has wheels on it), with her front paws on my desk, desperately trying to reach for the bone. It smelled SO GOOD and she wanted it, even though it was almost as big as she was! The chair kept sliding back on her and she just couldn't work her way on to my desk... I promptly picked up the bone and took it to a much safer location for storage until we leave! She was not very happy about that. 

Nonetheless, we both signed the card and the bone has since been wrapped and packaged and is ready to be delivered to Lily when we arrive. 

Products are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: Charlotte Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock
Stamps: I Ruff You (not CTMH),
Inks: Tuxedo Black Memento Ink
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, ShinHan Markers, Black Hemp (ret.)

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Smiles Layout

Recently, I had the opportunity to spend some time with a very special friend who I don't see often. It meant long distance travel for her and for me but the day together was awesome - lots of laughter and fun. Hence the title of "Smiles". 

Notice on the right that I am holding a flamingo... one of the current Close To My Heart paper packs (Calypso) has a ton of flamingos in it and it seems that they are popping up everywhere. When we found this wooden flamingo, I HAD to have my picture taken with it! 

Here's to many more smiles together :) :) :) 

Close up of page 1 

Close up of page 2 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Gypsy Cardstock, Peacock Cardstock, Topiary Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Teal Glitter Paper, Mixed Paper Kits (not CTMH)
Stamps: None
Inks: None
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Artiste Cartridge, Artbooking Cartridge, Artistry Cartridge, Misc. Cricut Cartridge (not CTMH), Thin Foam Tape, Aqua Dots

Enjoy,
Alyson

Atlantic Hearts Sketch 164 - Georgie Flowers Birthday Card

I decided to play around quite a bit with the sketch at Atlantic Hearts this week. I didn't want to use a medallion so I chose to add a cluster of flowers instead and I also changed the orientation of the sketch from horizontal to vertical. Considering there was not a spot for my sentiment within the flower cluster, I added one to the bottom of my card.

Both of the stamp sets I used are retired but I love them so they are staying in my stash! 

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

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

Paper: Georgie Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Whisper Cardstock, Slate Cardstock, Canary Cardstock, Juniper Cardstock

Stamps: A Budding Friendship (ret.), Card Chatter - Birthday (ret.)

Inks: Black, Black Pigment Ink

Accessories: Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, ShinHan Markers, Border Punch (not CTMH), White Shimmer Trim, Magical Sequins, Chevron Embossing Folder, Sanding Kit, Thin Foam Tape

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Colour Dare Blessed Card

I didn't think I was going to get a chance to create anything for this week's Colour Dare Challenge but I managed to squeak out some time today to create a card. 

The colours are from the Calypso Paper Pack and, as much as I love that paper pack, I wanted to do something without using the papers from that paper pack as it makes it more of a challenge. The original ideas I had just wouldn't work as there were too many colours to work with so I had to come up with something else. After thinking about it, I decided to gather a number of images from our awesome Cricut cartridges and create a card by slicing the images into the background. This was a LOT more difficult to assemble than I expected - the word, "blessed" had a lot of little pieces left to make the word readable and adhering such small pieces onto glitter paper was quite a challenge! 

I love the black background and the base is white (just peeking out from behind), so that is where the white is incorporated. 

There is still lots of time to enter the Colour Dare challenge. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Basics Fundamental Cardstock (Black), Teal Glitter Paper, Cotton Candy Cardstock, Pear Cardstock, Honey Cardstock 

Stamps: None

Inks: None

Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Artiste Cartridge, Artbooking Cartridge, Bitty Sparkles, Black ShinHan Marker, Foam Tape

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Heart 2 Heart - Congratulations!

The challenge at Heart 2 Heart this week is all about congratulations! There are usually a lot of things happening around this time of the year that bring reasons to celebrate - graduation, people moving on to different locations for school or jobs, retirement... there are many more. 

I chose to use the sentiment of CELEBRATION rather than congratulations on my card. It's a little more generic and can be used for more occasions, including birthdays. 

I cut a background from the Artbooking Cricut cartridge and used that to lightly sponge a brick background on the card base. The flowers and leaves are from an old stamp set called Love Blooms. Fairly simple but I like the way it turned out. 

Join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us your congratulatory creations. 

You have until the end of June to link up your projects. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Eggplant Cardstock

Stamps: Doodled Designs, Say It All, Love Blooms (ret.)

Inks: Eggplant, Pixie, Memento Black

Accessories: Artbooking Cartridge, Sponge Daubers, ShinHan Markers, Clear Sparkles Assortment, Foam Tape

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Kids' Workshop - The Results

A while ago, I posted a project that I was going to do with some neighbourhood kids as an end of the year gift for their teachers. Today was that workshop.The kidlets worked on their projects, got ink ALL over (I am amazed at how 7 years olds can manage to get ink on their arms and legs when stamping at a table... but it happens!) and completed their projects in a reasonable time period, all while laughing at me and my dog who was all over them, begging for their attention! 

Here are their finished projects, which look remarkably like my original one... I only assisted with things like tying knots and bows. The did all the stamping after being shown how to use the products correctly. They also coloured and added their embellishments and ribbon. 

I would say they did a remarkable job - I think any teacher would be happy to receive a handmade gift like this. They were SO proud of their work when they were finished and that is what warms my heart most of all :)

Enjoy, 

Alyson

June Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - The Long Way Home

Welcome to June's Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! This month, we are featuring the stamp set "The Long Way Home" - a set of 15 stamps. This stamp set is terrific for anyone going on vacation, who has been on vacation, thinking of going on vacation or even who is having a stay-at-home vacation! The bloggers along this blog hop will certainly show you many ways to use this awesome stamp set, so sit back and enjoy the tour. 

You should have arrived here from Wendy Kessler's blog.

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

The stamp set looks like this.

I wasn't sure what I was going to do with this stamp set but I wanted to do something different so I decided to create a northern lights card. Talk about inky fingers as all the blending has to be done with sponges! One of the things about this technique is that the number of ink pads used doesn't really show on the final product because so many of the colours are almost completely covered or you can barely see them! 

I hope you enjoyed my project. 

The next blog on the hop is Darlys Recker'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 June 30th! 

Products used are all Close To My Heart 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Thistle Cardstock Black Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock

Stamps: The Long Way Home

Inks: Black Memento Ink, Black, Slate, Pacifica, Pear, Lagoon, Goldrush, Cotton Candy, Gypsy, Versamark

Accessories: Heat Tool, White Embossing Powder, Sponges, White Gel Pen (from my stash) 

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Colour Dare Challenge - Oh My Happy Card

Wow - this is pretty amazing for me! I actually found the time to create a SECOND card for the Colour Dare challenge this week! I love the colour combination and I stumbled across a gorgeous card on Pinterest that totally grabbed me and I decided to CASE it and use the idea for this challenge. The card can be found at this blog.

Nonetheless, I love the way this turned out. I embossed the flowers in white and coloured them with ShinHan markers, then taking a Q-tip to go over the embossed parts to reveal the white again. They were all fussy cut and the sparkles were coloured with either Sharpie markers or Copic markers. There are actually three different colours - to match the flowers - but it's hard to tell the difference between the blue and the turquoise in the photo. They are purposely placed on opposite coloured flowers. 

The background is from the Happy times paper pack - as white a background as possible but still adding some dimension. I hope that doesn't disqualify me - I wanted to add something to the background without leaving it just plain white and an embossing folder didn't add quite enough. I played around with a lot of options before finally deciding to go this route...

Check out the Colour Dare site - its a terrific challenge but there isn't much time left to get your entries in for this particular colour combination! 

Products used are Close to My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Happy Times Paper Pack (ret.), White Daisy Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock

Stamps: Hawaiian Hibiscus, Happy Everything (ret.)

Inks: Pear, Versamark

Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, ShinHan Markers, Copic Marker (not CTMH), Sharpie Markers (not CTMH), Clear Sparkles Assortment, Green Shimmer Trim, White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool

Enjoy, 

Alyson