H2H - Fall in Love with...

The theme for this week's Heart 2 Heart challenge is "Fall in Love with..." Valentine's Day is coming up before much longer but I decided to do something different for this theme and create an overall HAPPY card - with a Happy Everything approach. It encompasses falling in love with life rather than one specific thing. 

I chose to use some of the muted papers from the Hello Lovely paper pack and focus on the gorgeous stamp set that coordinates with this paper pack called "Hello Lovely - Cardmaking". The floral clusters are awesome - I chose to stamp them in New England Ivy as some of the flowers also get stamped in the process. I figured I could just stamp the flowers again and cut them out to layer them on top. I coloured the open sections using my ShinHan markers. That way, my leaves remained green from the original stamped colour. 

Here is my project for this challenge. 

Since it is already January 30th, this challenge is really the first February challenge. You have the entire month of February to enter this or any of the February challenges. Show us what you can do with this challenge of any of the upcoming ones this month at Heart 2 Heart! 

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

Paper: Hello Lovely Paper Pack, New England Ivy Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock

Stamps: Hello Lovely - Cardmaking, Way to Go

Inks: Sorbet, New England Ivy

Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge (ret.), Artiste Cartridge (ret.), Hello Lovely Cardmaking Thin Cuts, Blush Shimmer Ribbon, Corner Rounder, ShinHan Markers, Piercing Tool, Embroidery Thread (not CTMH), Sugar Rush Dots, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape, Clear Shimmer Pen

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Colour Dare #228 - Hello to You!

The Colour Dare challenge this week is made up of my favourite colours in the Close To My Heart palette - Lagoon, Raspberry and White Daisy! Yeah, yeah and yeah :)

Here is the colour palette:

If you choose to enter this challenge, you need to use all and only these colours. If you don't have Close To My Heart products, use something similar. The challenge is open until Thursday, February 2 at 10pm EST.

I wanted to do something a little different for this challenge - I wanted to play with my blocks and inks to create a different background. I have done this before and the results always turn out differently, depending how much water is used... I would like to show you how I ended up with the background that I used. This is the card that I created for his challenge.

All that you do press the ink pad onto the block wherever you want the colour - and try not to mix the colours or you will stain your ink pads. I try to work from the top of the block to the bottom, adding the colours as I go. In this case, it was just two ink pads - Lagoon and Raspberry (the regular dye ink pads). Once I had the inks on the block, from a distance above, I spritzed water onto the block - the first time, I spritzed about 4 times - and ended up with the result that you see below - I added too much water and ended up with big blobs of colour. 

On my second attempt I also spritzed a little too much water in the centre and ended up with a blob of colour in the centre that I really didn't want. My third attempt finally gave me more of the spritzed look I was aiming to get and I ended up using that background. I will keep these other two pieces and perhaps use them for another purpose down the road... 

On my finished card, I added a Cricut cut and some embellishments to finish it off. 

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

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Raspberry Cardstock, Teal Glitter Paper (ret.)

Stamps: none

Inks: Raspberry, Lagoon

Accessories; Artistry Cartridge, Teal Shimmer Trim (ret.), Chevron Border Punch (ret.), Black and White Dots, Sharpie Marker (not CTMH), Thin Foam Tape

Enjoy, 

Alyson

EIGHT YEAR OLD's Interpretation of the Wreath Kit

My eight year old neighbour, Addy, is one incredibly talented young lady. She loves to create and work on all sorts of crafts. When she found out that her mom was doing the wreath kit with me and was planning to do both the outer and the inner wreath, she begged to do the inner wreath for herself. I thought that it would be far too difficult for her but I was in for a BIG surprise... 

She arrived after school with her mom (who had been here earlier in the day to do her own wreath) and we sat down together (I had pre-cut the pieces for the inner circle already in the colours Addy had selected based on the design that I had already created). 

I have worked with her several times before so I knew how quickly she learned but it had been a few months since we had worked together. She learns SO FAST and is so attentive to the task at hand. I showed her how to roll one of the flowers and she quickly completed the other two of them on her own. Same with the succulents... and then with a tiny bit of assistance, we curved the edges of the succulents. She also stamped the pattern onto the leaves. 

Then she began the task of attaching the pieces onto the wreath base - deciding where everything should sit. She went about this methodically, making sure the necessary edges poked out just enough. It amazed me to watch her - so much patience and care for being just eight years of age. She was so proud of her final product. I photographed her and the wreath taking care not to damage any of the pieces. That's why the wreath is on an angle - I didn't want to damage any of the pieces, so it was photographed upside down. While editing it, the range kept getting smaller so I had to stop at an angle... 

I want to sign her up as a consultant but I have to wait until she turns 18! 
She is such a pleasure to teach :) 

Here is her final wreath and below that is a photo of her holding the wreath. 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

AH 196 - Celebrate Wreath

I love wreaths - and the one that comes in the You and Me complements package has been calling to me for ages... Finally, this is a chance to put it to use! 

The Sugar Rush paper pack had the perfect Zip Strip pieces to use for the sketch at Atlantic Hearts this week. Those strips combined with one of the patterns in that paper pack gave me the strips to create the background for this card that will be used for a birthday card. The wreath was a perfect complement for the Celebrate sentiment in the centre. The banner was cut from the Artistry cartridge but I just cut off the sides so it would fit within the confines of the wreath. 

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

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Sugar Rush Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Poppy Cardstock, Juniper Cardstock

Stamps: Balloon Wishes

Inks: Juniper

Accessories: Artistry Cartridge, You and Me Compliments, Gold Shimmer Trim, Gold Glitter Gems, Foam Tape

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Hello Lovely Sympathy Card

This card is for a family member who is suffering the loss of a very close friend. I based it on a pattern from the Make It From Your Heart - Volume 1 book and followed the pattern exactly. It was perfect for this card and it came together so quickly. I scored the medallion by hand - I chose not to use my Cricut as it was easier to do it manually in this case. 

That is why I love the CTMH pattern books - in a pinch, I can always rely on them for a fast and easy card pattern. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Hello Lovely Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Fern Cardstock, Sorbet Cardstock
Stamps: Card Chatter - Sympathy (ret.), Sincere Expressions (ret.)
Inks: Fern, Sorbet
Accessories: Piercing Tool, Filigree Charms (ret.)

Enjoy, 
Alyson

January Wreath Kit - 2 Projects for the Price of One!

The awesome Wreath Kit is one that you do not want to miss out on this month! Not only do you get all the fabulous supplies within the kit to create one amazing wreath like the one shown below - like this:

you also have the centre piece of heavy duty chipboard left over! 

That piece can be transformed with a little bit of cutting using a Cricut machine and the Flower Market cartridge plus some flowers from perhaps Art Philosophy, Artiste or even from Flower Market as well with an added background to look something like this! 

I chose colours of cardstock that co-ordinated with my creative space as I am intending to hang mine in that room. You can choose whatever colours complement the place where you wish to hang your finished artwork. It is simply a matter of attaching a hook or ribbon to the back and hanging it up! 

The Cricut file to create these flowers and succulents is here. This is for the Cricut Explore machine only. 

I resized some of the succulents as when I created mine, they were large and I ended up removing some of the bottoms to make them smaller to accommodate the sizes to fit my wreath. 

You will also need to cut a circle image (just bring it in from the side images) and size it to 9.5 x 9.5 inches. It does not fit the circle exactly. You will need to SLIGHTLY trim some of the edges around the chipboard circle with a craft knife to get it to fit correctly. 

There are enough gold letters in the kit to allow you to create most sayings that you would want to use to create two artwork pieces. 

I am more than happy to assist you with the second piece of artwork if you wish! 

For a $60 purchase (before taxes and shipping), you can get this wreath kit absolutely FREE! 

And you get a FREE KIT for every additional $60 ordered as well! 

Orders can be placed on my website or you can contact me directly. 

These kits are available during January only and are while supplies last. 

Be sure to get yours before they sell out! 

H2H - Cold Hands, Warm Heart

The theme at Heart 2 Heart this week is "Cold Hands, Warm Heart". I originally had the idea to create an outdoors scene for this challenge - that card can be seen further down. I went back afterwards and decided to change my focus for this challenge to use warm vs cool colours. 

I chose to use one of the papers from the Sugar Rush paper pack plus one of the PML cards within the same pack for some of the die cuts. The Sea Glass plus the Tangerine make a terrific warm and cool colour combination. 

The card I originally planned for this challenge is a little further down... here are the details for that one.

I am a canoe tripper at heart and have done a lot of it in the past. For this card, the fire took an enormous amount of time to do. The image is from a Cricut cut (not from a CTMH cartridge, unfortunately). I wanted two colours as part of the fire but cutting out the inside colour was a very difficult task as it didn't cut like that. The fire cut as a single colour... Much tracing and fussy cutting later, I had what I wanted. The logs were hand embossed from the back and sanded on the front for dimension. 

Waking up on a cold morning, the first priority is to get a fire going and to boil a pot of water to get a hot beverage prepared. Whether you prefer coffee, tea or something else, when there is snow on the ground, ANYTHING hot will do! 

Join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us your interpretation of "Cold Hands, Warm Heart". You have the entire month of January to enter this or any of the January challenges. Be sure to use at least some Close To My Heart products in you project. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted: 

Paper: Sugar Rush Paper Pack, Tangerine Cardstock, Colonial White Cardstock, Cocoa Cardstock, Desert Sand Cardstock, Sea Glass Cardstock, Peacock Cardstock, Saffron Cardstock, Goldrush Cardstock, Fern Cardstock, Sea Glass Glitter Paper
Stamps: Handwritten Print Alphabet, Balloon Wishes
Inks: Cocoa, Tangerine
Accessories: Artistry Cartridge, Flower Market Cartridge, Cricut Image (not CTMH), , Hearts Thin Cuts, Bling Gems (ret.), Clear Sparkles, ShinHan Markers, Black Journaling Pen, Piercing Tool with Stylus, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Colour Dare 226 - Happy Birthday with DOTS!

I am so excited to announce that I have been accepted as part of the Design Team at Colour Dare! This is my first post as a member of that team.

This week's challenge is to create a project using all and only the following colours: Peacock, Glacier, White Daisy and Black. These are Close To My Heart colours - if you don't have the exact colours, use something as close as possible so you can still play along with the challenge. Be sure to indicate in your post exactly what you used.

I chose to create a birthday card for a friend of mine who is celebrating later this month. These colours were perfect for a masculine card - but who says you can't have a small flower on a masculine card, right? These are also some of my favourite colours in the CTMH palette! I coloured the new Black and White dots (well, the white ones) using a ShinHan marker. The colour stays really well on those dots and it gets darker as it dries.

Join us at Colour Dare and show us your project using the above colours. If you click on the Colour Dare ink pads above, it will take you directly to the blog where you can find the other design team creations and information about entering the challenge. You have until Thursday evening to link up your project. Be sure to use all and only the colours shown above.

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Peacock Cardstock, Glacier Cardstock, White Glitter Paper, Whimsy Fundamentals, Enchantment Fundamentals

Stamps: none

Inks: Peacock, Glacier

Accessories: Flower Market Cartridge, Art Philosophy Cartridge (ret.), Artiste Cartridge (ret.), Black and White Dots, ShinHan Marker

Enjoy,

Alyson

Atlantic Hearts 194 - Birthday Card with Dreamin' Big

Happy New Year from Atlantic Hearts! 

The sketch this week is a layered one and I chose to use a brand new paper pack from the new Seasonal Expressions 1 Catalog from Close To My Heart. There are 4 new paper packs available and Dreamin' Big is just one of them, but it is the focus of this birthday card. I have a lot of friends' birthdays in the month of January so what better way to celebrate than with a card created using a brand new paper pack?? 

I mounted each patterned paper on a thin layer of black cardstock just for emphasis. The zip strip at the bottom was placed on a layer of Saffron cardstock and then on Sea Glass glitter paper for added interest. This card came together so easily as the sketch was so straightforward. 

Join us at Atlantic Hearts and show us your take 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 indicated: 

Paper: Dreamin' Big Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Saffron Cardstock, Sea Glass Glitter Paper

Stamps: Birthday Sparkles

Inks: Versamark

Accessories: Black Embossing Powder (not CTMH), Heat Tool, Red Enamel Gems, Thin Foam Tape

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Seasonal Expressions 1 - New Product Blog Hop

Welcome to the Seasonal Expression 1 Catalog Blog Hop! There are several Close To My Heart consultants featuring projects from this brand new catalog and I am sure that you will see some awesome ideas along the way! So, sit back, relax and let's get started. 

You should have arrived here from Corinna Murphy's blog. 
If you get lost, a list of all blogs can be found on Melinda Everitt's blog.

Considering that just before Christmas, I donated all my leftover cards from the previous year to charity, I decided to create two cards for this blog hop. 

The first is from a new card workshop but I really purchased the workshop because of the stamp set... 
I also have a feeling that a LOT of people will use the "Hello Lovely" paper pack for this blog hop so I wanted to do something a little different for my first card. The paper pack that is associated with this stamp set is "Some Kinda Wonderful". I didn't want to use that -  I wanted to try using something unusual, so I decided to use "Dreamin' Big". I chose the papers that best fit with what I had in mind and I love the way this turned out. 

This close up shows the flowers and the shimmer on them since it doesn't show up in the above photo. 

The second card is created using papers from the "Hello Lovely" Paper Pack. (I couldn't help myself - it is SUCH a beautiful collection of papers and I had to create something with them!) 
I haven't ink distressed paper in ages but these papers are so light that they blended into each other without some sort of definition around the edges. I chose to use smaller patterns to keep the focus on the detailed heart. 

This photo shows the colouring as well as the use of the Shimmer Brush on the word within the heart. 

I hope you enjoyed my projects. 

The next blog on the hop is Michele Rowley's blog. 

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

You can order any of the new products from the Seasonal Expressions 1 Catalog seen on this blog hop on my OBA or by contacting me directly. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted (for both cards): 

Paper: Dreamin' Big Paper Pack, Hello Lovely Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Juniper Cardstock, New England Ivy Cardstock, Sea Glass Glitter Paper

Stamps: Here for You, Heartfelt Hello

Inks: Poppy, Saffron, Juniper, Glacier, New England Ivy Pigment Ink, Sorbet, Slate, New England Ivy

Accessories: Cricut Design Space Heart, Hearts Thin Cuts, Coral Shimmer Trim, Gold Shimmer Trim, Foam tape, Thin Foam Tape, Red Enamel Gems, Gold Glitter Gems, Sewing Machine and White Thread (not CTMH), ShinHan Markers, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Clear Shimmer Brush

Enjoy, 

Alyson

For a Very Special Lady...

This card is for a very special lady who has experienced a recent tragedy and just happens to be celebrating her 98th birthday in a few days. Here in my hometown, a tragic scenario occurred that caused tremendous outrage in the community when this woman was the victim of a home invasion. Two youths broke into her home while she was sleeping (and she cannot get up on her own). They ransacked her home, causing tremendous damage as she pretended to be asleep during the ordeal. When they finally left, after causing a lot of damage, they also poured maple syrup and oil all over the house, including all over her. Her PSW arrived early in the morning and called the police. She has since been moved to a senior's residence where she is currently staying until the damage to her home can be repaired and she can return there again. The youths, after MUCH media attention, turned themselves into police and are awaiting court appearances. 

This lady is the most wonderful, gentle soul imaginable and loves to visit with others. Her mental capabilities are still very much intact. I cannot wait to visit with her this weekend. 

I created this card using the Hello Lovely paper pack and a stamp set and die cut set from Stampin Up. I did brush the white cardstock with our Gold Shimmer Brush but it didn't show up in the photos. 

The bottom pictures show each panel in closer detail. I will write my message on the reverse of the card. 

This is the front of the card - closed

This shows the card fully open

Here is the first floral cluster

This is the second floral cluster

This is the last floral cluster

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted:

Paper: Hello Lovely Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Sea Glass Cardstock, Sorbet Cardstock, Fern Cardstock, New England Ivy Cardstock
Stamps: Happy Birthday (ret.) Botanical Blooms (SU)
Inks: Fern, New England Ivy, Sorbet, Sea Glass, New England Ivy Pigment Ink
Accessories: Botanical Builder Die Cuts (SU), Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape, Gold Shimmer Brush

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Heart 2 Heart - Silver and Gold

Welcome back to a new year from Heart 2 Heart Challenges! 

Our first challenge of the new year is Silver and Gold. 

(Although Christmas is past, my first thought when I heard that phrase together is the Snowman from the original animated special, Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It is a part spoken by Burl Ives and at one point in the story, he sings a song titled, "Silver and Gold". It's one of my all time favourite specials and I can sing the words to every song and have been able to do so since I was about 5 years old...) 

However, for this challenge, we are asking our participants to use the colours of silver and gold - in whatever combination they wish! 

I chose to create a card using the Basic Fundamentals Gold Overlays. The card itself wasn't difficult to create but photographing it was a really challenge! Shadows make the overlays very hard to photograph... and editing is very inconsistent unless you are familiar with programs like Photoshop (I am not). SO, this is the best picture of several to represent what I did for this challenge:

It's hard to tell but the black cardstock behind the flower was painted using a Gold Shimmer Pen. This time, the Clear Shimmer Pen showed up on the flower! 

Show us how you use Silver and Gold on your project. Be sure to use some Close To My Heart products in your project - you have the entire month of January to enter this or any of the upcoming challenges at Heart 2 Heart. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Basic Fundamentals - Gold Overlays, White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Raspberry Cardstock, Blossom Cardstock, Willow Cardstock

Stamps: Flower Market Cricut Collection

Inks: Versamark

Accessories: Flower Market Cartridge, Silver Shimmer Trim, Heat Tool, Silver Embossing Powder, Gold Shimmer Pen, Clear Shimmer Pen, Thin Foam Tape

Enjoy, 

Alyson

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January Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - Adore You

Welcome to January's Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! This month, we are featuring the stamp set "Adore You" - a set of 12 stamps. This is a gorgeous set of stamps, with some beautiful flower collections, sentiments perfect for loved ones any time of the year (not just Valentine's Day) and a coupe of hearts as well. 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 Corinna Murphy's blog. 

If you get lost, a list of all blogs can be found on Melinda Everitt's blog. 

The stamp set looks like this.

I chose to create a card using some of my favourite papers - the Adventure Fundamentals. 

As I was creating this, I had stamped the sentiment and floral images and was heat embossing them. I couldn''t figure out why the images were not coming out in black or raspberry like I had intended... until I realized that I had used WHITE embossing powder instead of clear! The powders look so close in the container where I store them and I had grabbed the wrong one. So, after stamping them again, they came out correctly the second time around... 

I love the boldness of this card - and again, it is hard to see the clear shimmer on the flowers but it is there! 

The next blog on the hop is Tamytha Jenkins' blog.

I'm sure she has a wonderful project 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 January 31st! 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Sea Glass Cardstock, Adventure Fundamentals, Sea Glass Glitter Paper

Stamps: Adore You

Inks: Black Pigment Ink, Raspberry Pigment Ink 

Accessories: Clear Shimmer Brush, Heart Thin Cuts, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Thin Foam Tape, ShinHan Markers

Enjoy, 

Alyson