AH 240 - MistleTOE Wishes

Welcome to another sketch at Atlantic Hearts. This week the sketch is pretty minimalistic - two small images, each in a corner, and a diagonal line across the card. This opens things up to a LOT of interpretation. I decided to stay rather close to the sketch this time. I was considering using flowers but thinking about Christmas, I have had a stamp with elf feet for ages and I have never used it, so I waned to do something with that.

I looked hard for sentiment using those feet but the best I could find was what I used. That kind of required mistletoe on my card as well... I decided to place a cute little reindeer under the sprig of mistletoe. My Cricut came in handy to write the title as I really didn't want to stamp it. 

Come and join us at Atlantic Hearts and show us how you interpret 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, Cranberry Cardstock, Emerald Cardstock

Stamps: Season's Tweetings (ret.), Elf Shoes (So Suzy Stamps), Santa's List (Your Next Stamp)

Inks: Tuxedo Black Memento Black

Accessories: Artbooking Cartridge, Base Camp Cartridge (not CTMH), Gold Cricut Pen (not CTMH), ShinHan Markers, Metallic Gold Marker (Sharpie)

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Colour Dare 271 - Happy Ho Ho Ho to You

Welcome to another challenge at Colour Dare! This week, it's all about Beary Christmas colours. If you happen to have the Beary Christmas paper pack, that makes it really easy as all the colours are taken from that paper package. If not, the basic Christmas colours are pretty standard and easily found. 

We ask that you use at least three colours from the palette including neutrals. There are MANY from which to choose!

I found a stunning Christmas card on Pinterest but unfortunately, the link didn't lead to a specific gallery and the card was not watermarked so I can't tell who was the creator. I pretty much CASEd this gorgeous card because it was perfect for these colours and I loved the design. 

I used only the Cranberry and New England Ivy papers from the Beary Christmas paper pack along with White Daisy cardstock. I did use a tiny bit of Cranberry cardstock for the leaves in the corner.  The background for the sentiment was sponged using Cranberry ink and the sentiment was stamped using both Fern and New England Ivy. I dug out some very old Cranberry grosgrain ribbon and I love  the effect it adds to the card. 

Join us at Colour Dare and show us how you use some or all of the colours in this palette.

This challenge is open until Thursday, December 7 at 10pm EST. 

Our last two challenges are extra special Christmas challenges - more about that shortly so stay posted :) 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Beary Christmas Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Cranberry Cardstock

Stamps: Ho Ho Ho 

Inks: Cranberry, Fern, New England Ivy

Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge (ret.), Artistry Cartridge (ret.), Flower Market Cartridge (ret.), Cranberry Grosgrain Ribbon (ret.), Red Enamel Gems, Sponge Daubers, Foam Tape

Enjoy,

Alyson

H2H - Do Be Bashful

Welcome to another challenge at Heart 2 Heart. This week, it is all about Bashful! Bashful can be a lot of things - it can be shy, timid or easily embarrassed. It can be Bashful, one of the Seven Dwarfs - he was always my favourite! Or is can be Close To My Heart's Colour of the Year! 

I chose to go with the last option - the colour option. The cardstock is now double sided so you have TWO shades of Bashful to work with in addition to the Bashful Glitter paper! 

As I was looking through my doggie's scrapbook album, I realized that I don't have a layout done for when I first brought her home - that very first evening! She was just so adorable - and just under two pounds. I chose to journal on the back of this layout which is why you don't see any writing on the front. I also used the lighter side of the Bashful cardstock for the base of the layout. The flowers are stamped with Bashful for the first layer and then Pansy for the second layer. The glitter paper is very close in shade to the cardstock... and can be hard to see in the photo. 

Join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us how you interpret the Do Be Bashful theme. You have until the end of November to link up with this or any of the other November challenges. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Bashful Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Pansy Cardstock, Willow Cardstock, Bashful Glitter Paper

Stamps: Framework Alphabet, Flourishes, Ink Blot (ret.), Hello Lovely Scrapbooking (ret.)

Inks: Tuxedo Black Memento Ink, Black, Willow, Pansy, Bashful

Accessories: Artbooking Cartridge, Artistry Cartridge, Art Philosophy Cartridge (ret.), Artiste Cartridge (ret.), Black Shimmer Trim, Clear Shimmer Brush

Enjoy,

Alyson

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Just for Fun Blog Hop

Welcome to the Just for Fun blog hop. This blog hop features products from the Fundamentals line as that is the featured special in the month of November! There are Paper Packs, Complements and Ribbon packs available in 4 different combinations - Adventure, Enchantment, Whimsy and Basics. Each has its own distinct flavour. Some are bold while others are more subdued. The consultants along this blog hop will present a wide variety of projects using these products - and I am sure you will see all 4 palettes represented as well.

You should have arrived here from Krista Hershberger's blog.

If you get lost along the way, there is complete list of participants on Melinda Everitt's blog.

On the last blog hop, I was so inspired by a card made by a friend of mine, Brenda Lapp. Her Christmas card was just beautiful - so I contacted her to check if she would be ok if I used her basic idea for this bog hop but with different colours. Her original card can be seen here. I chose to use the Thistle dotted page from the Whimsy Fundamentals for the base of my card and the striped Pansy piece from the Adventure Fundamentals to create my poinsettias. The leaves and branches are Cricut cut using Charcoal cardstock and Silver Glitter paper. I coloured in the Bitty Sparkles with the Lavender ShinHan marker.

I hope you enjoyed my project.

The next blog on this hop is Darlys Recker's blog.

I am sure she has something terrific to share with you.

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Whimsy Fundamentals, Adventure Fundamentals, White Daisy Cardstock, Charcoal Cardstock, Silver Glitter Paper

Stamps: Beary Christmas

Inks: Pansy, Eggplant, Black

Accessories: Flower Market, Corner Rounder, Sponge Daubers, White Pearls, Bitty Sparkles, ShinHan Marker, Clear Shimmer Brush

Enjoy,

Alyson

Atlantic Hearts 238 - Joy Wreath

It's time for another Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. This one is in the shape of a wreath - one of my favourite designs! 

I decided to pull out a stamp set that I have had since last year but have only used a couple of times. It is a triple stamping set - the base of the wreath is stamped in one colour, the the second set of leaves is stamped over the first set in a second colour and the berries are added on top of that in a third colour. The stamps are designed to line up with each other. 

I wanted to mount the finished wreath on a piece of patterned paper that looked like wood so I went back to last year's Rustic Fundamental papers. That meant that Heather was the colour of choice for the base of my wreath. Lagoon was the second colour and Ruby made up the berries. Some stray ribbon in Lagoon was used to hang the wreath. The silver JOY sentiment was die cut four times for thickness and layered on top of each other. 

Come and join us at Atlantic Hearts and show us how you interpret the sketch shown above. You have until Sunday night to link up your project. 

Product used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Rustic Home Fundamentals (ret.), White Daisy Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Silver Glitter Paper

Stamps: Wondrous Wreath (SU)

Inks: Heather, Lagoon, Ruby

Accessories: Wondrous Wreath Dies, Turquoise Ribbon (not CTMH) 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Hello Lovely for Christmas

I have had this Hello Lovely stamp for some time now. There are lots of pictures of it coloured in various ways - partially coloured, completely coloured, done with watercolours... and it is beautiful every single time. 

Why not colour it for Christmas using red and green? I embossed the stamp using gold embossing powder and then selected various ShinHan markers in red and green shades. I was left with the smallest flower after exhausting most of the red markers that I have so I decided to colour those in yellow. 

I like how this turned out... it took a while to do, though. I am not experienced with blending colours but I did my best. I didn't add any shimmer or anything else to the card - it is simply coloured. I stamped a sentiment at the bottom and here is the finished product. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Emerald Cardstock
Stamps: Hello Lovely (Concord and 9th), Christmas Love (ret.)
Inks: Emerald, Versamark
Accessories: Gold Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, ShinHan Markers, Foam Tape

Enjoy,
Alyson

CTMH Christmas Card Blog Hop

Welcome to the CTMH Christmas Card Blog Hop. This is a special blog hop where we are featuring Christmas cards made with Close To My Heart products. It is time to sit back, relax and enjoy the cards made by several consultants. You will see a wide variety of cards and ideas as you follow this bog hop around the circle because there are terrific products available this season, along with very talented consultants!  

You should have arrived here from Krista Hershberger's blog.

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

I have always been partial to non-traditional colours at Christmas. For this blog hop, I wanted to do something along those lines and stay away from the traditional red and green. I chose to use the Basic Fundamentals along with Bashful. Some people will say that this doesn't look like Christmas but I disagree. Christmas can be whatever you choose to make it. More and more people are choosing to go the non-traditional route and decorate in a thematic colour instead of red and green.

I love how this turned out. I used one of my favourite sketches to create this card. It is 5x7 in size. The lighter banners are stamped in Charcoal using the In the Background stamp set and the tiny leaves are coloured with our Silver metallic marker and a pink ShinHan marker. To prevent the background from being too stark, I used Linen instead of White Daisy for my card base. 

This close-up shows the shimmer on the poinsettia a little better. 

I hope you enjoyed my card. 

The next stop on this blog hop is Darlys Recker's blog.

I am sure she has something festive and wonderful to share with you. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Linen Cardstock, Charcoal Cardstock, Bashful Cardstock, Basics Fundamentals, Silver Glitter Paper
Stamps: In the Background, First Noel
Inks: Charcoal, Black, Bashful
Accessories: Flower Market Cartridge, Art Philosophy Cartridge (ret.), Basics Ribbon Collection, White Pearls, Foam Tape, Clear Shimmer Brush, ShinHan Marker, Silver Metallic Marker, Sponge Daubers, Corner Rounder

Enjoy,
Alyson

Colour Dare 269 - Flowering Christmas Tree

Welcome to another Colour Dare challenge. It's a beautiful combination of colours this week - perfect for a flowering Christmas Tree! 

I decided to pull out a die that I haven't used for a few years. I paired it with a retired embossing folder that sort of looks like snow falling in the background. I cut the die twice - once in Glacier (blue) and the second time in Bashful (pink). I cut out the flowers from the second one and placed them on top of the first cut. I had a hard time with the Toffee colour in this combination but decided to colour some Bitty Sparkles in that colour and add them to the centre of the flowers. All of it was matted on a couple of rectangular mats and it was an easy to create card. 

Join us at Colour Dare and show us how you use this colour combination to create a project. You have two weeks to link up your project as the closing date for entries is Thursday, November 23 at 10pm EST. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Glacier Cardstock, Bashful Cardstock

Stamps: none

Inks: none

Accessories: Flowering Christmas Tree Die (Memory Box), Bitty Sparkles, ShinHan Marker, Cascading Dots Embossing Folder (ret.)

Enjoy,

Alyson

H2H - Enchantment Abounds

Welcome to another challenge at Heart 2 Heart. This week, the challenge is Enchantment Abounds. Since this is a Close To My Heart based challenge site, Enchantment relates directly to a line of papers, inks and related products that are carried by Close To My Heart. There are 10 colours in that colour group: Saffron, Goldrush, Poppy, Ruby, Pomegranate, Eggplant, Sapphire, Peacock, Fern and New England Ivy.

Enchantment can also relate to something enchanted such a a magical forest or something similar.

I chose to go with the Enchantment colour palette.

My card is for a male friend who is celebrating a birthday. I created the background in Design Space by cutting out the triangles from a rectangular base piece. I used three inks on a large block to create the background. I just tapped the ink pads (Goldrush, Ruby and Sapphire) in various places until the block was covered and then let the ink bead with small drops of water added. I turned the block over and pressed it onto the cardstock. The Ruby ink turned much darker than I expected. I backed that piece with some retired embossed cardstock.

The sentiment is from a retired stamp set called Tagged with Love. A few ribbons and embellishments were added to finish off the card.

Join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us how you interpret the Enchantment Abounds challenge. You have the entire month of November to link up your project.

Products used are all Close to My Heart

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Pomegranate Cardstock, Enchantment Fundamentals (old stock - retired), Cats and Bats Paper Pack, Gold Glitter Paper
Stamps: Tagged with Love (ret.)
Inks: Pomegranate, Ruby, Sapphire, Goldrush
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge (ret.), Enchantment Ribbon Collection (old stock - ret.), White and Gold Ribbon, White Twine, Blue Burlap Ribbon, Cats and Bats Dots, Foam Tape, Corner Rounder

Enjoy,
Alyson