Celebrate - Happy 2019!

I have had this card created for some time now... realized late last night that I never got around to posting it. 

With a Celebrate sentiment, it is perfect for the New Year! I chose the blues and pinks from the Oh What Fun paper pack from Close To My Heart and and cut a couple of branches from the Flower Market Cricut cartridge. Some old ribbon and a couple of buttons finished off the card. 

Happy New Year and best wishes in 2019! 

I will be back again shortly with projects for Heart 2 Heart, Atlantic Hearts and I am back on the Design Team with Colour Dare as well! 

See you in the new year :) 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Oh What Fun Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Pomegranate Cardstock, Pixie Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Silver Foil Paper, Neenah Solar White Cardstock
Stamps: Celebrate
Inks: Lagoon
Accessories: Flower Market Cartridge, Scallop Thin Cut, Basic Circle Thin Cuts, Stitched Circle Thin Cuts, Hello Lovely Cardmaking Thin Cuts, Turquoise Ribbon (unknown), Grey and Silver Button, Pink Button, Pink Waxy Flax

Enjoy,
Alyson

AH 296 - HAPPY Eclipse card

Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Sketch 296! 

This seems like a very basic sketch - with room for a super large sentiment! 

I thought it was perfect for an eclipse card - one where the letters are raised on a dark background. The hardest part for me was choosing the stamp to create some sort of background for the letters... I finally settled on a new stamp that I purchased - from Penny Black called Fragrant Flowers. 

I used a single stamp from the set and randomly stamped around the white cardstock using Willow ink. I coloured in the flowers using two shades of watercolour pencils and then used a clear shimmer brush to blend the colours. The leaves were coloured using a single shade of green and also blended. 

The letters were die cut and then raised using foam tape to create the eclipse effect. To stay somewhat close to the sketch, I added some gold foil tape above and below the letters. 

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 as follows: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Thistle Cardstock, Pansy Cardstock (all Close To My Heart)

Stamps: Fragrant Flowers (Penny Black), Banner Wishes (Close To My Heart)

Inks: Willow, Versamark (all Close To My Heart)

Accessories: White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Gold Pearls, Gold Foil Tape, Block Alphabet Dies, Clear Shimmer Brush (all Close To My Heart), Merry Christmas Thinlets (SU), Watercolour Pencils (Derwent), Foam Tape (unknown)

Enjoy,

Alyson

Heartfelt Sympathy card

I was asked by a friend to create a sympathy card - and these always have to be created right away as the need is immediate. 

The Boutique paper collection from CTMH is such a pretty set of colours and patterns and it was perfect for this purpose. I chose to use the Peacock, Glacier/Mint and Peach colours within those papers. The pattern is from Make It From Your Heart - Volume 4. 

My friend was thrilled with this card and is mailing it out today - exactly the reason that we create handmade cards, right?

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

Paper: Boutique Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Peacock Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Know That I Care

Inks: Peacock, Mint, Peach

Accessories: Blending Pen, White Pearls, Foam Tape, Pool Party and Silver Twine (SU)

Enjoy,

Alyson

Heart 2 Heart - Shaker Ornaments

Welcome to another Heart 2 Heart challenge - this one titled Season's Greetings. 

As Christmas Day is just around the corner, this is my LAST Christmas card. All of mine were sent out long ago but I wanted to make one last shaker card for this challenge. 

I chose to use a blue and silver colour scheme. The blues are a mixture from Close To My Heart - Carolina, Bluebird and Sapphire. I used the snowflake paper from the "Tis the Season" paper pack for the front of my card and using die cuts for the ornaments, I stamped the images underneath. Piecing the foam tape took forever to ensure there was a "pool" for the sequins for each ornament. 

An old and a new stamp set combined for the ornaments and the decorative branch above. 

Merry Christmas to you and yours - although I will be back on December 24th with another card for my other design team :)

Come and join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us your Season's Greetings projects. 

You have until the end of December to link up with this and any other December challenges. 

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

Paper: 'Tis the Season Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Bluebird Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock, Acetate Sheet (Staples)

Stamps: Adorn-able, Oh What Fun - Cardmaking

Inks: Versamark, Carolina, Bluebird, Sapphire, Sapphire Pigment Ink

Accessories: Silver Embossing Powder, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Oh What Fun - Cardmaking Thin Cuts, Foam Tape, Loose Sequins - Silver

Enjoy,

Alyson

Snowflake and Trees Card

I had another special request card... This one also to be signed by several people. 

The papers used on this card are from Kaisercraft's Wonderland collection - the colours are STUNNING! I used a base paper for the background so it wouldn't be too busy and then a tree pattern for the inside circle. There are so many beautiful patterns in this collection, I had a hard time deciding which ones to use... 

Rather than using a white base, I opted for Linen as many of the papers are set on a slightly off white colour. The sentiment is from the Wonder of the Season stamp set by Close To My Heart. I chose to use silver and Peacock as alternate colours with this paper as they really brought out the colours. The gems were coloured to match the papers.

Products used are as follows: 

Paper: Wonderland Collection (Kaisercraft), Linen Cardstock, Peacock Cardstock, Silver Foil Paper (all Close To My Heart)

Stamps: Wonder of the Season (Close To My Heart)

Inks: Versamark (Close To My Heart)

Accessories: Silver Embellishing Thread, Clear Sparkles, ShinHan Markers, Silver Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Decorative Border Dies, Winter Flurry Dies (all Close To My Heart), Circle Die, Scalloped Circle Die (both Nestabilities), Silver Ribbon (unknown), Sharpie Marker

Enjoy,

Alyson

Roses for Christmas

I had a request for a Christmas card for a special individual... I went back to a sketch that I have used before expect that I turned the card into a 6x6 size as several people will be signing the inside. 

The rose and leaf dies are from Kaisercraft and are layered dies. There are three layers so I wanted to use three close shades of red to create the flowers. I chose Cranberry for the base, Candy Apple for the middle layer and Poppy for the top. I outlined the top two layers with a gold shimmer brush but that wasn't picked up in the photo. I also brushed the leaves with the same shimmer brush. 

The patterned papers are from the 'Tis the Season paper pack, along with some gold fold paper. 

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

Paper: 'Tis the Season Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Cranberry Cardstock, Candy Apple Cardstock, Poppy Cardstock, New England Ivy Cardstock, Fern Cardstock, Gold Foil Paper

Stamps: First Noel

Inks: Versamark

Accessories: Layered Rose Dies (Kaisercraft), Circle Die (Nestabilities), Open Scalloped Die (Nestabilities), Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Gold Gems, Scallop Die, Gold Shimmer Brush

Enjoy,

Alyson

AH 294 - Circles, Circles Everywhere!

Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Sketch 294!

This week's sketch is all about circles - open or closed, solid or a ring, circles abound! 

I chose to stay right on with the sketch - it was just easier for me this time around. I even kept my circles exactly as indicated on the sketch. If they were shown open, I kept mine open. If a circle was shown as solid, I kept mine solid as well. I had a sentiment and image already in mind and they fit the rectangles perfectly so that made this pretty easy. 

I used stitched circle dies to cut my circles so they have a little bit of extra interest to them. I fussy cut the flowers because I wanted specific ones that were simple but still had room in the centre for a dot the same colour as the stamped image. 

Come and join us at Atlantic Hearts and show us your interpretation of the sketch shown above. 

You have until Sunday evening to link up your project. 

Products used are as follows: 

Paper: Beautiful Friendship Paper Pack, Smoothie Cardstock, Sapphire Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock, Linen Cardstock, Heather Cardstock (all CTMH), Neenah Solar White Cardstock 

Stamps: Lifetime of Happiness (CTMH), Wild about Flowers (SU), Thoughts and Prayers (SU)

Inks: Sapphire, Smoothie (CTMH) 

Accessories: Blue Circle Glitter Gems (CTMH), Stitched Circle Dies (Gina Marie Designs)

Enjoy,

Alyson

Heart 2 Heart - Poinsettia and Pine Cones

Welcome to a fabulous challenge at Heart 2 Heart! 

This is such an awesome challenge - it gives you a few choices and they are wonderful! 

Take a look at the gorgeous picture below. You can use that as your inspiration and there is also a colour scheme underneath. You can use that if you wish or you can use BOTH the photo and the colour palette. 

You have three choices: 

1. the photo as your inspiration

2. the colour palette

3. a combination of the two 

I chose to use a combination of the two. I love the colour palette as it contains some of my favourite colours (Glacier and Lagoon in particular). The scene itself is so peaceful and calming and I wanted to use the branches and pine cones in my card as well. 

I pulled out a stamp set from last year that was perfect to create the branches - Perfectly Pine. The pine cones were stamped using the Wonder of the Season stamp set and then coloured and the sentiment is also from that set. The poinsettia is cut from the Flower Market cartridge and brushed with the Clear Shimmer Brush after it was shaped. 

Come and join us at Heart 2 Heart for this, our first December challenge. 

We can't wait to see how you interpret this awesome challenge! 

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

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, New England Ivy Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Glacier Cardstock

Stamps: Wonder of the Season, Perfectly Pine

Inks: Lagoon, New England Ivy, Espresso, Glacier, Fern

Accessories: Flower Market Cartridge, White Pearls, ShinHan Markers, Clear Shimmer Brush, Nestabilites Dies (not CTMH)

Enjoy,

Alyson

Atlantic Hearts 292 - Flourish Thinking of You

Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Sketch 292! 

Although it is the holiday season, my Christmas cards are all finished and even written and ready for mailing... Don't be jealous - I spent many hours working on them so that I would be finished in plenty of time! So, I am working on some thinking of you cards for a friend who asked me for some of these. And what better chance to create than to use sketches for that purpose! 

I rotated this week's sketch 90 degrees as it worked better for me in that direction. Since there was no designated spot for a sentiment, I placed a circle in the centre of the card for that purpose. I also chose to forgo the bow as the ribbon I used for the stripe wasn't exactly the best ribbon to create a bow as it is very thick and heavy. 

This time, I remembered in advance to apply Stick-It adhesive to the back of the cardstock before I ran the dies through my Big Shot. It makes such a difference as the adhesive is already on the back of the cuts and it makes it so easy to adhere them afterwards! No more fiddling with glue on the thin lines... 

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 as follows: 

Paper: Pebble Cardstock, Charcoal Cardstock, Sage Cardstock, Bashful Cardstock, Charcoal Cardstock (all CTMH), Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Say it All (CTMH)

Inks: Charcoal (CTMH)

Accessories: Basic Circle Thin Cuts, Stitched Circle Thin Cuts, Bashful Pearls, Grey Enamel Gems, Thin Foam Tape (all CTMH), Brick Wall Embossing Folder, Flourish Thinlets (both SU), unknown Grey Ribbon, Foam Tape

Enjoy,

Alyson

Heart 2 Heart - Thankful Heart

Welcome to this week's challenge at Heart 2 Heart! 

The theme this week is Thankful Heart. In the US this is their time of celebrating Thanksgiving - here in Canada, our Thanksgiving weekend was way back in early October. However, it is ALWAYS appropriate to be thankful for what we have. 

I decided to use a theme of thankfulness for friendship. This butterfly is one of my favourites because it can be coloured in whatever colours suit the papers that are being used. In this case, I chose a background paper from the Boutique collection and used similar colours to colour the butterfly. An old sparkle flourish fit perfectly behind the butterfly and the sentiment fit in front. 

The photo below shows the shimmer on the butterfly. 

Come and join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us how you interpret the theme of Thankful Heart - after all, there truly are so many things for which to be thankful! 

You have until the end of November to enter this or any of the other November challenges. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Boutique Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Saffron Cardstock, Glacier Cardstock, Teal Glitter Paper

Stamps: Grateful Heart - Cardmaking, Falling For You - Cardmaking

Inks: Intense Black, Charcoal

Accessories: ShinHan Markers, Black Sparkle Flourishes, Thin Foam Tape, Mint Shimmer Brush, Sugarplum Shimmer Brush, Gold Shimmer Brush

Enjoy,

Alyson

AH 290 - Bold and Bright Fa-la-la

Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Sketch 290!

At first glance, the sketch with the flower pot made me think of a spring like card but remember, the images are simply placeholders and can be changed to whatever suits your fancy. 

I chose to rotate the image 90 degrees to create a vertical card instead of a horizontal one and the flower pot image became the birds on my card. I used some extremely bold patterns so I needed an image that was simple to balance the busy-ness in the patterns. 

Shimmer trim from some time ago matched these patterns quite well so I decided to use that to divide the patterns. I chose to use a whimsical sentiment to go with the birds. The birds were bushed with two shimmer brushes. 

Come and join us at Atlantic Hearts and show us your interpretation of the sketch shown above.

You have until Sunday evening to link up your project. 

Products are as follows:

Paper: Oh What Fun Paper Pack, Holiday Style PML Cards, Lagoon Cardstock, Glacier Cardstock, Raspberry Cardstock (all CTMH), Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Festive Trees (CTMH)

Inks: Raspberry (CTMH)

Accessories: White Pearls, Pink, White, Aqua and Teal Shimmer Trim, Clear Shimmer Brush, Mint Shimmer Brush, Scallop Border Punch (all CTMH), Stitched Ovals (GMD), Pink Twine (SU), Foam Tape (other), Teal Sharpie Marker 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Sliding Polar Bear

Wow - this was a challenge - in more ways than one! 

The Double Trouble challenge alone has a lot of elements to meet if you do them all, and then the tic-tac-toe adds another entire element to this! I thought I had everything and then I realized I was missing the hanging component... so, I added some hanging snowflakes from my title. 

I had an additional challenge to cope with while creating this card - I broke my eyeglasses when I hit them against something yesterday. Consequently, I am wearing a pair that is about 4 years old and the prescription has changed significantly since that time. I can't see close up clearly so it is a miracle if the colouring and cutting is accurate... I will have my new lenses in on Monday - we don't realize how dependent we are on things like that until something happens! 

So, my sliding polar bear will be entered into the Double Trouble challenge - all components - as well as Try Stamping on Tuesday's challenge. Here is the info for each challenge and my card. 

Create a Christmas, holiday or winter project - DONE

Link up with the Try Stamping on Tuesday Tic-Tac-Toe challenge - DONE 

Add a hanging element to your project - DONE

I chose to use the middle line - Glitter, Trees, Winter 

Products used are as follows: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, White Glitter Paper (both CTMH) 

Stamps: Oh What Fun Cardmaking, Polar Bear Holiday (both CTMH), Winter Trees (SU)

Inks: Carolina, New England Ivy, Black, Lemon (all CTMH)

Accessories: Fancy Borders Thin Cuts (CTMH), Sharpie Markers, Foam Tape, Sponge Daubers

Enjoy,

Alyson

Heart 2 Heart - Inspired by Nature

Welcome to Heart 2 Heart's latest challenge! 

This week, the theme is Inspired by Nature. Since it is getting closer and closer to Christmas, I chose to create a Christmas card. I used a poinsettia theme ands poinsettias are most certainly nature related! There are also snowflakes and pine cones on my card that represent nature. 

The main top piece is from the Picture My Life card collection that coordinates with the 'Tis the Seasons paper pack from Close To My Heart. The remaining papers are all from the 'Tis the Season paper pack. The stamp set is the M-size Hand-Lettered Christmas. I chose it because it was the closest sentiment I could find that fit into the circle size that I wanted... I stamped the sentiment using both Candy Apple and New England Ivy ink. The bow was double tied and then slightly spread apart. 

Come and join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us your project that is inspired by nature. You have until the end of November to enter this or any of the November challenges. 

Products used are almost all Close to My Heart 

Paper: 'Tis the Season Paper Pack, 'Tis the Season PML Cards, White Daisy Cardstock, Candy Apple Cardstock, New England Ivy Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock 

Stamps: Hand Lettered Christmas

Inks: Candy Apple, New England Ivy

Accessories: Gold Striped Skinny Ribbon, 'Tis the Seasons Complements, Gold Pearl Gems, Circle Stitched Dies, Basic Circle Dies, Circle Tag Dies, Foam Tape

Enjoy,

Alyson

Three Amigos - Gate Fold Card and Vellum Envelope

Welcome to November's challenge at Three Amigos! 

I love this month's challenge - it is all about interactive projects! I went looking for something interesting to do when I was asked to be the Guest Designer this month. This challenge is open to SO many possible interpretations. 

I found a gate fold card and then decided to expand on it, creating a hidden pocket in the back, allowing somewhere to write a message, and these kinds of cards usually don't stay closed very well, so a band is often required. Rather than using a band that slides on, I decided to create one that closes using hook and loop dots. 

The flowers and leaves were created using a lot of masking - thanks to a stamping platform, it made that process go much easier as the flowers were also stamped in second generation. 

Finally, I wanted an envelope into which the finished card could be placed but I wanted to card to be able to be seen through the envelope. Had I thought about that first, I would have created the card in a smaller size rather than 6x6 but it was too late for that. I used vellum for the envelope but I had to cover the adhesive along the sides with some patterned paper because I had to make the envelope slightly larger than 6x6 for the card to fit inside. Ah, the life of paper crafters - not mistakes, but opportunities to embellish, right? 

Below, I have included several photos so you can see the entire project in all its parts. 

Here is the entire project opened up. 

Let's back up to the beginning and see what it looks like when it is all closed up...

This is the card removed from the vellum envelope. 

Here you see the band and how it can be attached with the hook and loops dots. 

This shows the opened card with the slide out card in the back for the purpose of writing a message. 

There is a pocket on the back where that piece slides in. 

This is just a close-up of the centre section to show the masking of the flowers and leaves. 

And finally. another picture (the same one) of the complete open project with all the pieces.

Come and join the Three Amigos challenge and share your interactive project with us! 

We can't wait to see what you create :) 

Products used are as follows: 

Paper: Live Beautifully Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, New England Ivy Cardstock, Ballerina Cardstock, Vellum, Gold Foil Paper (all CTMH)

Stamps: Chelsea Garden Cardmaking, Chelsea Garden Scrapbooking, Happy Times, Frame it Up, Have a Happy Day (all CTMH)

Inks: Eggplant, Charcoal, New England Ivy (all CTMH)

Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Art Philosophy Cartridge, Gold Glitter Gems, Stitched Ovals Thin Cuts, Oval Thin Cuts,  Rose Embossing Folder, White and Gold Twine, Thin Foam Tape (All CTMH), Scalloped Squares, Tags, Tags 2 (all Nestabilities)

Enjoy,

Alyson

Dec.25th Card

It was time for a challenge today - and this one meets a few of them. I haven't entered a challenge for quite a while because I have been so busy... 

Creating Christmas cards takes an enormous amount of time! 

I was able to make a Christmas card for this challenge - albeit not the type I usually make - but I am sure I will put it to use. The main challenge was Double Trouble.

It is a free for all this week as it is a single week challenge. However, there are some additions... 

Adding a number to your project is the second part. 

The third part is to link up with any previous challenge with which they have combined so I am linking up with Colour Dare challenge #316.





So, my card is very green - I used a lot of different shades of green! I went back to an oldie but goodie stamp set - Perfect Fit Holidays. I embossed the date using Clover Pigment ink. The two smaller circles were embossed with white and then I used a small sponge and various shades of grey (Sage looks grey and Emerald looks almost blue) to rub ink over the birds. That was MUCH HARDER than it looks because it was such a small space to do. Layers and layers of green... 

Products used are as follows: 

Paper: Cats and Bats Paper Pack, Oh What Fun Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Clover Cardstock (all CTMH)
Stamps: Oh What Fun Cardmaking, Perfect Fit Holidays (all CTMH)
Inks: Emerald, Sweet Leaf, Sage, Clover, Willow, Clover Pigment Ink, Versamark (all CTMJH)
Accessories: Emerald Ribbon, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, White Pearls, Foam Tape (all CTMH), 1 1/4 Punch, Green Twine (both SU)

Enjoy,
Alyson