H2H - CASE File - Thanks for Being YOU!

Welcome to the final Heart 2 Heart challenge in the month of February! 

For our last challenge this month, we are inviting you to take a good look through the current Close To My Heart catalog and choose a piece of artwork that you would like to CASE (copy and steal everything) but put your own spin on it! There are many terrific ideas in the catalog and you don't have to use the papers or stamps shown with the particular artwork - you can use completely different papers and/or stamps - it's more about the idea.

If you don't have access to a paper catalog, you can always look here where the catalog can be viewed online. 

Because the catalog is copyright material, I cannot post the artwork here to show you what I CASEd but it was the layout on p.36. I absolutely love that layout and I wanted to do the same type of thing on a card. I don't feel that mine is even close to the same level - but hey, I tried... 

I changed up the colour scheme a bit but since I did use the same paper pack (I Heart Us), I was somewhat limited in the colours I was able to use. I fussy cut (ugh!) some of the flowers and stamped the rest of the images in a circular fashion (I placed a large cup on my card first and drew a circle to follow). That zip strip with the arrows still freaks me out because it just does NOT look straight, even though I know it really is straight! 

Come and join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us which piece of artwork you chose to CASE for this week's challenge. 

Remember - you still have time to link up with any of the other February challenges until the end of the month! 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: I Heart Us Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock

Stamps: I Heart Us - Cardmaking

Inks: Black, Raspberry, Thistle, Bluebird, Lagoon, Glacier, Canary

Accessories: Gold Glitter Gems, Foam Tape. Scallop Border Die

Enjoy,

Alyson

Colour Dare 331 - Poppy Sympathy Card

Welcome to Colour Dare and Challenge #331!

I had a different card prepared for this challenge when earlier this week, the man of an elderly couple who I visit each week suddenly passed away. This couple lived very simply and they have lost two sons in the service already so they have poppies in various places in their home as a remembrance to them. I thought it would be suitable on this sympathy card to use a poppy - it just seemed like the right thing to do. His funeral service will be a military service as he was a WW2 veteran - and just turned 101 years old! How remarkable... 

I embossed the white background of the card using Versamark ink and clear detail embossing powder using a poppy image. Other than that, the rest of the details are self-explanatory. 

Come and join us at Colour Dare and show us how you interpret this colour challenge. Remember - NO additional colours are allowed other than what is shown above.

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Espresso Cardstock, Kraft Cardstock, Candy Apple Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Anzac Day, Big Hugs

Inks: Versamark, Espresso

Accessories: Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Tool (both CTMH), Poppy Tall Die (Memory Box), Stitched Rectangle Dies, Stitched Circle Dies (GMD), Circle Dies (Nestabilities)

Enjoy,

Alyson

Hello to You via a Vase of Flowers

Three Amigos always has terrific challenges and this one is no exception. They have an inspiration photo up this month and however you choose to interpret that photos is up to you. 

The photo looks like this:

The things that "spoke to me" were the colour palette and the flowers. I always think of colours in terms of the Close To My Heart colours so I see Peach, Glacier, White, Linen and a hint of Sapphire in this photo. The flowers are so unique but I knew I had ONE stamp - just one - that had sort of similar flowers that I could use to create something that looked like the flowers in the photo. 

I wanted to bring Linen into this colour scheme but mixing Linen and white can be difficult so I chose to use texture paste for the linen colour - except I didn't have the Linen re-inker. A little bit of a darker grey made that possible by mixing just two drops with a fairly large amount of the texture paste to create a very light grey shade which was spread over a stencil. 

The flower and "greenery" were stamped in the colours mentioned above and die cut. A vase was cut from the Flower Market cartridge and stamped with a pattern. Stems were drawn as needed and this came together fairly easily. 

Come and join the fun at Three Amigos! There are still a couple of weeks left to interpret the fabulous photo shown above and share your creation with their challenge :) 

Products used are all follows:

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Glacier Cardstock, Sapphire Cardstock (all CTMH), Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Short and Sweet, Background Essentials (both CTMH), Artsy Flower Parts (SSS)

Inks: Smoothie, Peach, Sapphire, Glacier (all CTMH)

Accessories: Flower Market Cartridge, Artbooking Cartridge, Stencil Sheets, Stitched Circle Thin Cuts, Basic Circle Thin Cuts, Texture Paste (all CTMH), Stitched Rectangle Dies (GMD), Artsy Flower Parts Dies (SSS), Sharpie Marker, ShinHan Marker

Enjoy,

Alyson

AH 304 - Today a Friend... card

Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Challenge 304!

I love this sketch! It's so simple and straightforward, BUT it can also open doors to be interpreted in much more detail than what initially appears. Those kinds of sketches are terrific. 

I chose to keep it simple - relatively. My card actually took some time, and I forgot to do some things that I wanted to do, but that's life. 

I used a stamp set that I been wanting to use for some time. My first attempt didn't work because I tried to stamp a couple of the images side by side but when they overlapped, the flowers didn't look very nice. Once was enough on each side. I wanted the flowers embossed in gold because I wanted a gold background. Blue works so well with gold, which is why I chose to colour the flowers in shades of blue. Tiny white pearls were randomly placed around the flowers and in the centre of the larger flowers. This sentiment is one that I love.

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, Sapphire Cardstock, Carolina Cardstock, Gold Foil Paper, White Cards and Envelopes (all CTMH)

Stamps: Fragrant Flowers (Penny Black), Part of My Story (SU)

Inks: Versamark, Sapphire (both CTMH)

Accessories: Gold Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Bitty Pearls, Thin Foam Tape (all CTMH), Cricut Basic Shapes, Copic Marker, ShinHan Markers

Enjoy,

Alyson

Unicorns, Magic and All that Good Stuff!

Welcome to the second February challenge at Double Trouble! 

Again, I am honoured to be their Guest Designer for the month of February. 

The challenge for the next two weeks has SO MANY possibilities... a Tic Tac Toe board, the optional twist to use a "magical theme" and the option to link up with 

another challenge at Use Your Stuff! 

Wow - so much to do, but it really isn't hard to put it all together. 

Here are ALL the details...

I chose to pull out some retired Close To My Heart paper and a related stamp set called Little Dreamer. It's all about the unicorns... The pattern is from Make It From Your Heart - Vol.4

I used one of the PML cards in the paper pack for the center piece and I die cut some silver glitter stars. For the Tic Tac Toe grid, I used the far left side column going down (silver/gold, sentiment and die/punch). I included some other elements from the grid on my card as well but they didn't make an entire row. I don't ink the edges of my papers very often but these papers needed something and that seemed to do the trick as it provided some extra emphasis to each. 

If you use a magical theme on your project, be sure to link up with the Use Your Stuff challenge 

as well as the Double Trouble challenge! 

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

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

Paper: Little Dreamer Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Glacier Cardstock, Silver Glitter Paper, Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Little Dream Cardmaking

Inks: Thistle, Lagoon, Glacier, Blossom

Accessories: Stars Thin Cuts, Silver Glitter Gems, Silver Shimmer Trim, Teal Shimmer Trim, Foam Tape

Enjoy,

Alyson

Lattice Card

I have been wanting to use this lattice stamp for a while now and I need to create some cards for the organization at my church that provides cards for people who have lost a loved one, are ill or can't attend services for a length of time. 

I usually make a bunch of them at once and am in the process of doing that now. This is just one of several of those cards. Usually the sentiment "thinking of you" covers most of the needs...

Purple seemed like a good choice for the flowers on this stamp - and I used a very light grey along the edge of the lattice although it kind of looks a little bit purple as it takes on the hue of the flowers. 

Hopefully this will brighten someone's day :) 

Products used are as follows: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Lilac Cardstock, Willow Cardstock, White Daisy Cards and Envelopes (all CTMH)

Stamps: Lovely Lattice (SU), Say it All (CTMH)

Inks: Intense Black, Willow (both CTMH)

Accessories: Sugarplum Glitter Gems (CTMH), ShinHan Markers (various), Stitched Frame Dies (GMD)

Enjoy,

Alyson

H2H - Happy Heart LO

Welcome to Heart 2 Heart's weekly challenge! 

This week, the challenge is all about hearts - specifically titled "I Heart Us". That is the name of one of the Close To My Heart paper packs - but it doesn't mean that you have to use that paper pack! That is one of the options, but this week's theme can be however you interpret I Heart Us - it really is about love and loving someone or something. 

I chose my precious doggie because I truly do love her! This layout is one that I found on Pinterest - my favourite place to find awesome creative ideas. I really wish I knew who the original creator of this layout was but there was no watermark or link to anywhere so I can't provide that information... 

I used the same photo in each section because I love the photo and it truly does make my heart happy :) All the paper is from the I Heart Us paper pack except the background sheet. That is from an older pack called Calypso. I wanted a Sweet Leaf background and there was no Sweet Leaf paper in this paper pack. There are now cut apart images in CTMH paper packs and I used a few of those plus I used the coordinating stamp set to stamp some images and cut them out with a white border around them. Some of those were used as embellishments around my doggie's face and others near the title. I added some coordinating sequins as well. This layout didn't take long as it is simple and easy. 

Come and join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us your lovely heart-based creations this week! 

You have until the end of February to link up with this or any of the other February challenges. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart 

Paper: I Heart Us Paper Pack, Calypso Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock

Stamps: I Heart Us - Cardmaking

Inks: Lagoon, Thistle, Pixie, Raspberry, Sweet Leaf, Intense Black

Accessories: I Heart Us Sequins, ShinHan Markers, Corner Rounder

Enjoy,

Alyson

A Friend Like You...

The Wreath Builder stamp set from Gina K Designs is a set that I purchased a few weeks ago and finally had some time to play with last week. The concept behind it is that using a template and small images, you can create perfectly spaced wreaths! You definitely need a stamp platform for this to work properly. 

It took me a few tries to make a wreath the looked alright as the placement of the leaves and flowers does make a difference... but just abut any combination can make a decent looking wreath. However, the possibilities are endless! 

This is my very SIMPLE first effort... and I mean simple! I just stamped a wreath using 3 images and then added the small flower randomly afterwards. I cut the wreath exactly in half so I could add the centre section in an oval shape. That way, rather than creating a square card, I could create a standard size card. I love how everything is so perfectly centred! The sentiment and the tiny hearts are from the same wreath builder stamp set as the wreath images. 

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

The Flower Challenge - new stamps and/or dies

                                 

                                              Double Touble - flowers

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Raspberry Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Wreath Builder and Templates (Gina K Designs)

Inks: Raspberry, Pixie, Ballerina, Willow 

Accessories: Pink Shimmer Trim, Basic Oval Dies, Stitched Oval Dies, Bashful Pearls

Enjoy,

Alyson

CD 329 - Gold Foliage Birthday Card

Welcome to Colour Dare #329! 

This week, the colour palette is a choice of a few colours or you can use them all. Just a reminder that although we use Close To My Heart colour names for reference, you are welcome to use products from any company as long as the colours are as close as possible to those shown in the palette. Make sure you follow the instructions on the palette carefully as sometimes all neutrals are allowed and other times, only certain ones are permitted. 

 For my card this week, I chose to use only Mint, Carolina and Gold (plus White). Since I needed to create a masculine card, I really didn't want to bring in the pink shades at all. 

I found this card on Pinterest and because it worked perfectly for what I wanted, I almost copied Tina Wardell's card exactly. Hers was just what I was looking for so why reinvent the wheel? 

I used a retired CTMH stamp set for the background and a Memory Box die cut using Gold Foil paper for the foliage. I added some Bitty Sparkles around the leaves that I coloured with a marker. I die cut a frame to go around the card for some extra emphasis. 

Come and join us at Colour Dare and show us how you use the grid shown above. You have two weeks to link up your project. 

Products used are listed below:

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Caroline Cardstock, Mint Cardstock, Gold Foil Paper (all CTMH), Neenah Solar White Cardstock 

Stamps: Holiday Tags, Brushstrokes (both CTMH)

Inks: Versamark, Carolina, Mint (all CTMH)

Accessories: Bitty Sparkles, Gold Embossing Powder, Heat Tool (all CTMH), Fresh Foliage Die (Memory Box), ShinHan Marker (other), Rectangular Stitched Dies (GMD)

Enjoy,

Alyson

Kind Soul card

Today, I stumbled on a new challenge that is all about flowers - and I LOVE creating cards using floral images so this is right up my alley! 

I have recently purchased a few stamps with floral images and this is one of them. I saw this stamp set used quite a while ago and just loved it. It is too long for a standard card length but I decided not to cut it at the ends and let it hang over. I will just use a larger envelope for the card. I stamped the image using Intense Black ink so the markers wouldn't bleed. I am NOT skilled at colouring and anything I have learned has been by trial and error so this took me a very long time to colour and I was up late last night, working on this. The background was created using two ink colours and blended using sponges. I added a doodled edge just for some interest. 

I cut away the top, front section of the card so the floral image would be front and centre. The yellow flower on the far right helps to open the card. That can be seen better in the second photo. The last photo shows the card completely open. I had to cut a second die to cover the colouring on the back of the floral image. 

A friend of mine who is going though a difficult time and is completely overwhelmed at the moment will be receiving this card along with a gift certificate for a massage, but I am going to use a sticky note inside so she can give the card to someone else if she wants (I know she doesn't read my blog which is why I can post that info here...) 

I am entering my card in two challenges:

The Flower Challenge 

Double Trouble 

Products used are as follows: 

Paper: Lemon Cardstock, Candy Apple Cardstock (both CTMH), Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Part of My Story (SU), Kind Soul (W Plus 9)

Inks: Intense Black, Black, Carolina, Glacier (all CTMH)

Accessories: Kind Soul Die (W Plus 9), Bitty Pearls, Black Journaling Pen (both CTMH), ShinHan Markers, Sponges

Enjoy,

Alyson

Feels Like Home card collection

There are watercolour floral papers available from Close To My Heart that you can colour using a variety of mediums. These flowers coordinate with the Feels Like Home paper pack. They can be used on cards, scrapbook pages or whatever suits your fancy. 

I decided to colour these images using two different mediums. For one set, I used the Sugarplum Shimmer Brush and watercolour pencils along with the Clear Shimmer Brush. For the second set, I use markers - and I'll show close ups of both to show you the difference as there is a definite difference both in colour and finish. 

I used the elements to create a set of eight cards that will be packaged together as a set of gift cards. A mix of those are shown below. 

The first close up shows one of the florals coloured using markers. I had a hard time creating a match to the Sugarplum colour. After several attempts, I found that a ShinHan Marker placed down first and left to dry, then followed by a Copic marker on top gave me the closest match I could find. I then went back with the ShinHan marker and went over the black shading lines and that lightened them slightly. I really like that look! The leaves were done with two ShinHan markers - a lighter and darker shade and bended together. These leaves are small but that is easier to see on the larger leaves on other flowers. 

The other method I used was to colour the flowers in using just the Sugarplum Shimmer Brush. It can really vary in colour, depending whether you have recently pressed the sides to bring more colour into the end of the pen... I went over this flower a second time to deepen the colour and you can see the sections that were not touched a second time as they are significantly lighter. The leaves were coloured in the centres using Derwent watercolour pencils and blended outwards using the Clear Shimmer Brush. 

Either way, there are two very different results but pretty cards. There are also different interpretations of what may be leaves vs flower parts on some of these flowers... definitely open to opinion. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Feels Like Home Paper Pack, Sugarplum Cardstock, Mink Cardstock, Charcoal Cardstock, New England Ivy Cardstock, Fern Cardstock, Sugarplum Glitter Paper, White Cards and Envelopes

Stamps: Card Captions

Inks: Charcoal

Accessories: Feel Like Home Watercolour Dir-Cuts, Sugarplum Glitter Gems, Mink Twine, Sugarplum Shimmer Brush, Clear Shimmer Brush, Bashful Shimmer Brush, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape, Derwent Watercolour Pencils, ShinHan Markers (other), Copic Marker, Olive Ribbon (SU), Grey Mix Ribbon (unknown), Grey Organdy Ribbon (unknown), Rectangular Stitched Dies (GMD) 

Enjoy,

Alyson

AH 303 & Double Trouble Challenge - You are Wonderful card

Welcome to Sketch 303 at Atlantic Hearts! 

AND Atlantic Hearts is pairing with the Double Trouble Challenge this week as well! I am thrilled to be a Guest Designer (aka the Crazy Cousin) for Double Trouble for the month of February :) Check out all the details below. 
We have been given permission to post this sketch a week early since Double Trouble is pairing with Atlantic Hearts for both sketches 302 and 303! 

I love wreaths and the sketch was perfect for that purpose! I turned to one of my favourite Cricut cartridges - Flower Market - and cut a twig wreath twice. I chose a fairly simple but layered flower and inked the edges and placed a tiny pearl in the centre of each. A bit of greenery and a watercolored butterfly finished off the wreath, along with a special sentiment. 

Come and join us at both Atlantic Hearts and Double Trouble for the final week of this awesome challenge. It's all about the flowers at Double Trouble and this sketch is so open to interpretation! You have until Sunday evening to link up your project. 

Products used are as follows: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Caroline Cardstock, Canary Cardstock, Fern Cardstock, Toffee Cardstock (all Close To My Heart), Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Chelsea Gardens Cardmaking, (Close To My Heart), Sentiment Collection (Penny Black)

Inks: Carolina, Intense Black (both Close To My Heart)

Accessories: Flower Market Cartridge, Mini Pearls, Foam Tape, Clear Shimmer Brush, Chelsea Gardens Thin Cuts (all Close To My Heart), Watercolour Pencils (Derwent)

Enjoy,

Alyson

AH 302 & Double Trouble Challenge - Special People card

Welcome to Sketch 302 at Atlantic Hearts! 

AND Atlantic Hearts is pairing with the Double Trouble Challenge both this week and next week as well! I am thrilled to be a Guest Designer (aka the Crazy Cousin) for Double Trouble for the month of February :) Check out all the details below. 

THING 1: Trouble Maker

says, "Make It FLOWERS! I need flowers after this long winter!" Your challenge is to give us flower(s). 

Don't stop here... consider Twisted Sister's optional twist (bzzzz...) and/or use the beautiful sketches below for your inspiration.

THING 3: Twisted Sister

says, "Have you heard the BUZZ? I just signed up for a class at the Pacific Horticultural Society on Valentine’s Day and it’s titled the 'Birds & the Bees'."  Don't let it bug you... add this optional twist by including "anything with wings" (bees, butterflies, birds), or something "B"-related or the words buzz or bzzzz on your project(s).

THING 2: Double Dare

has selected two challenges (#302 and #303) at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenges, which are great inspiration sketches for creating Trouble Maker's "Make It Flowers" and Twisted Sister's optional twist. If you decide to use either or both of the sketches, you must link your project to the correct weekly sketch for the date of that challenge.

I decided to use the Frosted Floral collection to create my card. Since I had my card created prior to being asked to be a Guest Designer for Double Trouble, I didn't do the Twisted Sister component, but certainly will for next week's challenge! 

I chose a colour combination of Eggplant, Ballerina, Mint and Peacock, along with White. Mint was a close match to the background paper. Most of the images were stamped and die cut but some were just straight die cut. Everything was then layered and adhered down. 

The sentiment is from another new Stampin' Up set, soon to be seen on a future project, I'm sure! 

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. 

The Double Trouble challenge runs for TWO weeks but make sure you choose the correct sketch to link up with each week and let's see those awesome flowers! This week, it's Sketch 302! 
(They show sketches for both weeks on their challenge blog.)

Products used are as follows: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Eggplant Cardstock, Ballerina Cardstock, Mint Cardstock, Peacock Cardstock (all CTMH), Neenah Solar White Cardstock, Frosted Floral DSP (SU)

Stamps: First Frost, Needle & Thread (both SU)

Inks: Mint, Peacock, Ballerina, Eggplant (all CTMH)

Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Scallop Border Punch, Bitty Sparkles, Thin Foam Tape (all CTMH), ShinHan Marker (unknown), Pink Twine (unknown), Foam Tape (unknown)

Enjoy,

Alyson