Criss-Cross Card with a Daisy

Staying at home has provided me some extra time to create and I am loving that! I saw the sketch over at Tuesday Morning Sketches (#552) and decided to create a card to enter the challenge. Here is the sketch...

I chose to create a criss-cross card - one end flips over the other to create a pocket. I used the Blue Skies patterned paper from Close To My Heart - it has such bold and vibrant colours. 

The daisy on the front was Cricut cut along with the leaves (which are a little hard to see in the photo). The inner card was stamped and the outline was masked and stamped. Three stitched hearts in coordinating colours were added. I brushed the centre of the daisy with the Clear Shimmer Brush and also did the centres of the flowers on the patterned paper. A coordinating ribbon was added at the top of the inner piece to allow it to be easily removed. 

I am entering my card in the Tuesday Morning Sketches challenge. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart 

Paper: Blue Skies Paper Pack, White Daisy Carsdtock, Candy Apple Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Pixie Cardsock, Canary Cardstock, Green Apple Cardstock

Stamps: Sentiments and Stitches

Inks: Sapphire

Accessories: Flower Market Cricut Cartridge, Stitched Heart Thin Cuts, Foam Tape, Lagoon Ribbon, Clear Shimmer Brush, Corner Rounder

Enjoy,

Alyson

Clean and Simple Card Kit

I gave away over 30 sets of cards a couple of weeks ago to spread some happiness to others - now, I need to create more!

The floral image stamp is a multi-step stamp set. After lining up the first stamps for each set, the stamping went very quickly as I used a stamp press. I used four colour schemes - yellow, peach, pink and purple. I selected four different sentiments and stamped each one on two different coloured cards. A journaling pen was used to create a line around the edge of the card and then a coordinating stitched border was placed on the card base. 

This photo shows four of the eight cards. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Saffron Cardstock, Smoothie Cardstock, Raspberry Cardstock, Thistle  Cardstock, White Cards and Envelopes 

Stamps: Extra Special (Altenew), Word Up (Reverse Confetti)

Inks: Intense Black, Black, Clover, Evergreen, Canary, Saffron, Peach, Smoothie, Lilac, Thistle, Pixie, Raspberry

Accessories: Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts, Black Journaling Pen 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Sunburst Cards

I recently tried a technique that I have used in the past but with some different approaches. The sunburst (or starburst) technique is one that creates a sort of rainbow effect. It can be done using bold and bright colours like I used or muted and similar colours to create a completely different result. 

The three cards here all use the same technique - the sunburst is created starting from the middle and working out. The Blue Skies cardstock from Close To My Heart is bold and intense plus there is a pattern on each of the coloured pieces. I used that for each of these cards. 

The first card is a standard use of this technique - covering the section at the bottom using a strip of paper or something similar when everything doesn't quite line up makes the finished product look much neater.

The second card took me forever! The little sunburst squares are approx. 1 3/4" across so working with such tiny pieces was difficult. I started the centres of the sunbursts with different colours to provide a little variety. The white background was embossed and splattered with two shimmer brush colours. The cloud and leaves were stamped, coloured and die cut. The sentiment was stamped and mounted on the same green cardstock as the backing. 

I think this is one of my all time favourite cards! 

The last card is very simple - the sunburst was created on a stitched heart and after all the pieces were adhered, it was die cut again to replace the stitched element. I die cut the same heart from the card front and then embossed the white piece. The sentiment was created by placing thin pieces of the same coloured cardstock on a white base and then die cutting the word. The card front was adhered using foam tape to lift it off the base. 

This is such a fun technique - I want to try it using muted colours next!

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Blue Skies Cardstock (Lagoon, Green Apple, Sapphire, Candy Apple, Lemonade, Flamingo), Black Cardstock

Stamps: Floral Delivery, Beautiful Day, Greetings Mix 1 (SSS)

Inks: Intense Black, Candy Apple, Black 

Accessories: Beautiful Day Thin Cuts, Floral Delivery Thin Cuts, Stitched Hearts Thin Cuts, Stitched Square Dies (GMD), Well Written Dies (SU), Tufted Embossing Folder (SU), Subtle Embossing Folder (SU), Silver Shimmer Trim, Black and White Dots, Silver Glitter Gems, Tri-Blend Markers, Red Shimmer Brush, Lagoon Shimmer Brush, Foam Tape, Silver Ribbon (misc.)

Enjoy,

Alyson

TSOT 455 - You Octopi my Heart

Welcome to another challenge at Try Stampin' on Tuesday! 

This week, there is a sketch along with an optional theme. You must use the sketch but the optional theme is just that - optional. That theme is nautical. 

Interestingly enough, the colours I chose for my card are the same colours as shown on the sketch - that was not intended but happened by accident. 

I decided to use the Seas the Day paper pack from Close To My Heart for the papers. The blue woodgrain pattern was perfect for the background and the anchor paper worked as the cross pieces. I used a water-like paper for the tag and since I wanted the heart being held by the octopus to show up, I selected yellow. It wasn't until I looked carefully at the sketch again that I realized all my colours were the same as the sketch! I added some Liquid Glass drops over the card to simulate water. Very quick and easy this time! 

Come and join us at TSOT and show us how you interpret the sketch shown above. 

You have two weeks to enter your project.

We can't wait to see what you create! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: Seas the Day Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Sapphire Cardstock, Canary Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock 

Stamps: Make Waves Cardmaking

Inks: Smoothie, Sapphire

Accessories: Make Waves Cardmaking Thin Cuts, Liquid Glass 

Enjoy,

Alyson

AH 366 - Texture Paste Birthday card

Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Sketch #366!

It's an interesting sketch this week - there are many possibilities as to how to create the lighter section  (background) on the sketch - inking, die cuts, texture supplies, stencils... those are just a few.

I chose to use texture paste and colour it with the Julep Shimmer Brush. I used a thin chevron stencil and had to do this twice because the thin lines on the stencil moved on me the first time. Even though the shimmer brush has glitter in it, when it is mixed with texture paste, that seems to disappear. After the paste was dry, I splattered more of the shimmer brush ink from two colours - Wisteria and Julep -  on the card base. 

The tag was cut from a Cricut file and the sentiment was stamped using two inks - Wisteria and Julep again. I added a floral die and a die cut to read "birthday" to complete the sentiment. A few sparkles were coloured to match the papers and added to the flowers and also to the letter "i" in birthday.  

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. 

We can’t wait to see what you create!

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Wisteria Cardstock, Julep Cardstock, White Daisy Cards and Envelopes

Stamps: Birthday Joy

Inks: Wisteria, Julep

Accessories: Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, Wisteria Ribbon, Julep Shimmer Brush, Wisteria Shimmer Brush, Opaque Matte Texture Paste, Chevron Stencil (Memory Box), Well Written Dies (SU), Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts, Clear Sparkles, Tri-Blend Markers 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Heart of Gold Card

Close To My Heart has a new Cricut collection available - Everyday Moments. There are complete scrapbook layouts and card images already done for you! These two cards are from the same image, just created using different colours. 

I have to give credit to Carrie Simonds for the beautiful gold card design - I loved what she did and decided to replicate it. 

The images are cut with the letters cut away. It wasn't until I started to assemble one of these cards that I realized I needed the inside pieces for some the letters (R, O, etc.) Of course, all those "leftover" pieces had gone into the already full recycling bin... not fun trying to find them to avoid cutting detailed images a second time! 

The gold card is cut using French Vanilla cardstock and there is a piece of gold foil paper underneath. I LOVE this card! 

The second one has five layers of different bold colours cut and placed on the front of the card base, which is white. A few white acrylic hearts were added for interest. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: French Vanilla Cardstock, Gold Foil Paper, Lemonade Cardstock, Candy Apple Cardstock, Pansy Cardstock, Bluebird Cardstock, Willow Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: none

Inks: none

Accessories: Cricut Everyday Moments Collection, White Acrylic Hearts, Gold Glitter Gems 

Enjoy,

Alyson

CD 391 - Leaves in Blue

Welcome to Colour Dare Challenge #391! 

This week, it appears to be a rainbow of colours but the challenge is to use three shades of any ONE colour. Black, white and neutrals are free to use. 

I chose to use shades of blue - Sapphire, Bluebird and Carolina. 

I actually made this card twice - the second time because I messed up the first attempt. I attached the frames before adding the other elements like the ribbon and the sentiment piece... it just didn't look "finished" unless the edges were under the frame. 
I used a leaf embossing folder to emboss the background and then placed the ribbon where I wanted it and added the outer frame. The sentiment was stamped off to one side and the leaves were placed under the sentiment piece. Finally the inner frame was adhered onto that whole section. A few white dots and a bow were added to finish the card. 

Come and join us at Colour Dare and show us your choice of three shades of a colour 

on the image shown above.

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

We can’t wait to see what you create! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Sapphire Cardstock, Bluebird Cardstock, Carolina Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Celebrate

Inks: Sapphire

Accessories: Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts, Leaf Stem Die (Melissa Frances), Leaf Embossing Folder (SU), Blue Ribbon (Offray), Black and White Dots

Enjoy,

Alyson

Double Trouble Challenge #55 - Rainbow Flowers

Welcome to Double Trouble Challenge #55!

Usually I would add all three "Thing" images separately but one image that outlines the expectations is so much easier. Complete details are on the Double Trouble Challenge Blog.

Thing 1 expects you to include at least 3 of the items, colours or patterns in the image. We also ask that you don't leave us guessing - please clearly explain which items you selected. I used 6 colours (red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple) plus the rainbow and clouds. 

Thing 3 demands some form of water (this is optional). I created some dew drops on my flowers. 

Thing 2 is the additional ink - this time to Artsy Stamper Digital Challenge (you do not have to use a digital image - just meet their theme requirement, which is "Spring"). 

I chose to create a scene after a rain - with the rainbow and the grey clouds. A long floral stamp was used to stamp the flowers along the bottom and they were coloured. The clouds were stamped, coloured and die cut. Directly on the card, the rainbow was stamped and coloured and I sponged a blue sky above the clouds. A few drops of Liquid Glass show some dew drops on the flowers. I chose not to add a sentiment to the front of the card and stamp it inside instead. 

Come and join us at Double Trouble and show us how you apply all the "Things" for this challenge! 

I am also linking up my card to Artsy Stamper Digital Challenge.

We can’t wait to see what you create! 

Products used are all Close To My Heart:

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Pewter Cardstock, White Cards and Envelopes 

Stamps: Floral Borders, Rainbow Bridge

Inks: Intense Black, Pewter, Carolina, Bluebird 

Accessories: Rainbow Bridge Thin Cuts, Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts, Tri-Blend Markers, Liquid Glass

Enjoy,

Alyson

Waterfall Card

Waterfall cards have been around for many years - and they really aren't difficult to create. There are many instructions and videos on the internet - I created mine via a private Facebook group. 

I used some papers from the current Mix-In paper pack - the colours are French Vanilla, Mink, Smoothie and Peach. Charcoal was used as the base. 

Four different sentiments were stamped on the panels and a sentiment was also added inside the card. Each of the sentiment pieces was also decorated with ink splotches and hearts. Embellishments really can’t be added to the waterfall part as that would prevent it from sitting flat. 

I added a few old gems that matched the Smoothie colour pretty well. The inside was also stamped and decorated. The ribbon was attached using a regular staple that was coloured to match the papers. The second photo shows the card from the side view as trying to photograph it partly open while it was standing up wasn't possible. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Mix-In Paper Pack, Peach Cardstock, Charcoal Cardstock

Stamps: Cherishing Her, Sentiments and Stitches, Bunches of Joy, Love These People, A Million Little Things 

Inks: Charcoal, Smoothie, Peach

Accessories: Stitched Square Thin Cuts, Glitter Gems, Black Journaling Pen, Grey Ribbon (unknown), Staples, Tri-Blend Marker

Enjoy,

Alyson

Tulip Slider Card

Yet another fun fold card... also from that same private Facebook group. I am loving the tutorials and ideas that are presented!

This is a slider card - the closed card is narrow and when the top is pulled, it opens from both the top and the bottom. How? Well, that remains a mystery...

I chose a peach and mint colour scheme. The outside was decorated with a scalloped thin cut and some stamped, coloured and die cut images. The flowers were brushed with the Clear Shimmer Brush. This type of slider card can also be used as a gift card holder but I didn't want to do that so I included a sentiment at both the top and bottom of the card. The only place to write a message is on the back of the card.

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: Boutique Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Peach Cardstock, Smoothie Cardstock, Mint Cardstock
Stamps: Blossoming Friendship, You Make Me Happy, Keep Your Head Up
Inks: Black, Intense Black
Accessories: Blossoming Friendship Thin Cuts, Scalloped Circle Thin Cut, Seas the Day Dots, Clear Shimmer Brush, White Ribbon (SU), Beautiful Friendship Bow

Enjoy,
Alyson

April Technique Blog Hop

Welcome to the April Technique Blog Hop! 

The theme this month is heat embossing. This is a technique I use quite often...

You should have arrived here from Brandi Robinson's blog.  

This is a circular blog hop so you can start and end anywhere within the list of participants. 

I chose to use the These Are My People papers and I selected the ones with pink shades. My card is based on an old Mojo Monday sketch. I wanted some interest in the background but I still wanted to keep the flower as the focal image. 

I embossed the sentiment in black and the flower in white - the flower is done on vellum. The background papers were a great colour match, although the lined piece really drives me crazy because the card looks uneven due to the top line being on an angle - and it's ONLY that one line! 😳 I coloured the flower from the back using the Tri-Blend markers. I coloured one Silver Glitter Gem and added it to the centre of the flower. 

The next consultant's blog on this hop is Michelle Loncar's blog.

I am sure she has something awesome to show you! 

Products used are all Close To My Heart:

Paper: These Are My People Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Raspberry Cardstock, Vellum

Stamps: These Are My People, You Make Me Happy 

Inks: Black Pigment Ink, Versamark 

Accessories: Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts, Basic Circle Thin Cuts, Stitched Circle Thin Cuts, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Tri-Blend Markers, Silver Glitter Gems 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Fishy Wishes and a Surprise!

I am still experimenting with fun fold cards and this is a great one! 

I belong to a private creative group on Facebook and this was one of the cards that was featured - I LOVE it! 

The April Stamp of the Month has terrific underwater images and they are small enough to be used in so many ways. This card has an interesting surprise when it is opened. 

The front is a shaker that has been formed to look like waves... the three fish are inside the shaker (and they do get turned upside down, but that's life underwater, right?) The inside opens to reveal a 3-D fish - how adorable is that? I added some Liquid Glass on the inside to simulate water droplets. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart:

Paper: Seas the Day Paper Pack, Sapphire Cardstock, Mint Cardstock, Peach Cardstock, Smoothie Cardstock, White Cards and Envelopes

Stamps: O-Fish-ally Awesome 

Inks: Intense Black

Accessories: Cricut File, Black Journaling Pen, Tri-Blend Markers, Foam Tape, Liquid Glass, Loose Silver Sequins

Enjoy,

Alyson

TSOT 453 - Favourite Human Wreath

Welcome to this week's challenge at Try Stampin' on Tuesday!

It's a little different this week - there is a choice of using the sketch or using the inspiration word - or both! 

I chose to use the sketch although I believe that flowers can certainly be lush as well... a little of both, perhaps? 

The Gina K. Designs wreath builder is such a great tool for creating a stamped wreath. I used the 4" template and stamped the flowers first. The flowers were masked so I could stamp the leaves. I then masked both the flowers and leaves to stamp the sprig above and between the flowers. That took quite a bit of time to mask and stamp all the parts. 

The images were coloured and the flowers were brushed with the Clear Shimmer Brush. I added a strip of green shimmer trim and Wisteria ribbon above and below the wreath. At the last minute, I decided to turn the whole card into a shaker so foam tape was added around the edge and some acetate and a border were placed on top. 

Come and join us at Try Stampin' on Tuesday and show us how you interpret this challenge. 

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

We can’t wait to see what you create!

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Floral Delivery, Wreath Builder (Gina K. Designs)

Inks: Intense Black, Clover, Sage, Black 

Accessories: Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts, Green Shimmer Trim, Wisteria Ribbon, Tri-Blend Markers, Clear Shimmer Brush, Silver Star Confetti, Foam Tape, Acetate (not CTMH)

Enjoy,

Alyson

AH 364 - Alcohol Ink - Just a Note

Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Challenge 364!

This sketch can be interpreted in a lot of ways - I chose to remain true to the sketch this time around. The first card I created wasn't one that I liked (although I am posting it below for reference) so I decided to try a second time. 

I used a piece of Yupo paper on which I had previously created an alcohol ink background. I cut that into sections and added some lightly patterned purple paper in the sections between the alcohol inked pieces. It was all layered on a piece of silver foil paper. The sentiment was stamped in Versamark and embossed in silver to match the rest of the card. The flower is a layered die - 3 parts for the flower and 2 for the leaves. I chose 2 pieces of purple cardstock and a light purple glitter paper for the flower. The lightest purple shade was brushed with the Clear Shimmer Brush. The leaves were cut from Charcoal cardstock and silver foil paper. 
This card came together pretty quick! 

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.

We can’t wait to see what you create! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Lilac Cardstock, Charcoal Cardstock, Purple Glitter Paper, Silver Foil Paper, Purple Cardstock (unknown), Purple Patterned Paper (unknown), Yupo Paper (Ranger)

Stamps: Card Captions

Inks: Versamark, Alcohol Inks (Ranger), Silver Mixative (Ranger)

Accessories: Layered Rose Dies (Kaisercraft), Silver Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Clear Shimmer Brush

Here is the original card I created and decided not to use for this challenge... 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: These are My People Paper Pack, Craft On Paper Pack, Lemon Cardstock, Ballerina Cardstock, Pixie Cardstock, Emerald Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Needle and Thread (SU)

Inks: Black

Accessories: Stitched Flowers Thin Cuts, Black Twine (misc.), Pink Gems, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape 

Enjoy,

Alyson

H2H - Pet-Pourri - What's up, Dog?

Welcome to this week's Heart 2 Heart challenge! 

The theme this week is Pet-pourri... anything to do with pets is "dog-gone purr-fect"!

I created an interlocking card using a dog stamp that I have had for a while. The card closes together with the main piece and the frame interlocking with each other.

I used the Sapphire papers from the Mix-In paper pack and I wanted to keep everything blue and white - but dogs aren't blue, so I had to add grey as well :) I stamped the dog images, embossed them and then coloured them in varying shades of grey. This card is actually very easy to assemble as long as you have rectangle shapes that fit together. I added a few sequins to the front and that was it - pretty straightforward and easy. 

Come and join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us how you interpret the Pet-pourri theme.

You have until the end of April to link up your project. 

We can’t wait to see what you create! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Mix-In Paper Pack, Sapphire Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock

Stamps: Lucky Dog (My Favourite Things)

Inks: Charcoal Pigment Ink, Heather Pigment Ink, Sapphire Pigment Ink

Accessories: Stitched Rectangle Dies (GMD), Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Tri-Blend Markers, I Heart Us Sequins 

Enjoy,

Alyson