CD 405 - Hello Friend Tic Tac Toe

Welcome to this week's Colour Dare challenge!

We have a tic tac toe board for you this week featuring the colours from the Summer Vibes paper pack. 

I chose to use the diagonal line of Smoothie, Lemonade and Fern. 

I also added Glacier, Nectarine and Candy Apple as those colours are in the patterned paper I selected. 

I began by die cutting some stitched rectangles and then fitting the paper inside them. The flowers were stamped with Intense Black and coloured with the Tri-Blend markers. I also used the Lemonade Shimmer Brush to highlight sections of the flowers. The sentiment was stamped in Fern and brushed with the same shimmer brush. Some gold embellishing thread was added behind the sentiment and I added a few gold glitter gems. 

Come and join us at Colour Dare and show us how you use the tic-tac-toe board 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: Summer Vibes Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Smoothie Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock 

Stamps: Petal Palette (SU), Budding Peony 

Inks: Intense Black, Fern

Accessories: Stitched Rectangle Dies (GMD), Petal Palette Dies (SU), Lemonade Shimmer Brush, Gold Embellishing Thread, Gold Glitter Gems 

Enjoy,

Alyson

H2H - Colour Challenge with a Hummingbird

Welcome to this week's Heart 2 Heart challenge! 

It's all about colour this week - specifically Peacock, Sage, Glacier and Saffron. If you don't have those specific colours, use the closest matches possible but be sure to include some Close To My Heart products in your project. 

Here are some projects using the colours listed above. 

I have been experimenting with the Borgello technique - sponging shades of colour beside each other and then turning the paper to cut it into strips. The strips are then adhered intentionally misaligned. The effect is so cool. I used Sage, Glacier and Peacock inks to create my background. I added a stitched rectangle cut from Peacock cardstock to the outside of the card. 

I stamped and die cut some flowers and a hummingbird. They were coloured - Saffron for the flowers and a combination of the other three colours for the hummingbird. I added some old gems to each of the flower centres and die cut the sentiment using Peacock cardstock. The last step was to brush the flowers wth the Clear Shimmer Brush. 

Come and join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us how you use the colour palette shown above. 

You have until the end of July 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, Peacock Cardstock 

Stamps: Hummingbird Thanks (PPP), Wild Rose (PPP)

Inks: Peacock, Sage, Glacier, Intense Black 

Accessories: Wild Rose Dies (PPP), Hummingbird Thanks (PPP), Hello Sunshine (Creative Expressions), Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts, Tri-Blend Markers, ShinHan Markers (not CTMH), Blue Gems, Clear Shimmer Brush

Enjoy,

Alyson

Summer Vibes Cube Card

A while ago, I posted my first attempt at a cube card. I have completed two more 

since that time. 

The first one shown here was created using the Summer Vibes paper pack and a great floral stamp set called Simple Florals. I stamped all of the leaves and flowers in coordinating colours and used them to decorate the panels on the cube. A little bit of gold embellishing thread was used and I painted the insides of the flowers with Stickles. Bulky embellishments don't work on a card like this because it can’t be folded flat with dimensional embellishments. 

The second cube card was created using the Timber paper pack and the Mix-In paper pack. I chose to use Cricut cuts to embellish the panels of the card, making this one a masculine birthday card. 

It's amazing how the same design can look so different with the use of different papers! 

Products used are all Close To My Heart: 

Paper: Summer Vibes Paper Pack, Timber Paper Pack, Mix-In Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Candy Apple Cardstock, Fern Cardstock, Sapphire Cardstock, Ruby Cardstock, Almond Cardstock, Mink Cardstock, Pewter Cardstock, Sage Cardstock, New England Ivy Cardstock, Espresso Cardstock 

Stamps: Simple Florals 

Inks: Fern, Glacier, Candy Apple, Nectarine, Lemonade, Smoothie

Accessories: Cricut Collections: Complete Creativity, Artbooking, You Are Here, Artiste, Artistry, Basic Shapes

Simple Florals Thin Cuts, Gold Embellishing Thread, Diamond Stickles

Enjoy,

Alyson

Flower Girl Special Gatefold Card

I am working with a few other Close To My Heart consultants to run a virtual crop online each month. We are each presenting ideas for cards, layouts and other items. This is a card that I presented earlier this weekend. It is called a Floating Gatefold Card - and the inside is awesome! 

I used the July Stamp of the Month as there are beautiful images in that set. The front of the card was stamped along the top and bottom edges. The focal image is the girl holding the bouquet. All the colouring was done using the Tri-Blend markers. The card is attached using a small hook and loop dot. 

Now let's take a look inside... 

The squares appear to be floating - it's such a neat look! The same border stamp was used to stamp a border all across the top and bottom and then it was coloured. There are black mats on every piece (including the front) but I purposely keep the border very small. The sentiments were stamped, coloured and attached to the centre panel. The flowers are from the top part of the bouquet from the largest stamp, starting just above the girl's arms. They were coloured and attached to a stitched black frame. They were then mounted to appear as though they are floating. I added Gold Stickles to the centres of the flowers as I didn't want to use anything bulky that would prevent the card from closing properly. 

The video I used to create this card is here. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart:

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

Stamps: For My Beautiful Friend

Inks: Intense Black 

Accessories: Stitched Square Thin Cuts, Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts, Tri-Blend Markers, Hook and Loop Dots, Goldenrod Stickles 

Enjoy,

Alyson

TSOT 467 - Mountain Scene

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

The optional theme in addition to the sketch is to create a scene.

I stayed true to the sketch - it worked well for the scene component. The scene was stamped in a few layers using Mink, Glacier and Peacock inks and then cut to fit the centre section of the card. I used a chevron punch to create the border and attached that to the patterned paper. I stamped a tiny sentiment and die cut it using a stitched oval die. A regular oval was cut to fit behind the sentiment and I added some twine between the two pieces. Easy!

Come and join us at TSOT and show us how you interpret the sketch 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: Documented Paper Pack, Rustic Home Fundamentals, White Daisy Cardstock, Peacock Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock 

Stamps: Mountain Air (SU), Mini Messages (Hero Arts)

Inks: Peacock, Mink, Glacier 

Accessories: Stitched Oval Thin Cuts, Basic Oval Thin Cuts, Chevron Border Punch, Mink Twine, Foam Tape

Enjoy,

Alyson

AH 378 - Sure Do Miss You

Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge 378!

This sketch was perfect for some bold embossed cardstock - and I have a lot of leftovers from the Blue Skies campaign. 

I flipped the sketch 90 degrees and layered 5 colours of that gorgeous embossed cardstock next to each other. Each strip was cut at one inch. The girl with the flower bouquet was stamped in Intense Black and coloured using markers to match the cardstock colours. I added Silver Stickles to the centres of the flowers. That piece was mounted on black cardstock and I had to set it off centre to accommodate a sentiment in the lower corner. The sentiment was stamped and I added 2 hearts just above the words - those hearts were brushed with the Clear Shimmer Brush. 

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: Blue Skies Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: For My Beautiful Friend

Inks: Intense Black

Accessories: Tri-Blend Markers, Clear Shimmer Brush, Silver Stickles 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Double Trouble 62 and H2H - Christmas in July

Welcome to Double Trouble Challenge 62!

Christmas seems to come out of nowhere every year and I am certain I am not the only one who feels the rush to get everything done at the last minute. This week, Double Trouble offers you the opportunity to get at least one Christmas project completed early!

Here is the basic information for this challenge - the details can be found on the Double Trouble website. 

I did not have any elf or gnome images at all... I had to find an image online that I could colour for my card. When I found this image, I knew I recognized it but it took a bit to figure out exactly which cartoon it was from - and that is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. These are the working elves. The image was printed from this site. 

I coloured the image in the same colours as the cartoon - red and blue. I then cut it down to the size I wanted and added two mats behind it. Strips of patterned paper and glitter paper were added along with a sentiment. I brushed a bit of Ballerina ink on each of the elves' cheeks. The focus needed to be on the image so I didn't add any other embellishments. 

My favourite tool has to be the Clear Shimmer Brush - I use it on so many things. Since it is clear, it can be brushed on any colour and it can also be used with re-inkers, chalks, watercolour pencils, texture paste, etc. I brushed the red sections of the hats, the white edges of the uniforms and the berries and feather with that brush. 

Come and join us at Double Trouble and show us how you apply the elements shown above. 

You have two weeks to link up your project - and if you tell us your favourite tool, don't forget to link up at Heart 2 Heart as well! Since I am a design team member there, my card is in the design team section. 

We can't wait to see what you create! 

Product used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Jack Paper Pack, I Heart Us Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Ruby Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Silver Glitter Paper 

Stamps: Santa's List (Your Next Stamp)

Inks: Bluebird, Ballerina

Accessories: Colouring Image (not CTMH), Tri-Blend Markers, Clear Shimmer Brush

Enjoy,

Alyson

CD 403 - Little Buddies

Welcome to Colour Dare Challenge 403! 

This week it's all about browns although two other colours are to be used in addition to the browns. Black, white and gold are free to use. 

I really struggled with this as brown is probably the colour I use the least. Adding two other colours really helped me with this challenge. As you will see, my focus is not on the browns - they just happen to be a part of my card. 

I stamped and coloured several little animals - all were stamped in black and two are black and white by nature so they were not coloured. I really wanted to use the pig so that drove me toward pink. A good contrasting colour was Lagoon. I had to look hard to find pink and Lagoon patterns that weren't too large or combined with other colours as those papers were used to fill in the empty circles. 

I rotated some of the animals and added a sentiment in one of the middle circles. This multi-circle window die makes life so easy to create a card like this! 

Come and join us at Colour Dare and show us how you use the palette 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: Blue Skies Cardstock (Flamingo), So Much Happy Paper Pack, Mix-In Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock 

Stamps: Little Buddies 

Inks: Intense Black, Espresso

Accessories: Multi-Circle Window Thin Cut, Tri-Blend Markers 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Happy Pink Daisies

At the beginning of May, I ordered some items from Simon Says Stamp. Parcel delivery has been way behind in Canada and my order finally arrived the second week of July - after more than 2 months! I was very happy to finally get my products and one of them was this gorgeous daisy background stamp!

I stamped the image using Intense Black so I could colour the daisies. Colouring was a task in itself - took me a few hours. I chose 3 shades of pink along with a bright green for the leaves. 

I cut down the stamped image as it was approx. 5.5" x 5.5". I mounted the flowers on both black cardstock and pink glitter paper. "Happy" was die cut using the same black and pink papers and I stamped a small sentiment to go with "happy". Nothing else was added to this card - I wanted the daisies to be the focus. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Pink Glitter Paper, Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Stitched Together Cardmaking, Gerbera Daisy (SSS)

Inks: Intense Black, Pixie

Accessories: Stitched Together Cardmaking Thin Cuts, Tri-Blend Markers 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Cricut Daisy Card Set

I have been creating a lot of card kits to give as gifts. I don't post many of them here but I really like this set. 

The idea is from a recent post by Jennifer McGuire. I used my Cricut to cut almost all the images except a part of the flower centre. I decided on 4 colour scheme and kept the leaves and branches the same colour for all the cards. There are 8 cards in total - 2 of each colour scheme. 

There are also 4 sentiments and I mixed and matched those with the colours. Before I adhered anything to the card bases, I splattered each of them with coordinating shimmer brushes. After all the pieces were adhered, a small pearl was added to the centre of each daisy. 

Here is a close up of one of the cards. 

These will make a great gift for someone special! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Lemonade Cardstock, Canary Cardstock, Mint Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Peacock Cardstock, Lilac Cardstock, Thistle Cardstock, Eggplant Cardstock, Carolina Cardstock, Bluebird Cardstock, Sapphire Cardstock, Ballerina Cardstock, Pixie Cardstock, Raspberry Cardstock, Green Apple Cardstock, Evergreen Cardstock, White Cards and Envelopes 

Stamps: Kind Soul (W plus 9), Leaf Canopy (Altenew)

Inks: Black

Accessories: Cricut Flower Market Collection, Poppy Moments Dies (SU), White Pearls, Mint Shimmer Brush, Lagoon Shimmer Brush, Bashful Shimmer Brush, Raspberry Shimmer Brush, Bluebird Shimmer Brush, Sapphire Shimmer Brush, Wisteria Shimmer Brush, Charcoal Shimmer Brush, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape 

Enjoy,

Alyson

H2H - Just Add Water

Welcome to this week's Heart 2 Heart challenge! 

The theme this week is "Just Add Water". That can take many forms - it can be a layout showcasing a water theme, a card with some sort of water element (watering flowers, rain boots, etc.) or it can involve a technique that uses water or something that looks like water (ex. Liquid Glass as raindrops). 

I chose to create a card using a technique I haven't used for a while. I used a piece of hard plastic (my acrylic blocks weren't large enough) to cover the entire card front. I used Sapphire and New England Ivy ink pads and randomly "stamped" in various places on the plastic. I spritzed the ink with water and flipped the plastic piece upside down (quickly). It created a neat background for my card. 

This card is based on a pattern from Make It From Your Heart Vol. 4. I used NE Ivy cardstock, a strip of the Timber patterned paper and some red shimmer trim to create the cross piece. I stamped the sentiment and the image and both were coloured and then die cut. They were backed with Sapphire cardstock and mounted using craft foam. I wrapped a piece of twine around the card and left a knot just beside the sentiment. 

Come and join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us your projects that involve water. 

You have until the end of July 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: Timber Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, New England Ivy Cardstock, Sapphire Cardstock, Watercolour Paper, Neenah Solar White Cardstock 

Stamps: So Many Candles 

Inks: Sapphire, New England Ivy

Accessories: Stitched Oval Thin Cuts, Basic Oval Thin Cuts, Stitched Circle Dies (GMD), Circle Dies (Spellbinders), Red Shimmer Trim, White Twine, Tri-Blend Markers, Craft Foam (not CMTH)

Enjoy,

Alyson

New Product Blog Hop

Welcome to the New Product Blog Hop. This blog hop features artwork from the July/August catalog. There are so many amazing products... new paper packs, great stamp sets and all sorts of other goodies! 

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

If you get lost along the way, a list of all participants can be found on Melinda Everitt's blog.

I chose to focus on a stamp set called Simple Florals. I created two cards using this stamp set - and the stamp set is also available with a set of coordinating Thin Cuts. 

Both of these cards are replicas of previous designs from several years ago. I like the style and they worked for what I had in mind. 

The first card base was splattered using the Julep Shimmer Brush and then the Peach patterned paper piece was added. I hand stitched along the border using two strands of embroidery floss. A stitched frame was placed around the base. I stamped the greenery using Sage and Evergreen - Evergreen was also used in second generation. Several of the flowers and leaves from this stamp set were used on this card. After clustering the flowers together using both thin and regular foam tape, I added some of the same embroidery floss under the flowers. I coloured a few sparkles and added then to the centres of the flowers. The tag is a stamp from the Joyful Sunflower stamp set and I cut a piece of white cardstock to fit within that tag. The sentiment is from the July SOTM, For My Beautiful Friend. Finally, I brushed parts of the flowers with the Clear Shimmer Brush. 

The second card features papers from both the Mix-In Paper Pack and Summer Vibes Paper Pack. I also stamped an image from the stamp set onto Peach cardstock for one piece. It's a little hard to see that the Glacier paper is patterned paper as much of it is hidden under other pieces. I stamped the greenery and some small flowers before adhering the papers. I didn't want to use the green shades in the paper packs and opted instead to use Lagoon and Glacier. Those colours go so well with orange. 

The papers were either torn or cut and adhered to the card front. Three flowers were stamped and die cut to go in the centre where the papers meet. I added some gold embellishing thread and a few coloured bitty sparkles. The card front was mounted on a piece of Smoothie cardstock. I brushed parts of the flowers with the Gold Shimmer Brush but they came out looking almost dirty in the photo. They don't look like that in real life... sometimes the camera does strange things.

I hope you enjoyed my cards. 

The next blog on this hop is Brandi Robinson's blog. 

I know she has something fabulous to share with you! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Mix-In Paper Pack, Summer Vibes Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Smoothie Cardstock, Peach Cardstock

Stamps: Simple Florals, Joyful Sunflower, For My Beautiful Friend

Inks: Smoothie, Peach, Nectarine, Lemonade, Sage, Evergreen, Lagoon, Glacier

Accessories: Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts, Simple Florals Thin Cuts, Joyful Sunflower Thin Cuts, Clear Shimmer Brush, Gold Shimmer Brush, Julep Shimmer Brush, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape, Gold Embellishing Thread, Bitty Sparkles, Clear Sparkles, Tri-Blend Markers, Embroidery Floss (not CTMH)

Enjoy,

Alyson

TSOT 465 - Butterfly Dreams

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

This sketch can be interpreted in so many ways... I chose to use the circle for my central image rather than making it an actual circle. 

I began by sponging 6 different colours onto a piece of white cardstock. The butterflies were cut from that paper - although few have mixed colours... such is life. The background papers are from the Blue Skies cardstock pack and I love them as they have embossed patterns on them. I stamped some ink splotches on the white cardstock and then arranged the holder and butterflies flying up toward the right corner. I added some clear shimmer on each butterfly as well. 

Come and join us at TSOT and show us how you interpret the sketch 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: Blue Skies Cardstock (Lemonade, Sapphire, Lagoon), White Daisy Cardstock, Toffee Cardstock, Espresso Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock  

Stamps: Ink Blot, Fragrant Flowers (Penny Black) 

Inks: Sapphire, Espresso, Lagoon, Lemonade, Candy Apple, Green Apple, Pixie 

Accessoires: Art Philosophy Cricut Collection, Flower Market Cricut Collection, Black Marker, White and Gold Skinny Ribbon, Clear Shimmer Brush

Enjoy,

Alyson

AH 376 - Beautiful Friend

Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #376!

This week, the sketch is shown as horizontal but I rotated it to make a vertical card instead. I had to go to a 5x7 card size as the image I used was too large for a standard size card. 

The image was stamped with Intense Black ink and coloured using a combination of Touch markers and Tri-Blend markers. I wanted a colour scheme of Eggplant, New England Ivy, Smoothie, Ballerina  and Pebble (or Linen). Every piece on this card was matted and I like the mixed coloured mats vs using the same colour for each of the pieces. I was intending to emboss the brick section but found some paper with a perfect brick pattern that worked well with this card. I also stamped a little corner piece, fussy cut and coloured it. A ribbon was added along with a few holographic sequins. The flowers were brushed with the Clear Shimmer Brush.

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: Heart Happy Paper Pack, Documented Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, New England Ivy Cardstock, Eggplant Cardstock, Pewter Cardstock 

Stamps: For My Beautiful Friend

Inks: Intense Black 

Accessories: Oval Dies (Nestabilities), Pink Ribbon (SU), Sequins, Tri-Blend Markers, Touch Markers, Clear Shimmer Brush 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Double Trouble #61 - Purple Roses

Welcome to this week's edition of Double Trouble! 

This week, Things 1, 2 and 3 are asking a lot of our participants. 

Here is the reduced image to show the requirements - please visit the Double Trouble Blog for additional information. 

Here is the tic-tac-toe board.

My tic-tac-toe is diagonal - I used Emboss (Dry/Hot), Flowers and Colour Green.

I chose to create a card with a set of flowers inside the wreath. The wreath was cut from the Flower Market Cricut cartridge (x2) and offset to make it look full. I then had to trace that outline to cut a piece of white cardstock on which to stamp my flowers as trying to stamp on an embossed background is almost impossible. The flowers were stamped and coloured and then brushed with the Clear Shimmer Brush. The white background was embossed with a stitched pattern. The sentiment was stamped and gently inked around the edges to set it off from the background. I coloured a few sequins and added them around the wreath.

I am also linking up my card with Cupcake Inspirations.

Come and join us at Double Trouble and show us how you use the elements for 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, Toffee Cardstock, Willow Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock 

Stamps: A Million Little Things, Card Captions

Inks: Intense Black, Willow

Accessories: Flower Market Cricut Cartridge, Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts, Butterflies for You Thin Cuts, Stitched Circles Embossing Folder, White Sequins, Tri-Blend Markers, Clear Shimmer Brush, Craft Foam (not CTMH)

Enjoy,

Alyson

Colour Dare 401 - Tulips of Happiness

Welcome to Colour Dare Challenge #401!

This week, we have an inspiration collage for you. You can use any colours found in the collage plus black and white are free. 

This collage is very much based on the US Independence Day holiday... I don't live in the US and I wanted to do something different. We celebrated our national holiday on July 1 here in Canada - with red and white - but no-one ever makes celebratory cards for that occasion. Consequently, I was looking for something else to create with these colours. 

Upon looking very closely at the images, there are definitely a few shades of green and also light blue in there. I chose to use those along with red to create my card. 

I started by sponging a blue background onto white cardstock using Distress inks. I stamped two different branch images in related green colours. Using my stamps press, I stamped the tulips and stems and die cut them. They were arranged over the branch images and a bow was added at the bottom. A sentiment was stamped onto the card front and I coloured several bitty sparkles red and added them around the tulips. The card was outlined with a black marker and set on some craft foam to add dimension. The highlighted part of the tulips were brushed with the clear shimmer brush.

Come and join us at Colour Dare and show us how you interpret the collage 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, Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Tulip (Altenew), Sentiment Collection (Penny Black), Love So Sweet, Beloved Bouquet 

Inks: Black, Green Apple, Clover, Candy Apple, Ruby

Accessories: Tulip Dies (Altenew), Bitty Sparkles, Clear Shimmer Brush, White and Gold Ribbon, Sharpie Marker, Black Journaling Pen, Craft Foam (not CTMH) 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Sunflower Wishes

This card was created just for fun. One of the new products in the next CTMH catalog is a gorgeous set of sunflowers that also come with thin cuts. 

I wanted to use those flowers on a card and a sketch from Make It From Your Heart Vol. 2 provided a perfect opportunity to do just that. 

I stamped the sunflowers with Intense Black ink and coloured them. They were die cut, as were the two pieces of the stitched rectangle. I used a piece of patterned paper from an old paper pack on the front of the card and the facing side was embossed with the stitch circle embossing folder. 

After that was done, assembly of the card was easy - added a piece of cardstock and a ribbon for the mini banners and placed a piece of ribbon along the side as well. The rectangle was adhered using foam tape to raise it from the base of the card. I found some old gold gems that I added to the front. The sentiment was stamped in the lower left corner using Expresso ink. The sunflowers were brushed with the Gold Shimmer Brush - easier seen in the close up photo.

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: Boutique Paper Pack, Espresso Cardstock, Kraft Cardstock, Sage Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Joyful Sunflower

Inks: Intense Black, Espresso 

Accessories: Joyful Sunflower Thin Cuts, Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts, Stitched Circle Embossing Folder, Tri-Blend Markers, Gold Shimmer Brush, Gold Gems, Foam Tape, White and Gold Skinny Ribbon, Gold Glitter Ribbon 

Enjoy,

Alyson

July SOTM Blog Hop

Welcome to the July Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! 

This month the featured stamp set is awesome! There is a main image of a lady holding flowers and so many smaller images and great sentiments reflecting love and friendship.

This is a circular blog hop so you can start anywhere along the way. 

You should have arrived here from Melinda Everitt's blog.

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

(yes, the same consultant listed above).

Here is an image of the stamp set. 

These cards require some explanation... I started with the one at the bottom and had everything ready to go. I added the shaker and adhered everything down and then realized that my flowers were UPSIDE DOWN. I purposely stamped them so they would be facing the correct direction but I adhered the card together with that top stamped piece facing the wrong direction.. So I had to try again but with a different card design this time. 

I started by selecting a white stitched die cut from my collection (I save all of the extra inside and outside pieces when I cut the stitched dies). I stamped and coloured the images and added the centre strip. I went to adhere that piece to the front of the card and... NO! I had selected a stitched rectangle that had accidentally been added to my collection from a different die set and it wasn't the same size as the CTMH ones. At that point, I wasn't about to create a THIRD card for this blog hop, so this is the one that remains. It's only the large white piece that is from a different set of dies. Argh! 

The sentiment was stamped using Candy Apple ink and part of it was brushed with the Gold Shimmer Brush. It was adhered with foam tape and some Gold Embellishing Thread was added underneath. I added a few Gold Glitter Gems above and below the sentiment. 

This is the original card I created with the upside down flowers... 

I hope you enjoyed my projects. 

The next blog on this hop is Brandi Robinson's blog.

I'm sure she has something awesome to share with you! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Summer Vibes Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, CandyApple Cardstock, Black Cardstock, White Cards and Envelopes

Stamps: For My Beautiful Friend

Inks: Intense Black, Candy Apple

Accessories: Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts, Stitched Rectangle Dies (GMD), Tri-Blend Markers, Loose Gold Sequins, Gold Shimmer Brush, Foam Tape, Black Journaling Marker, Gold Embellishing Thread, Gold Glitter Gems, Acetate (not CTMH)

Enjoy,

Alyson