Happy Bird-Day Side Easel Card and GOAL MET!

This post marks a FULL YEAR of at least one blog post per day!  

This adorable card was created using the So Tweet stamp and die set from CTMH. The background was inked with Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide ink and I added two green stitched die cuts at the bottom to resemble grass. I drew a few grassy sections on those pieces with a green marker. The bird was coloured and adhered to the front scene. The sentiment was stamped and mounted on two pieces of cardstock so it would be high enough to act as a stopper for the easel. 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Folded Gatefold Card

This is such an easy card to create! It's a sort of gatefold card with acetate attached to the front. 

The base of the card is grey cardstock with a full size piece of acetate attached across the front. Two yellow cardstock panels were added at the sides to cover the adhesive from the acetate. I added ribbon strips on each panel. The flowers and leaves were stamped and die cut and they were placed diagonally across the acetate. A gold foiled sentiment was placed slightly to the right and I brushed the centres of the flowers with a gold shimmer brush. 

This card folds flat for mailing as well! 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Foiled Hello Mums

It was back to hot foiling to create some backgrounds... this leafy vine background was foiled on black with a teal coloured foil. I used the same foil plate to emboss the lower section of the card and aligned the image (although that ended up being unnecessary since you can't see it anyways). 

The flowers and leaves were stamped with three coloured inks and a black ink for the outline. They were die cut and arranged along the diagonal cut. I added some teal metallic thread under the flowers. The sentiment was die cut and the lower part was stamped and both were adhered to a black border. The last step was to add some coordinating Stickles around the flowers and brush the centres of the flowers with a clear shimmer brush.

Enjoy,

Alyson

Blossoms and Berries Slimline

The background for this card was stencilled using three shades of Distress Oxide inks and then covered with Moondust Glitter Gel. The gel makes the background sparkle. I actually created this background quite a while ago and found it in my stash. It's amazing the things we do and save "for later"... 

The scalloped circle was die cut from gold foil and arranged as two half circles down the length of the card. The images were stamped, coloured with markers and die cut. They were added to three sections of the foil half circles where I tried to use a flower colour similar to the inked background. I foiled the sentiment in gold and die cut it. Some green metallic thread was added under the sentiment which was adhered with foam tape. The card front was adhered to a green base and some gold gems were placed around the images. The last step was to brush the flowers and berries with a gold shimmer brush. 

Enjoy,

Alyson

TSOT 553 - Love and Friendship

Welcome to Try Stampin' on Tuesday Challenge 553!

The optional theme in addition to the sketch is "things that fly". 

I created a background using Distress Oxide inks and sprays - lots of smooshing and drying between layers. A piece of black and white patterned paper was placed across the card front and a turquoise ribbon was added to the center of that piece. I used stencilled flower and butterfly images to represent the circles on the sketch. A small bow was tied from twine and added along with a sentiment. The card front was adhered to a black frame and then a white card base. Some clear gems were placed around the card and I used a clear shimmer brush and Liquid Pearls on both images. 

Come and join us at Try Stampin' on Tuesday and show us how you interpret the sketch shown above. 

You have to weeks to link up your project. 

We can’t wait to see what you create!

Enjoy,

Alyson

AH 470 - Thinking of You Sunflower

 

Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge 470! 

The sketch is shown in a vertical orientation but that can certainly be changed if desired. 

The card base was splattered with three coordinating shimmer brushes and set aside to dry. The patterned papers were adhered to the card base and I added an extra strip of brown cardstock at the bottom because the sunflower pattern looked kind of lost. I embossed the sunflower and leaves with pigment inks and clear embossing powder. They were coloured and die cut. A small sentiment was added just under the sunflower and some gold gems were placed around the flower. The last step was to brush the flower lines with a gold 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! 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Great Friend - Green Foiling

The background of this card was foiled in green on Yupo paper. Hot foiling works best on very smooth paper and Yupo paper is as smooth as any paper as it is designed for use with alcohol inks. The background was cut on an angle. I used the same foil pate to emboss the white background. I stamped and stencilled several butterflies and added them to the background. The sentiment was hot foiled in silver, die cut and aded to the bottom of the card wth foam tape. 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Just Because Roses

These roses look so realistic! They were stamped and die cut and I also die cut a leaf image and cut it apart to create various groups. The flowers and leaves were adhered to an embossed background. The sentiment was embossed in white and added to the lower corner. The front panel was adhered to a very thin dark blue border and then to a medium blue base. Some white Liquid Pearls were added around the flowers. 

Enjoy,

Alyson

CD 493 - Woven Hello

 Welcome to Colour Dare Challenge 493! 

This week, there are three required colours. Black, white and neutrals are free to use. 

This challenge was difficult for me - these are not colours that I would use together and I really struggled to find an idea that worked. Finally I decided on a woven background. The cover plate was die cut in white and I wove strips of pink and orange in one direction. A single strip of yellow was woven in the opposite direction. That piece was adhered to black cardstock and then to a white card base. The sentiment was die cut in black and yellow to highlight the yellow cardstock. Clean and simple! 

Come and join us at Colour Dare 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! 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Film Strip Gift Card Holder

We often look for interesting ways to present a gift card (or cash) as a gift. This card has a space inside for that purpose.

The front of the card was decorated with a film strip die. I stamped the images and coloured them and added coordinating patterned paper along the right side. Inside the card, it opens to allow a gift card to be added on the right side. I cut the filmstrip die down and stamped and coloured the images. A butterfly was also stamped, coloured and die cut and I added a black flight line underneath. 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Butterfly Hello

This card started with a background that was stencilled with a turquoise glitter gel. The background itself can't be seen very well as the stencil was thin and that glitter gel is pretty thick. I die cut some white leaves and aded them above and below the stamped sentiment. The "hello" was die cut and placed at the bottom. Two stencilled butteries were added at the top and I adhered a few silver gems to their bodies. The card front was adhered to Lagoon cardstock and then to a white card base. 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Friend Flowers

The background of this card was stencilled with Stickles Dark Matter glitter gel. It is a gel mixed with little confetti circles. I used a Cricut cut stencil for that part. The flowers were ink stencilled and added to the left side of the card. The sentiment piece was stamped and added at the bottom, along with a larger die cut sentiment backed with vellum. Silver gems were added to the flowers and the centres of the flowers were brushed with a clear shimmer brush. 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Double Trouble 108 - Flowers and Butterflies

Welcome to Double Trouble Challenge 108! 

Metal dies are the theme for this challenge. The small graphic is below - please visit the Double Trouble Challenge Blog for detailed information. 

I created a gold foiled background for my card and die cut a stitched scalloped rectangle for the centre. The frame was die cut three times and stacked. The flowers and butterflies were stamped, stencilled and die cut and adhered around the frame with thin foam tape. I added a small sentiment strip and mounted the card front on a black base. Some gold gems were added to the centres of the flowers and I also brushed the lines of the flowers with a gold shimmer brush. 

Come and join us at Double Trouble and show us how you interpret this week's challenge. 

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

I am also linking up my card with Dies R Us Challenge 191.

I used dies from Pinkfresh Studio (Small Butterflies, Stitched Scallop Rectangles and Beautiful Blooms).

We can’t wait to see what you create!

Enjoy,

Alyson

Pinwheel Tower Card

I posted a Pinwheel Tower Card white a while ago and decided to create another one.

This one was done in shades of blue. I stamped the blue sentiments using two colours of blue inks and adhered them to gold circles. Single strips of gold foil were added to the side pieces and I stamped some blue leaves to use on the main panels. There is a panel on which to write a message as well. No additional embellishments were added to this card. 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Watercolour Birthdays

These two cards were created using Distress Oxides as watercolours. I used the same colours for each card front although they look very different. The lighter one was extremely wet when I finished and the inks were running into each other, headed to a big brown mess so I blotted up the excess moisture with a paper towel. That removed much of the depth of the colour. The second one was left to dry without any intervention. 

Once the backgrounds were dry, I stamped a birthday sentiment on each and adhered the pieces to card bases with craft foam.

Enjoy,

Alyson

Hexagon Friends Card

This card idea was inspired by Gail Ellis who is a Stampin' Up demo. 

The hexagons were die cut from two patterned papers and one piece of cream cardstock. The cardstock piece was embossed with a berry branch. I also die cut one hexagon from the card front. The sentiment was stamped in the die cut opening and the other hexagons were arranged in a diagonal pattern on the card front. I die cut a butterfly and adhered that by the body only and added some twine under the sentiment and then some coordinating sequins. The card front was adhered to the base using foam tape. 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Purple Floral Border Hello Card

Purple and silver work so well together!

The floral border was hot foiled in silver and then stencilled with purple and green inks. I die cut that piece plus some leaves in both silver and white. The sentiment was also die cut. The leaves were arranged under the border piece on a die cut background and the sentiment was added at the bottom. Some purple gems were placed around the leaves and I brushed the darkest parts of the flowers with a clear shimmer brush. 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Blue Floral Border Friendship Card

This cute card was inspired by one I saw on the Pinkfresh Studio site. The Charming Floral Border set is one of my favourites.

The floral border was foiled in gold and then stencilled. That piece, along with some scalloped circles were die cut. The circles were arranged under the floral image and everything was adhered to a stitched panel with foam tape. The sentiment was embossed in gold. I added some gold gems and brushed the darkest flower sections with a gold shimmer brush. 

Enjoy,

Alyson

TSOT 551 - Circles of Flowers

Welcome to Try Stampin' on Tuesday Challenge 551!

This week, it is a choice of either the inspiration photos or the sketch - or you can do both! I chose to combine the two elements. 

Fitting four images on a card that was large enough to do what I wanted required making a slimline card. The sketch is intact but it is extended a bit. I began with a woodgrain background and used Ground Espresso Distress Oxide ink to colour just the edges. 

The circles were die cut from gold foil and a white circle was also die cut to go behind the gold outlines. I use three Distress Oxide inks to blend blue backgrounds. Once those were finished, the stencilled flowers were added between the background and the gold circles with some parts of the flowers peeking out from the edges of the circles. 

A blue ribbon was attached across the card and the sentiment was added on top so it overlapped the yellow flowers. I brushed all the darker parts of the flowers with a clear shimmer brush and added clear Stickles around the flowers and on some of the leaves. 

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

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

We can’t wait to see what you create!

Enjoy,

Alyson

AH 468 - Sunburst in Blue

Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge 468! 

The sketch this week is a sunburst. 

There are many ways to create a sunburst but I went to my Cricut for the basic design. I rotated the sketch 180 degrees so the closed corner would be at the top instead of the bottom. 

The basic shape was Cricut cut from Sapphire cardstock and I also cut a small circle piece from Lagoon cardstock. Those colours worked well with the background paper. I die cut a small sentiment from gold foil and the shadow from the same Sapphire cardstock. Gold metallic thread was added behind that piece and I finished off the card by adding some turquoise gems on the sunburst pieces. 

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! 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Missing You Rainbow

This card came together pretty quickly. Several colours of cardstock were cut at 1/8" and adhered to a white card front at various angles. I stamped the sentiment in three colours and used a circle punch to punch out each one. They were adhered to black circles and then to the right side of the card. A black border sets off the rainbow strips. I coloured several white gems with markers and added them to the same coloured cardstock strip area. Done! 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Little Birdie Inside Surprise

This cute card features a surprise inside that came about after I used a die by Concord and 9th. I wanted to design my own piece for the inside so I could use it for other cards as well. 

The clouds were stencilled both on the outside and the inside of the card and the birthday sentiment was also stamped inside. All of that needed to be done while the card was flat. The images were all stamped, coloured with markers and die cut. I worked on the inside first, adding the branches and birdies to the pop-up mechanism. I also added a flying birdie on a piece of acetate. 

The front of the card is very similar to the inside with branches and birdies plus a birthday sentiment. I think this is just so cute! 

Enjoy,

Alyson

CD 491 - A Happy Hello

Welcome to Colour Dare Challenge 491!

We have an inspiration photo for you this week. Choose at least three colours from the photo - black and white are free to use.

I decided to use the dark pink, light purple and green shades. 

The background was prepared first - there is a piece of cardstock behind the lattice that was covered with Diamond Stickles and then splattered with two shimmer brushes (Wisteria and Green Apple). Once that piece was dry, it was adhered behind the Cricut cut lattice. I also added a scalloped frame around the lattice component. 

The flowers and leaves were die cut from both the light and dark side of Wild Berry, Wisteria, Clover and Willow cardstock and layered together. I cut the "hello" from white cardstock and stacked it three times before adding it to the black shadow. A smaller sentiment was added above. Metallic thread in the same colours as the flowers and leaves was added and a black gem was placed in the centre of each flower. White Opal Liquid Pearls were added around the black flower centres. 

Come and join us at Colour Dare and show us how you use the inspiration photo above. 

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy,

Alyson