MTTC 534 - Woofing You a Happy Birthday

 Welcome to My Time to Craft Challenge 534!

The theme for this challenge is super cute. The possibilities are endless! 

I love dogs so I decided to make a dog-themed card. The background was embossed with a brick embossing folder and I dragged grey ink over top to enhance the pattern. The doggies were stamped, coloured and fussy cut and I arranged them along the bottom of the window to make it look like they are looking out the window. A birthday sentiment was placed at the top of the window and I adhered that piece to the card front with foam tape. 

Come and join us at MTTC and show us your super cute projects. 

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy,

Alyson

Two Sets of Cards

 When I attend crop events, I usually make sets of cards as it is easy to work on one design for several cards - plus I don't have to take a lot of stuff with me! 

These two sets each have eight cards in them, with four different sentiments in each set. I actually made two of each set, for a total of 32 cards. One of each set is pictured here. 

Enjoy,Alyson

You are Awesome Card

 This card was created with a technique that was new to me. It's messy but the effect is pretty cool!

I embossed a floral image with a 3D embossing folder and on the debossed side, I added ink to the images using small brushes. Once that was finished, I dragged a black ink pad over the top and it covered the raised areas, leaving the coloured images without (much) ink. I do like that some black ink was transferred to a few lines of the flowers and leaves. 

I kept the finished card simple - just embossed s sentiment and added it to a stitched oval. A few iridescent gems were placed around the sentiment. 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Tulip Trio

 Tulips are my favourite flower and I love this set of dies from Spellbinders with three tulips - had to try them out! 

The flowers were die cut in white and I inked them in three colours before assembling them. I used a hot foiled striped background and a black frame as the background for the flowers. A hot foiled sentiment was added at the bottom and some clear dew drops were placed on the the flower and leaves. 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Wedding Card

Two friends of mine are getting married in a few weeks - this is the card I made for them. The inspiration for this was found on Pinterest. 

I cut a large heart with a smaller heart opening using my Cricut machine. Using my scoring board, I scored two lines around the edge of the card front. The word "love" was die cut twice from white cardstock and adhered along the right side of the heart. I die cut several stems from green cardstock, silver foil paper and vellum and arranged them coming out of the small heart opening. A hot foiled sentiment was added at the bottom and the card front was adhered to the base using craft foam. 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Tricorn Cards

 I have found a few versions of this card style and wanted to try it myself. It folds flat for mailing. I'm not sure where the name tricorn comes from... it's what this card fold is called. 

I used a yellow and turquoise colour scheme for my card. I chose turquoise patterned papers and stamped and coloured a floral image for the front. A hot foiled sentiment was added at the bottom and I lightly inked around the edges of the white oval. There are panels on the back to write a message. 

This was my first attempt... I used a dotted patterned paper and drew my cardstock colours from that. The birthday card and cake stand were stencilled and die cut and added to an oval image on the front of the card. There are two panels on the back for a place to write a message. 

Enjoy, 

Alyson

A Timeless Sketch with Leaves

 I have seen a variety of sketches similar to this and it is one that is used over and over. I created this sketch myself and will use it as a guide in my teaching group. 

I created three cards based on this sketch. There is one each of silver, gold and copper. The leaves were created using the Better Press system and then stencilled using oxide inks and die cut. The sentiments were also pressed and die cut. Depending on the colours of the leaves and the circle/oval image, I added a bit of ink around the open area. The leaves were adhered around the sentiments and I did a bit of ink splattering on two of the sentiment pieces. The backgrounds were embossed before being added to a border and then the card base. Some gems were added to each card was well. 

Enjoy,

Alyson

MTTCC 86 - Deer in Trees

 

Welcome to My Time to Craft Christmas Challenge 86!

The theme for this challenge is silhouette scenes.

I ink blended a sunset background using four Distress Oxide inks. The birch tree background and the deer were die cut from black cardstock and I placed the deer behind the trees before adhering the background. A hot foiled sentiment was added at the top of the card. Easy! 

Come and join us at MTTCC and show us your silhouette projects. 

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy,

Alyson

Birthday Tri-Shutter Card

 Tri-Shutter cards have been around for as long as I have been making cards - probably around twenty years. I think this was the first fun fold card style I ever tried. It was time to revisit this style. 

I chose blue and goldrush colours for my card. The patterned papers made me look deep into my cardstock stash for the right goldrush coloured cardstock. 

The sections were covered with three different patterns and I stamped, coloured and die cut several floral images. The sentiment was stamped using two shades of blue ink and I adhered the flowers on various panels plus under the sentiment. Some flat gold gems were placed on the centre panel to allow the card to fold flat for mailing. 

Enjoy,

Alyson

AH 576 - You're Amazing

Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge 576!

This is a fairly detailed sketch - I chose to stay close to the sketch idea as it worked for my card. 

The background was embossed on Kraft cardstock and I added black and gold stripes and an offset scalloped border. The flowers were stamped, coloured and die cut and added just above the scalloped border. A sentiment was placed over the flowers and I added a die cut bow under that. A few clear gems were placed around the card and the card front was adhered to a black mat and then a red card base. 

Come and join us at Atlantic Hearts and show us how you interpret this week's sketch. 

You have until Sunday evening to link up your project. 

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy,

Alyson

TSOT 646 - Sending Hugs

 Welcome to Try a Sketch on Tuesday Challenge 646!

The square and rectangle pieces were all die cut with stitched dies and I embossed the green background using a leaf embossing folder. The images were stamped, coloured and die cut and added in the corners and at the top of the sentiment. I used black Stickles for the centres of the flowers and iridescent gems around the sentiment.

Come and join us at TSOT 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

DT 166 - Hello Layered Card

 Welcome to Double Trouble Challenge 166!

This week, it's all about making use of the unused or mismatched items in your craft stash. The small graphic is below - please visit the Double Trouble Challenge Blog for detailed information. 

We are pairing with Tuesday Morning Sketches for this challenge. Their sketch is shown below. 

Surprisingly, I have almost nothing in my craft stash that hasn't been used. The mismatched paper idea was totally unappealing to me so I found some papers that I had purchased a while ago and never got around to using. The paper pack that I chose was initially available in three colours (black, toffee and mink) and I purchased it in black and mink. I have used much of the black but hadn't cracked open the mink set as it's definitely not a favourite colour of mine. 

For this challenge, I paired the papers in that pack with teal. I chose four mink patterns and adhered them to mink cardstock. They were arranged as per the sketch on teal cardstock (also matted wth mink cardstock). I heat embossed some flower and leaf images using mink ink and coloured them. The sentiment was added to the front and I tied a bow around the front piece of cardstock before adding some turquoise gems around the card.

Come and join us at Double Trouble and show us your projects using mismatched or unused items from your stash. 

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

I am also linking up my card with the challenge at Tuesday Morning Sketches. 

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy,

Alyson

Triangle Birthday Card

Today's card was created for the challenge at Colourful Options. The colour scheme is royal blue. 

This geometric card was created by die cutting tons of triangles in four shades of blue. They were arranged in a pattern and the finished piece was die cut with a stitched rectangle die. The sentiment was stamped and added to a dark blue triangle piece. I die cut several tiny triangles and placed them randomly inside the other triangles. I added a dot of clear Stickles in each joining section. 

I am linking up my card with the Colourful Options Challenge. 

Enjoy, 

Alyson

DD May Challenge - Pink Lotus Flowers

 Welcome to Dragonfly Dreams Challenge for the month of May!

The theme this month is to use a stencil. 

Stencils, and layering stencils in particular, have become incredibly popular over the last few years. This is a layering stencil from Gina K Designs that I recently purchased. 

I inked the stencils with shades of pink and green and then splattered the card front with black ink. The sentiment was die cut 3x and stacked for dimension and I brushed the top layer with a clear shimmer brush. I added a smaller sentiment underneath that was embossed in white. The card front was adhered to a pink mat and then a black card base. Easy! 

Come and join us at Dragonfly Dreams and show us your stencilled projects. 

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

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy,

Alyson

SS 750 - Hexagon Smiles

 Welcome to Sketch Saturday Challenge 750!

The optional element (in addition to the sketch) is to use buttons. 

I don't have any buttons left in my stash - they were all donated several years ago. I used only the sketch. 

I stamped several pieces of white cardstock with a script stamp and die cut hexagons from each of them. They were each adhered to a coloured border piece. I splattered black ink on the card base and arranged the hexagons as per the sketch. The sentiment was white embossed on black cardstock and adhered with foam tape across the centre. I added a few black enamel dots and adhered the card front to a black card base. 

Come and join us at Sketch Saturday and show us how you interpret this week's sketch. 

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy,

Alyson

CD 599 - Lily Frame Card

 Welcome to Colour Dare Challenge 599! 

The colours this week are among my favourites - Lagoon, Royal and Wisteria. You must use all three colours - neutrals, metallics, black and white can also be used. 

I embossed a white background with a leaf embossing folder and trimmed it to fit behind the lily frame. The frame was stamped and I used stencils to colour in the sections using the three required colours. The frame was die cut, along with three extra frames and those were stacked together for dimension. I stamped the sentiment and added it across the frame plus placed a single word above that. Some silver gems were placed around the sentiment and I added silver Stickles to the centres of the lilies on the frame. 

Come and join us at Colour Dare 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

Cut It Up 303 - Love You

 Welcome to Cut It Up Challenge 303!

The theme for this challenge is to add a sentiment. 

Most of the cards I make do include a sentiment but I chose to die cut this one. The floral image was stamped, stencilled and die cut and set on a die cut rectangle frame. The large letters were die cut in black and a smaller word was added under LOVE in gold. I also die cut love in a script setting and placed it across the large letters. The frame was adhered using craft foam and I added some clear dots around the card. 

Come and join us at Cut It Up and show us your cards with sentiments. 

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy, 

Alyson

MTTC 533 - For Someone Special

 Welcome to My Time to Craft Challenge 533!

The theme for this challenge is Mother's Day/friendship. 

I hot foiled a gorgeous peony press plate and then reversed foiled it to get the background for this card. The flowers and leaves were stamped and die cut and adhered at the bottom. A hot foiled sentiment was placed across the flowers and I added some silver gems and set the card front on a turquoise card base.

Come and join us at MTTC 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

Art Journaling

 I have slowly been working away in my art journal - my idea is to use each of the pages to demonstrate a sentiment or phase that I really like.

I purchased some paper by 49 and Market along with additional embellishments and I used that for the first two spreads. There are some acetate pieces, fabric tape and rub-ons along with some spattering of Distress Oxide sprays and paints. 

For the last spread, I did something different. Honestly, I'm not happy with this but it's part of the learning process. 

A few years ago, The Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu wrote a book after spending some time together, discussing elements of life, They decided upon the 8 Pillars of Life - qualities that are important to live a fulfilling life. I love these and I try hard to practice them in my own life. 

I painted twelve squares with two colours of ink and doodled around each of them. Inside eight of them, I wrote one quality. As an afterthought, I added a bit of additional information underneath each word. I simply doodled on the remaining two spots. 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Yellow Foiled Flowers

 The floral image on this card is actually a press plate but I chose to hot foil it instead. The gold foiling adds so much but it is difficult to photograph. 

I coloured the image with markers - am still learning a lot about Copics but it is getting easier. I adhered the card front to a coloured card base with craft foam and added a hot foiled sentiment with gold thread underneath. Some gold sequins were placed around the card to finish it off. 

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Z-Fold Bee Card

 This card is the result of the 30 Minute Cardmaking Stash and Dash. 

The parameters for this challenge were as follows: type of card: any fun fold, colour: yellow, embellishment: ribbon/twine and technique: die cutting. 

I stamped, coloured and die cut all the flowers and bees and arranged them on a Z-fold card. I brushed the wings of the bees with a clear shimmer brush and added the images to white panels that were outlined with a black marker. A sentiment was added at the bottom of the front piece and some gold metallic thread was placed underneath. 

Enjoy,

Alyson

DT 165 - Hello Sunshine Slimline

 Welcome to Double Trouble Challenge 165!

The small graphic is below - please visit the Double Trouble Challenge Blog for detailed information. 

The sketch from Atlantic Hearts is what drove my card design. I chose several colours from the Cinco de Mayo image and used those for the flowers and leaves. I inked a background and then die cut a wonky burlap piece from that. I backed it with white cardstock so I could slip the purple flower underneath. The white layer and the black base were both die cut using stitched slimline dies. As an afterthought, I splattered the card with black paint as the open white sections were very stark. A black sentiment was placed on the inked section and I added some iridescent gems around the flowers. 

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

This is a ONE week challenge.

I am also linking up my card with Atlantic Hearts as I am a design team member there. 

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy,

Alyson

Birthday Corner Box Card

 I saw a tutorial on this type of card from Rachel Tessman - it isn't difficult to make at all. 

I chose a colour scheme of browns with pinks and greens. Since CTMH cardstock has a lighter shade of the colour on the reverse side, I took advantage of that and embossed three pieces on the darker side so they would stand out more. The top sentiment was embossed on dark brown cardstock and there is a smaller embossed sentiment on the card base behind that piece. 

The vase was stamped and die cut and I cut all the floral images and arranged them inside the vase. A piece of white cardstock was lightly inked in yellow and the vase was adhered to that piece. There is a panel on the back to write a message. The card folds flat and will fit in an A2 size envelope. 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Drawn Lines Butterfly Card

 I found a card like this on social media but there was no watermark... the lines on the original card were created using a stamp but I figured I could do the same thing with thin markers. 

The lines were drawn at various lengths on white cardstock. I stamped a sentiment and cut around it so only the black section was visible. The butterfly was hot foiled in gold and coloured from the back with Copic markers. Two leaf sprigs were placed under the sentiment and the butterfly was added on top. I adhered the card front to a white base using craft foam and three coordinating enamel dots were placed under the sentiment. 

Enjoy,

Alyson

MTTCC 85 - Frosty Hello

Welcome to My Time to Craft Christmas Challenge 85!

The theme for this challenge is to create a winter scene. 

I find scenes are easiest to manage on a slimline format. I inked a background with three shades of blue Distress Oxide ink and masked a sun in the corner. That was splattered with white paint. The "snow" was torn from a piece of white glitter paper and I stamped, coloured and die cut the snowmen and added them along the snowbank. The sentiment was placed at the top to finish off this cute card. 

Come and join us at MTTCC and show us your winter scenes. 

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Birthday Card with Joseph's Coat Technique

The Joseph's Coat technique has been around for ages - it creates such a cool effect that I had to revisit it after many years. 

I ink blended the background using four Distress Oxide inks and made sure it was completely dry. I stamped a variety of solid images on that piece using Versamark ink and embossed them with clear embossing powder. Once the background was filled with images, I used black ink with a foam applicator to apply a thick layer of ink on top. I wiped away the excess ink which left the beautiful multi-coloured background. 

I used the same inks to blend a background on the card base so it followed the same colours as the card front. I also blended another piece of cardstock and embossed the birthday sentiment in black before die cutting it. That was adhered to a black circle. Some gold metallic thread was arranged under the circle and the cards front was adhered to the base with craft foam. 

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Art Journal - Title Page

 I purposely waited to do the title page for my art journal because I wanted to use the sentiment that is shown here. I struggle with my self-confidence and erase the doubt is a phrase I often say to myself.

The background was painted using a mixture of three ink colours and water. The beautiful flowers on the left side are from 49 and Market's fabric tape and I used some acetate images and rub-ons around the page. Simple overall - I need to practice more with just letting it happen!

Enjoy,

Alyson

Celebrate Winged Gatefold Card

 This was a fun card to make - I had to play with the measurements to make it fit into a standard A2 envelope. It is 51/2" tall but 4" wide, so there is a bit of extra space. 

The flowers and leaves were all die cut and assembled. On each piece of white cardstock, I used a silver marker to draw a border. The flowers and leaves were adhered in groups. The side panels behind the front panels were stencilled to add some interest. A sentiment was stamped on the inside panel and since I had some extra images, I added a flower in the corner of that piece. I used a white gel pen to add details to the flowers. 

The first photo shows the card standing up - the sides fold in together so only the panel with Celebrate shows when it is flat. The second photo shows the card opened up. 

Enjoy,

Alyson