A fun card making blog
I purchased a paper pack a while ago - it's single sided but the patterns are gorgeous. I used one of the sheets for this card.
The left side is pleat folded five times and over the last pleat line, I placed a thin ribbon. The pleated panel was adhered to a gold mat and then a teal card base. I have some ephemera from this kit and I used both an image and a sentiment on this card. I added some gold thread under the sentiment and placed a few gold gems around the image.
Enjoy,
Alyson
Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge 668!
The sketch is shown below.
I love this sketch - the concept of rotating the same image for the tiny squares and using the same (or a similar) image for the larger section is neat!
I chose a floral stamp and I stamped the same image on all eight small squares. They were coloured using shades of pink and green. A larger images from the same set was stamped in the biggest opening and coloured. I used a black marker to draw around the edges of the smaller pieces and arranged them as per the sketch The sentiment was embossed on black and added across the larger image. I used a black pen to draw dots around some of the flowers and leaves.
Come and join us at Atlantic Hearts and show us how you interpret this challenge.
You have until Sunday evening to link up your project.
We can't wait to see what you create!
Enjoy,
Alyson
This card was created for a year long challenge run by The Papercrafter's Workshop, a scrapbooking store. Every month, they post at least two letters from the alphabet and the projects must be focused around elements that begin with that letter. There are prizes each month and also a grand prize at the end of the year.
January (although it was a late start) is A and B. We have until the end of February to complete the January projects as well as the two for February (C and D). This is my "B" project.
The focal "B" events on my card are bees, the colour blue and ink blending.
I ink blended a background and splattered it with water. The flower and the bees were stamped, coloured and die cut and I added heart trails behind each of the bees. I used clear Stickles on the bees' wings and on the centres of the flowers. The sentiment was placed at the bottom and I added the front to white cardstock and then a blue card base.
Enjoy,
Alyson
I like to do the Sketchy Saturday challenge that is posted by a friend of mine. The sketch is shown below.
I stayed true to the sketch as there were so many layers. I chose a teal, purple and light green colour scheme. The third layer was stencilled and I turned the small rectangles into shakers and inked a purple butterfly to go on top. The sentiment was placed across the butterfly.
Enjoy,
Alyson
Welcome to FarmQuest Country Christmas and our February challenge!
This is always a Christmas challenge with an outdoor theme.
I used a set of stencils from Altenew to create the background. I wanted to stencil the trees but even my darkest green ink allowed the darker grey to show through so I did the stencilling on a separate sheet of white cardstock and fussy cut the trees. The church image was die cut and assembled and I placed that image on the trail. I added clear Stickles on various parts of the snow and coloured in the light on the lamp post. A white gel pen was used to add stars in the sky and the sentiment was placed at the top. I also added red and gold Stickles to the trees for some decoration.
The same set of stencils (different parts) were used to create a second card, this one with winter trees. I created the layers in various shades of blue and stencilled the trees and added glitter paste on top. The house images were die cut, inked and assembled. I placed them along the trail and stamped the sentiment at the top. The hills were lined with clear Stickles.
Come and join us at FQCC and show us how you interpret this challenge.
You have until March 5 to link up your project.
We can't wait to see what you create!
Enjoy,
Alyson
Welcome to Cut It Up Challenge 349!
The theme for this challenge is "this makes me happy".
I love florals - and I also love sending unexpected cards to others, just to brighten their day. Both of those things make me happy!
I used a set of stencils to create the floral image, blending a mix of pink, yellow and orange for the flowers. I cut that piece with a stitched rectangle die and die cut a second, larger rectangle from black cardstock. The sentiment was stamped at the bottom and I added a die cut "you" just above that. The front was adhered to the mat layer with thin foam tape and the last layer was adhered to a white card base. Easy!
Come and join us at Cut It Up and show us how you interpret this challenge.
You have until Monday, February 16 to link up your project.
We can't wait to see what you create!
Enjoy,
Alyson
I posted a card like this one a while ago. This is the one that I taught in my group and I used nested arch dies.
The front has a coverplate die that was sliced in half to put a piece on each side. The deer were added to the front and I used a single deer on the inside of the card. The background for the inside was ink blended and it shows through all the arches. I added white glitter paper to each arch to simulate snowbanks.
Enjoy,
Alyson
I saw a card like this on Pinterest and wanted to create it myself.
The bottom of the card front was lightly inked with blue ink and a heart stencil. I stamped several squares with a text stamp and then die cut hearts from each piece. They were arranged above the stencilled section and I added a piece of twine across the images. A small sentiment was stamped on a tag and tied to the twine. Some iridescent gems were added around the card.
Enjoy,
Alyson
Welcome to Try a Sketch on Tuesday Challenge 688!
The sketch is shown below.
I stencilled a flourish with purple AstroPaste and let that dry. The plumeria image was stamped, stencilled and die cut and I also embossed a silver outline on vellum. The vellum piece was offset under the coloured image and adhered at the side. A sentiment was stamped at the bottom. I dragged my ink pad around the edge of the card base so it would match the dark purple in the flowers. Some silver gems were added around the flowers.
Come and join us at TSOT 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
Welcome to Heart'sQuest Celebrations of Love and our February challenge!
This is always a celebration of love challenge - birthday, wedding, anniversary, engagement or sympathy. The optional theme for this month is Valentine's Day.
I chose to make a birthday card.
I stencilled the clouds first and then stamped the trees and stencilled the leaves. The mice and birds were stamped, coloured and die cut and I also stamped a sentiment. The images were arranged on the grassy base and I stamped a smaller sentiment and some music notes near the images. The sentiment was placed at the top and I brushed parts of the birds, hats and jackets with a clear shimmer brush. The card front was adhered to a kraft border and then a white card base.
Come and join us at HQCOL and show us how you interpret this challenge.
You have until the end of the month to link up your project.
We can't wait to see what you create!
Enjoy,
Alyson
Welcome to Double Trouble Challenge 209!
The small graphic is below - please visit the Double Trouble Challenge blog for detailed information.
I wouldn't usually consider a coloured card to be clean and simple, BUT Thing 3 wants a colourful background... I chose a purple and mint colour scheme and die cut ribbon strands from light purple cardstock, Those were adhered to the mint piece and I added the dark purple circle flourish on top. I glued in the light purple centre pieces and added a stamped sentiment across the middle. No embellishments - just clean and simple.
Come and join us at Double Trouble 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
Welcome to Heart'sQuest for Shaped Cards and Tags and our February challenge!
This challenge is always about tags or shaped cards.
I used a set of dies from The Stamps of Life to create this thankful card.
The dies honestly do all the work for this - I just chose the papers. Since the sentiment is all about thankfulness, I decided to add some hearts along the sides. I didn't have a lot of choice of colours as the papers were blue, cinnamon and peach so I stayed with those colours. I added a smaller heart to the centre of the larger ones and I placed a gold gem in the centre of the smallest hearts. There is a panel inside the card to write a message.
Come and join us at HQFSCAT and show us how you interpret this challenge.
You have until the end of the month to link up your project.
We can't wait to see what you create!
Enjoy,
Alyson
Welcome to Dragonfly Dreams and our February challenge!
The theme for this challenge is shaped cards or fun fold cards.
I love fun folds - they are my favourite kind of cards to make. This is a style I have made a few times but it creates so much of an impact when it is opened.
I chose a black, white and turquoise colour scheme. The papers were layered and the base of the card was assembled. I die cut two large flowers and a bunch of greenery from white cardstock and inked the pieces. They were splattered with water and assembled. I placed the flowers in the opposite corners with appropriate greenery. The sentiment was originally silver glitter paper on vellum but it didn't show up very well so I cut another piece from turquoise cardstock and offset it on top of the glitter word. The cards fold flat to 6x6 for mailing and there is a place on the back to write a message.
Come and join us at Dragonfly Dreams and show us how you interpret this challenge.
You have until February 27 to link up your project.
We can't wait to see what you create!
Enjoy,
Alyson
Welcome to Pearly Sparkles and our February challenge!
The theme this month is hearts.
I used a vine die but I altered it to accommodate all the hearts. This is a picture of the die cut in its original form.
I cut off the edges of all the small images. The word "you" was die cut (I also cut the shadow but didn't use that). I was down to my last piece of dark green cardstock so I cut everything from the centre of that piece. That piece was used for the border of my card - shown below.
I added the hearts to the vine. The backgound was lightly inked with Tattered Rose Distress Oxide ink and I added water to some Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide ink to splatter the card. The vine image was placed on the left side and I stamped the bottom of the sentiment before adding the word "you" on top. A few scattered hearts were placed around the sentiment and I used a clear shimmer brush to add some sparkle to the hearts.
Come and join us at Pearly Sparkles and show us how you interpret this challenge.
You have until February 28 to link up your project.
We can't wait to see what you create!
Enjoy,
Alyson
This card is from the 30 Minute Card Making Stash Dash.
The parameters for this challenge were as follows: Type of Card: A2 Portrait, Colour: orange, Embellishment: shiny, Technique: fussy cutting and Occasion: just because or get well soon.
I lightly ink blended a background using shades of yellow, orange and red. The image was stamped across the card with black ink and I stamped the sentiment on one side. I fussy cut a piece of gold foil cardstock to cover the bottom of the stems and placed the card front on a gold foil mat and then a black card base. I finished in about 18 minutes - probably a record for me!
After I had time to look at the card, I decided to colour the flowers and leaves as well.
Which is your favourite?
Enjoy,
Alyson
Welcome to Colour Dare Challenge 689!
The graphic is below.
This colour scheme was a struggle for me... I finally decided to use all the colours as well as white and gold.
I cut a strip of each of the colours and taped them together on the back. That was embossed with a leaf pattern. I split up the pieces and adhered them to a white card base, leaving a small space between each piece but continuing the embossed pattern across the card. The sentiment was die cut from gold cardstock and placed at the bottom along with some gold glitter gems.
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
Although Christmas is over, it is definitely winter here! Snowmen are great for any winter card.
This card was inspired by one made by Mindy Eggen. I sprayed the white background with solar spray and when it was dry, I embossed it with a cascading circle pattern. The snowmen were stamped, coloured and die cut. I also stamped several snowflakes and the sentiment and die cut those pieces. Everything was arranged on the white background and that was adhered to the blue base with foam tape. I use clear Stickles to add extra shimmer to the centres of the snowflakes and various embossed circles.
Enjoy,
Alyson
This card is from the 30 Minute Card Making Stash Dash.
The parameters for this challenge were as follows: Card Style: A2 landscape, Colour: red, Embellishment: 3 of a kind, Technique: stamping and Occasion: crafter's choice.
All I could think of when red was announced was Santa... I stencilled the floor with a brick stencil and lightly inked the background with blue ink. The images were stamped, coloured and fussy cut. I arranged everything on the card font and stamped the sentiment at the top. The card front was adhered to two mats and I added some red gems (more than three) on the card. After I had photographed this, I added clear Stickles to the star, dog tags Santa's hat.
Enjoy,
Alyson
This card was created for the Sketchy Saturday challenge post. The sketch is shown below.
I flipped the sketch horizontally so the larger strips would be on the left side. I chose some gorgeous patterned paper and cut the strips but kept the image intact. They were arranged on green cardstock and I added that to a teal front and then a light blue card base. The sentiment was stamped on leftover paper and added to a teal circle. I placed a few gems around the sentiment.
Enjoy,
Alyson
Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge 666!
The sketch is shown below.
Come and join us at Atlantic Hearts and show us how you interpret this challenge.
You have until Sunday evening to link up your project.
We can't wait to see what you create!
Enjoy,
Alyson
This set of cards was inspired by a recent video by Jennifer McGuire.
The circles were masked and inked in various colour schemes. Some of the images were stamped within the circle (masking paper still in place) and others were stamped once the masking paper was removed. Texture was added by inking an adhesive eraser and stamping over the images and also embossing with a dot embossing folder. Some of the embossed images were sanded to highlight the white underneath. All the sentiments were angled along the circles.
Enjoy,
Alyson
This is a card style I have made before but I made a few changes this time.
The outer edge of the cut circle was embossed with a die. It left a pretty impression around the circle. I placed acetate between the top layer and the card base and the sentiment was stamped inside the card. The flower was die cut from white cardstock and I inked all the pieces. The rest of the greenery and berries were die cut from coloured cardstock and some of the pieces were flipped over because the reverse orientation worked better. Everything was arranged and picked up with Press 'n Seal. Before adhering anything down, I used a splatter stamp and purple ink to add some splatters at the top and bottom. The images were adhered around the circle and I added a few purple gems to finish off this pretty card.
Enjoy,
Alyson
Welcome to Cut It Up Challenge 348!
The theme for this challenge is "my heart".
I made a card style that I haven't done for quite some time. The side of the card folds inward, leaving an area to add shaped cuts both on the outside and inside the folded card.
I used some old patterned paper from my stash with shades of magenta, sea glass and gold. I chose a black card base and cut the papers to fit the panels. Several heart images were die cut and I stamped on a few of them as well. Hearts were placed on the front and inside the card and the base panel has an oval for a place to write a message. The sentiment was added on the front and a few gold gems were placed on the heart above the sentiment.
Come and join us at Cut It Up and show us how you interpret this challenge.
You have until Monday, February 2 to link up your project.
We can't wait to see what you create!
Enjoy,
Alyson
These two cards were inspired by a post I saw on Pinterest.
I die cut the anemone and leaf pieces from white cardstock and inked them. One background was embossed with a woodgrain embossing folder and the other was lightly inked in yellow (I should have inked a larger section as the flower was larger than I anticipated) and a die cut background was placed on top. Both of those pieces were adhered to the card bases with craft foam. The flowers were arranged on the backgrounds and I stamped and added sentiments plus some iridescent gems to each.
Enjoy,
Alyson
This card was inspired by one made by Mari Clarke. I don't usually combine pink and orange but a friend of mine has made several cards with that colour scheme and it is growing on me.
The flower and leaves were die cut from white cardstock and inked. I splattered the flower with white paint as well. The scalloped background was inked using yellow and pink, blending in the centre to make orange. A stitched oval was adhered with foam tape and the flower was placed on top. I inked a piece of white cardstock with pink ink and stamped the sentiment. That was added across the leaves and a few clear gems were placed around the card.
Enjoy,
Alyson
Welcome to Try a Sketch on Tuesday Challenge 687!
This can be a difficult sketch to follow... I struggled to add the elements at the bottom. I flipped the sketch over so the larger circles were on the left side.
I have a set of dies and stencils that create this gorgeous mountain scene. Once the stencilling was complete, I added some texture paste and glitter paste to represent snow. The cottage was die cut and assembled and I also die cut the deer. Those images were placed at the bottom of the scene and I added more texture paste to the house. The sentiment was stamped in the top corner and the card front was adhered to a green mat and then a white card base.
Come and join us at TSOT 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
Welcome to Double Trouble Challenge 208!
The details are below - please visit the Double Trouble Challenge Blog for detailed information.
The colours I chose were black, white, blue and yellow.
I masked a section of the card front and applied light blue ink and then clear glitter paste to imitate a body of water. Above that, layers of white glitter paper were adhered and I added clear Stickles between each layer (hard to see in the photos). The igloos and penguin were stamped, coloured and fussy cut. I arranged the igloos on the "snow" and placed the penguin on his chunk of ice in the water. A stamped sentiment was added at the top. I adhered the card front to a light blue card base.
Come and join us at Double Trouble 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
This card was created for a challenge that a friend of mine posts once a week.
The sketch is shown below.
I chose to use an oval instead of an arch shape. I die cut the oval from white cardstock and then embossed the rest of the white piece. The oval was ink blended and I stamped some greenery at the bottom and a girl on a swing. Everything was adhered to a black card base with foam tape. I added a sentiment and a small butterfly as per the sketch.
Enjoy,
Alyson
