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