Sunburst Floral Card

It's time... time to get back to a couple of challenges. 

This card is based on a card I found on Pinterest because when I saw it, I loved it! The original creator of the design that I found was Melodie Viljoen. I loved the sunburst with the wreath around the main circle. 

I used a template from the Artbooking Cricut cartridge for the sunburst and adjusted it to fit the size of my card. The wreath was created using the Flower Market Cricut cartridge. The papers for the sunburst are from the CTMH Mix-in paper pack. I chose the colours that I did because I am entering the Three Amigos challenge and it was the colours from their mood board (shown below) that inspired my choice of colours for this card. I splattered two colours of paint on the sunburst part to add some interest. 

The flowers were stamped, coloured and die cut. The main flower was brushed with a clear shimmer brush to add some sparkle. A bit of foam tape and some coloured gems finished off the card. 

This close-up shows the shimmer on the main flower. 

This is the mood board for the Three Amigos challenge.

It saddens me that this is the last challenge at Three Amigos - it ends on July 31. So sorry to see good things come to a close, but the three ladies there have done a fabulous job with that challenge! 

I am also entering this card in the Double Trouble challenge - all three components: 

Thing 1: Something, Anything and Everything (use your stuff) 

Thing 2: Link up with any previous challenge with which DT has paired previously 

               (I chose Three Amigos)

Thing 3: Create something with sun (I used a sunburst) 

Products used are all Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Mix-in Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Almond Cardstock, Ballerina Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Floral Delivery, Wordfetti

Inks: Intense Black, Lagoon

Accessories: Artbooking Cartridge, Flower Market Cartridge, Watercolour Paints, Waterbrush, Touch Markers (some CTMH), Sharpie Markers (not CTMH), Clear Shimmer Brush, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape, Clear Sparkles 

Enjoy,

Alyson

H2H - Spring Shaker Card

Welcome to this week's Heart 2 Heart challenge! 

This week, we are inviting you to create a project using your favourite sketch. You don't have to use Close To My Heart sketch resources - any sketch resources are fine. As a design team, we ARE using current Close To My Heart sketch resources so we cannot post the actual sketch for you as they are copyright protected but if you can post the sketch resource for us, that would be terrific! 

I chose to use a card sketch from Make It From Your Heart - Volume 4. I rotated the sketch 180 degrees and used a circle for the focal part instead of a rectangle because I wanted to use a shaker for my main image. The rotation fit my design better due to the sentiment location as well. Remember - sketches are starting points and as long as they can be identified, they do not have to be followed exactly.

Come and join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us your favourite sketch and how you use it. Remember to use at least some Close To My Heart products. You have until the end of April to link up your project. We can't wait to see what you create!

I am entering this card in the Three Amigos challenge - Springtime - because it's all about SPRING with its bright and spring-like colours! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: So Much Happy Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Mint Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Know that I Care, Well Said (SU)

Inks: Lagoon, Lemon

Accessories: Shaker Window Kit, Shaker Window Foam and Acetate, Loose Sequins - Gold, Gold Sequins, White and Gold Skinny Ribbon, Decorative Borders Thin Cuts, ShinHan Marker (other)

Enjoy,

Alyson

Rainbow Card #2 - You're a Star!

This is the second rainbow card for the Three Amigos challenge... a very different approach to that rainbow effect. 

This looks so easy but it took me a LONG TIME to do. 

The stars were die cut using the Basic Stars Thin Cuts from CTMH - one at a time - to get the outlines. I did them in various sizes as I wanted to link them. Each was cut once and then attached to the next colour coordinating star. I stamped the sentiment first and then worked the stars around that. It was very difficult adhering them in order but that is the only way to do this. Each was very carefully linked to the adjoining star and then attached. I coloured some clear sparkles yellow and added them for interest and I also filled in the letters with black marker as they were open. 

The inside of the card has the closed stars scattered around. 

This card is also being entered into the Three Amigos March challenge - Rainbows. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Lemon Cardstock, Nectarine Cardstock, Pixie Cardstock, Raspberry Cardstock, Bluebird Cardstock, Carolina Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Clover Cardstock, Willow Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Noted

Inks: Black

Accessories: Basic Stars Thin Cuts, Clear Sparkles, ShinHan Marker (other), Black Sharpie Marker

Enjoy,

Alyson

Rainbow Card #1 - A Big Thank You

The Three Amigos challenge has intrigued me all month but this is the first chance I have had to create anything for their challenge. 

Their March challenge is all about rainbows... the possibilities are endless! 

I have always wanted to try a rainbow cardstock card by layering cardsotck to form a rainbow effect. This is my attempt at doing just that. 

I laid out several pieces of cardstock in a rainbow of colours and then cut each of them to approx. 3/8"thick. I attached them onto a piece of white cardstock as the base. I chose a large die - one that almost covers a standard size card - and ran the die over the adhered cardstock and this is what I ended up with - a really cool rainbow coloured sentiment! I was going to mount it on black but the darker cardstock kind of got lost on the black so I chose grey instead. I wanted a stitched background but the dies I have cut only an outline for a  standard card so I had to adhere the inside and outside together to get that effect. The word BIG was brushed with shimmer just to make it stand out a little more. 

I am entering this card into the Three Amigos March challenge - Rainbows.

Products used are all Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Charcoal Cardstock, Lemon Cardstock, Saffron Cardstock, Nectarine Cardstock, Smoothie Cardstock, Candy Apple Cardstock, Thistle Cardstock, Pansy Cardstock, Sapphire Cardstock, Bluebird Cardstock, Carolina Cardstock, Peacock Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Emerald Cardstock, Clover Cardstock, Willow Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: none

Inks: none

Accessories: Big Thanks Thin Cut, Rectangular Stitched Dies (SSS), Clear Shimmer Brush

Enjoy,

Alyson

Hello to You via a Vase of Flowers

Three Amigos always has terrific challenges and this one is no exception. They have an inspiration photo up this month and however you choose to interpret that photos is up to you. 

The photo looks like this:

The things that "spoke to me" were the colour palette and the flowers. I always think of colours in terms of the Close To My Heart colours so I see Peach, Glacier, White, Linen and a hint of Sapphire in this photo. The flowers are so unique but I knew I had ONE stamp - just one - that had sort of similar flowers that I could use to create something that looked like the flowers in the photo. 

I wanted to bring Linen into this colour scheme but mixing Linen and white can be difficult so I chose to use texture paste for the linen colour - except I didn't have the Linen re-inker. A little bit of a darker grey made that possible by mixing just two drops with a fairly large amount of the texture paste to create a very light grey shade which was spread over a stencil. 

The flower and "greenery" were stamped in the colours mentioned above and die cut. A vase was cut from the Flower Market cartridge and stamped with a pattern. Stems were drawn as needed and this came together fairly easily. 

Come and join the fun at Three Amigos! There are still a couple of weeks left to interpret the fabulous photo shown above and share your creation with their challenge :) 

Products used are all follows:

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Glacier Cardstock, Sapphire Cardstock (all CTMH), Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Short and Sweet, Background Essentials (both CTMH), Artsy Flower Parts (SSS)

Inks: Smoothie, Peach, Sapphire, Glacier (all CTMH)

Accessories: Flower Market Cartridge, Artbooking Cartridge, Stencil Sheets, Stitched Circle Thin Cuts, Basic Circle Thin Cuts, Texture Paste (all CTMH), Stitched Rectangle Dies (GMD), Artsy Flower Parts Dies (SSS), Sharpie Marker, ShinHan Marker

Enjoy,

Alyson

Three Amigos - Gate Fold Card and Vellum Envelope

Welcome to November's challenge at Three Amigos! 

I love this month's challenge - it is all about interactive projects! I went looking for something interesting to do when I was asked to be the Guest Designer this month. This challenge is open to SO many possible interpretations. 

I found a gate fold card and then decided to expand on it, creating a hidden pocket in the back, allowing somewhere to write a message, and these kinds of cards usually don't stay closed very well, so a band is often required. Rather than using a band that slides on, I decided to create one that closes using hook and loop dots. 

The flowers and leaves were created using a lot of masking - thanks to a stamping platform, it made that process go much easier as the flowers were also stamped in second generation. 

Finally, I wanted an envelope into which the finished card could be placed but I wanted to card to be able to be seen through the envelope. Had I thought about that first, I would have created the card in a smaller size rather than 6x6 but it was too late for that. I used vellum for the envelope but I had to cover the adhesive along the sides with some patterned paper because I had to make the envelope slightly larger than 6x6 for the card to fit inside. Ah, the life of paper crafters - not mistakes, but opportunities to embellish, right? 

Below, I have included several photos so you can see the entire project in all its parts. 

Here is the entire project opened up. 

Let's back up to the beginning and see what it looks like when it is all closed up...

This is the card removed from the vellum envelope. 

Here you see the band and how it can be attached with the hook and loops dots. 

This shows the opened card with the slide out card in the back for the purpose of writing a message. 

There is a pocket on the back where that piece slides in. 

This is just a close-up of the centre section to show the masking of the flowers and leaves. 

And finally. another picture (the same one) of the complete open project with all the pieces.

Come and join the Three Amigos challenge and share your interactive project with us! 

We can't wait to see what you create :) 

Products used are as follows: 

Paper: Live Beautifully Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, New England Ivy Cardstock, Ballerina Cardstock, Vellum, Gold Foil Paper (all CTMH)

Stamps: Chelsea Garden Cardmaking, Chelsea Garden Scrapbooking, Happy Times, Frame it Up, Have a Happy Day (all CTMH)

Inks: Eggplant, Charcoal, New England Ivy (all CTMH)

Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Art Philosophy Cartridge, Gold Glitter Gems, Stitched Ovals Thin Cuts, Oval Thin Cuts,  Rose Embossing Folder, White and Gold Twine, Thin Foam Tape (All CTMH), Scalloped Squares, Tags, Tags 2 (all Nestabilities)

Enjoy,

Alyson

Cultivate Kindness - Double Diamond Fold

I saw this card fold a while ago and thought it was simply gorgeous! A friend of mine made one and she was kind enough to share the instructions on her blog. Please visit Susan Fogel's Paper Menagerie for complete and awesome detailed instructions for how to create this beautiful card! 

I used the Boutique collection to create this one. I have to say that I loved the card that Susan created so much that I actually recreated the same one that she did as well. I also loved the layering that she did on the front of her card that I replicated that on mine. It was such a beautiful way of using the new Fancy Tags and the Decorative Borders.

I did add a little bit of detail on the bottom of the Decorative Border piece and that is shown below. Those borders are so cool - you can add extra detail without actually cutting through the paper! 

My butterfly was coloured using ShinHan markers and then I used three shimmer brushes on top of the colours - Bashful, Sugarplum and Mint. 

Here is the other card that I created - the same one that Susan did originally - isn't it gorgeous?

I am entering my first card into the Three Amigos fun folds challenge this month.

Products used are all Close To My Heart (products listed for first card only) 

Paper: Boutique Paper Pack, Peacock Cardstock, Sugarplum Cardstock, Saffron Cardstock, Glacier Cardstock, Ballerina Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock

Stamps: Thanks & Giving, Grateful Heart - Cardmaking, Boutique - Cardmaking

Inks: Peacock, Glacier

Accessories: Bashful Shimmer Brush (ret.), Sugarplum Shimmer Brush, Mint Shimmer Brush, ShinHan Markers, White and Gold Skinny Ribbon, Foam Tape, Decorative Borders Thin Cuts, Fancy Tags Thin Cuts

Enjoy,

Alyson

Colour Dare 301 - Interactive Tea Card

Welcome to Challenge #301 at Colour Dare!

Our colour combination this week is a pretty basic one - essentially red, green and yellow (Poppy, Willow and Lemon) plus optional Gold. In the Close To My Heart palette, those colours are bright ones - so I went to the Adventure Fundamentals for my papers, as well as some cardstock. 

I wanted to use the Beautiful Friendship - Cardmaking stamp set, which is all about tea, to make my card and I had an idea in mind. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do and I also didn't want to use an existing template. Figuring out things like this takes me a LONG time because I have always been "spatially challenged". Thinking in terms of three dimensional items (although this is not really 3-D) has never been a strength for me. This is my own design and I really had to think about how to make this work. 

There are several views shown so you get the entire picture of how this card is put together. The front is a partial panel. It is attached with a hook and loop dot and opens sideways to reveal the second part of the card.

Inside the second part, I embossed the teapot and cups using gold embossing powder and coloured the flowers using Sharpie markers. I didn't want the left side to be left blank so I stamped a white sheet using the teapot interior and coloured all of those tiny flowers (talk about having googly eyes afterwards because that is very detailed work...) 

I have also shown a closeup of the embossed teapot so you can see the detail of the gold embossed teapot and the colouring of the tiny flowers.

The last part of the card flips entirely upwards to reveal a place to hold two teabags and a spot to write a message. 

The last photo shows the card sitting closed (but without the hook and loop dot closed) to show you how it is put together. 

Come and join us at Colour Dare and show us how you use the colour palette shown below. 

You have two weeks to enter your project. 

I am also linking this card into the Three Amigos challenge as their 

challenge this month is embossing. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Adventure Fundamentals, Poppy Fundamental Paper (ret.), White Daisy Cardstock, Willow Cardstock, Poppy Cardstock

Stamps: Beautiful Friendship - Cardmaking

Inks: Poppy, Willow, Black, Versamark

Accessories: Gold Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Gold Glitter Gems, Sharpie Markers (not CTMH), Rectangular Stitched Dies (not CTMH), Circle Stitched Dies (not CTMH), Scallop Border Dies (ret.),  Hook and Loop Dots, Black Journaling Pen, Tea Bags (not CTMH)

Enjoy,

Alyson

Atlantic Hearts 272 - Simple Flowers card

Welcome to Challenge #272 at Atlantic Hearts! 

This challenge card is being posted a little early because Atlantic Hearts has paired up with the Double Trouble challenge. However, you cannot actually enter the Atlantic Hearts #272 challenge until Monday when this particular sketch goes live. As a design team member, I have access to it in advance, which is why I am posting it now - it is also shown on the Double Trouble site and their challenge with Atlantic Hearts is running for a two week period. 

The challenge at Double Trouble is threefold:

Thing #1 challenges you to a 3-2-1 Recipe

1. use THREE colours

2. use a TWO WORD sentiment

3. use ONE stamped or digital image

Thing #2 challenges you to link up to the Atlantic Hearts challenge 

(#271 or #272)

Thing #3 challenges you to use embossing 

- either dry or wet embossing

My card meets ALL of the challenges listed above. 

I added a piece of twine to the top of my card as there really was something missing at the top and that filled in the gap. The flowers were coloured using ShinHan markers and brushed with the Clear Shimmer Brush. I also stamped the Bashful paper using the Bashful ink pad, just to add some interest. 

I am also entering this card into the Three Amigos challenge as their challenge 

this month is embossing. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Bashful Cardstock, Raspberry Cardstock, Seaglass Cardstock (ret.)

Stamps: Petal Palette (SU), Beautiful Inside (Altenew)

Inks: Tuxedo Black Memento Ink, Bashful, Raspberry

Accessories: Foam Tape, Rose Embossing Folder, Pink Gems (ret.), Turquoise Twine (unknown), Clear Shimmer Brush, ShinHan Markers

Enjoy,

Alyson

Wishing You Smiles Splatter Ink Butterfly

I have been wanting to get another card together for the Double Trouble Challenge - and also try something I haven't done for a while at the same time. 

This card took me a long time to create but it also made me think carefully about how I wanted to do this for a few reasons. First - there is a restriction of colours with this challenge. You can only use three specific colours (plus black and white if desired, but since Nutmeg is one of the colours, black really doesn't fit). Second, I need to have a form of string. Finally, I also want to link up with the Three Amigos challenge and that requires a form of die cutting. 

So - I started with my largest block and three ink pads - Glacier, Sorbet and Nutmeg. I inked up the block, spritzed it with water once and turned it upside down on watercolour paper. It took me three attempts before I had something that looked like it was usable. 

Next was on to my Cricut machine to find a decent butterfly. That was sliced on a larger piece of white cardstock than required and then run through my Big Shot with a stitched die to form the outline. The butterfly still had the outer border around it but it worked for my purpose. The wishing die was cut four times and adhered on top of each other. 

The butterfly and background were foam taped to the inked background with many tiny pieces that took forever! The sentiment was added and then the twine formed the body of the butterfly. A couple of the inked pieces were added to the inside of the card. 

Double Trouble Thing 1 - specific colours - done 

Double Trouble Thing 2 - string things - done

Double Trouble Thing 3 - link up to Colour Dare challenge - done

Three Amigos Challenge - use die cutting in project - done 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Glacier Cardstock Nutmeg Cardstock, Watercolour Paper

Stamps: Sending and Wishing (SSS)

Inks: Glacier, Sorbet, Nutmeg

Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge (ret.), Stitched Rectangles (GM Designs), Wishing Die (SSS), Foam Tape, Glacier Twine (ret.)

Enjoy,

Alyson

Who Needs Patterned Paper?

My card today uses cardstock only - and there are a lot of things that can be done using ONLY cardstock. I actually didn't do much - just dry embossed one piece and cut a few shapes using my Big Shot and did some colouring. It is amazing how much can be done without using patterned paper. 

And what inspired this card? Well, there is a new challenge out there called Double Trouble. This week, the challenge is to use NO patterned paper and the second part of the challenge is to use some sort of die cut on your project. I have done both of those things. There is also a third part and that is to link up with another challenge - Three Amigos - as they are hosting a die cut challenge - and I am doing that as well. Three for three! 

So, here is my card.

This photo shows the shimmer on the flowers. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Willow Cardstock, Blossom Cardstock, Thistle Cardstock

Stamps: Beautiful Friendship - Cardmaking, Documented - Cardmaking

Inks: Tuxedo Black Memento Ink, Willow

Accessories: Documented Cardmaking Thin Cuts, Spellbinders Decorative Circle Nestabilities (not CTMH), Rose Embossing Folder (Darice), ShinHan Markers, Clear Shimmer Brush, White Twine, Foam Tape, Sharpie Markers (not CTMH)

Enjoy,

Alyson

H2H - Triadic Colour Combo - BOLD Colours!

Welcome to another weekly challenge at Heart 2 Heart! 

I LOVE this challenge! The challenge this week is to use a triadic colour combination. If you aren't familiar with what that means, here is the information.

A standard colour wheel is shown below. 

The word TRIAD comes from the word THREE, so that means you want THREE colours. Those colours need to be evenly spaced across the colour wheel. See the colour wheel below for an example. This colour wheel shows ONE example of a triadic colour combination. The equilateral triangle hits three colours evenly spaced on the colour wheel. 

There are really only four possible combinations that can be used. If you want to use specific Close To My Heart colours, this colour wheel shows the CTMH colours used with the standard colour wheel.

I chose to use the combination of Yellow-Orange, Blue-Green and Red-Violet. Initially, I thought that Tangerine and Raspberry would look terrible together - was I ever wrong! Its amazing how this concept really works! I originally had Lagoon as my Blue-Green choice but decided I liked Peacock better as it was darker. 

I love the way my finished card turned out - it is bold and it sure leaves an impression. That's what I like! I will definitely be turning to this idea again. I never thought that some of these colour combinations could work so well together. 

Come and join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us the colours with which you choose to create your project. We can't wait to see what you create! 

You have until the end of May to enter this or any of the other May challenges. 

I am also entering my card in the Three Amigos challenge - May Flowers. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Documented Paper Pack, Some Kind of Wonderful Paper Pack (ret.), White Daisy Cardstock, Raspberry Cardstock, Tangerine Cardstock

Stamps: For You Darling, Sending and Wishing (Simon Says Stamp)

Inks: Raspberry, Peacock

Accessories: Artiste Cartridge (ret.), Spellbinders Dies, Diamond Embossing Folder (ret.), White Pearls, Bashful Shimmer Brush (ret.), Thin Foam Tape

Enjoy,

Alyson