DT 155 - Friendship Peonies

 Welcome to Double Trouble Challenge 155!

This is the last challenge of the year and it runs until the end of the month. Please visit the Double Trouble challenge site for detailed information. 

I always need friendship cards so this was a good opportunity to create another one! 

The flowers were stamped, stencilled and die cut. I also die cut a detailed white flower background. The background was adhered to mint cardstock and then to a black card base. The flowers were arranged in a half wreath at the top and placed over a heat embossed sentiment on vellum. I aded some blue metallic thread in the top left corner and also tied a small bow that was placed off centre on the wreath. Two thin strips of glitter paper were added across the bottom of the vellum piece and some clear dew drops were placed on the flowers and leaves. 

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

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

I am also linking up my card with the challenge at Use Your Stuff (wrap it up).

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy,

Alyson

DT 134 - Punny Doggies

 Welcome to Double Trouble Challenge 134! 

This week, it's all about soft and cuddly - animals, that is! The small graphic is below - please visit the Double Trouble Challenge Blog for detailed information. 

I have a few dog stamps and I wanted smaller stamps that would fit within the circles from the die cut. I die cut the circle frame in three shades of blue and also in white and pieced together the sections. I used the three white circles to stamp the doggies and colour them. The sentiments were heat embossed in white on two of the darker circles. I also stamped and fussy cut some bones to add to another circle. As an afterthought, I die cut a stitched border. In hindsight, I should have adhered that first as I realized that my circles weren't quite centred from top to bottom... such is life. 

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

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

I am also linking up my card with the Use Your Stuff Challenge. 

And this is a picture of my little doggie. She is a monster at 6 pounds! 

We can’t wait to see what you create! 

Enjoy,

Alyson

DT 121 - Yuletide Season Poinsettias

 Welcome to Double Trouble Challenge 121!

This week, it's all about dies (or punches) and woodgrain. The small graphic is below - please visit the Double Trouble Challenge site for detailed information. 

I had some leftover die cuts from some Christmas cards that I recently finished and decided they would work well for my card. The background is a piece of woodgrain paper and I lightly inked the edges with a turquoise ink pad. The brown background was die cut and then cut into two pieces. The sentiment was stamped on white and die cut, along with a darker brown circle background. I arranged the poinsettias and other blooms around the sentiment and cut slits in the background pieces to string a ribbon though. A bow was added under the sentiment and I added a glitter gem to each of the flowers. 

Come and join us at Double Trouble and show us your projects with dies or punches. 

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

I am also linking up my card with the Use Your Stuff challenge (woodgrain). 

We can’t wait to see what you create! 

Enjoy,

Alyson

I Really Miss You Flowers

I used a leaf embossing folder on two panels on my card - the two gold foil pieces. I didn't have a dark purple cardstock piece that worked with this colour scheme so I created my own using a dark purple ink. The flowers and leaves were stencilled and die cut.  The sentiment was added under one of the flowers which were adhered with thin and regular foam tape for dimension. I added some gold metallic thread and purple gems around the flowers. 

I am entering this card in the following challenges: 

Can You Handle the Pressure challenge (embossing folder and flowers)

 Use Your Stuff Challenge (A Touch of Gold)

Enjoy,

Alyson 

DT 106 - Clean and Simple

Welcome to Double Trouble Challenge 106!

This week, it's a clean and simple challenge. The small graphic is below - please visit the Double Trouble Challenge Blog for detailed information. 

Clean and simple is not my usual choice of design... I prefer many layers and colours. This was tough... I decided on some leaf dies and Distress Oxide inks to create the colourful leaves. 

One set of leaves was inked with three shades of blue and the second set with multiple colours to create a rainbow. I die cut circles and adhered them with thin foam tape so the leaves could be adhered to the edge of each circle. Both card designs are the same except I splattered coordinating colours diagonally across the blue card and I focused only on the circle for the rainbow card. The splattering was done with shimmer brushes so there is a bit of shine in those areas. I stamped a sentiment in the bottom right of each card with black ink and the last step was to adhere the top panel to the card base with a piece of thin craft foam. 

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

I am also linking up my blue card with the Use Your Stuff challenge. 

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy,

Alyson

Double Trouble 94 - Pumpkin Gnomes

 Welcome to Double Trouble Challenge 94! 

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

My inspiration came from the leaves and the colours in the leaves. I began by stamping the grass and then inking over the blades. The clouds were created using a cloud stencil and a light blue ink. Several leaves were stamped and masked along the bottom in two spots and then they were coloured. I decided to use a slimline card format to accommodate a "pumpkin sale" scene. The gnomes were stamped, coloured and die cut. The pumpkins were stamped, coloured and fussy cut. They were stacked along the right side so the gnome could wheel his wheelbarrow toward the pile. The last step was to stamp a small sentiment in the top right corner. 

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

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

I am also linking up my card with the Use Your Stuff challenge. 

We can’t wait to see what you create! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Slimline Cards and Envelopes, Blue-Grey Cardstock (scrapbook.com)

Stamps/Dies: Mini Garden Gnomes with Dies, A World with Octobers, Giving Thanks 

Inks: Evergreen, Clover, Carolina, New England Ivy, Intense Black (SSS)

Accessories: Cloud Stencil (MFT), Tri-Blend Markers, Copic Markers, Sharpie Markers

Enjoy,

Alyson

Double Trouble 78 - All About Green

Welcome to Double Trouble Challenge #78! 

This week, it's all about the green with St. Patricks' Day around the corner. The small graphic is below - please visit the Double Trouble website for detailed information. 

I chose to do something clean and simple for this challenge. I pulled out my Distress Oxide inks and used them to create a watercolour background. I also splattered some Black Soot ink over the top when it was almost dry. That piece was then embossed with the Buffalo Plaid embossing folder. I mounted the watercolored piece on black cardstock, drew a line around the edge and added a die cut sentiment cut from Black Ore paper. It's very shiny although that doesn't show in the photo. I added a few Black Bursts on the card and coloured Bitty Sparkles to go in the centres of the bursts. 

Working with ink and water is a messy task so I created a few others cards at the same time. Those are shown below. 

Come and join us at Double Trouble and show us how you interpret the expectations for this challenge. 

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

I am also linking up my card with the Use Your Stuff challenge. 

We can’t wait to see what you create! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Black Cardsotck, Distress Watercolour Paper, Black Ore Paper, Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: none

Inks: Distress Oxide inks - variety 

Accessories: Hello Die (Pretty Pink Posh), Friend Die (Pretty Pink Posh), Hello Sunshine Die (Creative Expressions), Just for You Die (Creative Epressions), Buffalo Plaid Embossing Folder, Dots Embossing Folder, Floral Embossing Folder, Floral Lace Embossing Folder, Black Bursts, Bitty Sparkles, Tri-Blend Markers, Black Journaling Pen

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Double Trouble 58 - Masculine Birthday Card

Welcome to Double Trouble Challenge #58! 

The elements for this challenge are shown in the grid below. The condensed version is to create a masculine project (does not have to be Father's Day related), use a round item and link to Use Your Stuff challenge. 

I am always needing masculine birthday cards... this was the perfect opportunity to create another one as Thing 1 requires a masculine project.

I used an old card pattern from Make It From Your Heart Volume 2. The three panels were cut from Cedar and Pine (Christmas paper) and a retired Mix-In paper pack. I stamped the sentiment - which is a mini stamp that is at least 10 years old - in Intense Black and then coloured it using 4 shades of green, blending them into each other to create an ombre appearance on the letters. The sentiment was die cut with a stitched circle die and the circle background is gold foil paper. I used some black glitter paper for the cross piece and placed a ribbon on top of that. The same ribbon was used to create a bow at the side of the sentiment. I added a few gold gems and mounted the sentiment on foam tape. 

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

Remember that you can also enter the 

Use Your Stuff challenge. 

I am linking my card up with that challenge. 

We can’t wait to see what you create! 

Products used are all Close To My Heart: 

Paper: Cedar and Pine Paper Pack, Mix-In Paper Pack, Black Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock, Black Glitter Paper, Gold Foil Paper, White Cards and Envelopes 

Stamps: Heartfelt Birthday Wish

Inks: Intense Black

Accessories: Stitched Circle Thin Cuts, Basic Circle Thin Cuts, Gold Gems, Foam Tape, Tri-Blend Markers, Black and Gold Ribbon

Enjoy,

Alyson

Joy in Plaid

It's time to create Christmas cards - and non-traditional ones are my favourite. 

This one, however, is kind of red and green - just unusual shades of red and green. 

The Hawthorn Paper Pack was a good choice for a plaid background and Sage, which is a colour from that pack, worked well for the trees. The base colour isn't White but Pebble - kind of a green/grey colour. I used that for the cardstock to stamp my trees and also the Joy sentiment. 

The trees were arranged so as not to interfere with the frame and some were brushed with the Gold Shimmer Brush - that can be seen in a close-up below. I also went over the word "Joy" with the same shimmer brush. A few gold embellishments were added and this card was completed. 

I am entering my card in the challenge at Double Trouble and Use Your Stuff. 

Here are the details: 

Thing 1 - Mad for Plaid - add plaid on your project

Thing 2 - Enter your card at Use Your Stuff 

Thing 3 - Add a frame or tag on your project

I have completed all three of the above "things"...

Products used are as follows: 

Paper: Hawthorn Paper Pack, Pebble Cardstock, Sangria Cardstock, Sage Cardstock

Stamps: Holly Jolly Christmas, Festive Trees

Inks: Pebble, Sage

Accessories: Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, Artistry Cricut Cartridge, Sangria Ribbon, Gold Glitter Gems, Gold Embellishing Thread, Gold Shimmer Brush, Foam Tape

Enjoy,

Alyson

Unicorns, Magic and All that Good Stuff!

Welcome to the second February challenge at Double Trouble! 

Again, I am honoured to be their Guest Designer for the month of February. 

The challenge for the next two weeks has SO MANY possibilities... a Tic Tac Toe board, the optional twist to use a "magical theme" and the option to link up with 

another challenge at Use Your Stuff! 

Wow - so much to do, but it really isn't hard to put it all together. 

Here are ALL the details...

I chose to pull out some retired Close To My Heart paper and a related stamp set called Little Dreamer. It's all about the unicorns... The pattern is from Make It From Your Heart - Vol.4

I used one of the PML cards in the paper pack for the center piece and I die cut some silver glitter stars. For the Tic Tac Toe grid, I used the far left side column going down (silver/gold, sentiment and die/punch). I included some other elements from the grid on my card as well but they didn't make an entire row. I don't ink the edges of my papers very often but these papers needed something and that seemed to do the trick as it provided some extra emphasis to each. 

If you use a magical theme on your project, be sure to link up with the Use Your Stuff challenge 

as well as the Double Trouble challenge! 

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

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

Paper: Little Dreamer Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Glacier Cardstock, Silver Glitter Paper, Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Little Dream Cardmaking

Inks: Thistle, Lagoon, Glacier, Blossom

Accessories: Stars Thin Cuts, Silver Glitter Gems, Silver Shimmer Trim, Teal Shimmer Trim, Foam Tape

Enjoy,

Alyson