Atlantic Hearts Sketch 127

I love the sketch at Atlantic Hearts this week! I decided to play with it and rotate it as well as change the shape of some things as you will see below. With the new Artistry Cricut Cartridge, I just HAD to play with some of the new shapes and this was the perfect opportunity... plus a sketch is meant as a starting point, not as a limitation as to what you can and can't do. 

I have a hard time with colours in the editing process sometimes... I use Pic Monkey and I could not get the thread to turn out in the yellow shade (the same as the center flower) that I used. It looks green for sure! Trust me, it IS yellow. The coloured sequins are yellow and glacier-blue, also to match the papers. I'm not sure how to get around those issues. Someday, when time allows, maybe I will learn to use Photoshop... in the meantime, green thread rules! 

Join us at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and show us your interpretation of this week's sketch. You have until Sunday evening to link up your project. 

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

Paper: Zoe Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Sorbet Cardstock, Slate Cardstock, Cranberry Cardstock, Sweet Leaf Cardstock, Canary Cardstock, Glacier Fundamental Cardstock
Stamps: Holiday Tags
Inks: Slate, Sorbet
Accessories: Artistry Cartridge, Artiste Cartridge, Green Triangle Enamel and Glitter Duos, Silver Sequins, Bitty Sparkles, ShinHan Markers (Golden Yellow, Turquoise Blue), Yellow Embroidery Floss (not CTMH)

Enjoy, 
Alyson

H2H Challenge - Doodle Away

The challenge at Heart 2 Heart this week is to doodle on your artwork. Now for me, this is something that I NEVER do! The only exception is that on about 2 layouts, I have drawn a border around my photo mounts - that's it. I cannot draw for the life of me and I had to think a little bit "out of the box" for this challenge. 

I decided to go with more of an outline approach - I chose an old but favourite stamp set and masked the images to create a grouping of flowers. I then outlined everything to create more dimension. My hand was SO unsteady as I was so nervous while doing this... 

Join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us how you doodle on your artwork. We would love to see your projects.You have until the end of the month to enter any of the September challenges. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Pear Cardstock, Poppy Cardstock
Stamps: Dreams Come True (ret.), Lifetime of Happiness (ret.), Have a Happy Day (ret.)
Inks: Poppy, Pomegranate, Pear
Accessories: Corner Rounder, Black Journaling Pens (ret.) 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Atlantic Hearts Sketch 125

The sketch at Atlantic Hearts this week is a very straightforward one - it can be just a simple two layer card or it can be extended to be much more than that. I chose to go somewhere in the middle. 

The Zoe paper pack is so awesome because it can be masculine or feminine, depending on the embellishments that are used with the papers. This card looked very masculine before the flowers were added. 

Join us at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge this week and show us your interpretation of the sketch shown above. You have until Sunday night to get your entry submitted. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Zoe Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Glacier Cardstock, Slate Cardstock, Sorbet Cardstock, Sweet Leaf Cardstock
Stamps: Lovely Birthday
Inks: Glacier, Sorbet
Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Coral Shimmer Trim, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape, Grey Enamel Gems

Enjoy, 
Alyson

H2H - Bring on the Colour!

The challenge this week at Heart 2 Heart is colouring. I am still learning how to shade effectively using the ShinHan markers but I thought I would try something else this week. I used a stamp set that didn't require shading at all - just basic colouring to add interest. I have had this stamp set for a while and there are three long stamps in the set. I had only used one of them before today and it was only greenery. This one made for much more interesting colouring! 

I chose to use a combination of purples and yellows, along with green for the leaves and I like the way this turned out. Foam tape added some dimension, along with an embossing folder. 

Join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us your colouring skills. You have the entire month of September to enter any or all of the challenges this month. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Sangria Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Eggplant Cardstock, Honey Cardstock, Pear Cardstock

Stamps: Joyful Birthday, Botanical Backgrounds

Inks: Black Pigment Ink

Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Artiste Cartridge, Scallop Embossing Folder, Thistle Thick Twine, ShinHan Markers (Golden Yellow, Marigold, Peony Purple, Lavender, Leaf Green, Vivid Green), Clear Sparkles, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Gorgeous Card Set using September SOTM

This beautiful set of cards with the matching box is a set for which I cannot take credit. It was designed by a fellow consultant, Julie Carriere, and I just copied her instructions to create this. If you want more information on this set, click here to see Julie's original post where you can order her wonderful instructions so you can also create this set! 

I love the colours and this stamp set as well. "Paper Garden", September's Stamp of the Month, is only available during the month of September, so if you are planning to create this awesome set, be sure to order your stamp set during this month! You can get it for just $6 with a $50 purchase. Click here to shop online or contact me for more information. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Whisper Cardstock
Stamps: Paper Garden, Finding the Words
Inks: Pear, Thistle, Whisper, Slate
Accessories: Julie's cutting guide - Cricut Explore required, Diamond Embossing Folder, Sanding Kit, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape, Thistle Striped Ribbon (ret. - could also use Thistle Thick Twine), Sponge Daubers

Enjoy, 
Alyson

September Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - Paper Garden

Welcome to September's Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! This month, we are featuring the stamp set "Paper Garden" - a set of 10 stamps. This is a gorgeous set of stamps and with so many new products available for purchase now, the bloggers along this blog hop will show you several ideas, so sit back and enjoy the tour. You should have arrived here from Priscilla Gotham's blog .
If you get lost, a list of all blogs can be found here .

The stamp set looks like this.

I chose to create two cards - both using a form of watercolour technique. 

The first is done using our dye (regular) ink pads. It is so simple to do. All I did was use a large acrylic block and ink directly onto the block using three colours (Lagoon, Pear and Fern - a new colour). I lightly dropped a few drops of water on top of the ink until it beaded up and then carefully turned the block over and placed it on top of my white cardstock. The impression under the black images is what I ended up with and I love it! The colours blended together but not so much that you can't tell what they were to begin with. After the cardstock dried, I stamped the images that I wanted and then mounted the card to the base and added my embellishments. 

The second technique is brand new to me and I know I need to practice... 
But, I still wanted to include my project here to show you what I did. 
We now have new watercolour paints. I am NOT a painter by any stretch of the imagination - AT ALL! I simply took various shades of blue and mixed them together on the watercolour paper until I had something I sort of liked. Since this stamp set doesn't have any sentiments, I added a sentiment from another stamp set. 

I hope you enjoyed my projects. 

The next blog on the hop is Haley Dyer's blog 

I'm sure she has something wonderful to share with you.

You can get this stamp set for just $6 this month with only a $50 purchase.

(increase in prices in the Canadian catalog - please note that the price is shown incorrectly on the image where the stamps are shown - the price there is shown in US dollars) 

Visit my shopping site here. 

Remember this stamp set is only available until September 30th! 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Pear Cardstock, Pacifica Cardstock, Watercolour Paper

Stamps: Paper Garden, Just a Little Note

Inks: Black, Lagoon, Fern, Pear

Accessories: Fern Thick Twine, Glacier Thick Twine, Green Triangle Enamel and Glitter Duos, Watercolour Paints, Paintbrush Set

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Atlantic Hearts Sketch 123

It is already the end of August and in my area, some of the trees are already starting to turn colour! Autumn is my favourite season of the year. I love the crisp mornings, the beautiful colours on the trees and the falling leaves. 

My card for this week's challenge reflects my love for this season. I stamped the tree using the stamp set "Always Grateful" and I used 5 colours of pigment inks. I love those inks because they stay wet long enough to allow you to do amazing things with them! I started with Sunset and covered the tree with that colour. I went back and added Barn Red, Autumn Terracotta (the last two colours are both retiring as of today), plus a bit of Pear. The trunk was inked in Cocoa and the base was done with a bit of Pear. I just used a Kleenex to push into each ink pad and then dab on top of the original colour on the tree - so easy to do and I love the final effect. 

Show us your interpretation of this week's sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. You have until Sunday evening to link up with this week's sketch shown above. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Pear Cardstock, Sunset Cardstock, Pear Fundamentals Cardstock, Sunset Fundamentals Cardstock

Stamps: Always Grateful, Botanical Backgrounds, Big Hug

Inks: All Pigment Inks - Black, Cocoa, Pear, Barn Red, Autumn Terracotta, Sunset

Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, ShinHan Markers, Coral Reef Sequins, Black Shimmer Trim, Sparkles Black Flourishes Small, Foam Tape, Corner Rounder

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Heart 2 Heart - Workin' 9 to 5

The challenge at Heart 2 Heart this week is "Workin' 9 to 5"... very appropriate with Labour Day just around the corner. I thought about the qualities that come with working as a woman in today's world and a mini stamp set came to mind - one that was featured at Close To My Heart's 2013 Convention. It is called "She Believed". I love the saying and it reflects confidence - a quality required by women in today's working society. 

My own confidence level has taken a huge hit with the number of personal struggles I have faced over the last two years so this is a project that really hit home for me. Although I am no longer working 9 to 5, confidence is something that all women require. It is such an important quality. This saying is one that is written on a board in my creative space so I see it daily. 

Join us at Heart 2 Heart this week and show us how you interpret "Workin' 9 to 5". We would love for you to share your projects with us. You have until the end of the month to enter any of the August challenges. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted: 

Paper: For Always Paper Pack (ret.), White Daisy Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Lagoon Paper Fundamentals

Stamps: She Believed (ret.)

Inks: Black Pigment Ink, Lagoon Pigment Ink

Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, ShinHan Markers, Foam Tape, Oceanside Sequins, Bitty Sparkles, Bling Pins (ret.), White Crocheted Flowers (ret.), Black Ribbon (not CTMH)

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Atlantic Hearts Sketch 121

I love working with sketches and this week's sketch at Atlantic Hearts is no exception. I decided to take a completely different approach with my project this week. It s still a card but the sketch is found both on the front AND on the inside of the card. On the Atlantic Hearts website for the Design Team, we can only upload one photo, so I chose the inside of the card. Here, you will see both the front and the inside of the card. 

This is a book card - because it open sort of like a book. When I found the instructions, they were all in cm... so I had to convert everything to inches (even though, being from Canada, I am used to working in metric measurements for everything EXCEPT paper crafting). 

The lighting is kind of funny as the top of the card looks almost pink while the bottom looks purple like it is supposed look - that happened because I was trying to avoid shadows and with a light shining from above to remove shadows, it's really tough  to get consistent colour throughout (especially in the second photo). 

Here is the front of the card.

And here is the inside of the card.

Here is this week's sketch - can you see it both on the front and inside the card?

Needless to say, colouring and cutting all these flowers took me forever, but I love the final outcome. I didn't anticipate them hanging over the edge of the card like they did so I had to add the scalloped piece after the fact but it adds so much so I rather like the effect it creates. 

Be sure to join us at Atlantic Heart Sketch Challenge and show us your interpretation of the sketch shown above. You have until Sunday night to link up your project. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Thistle Cardstock, Gypsy Cardstock, Pear Cardstock

Stamps: Wavy Blooms, Holiday Tags, Documenting Moments

Inks: Black Pigment Ink, Gypsy Ink, Black Ink

Accessories: Artbooking Cartridge, Thistle Thick Twine, Clear Sparkles, ShinHan Markers - Leaf Green, Vivid Green, Peony Purple, Lavender, Colourless Blender, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape, Liquid Glass, Scallop Border Punch, Scallop Embossing Folder

Enjoy, 

Alyson

I Thought of You Today... Card

This card has one of my all time sentiments on it - from an old stamp set that I have kept for several years now. It is called "Smiles" and the sentiment is just so perfect. 

The flowers are from a SU stamp and to create the smaller ones, I just stamped the larger flower and cut it down from the edges. The leaves are from "A Budding Friendship". 

It's impossible to see in the photo but the black strip is from the Paper Fundamentals so it has the chevron print on it and it is shiny so it adds some additional interest to the card. 

I love the way this turned out - not sure who will receive this yet, so that will be a surprise :) 

Supplies are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Black Cardstock, Canary Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Black Paper Fundamentals Cardstock
Stamps: A Budding Friendship, Smiles (ret.), Blended Bloom (not CTMH)
Inks: Black Pigment Ink, Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, Lagoon Ink
Accessories: Flourish Embossing Folder (not CTMH),  Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, ShinHan Markers and Blending Pen, Blue Adhesive Gems (ret.)

Enjoy, 
Alyson