Extravaganza - Mini-Albums

Finally - this is the LAST post with my Extravaganza artwork! I thought I would never get through all of it! 

Before I get to the description of the last two items, I hope you have enjoyed all of my Extravaganza artwork. I had fun creating it and I certainly learned a lot! Tomorrow, I will be posting my album contest entries and then I will be back to posting my regular artwork once again. 

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These two little beauties sat on my table with me. They were both made using the Dimensional Elements that come as part of the Cricut Artiste Collection. For this two page one, I chose the two shapes closest to a square. It is just a little mini-frame for two of my favourite photos of me and my husband. 

The second album used the other four chipboard pieces to form a mini-album. I used only the brown papers from the La Belle Vie kit and this time, and I paired them with some blues to show that if you take out the pinks and purples, this kit CAN work for masculine purposes. I inserted some of my favourite canoe tripping photos and it certainly doesn't look like a feminine set of papers any longer!

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Supplies are all CTMH unless otherwise noted. 

Two-Page Frame

Paper: La Belle Vie, Sweet Leaf Cardstock, Black Cardstock

Stamps: None

Inks: Smokey Plum, Sweet Leaf, Black

Accessories: Cricut Artiste Cartridge, Cricut Artiste Dimensional Elements, Colour Ready Seam Binding, La Belle Vie Stickease, Boutique Assortment, Glamour Glitter Alphabet, Small Binder Rings (not CTMH)

Mini-Album

Paper: La Belle Vie, Sky Cardstock, Black Cardstock

Stamps: Love Life

Inks: Desert Sand, Timber Brown Staz-On, Black

Accessories: Cricut Artiste Cartridge, Cricut Artiste Dimensional Elements, Blue Button Collection, Blue Ribbon Collection, Glamour Glitter Alphabet, Bamboo Waxy Flax, Garden Wooden Shapes, Posh Journaling Spots, Binder Rings (not CTMH)

Extravaganza - Wreath and Banner

The wreath below was quite simple to create but it makes a big statement, mostly due to the size of the bird.

To stabilize the bird, I cut out the bird in White Daisy cardstock about 6x before making a single cut out of the B&T paper for the top piece. I just glued together all the cardstock pieces to make it nice and thick. To get the wing to stick out, I used a hot glue gun to hold the wing in place. 

The burlap flower was made by rolling and turning out the edges as it was rolled. It was then hot glued at the end to hold it together.

The banner was a bit difficult to read under the lighting in my Extravaganza booth but it 

does read "BONJOUR".

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Supplies are all Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted. 

Wreath: 

Paper: La Belle Vie, Colonial White Cardstock

Stamps: None

Inks: Desert Sand, Blush

Accessories: Cricut Artiste Cartridge, Bitty Sparkles, Striped Black Grosgrain Ribbon, Burlap Ribbon, Glamour Glitter Alphabet, Licorice Opaques Adhesive Gems, Hemp, Black Tulle, La Belle Vie Stickease, Grapevine Wreath (not CTMH)

Banner: 

Paper: La Belle Vie, Colonial White Cardstock

Stamps: None

Inks: Desert Sand, Smokey Plum, Blush

Accessories: Cricut Artiste Cartridge, Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge, Mini Banner, Pixie Glitter Alphabet, Prisma Glitter, Black Tulle, Licorice Opaques Adhesive Gems

Extravaganza - Display Tray

The Display Tray is a brand new home decor item from Close To My Heart. Although it comes in black, it could very easily be painted any colour to match a specific decor. I chose to leave mine black. 

Rather than using just the La Belle Vie paper, I used the browns from that paper pack and I also used the Florentine papers to show that the browns from the La Belle Vie paper can be integrated with various other colours. 

I created mine using a family theme.

Some details about what I included in the tray: 

• If you look closely, in the 2 boxes with the photos of my parents, I used pages from my mom's 1960 passport. My father was a World War II Army Veteran and I wanted to highlight that by using the "Canada" page from the passport. The background page behind my mom's photo has her maiden name on it. 
• The significance of the buttons is that both my parents used to darn socks - it seemed as a kid that all my socks always had either holes or big darned sections in them.
• The #181 on the house represents the number on the house where I grew up in Winnipeg. 
• On the bottom row, there is a picture of Prague, as my mom is of Czech descent. 
• The little pocket watch represents the fact that my family was always punctual for everything.
• The rolled flowers and leaves represent the fact that my mom is an avid gardener.
• The other symbols represent love, my siblings, and my family in general.

Supplies are listed below the photo. 

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Supplies are all Close To My Heart unless they are found objects or not available through CTMH.

Paper: La Belle Vie Paper Pack, Creme Brulee Cardstock, Twilight Cardstock, Olive Cardstock, Colonial White Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Bamboo Cardstock

Stamps: None

Inks: Desert Sand, Black, Twilight, Olive, Creme Brulee, Olive Marker

Accessories: Cricut Artiste Cartridge, Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge, Burlap Ribbon, Striped Black Grosgrain Ribbon, Glamour Glitter Letters, Bitty Sparkles, Timeless Charms, Adhesive Springs, Foam Tape, Black Sparkle Flourishes, Green Button Collection, Black Tulle, Bamboo Waxy Flax, Bling Assortment, Wooden Garden Shapes, Black Thread and Sewing Machine, Black Sharpie Marker, Passport, Pocket Watch

Extravaganza - Jewelry Box and Jewelry

This item for Extravaganza was one I knew I wanted to do as soon as I knew we had access to a new Cricut cartridge. I had many questions about it - most of the jewelry inside is simply made from Cricut cut-outs. There are no shrinky-dinks involved. All I did was cut out shapes from the Artiste Cartridge, cover them with Liquid Glass and let them dry. In one case, the necklace is a stamped image, done with Black Staz-On ink. In other cases, coloured Sharpie markers were used to add colour to our Rhinestone Brads. Nothing was overly complicated. The bracelet with all the paper pieces is simply that - paper pieces cut from La Belle Vie paper, mounted on Black cardstock and covered with Liquid Glass. So simple, yet so eye-catching! 

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Extravaganza - Wedding Items

The following items are those that were prepared as part of a wedding theme. The La Belle Vie paper lends itself perfectly to weddings and anniversaries and I simply couldn't leave that out of my display! 

One of my display boards was dedicated to wedding items although these photos were taken before the items were mounted to the display board. The 3-D items were laid out on the display table.

Candle Holder with a Bible and Napkin Rings

Formal Invitation and Reply Card

Dinner Menu

Place Cards

Wedding Stationery

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Supplies used are all Close To My Heart unless unavailable. 

Paper: La Belle Vie Paper Pack, Colonial White Cardstock, Thin Off-White Stationery

Stamps: Jardin

Inks: Timber Brown Staz-On, Smokey Plum

Accessories: Black Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Boutique Assortment, Artiste Cricut Cartridge, Black Tulle, Burlap, Bitty Sparkles, Black Tapestry Velvet Rub-Ons, Plastic Plate, Computer Font

Extravaganza - Layouts

These are the layouts that I had on display at Extravaganza. Only one is a traditional paper layout - the rest were created in Studio J. Because we had access to Studio J ahead of time, we did not receive the J-Pegs for these layouts, so they are photos of the layouts. For the paper layout, I have shown the full layout plus photos of each page as well, so you can get a closer look. The supply list is at the bottom of the page. You can always double click on any item to get a closer look.

Traditional Paper Layout

Studio J Layouts

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Supplies used are all Close To My Heart unless not available from CTMH

Paper: La Belle Vie Paper Pack, Sweet Leaf Cardstock, Black Cardstock

Stamps: None

Inks: Olive Marker

Accessories: La Belle Vie Stickease, Artiste Cricut Cartridge, Glamour Glitter Alphabet, Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, Mocha Opaque Adhesive Gems, Sparkle Flourishes, Boutique Assortment, Posh Journaling Spots, Black Embroidery Floss

Extravaganza Artwork - Dress Shop (my favourite)

This was my favourite piece of artwork of all of them (and it took me the longest time to make as well...) There were SO many people who commented on this and the uniqueness of it. The majority of it was cut from just one key on the new Cricut Artiste Cartridge - the "Q" key. That's what corporate means by "project keys" on this cartridge. Many other products were used and they are all listed below the project. 

It had to be designed in a way that I could transport it to and from Convention without it being damaged, so it was made using foam board and it is foldable with the exception of the roof piece. The bamboo skewers (black rods) had to go into my checked baggage due to their sharp edges. Behind the long dress, there is another dress form attached to the wall, but that is not visible in these photos... Unfortunately, from the angle which this was photographed, you can just barely see part of the assembly under the roof (that was raised at Convention so it was not noticeable - I rephotographed this at home before I posted these pictures).

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Products used are all Close To My Heart unless not available from CTMH:

Paper: La Belle Vie Paper Pack, Bamboo Cardstock, Desert Sand Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Colonial White Cardstock, Foam Board

Stamps: Bonjour, Jardin

Inks: Black, Smokey Plum, Blush, Desert Sand, Versamark, Gold Metallic Marker, Black Sharpie Marker

Accessories: Cricut Artiste Cartridge, Silver Embossing Powder, Foam Tape, Baker's Twine - Neutral Assortment, Black Tulle, Pearl Opaque Adhesive Gems, Black Brad, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Prisma Glitter, Boutique Assortment, Embossing Stylus, Bamboo Skewers, Foam Blocks, Black Handmade Cloth with Lace

 

Extravaganza Artwork - Cards #2

Here are more of the cards from my Extravaganza artwork. Some show two separate pieces - that's because the piece on the right slips inside the holder on the left - made with the Cricut Artiste Cartridge. 

Products are all Close To My Heart and are not listed below the cards. They are all made using the La Belle Vie Paper Pack. If you have any questions, feel free to email me and I would be happy to answer them. 

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Lever Cards from Cricut Artiste Collection

I told you I would be back on June 16 and here I am!

Convention 2012 was AMAZING, as all Conventions are. Extravaganza was so much fun and I cannot wait to apply again next spring and hopefully do it all over again. It was a ton of work, but I met so many thoughtful, amazing consultants and I learned more than I can ever hope to process in the course of a lifetime. 

I was teaching all about the La Belle Vie Paper Pack. I am so glad I was selected to work with that paper paper pack because it is one of my favourites in the new catalogue (even after spending so much time with it...) It was interesting to see what the other three presenters did with it but other than that, I didn't get to see any other booths at Extravaganza, so I am really looking forward to that CD when it comes out!

The 2 cards below are my 2 versions of the Lever Cards, found on the new Cricut Artiste Cartridge. Mine were cut at 4 inches and they are found on the "a" key. It's hard to see in the picture but they fold up to sit on a 90 degree angle. 

More artwork to follow in the coming days so stay tuned!

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Supplies used are all Close To My Heart

For Both Cards:

Paper: La Belle Vie Paper Pack, Colonial White Cardstock

Stamps: None

Inks: Blush, Smokey Plum, Blush Reinker, Olive Marker

Accessories: Artiste Cricut Cartridge, Spray Pen, Pearl Paint, Pearl Opaque Adhesive Gems, Silver Glitz Glitter Gel, La Belle Vie Stickease, Boutique Assortment

It's Here! It's Here! It's Finally Here!

It's here! It's finally here! I'm leaving today! I can't believe it! 

Did I get any sleep last night - NO!

Can you tell I'm excited? All my stuff is packed and it is just about overflowing.... My flight doesn't leave until tomorrow morning but it is a lengthy drive to the border crossing, so we are driving there this afternoon and staying overnight this evening to make an early crossing tomorrow morning to get to the airport. I will be in Dallas by 2pm tomorrow and ready to start a week of learning, creating, and sharing my skills with others and I CAN"T WAIT to get started! Convention is the highlight of the year for consultants and this year is no exception. 

Keep an eye on my blog starting July 16 and I will start posting my artwork from Convention, specifically the art that I created for my Extravaganza booth. I am also entering the Album Contest this year so there are 5 layouts for that as well that have been created (months ago, actually) that I want to share with you. So much to share and so little time, it seems... 

I'll be back before you know it! Enjoy this wonderful week of sunshine and 

warm weather here in Central Ontario!

Alyson