Mika - My Precious Little One Layout

After over 6 months of doing almost no creating at all (except for the SOTM Blog Hop), I am finally back in the mood to get back at it and it feels awesome! I have been taking photographs of Mika, my puppy, and I cannot believe she will turn 6 months old next week! She is really playful but she loves to cuddle as well and she and has been a wonderful companion for me as I continue to work through several issues (medical, emotional and physical) that hit me in 2013 and the start of this year as well. 

I LOVE two of the paper packs that are retiring shortly - For Always and Chantilly - so I combined them for the first layout I did of Mika. The pattern is taken right out of "Make It From Your Heart - Volume 2" but if fit perfectly for what I wanted.

  Below I have shown each page individually so you can see a little more detail in each. 

All products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted:

Paper: For Always Paper Pack, Chantilly Paper Pack, Black Cardstock, Cotton Candy Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock
Stamps: None
Inks: None
Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Art Philosophy Cartridge, Computer font (not CTMH), Base and Bling Pink Jewels, Base and Bling Black Jewels, For Always Textiles, Sparkles - Black and Grey Assortment, Sparkles Black Flourishes

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Happy Birthday Card with Pro Player and Chevrons

I know creating male cards is a struggle for many people but I really enjoy the challenge. Today is the birthday of a good friend of mine and I really wanted to use the One-Way Borders stamp set. I think that stamp set is so cool because people always ask about the chevron ribbon and whether it really is the same width across or not - some actually measure it just to make sure and this stamp set is the same way! Those images can be SO deceiving!

This card is based on an older sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenges (#31). I have posted the sketch here, just for reference.  

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Pro Player Paper Pack, Outdoor Denim Cardstock
Stamps: One-Way Borders, Joyful Birthday
Inks: Outdoor Denim Pigment Ink
Accessories: Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Outdoor Denim Chevron Ribbon, Pro Player Accessories

Enjoy, 
Alyson

January SOTM Bloghop - Cross-Stitch Wishes

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We will be featuring January's SOTM, "Cross-Stitch Wishes", a set of 13 stamps.  If you have come here from Krista's Blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around.  

This month we have approximately 50 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

Here is a picture of the images in this stamp set. 

 

For my card, I chose to use the retiring For Always paper. It is one of my favourite paper packs because it is so versatile as any colours can be used with it. I chose to add Lagoon and Gypsy (my two favourite colours). I know this stamp set is all about being able to stamp cross stitch patterns without having to cross stitch but I just HAD to cross stitch them anyways (it's that OCD/perfectionistic thing...) I also chose only the words that I wanted for my card. I used our spray pen with Lagoon reinker, rubbing alcohol and water to colour the White Daisy cardstock before I stamped and stitched the words and also to create the medallion. The Silver Shimmer Trim was coloured using a sponge and Gypsy Pigment Ink. The background For Always paper was coloured using our regular Gypsy ink and a sponge. The Lagoon stitching around the edge was created using our regular ruler. I used 3 strands of embroidery floss for that but just one strand of floss for the cross stitching. A few of our Base and Bling pieces helped to finish off the look.  

Supplies used are all Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted:  

Paper: For Always Paper Pack, Black Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Gypsy Cardstock
Stamps: Cross-Stitch Wishes
Inks: Lagoon, Gypsy, Gypsy Pigment Ink, Lagoon Reinker
Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Silver Shimmer Trim, Sponges, Sponge Daubers, CTMH Ruler, Piercing Tool, Lagoon Embroidery Floss (not CTMH), Foam Tape, Spray Pen, Rubbing Alcohol (not CTMH), Black Mini-Medley Accent Collection, Base and Bling Purple Jewels, Base and Bling Teal Jewels

Now "Hop" on over to Sarita's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Remember, the January SOTM is only available until the last day of January! Click here to see how you can get this stamp set for just $5 this month! 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Mika's Christmas Greeting

With Christmas almost here, I received a very nice gift from a friend of mine. Actually, the gift wasn't for me, but for my puppy, Mika. She is just over 5 months old (and weighs 4.5 pounds now) and my friend bought her 6 beautiful outfits! Some are for indoors and some are for outside. She is getting used to wearing some clothing but things with hoods are not her favourite. However, bows in her hair have proven to be VERY difficult. Anything with a clip, she can shake out in one try... The groomer she sees gave me a bunch of dental elastic bands and suggested sewing small flowers onto those. That works better as I can wrap them around a small piece of hair several times but Mika hates it! She rolls around on the floor and paws at them, trying to get them out! For this outfit, I used a few of our Ruby Mini- Medley Collection flowers but I need to stiffen them with a fabric stiffener. I think it will just take time for her to get used to them. 

So from Mika and me, 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Alyson

Be Still Card for a Special Friend

This card is for a woman I met recently at a seminar I attended for people who are separated or divorced from their spouses and facing the holidays, most for the first time, in a completely new setting. It is a difficult process for those of you that haven't been in that situation and having someone else to rely on can really be helpful. 

It is also the first time I have done any crafting for a very long time, other than the Stamp of the Month Blog Hop, so that's a good thing for me. Maybe I will finally get my mojo back and get back into creating again. I do really miss it!

 

This card was created using the Sparkle and Shine Paper Pack and Textiles. Product details are below. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Sparkle and Shine Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Juniper Cardstock, Slate Cardstock

Stamps: Be Still

Inks: Juniper Pigment Ink, Ruby Pigment Ink

Accessories: Sparkle and Shine Textiles, Ruby Chevron Ribbon, Sparkles Flourishes, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Leftover Sparkles from Frosted Cardmaking WOTG Kit, Red Flowers (not CTMH)

Enjoy, 

Alyson

 

Dec SOTM Blog Hop - "Special Care"

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We will be featuring December's SOTM, "Special Care", a set of 6 stamps.  If you have come here from Kami's Blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around. A complete list of blog hoppers can be found here if you get lost. 

This month we have approximately 55 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

Here is a picture of the images in the stamp set. 

For my card, I chose to use Baby Cakes paper.It's the first time I have used this paper for anything and I really like the Buttercup paired with the Slate. I stamped the background using 2nd generation Slate ink. The Sunset gives it a nice touch of a bold colour without being overwhelming. I think this stamp set would be awesome used on layouts with young children in particular (just my humble opinion).

Supplies used are all Close To My Heart:

Paper: Baby Cakes Paper Pack, Buttercup Cardstock, Slate Cardstock, Colonial White Cardstock
Stamps: Special Care
Inks: Slate, Sunset
Accessories: Baby Cakes Assortment, Silver Shimmer Tape, Scallop Border Punch, Foam Tape, Harvest Baker's Twine

Now "Hop" on over to Elizabeth's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Remember, the December SOTM is only available until the last day of December! Click here to see how you can get this stamp set for just $5 this month! 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

"Follow Your Heart" Mini Album (from Convention)

Yes, it has taken me this long to get around to finishing my projects from Convention... isn't that awful?? With no creative juices for the longest time, my projects sat partially done until now and most people don't know how sick I really was at Convention so I just barely got started on any of the projects to begin with. It felt good to get this one done. I am going to give it to a friend as a gift so there are no photos or journaling included. 

If you are debating whether to purchase the Artbooking Cartridge, this is a good reason to show you why you NEED it! I believe all the Cricut cuts for this project were done with that cartridge. I found when I got to the end that I was missing a few cuts and had to improvise a bit but like they say in the scrapping world, "There are no mistakes, just opportunities to embellish!"  

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Laughing Lola Paper Pack, Lagoon Cardstock, Topiary Cardstock, Honey Cardstock, Whisper Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Kraft Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock, Colonial White Cardstock
Stamps: Geometric Backgrounds
Inks: Lagoon, Black, Topiary, Honey
Accessories: Artbooking Cartridge, Laughing Lola Dimensional Elements, Laughing Lola Assortment, Foam Tape, Grey Wool Baker's Twine

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Female Birthday Card

A good friend of mine has a birthday coming up shortly and when I saw this card in the new Make It From Your Heart Book, I knew it would be perfect for her. I didn't vary from the pattern at all - used everything exactly as it was, including the same stamp sets. I only used different paper. I chose to use Sarita paper as the colours are nice and bold. 

I love the way it turned out. I really need to make a stash of birthday cards so I am not scrambling at the last minute all the time! It just feels so good to want to create again!! FINALLY!!

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted: 

Paper: Sarita Paper Pack, Colonial White Cardstock, Gypsy Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock

Stamps: Perfect Fit Frames 2, Holiday Tags

Inks: Outdoor Denim, Cotton Candy, Lagoon

Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Turquoise Shimmer Tape (not CTMH), Foam Tape, Red, Purple and Pink Sparkles (ret.)

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Frosted Cards with an Extra Twist

I loved the idea of taking the Frosted Card WOTG and changing the colours to Slate, Whisper and Twilight (Vicki Wizniuk comes up with the most amazing ideas!!) So, I took her idea and just went one step further with it. I used the cutting guide and I did not change anything else - I simple played around with the pieces of paper allotted per card along with the embellishments and saw what I could created within those limitations and this is what I came up with. The original card is shown first, followed by my four "re-creations". 

  So, just by changing some ink colours and the placement of a few simple pieces of paper, these cards can look very different. It was fun trying this out. Before anyone emails me to ask, YES, feel free to scraplift any of these ideas - anyone could have done this. It wasn't hard - just time consuming, more than anything else. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Frosted WOTG, Twilight Cardstock, Whisper Cardstock, Slate Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock

Stamp: Frosted Cardmaking WOTG

Inks: Twilight, Slate, Whisper

Accessories: (comes in the WOTG Kit - Frosted Sparkles, Glitter Hemp), Foam Tape

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Masculine Birthday Card

Almost everyone I know has a hard time creating cards for the men in their lives... it seems that there are always places for flowers and ruffles but it is so much more difficult to make masculine cards. I decided to use the Huntington Paper Pack - the same one I was assigned to teach at Convention - to create this male birthday card. 

I chose to add the Sarita Textiles as well to give it a lighter colour scheme with the Autumn Terracotta as I wanted to keep it to three colours. The pattern is from the Make it From Your Heart Volume 2 book. The Slate and Barn Red are very dark colours and the Autumn Terracotta brings a nice touch to the card by adding that pop of colour. I also used a flower (who says male cards can't include flowers??) from the Flirty Collection and some Rosewood Mini Medley accents. A bit of stitching, pleating of textiles and it's done!

Supplies used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted: 

Paper: Huntington Paper Pack, Barn Red Cardstock, Autumn Terracotta Cardstock, Whisper Cardstock

Stamps: Heartfelt Birthday Wish

Inks: Barn Red Pigment Ink, Barn Red Alcohol Marker, Orange Copic Marker (not CTMH)

Accessories: Corner Rounder, Rosewood Mini-Medley Collection, Sarita Textiles, Foam Tape, Off White Embroidery Floss (not CTMH), Stitch Guide, Flirty Accessory (ret.), Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (not CTMH)

Enjoy, 

Alyson