Heart 2 Heart Challenge - Mum's the Word

This week at Heart 2 Heart, the challenge is "Mum's the Word". That can be taken literally as in Mum or Mom for Mother's Day, which is what I did, or keeping something under wraps, as in a secret. Or you may find yet another meaning. That's one of the great things about Heart 2 Heart Challenges is that there can be so many ways to interpret a challenge! 

I needed a Mother's Day card, so this challenge was a perfect way for me to create that card and still complete the challenge :) 

I pulled out my favourite paper pack - Blossom - to create my card. I used a sketch from the Make It From Your Heart - Volume 2 book. A few Cricut cuts later, some glitter paper and embellishments and this was not a difficult card to complete at all. The tops of the stick pins were coloured using a ShinHan marker (green) and a Sharpie marker for the orange one. I tried using a ShinHan marker to do the orange one but it wasn't dark enough so I had to resort to my Sharpie marker for that one. I am sure my mom will love this card! 

Join us at Heart 2 Heart Challenges and create your project today. 

You have the entire month to enter any of the challenges at Heart 2 Heart so get your 

creative mojo going and join us! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: Blossom Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Sunset Cardstock, Teal Glitter Paper
Stamps: Perfect Fit Frames, Holiday Tags
Inks: Pear, Lagoon, Sunset
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Bling Stick Pins (ret.), Teal Base and Bling Embellishments (ret.), Laughing Lola Assortment (ret.), Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape, Lagoon Baker's Twine (ret.)
ShinHan Markers, Sharpie Marker (not CTMH) 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Cards for Church Committee

I am once again creating cards for my church when someone is ill or suffering a loss in his/her life. You may recognize these designs from previous blog posts - I just recreated them using different colours or sentiments, rather than trying to find new designs. Using something that works is much easier than reinventing the wheel, right? 

The For Always paper pack is so easy to work with - and I chose to use it to create two of the cards... it goes with just about everything. I'm so glad I stocked up on it before it retired! The third card is created using the Heartstrings paper. 

Supplies for all three cards are listed below: 

Paper: For Always Paper Pack, Heartstrings Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Pacifica Cardstock, Pixie Cardstock, Topiary Cardstock, Colonial White Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock
Stamps: Card Chatter - Sympathy (ret.), Say It in Style (ret.), Perfect Fit Frames 2, Swirls Around (ret.), Stampin' Up Stamp (not CTMH)
Inks: Pacifica, Pixie, Topiary, Slate
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Artiste Cartridge, Memory Box Dies (not CTMH), White Organdy Ribbon (ret.), Piercing and Scoring Tool, Pink Gems (ret.), Black Striped Grosgrain Ribbon (ret.), Memory Box Dies (ret.), Grey Striped Ribbon (not CTMH), Lagoon Zipper Lace (ret.), Embossing Folder (not CTMH) 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Christmas Card Class - Yes, it is the wrong season...

I am taking an awesome online Christmas card class that began early in April. It is organized by Justine Hovey, who is an amazing crafter! More information on this class be be found by contacting Justine here (the price is SO reasonable - and it's not too late to join in on the fun!) She posts a new project each week that includes step-by-step instructions AND a complete video as well. The best part is that by the end of November, I will have approximately 40 Christmas cards completed (assuming I create at least one per week), so I won't feel that awful CRUNCH when the holiday season rolls around and I run out of time to make all those handmade cards! That's what I love about it. And I can alter the products to use my stash of supplies without having to go out a purchase a pile of new products as well :) I have also re-learned some older techniques and brushed up on a few skills I had forgotten about, so that's terrific! 

I wanted to show you what I have created to date: 

This one is open behind the multiple-embossed silver tree. 

This week's theme was "ugly cards" but since I didn't have any really ugly Christmas stamps, I decided to use a humorous approach instead... 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

May Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - Just Sayin'

Welcome to May's Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! This month, we are featuring the stamp set "Just Sayin' - a set of 14 stamps. There is a wide variety of stamps in this set, from shapes to sentiments and frames, leaving the interpretation of what to do with all of them open to many possibilities! The bloggers along this blog hop will show you several ideas, so sit back and enjoy the tour. You should have arrived here from Michelle Jones' blog. If you get lost, a list of all blogs can be found here. 

The stamp set looks like this.

I chose to use a variety of the stamps in several ways. 
I used the square chevron stamp to create a checkerboard on my card. 
I used the oval frame to create a flowery shape by stamping and layering it three times and placing it in the bottom corner. I topped that with the lined circle. 
The sentiment "anything's possible" was used as my saying but I just cut off the "identifier" point on the stamped image as I really didn't want that on my card. 

I hope you enjoyed my project. The next blog on the hop is Carol Taggio's blog. I'm sure she has something wonderful to share with you! 

You can get this stamp set for just $5 this month with only a $50 purchase. Visit my shopping site here. Remember this stamp set is only available until May 31st! 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Chalk it Up Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock

Stamps: Just Sayin'

Inks: Lagoon, Flaxen, Sorbet, Black

Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Oceanside Sequins

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Atlantic Hearts Sketch #105

I love the sketch at Atlantic Hearts this week! It gave me the opportunity to use my favourite products from the Seasonal Expressions 2 catalogue plus I was also able to incorporate some stitching on my card, which I love to do. I am so happy with the way this turned out.

Please join us at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge this week to show off your interpretation of the sketch shown above!

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: Blossom Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock
Stamps: Shower Flowers, Have a Happy Day, A Budding Friendship
Inks: Lagoon, Glacier, Sunset, Pear
Accessories; Art Philosophy Cartridge, Lagoon Baker's Twine (ret.), Goldrush Baker's Twine (ret.), Bitty Sparkles, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape, Glitter Embroidery Floss (not CTMH)

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Heart 2 Heart - What a Wonderful World!

The challenge this week at Heart 2 Heart is titled "What a Wonderful World".  I thought about what I wanted to do and two stamp sets came to mind right away. Although both are retired, I love them both and they are Scrapbook Statements - Poets and Scrapbook Statements - Women. The poets set has some awesome statements in it and I decided to use that set for the basis of my creation for this challenge. 

Combined with two other stamp sets, I created a card using the Blossom paper pack and co-ordinating cardstock. With a little bit of help from the Artbooking Cricut cartridge, this card came together fairly quickly. 

This card is based on a sketch I had on my Pinterest board in my miscellaneous sketch file. 

Make sure you join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us your interpretation of "What a Wonderful World"! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Blossom Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Sunset Cardstock, Glacier Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock

Stamps: Scrapbook Statements - Poets (ret.), Honeycomb, Universal Backgrounds (ret.)

Inks: Sunset, Glacier

Accessories: Artbooking Cartridge, Aqua Dots, Lagoon Zipper Lace (ret.), White Lace (not CTMH), Orange Ribbon (not CTMH), Green Ribbon (not CTMH), Turquoise Printed Ribbon (not CTMH)

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Thank You Card - Masking with Artbooking

I have need for quite a few cards in the very near future so I am digging into my stash but some just don't fit and so I am having to create a few specialized ones. 

I cannot take credit for this gorgeous design. Justine Hovey, a fellow CTMH Consultant, designed this beautiful card and this was CASEd from her design. I just love what she did. 

The background was created using a mask from the Artbooking cartridge. I placed it on the cardstock and just inked over it. Everything else was layered and put into place - not difficult but the effect is so stunning. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Pacifica Cardstock
Stamps: Thank You (ret.)
Inks: Pacifica, Pacifica Pigment Ink
Accessories: Artbooking Cartridge, Art Philosophy Cartridge, Artiste Cartridge, Vellum (not CTMH), Blue Sparkles (ret.) Licorice Adhesive Gems (ret.), Foam Tape

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Atlantic Hearts Sketch 103

This week's sketch at Atlantic Hearts gave me the opportunity to use some colouring skills that I have been practicing! The ShinHan markers have had me pretty frustrated until recently. I spent some time watching some very helpful videos and I feel like I have a much better idea of how to use them now (not that I am claiming to be an expert by any means!) I really like how these flowers turned out and I wanted to use them on this card. 

I used one of the CTMH party favours gift bags for my "flower holder"... wanted to do something a little different. In order to get my flowers to fit, I had to turn the sketch on its side and alter the placement of a few items, but interpreting a sketch is what it's all about, right? 

Come and join us at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge this week and show us how you interpret this week's sketch! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock
Stamps: A Budding Friendship
Inks: Black Pigment Ink, Cotton Candy
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Embossing Folder (not CTMH), ShinHan Markers and Colourless Blender, Pink Dotted Ribbon (not CTMH), Lagoon Twine (ret.), Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape, Designer Creations Slate Paper Bags, Lagoon Button (ret.)

Enjoy, 
Alyson

H2H Challenge - Checkerboard

The challenge this week at Heart 2 Heart is to do something with a checkerboard. I immediately thought of incorporating glitter paper with my creation and since I love the new Blossom paper pack, I decided to use that as well. Working with a 6x6 card made applying square shapes to form the checkerboard much easier than trying to work with a rectangular shaped card! 

I used my Cricut to cut the doily shape and then stamped the sentiment. I didn't intend for the card to sit in this direction but it ended up looking better this way than with the doily at the top, so that's the way it ended up - sometimes playing around with something leads to unlikely results... 

Be sure to try out your hand with a checkerboard creation - a card, scrapbook page or some other creation this week or all month and enter it at Heart 2 Heart. You have all of April to enter any of April's challenges! 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Blossom Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Teal Glitter Paper

Stamps: Happy to be Friends

Inks: Sunset, Lagoon, Glacier

Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Clear Sparkles, ShinHan Markers, Harvest Baker's Twine (ret.)

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Magnetic Memo Board

I have been wanting to create a magnetic memo board for ages and have never had the time to do one the way I wanted... Finally last week, the weather was warm enough for me to be able to spray paint one of the Close To My Heart frames in the colour I wanted so I could finish my project! 

I created the magnets using the Base and Bling line (circles and ovals) and just placed paper behind the covers. It's hard to see the paper in the first photo but it is a bit clearer in the second photo. I used co-ordinating papers so the magnets would co-ordinate with the frame colour to match my office decor. I stamped my first initial on a few of them. I just bought a roll of magnetic tape from a local hardware store and mounted that on the back of the charms (after placing 3-D Foam Tape on them to help them stand away from the board a little way as well). Very easy to do. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Lagoon Cardstock, Lagoon Fundamentals Cardstock, Seaside Paper Pack, Skylark Paper Pack (ret.), Dotty for You Paper Pack (ret.)
Stamps: Bingo Alphabet (ret.), Glamour Uppercase Alphabet
Inks: Black Pigment Ink
Accessories: Base and Bling Line - Faux Antiques Silver Pendants (Circle and Oval), Glass Covers (Circle and Oval), Designed Decor Magnetic Chalkboard, Foam Tape, Liquid Glass, Self-Adhesive Magnetic Roll (not CTMH), Spray Paint (not CTMH)

Enjoy, 
Alyson