Happy Pink Daisies

At the beginning of May, I ordered some items from Simon Says Stamp. Parcel delivery has been way behind in Canada and my order finally arrived the second week of July - after more than 2 months! I was very happy to finally get my products and one of them was this gorgeous daisy background stamp!

I stamped the image using Intense Black so I could colour the daisies. Colouring was a task in itself - took me a few hours. I chose 3 shades of pink along with a bright green for the leaves. 

I cut down the stamped image as it was approx. 5.5" x 5.5". I mounted the flowers on both black cardstock and pink glitter paper. "Happy" was die cut using the same black and pink papers and I stamped a small sentiment to go with "happy". Nothing else was added to this card - I wanted the daisies to be the focus. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Pink Glitter Paper, Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Stitched Together Cardmaking, Gerbera Daisy (SSS)

Inks: Intense Black, Pixie

Accessories: Stitched Together Cardmaking Thin Cuts, Tri-Blend Markers 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Cricut Daisy Card Set

I have been creating a lot of card kits to give as gifts. I don't post many of them here but I really like this set. 

The idea is from a recent post by Jennifer McGuire. I used my Cricut to cut almost all the images except a part of the flower centre. I decided on 4 colour scheme and kept the leaves and branches the same colour for all the cards. There are 8 cards in total - 2 of each colour scheme. 

There are also 4 sentiments and I mixed and matched those with the colours. Before I adhered anything to the card bases, I splattered each of them with coordinating shimmer brushes. After all the pieces were adhered, a small pearl was added to the centre of each daisy. 

Here is a close up of one of the cards. 

These will make a great gift for someone special! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Lemonade Cardstock, Canary Cardstock, Mint Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Peacock Cardstock, Lilac Cardstock, Thistle Cardstock, Eggplant Cardstock, Carolina Cardstock, Bluebird Cardstock, Sapphire Cardstock, Ballerina Cardstock, Pixie Cardstock, Raspberry Cardstock, Green Apple Cardstock, Evergreen Cardstock, White Cards and Envelopes 

Stamps: Kind Soul (W plus 9), Leaf Canopy (Altenew)

Inks: Black

Accessories: Cricut Flower Market Collection, Poppy Moments Dies (SU), White Pearls, Mint Shimmer Brush, Lagoon Shimmer Brush, Bashful Shimmer Brush, Raspberry Shimmer Brush, Bluebird Shimmer Brush, Sapphire Shimmer Brush, Wisteria Shimmer Brush, Charcoal Shimmer Brush, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape 

Enjoy,

Alyson

H2H - Just Add Water

Welcome to this week's Heart 2 Heart challenge! 

The theme this week is "Just Add Water". That can take many forms - it can be a layout showcasing a water theme, a card with some sort of water element (watering flowers, rain boots, etc.) or it can involve a technique that uses water or something that looks like water (ex. Liquid Glass as raindrops). 

I chose to create a card using a technique I haven't used for a while. I used a piece of hard plastic (my acrylic blocks weren't large enough) to cover the entire card front. I used Sapphire and New England Ivy ink pads and randomly "stamped" in various places on the plastic. I spritzed the ink with water and flipped the plastic piece upside down (quickly). It created a neat background for my card. 

This card is based on a pattern from Make It From Your Heart Vol. 4. I used NE Ivy cardstock, a strip of the Timber patterned paper and some red shimmer trim to create the cross piece. I stamped the sentiment and the image and both were coloured and then die cut. They were backed with Sapphire cardstock and mounted using craft foam. I wrapped a piece of twine around the card and left a knot just beside the sentiment. 

Come and join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us your projects that involve water. 

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

We can’t wait to see what you create! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Timber Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, New England Ivy Cardstock, Sapphire Cardstock, Watercolour Paper, Neenah Solar White Cardstock 

Stamps: So Many Candles 

Inks: Sapphire, New England Ivy

Accessories: Stitched Oval Thin Cuts, Basic Oval Thin Cuts, Stitched Circle Dies (GMD), Circle Dies (Spellbinders), Red Shimmer Trim, White Twine, Tri-Blend Markers, Craft Foam (not CMTH)

Enjoy,

Alyson

New Product Blog Hop

Welcome to the New Product Blog Hop. This blog hop features artwork from the July/August catalog. There are so many amazing products... new paper packs, great stamp sets and all sorts of other goodies! 

You should have arrived here from Melissa Robinson's blog.

If you get lost along the way, a list of all participants can be found on Melinda Everitt's blog.

I chose to focus on a stamp set called Simple Florals. I created two cards using this stamp set - and the stamp set is also available with a set of coordinating Thin Cuts. 

Both of these cards are replicas of previous designs from several years ago. I like the style and they worked for what I had in mind. 

The first card base was splattered using the Julep Shimmer Brush and then the Peach patterned paper piece was added. I hand stitched along the border using two strands of embroidery floss. A stitched frame was placed around the base. I stamped the greenery using Sage and Evergreen - Evergreen was also used in second generation. Several of the flowers and leaves from this stamp set were used on this card. After clustering the flowers together using both thin and regular foam tape, I added some of the same embroidery floss under the flowers. I coloured a few sparkles and added then to the centres of the flowers. The tag is a stamp from the Joyful Sunflower stamp set and I cut a piece of white cardstock to fit within that tag. The sentiment is from the July SOTM, For My Beautiful Friend. Finally, I brushed parts of the flowers with the Clear Shimmer Brush. 

The second card features papers from both the Mix-In Paper Pack and Summer Vibes Paper Pack. I also stamped an image from the stamp set onto Peach cardstock for one piece. It's a little hard to see that the Glacier paper is patterned paper as much of it is hidden under other pieces. I stamped the greenery and some small flowers before adhering the papers. I didn't want to use the green shades in the paper packs and opted instead to use Lagoon and Glacier. Those colours go so well with orange. 

The papers were either torn or cut and adhered to the card front. Three flowers were stamped and die cut to go in the centre where the papers meet. I added some gold embellishing thread and a few coloured bitty sparkles. The card front was mounted on a piece of Smoothie cardstock. I brushed parts of the flowers with the Gold Shimmer Brush but they came out looking almost dirty in the photo. They don't look like that in real life... sometimes the camera does strange things.

I hope you enjoyed my cards. 

The next blog on this hop is Brandi Robinson's blog. 

I know she has something fabulous to share with you! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Mix-In Paper Pack, Summer Vibes Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Smoothie Cardstock, Peach Cardstock

Stamps: Simple Florals, Joyful Sunflower, For My Beautiful Friend

Inks: Smoothie, Peach, Nectarine, Lemonade, Sage, Evergreen, Lagoon, Glacier

Accessories: Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts, Simple Florals Thin Cuts, Joyful Sunflower Thin Cuts, Clear Shimmer Brush, Gold Shimmer Brush, Julep Shimmer Brush, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape, Gold Embellishing Thread, Bitty Sparkles, Clear Sparkles, Tri-Blend Markers, Embroidery Floss (not CTMH)

Enjoy,

Alyson

TSOT 465 - Butterfly Dreams

Welcome to this week's Try Stampin' on Tuesday sketch challenge! 

This sketch can be interpreted in so many ways... I chose to use the circle for my central image rather than making it an actual circle. 

I began by sponging 6 different colours onto a piece of white cardstock. The butterflies were cut from that paper - although few have mixed colours... such is life. The background papers are from the Blue Skies cardstock pack and I love them as they have embossed patterns on them. I stamped some ink splotches on the white cardstock and then arranged the holder and butterflies flying up toward the right corner. I added some clear shimmer on each butterfly as well. 

Come and join us at TSOT and show us how you interpret the sketch shown above. 

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

We can’t wait to see what you create! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: Blue Skies Cardstock (Lemonade, Sapphire, Lagoon), White Daisy Cardstock, Toffee Cardstock, Espresso Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock  

Stamps: Ink Blot, Fragrant Flowers (Penny Black) 

Inks: Sapphire, Espresso, Lagoon, Lemonade, Candy Apple, Green Apple, Pixie 

Accessoires: Art Philosophy Cricut Collection, Flower Market Cricut Collection, Black Marker, White and Gold Skinny Ribbon, Clear Shimmer Brush

Enjoy,

Alyson

AH 376 - Beautiful Friend

Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #376!

This week, the sketch is shown as horizontal but I rotated it to make a vertical card instead. I had to go to a 5x7 card size as the image I used was too large for a standard size card. 

The image was stamped with Intense Black ink and coloured using a combination of Touch markers and Tri-Blend markers. I wanted a colour scheme of Eggplant, New England Ivy, Smoothie, Ballerina  and Pebble (or Linen). Every piece on this card was matted and I like the mixed coloured mats vs using the same colour for each of the pieces. I was intending to emboss the brick section but found some paper with a perfect brick pattern that worked well with this card. I also stamped a little corner piece, fussy cut and coloured it. A ribbon was added along with a few holographic sequins. The flowers were brushed with the Clear Shimmer Brush.

Come and join us at Atlantic Hearts and show us how you interpret the sketch shown above.

You have until Sunday evening to link up your project. 

We can’t wait to see what you create! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: Heart Happy Paper Pack, Documented Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, New England Ivy Cardstock, Eggplant Cardstock, Pewter Cardstock 

Stamps: For My Beautiful Friend

Inks: Intense Black 

Accessories: Oval Dies (Nestabilities), Pink Ribbon (SU), Sequins, Tri-Blend Markers, Touch Markers, Clear Shimmer Brush 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Double Trouble #61 - Purple Roses

Welcome to this week's edition of Double Trouble! 

This week, Things 1, 2 and 3 are asking a lot of our participants. 

Here is the reduced image to show the requirements - please visit the Double Trouble Blog for additional information. 

Here is the tic-tac-toe board.

My tic-tac-toe is diagonal - I used Emboss (Dry/Hot), Flowers and Colour Green.

I chose to create a card with a set of flowers inside the wreath. The wreath was cut from the Flower Market Cricut cartridge (x2) and offset to make it look full. I then had to trace that outline to cut a piece of white cardstock on which to stamp my flowers as trying to stamp on an embossed background is almost impossible. The flowers were stamped and coloured and then brushed with the Clear Shimmer Brush. The white background was embossed with a stitched pattern. The sentiment was stamped and gently inked around the edges to set it off from the background. I coloured a few sequins and added them around the wreath.

I am also linking up my card with Cupcake Inspirations.

Come and join us at Double Trouble and show us how you use the elements for this challenge. 

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

We can’t wait to see what you create! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Toffee Cardstock, Willow Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock 

Stamps: A Million Little Things, Card Captions

Inks: Intense Black, Willow

Accessories: Flower Market Cricut Cartridge, Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts, Butterflies for You Thin Cuts, Stitched Circles Embossing Folder, White Sequins, Tri-Blend Markers, Clear Shimmer Brush, Craft Foam (not CTMH)

Enjoy,

Alyson

Colour Dare 401 - Tulips of Happiness

Welcome to Colour Dare Challenge #401!

This week, we have an inspiration collage for you. You can use any colours found in the collage plus black and white are free. 

This collage is very much based on the US Independence Day holiday... I don't live in the US and I wanted to do something different. We celebrated our national holiday on July 1 here in Canada - with red and white - but no-one ever makes celebratory cards for that occasion. Consequently, I was looking for something else to create with these colours. 

Upon looking very closely at the images, there are definitely a few shades of green and also light blue in there. I chose to use those along with red to create my card. 

I started by sponging a blue background onto white cardstock using Distress inks. I stamped two different branch images in related green colours. Using my stamps press, I stamped the tulips and stems and die cut them. They were arranged over the branch images and a bow was added at the bottom. A sentiment was stamped onto the card front and I coloured several bitty sparkles red and added them around the tulips. The card was outlined with a black marker and set on some craft foam to add dimension. The highlighted part of the tulips were brushed with the clear shimmer brush.

Come and join us at Colour Dare and show us how you interpret the collage shown above. 

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

We can’t wait to see what you create! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Tulip (Altenew), Sentiment Collection (Penny Black), Love So Sweet, Beloved Bouquet 

Inks: Black, Green Apple, Clover, Candy Apple, Ruby

Accessories: Tulip Dies (Altenew), Bitty Sparkles, Clear Shimmer Brush, White and Gold Ribbon, Sharpie Marker, Black Journaling Pen, Craft Foam (not CTMH) 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Sunflower Wishes

This card was created just for fun. One of the new products in the next CTMH catalog is a gorgeous set of sunflowers that also come with thin cuts. 

I wanted to use those flowers on a card and a sketch from Make It From Your Heart Vol. 2 provided a perfect opportunity to do just that. 

I stamped the sunflowers with Intense Black ink and coloured them. They were die cut, as were the two pieces of the stitched rectangle. I used a piece of patterned paper from an old paper pack on the front of the card and the facing side was embossed with the stitch circle embossing folder. 

After that was done, assembly of the card was easy - added a piece of cardstock and a ribbon for the mini banners and placed a piece of ribbon along the side as well. The rectangle was adhered using foam tape to raise it from the base of the card. I found some old gold gems that I added to the front. The sentiment was stamped in the lower left corner using Expresso ink. The sunflowers were brushed with the Gold Shimmer Brush - easier seen in the close up photo.

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: Boutique Paper Pack, Espresso Cardstock, Kraft Cardstock, Sage Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Joyful Sunflower

Inks: Intense Black, Espresso 

Accessories: Joyful Sunflower Thin Cuts, Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts, Stitched Circle Embossing Folder, Tri-Blend Markers, Gold Shimmer Brush, Gold Gems, Foam Tape, White and Gold Skinny Ribbon, Gold Glitter Ribbon 

Enjoy,

Alyson

July SOTM Blog Hop

Welcome to the July Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! 

This month the featured stamp set is awesome! There is a main image of a lady holding flowers and so many smaller images and great sentiments reflecting love and friendship.

This is a circular blog hop so you can start anywhere along the way. 

You should have arrived here from Melinda Everitt's blog.

If you get lost a list of all participants can be found on Melinda Everitt's blog 

(yes, the same consultant listed above).

Here is an image of the stamp set. 

These cards require some explanation... I started with the one at the bottom and had everything ready to go. I added the shaker and adhered everything down and then realized that my flowers were UPSIDE DOWN. I purposely stamped them so they would be facing the correct direction but I adhered the card together with that top stamped piece facing the wrong direction.. So I had to try again but with a different card design this time. 

I started by selecting a white stitched die cut from my collection (I save all of the extra inside and outside pieces when I cut the stitched dies). I stamped and coloured the images and added the centre strip. I went to adhere that piece to the front of the card and... NO! I had selected a stitched rectangle that had accidentally been added to my collection from a different die set and it wasn't the same size as the CTMH ones. At that point, I wasn't about to create a THIRD card for this blog hop, so this is the one that remains. It's only the large white piece that is from a different set of dies. Argh! 

The sentiment was stamped using Candy Apple ink and part of it was brushed with the Gold Shimmer Brush. It was adhered with foam tape and some Gold Embellishing Thread was added underneath. I added a few Gold Glitter Gems above and below the sentiment. 

This is the original card I created with the upside down flowers... 

I hope you enjoyed my projects. 

The next blog on this hop is Brandi Robinson's blog.

I'm sure she has something awesome to share with you! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Summer Vibes Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, CandyApple Cardstock, Black Cardstock, White Cards and Envelopes

Stamps: For My Beautiful Friend

Inks: Intense Black, Candy Apple

Accessories: Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts, Stitched Rectangle Dies (GMD), Tri-Blend Markers, Loose Gold Sequins, Gold Shimmer Brush, Foam Tape, Black Journaling Marker, Gold Embellishing Thread, Gold Glitter Gems, Acetate (not CTMH)

Enjoy,

Alyson