Leaves, Leaves and Leaves!

These two cards share a background - one that I created a long while ago using Distress Sprays. I die cut the background using two stitched rectangle dies and used parts of them on each card. 

The first card has teal and purple in the leaves and berries so I used purple cardstock behind the die cut background. The inside stitched rectangle and the "leftover" rectangle that was created from cutting between the two dies were adhered on top of the cardstock. The leaves were stamped, stencilled and die cut and added at the top of the card. A silver foiled sentiment was placed on top and some coordinating gems were added in and around the leaves. A clear shimmer brush was used to brush some shimmer onto the berries. 

The second card uses the same images but they were stencilled in a different colour scheme. The card was set up the same way but the rectangle pieces are opposite from the ones used on the first card. The background is orange to coordinate with the berries. A gold foiled sentiment was added along with some coordinating gems. 

Products used are as follows: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Pansy Cardstock, Nectarine Cardstock, Watercolour Cardstock (CTMH), Neenah Solar White Cardstock 

Stamps: In the Meadow plus die and layering stencils 

Inks: Grape Crush, Royal Treatment, Aquatini, All that Jazz, Tiki Torch, Orange Twist, Fiesta Blue, Something Borrowed, Blue Suede Shoes (Catherine Pooler), DO Sprays - Peacock Feathers, Salvaged Patina, Mermaid Lagoon (Ranger)

Accessories: Foiled Sentiments, Lavender Gems, Sapphire Gems (PFS), Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts, Clear Shimmer Brush (CTMH)

Enjoy,

Alyson

New Beginnings - Purple Foiled Chevron Card

Hot foiling creates such neat end results and the background of this card was foiled with a purple colour using a chevron hot foil plate. 

The sentiment - there is beauty in new beginnings - is so appropriate for the current situation. I think most of us feel like we need/want a new beginning after almost two years of struggling with Covid and all the changes it has brought. 

The foiled background was adhered to black cardstock and then to a white card base. The flowers and leaves were stencilled using deep teals and purples and die cut. The images were added around the corners of the card with the sentiment in the center. A few silver gems were added around the card. 

Products used are as follows: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock (CTMH), Neenah Solar White Cardstock 

Stamps: In the Meadow plus die and layering stencils (PFS)

Inks: Intense Black (Hero Arts), Flirty Fuchsia, Grape Crush, Royal Treatment, Aquatini, All that Jazz (Catherine Pooler)

Accessories: Chevron Hot Foil Plate, Silver Gems, Foiled Sentiments (PFS), Purple Foil (Spellbinders), Craft Foam 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Just Because Slimline

The In the Meadows collection from Pink Fresh Studio is one of my favourites - it includes a stamp, die, layering stencils and coordinating washi tape. This card was created using everything except the washi tape as the colours on that cannot be altered. 

This design and colour scheme came from a post I saw on Facebook but I am not sure of the original artist... I stamped the image and used the layering stencils to add colour. The images were die cut and adhered around a die cut front with the sentiment in the centre. I added some coordinating gems and set the sentiment on craft foam. No other embellishments were added. 

Products used are Pink Fresh Studio unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock (CTMH)

Stamps: In the Meadow plus die and layering stencils

Inks: Black (Hero Arts), Misty Coast, Rocky Slope, Ocean Breeze, Aquamarine, Tidal Pond

Accessories: Slimline and Mini Slimline Blanket Stitched Dies, Foiled Sentiments, Ocean Breeze Gems, Craft Foam, Foam Tape (misc.) 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Blossoms and Berries 2

Day 2 of Blossoms and Berries... these cards also use the images from the washi tape.

I stamped a dotted background on Raspberry cardstock and embossed that for each card. You can see that in the centre of each card. 

The first card is a birthday card and the sentiment is perfect for these images. There are berries throughout the washi tape images and the sentiment plays on that. It was stamped in black and adhered across the open oval. The floral images were placed around the oval and sentiment and a few gold gems were added around the card.

The second card also has an open oval cut into the card front and the wreath image was adhered over that opening. A few extra images were adhered around the wreath and the sentiment was placed under an image on the left side and then adhered across the card. 

Products used are as follows: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Raspberry Cardstock (CTMH), Hammermill White Cardstock 

Stamps: Blossoms and Berries plus die and washi tape (PFS), In the Background (CTMH)

Inks: Black (Gina K. Designs), Versamark

Accessories: Scalloped Ovals (Spellbinders), Stitched Ovals (GMD), Thin Craft Foam, Gold Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Gold Gems (PFS)

Enjoy,

Alyson

Blossoms and Berries 1

I have been playing with the Blossoms and Berries products from Pink Fresh Studios. The collection includes a stamp set, coordinating die and washi tape that has beautiful images on it. 

These three cards all have a white background and all were cut from my Cricut. Two of them were layered on a light pink base and one was placed on a white base. The images are all from the washi tape and were die cut. Most of these ideas were inspired by the artwork on the Pink Fresh website. 

The first card has a scalloped circle with a second circle inside. The back image is a wreath and some extra images were added on top of the circles. The sentiment was stamped, embossed and die cut. A few gold gems were added around the image.

The second card also uses the wreath image although it was cut just over the halfway point. I die cut some leaves from vellum and placed them behind some of the flowers. The stitched square was inked using a dark green colour and the sentiment was gold embossed and die cut. 

The last card has various images from the washi tape arranged around the edges. The sentiment was placed in the bottom corner and I added one image just above that. 

Products used are as follows: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Ballerina Cardstock, Vellum (all CTMH), Hammermill White Cardstock 

Stamps: Celebrating You plus dies (PFS)

Inks: Evergreen (PFS), Versamark

Accessories: Blossoms and Berries Die plus Washi Tape (PFS), Stitched Bracket Thin Cuts (CTMH), Arrange a Wreath Dies (SU), Artbooking Cricut Collection, Scalloped Circle Dies, Circle Dies (Spellbinders), Gold Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Gold Gems (PFS)

Enjoy,

Alyson

Rainbow Foiled Floral Card

The base of this card was hot foiled using a rainbow foil sheet. The effect is really neat in real life but hard to capture in a photo. 

The foiled piece was die cut using a stitched border die and I also cut the same shape from black cardstock. The pieces were layered together and adhered to a card base. The flowers were created using a series of layering stencils and die cut. They were arranged around the card and I added some gems in the centres of the flowers. I chose not to add a sentiment as I can do that at a later time (lower right corner). 

Products used are as follows: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Hemmermill White Cardstock 

Stamps: In the Meadow plus layering stencils and die (PFS) 

Inks: Various Pink Fresh Studio Inks, Black (Gina K. Designs) 

Accessories: Decorative Borders Thin Cuts, Sapphire Gems (PFS), Ballet Slippers Gems (PFS), Lavender Gems (PFS), Lush Vines Hot Foil Plate (PFS)

Enjoy,

Alyson

Blue Foiled Leaf Card

The background of this card was created using a leaf foil plate. The silver foil left an imprint of the design on the cardstock. 

I used a dark blue Distress Oxide ink to darken the edges just a bit - that's hard to see in the photo. The sentiment was embossed in silver, die cut and adhered to a coordinating piece of silver foil. I added a bit of silver embellishing thread at the top and adhered the blue foiled piece to a silver foil base. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Bluebird Cardstock, Silver Foil 

Stamps: Just a Note 

Inks: Versamark, Prize Ribbon DO Ink

Accessories: Silver Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Stitched Fancy Brackets Thin Cuts, Lush Vines Hot Foil Plate (PFS), Silver Metallic Thread

Enjoy,

Alyson

Hello Leaves Slimline

Slimline cards are one of my favourite types of cards to create because there is a lot of real estate - area that can be used for so many things. This one is a 4x9 card.

The stitched edges are not a slimline die - that was done using a stitched rectangle die and placing a piece across the centre to hide the section where the end pieces meet. It sure looks like a continuous die, doesn't it? 

The leaves were stamped (outline and filler images) and the filler image had some darker blue ink added at the bases of the leaves. Those pieces were adhered to light blue cardstock. The centre panel was created using a two part leaf stencil and then lightly inked on top to avoid a stark white base. The sentiment was die cut and adhered to that cross panel. The end pieces were adhered to a Sapphire base and I added some clear gems to look like water droplets. 

Products used are as follows: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Carolina Cardstock, Sapphire Cardstock (all CTMH)

Stamps: Leaf Canopy (Altenew)

Inks: Carolina, Bluebird, Sapphire (all CTMH)

Accessories: Hello Die (SSS), Clear Gems (Hero Arts), Stitched Rectangle Dies (GMD), Leaf Stencil (Stamp Market)

Enjoy,

Alyson

AH 452 - Big Hug Diamonds

Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge 452!

It's a interesting sketch this week... I really struggled with this as I wanted to use shapes other than diamonds but I just could not get it to work, so diamonds ended up being the best choice.

I don't have a diamond die so I used my Cricut to cut the diamond shapes. It took me a few tries to find an appropriate size. I used a Glacier patterned paper plus Lagoon and Peacock cardstock for those shapes. The background was embossed with a 3D embossing folder and adhered to a piece of Lagoon cardstock (with a very small border) and then onto the Pewter base. I added an embossed sentiment plus some silver gems. 

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: Glacier Patterned Paper, Lagoon Cardstock, Peacock Cardstock, Pebble Cardstock, Pewter Cardstock

Stamps: Easy Expressions and dies (The Ton)

Inks: Black, Versamark

Accessories: Cricut Basic Shapes, Crystal Distortion Embossing Folder (SSS), Silver Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Silver Glitter Gems 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Floral Sympathy Card

The occasion when a sympathy card is required is never a positive thing... and I don't usually keep sympathy cards on hand. 

A good friend of mine recently lost her mother. I created this card to give to her. 

The floral outline was stamped and coloured with markers. The sentiment was stamped in the center and the layers were adhered to a slimline card base. A few champagne gems were added around the sentiment. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Smoothie Cardstock, Slimline Cards and Envelopes

Stamps: Floral Border with Sentiments

Inks: Intense Black (Hero Arts) 

Accessories: Tri-Blend Markers, Champagne Gems (PFS)

Enjoy,

Alyson