MTTC 505 - Friendly Flowers and Happy Easter

 Welcome to this week's challenge at My Time to Craft. 

The theme for this challenge is Easter and/or Spring Flowers.

My first card is one made with a new product from Gina K. Designs. It is one that I received as part of an online event and it isn't available on her site yet - but it's coming! The floral base and outline plus stencils were used to create a beautiful floral spray. I die cut a stitched cover plate and inked that in shades of blue. The arch was die cut and I added yellow ink lightly around the inside edges. Once the base was adhered, I added the flowers around the gold arch and placed a hot foiled sentiment in the centre. A foiled butterfly was added and I drew a flight trail as well. The last step was to add some gold gems and gold Stickles around the card. 

My second card was more of a challenge. I don't make cards for Easter so I had to dig deep for this challenge. The cross was cut from a Cricut file and I embossed it with a woodgrain embossing folder and then inked over the raised sections. The crown was die cut and I stamped, coloured and die cut two floral sprays. The backgound was inked with Distress Oxide ink and splattered with water. Once that was dry, it was adhered to a dark brown base and I added an Easter sentiment at the bottom. I also added light blue Stickles to the berries on one floral spray. 

Come and join us at MTTC and show us how you interpret this week's theme. 

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

We can’t wait to see what you create! 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Crop and Create Cardmaking Event

 I have done all five of the virtual Crop and Create Cardmaking events and they just keep getting better! The latest one took place the weekend of March 23-26 (yes - four days) and was jam packed with classes from many companies and instructors. There is also an amazing box of supplies that comes with this event - more than 15 companies' fabulous products including tons of stamps, dies, stencils, embossing folders and lots of extras. 

I managed to keep pace with the classes and completed all the cards during the weekend. I realize I am one of very few people who do that. Most people do a handful of cards or choose to watch and make the cards at a later date. I enjoy the satisfaction of completing the cards during the classes. Now that I have all the products, I can use them as desired to create my own projects!

Here are all 50 completed cards shown in order of the classes... some interesting techniques and ideas! 

Crafter's Companion 

Angie Blom Digital Designs

Scrapbook and Cards

Hero Arts 

Spellbinders

scrapbook.com

Taylored Expressions

Simon Hurley (Ranger Ink) 

Gina K. Designs 

The Stamps of Life

Lawn Fawn

Altenew

Brutus Monroe

Concord and 9th

Honey Bee Stamps (my favourite class!) 

Pink and Main

LDRS Creative 

Scrapbook and Cards is the company that hosts this event. There is another card making event coming up in the fall. The link to the site for more information can be found HERE. It is such a worthwhile event - everything is perfectly organized and easy to follow! 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Blue Stencilled Birthday

 The background for this card was a new technique for me. 

I used a stencil that I cut from my Cricut machine ages ago. The first layer was stencilled with a dark blue ink. I offset the stencil a tiny bit and stencilled a second layer in a lighter shade of blue. The last layer was offset the opposite direction and that was stencilled with white pigment ink. I heat set the background and chose a simple sentiment. The letters were die cut and I also added a dark blue shadow behind the word HAPPY as it was lost on the busy background. The light blue letters were brushed with a clear shimmer brush. The word BIRTHDAY was inked in two shades of blue and placed under the main sentiment. Some iridescent gems finished off the card. 

Enjoy,

Alyson

You Colour My World

 I saw this card idea on Facebook and although I didn't have the same stamps, I tried it a different way. 

The coneflower pieces were die cut in white and I used Distress Oxide inks to colour them in a rainbow pattern. They were adhered together and used as a guide for the stamping. 

I didn't have the words I wanted so I used individual letter stamps - those small letters are really small! Once the small words were stamped, I used a larger alphabet stamp to stamp the word COLOUR. That was coloured with two shades of green on each letter. I also inked the leaves with oxide inks and trimmed them so they would fit around some of the letters. I love how this turned out! 

Enjoy,

Alyson

HLS Christmas - Believe Ornament Card

 Welcome to Happy Little Stampers - Christmas Challenge!

This is always an anything goes challenge with an optional theme - this month, that theme is Jingle Bells. 

I didn't have anything related to jingle bells so I had to choose another alternative. I went with a large ornament. 

The ornament was die cut in three colours and I used the inlay technique to place some small pieces back into the openings. I die cut a detailed snowflake background and used a medium blue sheet of cardstock behind that. The ornament was adhered to the centre of the card with a silver string at the top. The sentiment was stamped in two shades of blue and added at the bottom. A few clear sparkles were placed around the ornament to finish off the card. 

Come and join us at HLS Christmas and show us your Christmas projects. 

You have until the end of the month the link up your project. 

We can’t wait to see what you create! 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Card Sets for Gifts

 I recently attended a four day craft retreat and prepared a lot of card set kits ahead of time. This is what I completed while I was there. I have another 64 cards partially finished - those will be for the next day crop!

Many of these were stencilled - honestly, I felt like my arm was going to fall off! I made a few sets of each as well - only one of each set is pictured here. 

This shows all the sets boxed and ready to go! 

Enjoy,

Alyson

DT 135 - You are my Rainbow

 Welcome to Double Trouble Challenge 135!

This week, it's all about rainbows! We are also pairing with Tuesday Morning Sketches to use their sketch. The basic details are below - please visit the Double Trouble Challenge Blog for more information. 

I wasn't sure what to do with this challenge - I love rainbows but the sketch made it hard to do what I initially had in mind. I decided to stencil rainbow clouds on four panels of white cardstock. I adhered them to a black panel and then to the white card base. The sentiment was stamped with four shades of ink and die cut, along with a black border. No embellishments were added to my card. 

Come and join us at Double Trouble and show us how you interpret this week's challenge. 

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

I am also linking my card with the Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge. 

We can't wait to see what you create! 

Enjoy, 

Alyson

HLS Birthday - Rainbow Glitter Card

Welcome to Happy Little Stampers Birthday Challenge! 

This is always an anything goes challenge with a birthday theme. 

I chose to make a glittery but simple card this month. I blended three Distress Oxide colours on a full background. Using a maze stencil, I inked over that with black DO ink and then brushed clear glitter gel on top. I also ink blended a panel from which the sentiment was die cut. Once the background was dry, I adhered it to a piece of black cardstock and also die cut a black shadow for the sentiment. I added some silver metallic thread under the sentiment and also coloured a few glitter gems which were added around the centre (they are hard to see in the photo). 

Come and join us at Happy Little Stampers Birthday and show us your birthday creations! 

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

We can’t wait to see what you create! 

Enjoy,

Alyson

 

DD - Thinking of You Tulips

 Welcome to the April challenge at Dragonfly Dreams!

This month, we have a colour palette for you - it's a beautiful combination for spring. 

I focused on the teals and purples with a few pink elements as embellishments. 

The tulips were stencilled and cut down on a panel of white cardstock. The sentiment was stamped in shades of teal and purple and die cut with a stitched circle die. The left side of the card was also stencilled with a lattice stencil and light teal ink and inked the lower panel with purple ink and splattered it with water. Once all the pieces were adhered, I added a strip of light pink glitter paper along with some pink and white twine. The sentiment was adhered with foam tape and I added a few pink enamel dots to finish off the card.

Come and join us at Dragonfly Dreams and show us how you use the colour palette for this month's challenge. 

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

We can’t wait to see what you create!

Enjoy,

Alyson

Slide Lock Shaker Card

 I found this card style on YouTube and wanted to try it. The front mechanism locks in the two sides of the gatefold. 

I offset the gatefold to one side and decorated the panels with patterned papers. The image was stamped, coloured and then formed into a globe shaker with a coordinating bow at the bottom. That piece slides in between the two sides of the gatefold to hold the card together. Inside, there is a simple sentiment and a place to write a message. 

Enjoy,

Alyson