October SOTM Blog Hop - Scandinavian Wishes

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We will be featuring October's SOTM, "Scandinavian Wishes", a set of 12 stamps. I think this is one of my favourite stamp sets in this entire Idea Book. There are SO many ways to use it and so many possibilities, both for cards and for scrapbooking! If you have come here from Elizabeth'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 60 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!

A picture of the stamp set is shown here: 


I chose to use Sarita papers to create my card as I very much like holiday cards that use non-traditional colours. I really wanted to do a window card and I used the Artbooking Cartridge to create the window itself. (this is a 5x7 card). The Sarita Textiles form the curtains that hang around the window and that was quite the task... between the top overhang, the sides and the pull-backs, there was a lot of sewing, cutting and gathering but I like the way they turned out in the end. The reindeer image is embossed with Clear Detail Embossing Powder and Glitter. 

Supplies Used: 
Paper: Sarita Paper Pack, Outdoor Denim Cardstock, Gypsy Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock
Stamps: Scandinavian Wishes
Inks: Pigment Inks: Gypsy, Lagoon, White Daisy  
Accessories: Artbooking Cartridge, Clear Sparkles, Sarita Textiles, Pinking Shears (not CTMH), Foam Tape, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Prisma Glitter, Heat Tool

Now "Hop" on over to Vicki'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 October SOTM is only available until the last day of October! Click here to see how you can get this stamp set for just $5 this month! 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

Explanation and a Little Surprise at the End

I know people keep blogs for various reasons and I really appreciate my followers. I also know that I have not posted forever and there have been reasons for that. Some of those, I am going to explain now so that people know what is going on with me. 

Before I left for Convention, I knew that I had a very large mass growing somewhere on the left side of my abdomen. It was approximately the size of a small bowling ball and it was causing me a great deal of discomfort, mostly in the form of nausea, but periodic bouts of drop dead pain attacks, which I tried to hide the best I could. I knew I was facing major surgery but I also had to have cancer testing done to see if the mass was cancerous or not. Either way, due to medication I take, major surgery was a huge risk for me and I had an anesthetic consult before I went to Convention. The odds were laid out clearly - I had approx. a 15-20% chance of not surviving this surgery at all. That's pretty tough to hear but I knew I couldn't go on the way things were going. 

Upon arriving home, I moved into a new apartment as my husband and I had split up. I was then a victim of a horrendous domestic assault of which I won't go into details (it was not my husband who did it). I was badly hurt and eventually did go to the police. The individual was charged with and plead guilty to assault, assault with a weapon and breach of parole. He spent about a month in jail and is now on parole and is not to have an contact with me directly or indirectly. I have been going for counseling to deal with the terrible nightmares and guilt that I have about this event. I have never experienced anything like this before and don't expect to ever again. Fortunately, the police were wonderful to deal with although I never want to have to give another statement as long as I live. 

Just a few days after that, I had the MRI tests in Toronto (about 75 minutes south of here). Fortunately, the results came back negative although my surgeon was still very skeptical with the types of symptoms I was experiencing. Our local hospital is undergoing major renovations and being the summer, only about half the operating rooms are available and so my surgery wasn't booked until August 22. The day arrived and I was so nervous. A friend took me there and my mom had come down as well (she's 85). Just moments before the surgery, the anesthetist who had done my consult came out to see me. He sat with me and took my hand in his. So many doctors try to "play God" but not this man. I had had him before when I had my gall bladder removed and I fought to have him for this surgery as well. He told me that God was watching over the two of us and all the staff in the OR. He said the God had equipped him with the knowledge, the tools and the skills to keep me safe and that was his only priority was to keep me safe. We sat there for a few more moments and then he asked if I was ready. Of course the answer was no but he took my hand and led me into the OR. My surgeon is the same way - compassionate, comforting, etc. But this anesthetist also has a terrific sense of humour and right away made me laugh as he began the insertion of the IV (I remembered that sense of humour from the last time...) 

Anyways, after I was out and they got started, there were major complications in that they didn't find what they expected. The mass was definitely there but my surgeon had been under the impression it had been attached to my ovaries and was planning to remove my ovaries and tubes with it. It was apparently attached to my bowel instead. It ended up that there were (in addition to the 2 anesthetists), 7 specialists in my OR that morning, including my surgeon (a gynecologist), another gynecologist, 2 general surgeons, a urologist and 2 others that I can't recall. I guess it was quite a circus in there with lots of people having their say. No cancer was found but the mass was removed and a small piece of my bowel were sent to pathology just to be certain. The surgery itself took the better part of 4 hours and the pain afterwards was incredible. I had to be sedated again until they could get control of that. I was in the hospital for almost a full week and am feeling much better now. I still can't do any lifting or anything like that yet. 

However, through all of this, I have just lost my motivation to create. When I arrived at my apartment, my CTMH bundles were waiting for me and they remained in the boxes for almost 2 months before I even unpacked them. Even now, I am just starting to feel like creating again, so hopefully this continues. I am currently working on my Stamp of the Month Blog Hop piece and I want it to be extra special since I haven't done much for so long. 

So that's, why I have been out of the picture for so long. I apologize to all of you who come to my blog, expecting something and there is nothing there. However, I DO have a little surprise for you if you have read this far. I do have a new roommate. Her name is Mika and she is just 9.5 weeks old now. She is a Maltese/Yorkie cross and she has brought new meaning to my life. Isn't she precious??

 

So, on Oct.1, I WILL have a SOTM post up and I am hoping that more posts will follow as I think I have finally hit the creative mode once again. 

Thanks for reading my story and maybe understanding a little better where I have been all this time. 

Alyson

Laughing Lola Cards

Finally, I have finished some cards.... it seems to take me forever, but I guess that comes from slowly healing from surgery and not being able to concentrate for long periods of time just yet.

These are cards that I will use for an upcoming workshop. Those of you who are reading this and are interested in the workshop, details are on my Workshop Link at the top of my blog. 

This first card is based on a card made by Pam Korte. The sketch is from our new Make It From The Heart Book but I loved the way she added the flowers to the black cardstock. This is also the only card where the inside is finished as well - the others just have white cardstock inside and can be customized as desired.

The second card is based on a Freshly Made Sketch design but I saw a card by Allisa Chilton using this colour combination and just loved it! Since my customers won't be purchasing the Complements, I had to create the flower using the Laughing Lola WOTG stamp set.

The next card was found on Pinterest. There is simply no better place to go for ideas!! And yes, it does use some non-CTMH products (Nestabilities) as I wasn't able to find the correct dimension rectangles...

The last card was also found on Pinterest. It's a little hard to see the print here but I love the simple elegance of this card.

The list of supplies below includes everything for all 4 cards. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted: 

Paper: Laughing Lola Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Gypsy Cardstock, Whisper Cardstock
Stamps: You Are My Happy, A True Thank You, Happy Birthday (ret.), Laughing Lola WOTG, Hello Tweety, Swirls Around
Inks: Black Pigment Ink, Gypsy Pigment Ink, Hollyhock Pigment Ink, Whisper Pigment Ink, Black, Lagoon, Markers: Gypsy, Copic BG13 (not CTMH)
Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Art Philosophy Cartridge, Clear Sparkles, Slate Polka Dot Ribbon, Nestabilities (scalloped rectangle, rectangle, label - not CTMH), Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (not CTMH), Corner Rounder

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Video - Artbooking Made Easy

I know I have been absent from my blog... two reasons for that. I recently had major surgery and and am finally feeling like creating once again and second, anything that I have created hasn't been photographed as I have a new camera and I haven't had 30 seconds to figure out how to use it!!

So in the meantime, corporate has released some awesome videos and this is one of them. If you have not yet purchased the Artbooking Cricut Cartridge, this will definitely make you want that cartridge. It is amazing! Enjoy all the things that Carly will show you in this clip. 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

The LAST Extravaganza Items

Today marks the last post of Extravaganza artwork! You must be sick of Huntington papers by now!!

However, since I am headed to the hospital for major surgery in 2 days, I don't expect to be creating anything new for a while... when I do, though, you can be sure it will be posted here. 

The final two items are both banners - one is small and the other is very large.

The first one (the small one) was mounted on one of my boards. I love this little banner. I used the Jute Ribbon as the base to hold it all together and then used several elements from the Wooden Mini-Medley to dress it up. Each square is mounted on Olive Cardstock with Green Glitter Paper on top. I then coloured in our Irresistible Hexagons, alternating between Barn Red and Autumn Terracotta, but making sure I had 4 different designs. Our circle punch took care of making 4 perfect circles for me and the letters were stamped using the new Framework Alphabet. A "FUN" clothespin at the top, and it was all finished. 

The other banner is the one that I mounted across my table in my booth. It had to be mounted straight across and this took me a long time to do... I really wanted to get away from all the reds and oranges that I had been using and focus on the grays in this paper pack so I chose to use the greys along with the greens. Unfortunately, the photos of this (in order to show you the details) are split up. The banner reads the word "AUTUMN" but I could not take it all in one photograph so you will see it end to end but in parts. 

I chose to use our Slate Satin Polka Dot Ribbon as my base and add to it. I used some of the zip strips from the paper pack and scallop punched them. The stamp set I focused on was "You Only Live Once". The flowers and sentiments were all stamped in Pigment Ink and embossed with Clear Detail Embossing Powder. Clear Sparkles were used to highlight the banner and lots of Baker's Twine was used as well. I graduated the colouring on the letters (all from our DE Monogram Collection), starting with Whisper and gradually moving toward New England Ivy, using sponges. (and that button on the N is really green - my camera picked it up as orange for some reason..) So, here it is...

So, that ends my Extravaganza artwork for this year. I hope you have enjoyed viewing the items and I love hearing what you think so please leave me your comments! 

Products are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Huntington Paper Pack, Olive Cardstock, Colonial White Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock,  Green Glitter Paper

Stamps: Framework Alphabet, You Only Live Once

Inks: Barn Red, Autumn Terracotta, Cocoa, Olive, Whisper, Slate, Olive, New England Ivy, Pigment Inks: Olive, New England Ivy, Slate, Olive Alcohol Marker

Accessories: Jute Ribbon, Wooden Mini-Medley Collection, Irresistibles Hexagons, Circle Punch, Mini Clothes Pins, Slate Satin Polka Dot Ribbon, Baker's Twine Neutral Assortment, Baker's Twine Harvest Assortment, Huntington Assortment, Clear Sparkles, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Scalloped Punch, Dimensional Elements Monograms: A, M, N, T, U

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Extravaganza Artwork - Miscellaneous Items

Today's items to show you from Extravaganza range from some that were mounted on my display boards to another that was on display on my table. 

The first items are our pillow boxes. I realized very quickly that if I filled them with anything other than cotton balls, they would be to heavy to attach on the display boards... I also used these for one of my giveaways, containing the most amazing smelling (and tasting) tea imaginable! The were simply created using strips of paper from the Huntington paper pack, then decorated a bit with Jute Ribbon or Baker's Twine and I used the Huntington Stickease for the sentiment. 

I love our Muslin bags and for the purpose of my boards, they too, were just filled with cotton balls to keep them light. I did my demo using these bags to show how easy it is to mix Pigment Inks. (and actually stamped one upside down... oops....) and then included a Monsters Inc Disney Pin. People seemed to like that. For these ones, I used a lot of the images from the Artbooking stamps that come with the Artbooking Cricut cartridge (particularly the "Sweet and Lovely" set) Everything is stamped using Pigment ink. 

The last item today is simply a collection of flowers made using the Artbooking Cartridge, mixed with some branches and pine cones. I added a few pieces of Jute Ribbon for interest. The container is just a plant pot I had around the house and I just wrapped it with matching paper. Before I placed anything inside, I cut a foam piece to sit high in the pot and covered it with grey stones although you can't even see any of that. I also added some Mocha Opaques to the center of each flower. Very simple and easy but it makes a nice fall centerpiece. 

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

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

Stamps: Artbooking Stamp Sets, Love This

Inks: Barn Red, Pigment Inks: Barn Red New England Ivy, Olive, Autumn Terracotta, Cocoa, Alcohol Markers: Barn Red, Autumn Terracotta

Accessories: Pillow Boxes, Muslin Bags, Jute Ribbon, Bronze Shimmer Trim, Huntington Assortment, Huntington Stickease, Neutral Baker's Twine, Rosewood Mini-Medley, Mocha Opaques, Clear Sparkles, Quilling Tool, Ceramic Container (not CTMH), Branches and Pine Cones (not CTMH), Foam and Grey Rocks (not CTMH)

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Extravaganza Artwork - Star, Pie, 6x6 LO

I think if I group my last items into three posts, I can get them all posted by Monday! 

One of today's items includes a star created using Huntington products. When I made this star, I wanted to use the damask paper as it is one of my favourites in the paper pack. The picture is not the greatest as the sun was shining in on one side... I also used the Pearl Flourishes and the Sarita Textiles to add some finishing touches.

 The pie, created using the Artiste Cartridge, was not difficult to make and since it was so light, I was able to display it on one of my boards. There are two photos here - a straight on photo that shows the top of the pie and one that shows the side of the pie so you can see the details of the pieces.

The last item is the final layout that I created This is actually a 6 x 6 layout so it is quite small. The photos are from a visit to the Queen Charlotte Islands off the northwest coast of British Columbia. I was sitting on a piece of driftwood, playing my clarinet when my older sister took these photos. I love the Artbooking overlay for this layout and I wanted to use the greys in the Huntington paper pack to show that you can mix other colours with it as well. I chose to use blues. The Sarita Textiles were perfect for this layout and I ended up adding Autumn Terracotta just because it worked so well with the shades of blue. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Huntington Paper Pack, Outdoor Denim Cardstock, Sky Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock, Autumn Terracotta Cardstock, Cocoa Cardstock, Barn Red Cardstock, Green Glitter Paper

Stamps: None (surprisingly..)

Inks: Desert Sand

Accessories: Artbooking Cartridge, Artiste Cartridge, DE Framework, Huntington Stickease, Floret Paper Shapes, Scalloped Punch, Foam Tape, Mocha Opaques, Pearl Flourishes, Baker's Twine - Harvest Assortment, Sarita Textiles, Jute Ribbon, Huntington Assortment, Sparkles Flourishes - Small, Clear Sparkles, Silver Shimmer Trim, Trinkets Wooden Shapes

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Extravaganza - Cards 3

This is the last group of cards that I created for my Extravaganza boards. The first one I really like because it is such a simple idea. It is just a bunch of flower petals layered and then some greenery behind. I have actually given this one away already and I dressed it up a bit by adding some additional greenery and some opaques, just for some additional emphasis.

The next card is one of the first I created and masking is not always easy when you are dealing with detailed stamps like this one.. I love the look of the Jute ribbon around the bottom of the card.

 The next card is one that I really like with all the layered flowers. A few pieces of Baker's Twine wrapped around the card and some Rosewood Mini-Medley pieces finish this off nicely. 

The last large card shows that even though this is Huntington paper, we don't always have to stick to the colour scheme... I stamped each flower in a bold colour of pigment ink and embossed it with Clear Detail Embossing Powder mixed with Prisma Glitter. The flourishes add that extra touch of shimmer. 

The last set of 4 cards are little, bitty cards. I had some extra space on my boards to fill and these fit the bill.They are each approx. 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches.

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Huntington Paper Pack, Colonial White Cardstock, Barn Red Cardstock, Olive Cardstock, Desert Sand Cardstock, Autumn Terracotta, Cardstock, Cocoa Cardstock, Champagne Cardstock, New England Ivy Cardstock, Slate Cardstock, Honey Cardstock, Green Glitter Paper

Stamps: Count Your Blessings, Happy Autumn, Love This, You Only Live Once, Artbooking Stamp Sets

Inks: New England Ivy, Cocoa, Barn Red, New England Ivy Pigment Ink, Cranberry Pigment Ink, Buttercup Pigment Ink, Honey Pigment Ink, Gypsy Pigment Ink, Alcohol Markers: Autumn Terracotta, Honey, Barn Red, Olive

Accessories: Artbooking Cartridge, Artiste Cartridge, Art Philosophy Cartridge, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Prisma Glitter, Foam Tape, Sparkles Flourishes, Sparkles Clear Assortment, Huntington Assortment, Artisan Studs, Mocha Opaques, Harvest Baker's Twine, Neutral Baker's Twine, Rosewood Mini-Medley Collection, Jute Ribbon

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Extravaganza Artwork - Cards 2

Today's selection of cards is an eclectic mixture from a variety of stamp sets. I spent a lot of time on Pinterest before I even received my supplies, printing patterns that I liked, since that is how I prefer to create. One of the cards - the first one - is almost a direct copy of a card that I found on Pinterest but instead of using a stamp for the branches, I chose to us real branches instead. The majority of the  remainder are based on patterns.  

So, here is that first card, using real branches. I also used our new Green Glitter Paper as my photo mounts. 

The next card was created using the arrows in the Stickease package. I wanted them to be various widths so I just cut them down. However, I needed a couple of packages to get the length I needed. A couple of leaves cut from the Artbooking Cartridge and detailed with our markers and some Baker's Twine and a very simple card came together very easily.

The Happy Autumn stamp set is one of my favourites and I love taking individual images from it and building on them like on this next card. I just continued to stamp the flowers beside each other until I ran out of room. The stitching guide gave me this gorgeous outline on the top and bottom. 

This next card is one that is from a pattern that I found that is in my "will definitely use again" file. It was a lot of fun to make! The stamp is You Only Live Once, one of our Hostess Stamps. I love the way the hexagons kind of peek out from the sides and some of the flowers in the Floret collection of flowers and leaves go so well with the Huntington papers, too! 

I found myself using a lot of New England Ivy with this paper pack. Although it calls for Olive, I like the darker tone of the New England Ivy, especially when I needed more than one green.

The last card is a pattern I have used a few times before. The sentiment comes from the Love This stamp set and the only embellishments I added were from the Slate Mini-Medley Collection. 

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

Paper: Huntington Paper Pack, Champagne Cardstock, New England Ivy Cardstock, Barn Red Cardstock, Colonial White Cardstock, Olive Cardstock, Honey Cardstock, Autumn Terracotta Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock, Cocoa Cardstock, Green Glitter Paper 

Stamps: Happy Autumn, You Only Live Once, Love This, Count Your Blessings

Inks: New England Ivy, Autumn Terracotta, Desert Sand, Cocoa, Barn Red, New England Ivy Pigment Ink, Alcohol Markers - Olive, Honey, Barn Red, Autumn Terracotta

Accessories: Artbooking Cartridge, Artiste Cartridge Cartridge, Art Philosophy Cartridge, Huntington Stickease, Slate Mini-Medley Collection, Harvest Baker's Twine, Foam Tape, Bronze Shimmer Trim, Stitch Guide and Foam Mat, Dark Brown Embroidery Floss (not CTMH), Irresistibles Hexagons, Floret Paper Shapes, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Jute Ribbon

Enjoy, 

Alyson

More Extravaganza Artwork - cards

Today, I am showing you some of the cards that I created for my Extravaganza boards. I decided to do only card fronts for the purpose of the boards and that way, the cards didn't keep flipping open when people wanted to photograph them. I figured when I removed them later, I could add the full card base to the card at that time and use them later. 

These are just four of several cards. I will post more in the next few days. My goal is to have all my artwork posted before I go to the hospital for major surgery on August 22nd. I don't know how long I will be in the hospital but it will be at least 3-4 days if not longer and I don't expect to be up to much for at least a few weeks after returning home.

This card was created with the idea of new neighbours in mind. Obviously in the shape of a house, I used a Stickease shape that read Family and then a Dimensional Elements arrow to point to the word for emphasis. A little bit of natural hemp added the finishing touch, along with an elements from the Rosewood Mini-Medley Collection. The roof was created by using the new Scalloped Punch and just layering each piece.

The second card used one of the new Hostess Reward Stamps, "You Only Live Once". I also used the DE Hexagon shapes and coloured them with Olive ink. The Huntington Canvas Assortment provided a nice background as well.

For the third card, I used my favourite paper in this paper pack, the damask paper, as the background. The new DE shapes provided a perfect background for the floral stamp from the "Happy Autumn" stamp set, which is also where the sentiment come from.

The last card today is one of my favourites. It is based on an old Mojo Monday sketch. The stamp set is "Love This" and is designed to work with the Bluebird: My Crush Album. As you can see, I used our new Scalloped Punch on all 4 cards - I LOVE that product! I just used embroidery floss for the buttons and more of the Rosewood Mini-Medley.

Hopefully, more cards will be posted tomorrow!

Products used are all Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Huntington Paper Pack, Colonial White Cardstock, Cocoa Cardstock, Champagne Cardstock, Desert Sand Cardstock, Olive Cardstock, Autumn Terracotta Cardstock, Barn Red Cardstock, Whisper Cardstock

Stamps: Vogue Alphabet, Happy Autumn, Love Life, You Only Live Once

Inks: Barn Red, Olive, Autumn Terracotta, Cocoa, Barn Red Alcohol Markers, Autumn Terracotta Alcohol Markers

Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Dimensional Elements Snapshots, Dimensional Elements Signage, Scalloped Punch, Rosewood Mini-Medley Collection, Foam Tape, Huntington Stickease, Natural Hemp, Sponge, Irresistibles Hexagons, Huntington Assortment, Baker's Twine - Harvest Assortment, Mocha Opaques, Green Embroidery Floss (not CTMH)

Enjoy, 

Alyson