CD 385 - Birthday Leaves

Welcome to Colour Dare Challenge #385!

This week, the challenge colours come from an inspiration picture. Use any colours found within the picture (and black and white if desired). 

I selected two less obvious colours from the picture - orange and blue. They work so well together and I wanted to create a card using minimal colours. 

I stamped the leaves using Intense Black ink to create a background on my card. The leaves were coloured in shades of blue and the background was coloured in orange. The Tri-Blend markers make it easy to colour and shade - something with which I need much practice... The tips of the leaves were brushed with the Clear Shimmer Brush. 

The sentiment was stamped and then die cut using a stitched frame. The outside frame had to be hand cut to size along the outside. 

Come and join us at Colour Dare and show us how you use the inspiration picture shown above. 

You have two weeks to enter 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, Nectarine Cardstock, Bluebird Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock 

Stamps: Leaf Canopy (Altenew), Handmade Essentials (scrapbook.com)

Inks: Intense Black, Bluebird

Accessories: Stitched Nested Label Dies (SU), Tri-Blend Markers, Clear Shimmer Brush

Enjoy,

Alyson

Lock Fold Birthday Card

I was looking for some fun fold cards to create and this one really caught my eye. It's a lock fold card although it goes by other names. A good friend showed me how to create this. 

The card itself is quite bulky as you will see when it is opened up. The most difficult part of this (for me) was cutting the inside frames on my trimmer as I didn't have a set of rectangular dies that were the correct sizes. In hindsight, it would have been much easier to take those pieces to my Cricut and cut them there. 

The paper is from the Celebrate Today paper pack and I used a variety of stamps. I brushed the flower lines and all the tiny hearts and stars with the Clear Shimmer Brush and added some Bitty Sparkles both on the front and inside the card. 

This is the front view of the card. 

This is the card open, looking straight on.

And finally, here are two partial side views to give you a better idea of how it works. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Celebrate Today Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Evergreen Cardstock, Mint Cardstock, Bluebird Cardstock, Pixie Cardstock

Stamps: Birthday Hugs and Kisses, Celebrate Today Card Kit, Strokes of an Artist, Sentiments and Stitches

Inks: Intense Black, Canary, Pixie, Evergreen, Bluebird

Accessories: Celebrate Today Card Kit Thin Cuts, Nestabilities Rectangle Dies (not CTMH), Tri-Blend Markers, Touch Markers (not CTMH), Clear Shimmer Brush, Bitty Sparkles, I Heart Us Sequins

Enjoy,

Alyson

H2H - So Punny :)

Welcome to this week's Heart 2 Heart challenge!

The theme this week is "So Punny" - and puns are one of my favourite types of humour.

I chose to use a former Close To My Heart Hostess Reward stamp set to create my card. The stamp contains dozens of small animals and all the puns to go with each of them - I LOVE it! 

I used a pattern from Make It From Your Heart - Vol. 4 for the design of my card. Since the animals in the stamp set are all really small, I had to direct the attention to them... and using just a part of the card front was a good way to do that. I stamped the turtle three times and coloured them the same way. The bottom of the card is a collection of green patterned paper and the top of that row of banners was machine stitched. I also added a strip of Julep Glitter Paper just to cover the top of the banners. The turtles were adhered with foam tape and the pun was stamped below them on the right side. After all, they are TURTLE -ly awesome! 

Come and join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us your best puns! 

You have until the end of March to link up with this or any of the other March challenges. 

We can’t wait to see what you create!

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

Paper: Mix-In Paper Pack, Every Little Thing Paper Pack, Every Little Thing PML cards, Spruced Up PML Cards, White Daisy Cardstock, Evergreen Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock 

Stamps: Punny Animals 

Inks: Intense Black, Evergreen

Accessories: Tri-Blend Markers, Foam Tape, Sewing Machine and Thread (misc.)

Enjoy,

Alyson

Rainbow Bridge card

I had need for a quick pet sympathy card today - a very good friend unfortunately had to have her cat put to sleep. It is always so difficult to lose a precious member of the family... 

This card is not my creation - it was originally created by Cat Nowak and I love the way she set it up.  A link to her post with the card is here. 

I used the Rainbow Bridge stamp and die combination to create everything on the card except the stars at the top. Those are from a stamp set called A Little Sentiment. This wasn't hard to put together - stamping, a bit of colouring and then layering the clouds. 

Hopefully it will bring some comfort to my friend - my heart goes out to her at this difficult time. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Glacier Cardstock, Bluebird Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock 

Stamps: Rainbow Bridge, A Little Sentiment

Inks: Intense Black, Lemonade

Accessories: Rainbow Bridge Thin Cuts, Tri-Blend Markers, Touch Markers (not CTMH) 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Love Layout

Some terrific friends of mine have the most precious little girl... she is the focus of this layout. 

I used a pre-created layout from the new Cricut Collection (via Close To My Heart) - it is called Everyday Moments. I actually even used the suggested colour scheme because it worked perfectly with these photos. The layout is a 2 page one although I used only the left side. I used a sheet of woodgrain paper for the background. There is a place on the back for journalling if desired. This will be framed as well. 

I added some embellishments to the layout - some Bashful Pearls, Gold Embellishing Thread, Mini Bows and I also brushed certain pieces using the Clear and Gold Shimmer Brushes. It's hard to see the difference in the brushes unless you look very closely... 

This is being given to this family as an (unexpected) gift - I truly hope they will cherish it! 

Products used are all Close To My Heart: 

Paper: Happy Times Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Ballerina Cardstock, Peach Cardstock, Smoothie Cardstock, Green Apple Cardstock, Peacock Cardstock, Mint Cardstock

Stamps: none

Inks: none

Accessories: Everyday Moments Cricut Collection, Gold Embellishing Thread, Bashful Pearls, Mini Bows, Clear Shimmer Brush, Gold Shimmer Brush, Thin Foam Tape, Foam Tape

Enjoy,

Alyson

Shaker Lady Birthday

I recently watched a video by Jennifer McGuire to create a tri-fold shaker card. Loved the idea and wanted to try it myself. 

The stamp I selected is one that I have had but haven't used until now. I love this lady holding the birthday cake and the sentiments that go with it. 

I started by creating the inside scene - used Distress Inks to sponge a yellow background and splatter some ink on top of that. Those splatters are hard to see... The main image was stamped, coloured and die cut. The sentiment was stamped directly on that piece. 

The next step was to build the shaker component. That involved multiple rectangle die cuts as they were stacked to build height. Small stars and a few white seed beads were added inside the shaker component. The last step was to create another sentiment piece inside the card. The really neat thing about this design is that the shaker sits on its own - visible from the front and back of the card. 

One card made and the technique has been tested - I will try some other ways with subsequent cards since I don't have simple rectangle dies - they are all stitched ones. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock

Stamps: You're Not Old

Inks: Black, Intense Black, Lagoon, Nectarine, Distress Inks (shades of yellow)

Accessories: You're Not Old Thin Cuts, Stitched Rectangle Dies (GMD), Tri-Blend Markers, Acetate (not CTMH), Silver Star Confetti, Seed Beads (not CTMH), Waterbrush

Enjoy,

Alyson

Double Trouble - Toad-ally Awesome

I was playing with alcohol inks a few days go and created a green and gold background - perfect for the current Double Trouble challenge! I have completed all three parts... (see below)

I stamped three of the toads (or frogs, as they look more like frogs to me...) and coloured them in varying shades of green. A stitched rectangle border was added along the outside and each piece was bordered in white, including the gold foil piece. The sentiment strip had a piece of twine added around it and it was tied in a bow on one side. A few decorative gems were added to stay with the green and gold theme. 

Although I am a member of the Heart 2 Heart design team, I am adding my card as a DT member but within the link up. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Willow Cardstock, Green Apple Cardstock, Gold Foil Paper, Yupo Paper (not CTMH)

Stamps: Punny Pals

Inks: Intense Black, Willow

Accessories: Stitched Rectangle Dies (GMD), Punny Pals Thin Cuts, Gold Flecked Gems, Corner Rounder, Mini Googly Eyes (not CTMH), Tri-Blend Markers, Green Twine (misc.), Scalloped Border Punch (misc.), Alcohol Inks and Gold Mixative (Ranger)

Enjoy,

Alyson

TSOT 447 - Birthday Tulips

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

The sketch is shown below and the optional theme is letters and numbers.

Although I chose to create a birthday card, I didn't add any numbers or letters to my project. 

The circle shape on the sketch was changed to a heart shaker - the inside of the shaker was stamped and coloured and the flowers were brushed with the Clear Shimmer Brush before adding silver star confetti. I pulled out one of my favourite stamp sets to create the tulips - Altenew's Tulip stamp set and coordinating dies. It is a triple stamping set so using a stamp press makes it so much easier to line up the three parts. I also stamped some greenery behind the tulips. 

Come and join us at Try Stampin' on Tuesday and show us how you interpret the sketch 
shown above (and if desired, also include letters or numbers).

The challenge closes in two weeks. 

We can’t wait to see what you create!

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Celebrate Today Paper Pack, Bluebird Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Stamps: Tulip (Altenew), Word Up (Reverse Confetti), Blooming Heart, Beloved Bouquet

Inks: Intense Black, Bluebird, Ballerina, Pixie, Raspberry, Evergreen, Clover 

Accessories: Cricut Basic Shapes, Acetate (not CTMH), Touch Markers (not CTMH), Clear Shimmer  Brush, Silver Star Confetti, Thin Foam Tape, Foam Tape 

Enjoy,

Alyson

AH 358 - Birthday Tag Card

Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge 358!

So many friends have birthdays from May though September... seems like I am always creating birthday cards around this time of the year.

I chose to stay very true to the sketch this time. I used a Gina K. Designs stamp called Thank You Friend for the flower. That image was coloured using a combination of Spectrum Noir Tri-Blend markers and Touch markers. The birthday sentiment was stamped on vellum using Staz-On ink and then adhered around the back of the card. I hand-stitched around the tag component to add some interest. The shading lines on the flowers were brushed with the Clear Shimmer Brush and the black tops were brushed with the Black 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: White Daisy Cardstock, Raspberry Cardstock, Mint Cardstock, Neenah Solar White Cardstock, Patterned Paper (misc.), Vellum

Stamps: Thank You Friend (Gina K. Designs), Handmade Essentials (scrapbook.com)

Inks: Intense Black, Staz-On Black 

Accessories: Black and White Dots, Spectrum Noir Tri-Blend Markers, Touch Markers (not CTMH), Clear Shimmer Brush, Back Shimmer Brush, Piercing Tool and Mat, Turquoise Embroidery Floss (not CTMH) 

Enjoy,

Alyson

March SOTM Blog Hop

Welcome to the March Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! 

This month, we are featuring the stamp set called Family Legacy. It is a terrific stamp set to coordinate with the new Yesterday and Today papers as it has a definite heritage feel to it. 

You should have arrived here from Lauren Moore's blog. 

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

That heritage feel is what drove my layout for this blog hop. My mom, who passed away just over 3 years ago, was a tremendous community advocate and she ran a second hand shop where all the proceeds were donated to charity. This photo was taken about 10 years before she finally shut down the shop as she didn't have the energy to continue running it. At the time this photo was taken, she had donated over $1,000,000 dollars (that's right - OVER 1 MILLION DOLLARS!) to various charities in her community. Much more was raised in the next 10 years. This photo was scanned from a newspaper article (it was on the front page and I didn't want the entire front page heading along with this photo) as my mom was named the town's Citizen of the Year for her charity work. She hated having her photo taken so this was a very unusual occurrence. 

I chose to use the new Yesterday and Today paper pack for the basis of my layout. I used one of the sheets as the background and a couple of the zip strips for the cross pieces. A few of the stamp images were stamped before adhering the photo and I also used the Strokes of an Artist stamp set to provide some additional background images. The original photo was scanned in black and white. I also edge and ink distressed some of the pieces as well as swiping the Espresso ink pad across the layout base. A few gold gems were added along with a small bow. 

I hope you enjoyed my project. 

The next blog to visit is Brenda Lapp's blog.

I am sure she has something awesome to share with you! 

Products used are all Close To My Heart 

Paper: Yesterday and Today Paper Pack, Toffee Cardstock, Espresso Cardstock, French Vanilla Cardstock 

Stamps: Family Legacy, Strokes of an Artist

Inks: Espresso, Toffee

Accessories: Art Philosophy Cricut Collection, Gold Glitter Gems, Tri-Blend Markers, White and Gold Skinny Ribbon

Enjoy,

Alyson