Monday, July 31, 2017

Heart 2 Heart - Friends

The theme this week at Heart 2 Heart is Friends. National Friendship Day is August 6, so this theme is perfect for this week! 

The Flower Market Cricut Cartridge has a wonderful cut with the word "Friends" as you will see below. Although I am writing my post a week in advance, I have a funny feeling that I will not be the only design team member using this image for my artwork this week! The image works so well for both cards and scrapbook pages that I expect you will see it on a lot of artwork - both design team artwork and on participant entries for this challenge! I found the pattern for my card in the Make It From Your Heart book - Volume 2 (pattern #29).

I chose to use the Little Dreamer paper pack for the colours because I liked the floral paper and the colour scheme within that paper. I added silver glitter paper for some extra shimmer. 


Join us at Heart 2 Heart this week and celebrate National Friendship Day. Show us your project about friends. This is the first challenge for the month of August so get started now so you can complete every challenge this month and be a Heart 2 Heart Sweetheart! 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Little Dreamer Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Thistle Cardstock, Silver Glitter Paper
Stamps: None
Inks: None
Accessories: Flower Market Cartridge, Little Dreamer Glitter Gems

Enjoy, 
Alyson


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Monday, July 24, 2017

AH 222 - Do I Have it Together?


Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge 222! Peacock feathers are the way to go this week but more than anything, I LOVE the stamp on this card! 

My life has been so hectic the last several weeks and this is EXACTLY the way I feel... You know that feeling when you put something down and 10 minutes later when you go back to find it, it's not there? Or that never ending to do list that just keeps growing and growing? Does it ever feel like you have it all together? Probably not... at least it doesn't for me. That was why I simply HAD to have this stamp!

I wanted my peacock to wrap around the sentiment but that wasn't possible so she sits above and that's ok... I coloured some sparkles with a marker to match them to the papers. 



Come and join us at Atlantic Hearts this week - and maybe in the process, you might get it together and find where you put it! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: Peacock Cardstock, Seaglass Cardstock, Seaglass Glitter Paper, Peacock patterned paper (not CTMH)
Stamps: Together (Impression Obsession)
Inks: Peacock
Accessories: Circuit file (not CTMH), Large Sparkles (ret.), ShinHan Marker, Bitty Sparkles

Enjoy, 
Alyson


Friday, July 21, 2017

Colour Dare 253 - Tipped Flower Pot Card

Welcome to Colour Dare 253! This week, we have some fairly bold and bright colours on hand.

I chose to create a tipped flower pot with a crop of flowers cascading out of it. This idea worked perfectly with the colour scheme as I was able to incorporate the bolder colours into the flower collection and use the neutral for the flower pot and Glacier for the background. I brushed some of the flowers in the collection with the Gold Shimmer Brush for added emphasis. I purposely kept this card simple with no additional embellishments and no sentiment so it can be used for any occasion. 



Join us at Colour Dare and show us your project using all and only the colours in the photo shown above (gold is optional). You have until Thursday at 10pm EST to link up your project. 

Products used are all Close To My Heart

Paper: Prickly Pear Paper Pack, Jack Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Glacier Cardstock, Poppy Cardstock, Tangerine Cardstock, Willow Cardstock
Stamps: None
Inks: None
Accessories: Flower Market Cartridge, Gold Shimmer Trim, Dots Embossing Folder (ret.), Gold Shimmer Brush, Foam Tape

Enjoy, 
Alyson




Monday, July 17, 2017

Heart 2 Heart - "In Stitches"

The challenge at Heart 2 Heart this week is "In Stitches". I thought I would start off my post with some hints and suggestions about stitching on paper projects for anyone who may be intimidated by trying this technique. I have been doing it for many years and here are some ideas... 

Stitching by Hand: 
- choose a stitch guide and use a piercing tool to pre-punch the holes 
- embroidery floss is a terrific option to use but 6 strands is too thick - separate the floss into 3 strands and stitch using only 3 strands 
- mix colours of floss for a unique effect
- secure the floss at the back of your project by either taping it down or running it under previous stitches 
- if patterns may not line up at the end (see my example below as I stitched alternate spaces - like if you end up with two stitches side by side) PLAN where you will start and finish so you can hide that part behind or under something like another piece of paper, ribbon, etc. so it will not be visible
- small cross stitches are a terrific way to adhere vellum as no adhesive is required 

Stitching by Machine:
DO NOT EVER stitch over adhesive of any kind! It can gum up the inside of your machine and potentially damage your machine to the point where it cannot be repaired
                    Adhere pieces down in the centre with a thin strip of adhesive that 
                    will not touch the machine mechanism 
- don't be afraid to try various stitch types on your machine - zigzag paired with a straight stitch can look really cool
- it doesn't have to be perfect - lines are often not straight in real life
- plan for the end of the stitch line as you will want to stitch backwards a few stitches to secure the thread in place - this will show
- you will have to secure the start of the thread to the back of your project as well, either by taping it down or tying to to the back
- again, plan for the start and end of your stitching area if you don't want that to be visible
- stitching is a terrific way to adhere vellum or transparencies as no adhesive is required
- use a different needle for paper than for other sewing purposes - it tends to dull faster
- stitch on individual paper pieces rather than the entire project to avoid having to stitch through multiple pieces of paper at once (ex. do photo mounts individually and then the edge of the entire layout rather than doing the mounts AFTER they are adhered to the layout)

Faux Stitching:
- you can always use a fine-tip journaling pen to add stitching marks to a card or layout - it can look very realistic if done with care
- use a variety of strokes - it doesn't have to be just straight lines
- try zigzag stitch marks, alternating dots with lines, even doodle type of markings
- try using co-ordinating colours
- fine tip markers are usually the best choice but they need a bit of time to dry completely
- if you want to to be exact, use a ruler and draw a thin pencil line along the section where you want to "stitch". You can also use a stitch guide for this purpose. DO NOT ERASE the pencil line until you allow sufficient time for the pen or marker to dry completely or you will end up with smudge marks.

I hope this helps :) 
Happy stitching! 
----------------------------

There are a number of ways to interpret the "In Stitches" challenge... the most obvious way is to use some form of stitching on your project, which is what I chose to do. However, there is also being in stitches as in laughing terribly hard, or medical stitches... and that's not a pretty sight! There may be other kinds of stitches - like the types of stitches used to sew up something similar to a book or perhaps a heritage item. 

For this challenge, I chose to create an easel card. I also chose to hand stitch on this card. I used embroidery floss - but not a normal floss. This is a slippery floss and it does not stay together at the ends! It is terribly hard to work with and it slipped out of the needle halfway though my stitching of the second piece of cardstock. I spent the better part of an hour getting it threaded again! 

The flowers and leaves were masked and brushed with our Clear Shimmer Brush and a couple of ribbons and enamel hearts were added to dress it up. 




Join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us your "In Stitches" creation. You have until the end of July to link up with this or any of our July challenges.

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Little Dreamer Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock
Stamps: Hello Lovely - Scrapbooking (ret.), Sending Smiles
Inks: Lagoon, Thistle, Blossom, Lemon
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge (ret.), Whimsy Ribbon Collection, Purple Hearts Enamel and Glitter Duos, Glitter Embroidery Floss (not CTMH), Foam Tape, White Twine, Clear Shimmer Brush

Enjoy, 
Alyson



Sunday, July 16, 2017

Hard to Say Goodbye Blog Hop


This blog hop features products that are retiring as of July 31st from the Annual Inspirations Catalog. Some items that are used in projects that you see on this blog hop may already be sold out... Retiring products are now available on a while supplies last basis. When products are THAT GOOD, they are in demand! 

This blog hop is a wonderful chance to see how many of the retiring products can be used and decide if any of them may be on your final wish list to order! 
To see which products are retiring, you can go to my Consultant Website and click on the SHOP link. Near the bottom, there is a link called "Going Soon". Any products that will be retiring are shown there. 

You should have arrived here from Brenda Lapp's blog

If you get lost, a complete list of hoppers on this blog hop can be found on Melinda Everitt's blog

I chose to create a unique style of card using the Adventure Fundamental papers, a couple of retiring stamp sets as well as a few retiring embellishments. I found this on Pinterest and followed the video to create the card - it isn't difficult to do at all. The end product is really pretty neat. I have taken three photos to show you the entire card. 

The first picture shows the front of the card, which looks like a normal card... 



As you open the card, you see that there are layers underneath and the the front is not really the front as expected... 



Finally, you see how the entire card folds open to reveal that the front where the butterfly was is really attached to the folded out component of the card. I added a small section to be able to write a message. 



I hope you enjoyed my project. 

The next blog on this hop is Darlys Recker's blog


I am sure she has a fabulous project to share with you. 

Visit my Consultant Website to shop for any current or retiring products! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Raspberry Cardstock (retiring),Adventure Fundamentals (retiring), No Worries Paper Pack, Gold Glitter Paper, White Daisy Cards and Envelopes
Stamps: Balloon Wishes (retiring), Finding the Words (retiring), Lovely Leaves (retiring)
Inks: Raspberry, Willow
Accessories: Artistry Cartridge, Sponge, Uptown Ribbon Pack (retiring), White Twine, White Button (not CTMH), Gold Sequin Assortment (retiring)


Enjoy,
Alyson

Monday, July 10, 2017

Atlantic Hearts 220 - Tagged Birthday Wishes

The sketch at Atlantic Hearts this week has so many possibilities but I chose to stick pretty close to the original sketch. It fit what I had in mind. 

A recent purchase of an Altenew stamp set called Bamboo Roses was perfect for this card - there are several floral clusters and I used a lot of them to create the background behind the tag - stamping with Sea Glass ink on Sea Glass cardstock. I chose two of them for the oval in the centre and had to mask one of the leaves from one stamp to get both stamps to fit. A second Altenew stamp called Tulip was used for the sentiment. 
I have held onto buttons for many years - and the one used here is from CTMH from WAY BACK - and it actually matched the Sea Glass paper perfectly! What is old is new again... 
The twine used to secure the button to the ribbon is our white twine - I just coloured it using a ShinHan marker. 



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. 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated:

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Sea Glass Cardstock, Pansy Cardstock, Sea Glass Glitter Paper, Adventure Fundamentals
Stamps: Bamboo Roses, Tulip (both Altenew)
Inks: Pansy, Sea Glass, Tuxedo Black Memento Ink
Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge (ret.), Adventure Ribbon Collection, Button (ret.), ShinHan Markers, Little Dreamer Glitter Gems, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape, White Twine

Enjoy, 
Alyson


Friday, July 7, 2017

Colour Dare 251 - A Succulent Happy Birthday

The colour scheme this week at Colour Dare is taken from 2 possible patterned papers from the Prickly Pear paper pack (Sorbet and Lemon) plus Juniper and Black and White with optional gold. If you don't have the paper pack or the Close To My Heart colours, use whatever you have that is closest and play along with us! 

I chose to use the Sorbet patterned paper from the Prickly Pear paper pack and a stamp set that I really like from a Workshop Your Way kit. The stamp set contains 2 succulent stamps - a large and small. I used them to create the background for my card by masking the images - and that took a while to do. I then stamped two large and three small succulent images and coloured them using a single marker for each, just going over the sections that I wanted to be darker in colour. The stitching was done by hand. 



Join us at Colour Dare and show us how you use the colour scheme shown above. You need to use ALL and ONLY the colours shown (gold is optional). 
You have until Thursday at 10pm EST to link up your project. 

Products used are Close To my Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Prickly Pear Paper Pack, White Daisy Cardstock, Lemon Cardstock, Juniper Cardstock
Stamps: Workshops Your Way - Anniversary, Short and Sweet
Inks: Black, Tuxedo Black Memento Ink, Sorbet, Lemon, Juniper
Accessories: Gold Sequin Assortment, Gold Shimmer Trim, ShinHan Markers, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape, Embroidery Floss (not CTMH)

Enjoy,
Alyson



Monday, July 3, 2017

H2H - No Worries Doily Enclosure Card

Welcome to Heart 2 Heart's first July challenge - and we are welcoming some new members to our team! Be sure to check out all our posts this week as everyone on the Design Team is posting this week so you can welcome our new members - we are so excited to have them joining us! 

No Worries (or its colour scheme if you don't have the paper pack) is the opening challenge for the month of July. I chose to use the paper pack for my project. I did not purchase any of the related stamp sets for this collection so I chose a retired stamp set for my sentiment. I welded together a doily from Artbooking with a base shape on my Cricut for the card cover and then made a card to fit inside. 


Come and join us at Heart 2 Heart and show us your creation using No Worries or its colour palette.

The colour scheme for the No Worries paper pack includes the following colours:

  • Cashmere
  • Glacier
  • Lagoon
  • Sapphire
  • Whisper
  • White Daisy
Just a reminder to make sure that you use at least some Close To My Heart products in your project. You have the entire month of July to link up with this challenge and any of the upcoming July challenges.

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

Paper: No Worries Paper Pack
Stamps: Smiles Begin with You (ret.), Shower Flowers
Inks: Sapphire, Lagoon
Accessories: Artbooking Cartridge, Cricut Shapes (not CTMH), No Worries Sequins, Sparkles, Bitty Sparkles, Sharpie Marker (not CTMH), Gold Shimmer Trim, Aqua Shimmer Trim, White and Gold Twine

Enjoy, 
Alyson




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Saturday, July 1, 2017

July Stamp of the Month Blog Hop


Welcome to July's Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! This month, we are featuring the stamp set 
"Storybook Alphabet" - a set of 26 stamps, which makes sense as there are 26 letters in the alphabet! Alphabet stamps are such a great addition to any stampers' library of stamps - they can be used for cards and scrapbook layouts! The bloggers along this blog hop will certainly show you many ways to use this stamp set, so sit back and enjoy the tour. 

You should have arrived here from Haley Dyer's blog

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

The stamp set looks like this.



I chose to use this stamp on a layout featuring my doggie, Mika. She will turn four years of age on July 14th. How time flies! 
I found a layout design that I really liked on Pinterest but it used diamond-shaped photos. The pictures I wanted to use were cropped very close (I wasn't the one who originally took the photos...) I ended up losing much of the original pictures to use these, so they ended up being very CLOSE UP pictures... And yes, I still have the originals for other purposes! 

The flowers were all cut from the Flower Market cartridge and the title was coloured using a combination of our ShinHan and Sharpie markers and then brushed with our Clear Shimmer Brush. Mika is a very friendly dog so I wanted the colours to be bold to reflect her personality. She is just 6 pounds but is all love and excitement bundled into a tiny package. 


This is a close up of the title.


I hope you enjoyed my project. 

The next blog on the hop is Brenda Lapp's blog.


I'm sure she has a wonderful project to share with you.

You can get this stamp set for just $6 this month with a $50 purchase. 

Visit my shopping site here


Remember this stamp set is only available until July 31st! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Whimsy Fundamentals White Daisy Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, Sea Glass Cardstock, Raspberry Cardstock, Pixie Cardstock, Sea Glass Glitter Paper
Stamps: Storybook Alphabet
Inks: Tuxedo Black Memento Ink
Accessories: Flower Market Cartridge, ShinHan Markers, Black Journaling Pen, Clear Shimmer Brush, Sharpie Markers (not CTMH), Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape, Corner Rounder, Little Dreamer Glitter Gems

Enjoy, 

Alyson