DT 165 - Hello Sunshine Slimline

 Welcome to Double Trouble Challenge 165!

The small graphic is below - please visit the Double Trouble Challenge Blog for detailed information. 

The sketch from Atlantic Hearts is what drove my card design. I chose several colours from the Cinco de Mayo image and used those for the flowers and leaves. I inked a background and then die cut a wonky burlap piece from that. I backed it with white cardstock so I could slip the purple flower underneath. The white layer and the black base were both die cut using stitched slimline dies. As an afterthought, I splattered the card with black paint as the open white sections were very stark. A black sentiment was placed on the inked section and I added some iridescent gems around the flowers. 

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

This is a ONE week challenge.

I am also linking up my card with Atlantic Hearts as I am a design team member there. 

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy,

Alyson

Birthday Corner Box Card

 I saw a tutorial on this type of card from Rachel Tessman - it isn't difficult to make at all. 

I chose a colour scheme of browns with pinks and greens. Since CTMH cardstock has a lighter shade of the colour on the reverse side, I took advantage of that and embossed three pieces on the darker side so they would stand out more. The top sentiment was embossed on dark brown cardstock and there is a smaller embossed sentiment on the card base behind that piece. 

The vase was stamped and die cut and I cut all the floral images and arranged them inside the vase. A piece of white cardstock was lightly inked in yellow and the vase was adhered to that piece. There is a panel on the back to write a message. The card folds flat and will fit in an A2 size envelope. 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Drawn Lines Butterfly Card

 I found a card like this on social media but there was no watermark... the lines on the original card were created using a stamp but I figured I could do the same thing with thin markers. 

The lines were drawn at various lengths on white cardstock. I stamped a sentiment and cut around it so only the black section was visible. The butterfly was hot foiled in gold and coloured from the back with Copic markers. Two leaf sprigs were placed under the sentiment and the butterfly was added on top. I adhered the card front to a white base using craft foam and three coordinating enamel dots were placed under the sentiment. 

Enjoy,

Alyson

MTTCC 85 - Frosty Hello

Welcome to My Time to Craft Christmas Challenge 85!

The theme for this challenge is to create a winter scene. 

I find scenes are easiest to manage on a slimline format. I inked a background with three shades of blue Distress Oxide ink and masked a sun in the corner. That was splattered with white paint. The "snow" was torn from a piece of white glitter paper and I stamped, coloured and die cut the snowmen and added them along the snowbank. The sentiment was placed at the top to finish off this cute card. 

Come and join us at MTTCC and show us your winter scenes. 

You have two weeks to link up your project. 

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Birthday Card with Joseph's Coat Technique

The Joseph's Coat technique has been around for ages - it creates such a cool effect that I had to revisit it after many years. 

I ink blended the background using four Distress Oxide inks and made sure it was completely dry. I stamped a variety of solid images on that piece using Versamark ink and embossed them with clear embossing powder. Once the background was filled with images, I used black ink with a foam applicator to apply a thick layer of ink on top. I wiped away the excess ink which left the beautiful multi-coloured background. 

I used the same inks to blend a background on the card base so it followed the same colours as the card front. I also blended another piece of cardstock and embossed the birthday sentiment in black before die cutting it. That was adhered to a black circle. Some gold metallic thread was arranged under the circle and the cards front was adhered to the base with craft foam. 

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Art Journal - Title Page

 I purposely waited to do the title page for my art journal because I wanted to use the sentiment that is shown here. I struggle with my self-confidence and erase the doubt is a phrase I often say to myself.

The background was painted using a mixture of three ink colours and water. The beautiful flowers on the left side are from 49 and Market's fabric tape and I used some acetate images and rub-ons around the page. Simple overall - I need to practice more with just letting it happen!

Enjoy,

Alyson

Celebrate Winged Gatefold Card

 This was a fun card to make - I had to play with the measurements to make it fit into a standard A2 envelope. It is 51/2" tall but 4" wide, so there is a bit of extra space. 

The flowers and leaves were all die cut and assembled. On each piece of white cardstock, I used a silver marker to draw a border. The flowers and leaves were adhered in groups. The side panels behind the front panels were stencilled to add some interest. A sentiment was stamped on the inside panel and since I had some extra images, I added a flower in the corner of that piece. I used a white gel pen to add details to the flowers. 

The first photo shows the card standing up - the sides fold in together so only the panel with Celebrate shows when it is flat. The second photo shows the card opened up. 

Enjoy,

Alyson

Hot Foiled Peonies

 I recently bought this gorgeous peony press plate. Instead of pressing the details of the flowers, it presses colour onto the background. I used the plate in my hot foil machine instead. 

I made a few backgrounds and chose a gold holographic background and a gold dot background for these two cards. 

Colouring is not my strength but I do enjoy it... I coloured the first card in shades of blue for the flowers. A hot foil sentiment was added and the card front was adhered to a dark blue mat.

The second card took me WAY out of my comfort zone as I used inks and a water brush to watercolour the images. It's not great - my watercoloring skills most definitely need work. I added a hot foiled sentiment and a black background to that card. 

Enjoy,

Alyson 

AH 574 - Just Because

Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Challenge 574!

This is a very simple sketch and I stayed true to that for my card. 

The purple background was toner foiled (at the top of the photo, it picked up some of the shine). The banner piece and a border were die cut from dark purple cardstock and I also embossed the sentiment on the same cardstock. Some white twine was added under the circle and a few iridescent sequins were placed as per the sketch. Easy!

Come and join us at Atlantic Hearts and show us how you interpret this week's sketch. 

You have until Sunday evening to link up your project. 

We can't wait to see what you create!

Enjoy,

Alyson

Blue Christmas Cards

 I waited for almost 5 months for this press plate to arrive at my local scrapbook store... although it is designed to be used with the Better Press system, I chose to hot foil the image with a holographic blue foil. 

The first image is the original foiled image - such a pretty blue background with white trees. The second card is the reverse foiled image so the background is white and the trees are blue. Both cards shimmer beautifully in the light. I added only a silver sentiment to each and I did place a blue mat behind the white background. Easy, but oh, so pretty! 

Enjoy,

Alyson