Inked-Up Christmas Tree

The Card Positioning System layout looked like a lot of fun!!

I had this silver metal Christmas tree that I bought last year (see, I am really trying to use up some of the stuff I've been collecting). I decided to try using my Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks on it to see what it would look like. I ended up liking it a lot. I used Lettuce, Meadow, and Latte.

The designer paper is from 3 Bugs In A Rug called French Country - Trellis. I didn't have any ribbon that would match my Christmas tree so I decided to try adding some of the Lettuce Alcohol Ink to a piece of yellow organdy and it turned out great as well!! Gotta love when that happens!

Other products used are: Very Vanilla, Real Red, Whisper White cardstock (SU), Very Vanilla craft ink (sponged around the edge of the white card base) and Basic Black ink (distressed edge of vanilla cs), corner rounder.

Thanks for dropping by for a visit. If you have experiemented with Alcohol Inks I'd love to see some inspiration!! Put a link in a comment!!

Thanks for visiting.

Metallic Holiday

I dropped in this morning to see what the Ways To Use It challenge was. Turns out Julia is having trouble with her computer (darn thing) so DawnL was our hostess! Her challenge...use metallic paper. Well, I was pretty sad because I do not have any of the new yummy metallic paper.

However, at supper tonight, my husband told me that he had saved the Laura Secord chocolate box (had even put it in my craft room) because he said, "there was some really nice green snowflakes and stuff" and he thought I might be able to use it for something. Well, you know what.... it was METALLIC GREEN!!! So, off to work I set to make a card!!

The sentiment is from Holiday Wishes (papertrey ink) and that bling is from the dollar store! Just a bit of black and white cardstock was all that was needed!

My hubby is the best guy ever!!

Thanks for visiting.

Soft Friend

I really liked Roxie's Sketch Challenge 152 tonight so I decided I'd play!

I have so many ideas to do with all the Papertrey Ink stamps I have. Tonight, I decided to use the teeny tiny flower in the Borders and Corners {square} set to make a background using Lavender Lace ink. Then, I took the big and medium flower stamps that match from the Beautiful Blooms set and stamped them with the same color. I looked for a color I wanted to use for the flower center...definately not yellow, not brown, not orange... mmmm, maybe sky blue!! The color combination is not my typical style ... but then this is a challenge...right!!?? The sentiment comes from Papertrey's Green Thumb set.

Pulled the card together with some purple gingham and a small bit of flower embossed purple paper.

The more I look at it, the more this color combo appeals to me. I can see it done with stars too....

Thanks for visiting!

Apples and God

A number of weeks ago, I found out that I was the lucky winner of some Blog Candy from Dina Kowal's blog Mama Dini's Stamperia. I received the stamps a few days ago, all the way from Indonesia!! They are verse stamps from My Heart Stamps For You.

I really liked this one that reads "Anyone can count the seeds in an apple...but only God can count the apples in the seed" Wow, how cool is that!!

I wanted to use it right away and I knew I could pair it with this apple stamp from Year Around Fun 2 (SU). I popped over to Dina's site to let her know my stamps had arrived and found a link to this sketch challenge posted by Susan Trask from Smart Works.

Simple and clean card. Apples are stamped with Close to Cocoa, colored with prismacolor pencil crayons, shaded with grey pencil crayon for a shadow, faux stitching with Close to Cocoa marker all on Very Vanilla cardstock. Sentiment is stamped in Close to Cocoa on VV cardstock and matted with Mellow Moss. All this put on Ruby Red card front and the whole thing attached to a Mellow Moss card base.

If you'd like to try the sketch, post a link so I can check it out too!!

Thanks for visiting.

Designer Paper challenge

Sharon, more commonly known as No Time to Stamp, posted a challenge on her blog today. The challenge - to use designer paper. Well, I have a ton of designer paper that I am really struggling to use. So, with my own challenge to use the materials I have "collected" in my craft room... I quickly ran to my designer paper shelf!!

I grabbed my most beautiful pad of K&Company called Classic K Bailey 12x12!! I've had this for at least 6 months... beautiful stuff, which is why I have yet to cut even one teeny tiny piece of it!! I looked for a sheet that had a Christmasy feel to it and sliced off a piece before I could stop myself :-)

The rest of Sharon's challenge was as follows "You are only allowed a sentiment stamp, NO OTHER STAMPED IMAGES ALLOWED!!! " so that made pulling the card together very easy!! A beautiful sentiment from Papertrey Ink's Holiday Wishes set in Brocade Blue and a Very Vanilly grograin ribbon and voila!! A beautiful card!! Oh, see that knot... how the ends are cut straight. I like to call that the Kurtis cut because he does a lot of his knots like that as opposed to the typical angle cut. I think it can have different effects, elegant like it looks on this card and rustic on some other cards I've made.

Go check out Sharon's amazing blog and try her challenge. Post a link in a comment so I can see your amazing work!!

Thanks for visiting!

Monochromatic Rub-On

The Caardvarks challenge is to make a card using rub-ons! I've had some beautiful rub-ons from Fancy Pants and was happy to use them! Just look at that beautiful frame and flowers!!! The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Green Thumb set stamped with Caramel ink. The cardstock is a piece from K&Company and it coordinted perfectly with the Caramel carstock card base. I finished off the card with some Close to Cocoa ink sponed around the edges and a bit of organdy brown ribbon. Sorry, not sure the company as it was a gift from a friend!!

I do like how this card turned out. I have been visiting Sharon's blog No Time to Stamp a lot lately and she has been commenting on how nice cards are easy if you use beautiful things. That is so true with this card - it was so easy but I think it has a simplistic beauty to it!!

If you have made a card using rub-ons post a link, I'd love to see it!!

Thanks for visiting.

Christmas Cards continued some more

Here is another one of the Christmas cards I've made. It was totally cased from THIS card. I totally fell in love with it when I saw it on the SCS gallery and had to make a few to mail out this year. I cannot stand to mass produce cards so I can only make a few of each style.

I started with the night of navy card stock and stampe the largest snowflake with craft white in the top left corner. Then I added the smallest snowflakes using versamark all over. I also added the sentiment with craft int he bottom left. The strip is made with some bordering blue cardstock (although it looks like sky blue or something in this photo). On that strip, I added various sized snowflakes with various colors of blue and with some white craft.

Again, a pretty straight forward card for christmas.

Thanks for visiting.

Christmas Cards continued again

This is one of my favorite cards. It is super simple, but there are a few cool things going on with it.

First of all, I used my home-made cereal box template for embossing the circles on this card. I got the idea from Chris Smith on her blog called From My Inkpad to Yours. Here are her instructions. And here is a close up of the embossed circles:

I made the embossed circles, then used the template to mask off the card and stamped parts of the snowflakes in the circles. I added just a bit of dazzling diamonds with 2-way glue. The ribbon finishes it off nicely.

I've made many other types of these cereal box templates that you can see HERE, and HERE, HERE (which is also masked too), HERE, and HERE too (I told you I've made a lot).

(Supplies: cardstock-Soft Sky (SU), Ink-Buckaroo Blue (SU), Stamps-Snowflakes (SU) and Warmest Regards (SU), Accessories-Double Stitch Soft Sky Gosgrain (SU).)

Thanks for visiting!! That is it for Christmas cards, unless I end up making more. But I'm hoping to get them ready for mailing soon so you shouldn't have to worry!!

Christmas Cards, continued

I am so impressed with some of my SCS friends
who have been busily making Christmas cards all year long (Jessica)! Well, I haven't made a ton of cards but I did get some done.



This card is simple but I love the effect. I started out using a rectangle mask and sponged on Bordering Blue ink using a dauber. Then, I added some snowflakes mostly in the top left side. Finally, I put the sentiment, also in Bordering Blue in the bottom right. I also added a bit of dazzling diamonds to some of the small flakes with my 2-way glue (I couldn't live without that stuff) and a q-tip.

Thanks for visiting!!

Christmas Gold

The challenge this week at Daring Card Makers is "Golden Highlights". We were asked to make a card using gold somewhere.

Earlier tonight I had pulled out my gold embossing powder as I expected that was the gold I would use. However, I happened upon these cute little epoxy Christmas stickers I had just bought at a local dollar store. At first I wondered what I could do with them as they were a bit too tiny to use on regular sized cards. Then I started sticking them onto different colored cardstock and really liked how the gold on them looked. I ended up deciding to using them on 3x3 cards. I might use the cards for the neighbors along with some home-made treats or maybe I'll make a little box to put them in and make it into a little gift.

Each card is outlined using a gold Pilot super color pen. The colored cardstock is (from left to right) Soft Sky, Buckaroo Blue, and Mellow Moss and the ink color for the sentiment matches each cardstock color. That sentiment is one from the Holiday Wishes from Papertrey Ink.

I can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with !!

Thanks for visiting.

Yes, I scrapbook too!

Yes, I actually made a scrapbook page. It has been some time since I've done an actual, full-sized page. I started this whole papercraft journey making cards, then scrapbooking and now back to cards.


Well, today I found THIS post over at Splitcoaststampers and it enticed me to give it a try. Lisa's page was so beautiful, as was Nicole's. They made me want to try a page of my own. I'm not sure which challenge this page fits best with, Lisa's or Nicole's...... Anyway, here is what I ended up with:



I love the fancy designer pages that have images "moving" across the diagonal, like Bohemia or Basic Grey designer papers. So, I decided that the home-made designer paper I would make would be that kind of paper. I used the leaf stamp from Papertrey Ink's Beautiful Blossoms and stamped it across a piece of Whisper White (SU) cardstock. Then, I added some of the dotted leaf outlines to make it a bit more funky. Then, using Ballet Blue (SU), I made these funky flowers. I swiped the same colored ink pad on to the white portions to mimic the marbled effect of the flower in the picture. I added more of the leaves as home-made and matching embellishments!! Finally, I added some faux stitching and a title that was hand cut.


Thanks ladies for encouraging me to get a page done.


Thanks for visiting my blog.

You can leave comments now

Just a reminder that I have enabled everyone to be able to leave comments. Thanks for being patient!!

More Gift Holders

Well, I've been busy making some more gift certificate holders. Details about how to make them are posted HERE as well as a link to Jan Tink's blog where I originally saw the idea for business cards. I must admit though, I went back through to try and find these on her blog and I don't know where they are.

I used more of the Papertrey Ink stamps my husband got me for my birthday. The branch set is from the Take A Bough set. It is very cool. See those decorations hanging from the branch. Well, the larger one is actually 2 stamps put together. The round part is stamped first and then there are a few optional decorations to add to the center. Too cool!! They can also be covered by epoxy pebbles which makes them look like real christmas balls!

The stars are from the Believe set. I also used a swirl from my Gel-a-Tins set called Build Your Own Flourish. I have used it A LOT lately!!

All ribbon is from Michael's and ink is from Stampin' Up (including basic black, bordering blue, summer sun, garden green, close to cocoa, and real red.

Thanks for visiting. Please feel free to leave a comment and let me know if you will be giving these a try! (I think I've fixed my comments so you should be successful!)

Fixed my "comment" options

Hi everyone. I've been hearing from some folks that you are trying to leave comments but cannot. Well, I think I've fixed the problem. At least I hope I have!! If you wouldn't mind, please try and leave me a comment and let me know if you are now able to. Thank you so much for being patient with me! Like I've said, this blogging adventure is new to me and I'm learning as I go! Drop by later, I've got some more projects to show you!! Donelda

Gift Certificate Holders

Sorry I didn't post last night. I was feeling icky yesterday and spent most of the day in bed. Yuck, I hate feeling sick. Well, I am going to admit... we are buying gift certificates for almost everyone on our Christmas list. I know it is a bit of an easy out, but it is nice to know that the kids will be able to get something they actually want. So, I really wanted to make something cool to put the gift certificates inside...not just a card but something that would make it kinda like opening a present. I remembered seeing these business card holders a long time ago on Jan Tink's blog Stamps, Paper, Scissors and thought it would make a great idea for a gift certificate holder. A bonus is that they are quick and easy to make as well.

To make them, you start with a typical envelope that we use with our cards. You fold each end in to meet the point of the flap. Then, You snip the flap where the fold is and lick and stick the right and left edge pieces closed while leaving the center part of the flap unstuck. Then you fold the sides in and keep the flap on the outside.

I made 2 different versions. On the tree version, I used the tree from Papertrey Ink's Believe stamp set. I added the star to the top and a present on the bottom. This was my first version, and I see I had added 3 presents, but coloring in this was exhausting so I ended up only using 1 present. I did the coloring with my prisma colorpencil crayons. On this version, I see I added Merry Christmas from my Fancy Flexible Phrases (Stampin' Up) but on the others, I used a holiday sentiment from Papertrey Ink's Faux Ribbon set. On the front, I added the sentiment Christmas Wishes from Papertrey Ink. I love the sentiments from Papertrey Ink, the fonts are just perfect!!! and they stamp so "crisp"! I also added lots of holly sprigs as well, colored with my prisma colorpencils.

Here is what the inside looks like. I did some decorating inside too. There is some room to write a nice holiday hello. And I knotted a ribbon (the red and blue are both from Michael's) on the front. If you want to know how to tie the PERFECT knot, you should check out this tutorial video from kwernerdesign blog. After tying all these knots using her tips, it really does make a great knot!! It did take a bit of practice!

For the second version, I decided to do somehting much more simplistic (without all the coloring) so I turend to my Snowflakes set (Stampin' Up). These are some of the nicest snowflakes! I did multiple sized snowflakes on the back and then the smallest snowflake and the teeny ones to fill in around it for the front and inside of the holder. I still used the Papertrey Ink sentiment and some blue ribbon from Michael's. You can see this version in the group picture at the top of this post.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this project. Maybe you can use it this holiday season to! Post a like in your comment if you do so I can check it out!!

Thanks for visiting.

Happily Ever After

I was checking out the most recent Card Positioning System #39 and really liked the layout! Over the last few days, I worked on this card and got it finished late last night.

When I got it done, I browsed over to the CPS site just to make sure I had kept to the layout when I saw Sherry W's card called Forever Friends (she is one of the CPS design team members). When I saw it I went "oh, oh!". Unconsciously, I ended up copying her card! Obviously, I saw her card, loved it, and then as I started to decide what I wanted to do for my own card, her ideas came through...

Once I saw the CPS layout with the fancy swirly thing at the bottom, I knew I'd use these bits of chipboard I have had from Fancy Pants. I bought them forever ago and have only used one tiny piece from the package. Well, if you've been reading my blog, you would know that my challenge to myself is to start using up bits and pieces of stuff I alreay own. This was what started my card.

Once I had decided on the chipboard, I started to envision the card. I also had seen (apparently from Sherry W- hehehe, but others as well) some great designer papers where there was a big swirly patterened repeated. I didn't have any (and I can't buy any) so I decided to make my own designer paper like it. I used this Cool Carribean color which, sadly, is no longer available from Stampin' Up which is too bad because it is such a nice color. And, pairing it with black is a dream. I used the bigger stamp from my Gel-a-tins Build Your Own Flourish set. I think it turned out awesome!!!

Then, I knew I wanted to use one of the Borders & Corners from Papertrey Ink but I couldn't decide between the rectangle or the oval. I ultimatly decided on the rectangle because I don't have a convenient way to cut an oval shapped mat. I used some little swirls from my Gel-a-tins Build Your Own Flourish set and stamped them onto some white cardstock. In order to make sure they were where I wanted them, I actually laid the rectangle stamp on top of the swirl stamps. Then, I added black ink on the rectangle stamp just in the places where I wanted it (not under the swirls) and stamped.

Next was the sentiment to go inside the rectange. That was a bit frustrating. I really really wish someone would do some sentiments that are more vertical for vertical cards. You know what I mean??!! Have them read down instead of across. This is about the 3rd time I've really wanted something like that and have had nothing in my stash... well, I don't have a very lare stash of sentiments so maybe I just have to be on the lookout for them. I ended up picking this Happily Ever After sentiment which would make this card a wedding card or maybe I can use it as an anniversary card.

I covered the chipboard swirl with black ink, and then added some white around the edges to help it stand out a bit. Once I put the card together, I realized I needed some black behind the main panel and I liked it better off to the left...just seemed to balance the card better. I am learning about balance from a great stamper Kurtis -- you really have to see this guy's blog -- yes, I said guy!! He is a young fellow who is truely talented at this craft !!

Well, I pulled the whole card together and loved the end result. Then, like I had said, I went back to the CPS site and saw Sherry W's card... I clearly had used it for my inspiration, even if I had not realized it at the time. Sherry, your card is absolutely beautiful!! I hope she doesn't mind that I copied it !!

If you have a card where you made your own backgroud paper, please post a link in a comment so I can check it out!! Sue, I was thinking about our discussion the other night -- maybe try leaving a comment and clicking on Anonomous -- just make sure you add your name onto your comment so I know it's you :-) This might work until I figure out the subscription thing. Anyone who knows how to set up the ability for others to "subscribe" to my blog, I'd appreciate some guidance. Thanks.

Thanks for visiting.

Home-made Velvet Flower

I was playing around with the Borders & Corners {circles} set from Papertrey! It is just soooo versatile!! I also had the left over velvet sitting on my craft desk from a previous project posted HERE. Looking at it, I thought that it would be perfect to make one of my home-made flowers (who needs a flower punch??!!). You can see my tutorial on this technique HERE. I also have been trying to use up "stuff" in my stash, and I saw these copper vellum tags and remembered I'd bought some copper brads -- they could go together!! Voila, here is the end result. It always amazes me when I reflect back on the "journey" of a card. Sometimes, the ingredients are instantly decided upon and other times, they slower come together after much trial and error. I hope you like the end result. If you decide to try one of these home-made flowers, please comment and leave a link so we can all see it!! Thanks for visiting.

Covered Birdhouse Church

This is such a fun project. At Michael's there are awesome wooden birdhouses for sale for a good price. I origianally started out with a more simple project using these Small Birdhouses. But when I was at Michael's a while ago, I saw this awesome birdhouse church and knew I had to get it for my Brother and Sister in law since he is an Angelican Minster. It is just perfect!! I started out painting the church with Light Antique White acrylic paint. Then I did the roof portions with Burnt Umber. After they dried, the real fun started. I've been saving this particular sheet from Stampin' Ups Au Chocolate designer paper for the walls of this birdhouse. It is a bit tricky and really a matter of trial and error to get the right shape cut out. Generally, I take the birdhouse and lay it on the wrong side of the paper. Then I trace around the house with a pencil and cut it out. Then, I push the paper against the birdhouse to make an indintation of where the perch is and cut it out with my hobby knife. I do the same thing for the circle opening and door. Finally, I do a little measuring and estimating to get the paper cut to fit the front. The sides and back are generally a lot easier. I used Mod Podge Matte to glue this on (and I will cover the whole thing later with more but not until the details are added).

I thought the church was a bit plain and needed a bit of color. So I decided to paint the base with some Sage Green acrylic paint. Then when it was dry, I added some green grass, made by using scissors on strips of green cardstock. Then, I used the Stampin' Up Spring Flower Boquet punch to get some Pixie Pink flowers. I added a So Saffron center to each and colored the petals with my pixie pink watercolor crayon (SU) and the centers with my brown watercolor pencilcrayons (SU) to give them more dimension.

Once all those details were finished, then I painted the whole thing with more of the Mod Podge so that it could be put outside if they would like. This is a really simple and fun project! It would even be something that kids (about 8 and older) could do with perhaps a little help getting the front paper cut to fit.

I hope you enjoy this project. Have you made something using designer paper that is out of the ordinary?? If so, feel free to post a like, I'd love to check it out! Thanks for visiting.

Japanese Stab Binding Card

I just had to give Beth's Try a New Technique 142 called Japanese Stab Binding. Once I saw it, I knew I'd go with this theme (I know, it is Chinese and the technique is Japanese....) I have had these Chinese Fold Paper - Cuts for a very, very, very long time. I bet I've had them for about 12 years! I bought them in China Town in Calgary because they were so beautiful but I've never found a "use' for them. I knew one would be perfect for this challenge alone with one of the "chinese old coins" that we also picked up in China Town a few years ago. I used a basic black cardstock and punched holes with my anywhere hole punch. Then, followed the instructions to actually do the Japanese Stab Binding. It was a bit harder than I thought it would be....I am going to have to go back and "perfect" this for sure! I left a bit of ribbon on the top of the binding so I could tie a coin. Then, I sprayed the back of this very intricate cut out design and worked, very hard, to get it stuck down flat with no rips, tears, or bumps. It was really tricky as it kept sticking to my fingers and I did end up with a few bumps but I was able to smooth them out! I love this technique!! Go and give it a try!! I can't wait to see your sample in the SCS gallery, or you could leave a link here so we can see :-) Thanks for visiting again tonight.

Birthday Plaid and Pine

My husband requested that I make a card for his father!! That means a masculine card... and we all know how difficult that can be!!! Well, I took my inspiration from THIS card from leslierich! Isn't it a beauty??!! Well, I'm not sure if this measures up, but I think it turned out good, and masculine. I started with a small piece of Kraft cardstock and stamped the Flannel Plaid background using Always Artichoke. Then, I used the same stamp again using close to cocoa (a great suggestion from leslie!). Using the pine needle stamp from Fantastic Foilage I stamped randomly all over more Kraft cardstock in always artichoke and my close to cocoa marker for the stem. The main image is the pine needle and pine cones on more Kraft cardstock. It is matted on more Always Artichoke and then on some Chocolate Chip. I used my corner ticket punch and then added some antique brass brads in the corners. I added the Happy Birthday sentiment from Papertrey Ink's Papertray stamp set. I used my dauber and sponged all around the panels using close to cocoa ink (I think this might be my favorite color of ink). This is all put onto an Always Artichoke card. Well, I hope my father in law likes it. Have you made a masculine card lately?? If so, feel free to leave a link, I'd love to see it!! I'm always looking for some great ideas for masculine cards. Thanks for visiting.

Mice and Butterflies

I like to make ATCs. They are so addictive that I just can't stop making them. I found the original swap using House Mouse stamps posted by jlazarski and participated in that swap. Well, Jessica is such a great hostess, I joined her second, third, and now her fourth swap -- all featuring House Mouse stamps! If you like making ATCs, love those cute little House Mouse stamps, and would like to join in the fun, you should check out Jessica's newest swap HERE.

Anyway, back to my card. Jessica and a bunch of the other talented ladies like to share great cards that are uploaded on the Splitcoaststampers site. And THIS awesome card made by SophieLaFontaine was shared a few days ago. I fell totally in love with it and new I'd have to case it (that means copy it!).

First, I took some shiny cardstock (I just use photo paper) and sponged on some summer sun and pumpkin pie. Then I stamped my butterfly from All Night Media in StazOn Black. I cut it out carefully using my hobby knife (getting those antenna was hard!). Next, I colored in this little House Mouse image that Jessica shared with me (thanks Jessica!) using my Prismacolor pencil crayons and then blended the colors with oderless thinner (called Gamsol Magic technique on SCS). I cut him out as well. Then, I set them on a white card base and decided where I would draw my "plate" where my sentiment would be stamped. I drew it in using my black SU marker and a ruler to help, but I didn't make it totally straight, I like the "hand drawn" look of it with a few bumps along the way. I added a second layer and the little dots. Then I used my watercolor crayons and a paint brush to color in the inside of the plate. Finally, I attached the butterfly and mouse on opposite ends.

You really should go check out Sophie's gallery... she has some amazing cards there, mine is dull in comparison but I think I am going to do some practice and see how it goes. I'd love to see some cards you have made by cutting out images. Please leave a link in a comment!!

Thanks for visiting.

New Technique

Voila, a new technique!!

My son, who is 8, was playing around with our little "lazy susan", you know, the circle thing you put in the middle of the diningroom table so everyone can reach by spinning it around. Well, he was taping paper to it, then spinning it, while drawing straight lines with a pencil crayon. Then, he would add eyes, nose, and a mouth to make a "creature". He wanted me to try too and once I gave it a go, I knew I'd have to use it on a card.

So I taped some white cardstock on and used different colors and made smaller clusters of colored "flowers" (as I prefer to think of them). I added some flower centeres using the small polkadot center from Papertrey Ink's Paper Tray set and the larger polkadot center from the Beautiful Blooms set, also Papertrey. I added some of this black polkadot designer paper and the rivet sentiment! The colorful strip didn't quite look finished so I added the black lines with a black marker!

I like it!! I think I'll call it the SPINNING COLORS Technique. My son would really appreciate a comment or two about his creation -- he is really quite proud of himself for helping mom come up with a new technique!! Thanks!

Another Post Today for Beate's WSC27

I just had to post again this morning because I wanted to participate in Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #27. Can you say "cool layout". I just might have to do a second card using it to see what else I can come up with.

You've seen these wreaths before -- lots of the talented ladies on SCS have made them. Here is one example, and another but there are lots more if you go looking!! So clearly the idea is not mine, but I've been wanting to make one like it for a long time (probably since last Christmas).

I used my everywhere punch to put 2 holes on the side and tied a bow with some ribbon (getting the bow to look half decent was the hardest part of the making this card). I like the look of doodling around the edge, it just seems to finish off a large plain edged square like this. I also like the rounded edges of the card -- I see it on lots of cards but never think to incorporate it in my designs.

Dimensions of this card are 4 1/4" by 4 1/8". Supplies used: Cardstock: Buckaroo Blue, Whisper White (SU), Ink: Buckaroo Blue (SU), Stamps: Snowflakes (SU), Faux Ribbon (Papertray), Accessories: Ribbon (Michaels), Marker (SU).

Thanks for visiting, again.

An Exercise in Masking

Well, this morning I was laying in bed, thinking about a card!! Don't laugh, I know you've done it before too!! What colors, where will I put the main image....you know the drill!!

A few things were going around my brain when I came up with this layout/design. First of all, I wanted to make a card for this weeks Card Positioning System (CPS #38). As well, I've been dying to use this leaf stamp from Papertray's Beautiful Blooms!! As anyone who's been visiting regularly, I am on a mission to use up things I already own (I'm on a "no buy" mission) and I realized that I haven't even opened my new Creamy Caramel (Stampin' Up) ink pad yet. So, I decided to go with using my brown family! Finally, I decided that I really want to try making a card that consists of only stamping -- no layers. I felt certain I could achieve the results I was looking for byusin the MASKING and REVERSE MASKING techniques only!!

Well, here is the end result! It looks pretty close to what was in my head this morning.

Have you made a card using the masking techniques?? If so, please feel free to leave a comment and link to your creation - I'd love to see it!!

Supplies: Cardstock - Very Vanilla (SU), Ink - Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip (SU), Stamps - Beautiful Blooms, Faux Ribbon (Papertray), Accessories - daubers (SU), Post-It notes (3M).

Thanks for visiting.

Velvet "Create" Journal

Today, Julia posted the Ways To Use It challenge 139 and it was to use Velvet!! Well, I have had this piece of burgandy velvet sitting around for some time, as well as this beautiful piece of Wild Asparagus paper called "memories". I decided that I owuld put these items together with a little Basic Grey "Sweetie" from the Blush collection to make myself a new Crafting Journal.

I used my iron and "heat stamped" the French Flair background stamp onto the velvet, cut it out, and rounded the edges. I added this onto a piece of blue cardstock (which matched the blue backgound of the Wild Asperagus paper). I also used this same blue paper to put behind the bookmark from my Hodgepodge Hardware. I added the letters using some rub-ons. The Prima is from a beautiful package I bought a while ago and ... see that square brad in the middle, that is one of Stampin Up's new Square Rhinstone Brads. A freind was kind enough to include it with a little package... thank you!! I also used some white ribbon between the Wild Asperagus and Basic Grey papers! edited to add: I realized that it is hard to actually see the stamped velvet in my other photo so I've added this close-up.

I really like how my journal turned out and I know it will get some great use!! Thanks to Julia for giving me the push to get it made and use up these products that I've been hoarding. It worked perfectly for my new goal to use the items that I have instead of buying more stuff!!

Thanks for visiting.

Sketch Challenge 149

I always like trying Roxie's sketch challenges on Splitcoaststampers. So I decided to give the Sketch Challenge 149 a try.

The whole card is based on that strip of ribbon in the middle. I got it from Michael's about 6 months ago and I have yet to use it. When I bought it, I thought it was so pretty that I had to have it ... so why don't I ever use it?? I have decided that I am not going to buy anything new until I use up some of what I already have!! So I was determined to get that ribbon on a card!

I checked the color with my cardstock and realized that it matched the Ballet Blue. I have not used this color yet out of the Rich Regal multi pack that I have. I wanted to create flower panels that matched the ribbon -- flowers with swirls. So, I pulled out my Beautiful Blooms set from Papertrey!! This cool flower (Nicole calls it her scribble flower) was just begging to be used so I grabbed the large and small scribble flowers. To make the squares, I used two different sized squares from the Borders and conrners {square} Papertrey set...I love those b&c sets!! I got 4 of the 5. I used black for that and then stamped the flowers randomly inside. I added a flower stem that I stuck to the block in a swirve to make the swirls like on the ribbon. I also stamped some of the large flower with versamark as a background for the ballet blue card base. Finally, I added some black photo corners to the larger image and pulled it all together.

Now I know why this color hasn't been used yet!! It was fun to make this card but I can't say I'm in love with it, that's for sure!!

Thanks for visiting.

Snow and Glitter

Another challenge this month from my card making class was to make a glitter window. This technique uses packing tape, of all things!! There is a great tutorial on SCS that you can check out HERE! It is another tutorial written by the queen of tutorials Beate Johns!! I took the new Soft Sky color (which I am really enjoying!!) and stamped the Flannel Plaid background using Soft Sky ink. Then I cut out a circle using my coluzzle. Next, I turned the cardstock upside down and put a piece of packing tape on the back so that the sticky side was pointing out. Next, I poured some dazzling diamonds on the sticky side of the tape and rubbed it in. On the back on the card front, I added a piece of what cardstock that was stamped with snowflakes using buckaroo blue. You can see them through the glittery tape. Along the top of the card, I added a strip of white cardstock that I had stamped with the same snowflakes using Soft Sky this time. I cut the bottom with my scallop scissors (mmmm, I'm using them a lot lately), and then tied some silver cord around it and tied a knot. To finish off the front, I did some paper piercing around the glitter circle and then placed it on a white card base using dimensionals. Ahhh, Another card without a sentiment. Why do I keep doing that??!! Thanks for visiting.

Papertrey Ink Stamps

Well, you just knew that I would have to play with my new stamps from Papertrey Ink. It was so much fun putting all the stamps in the CD case that they send in the packaging. In fact, Nicole's packaging is so beautiful, it is actually hard to open them up!! But I did and had fun just going through them all! Then I knew I needed a card for a friend who is changing jobs and I will not see her much in her new job so I wanted her to know I will miss her! I decided to go with the Green Thumb set (one of my favorites - I love strawberries!). I stamped the smallest strawberry with Cranberrry Crisp ink onto Whisper White cardstock. Then I added the stems with Wild Wisabi. I then cut that strip into four 1" pieces and attached them to a piece of Cranberry Crisp. All of that got placed on a larger piece of white. I then pulled out my SU paper piercing template and poked a bunch of holes into the strips of white above and below the berries. I did this because I wanted to do some hand sewing on this card. You see, the latest Caardvark challenge is to use sewing on your card. So I pulled out some black embroderie thread and sewed those X's along the top and bottom. Finally, I added the "MISS" and "you" from the Paper Trey set (just words) to the top and then I inked up the "berry much" from the "thank you berry much" stamp included in the Green Thumb set and added it to the bottom of the card. I think my friend will like!

This other card is just a tiny card but it was actually made first. I just had to make my very first card for my hubby to tell him how much I love him. I mean who couldn't love a man who just bought his wife 12 stamp sets!! This card used the Text Boxed set and the sentiment is from the Faux Ribbon set. The carstock is Very Vanilla and Sky Blue and the ink is Buckaroo Blue. I outlined each star, the box and the sky blue panel using my silver Gelly Roll pen!! It is nice and sparkly in real life!! And he definatly appreciated it!!

You can expect to see a whole lot more cards made with my Papertrey stamps!!

Thanks for visiting.

Coffee Cup Cards

Well, like I told you, I went to Calgary on Thursday and Friday for a conference. It was pretty good, but I've got to say, one of the most exciting parts of the conference was the coffee cups!! I know that sounds bizarre. You see, the little coffee shop was selling coffee in 3 different sizes and each size had the same styrofoam cup with a design on it but THE COLOR COMBINATIONS WERE DIFFERENT!!! I liked the combos for the small and medium but not really the large. And once I saw them, I new I'd have to make cards based on the design and colors. I only wish I'd been able to take a picture of the cups so you could see how cool it looked. So, the first color combination (small coffee) was a vanilla colored base with a burgandy strip along the top with leaves stamped in an off-white color. It totally made me think of stamping with bleach. Then, on the vanilla color base, some other leaves were stamped with a River Rock color. In the middle of that, there was some information in the same burgandy color as the stirp on top. So, here is my card version. As you can tell from the picture, the medium coffee cup used the following color combination: white, summer sun, and not quite navy. I actually like the burgandy and river rock combo the best! And I like how that bleaching took on the burgandy cardstock. Well, I hope you like my creations! If you like this combination of colors (either the large or the small) make your own card and leave a link in the comment section so I can see what you did with it! Thanks for visiting.

My Early Birthday Present

Look at all of this!! It is my Birthday Present from my husband!! I think he got tired of all the "hinting" about PaperTrey Ink stamps and called up and ordered .... not one, not two, not even five, ... not even 10 set... but ordered 12 sets (all listed on my wish list, of course)!!!!! I am soooo excited!! I don't even know what to do first!!

You can be sure that you will see some PaperTrey cards being made and uploaded here!!

I love my hunny so much!!

I'll upload an actual project later tonight... I just had to share all of this!!

Horizontal Pocket Card

Hi everyone!! I don't usually get to do many of the challenges from SCS these days, but I saw these awesome Horizontal Pocket Cards that Beth wanted us to do on the Try A New Technique Challenge 141 and I had to give it a try!! Here is the technique from SCS but notice that at the very bottom, there are specific directions for making it HORIZONTAL instead of vertical card. I started out making a vertical one before I realized what I was doing.... you'll probably see that card tomorrow, LOL. I started the card out by using some Buckaroo Blue cardstock for the main part of my card. Did the cutting and folding as it instructed me to do. Then, I used one of the flourishes from the Fancy Flexible Phrases set on the folded part of the card. I added this beautiful piece of designer paper on the front of the card, under the fold. I'm sorry, I used most of the paper on another project and I no longer have the name of who designed it. If I find it, I'll edit the post and let you know. Don't you just love it when you find a beautiful piece of designer paper and cardstock that matches perfectly!! This color combo has been sitting on my craft table for the last few weeks, just waiting for the right project!! Back to the card. After adhearing the edges closed, I made the inside part using Certainly Celery cardstock. I simply added a 1" circle of the designer paper as a pull tab. Then I took this teeny tiny picture of a House Mouse (that I received from my friend, thanks Jessica!) and colored him in using my Prisma color pencil crayons. I then cut him out very carefully using my hobby knife and watercolored some Buckaroo Blue beneath him. I adheared him to this rectangle of Certainly Celery with rounded corners and stamped the "little baby" sentiment from Everyday Flexible Phrases set. Once together, I thought it needed just something to make the Certainly Celery pieces stand out so I took my black marker and drew a line around the edges of those pieces. Perfecto -- or should I say Wiggity!! I hope you like this little guy. If you try the horizontal pocket card, leave a comment with a link so I can check it out!! Thanks for visiting.

Covered Board Book

Hi Everyone!! It has snowed here in Alberta but it is just enough snow to cover the ground and it actually looks quite pretty!! I suspect that it will be gone by Monday since it is supposed to be warmer.

The pretty snow makes me feel all nostalgic so I decided to photograph this covered Board Book that I made a while ago. My plan was to create a book to give to my son so that he knows all my wishes for him. (I know -- too sentimental but I'm a real sap!)

I started out with a child's board book -- you know those little kid books that have pages made from really heavy cardboard. This one was a Barney book, I think. I took this awesome designer paper and covered the front of the book with it. I cut and sanded the edges and sponged them with close to cocoa ink. Isn't this paper perfect for the theme of the book - unfortunately, I made this book way before I ever dreamed of having a blog and, thus, never thought to identify the maker of the paper. If I find it I'll edit later.

Then, I covered all the inside pages with paper from Die Cut With a View paper- the Old World Stack (which is absolutely beautiful and you can see a similar project made by Erika Martin[Stampin' Mama] with the same paper) and matching Bazzil cardstock that I bought at my local scrapbook store. That was a really good idea I had, to buy the designer paper and while I was at the store, I walked around the solid cardstock section and purchased colors that matched exactly with the designer sheets! I'll definately do that from now on. Some on line stores are also doing that - like Rhea at R&R Scrapbooking where I've noticed you can purchase Basic Grey designer paper packs and Rhea has listed the solid Bazzil cardstock colors that match perfectly -- way to go Rhea and any one else doing that !! It makes shopping on line a whole lot easier!!

This whole project was so much fun because I was free to design each page any way I wanted!! I really wanted a bit of an elegant feel on this blue and green page so you can see how I added the pinstripe background stamp (retired SU) onto the inside of that little envelope using Hunter Green. And I also used lots of fancy scissors and rub ons (that yummy brown swirl in the corner is from Fancy Pants designs and is called the fancy-free collection). I used the word "Wishes" from the Fancy Flexible Phrases set (SU) throughout the book -- since that was the whole point. I did lots of distressing with both Close to Cocoa (SU), Basic Black (SU) and white pigment ink from Rubber Stampede. Here is a close up of some of the finer detials:

And here are some of the other pages that are included in the book too.

The black swirls on the purple page are from Heidi Swapp called Diamond Drama 1 and they are scrapbook scenery stickers. And see that purple "string clasp", well I made that myself using a 1" circle punch some black eyelets (SU) and some string. It is pretty easy to make. On the turquoise and black page, you can see that "wishes" from FPP again and some swirls from the Finest Flourishes set (SU). I also added some paper from the Provo Craft 8x8 slab by Christina Cole.

Looking at these pictures, it is easy to see that when I scrapbook I love having interactive features. Including pockets and envelopes are a must for me. I'm not sure why but it just "feels right" to have them on my pages. I guess I love the surprise and anticipation of opening them up to see what is inside -- is it a picture or some journaling. Maybe I'll post some of my scrapbook pages with interactive features another day!!

If you like to include interactive features on your cards, scrapbooks, or other projects, I'd LOVE to see them. Leave me a comment with a link to your project! Remember, leaving a comment on my blog helps me know if you are enjoying my ideas and projects!

Thanks for visiting.