Happy Halloween and Travel

Well, tonight is Halloween and we've been busy trick or treating and handing out candy. We had a total of 70 kids at our house which is more than double last year!! It is probably because it was good weather for being out. No snow and the temperature is just sitting on 0 degrees celcius (about 29 degrees F). Just so you know, I am off to a conference for the next 2 days. That means I will not have access to my computer. So, I will not be posting. Maybe I'll post on the weekend :-) Have a great and spooky evening.

Reflection Technique

One of the techniques we did in my card class last month was the reflection technique. There is an excellent tutorial from the splitcoaststamping forums HERE that was written by Beate Johns. You really should check out her blog as she is the queen of tutorials and an awesome stamper!! Anyway, whatever technique we do that night, we are challenged to make another card using that technique and bring it back the following month to be entered in for a draw. So, I set to work considering a different idea to use the reflection technique with.....I've already done trees, boats, and snowmen. I thought that a butterfly looking into a pool of water might work... and cattails... an image formed in my mind and this is what I ended up with. I'm not really sure I like it afterall... but it took a ton of time and energy to make, that's for sure. I started out stamping the main butterfly in basic black. Then, I cut a mask for him so I could stamp the cattails (a stamp I bought from Cornish Heritage Farms) around where the pond would be. Then, using the acetate, I stamped the reflection image of the butterfly, and some reversed cattails at the opposite side of the pond. Next, I used my Close to Cocoa marker and drew in some extra details around the water's edge. I colored in the butterflies with my prismacolor pencil crayons and used oderless thinner to blend the colors together (called gamsol magic technique on splitcoaststampers). Then, using a watercolor brush and my ink pads (Soft Sky and Mellow Moss) I added just a touch of color to the water, sky, and ground. I added a sentiment from the Happy Harmony set. I cut this image out with my coluzzle, and then added some black cardstock behind the oval. Using a small scallop scisssor, I cut around the image to make a scallop mat. I then placed this onto a Mellow Moss card that was stamped with the retired French Script background using Versamark so that it was a subtle effect. I really thought the image was so busy that nothing more should be added. I'm not sure the reflection image is in the right place... it should have probably gone more directly under the top butterfly but I was thinking of him looking down upon himself... well, anyway... there you go!!

Lockhart Quilt Stamp

A few month ago, Debbie Olson had this Lockhart quilt stamp as a give away to a randomly drawn comment. I was lucky enough to have won the stamp!! I usually don't win things, my husband is generally the "winner" in our family, so I was very excited!! That week at my card class, our challenge was to use chalks or Stampin' Up pastels. I thought that my newly acquired quilt stamp would look warm with some pastels on it so I pulled it out and gave it a try. This is the end result. I used all earth element pastels, more mustard, pumpkin pie, ruby red, and glorious green. I then took a button that was a close match with the more mustard and tied a few strands of floss through it and added it to the center of the quilt image. I matted this on some black, then ruby red, then more black cardstock. All of this was placed on a card front of more mustard which I stamped with the Flannel background in more mustard for a subtle and soft background. The finishing touch was some natural colored hemp knotted to the right of the image and the front placed on a black card base. I think it all pulled together quite nicely! I did not put a sentiment on the outside. I often feel like they should go on the inside. Any comments?? Do you think this card needs a sentiment on the outside?? Are you a card maker who always puts a sentiment on the outside?? or do you sometimes leave the inside to do the talking ?? Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts. edited to read: I am sorry but I cannot get the Lockhart Stamp link to work above... so maybe this will work - try to link from here!! http://www.lockhartstampcompany.com/index.htm Thanks for visiting.

Cracked Glass

Wow, I finally got a chance to do a "cracked glass" card. I have tried it only once before and when I did, I only tried out a very small sample, not even big enought to actually use it for a card or anything.

So, this morning, I saw that Beth's Try a New Technique challenge was to do the cracked glass technique. There is, of course, a great tutorial on SCS that you can find HERE if you are interested in giving it a try!!

I began this card this morning by stamping this awesome snowflake that I have from Inkadinkadoo in Buckaroo Blue (last years "in" colors that is out now!). Using my 2-way glue and a Q-tip, I added some dazzling diamonds to these big snowflakes. I then took the tiny snowflakes from the Snowflake set (SU) and using Soft Sky (this year "in" color, which I love!) and filled in all around the bigger snowflakes. I cut the piece to the size I wanted and then covered it with Versamark and then clear embossing powder. I repeated that a number of times (note: using extra thick embossing powder is best but it can be done with just regular embossing powder as I've done here). Once I thought the layer of "glass" was think enough I put it in the freezer for a few minutes and tried to see if it would crack...and it did. Then I had to go to work (shucks!!)

When I got home and took care of my 2 sick boys (my son and husband that is), I got to work finishing up the card. The piece cracked even better tonight as you can see in this picture.

I used a Soft Sky blue card and stamped the circles from the Delight in Life set (SU) also in Soft Sky for a gentle "falling snow" effect for the background. I softened the edges by sponging some Soft Sky with a makeup sponge. Next, I cut a piece of Buckaroo Blue to go across the bottom of the card. I stamped the sentiment in Buckaroo Blue on the right side of the strip. To finish off the card, I matted my cracked glass on some Buckaroo Blue and then on white and placed it ont he right side of the card. I really like how the soft sky snowflakes seem to intermingle with the cracks and the bigger snowflakes!! Beth picked the perfect technique for this time of year.. this looks great with snowflakes. I will bet there are a bunch of snowflake cards in the gallery this week!!

Feel free to leave a comment linking either a cracked glass or a card that has snowflakes on it!! I'd love to see your creation too!

Thanks for visiting.

Keychains

Here is a project I've been meaning to do for a very long time. I saw these: I thought they were by Sylvie (from her blog Crazy Stamps) but I looked and couldn't find them. The other place I might have seen them was on Godelieve's blog but I didn't see them there either. I copied the picture a long time ago, before I figured out a good system to be able to give credit to whose idea my projects came from. Although I am not sure if the idea is actually from the two ladies above, you must check out their sites... they are so talented!! And whoever posted the above picture -- thank you and feel free to leave a comment or pm me at SCS and I will quickly edit this post with credit to you!!! Regardless, I decided that my old ratty key chain had to go and that this would be what I replaced it with! The cardstock color here is the new Wild Wasabi from Stampin' Up. It is a great color of green and makes an interesting mix with a number of other colors! Here, I've paired it with Close to Cocoa (one of my absolute favorites) and Chocolate Chip. On the back, I've added some of this awesome polka dot paper from WeR Memory Keepers called Limade - and it matches the Wasabi perfectly!! To make the keychain, I punched some light cardboard with my 1 1/4" circle punch. Then punched out 4 wasabi circles and 2 of the Limeade paper (note one of the circles is solid green on both sides). Then I glued all of the circles together. Next, I stamped some swirls from my new Gel-a-tins clear stamps called Build Your Own Florish using close to cocoa. I added a sentiment from the Fancy Flexible Phrases and one of the swirly designs from that same set on the back, both times using Chocolate Chip ink. Finally, I added the little leaves from Petite Patterns in Versamark. Next, I stamped the star from Year Around Fun 2 and the leaf and heart from a small gift set I received from my demo (thanks Geri!) using Chocolate Chip ink onto Close to Cocoa cardstock. Cut these out and glued them on. Each circle has a Sahara Sand eyelet. I finished each circle off by drawing around it using a Close to Cocoa marker and then I inked up the edges using the same color ink pad. I really like how they turned out. If you decide to give this fun little project a try, post a link in the comment section to let me know. Have fun! Thanks for visiting!

Candy Shoes

I made these "witch shoes" a bit ago but spent today filling bags with the kandy korn filled shoes and adding them to bigger bags of candy treats!! My son was drooling over everything...the temptation is killing him!!

The template is from Ellen Hutson. On splitcoast someone was looking for the template of these shoes on this thread . They had seen them in a magazine. Sweet Ellen was able to help everyone out and posted it on her blog!! Wasn't that wonderful for her to do. I totally fell in love with the shoes and started making them!! They are quite simple to make. It does use up a lot of black paper as it is hard to cut 2 templates from one 81/2 x 11" sheet but if you are really careful you can do it! It also takes a lot of cutting -- the black shoe and then the inside designer paper. But the embellishing part is easy. I have that great buckle stamp from Close to my Heart which worked well with ribbon. My other favorite (not shown here) is to use 3 small rhinstones along the right hand side (like buttons) and a bow on top. You can see one done like that uploaded on my Splitcoaststampers gallery HERE.

And my big question for the season... When exactly did purple and green become Halloween colors?? They were never considered Halloween colors when I was a kid!! I find that very interesting!!

If you decide to make some of these great shoes, leave a link in a comment here so I can go ooooh and aaaaahh over them!!

Thanks for visiting.

Happy Halloween

I made this card for Caardvarks challenge - A Card to Die for, where they asked us to use Diecuts on our cards.

Well, I looked at the samples and all the beautiful cards that others had done and I became quite confused as to what a Diecut actually was. Was it a piece of chipboard?? a punched shape?? or a piece of an old Christmas card? You see, I had believed that a Diecut was an already cut shape of some sort.... does that make sense. Anyway, it seemed like what others were using as diecuts was much more liberal... which works for me!! Well, I looked through my stash of stuff and found a book of Alpha Blocks by Deja Views and right there on the cover it says "10 Die-Cut Cardstock letter and number sheets" so I guessed that I was good to use them!! Yeah!!

The card itself is quite simple. I decided I'd use a letter H and make a halloween card. I don't really like halloween all that much (I know, I'm a big scaredy cat!) so I don't have many stamps to use for such cards. I did find this cool ghost stamp (sorry no indication on it who makes or distributes it) in my stash that I bought about 6 years ago for a project I don't think I ever got around to doing (what else is new). I used a piece of Kraft cardstock and stamped the ghost image all over it. It is a self inking stamp and comes out in a light brown color - similar to close to cocoa. Next, I added "appy alloween" using some black funky letters called Alphabitties from Provo Craft. I tied a small bit of black organdy ribbon along the top of the diecut H and added that little web and spider in the corner (I just couldn't help myself *giggle*). To finish off the card, I inked the edges using my Close to Cocoa ink pad.

Feel free to leave a comment! Let me know if you are a scaredy cat too or leave a link to a halloween card you have made so I can check it out!

Thanks for visiting.

Stripes and Leaves

inspiration, inspiration, inspiration..... This morning when I was getting ready for work, I saw this awesome advertisement for Liz Claiborne. I particularly liked the combination of the sky blue and chocolate chip, the muliple leaves, and that awesome brown and white striped pillow in the middle. I instantly saw the card that HAD to be made!! To make the card, I took some whisper white card stock and the small template from my Plaid Maker (which was purchased from Stampin' Up last year but I don't think it is being sold any longer). Using a sponge dauber, I sponged chocolate chip ink in vertical strips. I used a piece of that for the bottom of the card. This part represents that wonderful brown and white striped pillow in the middle of the Liz Claiborne ad! Next, I took a piece of Soft Sky and using the leaf stamp from Carte Postale, stamped with Soft Sky and Chocolate Chip ink all over in various directions. I used a piece of Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon knotted to transition the two pieces. See the way I cut the ribbon ends... I like to call that a "Kurtis cut". You see, Kurtis is an increadible card maker (krabearkub on SCS) and he often cuts his ribbon ends "straight" instead of the typical diagonal cut. Here is one card, here is another, and here is one last awesome card that Kurtis has in his gallery using this straight cut. I think it is so refreshing! To finish off the card, I put the card front on a chocolate chip card base (All supplies are Stampin' Up). I have not added a sentiment because, well, to be honest, I thought it looked so pretty, I didn't want to cover any of it up. As well, it is easier to add a sentiment at a later date if I decide to add one at all. Have you ever seen a great magazine add or something on a website that you used to create a card... feel free to leave a link in the comment section. I'd love to take a peek. Thanks for visiting.

Little Ladybug

I really wanted to make a card using this stamp! It is the cutest little ladybug and you will never guess how much I paid for it..... only $1.33! That is such a deal for a great stamp, especially in Canada. I found it at Walmart in a double pack, there was a bumble bee with it and I used it to make this card. So I samped the ladybug with Basic Black ink onto white cardstock. Then I used my SU watercolor crayon, the red of course, to color in the ladybug. Then I cut her out. Next I cut the red gingham paper and since my sewing machine was out from a sewing project I had done earlier, I did some stitching around it with black thread. There is just something nice about stitching on a card. Next, I tied the ribbon and added the Rivet stamp for a sentiment. I tucked a piece of Real Red cardstock over the ribbon but under the rivet. Then I glued on the little ladybug and drew his "tracks". I fairly simple card but lots of fun. Have you made a card and REALLY sewn on it?? If you'd like to share, leave a link in the comments so we can take a peek at your great project! Thanks for visiting.

Poor photography skills

Okay, so I'm looking back on some of these photos and realize that they are really pretty poor. You can't even see the awesome silver that I edged that designer label punch with on my Christmas card! Part of the problem is the lighting in my craft room -- basically, it sucks!! So I'm going to try to fix that. The other problem is that I am just not a great photographer but I'm going to try to fix that too. I feel a visit to Chapters coming on........ Also, I've been asked about how to subscribe to my blog by a friend (Hi Chris ~~ wave) but I am not sure how to do that. I am going to see if I can figure out how that works. Anyone have any helpful suggestions it would be appreciated!! See you tomorrow night.

Christmas Cards!!

Well, it is getting that time of year when you will be overwhelmed with seeing Christmas cards on blogs, SCS, and other crafting sites! This place is no exception. So, here is the first of one of my Christmas cards for the year. It is a paint chip card. What fun!! You should have seen me at Home Depot and Walmart the other day.... looking through the chips trying to decide which ones were prefect matches for SU colors!! I found this chip with blues and it ended up matching perfectly with the Buckaroo Blue , one of the 2007 In Colors from Stampin' Up. The card is pretty straight forward to make. Buckaroo Blue front stamped using Snowflakes with craft white ink. Then I stamped more of the larger snowflake on the chip itself and matted that on a piece of white cardstock, edging the white with my silver gel pen. Then I punched some white cardstock with my Designer Punch -- which I love, love, love!! I edged it with silver as well. A 1" circle punched and edged in silver was added. On it, I stamped the larger snowflake usin Buckaroo Blue, but only after stamping it off once. It made a nice faint snowflake so that my sentiment Merry Christmas from the Fancy Flexible Phrases could be stamped on top using Bordering Blue. Finally, I cut slits on the edges of the label punch and added some white organdy ribbon topped with this silver ribbon I got out of the $1.50 bin at Michaels. If you have started your Christmas cards, I'd love to see them. Leave a link in a comment so we can ooohh and aaaahhh over your creation!! Thanks for visiting.

Elegant

Hi everyone!! I'm sad because this weekend everyone was in Calgary stamping in their pajamas, 24 hours each day for the whole weekend and I was sitting at home missing out on the fun. It just didn't work for me to be able to attend so I've got my sights set on the next central Alberta get-together. So, what does one do when she is missing her stamping buddies.... she stamps, of course. I sat down and decided to use up some of the absolutely yummy Daisy D's paper that I bought quite a while ago at my local scrapbooking store. Yes, I'm a total paper hoarder...well, I actually hoard most of my supplies. I find awesome items to use on my cards, spend the money, bring it home and then they just sit in my craft room looking all pretty and wonderful. Well, today I really pushed myself because not only did I use the Daisy D paper... I also used a prima flower that I am sure I bought over a year ago (and this is the first one I used out of the container!) and I used a velvet blossom from Maya Road that Nicole is carrying over at Papertrey Ink. I love, love, love those velvet blossoms... I bought the package that contains the black, chocolate chip, caramel, and vanilla colors since I tend to use those colors families the most!! I even used my scallop scissors along the bottom of the black strip. I don't ususally pull them out but my son did a project a few weeks ago and I really liked the look. At the last minute, I added some paper piercing along the edges of the So Saffron paper. I love the look of paper piercing, it give the design a "little something" without adding "more" to the card. There isn't a lot of stamping on the card, only the sentiment which comes from Measure of a Life (SU). I didn't want to detract from that fabulous paper and those georgous flowers!! Oh no, I'm beginning to sound like Jan Tink... hahaha, she is georgous too -- pop over to her blog for a good laugh and some awesome projects!! Supplies: Cardstock: basic black and So Saffron (SU), Designer Paper Daisy D's called Boho Floral, Stamp: Measure of Life (sU), Prima flower, Maya Road velvet flowerr, black brad (SU), Provo Craft small scallop scissors. Thanks for stopping in to visit again!! Post a link in the comments section of a card you have made recently that uses some of those items you like to hoard...and if you are not a hoarder -- good on you!!

Home-made Flower Tutorial

Okay, so I've seen many others do a "tutorial" on their blog. I've been making these awesome home-made flower for a while and they are so easy and versatile that I will likely never buy a flower punch. So, I decided to share the technique with you by making my first tutorial. Here is how you do it: First, you punch a circle out of some beautiful designer paper. I've used my 1 1/4" punch here but you could use any size, or use your coluzzle, or even cut your circle "free hand". As long as it is close to a circle, it doesn't have to be "perfect"! I am using some red desinger paper scraps that I've had around for a long time! I'm always looking for ways to use up those scraps. Next, take a pair of scissors and snip 5 cuts in toward the center of the circle making sure you space the snips evenly around the circle and don't cut all the way through, leave a flower "center". These will make the 5 "petals" so it is important to make 5 snips. If you end up with 4 snips, no big deal, your flower will just have 4 "petals" but we know that nature tends to follow the "odd" rule so most flowers have odd number of petals and odd numbers tend to be more attractive to the eye. So, finish your 4 petaled flower for practice and try a 5 petal flower next time. These are easy, you'll want to make tons of them !! Okay, the next step is where practice will help. Take your scissors and trim off the "corners" from each "petal" going in one direction - so, for example, here I've trimmed off all the left hand corners of my petals. Next step, you probably could guess, trim off the other "corner" from each petal making it more rounded looking. This is why it doesn't matter whether your original circle is perfect or not because in this trimming step, you can straighten up any crooked parts or ... as I sometimes like to do, make the straight parts look more crooked! It certainly gives a more whimsical flower. Anyway, for the card I was making, I wanted more straight flowers, but have fun with it! Once you get all of the trimming done, you can tidy up any specific petals that don't look quite right. And voila, home-made flowers that you can use in a number of ways. Some of the things you might think about doing is layering them on a card, adding stickles in the middles, adding buttons in the middle, clustering them on a card or scrapbook page, using them as a "topper" to a homemade box or bag, using them on a tag, layering different sizes, anything! You are really just limited by your imagination. I have used them in the past on this card (they are the brown flowers behind the white primas), on this card, and also on this card that I made for a CPS challenge. Here is a card I made for the October 19th Mini VSN challenge Abundant Supplies hosted by BeadFreak22 (or Katherine). She asked us to create a card using at least: 2 stamped images, 4 layers, 6 colors, and 8 embellishments. Well, I'm good on the images (there are actually 3), the layers (I have 4 on there), the colors (there are exactly 6), but I am not so sure about the embellishments. In the chat thread, Katherine indicated that you don't have to use 8 different items as embellishments just 8, and indicated that you could use 4 mini brads and be half-way there. So, I am hoping that the 22 beads that are in the middle of the flowers can be considered as at least 8 embellishments!! Regardless, making this card was a ton of fun!! Supplies: Cardstock all SU (Whisper White, Close to Cocoa, So Saffron), Designer paper is Anna Griffin, Stamps (Warmest Regards, Linen, Anna Griffin swirl), Ink is Close to Cocoa (SU), beads (Countess), Crystal Effects (SU). So, now it is your turn!! Try making some of those wiggity, wiggity wack flowers (that means cool by the way.... my son's favorite term these days!) and give me a link so I can check them out!! Have fun! Thanks for stopping by to visit. See you next week.

Halloween Treats

Well, I don't have much of a project to share tonight. But I did want to share a few stories with you! This is a little 3x3 card that I made to give my son on Halloween. But there is a story behind it!! You see, I don't have many halloween stamps. In fact, the only ones I own are the 2 little stamps from Year Around Fun 2 - a tiny jack o'lantern and a tiny witch hat. I have been able to make a bunch of great things using those 2 little stamps like this ATC. But, since I don't really like Halloween and certainly don't send Halloween cards to anyone I've been pretty solid about NOT buying Halloween stamps (even though, I admit, there are some really cute Halloween stamps out there!). So, my son and I were at Michael's a few weeks ago. We walked past the $1.50 wood stamp bin, and I couldn't help myself so I started looking through to see if there was anything intersting. My son saw a few Halloween stamps and said "Mommy, you should buy some of those". When I explained that I didn't need any Halloween stamps because I wasn't planning to make any Haloween cards... his response was "Well, everyone else will be making them and you'll be sad you didn't buy these stamps!!" Can you believe that !! Can you say peer pressure .... or is that son pressure??!! Well, when he wasn't looking, I threw these 2 in my basket and made this card with them. My second story is about my husband. He is such a sweety!! He knows I love Whoppers and that I love to snack on chocolate when I stamp. When he saw these cool Halloween style Whoppers, he bought them and stuck them secretly in my crafting room. I found them there tonight... what a great surprise, what a great husband!! If you have any great Halloween projects, I'd love to see them. Post a link in a comment !! Have a great evening.

Boys will be Boys

My little nephew's birthday is coming up so I wanted to make him a boy card. I never have enough boy cards around.... tons of pretty cards with flowers and ribbon, but no good boy cards just laying around. I have also begged Nicole Heady from Papertrey Ink stamps to come up with an awesome boy/male set for either big boys or little boys... it wouldn't matter, it is just necessary. If you haven't checked out her stamps yet, you HAVE TO!!

Back to my project for the night. I decided to use this little boy which is part of this stamp from me and my BIG ideas. As you can see, I just wanted to use one of the boys! I like to try to make my stamps as versitile as possible, so finding ways to use only a portion of a stamp is something I love to do!!

One of my goals for this card was to make my own background paper. I started out using one of the circles from the Fun With Shapes (SU) set even though it comes in a row of three circles. I just carefully inked up the end circle with the edge of the River Rock ink pad and stamped it over and over to get the circles on the background. Then, using the "boy" set from studio g (you know, those clear stamps you can find at Michael's) I cut off the little car (from the bigger stamp of a car, boat, and airplane) and stamped it in the middle of each circle using black ink. This was all done on a sheet of River Rock cardstock. Voila, background paper for my card. And, perfect for a little boy!

Next, I decided to go with Roxie's Sketch Challenge for this week SC #146 as it was going to work well with the stamped image of my little boy!! I added some Always Artichoke and see that strip of green across the middle, it was just a piece of scrap designer paper that I had left over from a scrapbook page done over a year ago. Unfortunately, that means I have no idea what company it is from, but it is a shade darker than the River Rock color and pulls it and the artichoke together perfectly!!

You'll notice that the little boy is wearing jean shorts and a light blue t-shirt. Well, they are pieced from scrap paper as well! Doing that is just so much fun!!

Well, I hope you enjoyed this project for tonight. Maybe you might try one of these elements... make your own background paper, use only part of a stamp, or doing some paper piecing. If you do, please share a link with me...I'd love to see your projects!!

Have a wonderful stamping night.

Magic Card... TA DA!!

I had been wanting to make one of these cards for a long time but they looked so "tricky" that I kept putting them off. Well, they are tricky, but lots of fun too! It is the first card that made my husband actually look at me and said "How did you do that!" which I took as a compliment!! I have actually made two different cards. I thought that maybe if I made a second card it wouldn't be as hard as the first.... I was wrong! The first one I did on my own following this GREAT tutorial from SCS. The second one, I did with my demo, which was more fun because it is always more fun stamping with friends!! Here is my first magic card:

It was made using an ivory back and pumpkin pie front. The stamps I used included a butterfly from All Nihgt Media, Everyday Flexible Phrases, and French Flair background. I also used StazOn black ink and Pumpkin Pie ink, ginham ribbon, a black eyelet, and my trusty Coluzzle. The image was colored in using a watercolor brush and my ink pads (Summer Sun, Only Orange, and Pumpkin Pie). I realize it is difficult to get a good image of the coloring but it is there!

Here is my second magic card: It was made with a Bashful Blue back and Night of Navy front. I used the French Flair background again and the Hey! is from Amazing to Zany, however the mouse image is a discontinued stamp set from SU thatI borrowed from my demo so I don't have the name. I'll look for it and edit this post when I find it. The ribbon I used on this card actually came from our Christmas Crackers from last Christmas -- I hoard everything!! This image was colored using my Prismacolor pencil crayons and Odorless Thinner by Grumbacher (I got it at Michael's and is the same type of product as Gamsol). The technique is Gamsol Magic, and for those of you who haven't tried that technique, you should check it out!! It is one of my favorite ways of coloring images!! Well, I hope you enjoy this project! If you give these amazing cards a try, let me know. Tell me if you found them difficult or easy! and let me see them by leaving your scs gallery name or blog name!! Thanks for dropping by!

Snowflakes

I love snowflakes!! Last year when I saw these charms at Michael's (in the $1.50 bin), I knew they would make great additions to cards or a scrapbook page. When I was looking at the most recent Card Positioning System, I thought this would be a great Christmas card to make.

The base of this card was made using Brocade Blue. Now that is one of the 2007 In Colors so you can't get it anymore!! That kinda makes me sad because I really like this shade of blue!! I beautiful piece of snowflake designer paper was added to the bottom half of the card and then a strip of white and a strip of Brilliant Blue. The blue matches the color of the charm very well! I had a lot of fun making that snowflake fall.....adding the doodles with the blue pen :-). You can't see it very well, but the smallest snowflakes from the Snowflake set are stamped in white craft ink on the top portion of the card.

Thanks for visiting.

More Coaster Frames

I have already posted one of these frames, but that one did not have any stamping on it. So, I decided I'd make a few more. I thought it would be nice to send a present to Granny and Grampy so there will be pictures of my son inserted into these before the get dropped in the mail.

The first frame is made by covering it with this designer paper from Chatterbox called Olive Eyelet. Then I stamped this heart stamp with black ink. The colorful paper is actually Morning Marigold paper with the bouncing brayer technique. I used the Pumpkin Patch spectrum pad for this which is where all the colors come from. I used rub on letters for the sentiment and added a few swirls.

The second frame is made using River Rock cardstock. On it, I stamped the leaf image from The Art of Life using River Rock ink. I then took the leaf design from Sketch An Event and stamped it onto whisper white paper using black ink. Then, using a watercolor paint brush and the ink pad, I watercolored some of the River Rock color onto these leaves. It is difficult to see the color in the picture. I, again, used rub on letters for the sentiment and added a few leaves.

This sentiment... it is what my son says to Granny and Grampy every time he talks to them on the phone. It is so cute and I know my parents love it, and I'm sure they will love these frames too!!

Thanks for dropping by!

Daring Cardmakers Challenge - Where the Wild Things Are

Happy Saturday! I love Saturdays because I can always find a few minutes to do some stamping!

This card is made for the Daring Cardmakers Challenge - Where the Wild Things Are for Friday October 12. Obviously the theme is Animals and once I read that I knew exactly what animal I would be using. You see, I love giraffes! When we were on our family vacation to California, my husband laughed because he says I took more photos of the giraffes at the Wild Life Park than anything else, including Disney Land. LOL!!

To make this card, I took this image from In the Wild (SU) and stamped it onto glossy cardstock. Then, using a sponge, I covered the giraffe itself with Summer Sun (SU) and also made a bit of a sun in the top left using this color. Then, I took Pumpkin Pie (SU) and sponged all around the giraffe. I added a the sentiment using some foam letter stamps that I got from Michael's for $1.50. A few black brads and the main image was done. I matted it on black and then on some Karen Foster design paper called "Shades of Yellow". Then, I matted all of that on this cool weaved material that I got from my local scrapbook store. It is so cool and I thought it pulled all the elements of this card together. The card base is So Saffron (SU).

Thanks for dropping in to visit.

Limited Supply Challenge

I just love the limited supply challenges. I think it is a good exercise to use less when making a card. Sometimes I find I just keep adding more and more until the card just is a bunch of stuff. When I am doing one of the Limited Supply Challenges, it forces me to, well, limit it all!!

Cammie posted today for the challenge and her challenge was to make a card for someone who was dealing with cancer. The limitation was that we couldn't use designer paper, no hardware, and no ribbon. Here is the final product of my attempts (I'll try to post my failed attempt below)

The card is pretty straight forward. I took some whisper white and using one of the small designs from Fancy Flexible Phrases, stamped it all over in Pixie Pink. Then I stamped the sentiment from Warmest Regards onto white and cut it out, edging it in some Pixie Pink. I put this on a scallop rectangle -- Thanks Robin!! Then I put all of this onto a black card. I finished off the card with some faux ribbon, Pixie Pink, in fact.

My "oops" card was exactly the same but I used a piece of pink ribbon, one of the things I was not supposed to use for the challenge. Coincidently, I got the ribbon from one of the girls at my card club, Joanne and her sister Diane had brought ribbons for everyone and pink snacks like M&Ms and other goodies. They were very thoughtful!!

Thanks for visiting this evening.

Another Post Tonight

Well, I was playing some more tonight and I had to share my end result. I decided to pop over to Splitcoaststampers and check out the Ways To Use It Challenge (135) and found that Julia's computer is not working so jacksonbelle is filling in. Well, everyone knows that jacksonbelle loves bling so the challenge is to make cards using BLING. What fun!

So, I decided that I just had to try a Bety card. If you don't know who Bety is, you just have to go over to her blog iralamija. She makes the most elegant and beautiful cards imaginable!! In fact, they are so beautiful, she often has to remove them because they are being published somewhere!!

The strip of crocheting on this card actually comes from my husband's grandmother's sewing machine stash. You see, when she passed away, we were lucky enough to inherit her old sewing machine. When it arrived we were thrilled to see that the little drawers were filled with all kinds of goodies... buttons, ribbon, pins, and some crochet pieces. I have been able to work many of the items into cards which always adds a bit of "extra special" to them.

I started with a very vanilla card. I stamped the flower from Carte Postale on the top third of the card in Pixie Pink. There is just something awesome about pink and brown together! Then, I added some of the Au Chocolate designer paper (SU) and glued the crochet piece between the two. The most difficult part of this card was the sentiment which I added onto an oval of Bazzill Chip chipboard. I covered it with vanilla paper that I stamped with one more pink flower. Then I added "love" using the Fancy Flexible Phrases. Finally, I put on my BLING - all the way around the rest of the oval. The finishing touches were some sponging around the vanilla and some faux stitching in Chocolate Chip on the top third of the card.

Thanks for visiting!

Thanksgiving Card

Well, here in Canada Thanksgiving is over. So why you ask am I posting a thanksgiving card??

Well, the idea for this card has been running around my head ever since I recieved this Wheat stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms. And, pieces of the card have been sitting around waiting for me to bring all the elements together.

The image was inked in Close to Cocoa and stamped, and then inked again and partially stamped to get "more wheat". Then, using my oval coluzzle I cut out most of an oval and used my hobby knife to finish cutting around the wheat. Then I inked the edges in More Mustard and then just the edges with Close to Cocoa. I placed a piece of So Saffron underneath after using a dauber to add a bit of More Mustard across the top and some Close to Cocoa along the bottom. Once this piece was in place under the oval, I stamped this thankful sentiment from Happy Harmony (SU). I finished the front off with some antique brass brads from my Hodgepodge Hardware (SU) and put it all on a Close to Cocoa card.

You can probably tell that these are the colors I love to use most but I continue to try to get out of that creative box and dabble with some of the other color families.

Thanks for visiting!

Paper Piecing

Welcome Back!!

At the Innisfail Indulgence get together in July, Adalee's shoebox card was a paper pieced daffodil!! It was so beautiful and really got me interested in using this technique in card making. So, tonight I decided to give it a try. The snail is copied onto white paper, cut out and then traced onto the patterned paper. Then cut out, again ( you have to really like cutting to do paper piecing). Then, I used my black pen to draw the details onto the card.

I decided that I could use this cute little guy as a baby card for a co-worker as her shower is tomorrow. I also knew I could use Roxie's awesome Sketch Challenge 145 to bring it all together. Wow, I love it when everything just works!

The designer paper here is 2 sided paper from chatterbox called Winter Tweed. The green color in the tweed matched the new SU color River Rock perfectly so I used some of that cardstock to back the snail and also River Rock ink to stamp on some of the flower from Petal Prints. River Rock is one of those colors that really grows on you. If you were like me and though "ick, what a horrible color" I urge you to keep giving it a try, it really works with lots of other colors. Although you can't see it in this pictue, the blue along the right hand side is trimmed with my scallop scissors on the inner edge so when you open the card you see it. A trick I have finally discovered when using scallop scissors is to draw a pencil line on the back side of your paper and use it as a guide while cutting -- voila, perfectly straight scallops every time! I finished off the bottom of the card with two words from the Fancy Flexible Phrases set. What a versatile set -- if you bought it before it was retired and haven't cut it yet... YOU SHOULD ... Geri!!

Talking about retired sets, I must confess, I do not currently own many stamps from the new SU cataloge. You see, I am really a hobby stamper and I love my stamps. So, I will continue to use old stamps. I will add newer stamps now and then from Stampin' Up and I also use lots of other company stamps too! I hope that is okay with you.

Well, another fun night of card making. I hope my co-worker likes this little snail. Off to get some sleep.

Coaster Frame

Here is a quick and easy project using 3 coasters. I got the idea from Small Pig Pig at our Innisfail stamping weekend in July! Man, you should have seen her wipping these out at top speed!! They would make great presents for teachers or grandparents!!

They are extremely easy. You take your first coaster and using a ruler, measure to make a square in the middle of one coaster by marking the back of the coaster. Then cut it out with your hobby knife. I made my opening 2 1/4 x 2 1/2 here. Then glue a 2 1/2 x 2 3/4 sheet of transparency to the back of the coaster (the same side as the pencil marks)!! This is the front of the frame. Next, cut a "square U" in the second coaster so that the bottome of the U lines up with the bottom of your first square. This becomes the slot that you slide the picture into and the bottom of the U holds your little picture in place. The back of the frame is a plain coaster. You should decorate the front of your frame before glueing the 3 coasters together, especially if you want to tie ribbon around it or use brads.

The paper on this frame is from 7 gypsies - Angelo 6x6 variety pack. The ribbon I picked up at Michaels in the $1.50 bin (remember, I live in Canada and even though our dollar is now more than the US, we still have $1.50 bins while you enjoy your $1.00 bins). The entire coaster is sponged with Close to Cocoa (SU) using a dauber. I also dragged the edge of the frame on my Close to Cocoa stamp pad to make the edges all brown. I think this "finishes" the frame! You could really make this much more decorative using stamped and colored images.

Enjoy this quick and easy project!

Thanksgiving Treats

Here in Canada, it is Thanksgiving. I am thankful for so many things... Family, Friends, good health to name just a few.

Today I created these cute little bundles of candies for my husband and son to enjoy at our thanksgiving table. My son decided that they were kind of like Christmas crackers

It is made from a coffee filter that I layed out flat. Then I used the leaf design from Fresh Fillers and the turkey from Year Around Fun 2 and stamped all over using real rust, old olive, and close to cocoa for the turkey, of course. I tied it together with some scraps of orange ribbon. I added a circle with the turkey that was stamped off twice and then added "Give Thanks" from the Fancy Flexible Phrases set on top using the real rust.

Hope all you Canadians had a great Thanksgiving and I'll see everyone else soon!!

My First Post

Well, I've been contemplating this for a long time! To blog or not to blog!! I'm a very busy person but I find myself doing something related to papercrafts EVERY day. So I am hoping that this blog will be a fun way to share my crafting ideas and creations with those of you who love this craft as much as I do. I look forward to some wiggity wiggity wack FUN!! Donelda