Aspiring to Creativity

Six For Six

2012-01-31T02:34:00.002-07:00

Six Valentine cards for six grandchildren! For Christmas I made them each a different card, but this time, in the interest of ease and time, I did an assembly line card with slight variations.

In reorganizing my craftroom, I came across several leftover card kits from classes I had taught in 2010. Amongst them were three kits to create heart shaped cards. If I cut the white scalloped heart base at their fold (upper left of heart) and then cut each heart in half, I would have enough for six cards. You see when I taught this class, I borrowed Dana's Spellbinders Hearts and Scalloped Hearts. So since I no longer have access to those Heart dies, if I cut them in half, I would have enough for the cards.

Here are some close ups.

You can see that I stamped tiny little hearts, cut them out, and attached them where I wanted.

The cute little hedgehogs were coloured with Prismacolor pencils, cut out and popped up with dimensionals.

I don't know if you can see the popped up layers in this next photo, but here it is.

I had great fun making these cards for my grandchildren. I look forward to hearing what they have to say about their cards. :) After I put together the layers for each piece and began assembling the cards I started to get the feeling that the design I came up with was something I had seen from somewhere. Maybe, I didn't have such a great idea after all. Maybe in the back of my mind someone elses card came out as my idea. If this is someone elses design, I can't remember who and where to give you the credit. My appologies... I truly thought the idea was mine until I assembled them and seemed to recognise the layout somehow.

Hope that you too are having fun creating your Valentine cards. Happy crafting, and thank you for stopping by and leaving your comment. We love hearing from you.

TOOLS & SUPPLIES

SPELLBINDERS: Hearts, Scalloped Hearts, Labels Four
STAMPS:Hero Arts-Old Lettering woodblock, Hero Arts-February ClearDesign, Pennyblack-Tiny Wishes
INKS: Memento-Black Tuxedo, VersaFine-Vintage Sepia, Colorbox-Cranberry, Versa Color-White
EMBOSSING FOLDERS: (forgot the name of the large dot folder- Dana's too)
Prismacolor Pencils

Do-Over Do-Over

2012-01-30T15:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I wasn't happy with my first do-over.

I'm not sure if we're allowed to have more than one entry to Amber's Do-over blog hop, but I decided to use the decorative fabric tape to redo my do-over piece.

Original:

2nd Redo:

I'm much happier with this. I feel like I can keep my head up! ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

Cardstock: Kraft

Stamps: Think Big Favorites #3
Ink: Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate (Tsukineko)

Other Tools: decorative fabric tape (Martha Stewart), adhesive pearls (dollar store)

Damask Love Do-Over: Think Spring

2012-01-30T14:41:00.000-07:00

I thought Amber had a terrific idea when I read about her Do-Over Blog Hop. Until I tried a do-over. Uh, there was probably a reason that my card didn't work out the first time!

I started out by searching through my card posts. Yes, I could redo this one. Or maybe this one. Then, I found IT. The most craptastic card that I've ever made.

It was made in too much of a hurry for a challenge.

Well, I wanted my redo to use the same sentiment, since I still had one leftover. I don't think I should've put that kind of restriction on it because, while my redo is better, I'm not happy with the result.

Too busy and no real style to it.

Meh, whatever. I love having a stash of cards for little girl birthday parties! ;)

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, Hibiscus Burst, Hawaiian Shores

Stamps: Turning a New Leaf, Baby Button Bits, Polka Dot Basics II
Ink: Versamagic Tea Leaves, Memento Desert Sand (both Tsukineko)
Dies: Big Scalloped Circles and Standard Circles (Spellbinders), Beautiful Blooms II #3 (smallest)
Other Tools: Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), felt embellishments (unknown), glitter (Prisma), iRock/Glam Rocks: Color Fusion (Imaginisce)

Damask Love Do-Over Blog Hop

2012-01-28T21:20:00.000-07:00

This is so exciting! Amber at Damask Love came up with a great idea! This is what she wrote on her blog.

We all have a few of those "what was I thinking" projects - and now it's time to make things right by recreating them in a way that makes you happy!

On January 31st , I'll randomly select THREE blog hop participants to receive a prize package full of papercrafting goodies! I can't wait to see your makeovers!

I have older ones that I'd love to do-over, but the one that bothers me the most is a more recent one I did as a guest designer yet. To the right is the original. For the do-over, I thought I'd make a valentine card, since it's soon upon us. I decided to keep close to the colours and to use the idea of a cut-out on the front of the card.

I stamped the hearts and cut them out. With the die cut leaves, I ink distressed the edges and then using my stylus tool, with the leaves on a mouse pad, I created the leaf veins as the process slightly curved the leaves. It's the first time I've done this. I like the result very much and will remember to use it again in the future.

So here is my re-do. I'm afraid the flash may have washed out the colour a little.

Here's a close up. (Without flash but fuzzy)

From the inside, below, you can see the cut-out window a little better.

You'll see that I smudged the ink a little. With all the layers showing in the cut-out, I used some blue ink to hide the colours of the layers, and my fingers smudged the ink a little.

So there you have my do-over! Happy crafting everyone, and thank you for stopping by. I had fun checking out all the do-overs, and will check them out until the end.

TOOLS & SUPPLIES

STAMPS:Craft Smart-Floral Heart, Inkadinkado-Hearts, Inkadinkado-Chelsea Sentiments
INKS: Versa Magic-Night Sky, Versa Magic-Tea Leaves, Memento-Tuxedo Black
SPELLBINDERS: Standard Circles Large, Crown Circles
TOOLS: Stylus & Mouse Pad

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

2012-01-25T10:38:00.000-07:00

For my CAS-ual Fridays/Simon Says Stamp post, scroll down or click here.
For my Papertrey Playhouse challenge post, scroll down or click here.

This month's Papertrey Ink blog hop invites us to pick our favorite project from last year and create a new version of it.

I chose this gift decor project from last year:

Here is my re-creation:

Using the tree stamp from 2009 Autumn Tags, I heat embossed in clear powder. I then stamped the circle from Modern Wood Mats over top in Dark Chocolate ink. After letting it dry, I used a damp wipe to smudge the ink around the circle a bit (got a little carried away in spots ;) ). The sentiment is also from 2009 Autumn Tags and was stamped in Scarlet Jewel.

Thanks for stopping by!

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

Cardstock: Rustic Cream

Stamps: 2009 Autumn Tags, Modern Wood Mats
Ink: Versamark (Tsukineko), Dark Chocolate, Scarlet Jewel

Other Tools: clear embossing powder (Filigree)

CAS-ual Fridays: Black & White + Simon Says Stamp: Anything Goes

2012-01-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

For my Papertrey Playhouse challenge post, scroll down or click here.
For my Papertrey Ink blog hop post, scroll up or click here.

I guess I haven't been able to resist the craft room since creating yesterday's cards...

It took me a little bit of time to fall asleep last night and so I pondered CAS-ual Fridays Penguin Suit challenge. Black and white is such a classic color template... I really should fall back onto it more often.

Fortunately for me, my card turned out just as I pictured in my mind last night!

Of course, cutting out the "thanks" took a bit of time but nothing compared to what Chan had to do here!

I'm also entering this into the Simon Says Stamp challenge, which is "Anything Goes" this week.

Thanks for peeking!

{Supplies}

Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, True Black (both Papertrey Ink)

Stamps: Chit Chat (Paper Smooches)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Dies: Double-Ended Banners (Papertrey Ink)
Other Tools: Cinder Glimmer Mist (Tattered Angels)

Papertrey Playhouse: My CAS Challenge

2012-01-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

I recently took the Clean and Simple course at OnlineCardClasses.com, though I haven't had a chance to participate in any of the "challenges." I thought I would carry the theme over to the new Papertrey Playhouse challenge.

The Challenge: Create a card using only 3 decorative elements, not including the card base (or sentiment, if applicable).

For my card, I used a strip of patterned paper, a Spellbinders die and a pearl heart.

Hope you'll play along! You can link up at the Papertrey Playhouse blog or below. A new challenge will be up in two weeks.

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

Cardstock: Stamper's Select White
Patterned Paper: Simply Valentine
Stamps: Fillable Frames #10
Ink: Pure Poppy
Dies: Labels 4 (Spellbinders)
Other Tools: Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), pearl heart (dollar store)

Papertrey Playhouse: Mary's Die Cut Negative Challenge

2012-01-24T16:52:00.000-07:00

I realized that I'm supposed to be posting Papertrey Playhouse's next challenge tomorrow... That means that, technically, Mary's die cut negative challenge ends today! I really wanted to play along and so whipped up this card while whipping up tomorrow's challenge card.

I embossed Papertrey's Edger #2 along the bottom of the card base and then used the same Edger to cut out a decorative edge on the Simply Valentine patterned paper. I die-cut out the Fillable Frames #3, stamped the frame in Sweet Blush and then used selective inking to add the sentiment from Happy Trails in Pure Poppy and Raspberry Fizz.

Thanks for peeking! Be sure to check out Papertrey Playhouse's new challenge tomorrow!

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

Cardstock: Stamper's Select White
Patterned Paper: Simply Valentine
Stamps: Fillable Frames #3, Happy Trails
Ink: Sweet Blush, Pure Poppy, Raspberry Fizz
Dies: Edgers #2, Fillable Frames #3
Other Tools: Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), rhinestones/iRock (Imaginisce)

Baby Blanket Tags

2012-01-23T16:16:00.000-07:00

I've been somewhat MIA and it's not due to me moving on from papercrafting.

I've been keeping busy organizing my house. My craft room has desperately cried for a makeover and while it is definitely in the works, I am also occupied with 3 little ones and other projects, so it's been rather slow-going.

After weeding through my linen closet, I decided it was time to retire the baby blankets. While I have a fabulous memory, I wanted to be sure that I would be able to remember who each blanket was for and from.

As my first baby, Taylor received the most baby blankets. After weeding out ones that weren't sentimental, I was left with these.

As my first daughter, Averi also received several lovely baby blankets. Noticeably absent (to family!), is Averi's beloved "blankie" (adopted from Taylor, who received it from Omi) which is on vacation in Idaho.

My last child, Ella, didn't receive any baby blankets since we obviously had plenty left over from the other two children. Instead, Ella adopted one of Taylor's blankets and so I made a tag that indicated as much.

Thanks for taking a peek! Feel free to check out some of my organizing projects here, or my organizing inspiration here and here on Pinterest.

{Supplies}

Cardstock: Vintage Cream, Rustic Cream, Rustic White (all Papertrey Ink)
Stamps: Harold's ABCs & Sally's ABCs (Lawn Fawn), Baby (Impression Obsession)
Ink: Old Paper, Brushed Corduroy, Weathered Wood & Milled Lavender Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Ranger)
Dies: Tag Sale #4 (Papertrey Ink)
Other Tools: twine, safety pins

Guest Designer For Scrapbooker's Playing in Paradise |Challenge #50

2012-01-20T01:43:00.002-07:00

I am honoured and excited to be invited as a Guest Designer for Challenge #50 at Scrapbooker's Paradise Playing in Paradise. I chose to go with the colours of this challenge. When the colours were sent to me I knew right away I had to make a card using them for an elderly lady I know that just came out of the hospital after 3 weeks of being there. She just loves these colours! She also likes frou-frou stuff, so that's what I tried to create for her.

In this first photo I have it leaning up against the back so that you can see the tiny stamped images in the cut out ovals better than when free standing as we normally take photos of cards.

Here it is free standing so you can see the oval cut-outs at the bottom.

And here is a close-up.

A lot of Liquid Pearl was used as I know the receiver will love it. In a future project, I may try the cut outs at the bottom again and weave ribbon through them.

I hope that you will check out the challenge and join in on the fun here. Happy crafting!

TOOLS & SUPPLIES

PAPER: all scraps
SPELLBINDERS: Classic Ovals Large, Labels Thirteen, Labels Fourteen
PUNCH: Corner punch to create scalloped edge
STAMPS: Hot Off The Press-Botanicals, Waltzingmouse - Holiday Labels Fourteen, FLourishes - Tag Lines
INK: Versa Magic Key Lime, Versa Magic Turquoise Gem
Liquid Pearls White Opal

Colour Create Challenge 88 - Pink, Green & a Neutral

2012-01-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

Suzie picked the bright and cheerful colours of pink and green along with a neutral for Colour Create Challenge #88, with the option of hand made flowers. Such fun colours! I was very excited about the hand made flower idea.

I have many jars with handmade paper flowers I've made with scraps, in a variety of colours. However, my excitement is due to the fact that for Christmas I bought myself an EKTool Dimensional Flower Punch and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to break it in.

For this challenge we are also each using an image from our sponsor, Kenny K. I chose to go with Maddison Attitude. Check out all the downloads!

It was a lot of fun making this card, and I know a couple of granddaughters that might appreciate this card with these colours.

I don't have Copics, so for his image I used my Prismacolour pencils. I found that by going over my colouring with the white pencil it had the same effect as the Copic clear blender has with the coloured Copics. It smoothed out the pencil lines and blended the colours together better. ( I didn't use it on the bags)

Check out the DT inspirational designs at Colour Create Challenge.

TOOLS & SUPPLIES

STAMPS: Hero Arts-Clear-Celebrate
SPELLBINDERS: Standard Oval Large, Scalloped Oval Small
Prisma Colour Pencils
EKTools: Dimensional Flower Punch
PTI Button
Black Gel Pen

Visiting Teaching January 2012 Clipboard

2012-01-17T03:51:00.002-07:00

Just a quick post for today.

I purchased a few small clipboards a while back at a $1 store. I also had downloaded some mini-calendars a couple of weeks ago and knew they would work well for this project. I made a card for each month with a few questions to keep in mind when going out to Visit Teach, contact info to fill in, and a mini-calendar. The back of the card is white for further information to be written down for each month, if needed.

I took this photo of the clipboard before, but forgot to take an after photo of a completely refabbed/repurposed clipboard. Oh well.

Here are all of the cards. I tried to find colours and patterns that would work well for that particular month. Because I was making six of these, I kept it pretty simple, with no embellishments.

Here are the assembled Clipboards.

So there you have it. All text was printed off of my computer generated files. Nothing fancy, but a fun project none the less.

Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving your comment. Happy crafting everyone!!

Guest Designer at Our Creative Corner - Paper Piecing With a Twist

2012-01-14T04:11:00.002-07:00

I was greatly surprised and honored when Tui Nathan of Our Creative Corner contacted me and asked if I would be a Guest Designer for their upcoming Paper Piecing Challenge.

The challenge for this week is being hosted by Vicki Burdick with these guidelines:

"Paper Piecing - Use some kind of paper piecing on your card or project this week. Stamp something and use DSP to piece an element of the stamp or paper piece you Background. In addition NO ribbon and only one embellishment is allowed"

I was in the mood to go soft and feminine with this project and had an idea of what I wanted to go with on the design. So after pulling out what I needed, I found that I had 9 different papers for the piecing of this card! Never used that many different papers on one card before! There are 5 alone for just the flower! This is definitely not a mailer by the way.

I used Flourishes Siberian Iris clear stamp for the flower, and Flourishes Gerber Daisy clear stamps for the butterfly and sentiment, all stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa. Then with Tim Holtz`s Distress Antique Linen ink pad and a Tsukineko Fantastix colouring tool, I dabbed the colouring stick on the pad and used it for a little shading as well as a wetted paintbrush for some blending. I cut out all 5 flowers and decided what order to place the coloured layers and which leaves and petals to cut away from each layer. I also wanted to create the flower to come out from under the die cut circle I was planning.

Unfortunately, you can`t see it in the photo, but the flower and butterfly were coloured over with a clear Atyou Spica pen by Too Marker. It really shimmers very nicely in real. Next time I do this I think I will be a little more creative and try to do some shaping for the petals and leaves rather than just flat layers.

Here is a partial side view to see the layers a little better. Apologies for the blurry image.

Below you will find a list of some of the tools I used in the making of this card.

I would like to thank Our Creative Corner for the honor and opportunity of being a guest designer. If you have never been to their challenge blog I hope that you will check it out, see the wonderful DT inspirational creations and join in on the fun.

Happy crafting everyone!

TOOLS & SUPPLIES

STAMPS: Flourishes Siberian Iris & Gerber Daisy
INK: Memento Rich Cocoa, Tim Holtz`s Distress Antique Linen
SPELLBINDERS: Standard Circles Large, Petite Ovals Small, Classic Scalloped Ovals Small, Fleur de Lis Accents, Labels Four
Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool
Tsukineko Fantastix colouring tool
Scissors
Atyou Spica pen by Too Marker - Clear

Guest Designer: My 6-Year-Old Son

2012-01-12T00:01:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be fun to share the Christmas card that my six-year-old son created for his teacher. All I did was the heat embossing (the red strip hides the unwanted help of his youngest sister...).

My kids love to make "cards" and while they're too young to play with my stuff unsupervised, I look forward to a time where they can keep me company in my craft room whilst creating something of their own!

Refabrication For Mom

2012-01-11T00:02:00.000-07:00

For Christmas, my Mom had received a very long and thick notepad from an elderly woman that attends church. Mom was about to throw out the pad because she didn't care to have a bright red pad with a snowman on the cover, sitting out by the phone in their kitchen all year round. And it took up a lot of room in their phone drawer.

My parents' kitchen is a very light blue with white cabinetry, so the red would stand out like a sore thumb. And Mom is very particular, and meticulous when it comes to decor and organization (and just about everything else too). Just to give you an idea, this is their living room 6 hours before our Christmas Eve company was coming over. She already had everything done; the table set, the treats out on the coffee table, etc. This gave her the time she needed to relax a little and relieve some stress.

I mentioned to her that I could refab, or recover, the notepad for her. She was pleased at that idea. She said, "You can do that?" I even offered to cover it in the pale blue paper she so liked on the cards I made for them this Christmas, which made her even more excited. (View here)

She didn't want any embellishment what so ever, just the beautiful paper. You'll note the elastic on the front cover to hold a pen or pencil. I had to figure out how to get that through without the luxury of an eyelet tool. (used to always borrow Dana's. TY ;)) So here it is.

Thank you for stopping by to have a look at this simple project. I've already given it back to my parents a couple of weeks ago! Just didn't get around to posting this earlier. Hope you find time to do a little crafting today ;). What would we do if we couldn't craft I wonder?

PAPER: K&Company Brenda Walton Floral & Fauna Designer Paper

Love - Playing in Paradise Challenge 48 - Skinny & Tall

2012-01-10T00:02:00.000-07:00

Skinny and tall, eh. Well I couldn't resist that, and I`ve been wanting to start participating a little in the Scrapbooker`s Paradise challenges since I used to teach there a while back at the South store in Calgary. Great place!

This is a fairly simple card for the Playing in Paradise Challenge 48. And, since Valentines Day is not too far way, might as well use that theme for the card in black, white, and red.

Using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and Hero Arts Woodblock Old Letter Writing stamp, I repeatedly stamped until my strip was cover. Then using Spellbinders Labels Thirteen I die cut four shapes. Then I took these shapes and die cut and embossed the circles out of the center using Spellbinders Standard Circles Large. (Because the circle was just a teensy bit too large, I couldn't`t die cut both shapes together at the same time)

I cut all the other pieces, and on the smaller black piece I die cut and embossed the bottom end with Spellbinders Fleur De Lis Borderabilities centering the die so that each side would look the same.

On the smallest white piece I positioned the Labels Thirteen pieces and lightly traced the circle. This would better help me stamp the letters. Then with an old clear stamp set from Kelly Panacci called `Love`, and Color Box Pigment Cranberry ink, I stamped the letters within those circles.

I then gently erased the light pencil marks and with dimensionals place the Labels as planned.

The layer of black & white I placed directly onto the card base I had made. Then the next two layers of black & white I scor taped together and then put dimentionals on the back and attached it to the card. The last thing to add was the red pearls.

Here`s a side view so you can see the layering and dimensionals.

I had fun Playing in Paradise today and hope to do it again. Thank you for coming to our blog today and leaving your comments. Happy crafting everyone!

ADDED JANUARY 13, 2012

I won the challenge!! Yippee! My reward, or prize if you will, is to be a guest designer for Scrapbooker's Playing in Paradise challenge blog! I'm excited....
See winner announcement at the end of the posting here.

TOOLS & MATERIALS

SPELLBINDERS: Labels Thirteen, Stadard Circles Large, Fleur De Lis Borderablilities
INK: Color Box Cranberry, Memento Black Tuxedo
STAMPS: Hero Arts Woodblock Old Letter Wrting, Kelly Panacci `Love`

First RS Handout of 2012

2012-01-09T11:54:00.001-07:00

Living what we believe - All walks of life have trouble at times living what we truly believe. Since the outlined lesson refers to someone who wrote a personal creed to live by, I thought that it would be nice to make something that the ladies in class could write their own personal creed on and be able to display it somewhere discretely as a personal reminder. What though?

I had been given a couple of packages of light blue cardstock from a business that no longer wanted them and thought that I might be able to use it for this project. But what to make? I then came up with the idea of a sleeve frame! That's what I'm calling it anyway. So, starting at the beginning of last week, I began the preparations to make 55 of them. I knew this project would take time, and I'm glad I had the time at the end of each day for the last week to work on it. And here they are.

I tried to make a few different looks with varying the embellishments I chose - about 5 different styles/looks. I was able to use up a lot of my $1 store embellishments that I purchased between1 and 2 years ago. I ended up using them for something other than what I had originally bought them for, but I can always come up with something when I need it.

Each one is free standing sleeve frame and measures 7"W including the tag, but not the ribbon, by 4 1/2" H. The person can gently trace the outline of the Labels Fourteen frame and write their personal creed that they come up with. Or, they can put a picture of their choice in that spot and write their creed on the back of the giant tag to keep it more personal. They will be reminded of their creed when they look at it. Should they desire to read it again, they can pull out the tag.

Yes, I used a gold metallic gel pen, tracing the Spellbinders die on all 55 - while watching TV ;)

With the piece I die cut out of the sleeve, I scored and attached to the back as a stand for the frame sleeve as seen next. For the giant tag, I used Spellbinders Labels Six on the ribbon end.

Oh, the "My personal Creed" banners I had figured out the size beforehand, and typed and placed them accordingly, printing them onto PTI Kraft cardstock. I cut those out using my paper slicer - while watching TV ;) and snipped each end.

So there you have it - 55 sleeve frames.

Now if I was making my own, I would have made it a little differently, and embellished it differently. I wonder should I make one, and show it to you?

Thank you so much for checking in today. We love to have you stop by. Wishing you all a good week with some great crafting time!

TOOLS & MATERIALS

SPELLBINDERS: Labels Fourteen, Labels Six
EMBELLISHMENTS: $1 Store - stickers, dimensional cardboard embellishments, dimensional laser cut paper & my own computer created banners
PTI Kraft cardstock
Gold Metallic Gel Pen
Ribbon Punch
Ribbon
ScorPal

A Race Against Time - Black, Red & Gray Color Throwdown Challenge #173

2012-01-08T21:21:00.001-07:00

What a classic colour scheme to work with a slight difference of adding gray. Once I saw the colours I had to make something for Color Throwdown Challenge #173 . The only problem was with the schedule I had this week I new I would be cutting it short to get it in on tim and that I would have to wait until I came home from Church on Sunday. I entered my card with 32 mins to spare!!

I came home from church at around 4:30 pm (PST) today and had about 3 1/2 hours. I quickly got changed, put away all the stuff I had brought to church to teach my class with, washed off my makeup, washed my hands and got together scraps that were black, red & gray. Then the phone rang!! I was on the phone with my parents for 40 mins. I enjoyed the time on the phone, but I thought, "Now I can get going on the card and have it in before the deadline."

I already had a card base from a previous card that I had not used. I had a rough idea on what I would do, so I cut the black, the gray and the red. It was close to supper and I hadn't eaten since 7:30 am, so I quickly threw a pizza into the oven. The phone rang again!!

It was my sister from Utah! I knew she would want to talk. and was willing to let her, so while on the phone with her, holding the phone to my ear with my shoulder, I cut the medallion out of a scrap of patterned paper, I stamped and heat embossed (which you can tell by how poor a job of it I did), dry embossed the red paper with my Cuttlebug, laid out the pieces, pulled out the pearls and ribbon, and put scor tape on the back of each piece. I impressed myself that I could do that all while holding the phone with my shoulder. I was on the phone with my sister for a little over an hour. Now if I hadn't been on the phone all this would have gone much more quickly.

Needless to say, once our conversation was completed, I think I broke a record in assembling this card, and taking photos! I didn't even tweek the photo; just cropped and added the watermak. I put only the necessary info and pics on the post so that I could enter it, then I came back to write the details. And here it is.

And Guess what? Even though I was able to get the pizza out of the oven in perfect time, I still haven't been able to enjoy a nice hot pizza for supper. It must be cold by now. And here I thought I was being so organized in getting the pizza going so that I could nibble on it while making the card...lol ;).

Well that's it for my speedily made card. May it never happen again!

Thank you so much for stoping by. Wishing you a great week!

ADDED JANUARY 10, 2012

I am not the winner with this entry, but I was one of three with ``Caught Our Eye``!!...or Honorable Mention would be another way of saying it. View here.

TOOLS & MATERIALS

STAMP: Hero Arts Cling Music Background
INK:Versa Watermark
EMBOSSING POWDER: Ranger Seafoam White
EMBOSSING FOLDER: Cutlebug

ColourQ Challenge #118 2nd Entry - Third Attempt

2012-01-08T00:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I submitted an entry for ColourQ Challenge #118. It didn't quite sit right with me, and so I had to try it again. I like that it this one has more white and is simpler than the previous card.

I came up with this idea when I was going through a box of die cuts left over from teaching classes or from pieces I ended up not using from previous projects. I must have about 20 of these small Fleur De Lis squares cut and waiting to be used! I had forgotten them as I forget most of the time to check out this box. So this card went together very quickly.

Darn! I did it again! Typed the URL incorrectly.

This one is a little more restful on the eyes than yesterday's.

Thank you for stopping by. I'd be interested in what you think in comparing the two cards of yesterday and today. Hope you're having a great weekend and are getting some crafting in! ;)

TOOLS & MATERIALS

SPELLBINDERS: Lotus Pendant, Fleur De Lis Accents
STAMP:
INK: Memento Rich Cocoa

Have a Splendid Day - ColourQ Challenge #118

2012-01-07T00:44:00.003-07:00

This unique colour pallet from ColourQ #118 intrigued me and and compelled me to try since I find working with that many colours difficult. I wanted to see what I could come up with. This card happens to be my second try! I had to toss my first one. So this is what my second attempt looks like.

Whoops! I just realized that the URL to the blog is typed incorrectly.

Part of the difficulty stems from the fact that I don't have required colours in ink, but one. Plus I don't have copics, and my watercolour pencils are limited in colours. So that left me with paper and a small Spellbinder library. I think the these colours require a more CAS approach rather than my preferred style. Maybe I'll try it again because something does't quite sit right with me. Oh, and if you think it might be the sentiment at a angle, I did do that on purpose. Before I attached everything, I always lay the basic elements down and rearrange them to see what looks best. I did try the sentiment the usual way. It didn't make any difference. Maybe my mojo is a little off today. ;(

Thank you for stopping by. Hope your mojo is working and you're happily crafting away.

TOOLS & MATERIALS

SPELLBINDERS: Standard Circles large, Lotus Pendant, Fleur De Lis Accents
STAMP:
INK: Memento Rich Cocoa

Colour Create Challenge 87 - Cream, Sage & Red

2012-01-05T00:48:00.000-07:00

Colour Create Challenge is back after our holiday break for our first 2012 challenge beginning January 5th and ending January 18th, 6:00 PM UK time. Edna chose a wonderful colour palette for this challenge - cream, sage & red, and the DT's have submitted their inspirational designs for you.

The prize for this challenge is a $5 Gift Voucher for Mo Manning's Digital Pencil. She has such adorable and fantastic digi stamps!

While searching for materials to make my card, I found that the colours were so beautiful together that whatever I made had to be simple so that the colours would be the main focus.

This is my DT submission at Colour Create Challenge 87.

I was so excited to be able to use my very first Waltzing Mouse stamps! Dana ordered some for me as a Christmas gift! Thank you again, Dana.

It's amazing how with the lighting you can see all the minute little specks of embossing powder when IRL you barely can see them at all! I even used the pre-embossing powder pouch and a brush to brush off any bits of powder. It also looks like the light caught one of my finger prints on the paper as well.

The little flower stamps I've had for a long time and never used before now. They are the perfect size for this project. They too were stamped and heat embossed.

Thank you for coming for a visit. It's always nice hearing from you. Happy crafting everyone!

TOOLS AND MATERIALS

SPELLBINDERS: Labels Fourteen
STAMPS: WaltzingMouse Holiday Labels 14, Studio g Series 39, Dimensions Crafts Mini Stamps Flower & Flourish, PTI Botanical Silhouettes
INK: Versa Watermark, Versa Magic Spanish Olive
EMBOSSING POWDER: Ranger Seafoam White
Grosgrain Ribbon

A Very Large Retirement Card

2012-01-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

I generally dislike making very large cards as it can be difficult to fill in the space. This retirement card is 12 x 12" and is the largest that I'm usually willing to go.

I got the idea for this card from Laura's amazing card here:

I continue to swoon over her card!!

Here is a close-up of the focal point, which still doesn't do my dimensional paper-piecing much justice. ;)

I stamped the couch at least times for this project. Once on the Spellbinders die-cut (love!), once again on scrap to cut out the cushions/arms/feet to pop up over top and twice to cut out masks.

I masked the couch while I tried to airbrush a Copic background but my luck with my airbrush is hit-or-miss. I think I just keep choosing colors that are too light to notice. When that wasn't successful, I switched to misting, even though the only aqua-ish mist I had was Turquoise Blue, a touch too bright for my card.

I created the giant demi-medallion with a strip of 5.5 x 24" cardstock. I used foam to ink the exterior edge with white and then used my scoreboard to score every inch on one side and the alternating inches on the other side (if that makes sense).

The stitching around the top exterior of the card is just a fun stitch on my sewing machine. The bottom sentiment is heat-embossed.

I'm submitting this into Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday: A La Carte. The technique I used was selective inking on the "time to relax."

Thanks for stopping by!

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

Cardstock: peach and aqua (Cricut cardstock by Provocraft), Stamper's Select White and Melon Berry

Stamps: On My Couch, Tiny Tags, Think Big Favorites 5
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko), Melon Berry, Aqua Mist and Fresh Snow
Dies: Picot Edge Circles (Spellbinders), Tiny Tags
Other Tools: Turquoise Blue Glimmer Mist (Tattered Angels), lace (dollar store), sewing machine/thread, white embroidery floss, Big Bite/eyelet (We R Memory Keepers)

My Own 2011 Top Eleven Favs - Sabrina

2012-01-03T00:02:00.000-07:00

As promised, I'm back to review my own designs and show you my top ten favs. Well, I couldn't narrow it down to 10. Eleven was hard enough!! I think because there is a part of me in a lot of my designs, I get more attached to them. As with my favotites of Dana's, these are not in any particular order.

1)

I love this card; I just wish I had used a light background for the photo! But the cute little mouse is just adorable and has a special meaning to me. I love how this card turned out with different grays and a hint of pink. (see card details here)

2)

For me the delight of this card is not only the soft colours, but the light and airy feeling you get when you look at it. I'd love to get more coloured velum, but that has to wait for now. (see card details here)

3)

I still like to pull this out and look at it every so often. Is it OK to say that I do it because I'm just so pleased with it? (see scrapbook page details here)

4)

Did I mention before how much colour is important to me? Well, I love how the colours work together in this card as well as the simple layout. Also the added punch with using Liquid Pearls helped to make the card; another of my favorite things to use. (see card details here)

5)

This design was entered for a couple of challenges and has remained one of my favorites for colour, softness, and the layout. And probably because I was thinking of how much I missed my daughters at the time I made it. (see card details here)

6)

This very elaborate Christmas Advent Explosion Box was made for my parents. I guess because I made it with love for them, it is one of my favorites. (see project details& photos here)

The colours of this project I find quite appealing, and I had so much fun making it. Especially since the photos of are myself when I was about 18 months old, and I love using Spellbinders, which I used plenty of in this project. (see project details & more photos & close ups here)

When I combined two challenges in the making of this card, I hadn't expected it to be a favorite! But I love beautiful papers, and the workings of colour. It wasn't until I completed this card that I was amazed at the result and fell in love. (see details here)

Another challenge entry that drew me for the sketch and my love of papers; in this case My Mind's Eye papers. Then there are the photos of my twin sisters and I, when we were quite young that make this one a favorite too. (see details & close ups here)

10)

Because this is based on one of my favorite designers card for a challenge, and the fact that it is still fairly new, I'm still a little partial to this card. (see details here)

11)

Also a recent project, and one I think turned out well. I'm not usually a 'Kraft' person, but every so often I use it when creativity moves me to it or I'm looking for a colour that only Kraft can match. I'm happy about this gift set. (see project details & more photos here)

So, that's it for my 2011 favorites. I'm still tempted to add a few more, but will leave it as it is. I look forward to a new year of creativity, and wonder what we will come up with for 2012 favorites. Thank you for stopping by and leaving your comments. We always love to hear from you. It encourages me to check out your latest creations. Happy crafting!

Dana's Top 10 Personal Favs of 2011

2012-01-02T00:01:00.000-07:00

You win some, you lose some is what I've learned about my papercrafting. Sometimes I surprise myself and sometimes I let myself down. ;)

Here are some projects, in no particular order, that I feel that I hit out of the ballpark. ;) (Click on the photos to go to the original posts.)

Distress inking is one of my favorite techniques and I love the colors in this!

Simple and pretty!

Even though this isn't the best photograph, I still love the rustic simplicity of this!

Simple and elegant; lots of detail-cutting! ;)

I love the spunky colors and patterns in this!

CAS at my finest!

This took forever but ended up completely worth it! ;)

Nothing unique but I love how this turned out!

Love the coloring and real crocheted doily on this!

I love this simple, yet texture-rich, card!

Love this!

So, enough patting my own back...

Happy New Year, all!

Happy Birthday - CASE Study #71 Challenge

2012-01-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

A second posting for today, but with all of the scheduled posts we have, this was the only time I could fit this challenge in.There will be a couple more double postings in the next few days. There is a lot going on!

Here I thought that CASE Study #70 was the last challenge with Amy Sheffer as the December Muse. I was wrong! They have one more challenge using one of her previous cards for the CASE Study #71 challenge! Yeah! Another great card of Amy's!

I was thinking about all the colours that Amy used and realized how well those colours lend itself to a masculine card. Kraft, green, brown, a touch of red - yes, definitely could be masculine. Besides, my youngest son is turning 27 in March. My, where has the time gone. A little early to be making it, but sometimes when the opportunity arises you have to grab hold with the idea and go with it. Who knows, I might not get the chance later.

So I went to my many, many scraps to see what I could find. Out of the many shades of these colours, I was able to narrow it down to the ones that would work for Owen's card. I also decided to make it square since I had a number of square envelopes.

Enough talk. Here is my masculine take on Amy's card.

Two interesting things happened when making this card. The first was a mistake I couldn't believe I had made! I usually build the front of my card separately, except for the pop-up and embellishments in case I decided to add ribbon, string or brads. So when I got to the point where I knew I wouldn't be adding any, I began to attach it all to the front of the Kraft card base. Then I picked up the card and couldn't believe I had attached the front of the card with the fold on the bottom!! The only alternative was to make a new card base and cut off the front of the mistake and attach it correctly to the new card base. I've never done that before! I can laugh about it now, but at the time I was a little upset with myself.

The second thing that started out wrong, did turn out to be a good thing in the end. I have moved most of my crafting stuff out of the room to paint the room (haven't started yet) so I was looking for my box with pearls. I wanted to use the dark brown pearls in the upper left corner. I looked everywhere at least four times! I couldn't find them anywhere! What could I use instead. Brads? Too late since I mounted the front onto the card base already. But, I should look to see what else I have in my little brad storage boxes.

You know what I found? Two years ago I had found these little alphabet discs at one of the Dollar stores I would frequent in Calgary. I could spell out Owen's name!! And this is just what I did.

Here is a side view of the card.

Looks like I didn't get all of the pop up square completely coloured dark. Oops. Well, that's it. Hope you all had a fun New Year celebration yesterday evening. It's 2012!! Hope the New Year brings you all things good, continued creative ideas, and many happy crafting hours. :)

TOOLS AND MATERIALS

SPELLBINDERS: Jumbo Scalloped Border Petites, Labels Thirteen, Petite Ovals Small
STAMPS: Hero Arts Celebrate, Inkadinkado Sentiments Chelsea
INK: Versa Fine vintage Sepia, Memento Rich Cocoa, Color Box Cranberry
Ink blending tool

Sabrina's Favorites of Dana's 2011 Designs

2012-01-01T00:02:00.000-07:00

Every year we like to post our favorites of the year from each designer. Narrowing it down to the top ten for each of us a bit of a challenge; at least for me it is. It takes me a while to work it down to ten.

Today is my turn, and I'm starting with the top ten of Dana's designs. I'll post mine on the 3rd. These are not in any order by the way.

1)

This my fav of Dana's Christmas cards. I love the colours, all the heat embossing, the layout, sewing, ink distressing, the ribbon, pins...everything! (see card details)

2)

Dana's home decor project was a hit with me. Something I still haven't tried yet! (see project details)

3)

Window cards always appeal to me and the colours & layout are great! (see card details)

4)

This striking CAS made with itty-bitty scraps just blew me away! (see card details)

5)

Paper piecing I'm very partial to, as well. I love this card! It appears to be a simple CAS, but the work involved in the details from the layout, to colours, and visual textures are wonderful! (see card details)

6)

Many of my comments include the word 'colour' because I love colours
and notice them practically before anything else. This card has beautiful colours, and with the ink distressing/blending, it gives off a comfy homey feeling too. (see card details)

7)

Again, the colours! But the fact that the tag slides out from the buttons is a great stroke of genius! (see card details)

8)

This one is so very striking! I love how Dana ink distressed the edges of the red, darkening it even more. Then there is the paper piecing i so like, and the drop shadow created using a Copic marker. (see card details)

9)

Have you noticed how good Dana is with CAS? The machine stitched path of the rainbow of butterflies is just gorgeous! (see card details)

10)

There are so many words to describe these Birthday Tag invitations! Stunning, adorable, cute, CAS, colourful, inventive....and so on. (see invite details)

Didn't Dana do an amazing job this year?! There you have my favs of Dana's designs for the year. To keep the size of this posting down, I'll be back in a couple of days to reminisce over my own top fav designs.

Card Patterns 146 & FYI 20

2011-12-31T00:02:00.000-07:00

FYI 20

I am combining the challenges Card Patterns 146 and FYI (For Your Inspiration) 20. When I came across the inspirational photo at FYI my first thought was Wow! The colours are beautifully saturated. So why not try to make a card with like saturated colours of turquoise, blue, purple, etc. and a little white. A card just bursting with colour like the photo.

Close up of the flowers and tag.

So, there it is...my colour saturated card.

Thank you for stopping by, and hope that you have a Happy New Year filled with good things.

TOOLS & MATERIALS

SPELLBINDERS: Beaded Circles, Classic Circles Large
Ranger Ink Blending Tool
INK: Versa Magic Perfect Plumeria, Versa Magic Turquoise Gem, Versa Magic Cloud White,Memento Bahama Blue, Memento Tuxedo Black
FLOWERS: Recollections
DIES: Provo Craft Cuttlebug Leaves
Pearls
Dark Navy ribbon, Dark Plum ribbon

Happy Birthday - Colour Q Challenge #117

2011-12-30T00:02:00.000-07:00

Love the photo of these damask dishes from Target! I lived in the US for 11 years, and that is one thing I wish we had up here in Canada - Target! I loved shopping there because they have some unusual finds at reasonable prices.

Anyway, I'm not here to discuss shopping, but to enter my card for the Colour Q Challenge #117. I love working with black & white/cream and to add a colour to it is always fun.

And I had so much fun checking out all the entries thus far as to see what colours were being chosen by others. There are some fantastic entries! Not to mention the design team inspirational projects!

I decided to try and use as much colour as possible and go a little different...a little offbeat if you will, but still using one of my favorite tools - Spellbinders. For my additional colour I chose to go with a colour that I have a ton of in my scrap files - Spring Green! This is what I came up with.

Now some you Spellbinder lovers will wonder where I got a rectangle of the Fleur De Lis pendant? ...well I actually cut out two, cut them with the Square in the center to create a frame, and then cut and pieced it together. It worked much better than I thought it would. But, even though you can barely see it, knowing the light and camera would not be kind to the piecing of the frame, I covered the seam with the ribbon. And that is another story! do you know how long it took me to decide on what colour of ribbon to go with? I went back and forth between white, black, and green.

And next is a side view of the card so that you can see all the layers popped up. Will have to mail in special envelopes at this thickness...4 popped up layers!

I think I might try this again with a variety of colours. It was a fun card to make despite being unable to make up my mind on what colour ribbon to go with. ;)

Thank you so much for stopping by, and let me know what colour of ribbon you would have gone with! Happy crafting!

TOOLS & MATERIALS

Spellbinders - Fleur De Lis Pendant, Classic Squares Large, Fleur De Lis Accents, Crown Circles, Standard Circles
Stamps - Flourishes Tag Lines
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Kaisercraft Pearl Strip - White

ADDED January 3, 2012

I was awarded Color Queen Courtier for the ColorQ Challenge #117!! Wow! That's the second award this week. Talk about excitement. I guess I'm going on like a little girl, but I can't help but be excited everytime I'm awarded something.

Christmas Gift Thank You

2011-12-29T00:02:00.000-07:00

This Christmas I received a very generous gift from a family in the congregation I attend. So of course I had to make them a Thank You card. As I'm giving it to the entire family I didn't want to make it too feminine; and again I used mainly the paper for the card, cutting flowers from another paper in the set.

In distressing the edges I used Tim Holtz's Distress Ink - Antique Linen, and Versa Fine - Vintage Sepia. And since I'm packing away my craft things so that I can paint the room, most of the embellishments are not readily accessible at this point, so it is a simple card.

It's getting close to the New Year! It seems like we just welcomed 2011, and now it's soon 2012! Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving your comment on our blog. We love to hear from you. Happy New Year if you don't stop by again before then, and happy crafting.

Dead Batteries! Oh No!

2011-12-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

I had planned to enter the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday 149 challenge, but when I went to take my photos to post, the batteries in my camera were dead! And they were the last of a large package; all those Christmas photos, you know. I didn't have any new batteries left :( Of course that meant that I couldn't enter it yesterday since the deadline was so close and didn't allow the time to go get some new batteries in time.

The challenge was to use a Flourishes stamp and create a telescoping image. I used Flourishes Sweet Violet stamp and one of my new Spellbinders given to me for Christmas - Blossoms Four. Now, since I don`t have Copics I had to use my old set of water colour pencils, with water and a brush, to colour in the stamped image.

I guess we are all cleaning up after the festivities to get ready for the New Year celebrations. Then comes what I call "the downer" until the coming of Spring. That's when crafting really helps, and I look forward to that. Do you have a down time between New Year and the coming of Spring?

So nice of you to stop by today. Come again soon and have a great day!

Sharing My New Treasures

2011-12-26T12:43:00.000-07:00

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Thought I would share with you some of the new crafting treasures I received for Christmas. As you know I'm currently on the DT for Colour Create Challenge and the DT members decided we would participate in a Secret Santa exchange. It was quite fun to do and difficult to put the package under the tree and wait until Christmas when it arrived. My Secret Santa ended up being Sylvia from Norway! You should see the beautiful tags she made. Anyway, she sent me some lovely things that I can hardly wait to use. I think she went over our price limit though ;).

This is the gorgeous gift tag she made for me! And here are the goodies...

I can hardly wait to use them! Thank you Sylvia!

I didn't take any photos of another crafting gift received; a gift from Dana. She sent me 3 sets of Spellbinders!! Beaded Circles, Blossom Four, and Crown circles.

I love Spellbinders and can hardly wait to use them too. Thank you so very much Dana!

Thank you for stopping by and check out some of the fun gifts I received. Hope you all got some fun goodies too.

Featuring the Paper - Another Gift Set

2011-12-24T00:02:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you come across such gorgeous paper, that it has to be the star of the design. That is what I did to create this 16 card set as a Christmas gift for my Mom. Plus, making the paper the star of the show, the job so much easier, ;).

A couple of months ago I came across some gorgeous designer paper from K & Company-Brenda Walton's Flora & Fauna - that caught me eye. It had been reduced in price, too, since there was some damage done to the pad of paper. I ended up making 4 cards per the four papers that I chose form the pad. Here are the four sets tied up together.

And here is each set in their container.

You'll note that whatever is lying down in these photos, rather than standing up, doesn't have a true respresentaton of colour due to lighting at a different angle than for those standing up. Now, instead of taking a photo of each card individually, I've taken one photo of each set of 4 cards that make up the whole set.

So there you have it. 16 easy 5 1/2" square cards, made in a day, by focusing on the paper. I used Spellbinders Fancy Tags Two, the same one for all cards, and placed it where it didn't take away from the paper. I used the same stamp for them all, "Just For You" because inside you can say - on your Birthday, to Thank You, because I love you, to Congratulate you, with best wishes, with Get Well wishes, etc. In other words, an All Purpose card!

I tried to chose papers that would appeal to a variety of tastes in style. Some even work for masculine cards if need be, but still have a Victoria, BC flair to them.

Hope Mom likes them!

It was so nice of you to stop by and... have yourself a very Merry Christmas. ;)

Calendar Notepad Cover

2011-12-23T00:02:00.030-07:00

Yesterday, I visited my ex-mother-in-law, whom I love dearly, to drop off a card and little gift. So Wednesday night I quickly put together her gift. She is one very busy and active lady! Especially for a woman at the age of 88! She is always making lists or taking notes, and possibly quickly writing down a quick recipe here and there. So when I came across these 2012 calendar note pads for a $1.00, I knew I had to get a few and convert one of them for Kay.

I took off the thin magnet that was on the back of the pad and trimmed the backing as much as I could. After measuring the pad, and taking into consideration the pencil, thickness of pad & pencil, and the folding allowance, I cut some thin chipboard accordingly - a total of 5 strips. ( I should have taken photos as I went along) Cut the patterned paper, one for the outside & one for the inside, as once piece for each, and scoring according to my calculated measurements where the folds would be. (It worked! So my calculations were right on! That's always a plus.)

Then after applying Scor tape to each side of the chipboard, began the careful assembly.

It would have been fun to decorate the holder more, but I had to be practical...after all, Kay does a lot of note taking like I mentioned earlier.

Here with the bow untied, you can see that I forgot to put the magnets under the paper! I did remember to do that when I made the tab on the front though ;). And the inside...

Too bad I didn't have a better match for the pencil! Kay won't mind. I kept it simple for her, and it was easier to put together that way too. I may make one in the future with more elaborate embellishment, just for the fun of it.

If you're wondering about the Christmas card I mentioned, it is one from a previous post, here. It doesn't match the gift, but I think she'll like it.

Have a great Christmas!! ;) ...and thank you for coming for a visit.

Just For You Gift Set

2011-12-22T00:02:00.015-07:00

In October I started making a six card gift set, as a Christmas gift, for the couple that picks me up every Sunday to take me to church and bring me back home afterwards. A wonderful couple. I worked on it here and there, in between other projects, and completed the cards the first week of November but never got around to making the card box, or the gift bag to hold them until recently.

This is the gift bag and the cards in the card box. Of course I had to make the Christmas gift bag to match the card set. ;)

The large snowflakes are cut out of the same floral patterned paper you see on the card box. The smaller snowflake popped up in the center of the larger ones is cut from cream cardstock. Both are covered with Chrystal Stickles.

Here are the cards in the box.

Here you can see the layering of the medallion on the box with the ribbon. You see that it's bulging a bit. That's because I forgot to put three cards one direction and the other three the opposite direction.Of course I didn't notice it until just now! lol ;) I did put it together correctly after taking all the photos when I had to put it all back together.

Here are the cards.

Sorry that this image is unclear. I must have forgotten to make an adjustment on the camera.There are 2 birthday cards, 2 thank you cards, 1 get well, and 1 just a note.

Here you can see that the person's handwriting becomes part of the card adding some interest to the layout.

There you have all the details of the gift card set and matching gift bag.

Great to have you stop by and taking the time out of your schedule. Just a few days left now, and then comes the new year!

TOOLS & SUPPLIES

Spellbinders: Squares, Classic Ovals, Beaded Ovals, Circles, Labels Fourteen
Martha Stewart Deco Fan Border Punch
JustRite Stamps - Cardmaking Set, All Occasion Nested Sentiment Set, A Merry Little Christmas Set
Chrystal Stickles

A Perpetual Birthday/Anniversary Calendar

2011-12-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

My mother-in-law obligingly admits to a poor memory.

Earlier this year, she asked me to fill in a 2011 calendar with birthdays and anniversaries. So when I saw the tutorial below on eighteen25 (fabulous blog!!!), I knew exactly what I would do with their lovely free printables.

Instead of using patterned paper to pretty up the pages (which I printed on white cardstock), I did some quick stamping, going for a distress-y look and trying to keep the inks light enough to write over. I attached eyelets and clipped them all together with a metal ring. The finishing touch was the last bit of Pure Poppy saddlestitch ribbon in my arsenal.

(Stamps: Rustic Snowflakes by Papertrey Ink)

(Stamps: Heart Prints by Papertrey Ink)

(Stamp: Through the Trees by Papertrey Ink)

(Stamps: Scattered Showers and Additions by Papertrey Ink)

(Stamps: All About You by Papertrey Ink)

(Stamps: Beautiful Blooms II by Papertrey Ink)

(Stamps: With Sympathy by Papertrey Ink)

(Stamps: Up, Up & Away by Papertrey Ink)

(Stamps: Back to School by Papertrey Ink)

(Stamps: Leaf Prints by Papertrey Ink)

(Stamps: Harvest Berries by Papertrey Ink)

(Stamps: Bells & Boughs by Papertrey Ink)

That last set is my favorite set from this year's Christmas releases!

As you can see, I've already filled in birthdays and anniversaries for my mother-in-law. I'm thinking she can just hang this on an adhesive hook where she hangs all her calendars and phone lists.

Thanks for stopping by!

If Nothing Ever Changed... - CASE Study 70 Challenge

2011-12-20T00:02:00.007-07:00

I love Amy Sheffer's work!! And subscribe to her blog. For December she has been the Muse at the CASE Study Challenge blog. Here it is close to the end of the month and I haven't entered in any of her 'Muse' challenges there! So I tightened my belt and put something together for the CASE Study Challenge #70 since this is the last one before Christmas. And, thank you Amy for sharing your fantastic talent and creativity with us and inspiring us through your creative designs.

I always like the black and cream/ivory colour combination; it's so classy. And with Amy adding just a touch of that aqua blue, it's gorgeous! Here's my take on Amy's stunning card.

The paper piecing for the medallion was detailed cutting, but worth the effort. I cut them from a scrap of Teresa Collins Noel: Black Damask and attached them to the back of the circle. You can't see it in this photo, but I used Glossy Accents on sections of those cutouts. You can see where I used them on the blue border of the black circle.

Two ribbons were used; a wide ivory satin and a narrower shear black. And, I used Black Enamel Accents. Love the stuff...the enamel accents that is. The cream background is embossed using the Cuttelbug Kassie's Brocade folder while leaving a strip at the bottom for stamping the sentiment. The sentiment and butterfly stamp is a tiny stamp set from Technique Tuesday called 'Wing It'.

Thank you so much for stopping by. It's great to hear from you, and have a Merry Christmas!

ADDED JANUARY 1, 2012 10:36 PM PST

I'm so very excited because I won the challenge with this card!! :) It is a great honor to me because I love Amy Sheffer's work and follow her blog faithfully......and because Chupa and other DT Members of the CASE Study challenge blog are well known, admired and respected,and not to mention, so very talented!

Can't Quite Put My Finger On It...

2011-12-19T00:02:00.002-07:00

I worked on this page for a few days. Not one of my successes I'd say, and I'm not quite sure what it is. The colours? Too much doily? Or just too much something else? (I even took stuff off) I took it apart a few times changing the colours on some things, changing the layout, and so forth. It seemed to get better, but still not quite right.

Maybe it is because I wanted lighter blues and green and didn't have any on hand. Or because some of the interesting papers I used in the horizontal band ended up getting nearly entirely covered up. And then,rather than changing the colour idea I settled for something that wasn't quite what I was hoping for. But I know I regret putting the bits of paper doilies under the buttons on the journal tags! The only problem is that I can't take them off without damage, so they have to stay there. :(

Well, it got to a point where I could no longer make changes, so I had either start over right from scratch hoping to rescue the original photo, or accept it. I decided to leave it as it is since it was much better than were I was first headed. Therefore, it is what it is.

You can see that I used a doily to mask a bit of it pattern onto the paper for background interest. That, I believe, is a first for me.

I printed off a bunch of butterflies in various sizes and used my inks and ink blending tools. Then cut them all out, while watching a Christmas movie. I also was finally able to get white enamel accents! I found out that the first 15 drops or so came out almost clear, so I had to touch them up a bit.

A couple more closeups.

Oh, yes! I forgot to mention that used some of my old rub-ons. The Pink in the upper right and lower left corners, as well at the flowery patterns in the upper left and center, as well as the lower right corners.

Ooh, this one's a little pixilated. Sorry about that. Any way there you have it. A nice over the top frilly and girly page showing my Mom, her sister & my Aunt, and myself at probably a month or two old!

Thank you for checking out the posting, and hope that all is going well for you and yours during this wonderful season!

Just A Note... - FMS 15 & Embellishment Mixed Pattern Challenges

2011-12-18T00:02:00.002-07:00

Hello again everyone! Everyone is busy as beavers, I'm sure, so I thank you for looking in today.

In checking out the challenges I looked at the unusual colour combination and mixed pattern idea for the Embellishment Mixed Colours Patterns Trend challenge. I was intrigued, but originally thought I couldn't make this work and not even knowing if I had these colours in a variety of patterns. Then I came across Cindy Hall's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.

Suddenly I decided to look to see if I had what was needed to put something together for these two Challenges. And I'd better hurry too since FMS #15 is coming due very quickly! And guess what? I did have some papers in those colours and in a few different patterns! Though it did take a little time to go through my papers. I think I have to come up with a better way of organizing them.

So here is my card. Once I had everything it was easily created. And surprisingly, I like the earthy and unusual colour palate.

So I won't take up more of your time, but thank you again for stopping by today. And Merry Christmas too!

ADDED January 3, 2012

At Freshly Made Sketch I was crowned "Perfect Princess"! Within a couple of days i've won 4 awards from various challenge blogs!! What and honor, and what fun!

Thinking of You - Play Date Cafe Challenge 111

2011-12-17T03:37:00.000-07:00

Aren't these gorgeous colours! The Play Date Cafe Challenge 111 has this beautiful inspirational image (that would look great on a card) as well as wonderful inspirational designs by the DT. The challenge colours are black, white and just a splash of teal. And...the winner ...The Cup Of The Week...will win Spellbinders Labels Eighteen! That one I don't have and would soooooo love to have.

So I'm of course entering a card in hopes. I made a very simple card, and made a wrapped ribbon rose for the first time. I wanted this card to be fairly flat so that I could mail it without a special envelope or packaging.

So that's my quickie card for PDCC111. Hope your day is a good one, and thanks for stopping by to have a look. Happy crafting everyone!

Sisters 3 - MME Challenge 30

2011-12-16T19:33:00.001-07:00

I love 'My Minds Eye' papers! And after nearly three years of scrapbooking/papercrafting, I never thought to check to see if MME had a challenge blog. A couple of days ago I came across this challenge on someone else's blog, and was so excited at the chance to participate! And who could pass up the chance to win three entire MME collections of their choice!!!

The DT inspirational pages are great, and it's fun to see all the creative interpretations of the MME Sketch. This sketch really appealed to me too.

So had to check out all my papers to see what I had in the line of My Mind's Eye papers. I was happy to see that I had a variety of them to chose from; more than I though I had. I chose my papers and here is my take on the sketch.

I did a lot of cutting out from So Sophie "In Love" Splendid Surroundings Paper to create what you see. I watched an old rerun of "Bonanza" while I cut away.

The next photos are close ups to get a better look.

Here are the My Mind's Eye papers I used in this layout -

So Sophie "In Love" Splendid Surroundings
Lost & Found Market street "Love" Demure (both sides)
So Sophie "In Love" Petite Red Floral
(No other papers where used in this project)

So glad you stopped by today and would love to hear form you. Christmas is close so if you don't stop by before then again, Merry Christmas!

TOOLS & MATERIALS

Martha Stewart Sunburst Boarder Punch
Spellbinders: Labels Six, Classic Squares Large, Fleur De Lis Accents, Lotus Pendant
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa
Stamps: Forever in Time Alphabet

A Bit of Quick Gift Tag Mass-Production

2011-12-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

I don't know if this counts as "Faux Mass Production" or not but I used Kay's idea from the last Papertrey Playhouse challenge.

I threw together a few Christmas tags using the similar elements and slight layout variation.

Here's a shot of a single tag:

Super simple process! Die cut tag, punch out snowflake, I used some Tiny Tag and Holly Jolly die cuts I had left over from other projects and, after a bit of quick stamping, added rhinestones.

I've always been of the mind that using pre-made tags is much simpler but all my pre-mades moved to Victoria with my mother (by accident). ;) Since I've already wrapped some presents, tags are pretty handy to remember what's inside for who! ;)

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, Kraft, green (Bazzill?)
Patterned Paper: Holiday Flourishes & Swirls
Stamps: Tiny Tags II
Ink: Pure Poppy, Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Dies: Tag Sale #4, Holly Jolly, Tiny Tags
Other Tools: snowflake punch (Martha Stewart), jute button twine, red rhinestones (dollar store)

Colour Create Challenge 86 - Silver, Blue & White

2011-12-15T00:22:00.001-07:00

Hello friends! Ten days til Christmas! For this last Colour Create Challenge of the year, Sharon has chosen some lovely colours; Silver, blue and white along with this fantastic inspirational photo. The 'Extra' for this challenge is Embossing.

Normally the time frame for the challenges are two weeks. However, as this is a busy time of the year, the deadline for this challenge has been extended out to January, 4th, 2012 6:00PM UK time.

And the prize? It's a $30 US Gift Certificate at Michelle's Scrapbooking & More. A very generous amount that will be fun to spend. Just a little note; you've got to check out some of the new prizes we'll have for you in 2012! Some lovely stuff! I can hardly wait!

Now, for my DT Inspirational piece, I wanted to see what a card would like if it was mostly silver (especially since there was a lot of silver in the inspirational photo with all that silver tinsel garland). This is what I ended up with. A most unusual Christmas card. One that my young welder daughter would appreciate with the look of metal. A card using the traditional with a contemporary twist in colour and the amount of foil used. Usually you see foil used as a border.

I decided to do both dry emboss on the silver foil cardstock and heat emboss on the navy and white. Both the navy blue and white where stamped and heat embosses with the same stamp. Then, cutting the oval out of the white I could place it it over the navy, matching up the stamp image. A very simple card to put together, actually.

I'd love to see some of our blog followers enter in the Colour Create Challenge. Remember that the deadline has been extended to January 4th, 2012, by 6:00pm UK time, giving you plenty of time to enter the challenge.

Thank you for stopping by and checking out my DT Inspirational entry for this challenge. Merry Christmas everyone!

TOOLS & MATERIALS

Silver Foil Cardstock
Splellbinders: Labels Thirteen, Petite Ovals small
Cuttlebug Holiday Ribbons folder & Cuttlebug
Stamp: Inkadinkado "Noel" woodblock
Tsukineko Silver Embossing Powder

Hopes Dashed

2011-12-14T14:15:00.002-07:00

As time got closer to December 14th, I was on pins and needles, because all entrants for the Spellbinders DT call would find out if they made the first round and would enter the second. Even though I was a bit anxious at the same time I was hopeful of making it to the next round. When I saw in my inbox a message this morning, from Spellbinders, I hesitated to click on it. When I did, it was to find out that I hadn't make the first round, but was invited to try again next time. :( I felt my bubble burst; I really wanted this. I guess so did everyone who didn't make it to the next round. But I will be there to try again next time!

But, now that means that I can post my project for you to see! Here is the set I made; scrapbook page with matching card and card box (the card is too thick for an envelope) ;).

This is the very first time I made a scrapbook page of myself at a very young age. I had a lot of fun working out a scrapbook page specifically to use Spellbinders. Not that I hadn't used Spellbinders for scrapbooking pages before, but not as many kinds and layers as on this page. Here is the page on it's own.

The green and cream background shape I wished I had Grand Calibur for...I freehanded the shape on paper, cut out and used as a template to cut out of the papers chosen for this page. I think I did a rather good job on it.

And for a closer look at the card that I ended up choosing as the item for submission.

And, since this card wouldn't fit in an envelope I decided to make a matching card box for the card as follows.

For each item you can see that I had fun using Sepia Accents. They vary on the colour they become depending on the paper, but still have a sepia hue to them.

And here is a photo of the card in the box.

Well, that's it for this project. The funny thing is, Spellbinders probably won`t have another call for a while, a year I guess, but I`m already trying to think of ideas that will improve my chances next time. Something more unique...original...that might be more what they`re looking for. Or maybe a more consistent style in my designs. Whatever the reason, I am determined to try again.

My thanks for stopping by in your busy schedule. Stop by again tomorrow for the posting for Colour Create Challenge 86! A great prize for the winner of that challenge, and the usual two weeks is extended due to the holidays, so you will have lots of time to participate.

Merry Christmas everyone!

TOOLS & MATERIALS

SPELLBINDERS: Labels Fourteen, Fancy Tags Two, Fleur DeLis Accents, & Fleur De Lis Borderbilities
Sepia Accents
White Liquid Pearls
Paper Piercer
White Gel Pen
Cream Shear Ribbon
KaiserKraft Pearl Brad
STAMPS: Flourishes-Life Lines, Yellow Bicycle-SWS-105 Baby Girl, Forever in Time-Alphabet (Dollar Giant store)
INK: Versa Magic Gingerbread, Versa Fine Vintage Sepia, & Mimento Rich Cocoa

Variation & Revamp of a Previous Notebook

2011-12-12T01:24:00.003-07:00

Last week I took a $1 Store notebook and refurbished it. Then someone who had heard about it from the person I had made it for and not even having seen it, asked me to make one for her! What do you think about that? What a surprise that was for me. (View original posting here)

In contemplation, wanting to improve on what I had made last week, I decided that I would create a variation of the notebook. I wanted to see if I could hide the large spiral binding in some way.

What was real fun was working out al the details in my mind to be sure that I wouldn't have to scrap any trial runs. I had to think about the best way to put two pieces of cardstock together to create a binding cover for the spiral binding of the notebook. I must have thought of every detail for the assembly and the opening & closing of it, because it worked the very first time! It's always rewarding when something like that happens and works out so well.

And, this is the variation on the original one that I created last week. And my appologies for some of the photos not being as clear as would be nice, but it's late and I want to go to bed. I have a busy day in the morining.

Here it is open so that you can see the front and back cover, as well as the spiral binding cover I made.

And here are the three dividers for each section of the book.

You can see that this time I extended the cardstock paper of the divider pages right out into the perferation for the spiral binding. Not only will it be sturdier this way, but it looks better too. I also reprinted the divider pages with spelling corrections and a slight change of wording.

So now I just have to hope that, sight unseen when requesting a notebook, this person will be happy with it.

Well, there you have it. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule these days, and coming for a visit.

RS Lesson Christmas Ornament

2011-12-11T17:19:00.001-07:00

Today, being the second Sunday of the month, it was my Sunday to teach the lesson. Being December and Christmas, I decided to incorporate the lesson message on a Christmas Tree ornament...55 of them actually. They were a hit, and the lesson went well. Here they are.

And closeup -

These were, of course, not too detailed with 55 to make and were easy to make in an assembly line manner. More like a tag to hang on the tree.

Thank you for stopping by and taking a look. Can you believe it? Only two weeks left!

TOOLS & MATERIALS

Spellbinders Labels Thirteen
Gold Gel Pen
Martha Stewart Cedar Branch Punch
Gold Bells from the $1 Store
Gold 1/4" Ribbon

Envelope Boxes for Sale

2011-12-10T21:43:00.001-07:00

Crafteezee has these fabulous pre-cut and pre-scored envelope boxes for sale!

Tracy is also offering some up as blog candy so check it out!

:)

...A Merry Little Christmas for Owen

2011-12-09T03:28:00.001-07:00

I ran out of cards! I guess I miscounted the names on my list. So I had to quickly put a card together for my youngest son. Last minute cards don't always turn out too great for me, and that remained true in this instance. I think it does have a bit of a masuline feel to the Christmas card. So here it is.

I used some dimensional embellishments purchased long ago from a $1 store in Calgary. I wish I had considered a better way off applying them and the finished result in the upper right corner. Plus the blue ornaments are a little off on this card, but I don't think that Owen will take note of any of these things. I'm thinking that it's a man thing. For most men, cards are not a thing of interest to them. But he will appreciate what I write inside.

No details will be included again, I'm much to busy for that. But, it's at least posted.

Thank you for stopping by blog friends! Are you beginning to feel the ticking of clock like I do?

Christmas Photo Card Sleeves

2011-12-09T00:00:00.000-07:00

My original prototype for my Christmas photo cards was too labor intensive for mass production.

I cut down on the punching and eliminated the ribbon and sewing to come up with these:

Selective inking, die cut holly leaves and red Liquid Pearls. The corner snowflake punches aren't very apparent in the photo.

Hooray, I'm done!

Quick tip: Even when Liquid Pearls are dry, don't stack your cardstock over top! Some of them stuck together and pulled a bit of Kraft with them!

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

Cardstock: Kraft, green (Bazzill?)

Stamps: Merry Christmas Ornament (Hampton Art)
Ink: Memento Ladybug and Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko)
Dies: Holly Jolly
Other Tools: snowflake corner punch (Martha Stewart), Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), Ruby Red Liquid Pearls (Ranger)

December Visiting Teaching Handout - My Divine Mandate

2011-12-08T00:02:00.004-07:00

This is what I started with

In trying to come up with a Visiting Teaching handout that I could put together quickly I was searchig my shelves. I only have two to make since we only have two ladies to visit. In scanning my shelves, I came across a small pile of notebooks purchased from a $1 store.

That's when the notebook idea came to me. I even knew what paper I wanted to use. I love Websters' papers and wanted to use some for this project. And it came to me that I could use for the first time a prize I recently won from a challenge. Some digi prints!

The lesson being about the sphere of action in women's mandate to help others (since it's our nature to do so), I divided the notebook into three sections; Inspirational Quotes-to help us keep on track, What Can I Do For Myself-a section to take notes on helping oneself be the best they can be, and What Can I Do For Others-a section to write about what we can do for others to help them be their best. So here are the photos of the notebook.

So there you have it. Not too fancy, as I could have done a lot more to it, but good enough for a quick put-together. I would have liked to have had the time to do a better, more solid job, on the section dividers - to have the blue cardstock go all the way to the edge of the hole punched side like I did on the covers. It just takes too much time when you have to punch each hole seperatey and then cut with scissors into each hole so that it can wrap around each spiral.

Thank you for stopping by today in your busy schedule. All the best and happy days!

Oh my goodness! After posting, I noticed I spelled 'divine' incorrectly on the cover and didn't catch it! I'll see if I can hide my typo somehow and appologize to the receivers. I guess I was in too much of a hurry. I really don't like it when I make these kinds of mistakes!

Christmas Cards for the Grandchildren (Part 3a)

2011-12-07T00:03:00.000-07:00

The last of the six Christmas cards for my six Grandchildren. I threw rogether an unusual colour combination that seems to work (probably because the colours are in the printed image I used).

Well the cards are all completed and sent off in the mail Tuesday. The six cards will be split up and will be going to Calgary Alberta, Boise Idaho, and Phoenix Arizona.

Because I am, and probably you are too, so very busy right now, I 'm not going to take up more time. But I thank you for stopping by and checking in. Appreciate it. Happy days everyone!

Christmas Cards for the Grandchildren (Part 3)

2011-12-07T00:02:00.004-07:00

The fifth of six cards made for my six Grandchildren is now completed, and is another challenge entry. The sketch is from Our Creative Corner and created by Iwona Palamountain. It`s a nice easy sketch which is perfect for this busy time of year.

For this fifth card, I used the same image as I did for one of the cards in Part 1, except printed it larger.

Using Spellbinders Fleur De Lis Accents, I created a five point star shape (or pentagon, if you will) around the circle and added various sizes of pearls to decorated it. This one, I think, will be for my 4 1/2 yr old Granddaughter, Claire.

The last, and sixth, card for this series I`ll post seperately as Part 3a. Thank you again for taking the time from your busy schedule to stop by and check out this posting. All the best to our friends out there.

Christmas Cards For Grandchildren (Part 2) & Mojo Monday #218

2011-12-06T00:02:00.006-07:00

I have two more Christmas cards here; a total of four now, for my 6 Granchildren.(See Part 1 here) I decided to use the sketch from Mojo Monday for both of them. One I layed out exactly like the sketch and the other up-side-down (180 degree rotation). It was fun trying it out two different ways.

The exciting news is that there will be up to seven winners! The prize being the choice of Verve Stamps! I`d love to win one of their stamps!

So here they are.

And the up-side-down version...

Well, that means I have two more left to make for my six Grandchildren. Then I have to send them off! Time is running out and I have so much to do! There you have it, and I`ll wait to see if I will be one of the lucky seven winners. Thanks for stopping by today.

Cards for the Grandchildren (Part 1)

2011-12-05T00:03:00.000-07:00

I was addressing some Christmas cards when I realized I hadn`t made any cards for my 6 grandchildren! Since time is pressing, and children don`t need anything elaborate, I wanted to make creating these cards easy for myself. I went on line and found images that I had seen on cards over the years. I sized them for cards and printed them.

Here are two of the six cards cards I need to make. I have a busy day tomorrow, but I hope to get a couple more made since I need to send them off ASAP.

The red is popped up as is the image (Cover of a children`s book). Hopefully you can see this in the side view.

Here`s a cute one. I think this one I may give to my youngest grandaughter. I think she`ll like baby Jesus in the manger.

I tried something different on this card. Well actually two things. Behind the circle I used three of the oval Fancy Tags Two. I put one on each side of the circle and then cut the thrid one in half to place at the top and bottom of the circle. The other thing was using Glossy Accents instead of my usual Liquid Pearls. I think it looks quite pretty and will have to try it again. The Silent Night... is heat embossed with silver.

Well that`s it for this posting on the Grandchildren`s Christmas cards. I hope to have two more real soon. Thanks for stopping by today. All the best to you and happy days ahead.

Sabrina

(Having difficulties uploading my usual signature)

Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger

2011-12-04T11:50:00.001-07:00

I LOVE the photo inspiration for the current Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger!

I used the fabulous colors on a sleeve for my photo Christmas cards this year.

This was to be my prototype but it will remain an original... Too complex for mass production! ;) I'm fiddling with other ideas...

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

Cardstock: Kraft

Stamps: Bells & Boughs
Ink: Versamark (Tsukineko), Dark Chocolate
Dies: Bells & Boughs
Ribbon: Pure Poppy grosgrain

Other Tools: snowflake around the page punches (Martha Stewart), sewing machine/thread, Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), colored staples (Making Memories)

A Birthday Card with My Daughter

2011-12-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

My 4-year-old daughter's preschool teacher had a birthday so I involved her in the cardmaking process.

Her specifications were "pink" and "flower."

I immediately thought of my new Lil' Inkers Fringe Flower die.

We kept it bright and simple. :)

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

Cardstock: Hawaiian Shores, Harvest Gold, green (Bazzill?)
Stamps: Half & Half
Ink: Versamark (Tsukineko), Hawaiian Shores
Dies: Half & Half, Leafy Vine
Felt: Hibiscus Burst
Other Tools: white embossing powder (Filigree), rhinestone frame (Recollections), Vineyard impression plate, Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers)

Colour Create Challenge 85 - Red, White & Green

2011-12-01T00:02:00.004-07:00

It's time for another Colour Create Challenge! Sylvia chose Red, White & Green as the colours for this challenge, with the additional opption of using snowflakes. Traditional Christmas Colours! It is that time, and even though non-traditional colours are fun, traditional always makes one feel warm and cosy. To the left is the sweet inspirational image Sylvia chose for our challenge.

And the prize for the winner? Well it's sponsored by High Hopes Rubber Stamps. I checked it out and there are some real cute stamps to be found there. These are the fun stamps selected for our winner of Challenge 85. So if you'd like to win these stamps, enter our challenge. And then check out some of the other great stamps found at High Hopes.

For my inspirational entry I found myself using a lot of Spellbinders....lol, and pearls! I also looked into my stash of scraps, with the exception of the card base itself.

Here is a closer look at the bottom right corner.

So there you have it, a beautiful lacey snowflake on a traditional red, white & green card. The excitement is beginning to build...I just love Christmas!

Hope to see some of our blog followers' enter the challenge, and be sure to check out High Hopes Rubber Stamps. Thanks for stopping by!

TOOLS & MATERIALS

Spellbinders: Beaded Ovals, Labels Six, Labels Fourteen, Feur De lis Accents, 2010 Snowflake Pendant

Stamp: Unknowwn

Pearls

Ribbon

Pearl Pin

A Double Whoopee!

2011-11-29T18:46:00.001-07:00

I'm so excited! I received word today from two different challlenges that I entered the last few days that I was awarded some recognition!

I entered Colour Throwdown Challenge #169 with these colors and was one of four chosen that were selected for "Honorable Mention" for this card (previously posted). Original posting here.

And for my second good news of the day, it came from Papercraft Star's Anything Goes Cahllenge, I received this award along with - Our Runner-up, Sabrina receives 1 download page from THATB (the House Across the Bay). You have to check it out, there's some great stuff there!

If you're wondering what earned me this prize, it's my Christmas Explosion Box! Original posting here.

I hope you don't think me being silly, but hearing about two wins in one day not ony was unusal and exciting, but fullfilling and made my day. I just had to share it.

Too Much Bow?

2011-11-28T00:02:00.002-07:00

I had a piece of gold doilie left over from this project, and when I pulled out the teal card base, it came to mind... teal and gold. Then I kind of chuckled to myself, because the next thing I thought was, "Oh, no! The 80's!" lol. Then, to top it off I ended up making the bow much to full/big. Well, at least it's a shear bow and not a solid one.

This is another of those RS notecards I've been making over the past few weeks. Well, lets hope the next one will be better. Thank you for stopping by again today. Hugs to all our ATC Friends.

Thinking of You - Scraps Revisited

2011-11-27T00:02:00.001-07:00

This cards has a scrap leftover from a class I taught at Scrapbookers Paradise - Calgary... Inking the embossing folder on one side before embossing the paper. You can view that project here if you wish.

I don't remember what the name of the folder is that I used for this piece because It was Dana's folder. When I lived in Calgary, there was a time when Dana had her scrapbooking stuff over at my place to keep tempation away from here young children. It was nice to scrapbook together and borrow each others things. Though I think I did most of the borrowing.

Back to the project. I was so glad that the Gray Liquid Pearls matched the three large pearls I placed in the upper right corner.

Well that's it. Thanks for stopping by, and happy crafting everyone!

American Crafts Giveaway Winner!

2011-11-26T15:07:00.001-07:00

The winner from our American Crafts giveaway was chosen via random.org:

#3 Deb

Congratulations, Deb!! Please email me at tigriswillreign at gmail dot com with your address info!

Thanks to all who participated! It was so fun to see where y'all live!

and the

Papercraft Star Challenge 72 - Anything Goes!

2011-11-26T00:31:00.000-07:00

Papercraft Star ANYTHING GOES CHALLENGE

I was so excited when I came across this challenge! The previous day I had looked everywhere for a challenge that I could enter my design in. However, I was unsuccessfull. I know....you find a challenge first and then make a project. But I had wanted to make this project for a long time now...something for my Mom and Dad. Anyway, I posted it the day before this newest Papercraft Challenge was posted. I didn't enter it on the 23rd when I came across the challenge because I thought I couldn't, but after a few days I decided to go ahead before the deadline. I'm taking a chance on entering it, hope against hope that I'm not disqualified. If I am, at least I tried. Nothing ventured, nothing gained...right.

I created a Christmas Advent Explossion Box, and here it is.

Here it is open...

If you'd like to see all the details on putting it together and viewing the page of the box, click here. It's a long posting, so be sure you have a few minutes.

So there you have it. I guess I'm so pleased with it, I just had to show it off in a challenge... A little pride I guess. Thank you for stopping by!

ADDED

November 29th I was awarded the PaperCraft Star Quasar Award for this project!

American Crafts Giveaway!

2011-11-25T23:59:00.000-07:00

*This is a sticky post. Please scroll down for more recent postings!

Sooooo...

I've been winning a bunch of wonderful things on the wonderful wide web lately... It's been wonderful!

;)

I recently received a HUGE box in the mail from American Crafts (you can check out their beautiful blog here)... I knew that I had won some paper from them on the Moxie Fab World blog, but what I had actually won was paper and an amazing assortment of embellishments!!

I could feel, more than see, my husband rolling his eyes as my children and I delved into the box of goodies with squeals of delight. ;) My children are 6, 4 and 2 and are, as their age would suggest, craftily-minded.

By the time I had reached the bottom of the box, I realized that I couldn't possibly keep this all to myself. I doubt I have the space!! ;) And so, I split 'er up!

The pile on the right is mine (I've never had Thickers before so forgive me for snagging them all!) and the one on the left could be yours, as explained in this video:

I recorded this around 3pm and you can see the sun is beginning to set! I'm in Calgary, Alberta and our bit of snow just melted.

So, to enter this most awesome giveaway, you need to post a video or picture on your blog/gallery of (the exterior of) your house and/or neighborhood during this most beautiful Fall (or Spring, if you're in the Southern hemisphere!) season and link directly to it below! You do not have to be a follower of this blog but you're welcome to do so if you aren't already. It will be so interesting to see whether some people have snow or the gorgeous colors of the NE coast or the palms of the Southern clime...

This giveaway, open to residents everywhere, ends on Friday, November 25th, giving our friends in the United States until the day after American Thanksgiving, aka Black Friday, to enter. :)

and the

Color Throwdown Challenge #169 & Inkspirations Challenge #97

2011-11-25T23:11:00.001-07:00

Hello friends! The Color Throwdown challenge is one I wanted to try because I was intrigued with the unusual color combination and wasn't sure how to go about using the colors. I felt challenged to come up with something. It has been a very, very long time since I checked out the blog. I combined it with the layout sketch #97 found at the Inkspirations Challenge blog. Did I rise to the challenge? ...I'm not sure... I'm not well right now, so that might have something to do with it.

As you can see I had a stamping issue on the darker blue...but having the flu I'm in no frame of mind, or body for that fact, to try doing it all over again. So it is what it is. Here's another view.

Thank you for stopping by today and checking out my challenge entry.

With the season soon upon us and we're all getting busier. All the best to everyone in your preparations. And, happy crafting to you all. We all know that there is always some last minute crafting stuff that creeps up on as the holidays approach and get closer with each passing day. All the best!

TOOLS & MATERIALS

Spellbinders: Clasic Ovals, Feur De Lis Boarderbilities, Fancy Tags Two
Stamps: Old Lettering
Ink: Versa Memento Dark Cocoa
PTI Buttons
Ribbon
Red embroidery Floss

Using More of My Scraps - RS Thank You Notecard

2011-11-24T14:36:00.000-07:00

Unusual colour combination, for me that is, is what prompted me to post this card which is an addition to the number of RS notecards I'm making. I'm not adding a whole lot of details as I'm not feeling well and am thinking that I've got a light case of the flu. Here it is.

You can see that the notched banners are curled up a little on the right end. Here's another view.

Thank you for your comments and for stopping by today. Hope all our friends from the US had a great Thanksgiving!

TOOLS & MATERIALS

Provo Craft: Swirls Cuttlebug Folder

PTI: Buttons

Stamps: JustRite

Spellbinders: Fleur deLis Accents

Adirondack Dimensional Pearls - Lettuce

Christmas Advent Explosion Box for Mom - long post, lots of photos

2011-11-22T00:02:00.024-07:00

The four Sunday evenings before Christmas, my family has the tradition of burning first one candle the first Sunday, then two on the second, then three, then four and reading Christmas stories, including the real one from the New Testament. While doing so, we eat Christmas goodies and drink hot chocolate or Pero, or Eggnog. Those are beautiful memories from my growing up years, and I did it again while raising my own family. Because those memories are dear to me I wanted to make something special for those future occassions still to be had by my Mom and Dad. So I've taken the Christmas story from the scriptures, found some paintings to go with it, and came up with a plan for a beautiful Christmas Advent Explosion Box. I chose Mom's favorite colours - Ivory and gold and added some navy blue that goes nicely with some of Mom's fancy collection of porcelain pieces.

I took some pictures throughout the creation of the box, but forgot at times to do so. That means some steps are left out in the series of photos.

1. To start, cut four squares: 12 X 12, 11.5 X 11.5 and 11 X 11 & the lid 6" x 6"
2. Score the 12 X 12 at 4 & 8- rotate and score again at 4 & 8; the 11.5 X 11.5 at 4 & 7.5-rotate and score again at 4 & 7.5; and the 11 X 11 at 4 & 7- rotate and score again at 4 & 7. DO NOT FOLD SCORE LINES - Makes it a little easier while putting the box together.
3. Score the lid - at 1.25 and 5.25- rotate and score again at 1.25 & 5.25
4. With your scissors cut down the score lines on the three box pieces only to where they meet getting rid of the four corners leaving a cross shape. On the lid cut only on two opposite sides, not all four, down to where the score lines meet. (This is one of the photos I forgot to take for you)
5. Now you prepare all of the embellishments (A few photos forgotten here too)
6. Apply all background materials.

Outside piece - 12 X 12

Stamped and heat embossed the side facing out.

On the flip side - interior - I attached gold foil. the outter 4 squares the exact size of the square minus a little on the side butted up to the base square. (photo forgotten) And the inside base square minus a little all the way around as to not hinder the scored fold. You may ask why you need to put a piece of decorative paper on the inside base when the other layers are just going over it. well, there will be a little corner showing at each corner, and I like having it look like the rest, plus it adds a little strength to the base.

11.5 X 11.5 Underside

This is the underside that faces the upside of the larger outer piece. Therefore the center square doesn't need any decorative attention.

11.5 X 11.5 Upside

The flipside of this same piece will be facing uppward and does require the center square to be covered to match the flaps.

I used some very old gold doilies that I had left over from time in the early 1990's! You can see that I had two different sizes and found a way to make it work, and the background nicely for what I| have instore.

11 X 11 Underside

The last smallest piece is the inner part of the box. Again the center square needs no decorating as it will be facing down attached to the others. The entire side will face down facing the blue and gold so that when you lift up the flap all you see is blue and gold.

11 X 11 Upside or Innerside

The upper or inner side I'm leaving as is to embellish later.

outside dimesions-3.5" X 3.5"

Now, for some of the embellishments. Just a word here to let you know that all the evergreen branches used on this project were previously punched using scraps and ready for use whenever I want to use them. Here, in the not so clear photos, you can see the advent crown with tiny candles that I made. (Sorry, I forgot to take photos of it's construction for you)

Cutting the gold doilies up for embellishing the box lid corners and for gold accent under the mini advent crown to be in the center of the box when completed. For a more completed effect I found that I had to check out every inch of the doilie carefully and remove bits and pieces that hadn't come out when the doilie was originally punched out by the manufacturer. That was time consuming, but the doilies looked so much better for it.These pieces would have been so much easier to glue on using my Xyron sticker maker, but I had used up my refill for the RS Accordian handout and hadn't had the opportunity to purchase a new refill, so I painstakingly used liquid clue.

Using a Calligrapher gold metalic pen I hand wrote the title for each advent title page, so to speak, on the Spellbinders Beaded Ovals I cut and embossed on my Cuttlebug. Not seen here because I did it later, I used that same gold pen and put the Beaded Oval die frame back on each piece using it to trace a gold oval. This can be seen in later photos.

After stamping and heat embossing hese gold "Winter Borders" I hand cut them out u sing my detail scissors.(These I cut while watching an old favorite b&w movie)

Next I put together the lid, and once again forgot to take photos on how to assemble it. But, here is the end product. On the left you can see better the gold doilie medalions I put on the corners. The Poinsetia is heat embossed gold and cut out, then assembled in three layers. The blue leaves are die cut so I took my gold metalic calligraphers pen and drew the leaf viens as well as outlining them.

Adding the details and embellishments is getting to the fun part. At this point I was really looking forward to the seeing how the project looked completed and if it would look like I imagined it to look.

So there you have it; all done! Thanks for patiently going through this lengthy posting, but I've had some requests on how I put things together, and aticipating that with this project, I planned ahead for it.

I gave to Mom and Dad Sunday, and they loved it! Thank you so much for stopping by today. Hope you all have a great week and have some stamping & crafting planned for this week!

TOOLS & MATERIALS

ScorePal

Ink: Versa Magic

Stamps: Hero Arts Music Background, The stamp Barn Sunshine Designs Poinsettia, Inkadinkadoo Winter Borders,
Gold embossing Powder

Spellbinders: Beaded Ovals Nestabilities

Provo Craft: Leaf Die

Stickles: Gold

Liquid Pearls: Gold

Martha Stewart: Evergreen Punch

Calligrapher Quick Dry Gold Metallic Pen

Gold Doilies

Miss You - A RS Notecard Fav

2011-11-21T00:30:00.000-07:00

Are you came for another post adding to my favs in a large number of notecards I'm making for Relief society? This one I like because of the colours - so bright and cheerful.

For this card, not only did I use scrap papers, but I also went into my box of ribbon scraps too. For a bit of a fun look I inked the edged of the medallion with a bright pink. Well, a simpe card doesn't require a lot of discription, just a picture to share it with you.

Hope you're having a good day, and thanks for stopping by again.

Another RS Notecard Fav

2011-11-20T00:30:00.011-07:00

Here is yet another fav of my RS "scrap-using" Notecards. Nothing fancy, but pleasing to the eye.

I have a few more to make with another to post. After making more I might have a couple more to post.

Nothing more to say about this card...more of a "show" than a "show and tell".

I am, however, glad to be getting rid of some of my many scraps. I have so many of them that I have four 3 drawer bins organized to sort my scraps by colour - white, cream/ivory, yellow, orange/peach, pink, red, purple/mauve, turquoise, blue, green, brown, and black. And when I'm in the mood, I take some of these scraps and make embellishments like rolled flowers, die-cut a bunch shapes ready for quick cardmaking, or punch a bunch of leaves and shapes. These too I have sorted in either jars or a wood box that has 9 small drawers.

Thanks so much for stopping by again today. Be sure to look at participating in a fun activity here on our blog and see if you can win a great prize! Happy crafting !

Accordian Lesson Handouts -RS- & Two Hours Sleep

2011-11-19T00:02:00.003-07:00

Every second Sunday, I teach a class for the ladies that attend Relief Society. Though the message is based on religious beliefs, I thought that you might like to see the design of the project/handout. Believe it or not I made 50 of these things, all from scraps with the exception of the buttons, and ribbon. As to the time involved...it took at least five times longer than I thought it would. And despite the fact that I had planned well in advance and started the project 4 days before, it turned out that I only had two hours of sleep before going to church to teach that lesson. Guess what I did when I got home?

I came up with the idea of creating an accordian file with three vellum pockets to hold 3 tabbed cards.One card to have an image while the other two would include points discussed in the lesson. I have three left after handing them out on the 12th and these are they. I meant to take a photo of all of them in the basket. What a beautiful sight it was with all the various colours- pastels, bright and vibrant, dark and earthy, you name it, I had made it. Really wish I had taken that photo. Here are the three I had left.

To give you an idea of their size, they are 3 3/4 inches (9.525 cm) tall and 2 1/4 inches (5.715 cm) wide. I made the ribbons long enough so that if untied they could be hung from a door, dresser, cupboard knob, or hung from a rear view mirror, etc. Inside, this is what you find.

And, taking the tabbed cards out...

Just for an interesting tidbit, I used 6 rolls of double sided adhesive crafting tape that I get from the Dollar Giant. One roll usually lasts me a while. Well there you have it. Thank you for stopping by again today, and happy crafting!

TOOLS & MATERIALS

Spellbinders: Labels Four, Labels Fourteen
Paper and Cardstock Scraps
Handmade Rolled Flowers made earlier from scraps
Martha Stewart Punch: Evergreen Branch
PTI Buttons
All text printed from Word documents/computer
ScorPal
Xyron sticker maker (for the tabs)
Fiskars: Apron Lace Border Punch
Ink Blending tool
Assortment of inks to match paper colours

Giveaway Reminder

2011-11-18T09:58:00.001-07:00

Just a reminder that our American Crafts giveaway here ends next week! Link up a photo (or video!) of the exterior of your home or neighborhood!

What's your weather like? Mine in Calgary, Alberta has taken a turn towards wintry and there is snow everywhere, though not as much as there will be!

Another for the RS Set

2011-11-18T01:00:00.001-07:00

In a previous post I mentioned that I was asked to make a large quantity of cards for the Relief Society. I have made several, not the required amount yet, but due to technical difficulties of an old laptop, have not been able to post all the ones that are my favorites. Since then I ended up having to by a camera and a new laptop. Well, not new exactly, but new to me. I actually purchased a reconditioned used 2 year old laptop. So now I can post again!

But back on topic with these cards, I don't know if I should post several at a time or spread them out a bit by posting them individually. For now I'll continue as I started by posting them individually.

This one is a CAS and as per the previous posting I'm using as much of my scraps as I can.

You might be asking, "What scraps?" On this one I used a white cardstock strip for the ribbon, and with white scraps die cut two Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Accents. Stamped one with a JustRite stamp from a set that I can't remember the name of or find to show you;). Then at right anglesI placed the stamped one over the other and created a square diamond shape with them; popped it up and added the large pearls. And there you have it.

Really appreciate you stopping by and we love hearing from you. Happy crafting!

P.S. Be sure to check out and participate in the fun giveaway we have on this blog, here!

Colour Create Challenge 84 - DT Inspirational Submission

2011-11-17T00:03:00.004-07:00

I love the colours that Kerry chose for challenge 84 at Colour Create! Beautiful, soft, feminine, with an air of sophistication - Pink, white and gold. For me it was the softer pinks that appealed and I decided to see if I could make a Christmas card using those colours. Looks like I wasn't the only one on the DT that had the idea. Here's my pink, gold, and white design.

To the left is a straight on frontal shot. Hopefully you can see the paper piercing on the pink paper that I stamped and heat embossed white with the music background. I used a white gel pen to connect the holes to make it look like it was sewn. (Need to get a sewing machine) Continuing with challenge, everyone that enters challenge 84 has a chance to win the prize of a gift voucher worth $15 at Michelle's Scrapbooking & More. Craft shopping is so much fun! There's a lot to find there. And, there's something else you can enjoy while visiting; it's a pagefilled with a variety of fantastic tutorials!

Thanks for stoping by and leaving your comment. I would love to see your creative entry your creation for this challenge and will keep a look out for any of our followers. Happy crafting everyone!

P.S. There is a fun giveaway on this blog here!

TOOLS & MATERIALS

Spellbinders: Fleur de Lis Boarderbilities, Create a Flake One Shapeabilities
Provo Craft: "For You " Ornament Tag Die
Liquid Pearls: Petal Pink & Gold
clear jewels
antique gold paper
Stamps: Hero Arts Cling Music Backgfround, (sentiment stamp unknown)
Paper Piercer
White Gel Pen
Ink Blending Tool

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge and Carbon Copied

2011-11-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

Hooray, it's my turn to share a challenge with the fabulous Karen Baker of The Bald Dragonfly! It's so fun to see the Carbon Copied posts go up! Just a warning that I am not nearly as deserving of all that praise she gave of me! She's far too sweet!

We decided to use the Teeny Trees stamp set for the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge this week.

I think that this is my first tri-fold card so I kept it simple.

The snow and icicles were done using shimmery white cardstock.

I created the window using dies listed below and some clear cardstock. To give it a frosty look, I covered it with Crackle Accents.

Here is the Christmas tree I created inside:

And a look at the tri-fold:

Be sure to check out Karen's inspired gratitude project here!

I am also submitting this for CAS-ual Fridays "Over the Edge" and the Waltzingmouse Christmas card challenge (in the forum) for September, which requires acetate.

Thanks for visiting!

{Supplies}

Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, Enchanted Evening, shimmer (all Papertrey Ink)

Stamps: Teeny Trees (Waltzingmouse Stamps)
Ink: Versamark (Tsukineko), Scattered Straw, Mustard Seed, Crushed Olive, Peeled Paint and Forest Moss Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Ranger)
Dies: Alpha Blocks, Sending You frame (Papertrey Ink)
Other Tools: icicles punch (Martha Stewart), gold embossing powder (Filigree), rhinestones, Crackle Accents (Ranger)

Technical Difficulties & Soaked Boxes

2011-11-06T23:53:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! You might be wondering why there haven't been the usual number of postings on our blog lately. Dana has been very busy for a while, and so have I. However, I do have more time than Dana does as all my children are grown up and living their own lives now, and Dana still has her young family keeping her very busy.

My recent concern is that suddenly my computer will no longer read my camera so that I can get the pics into the computer and posted. It did just fine until Friday when I wanted to post some new cards. It's a good thing it didn't happen for the Colour Create Challenge entry the day before. I've made abolut 20 cards, and can't post them! Not that I want to post them all, just the ones I like best. So if you'll be paitent and hang in there, I hope to have that problem resolved soon as I do have another challenge to design for and will need to be posted on the 17th!

Do you want to hear something funny? Well I had to go out to my storage shed the other day and as I pulled and dragged the doors open (slightly rusted door groove) i saw that almost everything in there was soaking wet! The shed is leaking! I should have thought about that when my landlord repaired the rotted wood floor. It rotted for a reason, right?

I had to pull everthing out with some of the boxes falling appart they were so soaked. One of those boxes was my beautiful one year old white Christmas tree box. So now I have stuff everywhere in my 550 square foot suite and a white tree that I had to put up so tht it could dry out. lol Though I didn't feel like laughing at then time. The tree had actually begun to rust a little. Can't see it though when the tree is put together. A little early to have the tree up, wouldn't you say. I'll have to leave it up until I can find a way to store it again after Christmas.

Hope you are all having a great time crafting since Christmas isn't far off! Thanks for stopping by. May your design mojo be overflowing for the next couple of months and may you have the strength to accomplish all your Christmas plans.

Exciting News & Colour Create Challenge 83

2011-11-03T00:19:00.000-06:00

I'm so excited to tell everyone, that along with three others, I've been chosen to join the design team for Colour Create Challenges!

Colour Create Challenge 83

The colours that Julie chose, for this Colour Create Challenge 83, are turqouoise, dark pink and ivory with added option of using glitter. The team has some great inspiratrional creations for you to check out at the Colour Create Challenge blog.

And the prize? A coupon for Bunny Zoe's Crafts! I just love the cute Pickle Penguin stamps you can find there. They also have some great charms and spacers that would great on cards.

I'd love to see some of our blog followers enter their creations and check out what you can find at Bunny Zoe's Crafts.

This is the card that I put together to be included in the DT inspirational creations.

Turquoise, dark pink, ivory and glitter (Stickles in this case) I used to create a card that is mailable. That means no handmade flowers, beautiful big bows, or too many layers, etc. After a long time of making thicker cards, it was a bit of a challenge to come up with something a little thinner. I think I would like to try making a few more cards with this colour combo.

Hope you'll join us at Colour Create Challenges and enter your design. Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting everyone!

TOOLS & MATERIALS

STAMPS: PTI Botanical Silhouettes
INK: Momento Black Tuxedo
STICKLES: Mermaid
PTI Buttons
Cuttlebug Kassie's Brocade embossing folder
SPELLBINDERS: Beaded Ovals & Labels Fourteen

RS Set - Thank You

2011-11-01T07:57:00.001-06:00

It's hard to believe that it's actually November today!

I was asked by our Relief Society president to make a bunch of inexpensive cards to have on hand; Thank You, Just A Note, Missing You, Happy Birthday, and Get Well. Since I have a ton of scraps I'm using as much of that up as I can. Sunday evening I made up 9 cards, I particularly like this one and thought I would post it.

Now, once again IRL (in real life), the colours of the gems and card base are much closer in colour. I just love that glossy black paper with the contrast of the contemporary plant-like white imagry. I may post a few more as I put this set together.

Thanks for stoping by today.

TOOLS & MATERIALS

Jay Gee's Nook

2011-10-29T11:10:00.000-06:00

A quick Get Well card for a relative under the weather:

This was my first attempt at using paint on a card... You can see that it's still wet here! I def like the effect and will do a better job with it next time.

It's difficult to tell from the photo but the Lemon Tart cardstock is impressed with Mehndi Medallion.

I chose my colors from this month's Jay Gee's Nook challenge:

Thanks for stopping by!

{Supplies--all Papertrey Ink unless noted}

Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, Lemon Tart

Stamps: Happy Trails, Healing Touch Sentiments, Bannerific (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Memento Angel Pink, Versamagic Oasis Green and Sea Breeze (all Tsukineko)
Dies: Happy Trails
Other Tools: Mehndi Medallion impression plate, Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), paint/brush

CP138 & CR84FN Challenges - Thinking of You

2011-10-28T20:41:00.002-06:00

Fun, fun, fun. Another challenge entry for Card Patterns Sketch 138 Challenge & CR84FN Color Challenges. Because of computer issues I'm getting this posted just in the nick of time. I loved the sketch immediately. I'd never seen a sketch quite like this which made it fun to take on. And the colours for the CR84FN41...well it was like a breath of spring with winter starting. So here is my take on the challenges.

The two shades of gray leaves came out a little lighter in the photo making it hard to detect the difference between the blue and gray, but it is a little darker in real life.

Thank you for stopping by. Happy crafting!

TOOLS & MATERIALS

PUNCHES: Martha Stewart Deco Fan Corner punch, & Leaf Branch

STAMPS: PTI Botanical Sihouettes, & Hampton Art Circle Birds

Versa Magic Ink

Silver Embossing Powder

Lemon Yellow Liquid Pearls

Ammerican Crafts Premium Ribbon - Butter

Gray Pearls