SC148

This is my card for the skecth challenge at SCS today. You can see the details here.
The stamp is by Sugarloaf Products and is about 12" long, but I just cut it for the middle section. The layout was super simple, so the actual interest in the card depends on the embellishments one chooses. I wanted to use a non-traditional paper and I think the HOTP Winter Dots works just fine. The cardstock is Bazzill. I used some navy gros grain ribbon to define the upper and lower portions of the card. To the ribbon, I added a strip of Stampendous Glitter Snowflake Stickers and on the bottom, there are more of these stickers randomly set onto the card. I used Prismacolor Markers to colour the image, trying to keep the same colours that are in the patterned paper. The snow is covered in Frosted Lace Stickles which is just barely visible. Very simple, but very Christmasy, too!

Barnyard Swap at The Stamp Shack

Sherry over at The Stamp Shack is hosting a swap which is to focus on the barnyard. While I don't usually participate in swaps much anymore because of the cost of the postage, I did want to do this one. I had an idea in mind and couldn't wait to get started. Well, this is nothing like my original idea and just proves, once again, that we improvise as we go along. Okay, it's totally changed from my original idea but there's a reason for that. I was blurfing not long ago and fell in love with a card I saw on Kendra Giles blog, Inkin' It Up, and I just had to CASE this card. I did change a few things like the stamps and the orientation of the card, but mostly it's a CASE pure and simple. I just had to do it and hope that Kendra believes that "imitation is the higest form of flattery". Here's my card for this swap.



While this card is beautiful, (humble, aren't I)an amazing amount of work went into it. First, choosing the stamps was a trial in itself. I knew I wanted the scarecrow and cow, but I also wanted a sheep and a chicken, but it was obvious that unless I made a 12" x 12" card, it wasn't happenin', baby! Out went the chicken and sheep, sorry guys. With the stamps settled, I choose the patterned paper and from that, decided upon the colour of cardstock. To colour the images, I carefully scrutinized the pp so that I could pull the colours from there. So far, so good. Let me tell you, colouring seven images (I always make an extra for myself) puts a strain on these old eyes. Then I went back to Kendra's card and noted she had double-matted her main image. I couldn't because it was already just barely fitting on the pp. Looking closer I note the machine-stitching. Ladies, I'm no seamstress by any stretch of the imagination. I still keep my sewing machine manual beside me just to change stitches. And the zig-zag stitch will challenge me for the remainder of my natural life, I'm sure. I never get it spot-on, but this is my absolute best effort, if that counts for anything. I zigged-zagged around the blue mat onto the pp, then I had to change the stitch (see manual) and straight-stitched the white cardstock. Oh yeah, then I needed the photo corners and, without a punch, I had to improvise. I'm going to do a tutorial soon of how I accomplished this so you can all learn you don't need a dedicated photo corner punch. Next, I assemble the card and note I need a sentiment, too. That was easy. I just went to my Farm Faces stamp set and used one from there that fit perfectly. I used my small CM oval and used the green blade for the green paper and the blue blade for the blue paper, attached a couple of square brads and placed it on the card. Then out came the ribbon. First, I punched a hole in the card which caused some stitching to start unravelling. Quickly I applied Ranger Glossy Accents to the edges to stop it from further damage. I decided to not do that again and knotted the ribbons first, then attached them to the card with Glue Dots. Even though it took a very long time from start to finish, about seven hours altogether for the seven cards, I love the way it turned out. It was well worth the effort.

Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Brilliant Blue, CTMH green, PTI Select White
Stamps: Hambo Stamps, Inkspirations
Ink: Palette Hydrid Black and Cognac
Accessories: Ribbon, brads
Coloured with: Tombow and Prismacolor Markers

What do you do when your creative space is a mess?

Currently, my space is so messy it is actually stopping my creative processes. I've been wondering lately why, when I get into my craft room, I can only make one or two cards and then I just walk away, very depressed because I'm not happy with what I've done. Yesterday, it hit me.....I can not think when the space is cluttered. That leaves me only one path to follow. I need to clean up my room. So, today is the day ~~ I'm going in and not coming out until I'm happy with my space.
But first, I need to share what I did yesterday. I sat in there and thought about a card for Christmas that would be easy to make and could be done in assembly line fashion. This is what I created. I quite like it and will probably make at least a dozen of this type.



It's really a simple card, but looks so elegant. There is very little involved and can be done in modules and then assembled in minutes.

Cardstock: Metallic blue, silver
Stamps: Hero Arts tree, Papertrey Ink sentiment
Ink: VersaMark and Silver EP
Accessories: snowflake brads, ribbon, eyelets

Last night, I attended a CTMH gathering at my LSS. There were two groups, one in the kitchen, one in the living room and the purpose was to demonstrate how you can make Christmas cards using alternative colours, not just red and green. The kitchen group made cards in shades of purple and lilac. My group went for the blues. I love this card, too and it also can be made enmasse. It's definitely another addition to my Christmas cards.



I also learned how to make my own photo corners using a square punch. It's new to me and later today, I'm going to add a tutorial to my blog. I'm probably the last one to know this secret, but I'm going to show it anyway.

All supplies in the Snowman card are CTMH

I'm embarrassed!

A couple of weeks ago, well Oct 17th to be exact, a lovely person who visits my blog regularly sent me the "You Make Me Smile" award. Nicola is from the UK and has a wonderful blog. I do hope you drop in on her. So, a very public thank you to Nicola of My Paper World and an apology for not posting it sooner. I saved the award and was cleaning my files on my desktop today when I saw it again and realized my faux paux. Please, forgive me. Without further adieu, I will now proudly display the "You Make Me Smile" award.




And now it's my turn to nominate someone, but there is some difficulty in choosing so, for now, I will nominate five blogs I visit regularly, but in my heart, all of the blogs listed on the right "Make Me Smile".

A Day in the Life - Gina K.
Bloggabella - Em
Ribbons and Ink - Heather
Rings Like a Bell - Rhiannon
We Grow By Our Dreams - Heather

Thank you all for making me smile!

Made my first Tin of Sweets today!

For some reason unknown to me, I thought making those little Nuggets that go into the hinged-tins from Papertrey Ink would be difficult. DUH! They are super easy and almost make me wish I had small children going to school again so I could give them to their teachers as gifts. Wait, somebody please hit me over the head with a tin! I'm sure I can find someone to give these delightful little treats to without having to resort to small kids running around depriving me of my stamping time. Anyway, I digress. Here's my first effort, well, actually my second because my first effort I stamped the labels in Brilliance Pearlescent Blue, using the snowflake. Then, I wanted to try a mix of red and green, as well as the other stamps for the labels. I'll just have to keep the blue ones until I buy more tins.

Tin: Papertrey Ink
Stamps: PTI Holiday Treats
Ink: CTMH Holiday Red, SU Wild Wasabi
Candy: Hershey Nuggets

Then, after wrapping the nuggets up, I went on to complete the sketch challenge at SCS. You can see the details for SC147 here.
I really like the way this card turned out. I started with a Metallic Gold cardstock. Lately I've been cutting my cardstock lengthwise because I really love the way it looks and opens. It makes adding ribbon a dream although this card is sans ribbon. Then I used some Handsome Hunter c/s for background to the patterned paper and the sentiment. I was going to stamp the sentiment onto white cardstock but thought it was too stark a look. So, I took a small stipple brush, some Handsome Hunter ink and stippled the edges. As I was doing that, I thought, gee, it would look really cool all stippled and then use gold embossing powder on the sentiment and that's what I did. I think it gives depth to the card. Then I added the gold bar brads to the patterned paper bit and the round HOTP brads to the upper left and lower right corners for further embellishment.
And BTW, the patterned paper came in a magazine from the UK, Papercraft Essentials, which I picked up at Chapters on Monday. It also had a free CD with 103 fonts, too, so it was a pretty good buy.

Cardstock: Metallic Gold, Handsome Hunter
Patterned Paper: Freebie from UK magazine
Stamp: PTI Holiday Wishes
Ink: VersaMark, Handsome Hunter
Accessories: Gold ep, bar brads, HOTP round brads

Featured Stamper Challenge

It's been a while since I participated in the FS challenges at SCS. Don't know why, just caught up with other things I suppose, but I just couldn't pass up this week's Featured Stamper, Carole Burrage. It's the first time I've taken note of her gallery and I loved everything I saw. I was favouriting here, favouriting there, favouriting everywhere! She's amazing. You can check out her blog, which I have now bookmarked for daily visitation, here. And here, you can read about the challenge and see the link to her gallery as well. This is the card I chose to case. And here is my card.



I had two images of a koala bear that had been sent to me from a friend at The Stamp Shack. Sarah lives in Perth, Australia and I was so pleased to receive these cute little guys. I think they're just perfect for baby cards and, since I had two left, I decided to make one for a boy and one for a girl. I think they turned out pretty well, even if I do say so myself! Unfortunately, I do not know what company manufactures these gorgeous stamps.

Cardstock: Gray Bazzill Bling
Designer Paper: American Crafts
Sentiment: Computer Generated "Adorable" font
Accessories: American Crafts Ribbon, CTMH brads

Yesterday I was playing with my new Stamping Bella stamps and made this card, using the ever-delightful, Witchybella. Isn't she cute? I just had to pair her up with the sentiment which is going to appear on many, many Bella cards in the future, as all Bellas are "classy" and "fabulous". Am I not right, sistahs!

It just occurred to me, as I sit here looking at all three cards, the layout is almost identical. And, I made Witchybella yesterday, I swear! It's quite clear to me now why I liked Carole's card so much that I wanted to CASE it. That's just too freaky, even for me!

Cardstock: PTI Select White
Designer Paper: sorry, didn't mark it down
Stamps: Stamping Bella
Ink: Palette Hybrid Black
Accessories: $$ store stickers, brads

Hanna Stamps have arrived!

Hanna arrived safely yesterday and this morning, I got to play. This card was created for a card sketch over at The Stamp Shack. Each week, the Creative Team gives us a new challenge. This style is called 'retiform' and simply means "arranged like a net". It was easy to do by drawing a grid on the card and then masking each section and sponging the edges. Then, because Hanna Stamps are so versatile, I stamped the main image in the middle and all the things Hanna "needs" around her. Dream on, girl, we're all in the same boat!

The thing I found most interesting about this card is that it requires so few embellishments. So, I used my new Bella's Baubles, in Pink Grapefruit, to surround the main image. I tried to put some ribbon on the card, but it just became too busy, so I just stopped at the baubles.

Cardstock: PTI Select White
Stamps: Hanna Stamps
Ink: Brilliance Pearlescent Purple
Embellishments: Bella's Baubles

When the power goes off.........

....especially if it's during the day and I can still see, I just go to my craft room and play. YEP, our power was off for almost eight hours yesterday. I had serious withdrawal from not having my computer for company. However, the upside is that I completed a swap which I had only joined the night before! It's a swap at The Stamp Shack for Bella cards which is being hosted by BeckyP. They are ready for mailing and will be arriving in Tenneesee very soon Becky, so check your mailbox in a few days!



I'm sure that many of you are aware that SCS now has a new forum for Member Companies, those companies being Stamping Bella, Gina K. Designs, Papertrey Ink, Jackson Belle Embellishments, Lizzie Ann Designs, Scor-Pal and My Favorite Things. I love them all. That being said, the layout for this card of Merrybella is for the First Bella Challenge which is a sketch challenge. See details here.

When I saw that sketch, I just knew it would be perfect for the swap, too. It took me about two hours to create the six cards for the swap and I have to say, I love this card. It may well be the one I use for my own Christmas cards this year! For the sentiment, I used my CM smallest oval and the blue blade, just in case you wanted to know. Because it's a swap card, I wanted to make it fairly flat and not use to many embellishments as they can get heavy and add to the cost of mailing. (I've cut down on swaps because of the cost of postage.) So, instead of tons of embellies, I opted for textures. I used Fun Flock for the hat and boot tops, only three baubles for the tree and some Stickles - gold for the tree top and silver for the buckle. Then, I attached the ribbon with a lovely green staple, which also adds texture and interest. The entire six cards, with a return envie only weighs 93g or 3.3 oz. Perfect for mailing. I'm happy with that.

Cardstock: PTI White
Designer Paper: Reminisce
Stamps: Stamping Bella, PTI's Holiday Wishes, SU All About Christmas Wheel
Ink: Palette Hybrid Black
Accessories: Baubles, Stickles, Fun Flock, Staples

What do YOU do when you lose your mojo?

I hop on over to Poetic Artistry for my Monday Mojo fix and this week was no different. I love this sketch by Julee and here is my card. It's almost identical to Julee's, except for the papers, but I figure it's darn hard to improve on perfection! This layout is definitely going to be one of my favourites for a long time to come. Thanks so much Julee for helping me find my mojo. This is my entry for MOJO7.

Cardstock: Garden Green
Designer Paper: Mellow by Basic Grey, sentiment is stamped on faux suede paper
Stamp: PTI's Papertray set
Ink: Close to Cocoa
Accessories: clips, ribbon, paper piercing

Having found my mojo again, I continued on with another challenge. This time it is Beate's Weekend Sketch 23. You can see the details here.



This card is 6" x 6" which is a really nice size for the stamp and sentiment. If the card had been the usual A2 size, I would have had trouble getting the sentiment placed on it. I finally found some metallic red paper at Ms yesterday. I've been looking for a shimmery red c/s, but with no luck. This stuff is paper weight, but it will work just as well. If anyone knows of a company that makes or sells cardstock in shimmery red, please leave a comment so I can stock up for next year. Anyway, back to the card. This is my entry for Beate's weekend challenge. I just love this tree stamp and this one is embossed using Ranger Embossing "Puffs". Yes, it actually puffs a little bit and gives a much stronger feel to the image.

Cardstock: Bazzill White
Paper: Metallic Red
Stamps: Hero Arts Tree, PTI's Holiday Wishes
Ink: Versamark, Ruby Red
Accessories: Embossing powder, MM ribbon, HOTP star brad

A special request from a neighbour!

It's always so positive and re-affirming when we ("collective we" for all cardmakers) are asked for a special card. The other day my neighbour asked for a card to send to her daughter who just told her Mom she is pregnant. It's early days yet, but Diane can hardly wait to become a Grandma and wanted to give her daughter a special card. This is the card I made for her.



I am in love with Teddybella and purchased her a few months ago, waiting for just such an occasion. I'm so pleased to be able to ink her up for Diane as i know the joy of being told you are going to be a grandparent. If you note the designer paper, it's all about grandparents. I had originally picked it up for making birthday cards for my grandsons and still had a bit left, thank goodness.

I'm hoping my new Hanna Stamps arrive soon. I can't wait to ink those babies up, either. They'll be here any day now so stay tuned. Also, I'm waiting on my new Shack Santa (you can see him on the front page, half-way down, at The Stamp Shack and Farm Faces from Inkspirations. You should all check out these new sites and order your stamps ASAP.

Cardstock: Bazzill White, Pixie Pink, Soft Sky
Designer Paper: sorry, I forget
Stamps: Stamping Bella
Ink: Palette Hybrid Black
Accessories: button brads, Ribbon charm, ribbon & fibres

Only one card for all of yesterday!

Well, actually, I made two, but I really, really dislike the first one and have tossed it out. This is the card I made for Angelosity Sketch #5. It's a very different style for me, but I quite like it. I hope you do, too.



Normally, I don't put the verse on the card front, but this sketch really lends itself to this format. I love the designer paper as well. It's too bad you can't see more of it, but no doubt I'll be using it on other cards.

Cardstock: Very Vanilla
Designer Paper: Grateful Tree Farm from the Holiday Collection by K&I
Stamps: Sugarloaf
Ink: Palette Hybrid Black
Accessories: ribbon and staples

Friday and all is good!

Well, I've kept my deal with myself to try and make cards for all the sketches over at Angelosity. Today I made two more using sketches 1 and 2. Here is my card using Sketch #1.

There were a couple of trys at this design before I settled on a card that I felt was right. One of the first used a very dark green card base, little 3/4" squares and, well, to be honest, I thought it was dreadful, so I tossed it. Having done that, I had to sit and really look at my stamps to see what was little enough to be used six times in a small space. Well you can see what I chose. Then I needed to come up with a colour scheme and have decided that, unless it's black or dark brown, card bases need to be light. I proceeded to stamp this little flower six times on a piece of c/s that was the same size as a regular card front. Next, out came the Cuttlebug and all the embossing folders I have until I settled on the little circles. Then I ran it through and cut it to leave roughly the same amount of space at the top and bottom of the stamped flowers. I stamped the sentiment at the top, placed the button brads on the bottom and the ribbon at the side. I stared at the card for a bit, still thinking it was "missing something" and the "something" was GLITZ. Out came the Stickles and a card was born!

Cardstock: SU Cameo Coral and Gray
Stamps: Polka Dots & Paisley
Ink: ColorBox Chalk Rose Coral
Accessories: Button brads, Ribbon, Stickles & Cuttlebug embossing folder

Now I have to say that I'm not accustomed to creating cards without stamped images, but that's exactly how this one turned out and it was a surprise to me. I actually had to search for something to stamp on it or I wouldn't have been happy! This card is based on Sketch #2. While the sketch shows four circles on the right, all the same size, I took creative license and made the circles progressively smaller by using my CM circle punches and I really like the effect. And, you have no idea how long it took me to locate that ribbon slider. I knew I had some, but where, I knew not and was getting frustrated to no end looking for them. As you can see, I did finally find them and was able to get on with the card.

Cardstock: SU Cameo Coral, Caribbean Blue
Designer Paper: Petals & Paisleys
Stamps: Stamping Bella
Ink: Palette Hybrid Black
Accessories: metal flower brads, Prima Flowers

Stay tuned as I'm hoping to catch up on the weekend with sketches 4, 5, 6 and whatever else the weekend brings.

Welcome New Baby Card

One of the members at The Stamp Shack gave birth last Saturday to a beautiful baby girl and they named her Lily Anne. Isn't that a beautiful name? Anyway, this is the card that is going into the mail in the morning. I love the pinks and yellows together and think it's just perfect for a baby girl.

This card will also be used for an entry for the 31 Days of Angelosity - Day/Sketch 3. I'm going to do my best to keep up with all the sketches and make them as birthday cards, mostly, with thank yous and congrats cards thrown in for good measure. At the end, I will have 31 cards made and can give them as gift sets for Christmas. And, in addition to that, I'll have 31 chances to win a prize. It doesn't get any better than that, ladies.

Cardstock: Barely Banana, Pixie Pink
Designer Paper: Love Blossoms Twigs with Glitter by Heidi Grace
Stamps: Giraffe is TAC Aug 07 SOTM and the Rose is from Woodland Cottage
Ink: So Saffron, Briliance Pearlescent Orchid
Accessories: Mulberry paper, button brads, yellow and pink ribbons

Pink Cat Studio Contest

Oh ladies, you'll want to enter this contest being sponsored by Pink Cat Studio. You can read all about it, and if you scroll down through the posts, you'll see pics of Melissa's wedding and honeymoon in Las Vegas. It's worth a look just to see her dress!

Then move on over to Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner to read all about the contest and how to enter. You do NOT need to use Pink Cat images and the contest closes October 17th at midnight EST. Here are my cards for this great contest.

The Sketch Challenge

I pretty much duplicated the layout Kim used, just changed the paper and stamps. Before you ask, I BELIEVE the little animal in the bag is a kitty and the reason I state this here is because DH looked at me questioningly and asked, "Are you sure that's a cat?". My answer to him is, it's my stamp and it can be whatever I want it to be, so there!

Deets: Cardstock: Creamy Caramel, Blue Bayou
Designer Paper: can't remember 'cause it's so last year!
Stamps: Pink Cat Studio
Ink: Palette Hybrid Black
Accessories: Groovy Guava ribbon, White Souffle Pen, Giga Scalloped Circle Punch

The Colour Challenge

It seems that Kim's fav colours are pink and brown, so here's pink and brown. It happens to be one of my favourite colour combos as well, so I have plenty of paper to make this card. I BELIEVE the bag is a bowling bag and I wanted to tell you so that the sentiment makes sense. The acrylic letters were sent to me as part of a Secret Sister swap last year and they are the perfect size for these little tags. YEAH!

Deets: Cardstock: Close to Cocoa
Designer Paper: DCWV's Glitter Stack
Stamps: Pink Cat Studio
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: pink/brown brads, pink ribbon, acrylic letters

The Theme Challenge

I used the same layout for this card as the previous post about the SCS SC145. Again, it's a terrific sketch and I love it. I'm so bad at remembering to mark down the designer paper I use. How do you all remember this very important detail? The theme could be Winter or Christmas and, as I look at this card now, it could be a combination of both. Isn't this little guy a real cutie all bundled up in his scarf?
You'll notice that I almost always use Palette Hybrid Inks these days. They are amazing and ABSOLUTELY DO NOT RUN when you colour over them with markers, pencils or aquapainters!

Deets: Cardstock: Real Red, Hunter Green
Designer Paper: sorry, I didn't mark it down
Stamps: Pink Cat Studio, Green Galore
Ink: Palette Hybrid Black
Accessories: HOTP brads

The Sparklie Challenge

This particular card is going into my favourites because it is just so soft and feminine. I think that's because of the mulberry paper and the way it feathers when you wet it down. So pretty. This time Kim wanted sparkles, sparkles and more sparkles. Okay, you got it, Kim. I love sparkles, too, so it was easy peasy for me. And, read on because I remember the designer paper this time. HA! HA! The actual card was part of the August or September Self-Addressed kit and the hole in the top right corner was already there. How interesting!

Deets: Cardstock: White
Designer Paper: Paper Salon Sparkle Stripes
Stamps: Pink Cat Studio
Ink: Palette Hybrid Black, Brilliance Opalescence Pink
Accessories: Mulberry paper, Stickles

SCS challenge SC145

This is the card I made for today's sketch challenge, which you can see here. I really like this sketch and we were to make sure not to flip this layout. Normally there are no restrictions, but today was different. Not that it mattered to me as I like the sketch just the way it is.
I hadn't inked up my new snowman stamp from my MOA trip last month and this sketch just called me to use it, so I did. I also used some of my fabulous MME Bhoemia Christmas paper that I so love. The blues and browns are just to die for, IMO! This sketch also afforded me the opportunity to use the little snowman punch by SU which I placed along the right hand side of the card. Once again, I left little to no room for the sentiment, which I had to squeeze in along the bottom. I must learn to plan better. I must learn to plan better. I must learn to.......yadda, yadda, yadda!

Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Purely Pomegranate
Designer Paper: My Mind's Eye (MME) Bohemia Christmas
Stamps: Hero Arts, Stampendous
Accessories: Snowflake brads, blue/white organza polka dot ribbon, SU snowman punch

ANOTHER @#$! rainy day!

This is the third rainy day in a row here in Thunder Bay, ON. It's also Thanksgiving weekend and it's supposed to be pleasant, Fall weather. Well, it's not! However, it is good for staying indoors and playing with my stamps, inks, papers and such, oh my. I can play so much because we are not celebrating Thanksgiving in any big way as our families are way far away and even the smallest of turkeys would see us eating turkey dishes well into next week and who wants leftovers that long? So I play and this is what happened when I played.

Mojo6 Challenge at Poetic Artistry

I was looking at my "collection" of Stamping Bella stamps and noticed that Grumpabella looked more grumpy than usual. I picked her up and looked closely and noticed two more lines around the eyes. YIKES! No wonder she's grumpy and that made me think about aging, gracefully or not, and decided she needed to be featured on a birthday card. Using the sketch for Mojo Monday I started with SU Black cardstock. I'm sorry, but I can't remember the patterned paper for sure, but I think it may be from Paper Salon. I used the SU scalloped punch and mounted it on some black which I cut out using my CM medium circle and cutting with the blue blade on the inside, which gives the smallest circle possible and it fits just perfectly to outline the SU scalloped punch. That's my tip for the day! Then I just didn't want Grumpabella to wish a Happy Birthday, but it had to be HB with ATTITUDE causing me to search through my word stamps. That made me think I should catalog all my word stamps so that I don't have to go through every darn set I own looking for the right phrase, but sorry, I digress. I like the style of the Happy Birthday from Katie Bug Rubber Stamps (and it's small enough to fit the scalloped punch) and the Yadda Yadda is from TAC for the ATTITUDE I wanted. Now, the music notes came about because I don't think Grumpabella is pleased enough to want to sing, so I'm hoping they just ticked her off a little more. I know, I'm twisted, but I can't help it. That's my MOJO6 entry!

Moralia's Weblog Fall Themed Challenge

I hadn't visited this blog before and I don't remember how I got there this time, but I'm very glad that I did. I have added this to my blog roll because I love challenges and the possibility of blog candy and Moralia's Weblog offers both this week. This card began it's life as a piece of Close to Cocoa c/s. I added my favourite Fall paper this year which is Autumn Harvest Collection by Flair Designs Inc. Then, I cut a strip of Bashful Blue c/s and stamped some leaves on it using the small leaf from SU's Lovely As A Tree set. On top of that is a chunk of plaid paper from CM which I've had laying around for years. I then took the big tree from the same SU set and stamped it using Palette Hybrid Ink in Cognac. Unfortunately, I used bright white c/s so in order to tone it down a little, I daubed all around the tree with Bashful Blue ink. This was mounted onto a piece of Certainly Celery c/s and then placed on the card according to the sketch. I added three heart-shaped brads in different colours and called it done. The one thing I wish I had done was to mount the plaid paper on some Close To Cocoa c/s for added definition between the two patterned papers. I believe it would have added more depth to the card, but, it's too late now. I hope I remember for next time.

One more for WCMD!

The lovely Bubblebella wants to have a quiet soak in her tub. Trouble is, she doesn't have any curtains on her window so we can all see clearly what she's up to!! She's just a little bit saucy and methinks she wishes she had company in her bath. What do you think?
This card was made for the Technique Challenge at The Stamp Shack. A fantastic Creative Team has recently been appointed for a one-year term and they have already done some exciting things for us Shackies. I'm certain this year is going to be a great one at The Shack.
The base of the card is just plain white cardstock. The multi-coloured layer is glossy white paper from SU. I used a brayer, the Kaleidescope multi-colour ink pad in Baby Powder, some scrunched up clear, plastic wrap and a water spray-bottle. First, ink up the brayer and run it over the glossy paper. Spritze it enough times to make the ink 'move'. Then, scrunch and unscrunch the plastic wrap and lay it overtop of the glossy paper. Anchor it down until it dries. I left mine for about an hour and it was dry by then. Next, I adhered it to the white c/s and, using my oval CM cutter, cut through both layers. The image is actually stamped on the inside of the card. I added the ribbon between the two top layers because I wanted it to look like we really shouldn't be spying on Bubblebella in her bath, but she's so cute and saucy, we just had to do it.
That's it for WCMD for me. Signing out for now, but I'll be back tomorrow and hopefully, with a good night's sleep, my creative juices will be flowing again.

World Card Making Day is here!

I entered this card in one of the many challenges going on over at The Stamp Shack.
Here is an excerpt from The Shack's Creative Team about the challenge: " Join us in making and sharing our love of card making with others who may need a lift. We encourage all Shackies to make a few cards to share with others - be it military, someone who is ill, or anyone else you select. Prepare a few special ones for someone you know or make a set for someone to use. Join in the fun…we are going to stamp the day away!"
This is one of the cards that will be given to one of my grandson's to give to his Mommy. I remember how much my Mom used to like getting cards for no reason whatsoever and the lovely smile it would bring to her face. Maybe this will do the same for Kirsten or Kristyn. I'll let you know.





fresh & fun - WSC22

Here's my entry for Beate's weekend sketch challenge. I was looking at my Bellas' and realized that Veggiebella is perfect for Thanksgiving, so here she is bringing all my fellow-Canadians Thanksgiving Greetings.
In addition to that, she's also going to be my entry for Angie's WCMD challenge over at {stampings of the shug}. Don't you just love it when it's like 'two, two, two cards in one", to borrow a jingle from Wrigley's chewing gum.
This card uses a Very Vanilla base, but it is so washed out in the photo. I coloured her with Prismacolor Markers (my favs) and added some great paper from Creative Imaginations and a few button brads to complete the look. I distressed around the edges with one of the new Ranger Distress inks known as Brushed Corduroy. The sentiment is stamped in Close to Cocoa.

Splitcoaststampers SC144

It's taken me quite a while to complete this card seeing as how the challenge was posted on Wednesday past. I knew the paper I wanted to use, the sketch was provided but the kicker, for me, was the little tab that says "MISS you". I chose the shape as it was left up to the creator of the card, but had a dickens' of a time finding something to fit on it. What you see was what I found! However, I like how it turned out and, can you believe, it took me a whole night to figure out that those little crystals would work just fine for the centre of the Primas. DUH! Therefore, this card wins the prize for taking the longest to complete!

Back tomorrow, or maybe even later, with more WCMD challenges/cards. This is so much fun.

My first Recipe Card and it was easy!

I've always shied away from Recipe Card Swaps because I thought they were difficult, but I made my first recipe card yesterday. It's not for a swap or anything, but just because I picked up some new stamps from My Crafty Secrets and wanted to use them right away. You can see them here.


I'm just going to post the pics of my other cards I made for various challenges. It's a quick post because I'm going out for coffee with a friend and then on to lunch with DH today and I gotta go get ready.





For Ribbons and Ink Weekly Challenge #21:


I'm probably going to make some changes to this, as I think it needs embellishments of some sort, but I just forgot them yesterday.

The Swedish site, Kort i Fokus has a CardJacked Week 40 challenge. They pick someone they want and case the card. Then the readers are challenged to do the same card. Here's mine:



The images I used for this card were from I Brake for Stamps. They've added some new Halloween images recently, so I guess I'll have to get back there soon.



And, last but not least, my entry for SCS CC134 which you can see here.



Reading the colours of Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip and River Rock didn't give me a big thrill, but, in reality, they go extremely well together. The images on this card are from the Carolyn King Collection which you can purchase at Stampingfreak.

So, that's what I did yesterday. Usually I'm much better at giving the details, but I need to get ready to go out soon, and I'm afraid this will have to suffice for now. Thank goodness it can always be edited. See you tomorrow.

Some cards I made over the weekend

Well, without Bingo, I need to get back to making cards. Over the weekend, while blurfing, I decided to participate in three challenges. Here they are.

Paper Salon WCMD Birthday Card Challenge also doubles for the cards sketch at CS #23 at Laurie's Stampin' and Scrappin' Place.
The papers used are by Paper Salon. While at Scrapfest 2007 at the Mall of America, I attended a Crop Night by Paper Salon at Archivers Apple Valley store. What a fantastic time THAT was as they supplied dinner, dessert, coffee, tea, soft drinks and loads of fun with members of Paper Salon's Creative Team. We made at least two projects and received lots of goodies. One of those goodies was a 5 x 7 pad of Paper Salon papers and the papers on this card were from that paper pack. Thanks, Paper Salon.

The layout is using the CS #23 from Laurie's Stampin' and Scrappin' Space. I've added this blog to my blog roll because they do card sketches regularly and I love card sketches as I rarely have original layouts of my own. I started with SU Pale Plum c/s, added the Paper Salon designer paper's. Then I stamped some flowers from the Simply Said SU set, along with the sentiment in the upper right corner. The flowers were stamped in Blue Bayou ink. The Happy Birthday sentiment is from PTI's Papertray set which is so versatile. I added a little paper piercing for the stems and around one of the designer papers and used one of the Souffle pens for some extra definition.



I also found this wonderful blog called Kort i Fokus, or Cards in Focus. It is a Swedish blog, but thankfully, has the English instructions displayed as well. The layout is for their Sketch 19. The image of this sweet little koala bear was sent to me by my friend Sarah from The Stamp Shack. She lives in Perth, Australia and I just want to say thanks so much. My wonderful DH pointed out to me that koala bears are, in fact, grey, not brown, but I didn't know that when I was colouring the image. My apologies to all Australian koala bears who may be offended by my mistake. It won't happen again, I promise. I decided, well really it just turned out that way, to make the card monochromatic in its colour scheme using Vintage Violet and variations of purple/mauve. Sometimes my brain stops working and let's my hands takeover and almost always, it turns out really good. Quite often I 'over-think' and 'second-guess' my choices with distrasous results. The sentiment is from PTI's Little Lady set.








This Thanksgiving card wasn't for any challenges, but was made because I was dying to use this verse and this paper from Creative Imaginations. The verse was totally cased from my friend, Jennifer's, blog. I don't know if it is a stamp or not, but mine is computer generated. I added the flowers by Bazzill Wings and some Wild Wasabi ribbon, too. I just love it and it makes me happy and that's all that's really necessary, right?
So, that's what I did over the weekend and now, I'm off to my craft room to participate in more challenges which I will post tomorrow. See you then.

THE WINNER IS......

The winner of the fifth and final round of Bingo is Jenny M. Her card has been verified by my DH and myself. I pulled out her card number and had my DH call the numbers as I marked them off. I can tell you that with three numbers left to call, we had a winning card. So, CONGRATULATIONS to Jenny.

Ladies, this has been so much fun for me and I hope you have all enjoyed playing Bingo. I want to thank all the participants for all the cards they entered. Not only has this been fun, but I've found so many new blogger friends and places to visit. The only downside is that now I will have to come up with some interesting stuff to post now, along with more of my own cards.

Do come and visit regularly and leave comments. It is just so rewarding to know that someone is actually reading my blog and I will visit yours, too.

See you all again, soon.

WOW! October 1st already!

Only 86 days 'til Christmas. Have you got your shopping and/or cards even started yet? I've got some cards, but no shopping. And, my Christmas will be early this year as all the family is getting together for DS' wedding on December 3rd. That means I need to have all gifts bought and wrapped and take them to Toronto with me. YIKES!

Well, on to Bingo. It looks like we have lots of numbers today thanks to many of our players. Let's get to it, shall we?

I28 Today's number
N38 Courtesy of Elizebeth
G52 Courtesy of Nancy
G60 Courtesy of Allison
B13 Courtesy of Allison
I29 Courtesy of Christina
N43 Courtesy of Christina
O67 Courtesy of Christina
I20 Courtesy of Christina
G54 Courtesy of Christina
I27 Courtesy of Jodene
G56 Courtesy of Jodene
I21 Courtesy of Jodene

Okay, it's up to YOU! First one to call Bingo wins.