January 27, 2014

Let's Celebrate (card #2)

This is my second post for the day.  A rare occurrence, indeed.  Just showing you all the second card I made using Neat and Tangled stamps.


I was inspired by a card made by Gayatri Murali of Handmade By G3. She's a phenomenal card designer and I just love her work.  Here's the card I CASEd.


Fabulous isn't it?  All the stamps I used are from the Party Dots set.  This is now part of my stash of birthday cards and I'm going to need them in the next couple of months.  Lots of birthdays in my and my husband's families.

Anyway, thanks for visiting.  Have a great day!

Celebration in a Jar!

So, while I didn't get a chance to play in my crafty area yesterday, I did get some time this morning.  :-). I actually got two cards made.  So, I'll probably do another post a little later today for that one.  This first card came about by an idea that popped into my head about how to use the big circle with "bubbles" from the Party Dots set from Neat and Tangled.  I just got some stamps from them and I was so excited to try them out!  Take a look at my card...




So, I stamped the circle in a few different colours (Fresh Green, Moss Green, and Celadon pigment ink, all by Color Box).  I then stamped my jar (Dear Lizzy Neapolitan collection by American Crafts) on top of the stamped circle placing it to look like a bubbly liquid was inside the jar.  I used Jet Black StazOn ink.  Then I fussy cut it out.  I stamped my banner and sentiment (also from the Party Dots set by Neat and Tangled) in black and fussy cut it out.  I coloured the lids of my jars with Spectrum Noir markers (BGR1, BGR3, Blender) and then attached my jars to a white card base.  I adhered my banner using some foam dots.  I'm quite pleased with how this turned out.  :-)

I'm going to link this card up to the following challenges:

Addicted to CAS - code word "New".  I used some new stamps.
CAS-ual Fridays - color blocks.  My jars aren't square blocks but the idea is the same.
Addicted to Stamps and More - their challenge this time is to make a CAS card.  Right up my alley!  :-)

Well, thanks for dropping by and I hope you all have a marvelous day!

January 26, 2014

Resolution and New Followers

So, I'm sorry I haven't been around this past week.  I haven't been able to make any cards as I've been busy making decorations for my son's upcoming birthday party.  He's having a superhero theme.  My hubby gave me a paper pad for Christmas called Comic Heros by Recollections.  It is perfect for making decorations for the party.  I'll take pictures on the day to show you all.  Anyway, I'm hoping I'll get into my craft room today and make some cards.  In the meantime, I thought I would share a picture of my craft desk all cleaned up. You might remember this picture of the mess on my desk which really never changes.


I decided to finally clean it up in order to play around with my new stamps.  Here's what it looked like...


I figured that my resolution this year would be to keep my desk clea...........bwahahahahaha!  I couldn't even finish that sentence.  LOL!  I mean, seriously?  I'm sure I'll try to keep it clean but I know myself and it will slowly desolve into chaos.  That's okay as long as I'm making fun cards!  :-)

Anyway, I'd like to take a moment to welcome some new followers.  Now, even though I've figured out how to see how many people have subscribed to my blog by email it does not show me any actual names.  However, I do know one person who did so because she told me in a comment.  So, I figured that since I know I would welcome her.  Besides she is one of my favourite card designers/artists.  She does some absolutely gorgeous things with her stamps.  She is non other than Heather Telford and her blog is bits & pieces.  If you haven't seen her work before go check out her blog. You won't be disappointed!  I'd also like to welcome Sandie from London Days.  She makes some fabulous CAS cards and is totally worth checking out.  Welcome to both of you and to all the others who subscribe by email.  It means a lot that you've chosen to follow me!  :-)

So, I'll be back soon with some cards.  I promise!  Until then, thanks for visiting and have a fantastic day!

January 19, 2014

Magical

Well, I had some fun the other morning, in my craft room playing with one of my new stamps from Christmas.  I've admired this stamp for some time and was very excited that my husband got it for me.  :-).  It's called Snowy Cabin by Inkadinkado.




Isn't it a lovely stamp?  Anyway, I got to use it for Festive Friday's first challenge of the year.  So excited they are back.  :-). Their challenges are changing slightly.  Basically, it's now an inspiration photo.  What a great photo to start off with too!  Check it out...


Fabulous isn't it?  I thought of my new stamp instantly.  Since my stamp is new I'm also linking up to Addicted to CAS where there code word is "new"!  Also going to link up at Christmas Cards All Year Round where they have an "anything goes" challenge this month.

So I made this card by stamping my snowy cabin in black dye base ink (SU!) and then coloured in the cabin in red with a charcoal pencil.  I added some glitter to the roof and the snow on the tree (SU!) which, as usual, is incredibly hard to see in the photo.  Trust me, it's very sparkly.  Then I cut out the word magical with my Slice machine twice.  Once out of white glimmer paper and once out of a pale green glimmer paper.  I darkened both somewhat by sponging black ink on them.  I attached them to the card slightly offset to create a drop shadow look.  I stamped the "season" in black.  It's a part of a sentiment stamp that says "Enjoy the Season" by Hero Arts (LP209).  I layered it on some red cardstock then a light grey card base.  Love the look of this stamp!

Well, thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a lovely day!  :-)

January 15, 2014

Valentine Bullseye

I have finally found some time to play with some of my new "toys" today.  I tested out my new Xyron machine. It's pretty cool and will come in handy for my son's birthday party next month.  :-)  I did try out one new stamp I got from Michael's $1.50 bin.  It was a part of the purchase using one of my gift cards.  Sometimes you can find some great things in those bins.

Anyway, I made a set of three cards for this weeks Less Is More challenge.  Its a one layer card week and the theme is hearts.  I'm also going to link this up to the One Layer Simplicity challenge (formerly known as One-Layer Wednesday).  The theme is restocking the shelves, so make a card to refill your depleted stores.  Well, mine are pretty thin right now and since Valentine's day is coming up, I might as well get some done!  :-)  I'm also linking up to Addicted To Stamps and More.  Their theme is "Holiday" and that can be any kind of holiday.  Okay, so here's my cards...


So, I went super simple this time.  I took my bullseye stamp and stamp with versamark ink on a white card base.  I used some embossing powders and presto!  The embossing powders are as follows:  Wintergreen by Stamp-n-Stuff, Pearlized Amethyst and Pearlized Carnelian by Stampendous.  Really CAS but I like them.  I wanted to try some less traditional colours too.

Well, that's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a lovely day!

January 14, 2014

Publication!

So, finally I can share with you the card that was published in the recent Paper Crafts Magazine, Practical Solutions for Paper Crafters Vol. 2.


The sad thing is I have been unable to locate a copy of the magazine yet.  :-(. I really want to see how they photographed it.  I even looked in Calgary when I was there over Christmas.  I may just have to order it.  :-). I'll get it eventually.  Anyway, I do have a photo of it to share.  It was for the category of DIY stamps.


What was my DIY stamp, you ask?  Let me show you.


I decided to raid my yard and found a fern, grass and some flowers.  I inked them up and stamped with them.  To stamp the fern and grass I used a piece of wax paper overtop and a brayer to impress the images.  It was easier as they are quite delicate.  You can do this with pretty much any kind of plant really.  I may have to experiment more this summer.  :-). The sentiment is by Fiskars and the paper is Recollections.  The wood grain embossed piece is a folder by Darice.  I really love how this turned out.  It was so exciting when I got that acceptance email.  Can't wait to see it in the magazine itself.

Well, that's all for now.  Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a wonderful day!

January 09, 2014

Merry Monday Milk Card

Say what???!!!  LOL. Let me explain.  I have a card that I'm going to link up to the current Merry Monday challenge which is to use ribbon or twine.  Well, I've got ribbon on my card.



I also have milk.  Huh??!!  :-). Sweetened condensed milk that is.  You see, its a technique I learned many years ago and I decided to try it out again.  What you do is use the condensed milk as your "ink" and stamp with it.  Once that is done you take your embossing heat gun and carefully heat it up and it caramelized the milk turning it brown.  How dark it gets depends on how long you heat it.  I don't recommend heating it too long though.  It can burn easily which can also burn your paper.  A couple of things to keep in mind when doing this technique.  Make sure the condensed milk is sweetened.  It's the sugar in the milk that allows it to caramelize.  It's best to sponge the milk on the stamp itself.  It's thick and messy and this allows you some control.  Another fun way to do this technique would be to stamp and emboss an image and "colour" it in with the milk using a paint brush.  Paint it thickly and you'll get some cool texture happening.  :-).

Once I created my milk panel (flourish stamp by Stampendous) I trimmed it to size, added some ribbon and a snowflake button.  I stamped my sentiment (Hero Arts, Joy to All set) and layered everything on some light aqua cardstock and a brown card base.

It's a fun technique to play with.  If any of you try it out, let me know.  I'd love to see what you do with it.  :-)

Thanks for visiting and hope you have a fantastic day!

January 07, 2014

A Year In Review

Well, it's a new year and I'm finally home from my holidays out in Alberta.  I had a lovely Christmas with my parents.  My son had a blast.  We went to the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller to see the dinosaur bones and saw the Zoolights at the Calgary Zoo.  It was all fantastic.  We brought in the New Year with my husbands family in Grande Prairie.  Holy snow Batman!  It snowed 72cm on New Year's Eve alone!  We had a great time playing games and my son had fun playing video games with his cousins.  :-).

Anyway, I just thought I would share a some of my favourite cards I made this past year.  There are several I'm proud of and it's largely thanks to all the challenges out there that pushed me creatively.  Plus, all you fabulous people that have left such kind comments and encouragement along the way.  Thank you all!  :-). So, in no particular order, here they are...


(Earned me my first shout out over at Festive Friday)



(This one won me a Guest Designer spot at CAS(E) This Sketch)


(One of my all time favs this year)


(A special card for my son that won me a spot in the top 20 for Gallery Idol)


(Made for the second round of Gallery Idol)






(Also one of my fav cards this year)




(Made for my Guest Designer spot at CAS-ology)




(Was a winner at CAS-ology and another fav card)

Well, that's it.  Whew!  I'm hoping this year will be even better!  :-).  I hope all of you have a wonderful year ahead too!

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a fantastic day!  :-)