July 31, 2016

STAMPlorations Inspiration #88

Happy last day of July everyone!  Wow, where does the time fly?  The summer is going by quickly it seems.  Anyway, we've got a last Inspiration post for July over at STAMPlorations.  I have to say that I'm always amazed by the fabulous cards my teammate's make. I'm so lucky to be a part of this talented team!  Here's what I made....


I took my flower stamp (Smile set) and stamped it several times in black Memento ink, masking where it was needed. Then I coloured them in with my Spectrum Noir markers.  I stamped the sentiment (Fond Expressions 2 set) in black Versamark ink.   It's simple and pretty.

Well, I hope you go on over to the main blog and check out the other fab DT projects.  Don't forget to comment there for a chance to win a prize too!

Have an awesome day and thanks for stopping by!

I'd like to link up with the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps and More - CAS
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

July 30, 2016

Inkspirational Challenge - Prompt Word - Dip

Hey everyone!  It's the weekend!  Yay!  It's also time for another challenge over at Inkspirational.  We've got a word prompt challenge for you this time. It's "Dip".


I have to admit this one stumped me for a bit.  But then an idea popped into my head.  This is what I came up with....


I stamped my feathers (STAMPplorations) in black Memento ink and then fussy cut them out. Then I dipped them in some alcohol ink (Spectrum Noir refills) letting the paper soak it up.  I splattered some black ink on my card base and stamped my sentiment (STAMPlorations). Then I attached my feathers above and below the sentiment with some foam dots.  I really love how the feathers turned out!

Well, I hope you pop on over to the main blog and check out what the rest of the DT made.  It's all awesome as usual!  Thanks for visiting and have an awesome day!

I'd like to link up with the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps and More - CAS
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes



July 26, 2016

STAMPlorations Inspiration #87

Hi!  Tuesday has rolled around again and it time for another Inspiration post over at STAMPlorations!  Crazy how the week flies by.  We've got some more great projects to share with you over on the blog today.  Take a look at mine....


This is a pretty easy card to make and I think it makes a good one for welcoming someone to their new home.  I didn't have a sentiment that said that so I went with congrats instead. You can always write it on the inside. :-). I stamped my house four times in black Memento ink and coloured in only one with my Spectrum Noir markers.  I then stamped the sentiment (Trendy Feathers 2 set) in black Versafine ink.

Well, I hope you go on over to the main blog and check out the other fab DT projects.  Don't forget to comment there for a chance to win a prize too!

Have an amazing day and thanks for visiting!

I'd like to link up to the following challenges:

Addicted to CAS - code word is Welcome
AAA Cards - one stash favourite. Mine is my beloved Spectrum Noir markers. I love colouring with them!

July 19, 2016

STAMPlorations Inspiration #86

Greetings my fellow cardmakers!  It's Tuesday and time for some inspiration!   Over at STAMPlorations we've got oodles of fabulous cards to share with you.  You may ask why do I seem so chipper this morning?  Well, for one, the temperature has cooled down outside.  It's going to go back up in a few days but it's nice to have a break from the humidity.  I've also got a lovely little cake in the oven for the strawberry shortcake we'll be having tonight. Fresh strawberries from our neighbours farm.  Mmmmmm, yum!  Okay, on to the inspiration!  Here's my card for today....




My nautical card is almost a one layer.  I started making this with a different idea in mind but it wasn't going the way I wanted so I set it aside and came back to it to try and salvage it.  First I stamped my distressed paint swipe stripes (Mixed Media Elements set) in Abandoned Coral Distress ink then masked off a vertical strip and sponged on black ink. I added a thin line of gold with a Pentel gold marker once I removed the mask.  I stamped the anchor (Anchored set) on a separate piece of cardstock and coloured it in with my Spectrum Noir Markers. Then I fussy cut it out and attached it to my card.  I stamped the sentiment (Anchored set) in black.  I was rather happy with how this turned out and I'm glad I was able to save it. :-)

Anyway, if you want to check out the other awesome projects by the DT pop over to the main blog. Leave a comment there for a chance to win a prize too!

Have a fabulous day and thanks for stopping by!

I'd like to link up to the following challenges:

Addicted to CAS - code word is Stripes
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Nautical/By The Sea

July 16, 2016

Inkspirational Challenge - Inspiration Photo

Happy Saturday everyone!  Boy, is it hot here in Jemseg, NB!  The temperature is bad enough but you add in the humidity and I'm melting!  29 degrees celcius but feels like 35?!  Yuck!  Makes it hard to do anything.  Cooking supper is just cruel.  We've been trying to BBQ a lot.   It's been a hot July this year.  Sometimes I wish we had AC in the house. Thank goodness for the fans we have.  Could be worse, I suppose. At least we're not in a big city like Ottawa or Toronto. Their temperatures are even worse. :-)

Anyway, it's time for another fun challenge over at Inkspirational!  We've got an inspiration picture this time. Take a look....


Isn't that cake amazing?  That must have taken forever to make. The city skyline is a cool idea and that's where I drew my inspiration from.  Check it out....


I used the dies I received from fellow teamie, Marina, for my London skyline. They are by doCrafts Xcut.  There are three separate dies for the skyline so you can layer them.  I cut each one out going from dark to light cardstock.  I had to trim them to fit my card.  Before I attached them to my card I sponged on my fuchsia to purple ombré ink (Recollections) for the sky and added some clouds by sponging on some white pigment ink.  I hand drew on a crescent moon.  I attached my skyline line with foam dots layering it.  I stamped the sentiment (STAMPlorations) in black.  I quite like this card and I love these dies!  Thanks again, Marina!

I hope you pop on over to the main blog and see what the rest of the team and our fantastic Guest Designer has made.  Thanks for visiting and have a fantastic weekend!

I'd like to link up to the following challenge:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge -  create a scene

July 12, 2016

STAMPlorations Inspiration #85

Hi there!  It's inspiration day over at STAMPlorations!  Today's card was made as a thank you card for my son's teacher this year.  She was so awesome.  I wish he could have her again next year.  At least the teachers at his school are all pretty good.  :-)  Here's my card....




I stamped the thanks (Big Greetings set) several time along the bottom colouring only one with my orange Spectrum Noir marker.  Then I stamped the dragonflies (Winged Things set) and coloured them in with my Spectrum Noir markers as well.  I went in with the blender pen after dotting it randomly to create some texture.  I added some Wink of Stella to the wings after which you can see better in the detail picture.  I ended up stamping the same dragonflies inside the card just for fun.  I quite like this card and it was fairly simple to create.  It probably would have been easier doing the sentiment with a stamp positioner but I don't have one so I painstakingly did it by eye.  I managed not to mess up the first time too.  whoohooo!  LOL..

Anyway, if you want to check out the other awesome projects by the DT pop over to the main blog. Leave a comment there for a chance to win a prize too!

Have a fabulous day and thanks for stopping by!



July 10, 2016

Tropical Birthday

Hi everyone!  Just dropping in to share a card I made the other night.  I was having fun with some Waffle Flower stamps and my Spectrum Noir markers.  Check it out...


I mostly used stamps from Waffle Flowers Hibiscus set. I first stamped my toucan then masked it off. I stamped my branches and leaves several times. Then I removed the mask and coloured the toucan (True Black, CT1, CT3, CT4, CG2, DR5, IB3, OR1).  I added a highlight to his eye with a white gel pen.  I stamped the flowers on a separate piece of cardstock and coloured them in (CT1, CT3, CT4, OR1, BT1, BT4, BT5, PP1, PL1, BP2, TN7, DG2, DG4 and the Blender) then I fussy cut them out.  I attached them to my card over top the leaves and branches. I stamped the sentiment (Waffle Flower Lotus set) in black.  I think this is quite a fun and summery card.  :-)

Thanks for visiting with me today. Have a great week!

I'd like to link up to the following challenges:

July 05, 2016

STAMPlorations CUTplorations New Release Day 3!

 If you are looking for my Inspiration Post #84 go HERE.
If you are looking for my CASEplorations Post go HERE.
 If you are looking for Shery's Birthday Post go HERE.

Hey everyone!  It's the last day to celebrate with STAMPlorations!  This past week we've been celebrating with a new stamp set and the launch of our new line of thin metal dies.  The last two days we showed you the nesting tags and the nest rectangles with the crazy stitching. Weren't the projects the DT made amazing?  Today we are sharing projects using the fabulous word dies. We each got a couple of words to play with.  Mine were, Celebrate and Amazing.


The word dies are just awesome!  Great fonts and the sizes are perfect. Check out my cards....


My first card is fairly simple in design but took me a bit of time to accomplish. First, I took some gloss paper and added some alcohol ink in a variety of colours adding blender ink as well.  I used the Spectrum Noir ink refills I have.  I used a piece of scrap and pressed it down on my wet ink and it smooshed all the colours quite nicely.  I stamped my balloon (Kathryn's Big Wishes set) using black StazOn ink and fussy cut it out.  I took a white card base and splattered black ink on it and stamped the balloon string (Kathryn's Big Wishes set) without the bow.  I attached my balloon with some foam dots.  I die cut my celebrate and sponged on some silver Delicata ink.  You could just die cut from silver paper but I didn't gave any so thins worked in a pinch.  I then attached it to my card.  I really love how the balloon turned out.


My second card is a super easy one to make but I just love the effect.  I took my stencil (Flourishes) and sponged on silver Delicata ink fading it out as I went up.  I due cut the word amazing and sponged on the ombre inks from Hero Arts Pool to Navy Ombre ink pad. I then attached it to my card.  Lastly, I stamped the rest of the sentiment (Sentiment Buliders: Happy set) in black.

So, don't forget to come by the STAMPlorations blog and hop with us!  Leave some comments along the way for a chance to win some great prizes.  Plus, you can make your own fun card using the graphic below for inspiration and link up for more chances to win!  Hope to see you there!


Have a great day and thanks for visiting!

I'd like to link up my FIRST card to the following challenges:

Addicted to CAS - code word is Fly



Happy Birthday Shery!!

If you are looking for my Inspiration Post #84 go HERE.
If you are looking for my CASEplorations Post go HERE.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHERY!!!

Today we are celebrating our fearless leader's birthday.  Surprise, Shery!  Us STAMPlorations girls wanted to do something special since you are the BEST!  No is more dedicated, hardworking, generous and talented. You rock, Shery!  I wish you nothing but the best on your special day!  I made this card just for you and I'll get it mailed off as soon as this postal thing here resolves itself. :-)  Love ya girl!


I stamped my presents (Party Mates set) masking as I went along. I coloured them in with my Spectrum Noir markers. Then masking some of the presents I stamped my big Happy (Big Greetings set). Then I stamped the birthday (same set).  Hope you like it, Shery!

Want to see all the other great DT cards?  Go over to STAMPlorations and check them out!

STAMPlorations Inspiration #84

If you are looking for my CASEplorations Post go HERE.

Hi there!  It's inspiration day over at STAMPlorations!  Today's card was made for my Father-in-law for Father's Day.  He doesn't have it yet due to a looming postal strike here.  :-(  Take a look....


First I stamped the reindeer (Reindeer Games set) then I masked it.  I stamped my distress stamps (Mixed Media Elements set) in Nautical Blue Memento ink on the corners.  I removed the mask and coloured in the deer with my Spectrum Noir markers.  I sentiment (Reindeer Games set) actually says "You are very deer to me" but I wanted it to say "us" so I only inked up what I wanted then stamped it.  Then I used a black marker and hand wrote "us" to match the rest.  I think it turned out pretty good.  It's a fun card and one I think my FIL will like.

If you want to check out the other awesome projects by the DT pop over to the main blog.  Leave a comment there for a chance to win a prize too!

Have a fabulous day and thanks for stopping by!



STAMPlorations CASEplorations July

***Please note that its a post heavy day today so there will be more posts coming up.  :-)***

Hey everyone!  Guess what?!  It's time for a new CASEplorations over at STAMPlorations!   We've got an amazing card to CASE this month by wonderful card artist, Elina Stromberg.  Just check out her totally stunning card below....


Isn't is gorgeous?!  It's not my usual style but I tried my hand at some mixed media type stamping.   Take a look at what I came up with....


I started off by stamping my butterflies (Winged Things set) and my wavy lines (Mixed Media Elements set) in white StazOn ink.  Then I sponged on Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed and Abandoned Coral Distress inks.  The white StazOn ink acts as a resist. I then stamped the same images using Abandoned Coral ink.  I stamped the hearts (Sketchy Coffee Cups set) in Abandoned Coral and Walnut Stain ink.  I stamped the script stamp (Mixed Media Elements set) in Walnut Stain that I had spritzed with water first and stamped off once or twice.  I splattered water to create water droplets.  I inked up the edges with Walnut Stain ink.  I stamped the distressed lines (Mixed Media Elements set) and the butterflies (Trendy Butterflies set) in Walnut Stain and black in that was spritzed with water first.  I die cut the celebrate and inked it up with Abandoned Coral, Walnut Stain and black ink.  I stamped the love (Frames and Flowers set) in a mixture of Walnut Stain and black ink.  I attached my panel to a white card base.  This was quite fun to create and forced me out of my normal CAS box.  I quite like it!

So, I hope you'll all pop on by the main blog and check out all the fabulous cards by the DT and remember there are prizes to be won too!

Have a fantastic day and thanks for dropping by!


I'd like to link up to the following challenge:

Craft Stamper Magazine - Take it Make it Challenge - anything goes




July 04, 2016

STAMPlorations CUTplorations New Release Day 2!

Hey everyone!  It's a lovely day to celebrate with STAMPlorations!  It's our 3rd birthday and there's a party going on.  Yesterday we introduced the first in a awesome selection of our newest product, CUTplorations thin metal dies!  Weren't the projects the DT made amazing?  Today we are sharing projects using another one of the new dies. It's the Crazy Double Running Stitch Nesting Dies.


I just love these nesting dies.  Lots of fun things you can do with them. Here's what I came up with....


I took the smallest rectangle and die cut some white cardstock.  Then I took my butterflies (Trendy Butterflies set) and inked them up with Spiced Marmalade and Broken China Distress ink and New Sprout Memento ink. I spritzed them with water and then stamped on my die cut rectangle.  I matted this in navy blue cardstock and then attached it to my white card base.  I wanted to keep it fairly simple to really show off this awesome die.

So, don't forget to come by the STAMPlorations blog and hop with us!  Leave some comments along the way for a chance to win some great prizes.  Plus, you can make your own fun card using the graphic below for inspiration and link up for more chances to win!  Hope to see you there!


Have a great day and thanks for visiting!

I'd like to link up to the following challenges:

Addicted to CAS - code word is Fly
CASology - cue card is Row
ColorQ -


July 02, 2016

Inkspirational Challenge - Colour Challenge

Happy Saturday everyone!  There's a new challenge starting today over at Inkspirational!  It's a colour challenge this time. :-)


Anything goes with red?  You bet!  Now that it's July, Summer is in full swing.  It's hot, kids are done school and it's time for some summer fun!  And what kind of card do I make?  A Christmas card!  LOL.  I couldn't help it. The idea just came to me and wouldn't let go.  ;-)  Take a look....


I would have to say this is my first successful attempt at the chalkboard technique. I've tried in the past and it just never turned out.  Would you believe that not one single stamp was used on this card? What?!  I didn't have one that fit my vision, plus I have yet to find a white ink that looks good when stamped. I didn't want to use embossing powder either.  So, I broke out my white gel pen and hand wrote the sentiment. I did it in pencil first to make sure it looked good then traced over it.  I drew the snowflakes by hand too.  It was rather fun and I made try this again.  Once the pen had dried I added some white sponged ink.  I made and added my red bow, embellishing it with a snowflake and a few tiny silver jingle bells.

I hope you pop on over to the main blog and see what the rest of the team has made.  Thanks for visiting and have a fantastic weekend!

I'd like to link up to the following challenges:

Winter Wonderland - Snow Much Fun (have snow or snowflakes on card) or alternate theme of three or more embellishments.  I believe I actually followed both themes!  :-)
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
Christmas Cards all Year Round - Anything Goes

July 01, 2016

STAMPlorations 3rd Birthday Blog Hop Day 3!

***Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canadian friends and followers!***

It's day 3 of STAMPlorations 3rd birthday celebrations!  We are still showing off Deepti's super sweet new stamp set design called Kathryn's Big Wishes. There are lots of prizes to be won by commenting and you can make and link up your own card too!




This hop is also for introducing a brand new product for STAMPlorations. CUTplorations thin metal dies!!  How exciting!  The STAMP girls have some more fabulous projects to share with you today and I hope you'll go check them all out!  This is my card for today....




This is a simple card to make but a fun one.  I stamped the candle image several times in black Memento ink.  I coloured them in using my Spectrum Noir markers.  I added some shimmer to the candle base part with my Wink of Stella pen.  I stamped the sentiment in black Versamark.  I love how bright this card is and the glitter just adds a bit more flash.

So, come over over to the STAMPlorations blog and join in on the fun!  Here's all the details:

All prizes will be randomly drawn using Random.org
Prizes for commenting on the STAMPlorations blog and STAMPlorations designers blogs:
  • THREE (3) winners of $25 gift certificate
  • SEVEN (7) winners (1 per day) of $10 gift certificate
Prizes for liking, commenting, sharing, and tagging a friend on the STAMPlorations Facebook page post:
  • TWO (2) winners of $15 gift certificate -- 1 for the commenter and 1 for the friend she tags in the comment

Prizes for creating and linking up a party/celebration/birthday project:
  • ONE (1) winner of Kathryn’s Big Wishes stamp set
  • ONE (1) winner of CUTplorations word dies (winner chooses 3 from 10 available)

Hope you enjoyed you visit today!  Thanks for stopping by!

I'd like to link up to the following challenges:

CAS Mix Up Card Challenge - stamping + Markers + your choice. I chose glitter
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - anything goes
Addicted to Stamps and More - 200th challenge and 4th birthday be inspired by the picture below


Virginia's View Challenge - all about colour