May 31, 2013

OMG! OMG!

OMG!  I can't believe it!!!  I made top 20 in the PaperCrafts Gallery Idol Contest!!  (Insert squeal of excitement here).  I didn't think I would be chosen, there were so many amazing cards.  I mean, there were 260 designers and 446 cards.  They chose my R2-D2 card that I had made for my son.  I'm in some pretty talented company and feel so honoured.



Oh my, my stomach is doing flip flops!  LOL.  I hope you all will be following along with the contest and support me with your votes.  :-). That's how it worked last year anyway.  :-).  (OMG, OMG).

Hope you all have as fantastic of a day as me!

May 29, 2013

Happy Birthday Ardyth!

Well, today is fellow blogger, Ardyth's birthday.  (Check out her blog MASKerade). Darnell from djkardkreations organized a little birthday surprise for her.  We all made a card to wish her a very Happy Birthday!  I'm a little late posting this but the well wishes are still very sincere.  :-)  Here's my card..



Hope you have a fantastic day, Ardyth!

May 27, 2013

A Pocket Full of Gingerbread

My second post for today.  Doesn't happen too often but I just happened to get two cards made yesterday.  I'm linking this card up to two challenges.  First is Festive Friday with the theme being a colour challenge of red, green and gold.  The second is Christmas Cards All Year Round with the challenge of including gingerbread.  I have to say I'm really happy with this card.  It took some trial and error but it is just what I was hoping for.


Now, to have a gingerbread man in my card I had to make one out of sculpey clay and paint it.  I don't have a gingerbread man stamp.  Really should fix that issue.  :-). The candy embellishment are from Dress it Up (by Jesse James).  I cut the pocket out of some Nordic patterned paper by Recollections and tied a gold cord around it before attaching it with some foam dots.  The sentiment is from the Joy To All set by Hero Arts.

Well, that's all for now.  Have a fabulous day!

Con-GRAD-ulations!

Why do I always leave everything to the last minute?  Oh yeah, I'm a procrastinator.  Le sigh.  I really wanted to join in at CAS(E) This Sketch challenge but was having trouble coming up with something.  Well, my nephew graduated from highschool this month and I needed to make a card for him and suddenly a lightbulb went off in my head.  Scared the heck out of the hamster!  LOL!  Anyway, here's the great sketch....



And here's what I came up with....



Aren't those arms hilarious?  It's such an iconic image the throwing of the grad caps.  I had to get creative to get those arms too. They are from a set by Recollections and those are fairy arms!  The set has two fairies some sentiments, flowers and flourishes.  I'm sure they never figured it would be used in this fashion.  :-). Anyway,  the grad caps are also by recollections given to me by a friend.  The sentiment is by Fiskars.  I love how this turned out.  I hope my nephew does too.  :-)

I've got another card to share but that'll be another post.  Have a fabulous morning!

May 26, 2013

New RCS Challenge, "Sixteen Candles"

Another challenge is going on over at Red Carpet Studio and this week it's based on the movie Sixteen Candles.  I love that movie!!  :-). You are challenged with making a birthday card.  The challenge runs from May 26th to June 1.  Our sponsor this time is Paper Pretties and they are offering up 6 digital stamps to the winner.



We were generously given an image of our choice to work with and here's my card.



Very happy that my printer is working again.  :-). I made the polka dots using the eraser head on a pencil using Bermuda Bay, Perfect Plum and Soft Suede inks (SU!). I coloured in the digi stamp ("Cherry On Top", Paper Pretties) using Spectrum Noir markers and I fussy cut the heck out of it.  :-). I actually had a bit of trouble doing so and not because it was small and fiddly.  As I was finishing the tricky part with my small craft knife, said knife broke.  And not the blade but the base part.  Argh!  Now I have to but a new one.  In any case I got it cut out.  I made a flag and stamped the sentiment (Fiskars) in black.  Cut out some circles in coordinating card stock and attached everything together.

So, hope you all can join in the fun!

That's it for now.  Have a fabulous day!

May 22, 2013

A Boy's World

So, I've got another masculine/boys card for The Paper Players current challenge.  This would be perfect for a boy whose world is filled with frogs and bugs.  I can see my son wanting a pet frog in a few years.  :-).  I'm also linking this up to Addicted to CAS again as well.  Their code word is birthday.  I'm also going to link it up to CAS-usal Fridays challenge.  You're supposed to stamp on designer paper which I did with the frog and I guess the jar too.  :-)


Anyway, I did a little paper piecing with the frog (Inkadinkado).  I stamped on some patterned paper (K&Company-Roam collection). Then did it again on yellow/green card stock and cut out only the eyes.  The jar is cut from some Dear Lizzy Neopolitan collection paper (American Crafts) and I stamped some grass using Mellow Moss ink (both stamp and ink by SU!).  Then I stamped the web (Inkadinkado) in grey StazOn, then the spider (unknown) in black StazOn.  I cut the wood grain strip (DCWV) to try and mimic a shelf.  Then I stamped the sentiment (Fiskars) in black StazOn.

I'm really rather pleased with it.  I really like how the jar turned out.

That's all for now.  Have a fabulous day!

May 20, 2013

You Rock Birthday

Just a quick post today to get this card linked up.  I really liked this weeks CAS(E) This Sketch challenge and realized I'm running out of time!  I started this card yesterday but was interrupted.  :-). Anyway, here's the awesome sketch...



And here's my card....



It's a birthday card for my nephew.  This says it all when I think of him.  He really does rock.  He's had to go through a lot in his almost 19 years and he is a great young man.

I used a Studio G stamp for the sentiment and the stars are by 7 Gypsies.  The spheres from Joann's dollar bin.

Hope you like it.  Have a fabulous day!  And hope all my Canadian friends are enjoying their Victoria day!

May 19, 2013

Alligator Birthday

So, another challenge is going on over at Addicted to CAS and I have a cute little card I made for a friend's son to link up.  Their code word this time is Birthday.  My friend's boy turns one and I have had this idea in my head for some time.  I really love how it turned out.


I just love this little alligator stamp by Inkadinkado.  It's part of a set that has a whole bunch of boy themed stamps and I've wanted to use this alligator for a while but just never had an idea for it.  I stamped it in black and coloured it in with my Spectrum Noir markers and then fussy cut it out.  The number one I had to make from a chipboard letter as I didn't have a one big enough for what I wanted.  This used to be an "I".  :-)  It also used to be yellow.  I painted it blue with some acrylic paint.  I stamped the grass (SU!) in two different greens and the sentiment (Fiskars) in black.  The alligator is raised up on some foam dots.  I think it turned out quite cute.  Here's a closer look at the alligator and the number one.  The chipboard was flocked so it has some texture to it.


I think I'll link this up to the new The Paper Players challenge #146 as well.  You have to create a CAS masculine card.  I think this qualifies quite nicely.  :-)

Anyway, that's all I have to share for now.  I hope you all have a super fabulous day!

May 18, 2013

Festive Friday is so Sweet!

Really, they are.  I love this challenge blog.  They have great themes and the DT are so talented.  Plus, they are helping me get my Christmas cards done early!  So, it's a Trigger Challenge this time at Festive Friday.


 
This was a hard one for me for some reason.  I suppose one problem is that I didn't seem to have any stamps that really worked well for this word.  So, I remembered I had these embellishments that I got for Christmas a couple of years ago and they were perfect.  :-)
 

I love that little gingerbread house!  I had to creatively cobble together the sentiment using two stamps.  One was a 1.50 stamp from Michaels that had a jar of candies (yes, I know this could have worked for the theme and I tried but I couldn't come up with anything I liked) and the word "sweet" on it.  I inked up that part only and stamped it first.  Then I used my other sentiment (Fiskars) and lined it up underneath.  I think it worked out well.  So, then it was just a matter of cutting out some circles and putting it all together.  If you are wondering the patterned paper is from a Christmas paper pad from Recollections.

Well, that's all for now.  Have a fabulous day!


May 12, 2013

New RCS Challenge, "Baby Mama".

It's a new card challenge this week at Red Carpet Studio and this time the inspiration comes from the movie, Baby Mama.  You have to make a baby card.  The challenge runs from May 12th to May 18th.  The sponsor is Eureka Stamps and they are generously giving the winner 5 digi stamps of your choice.  They have some super cute images so this is a great prize!



Now Eureka provided the card design team with images to use on our cards.  Unfortunately, my printer is not working at the moment and I was unable to use my adorable digi stamp.     :-(.  It was so cute too!  However, I was able to make a card without it and here it is....



I stamped the giraffe (Inkadinkado) in black and coloured it with my Spectrum Noir markers then fussy cut it out.  Layered it on a part circle and multiple banners of patterned paper.  The sentiment is by Fiskars.  Hope you all like it!

Have a fabulous day!

May 10, 2013

Monkey Birthday

Today I have a card that is a part of a set that a friends Mom is purchasing from me.  She needs birthday cards for boys.  She doesn't have any grandchildren that are girls so I needed to come up with some cute boy cards.  I have this monkey stamp that came with a set of stamps that I've never used but I always thought he was super cute.  So, I decided it was time to ink him up.  Here he is.....


I don't do much paper piecing and thought I would try it here.  I'm just realizing that I seem to be on a trend of doing things I don't normally do a lot of.  I guess I'm pushing myself out of my comfort zone :-).  I stamped the monkey (Inkadinkado) in black ink on some polka dot paper (K & Company) and fussy cut him out then stamped on some cream paper and just cut the belly part out to attach.  The happy birthday is die cut using my Slice machine out of kraft paper and then I sponged with Soft Suede (SU!).  On the cream panel I used the leaf roller stamp (SU!) in Sage Shadow (SU!).  Patterned paper panel also by K & Company.

I think this card turned out pretty cute.  I'm going to link it up to the There She Goes Clear Stamps challenge - Paper Piecing.  If you haven't seen this blog check it out.  Lots of cool stuff going on and they've got some great stamps.

Well, I think I'll go get crafty now.  I've got some time and I've got more cards to make for my friend's Mom.  Have a fabulous day everyone!!

May 08, 2013

Happy Mistakes.....And Rainbows

Today I have a card that I made as part of an all occasion set my best friends Mom is purchasing from me.  :-)  I made it with the current challenge over at Addicted to CAS in mind.  The code word is Rainbow.  It seems lately every card I make is a bit of a struggle.  I start out with an idea and it never works out quite like I wanted it.  However, even though it is a struggle I'm pretty happy with the end results.  So, that's good.  :-).  Anyway, here's my card....



I love rainbows as much as the next person but I realized I don't use them much in my cards.  Not sure why this is.  In any case, I used them and love it.  I stamped the happy stamp (Fiskars) in the colours of the rainbow with the birthday wishes sentiment (Fiskars) stamped in black on a small panel.  The sparkly strip is from a piece of patterned paper I cut out.  I also edged the birthday wishes panel in black.  The hearts (Fiskars) are stamped in black then I coloured the rainbow with my Spectrum Noir markers.  It's funny about the hearts.  I had only planned to put one on near the sentiment but as I was colouring it I opened up my yellow marker and a big drop of ink flew out and guess where it landed?  Yep right on my card.  It wasn't even that close to where I was working!  Argh!  By this time I had been working on this for a while (all that struggling, you know) and I was determined to save this card.  So I decided to add a couple of more rainbow hearts.  Well, I loved the extra hearts and the card looks better with them.  So, happy mistake!

Well, that's all for now.  Hope everyone has a fabulous day!

May 07, 2013

A Card For The MIL

Well, I seem to be on a roll this week.  Another card done but this time for the Mother-in-law.  I'm quite pleased with it too.  I'm linking the card up to The Playdate Cafe's challenge #180.  That's where the colour scheme came from.  Must use white and black with a splash of magenta.



I'm cutting it close with this challenge.  It ends in about 13 hours.  LOL.   Here's my card...



 There was another source of inspiration for this card that I found on Pinterest.  A card created by the talented Heather Telford.  The colours on mine are different as well as the stamps used.  I did make a few changes but you can see the similarity.  Checks hers out HERE.  It's the fifth card down.  I just love her work!  Anyway, here's what I did.  First I sponged with black ink on the one corner then stamped with a script stamp (7 Gypsies) making sure to sponge of the ink a bit to give that faded look.  Then I stamped the tall flowers (Hero Arts) and coloured it in with my Spectrum Noir markers.  I stamped the sentiment (Inkadinkado) and added the black ribbon.  I attached that to a black panel then the white card base.

Well, better get this posted and linked up.  Have a fabulous day!

May 06, 2013

For you, Mom

I finally got a Mother's Day card made for my Mom last night.  I've been struggling with it but its finished now and I quite like it.  My Mom and me are close.  I consider her one of my closest friends as well as the best Mom a girl could as for.  :-).  Unfortunately, we live really far apart.  I'm in NB and my Dad and her are in Calgary, AB.  It's been hard not to see her whenever I wanted since we moved here.  And while I don't miss Calgary I really miss my Mom (and my Dad too!).  At least we talk often.  At least once a week (thank goodness we have a long distance plan!  LOL).  Our conversations last quite a long time.  Usually, at least, an hour.  We are going to visit them this Christmas which I'm looking forward to.  By then it'll have been almost two years since we've seen each other.  Too long, but flights in Canada are just ridiculously expensive.  Anyway, this card is for you, Mom.



I don't do a lot of stitching on my cards but I just had to for this idea.  After I sponged and splatter the blue (Brocade Blue by SU!) I stitched in white.  I stamped the sentiment (SU!) in Timber Brown StazOn then attached the flowers (Walmart) and the rhinestones.  I layered it on a floral green paper (Basic Grey) then attached to white card base.  Every year I realize that I don't have a Happy Mother's Day stamp.  This one does the job nicely but I really should get a proper stamp.  :-)

I'm going to enter this in The Paper Players challenge #144, which is a Mother's Day theme.



Now I just have to make something for my mother-in-law and then I can move onto some birthday cards.  Anyway, wishing you all a fabulous day!

May 05, 2013

Christmas Is For The Birds...

How is everyone doing today?  I hope you are having as nice weather as we are here.  Warm (18 degrees C), and sunny with just a bit of a breeze.  It's been like this for a good week or so.  As much as we are enjoying the wonderful weather we really do need some rain.  Things are pretty dry. 

Anyway, today's card was made for two Christmas card challenges.  The first being Festive Fridays. It's an element theme at FF this time and that element you must have in your card is a bird.


The second challenge is at Jingle Belles.  The theme is things that fly.....angels, birds, even reindeer.  :-)  It was funny that both blogs were doing almost the same theme.  Worked out well for me anyway.  I love killing two *birds* with one stone.  LOL.  Okay, so here's the card....



I had this idea in my head and let me tell you did I have a rough time getting it to work out!  It's not quite exactly what I envisioned but I really love it.  I'm really getting good use out of my unknown bare branch tree stamp.  (I keep saying I need another and this is still true)  I stamped that with Jet Black StazOn ink on my blue paper (Provo Craft) and then stamped my bird in Blazing Red StazOn.  This bird is part of a bigger stamp that has other birds and a bird bath.  It's by Inkadinkado from the Utopiary set.  I matted them in black and created my triptych on a white panel, raising them up with some foam dots.  I stamped the sentiment (Hero Arts, Joy to All set) in Jet Black StazOn underneath the triptych.  Then the panel in matted in red and attached to a white card base.  I made a bow with red and white twine (which I received in a card exchange) and attached a red jingle bell (Dollarama) and then attached to card.

I am so loving this card!  I thought of adding glitter or "snow" to the trees but decided to leave it alone.  Sometimes you just need to stop.  LOL.

Anyway, I'm hoping to get some more card making done in the next few days so will have more to share later.  Have a fabulous day!

May 01, 2013

More Christmas Crafts

So, I haven't been able to get any time to work on cards for a bit.  Been spending a fair amount of time outside with my son playing, getting the garden ready and just enjoying the gorgeous weather.  My husband set up a little raised bed garden for my son (who is five) this year to grow his own vegetables.  He's quite excited but doesn't quite understand it takes time for things to grow.  He looks at his garden every day.  LOL.  Anyway, in the mornings I have been working on more of my Christmas craft fair items downstairs.  So, while I can't share any new cards with you I will share a few pictures of these items.  :-)


Here we have some more pins made of Sculpey clay.  I love these polar bears and I may make more of them.



These pins should be pretty popular, I think.  Especially the gingerbread men.  I sold out last year.



These are my yarn trees.  I got this idea from Pinterest.  They used string though, and I didn't have any so I tried yarn.  It work well.  Try and imagine them with a tealight (battery operated) flickering at night.  They look very pretty.

Well, that's all I've got for now.  But I'm going to share with you a picture I took this past weekend when my family and I went to New River Beach, NB.  It was a beautiful day.  My son had a blast playing in the sand.



Wishing you all a fabulous day!