Just Hangin' Around

I saw this sketch over at iSTAMP with Nancy Riley. I have only used it this one time so far, but I am sure I will come back to it again.

This card went to my friend's three year old daughter, who is crazy about monkeys. The monkey and the leaves are paper embellishments from the Joann Essentials line. The gold brads are from this line also. The tree was drawn using a Le Plume brown marker. The ribbon is from Close To My Heart. The sentiment is a wooden stamp individually purchased at A.C. Moore.

Some of the cardstock is from a scrap stack and some of it is from my scrap bin. Let's hope I never have to try and match those exact colours again....it might be tough!

New to Me

Since my family and I moved to the USA less than a year ago...I have learned of many new things (particularly stamping things), that I didn't previously know about.

Some of those fun new things are My Favorite Things Stamps! I have had this stamp on hand for a little while now, just waiting for the right time and reason to use it. The opportunity presented itself when a customer wanted some feminine birthday cards. Out came 'How Sweet It Is' and the inking began! The image was stamped with black StazOn on watercolour paper purchased in the fine art section of A.C. Moore.

The patterned paper is from a scrap stack. The cardstock is Bazzill Basics textured cardstock. The organza ribbon is from Close To My Heart. The spiral clips are from the Joann Essentials line. I used my Stampin' Up! watercolour crayons to colour in the image and then I went over it with a blending pen. I used decorative edge scissors to create the shaped edge in the background, and my corner rounder punch to round off the corners of the image and the first mat.

All in all, it is just a fun girly card!

Some Exciting News!

I have some exciting news to share! Go check out this link, and be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom!

Playing Catch Up

I feel like I am over the jet lag from my trip back to Geneva now....mostly. There is still a lot to do around here...I am a bit overwhelmed....but taking it one day at a time.

I wanted to share a scrapbook layout with you today.

A family photo, take at Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland, is the focal point of this layout. I folded over each of the corners of the photo and then fastened them with eyelets from Making Memories. The title is a transparent sticker from SRM.

The background paper is from Cloud 9 Design - The Woodstone Collection. The vellum overlay at the bottom reads 'Our most prized possessions are our family memories'. On the right, you can see that a tag pulls out from behind the photo to reveal some journalling. The tag is from DCWV. The ribbon is some brown grosgrain I found in some random place....I can't remember where.

Have a happy Sunday!

Up and Runnin' Again....

I'm back! And totally jet lagged...still. Phew....a six hour time difference can really mess with a girl!

I am happy to be able to share some pics again...finally!

This card was created for a customer who needed some masculine birthday cards. I admit, it isn't the most traditional birthday card ever created...but I was happy with the end result.

I pulled some Stampin' Up papers from my paper pile to begin (Certainly Celery). If you look closely, you will notice that the background of the card is a combination of two different patterns. The stamps are from Close to My Heart (Wisdom), with the exception of the center sentiment. The center sentiment was made from MFT Simply Said. It is a combination of 'best wishes' and 'you are my forever love'. I had to mask and stamp in a few different stages to get the sentiment I wanted, but it worked.

The ink is black StazOn. The circle punches are from Stampin' Up. The ribbon is from Michaels. The edges of the sentiment were inked and then it was turned into a slide using a punch (which I don't remember the name of).

This card was inspired by a sketch over at www.iheart2stamp.com from early March. I just spent a very long time trying to figure that out! I really need to come up with a better system. I see sketches I like, I jot them down on scraps of paper, then when I use them, I have no idea where they came from. If I do happen to have written down where they came from...then I don't know when they were from!

Anywho, the inside of the card reads 'Happy Birthday'.

Now I must sign off. My bed is calling me......

loudly.

Be Back Soon!

Unfortunately, I still don't have any pics to share with you. :( But, having said that, I will be back home before long!

Keep checking back, and I will have some new things to share with you soon!

Operator Error?

Well, I'm here...but I am currently unable to upload any photos. I have photos to upload....I just can't get it to work!

I am in Geneva, at my friend's house, trying to upload photos to my blog while everyone else in the house sleeps. I have my little USB plug plugged into the camera and into the CPU, and I'm getting a whole lot of nothing! The computer doesn't even seem to 'see' the camera.

So, it looks like there will be no photos tonight. I guess I will just have to make up for it with more posts later! :(

I hope all is well in blogland!

Happy Birthday, Friend!

I have posted cards using this set before...but I just love her! This stamp set is from Close to My Heart. The image was stamped onto Stampin' Up shimmery white cardstock using black StazOn, and then she was water coloured using Close to My Heart ink pads as well as Stampin' Up water colour crayons.

The ribbon is from Michaels. The patterned papers are both shimmery...although you can't see it in the photo. They come from an All Occasion Glitter Stack by Die Cuts With a View. The solid coloured cardstock is from my scrap bin (are you surprised?)! Honestly, if you read my blog enough, you will realize that I am the queen of scraps! :)

The sentiment is a wood mounted stamp I picked up at one of my local craft stores. The circle and scallop punches that I used to mount the sentiment are both from Stampin' Up.

This cute card will be making the trip to Geneva with me on Wednesday. It is going to my dear friend Stef. I can't wait!!

Easter Wreaths

I chose not to post a paper crafting project today...instead I want to post a special Easter project that I did with my kiddies on the weekend.

When we lived in Geneva, Noah attended a Waldorf school. His very first year there, his teacher made these beautiful Easter wreaths for each child in the class. The were made with a wreath, ribbon and coloured eggs that had had the centers blown out. They were beautiful.

When we went through out last move (from Switzerland to New England) the movers smashed Noah's poor Easter wreath. I was heart broken at the loss of such a wonderful keepsake from his time in the Waldorf school.

So, I decided that this year I wanted to try and make the same kind of wreaths for both of my children. I turned into a whole day's work!

This is Rebekah, admiring her finished wreath from the stairs.

Every egg is a little bit different. I wanted the eggs to have the appearance of being tye dyed. So the way we achieved that goal was to mix food colouring, water, vinegar and then we added a table spoon of oil to the mix. The oil keeps the colour from sticking to the egg wherever it touches, allowing a mottled effect.

The other method that we used was to drip hot wax onto the eggs, and then submerge them into the colouring solution. The spots on the egg that are covered in wax resist the colour. I then heated the egg next to a flame until the wax started to melt and I wiped it off.

All of this was very time consuming considering we had a dozen eggs to colour!

This is the final effect. Not bad, huh?!

Clean and Simple

Whenever I have to make a 'guy card' I am always stopped in my tracks. I initially draw a blank, and then I gradually work through it. I have some great papers, but it is the stamps that stop me short. I guess that means I just need to expand my stamp collection, right?! *wink* I think I may have to go on over to Stamping Bella and order some fellas. Oh, but I digress....

So, I have a clean and simple 'guy card' for you today. I am working on a customer order for several men's birthday cards. Phew....I am really having to work for this one!

This card uses a stamp set from Close to My Heart (I love my acrylics!). I stamped the image twice, first inking the car in red ink, then cleaning the stamp, and next inking the tires and bumper in grey StazOn, and re-stamping the image again.

The edges of the card stock on which the car is stamped were distressed with a distresser from Close to My Heart. I'm afraid I can't tell you where the striped paper is from.....I found it in my scrap box! Some brown card stock, some tan card stock, and some brads, and there you have it! No colouring required, thanks to the solid stamped image. That certainly helps to speed things up!

The sentiment stamp is from My Favorite Things. The ribbon is from Joann Fabric and Crafts.

This sketch is from Taylored Expressions.

I hope you like it! :)

Lightning McQueen

My friend, Marian, has a son who is celebrating his 5th birthday this month. This little guy is the biggest 'Cars' groupie I know. He can tell you the name of every character in the movie, and then some. It is really cute.

So, when it came time to make his birthday card....there was only one option....

Fortunately, I had a big bag of stickers and small favors from the Sandylion Sticker Outlet that I visit whenever I am in the Toronto area. Guess what was in the goody bag?! Lots of cars stickers!

The striped papers are all from a scrap stack. The large sticker of Lightning McQueen is from my Sandylion stash. I stuck him onto black card stock and then hand cut around the image. It was then mounted onto the card with dimensionals.

The circular sign is also a sticker. It was stuck onto brown card stock and then double matted with orange and brown card stock, which had been punched using my circle punches.

The 'piston cup' sticker was stuck onto blue card stock and then punched out using my tab punch.

A spiral clip with a bit of ribbon tied to it was the finishing touch!

Sending You Sunshine

I bought this stamp set a while back from My Favorite Things and I have been waiting for an opportunity to use it. So, the opportunity finally presented itself in the form of a customer order for birthday cards.

The images were stamped with black StazOn onto water colour paper. I then used a combination of Close To My Heart inks and Stampin' Up water colour crayons to colour in the image. The papers are from a scrap stack, the ribbon is from Michael's, and the flowers are from Making Memories. The jewelled brads used for the flower centers are from Joann's Scrap Essentials line of embellishments.

The inside of the card reads 'Happy Birthday'.

Now, I'm off to watch Oprah's Big Give!

Have You Seen This?

So, you have probably guessed that I am going through some of my old pics and posting them. I can't even remember if I have posted this little froggie fellow before.....

I have a few new things to post, but I didn't get them photographed while I still had enough natural light...sigh. So, they will have to wait, again.

This little froggie fellow was made with paper from a scrap stack. The blue card stock is from Bazzill Basics. The white is.....well.....white.

The froggie image is from an acrylic set from Close To My Heart. He is a solid image...so it saves on the colouring! The ink is also from CTMH....New England Ivy...I think.

Three silver brads, some bendable twine, and a few dimensionals, and there you have it! A fun little boy card that is sure to be a hit!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

This card was created for my Mom's birthday, back in January.

I have posted this style of card before...because they always turn out well. You can select just about any kind of paper and once you throw some ribbon on there, you are good to go!

I am sorry to say that I have very few creative details to share here! The papers are 'scrap box specials'. The inside sentiment is from Stampin' Up (I think)! The outside sentiment is from some random set that I have that is about a hundred years old. The ribbon is from Michael's Arts and Crafts. The 'smile' sentiment was stamped and then punched out with one of my circle punches. It was then mounted onto another piece of card stock that had been punched using my scallop punch from Stampin' Up.


I believe the ink is from Close to My Heart.

There isn't much else to say about it.....other than I will definitely make this style of card again!

Fall in Switzerland

These photos were taken when we were living in Switzerland. One weekend we went for a 'forest walk', as Noah calls it. It was shortly after Rebekah had learned to sit up, and we used the opportunity to sit her in piles of leaves. This photo shows her actually sitting....although there are several others that show her tipped over!

The paper is Basic Grey...from a two sided paper pad.

The card stock is Bazzill and I inked the edges using a Close to My Heart ink pad in Barn Red.

The vellum overlay is from a Quote Stack and it reads, 'I wish to live because life has with it that which is good, that which is beautiful, and that which is love'. - Lorraine Hansberry

The squares are punched from another photo using a square punch. They are then adhered using dimensionals.

I am a bit behind in my scrapbooking....can you tell? Rebekah just turned three and I am posting layouts of her when she first learned to sit up! LOL