Mmmmm....Chocolate Chip

It's no secret that I love the colour Chocolate Chip. So, today I have another tote to share, and of course, it had to have some Chocolate Chip on it!

The patterned papers are from Close to My Heart. The grosgrain that I used on the handle is SU! Chocolate Chip and the polka dot ribbon is from American Crafts. It's a good match though, isn't it?

This tote was designed for a friend of mine who wanted thank you cards. So I used SU! Define Your Life and stamped two of the card fronts with 'gratitude' and the other two card fronts with 'kindness'. The flower stamps are from SU! also, they were stamped, embossed with clear embossing powder and cut out by hand. Each flower was then given a button center.

All of the patterned papers were layered with, you guessed it....Chocolate Chip!

Thanks for stopping by today!

More Liquid Applique!

I know I am a little behind the times...but I only just started using liquid applique recently. The verdict? I love it! It gives a card that little extra 'something' that you want to have.

I recently made this card for my Godson's third birthday. It is clean and simple, but I wanted that little extra something. So, I got out the liquid applique and used it for the airplane exhaust. A shot with my heat gun was all it took to get that puffy smokey look, and I was all set!

The papers were all from my scrap bin....so I can't be sure where they originally came from. The ink I used for the sentiment is White Daisy from Close to My Heart. I used Midnight Blue StazOn for the plane. The plane is from the CTMH stamp set called Flyin' High. The ribbon and buttons are from one of the big chain craft stores....I can't remember which one....

Thanks for stopping by today!

A Winner!

Well ladies...the winner of the stamp set from my blog candy post is Christi! You can email me your snail mail address at colleenharshaw@yahoo.ca and I will pop this in the mail for you. Thanks for always being here with encouraging words, Christi!


Have a great weekend!

For the Shoebox!

I recently made a whole slew of cards in an attempt to have a bit of inventory on hand. Whether the cards would be used for a holiday craft fare, or whether they would just be kept on hand for those 'just in case' moments, I wasn't sure. But, I am glad I have them.

I know that you can't tell that I have been stamping lately...since none of the projects have been posted here...but I am swimmingly busy with my life at the moment. My Usborne Books adventure is taking off more than I imagined it would...and I can only hope that the momentum will continue, because it is a really good kind of busy...aside from the fact that it takes away from my stamping time, that is.

Now, back to the cards! As I was getting into mass production mode I decided to focus my designs on some of my solid stamps....there by eliminating the need to colour in images....because I know that you know....that takes so much time!

This series of four cards were made using a stamp set from Close to My Heart called 'Construction Set'. The patterned papers are from a stack by Amanda Blu called The Boy Collection. The brads are from JoAnn Essentials line and the layers are all stacked up with dimensionals.

Don't forget to leave a comment on this post for a chance to win an acrylic stamp set!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Finally...Some Eye Candy...

....and some BLOG CANDY too!

I have been so delinquent in my posting as of late, that I feel like I need to offer up a little something for my readers who continue to come back...I know there are at least two or three of you out there! LOL!

Seriously though, things are good, just incredibly busy in our household right now. I know that a lot of you can relate!

So, continue to the bottom of this post to see the blog candy that is up for grabs!

This card was made for a very dear friend of mine. She has always been generous and kind. She is a practicing Catholic, and I know that Angel Wings (one of the upcoming Stamp of the Month Club stamps over at Paper Pretties) is an image that will mean a lot to her. She and her husband recently had our whole family to their house in Cape Cod and they were wonderful hosts! They took us clamming (our very first time!) and then cooked up a marvelous meal! I wanted to send her a special card, and this is what I came up with.


The patterned papers are from Sandylion and they were paired up with Pink Pirouette and Chocolate Chip from SU! I used my rectangular nesties to cut out and mat the image. Angel Wings Sophia was coloured with pencils and blended with OMS. I used Dazzling Diamonds on her wings and liquid applique on the bottom of her gown. A shot with my heat was all it needed to puff up and look warm and cozy!

The sentiment is from My Favorite Things and I used my word window punch to punch it out. Dimensionals to fasten it onto the card, a dash of ribbon, and I was finished!

Now, onto my blog candy!


I have a set 14 acrylic stamps up for grabs. They are made by K & Company and the set is called Special Occasions. The set includes stamps that say things like Delight, Treasures of the Heart, Remember, Happy, Simply The Best, Girl Stuff and Celebrate.

All you have to do is leave me a comment and I will announce the winner next Saturday!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Calling All Scrapbookers.....

.....and wanna be scrapbookers too!

I have a challenge for you today! My last official post and challenge as the Prettie Pages Girl over at Paper Pretties....and it's a good one!

For this challenge, I want to you scrapbook on a white background. Make your layout about the photos and keep them the focus. Skip all the layers and the embellishments and just keep it minimal! Let's see what you can come up with!

You have until next Thursday, October 2nd to upload your layout to the Paper Pretties gallery under weekly challenges. Be sure to use the keyword PCS3 so that we can find all of your creations! If you are chosen as the lucky winner, I seem to think that Christie might have a little goodie from the Pretties Boutique to send your way! Get cracking!

Here is my sample:


I used Bunny Slippers as my Paper Pretties stamp and my layout features photos of my daughter sleeping. The title is made from chipboard letters covered in various patterned papers from my scrap bin. The swirls in the corners of the layout are acrylic stamps from Inkadinkado, stamped in Sweet Leaf ink from Close To My Heart.

Bunny Slippers was coloured with pencils and blended with OMS. I then cut her out and adhered her with dimensionals to my layout.

I journaled in a pale purple pen from CTMH around the perimeter of the photos.

And there you have it! I look forward to seeing what everyone creates!

Thanks for stopping by today!

It's Coming To An End!

My time over at Paper Pretties as their Prettie Pages Girl is coming to an end...sigh. I have one more challenge for you, so be sure to check back tomorrow, and then my job there is officially over! On to new and exciting things!

I have a Paper Pretties card to share with you today. This is Angel Wings, and she is the stamp of the month for October. Isn't she adorable? I would love to use her on my Christmas cards this year...but I refuse to mass produce an image that I have to hand colour! Can you imagine how long that would take?! I guess I will save her for my scrapbook pages and my very special cards!

The base of this card is black card stock. I ran it through my Cuttlebug with the D'vine Swirls embossing folder. It's a bit hard to see in the pic...but the whole base is embossed. I used my nestabilites to cut out my main image. She was coloured and blended with OMS and then her wings were given a layer of dazzling diamonds. She is really pretty and shimmery in person. :) The bottom of her gown was covered with liquid applique and then heated with my heat gun. This was one of my first times using liquid applique and I have to say, I love it! You will be seeing a lot of it here in the future, I'm sure!



The sentiment is from MFT and I used my SU! hodge podge hardware in silver for the frame. The ribbon is from one of the big chain stores....JoAnn, perhaps? I can't be certain.

Like I said, be sure to check back tomorrow for my last Prettie Pages challenge!

Thanks for stopping by today!

A New Adventure!

In case you have noticed that my posts have been a bit sporadic lately, it is because I have started on a new business venture recently! You are reading the blog of a new Usborne Books Independent Consultant! Usborne is a fantastic company that sells educational, non-fiction, and engaging books through retail outlets as well as in home parties. Since I am such a newbie, I am working hard at building my business and scheduling parties! Keep your eyes peeled for a link to my Usborne website to appear in my sidebar soon. You can then go there to check things out and more importantly, to shop! I already have a customer in my fellow Prettie Girl, Jana (thanks for your order, Jana!!). :) Jana used to live overseas in Germany, so she has an appreciation for Usborne....the only English books that I could find when my family lived in Switzerland!

Now, back to my project! I made this fun (and ultra easy) note card folio recently with one of my favourite colour combos...pink pirouette and chocolate chip. The base is pink pirouette, the patterned paper is from Sandylion (LOVE this paper....must get more!) and the ribbon is from American Crafts. Isn't it gorgeous?! Must get more of that too......



I just realized that I don't have a photo of the inside of the folio....I must remember to take one next time I make this project. It is very straight forward....the bottom of an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of card stock is folded up two inches and that is it. Ta da! Done. I used sticky strip to seal up the sides of the folded up pocket and included four of these flat note cards and four envelopes.

The blooms on the note cards are from Making Memories and the brads are from JoAnn Essentials.

There you have it! Thanks for stopping by today!

Oh, and don't forget to stop by for my Paper Pretties scrapbooking challenge on Thursday! I will have a challenge and a layout to share. See you then!

Still Cleaning!

This is one of those cards that was the result of my efforts to clean up my desk and use any unused stamped images that I had laying around.

I had stamped some images WAY back when at my friend, Joanne's house. This was one of those images. The stamp is from SU! Pun Fun. The card stock is SU! barely banana. It seems like either barely banana or chocolate chip make an appearance on every card that I make lately! I don't know what it is....they just work for me!



The sketch is a variation of one that I found by Ingrid Danvers over at 2 sketches 4 you. I used white grosgrain tied around the middle and then I looped SU! hemp twine threaded with a charm. I haven't used charms in ages...so it was fun to get to incorporate this one! I used my distresser around the whale image and the image itself was coloured with pencils and blended with OMS.

Pretty straight forward! Make sure you stop by again soon....I am going to have a Paper Pretties scrapbooking challenge and layout to share on Thursday!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Old Project, New Image!

I have a Paper Pretties project to share with you today! I have shown these little note card sets a million times before (and you will probably see them a million more!), but I have never made one using a Paper Pretties stamp! I used Howdy Girlfriend on this set, and I love how it all came together in the end! I originally saw these little note card sets over on my friend Joanne's blog.

The papers are Deja Views Blue Raspberry Paisley and Blue Raspberry Stripes. I love these papers...now I have to figure out where I bought them so I can go and buy more! On the front of the note card holder I stamped the bottom half of Sophia from Howdy Girlfriend and then water coloured her with SU! water colour crayons and punched her out with a circle punch.

That is hemp twine from SU! that you see wrapped around the flap.

Inside the little box you find four of these little note cards. Here I stamped the top half of Sophia and then coloured and punched her out. I used my Fiskars Threading Water punch along the bottom edge and then mounted the card on a kraft base. The ribbon I used on the cards was purchased at Target on clearance. I love clearance! hehe The ink is StazOn in Timber Brown.

Here is a close up of cute little Sophia. You can get other stamps just like this one by joining the Stamp of the Month Club over at Paper Pretties. Each and every month you will get some 'happy mail' and find a new stamp in your mail box! Click on the link above to get all the details!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Happy Birthday To You, Happy Birthday To You!

My husband celebrated his 34th birthday just a few days ago. It is so hard to believe...we met each other when he was just 19! I was 17 back then....wow....where does the time go?!

For Kevin's birthday card, I tried something really different than my usual style of card. I had my new MFT set Nature Calls, and I really wanted to use it. So, I decided to create a scene. I am really not a 'scene kinda girl' but, this is what I ended up with. It has kind of grown on me now that it is finished and I see it sitting on the mantle every day...but it really isn't one of my favs.

I actually used three different stamp sets on this card. The tree and the bear are from MFT Nature Calls, the clouds are from my Hanna Stamps Route 66 set, and the plane and the banner are from MFT Going Places. The bear and banner are popped up with dimensionals. I distressed the edges of the card stock on the top layer and then layered it onto dark green card stock with a Kraft base. The ribbon is SU! twill tape. The message on the banner was hand written with a Le Plume marker in dark brown. The message reads 'Happy Birthday! We love you beary much!'. That pretty well wraps it up!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Yummy Coffee....

I don't know what it is....but I am really into coffee stamps. I must have three or four different stamps and stamp sets that fit into this theme. To me, the thought of coffee evokes images of coziness and friendship and a good chat. All things that I love!

I have two different cards to share today....both using the same sketch and each with a different coffee image. These cards came to be because of my mission to clean up any unfinished projects. I had several stamped images that I hadn't used yet...they were sitting in a pile. It is my goal to get them all used up and have a nice stack of completed cards by month end!

The paper is from K & Company. I am such a fan of this line...it has such an earthy feel to it....I just love it! The sketch came from Andrea Walford's blog. She used it as part of one of her Simply Saturday posts.


The stamps are SU! Pun Fun and MFT Hot Stuff respectively. The buttons are ??? from my button drawer. No packaging to be found...they were all in a Ziploc baggie. :) The scalloped borders were done with my Fiskars Threading Water punch....have I mentioned that I love that thing?!? LOL

The ribbon is cotton twill tape from Twill E Dee...I have no idea where I got it from. I have never even heard of that brand before. It was in my ribbon box though!

Well, I think that's it for today.....

Thanks for stopping by!

Need A Little Love?

The card I have for you today uses the stamp set Made With Love from over at Paper Pretties. I actually stamped this image quite some time ago, and then abandoned it for something else at the time. Poor Lexi was sitting around half coloured....it was tragic! LOL!

I recently reserved a table for myself at a fall fair in our area with the intention of selling some of my handcrafted cards and gifts. So, I am on a mission to finish all of the unfinished projects sitting in my workspace in order to bulk up my inventory! But, I digress....

Back to Lexi and my card!!

So, I finished colouring Lexi and layered her on two shades of pink card stock. The patterned paper is from my scrap bin...but I think it originally came from a Provo Craft Super Slab. The sketch is from Lauren Meader's blog.


I used a bit of ribbon scrap that I had in my 'ribbon scrap jar' and then added one new item to my card......an SU! filigree brad. Isn't it cute?

All in all....it was a very eviro conscious card! I used up lots of scraps and added only one new item.

Oh, and don't forget.....Christie over at Paper Pretties is extending her HUGE 45% off sale for another week! The coupon code is the same "Labor Day" (case sensitive) and the sale will go on until Saturday, September 13th at 11:59 pm CST. Now get going!!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Another Tote and a SALE!

This little tote is a variation of one that I did as part of a class taught by Lauren Meader at The Paper Tree in New Hampshire. The original version was actually more of a folder....but I wasn't following the instructions closely enough and I sealed up all of the loose edges, and therefore ended up with an enclosed box! LOL! I ended up preferring the box....so I have gone ahead and made more of them since.

This is one of the versions I made recently......

The box itself is made from an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of vellum card stock. I used brown StazOn and the SU! Define Your Life stamp for the sentiment on the front. The scalloped edge was made with my Threading Water border punch by Fiskars....LOVE that thing!! The blooms are from Making Memories.

I made two different versions of this card set, for two different totes. The outside of the totes were identical, I just varied the paper and ribbon on the cards inside the tote. I used She's All That from SU! and stamped one image on each of four cards. I used my Fiskars border punch on each of the cards. The ink is Brilliance.

I love these images from She's All That because a card comes together so quickly with them. Because they are solid images, there is no colouring! I find that colouring and paper piecing can be so time consuming! The tricky part with solid images is getting a nice, consistently coloured image...without any spottiness to it. The way I like to do this is by using a thin foam mat to stamp on top of. I have a number of Close To My Heart acrylic stamp sets, and each of their sets comes with one of these thin foam mats. The foam mat allows for a bit more 'give' when you stamp the image, and therefore you get a more solid looking image. Give it a try!

Some exciting news.......

Christie, over at Paper Pretties, has decided to extend her HUGE 45% off sale another week! You better get on over there while the gettin' is still good! There are going to be some changes over at Paper Pretties in the near future, and Christie really wants to get her inventory cleared out to prepare for all of the exciting NEW stuff!! The coupon code is the same "Labor Day" (case sensitive) and the sale will go on until Saturday, September 13th at 11:59 pm CST.

Thanks for stopping by today! :)

I Found Something!

I really wanted to have something (besides Disney photos) to share with you today, since I have been gone for so long! That posed a bit of a challenge though, since I haven't stamped in over a week now. Gasp!

I went through my photos, and found this little number that I hadn't posted yet! Yeah!

I made this card for a very close friend. It was her birthday on the second. I purchased this Huggybella stamp ages ago with her specifically in mind. You see, my friend Tara has this curly, wild, big hair. I have poker strait, fine hair....which up until fairly recently, was always very long. When I saw this stamp, my mind immediately went to Tara and I! I knew I had to have it!

Tara's favorite colour is blue...so the colour choice came together quickly. I used scalloped scissors for the scalloped edge along the bottom, and my new-ish rectangle nestabilities (I've had them for a while now...but not yet used them much...) to mat the main image.

I coloured the image with coloured pencils and blended it with OMS. The ribbon is generic white grosgrain from one of the chain craft stores (Michael's, JoAnn, or A.C. Moore). The kraft base is from SU! The buttons are from....?? I would have to run upstairs to find out. If you really need the info, leave me a comment and I will get back to you. LOL! I guess I am not feeling very ambitious right now.... The button at the top left of the card, and the dragonfly (see below....it's a bit hard to see) are from the same package of buttons.

I then used my piercing tool from SU! in order to punch the trail of the dragonfly. Once again...it is a bit difficult to see, but if you look at the close up above, you might be able to see what I am talking about.

Overall, this card came together quite quickly, and I am really happy with the results. I hope my friend is too!

In Paper Pretties news.......read below......right from the Paper Pretties site!

Big Sale - I Mean HUGE...
So who's ready for a sale? Now, wait a minute - I don't mean little sale here - there ain't going to be no 10% or 20% or even 30% sale tags at this sale - NOPE NOPE NOPE! Tonight we're beginning our week-long Labor Day 45% off EVERYTHING in the store sale!!! Yep, you read it right - 45% off EVERYTHING for 1 week starting NOW!!! All you have to do when you check out is enter the coupon code Labor Day (case sensitive). Just a hint: Many of the things in the sale category are already marked down so you'll be getting 50, 60, all the way up to 80% off of some of those items.So what are you waiting for - get going and shop while the shopping is good!!!

Thanks for stopping by today!

We're Back From Disney!

We are back from a fun, fun, fun trip to Disney World! We arrived home earlier in the week....just in time to start school. It has been a busy week! Getting back into the swing of things and establishing new routines takes some energy! (I am sure many of you can relate!)

Now that I have waded through most of my pile of laundry and stocked up the fridge, I need to catch up on some blurfing and blogging! I feel so out of the loop! I have no idea what is going on in bloggy land! LOL

I hope to be back soon with some new projects to share, but in the mean time, I have a couple of fun photos from our trip!

Here are my two little angels with Mickey and Minnie in the Magic Kingdom.

Of course, my husband and I had to get in on the action too!

Thanks for stopping by today....I hope to be back soon!

Paper Pretties Scrapbooking Challenge!

Well ladies....I have a challenge for you today! I know that many of you are wonderfully talented card makers, but that many of you don't scrapbook! So, the challenge this month is going to give you card makers a chance to try your hand at some journaling! I challenge you all to love your handwriting and journal, in your own hand, on a scrapbook page.

Use your Paper Pretties stamps if you have them, and if not, feel free to play along anyways! You have until next Thursday, Sept. 4th to upload your creations to the Paper Pretties Gallery under weekly challenges. You can use keyword PSC2.

Here is my sample:


The patterned papers that I used are from the Chatter Box Reading Room Collection. I LOVE this collection! It is one of those that has been in my stash for a while...just waiting to be cut into. I feel like I should enter a support group or something.... "Hi, my name is Colleen and I hoard pretty paper...". :)

The stamps that I used are Sealed With A Kiss from Paper Pretties and Office Accoutrement from SU! I did my journaling with a Le Plume pen in dark brown. The flowers were stamped in White Daisy ink from CTMH onto chocolate chip card stock from SU! and then they were cut out by hand. I then coated them with clear embossing powder and heated them with my heat gun.

My main image was coloured with CTMH water colour pencils and then blended with OMS. I used an edge distresser around my journaling block and a corner rounder on all of my photos.

Red buttons in the flower centers and brown metal photo clips provide little accents to tie the page together!

Thanks for stopping by today and I can't wait to see what you create!