Simply Saturday!

Good Morning!  The sun is shining, I see all the garage sale folks out and about, and I am sitting with my cup of tea in hand and the kids are happily occupied (for a few minutes anyway).  

I just wanted to take a moment to give you a heads up on the news that will be coming out on Monday 1 June.  It will be a busy day.  The Last Chance list will be available for us to see and I will be posting it here.  This will be the last chance to get some of those products that you have had on your wish list and that will no longer be available after 30 Jun.  

Check back on Monday to see what is happening!  For today's post I wanted to show you a card that is super easy and a great way to use up some scraps.  I am calling this card a triple panel card.  My three pieces of card stock are cut to 1 5/8" x 4".  I used Textured Card Stock to give this simple card a little bit more pizzazz and did some paper piercing in the corners.  The greeting is an individual stamp available on pg 208 of the IB&C.  It sells for only $8.25 making this a very inexpensive card to make.  To step up the greeting I added a 1/2" Library Clip and a bit of grosgrain ribbon and sponged the edges with Pacific Point ink. 

Just an update on my quiet moment of blogging this morning - my tea is cold now, I have been up and down the stairs 4 times and when I get back to my chair the dog is in it! Gotta Love It!  :)

Have a great weekend!

Supplies Used:

Stamp Set:  Birthday Wish

Card Stock: Whisper White, Pacific Point, Summer Sun and Tangerine Tango Textured 

Ink: Pacific Point Classic

Accessories: Paper Piercer and Mat Pack, 1/2" Silver Library Clip, Old Olive 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Wide Oval Punch, Stampin' Sponges, Dimensionals

Creating with Accessories

Good Evening everyone!  I would love to actually be doing my blogging in the morning with a nice cup of tea in hand, but the day never seems to start off that way. 

What a rainy day we had!  It is great for my garden and I am so excited for all my perennials to take off and show me their colours.  

Thinking of my garden makes me think of all the pretty silk flowers we have in the Pretties Kit.  These embellishments are the ones I like to hoard.  I am trying to change my ways and start actually using them.  So here is today's post... using the Pretties Kit (pg 175 - IB&C) and the Jumbo Grommets (pg 19 - Occasions Mini).

I dyed the flower with Riding Hood Red Classic Ink and my aqua painter.  I attached the grommet in the middle and then used a glue dot to attach my knotted piece of Riding Hood Red Grosgrain Ribbon into the middle. 

Don't forget about the Stamp-a-Stack Card Buffet on Sat 13 Jun.  We have 18 cards created for you to choose from to make.  It should be a great day.  Let me know if you are interested in attending! Looking forward to stamping with you soon!

Supplies Used:

Stamp Set:  Fundamental Phrases

Card Stock:  Pink Pirouette, Whisper White,  Bella Rose Designer Paper

Ink:  Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip Classic

Accessories:  Key Tag Punch, 1" Chocolate Double-Stitched Grosgrain, Sponges, Pretties Kit, Aqua painter, Basic Jumbo Grommets, Riding Hood Red Striped Grosgrain, Glue Dots

To the Nines....

Good Morning everyone!  What a gorgeous day!  Last night I did a little bit of stamping and wanted to use some of my "To the Nines" Specialty Designer Paper.  This paper is fantastic for those masculine cards we always seem to be looking for.  The colours in the paper are Sahara Sand, Sage Shadow, Always Artichoke and Chocolate Chip.  Definately a colour combo that I have never thought of.  I love our designer papers for that reason, they have some wonderful colour combinations that make colour co-ordinating a breeze.

 

Don't forget this month only, if you buy 3 packs of designer paper or textured card stock you get a pack FREE!

The card for today's post I actually case'd from a card that Jan Tink created.  I changed up the colours and embellishments and this is what I got.  I wish I could come up with all my very own original work, but there is just so many great creations out there and so little time..... so thank you Jan. 

I stamped the golfer in Staz-on ink and water coloured him in.  I lightly sponged the edges with Sahara Sand.   The golf ball is accented with Crystal Effects as well.  I folded the card in half and then folded the top back to the seam.  You can see from the photo how it looks after it opens.  

The inside greeting is stamped in chocolate chip and then the putting green was made from designer paper punched with the small oval punch and the flag was created with a point cut from a Sahara Sand Star that was punched with the Large Star Punch.  For the flag pole, I didn't want to mess with a little strip of card stock so I just took my ruler and chocolate chip marker and drew in the pole.  

This card will be available to make at the Stamp-a-Stack Stamp Camp on Sat 13 Jun.  Please contact me for more information. 

Have a great day!

Supplies Used:

Stamp Set: Many Mower (from Occasions Mini Catalogue)

Card Stock: Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Sahara Sand, Watercolour Paper, Natural White and To the Nines Specialty Designer Paper

Ink:  Jet Black Staz-On, Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand and Always Artichoke Classic, Blush Blossom, Going Grey and Chocolate ChipStampin' Writes.

Accessories:  Metallic Eyelets, Crop-a-dile, 1/4" Chocolate Grosgrain Ribbon, Aqua Painter, Crystal Effects, Sm Oval Punch, Lg Star Punch, Lg Oval Punch, Stampin' Sponges, Ruler

Simply Saturday!

Hello there everyone!  I can't believe I didn't use any ribbon on this card.  I tend to always use some ribbon, so this card was about going back to the basics.... Stamps, Paper, Ink! This would make a great card for a child's birthday.  Victoria loved it so much she wanted to make one as well.  I'm keeping this post short, because I am exhausted.  Enjoy the rest of the weekend and we will be back again soon. 

Supplies Used:

Stamp Set: Zoofari, A Little Birthday Cheer

Card Stock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Green Galore, Tempting Turquoise, Lovely Lilac and Pink Passion

Ink:  Basic Black Classic, Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore, Lovely Lilac, and Pink Passion Stampin' Writes

Very Versatile

Heather and I are busy getting geared up for our Stamp-a-Stack Event on Sat 13 Jun.  We got together the other night to do some creating and for today's post I wanted to share one of the cards we came up with. 

The stamp set "Very Versatile" is available in the Occasions Mini Catalogue only until 30 Jun.  This stamp set has some beautiful sentiments along with a really pretty floral image. 

I have so many extra card packs kicking around my stamp studios, so for this card, we took a card packet that was originally intended for a Sale-a-bration stamp set and re-created it with the Very Versatile stamp set.  

The stem image was stamped on the Pink Pirouette card front with Pink Pirouette ink.  The stem image was also stamped in Old Olive ink on the Whisper White card stock.  The double image was created by just stamping again beside the original stamped image without re-inking the stamp in between.  We added a bit of sponging, paper piercing and a punched out stamped greeting, of course some glitter and Voila!  

Hope you like it!  Let me know if you are interested in attending our all day stamping event on Sat 13 Jun.  Details will be coming out soon in an e-mail, so make sure you are on my mailing list and contact me today! 

Supplies Used:

Stamp Set:  Very Versatile

Card Stock: Pink Pirouette, Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Whisper White

Ink: Old Olive, Pink Pirouette, Certainly Celery Classic Ink

Accessories: Word Window Punch, Lg Oval Punch, Paper Piercer and template, sponges, Pink Pirouette Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, 2-Way Glue Pen

Where Have I Been?

Is it Friday yet?  I got the pins taken out of my feet today, they are healing nicely, but I am back in bulky bandages now until 4 Jun and not able to drive!  Guess how I am feeling?  

Today's post is the Anniversary Card I was hoping to post last Sun.  I wanted to use Almost Amethyst on this card since that was my main wedding colour.  I used the Stampin' Up! texture plates for the background and then layered the stamped greeting on top of a Barely Banana Wide Oval Punch.  If you have any questions, just drop me a line. 

Have a great day! 

Supplies Used:

Stamp Set: To Have to Hold,  Hugs & Wishes

Card Stock: Elegant Eggplant, Almost Amethyst, Barely Banana, Shimmery White

Ink:  Staz-on Black, Elegant Eggplant Classic, Almost Amethyst, Elegant Eggplant, Barely Banana and Creamy Caramel Stampin' Writes

Accessories: Big Shot, Texturz Plates - Backgrounds I, Wide Oval Punch, Whisper White Organza Ribbon, Stampin' Sponges, Dimensionals, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, 2-Way Glue Pen

Getting Better.....

Good Morning!  With the sun shining this morning, it looks like the weather won't be that bad for the long weekend after all.  Sunshine like this and having an opportunity to stamp is definitely uplifting my spirits.  It has been a long 4 weeks for my feet and there is still another 2 to go. 

For today's post I thought I would make a "Get Well Soon" card.  This card was inspired by a swap I received at Convention last year by Kathy Hilden.  I wanted to choose some nice bright colours which always put a smile on my face. 

The Pick A Petal stamp set is so versatile.  Not only can you make lots of different flowers you can use the petals as butterfly wings, dragonflies and ladybugs.  The possibilities are endless. All you need to do is set your imagination free.  

Today is My Wedding Anniversary! It has just been 6 years, but it sure seems longer :) 

We are taking it easy today and I am going to be back later to share an Anniversary Card with you.  Have a great sunny day! 

Supplies Used:

Stamp Set: Pick A Petal, Always In My Thoughts

Card Stock: Pacific Point, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Pacific Point Textured, Chocolate Chip Textured, Good Morning Sunshine DSP

Ink:  So Saffron, Pacific Point, Chocolate Chip Classic Ink

Accessories:  Pacific Point 5/8" Striped Grosgrain, 5/16" Neutrals Brads, Photo Corners Punch, Designer Label Punch, 1" Circle Punch, Horizontal Slot Punch, Stampin' Sponges, Dimensionals,  Eraser Tip of Pencil for Pupils

Needing some Motivation?

That is pretty much what I am needing!  Motivation!  I guess I had too much of a relaxing Mother's Day because I have not been able to get myself moving at all this week.  Last night Heather and I were working on our plans for the stamp-a-stack we will be holding on Sat 13 Jun. I have to say, she was a lot more creative then I was. 

However, Heather did leave me with a challenge for today - to re-create a card we saw in the Paper Crafts Mag - 225 Cards & Gifts.  This is what I came up with.........

Now, I was only playing around with this layout and I think with the size of this particular butterfly I might actually orient my card in a landscape profile instead, but I was just getting warmed up.

The butterfly was stamped with the swirls from the Baroque Motifs Stamp Set in Chocolate Chip Craft Ink and then embossed with crystal clear embossing powder.  The Cherish sentiment was also embossed. 

Now that my creative juices were flowing a little bit better, I then came up with this next card...

 

I used 2 different butterflies from the Bigz Die and did the same process of embossing them with the baroque swirl, versamark and crystal clear embossing powder.  I rearranged the layout and used the new Scalloped Oval Punch along with the stamp set Oval All.  

Oval All, I think I had a pretty productive morning :)  Hope you had a great day! 

Supplies Used:

Stamp Set:  Baroque Motifs, Oval All

Card Stock:  Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Whisper, Kiwi Kiss Textured, Chocolate Chip Textured

Ink:  Chocolate Chip Craft Ink, Kiwi Kiss Classic Ink, Versamark, Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write

Accessories:  Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die, Big Shot, Eyelet Border Punch, Large Oval Punch, Scalloped Oval Punch, Button Latte Designer Buttons, Baja Breeze Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Kiwi Kiss Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Clear Embossing Powder, White Gel Pen, Stampin' Sponges, Dimensionals

Last of the Mother's Day Projects.....

Happy Mother's Day to all of you!  I have been having a very relaxing day so far and I thought I would take a moment to post the last card that we did Monday at my Mother's Day Class.  

Once again I have used the Soft Summer Stamp Set and the layout for the card came from one of my previous posts.  I stamped and cut out the flowers and then mounted them on top of themselves to get a 3-dimensional look.  I used crystal effects and some micro beads to spruce up the centers of the flowers.  

The ribbon is some of our new Whisper White Organza Ribbon (pg179, main catalogue).  It is such pretty ribbon!  I folded a loop in the ribbon and then tied a button around the loop with crochet thread.  Enjoy and I hope you all have a fantastic day! 

Supplies Used:  

Stamp Set: Soft Summer

Card Stock:  Chocolate Chip, Naturals White, Kiwi Kiss Textured, Bella Blooms Designer Paper

Ink:  Jet Black Staz-On, Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Old Olive

Accessories:  Whisper White Organza Ribbon, Latte Designer Buttons, Crochet Thread, Crystal Effects, Micro Beads, Dimensionals

Blooming with Love........

Well, my bandages came off my feet for all of a few minutes, stitch ends were cut and the pin in my foot readjusted and then bandages were put back on for another 2 weeks.  Apparently I wasn't on board with exactly what I should have expected for this surgery.  I didn't even know that I had a pin in each foot to re-align my big toe.  Needless to say, I am sure you can guess how I feel.  In 2 weeks the pins will be removed and then I will still have bandages on my feet for 2 weeks after that and then I should be all done with bandages around 4 Jun.  Isn't life dandy! 

Time to go to my happy place and do some creating!  Here is another card that we did at my class on Monday.  We used the Blooming with Love stamp set and a whole lot of masking to achieve our completed stamped picture.  We watercoloured the image using ink pads and a blender pen and for the wheelbarrow, we stamped it on designer paper and cut it out and then adhered it to the stamped image. I added a jumbo eyelet with rhinestone brad for the wheel of the wheelbarrow and added a metal edge circle tag in with the punched greeting layers. 

The layout for this card was inspired by Inking Idaho, Becky Roberts.  She has some wonderful tutorials on her blog.  Enjoy the card and have a great day! 

Supplies Used:

Stamp Set:  Blooming With Love

Card Stock:  Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette Textured Card Stock and Bella Rose Designer Series Paper

Ink:  Jet Black Staz-On Ink, Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss Classic Ink, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa and Going Gray Stampin' Write Markers

Accessories:  Riding Hood Red 5/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Pewter Jumbo Eyelet, Clear Rhinestone Brad, Eyelet Border Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Metal Edge Tag

Brayered Manhatten Roses

Yippee! It's Wednesday!  Guess what is happening tomorrow?  I am finally getting these bandages off my feet.  I had bunion surgery on both my feet just over 2 weeks ago.  I am walking better everyday, but am really looking forward to seeing my feet under these bandages.  I am sure I will still have some sort of bandage on, but at least they will be new ones :)  

Now, onto the card for the day.  This has to be one of my fav's! I had so much fun creating it and just loved the end result.  I was truly inspired by Patty Bennett who did a tutorial on these brayered roses on her blog. 

I used the new Manhatten Flowers Impression Die along with Very Vanilla Card Stock and ran it through my Big Shot.  I then placed my embossed image upside down on my work surface (raised portion down) and brayered different colours of ink over the image to attain the desired result.  I started brayering with Pink Pirouette and then added some Summer Sun and then finished off with Riding Hood Red.  When brayering, I was trying not to roll in any particular fashion. Just a little bit of each colour to get a really varigated look.  The Riding Hood Red was quite dark, so I actually rolled off some of the ink before applying to my project.  

I cut out the image and mounted it to my project along with some  Kiwi Kiss Textured Little Leaves that I also cut out using my Big Shot.  I sponged my leaves with Kiwi Kiss Ink to add a bit more depth.  Finally I finished the card off with a bit of sparkle!  I achieved this by lightly sponging versamark all over the flowers and then using Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder.  I hope you like it as much as I do.  Thank you Patty for the great technique! 

Supplies Used: 

Stamp Set:  Great Friend

Card Stock: Riding Hood Red, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip Textured and Kiwi Kiss Textured

Ink: Pink Pirouette, Summer Sun, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Versamark

Accessories: Big Shot, Little Leaves Sizzlit Die, Manhatten Flowers Impression Die, Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware, Designer Label Punch,  Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon, Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder

Happy Mother's Day

Phew! My class is all over.  I think the gals who attended are thinking the same thing.  I was very pleased with all the projects I designed, but the execution took a little longer than expected, but over all the result was great.  This card was the first card I designed for the class.  I absolutely love this stamp set.  Isn't it beautiful?

Now, it is hard to see in the picture, but the flowers are actually made in 3 layers.  The first set were stamped right on the project, the second set were stamped on scrap and then cut out and mounted with dimensionals and the third set were stamped on scrap and then only a few clusters were cut out and mounted with dimensionals. 

I thought it would be fun to do a Gate Fold card along with the Top Note and then thought it would be nice to carry that feel to the inside of the card.  

I will be sharing another one of my favourite class cards tomorrow.  So, until then, happy stamping!  

Supplies Used:

Stamp Set:  Bloomin' Beautiful,  All Holidays

Card Stock:  Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White

Ink:  Jet Black Staz-On, Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette Classic Inks, So Saffron, More Mustard, Creamy Caramel Markers

Accessories:  Blender Pens, Stamping Sponge, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, 2-Way Glue Pen, Kiwi Kiss Satin Ribbon, Craft Knife, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Soft Summer Again!

I wish I had a scrapbook page to share with you today since it is National Scrapbooking Month. Are their many of you out there that scrapbook?  I would like to dive into scrapbooking some more and get out of the shallow end.  I certainly have enough pictures and events that would last me a lifetime of scrapbooking.  I do have some plans to start a scrapbooking club and even some scrapbooking classes.  It is so nice to give handmade gifts and there are so many great projects out there that I would love to make and share with you.  If you are interested in a scrapbooking club or class, please send me an e-mail to let me know.  I would like to try and get something set up before the summer.  

 I have been working hard at getting back into my creative mode and am almost done getting my projects ready for my Mother's Day class on Monday. I will share the projects with you next week.  For today's post I am going to share a card that I made with the Soft Summer stamp set from the Occasions Mini Catalogue.  I have grown to really like this stamp set and one of the cards on Monday's class will also be from this set.  

This was quite a simple card to make.  I used my Markers to ink up the stamp and then stamped a couple of other flowers that I cut out for extra dimension.  To get proper placement of the outline image stamp, I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig.  I think that is one of my most favourite tools.  I found the idea for the ribbon in our monthly newsletter that we receive from Stamping Up!,  I thought it was a fun way of accenting with both a ribbon and a button.  And of course I added some glitter to the centre of the flowers, because we all love glitter :)

Hope you are having a great weekend! 

Supplies Used:

Stamp Set: Soft Summer

Card Stock: Whisper White, Basic Gray, Bashful Blue Textured

Ink: Basic Gray Classic Ink, Bashful Blue, Close to Cocoa, and Old Olive Markers

Accessories: 5/8" Whisper White Satin Ribbon, Button Bouquet Buttons, Crochet Thread, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, 2-Way Glue Pen

May is National Scrapbooking Month!!

For many people, scrapbooking has played an important role in their lives. It may have started with something simple: the first time they placed a sticker on a piece of paper or picked up a camera. For me, it was the first time I realized I could make money doing what I love! But no matter what brought a person to scrapbooking, all scrapbookers have something in common: they love to create.

During the month of May, we are celebrating National Scrapbooking Month. This is an opportunity for those who have never tried scrapbooking to give it a try;  for those that are avid scrapbookers, to add to what they have or to even join the Stampin' Up! team and share their love for scrapbooking.  I might not be an avid scrapbooker, but I do love to make wonderful home decor gifts and cherish special memories.  Stampin' Up! has some amazing offers in store for you throughout the month of May.

1.  Buy three packs of Designer Series Paper (including the Specialty Designer Series Paper) OR 12x12 textured card stock and get one free!!! 

2.  Become a demonstrator on my Stampin' Up! Team, Always IMPRESSing Stampers, for only $99 by purchasing the limited time Scrapbooking Starter kit!  Here are the kit contents:

Item Code	Description	Retail Value
113510	Schoolbook Serif Alphabet stamp set*	$50.95
113059	Simply Scrappin' Petal Party	$23.95
108697	Earth Elements Assorted textured card stock (12" x 12")	$13.95
105240	Whisper White Craft Stampin' Pad	$8.95

All items are substitutable with items of your choice....an alphabet, a Simply Scrappin' Kit, a package of textured card stock and a craft ink pad.

3. Buy a sneak peek stamp set from the 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalogue -- Jumble Alphabet (set of 52; double-mounted)--at a 20% discount.  (Regular Price $57.95, Sale Price $46.36)

To take advantage of any of these promotions or if you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me at cathmsand@cogeco.ca.