Spooky Nights

Good evening!  I am a little late posting today but I took my grandsons to the movies to see "Cats and Dogs".  They laughed and laughed and we had a wonderful date.

My card today is one I created for the Diva Coffee Break Sketch Challenge #187.  It uses Gable Green (retired), Elegant Eggplant, Daffodil Delight and Black.  I used my Big Shot and an embossing folder to create the black layer  which I then sprayed with Silver Foil Smooch to give it a shimmer.

The moon behind the tree makes the entire card look spoooooooky and eerie.  I have included
a PDF Instruction Sheet so that you can make this card for yourself.

Until later, I hope your night is pleasant and I wish you Happy Stamping!

Funky Note Holder

Hi!  It's Funky Friday again!  And here is my example for the Funky Friday Challenge #68.  I used the stamp sets Upsy Daisy and Teeny Tiny Wishes.  Inks are Regal rose, and Early Espresso and the cardstock is Early Espresso, Regal Rose and Daffodil Delight.  I decided to turn my project into a post-it note holder as a slight twist to an easel card.  You can, however, still fold it over and send it like a card if you wish (but it might be a tad thick with the notes and pencil attached). 

I am really enjoying being on the Design Team for Funky Fridays and I encourage everyone to check out the site and maybe enter the weekly challenges. 

Well, I am off to work.  Hope your day is awesome, that you have a Funky Friday and Happy Stamping!

Happy Together Frenzy

Hi to all!  Hope you are having a great week.  Each week I try to enter the Creative Apple Scrampers Sketch Frenzy Friday Challenge.  This week is no exception.  I created this cute little card using the stamp set "Happy Together" and the background stamp "Dots, Dots, Dots".  For colours, I chose Real Red, Apricot Appeal (retired) and Marina Mist.  I love the combination.  The DSP is a retired paper - I do not remember the name.   This is just a whimsical happy project and I really hope you like it.  The flowers are stamped on RR and then cut out and randomly glued to the card front. (I just felt that the card was a bit too bland so I added them to punch it up.)

Wishing all a wonderful Thursday and remember, Happy Stamping!

Silver Floral Birthday

Good morning!  Just wanted to show you the card I made for Makeesha Byl's Inkspiration Challenge #33.  It is a sketch challenge and I had to turn the sketch on its side to work for me.  I love metal on cards so I used only auto body metal and silver embossing for the card front and did it all on Elegant Eggplant cardstock.  My heat tool got a good workout!  But i absolutely LOVE this card and the effect of all the silver.  It is so elegant but whipped up in a very short time.

I have included a PDF Instruction Sheet for this card so that you can make it if you want or adapt it to your own design.  I encourage everyone who has a Big Shot to give metal a try (you can start with a pop can ($0 expense) and see what you think.  I hope soon to do a tutorial on using metal with the Big Shot.  Well, enough from me.  Hope your day is awesome and Happy Stamping!

Funky Friday Reminder

Just a quick note to remind everyone to enter  the Funky Friday Craft Challenge #67. Entries close in two days and the theme is Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.  As a member of the Design Team, I encourage you to check out the site and hopefully enter a card or other project.  Don't forget to check out the other DT examples.  Thanks and Happy Stamping!

Flowers and Flutter

Hello again!  Today my card is an entry into the Just Add Ink #27 Challenge. I used three new colours - Daffodil Yellow, Cherry Cobbler and Early Espresso ( as well as Whisper White) cardstock and Cherry Cobbler and Early Espresso ink.

The flowers are from Tropical Party and the sentiment from Bella's Bloom.  For the butterflies, I ran the Beautiful Wings Embosslit through the Big Shot and used each one of the butterflies in the die.  I thought the card looked kind of bare so I just continued the butterflies out of the square.  I really love these colours together and can see myself using them time and again.

I hope to get back here a while later, but until then, enjoy your day and Happy Stamping!

Frightful 411

Hello again!  This afternoon I have a card for the Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch #161 challenge.
I could not resist a Halloween card (that being my favourite holiday).  I brayered the background in Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard and Summer Sun (retired) All of the black is embossed and I used the large wheel Haunting Hill(retired), stamp set House of Haunts and the little bats are from Halloween Frights.

I tried cutting the bats out but had such a hard time that I resorted to the 1" punch and inked around the edges.  I think it looks cool that way, though.

Well, I have to go.  It is my hubbie's birthday and he wants a special dinner so I guess I have to cook.  And there is cheesecake cooling in the fridge that I have to top.  So I am off for now.  Remember  Happy Stamping!

Thanks-Karen Giron

Hi, I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank Karen Giron for selecting my baby card as the featured card this week on her blog The Sweetest Thing.  And I want to thank all who visited my blog because of it. I appreciate it a great deal.

Monday MDS

Hi!  Before i start, let me promise you this will be the last of my pages about Jordan's football team.  That is partly because I know you do not want to see any more about and also because their season is over.  They lost in the semi-finals.  So now we wait for hockey.

Again for this page, I used a larger photo as the background paper.  I could not find a paper which I felt gave the effect I wanted and plain cardstock was just toooooo boring.  For all the matts around the pictures, I used the colour picker and had them match the red of the jerseys exactly.

I tried using various embellishments and the page just got too busy so I settled for the cog with Jordan's number and the little stars.  The cog and the "Go Team" logo are both digital downloads for MDS.  I colour picked the little stars as well as the #54 as well.  There is no journalling on the page as it is meant to go in an album beside a story Jordan wrote about the season.

Here is a hint:  For the arched title, I used individual text blocks for each letter so that I could manipulate them exactly how I wanted them.

If you have MDS, why not get it out and play a bit.  You will be surprised how easy everything comes together.  Enjoy your day.  I will post a card this afternoon.  Until then Happy Stamping!

Winged Thank You

Good morning.  Again I am late for a challenge.I was almost finished this card last night for the Monday Lunchtime Challenge when I just got soooo sleepy that I decided to complete it this morning.  Silly me forgot to look at the closing time for entries.  Well, the long and the short of it..... I am tardy but I really like this super simple card so I decided to post it for you to see.  I have included a PDF Instruction Sheet so that you can make it as well.

You will find that I used Bermuda Bay (which is retired) but you could substitute any blue or Taken with Turquoise would be beautiful.  My colour combo was Bermuda Bay, Pumpkin Pie and Melon Mambo - a bright, happy trio.

Well, I am off to work so I have to cut this short.  Thanks for stopping by and Happy Stamping!

Winged Mojo

Hi again!  This evening I have a card I made for the Mojo Monday 148 challenge.  I used Pink Pirouette, Bravo Burgundy and Kraft ( again I have lots to use up). The stamp set is Wings of Friendship and, for the first time, I used every stamp in the set.  I love this stamp set and find myself using it all the time.  

I am  very happy with this card, especially with the colours, and can see myself doing something similar again.  I hope you enjoy it as well.

Until later, Happy Stamping! 

Trendy Trees Greeting

Good Morning!  I wish I didn't have to work today but I do so this will be just a quick note.

My card this morning is one I started to make for Mojo Monday but I kind of ran out of time and it did not really meet the sketch challenge.  But I really liked it so I decided to finish it the way I wanted.

The little trees are from Trendy Trees, the sentiment from Wings of Friendship, the medallion is cut on the Big Shot from the matchbox die and the background was run through the BS with the square lattice embossing folder.

When I showed this to my Mom, she immediately said that she thought this would be perfect for a man.  I had not thought of it that way but I am glad she did.  One of my co-workers has a birthday coming up and this card is exactly what I am looking for.  Thanks, Mom.

Well, I better go have my shower, am running late.  Until this evening, Happy Stamping!

Funky Newsprint Flower

Hi, all.  Well today is the day!  Here is my first offering as a member of the Inspiration Team for the Funky Friday Challenges.   I would like to invite all of you to take part in this week's challenge located at the Funky Friday Site.  It is a lot of fun and you get great ideas from the examples posted by the Inspiration team.

 Our theme for this week is "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" so I decided to use the pages of an old book which was falling apart as the focus of my card.  I sponged the edges of the the paper and the petals on the flower with Early Espresso and then I smudged a bit randomly to give the whole page a worn, antiquey look.  The cardstock is cajun Craze and More Mustard..  For the flower, I cut the "Daisies#2" die out twice with the Big Shot so I have 2 layers of each size. 

To me recycling is very important and the more we can do to save our planet, the better.

So check out the Funky Friday Craft Challenges and give the weekly challenge a try.  You could win one of these 

Have a great day and Happy Stamping!

For the New Baby........

Good afternoon everyone.  I just completed this card for The Sweetest Thing Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge # 78.  I used Gable Green and Barely Banana cardstock (both retired - but I have to use them up and I love these colours).  The focal image is from the Baby Tees wheel- I just picked 2 tees I liked and cut that segment out and coloured it.  The teddy bear is from the new set Baby Bundle and  "hello baby" comes from Teeny Tiny Wishes. All stamping was done in Basic Black and I coloured the images with Stampin Pastels.  I thought that a wide border and rounded corners suit this card.  I don't very often make baby cards and this was a real joy for a change. 

Hope you all have a great afternoon and evening and........Happy Stamping!

The Excitement Grows..................

Hi, everyone.  Just thought I would drop a little note to let you know that tomorrow is the day!  Friday is my first day on the design team for The Funky Friday Challenges!  And I am really excited!!!

This past week was a colour challenge and the inspiration came from the flip-flops at the left.  There are really awesome challenges on this site and I look forward to your participation in them.  So please check out The Funky Friday Challenges!  I know you will have fun.

P.S.  Check out my design tomorrow here and on Funky Friday.

Thanks and Happy Stamping!

Butterflies and Lace

Good morning (or should I say evening since it is 12:50 a.m.).  Today I have a card I did for the Sketch Frenzy Friday 071610 challenge found at the Creative Apple Scrampers blog.   The stamp sets I used were Watercolour Trio and Flight of the Butterfly.  The card base is Barely Banana  and the inks were Garden Green and lavendar lace. I punched the larger butterfly out of both cardstock and vellum, added stamping to the vellum layer and a jewel to its body.  The card was too bare so I added the 2 tiny butterflies to balance things out.

After great consternation, I ended up being very happy with the design.  I hope you like it too.  Until next time, Happy Stamping!

MDS Meets Vintage Vogue

I wanted to take a minute to show you a card front designed with MDS.  I  had time on my hands at work so I decided to work on the cards for my 10-10 class.  With all of the options available and the downloads you can add to MDS, it is so simple to create the card fronts and then make them up as hard copies.

This card uses   exclusively  the Vintage Vogue  stamp set and So Saffron and Not Quite Navy are the only colours involved.

I am glad you stopped by and I hope to see you again.  Happy Stamping!

Monday MDS

Hello again.  Well it is Monday MDS and for today's page I went back into the archives to find the right photos.  I came up with these pictures of Jordan having his bath.  They are so cute (although I am sure he would disagree).  There was no journalling required as the page is pretty self-explanitory. 

I just love this paper pattern from Nursery Necessities which was a free download for MDS.  The page was so simple and quick to put together but I think it is just adorable.  Don't you?

Well, see you tomorrow.  Until then, Happy Stamping!

Funky Bird of Friendship

Happy Sunday Evening!

I created this sweet little card for the Funky Friday Challenge #66 at the Cornwall Crafty Stamper site . Just a reminder that beginning next week, I will be part of the design team for a few months.   I am really excited and invite everyone to take part in the weekly challenges.

I used my brayer and Elegant Eggplant, Bermuda Bay, and Brilliant Blue on Glossy White cardstock to make the background.  I then cut a diamond from Elegant Eggplant, sponged the edges and adhered it on point.  The "Bird" is stamped with Chocolate Chip and comes from the Wings of Friendship stamp set.  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes and the background layers are Bermuda Bay and Elegant Eggplant.  These colours are awesome together and I could not be happier with the result.  I hope you like it as much as I do.

Unfortunately there is a basket of ironing waiting for me.  I guess it won't take care of itself so I better go.  Until next time, Happy Stamping!

Haunted House

Good evening, everyone!

Every once in awhile my love of Halloween kind of creeps into everything I do.  Today is one of those times.  I made this card for Mary Jo Price-Williams' Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge located at TechnoStamper.blogspot.com.  I decided to put the plastic sheet on top to give it a completely different look.  The paper and the plastic are both discontinued from last year's Halloween DSP.

I have included  a PDF Instruction File so that you will be able to make this card for yourself.

I hope you enjoy this card and this little piece of Halloween which has popped up in July.  Thanks for visiting and Happy  Stamping!

Guess What!!

Hi everyone!  I received the GREATEST news yesterday!  I have been asked to join the design team for the FUNKY FRIDAY CHALLENGES.  Isn't that thrilling?  I am sooo looking forward to creating a project every week for everyone to see. This is such an honour and it is the first time I have ever done anything like this. So I need everyone who visits my blog to check out This fun site and hopefully enter whatever challenge is running that week.  You will have sooooooooooo much fun and everyone will get to see how great your projects are. 

Well, there is my latest news.  I hope you are as excited as I am.  Don't forget to check out the site and I hope you take a challenge.  Until later, Happy Stamping!

Upsey-Daisy Birthday

Hi again!  This evening I have a card using three of the new colours - Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight and Early Espresso.  This combination was one I found in the new Color Coach.  They are very dramatic together and a combination I know I will use again.  The stamp set is Upsey Daisy.  I stamped the image 3 times without reinking to get that shadowy effect.

The original inspiration for this card came from "The Sweetest Thing" Sketch Challenge this week.  Unfortunately I was just a few minutes late so I did not make the challenge on time. I decided to post the project anyway.

Tonight I had a workshop  and one of the guests was from Northern Ireland.  In fact, it was her idea to have the event.  I was interested in her comments about Stampin Up!  She had only seen our products on the internet and was thrilled to see and use them in person.  She is both a scrapbooker and card maker and made several helpful comments while we were doing our make-and-takes.  She was soooo excited that recently she purchased a Big Shot and her shopping list consisted of several dies and embossing folders. 

Well, that is all the news for now.   It was a busy day  and tomorrow is back to work so I won't be posting until tomorrow night.  Until then Happy Stamping!  Good night.

MDS Greeting

Hi!  Today I want to show you a card I made with MDS for Cindy's Stamping Garden.  Again I used colours which I do not usually think of (Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive with Whisper White).
I always marvel at how realistic MDS projects can look just by adding drop shadows and layers.  I think the bow looks especially real.
This card can easill be printed to create a hard copy to send to friends or family.
I have a demo tonight so I am not sure if I will get back here today, but, if I do, I am working on a really cool card to show.
Until later, Happy Stamping!

Happy Together

Hi all!  just a second to post today, am running late.  Here is a sweet little card that my 10/10 class did on Monday.  I had a brand new stamper so i wanted to make it fairly basic.  This card, although being easy, is still very sweet.  I used very vanilla, chocolate chip and kraft (I have lots left) with a touch of real red.  Everyone left with smiles and asking when we will get together again.
Have a great day.  Happy Stamping!

Funky Fifth Avenue Floral

I just love it when I can come up with a project which is just plain fun.  That's what this weeks Funky Friday Craft Challenge from the Cornwall Crafty Stamper allowed me to do. I used bright colours and a simple design and am so happy with the result.

I love bold, primary colours and the combination of red, yellow and orange works so well.  Black, red and white would be equally as lovely but give a more formal look.

I have included a PDF Instruction file  for your convenience should you want to try this card.  If you come up with another combination, please leave a comment and let me know.

Hope you have a wonderful day and hope you find the time to do some Happy Stamping!

Happy Birthday Human!

Hi everyone.  Here is a cute card I made for a little boy's birthday.  I made it to enter into the Inkspirations Sketch Challenge #31 at Makeesha Byl's site.

Once again, metal has crept into my design.  The "gear-like"disc is auto body metal run through the Big Shot with the Baskets and Blooms die ( I used the basket bottom only and then removed the triangle pieces).

The DSP I used is an older one (I do not even remember the name) but the little squares remind me of pixals so it was perfect for this techno-geek card.

I have included a PDF instruction sheet in case you would like to make it yourself.

Until later, thanks for stopping by and Happy Stamping.

Monday MDS (on Tuesday)

Sorry about my MDS page not showing up until today but yesterday was a zoo around here.  It was my first ever 10-10 class and I had to get ready while watching -and entertaining - a six year old.

For this MDS page, I used some tricks you may want to try.  I chose a photo as the background paper and did not change the opacity.  I thought the bright blue water would be a perfect backdrop and I am sooooo happy with the result.  For the matting, I colour matched a shade of blue in the water that I really liked and then I increased the mat size and added a drop shadow to each.  I tried various colours but I loved the blue too much to change it.  The text was done in white and it is pretty easy to read on the water background.
Lastly, I added NO embellishment.  The page was busy enough and I did not want to clutter it up with more "stuff" just for the sake of adding it.

Well, I hope you can feel the "fun" on this page and sense the enjoyment the team was having.  Happy Stamping!!!

Creative Apple Scrampers Challenge - Sketch Frenzy Friday

Hello,everyone.  This evening, I am posting the card I made for the Sketch Frenzy Friday challenge on the Creative Apple Scrampers website.  I chose to do the entire card in Old Olive and Whisper White.  I don't very often use the scalloped corner punch but this seemed like the prime opportunity.  This card is not elaborate but I think there is a quite elegance to it. 

I was very busy today so I really do apologize for being so late.  See you tomorrow.  Everyone, Happy Stamping!

Hi, I am posting this right now since I will be very busy this evening and tomorrow as I have a party for my grandson's football team today and have to get ready for my first 10-10 class tomorrow.

This little mini album is one I created for my son-in-law of  Jordan's very first hockey season.  I decided on a picture for the cover but am still trying to figure out the prints I want inside.

The pockets in the album are made out of business sized envelopes that I stamped the colours of the DSP and cardstock I used.  I cut both ends out of the envelopes and then cut the envelopes off at 8" long.  Then I used a circle punch to cut notches in each end.  I then figured out the size I needed for the tags (4" X 4") so I can also add photos in these pouches as well as decorating the pages.

As you can see, I have added lots of colour to the layouts and all that is left is to decide on my photos and embellish.  To close the album, I adhered the ribbon to the spine of the book and ran it underneath the cover design.

To bind my album, I used a technique I found by taking apart an old, falling apart book and adapting it to my album.  I have seen similar methods on the internet as well.  I have to give credit to Lori Rancourt, a friend of mine who gave me a book on mini albums so some of the ideas are adapted from it (Outstanding Mini Albums by Jessica Acs).   Thank you, Lori.

I hope this inspires you to create a mini album to give as a gift or keep as a remembrance of something special.  Have a great day and Happy Stamping! 

Mini Briefcase Part 2

Hi gang, as promised, here are the instructions to make my briefcase.  I am sorry but my scanner must have a headache so it is under the weather.  I took a picture of my template and I am quite certain you can enlarge it on a printer so that it just fits in length an 11" piece of copy paper.  I hope this works, if not, I will post the template as soon as I get a new scanner.  Happy Stamping.!

Mini Briefcase

Hi, again!  Today's offering is a tiny briefcase I made for a color challenge at Just Add Ink, Color Challenge #25.  We had to use Soft Suede, very Vanilla, Elegant Eggplant, and Rose Red.  I decided to make this little briefcase rather than a card.  Using my Jumbo Wheel and the Very Vintage wheel, I rolled out the pattern to cover the intire case (cut from Very Vanilla) except 1/2" at the bottom.  Then I stamped the sentiment from the Vintage Vogue stamp set.
I cut a rectangle from Elegant Eggplant and attached the "Friends" image from the same stamp set stamped on Very Vanilla and sponged with Elegant Eggplant.  The flower is stamped from the same set on Rose Red cardstock and cut out with the small flower from the set as its center.  The butterfly is the All Aflutter stamp stamped on Very Vanilla with Soft Suede ink, then colored with Stampin Pastels in Rose Red, Elegant Eggplant and Soft Suede.  My scanner is acting up so I have to wait till tomorrow to post a template for the briefcase . I will create a PDF then so that you can make this little box if you would like.
Until then, I want to wish everyone a great weekend and Happy Stamping!

Watercolor Trio Greeting

Hi everyone, sorry I am so late in posting today but it was one of those days where everything goes wrong.  I drew a mental block for awhile, had to go out and get batteries for the camera and stared aimlessly trying to decide my colours.  But, now that it is finished, I really love this card.

I created this offering for the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #146.  I have found I really like challenges and seeing other stampers' interpretations of the sketches.

I have included a PDF tutorial in the event that anyone would like to make this card.  Keep  in mind that you do not need a Big Shot to create this project but it does make things a whole lot easier. 

Well, that's about it for now.  I have more stamping to do.
Until later, Happy Stamping!