Another round of leftovers

What a crazy day yesterday was!  I was supposed to be taking three of my bands from school up to Collingwood (about 2-1/2 hours north of us) to perform at a music festival.  We set out first thing in the morning to bright sunshine and bare roads.  Within 45 minutes the world suddenly turned white as wicked snow squalls hit.  We were surrounded by white...I have never been in such a severe white-out in my life.  It scared the daylights out of me and the bus driver alike and we made the decision to turn around and head back home as soon as we could safely do so.  We made it back to school safe and sound and am I ever thankful we did!  Every road leading into and out of Collingwood was closed by dinnertime and the major highway had a 96-car-pile-up right at about the time we would have been driving on it!  If we had managed to make it up there we would have been stranded in -30 C cold with no place to stay!!  I am so grateful that I and all of my students and staff are safe at home!  It was very disappointing for my kids, as they have worked hard to prepare their repertoire, but it certainly wasn't worth risking their lives to perform!  So, after that craziness, I have a crazy card made from leftovers found while tidying up my desk...

Birthday card featuring the Tag It stamp set.

Now don't adjust your screen...the DSP strip in the background really is cut crooked!  Haha!  I didn't realize just how crooked it was until I had finished the card and was photographing it!  I just found the perfectly sized scrap of DSP and used it on this card without really measuring it!  That'll teach me to use up scraps willynilly, huh??  The cool thing about this one is that every single item on it was in the heap of scraps and odd bits sitting on my desk, left from various failed projects.One thing I did discover, rather by accident is that the new Scalloped Tag Topper Punch makes a perfect mat for one of the tag dies from the Chalk Talk Framelits!  Gotta love that! 
I hope you've had a great week (at least better than mine ended up!).  I'll have a new challenge from The Technique Twist for you tomorrow...another bi-weekly Saturday post!  Till then take care and TGIF!

What's on your Desk??

This weekend I found a bit of time to clean up my stamping desk after the frenzied flurry of making all of the decorations for the baby shower I recently hosted.  It was a big mess, so rather than put everything away I decided to try to create a few projects using the items that were sitting out.  Here is the first card I made...

Thank you card featuring the Happy Watercolour  stamp set.

This one features some leftover practice bits from the Bubble Background challenge over at the Technique Twist a while back!  Yep, that's how deep my pile was!   I stamped the dot image from the Happy Watercolour  stamp set over top of the bubbles using Silver Metallic Encore ink.  I found a bit of Wisteria Wonder baker's twine leftover from an event ages ago, as well as a small Vintage Faceted button that was buried under a stack of scraps.

The focal image was one that I stamped at some point after receiving my Occasions Catalogue pre-order and trying out some of the new products.  The colour scheme is Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder and Pear Pizzazz, with all stamped off once before stamping the background colour blocks.  The flower is stampe in Basic Gray.  The embossed background layer is Smokey Slate card stock that I ran through the Decorative Dots TIEF.  I had the corner rounder punch sitting out so I rounded the opposite corners on all of the layers.  The sentiment was stamped in Basic Gray and then die cut using the Bitty Banners Framelits.  I had a few odd rhinestones laying around so I added them for some sparkle.
It's really amazing what you find when you finally clean up!  If your work area is looking less-than-tidy, try using the stuff instead of trying to find places to store it...you might be surprised with the result!

Card for Baby

Today I have the card I made to go with my gift at the shower last Friday.  It was pretty last-minute, as I was so busy making all of the decor stuff I kind of forgot about a card!  I threw this together the night before the shower...not my best work, but it's ok...

Baby card featuring the Banner Blast, Sweet Essentials and Itty Bitties (retired) stamp sets.

I'm not exactly thrilled with this card, but I was under a time crunch, which always tends to stifle my creativity.  I started with a piece of DSP from the Fresh Prints pack and then layered half of a doily, some pennants stamped with the Banner Blast set and punched with the coordinating punch and some stitched grosgrain ribbon.  The teeny little feet are from the Itty Bitties stamp set, which was in last year's Occasions catalogue.  Sadly it is no longer available, but I kept it just for this one image...aren't they adorable??

The sentiment is from the Sweet Essentials set and is die cut using the Bitty Banners framelits.  I added a small Vintage Faceted button and a bit of twine from the Sweet Sorbet Accessory pack.  Like I said, not my best work, but not bad for last minute ;)

Now, here are this week's Weekly Deals...some great items here!  I'm ordering a  few myself!

We hope you enjoy this week's Weekly Deals!

	Backyard Basics Framelits Dies Item # 129380 Regular Price: 30.95  Discounted Price: 23.21
	Gold Metallic Encore Pad Item # 132141 Regular Price: 12.95 Discounted Price: 9.71
	Basics Glimmer Brads Item # 121003 Regular Price: 6.95 Discounted Price: 4.88
	Paper Doily Sizzlits Die Item # 125592 Regular Price: 26.95 Discounted Price: 20.21
	Primrose Petals 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon Item # 126844 Regular Price: 12.25 Discounted Price: 9.19
	Summer Starfruit 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon Item # 126846 Regular Price: 12.25  Discounted Price:  /9.19
	Season By Season Kit - Digital Download Item # 130060 Regular Price:  10.95  Discounted Price:  6.57

Baby Shower Success!

Well Operation Baby Shower was a huge success.  The Mommy-to-be had a wonderful time and received some lovely gifts.  I know I said I would post photos of the decor items last Friday, but honestly, I was just too busy getting ready for the actual event (and then cleaning up afterwards) to sneak in a post.  My apologies for keeping you waiting...here they are!

Baby shower Banner and garland.

 I made the banner using the largest of the Banners Framelits, cutting a folded piece of  textured Smokey Slate card stock so that the fold was just below the cutting edge.  This created tent-fold pennants that I could then just drape over the Summer Starfruit stitched satin ribbon, allowing me to reuse the almost-8-foot-long piece of ribbon!  The white circles were cut using the Starburst Framelits and embossed with the Argyle TIEF.  The Summer Starfruit letters were die cut using the retired Serif Essentials Alphabet dies.  I love these because they cut big 2" letters which are perfect for projects like this.  I added a bit of bling to the banner with some small hearts punched from silver glimmer paper.

The garland in each of the above photos was made by punching (a lot!) of hexagons from Smokey Slate, Summer Starfruit, Crisp Cantaloupe and Silver Glimmer paper using the Hexagon punch.  It was then just a matter of sewing them all together.  I did them in strands of 100 hexagons each, which made the length quite manageable.  The one on the chandelier was shorter, made from the leftovers.  Those garlands were a huge hit with everyone...in fact, the Mommy-to-be asked if she could keep them for baby's first birthday party!  Of course I said yes!

Heart confetti

Instead of throwing out the scraps when I was finished punching all of those hexagons, I punched as many small hearts as I could from what was left and used them as confetti on the tables.  It was a great way to carry the colour scheme to the tables and use up scraps at the same time!

Cupcake toppers

I made little toppers for the yummy cupcakes using the Itty Bitty Banners stamp set and Bitty Banners Framelits. 

 

Favour wrapper made using the Scalloped Tag Topper punch...so loving that thing!

 For the favours I packaged up pairs of yummy-smelling votive candles in some small cello bags and then created a wrapper using the Scalloped Tag Topper punch.  I simply cut a 10" x 2" strip of Smokey Slate card stock and punched both ends.  I scored each strip at 4-1/4 and 5-3/4" and folded along the score lines.  I embossed each strip with the Perfect Polka Dots TIEF.  I added a strip of Sticky Strip between the score lines to hold the bag of candles in place and then tied the wrapper closed with some Summer Starfruit Stitched Satin Ribbon.  The label is cut using the Chalk Talk Framelits from Summer Starfruit Core'dinations card stock, embossed with the Argyle TIEF and then lightly sanded.  The sentiment is from the A Fitting Occasion stamp set.  It is punched with the 1" circle and layered on a 1-1/4" scalloped circle.  The tiny heart is from the Owl Builder Punch.

Thank you card featuring the Cuddles and Kisses stamp set.

As part of my gift for the Mommy-to-be I made a set of 20 of these thank you cards.  I kept many of the same elements I used on the invitations, but made these much simpler.  It didn't take long to whip them up!

I have to say that this colour scheme was a huge hit!  Everyone commented on how nicely the colours (Smokey Slate, Summer Starfruit, Crisp Cantaloupe and Whisper White) work together for a gender-neutral shower.  The bling is a bit girlie, but it was more for Mommy-to-be than for baby...she is a real girlie girl!  Here is a shot of the guest of honour:

I can't wait to meet her little one!!

Quckie Baby card

Today's post will be a quickie...I am busily preparing to host a baby shower for my teaching partner at school.  Friday afternoon my home will be filled with colleagues as we wish the momma-to-be well and shower her with all of the necessities of mommyhood.  I've handmade all of the decor and favours as well as a set of thank you cards to give as a gift...I'll post photos tomorrow ;)
Yesterday I showed you three cards I made using the Watercolour Wonder Designer Note Cards...today I have another, appropriately, baby themed one!

Baby card featuring the Baby We've Grown stamp set and Watercolour Wonder Designer Note Cards.

Cute, huh?  And so darned easy!  I just stamped the two images in Staz On and then coloured them using my blender pen and ink pads.  Piece o' cake!  Good thing, 'cuz I've got 20 women coming over tomorrow and my house is a disaster!  Wish me luck...I'll let you know how it goes!

Quick and Easy Watercolour

I just love the new Watercolour Wonder Designer Note Cards and Envelopes.  They make it so quick and easy to create gorgeous cards in minutes!  Check these out:

Quick and easy card ensemble featuring the Happy Watercolour stamp set and Watercolour Wonder Designer Note Cards

This set of three cards took me less than 15 minutes, in total, to make!  Talk about easy elegance!  Here is a closer look at each one:

All of the notecards come pre-printed.  There are 4 of each of 5 designs, for a total of 20 notecards in all.  They are so pretty you could even give them as they are, but I had fun stamping and colouring directly on them...no layers required to get gorgeous watercolour-effect images.  So pretty and easy...even you (and I!) can look like an expert watercolourer!
Have a great Wednesday...just two more days till the weekend...woohoo!

Wishing it was still the weekend...

We had a long weekend here, in Ontario, in honour of Family Day.  It is a time to spend quality time with those you love and we had a fantastic Family Day!  It was a technology-free day, which meant no cell phones, computers, iPads, or video games!  Both my son and my DH were a wee bit stressed, at first, to think that they had to find other ways to entertain themselves for the day, but it turned out to be a great day of family togetherness.  We read books, played games, went bowling and had a family dinner out at one of our favourite restaurants.  Now can you see why I'm wishing it was still the weekend?  I didn't want our wonderful day to end!  To kick off the shortened workweek, I have a quick and easy card for you.  It sums up how I'm feeling today:

Any-occasion card featuring the Perfect Pennants and Petite Petals stamp sets.

Life really doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful...yesterday proved that!  This card is really quick and easy to put together thanks to some fabulous new products.  Here is a quick how-to:

• I stamped the sentiment using Pool Party ink on Whisper White card stock and then die cut it using the Banners Framelits.  I also die cut two additional banners from Sweet Sorbet DSP.
• I stamped a couple of flowers on the die cut banner using Crisp Cantaloupe ink.
• I stamped two more flowers and punched them using the Petite Petals punch.  They are adhered using dimensionals.
• The DSP at the top of the card is from the Sweet Sorbet DSP pack.
• The little scalloped border is punched from Crisp Cantaloupe card stock using the Dotted Scallop Ribbon punch.
• The background is embossed using the Decorative Dots TIEF.
• The twine is from the Sweet Sorbet Accessory pack.
• I added a wee bit of bling with a rhinestone in the centre of each flower.

Havea great day and a week filled with unexpected blessings! :)

It's Saturday...

...and here I am, which means it's challenge time over at The Technique Twist.  This week's challenge is using Puzzle Piece Resist technique.  Check out my project:

Thank you card featuring the Creative Elements, Flower Shop, Petite Petals and From My Heart stamp sets and featuring the Puzzle Piece Emboss Resist technique.

Firstly, let me warn you that this is not a quick, 10-minute project, though it is pretty accessible if you have the right tools.  Here is a quick how-to:

• I started by heat embossing, in gold, the flourish image several times on a piece of 4" x 5-1/4" Whisper White card stock.
• I die cut a banner, from the embossed card stock, using the Banners Framelits.  I left the die in the negative cardstock after embossing, removing the die cut banner, and then sponged all over with Island Indigo ink, using the die as a mask around the banner-shaped cut-out.
• I die cut another banner of the same size from Gold Foil card stock and then embossed it using the Pretty Print TIEF.
• I glued the sponged card stock, inserting the gold banner in the negative space, to a 4-1/8" x 5-3/8" piece of Brushed Gold card stock.
• I wrapped some gold Baker's twine around the panel several times and tied a bow.  Then I adhered the card front to an Island Indigo card base.
• The flowers are heat embossed in gold on vellum card stock and then punched out using the Pansy and Petite Petals punches.
• The sentiment is stamped in Island Indigo ink and then die cut using the Apothecary Accents Framelits.
• The sentiment and the flowers are adhered using dimensionals.
• The gold sequins are adhered using glue dots.

 I really like this technique...I've used it several times in the past.  It is always fun to try something new and add a twist.  My twist was the swapping of the embossed gold foil banner...I really like the way it pops and draws attention to the sentiment.  If you have time this long weekend, give this technique a try and play along over at The Technique Twist...we'd love to see your creation!

Perfect Life

Happy Valentine's day!  I hope you get a chance to let those who matter to you know just how much you love them today.  My sweetie and I have no special plans for today, opting for a date night on Sunday, when the restaurants are a little less crowded!  Can't wait!  Tonight it will be heart-shaped pizza with our boy.
In the meantime, I have a cute project for you that could work for today or just about any day...

Any-occasion card featuring the Perfect Pennants and Betsy's Blossoms stamp sets.

I just love this sentiment from the Perfect Pennants stamp set!  It is so absolutely true.  So many people spend their lives trying to make their lives "perfect" and miss out on so many wonderful things along the way.  To accent the sentiment I stamped it in Basic Black ink over top of the flower from Betsy's Blossoms, stamped in Pool Party ink.  I die cut the flower using the new Starburst Framelits.  I added one of the cork accents from the Sweet Sorbet Accessories SAB pack and added an In-Colour Dahlia to the centre of the cork flower.  The DSP is from the Sweet Sorbet SAB pack.  The twine is also from the Sweet Sorbet Accessories pack.  I embossed the background using the Decorative Dots TIEF, which is also an SAB freebie! 

I added some sparkle with a Vintage Faceted button, a little silver glimmer heart and a few randomly scattered rhinestones.  The scalloped border is die cut from Crisp Cantaloupe card stock, using the Tasteful Trim die (on sale this week for 25% off!!).  Somehow I neglected to take a photo of the inside of this one...sorry 'bout that! 
Have a wonderful Heart Day and a super weekend!  It is a long one for us...wahoo!!

A Valentine Quickie

If you're anything like me, you haven't really started planning what you're doing for that special someone tomorrow.  Here's a quick and easy Valentine you can whip up tonight...

Quick and easy Valentine featuring the Banner Blast stamp set.

Just one little bit of stamping on this one:  the little love banner from the Banner Blast SAB set, punched with the SAB banner punch.  The background is Watercolour Wonder Washi tape that I stuck to Whisper White card stock and then ran through the Big Shot using the Decorative Dots SAB TIEF.  The focal image is a scalloped heart die cut from Gold Foil card stock using the Hearts A-flutter Framelits.  The red DSP heart is punched from the Fresh Prints DSP stack, using the Full Heart punch.

 I added a small heart punched from champagne Glimmer Paper, as well as some Gold Baker's Twine and a few gold sequins. I'm not going to show you what I did on the inside 'cuz its for my honey's eyes only ;)
Now, didn't I tell you it was an easy project??  Go make one.  Now.  Your significant other deserves a handmade Valentine, dontcha think??  Who knows...he/she may just surprise you with something extra special too!

Hump Day!

Half-way to the weekend!  Yippee!!  Here is another one of the make-n-takes from my Sale-a-bration open house last weekend:

Birthday card featuring the Perfect Pennants and Starburst Sayings stamp sets.

Now, clearly this one doesn't use any Sale-a-bration products, but it does use two fabulous new stamp sets from the Occasions catalogue.  I used the Perfect Pennants set with coordinating Banners framelits to create the focal image and then two images from the Starburst Sayings set for the background.

The colour scheme for this one is Real Red, Pool Party and Basic Gray...perfect for masculine cards, though this one is fairly generic.  I did add a little bling with some stars punched using the Merry Minis punch.

On the inside I simply repeated the background images from the front, leaving the Celebrate image as the focal point, and added a few more sparkly stars.  Who doesn't like to sparkle on their big day??

Have a great day...thanks for checking in!

Ready for Spring

I don't know about you, but I am so over winter.  Spring can, well...spring any time now!  I'm ready to say good-bye to the mountains of white all around me and hello to green grass and colourful blooms.  Today's project is perfect to get you thinking of warmer temperatures and blossoming gardens.  Check it out...

Birthday card featuring the Bright Blossoms stamp set with sentiment from Sassy Salutations.

Can't get much more spring-like than that, can you?  I love how happy and cheerful this card is...exactly what I need on a gloomy February Tuesday.

It is really quick and easy to create.  The colours I used were Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana, Gumball Green and Strawberry Slush.  All of the floral stamps are from the Bright Blossoms stamp set, with the exception of the Daffodil Delight flowers, which are from the Banner Blast SAB stamp set.
The sentiment is stamped in Gumball Green using the Sassy Salutations stamp set.  I added a little softness with some Stretch Ruffle Trim in Coastal Cabana and some bling with some scattered rhinestones.

Inside view with sentiment from the Another Great Year stamp set.

The inside features more of the floral images from the front and the sentiment from the Another Great Year stamp set, stamped in Gumball Green.

One of my long-time customers chose to feature this project on her blog.  You can view it here, along with the story of how we came to meet.  It is an interesting one!   In the meantime, have a spring-like Tuesday, everyone!

Monday, Monday...

As I sit here and type this post on Sunday evening I am mourning the end of the weekend.  It was such a hectic one that I am no where near ready to head back to work.  Knowing that the coming week is a crazy-busy one doesn't help matters much!  Ah well, head down, one day at a time and eventually another weekend will come along...and a three-day one to boot!
To brighten your Monday I have one of the projects from my Sale-a-bration Open House last Saturday...

Thinking of You card featuring the Perfect Pennants and Petite Petals stamp sets and Sweet Sorbet DSP.

Lots of new products on this one!  I always like the make-n-takes at my open house to feature new products so everyone can get their hands on some new stuff.  Here is a list of the new items I used on this card:

• Perfect Pennants stamp set (CM 133230)
• Petite Petals stamp set (CM133155)
• Petite Petals punch (133322)
• Scalloped Tag Topper Punch (133324)
• Sweet Sorbet DSP (FREE with a $60 order during Sale-a-bration!!)
• Sweet Sorbet Accessory Pack (also FREE with a $60 order!)

 I also used some tried and true products from the Annual Catalogue, including the Betsy's Blossoms stamp set, Beautiful Wings Embosslit and the Dotted Scallop Ribbon punch.  Colours I used were Pool Party, Crisp Cantaloupe and Basic Black.

Inside view featuring sentiment from the Really Good Greetings stamp set.

On the inside I used one of my favourite sentiments from the Really Good Greetings Stamp set, along with another sweet little butterfly cut from vellum using the Beautiful Wings Embosslit. 
I hope you had a great weekend and that this week is quick and painless ;)  See you tomorrow!

Hello Love

It's Thursday...that means Friday is nearly here and the weekend is just around the corner!  What a crazy week this has been!  We've had another huge dump of snow yesterday and now we are back in the deep freeze.  I tell you, I need to move to Florida or Hawaii or the Carribbean...anywhere that doesn't get winter.  I am so over it!!  It's getting to the point around here that we have nowhere to put the white stuff anymore!  Thank goodness I bought my poor hubby a snowblower for his 40th birthday a few years back...he's been firing that thing up nearly every day for over a month!
Enough whining...I know there are lots of you reading this who have had a worse winter than ours, so I'll stop complaining and show you a cute card instead.  This is one I put together in no-time flat...

Any occasion card featuring the Perfect Pennants and Hearts A-flutter stamp sets.

My team's swap this month was card candy.  The glimmer heart and banner on this card was part of my set of card candy that I swapped.  I made up cards using all of my card candy to inspire my team for this month's challenge, which is for them to use some of the card candy they received to create cards and then to bring them to share at our next meeting.  I will show you the other cards I designed over the next few days.

The stripes in the background are both stamped (the stripes and polka dots) and Washi Tape (the arrows).  I love mixing media like that...it adds a lot of interest to the backgound.  The glimmer heart is die cut using the Hearts Collection Framelits.  The chevron heart is stamped in Pool Party and is die cut using the Hearts A-flutter Framelits.  The Hello banner is stamped in Crisp Cantaloupe and die cut using the Banners Framelits.  *sigh*  What did we ever do before Framelits???

Inside view with sentiment from Perfect Pennants.

On the inside of the card I stamped the sentiment from Perfect Pennants and another hear from Hearts A-Flutter and then added a wee little glimmer heart because, well, who doesn't like a little extra sparkle in their day??
Here's hoping your day is sparkly (and I don't mean the sun reflecting on 3 feet of snow!!).  Have a good one :)

A Versatile design

Today I have a card whose design I can't take credit for.  There have been a zillion variations on this layout floating around on Pinterest over the past couple of weeks, but I think this particular one most resembles one by Dawn Griffith.  I was pressed for time last week as I was prepping for a mini Stamp-a-Stack and needed a simple Thinking of You card.  I remembered this one and viola:

Thinking of you card featuring the Sweet Essentials and Banner Blast stamp sets.

What I love about this project is how very easy it would be to adapt it for another occasion simply by changing the sentiment.  It could be a birthday, baby or even a Valentine's card!  Gotta love versatility!  The ladies at my SAS loved it.

Here are some quick tips:

• I used both the Bitty Banners and the Banners Collection framelits to cut the cardstock banners in the background.
• I used the Adorning Accents TIEF to emboss the hearts.
• The colour scheme is Crisp Cantaloupe and Pool Party.
• The twine is from the Sweet Sorbet Accessory pack.  I've almost gone through two full packs of that stuff...love it!!
• The stamped banners are from the Banner Blast stamp set and are punched with the coordinating Banner punch - both available FREE during Sale-a-bration. 

I left the inside fairly plain, simply stamping a row of banners across the top.

 

What's not to love about a simply card that works for just about any occasion?? 

I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday...we are getting walloped with snow here again!  Will winter ever end?  *sigh*  The good news is that I think I've finally licked this sinus thing...just in time for my Sale-a-bration Open House this weekend...yippee!!