A Thoughtful Shaker

Well, it's Wednesday...happy hump day! I survived my first day back to school, but man was it HOT! Over 40 C with the humidity and poor me in a classroom with NO A/C. And grumpy, sweaty teenagers. Good times :) The weekend can't come soon enough!

Today I thought I'd show you one of the projects I designed for my upcoming Shake It Up for Fall class.

We are all about the shaker cards and fall colours for this class and, since the Beautiful Branches Thinlits are still available while supplies last, I thought I'd use that fabulous die-cut tree. My card base is Pumpkin Pie card stock, as is the frame around the shaker window. I used the Layering Squares Framelits to cut the frame and the window itself. The background panel is Kraft card stock which I embossed using the Woodgrain TIEF.

The tree is die-cut from Soft Suede card stock. I used some of the new Mica Flakes from the Holiday Catalogue to fill my shaker...I think they look just like falling leaves. I added a sentiment from the Sheltering Tree stamp set, stamped in Soft Suede ink. The only embellishments are a bit of Linen Thread and a little Into the Woods Natural Element (still available on the Clearance Rack!). I nestled a little gold glimmer heart in the branches of the tree.

On the inside I added a piece of Whisper White card stock on which I stamped the tree from the Sheltering Tree stamp set in Soft Suede ink.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Product List

Sheltering Tree Photopolymer Stamp Set [137163] $31.00	Pumpkin Pie 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [105117] $10.00	Soft Suede 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [115318] $10.00	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $11.25
Gold Glimmer Paper [133719] $6.75	Window Sheets [142314] $6.75	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad [126978] $8.50	Big Shot [143263] $136.00
Layering Squares Framelits Dies [141708] $46.00	Beautiful Branches Thinlits Dies [143538] $41.00	Sweet & Sassy Framelits Dies [141707] $46.00	Woodgrain Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [127821] $10.00
Linen Thread [104199] $6.25	Mica Flakes Trio Pack [141998] $12.00	Into The Woods Elements [139636] $8.00	Foam Adhesive Strips [141825] $10.75

Sheltering Sympathy for Sunday Stamps

Happy Sunday! I hope the weather where you are is nice than it is here.  It is a cold, wet, blustery weekend here in Southern Ontario!  Perfect weather for comfort food and stamping :)

Today marks the beginning of a new colour challenge over at Sunday Stamps.  Check it out:

Now, I'll admit, this one is a tough one! It took me a while and some playing with colour combinations and images to come up with my project for the Design Team:

Sympathy card featuring the Sheltering Tree stamp set

I'm actually fairly happy with the way this one turned out. I really like the serene neutral pallette, which is perfect for a sympathy card.  I used Crumb Cake ink to stamp the tree from the Sheltering Tree set on a piece of Whisper White card stock. I matted the stamped layer with Smoky Slate and Crumb Cake card stock and then adhered it to another piece of Smoky Slate card stock that I had embossed using the Woodland TIEF. The card is built on a Crumb Cake card base.

I brought in the lightest shade in the challenge with some 7/16" Natural Trim (retired) and a couple of leaves from the Into The Wood Elements. I like the texture they add while also adding the lighter neutral shade.

Inside view with sentiment from Petite Pairs

On the inside I stamped the tree again in Crumb Cake ink and then added a sentiment from the Petite Pairs set in Smoky Slate ink.

If you are looking for a way to stretch your creativity, be sure to give this challenge a try.  Check out the rest of the Design Team's projects and then give it a go.  We'd love to see your work!

Here are the products used to create this project:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Colour Challenge Take Two

Happy Friday!  Finally the end of a crazy, crazy week!  As if life weren't hectic enough right now, my son has come down with Fifth Disease :(  Apparently it is going around his school and his number was up.  Poor kid is so rashy and itchy...ugh!  So glad the weekend is here and we can all rest up!

Today I have another project I made using the colours in this week's challenge over at Sunday Stamps.

Thinking of you card featuring the Summer Silhouettes stamp set with sentiment from Sheltering Tree.

 Once again I turned to the Summer Silhouettes stamp set for my images.  Isn't it funny how you'll go for months not inking a stamp set and then use it several times within a few days.  Here, I stamped the leaves in Crumb Cake ink, the stems in Early Espresso and the flowers in Soft Sky, all on Very Vanilla card stock, which I cut into different-width strips after I had stamped it.  I adhered the strips to a piece of Early Espresso card stock, which is layered on a Crumb Cake card base.

The sentiment is from the Sheltering Tree set and is stamped in Early Espresso ink on Very Vanilla card stock.  I used some long retired natural ribbon and some pearls that I coloured with an alcohol-based marker.

On the inside I simply stamped the leaves and flower images from the front of the card in Crumb Cake ink for a tone-on-tone effect.  Super simple!

Now just a quick reminder to those living in the Cambridge/KW area that tomorrow is my annual Rubber Rummage Sale and new catalogue launch.  You'll want to be here first thing to get first-dibs on a huge selection of retired products...including more than 100 stamp sets, dies, punches, embossing folders, embellishments, papers, kits...oh my!  Once you're done shopping the rummage sale, you can also pick up a free copy of the new Annual Catalogue and browse displays of new products and project ideas.  See you bright and early at 9:30 am sharp ;)

Sheltering Sympathy

Today I have a project that uses one of my favourite stamp sets from the Occasions catalogue...Sheltering Tree:

Sympathy card featuring the Sheltering Tree and Build a Bouquet stamp sets.

This is a quick and easy project that is perfect to mass produce to have sympathy and/or thinking of you cards on-hand.  I began by stamping the woodgrain image from the Build a Bouquet stamp set in Versamark ink on Sahara Sand card stock and then heat embossing the image using white embossing powder.  The embossed panel is adhered to an Early Espresso card stock panel, which is mounted on a Sahara Sand card base..  The tree image, from the Sheltering Tree set, is stamped in Early Espresso ink, as is the sentiment.  The leaves are stamped in Sahara Sand ink, both full strength and stamped off once.

The ribbon I used is the retired 3/8" Natural Trim...love the subtle texture it provides.  I also added two pearls that I coloured using the darkest shade of Crumb Cake Blendabilities (retired).

Now, I neglected to take a photo of the inside of this one, but I did stamp the tree image again on the inside panel and added a sympathy sentiment stamped in Early Espresso.  Another option would be to leave it without a sentiment, making it suitable for just about any occasion.  Nothing like versatility!

Now for this week's AWESOME weekly deals!

Birthday Bash Designer Washi Sheets Price: $11.95   Sale:$8.96	Handheld Stapler Price: $12.50  Sale:  $9.38	Labels Collection Framelits Die Price: $32.95  Sale: $24.71
Mother's Love Photopolymer Stamp Set Price: $30.95  Sale:  $23.21	Pansy Punch Price: $21.95   Sale: $16.46	Something Borrowed Embellishments Price: $8.95  Sale:  $6.71
Striped Scallop Thinlits Die Price: $30.95   Sale: $23.21	Wonderful Wreath Framelits Dies Price: $30.95  Sale: $23.21