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Tuesday, October 31, 2006

*Happy Halloween!*

Just a quick shot of the cake I made for the staff at the boys' school (and the school where I work in the lunchroom). This is two bundt cakes, put together bottom to bottom. The stem is a ice cream cone covered with green icing. Unfortunately for me, the face on the Jack-o-Lantern drooped. But the staff loved it all the same (I think they just love cake).

*Sparkly Snow*

I am still stamping Christmas and winter cards. I think I will probably continue on for a while simply because I love it!

I saw the idea for "Donut Cards" on Splitcoast Stampers. The idea is to make a window in the front of your card with the image attached to the inside of the card, showing through the window in the closed card. For this card I stamped the S N W on a Whisper White card in Buckaroo Blue ink. I then punched a hole through the front of the card to create the O. I stamped the round stamp from Riveting on Whisper White in Cranberry Crisp and again in True Thyme. I punched out the tree in the True Thyme and layered it on the red with a pop dot and then attached the circle on the inside of the card so it shows through the hole when the card is closed. I added some of the Holiday Time paper and some Cranberry Crisp stitched ribbon. The card was done, but needed something so I used the 2-way glue pen on each of the letters and covered them with glitter.

In case you didn't notice, I've added a "subscribe" option to my blog. You can enter in your email address and you'll be emailed when I update my blog.

Monday, October 30, 2006

*It Snowed*

Yup, it snowed here in Calgary. It's early in the season, but it happens. It shouldn't last too long, but it's there and it will probably be there for Trick or Treating tomorrow night. It's chilly out there! The snow came down after midnight on Saturday night so we woke up with a white blanket on Sunday.

So, I guess it's only fitting that I post a card with snowflakes this morning. It truly has nothing to do with the fact that I love snowflakes!


I got this idea from a card I saw in the Splitcoast Gallery created by Kim H. I loved the shape of the wave of patterned paper. This was my first time using the new Cutter Tool from Stampin' Up! It's going to take a little practice to be able to do it and not feel like a beginner.

The colours used are Whisper White and Buckaroo Blue. Everything on the card but the silver snowflake brad is from Stampin' Up!

Friday, October 27, 2006

*I Like Sparkly Things*

Bruce always gets a laugh because I am totally drawn to things that sparkle. Usually, they are expensive things like the diamonds in the window of the jewelry store at the mall! I like bling of all types!

I decided to do a little "bling-ing" on a snowman card today.

The colour combination of Almost Amethyst and Bashful Blue with Whisper White came from Dawn's Blog. I added a little Vintage Violet by punching two 1.25" circles and folding them in half. I stamped the snowman image from Frost on Whisper White and coloured him in with Bashful Blue and Almost Amethyst markers. I added some Pumpkin Pie for his carrot nose and some Rose Red and Almost Artichoke for the holly. The hat is coloured in Close to Cocoa.

To add the Bling-Bling I covered the entire Whisper White piece (after I'd stamped and coloured it) with VersaMark ink, covered it with Iridescent Ice embossing powder and heated it. I then stamped the Print Pattern Background with white craft ink onto the Almost Amethyst card and embossed it with the Iridescent Ice embossing powder as well. I added the silver brads to the Vintage Violet circles for just a little more Bling Bling and to break up the half circles a bit.

I absolutely loved this colour combination when I saw it on Dawn's Blog this morning... it just looked so cold and wintery... perfect for snowmen and snowflakes!

Again, thanks for looking!

**EDIT: gotta tell ya... this card looks better in real life than in a scan.... wonder if a photo would have been better.... there is no big gap of sparkle in real life... sigh....

Thursday, October 26, 2006

*Christmas... Less Than 2 Months Away*

I know... scary thought! Two months from now Christmas is over... we're eating turkey leftovers, trying to put new toys together, filling the recycling bin full of gift wrap, turning off the Christmas music... planning our New Years Celebrations. The weather the last few days has felt like fall, but not chilly at all... but I understand that's about to change. Of course... just in time for Halloween. Sigh.

Anyway... I finally found a little bit of time to be creative today. The key words being "a little bit". I just feel like I've been running around all week. Tomorrow should be a quiet day as the kids have a day off.

I saw a card like this on Julie's Blog back in September and started it soon after. I got the card itself done include the folds for the ladder, but then I left it and didn't do anything more with it. Until this afternoon. I don't know why it took me so long to figure out what I wanted to do with it.

The colours used (inks and papers) are True Thyme, Cranberry Crisp, Marigold Morning and Very Vanilla. I also used a piece of the Holiday Patterned Paper from the Holiday Mini. LOVE that paper!! I'm looking at the card and think it still needs something... just not sure what.

I can't seem to stop creating Christmas Cards. I just love stamping for Christmas! I don't know what it is exactly... the colours, the images... I still haven't found the card for our cards this year. I will keep trying until one makes my heart sing I suppose. It will be so hard to get back into non-Christmas stamping again... it is every year.

Again, thanks for having a peek! Please leave a comment... it's nice to read what others have to say and to know that others have been here and care enough to share a comment with me!

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

*Cool Little Snowman*

This is my Christmas Card from 2005. I wanted to show you another way to use the card layout that I posted last with the snowflake on it.

The card is Bashful Blue and has two score lines in it.... a scored about 1" from the bottom and then the remainder of the card in half. I used snowflakes and swirls on Whisper White in Bashful Blue ink layered on top of that. The small panel on the bottom is layered on white and Bashful Blue and stamped with Bashful Blue ink. The snowman image was from the Tag Punch Box Kit that Stampin' Up! sold last year. I stamped it in Bashful Blue on white cardstock and punched it out with the tag punch. I then used the Perfect Layers tool to create a layer around the white with Bashful Blue. The image was coloured with markers. I added some iridescent ribbon around the card behind the image.

The only thing I didn't like about this card was that there was no way to stand it up.

This fold was inspired by a birth announcement I received from a stamping friend of mine. I fell in love with it and knew I had to use it for my cards last year.

My apologies for not getting anything new up here yet this week... it's been crazy busy!

Saturday, October 21, 2006

*Saturday Snowflakes*

I have a total "thing" for snowflakes and snowmen. I have so many snowflake and snowmen images. But you know... I wonder if I am tiring of them, or simply tiring of the ones I own.

At any rate, here's yet another card with snowflakes.

The cardstock was cut for a workshop from a few months ago and I needed to figure out a way to use it. It was already scored to do two folds... wasn't like it was just a half sheet of cardstock. The original card was oriented with the small fold (on this card, the patterned snowflake paper) on the bottom but I wanted to see what else I could do with it. The Bashful Blue card is stamped with snowflakes in white craft ink. I sponged the Whisper White square with Bashful Blue ink and then stamped the snowflake in Bashful Blue. I added some silver cord behind the image and a gem in the centre of the snowflake (I love bling). The card opens from the side... the patterned piece is a panel that opens to the right.

I hope to stamp some more this weekend... but you know how it goes... a husband, 2 kids and a dog can sometimes make your crafty life non-existent. I think I got all of the "I have to" stuff done today... so tomorrow can be a play day!

A big Thank You to everyone who has taken the time to post a comment! It makes my heart happy to know that others are looking at my thoughts and creations and are interested enough to comment!

Friday, October 20, 2006

*An Inky Friday Night*

What a chilly day we had today... I'm surprised it didn't snow. We had some rain and some sleet-like stuff. I guess the worst part of it all was the wind. Brrrrrrrr. It was a good night to shut myself in the basement and be creative. I used some ideas from others' blogs tonight to turn out my own creations.

First we have a Joy Fold card, inspired by a post on Cindy's Blog.

I really like how this card opens. I used all Stampin' Up stuff on this card... Whisper White, Bashful Blue and Vintage Violet cardstocks, the new stitched Vintage Violet ribbon, some Hodgepodge Hardware. Inside the card says "Holiday Sparkle". The Holiday comes from the Happy Everything set and Sparkle is from Warm Words.

Next we have a
Peek-A-Boo Card, inspired by a post on Dawn's Blog.

I used that non-traditional colour combination of Certainly Celery, Regal Rose and Cool Caribbean again. I don't know what it is about this combination this year. Bruce doesn't like it much though so I can guarantee that our Christmas Cards won't be done in these colours LOL. I love how this card has "motion" to it. The white window with the snowflake on in when the card is closed changes into the green window with a greeting stamped in it when the card is opened. You can't see it well in my photo, but there are white snowflakes all over the front of the card. I will have to play with this card technique some more for sure!

Monday, October 16, 2006

*Kelly Came to Stamp!*

My friend Kelly and I used to stamp together several times a week... then she went and got a job on me... she works Tuesday to Friday until 3pm, which leaves us little to no time to stamp. We always talk about getting together to play on Mondays, but something seems to come up for one of us. We made plans two weeks ago to play today when I got home from work (I work in the lunchroom at my kids' school from 11-1 every day). We would have done it last Monday however it was Thanksgiving and silly-Kelly planned her big dinner for Monday night!

So I got out of bed this morning with a really really awful headache. Through the morning it became a mild migraine. I still went to work cuz I'm a trooper (or an idiot) and made it through work. Funny, the noise didn't make it worse, but light and movement sure did! It's like someone is poking a sharp stick through my left eye, through my brain and into the back of my head... and then tapping on it every once in a while to remind me that it's there. At work I had a few episodes where my ears started to ring. Not a happy camper.

Kelly came over when I got home from work and was going to leave when I told her about my headache... but we haven't played together in so long that I asked her to please stay. I wasn't sure that I would be at all creative but I wanted to spend time with her. We managed to craft for a couple of hours but she felt bad and decided to go home to let me rest.

I did manage to pull off two more winter cards, each inspired by card layouts found at PageMaps. They have some great ideas there (be sure to check out the archives as well!)

This card didn't turn out exactly as I had envisioned it. You can't see all the glitter and Bashful Blue doodling which definitely helped the card pop out a bit more. The card is white with Bashful Blue squares that are lined with the iridescent glitter. The snowman is stamped with black ink and coloured with Rose Red and Old Olive markers. The buttons on the snowman are jewels. The edges of the tag are sponged with Bashful Blue ink and I then ran my 2-way glue pen around the edges and added glitter. There is doodling around the edges of the card to crate some interest. Too bad you can't see it on the scan.

Apparently I had a thing for squares today. I really like the tag corner punch and I like using it in different ways... like just the opposite corners on this card. The colours I used were Buckaroo blue and Cranberry Crisp. The centres of the snowflakes are again jewels.

I am now going to go and rest for a bit. The kids and I have Tae Kwon Do tonight and I'd rather not miss it as I will have to miss on Wednesday.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Friday, October 13, 2006

*Shake It, Baby!*

I went down to craft again this afternoon... sat there for almost an hour and didn't accomplish anything! I had an idea I wanted to try but it didn't work so it ended up in the garbage. Am I the only who has a tough time using the new Cool Caribbean cardstock from Stampin' Up? I am just not a fan of that colour at all. Too close to a peacock colour for me.

I decided that I wanted to play some more with the non-traditional Christmas colour combination I played with the other day and then figured I'd try my hand at a shaker card. It's been years since I've tried to make a shaker card. I couldn't find my double sided foam tape so I had to use a bunch of foam squares, but it worked.

The scan isn't great.... but the card looks good LOL. The colours are Cool Caribbean, Regal Rose and Certainly Celery. You can't really see it on the scan, but there is a blue snowflake in the window with clear and blue mini beads. The backgound on the Certainly Celery is not only stamped with the Print Background in Certainly Celery, but there are white snowflakes all over the background as well.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

*More Christmas*

I'm sorry it's been so long since the last time I posted... I went down to stamp yesterday afternoon and I sat there and did absolutely *nothing* in an hour!! How sad is that? I just couldn't decide on colours or on a layout or even on a stamp I wanted to use!

Have I told you lately that I *love* stamping for Christmas?? I just love making Christmas cards and tags. It is truly my most favourite "occasion" for card making. I love the colours and the images.

I didn't go down to stamp today specifically to make Christmas cards, but I ended up making three of them. I love one, like one, not so sure about one.

First, the one I'm not so sure about....
I wanted to do something a little different with colour... and different it is. It does look a bit better in real life as you can't see the doodles around the red and green layers in a glitter gel pen and a white gel pen respectively. I also added the glittler pen on the snowflakes. All stamps are SU. The On The Spot background is also stamped in white on the blue, which you can't see. The sentiment is stamped and embossed in gold. The colours I used are Bashful Blue, Real Red and Certainly Celery. As much as this snowflake punch was a "must have" for me, I sure haven't used it much.

This next one is one I kind of like...
The colours on this are all from the In Color Collection from Stampin' Up! The Season's Greetings is by Uptown Rubber Stamps. The snowflakes on the Cranberry Crisp panel are stamped in silver Encore ink. The other colours are Marigold Morning, True Thyme and Buckaroo Blue. I splattered a little Marigold Morning ink on the white piece with the Seasons Greetings stamped on it. Just not sure about this one... doesn't go into my favourites folder, that's for sure!

And finally, the one I liked... which happens to have been the first one I made today.
It really does look better in real life... the Real Red panel is stamped with snowflakes in both Real Red and Whisper White ink. The strip beside the Real Red panel is Old Olive covered with the red line (Terrifically Tacky Tape or Sticky Strip) and iridescent glitter. Happy is stamped in Old Olive ink on Old Olive cardstock and the Holidays is stamped and embossed in gold. I edged the Old Olive panel with the 2-Way Glue Pen and covered it with iridescent glitter. The other green in the card is Certainly Celery. The snowflake in the corner is a gold brad I bought years ago.

I was thrilled to log in today and see my counter approaching the 1000 viewer mark! How very very exciting! I guess I'd better post on a more regular basis if I want people to keep popping back in!

If you have some time, take yourself on a tour of some of my favourite Blogs, found to the left of my Blog... there are some wonderful ideas there.... lots of things to help inspire you!

Saturday, October 07, 2006

*National Card Making Day*

Today (October 7th) is National Card Making Day. I had high hopes of spending most of the afternoon creating but ended up running some errands and putzing around the house instead. So I went down after dinner and was able to come up with three cards.

I thought of this card while I was trying to fall asleep last night. Well, not the whole card, but the idea of the frog in the Santa hat. The frog is from the SU set Unfrogettable and the hat is a brad I bought a few years ago. I added some googlie eyes to the little guy and used some of the SU Holiday Thyme paper as an accent. You can't see it so well in the scan but the white piece is outlined in gold marker and "be merry" is stamped in gold ink to the right of it. I love the froggie with the hat but am not thrilled with the card itself... back to the drawing board on this one! The cardstock is True Thyme.

I created this card for a swap I am participating in on CST... it's a "Rudolph Swap". I used a favourite layout (find out more here). I just love this layout. The stamps used are not SU (other than the Print Background). The colours (in case you're curious) are Old Olive, Real Red, Certainly Celery and Very Vanilla. The reindeer is stamped in gold and the Seasons Greetings is in Old Olive. I'm really pleased with how this card turned out.

I created this card using inspiration from two of Taylors ideas on her blog.... the layout and the colour combination. I did this card as an entry for a challenge to use non-traditional colours for a Christmas card. I'm surprised at how much I like it! The colours are Cool Caribbean, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery and Whisper White. The centres of the one ornament on each tag is a little gem I bought today... I bought the word "wonderful" in these gems at Michaels (they were on sale!) and I am cutting them apart to use them as accents on cards. The stamp sets are Totally Terrific Tags, Snow Flurries and On The Spot, all by SU.

I hope that you found some time today to celebrate National Card Making Day in your own way.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

*My Calendar Page*

I've been bugged and bugged to show the calendar page I did for a Calendar Swap I am participating in on CST. I decided today as I was packing them up to mail them off, that I would finally share what I did. I was given the month of December to do and didn't want to do anything Christmas-related since there are people in my group who do not celebrate Christmas. I also knew I wanted something clean and simple. My friend Jacquie who is hosting this swap will create the calendar grid pages and add them in before she gets each catalogue bound and mailed back to the participants. What a lot of work!

I used a card I CASED in September (by Debbie Olson) as imspiration for this page. Lots of things you can't see on this page in a scan that you'd see in real life... first, the paper is the Stampin' Up! Shimmer Paper... I love this stuff! Second, there are snowflakes embossed in Iridescent Ice embossing powder all over the background of the paper. Third, you might be able to tell that the five coloured snowflakes are on dry embossed squares. I'm totally not happy with the scan... sure makes the calendar page look boring.

A very simple page, but I was thrilled with the simplicity of the creation. The colours I used are Buckaroo Blue and Cranberry Crisp, two of the new Stampin' Up! In Color line.

And I am totally in love with the stitched ribbon in the Holiday Mini. I gotta buy more of that before it's no longer available!

If only I could come up with the Christmas Card idea for my cards this year....

Monday, October 02, 2006

*Assembly Line Creativity*

Sometimes, assembly line stamping can be a wonderful thing. I finished the birth announcements for baby Liam today. I did 4 dozen of them for Chuck and Mo to send out. When doing multiples of the same card (which can be boring, but also effective) I prefer to do all of one step before moving on to the next. I seem to think it saves time. It just makes more sense to me.

So, these birth announcements.... I got the inspiration for this card from a card we made at a stamping gathering here in Calgary this past summer (thanks to Susan B for organizing).

The pull tab was printed on the computer. I took the word window punch and put a piece of folded cardstock into the punch so that the fold was just over the half-way mark of the punch to create a stopper for the pull tab so that it won't pull out of the patterned paper. The circle image was punched using different sizes of circle punches... the inside circle was covered with 2-way glue and ultra fine glitter. The inside of the card holds all of the information about Liam's birth.

Mona really wanted green cards... the baby's room is painted in a bright green colour. I just couldn't find any good patterned/scrapbook paper to go with that colour of cardstock, so I did Always Artichoke and So Saffron instead.

These will be in the mail in the morning... I sure hope she loves them!

Sunday, October 01, 2006

*Congratulations Chuck and Mo!!*

I was thrilled to get a phone call last night from Chuck to let me know that baby Liam has arrived safe and sound. Chuck is engaged to Mona, one of my oldest and dearest friends. I've known Mo since she came to my school in grade 1, back in 1976. She now lives on Vancouver Island where she and Chuck have built a house. Baby Liam arrived via C-Section at 1:02am on September 30th weighing a whopping 9 pounds 2 ounces. Mona is only 4'11" so this is one BIG baby!

I was busy this afternoon working on their birth announcements. I am doing them assembly line style and I'd say I'm more than half way done. I hope to get them finished off tomorrow before I have to start cutting my materials for my stamp club on Tuesday afternoon and a party on Tuesday evening.

I am so happy for Mona and Chuck..... baby #1 is such an exciting time!