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Saturday, October 30, 2010

Happy Haunting

Well, it’s already October 30th!  I am not too sure where the time has gone.  We spent our Thanksgiving weekend at a campground – a group of us rented about 15 trailers.  It was a gorgeous weekend and lots of time spent hanging out with family and friends.  We deep fried 3 turkeys for Thanksgiving dinner on the Sunday and everyone brought a little something for the meal.  60 of us ate Thanksgiving dinner on picnic tables under the warm October sun.  It was awesome!  The following weekend we spent at Blue Mountain for a friend’s wedding.  They guys all went golfing the morning of the wedding so a friend of mine and I had a couple’s massage at Scandinave Spa (highly recommended), then hung out in their hot tubs/saunas/steam rooms/cold pool/solariums for a few hours – utter bliss!  The wedding was amazing – great weather and a great party.  Lots of great memories.  Dan then went away for a week golfing, and he’s been back a week now. 

That brings me to the present.  Today has been a great day so far – lots of time spent in my craft room :)  I’ve been catching up on reading some blogs, and organizing things up here.  I bought some new distress inks and some other Hero arts goodies.  I’ve been watching Jennifer McGuire’s Thinking Inking Christmas videos found here.  I’m so inspired and can’t wait to get started on some Christmas goodies!  But that will be this afternoon and tomorrow.  This morning I created this lovely Halloween card:

Mitzi

Mitzi is coloured with copics (I coloured her a while ago and didn’t write down the colours).  I used Pumice Stone and Black Soot distress inks around the edges.  The sentiment is one of Kimmie’s Halloween Sentiments, which I embossed with black embossing powder.  The cool border around Mitzi was created using a MS punch around the page set – called “cracks”.  The papers are Graphic 45 – Alice in Wonderland.

Critiquing my own work, I am not too fond of the shading under Mitzi, it doesn’t really go with the distress inks, but oh well.  At the time, I thought I was stamping on Neenah paper, but now I’m not so sure, the colours didn’t really blend all that well… also, I’m not sure how I got black smudges near the edges at the bottom.  Weird.

Anyways, I hope you have a wonderful Halloween weekend, thanks for stopping by!  We’re off to my parent’s house for dinner – yay!

Until next time,
Steph

Monday, September 27, 2010

Monday Monday

… so good to me… 

Now I’ve got that classic in my head.  I was sitting here on my lappy doing some work for school and I figured why not take a break and post a creation.  This here is a card I made a while ago:

Bench Friends

I kept the card simple, but love how it turned out.  Now that I look at a picture of it, I really love how I coloured the bear and her dress.  I coloured Cindy and Mindy with Copics, on Neenah natural coloured paper.  She’s adhered to some brown cardstock I had in my stash, and the turquoise is SU’s Bermuda Bay.  I cut them out with my square Nesties, then used the SU slot punch to punch the hole in all three layers for the ribbon.  The button is from Basic Grey, just not sure which set.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope your Monday Monday was good to you!

Until next time.

S.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Last Post of the Day

Phew!  What a busy posting day!  This last post is what I created for the Krafty Day contest – which was to create something/anything that included a KK stamp and the colour purple.  I decided that instead of making a card, I’d create a little gift box.  Here it is:

Krafy Day Challenge

Krafty Day Challenge 2

I used Julie Buhler’s template to create the box out of SU’s Razzleberry cardstock.  I glued it together with Zip Dry.  I then used my new Martha Stewart Spider Web trim punch to decorate the side. The paper on the top is one I picked up at my LSS, but I can’t remember the company it’s from.  I used a nestabilities die to cut out the white label and embossed the sentiment with black embossing powder (which I kinda got all over the place, but I like how it looks a bit splattered).  Tommy Treats was coloured with Copics, cut out, and glued on.  I popped up the spider (punched from the MS extra-large spider punch) with a pop dot, and added glossy elements to it and Tommy’s eyes (I didn’t notice one of the back legs was folded over until just now… oops). I used my Spica glitter pen to add the glitter to “Treats” on his bag. 

I didn’t end up winning the contest – but that’s ok.  You should have seen the card that won!  It was amazing, and when you opened it, images popped up and it played “Monster Mash”.  I will keep an eye out for it in Blog Land, and post a link to it if I find it.

Well, today was a productive day.  I got my blog up and running again, marked all of my Ontario Writing Assessments, pulled out all of my annuals and cut back the perennials, got all the laundry done, made some jewellery, finished off the projects from Krafty Day, photographed them, made dinner, and posted, and posted, and posted… phew!  I am now going to sit back, relax, and enjoy the Amazing Race.  I hope you have a wonderful night!  Thank you for stopping by!

Until next time,

S.

Krafty Day Special Edition Stamp

Kraftin’ Kimmie’s Moonlight Whispers line by Annie Rodrigue is my absolute favourite line of stamps.  I use them most often because they are just so darn cute.  I was super excited to find out that as part of Krafty Day, we were getting a goody bag with a special edition Annie Rodrigue stamp!  The image is so stinking cute and will be great for creating items for fellow crafty friends. 

Over the course of the day, there was a challenge to create something that used the special edition image.  The problem for me was that I didn’t really bring any supplies with me to create something with.  I brought some copics, my adhesive, trimmer, bone folder, some pre-stamped images, scissors, and 2-way glue.  Luckily, there was some cardstock in our goodie bag, along with some embellishments.  The cardstock was only 6x6, and considering the image was larger than 3x3, I had to use some ingenuity to come up with something.  I cut a piece of the cardstock to 4 1/4x 5 3/4, and another piece to 4 1/4x5 1/2.  I folded over the extra 1/4 inch on the first piece and adhered it to the second piece which made me a standard A2 card.  I bought a 6x6 Cosmo Cricket “Pixie-licious” stack and used a piece from it as my background layer.  Before I go into more details, I better show you the card:

Krafty Day Image

I used a MS punch I bought from Scrappin’ Great Deals which had a table at Krafty Day.  I’ve wanted it for a while and scooped it up when I saw it.  The buttons and hemp came from a bag of embellishments we were given, and I used Copics for colouring.  I really like how it turned out.  I didn’t win the contest, BUT I think I did a pretty good job considering I only used items I got yesterday. 

Steph

Goldilocks

I have had my eye on this Goldilocks stamp since it came out back in July.  Yesterday I had the opportunity to colour her, and I loved her so much I bought her. 

Goldilocks Post It

Goldilocks Post It 2

Goldilocks Post It 3 

Surprise!  It’s a Post-It holder!  How cute eh?  It was a bit of a weird and crazy method for making it because the cover actually folds up into an easel and tucks into the sentiment which is popped up.  I love how it turned out.  I think it’s a cute idea to give to a fellow teacher as a thank you, or even to someone who works at a desk. 

Copics used: E0000, E01, R20, E50, E53, BG72, BG75, R35, R46, I believe I used E50, E53, E31, E33, and E35 for the bears.  (Kimmie gave us lists of all the copic colours to use for the make and takes, and even supplied the copics!  I used some of my own on this one for the bears though.) 

That’s it for the make n’ takes from yesterday.  I’ll be back after dinner to post a card I made with the special stamp we were given in our goodie bags yesterday!

S.

Miles the Clown Birthday Card

After an excellent lunch of sandwiches, veggies, chips, and fudge… oh the fudge… we set about our afternoon make n’ takes.  Here’s the first one:

Birthday Clown

Miles the Clown was coloured with the following Copic colours: E42, E43, BG72, YG25, RV19, Y17.  I sponged around the edge with some chalk ink – which I had never used before, but really liked.  It was a Versamagic Dew Drop – Thatched Straw pad.  I may have to check these out in the future. 

Birthday Friends Gift Card Holder

Our second project was a gift card holder featuring Miles the Mouse and his birthday friend.  What a cute pair!  After colouring this one, I had to go and buy the stamp.

Birthday Friends

Once again, I’m not sure where the paper is from, but the Copic colours are: E42, E43, E47, RV11, YG93, YR07, Y19, BG49. 

The flap of the card that has the dotted paper on it is actually tucked under the image layer.  The image is popped up with pop dots so the flap can sit behind it.

Here is the card open:

Birthday Friends Inside

Next time I make a card like this, I will make sure I make the slot wide enough that the card can fit the other way.  The slot was created using SU’s Word Window punch.  It’s such a simple card, but I really love making a gift card holder this way.

Krafty Day Recap Begins

Well, as previously mentioned, my Saturday was spent in London with Kraftin’ Kimmie and her Krafty girls doing well…  kraftin’!  Our first make n’ take was a card using Raychel from the new Pin Up Girls collection.  Here is my card:

Raychel

I could not tell you what brand the papers are, but the Copic colours I used are, Hair: E50, E31, E33, E35, Skin: E0000, E01, R20, Eyeshadow and Shoes: BG72, BG75, Clothes: RV19, Y17.  The card is 6x6.

I absolutely love Krafty Girl, Melanie’s distinct colouring style – I can always pick out her work because it is so unique.  So, I had the opportunity to watch her colour Raychel’s hair yesterday and so this is my attempt at recreating it.  I really like how it turned out.

New Season, New Look?

Hello again.  I woke up this morning, took the dog outside, and stood to enjoy the bright sun and crisp, cool weather.  Summer is gone (although hopefully some summerlike weather comes around the Thanksgiving weekend), the pool is closed, and the leaves are beginning to change colour.  I came inside and decided my blog needed a new look to celebrate the changing of the seasons… and here it is.  What do you think?  I’m a person who likes to change things up every now and again.  My hubby suggested I keep it the same for consistency, but that’s not me.  I keep him for consistency :)

So, hopefully you like the change. 

Until next time,

Steph

Saturday, September 25, 2010

And I’m Back…

Well!  Clearly it has been a while.  I got caught up in the back to school rush, and time has flown.  We have had something every weekend since the middle of summer, but when school starts back up and the weekends are busy, it leaves little to no time for crafting :(

Fortunately, today was spent crafting at Kraftin’ Kimmie’s Krafty Day!  It was awesome.  We did several make and takes (I just need to finish them up, and will post pictures soon), ate, chatted, shopped, and got to purchase October’s Release stamps several weeks early!  Let me tell you, they are so super cute!  I bought all of the Annie Rodrigue stamps and a couple of Steven Leary ones.  I can’t wait to get my OWA’s marked tomorrow so I can get crafty! 

I’m also super excited that I now have a crafting partner.  My friend, Sarah came with me to the Krafty Day, and really didn’t know what to expect, but was interested in trying out something new.  Well, she loved it!  She bought a bunch of stamps and I totally got her hooked on Copics… sorry Graham.  I’m so looking forward to being able to craft with a friend! 

Anyways, I apologize for my long break from blogging, but I am hopefully back for the long haul.  I hope to post at least a couple of times a week.  As for now, I am off to bed to dream of crafty goodness!

Until next time,

S

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Dropping In and Dropping You a Line.

Well my dad had his test and all things look good. He’s gone back to the local hospital for the night and hopefully he will be discharged tomorrow (and see the cardiologist later). Today was a bit of a lazy day. I tried entering my classroom library books into a program my DH made for me. We have a barcode reader, so I input the book and it stores it. This way, I will know which books I have in my classroom library, and what bin I have them stored it. Trust me, with the amount of books I have, having this program will make tracking down a read aloud much easier. Only problem is that it wasn’t working all that well, so I stopped. I took the Dexman for a walk, then headed up to the cabana and actually did some beading. I made a couple of necklaces and finished off a few pieces I had on the go. I think I might do the same tomorrow. It’s amazing how fast the days go when you really just putter around.

I’m also anxiously awaiting packages from both My Favorite Things and Kraftin’ Kimmie. I go for walks with my little Dexter every day to check the mail… maybe tomorrow…

In the meantime, I created this little ditty with Kraftin’ Kimmie’s Nerissa, whom I adore:

Dropping a Line w wm

I used some patterned paper I had in my stash – I’m not sure offhand which stack it came from. She’s coloured with Copics, then I used some Stickles on her tail and hair. I also used some Glossy Accents on her shell. The “fishing hook” was made with some beading wire I had. The waves were made with a Fiskars punch (I just noticed the really bad chop job in the bottom corner – oops). The circle was cut with a Nestabilities die and embossed with a Tim Holtz folder. I sponged it with Tumbled Glass distress ink – or perhaps it was Broken China – whichever the more aqua one is.

Well, thanks for stopping by. Please feel free to leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!

Have a great day!

Steph

A Little Pick Me Up For Dad

As I mentioned yesterday, my dad is still in the hospital.  To lift his mood a bit, I made this card for him:

Dad's Get Well Soon w wm

I tried to make it masculine – this was the only “get well soon-esque” stamp I own.  I used Basic Grey’s Max and Whiskers patterned paper as my inspiration for colouring her.  She is stamped on Neenah with Tuxedo Black Memento ink.  She’s layered on SU’s Chocolate Chip and Bermuda Bay cardstock.  The ruffled, torn layer is distressed with Antique Linen, Barn Door, Tumbled Glass, and Broken China.  I distressed the edges of all the other layers with SU’s Soft Suede.  For the heart, I took a cream coloured piece of cardstock and coloured it with YR16, and R27.  Then I added a layer of Glossy Accents that I proceeded to make bubble when I went over it with my heat gun – oops!  Oh well, I do like the finished loak of it anyway.  The buttons are from the Max and Whiskers set, and the card base is Chocolate Chip.

He loved it, and that makes me happy.  Hopefully he can get in for his test, and get home in the next couple of days.  I continue to say my prayers, that the source of the problem can be determined and he can continue to enjoy his retirement!

Thanks for stopping in to take a look.  Have a great day!

Steph

Copics used: Skin: E0000, E01, R20, Hair: E31, E33, E35, Clothes: YR16, R27, (I layered them together to try to get an orangy red), R29, BG0000, BG 13, BG18, (I also used W01 to “dirty” her skirt a bit) Bear: E35, E37, E49, E50, E53, YR23, YR16, R32, Shadow: W00, W01, W03, W05,

Monday, August 16, 2010

Yet Another Monday

Wow!  That was a busy weekend, I was a bit happy for Monday to come around because it meant there really wasn’t much to do (I’m a teacher, and I still have 3 weeks left of my summer vacation)!  I ended up cleaning the downstairs level before coming up to the cabana to tidy and craft.

Yesterday I made 2 cards – one for my hubby’s grandfather’s birthday, and one as a get well card for my dad.  He’s still stuck in the hospital waiting on an appointment at another hospital for a test.  Let’s hope he goes tomorrow so he can get home asap.  He’s getting a little stir crazy – the man is not used to chilling out for so long.  Not to mention hospital food…

Anyway, I digress.  Here is the card I made for Grandpa’s birthday:

Grandpa's Birthday

His reaction, and I quote: “well, this is a keeper”!  That made me so happy!  The patterned paper is from the Basic Grey Capella 6x6 paper stack.  I just sponged the edges with some Distressed Ink (Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Chipped Sapphire, and Antique Linen).  The ripped edges on the top and bottom of the greeting layer were created using a technique I learned at a course I took last weekend, taught by Jen Starr.  I will hopefully get a little tutorial up in the next couple of days to show you how I did it (it’s more than just ripping paper and sponging it – but it’s super easy).  The sentiment is from a clear stamp set I bought at Michaels – but I can’t remember who made it.  I stamped it on the natural coloured Neenah paper with Rich Cocoa memento ink, ripped it out, and sponged it with some of the same colours I used on the base layer.

This is what the inside looked like:

Grandpa's Birthday inside w wm 

Thank you for stopping by!  Have a great day!

S.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Going to the Circus

Hello to you! Man, I wrote my blog post yesterday before Friday the 13th really got going! Soon after I finished, my mom called saying she had to take my dad to the hospital (a recurrence of a heart problem he has), he’s much better now and everything is back to normal - I just talked to him, but poor guy needs to stay in the hospital until he can have another test done on (hopefully) Monday. After that, I found out my husband’s grandmother had fallen, and dislocated her thumb – thank God it wasn’t worse. And… and… then I spoke with my mom and their a/c broke. Really, when it rains it pours. I’m glad yesterday is behind us! In related news, we also got smoked in baseball, but that’s not really anything new.

Let’s hope today is a better day! We have tickets to the circus and are looking forward to it. I just got back from walking my little buddy Dexter, and am about to go get ready (and maybe sneak off to the cabana for a bit).

For your viewing pleasure today I have this:

Water Flowers w wm

This cutie pie from Sarah Kay. I coloured her with Copics, cut her out with my oval nestabilites, and mounted her on an oval that I embossed with an SU embossing folder. I also embossed the strip of yellow cardstock with a new(er) cuttlebug edge embossing folder. The slots in the main layer are cut with the SU slit punch, and I threaded some wal-mart ribbon through it and tied the bow. The designer paper is from K&Company’s Wild Saffron stack and I used the Cornice border punch from my buddy Martha Stewart. The sentiment is from SU and is stamped in Soft Suede then punched out with the Modern Label punch.

I’d like to thank you for stopping by. Have a great day!

S.

Copics used: Skin: E0000, E01, Clothes: R24, R27, R29, B93, B97, Y00, Y02, Watering Can: YG06, G07, Grass: G21, G28, Backgroud: BG0000, BG01, then I went over everything with my W00, and W1 to “dirty” it up a bit.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Friday the 13th!

Hello there, and happy Friday the 13th to you. How’s it been treating you so far?

I plan on getting out to the cabana to create a bit today – perhaps I should work on a Halloween card. Kraftin’ Kimmie and all her krafty girls have been doing sneak peaks of the new stamp sets on her blog, and I’m so excited to get my hands on them. They’ve got my Halloween mojo going even though I don’t really care for Halloween at all!

Here is a card that I created for my cousin’s birthday:

Holly's Birthday w wm

I used Kraftin Kimmie’s Francesca stamp and coloured her with my copics: Skin: E0000, E01, R20, BG0000 (eye shadow), Hair: E50, E53, E35, Clothes: BG0000, BG13, BG18, R22, R24, R27, YG03, Y0000, Y02, Cupcakes: R22, BG13, Y15, YG03. I also added Glossy Accents to the cupcakes, and stickles to the candles. I cut her out with a circle nestabilities, then layered it over a scalloped circle, and layered that on another circle I cut to size with my circle cutter. The paper is from a set that I love by American Crafts – called Craft Fair (I bought it at Michaels last winter). My wish big sentiment is from Stampin’ Up’s “Short and Sweet” stamp set. I stamped it in versamark, then SU’s Bermuda Bay, and embossed it. It’s cut with SU’s “Modern Label” punch and layered over an oval. The ribbon is from wal-mart.

I hope she likes it, I know I do!

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!

S.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Just Another Thursday…

Hello all! Today was a bit of a busy day in that I didn’t really sit down, but didn’t really go too far either. I spent my morning cleaning out the garage. I kinda wish I took a before and after picture because the difference is huge! We were both able to park our cars in there before, but there was little room to actually move around otherwise. Now, it is de-cluttered and organized. I love it!

After lunch, I had a bit of running around to do. I always buy these courier bags from Dollarama for my students to put their agendas in, so with school starting again in a couple of weeks, I thought I’d go out and buy them. I went to 3 stores today looking for them and no one had any! Oh no! I always told myself that I would be seriously upset if they stopped carrying them… and I guess today is that day. I had to settle for buying these new things they had which are somehow meant to be laptop bags. I’ll post a picture here later. Now, I need to figure out how to get the students’ names on them since there isn’t a nice plastic sleeve to stick a piece of paper like on the good old courier bags (taking suggestions!). Oh and what really got me is that the new bag is $2!!! The old ones were only half that! I’m definitely going to ask the parents to pitch in some money to help cover the cost. These little bags come in so handy for transporting notes, money, etc… back and forth.

Old Style Agenda Bag (please note nice plastic slot for name insert):

Old Style Agenda Bag

New Style Agenda Bag (please note nice handle feature, and lack of anywhere for a name!):

New Style Agenda Bag

Anyways… once I got home, I decided it was time to tackle the DH’s “office” aka the only room in the house that hasn’t been unpacked since we moved in over a year ago. I threw all his wires and gadgets in the boxes that were still there and carried them all downstairs. Then I vacuumed and stood back to enjoy the nice clean room. Tomorrow – I will tackle the paperwork that is piled up on the desk in there.

After all that, I finished this card that I had been working on for a while (you might scratch your head and wonder “why?” when you see it), it’s simple but I like how it turned out:

Smiling Flowers w wm

This card is for friends of ours who came and watered our flowers while we were out west earlier this summer. It’s a bit overdue but nonetheless… I had coloured the image from My Favorite Things (as a Canadian, it’s really hard not to put the u in favourite) a month or so ago, but didn’t really do anything with it. So, finally I pulled out some paper that coordinated with the image and viola! I don’t have a sewing machine, but I’m loving all the stitched cards I see in blogland, so I imitated it with my paper piercer and white gel pen. I think I might ask for a sewing machine for Christmas, along with some lessons on how to use it from my mom.

Well I think I’m going to head back out to the craft cabana to be creative. Thanks so much for stopping by, have a great day!

Steph

Supplies:

Stamp: Pure Innocence Blooming Good Day by My Favorite Things, Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Other: Copics (I’ve been really bad lately at telling the colours I used, I really love it when other bloggers name the colours. I will try to do better from now on.) Hair: not sure which ones, Skin; E50, E11, Clothes and Shoes: R22, R24, and blender pen to make the polka dots, Grass: G21, G28, I don’t remember which Greens I used for the watering can)

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

It’s a Boy! Card.

Kraftin’ Kimmie’s challenge this week is to create a boy card. The only boy image (so far) that I have from Kraftin’ Kimmie is Jack. Here is the card I created with this cool dude:

Kraftin Kimmie Challenge August 7 2010 w wm

Man, I really like this card! I was reading through blogland today and found the water done this way on Amy Rysavy’s blog here. I loved how she used the embossed swirls as water, and was trying to figure out how to make some different waves on my card, so I tried her method. The blue is SU’s Tempting Turquoise. I also used my Hero Arts cloud stamp for the background (stamped with Tumbled Glass distress ink). Jack and his bucket are coloured with Copics, and the sentiment is from Kraftin’ Kimmie’s Everyday Sentiments. The inside of the card looks like this:

Kraftin Kimmie Challenge August 7 2010 inside w wm

I used my Fiskars wave punch to create the waves and the sentiment is from Kraftin’ Kimmie’s Mermaid Sentiments.

Well that’s about it for me today. I’m going to finish watching an episode of Modern Family that is still on my PVR – I love this show, then head off to dreamland.

Have a great day! Thanks for stopping by!

Steph

Sending You Some Smiles

It’s a beautiful day outside (well, to look at – it’s super duper hot and muggy).  I’m spending my day in the nice, cool, basement going through all of my school stuff and organizing.  Just popped upstairs to grab a bite and say hello to my little Dexter who is now sleeping on my lap.  Here is a card that I made the other day, that reflects my happy mood:

 Sending Smiles w wm

Supplies:

Stamps: Recollections from Michaels, Kraftin’ Kimmie’s Everyday Sentiments, Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Paper: Neenah (for stamped images and colouring on), yellow is from Recollections pack, white is from Staples (I like using more inexpensive white cardstock for the cards and other layers that aren’t stamped on), Other: Copics, Glossy Accents, corner rounder.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!

S.

Where or Where is the Summer Going???

I can’t believe it’s already well into August! I spent some time in the basement today going through all of my school stuff. I was organizing it into piles of what I don’t want to take back, what I do and then organizing that into piles of priority. I have so much stuff! Ugh. I’ll be back at it again tomorrow but hopefully I will also get to spend some time in the craft cabana as well.

While we were out west at the beginning of the summer, my parents watched Dexter for three weeks. When we came back, I baked them a banana bread and gave them this card as a thank you:

Posy and Roses w wm

This here is the full colour version of the Posy card I made and posted here. I coloured Kraftin’ Kimmie’s “Posy” with my Copics, cut her out with my Nestabilities (oval and large scalloped oval). The roses were made with a technique I found on Julie’s blog here – I love making them. The background paper came in a pack that my wonderful mom bought me at Costco, and the sparkly paper is from a pack that I can’t remember the name of right now. The turquoise is SU’s Bermuda Bay. The ribbon is from wal-mart (I only have ribbon from there… maybe I should start branching out…) The tag was stamped with Kraftin’ Kimmie’s Everyday Sentiments and cut out with my MS tag punch and attached to the ribbon with a jump ring.

Needless to say, my parents appreciated the banana bread almost as much as we appreciated them watching our little buddy.

Thanks for stopping by! Until next time,

S

Friday, August 6, 2010

Just a Little Something

Happy Friday everyone! We just got back from baseball and I thought I’d post this little cutie I made yesterday. Adorable little MFT Happy Mail girl is stamped on Neenah with Memento ink and coloured in with Copics. Her dress is paper pieced with some Basic Grey paper – I forget which collection it’s from though. I distressed everything – including the ribbon with SU’s Soft Suede and Antique Linen distress ink. The circles and scalloped circle were cut with Nestabilites. IMG_2703

The inside of the card looks like this:Happy Mail Inside

I am very excited for tomorrow, I’m attending a class at my LSS taught by Jen Starr – all about the Tim Holtz distressed line! I’m not a scrapbooker and in this class we are going to make 6 scrapbook layouts (it’s a 4 hour class), but I’m told that what I will learn I can apply to card making. Whatever, I don’t care, it sounds like 4 hours of crafting fun! So, I will let you know how it goes and perhaps photograph my creations and post them for you tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

S.F.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

My Little Helper

I had a little helper out in the Craft Cabana today:

IMG_2698

My little buddy decide to come up and catch some zzzz’s - which helped me out because I could craft in peace :).   Isn’t he precious?

Tah!

S.

I’m in Distress… Mode

Greetings! I haven’t posted in a few days, just haven’t been out to the cabana to get some crafting done. However, today I managed to spend a good chunk of time crafting and have a few cards made and ready to share over the next few days.

The first card I made today is for this week’s MFT challenge which I found here. I used the adorable Better Get Better set. Here it is:

MFT challenge Aug 5 2010

I am so pleased with how this one turned out! I even went all out and decorated the inside too:

MFT challenge Aug 5 2010 inside

I don’t normally “distress” the edges, and I’m not that into the vintage look, but I am really pleased with how everything came together here. The cardstock is from Michaels, the designer paper is from a Sassafras 6x6 pad, and I stamped the image on Neenah paper. For distressing I used my favourite SU colour – Soft Suede, and Antique Linen Distress Ink by Tim Holtz. I sponged the Soft Suede on the edges, but then used my Inkssentials Blending Tool to sponge in the Distress Ink – on all my pieces of paper. The ribbon is from Wal-Mart, and I used SU’s slit punch (I think that’s what it’s called) to cut the hole in the stamped layer through which I fed the ribbon (I hope that makes sense). The hearts are a cuttlebug die, and I covered the one on the front of the card with Glossy Accents and popped it up with pop dots. My gorgeous little girl is coloured with Copics (E0000, E000, R20, BG13, BG18, R32, R35, RV000, RV02, E31, E33, E35, E37, W00, W1). I crumpled the pink paper before flattening it and adhering it to my base layer. I then stamped the sentiment on it in Soft Suede.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Many Thanks

So, all week long the weather people have been telling me to prepare for a beautiful weekend. Well, I took their advice and I prepared for a beautiful weekend by inviting family and friends over for a pool party only to have it rain! Rain! On this “beautiful” weekend! Oh well. We had a great time anyway.

I spent some time up in the craft cabana yesterday making some thank you cards:

Thank You Pink

Thank You Yellow

Thanks Thoughtful

Supplies

Stamps: Hero Arts “Thoughtful Messages” stamp set, Paper: all of the white cardstock is from Grand and Toy, except I used Neenah for the flowers I coloured with copics. The yellow and pink cardstock is from Recollections packs from Michaels. Other: Ribbon – Wal-mart, SU’s 5 Petal flower punch, brads – Michaels, Copics, Ranger’s Glossy Accents, Cuttlebug and SU embossing folders

Thank you ever so much, you’re so thoughtful! :)

Toodles,

Steph

Friday, July 30, 2010

Smooches

I just love colouring Kraftin’ Kimmie’s images from the “Moonlight Whispers” line. Here is a card made from the lovely Eleanor:

Smooches

I made the flower from a “whale of a punch” flower punch I found at my LSS for half off (I liked how the shape of it matched the flowers on her swim cap). I then cut out a flower from a piece of patterned paper and put it on top. The button is from Basic Grey’s “Max and Whiskers” set. The background paper is from Sassafras, and I actually used my R24 copic marker and traced over the pink stripes to make them match the colour of Eleanor’s dress.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Steph

Supplies:

Paper: White cardstock from Grand & Toy, SU’s Tempting Turquoise, Sassafras patterned paper, Neenah cardstock for stamped image. Stamps: Kraftin’ Kimmie’s Eleanor and Everyday Sentiments, Other: Flower punch, button, ribbon from Wal-Mart, Nestabilities, cloud die from My Favourite Things

Thursday, July 29, 2010

A Little Bit of Luck

Back in June, Sherrie Siemens came to my Local Scrapbook Store and taught a couple of Copic courses. She brought some of her My Favourite Things stamps with her, and showed us some of the colouring she had done with them. Needless to say, I fell in love with the sweet little “Pure Innocence” girls – I had to buy a couple. One of my favourite images is the 4 Leaf Clover set. Here is the first card I made with it:

Best of Luck Card

I stamped her on Neenah with Memento Ink, and coloured her with copics and also paper pieced her. I used paper from a 24x12” pad of K&Company paper for the piecing (I found it at Michaels for 9.99 from 29.99!). The base is SU’s Basic Grey, and I also used Certainly Celery. The background is also from K&Company, it’s from an adhesive paper pack (Cara Marie) – which was really cool because it was one big sticker. I used my MS four leaf clover punch and tied on some ribbon from wal-mart.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Steph

Wedding Card

Things were a bit crazy around this house last weekend.  My roommate from University (and best friend) came down for a visit, but before that, my brother-in-law was "drilled” by another player in his non-contact hockey league and ended up fracturing (well, shattering really) his collar bone which required surgery.  He’s doing well, but it means no hockey, baseball, golf, and general summer fun for him.  He also had to miss a good friend’s wedding, but asked me to make a wedding card for him.  This is what I came up with:

Wedding Card for Gord

The base colour is SU’s Very Vanilla, and the green is Certainly Celery.  The purple is some cardstock from Michaels.  I used the 5 petal flower punch from SU for all of the flowers.  To get the smaller ones, I punched the 5 petal flower, then stuck it to a piece of scrap paper, rotated it a bit, and punched it again.  I crumpled them and stuck them together with an antiqued gold brad (from Michaels).  The sentiment is from SU and is stamped in a dark purple SU ink… the name escapes me.  I used my Marvy punches for the scalloped squares and a cuttlebug folder for embossing.  Overall, I really like how simple it is, but I love the dark purple punch of colour.

I hope the bride and groom like it!

Steph

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Poor Jack Meets His Match

I spent some time carefully colouring Jack (I was actually using the same colours Kim used on hers in the first sample). Then I painstakingly cut him out and left him on the coffee table and left to change a load of laundry. When I came back, I found Jack in the jaws of a “shark”. This shark’s name is Dexter.

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You might think he’s pretty cute (I do too, but that’s besides the point), but he is a lean, mean, chewing machine. Needless to say, Jack didn’t stand a chance. Poor, poor, Jack…

Chewed Up Jack

Toodles,
Steph

Challenge Attempt Part 2

Well wasn’t I pleasantly surprised when I read Kraftin’ Kimmie’s challenge blog last Saturday. I won blog candy on my first ever challenge entry! Beginners luck I say! This week’s challenge is to create a “mostly monochromatic” card. Well, here it is:

Kraftin Kimmie Challenge July 24 2010

For this card I used the gorgeous Posy from Kraftin’ Kimmie. She’s coloured using the W family of Copics – W00, W1, W3, W5, W7 and W9, along with R20 and R22. I used the “Tip to Tip Marker Technique” that I learned from Sherrie Siemens in a class of hers I took, but there’s a tutorial for it here. I cut her out with my Nestabilities and sponged around the circle with some Blush Blossom ink, the layer of grey cardstock in behind her was cut out using my MS circle cutter. It’s hard to tell, but she is popped up with some pop dots. The sentiment is from Kraftin’ Kimmie’s “Everyday Sentiments” and I cut it out with my MS tag punch (which I put a small hole in the top of and hung from my ribbon with a jump ring). The ribbon is from Wal-Mart. The cardstock is Stampin’ Up – Going Grey, Basic Grey, Basic Black and Blush Blossom. The glittery cardstock is from DCWV’s “The Glitter Stack”. The roses were made with Blush Blossom cardstock using Julie’s technique found here. I glued them to the ribbon with some Zip Dry.

All in all I’m pretty pleased with this card. I enjoyed colouring in the monochromatic greys, but I didn’t want the card to be dark and morbid. I think adding the pink helped to make it a bit more cheery. Thanks for stopping by and checking it out!

I’ve got a few more cards made that I’m excited to post in the next few days!

Later gator,
Steph

Thursday, July 22, 2010

My First Ever Challenge Attempt!

I subscribe to a lot of crafty blogs and love checking out the sketches and challenges that are found all over the place. This week I finally decided to try my hand at one and chose the Mojo Monday sketch for this week:

image

But then I got really crazy and felt like throwing another challenge into the mix. So… I incorporated this week’s Kraftin’ Kimmie challenge (found here). Now, I am not all that great at photographing my work – yet. But I think I captured it pretty well. This is what I came up with:

Mojo Monday and Kraftin Kimmie Challenge  July 22 2010

For this 5x5 card I used the super cute Francesca stamp from Kraftin’ Kimmie. I coloured her with my copics and cut her out. I mounted her on an oval cut with an oval Nestie and smudged with Spun Sugar distress ink (I did the smudging while the frame was still on in order to get the nice white border). The sentiment is from Kraftin’ Kimmie’s “Everyday Sentiments”. The ribbon started out as white ribbon I bought at Wal-Mart, but coloured with my R24 copic to match her dress. I cut the strawberries out of this paper,

IMG_2668

then coloured them with Copics to match the ribbon and the dress. It’s a bit faint, but I also used my clear blender pen to create the little seed marks on the strawberries. I also added some stickles, the proceeded to smudge them with my hand before I could take the picture. I think I cleaned them up pretty well though :)

Well first ever challenge is said and done! Phew! Next challenge: taking better pictures!

Tah for now,

S.

Supplies: Stamps: “Francesca” and “Everyday Sentiments” by Kraftin’ Kimmie – stamped on Neenah paper, Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Spun Sugar Distress Ink, Paper: patterned paper from DCWV’s “Nana’s Nursery, Baby Girl” pad, cardstock from Michaels Other: Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copics (E000, E01, R20, R22, R24, R27, R29, YG03, YG05, YG06, E31, E33, E35, E37), Star Dust Stickles

Monday, July 19, 2010

Summer Vacation in Yellowstone!

Right after finishing up at school on June 30th, we headed out to Calgary for my hubby’s cousin’s wedding.  Although the weather was not fantastic (we left 30+ degree heat and landed in some 20 degree or so coolness), we had a fabulous time.  Congratulations to Brian and Erin!

After the wedding, my husband, brother-in-law, uncle-in-law, and I all headed down to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming (and Montana… and Idaho…).   It was spectacularly amazing – so much wildlife, beautiful mountains, stinky hot springs, astounding geysers, cool hiking trails, and lots and lots of driving.  I could not believe the size of the park, it was a 2.5 hour drive from the North entrance to our Lodge!  Here are some of the pictures we took while in the park:

IMG_1911 IMG_1962 

Bison (saw thousands of them)             Old Faithful

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Mammoth Hot Springs                         The “Grand Canyon of Yellowstone”

IMG_2438 IMG_2535

Grizzly momma and one of two cubs    Black bear, black bear, what do you see?

Hopefully tomorrow I will have a card to show you.  I have been colouring some Kraftin Kimmie images with my copics, and want to get some cards made for a challenge posted this week. 

Tah for now!

S

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Birthday Cards

Whoa! It’s been a long time since I began this blog. Report cards were completed, my classroom was packed up and moved home (I will be at a new school come September), and the school year wrapped itself up. I will definitely miss my students and friends at the previous school, but look forward to the upcoming school year – in due time of course.

I have digressed enough. The end of June is a busy time in this family not only because it’s the end of the school year, but my mom and brother also celebrate their birthdays. This here is a card that I made for my brother:

IMG_1736

I used the bear stamp from SU’s “Under the Stars” set, along with another retired set (for the birthday cakes. I coloured each birthday cake and then used my zip dry glue to adhere them to the string. Then I actually cut out his arms like so:

IMG_1732

and just pulled them forward a bit. I cut out a second circle and glued it in behind so the green cardstock can’t be seen under his arms. I used more of the zip dry to glue the rope to the bear’s paws. The hats were from some random stamp set I had. This is my first real attempt at taking photos while creating my cards and clearly I need some more work on it, but I have all summer for that! :) Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps: Stampin’ Up “Under the Stars” and “Happy Moments” (for the sentiment), Ink: Memento’s Tuxedo Black, Paper: Olive Green and Baby Blue cardstock from Recollections packs sold at Michaels, Tree Paper from a camping themed pad I found on sale at Micheals, Other: Nestabilities, Copics, Martha Stewart tag punch, string, dark brown brads, adhesive.