Hi there,

Today’s sweet butterfly card is just what I needed to cling to what’s left of my summer.  Back to school/work for me in just over a week!

I get all giddy and girly when I play with vintage book paper things, like these butterflies.  I just adore them!  I did the centres with some bright and cheerful brads, and added some shine to their trails with a glittery gel pen.

This card’s from the sketch below – over at Unscripted Sketches.  Simple and pretty.  Thanks, ladies!

Hey there!

A card? Say what? I have a paper crafting blog and I actually made a card?!? It was bound to happen at some point ;-)

I was given the sweetest clear set of cupcakes for my birthday, and today’s the first time I put them to use.  They’ve even been sitting on my desk this whole time.  I thought I’d add glitter, because it’s a cupcake.. and a birthday card.. and both just need glitter.  I also used one of my favourite techniques – paper piecing.

This card’s for this week’s sketch (#103) over at Clean and Simple Stamping (actually sketch shown below).  They’re the first blog I wanted to check when I was feeling like I needed a challenge and some inspiration.

Materials:

Cardstock: Amuse shimmer paper, and Basil Basics
Stamps: Stampendous cupcakes, and Hero Arts polka dots
Accessories: Glitter glue and some chunky clear glitter I had.  The ribbon’s from Amuse.  Oh, and some lovely vintage book paper :-)

The sketch:

Hiya!

Ummmm.. apologies for no cards in the last forever?  Yes, I do think I’ve fallen off that wagon a bit.  I’m trying to scramble back on; have no fear!

Today’s card is a mostly digital one that I made for the latest sketch challenge over at Everything But the Kitchen Sink.  Like usual, I had just acquired these papers and needed to put them to use!

I just adore the colours, and those birdies – oh my! 

Materials:

Stamps – ‘Hugs’ – Hero Arts
Inks – Memories (Momento) – Artprint Brown, Tim Holtz Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink
Paper – All from Digital House Design Studio – April Papers by Jen Allyson
Accessories- Buttons – Basic Gray, hemp string, Border punch – Martha Stewart

And the sketch (I rotated and flipped it a bit.. artistic license?)

Have a fabulous weekend!

Hello again!

Today I had some time to participate in challenge 98 over at Clean and Simple Stamping.  The sketch was a lovely little window frame type of thing.

I had just printed off some digital papers from Design House Digital and had to use them.  So here we are, bright pink all over again.

I hope everyone’s enjoying summer.  I’m looking forward to splashing around in some refreshingly cool water on Sunday, as we tube down the river.  Divine.

Materials:
Cardstock – Melon Mambo (Stampin’ Up!) and digital papers (Design House Digital)
Stamps – Hero Arts and Amuse
Inks – Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories – corner rounder punch

And here’s the lovely sketch:

Enjoy the sun!

Hi there,

It’s been a while since I posted a card.  I’ve been preoccupied with thoughts of school, friends, sewing, and joining Stampin’ Up! as a demonstrator.  That’s right, I’m now officially a demonstrator!  I haven’t received my starter kit yet, but I’m so excited to start!

I got my SU website all set up, so you can contact me there, shop online, get ideas, and set up workshops.  There’s so much fun coming my way!

To celebrate, I made this fun pink card using Stampin’ Up! materials.

The card fits into one of my favourite challenges – Sketch 97 over at Clean and Simple Stamping.  Head on over there to see what others have done.

I just love the simplicity, and of course, the vintage book paper.  Don’t read too closely, it’s something about a dog taunting a cat whose head was stuck between window bars. But the cat got away!  Happy ending ;-)

I’m anxiously awaiting my Stampin’ Up! starter kit.  In the meantime, I will play with these discontinued items I just *had* to have before they were gone.  Please let me know if you’d like to set up a workshop with me, and we’ll figure that out :-)

Here’s today’s challenge sketch

Materials:

Stamps: Embrace Life set (paper pieced) – Stampin’ Up!
Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Razzleberry Lemonade paper (Stampin’ Up!), and vintage book paper
Inks: Versafine Onyx Black, Antique Linen distress ink
Accessories: Hemp thread, button (Basic Gray), dimensionals.

Hey there! 

I’m not dead, I promise!  I’ve just been out of the house a whole heck of a lot (and am finally feeling better)!  I started this set of cards, knowing exactly what I wanted to do, on Thursday.  Yes, it took me that long to finally sit down and get them done. 

I absolutely adore little cards, so what could be better than a set of wee cards?  These guys are 2.75” x 4.25” (half the size of your standard handmade greeting card).  And I heart them.  I’ve put them up on my Etsy shop, if you’re interested.

From some random fluke, I think these guys work for two challenges this week.  They were initially my idea for this week’s challenge over at Just Add Ink – it was to use patterned paper.. I think I succeeded ;-)  And it sort of works for the sketch challenge #96 over at Clean and Simple Stamping (see image at end of post)

Everything’s edged using Tim Holtz’s Distress inks.  The butterflies are punched using a Martha Stewart punch on vintage book paper.  The wee button’s by Basic Grey and thank you is from a fabulous set by The Stamps Of Life.

Thank you ;-)

Help! I’ve been sucked into the land of all things digital.  And it’s actually not so bad over here.. OK, it’s amazing.  I could waste happily spend my entire day (and many others) playing with digital papers and designs.  It’s making me so happy!  Bonus?  This card is totally my style.  So often my own style can get lost, but here it is. Clean and simple with colours I love… and glitter.

This is my very favourite digi kit.. watercolour amazingness!Well, it’s actually called Watercolor DigiKit, but I like to think my name’s much more creative.

This card’s for the latest challenge over at Everything But the Kitchen Sink (see sketch below).  I’m just so happy with how it turned out.  Those papers are all kinds of pretty.

I started with a cute little 4”x4” card.  The circle window is just from a Paper Shaper punch.  I added some glitter to the flower and some pearls to the sentiment.  That sentiment’s just a cute font that I got at the most amazing website ever.  They make fonts out of people’s handwriting and let everyone download them for free.  Some people have very cute handwriting, and let’s just say, this one isn’t my own! I could go on. I’m so addicted!

The Sketch:

• Cardstock: Blue grid, green and beige dots printed onto white cardstock
• Accessories: Pearls by AMuse, Prisma Glitter, Paper Shapers circle punch 1 1/2”

Check out others’ projects for this challenge.

Cheers,

Hi there,

Let me tell you about my week(end).  My girlfriends decided to make an event of the new Sex and the City movie (yes, the one that got like zero stars, no thumbs up, etc).. but hey, I like any excuse to dress up and drink martinis.  Problem?  I hadn’t seen a single episode!  So I borrowed all 6 seasons and started watching.  Well, I can’t say I’m caught up.. I’ve been sort of randomly watching them.. but to get me through parts of Season 6, I made this fun little card.

This one’s for the latest challenge (Sketch 57) over at Unscripted Sketches.  I had so much fun with this watercolour element flower that I got with my digi kit from Two Peas in a Bucket

I used some Twinkling H20s for the blue on the flower – plus some Diamond Glaze.  I’m also pretty fond of that little “enjoy today” stamp.  It was free with a Verve order!  (Gotta love free things!)  Speaking of free, the other day at the grocery store they had some bouquets that had expired, so I got a beautiful one.  With a little pairing down ít’s beautiful in our dining room.

Here’s the original sketch

Now go check out what creative things others have done with it!  And wish me courage to live through this movie tonight!

Heyya,

Butterflies and flowers.. two things that I’m addicted to I use all the time in my cards.  What can I say? It’s love!

Today’s card is for this week’s sketch challenge (#92) over at Clean and Simple Stamping.  I got to use my new solid butterflies stamp from AMuse.. Yep, still in love.

I used my vintage fairy tale book again for the background.  The flower is a template from lovely Martha.  Oooh, the bluey-turquoise and green paper (not the background 2) are both from a digi kit by Two Peas in a Bucket.  I’m pretty fond of this kit, so I’m sure you’ll be seeing more of the elements here soon.

Both the butterfly, middle strip, and tag (in blue) are Martha Stewart punches, and I added a wee gemstone to the butterfly.

*sigh*  Butterflies remind me of life’s simple pleasures.  They make me smile.  Maybe it’s a good addiction to have ;-)

Here’s the sketch I used

Cheers,

Heyya! Well, I had the day off, so I decided I could spend some time playing in the craft room.  Later today I’m hoping to attempt a new recipe – Mango Nut Bread.  Sounds super yummy!

Today’s card is for the challenge over at Everything but the Kitchen Sink.  I was inspired by the sketch, and it was the perfect opportunity to try out a technique I’d seen on Moxie Fab World using my new Japanese masking tape.

I cut out a shipping tag shape from some kraft paper and layered on my Japanese masking tape in strips.  Next, I stamped a Japanese cherry branch image using Satzon ink.  I added a sentiment and some twine to finish off the tag.

I stamped the little dragonflies on vintage book paper, cut them out, scrunched them up, and added some little pearl embellishments.  I also re-stamped the cherry blossom on white cardstock, painted in some of the blossoms, cut them out and tacked them on, finishing them off with some Diamond Glaze.

The image from EBTKS is here, along with my tape inspiration

I love these colours.. purples and pinks and browns, oh my!

Now wish me luck with this bread!

Heyya!  It’s been a while.  I have a good excuse this time around – I’ve been out of town for 5 days!  I watched my wee little sister play copious amounts of hockey on a Bantam AAA team.  Needless to say, they didn’t win, but she played better than most of her team ;-)

So without further ado, I’ll let you get acquainted with the card I popped out today.  ‘Tis birds!

I just picked up this little bird punch and had to use it on some vintage book paper.  And of course a vintage book tag too.

This is for Sketch 56 over at Unscripted Sketches.  Another fun one to work with, as usual :-)

And here’s the sketch in real life

Cheers for now!

Hey there, and happy Monday! Today’s card is for the Challenge #55 over at Unscripted Sketches.  I decided to go with bold and bright.  It’s been pretty cloudy weather here.. maybe this’ll brighten things up a bit :-)

This is take two of the rosette.. and what do you think about the stamping on vintage book paper?  Does it make an ok background piece? 

The leaves I just cut free-hand, then stamped some leaf stamps over them using VersaMark ink, just for some texture.

Whew.. crafting is all kinds of work!

Hi there,  I guess I’ve been away from the blog world a bit, and next week will be even more of the same.  I’m heading out of town to take my wee little sister (she’s 14) to a hockey tournament next weekend.

No excuses for this week except that I’ve been working overtime and haven’t felt very inspired by the time I get home.  I finally managed to whip out a card for this week’s Clean and Simple sketch #90 over at Clean and Simple Stamping.

A baby card!  I liked the idea of all things round for this card.. circles cut out, rounded corners, a button…

Maybe a bit TOOO simple?  Maybe I need to try a few very intricate card and then come back to the whole CAS thing that I love so much.

And hey, what’s up with all the turquoise lately?  It seems to be a running theme here.  Got any colour suggestions to challenge me with?

Voila the CAS sketch that I used:

Cheers,

Heyya and happy Friday!

This has been quite the week.  I taught grade 2 yesterday, which was quite the experience since I’m generally a high school teacher!  Let’s just say that they all went home in a fairly normal ‘happy and healthy’ state, so I did OK, right?

Some fun fun goodies came in the mail today.. drum roll…  Japanese masking tape! I got this fancy and beautiful stuff from cu-te-ta-pe.  I’m so in love with it.. I couldn’t not use it in a card today!

Today’s card is for Sketch 89 over at Clean and Simple Stamping.  OK, so my card sort of went beyond the whole CAS idea.. oops.  But I was experimenting and trying to work quickly.. sometimes things go awry.  And hey, I worked in some of the insanely cute green polka dot masking tape.

Stamps are by AMuse and Basic Grey.  Here’s the original sketch:

Have a good one,

Hi there, and happy Tuesday!

Today I’ve made a card for this week’s Clean and Simple Sketch 88.  Why oh why did I have to start making cards with 3D bits on them?  They don’t fit in envelopes properly.. they don’t mail well.. am I going to have to start buying bubble wrap packages and paying 5 times the cost to send a birthday card?  Sheesh!  But come on, flowers and butterflies and bows that jump off the page are just TOO CUTE!

This card took a total of about 15 minutes, and this is the first time I ever made this little rose flower.  Nina has a fabulous tutorial for these on her blog – Crafting in Croatia.  It’s definitely worth a wander over there!  I tore mine instead of using scalloped scissors, and I’m quite happy with the results. They’re SO EASY to make!

I stamped the leaves (Basic Grey) and ‘best wishes’ (Hero Arts) in some chalk inks, added the bow, rounded the corners with a punch, and edges the paper flower with a bit of purple ink.

Here’s the original sketch:

Hi there! Today I tackled sketch # 87 over at Clean and Simple Stamping.  Every week I say that I love their layouts because of – surprise, surprise – the clean and simple looks. I can have white space and it’s OK! It’s like a refreshing interlude each week because I also like to do the opposite kinds of cards too.

Well, I’m not feeling like I’m ready for any kind of bikini weather, but maybe someone is, right?  I’ve been in snuggle up (eat lots and exercise little) mode since November, so it’s time to kick my own butt so I can fit into last year’s spring and summer clothes soon.. So here’s some inspirational fodder!

This week has been the start of getting active and eating more healthy for me.  I’m trying out the DVD 30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels. They’re 20-minute workouts and man oh man am I ever sore after! I definitely recommend it, as that’s very little time commitment for what are (hopefully) good results.  I’ll let you know ;-)

For this card I just cut a strip of a scrap piece of patterned paper that caught my eye and added borders with another.. mmm, bright!  I cut out a circle of green (by hand!), stamped my sentiment in turquoise and stamped the bikini in black on that same border paper.  I cut it out, glued it on, added some brads.. and a card is born.  Now back to my workouts – ultimate frisbee tonight.

And here’s the sketch:

Thanks for stopping by!

One last card while I still have the joys of the weekend on my side.  This one’s for the kids (or the young at heart?)

This one’s for sketch challenge #13 over at Everything but the Kitchen Sink.  I flipped the sketch upside-down for my happy little train.

For next time, I think I’d put that button birthday banner up higher to balance the card out a bit.  I tried, but there was some ripping of paper going on, and that’s just not something I want to mess with ;-)

And here’s the original sketch

Hi there, and happy Sunday!  Wait.. that means Monday is tomorrow.. well, I hope it’s a good week.

Today I’ve made another sketch card for Unscripted Sketches  sketch #51.

I’m loving the colours and, of course, the vintage book paper.. Don’t you love the little birdie too? Squishably cute, I think. Thank goodness for Verve Stamps!

I picked up this raspberry cardstock at a shop somewhere near Washington DC when I was there.  I’m going to be sad when it’s gone, as I don’t know if I can get it again.

Les instructions

• Make a card from a 4 1/4” x 11” piece of raspberry cardstock, then cut a strip of patterned paper and punch out a scalloped piece to match (2 1/2”).
• Tear a strip of vintage book paper, then cut a square (2” diag) from a blank spot in the book.
• Make a flower from 5 punched book pieces, attach with a brad and crumple.
• Stamp birdie in Black on white cardstock, and again on patterned paper.  Cut out wing and attach with pop dots.
• Stamp sentiment (AMuse) in black.
• Edge everything with Antique Linen distress ink (I love it!), and attach together.  Voilà!

And here’s the sketch

Heyya,  it’s been a little while.. and a busy work week for me, so I just had to do some card making today.

This is for this week’s Clean & Simple Stamping layout.. Sketch #86.  I’m still enjoying those vintage paper butterflies, but who wouldn’t be?  This time around I used brads in the centre.

And here’s the sketch I worked with.  I love how pretty their sketches always look.  It makes me want to try them!

Heyya,

Yep, another butterfly card.  I simply never get tired of these pretty little creatures.

Today’s card was for sketch 85 over at Clean & Simple Stamping.  I used punches, embossing in white, a lovely button, and some sheer ribbon.

Stamps are by Personal Stamp Exchange and Inque Boutique.

And here’s the sketch! Go try it out!

Happy Monday :-)

Heyya!

I had a morning of the stupids.  I got called in to work for this morning.. turns out I didn’t listen to the date and it was actually for NEXT Friday.  Oops. 

So instead, I made a card with my 3 favourite things!  Butterflies, buttons, and ribbon.  Oh, one more – vintage book paper.  How can you go wrong with so many lovely goodies?

I had a lot of fun with this card, which is from sketch #33 (so great!) over at the fabulous Get Sketchy blog.  All of the lovely design team’s creations are amazing.  Go check them out.

I hand-cut the circles after tracing them from a little container I had.  Yep, random stuff around the house can be super useful for crafting.

And here’s the sketch I worked from:

Happy weekend.  Have a great one!

Hi there,

It’s soooooo sunny and beautiful today, and I didn’t have to work!  Who could ask for more?  So of course I’m inside crafting :p  (yes yes, I should go out and play in the sun).  This is the first card picture I’ve taken OUTSIDE, in the SUN! (yes, I’m super excited about this whole sunshine thing).

Today’s card is brought to you by a fabulous sketch (see below) that I’m absolutely in love with.  It’s from Paper Craft’s Go to Sketches, which I cannot wait to get my hands on!

I used one of those fantastic eyelet punched paper flowers and some beautiful ribbon that I picked up yesterday at Michaels.   I love this vintage book background.  I’m trying to find ways to use book text in all my cards.  I’m just that obsessed with it.

The sketch for this card I found over at Kim Kesti’s blog.  Don’t you love it?  I could play with this simple sketch all day long.

Oh and hey, for someone who never EVER used ribbon or buttons, I’ve sure done a 180!  I can’t get enough of either.