The Nature of Crafty Things

CQC #124

2012-02-14T07:56:00.002-07:00

Good Morning!

It's Tuesday, which means another fabulous colour combo courtesy of Arielle over at ColourQ.

I just love that blue and red together!

My card for you today has no stamping on it. Shocker!!

I was cleaning up my craft room and decided I have waaaaay to many alphabet stickers that I don't use. So I challenged myself to start using them.

These ones are thickers by American crafts, vinyl. They feel so neat!

The paper is some scrap Basic Grey and I used PTI's rustic cream cardstock and circle broder die for the edge. Also, if you look super close, I stamped Hero Art's envelope stamp in sparkle versamark onto the blue base.

Please head over to the ColourQ blog to explore the vast and beautiful creations the DT has created for you. Then go make something to share with us. :)

Have a great day, thanks for stopping by!

2012-02-11T10:26:00.002-07:00

WooHoo! It's the weekend. :)

I hope its a great one!

I just wanted to share with you the last couple of cards I made during my short-lived creative streak.

I love photos, the creativity, the different feelings a picture can evoke. So I have always wanted to learn a little bit more about photography in general. I would have to say my favourite "styles" are close-up or macro shots, black & white photos, and landscapes.

Of course when I discovered bokeh, and that you could change the shapes of the lights I had to try it.

My community center had all the trees lit with either white or red christmas lights, so I went out there one night to try it out.

I also love polaroids so I thought it was a natural fit!

For my final card I decided to try out my grunge set from PTI. There are so many fun elements in that set, but I wanted to use the splatter images.

I had the felt left over from another project, and I forgot I had this cute speech bubble punch by Fiskars. The letter & heart stamps are Paper Smooches.

Well there you have it, the last of my lovey dovey cards. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by, have a fabulous weekend!

2012-02-07T23:56:00.000-07:00

Happy Tuesday!

I must appologize to you because as I was typing this up, getting it all ready to post (for tomorrow!) I realized that today is Tuesday!!

Oops.

Moving on.....

Arielle has a super yummy colour combo for your inspiration this week.

The cookies look yummy too don't they?

Here's my take on this week's colours

I was inspired to do the background by a card I had seen somewhere, likely Pinterest, but i honestly can't remember. LOL!

I struggled for a while with the focal image, and finally liked the look of the label die, and this tag image from the PTI love tags set.

Head on over to the ColourQ blog to be inspired by Arielle and the rest of the design team, then go get your craft on!

I have a couple more Valentine's cards left to show you from my little streak of mojo enhanced crafty time. One of them showcases my new addiction to the art of bokeh!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great week. :)

more love!

2012-02-04T22:05:00.002-07:00

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend so far.

I am heading back to work tomorrow and have found myself scrambling to get everything ready, and do some last minute home organization. Best time to do it really! Ha!

I thought I would share another of my "love" themed cards.

There are so many. LOL!

For the tabs, I used the skateboard die from PTI and punched holes in the ends, and the hearts embossing plate is by Taylored Expressions.

I was actually inspired by some packaging I saw on Pinterest, (surprise surprise!) but I guess I didn't pin it because I can't find the photo. So I suppose you guys will just have to take my word for it. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great Sunday!

Love Love Love

2012-02-02T04:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I really wasn't kidding when I said that the ideas kept on rollin' in!

I have a couple of days left worth of cards to share with you. :)

This one, I think, is my favourite so far. Mostly because of the font on that love stamp, it...is...FABULOUS!!

The stamp is from a tiny Ali Edwards Technique Tuesday set.

It is super cute, the whole set is really.

What I think is funny about all these ideas is that I rarely make Valentine's cards. Of course my hubby gets one but that is usually the only one I make.

I guess I will share one more with you so it's not too many posts in a row of lovey dovey cards.

My next card was greatly inspired by this pic I found, again, on Pinterest.

PTI's Love Lives Here anyone?

I thought so!!

The only thing I'm not crazy about on this one, is the mirrored die cut hand.

When you flip it around, you just don't get the same look. Oh well!

I suppose this one could be a wedding, anniversary or Valentine's day card.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Oh and Happy Groundhog Day!

CQC #122 - with love.....

2012-01-31T06:00:00.000-07:00

First of all, I need to thank you for all of the heartfelt and kind words.

I am so grateful for all of my blogging friends.

And to those of you that shared your own stories with me, again, thank you. It was certainly helpful to know that I/we are not alone.

I am so happy to be back creating, although very, very, slow to start off!

I was able to scrape up enough mojo after seeing Arielle's colour scheme for this week to create a card for ColourQ.

Yummy, Yummy, Yummy!!

While I was recently perusing Pinterest, (time suck galore!) I came across this technique that inspired me.

Now I'm sure you guys have seen it before, but saw it and really wanted to try it out.

(Click on the picture to head to Lori's blog)

She used a dye ink marker to colour onto one of her clear blocks, then sprayed it with a mister, then smooshed it onto her paper.

I used Distress inks and watercolour paper intead, following the same technique to create my card for this week.

As always, Arielle and the rest of the design team have some utterly amazing samples for you. So head on over to the ColourQ blog and have a look!

Plus there is a new addition to our ColourQ family, Jen Mitchell. We are so very happy to have her, and her beautiful creations.

When you have some time, check out Jen's fabulous blog.

Now it took me some time to create this little card, but once I did the ideas kept rolling in!

I have another card to share........with my leftovers!

And another, yet using different colours.

Thank you all again for being so sweet and for sticking by me in my absence!

Have a wonderful week. :)

time for sharing

2012-01-14T12:56:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone!

I've been debating for a little while on how to share this, but felt it was time.

Back in October I shared with you our wonderful news, we were having a baby.

Unfortunately, in early December we found out during our detailed ultrasound, at 20 weeks, our little one was not able to survive.

Both of Baby's kidneys were malformed and non functional, Multicystic Dysplastic kidneys. Which means that there was no urine/amniotic fluid production by the baby and the lungs did not/will not develop properly as a result.

It was a devastating turn of events, that resulted in me going in to the hospital just before Christmas (Dec19th) to be induced.

I did however, give birth to a very tiny but still amazingly beautiful baby boy, whom we named John Robert Curry, or J.R.

Being my first child it was both an absolutely amazing and heartbreaking thing.

And as sad as it was, I am grateful for the experience in general.

I will say, the nurses I had throughout my time in hospital were amazing. I work with nurses everyday, but when you are a patient you see a whole other side.

So to keep this post crafty, I am also sharing the mini cards I made for them as a thank you. (I also included some homemade goodies as well!)

There is some significance here, the butterflies.

At our hospital when the unit has a mother in going through something like this, to make staff aware, for privacy etc., they place a butterfly on the door. So I thought I would use one on my card.

Thank you so much for letting me share.

I hope you all had an absolutely fabulous holiday season and wish everyone much joy & happiness for the coming year.

Colour Q #115

2011-12-13T06:01:00.002-07:00

I just have to open by saying that I absolutely LOVE this week's colour combo!!

I know I say that a lot (Arielle picks such great combos!) but they are seriously yummy this week.

See what I mean?

Right? :)

So bright and fabulous. They kinda remind me of that cool ribbon candy that comes out at Christmas.

I was inspired by both the ribbon and the colours this week.

You must head over to the ColourQ blog because the design team has totally outdone itself with samples for this week. Seriously amazing!!

I can't wait to see what you guys come up with using this super fun colour scheme. Have a fabulous week! Only 12 days til the big day!! WooHoo!!

Playing in Paradise #45 - all about trees

2011-12-09T09:39:00.001-07:00

Happy Friday everyone!

I hope that you are enjoying the festive holiday season so far!

I have been such a procrastinator this year,

I still have tons of shopping to do. Yikes!

I have a fun and appropriate challenge to share with you today, courtesy of Scrapbooker's Paradise!

Now of course it doesn't need to be an evergreen or Christmas tree! Let your imagination run wild. :)

I went with the obvious of course, mostly because I still have a few Christmas cards left to make.

You have until Thursday Dec 15th at noon to play along. Just remember there is a fun prize pack of goodies for the selected winner from Scrapbooker's Paradise up for grabs!!

Stop by the Scrapbooker's blog to check out all of the fun Design Team inspiration.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a fabulous weekend.

ColourQ #114 with a twist!!

2011-12-06T04:50:00.000-07:00

Good Morning!

First of all, I just have to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who is still following my blog. I really appreciate it, and all of your wonderful comments. :)

I hope I can soon have some free time to come back and enjoy all the fabulousness that is awaiting me on your blogs.

Ok, back to business!!

I have a seriously awesome colour combo to share with you today, but Arielle has also added a little twist, make anything BUT a card. Well how fun is that?

Isn't this combo scrumptious! It's so bright and happy. Plus I think that little snowman makes me happy too! :)

I decided to make a sort of gift wrap. I vaguely remembered seeing somewhere that someone had put a cookie inside a CD sleeve and thought, what a great idea.

Super, super simple but so much fun to make.

Although if I was making quite a few, I may get sick of the die cut word!!

I cut the merry out of felt then cut it out of cardstock to back the felt & make it a little bit more firm.

The snowflake is a Cuttlebug die I have had FOREVER. I just love the shape of it.

There you have it, a fun little twist on the weekly ColourQ challenge. I do hope you will play along with us, we love to see what you all create.

Head on over to the ColourQ blog to see all of the wonderful inspiration there is to be had by Arielle and the Royal Court. Then link up your superb creation!!

Have a wonderful day! Thanks for stopping by. :)

Playing in Paradise #44 - Monochromatic

2011-12-02T06:00:00.002-07:00

Happy Friday!!

It's time for another Playing in Paradise challenge, and this week it's all about colour, well monochromatic colour!!

I found this super fun technique on Kristina Werner's blog using Distress inks and water colour paper. I used it to create the yellow panel on my card.

After making this card, I realized maybe I should have used a more Chrostmasy colour scheme, but oh well!! There it is. :)

Head on over to the Scrapbooker's Paradise blog to check out all of the fabulous inspiration the design team has to share, then ink up those stamps and play along.

You have until noon on Dec 7th to play, you could win a wonderful proze courtesy of Scrapbooker's Paradise.

Thanks for stopping by!

ColourQ #113

2011-11-29T06:00:00.002-07:00

It's time for another ColourQ Tuesday!

We are getting out of the Fall-ish colours and into the fabulous Winter & Christmas colours. Fun times!!

I love this monochromatic blue colour combo.

So pretty and wintery, there are so many ways to go with this.

I love the look of these snowflakes, they are from a Close To My Heart set. I found some blue seam binding and an opportunity to FINALLY use my PTI little tags set of stamps and dies. The card still seemed a bit empty to me so I added some rhinestones to get a little shine.

The design team has some amazing stuff to share with you so please head on over to the ColourQ blog to check it out.

Come have some fun with this beautiful colour scheme and play aong with us. I can't wait to see what you all come up with.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Bows & Berries Blog Hop

2011-11-28T01:53:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday!!

Today is not only a Bows & Berries challenge day, but we have a super fun blog hop planned for you.

And not only a super fun blog hop, but there are deals and prizes available too.

You should be arriving to my blog from the fabulous Jocelyn's. If not please head to the Bows & Berries blog, to start the hop.

The challenge this week is to use the adorable November freebie that Robin put out, toasty gingerbread man.

I adjusted the size, printed him out, and coloured him in with my Copics. Super cute right?

Robin puts out a free digi every month, and has put out the December one a little early so you can play along with it as well.

We would love for you to play along, and join us for the blog hop.

Not only are there prizes for the challenge winners, but for commenting on each of the blogs along the hop as well. Robin will be giving out free digis, with the grand prize being a whopping 10 free digis! WOW!!

So here's how it is done......

As always you have 2 weeks to play along and/or complete the blog hop.

To be eligible for the hop prizes, simply leave a comment on each blog as you hop along. Robin will choose not only a winner from each blog, to win 2 free digis, but a random winner from all blogs to win the grand Prize of 10 FREE DIGIS!! What a great early Christmas gift huh?

The other way to win is to grab a digi, either the November or December freebie, whip up a creation to link up and share.

Also as a bonus little thank you for her followers, Robin is offering up a great deal of 50% off at her store, Bows & Berries Digi Shop. Just type in GIFT50 upon checkout to receive the 50% off.

This is our last challenge of the year, so we hope to see you playing along.

Good Luck!!

The next stop on the Blog Hop is Robin, the artist herself!!

playing in paradise #43 duct tape what??

2011-11-25T01:47:00.001-07:00

I am super excited because this is my first time ever hosting a challenge and I wanted to make sure it was a good one!

My challenge to you is to find stuff around your home to use.

Anything from tin foil, to paperclips, to tissue paper, to duct tape. Anything you can find (maybe not already in your craft space!!) to somehow incorporate into your card.

Like always, you are playing along to win a fabulous prize courtesy of Scrapbooker's Paradise.

Here's my sample using some fancy duct tape I found at Michael's. LOVE it!!

I thought it would make a perfect mug. I mean who wouldn't love a zebra print coffee mug! :)

Hop on over to the Scrapbooker's Paradise blog to check out all the deets, and also to the rest of the design team to give them a little love.

You have until noon on December 1st to play along. We would love it if you did!

Also please give a warm welcome to our newest design team member, the fabulous Laurel Seabrook.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope everyone had a great week. And a most Happy (belated!) Thanksgiving to my fabulous American friends!!

ColourQ #112

2011-11-22T07:59:00.000-07:00

Yippee! It's ColourQ Tuesday!

This week's colours are so rich and fall-like. It makes me yearn for Fall again!!

We just finished up a couple of days of -20 degrees here in Calgary. Although not officially winter, I think we can say it's here. :)

I wanted to have a little bit of fun with my seeing stars PTI die set, and so this card was born. The brown "ribbon" is actually a handle from a reusable bag I got that's bottom fell out. I couldn't just let that fabulous handle go to waste, now could I!!

The COlourQ DT has som fabulous samples for you to drool over this week (as usual!) so head on over to the ColourQ blog to check them out. Then get your craft on and join us.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great Tuesday. :)

Playing in Paradise #42

2011-11-18T22:11:00.000-07:00

Yay! It's Friday!

I have a super fun challenge to share with you today. It's Nancy's turn to host the challenge and she decided on a round card.

I love a good challenge, and a round card, for me, is a great one!! I find the shape hard to work with.

If any part of this looks familiar that's because for another card I recently made, I couldn't decide between these two frames. This one was the leftover, and inspired me to make this card. Actually all of the pieces are leftovers!

Head on over to the Scrapbookers Paradise blog to check out the rest of the design team's inspiration. Be sure to also check out their blogs too!

You have until noon on November 24th to join in the fun. You could win a fabulous prize courtesy of Scrapbookers Paradise and the chance to be a guest designer!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!!

ColourQ #111

2011-11-15T06:00:00.005-07:00

It's ColourQ Tuesday!!

I have a very autumnal colour combo to share with you today, and since we got a pretty nice snowfall today I wasn't feeling overly like fall when i got home to create this week's card!

Such a pretty colour combo though huh? And that wreath is so fun, I love the dried fruit!!

I chose to try and conjure up a little bit of my inner Maile Belles. She always makes the most amazing cards and uses her PTI dies to make frames, so that's what I did.

I had some yummy seam binding I have wanted to try and use, in what I think is pretty close to Rich Razzleberry. (a very difficult colour to find & match for me!) I also used my PTI sets, Background Basics: dots, With Sympathy (butterfly), and Peaceful Gardens (grass & sentiment).

I hope that you will find a little bit of time to check out what Arielle and the rest of the ColourQ Royal Court have created for you to feast your eyes upon this week. And that you will be inspired to play along, and link up your creation on the ColourQ blog.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a fabulous Tuesday. :)

tagged!

2011-11-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

How are things?

I've been so disconnected from things lately.

This is such a fun and fabulous time of year!I LOOOOVE Christmas!

And this week for the Bows & Berries challenge, we were to make a tag using one of the fabulous digi images.

I chose to use warm penguin. Isn't he adorable? I love his cute little smile!

I also used some Echo Park paper, my PTI tag sale die, and the L'il Inker cloud die.

You too can play along, just create a tag and link up your creation on the Bows & Berries blog. Robin offers up a free digi every month, so feel free to grab it and play along using it. You have two weeks to join in the fun, and could win yourself a free digi from her store!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. :)

ColourQ #110

2011-11-08T06:00:00.002-07:00

Hey guys! I hope that everyone had a fabulous weekend.

I had a great day out with the girls on Saturday, ending with our roller derby awards ball, then enjoyed a nice quite Sunday with my husband ending with a fabulous dinner with friends.

Well, let's get to why you are here! I have a gorgeous colour combo to share today.

I LOVE these colours together!

I kinda stuck to the food theme with my card!

I came across my PTI apple dies and realized I had the perfect felt colours to match the scheme this week. I decided the apples needed a little something more, so I used the hearts the result from cutting out the circle from the "love lives here" PTI die set. Once I had the apples, I had to figure out a sentiment. I remembered the sentiment from one of the first Paper Smooches sets. And there you have it!

Stop by the ColourQ blog to feast your eyes on the gorgeousness that Arielle and the Royal Court have prepared for you. Then link up your own yummy creations.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a fabulous day. :)

Playing in Paradise #40

2011-11-04T06:00:00.002-06:00

It's Friday!! Yay!!

Which means its the weekend, and time change weekend at that. I love getting an extra hour of sleep. :)

It also means I have another Playing in Paradise Challenge to share with you.

This week's host is Merlie!

I can honestly say this was a challenge. I have never attempted an easel card before. I googled easel card, and there are a ton of images, and many tutorials to choose from. Thank goodness!

Here's my first try

I came across this fabulous Basic Grey paper in one of my 6x6 pads and just had to use it. It's so very pink, and so not me!

A close up shows the inside.

We would love it if you would join us and play along! You have until noon on Thursday Nov, 10th to link up your creation at the Scrapbooker's Paradise blog. The prize this week is Pink Paislee Vintage Vogue and a Mini EZ Runner.

For more inspiration check out the fabulous design team's easel cards. You are sure to be inspired.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend. :)

ColourQ #109

2011-11-01T23:02:00.000-06:00

Yikes! Tuesday snuck up on me. :)

It's time for another ColourQ colour combo.

An interesting set of colours, for sure. So very many strong colours that could take center stage. I of course went with the vanilla as the base and used the other colours to accent.

I had some fun with my PTI impression plates and dies for this one! I also decided it had been a while since I used their felt.

I love their felt!

Head on over to the ColourQ blog to admire the wonders that the rest of the Royal Court have come up with. Such a great variety!

Then join us and link up your own fabulous creation.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great day. :)

Bows & Berries challenge #13 CAS

2011-10-31T06:30:00.002-06:00

Ooooooh! I love a good CAS challenge. :)

And that is the objective of the newest challenge put forth by Robin from Bows & Berries digital stamps.

I chose to use her "feather" image from the winter release.

I used the feather in photoshop to create the background patterned paper, then printed a larger one out and coloured it in with Copics.

I love the look of this fabulous feather!

We would love you to play along, and you have 2 weeks to do so. As always you aren't required to use a Bows & Berries digi image but it would be fabulous if you did. Robin offers up a free digi every month, so grab it and play along!

On a side note, I just wanted to thank you all so very much for the congrats and well wishes. We are very excited and it was great to be able to finally share our good news! I appreciate all of the support. :)

Thanks for stopping by. I hope everyone has a wonderfully scarey Halloween!!

PPC#39 and some exciting news!

2011-10-28T06:00:00.000-06:00

Good Friday morning to you!

I have yet another Playing in Paradise challenge for you, this week it is hosted by Tracy. She has challenged us to make a masculine card, and what a challenge that is!!

What makes a masculine card? CAS design? Colour scheme? Masculine objects?

If anyone knows the answer can you let me know!!!

I tried to keep it simple and I thought a newspaper theme was masculine and fit right in with my purpose for the card!

The paper I used for this one is from the "Happy Days" line from Echo Park". I love this line! So retro and fun! I popped up a couple of extra ads to add some interest. And later decided to add the corduroy brads for a punch of colour. The "sentiment" was typed up on the computer as I did not have a stamp that would do. :)

This is the inside of the card, so you can see how it flows!

I made this card for my father, who currently lives in Malaysia. I thought it would be a fun way to share some exciting news.

Which brings me TO my good news....I am pregnant!!

And also explains why I have been a tad absent lately. The morning sickness has really been a creativity & blog surfing smasher!

So with that out of the way, please head on over to the Scrapbooker's blog and to the rest of the design teams blogs,

and then play along.

As always there are prizes to be won, just link up your creation by noon on Nov. 3rd.

I hope everyone has a most fabulous weekend. Thanks so much for stopping by!

p.s. for those interested, here is a pic from my 12 wk ultrasound! Man, it is so cool to watch them move, see the heart pumping!! My husband was pretty choked up, it was so sweet! :)

ColourQ #108

2011-10-25T06:00:00.001-06:00

Happy Tuesday!

Wow the time is flying by, I can't believe it's already the end of October.

Well, Arielle over at ColourQ has found another fabulous colour combo for us this week.

Such soft, yummy colours! I wanted to try to make a non-Halloween card with them. Mostly because I don't really have any use for them right now! Although now that I think about it i totally could have made something else, other than a card!

I used the "life" set from PTI for this one. I love it, but don't pull it out very often.

I recently purchased a bunch of different colours of this ribbon and have been trying to find ways to use it. I love it here! So bright and yummy!!

The sentiment is from my newly purchased Li'l Inker set, "rainbows & clouds".

Arielle & the Royal Court have some fabulous creations for you to admire this week, so head on over to the ColourQ blog to be inspired, then get your craft on and link up yours!

I'm being featured!! :)

2011-10-21T18:24:00.000-06:00

For my playing in paradise challenge post click here.

I am so excited because I am being featured over at Paperie Designs Studio.

Every Friday Noor features a different designer, cardmakers, scrapbookers, artists of all sorts.

Head over and check it out!

Have a fabulous weekend. :)

Playing in Paradise #38

2011-10-21T06:00:00.001-06:00

Wow! Friday totally crept up on me this week!

It's time for another Playing in Paradise Challenge. This week it is brought to you by Angie, and it's a Halloween challenge!

Up for grabs this week is some swag from Reminicse, stickers and chipboard from their movie line. I do hope you find some time to play along!

For this challenge, I couldn't resist using my "Halloweenies" set by Paper Smooches.

Isn't he so much fun?

The Scrapbooker's Paradise design team has some fabulous creations to share with you, so head over to their blogs or the Scrapbooker's blog to check them out. You have until noon, on Thursday October 27th to play along.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Friday, and a wonderful weekend.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

playing in paradise #37

2011-10-14T20:31:00.000-06:00

Ok, unfortunately I can't blame this one on blogger! I am back at work and have not been feeling the greatest lately. I have my days TOTALLY mixed up! Oooops!

It's Friday so that means another fun challenge from the Scrapbooker's Paradise blog.

It is Nancy's turn this week, and her challenge was a one layer card.

Immediately I knew what set i wanted to pull out, my Peaceful Garden set from PTI.

I also used my Hero Arts woodgrain background stamp.

This is a great challenge, if you haven't played along yet now is the time. You can win a fabulous prize courtesy of Scrapbooker's Paradise. This week it includes some chipboard, sticker stacker and 2 stamps from Imaginisce's Santa's Little Helper line.

Check out what the rest of the design team has come up with,

then join in the fun!

Have a fabulous weekend, thanks for stopping by!

bite me!

2011-10-11T06:00:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! It's another Tuesday which means another awesome colour challenge from Arielle over at ColourQ.

Such a bright and cheery colour scheme. That's not really where I went with it though!!

I have had my eye on this set since at least this time last year and I finally decided I had to have it, hauntingly delightful by There She Goes stamps.

Take a look, some of the images and sentiments are just too cute for words!

The royal court has some amazing creations to share with you this week, as always, so head on over to the ColourQ blog and check them out. Then get into your crafty space and create!

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day! :)

less is more

2011-10-09T01:57:00.000-06:00

Hello! It's late Saturday night, and I am trying desperately to turn around as I have to work day shifts again by Tuesday. As you can see, it's not working very well!! Problem is, I slept almost all day today when I should have been forcing myself awake from working nights this past week, plus I wasn't feeling the greatest.

So, since I am up anyway I thought I would continue to clean my craft room, then I got itchy to stamp!!

And sadly I haven't posted anything just for fun, or rather not for a DT post, in quite a while.

I recently discovered a challenge blog called "less is more", and therefore a CAS challenge blog! Yippee!!

This whole month is being dedicated to one layer cards, and this particular week's theme is hearts.

Edited to add: My bad! I guess the second week of the month is always one layer!! Oops!

I have been greatly admiring white embossing on kraft lately, so decided to give it a try myself. I couldn't resist using this adorable Taylored Expressions image, and a sentiment from Paper Smooches.

I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend so far. Thanks so much for stopping by! :)

Playing in Paradise Challenge #36

2011-10-07T06:00:00.003-06:00

Yay! it's Friday!

And it's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, so Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians. :)

I am delighted to bring you another Playing in Paradise challenge, this week brought to you by Allison.

Great sketch huh?

I was a little intimidated at first as to how i was going to work this into my CAS style, but i think i managed!

I was excited to finally use my Hero Arts robot stamps.

head over to the Scrapbookers Paradise blog to play along. You have until Thursday, October 13th at noon to link up your creation.

Check out what the rest of the fabulous ladies have to offer!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you have a great weekend. :)

cqc#105

2011-10-04T06:00:00.000-06:00

Well it's Tuesday, which means I have another fabulous ColourQ colour combo to share with you!

What a great chair! I wish I had the design sense to know how to fit a chair like this into my house. I feel like it would be too busy, but I see them and love them.

Anyway, the card I am sharing today was made using PTI's "all booked up". When it first came out I just had to have it, but sadly this is the first time it has seen ink. For some reason I have trouble figuring out what to do with it!

The black background was embossed using the Taylored Expressions "circles & scallops" impression plate. It really is amazing what you come across when you clean up, I mean reorganize your craft space!

Head on over to the ColourQ blog to take a look at what Arielle and the rest of the Royal Court has to offer. Then link up your own fabulous creation!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day. :)

Bows & Berries inspiration challenge

2011-10-03T07:00:00.000-06:00

Good morning!

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend and was able to celebrate World Card Making Day by getting a little crafty.

Today I have a card to share for the newest Bows & Berries challenge, to take inspiration from this fabulous photo.

I was inspired by the house itself and all of those lovely oranges!

So I used Robin's Haunted House,

which i felt was appropriate for this time of year!

How cute, I mean how scary, is that image? :)

I so rarely make square cards, I thought what better time than now.

Please head on over to the Bows & Berries blog to check out what fabulous inspiration Robin and the rest of the design team has come up with then play along. You aren't required to use a Bows & Berries digi to play but Robin does have a new free digi image available every month, so grab it while you can!

Have a great Monday, thanks for stopping by!

playing in paradise

2011-10-01T12:03:00.000-06:00

again, apparently Blogger & I are not on the same page for posting! This should have gone up yesterday. I think I need some Blogger lessons!! :)

Good morning! I am super excited to share that I have been asked to be a part of the Scrapbookers Paradise Challenge design team.

It is a local store here in Calgary but the also have an online store.

This week's challenge is brought to you by Merlie, it is a distress challenge.

This was DEFINITELY a challenge for me! I don't really know how to do "distress"! I mean I guess I am physically capable, but working it into a design, not so much. But as i was setting up my craft room (moved recently across the hall) and also my sewing machine, I thought of what I could do.

Yay! I distressed!!

Head over and check out what the other ladies have come up with then play along. You have until noon Thursday October 6th to play along at The Scrapbooker's Paradise blog.

Allison
Angie
Merlie
Nancy
Tracy

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a fabulous weekend. :)

Happy Birthday ColourQ!!

2011-09-27T06:30:00.004-06:00

Happy Birthday ColourQ!!

It's hard to believe but ColourQ is 2! How about that!

Arielle has been bringing us her fabulous colour combos for 2 whole years, that's 104 colour combos. WOW!!

To celebrate, we are honouring past Colour Queens. We all chose a Colour Queen to CASE, while using this week's colours.

I chose Carrie Gaskin from the Artistic Avenger, who has won a couple of times! I chose to CASE her fabulous card from ColourQ #77.

I loved the design, those fabulous textured butterflies, really what's not to love!

So using this weeks colours.........

....here's my version!

Join us in celebrating, and get your craft on!

Head on over to the ColourQ blog and check out the wonderful stuff the entire Royal Court has created for your inspiration. Then link up your crafty creation.

Thanks so much for stopping by, have a fabulous Tuesday!!

tie for baby

2011-09-25T01:26:00.000-06:00

Hey! How's everyone's weekend? Good I hope!

I am stopping in quickly to share a card I made for a girlfriend who just had her baby. I have been seeing these adorable onesies all over with some fabulous appliques, and I though, hey this would work for a onsie card too right?

So here is the onesie "applique" card I made......

I had a bit of trouble figuring out where to put the sentiment so over the tie it went. The paper is from a 6x6 Basic Grey pack, Oliver. Cute huh?

I am loving these onesie cards. There are so many things you could "applique" on the front, the possibilities are endless. I think I might do a fuschia skull & cross bones for another friend!!

Have a great rest of your weekend. Thanks for stopping by. :)

grateful

2011-09-23T02:21:00.001-06:00

Have you ever had an idea pop into your head and just HAD to create it?

Well that happened to me recently,

unfortunately it didn't turn out exactly as I planned but..........

The stamps are Close to My Heart, paired with some black Twinery twine.

That's it!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

P.S. anyone from Calgary going to the Scrapbook Carnival at the U of C this weekend? Just found out about it!

the reject post

2011-09-21T02:32:00.001-06:00

Amber over at Damask Love hosts a fabulous reject blog hop, so I thought I would link up a couple of my latest rejects, from the most recent Papercrafts Magazine call. Head over and check out the blog hop and her other fabulous designs.
I know I'm a tad late with this post, but better late than never right?

For some reason I was really drawn to the text category!

This first one came about because Polariods seem to be all the rage right now, or maybe were......and I was inspired by my friend Lindy who designs polaroid cards with her own photographs, find her at Crafted by Lindy on Etsy.

I wanted to do something similar with my own photos but I wanted to do a mini picture with some text behind it? I actually LOVE how it turned out.

My second card uses some masking and this Hero Arts stamp I am so in love with lately.

I used the same size rectangle to mask that is typical me but I didn't do a blue background with it!! I stamped text instead! I kept the mask down then stamped the silhouette stamp twice, using my stampamajig. In hindsight I think next time I will stamp it a couple more times so you are unable to see the text behind the silhouette. I plan on trying this with some different colours, red, orange, yellow silhouette on black text maybe? I don't know. :)

Well that's my reject post, thanks for sharing it with me!

And thanks for stopping by!

colourQ 103

2011-09-20T07:00:00.008-06:00

Time for another fabulous ColourQ colour challenge!

I just love Tuesdays don't you?

Well, maybe not if you are a Monday to Friday worker!!

But what's better than a colour challenge to make your Tuesday happy? :)

These colours are sure to brighten your day.

Bright and cheery huh?

Well, I came up with a super duper simple card to share with you today.

It was made using PTI's melon berry felt and limitless layers die. The butterfly is from their Happy Trails set. I had a bit of trouble figuring out how to add the green, but I think the little bit of green bling is just enough!

Pop over to the ColourQ blog to admire what Arielle and the rest of the Royal court has cooked up to inspire you. Then get inky and link up your creations, so WE can admire them. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a fabulous Tuesday!!

Bows & Berries #10

2011-09-19T22:18:00.002-06:00

I am so late getting this up!

I am excited because I have been accepted on to a new DT! Bows & Berries is a digi stamp company designed by Robin. Check out her fab blog and digi stamp shop.

The challenges go up biweekly, this newest challenge is to use glitter on your project. For my card I used her "apple love" stamp.

I am also excited because we just got a laptop!

This will make life soooo much easier.

Thanks so much for stopping by. :)

a crafty post

2011-09-16T22:35:00.000-06:00

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

Lindy if you are reading this please quit after the first pic unless you want to see your super late birthday present!!! :)

So our upper floor is going through a bit of an overhaul, again I will explain later but I am in the process of moving my craft room into a different room and not been feeling like going into it lately to craft!

BUT.......I have been feeling the crafty DIY urge!

I don't know if you remember but a while ago my hubby and I went shopping to spend the last of our gift cards from the wedding.

Well one of the thigs we bought were these lamps, for $40 each at Home Sense. Now the lamp base is fabulous, but the shades were this horrible, icky metallic blue. I wanted to find new shades but couldn't find anything I really loved. Maybe I'm being too picky or maybe I just was really in the mood for a DIY!

Sorry, I didn't take a before picture. I hated them so much i ripped them apart before I thought about it!

I found some fabulous fabric at a warehouse fabric store in Calgary and spent about 1 1/2 hours working on this the other night.

Please forgive the terrible picture, I took this at night!

I am so proud of myself! Now I have to do the other one!! LOL!

Isn't that base fabulous though? I couldn't resist those lamps.

The other crafty thing I made recently is for my neighbour for her birthday. Unfortunately it was over a week ago & I haven't given them to her yet!!

So bad I know!

They are coasters made using 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" tiles and scrapbook paper.

You can find the tutorial here on the cottage home.

I think I have found a use for the thousands of 12x12 papers I have been hoarding for so long!!

I would also some day like to try these ones:

The tutorial can be found here at The Tip Junkie. Which is a super cool crafty blog by the way!

Anyway, that is some of what I have been up to lately.

Thanks for stopping by!

CQC #102

2011-09-13T16:20:00.000-06:00

Happy Tuesday! It's time for another ColourQ challenge.

This weeks colours are just so fresh and interesting together.

What do you think? Fun huh?

I can only imagine the fantastic stuff that will come out of this week's challenge!

I decided to have a little bit of fun and pull out a set from the most recent Paper Smooches release, "perpetual bliss".

(I used the lightbulb from the set last week)

I versamark stamped the clock on the grey cardstock, then in the required colours on to some small 1 1/2" white squares.

Take a few minutes, and head over to the ColourQ blog and enjoy what the Royal Court has created for your viewing pleasure, then go get crafty! I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a fabulous day. :)

RAK from some fabulous ladies!

2011-09-12T14:22:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone!

I know the blog has fallen into the depths lately, hopefully that will change soon. I miss you guys. :)

I wanted to share some AMAZING cards I recieved in the mail from some super fabulous ladies.

Check out this beauty by Emily from art from the heart.

LOVE that little rollercoaster!

Next up is a gorgeous card I got from a fellow ColourQ Royal Court member, Christina from sea glass & sentiments.

I love all of the texture and the fabulous colour combo!

And last, but definitely not least, this adorable "banner" card by Angela from paper cupboard

Thank you so very much ladies, I am honoured to have cards in my possession made by you!!

If for some reason you are reading this and don't know who these incredibly talented and amazingly sweet ladies are, please check out their blogs. You will see some impressive stuff! :)

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day. :)

just a quick note to let you know that I am out of my fiberglass cast and into an aircast. Which is the most wonderful thing, I can walk without crutches and carry stuff. Small things but a BIG difference!!

CQC#101

2011-09-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

Well wasn't last week exciting?

It was so much fun to pair up our colour challenge with a sketch challenge.

This week we are back to a colour challenge. And what fabulous colours they are!

click on the picture above to go to the ColourQ blog

How yummy is that purse too? LOVE the fabric!

My card is uber simple using a stamp from the Paper Smooches September release. I know I say it all the time but this release is FABULOUS!

Anyway, here's my card.

I don't have the exact colours for this one so I decided to use my copics, and this is the closest I could come. Love that lightbulb image!

The sentiment was printed out from Photoshop (I'm sorry I can't remember the font name). Head on over to the ColourQ blog to check out the Royal Court's fabulous samples and then get going on yours!! I can't wait to see what you all create!

On a side note, I want to appologize for my absence lately. There has been some stuff going on around here that has kept me from crafting and severely limited the extensive blog surfing time I need to peruse all of your fabulous blogs! I will share when things settle down a bit.

I will be back soon to share some amazing RAK's I was lucky enough to recieve from some pretty amazing ladies.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

P.S. I also just realized this is my 200th post! Yippee!!

ColourQ #100!!!!

2011-08-30T07:00:00.001-06:00

ColourQ has hit 100!

Arielle is amazing isn't she?

100 weeks of colour combos to test your crafty skills!

So this week we have something a little extra special.

Arielle has teamed us up with this weeks Clean & Simple Stamping

Fall-to-Layout sketch #155.

This week, we want you to use the sketch

and pick your favourite past ColourQ combo! How fun is that?

I chose #41 because I love pink and grey together. It's just so yummy!

The card I created is the one that led to the leftovers I used in this card.

This card was sooooooo much fun to make. A little tedious, but fun nontheless!

I used PTI's leafy vine border die, to create the "patterned paper", then used the double ended banner die to create the separation. The butterfly was cut from Raspberry Fizz felt, the button was coloured grey to match with a copic, and the star is just one from my stash that happened to match. The sentiment is Paper Smooches, from the Birthday Buddies set.

Please join us in celebrating this fabulous event by first checking out everything the design team has created as inspiration,

then get inky and link up your sample.

Have fun, there are 99 colour combos to choose from!

I can't wait to see what you come up with!

another one for CQC#99

2011-08-23T22:26:00.000-06:00

Hey guys! I just wanted to quickly share a card that was originally made for this weeks ColourQ challenge. I had to come back to it, and ended up making it super, super simple.

And yes, this stamp is also from a Kim Hughes Cornish Heritage Farms set!

I coloured the trees in with Copics, then wanted to add a little bit of texture (inspired by the photo) by going back over with the darker shade of copic.

Thanks for stopping by!

I hope everyone is having a great week so far. :)

ColourQ #99

2011-08-23T07:00:00.001-06:00

Wow!! Can you believe it ColourQ is at #99!!

How exciting!!

Such yummy rich colours this week.

I didn't know where to go with them at first so I decided to take some inspiration from the picture itself.

I mean use these colours as Christmas colours?

Well, why not?

A litte unconventional maybe, but super fun!

The ornaments are (of course!) by Kim Hughes, from an old

Cornish Heritage Farms set.

I just used some copics to colour them and then use some Twinery twine to "hang" them.

And I thought since they were kind of large I would try out a 9x4 size card.

Please head on over to the ColourQ blog and check out what the rest of our fabulous Royal Court has to offer you for this challenge.

Then go get crafty!

Thanks so much for stopping by. :)

Sparks are flyin'!

2011-08-21T19:20:00.000-06:00

Hey guys!

It was sooooo nice to get out today and spend some time in the sun with my hubby. Brunch on the patio at our favourite pub, walked the dog, and used up some gift cards leftover from our wedding. (that was 2 years ago!!)

All in all a great day!

But I am here to share a card with you, not babble about my day. :)

This card was made with this month's Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge

in mind.

(click the banner above to get all the details)

Based on this inspiration photo:

There is so much to love and be inspired by in this photo. I loved the colour combo, the wood, the bling, the flowers.

So all were somehow incorporated into my card.

The silver (inspired by the bling) was "letterpressed" onto white cardstock using PTI's woodgrain impression plate. The pearls were coloured to match the pink twine. The flowers, sentiment and polka dot border are all Paper Smooches stamps. I had fun with this one.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you all had a fabulous weekend. :)

CAS-ual embossing!

2011-08-21T02:39:00.000-06:00

I have to be honest, I have been doing a LOT of sleeping lately!

I was hoping to do so much more with my time off. :)

Although I am super happy because my temporary cast is gone, and I now have a full cast which, although heavier, feels much better.

Anyway, on to my card!!

I have been trying to participate in more challenges to get my mojo going. And since I LOVE CAS-ual Fridays challenges, here's a card for this week's.

Now I know this is SUPER simple but my embossing process was a little more involved. Well sort of!!

I didn't have a folder for what I had in mind but I did have a die cut of a snowflake i love. So, I die cut a few snowflakes from my PTI coasters. (they are thicker, and I thought would stand up to the embossing better)

Then I placed them onto my white cardstock, and ran it through my Cuttlebug.

I think the end result worked pretty well.

This close-up kinda shows the texture of the coasters. Neat I think!

Well, that's it!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you are all enjoying the weekend. :)

super quick baby card

2011-08-18T01:32:00.000-06:00

I was asked tonight to make a baby card for one of my co-workers.

She is, on her birthday, now a new Auntie!! How fun!

So I whipped up a super super fast baby card, using an old Kim Hughes stamp and some PTI polka dot paper.

Isn't that giraffe adorable! My co-worker was giving them a safari themed present so I thought this would work.

I must get to bed, my cast appointment is bright and early tomorrow.

Well, 10 o'clock is bright & early for me right now!!

fabulous day

2011-08-17T17:16:00.001-06:00

Hey there!

Just a super quick share of a card I made, again, with scraps. I can't show you the original card just yet.......soon!

Made using my PTI leafy vine border die, and signature greetings stamp set.

I just love this colour combo don't you?

I am slowly making it around to al of your fabulous blogs.

See you soon, thanks for stopping by! :)

ColourQ #98

2011-08-16T06:00:00.004-06:00

Happy Tuesday!!

It's time for another fabulous colour combo from ColourQ.

Yummy huh?

Kinda makes me think of the ocean.

Maybe its the names of the colours though! :)

This card was super simple and uses Paper Smooches for the sentiment and a "puffy" sticker from KI memories, that I got at Michaels in the sticker section.

They are the same brand as the ones I used in these cards.

This was as close as I could get to these fabulous Stampin Up colours.

the blue ribbon along the top is PTI blueberry sky and the twine is from The Twinery, honeydew.

Head on over to the ColourQ blog to check out what Arielle and the incredible design team have to share with you today. Then get back to your craft table and create!! I can't wait to see what you all come up with.

Thanks for stopping by!

leftovers!

2011-08-15T00:08:00.000-06:00

Hello!

It's been a crazy few days! Championship Rollerderby bout, husband home from trip to St. Lucia, dinner with friends, and weed pulling!! Fun times! I guess it's busy for a girl who right now isn't getting out or up off the couch much. :)

I just wanted to quickly share a card I made from the "leftovers" from making this card.

After all that hard work to put the layers together I couldn't possibly throw out the "scraps", no way!

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend. Thanks for stopping by. :)

Christmas Paper Smooches style!

2011-08-12T17:37:00.000-06:00

I have 2 really quick cards to share, Christmas cards!!

I was perusing my paper Smooches stash and really felt the need to make a few. Now my typical Christmas process is to make several prototypes to figure out what I want to send out. But realistically I make 30 different ones, then everyone gets something different because I can't decide.

This year it is to be different! (We'll see!!)

Love this snowman, and I am loving this chevron paper too.

And these "reindeer" how adorable right??

I'll get back to you on where that paper is from, I can't find it right now!!

Have a fabulous weekend. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

scooting by.....

2011-08-12T00:08:00.001-06:00

I got to sit down tonight, put my foot up for a little while and create another card! Yay! This is one I have had in the back of my mind for a while.

I just love this squirrel.

Almost as much as the monster, and we all know how much I love him!!

I paper pieced the scooter, then added the flag. Because of course I needed something for this fabulous squirrel to swing from.

I am off to bed now. This whole being off work and resting thing is making me tired!! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a fabulous Friday!

luminous layers

2011-08-11T03:25:00.000-06:00

I guess I have decided it is time for me to start participating in challenges again!

I used to love Moxie Fab's Tuesday Trigger and this week's just gave me an idea straight away!

This dress is just soooo pretty! Not really my style at all, since I don't really wear much colour! LOL!

I had come across this paper pack from K & Co that I thought would be perfect. I think this is the first time in, what feels like, a while that what I pictured in my head came out on paper.

I just cut one inch strips and layered them on top of each other then cut out the size panel I wanted. My plan was to keep the same sort of lines as the dress. The sentiment is of course Paper Smooches. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Wee Memories Dare to Colour Challenge

2011-08-10T03:11:00.000-06:00

I recently discovered the Wee Memories blog and they have a weekly challenge.

This week's is called "Dare to Colour" and you have to use no less than four colours on your project.

The sponser this week is Unity Stamps and I just happened to have this fabulous stamp of theirs that I recently purchased and was itching to use.

I have also been totally obsessed with this wonderfully cheery paper by Echo Park, from their Summer Days collection.

I knew I wanted to do some paper piecing with this one. This stamp seemed perfect for it, until i was trying to cut out the rays on that sun. I started second guessing that decision!! The "sunshine" part of the sentiment was filled in using my Ranger white enamel accents. I wanted that part to stand out but had some trouble figuring out how to do that.

I am also super excited because my good friend Brandi, of the Yankee Belle Stamper is one of their new design team members! Yay Brandi!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

My ankle is starting to ache a little so off to bed I go. :)

Have a fabulous Wednesday!

CQC #97

2011-08-09T06:00:00.000-06:00

Good Morning!

I have a fun card to share today, for this week's ColourQ challenge.

For someone who wears a lot of it, I find black a hard colour to craft with. Other than stamping a sentiment or something!

So this week I didn't want to take the easy way out and just count a sentiment as my black element.

I LOVE these flip flops! So super cute right?

Anyway I took the stripes as my focus and "ran" with it!

The felt is, again, left over scraps from another card. That little blue heart is a little fabric puffy that I found at a small local scrapbook store. They came in a little baggie, about 4 different colours. I thought they were super cute but had yet to find a use for them.

Go on over to the ColourQ blog and check out the rest of the DT"s wonderful creations and play along!

Thanks for stopping by!

p.s. thank you so much to everyone for the well wishes!

a quick share

2011-08-07T01:45:00.001-06:00

Hello!

I just wanted to share and appologize for why I may not be around much.

At my last practice (for derby) last Wednesday I managed to break my ankle!

The unfortunate "side effect" of this little mishap is that I am missing out on our trip to St. Lucia! (my husband is there now though.)

Of course, other than not being able to get around much!!

And being off work for 3 months!!

I have been hobbling around between the bed and the TV room and that is about it. I thankfully have my wonderful iPhone so i can try to keep up with the blog surfing. I must keep my leg elevated for a while!

I am thankful that they were able to fix it with surgery and with hopefully minimal damage. I know things could be a lot worse!!

I hope everyone has had a great weekend! I look forward to doing a lot of blog surfing in the near future!

Take Care. :)

ColourQ #96

2011-08-02T15:30:00.000-06:00

It's Tuesday so that means another fabulous colour challenge from ColourQ!

I believe I am not the only one who wants to own this fabulous duvet! So bright and fresh, LOVE it!

My Papertrey Ink order arrived the other day and the "Happy Trails" set was screaming to be used for this combo.

This dragonfly was just too pretty to pass up. Plus I wanted to make a card for my aunt (the one who performed our ceremony) and dragonflies are her favourite.

The grass is from PTI's "peaceful garden" set.

There are just so many ways to use this combo. Head over to the ColourQ blog to see how Arielle and the wonderful Royal Court has used this fresh colour scheme, then join us!

This week is going to be a hectic one, 2 night shifts, 2 derby practices, 3 personal training appointments and I still have to purchase a few little things for our trip......and we leave Friday night! Eeeek!

Take care and have a great week! Thanks for stopping by. :)

we missed ewe!

2011-08-01T22:35:00.001-06:00

Thank you so much for all of the wonderful anniversary wishes!

We really did have a fabulous day. My family didn't let me know about my Babcia until we got back from our honeymoon. I was angry at first that they didn't share it with me the day of, but now I understand why. My aunt who performed the ceremony, was so calm and never let it show. I feel badly that I wasn't able to share the grief with them.

Anyway, on to happier things!

I made this card for a co-worker who just spent 7 weeks travelling across Canada & the US with her family.

I know it seems a tad odd to have a sheep with an orange coat but if you knew my partner it would make perfect sense!!

The paper is from an Echo Park 6x6 pad, and the sheep is from another of Kim Hughes' set from Cornish Heritage Farms. The tiny heart is from a Paper Smooches set and the font is by Kim Hughes, which you can get here.

Thanks for stopping by!

I am hoping for a little quiet time tonight to blog surf.

Fingers crossed!

P.S. one last addition to the Paper Smooches Sparks challenge.

Happy Anniversary!

2011-08-01T03:42:00.002-06:00

Happy Anniversary Babe!

So today is our 2nd (yep 2 whole years!!) anniversary.

This time is always bittersweet as we got married on the same long weekend that my mother passed away, and unfortunately my Babcia (grandma) passed away the morning of our wedding. We figure we are 1 for 2, so if we are blessed with a baby someday, hopefullly we will be able to bring one more happy thing to that weekend to make it even! Fingers crossed!

I will share the card I made for my hubby first, then I will share some wedding pics, so those that don't want to stick around don't have to!

All of the stamps are Kim Hughes, all except that little heart in the background (is from falling for you), are from her Cornish Heritage Farms sets.

I have always loved how Heather Pulvirenti uses little images to create wonderful subtle backgrounds, and I wanted to try it out.

Now Cam doesn't really have a thing for pirates or parrots, but I thought it was cute anyway, and he does have a thing for skulls. :)

The "you make my heart melt" sentiment is actually from a Christmas set.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

For those that want to see I have a few of my favourite wedding pics.

very casual!

my aunt performed the ceremony.

genuinely happy!

FYI, there was TONS of deer poop in that field!

my bouquet, irises were my moms favourite flower!

our amazing wedding party

my aunt built the tiers from plates and margarita glasses

Thanks for sticking it out through such a long post!

I hope everyone has a great week. We are heading to St Lucia at the end of the week to attend Cam's best friend's wedding. I can't wait!

thank you - here's the rub #3!!

2011-07-27T08:30:00.009-06:00

Ok, last one I promise! (well, you never know!)

This is yet another "rub-on" card made for the current CAS-ual Fridays challenge.

These rub-ons are SEI, the patterned paper in the background is Crate Paper, brooke line, i think. I LOVE the look of the polaroid frame. I need to get my hands on the stamp version. This one was created using my Silhouette.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope everyone is having a great week. :)

P.S. Thank you so much to everyone who commented on my new blog look! The picture in the background (that you can't really see!) is one from our wedding.

This one:

Can you believe the forcast was to be 11 degrees Celsius and raining (in August!). It turned out to be the hottest day that summer, I swear. It was above 30 for sure! I will share a couple more photos in an upcoming post! My photographer was amazing.

For anyone in the Calgary area:

Geoff Wilkings - Photography

congratulations!

2011-07-27T00:24:00.000-06:00

I apparently couldn't stop making rub-on cards!

I went throught the massive pile that was my mom's, and kept coming up with ideas!

Super simple, but kinda cute huh?

These rub-ons are SEI. Again, I have no idea how old they are!

This is my second card made for the CAS-ual Fridays "here's the rub" challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!

feel better soon

2011-07-26T09:53:00.000-06:00

It's ColourQ time!

I just LOVE these colours! And that little owl too!

Unfortunately I don't have pool party or island indigo so I had to make do.

I came across this unopened set by Kim Hughes for Cornish Heritage Farms and just HAD to use it! The whole set is super cute, I think I will play some more.

Go check out the aweseome Royal Court samples over at the ColourQ blog for some inspiration, then come join us!

PTI blog hop - photo inspiration

2011-07-25T06:00:00.015-06:00

Its time for another PTI blog hop!

Jeez, I can't believe we are at the end of July already!

This month the inspiration is a photo inspiration.

There were so many different things to take from this picture. I somehow focused on 1 little pillow! Can you tell which one?

I wanted to bring some orange into it but I couldn't figure out how.

Once I had the idea in my head, I couldn't change it.

Oh well! I like the way it turned out anyway. :)

I am at work til 7pm so I won't be able to check out all of the lovely creations until the bitter end, but I can't wait!!

Have a fabulous Monday, and thanks for stopping by!

here's the rub

2011-07-24T17:36:00.000-06:00

Well today turned into a kind of non-productive day! I did get the kitchen cleaned up and some laundry, but that's about it. I am nursing a sore hip & shoulder from our game last night, so that's my excuse. :)

I really wanted to play along with the CAS-ual fridays challenge this week to use rub-ons. I am not super big on them but boy my mom sure had a million. (she was a bit of a hoarder).

So as I was checking out the stash I came across a few that instantly gave me ideas, and then it was final, no more housework!

I am quite happy at how this turned out! I wanted to mist on some ink but that posed a couple of problems, a) I don't have any red/pink mists, b) I don't have any reinkers to create my own. What I do have is lots of Ranger alcohol inks. So I did some Google-ing to see if I could find anything on using alcohol inks. But everything I found said DO NOT use alchol inks to make spray mists.

Well there posed another challenge. BUT i figured if you can add water to water based inks one should be able to add alcohol to alcohol based inks, right?

So thats what I did. I just added the alcohol ink into my little spray bottle then added some Ranger blending solution. I think it worked wuite nicely.

Now I didn't think to check out Jennifer MacGuire's blog, as I am sure she has something on there about it. Oh well!

The rub-on is a Kelly Panacci for Sandylion and I have no idea how old it is!

Thanks for stopping by!

mama said

2011-07-24T14:41:00.000-06:00

Super quick post today to share a card I made a while ago. I was looking through my massive pile of cards with no home and came across it.

The stamps are from a Unity KOM. I pieced her blouse using a leopard print stamp within the same set. I just love the sentiment and her whoe body expression!

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.

I had my last derby bout last night, and it was so much fun. Super close game throughout until the end of the second half. We came back to win by one point (121 - 120) with an AMAZING last jam. I am so proud of my team!

Thanks for stopping by!

just for fun

2011-07-22T15:16:00.000-06:00

Hey everybody!

Just a quick non-card post, because I recently aquired an iphone, and I am SUPER excited about it!!

I LOVE it! It is so handy, GPS, phone, mp3 player,camera, laptop all-in-one. I feel the GPS alone is fully worth it. :)

I spent a large portion of last night trying to figure it all out......and play with one of my other favourite features, my Hipstamatic app.

It is a creative app for the camera, you can change films, lenses, flashes. And create some really cool stuff.

These are just a few pics of Stella that I took last night.

She was the only subject I had at the time (i do love taking pics of her though, cause she's so pretty!).

I do plan on playing around some more.

Thanks for looking! I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

sweet nothings!

2011-07-20T06:00:00.000-06:00

I have decided that I MUST play along with every CAS-ual Fridays challenge whether I am happy with the card or not. I really like their challenges I am just finding the deadline a tad short for my ridiculous schedule!

This weeks challenge was "sweets & treats"

I was going to go with my new Paper Smooches set, which is perfect for this challenge by the way, but I decided to try and use some of my neglected Unity stamps.

When I saw this 3-part popscicle I was immediately reminded of those rocket pops I used to have all the time when I was a kid. Yummy!!

The brown felt layer is from PTI's Limitless layers, and was left over, unused, from a previous card. I thought it added a little dimension. Rather than just popping the popscicle up on the white.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far. :)

CQC #94

2011-07-19T15:06:00.000-06:00

Ok, Tuesday totally crept up on me!

We have been super busy at work lately and short staffed, so I had my schedule changed on me. I completely forgot what day it was! I am ashamed to admit that as a shift worker that happens to me A LOT! (not knowing what day it is, i mean.)

This week's ColourQ colours are so bright and bold. I knew that I would have trouble using a large amout of them. So when I was perusing through my stamp stash, I found this banner set by Hero Arts, I knew it was the perfect wayto use the bright colours with them being overbearing.

The banners are actually from 2 different HA sets and the sentiment is PTI from the Up Up & Away additions set. I cut apart the sentiment so it was easier to ink up and I could place it how I wanted. I love the versatility of clear stamps for that reason.

Head over to the ColourQ blog to check out the rest of the DT creations. You would think we conspired to create a theme for this week but I swear we didn't!

You'll see what I mean when you check it out!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Winners!

2011-07-18T10:07:00.000-06:00

I wanted to quickly post the winners from my little give away.

I am on break.....sssshhhh! don't tell!

Drum roll please......and the winners are......

#7 Karen

and

#29 Brandi.

If you lovely ladies could email me at

katolejnik at hotmail dot com, I will get on sending these out. :)

Thank you so very much to everyone. I hope you know how much I appreciate you! I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

p.s. just a super quick card I made a while ago and never posted!

fun in the sun!

2011-07-15T09:11:00.000-06:00

Howdy Everyone!

I can say that because we are smack in the middle of the Calgary Stampede! So I guess I'm getting a little bit festive. ;)

I have a super quick card to share today. I found this cute Hero Arts stamp on sale at Michaels a while ago, and have had some ideas for it. Then I found this fabulous digital paper pack by Echo Park and this sort of sunburst pattern was perfect.

When I was visiting my friend in Abbotsford, I saw this gorgeous mural that I though would make a wonderful card. This is as close as I can come to re-creating it for now.

I am now wishing I had double stamped the black to make it a little bit more stark but, oh well, it is what it is! The sentiment is Paper Smooches from their "spiffy scooters" set. I thought it would work, the kids are kinda skipping/scooting along. Yes?

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I am off to Vernon, BC to go mountain biking with my hubby. A much needed trip away.

paper smooches sparks challenge

2011-07-13T04:59:00.002-06:00

So the fabulous Kim Hughes of Paper Smooches stamps is having a monthly challenge. For the month of July, we are to create a card/cards using either the "designer drafts" (sketches provided by Paper Smooches every month) or the "cool shades" (colour combos), and Paper Smooches stamps.

I chose to use one of the designer drafts sketches.

Here's my take on the sketch, using the fabulous squirrel from the

"hang ups" set.

I think my favourite part was using the white puffy applique stuff! It makes fabulous snow don't you think? And I know it's hard to tell but I made the pole a little bit longer by wiping off the ink at the bottom for the top half, then inked up a portion of the bottom half and matched it up. Then coloured it and added glossy accents to make it pop.

Thanks for stopping by. And don't forget to enter my celebratory thank you giveaway here. You could win one of the 2 Papertrey Ink anniversary sets I am giving away.

Have a fabulous wednesday!

shaped for CAS-ual fridays & a thank you giveaway!

2011-07-12T22:18:00.000-06:00

I know! I know! 2 posts in one day. SHOCKING!!!

I made this card last night for the current CAS-ual fridays challenge, to make a shaped card. I had so many ideas, but just couldn't get them to fruition. So I ended up sticking to something a little more "simple".

I went with a onesie, which I always LOVE when I see other crafters do them.

And then you all know how much I love this little Paper Smooches monster.

The sentiment is from June's release, Word Up. The onsie shape was cut from my Sihouette, and then embossed with the linen PTI impression plate.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to play as much as I would have liked, andt the girls at CAS-ual Fridays always have great challenges and FABULOUS samples.

The other reason for this post, is that I recently noticed my little ol' blog reached over 100 followers! Yay!!! Thank you so much.

It's really wonderful to know that there are other people out there that are as crazy into this world as I am. (work permitting!!)

I am grateful for all of the people I have met and continue to meet, and for the sweet, uplifting, and helpful comments you all leave too.

So as a special thank you, I have 2, that's right 2 of the PTI anniversary sets to give away. Because I spent WAAAAAAY to much last year I was awarded with 2 extra sets that I would be more than happy to give to two of you.

So, if you are a follower, leave a comment here by midnight, Sunday July 17th, to be eligible. I will draw the winners on Monday July 18th.

Here is a look at what the set looks like.

Thank you so much for all of your support and inspiration. :)

colourQ #93

2011-07-12T06:00:00.001-06:00

Well, happy Tuesday everyone!

The weeks are just flying by aren't they? Can you believe we are heading into the middle of JULY? I try really hard not to think about the summer in terms of how many weekends are left, but it is super hard. Especially since I work every other one. That just means I have to make the most of the ones I have off, therfore there are many things that don't get tended to, if you know what I'm saying!!

Anyways, it Tuesday which means it's time for a new ColourQ colour challenge. Let's see what beauty Arielle has come up with this week.......

Such an interesting combo.

Who would have thought these colours would work together. I know for a fact that it can be done, and done really well! I have seen what the Royal Court has in store for you! Hee! Hee!

Here is my interpretation of the colours. I hope you like it!

Actually a lot of this card was made with scraps (which I seem to have a lot of). I used the center red heart on my card 2 weeks ago, the peachy felt is left over from the peach flower I made on this card.

The green piece was from my scrap bin, which I stamped in white, with lines from PTI's Retro Background Basics. The birds are from PTI's Little Bitty Bird set, which I stamped then painted in the wings using the same blue ink and a blender pen.

Please head on over to the ColourQ blog and check out the amazing designs that Arielle and the rest of the DT have created for you, then play along.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope everyone is haveing a wonderful summer so far. :)

CQC #92

2011-07-05T06:38:00.000-06:00

Look, I did bright colours and the base isn't white or kraft!
I can't say that very often can I? :)

I actually had a lot of fun making the polka dotted patterned paper using this week's ColourQ colours. I had tried out a few different ideas but none of them panned out. So all you get to see is the little bit on that "5".

The dies are all Papertrey ink, the 5, and the 2 layers from the larger limitless layers. The sentiment has been pieced from the Baby button bits set. I cut out the banner myself after stamping the part of the sentiment I wanted.

I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with this week. these colours are so much fun! Head over to the ColourQ blog to see what Arielle and the rest of the DT have created for you this week, then join us.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday weekend. :)

summer camp!

2011-06-29T00:35:00.000-06:00

I haven't been part of a summer camp since I was probably 13, and that was a LONG time ago. But Kristina Werner and Jennifer McGuire are co-teaching and fabulous month long card class. (You can still sign up HERE if you like) I noticed so many fabulous cardmakers taking said class (Laurie, Keva & Suzanne to just name a few) so I decided I wanted in on it!

The first challenge this week is to make a card using these wonderfully bright colours.

The colours aren't a perfect match but I don't really have that bright fuschia pink in my collection! I just had to do my go-to blue background, and also use the Modern Basics chickies again. I really like making these!

Thanks so much for stopping by. :)

CQC #91

2011-06-28T17:07:00.000-06:00

**for some reason my scheduled posts aren't posting on time! Sorry again for the late post**

Welcome to another Tuesday!! It's almost mid-week, YAY!!
Well, to help you get through today I have a card to share. Because I know that what gets us through huh?!!! :)

Another fabulous colour combo from Arielle at ColourQ.

Such wonderfully festive colours for this time of year huh? Unfortunately I didn't go in that direction, but I think I have a pretty cute card for you nontheless.

I am actually super happy with how this card turned out. I used my PTI faux ribbon set to create the plaid, then cut out the blocks with their alpha blocks die. I then stamped the butterfly from love lives here, and cut out the heart from red felt from on of the other dies in the "love lives here" die set. I wanted the heart a little bit bigger to cover the hole in the die cut buitterfly.

Head over to the ColourQ blog to explore what the rest of the DT has come up with for you. I know you won't be disappointed!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great Tuesday. :)

done like dinner!

2011-06-27T23:26:00.000-06:00

I am celebrating because ALL of my crafty responsibilities are done! Invites.....done. Commissioned cards.....done.

Now I have housework to catch up on that I have ignored for the last 2 weeks!
The girlfriend that I visited at the end of May, is coming up with her hubby and little one so we can surprise the bride-to-be for a girls weekend. But as of right now the bed they are to be sleeping on is covered with clean laundry!

So off I must go to tidy. But first I wanted to share the last few cards I was commissioned to make. I know which is my fave! This first one by far. I know there are a bunch of ones like this out there but I needed a girl card and how cute does that whale look in pink?

I had cut a border from the PTI simple circles die (you will see it on the card below!) and liked the way the left over looked with the off-kilter "waves". The middle layer is the same pink cardstock but I went over it with versamark to keep it in the same tone but add some change.

I had wanted to use the frame created from cutting out the Mat Stack 3 for this card, and so this card was born.

For this last card, I had made the birdie first, using the single images from PTI's Modern Basics set. Doesn't it make an adorable little bird?

Well, thanks for stopping by. I hope you had a great day! :)

revision + a baby card

2011-06-24T04:31:00.000-06:00

First of all, I want to say thank you so much for all of the feedback I got yesterday on my commissioned birthday card.

It just wasn't sitting right with me, so I went back to it and this is the revision.......

A bit better? I liked the other one too, I just felt it still needed a little something. For the record my husband told me to leave it alone!

I also wanted to quickly share the first of many baby cards I have been asked to make. The Boy Basics: Out of This World set was just screaming to be inked up.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great Friday. :)

???????

2011-06-23T05:03:00.000-06:00

So, I am super new to being "commissioned" to do a card. I like to craft at my own pace, and just let it flow. I have a hard enough time doing the ColourQ challenges!

Our secretary at work is just about the sweetest lady you will meet. She is 73, yes I said it 73, and looks fabulous. One day she pulls me aside and says I hear you make cards? I laughed and of course said yes, then out she pulls this list of cards she would like made!

Now the one I am having the most trouble with, is for her 100 year old brother. A) I am not great at masculine, B) he's turning 100!, and C) the things she would like me to incorporate are the om symbol and the Hindu deity Ganesh.

What in the world was I thinking!
This was all I could come up with, so I thought I would share.

From everything I could find on the internet, gold and red turned up quite a bit and so did circles, so I tried to incorporate that into it.

How did I do? Its OK, you can be brutally honest!! I think I'm going to give it another try, but for now this is it.

I hope everyone is having a fabulous week. Thanks for stopping by, and for all of your wonderful and sweet comments. I truly appreciate each and every one. :)

CAS-ual colour blocks

2011-06-22T15:33:00.000-06:00

When I originally saw the most recent CAS-ual Fridays challenge of colour blocking I had an idea to use strips of paper to create the focal point. Then as I was cleaning up my desk, I saw these spools of ribbon lying together, and thought those might work!

Although, as I look at my card, I don't know if this really counts as colour blocks!! But I am going to submit it anyway. :) I think I might try this again with some brighter coloured ribbons.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a fabulous day.

p.s. has anybody gotten into Game of Thrones? I am not a huge lover of the fantasy genre but I am really into this HBO series. I am told I need to watch Spartacus next!

ColourQ #90

2011-06-21T06:00:00.002-06:00

It hard for me to believe its #90 already. I haven't been here from the start but Arielle and all of the Royal Court have made me feel so welcome! Its crazy to think that I have done this for 23 weeks! And it is ALWAYS challenging. :)

Here is yet another challenging colour combo!

I was planning on doing some sort of water theme, but I couldn't make anything work for me. This has been a problem lately, I think I need a stamping retreat to focus on creating for a little while! Or maybe just lock myself in my craft room and refuse to come out!

Now I know there is very little stamping, which is really not me. But I thought it was super fun anyway.

Please take a moment to head on over to the ColourQ blog to check out what Arielle and the Royal Court have created for you as inspiration. Then go get your hands dirty and play along.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a fabulous day! :)

ColourQ #89

2011-06-16T02:56:00.000-06:00

I just realized this didn't post as scheduled on Tuesday! Sorry about that. :)

Another Tuesday has come and so another ColourQ challenge! What a great tie huh?

How very fitting for Father's day. Well I went in a completely different direction with it. I have realized that my stash is getting big, but lacking in the "thanks" and "just because" categories.

I really wanted to get my Sihouette out, it was getting kinda dusty! The cardbase was made with my Silhouette, the inner circle was made using a Spellbinders die.

The end is indeed in sight for my friend's invitations. I really like doing them but I get tired of making the same card over and over. But is works out anyway because my mojo is severely lacking right now!

I hope everyone has a great week. Thanks for stopping by! :)

so much better!

2011-06-11T05:35:00.000-06:00

Thank you everyone for being so understanding! I guess it is that time of year too, when no one wants to be inside if they don't have to.
I did get out the other day, we had some sun (finally), for a hike. It's hard to find areas in the mountains that aren't still snow covered! Stella was so super excited to get out and discover areas she hadn't already smelled. :)

I made this card with abandoned pieces from past cards.

I wanted to try rounding the sentiment around the bottom of that felt "circle". I am mostly happy with how it turned out. All of the products used are Papertrey Ink.

I have another Derby bout this weekend, my team is playing my friend's team so this should be a fun game! I have also been asked to be an alternate for our travel team and we are heading to Kelowna next weekend to play in a tournament. I am super excited!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope everyone has a fabulous wekkend. :)

CQC #88 - & an apology!

2011-06-08T04:44:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! I have missed you! :)
Things around here have been mighty crazy since I got home, work, car troubles, extra rollerderby practices, and I am in the process of making my best friend's wedding invites. Whew! I am exhausted.

But it was nice to quickly get into my craft room to make a card for this week's ColourQ challenge.

Such a pretty colour combo! Yeah I know I say that every week, but can you blame me! :) I just LOVE neutrals with a pop of colour. A problem I didn't realize until it was too late, I read vanilla as white! Ooops.

This was made with the PTI set, Friends til the End, some white embossing powder and a couple of brown Copics.

Please head over to the ColourQ blog to check out the scrumptious designs Arielle and the rest of the Royal Court have come up with this week. Then come play with us!

Thanks so very much for stopping by and continuing to follow me and my erratic life! I do apologize for being so absent lately. I hope everyone is having a fabulous week. :)

ColourQ #87

2011-05-31T06:30:00.009-06:00

Yikes, Tuesday came fast! I have barely had time to unpack since returning from my fabulous trip Friday, then heading back to work again on Saturday. But I did find a little time to (quickly) create a card for this weeks ColourQ challenge.

Arielle always manages to find the most amazing inspiration pieces and this week's is no exception.

Is this owl not absolutely adorable? Oh my goodness, I love him! I decided to carry on the felt theme and produced this super simple card.

The dies are all Papertrey Ink, Seeing Stars, Heart Prints and Love Lives Here. The friends sentiment is Hero Arts, Thank You For Being My Friend set.

Please head over to the ColourQ blog to check out what the rest of the Design Team has made for you and then come play with us!

I have sooooooooo much catching up to do. I promise I will be out surfing all of your fabulous blogs soon. Thank you so much for the kind, thoughtful & uplifting comments you all left on my scheduled posts. It is heartwarming to know that you come and visit my little ol blog! :)

Have a great week! Thanks for stopping by. :)

creamscicle cool!

2011-05-27T07:30:00.002-06:00

Well, I don't know if you remember me mentioning creamscicles at all but I have been thinking about them ever since. I just happened upon this adorable stamp at Michaels in the sale bin and couldn't resist!

Now, truth be told, these are not the best quality stamps, but they are super cute don't ya think? There was an ice cream cone and one other image (that I can not recall!) included in the little mini set. I may try another little card when I get back.

Thanks again for stopping by! I will be home soon to peruse all the loveliness I know I have missed! :)

PTI may blog hop - sending sunshine

2011-05-25T08:00:00.010-06:00

Almost home from the west coast! Boy it is so incredibly beautiful out here. The flowers, the trees, the gorgeous ocean! Hope you are all having a fabulous week. And I also wanted to add that I am impressed that all of my scheduled posts have worked so far. See you all on the weekend!

Woohoo! It's blog hop time! It's the 25th of the month and therefore Papertrey Ink's monthly blog hop.

This month's challenge:
"May is the month when many flowers finally go into full bloom after a long winter's sleep. For the blog
hop this month we want to see your favorite take on flowers. You can stamp backgrounds, create
custom floral embellishments, showcase unique flower center additions (buttons, rhinestones, beads,
etc...), flowers die-cut from different materials (like fabric, felt, vellum, etc...) or anything else you can
dream up!"

Here is what I came up with.

I had so much fun making the flower for this card, that I had to make another. You can find the link to Mary Dawn's fabulous tutorial here.
I used PTI's harvest gold felt and cardstock, limitless layers scalloped circle, background basics: petal power, and tag it's 3.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I can't wait to get home and check out all of the fabulous creations on the hop. :)

cqc #86

2011-05-24T06:30:00.013-06:00

Another Tuesday has come, man the weeks go by quickly huh? For those of you in Canada I hope you had a fantastic Victoria Day weekend! And those in the US a fantastic Memorial Day weekend!

This week's ColourQ colours made me work for it! I had a heck of a time trying to figure out how to combine these colours, until.........I came across my PTI Modern Basics stamp set. Then it all just came together so beautifully!

These colours are so bright and bold, I needed to have a lot of white space to work for me!

Head over to the ColourQ blog to check out all of the fabulous creations Arielle and the rest of the design team have come up with to inspire you this week. Then, play along!

fruity goodness!

2011-05-21T07:45:00.004-06:00

I found the most fabulous fruit felt puffies at Michaels the last time I was there and just HAD to make some super simple cards with them. I typed up the sentiments in Word and printed them out on white cardstock. Then I plopped those little cuties on and......Hello! a cute little set of cards.

Nothing fancy but they are kinda cute huh?

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a fabulous weekend. :)

To my fabulous bloggie friends!

2011-05-21T00:13:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to say a heartfelt THANK YOU to all of my followers and blogland friends! You are all such amazing people and I am so grateful to know you and for sharing all of your incredible and inspirational talent! I am also SO thankful for all of your sweet, encouraging comments. You have been so uplifting and I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

I am having an absolutely fabulous time at my bootcamp. I played in a intermediate/advanced bout and it was so much fun. I don't really consider myself to be at that level but it a lot of fun to be challenged! I can't belive I still have two more full days of this. :)

I want to apologize for my lack of blog visiting. Unfortunately I do not have portable internet capabilities and am staying at my friend's parents where I can get on quickly to check for important emails. I promise I will sit down and visit when I get home next weekend!

I hope everyone has a fabulous holiday weekend!

And Angela if you are reading this I hope your public scrimmage goes well! I know you will rock that NSOing! We wouldn't be able to play without you fabulous people!

Again thank you so very much!
{hugs}

birthday wishes part 2

2011-05-19T07:30:00.001-06:00

Just wanted to share a quick card I made that may look a tad familiar. I used the cut out from this card and some similar embellishments to create this one.

Woodgrain will always have a special place in my heart, so I will forever turn to it when I need a quick card.

I am also loving felt butterflies with the button center and twine antennae!

Thanks for stopping by, as I continue on with my pre-scheduled posts! I am really hoping they are working.Have a great day! :)

colourQ #85

2011-05-17T06:00:00.000-06:00

Yay! It's Tuesday and the first of my scheduled posts! I am probably in the car about now, starting the 13hr drive to Victoria.

I have a fabulous (seriously awesome) combination of colours to share with you from ColourQ.

I couldn't wait to make a card with these colours. I love the box in this inspiration photo, so retro and cute! The salt & pepper shakers are pretty cute too.
Here is what I came up with:

This is a tad smaller than the typical card size, so I find that flower a little overpowering, but isn't it fun? I found this fabulous blog by Mary Dawn, My Pink Mexico. She makes the most amazing cards, and is now an A Muse consultant. She posted this most fabulous tutorial on how to make these little chrysanthemums and I fell instantly in love. So I raced over to my felt pile and made one!

The birds are from PTI's love birds set, stamped in Sorbet, Chocolate and Grey Wool inks by Close To My Heart. The felt is PTI's melon berry.

Head over to the ColourQ blog to check out the delicious designs the Royal Court has come up with to inspire you.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great week. :)

dude!

2011-05-16T19:00:00.000-06:00

I had to make one more card before I go off to bed, or rather off to finish the millions of things I have to do before I go to bed!

I recently have discovered Jay Gee's Nook. Judith has a fabulous (Australian) online store, a monthly challenge and if that wasn't enough, she creates some knock-out cards too.
I made this card for this month's photo inspiration challenge:

I took inspiration from the colours and the diner vibe from that record cover photo. There are so many other cards I would love to make based on this, but I have no time left before my vacation. Oh well, someday!

I hope that you can play along too, the challenge is open until the 28th.
Have a great day!

just playing around

2011-05-16T03:53:00.000-06:00

I appologize for not explaining the end part of my post yesterday, I am a Derby girl! (Rollerderby, that is.)
I tried out last February and got on as "fresh meat", then had to practice for 3 months before we had our "benchmark" testing. In other words, a skills and written testing which we had to pass in order to be drafted onto a team. In August of last year I passed benchmarks and played my first Rookie game, during which I broke my wrist!
But all was well because after that game, I was drafted onto my favourite team, The Cut Throat Carhops. (as a side note, being an A&W carhop was my ultimate dream job as a kid! no joke!)

We all have to pick derby names, my husband came up with mine.
Anyway, that's my story, and I'm sure you will hear more about it as the season progresses. Next week I am off to Victoria, BC for a weekend-long bootcamp put on by the Canadian Women's Roller Derby Assocoation. There will be some coaches up from the US. It should be fun!

On to a card, which is really why you are here right? :)
More playing around with my Paper Smooches stamps. I just LOVE that squirrel. This one is kind of interactive.

I didn't have a stamp with Kim's writing that said "don't worry", so I used a font I got of her writing here, at ScrapNFonts. Fabulous right?

Well thanks for sticking around for such a long post! I hope everyone has a great week. Since I will be gone for a while I am going to try out the scheduled posting for a few posts. I guess we'll see. I've never done it for more than one post at a time. :)

birthday stars

2011-05-15T14:11:00.000-06:00

Howdy! I have a card to share, quickly, before I forget! I have been having some forgetfullness issues lately. Plus, too much to do with SO little time, ya know?

The latest CAS-ual Fridays challenge is buttons and twine, so here is what I am offering up:

I reverse masked the stars, then stamped with PTI's polka dot basics background. I then took matching twine and glued it around the edges. Much easier to come up with than to execute I must say! The button in the pic looks so green, but IRL it matches a little better. :)

Well, I am off to nap and nurse my whole body wounds from last night! My team may not have won but we played a great game. We were within 5 points the entire game until the very end. I must also add that the team we played has been undefeated for 2 years, and usually slaughters the competition. Not this time!!!

Have a great rest of the weekend. :)

quick & easy paper smooches

2011-05-13T15:43:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone faired OK with Blogger being down! And that nobody lost too many saved posts. Its amazing how much we use it huh?

Anyway, I have a couple of quick cards I made using the newest Paper Smooches releases. I had some ideas floating around in my head at first, then they started really wanting out! I kept going to my mailbox everyday, but no stamps. Canada Post (and customs) are so random it took almost 2 weeks for them to come this time. Weird! OK enough, on to the cards. :)

Not very creative but cute! I had the braided twine already on my desk and knew the squirrel needed a friend so.....there you have it!

For this card, I looked at those boxes and had no idea what they were for so I issued myself a challenge to use them.

I hope everyone is having a fantastic Friday and continues on to have a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by. :)

happily ever after!

2011-05-11T23:45:00.000-06:00

So I made this a while ago for the Unity Stamp Co monthly challenge and totally forgot to post it! Ooops!

I used two different KOM, July & August 2010. The rows of birds is actually 4 rows but I didn't want it to be that thick so I put a post-it over the section I didn't wat to be inked, then stamped it. The off kilter scallop happened by accident because I underestimated the size of the bird/text stamp and my scallop punch was then too small. But I really wanted it there so I tried a few things and this is what I ended up liking.

On a totally different note, I finally have some time to catch up on all of my blog reading and Blogger is down. Grrrrrr!! C'est la vie, i suppose. :)

I guess we'll see if it affects this post too.

Thanks for stopping by! :)

MIM mother's day

2011-05-11T07:50:00.002-06:00

I know I am a little late posting this, but here is the card I made for my MIL this Mother's Day. (I was also a little late making it!)
I used a super simple technique I actually use fairly often, that they showcased this week on PTI's Make It Monday, selective inking.

I separately inked up the "happy mother's" section and stamped it, then inked up the "day" and stamped it. It just fit better with in the circle that way.

Just a super quick post, I am off to bed, Yay!! It's my weekend now. I hope everyone has a great day. Thanks for stopping by. :)