Sketch Challenge Scrappy Card

I wanted to play along with the sketch challenge on SCS today, but decided I was in the mood to create a "scrappy" card, rather than a "stampy" card. In fact, there are no stamps and no ink on this card at all (gasp!!), but I think it turned out o.k. All the products are from Doodlebug - I absolutely love all their stuff. I especially love the sugar coated cardstock - the bright pink panel. It is so glittery and just so pretty!

Here's another card I created that relies heavily on patterned paper as well. This is shimmery paper from BoBunny and it is just so delicious! The only stamping on this one is the Happy Valentine's Day sentiment in the middle (Michael's $1 stamps). For this one I used Prism cardstock as it matched the paper much better than SU.

Who knew?

That a 5 year old could get croup? Certainly not me!! I thought only babies got croup, but apparently kids up to the age of 6, and sometimes as old as 10 can as well. So I have my son home from school today. Which totally annihilated my plans for today - I was actually supposed to attend a meeting for the contract work I do, and I had to cancel. Not sure if I'll have a chance to stamp today, so I thought I'd share some pics of my workspace and some organizational projects I've been working on lately.

These are some pics of my space that I took way back in November. It was messy, disorganized and thrown together. I stamp in our unfinished basement. We do have carpet down there, and the washer and dryer, some exercise equipment, as well as my kids playroom.

I had a good friend over one day and she suggested moving my main desk so that I was looking out into the play area, rather than with my back to it. Can you say duh? Why didn't I think of that - thank goodness I have brilliant friends! I also added another table (a Coleman camping table - hee hee!) just for more surface area and storage.

See the space heater on the floor in the lower right hand quadrant? My hubby brought that home for me one day - without me asking - what a sweetie!

I made this ink pad holder the other day out of 2 sheets of foam core board. Cost me all of $3 plus hot glue that I already had. It was pretty easy and it's pretty sturdy. The original design called for 5 equal columns, but since I don't own that many SU ink pads, I decided to modify it for my own needs. I got the pattern off of this blog. I plan to make another for my ribbon spools, just like this one - maybe today even!

Lastly, I made these two little baskets. I have been wanting something to put my cards in out in my front entrance - I often have friends who want to "shop" for cards while they're here and I didn't have anything pretty to put them in. I got this pattern off of Sharon Johnson's blog and modified it so it would be a little bigger for my landscape cards as well. I ended up making two boxes out of this gorgeous Amy Butler paper and they were super easy!

Anyway, sorry for the really long winded post. Hope that maybe something is helpful to you!

Dahlia Fold Card

Today's technique challenge over at SCS was to make a card using the Dahlia Fold. I had never tried this before but it looked doable so I gave it a go! My circle has a little gap in it - but I decided to not let my perfectionism win over and I used it anyway - I just didn't have it in me to do it again. The yellow panel is patterned paper from DCWV which I stamped with a flower from Mixed Bouquet and a smaller flower from Baroque Motifs. The sentiment is from a Doodlebug clear set. Thanks for looking!

New Year, New Look...

What do you think? I was getting a little bored with my coffee cup and wanted to try something else. The only downside with this template, is that all my links are at the bottom and can't be moved. I absolutely LOVE the bird and the cupcake. I'm still trying to come up with a name for my card business (I sell cards through a couple different sources) and I keep coming back to names about coffee and cupcakes and birds as those are some of my favorite things (when the dog barks, when the bee stings.... lol).

I made this card a couple weeks ago. This one was to sell - so it's one of my more simple cards. I love this set by MFT - You Take the Cake. I reach for it often as it's just perfect for birthday cards.

I just want to thank you for stopping by! I appreciate each and every one of you and love it when you leave comments.

Hoo's there?

I just love these owls! I think I will make some more cards with these two for Valentine's Day. I used a technique I saw on Nichole Heady's blog by stamping the image in SU Classic Chocolate Chip ink on watercolour paper. I then went over the image with my aquapainter and it softened the lines. I coloured the owls using my aquapainter and ink pads. The paper is Basic Grey Mellow and the sentiments is from SU's Friendship Flowers.

I've been busy organizing! I made an ink pad holder out of foam core board and I made a couple of baskets from paper to hold my completed cards for sale in. I'll post pics tomorrow! Hope you're having a great weekend!

My first Rubber Romance....

I was so excited to get my first Rubber Romance girl. I just love them!! They are a big image though - I had a hard time finishing this card after colouring the image. I coloured "Nay" with my prismacolor pencils and blended with gamsol on watercolour paper. I'd like to try this image again with my copics. I used a Stampendous sentiment that I thought matched the image!

Baby Cards a la Jen!

I made these cards last week after seeing Jen del Muro's sketch on her blog 2 weekends ago. I'm really late posting these, but figured I'd get them up anyway. I needed a couple of baby cards and decided to use the same layout for both a boy and a girl card. The stamp is Papertrey Ink's Green Thumb - I've been playing with it a lot lately. The patterned paper on both is from the MME Costco stack - love how it all coordinates. I used some bella baubles on the cards for the peas - I didn't have any pink ones, so I coloured clear ones with my pink copic marker. I think they turned out cute - and I sure love working from a sketch!

Real Soft Bayou!

Real soft bayou was the name of today's color challenge over at SCS. That's because we were to use Real red, Soft sky, and Blue bayou for our card. I didn't have any real red cardstock, or any soft sky ink, so I had to work around those limitations. Luckily, I had this piece of patterned paper (Basic Grey Blush) sitting on my desk and noticed how well it seemed to match. I used Versamagic white cloud ink to stamp the polka dot background on the blue bayou cardstock. The stamps are Papertrey Ink's Green Thumb set, except for the bee, which is from MFT's Bundles of Bouquet. This was a fun card to make - thanks for looking!

P.S. Thanks for all the well wishes for my daughter. She seems to be healing well, even though her temperament is still bruised!

BOGO!

Ah heck....you don't even have to buy it - I'll give them both to you for free! That's just the kind of person I am! (FYI - BOGO means Buy One, Get One). I made quite a few cards this weekend and I'm feeling generous so you get two cards today. I meant to post them separately, but found myself in a walk-in clinic waiting room for an hour and a half today, so... you get them together. My daughter fell in a store yesterday and bumped her mouth on the corner of a shelving unit. This morning she woke up with a fever and was just "off". The Dr. said she already has an infection, so I'm glad I brought her in (and got some antibiotics).

This first card I made for an SBS challenge. The challenge was to make a card using chocolate chip and vanilla. This is what I came up with. Boy did I find it hard to only use those two colours!

My second card was for Taylor's cupcake challenge over at the eclectic Paperie (eP) forum/gallery. I really wanted to use this patterned paper that I had leftover from those recipe books I made at Christmas, and I still had my chocolate chip cardstock out. So this is what I came up with. I had so much fun colouring this image with my copics.

I also used my copics to colour the twill - it used to be natural white until I used my two red markers on it!

Anyway, thanks for looking. Hope you had a good weekend! I may or may not be posting tomorrow, depending on my daughter and her health.

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge

I made this card for Beate's weekend sketch challenge. It's been a while since I've played along. I've had this patterned paper in my stash for a while and I've been dying to use it on a card - but I've also had a hard time using it. It's by Doodlebug and I LOVE everything Doodlebug!

Anyway, this card turned out just o.k. It's cute - but the flowers on the right feel forced. I think I should have maybe kept searching for a better embellishment - but oh well! I'll be back later with a card I made for an SBS1 challenge!

Argh!! One of Those Days!

This card is much more cheerful looking than I! My kids are driving me nuts today! I called hubby and told him he was taking us out to Costco for dinner - he didn't argue! I think my tone of voice must have clued him in that I meant business!
These bright cards were made last week. I used some paper from a DCWV glitter stack and matched everything up to it. It's very sparkly in person and I loved stamping the sentiment directly onto the patterned paper - do you think it's too hard to see?
Anyway, hope you have a great weekend! I still plan to post this weekend as I deserve some time for me (i.e. stamping time) - right?!

Woo Hoo - I'm on a Roll!

O.k. so it's only two challenges in two days - but for me, that's a roll baby! I'm trying to do more challenges over at SCS to improve my stamping and card design. I have to admit that the colour combo and sketch challenges are my two faves, so it hasn't been too hard this week! I wanted to use my new bella - Imeldabella. I received her for my birthday from my good friend Steph (check out her new blog - Savory Stamping) and she had yet to see any ink - it was well past time to remedy that! I used a sentiment from Papertrey's Green Thumb set, as well as one of the stamps in SU's Looks like Spring. I used clear embossing powder on the diamond hatch stamp. I also used my Making Memories slot punch set to make the slots for the ribbon. Thanks so much for looking!

Colour Challenge and Amy R's sketch

I have become quite addicted to this sketch that Amy R. posted on her amazing blog - Prairie Paper and Ink. I've been mass producing cards to sell with it because it's quick, foolproof, and maximizes a piece of 12x12 patterned paper. I also wanted to attempt today's colour challenge on SCS - apricot appeal, sage shadow, and rose red. This is what I came up with - I used the strawberries from Papertrey Ink's Green Thumb set for the first time. I'm pretty happy with the way this one turned out - thanks for the sketch Amy!

Amy Butler Bird

This is another stamp I received for my birthday and this was the first time it saw ink too! I love the simplicity of the image and the lone bird. I thought it matched this Amy Butler paper almost too perfectly, so I wanted to keep the card simple to highlight the similarities. I played with a lot of different embellishments but ended up with some sheer ribbon, a metal plaque, and a couple of prima flowers. I was dying to add more and had to keep reminding myself that less is more! Thanks for looking!

If you pray....

Would you consider keeping this family in your prayers? Tricia has Cystic Fibrosis and was waiting for a double lung transplant when she found out she was pregnant. Her husband Nathan's blog details their journey, including the birth of their 24 week old baby, Gwyneth on Jan. 8th. They have a long road ahead of them and I have been so touched by their story. God is truly great!

I found out about their story on Becky Oehlers blog - Hemidemisemiquaver. I believe she is best friends with Tricia's sister Janet.

Mmmmm....coffee!

I thought since I was sitting here with my coffee (and a splash of egg nog in it - using up the last of the nog - try it - it's yummy!), that I would post a coffee card. This card was made using my new Inque Boutique stamps. I got a whole coffee mini set for $3.99 - how good is that?! I also used SU's Baroque Moftifs. Hope you're having a great weekend!

This is a stamp that I received for my birthday, but because of Christmas card orders, didn't get inked up until just recently. I coloured the image with my prismacolour pencils and blended with gamsol. I'm pretty happy with how this turned out and definitely is a stamp I will use again and again. Mmmm...maybe some wine with dinner tonight! Hope you have a great start to your weekend!

MFT Guest Designer Contest Entry

I saw the contest over at the MFT forums on SCS and decided to play along with the challenge to make a project that was not square or rectangular. I was largely inspired by this post by Rebecca Oehlers where she used Papertrey stamps to create something entirely different than what was intended.

I used a few sets by My Favorite Things to create this cupcake. I admit, it's not the most pretty and I know I won't win - but it really challenged me. I used the cake stand from "You Take the Cake" to create the base and I used the mirror from "Time for the Bubbly" to create the cake part. I used the golf club from "Let's Hear it for the Boys" to make the candles. I used liquid applique, glitter and stickles all over the cake part.

I caved.....sort of!

Well, I did it! I caved.....sort of! I purchased some copics. I own one Stampin' Up marker, 6 Tombows, and that's about it. I decided that for my cards that I sell, I needed a quicker colouring method than either prismas & gamsol, or blender pens and re-inkers, or a water pen and re-inkers. One of the better art stores in Toronto (http://www.currys.com/) just opened a location nearby in Oakville and they carry the Ciao's. I decided to purchase a couple - especially a skin tone marker for the Bellas and MFT stamps that I love. I have to say, that they are really nice! Because I only bought the 5 so far, I haven't really tried to blend or shade with them, just layering the same colour - but I hope to slowly accumulate more so I can practice.

I don't have a card coloured with them - yet! But I do have this one to show you. Let me preface this card by saying that I'm not in love with it. It had great potential, but I fell short in the execution.

I did have fun with it though! I flocked the brown border around the pink bathmat - it's all fuzzy! I covered the tub and the mirror with Crystal effects and while it was still wet, I sprinkled Martha Stewart fine glitter over the mirror to make it sparkly. The image panel itself is super pretty - but the layout is forced. I was trying to do the sketch challenge at SCS, and should have abandoned it - but I'm stubborn!

Oh and I've been reading this book! It's awesome! I highly recommend it!

Anyway, thanks for looking. Sorry for the lapse in posting over the last couple days. We are dealing with health issues with all three sets of our parents and it is taxing me. I'm off to my stamp club tonight and we're going to a Toronto Raptors game tomorrow for hubby's birthday. I'll post sometime in between!

SCS Ways to Use it Challenge

I try and play along with the challenges on Splitcoast when I can. Thursday's challenge was to use flowers on your card. I've been hoarding these Heidi Swapp flowers for a while and decided to break them out. This one is super simple, SU polka dotted background stamp on Kraft cardstock. I stamped one of the Gina K. sentiments (my dreamy treats win from Michelle's blog - Stamper's Dream) on shimmery white paper and matted it with a scallop punch. Behind the flower, there's some purely pomegranate satin ribbon and there's stickles on the flower. Hope you're having a great weekend!

We Go Together!

I got these two stamps at my LSS for 30% off at their Boxing Week sale. Not an incredible price, but I love Changito and the sentiment goes with so many of my other stamps as well - just wait and see! I coloured the monkeys with my prismacolor pencils and blended with gamsol, and I had to use some of my new Bo Bunny paper. It's got a shimmer to it and is so pretty - I ran it through my cuttlebug. All mounted on Purely Pomegranate and Close to Cocoa cardstock and embellished with some Bella baubles. Thanks for looking!

Christmas Thank Yous

I really wanted to make our Christmas thank you cards to send out, rather than buying them, but time seems to be so short these days. Luckily, I found this amazing card on SCS by Smitty2004 and realized I had all the tools to make this card. I pretty much cased it as is - all I changed was the colour scheme, the stamp (although it's super similar), and the embellishments. It's been super quick to produce and will be mailable (not bulky at all!). What I especially like about this card, is that it is the same colours as our Christmas card, just used in reverse!

I had some great stamping time today - I made two cards and a third is in progress! On the third card, I used fun flock, crystal effects and glitter - I had so much fun!! Can't wait to share with you again tomorrow!

Happy New Year!!

Wow - hard to believe it's 2008! We had a busy Christmas and New Year's and are happy to be getting back into routine again. Although my son doesn't return to school until next week, I have him signed up for camp every morning for the rest of the week. Yesterday I was able to take down all of my Christmas decorations and pack them away until next year. It feels good to be off to a clean start!

This is another gift that I made for Christmas. I made two of these, one for each of my brothers. When I moved out, I sat down ahead of time and copied out all of my mom's favorite recipes. I use so many of them still! I knew my brothers hadn't done this and I wanted them to have some of their faves as well as some of my faves. These flip albums were originally red and white checked - not quite the style I had in mind. I covered them with this awesome Creative Imaginations paper called Sweet Tooth. I thought it was "manly" enough for my brothers!

Thanks for looking!