Viva La Verve - May Week 4 and WOTT

Hi folks,

Yes, I was busy making cards this weekend so I am back today with another of the cards I made using this sketch from the May Viva La Verve challenges.

Here is the week 4 sketch

and the card I made using it (with one element of the sketch left out as I did not want to detract from the image or clutter up a masculine card with any frou-frou).

card details:

• finished size: 4.25 x 5.5 inches
• stamped image: Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps "Shining Light", coloured with Copic Markers (YG91, YG93, YG95, G29, R59, R89, C00, C0, C1, C2, C3)
• sentiment: Verve Big Wish
• patterned papers: Graphic 45 "A Proper Gentleman"
• Spellbinders: Fancy Tags, Petite Ovals
• metal photo corners from my stash

additional challenges for this card:

• Birthday Sundaes: Masculine 

And since it is Tuesday, here's a photo of my crafty space. Actually, the shelves ABOVE my crafty space where I store my ribbons and some of my embellies.

In the next few days, I should FINALLY get around to organizing my ribbons in my Ribbon Box that I won a couple of months back from The Original Scrapbox.

As you can see, even though I have containers for my ribbons, once they get taken out, it takes a while for them to get put back where they belong.  I'm hoping the Ribbon Box will cure me of this problem since I won't actually have to take the ribbons out to use them.

Oh, and since I did actually craft on Monday night, here's a peek of what the desk below looked like when I finished for the night.

If you pop back later this week you should see the cards actually finished. 

Thanks for stopping by. If you want to see the peeks from other folks playing along with WOTT, be sure to drop by Cindy's blog The Crafty Frugalista to see who else has linked up!

Be sure to stop by tomorrow to see something I've been keeping under my hat for a little while now!

Viva La Verve - May Week 5

Hi folks,

So yesterday I set about to make a few birthday cards I needed for this coming week using the May Viva La Verve Sketches. Below is Sketch #5....

And here is the card I made using the sketch.

card details:

• 4.25 x 5.5 inches
• sentiment: Verve "Big Wish"
• patterned paper: Graphic 45 "A Proper Gentleman"
• Spellbinders Petite Circles

Additional challenges for this card:

• One Crazy Stamper: May Boys/Men challenge

This card will be going to another of my co-workers who has a birthday this coming weekend. I REALLY like this paper collection - love that black paper with the bowler hats and umbrellas. Reminds me of the movie "The Thomas Crowne Affair".

Hope you are all having a lovely day! It seems that summer has finally arrived here in Ottawa. It's about time!

Viva La Verve - May Week 3

Hi folks,

well, I thought my mojo had flown the coop this last week as I had absolutely no desire to get into the craft room. But today I set my mind to making a few birthday cards for early June and I accomplished my goal. I guess it helps when you grab a few good sketches (the May Viva La Verve sketch challenges) and a great pad of paper (A Proper Gentleman from Graphic 45). And you have a deadline - I needed cards for three birthdays in the next week.

Up first is the card I made using the Week 3 Sketch from the Viva La Verve Challenges over on SCS.

Here is the sketch:

and here is my card:

I changed the dimensions of some of the parts of the focus panel, but you get the idea.

card details:

• finished size: 4.25 x 5.5 inches
• stamp: Verve "Big Wish"
• patterned papers: Graphic 45 "A Proper Gentleman"
• butcher's twine
• Spellbinders Petite Circles

additional challenges for this card:

• Stamping Scrapping Challenge Central: Masculine Theme
• Paper Pretties Wednesday Challenge: Create a Birthday Card
• Paper Sundaes #71: Vintage or Shabby Chic (I couldn't resist - not with the word "vintage" actually on my card and given the style of these Graphic 45 papers)
• One Crazy Stamper May Challenge: Boys/Men

Hope you all had a lovely weekend. I'll be back throughout the next few days with the other cards I crafted today.

Thanks for stopping by!

May SFYTT and SCCC25

Hi folks,

well can you believe it? I actually got my cards done on time for this week's Christmas Card Challenge over at Sparkle's blog. The challenge this week (#25) is an inspiration photo.

I was inspired to use snowmen on my card and the colours in the image. I wanted to use a wreath but, believe it or not, the only Christmas wreath stamp I have is wreathabella. Not really what I wanted for these cards.

I also FINALLY got around to using the May SFYTT sketch with these cards.

And....here they are!

Isn't this a happy looking snowman? Anyways, that's two more cards for my Christmas stash. I am now up 58 cards done for this year. If I keep this up (and I may not, I have felt my card making mojo waning the last couple of weeks), I may have to offer up the chance to "shop my stash" to my friends and family.

Card details:

• finished size: 4.25 x 5.5 inches
• patterned papers: CTMH Jingle
• stamps: CTMH Share the Magic (snowman) and CTMH Tannebaum (sentiments). Snowman coloured with Copic Markers (C10, C8, B0000, R35, R37, YR18, E04, E15)
• Spellbinders Petite Circles
• layout: May SFYTT

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend!

Enabler Alert - Big Copic Sale

Hi folks,

Don't say I didn't warn you.....

Because they are often visible in my WOYWW posts, I frequently get asked where I buy my Copic markers. I've also been asked at recent crops, card workshops, etc. Well, over the years I have purchased them from several different places. A few months back, I happened upon a local (Ontario) online shop called One Crazy Stamper. (see the blinkie in my sidebar?) Bar none, Lora has the BEST price I have found in Ontario for Copic Markers of all types (sketch being the style of marker I use).


Regular price on sketch markers is just $4.95 Cdn. Say what? REGULAR PRICE!!! I know - local shops here in Ottawa sell them for about $2 MORE than that. If you are like me and are trying to grow your collection before the price of Copic markers goes up in August (the manufacturer is raising the prices so don't blame YOUR fave supplier when it happens), it's easy to place an order that qualifies for free shipping (sorry, Canada and the US only).


ANYWAYS.....the reason for THIS post is that LORA is having a HUGE ...and I do mean HUGE sale on OTHER Copic products as well until midnight May 29th.

Copic Markers (whatever style you favour) are at their usual awesome low prices. Yes, even the new 2011 colours. And there are other goodies to be had as well (lifted from the store newsletter - I'm sure Lora won't mind!).

• Various Refills - $6.11 each
• Large 200cc 0 Blender Refill - $10.80 each
• Xpress It Full Packages - $50.00 each
• Shadows & Shading Book - $11.55 each
• Spica Pens - $2.91 each
• SEC72 Empty Case - $8.83 each
• SEC36 Empty Case - $5.36 each
• Swatch Books - $5.22 each
• Sketch Markers - $4.95 each (our everyday low price)
• 1/2" High Tack Tape - $4.47 each
• 1/8" High Tack Tape - $2.56 each
• 1/4" High Tack Tape - $3.05 each

And...so you know I am not just enabling YOU, my faithful readers. I've already placed one order for two dozen markers and Lora has my "in progress" items reserved for me while I hem and haw over how many MORE markers I'm going to order. I am planning ahead and picking up my most used skin tone refills (E000, E00), the big bottle of blender refill and one of those full packages of Xpress paper (that is seriously awesome paper folks - I do recommend giving it a try). 

Anyways, my job as enabler is done. Be sure to pay Lora a visit over at One Crazy Stamper before midnight May 29th to snap up some awesome Copic product deals!

tee hee...happy shopping!

WOYWW - May 25th

Hi folks,

technically, this could be called WOYW Monday or WOYW Tuesday as I took this photo on Monday after making the two Christmas cards in my previous post and have not been back to my craft room since then.

It could probably also be labelled WOYW Thursday or Friday as well since I don't see me getting back to crafting until this weekend as I rarely get creative on weeknights.

As usual, my Copics are in their easy to access spot. I figure I'll be getting rest of them (another 100 or so) very shortly since a price increase has been announced from the manufacturer effective August 1st. You can see my Copic hand-coloured chart is lying there underneath a couple of Spellbinders sets I had out for the last two cards I made. 

There's stamps waiting to be put away and sketches waiting to be used.

To see who else is playing along with WOYWW this week, be sure to pop over to Julia's blog - The Stamping Ground. Why not snap a pic and play along yourself?

Thanks for stopping by!

Viva La Verve - May Week 1

Hi folks,

well, I did it. I DID  to the garden centre AGAIN yesterday and bought eight new perennials, a replacement rose for one that did not make it through the winter and 64 annuals. Between yesterday and today, the beds they went into were weeded and prepped and all of the plants found new homes. Phew.

I also managed to make it into my craft room for a few hours this afternoon to finally make my Christmas cards for LAST WEEK'S challenge over at Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge Blog. Challenge #24 was to use {fibres} on your card. I used this sketch from the May Viva La Verve Challenges for my layout.

I went the easy route for the {fibre} element and used a pretty cranberry velvet ribbon from CTMH.

card details:

• finished size: 4.25 x 5.5 inches
• stamps: CTMH Oh Christmas Tree, St. Nick. The images were coloured with Copics (G21, G24, G28, R24, R27, R39)
• patterned papers: CTMH Mistletoe
• layout: Viva La Verve May Week 1 Sketch

Hope you all had a lovely weekend. Back to work for me tomorrow.

The 2011 Veggie Garden

Hi folks - still nothing crafty from me - very disappointed that I did not (again!) get my Christmas cards done in time for this week's challenge over at Sparkle's Christmas Challenge blog. But I should be back either later today or tomorrow with both last week's and this week's!

The veggie garden (and my overflow) is DONE!

It may not look like much but this represents the nine hours of planting I did on Saturday. I started at 8am and finished at 5:00pm.

I think my final tally goes something like this.

In the garden:

• 12 tomatoes
• 6 eggplants
• 2 cucumbers
• 2 green zucchini
• 2 yellow zucchini
• 2 spaghetti squash
• 26 lettuce
• 4 spinach
• 4 parsley
• 20 sweet peppers
• 8 hot peppers (jalapeno, cayenne, carribean, serrano)
• 15 basil
• 6 celery
• 2 garlic chives
• 1 catnip
• from previous years - oregano, mint and hopefully my lemon thyme will return
• sugar snap peas, snow peas, purple beans and green bush beans are planted along the wire fencing that separates the squash from the rest of the garden.

Overflow (not pictured as they were scattered in other beds in the yard)

• 12 tomato plants
• 6 green onion sets
• 12 leek sets
• 2 lemon grass
• 2 coriander (cilantro)
• 1 pineapple sage
• 1 orange mint
• 2 English Lavender

As my other half calls it - extreme gardening. With such limited space in the 'burbs for a garden, I'm a big fan of intensified, companion planting. Basically, you find out which plants grow well together and you mix them together. Doubling what would normally be planted in an area. Thus, the tomatoes were mixed with celery, onions and leeks. The peppers were mixed with basil.

I have not yet tackled my flower beds. Not sure if I will this weekend or not. I get the feeling I will though.

Hope you are all having a lovely holiday weekend - whether it is Victoria Day or Memorial Day in your neck of the woods.

The irony of it all

This is what I spent my last couple of days doing....


Two and a half hours on Thursday at a garden centre and then a local nursery to buy this year's veggies and herbs for planting in our garden.

Tip - don't wear your high heel shoes from work while trudging around buying plants.  My feet still have not forgiven me.


Friday I spent four hours first thing in the morning, prepping the veggie garden.

The semi-circle raised bed has a radius of about twelve feet and I turned the top 10 to 12 inches of soil in the entire garden. Oh, and I removed all the dead herbs that didn't survive winter. Then another half  hour on Friday night to give one final rake-over of the entire space to make sure the surface is relatively even.

Hopefully tomorrow the weed barrier gets put down and I can get most of the planting done.

The irony in all this? My latest order from Stamping Bella arrived today ... and I don't see me getting any time to stamp until at least Sunday. And only then if I am not too tired and all the veggies are planted. I haven't even bought any flowers yet for planting in all the flower beds around the yard. Good thing we have lots of perennials and rose bushes!

Hopefully I will get back later this weekend. If not with crafty pics, at least with garden pics!

Have a great weekend!

WOYWW - May 18th

Hi folks,

it's that time of the week again - when we get to show the rest of the crafty world the chaos in which (I  hope) most of us create. It isn't just me who feels happiest crafting in a pile of stuff, right?

So here is the usual crafting spot. I haven't done anything here since Sunday when I was working on the Christmas cards I have posted this week.

AND......lookie! I got the stuff from the crop that was occupying this floor space put away!  One question - why did it take me 45 minutes to pack for the crop and about 4 hours to put it all back again?

Oh, and that's one of our cats doing a little photo-bomb. When Packet (yes that's his nerdy name) hears my craft room door open, he comes running in so he can lick the plastic bag that lines my trash can. It's an ongoing battle. 

So, you know what to do if you want to see everyone else who is playing along with WOYWW right? Just pop over to Julia's blog, the Stamping Ground, to find the big list!

Hope you all have a lovely day and thanks for stopping by!

Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge #23

Hi folks,

back for the second time today with still more of my "Christmas Card Catch-Up". Over at Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge Blog, challenge #23 was to use a "non-traditional Christmas image". Well, the challenges are always optional, as long as you make any Christmas card, it's good.

So, I wasn't feeling particularly creative with choosing a non-Christmas image to use - but I did come across an actual Christmas stamp in my collection which, to me, is a bit non-traditional - a cupcake!

And with the papers switched up slightly.

card details:

• finished size: 4.25 x 5.5 inches
• stamped image: Cupcake with Holly on Top from Stamping Bella, Coloured with Copic Markers (R24, R29, R30, G20, G21, G24, G28)
• sentiment: StarvingArtistamps Santa's Sweet Shoppe Sentiments
• patterned papers: CTMH Mistletoe, edges distressed with CTMH Cranberry, New England Ivy
• kraft cardstock for card base and sentiment panel
• layout: Stamping Bella Bellarific Friday Sketch Challenge

So that brings me up to 54 Christmas cards made for this year. Now, if I can just get this week's challenge done I'll be back on track! 

By the way - there's a design team call up over at Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge Blog if any of you are interested in applying! If you haven't started on your Christmas cards yet for this year it would be a GREAT way for you to get ahead of the game.

Hope you are all having a lovely week so far! Thanks for stopping by!

A Card from the "Crop for the Cure" and WOTT

Hi folks,

well, I finally got around to photographing this card I made in Tanya's card workshop at the Crop for the Cure on May 7th.  I FINALLY got everything packed away on Sunday and I came across the card in my tonne of stuff that I had taken to the crop.

I must say, I like the look of the uncoloured image (from the Pixie Cottage). One of these days, I will get around to trying this with one of my stamps. Of course, I realized AFTER I had taken the photo that I had forgotten to trim the tails of my bow. I'll get around to that soon I'm sure.

Oh, and before I forget, today is "What's on Tap Tuesday (WOTT)" and this week I CAN let you have a peek at my desk since I finally got things back to normal. Actually, it's a little tidier than usual.

This is how my desk looked after crafting this weekend. Down front is the sketch for the cards in my previous post - and of course my ever present big pink ATG. If you would like to play along, just pop over to "The Crafty Frugalista" and link up whatever YOU have on tap this Tuesday - it doesn't have to be a photo of your crafty space, a photo of whatever you are working on or blogging about today is just fine.

Hope you all have a lovely day! Long weekend is coming! Yay! And I SHOULD be off pager duty before the end of the week. Double YAY!

Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge #22

Hi folks,

well, I knew it would happen, I fell behind a couple of weeks on Sparkle's Weekly Christmas Card Challenge. Today, I played catch-up.

Challenge #22 was to use metal on your card. I took the easy route as I knew I had some large, metal holiday brads so I put them to use on these two cards. One says "Holiday Wishes" and the other says "Happy Holidays"

And switching up the papers slightly

card details:

• finished size: 4.25 x 5.5 inches
• stamped image: from The Stamp Barn (CHSH 376 H - I call it the Holly Tree), coloured with Copic Markers (R27, R29, G20, G24, G28)
• patterned papers: CTMH Mistletoe
• ribbon: CTMH
• brads from my stash
• layout: The Sweet Stop Sketch SSS108

additional challenge for these cards:

• Really Reasonable Ribbon Challenge #24: Anything Goes

Hope you all have a lovely week ahead!

Mona the Seamstress Rocks

Hi folks,

So here is the card I decided to make for my friend instead of the Tilda card I posted previously.

Last year, she started taking sewing lessons to re-familiarize herself with her sewing machine and she actually wound up making a few outfits to take with her on her cruise this year. I think that totally rocks!

card details:

• finished size: 6x6 inches
• image: Mona The Seamstress from Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps, coloured with Copic Markers (E000, E00, E01, E02, E93, E50, E51, E53, R24, G19, E55, E57, E59, E47, E37, BG11, BG13, B95, B91, R21, R22, W1, W3, W5, W7)
• sentiments: Verve "Birthday Bash", CTMH Solos "Zero" and "Four"
• patterned papers: Basic Grey Hopscotch (I HAD to use that particular sheet for the base because, to me, it looks like stacks of fabric), edges distressed with Memento Rich Cocoa
• cardstock: CTMH Chocolate, Juniper
• Spellbinders: Petite Circles
• EK Success Scalloped Scallops
• layout: Sketch Saturday #155

 Additional challenges for this card:

• Kraftin' Kimmie #78: Girls Rock
• Stamping Scrapping Challenge Central: Birthday
• Cute Card Thursday: #164 It's So Distressing
• Scrap Creations: Circles
• Corrosive Challenges #116: Birthdays
• Birthday Sundaes: at least three circles

Hope you are all having a lovely day! It's ANOTHER rainy one here so I'm guessing I'll get more crafty time in - I now have THREE weeks of Christmas card challenges with which to catch up!

A Tilda Just Because

Hi folks,

well, I found my way back into the craft room this morning and finished off this card I had started at the crop last Saturday.

I had planned to give this to a friend for her birthday (with a different sentiment) but changed my mind when I saw the text on the newspaper held by Tilda. It's the "Love News" so I'll be keeping this one to give to my sweetie sometime "just because".

card details:

• finished size: 6x6 inches
• image: Love News Tilda from Magnolia Stamps (which I do believe I may have won from Tickled Pink Stamps some time ago but am just now getting around to inking up for the first time!), coloured with Copic Markers (skin: E000, E00, E01, E93; hair: E50, E55, E53, E42; pants: BG13, BG11, BG10; shirt: R22, R21, R20; Bows: R22; shoes: E39, E37, E35, E34, E33, E31; Newspaper: E70, E40, R24, E71)
• sentiment: CTMH "Say It In Style"
• patterned papers: Basic Grey Hopscotch, edges distressed with CTMH Juniper Ink
• cardstock: CTMH Juniper
• Layout: The Sugar Bowl Sketch #59. I didn't use a Sugar Nellie image on the card so this one isn't eligible for the prize draw but I liked the sketch.

additional challenges for this card:

• Scrap-Creations: Circles
• Crafty Creations: Anything Goes

Hope you are all having a lovely day!

Reminder: PaperWorksCo Design Team Call

Hi folks,

nothing crafty from me tonight - still avoiding the post-crop craft room cleanup (although I DID do a little packing away a couple of nights ago).

Anyways, for those that might be interested, I thought I might share a reminder that PaperWorksCo has a call out for new designers starting in June. I can vouch that Peg (the genius behind PWCO) is a sweetheart of a "boss lady". I can't for the life of me find the blog post but if you pop over to Facebook and find PaperWorksCo there is a post on the wall that reads as follows:

ATTENTION ALL PWCO FANS... we are looking for new DT members starting June. If you like our stamps, and love a good discount, please email me at peggy@paperworksco.com, attach some of your best projects, and tell me about yourselves!

in the comments that follow the wall post, Peg indicates that she would like to have applications by May 15th.

that's all for me for tonight. I DO have a card on deck that needs to be photographed and I plan to do a few tomorrow morning. I've fallen behind on my Christmas Cards for Sparkle's challenge and need to do  this week's AND the previous week's challenge cards. sigh.....

WOYWW - May 11th

Hi folks,

it's that time of the week - WOYWW! Well, if you were here last week you might recall that I had yet to pack for the "Crop for the Cure" that I was attending on Saturday. Well, I didn't pack until Saturday morning. And I did it in just 45 minutes.

Guess what? I haven't put anything back yet. I did a post on Sunday showing the state of my craft room the day after. Well, here it is today if you would like to compare....

If anything, it might be worse as I had to pull out some stamps and ink to finish off this card that I was working on at the crop.

So there you go...that's What's On My Workdesk this Wednesday. Be sure to pop over to Julia's blog to see everyone else who is playing along! By the way, I'm looking forward to week #104 of WOYWW - one of the projects I actually finished at the crop was my PIF project!

Hope you all have a lovely day!

WOTT with Pixie Cottage Sketch #68

Hi folks,

It's What's On Tap Tuesday and today I have a peek for you of one of the cards I worked on during the "Crop for the Cure" on Saturday. It was all done except for the sentiment, which I added today after work.

card details:

• finished size: 6x6 inches
• stamped image: My Guy Ian from The Greeting Farm, coloured with Copic Markers (E000, E00, E01, E02, E42, B91, B93, B95, R22, R24, R27, R29)
• patterned papers: Basic Grey Wander
• card base: CTMH Kraft
• layout: Pixie Cottage Sketch #68 with "For the Boys" theme.

additional challenges for this card:

• Pollycraft Challenge #92: Boyz to Men
• Farm Fresh Friday Throwback Challenge
• One Crazy Stamper May Challenge: Boys & Men

If you are interested in seeing why I didn't include a photo of my craft room, just check my post from after the crop here....trust me, it doesn't look any better today.

Now, be sure to pop back to Cindy's blog, the Crafty Frugalista, to see who else is playing along with WOTT.

For my sweetie

Hi folks,

As most of you know, Saturday was National Scrapbooking Day. It was also our annual "Crop for the Cure" day. And....it so happens that all of this fell on what my other half and I consider to be our anniversary. We did not spend our day together since I was at the crop but this is the card that was waiting for him when he got up.

card details:

• finished size 6x6 inches
• patterned papers: CTMH Bliss
• stamps: Verve "A Hundred Hearts"
• layout: Create 4 Fun Challenge May Sketch

additional challenges for this card:

• Crafty Creations Challenge 117: Anniversary

the day after...

So it's the day AFTER our annual "Crop for the Cure". As usual, I have a tremendous headache, I'm exhausted and I am avoiding my craft-room. The pictures below are why......

This is what I took to the crop with me.....

When will I learn?

And this is the mayhem that was mostly created while I was attempting to pack on Saturday morning.

I packed my gear in just 45 minutes, leaving quite the path of destruction in my rather sizable wake.

 

Those Cropper Hoppers normally reside in the tote on wheels that was in the first picture - all of my 12x12 CTMH cardstock. I took it out of the tote so I could put just the papers I wanted to take with me to the crop. Yes, a full tote of papers. And what did I make? One photo frame white board and two cards. Didn't really NEED all those papers now did I?

Not sure when I will feel like tackling this mess to put it to rights. But it won't be today.

Happy Mother's Day

Hi folks,

well, I figured it only fitting that I should post the last of this year's Mother's Day cards on Mother's Day.

card details:

• finished size: 6x6 inches
• stamped image: Bluebells (CSD012-M) by Sunshine Designs from The Stamp Barn (picked it up at Heather's Stamping Haven here in Ottawa). Stamped on Copic X-Press cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. Coloured with Copic Markers (BG11, B21, B24, B26, YG13, YG17, YG67, G20)
• sentiments: CTMH
• patterned papers: Basic Grey Euphoria, Making Memories Water Color (Periwinkle Solid Dark)
• Spellbinders: Classic Squares
• ribbon CTMH Outdoor Denim
• half-back pearls from my stash
• EK Success Scalloped Scallops border punch
• layout: Mojo Monday 188

Hope you all have a lovely day.

WOYWW - May 4th

Hi folks! It's that time of the week - when you get to see just how messy my craft table has gotten in the last couple of days. Actually, this week it looks pretty tidy as I DID straighten up after making my card on Tuesday night.....

Yep. Straightened up. What I SHOULD do is take a photo this coming Friday night and again on Sunday. I'm attending an all day crop on Saturday in support of a local breast cancer walk and, based on experience, my craft room will be a disaster once I pull out everything I'm going to take with me ... and then try to put it back!

Anyways, if you want to stick around a little bit longer to see the card on which I was working, here it is:

It will be gifted to a friend for Mother's Day. The card details are in the previous post if you are interested.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy WOYWW! Be sure to pop over to Julia's blog, The Stamping Ground, to check out the other crafty desks!

Bluebells for Mother's Day

Hi folks,

So here is the card I was working on earlier tonight. Another of this year's Mother's Day cards.

I still have three more of these images already coloured up so you can bet you will see more cards using it.

card details:

• stamped image: Bluebells (CSD012-M) by Sunshine Designs from The Stamp Barn (picked it up at Heather's Stamping Haven here in Ottawa). Stamped on Copic X-Press cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. Coloured with Copic Markers (BG11, B21, B24, B26, YG13, YG17, YG67, G20)
• stamped sentiment: Verve Because of You in CTMH Indian Corn Blue
• patterned papers: Basic Grey Euphoria, Making Memories Water Color (Periwinkle Solid Dark)
• card stock: The Paper Company Navy Blue, CTMH White Daisy
• Spellbinders: Classic Squares (the image was cut using the out of the box technique so it would extend past the die cuts) 
• lace ribbon from my stash. You DON'T want to know just how long I've had this...trust me. It goes back to BEFORE I ever started paper-crafting.
• layout: Tuesday Morning Sketches #92 (I omitted the circles along the bottom of the sketch since there were doodled circles on the BG Euphoria paper AND that's where I wanted to put my sentiment).

additional challenges for this card:

• Clear it Out: Ribbon/Trim
• Tuesday Throwdown #47: Mother's Day

Hope you are all having a lovely day! Thanks for stopping by!

What's on Tap Tuesday #4

Hi folks,

Cindy over at the Crafty Frugalista has started up What's on Tap Tuesday - her nod to WOYWW - for those of us on this side of the pond.


Here's a peek at my desk tonight...

Yes, the usual mess, topped off with these flowers I coloured up on Monday during lunch (it's been raining here so no lunchtime walk outdoors).

Sometime soon you should see card posts featuring these.....

Be sure to visit Cindy if you would like to play along yourself or to see who else is playing along this week!

I'll be back tomorrow with my WOYWW post!

Charlotte with a Rose for Sweet Sunday Sketch 115

Hi folks,

here's a few cards I made using this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch . I needed a couple of birthday cards and a couple more Mother's day cards and thought this sweet image of Charlotte with a Rose from Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps would be perfect.

What do you think? I did one each of pink and purple with a white base and two blue with a kraft cardstock base. Which combo is your fave? I honestly can't choose one over the other.


card details:

• finished size: 4.25 x 5.5 inches
• stamped image: Charlotte with a Rose from Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps, stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black on Copic Xpress Card stock. Coloured with Copic Markers. Skin: E000, E00, E01, E93, E04. Brown hair: E34, E57, E47. Blond hair: E50, E42, E43, E34. Flower Stem: YG17, YG13. Pink Charlotte: R81, R83, R85, Y00, Y02, Y06. Purple Charlotte: BV02, BV01, BV00, BV000, Y00, Y02, Y06. Blue Charlotte: B91, B93, B95, E40, E41, E42.
• sentiments: Verve "Because of You", "Big Wish"
• buttons and embroidery floss from my stash
• and did you notice I braved my sewing machine for a bit of stitching detail?

additional challenges for these cards:

• Sparkle Creations Inspiration Photo Challenge. I chose the colours for the purple and pink cards based on that photo. Of course, I missed the deadline for submitting my post but that's okay.
• Pollycraft Monday Challenge: Anything Goes
• Magical Monday: Birthday Challenge (obviously, the birthday cards, not the Mother's Day cards)
• Birthday Sundaes: Anything Goes (again, the birthday cards, not the Mother's Day cards)
• Paper Sundaes: Fave Hair Colour Combos. I did two: Brown hair: E34, E57, E47 and Blond hair: E50, E42, E43, E34

Anyways, that's it for me tonight. I SHOULD have been at booty camp tonight but it rained here all day and I was exhausted after being up so late watching the news last night. So I bailed. Of course, NOW the weather has cleared up and I feel bad that I didn't go. Promising to do a double class on a good weather night!

Little Peeps for Mother's Day

Hi folks,

Well, I guess you could say I've a productive weekend making cards. The weather has been nice here all weekend but I've spent quite a bit of time getting crafty. All of those April showers have left our yard still too wet to get really serious with the Spring cleanup. Still to squishy to be walking about in the backyard and de-thatching or kneeling down to tend to the flower beds. I'm hoping we will have a few more dry days so I can get down to it later in the week!

Anyways, back to the cards. These two will be Mother's day cards.

ETA - this second picture was missing when the post went live. I came back and put the missing photo back where it should have been! Grr...blogger!

I know, neither one of them of them says "Mom" or "Happy Mother's Day" on the front. What can I say? I decided to use different sentiments since these aren't going to either my Mom or my dearly beloved's Mom or Step-Mother. These are for other special Mom's we know.

card details:

• finished size: 5.5 x 5.5 inches
• stamped image: Little Peep's Flower Vase from Stamping Bella. stamped on Copic X-press card stock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, coloured with Copic Markers (YG17, YG13, B0000, B000, E000, E00, E25, Y00, U02, Y04, R81, R83, R85)
• sentiment: CTMH Friendship's Garden
• patterned papers: Pink Paislee "Bayberry Cottage"
• Buttons from my stash
• Layout: SplitCoastStampers Sketch #330
• Stamping Bella Bellarific Friday Challenge: Flowers

Hope you all have a lovely day! Thanks for stopping by!