Wasn't that a party!

Boy am I pooped today - but it is a good kind of pooped! PaperWorksCo launched a whole bunch of new stamps last night.

One of my projects for the night was this card featuring Sammy the Snake from the new Jungle Jesters line.


I think Sammy gives snakes a good name. He is just ssssso darn cute.

You will notice that I used the Basic Grey Offbeat Collection papers on all of my paper projects for the night. For some reason, this paper has been calling my name for all sorts of projects. I guess I am getting caught up in all the "retro" I keep seeing out there in the blog-o-sphere. I think I {may} also be getting comfortable with the idea of stepping out of my comfort-zone and challenging myself to use funky patterns and combinations.

Over the course of this long weekend, I'll try to get posts up here on my blog with the details for each of my projects. Why I didn't prepare them when I finished the projects I don't know...I CAN be goober sometimes.

Mind you, I do have a lot of things on the go right now....like getting ready to go get some food for my fur-babies. I hate the Kanata Centrum shopping district. Whoever "planned" that area should have their license/diploma/certification revoked and be forced to drive through there on a Saturday afternoon!

Hope you have a lovely long weekend!

Card Details:
Finished Size: 4.25 x 4.25 inches
Stamps: PaperWorksCo Sammy the Snake from the Jungle Jesters Collection and matching sentiments.
Papers: white cardstock, Coredinations Pistachio Nut, Basic Grey Offbeat Collection (Casual, Unordinary)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Rich Cocoa
PrismaColor Pencils: 923, 1012. 1033, 1032, 1004, 989
Additional colouring medium: orange/gold Gel Writer Glitter Pen
Embellishments: Basic Grey Element Stickers, big brads
Tools: Cuttlebug, Spellbinders Nestabilities Small and Large Deckled Rectangles

happy happy happy

Hi folks,

I have to say it - Peggy is NOT kidding when she says that you can make at least 10 cards with the PaperCard kits that she puts together over at PaperWorksCo.

This is my NINTH card!



I am DETERMINED to use the entire kit just so you can see the assortment of cards you can get from these kits. I *THINK* I have enough of a variety of summery/beachy images to go with the papers I have left. I actually have some Miss Anya and Mermaid Anya images partially coloured as I did their flesh when I did my Surfer Ian a while back. I just need to finish them up and assemble the cards. So those will take care of two more cards....and I am sure that there will still be paper left to use!

For this card I had to play around until I found just the right black ink for this image. The sheer amount of black on the penguin chick required an ink that would give really good, solid coverage. After a few misfires (either the colour wasn't quite right or the coverage wasn't solid), I settled on Black ColorBox Pigment Ink - which meant I had to WAIT for the ink to dry. I actually wound up stamping this image one day and finishing the card the next.

So, how many black ink pads do YOU have? Off the top of my head, I know I have CTMH Black, Stazon Black, Colorbox Black Pigment, Memories Licorice Pigment, Memento Tuxedo Black and a *few" little cubes of black ink -- AND THEY ALL LOOK DIFFERENT!


Oh oh...and did you notice? I am so proud of myself - I actually used the UMBRELLA side of the Umbrellas paper (not the "other" side - sand).


Oh oh...(I feel like Arnold Horshack from Welcome Back, Kotter...did that age me?) and did you notice the picture itself? Yup, I made myself an infinity board! Well, two actually, one white and one black. I like the fact that I don't have a line behind my cards now. This means we are finally going to get around to photographing all the old hand tools that dearly beloved acquired when his Dad shut down the shop.


Card Details:
Finished Size: 4.25 x 4.25 inches
Papers and Embellishments: PaperWorksCo August PaperCard Kit (Orange Bazzill Washboard Cardstock, Red and White Bazzill Smoothies, Cosmo Cricket Snorkel "Umbrellas", Red Rick Rack Ribbon)
Stamps: Imaginisce Penguin Chick, DoodleBug Designs Inc Birthday
Ink: ColorBox Pigment Ink: Black, Memento Tuxedo Black
PrismaColor Pencils: 918, 928
Tools: Cuttlebug, Spellbinders Nestabilities Small and Large Circles
Dimensional Foam Tape to pop up the image panel

Happy Birthday Dude!

Can it be? This is card number eight for me from the PaperWorksCo August PaperCard kit .

These papers were the perfect excuse for me to get Surfer Ian from The Greeting Farm .

He is, of course, coloured with PrismaColor Pencils as I have not YET made the leap to Copics.

Anyways, nothing fancy schmancy about this card so the rest of the details follow....

As always, thanks for stopping by and I hope you are having a WONDERFUL day!

Card Details:
Finished Size: 4.25 x 5.5 inches tent-fold
Papers and Ribbon: from the PaperWorksCo August PaperCard Kit (Cosmo Cricket Snorkel Collection "Carbonation", Light Blue Dotted Swiss Cardstock, Golden and White Bazzill Smoothies, Red Rick Rack Ribbon)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Stamps: Surfer Ian from The Greeting Farm, Birthday by Doodlebug Design Inc, Large Caps Alphabet by Forever in Time
PrismaColor Pencils: 915, 916, 917, 942, 1034, 929, 922, 903, 927
Tools: Cuttlebug, Spellbinders Nestabilities Small and Large Pinking Circles, Small and Large Circles

You're Beary Special

So after making two "manly" cards this weekend, tonight I felt like making something a little girlie.


I think this fits the bill don't you? This is Beary Special Katie from the Little Paper Shop . The sketch is also from LPS - it is this week's sketch challenge .

I think she is just adorable. I coloured her twice with PrismaColor Pencils, cut out one and popped her up with foam dimensionals on top of the first image. I can see our various nieces getting lots of cards featuring this little cutie pie.

Little Paper Shop has a new release coming out tomorrow. Be sure to check out the new digital stamps (I won two of them! yay me! can't wait to create with them!) and the new stamp sets. Today they previewed Katie Carousel -- very cute!

Here are the rest of the card details:

Finished size: 5.5 x 5.5 inches

sketch: LPSC29 from The Little Paper Shop.
Stamps: Beary Special Katie Set from The Little Paper Shop
Papers: CTMH Daydream Paper pack, blush and white cardstock
Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, CMTH Lilac Mist
Prismacolor pencils: 943, 945, 927, 932, 928, 956
embellishments: buttons, embroidery floss
tools: cuttlebug, nestabilities small and large ovals.

Happy Birthday Uncle!

So I COULD have waited and scheduled this post for another day, like....tomorrow but what the heck? I had the card already photographed so I may as well.

I had the Anni-Verve-sary Sketch challenges printed out and lying on my craft desk so I grabbed this one - AVS204.

This is the card that I came up with....


Yup, these are the same papers I used on the previous post from today. Since the papers were sitting right there on my crafting table and I needed a card for my Uncle who has a birthday at the end of the month, I figured, why not?

Card Details:
finished size: 4.25 x 5.5 inches side fold
Sketch: Verve AVS204
Stamps: Studio G
Inks: CTMH New England Ivy
Papers: Basic Grey Offbeat (Casual, Radical), CTMH New England Ivy Cardstock, White and Red Cardstock
Tools: Cuttlebug, Spellbinders Nestabilities Circles, Fiskars Wavy Crimper

TGF Edward

Introducing .... Edward.


I made this card for my niece as I FINALLY tracked down a Twilight T-Shirt for her (Chapters at Pinecrest if anyone is looking). I just have to get it in the mail for her.

For this card I used the Sketch for Challenge 43 over at The Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge.

Edward (yes THAT Edward) is from The Greeting Farm's Wild Sprouts Collection. Now, I must confess, I have NOT read the Twilight Books and I have NOT seen the movie. I HAVE got three of the books, borrowed from the tween-age daughters of my dear friend, Dorothy. I'll start them as soon as I finish Brisingr. But I digress....

sooo...I have no real reference point for colouring Edward. I just pulled out some Prismacolors and went to work -- kinda from the photo on the shirt.

I also finally cracked open my Core'dinations Hocus Pocus Black Magic Paper I got at Heather's Stamping Haven some time ago (yes, I horde my paper). I used my new Spellbinder's Borderabilities "In Spades" to create a nice (I think) effect by cutting and embossing a strip and then lightly sanding it to reveal the red core. I then took the cut-outs and re-inserted them with the red side facing out -- the card just needed a little -- more. Well, that and I didn't like the way the background papers were peeking through the cut-outs.

So...how did I do with Edward? Does he pass muster with the Twilight fans out there?

Rest of the card details:

finished size: 5x5 inches

Paper:
Coredinations Black Magic Hocus Pocus (1.75 x 6 inch strip, 3 x 4 inch for oval)
Blingy Striped -- I forget the manufacturer (3.5 x 4.5 inch)
Black with metallic dots -- from my stash - from Costco I think ( 4.75 inch square)

Ink:
Memento Tuxedo Black
ColorBox Silver
PrismaColor Pencils: 938, 1068, 1069, 1083, 935, 997, 945, 1082, 1023, 1025

Tools:
Cuttlebug
Spellbinders Nestabilities Small and Large Ovals
Spellbinders Borderabilities In Spades

Dorothy's Gift Card Set

Friday night and Saturday morning saw me churning out twenty more cards - 2 each of 10 designs using a card workshop in the Close To My Heart Wishes book (love it love it love it).

With four sheets of 12 x 12 cardstock and two sheets of 12 x 12 designer paper from the CTMH Bella paper pack - oh and 20 4.25 x 5.5 inch card bases (made from 10 sheets of 8 1/2 x 11 card stock), I made all of these cards. Which reminds me....anyone have a good source for pre-made envelopes?

I'm not going to go into too many details - the sketches are in the book.












Supplies used:

The stamp sets I used on these cards are all CTMH.
D1210 Moments, D1288 June Word Puzzle, D1327 Just Because, D1283 Say it In Style, D1258 Friendship Word Puzzle, D1306 Cottage Floral, D1333 Wishing Star, D1244 Solos "T", D1368 From the Think Pink Scrapbooking Set, C1364 TLC

Inks are all CTMH: HollyHock, Creme Brulee, Olive, Smokey Plum

Nestabilities Dahlia Die Cut

Cuttlebug Folders Swiss Dots, Script Texture, Textile Texture, Floral Screen

Embellishments: Ribbon, Brads, Sparkly gems

Carl for Noah

And this is the card for Noah - my friend Dorothy's nephew who is sharing a birthday party with her tomorrow. I believe he may be turning 10 years old.



For this card I used Sketch #3 from Tuesday Morning Sketches.

Carl is from Stamps and Smiles and was coloured with Prismacolor Pencils blended with Taltine. The image and sentiment panels were cut with nestabilities - circle, pinking circle and ovals.

The papers and ribbon are from my July PaperCard kit from PaperWorksCo.

The card measures 4 x 5.5 and the rest of the details are:
Prismacolor Pencils 904, 906, 927, 929, 928, 946, 925, 913, 915

I hope Noah likes his card!

Cuppy for Andrea

This little gem will be going to my friend Dorothy's niece, Andrea, as there is a joint birthday party I will be attending that will celebrate Dorothy, Andrea and Noah's (Dorothy's nephew, Andrea's brother) birthdays. Can't go to a birthday party without a card!



For this card I used the SASSC25 sketch over at the Fresh Batch. Cuppy is, of course, from Stamps and Smiles. She is coloured with Prismacolor Pencils blended with Taltine.

The papers, ribbon and brads are from my July Papercard kit from PaperworksCo . Loving those Lime Rickey Papers from Basic Grey.

The sentiment panels were cut using my nestabilities (circle and scalloped circle).

Card measures 5x5.

Hope Andrea likes it! I'm not really sure how old she is...maybe 8?

Additional details:
PrismaColor Pencil colours - 913, 917, 927, 929, 918, 928

Fisherman Ian - for a coworker

Ta da - another of my July birthdays can be scratched off the list! I cracked open my PaperworksCo July Papercard kit this morning and made my first card using the papers and embellies. I think it came out pretty decent if I do say so myself.



The designer papers in this month's kit are from the Lime Rickey line from Basic Grey. I thought the blues would be great with little Fisherman Ian from The Greeting Farm. I had stamped up a few of these little guys when we had our stamping get-together at Jenn's a while back. I knew he would come in handy soon! You see, the coworker to whom this is going is an avid fisherman. Ian was coloured with a combination of .... yes, Tattered Rose Distress ink for his face and Prismacolor Pencils blended with Taltine.

The panels are all raised on dimensional foam dots and the buttons are attached with glue dots. No I didn't sew them as I didn't want the stitching to show on the inside of the card. The embroidery thread you see tied through the button holes is just for show!


Details for the card:

sketch: Little Paper Shop
dimensions: 4.25 x 5.5 inches, side fold

papers: all are from the PaperworksCo July Papercard Kit

aqua cardstock: 8.5 x 5.5 inches, scored at 4.25 inches, front embossed with Cuttlebug Spots and Dots folder

white cardstock: 3 x 8.5 inches cut into 3 pieces as follows: 2 that measured 3 x 2 3/8 inches and then the leftover. The largest piece was then die cut with the largest of the small deckled rectangle nestabilities and the edges were sponged with CTMH Ocean ink.

Lime Rickey papers: 3 x 2 3/8 inches from Blue Moon and Boston Cooler and then die cut with the second largest of the small deckled rectangle nestabilities.

ink:
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Tattered Rose
CTMH Ocean
Prismacolor Pencils 940, 1027, 946, 1024, 915

embellishments:
buttons are from the PaperworksCo July Papercard kit, embroidery floss is from my stash


I hope he likes it -- although he is colour blind and may have some difficulty with the colours on the card.

And don't forget, PaperworksCo has a big party planned tonight from 6pm to 8pm Mountain Time! The latest post on the site says there will be giveaways involving a scavenger hunt on the site!

Gift hedgy

I needed to make a card for my dearly beloved's youngest niece - her birthday is on Sunday and we should be seeing her this Friday before she heads back home to Alberta. I took my inspiration from this card that was posted over at the PaperWorksCo Blog today. Thanks for the inpiration Judy! I just loved the idea of using the nestabilities OFF-CENTRE instead of perfectly lined up. So this is what I came up with for the 2nd birthday of a cute little girl.


It had to be bright....so yellow and pink it was! EVERYWHERE! Well, except for Hedgy. The little daisy in the bottom left is actually a button but I popped out the centre and replaced it with a pink brad so it would sit a little better on the card.

Hedgy was coloured with a whole bunch of things - distress ink, prismacolors and ctmh markers.

Here are the deets!

card dimensions: 4 x 5.5 inches

Pink DP: 4 x 5.5 inches
Yellow DP: 3.75 x 5.25 inches

Nestabilities: scalloped ovals from the small and large sets.
embellishments: ribbon, button, brads
stamp: Penny Black Gift Hedgy

Prismacolor Pencils: 904, 1067
Tim Holtz Distress Ink: Tattered Rose
CTMH Markers: Pink Carnation, Sunkiss Yellow, Baby Pink, Petal, Sweet Leaf, Bubblegum

New from PaperWorksCo

Those of you who follow me may be familiar with my gushes about Paperworks Co. When I first got my Cuttlebug, I went looking online for a Canadian source for my embossing folders and dies and came across Peggy's venture. You have to read the back story to how this site came to be. Inspiring.

Starting July 1st, they launched a monthly paper pack combo to make it easy for us card-makers out there to whip up at least 10 cards using some gorgeous papers and coordinating embellies.

I've had a busy couple of days (yes, I know, you are suffering from post overload right now) but I finally got around to ordering MY July kit. Check out the link to see what I'll be getting. Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah! Lime Rickey from Basic Grey! Aren't the papers GORGEOUS? Vibrant is the word that comes to mind. And you can't go wrong with the price for enough supplies to make at least 10 cards.

You can bet I'll be running to my mailbox every day when I get home anxiously awaiting the arrival of my goodies. Of course, I couldn't just order the card kit. A few other items made their way into my shopping bag. CHOCOLATE Coredinations paper!!! EEP! And I am finally going to give Glimmer Mist a try! Tee hee hee.

By the way, if you are a nestabilities junkie like me, there is a pre-order up on the site for the scrummy new pendants and coordinating borders just released by Spellbinders. I've been TRYING to resist ordering all of them but I know I am going to cave and order at least a couple of sets.

Oh.....and COPICS!!!! Peggy has Copics for a very reasonable price compared to some of our local suppliers here in Ottawa. And, as a bonus, if you are in the copic club, after you reach 15 markers you get your choice of a free copic. Plus you always earn your usual 5% on purchases back to your craft fund. And shipping is VERY reasonable - especially if you are like me and typically make, ummm, shall we say, large orders?

No, I haven't dived into the Copic pool .... yet. But I've been considering it if I master my Prismacolor Pencils.

okay, that's enough from me for now. I highly recommend you check out PaperworksCo. You will be glad you did - or maybe upset at me for enabling you!

Just Bee-cuze

Over at Stamps and Smiles, this week's Fresh Batch Sketch was a fun sketch with which to play.

As you can see below, I turned the sketch on its side.



I did a bunch of paper-piecing on this one. I stamped the pot onto terra cotta coloured DP and then glued coffee grounds for the dirt. Yes, coffee grounds. Although I realized too late that we grind our coffee super-fine so.....maybe oreo cookie crumbs would have been better...tee hee hee! I just realized, I technically allowed coffee back into my craft room. And it wasn't a disaster!

The stem and leaves were stamped onto a pale green cardstock with two leaves for dimension. The same is true of the flower. I stamped it twice onto watercolour paper, then coloured with prismacolor pencils.

Mr. Bee was stamped onto yellow cardstock and then his wings were Stickled.


Here are the details:

The card measures 4 x 5.5.
The papers are all CTMH
The stamped image and sentiment are from Stamps and Smiles.
The image panels were cut with nestabilities.

Graduation Times Two

My dear friend Dorothy has two twelve year old daughters who will have a graduation ceremony on Tuesday. I decided to make them cards to match their dresses that they chose for the day. I also was inspired by the card class yesterday to use the same pop-up style for their cards.

This purple card is for Grace. She is an amazing writer with an imagination and talent beyond her years.

With that in mind, I chose the sentiment "Soar High" from The Greeting Farm Wild Things set to go with Graduation Anya. I think if she lets her talents take wing, she will have a bright future ahead.

Marie has a teal dress so this is her card. Marie has a sparkling personality and she loves to please everyone around her.


With that in mind, I chose the "Lead" sentiment, again from The Greeting Farm Wild Things set. I guess I think that Marie needs to focus more on being the leader rather than the follower who tries to make everyone else happy. She has a great future ahead of her if she follows HER dreams and not those of her peers.

Our message to each of the girls is written on the back of the card.

Happy Graduation Day girls!

Happy Birthday to my Uncle

My Mom's older brother has a birthday next week so I made a card tonight to send to him. After dearly beloved MOCKED my last Carl the Cupcake card --- I won't REPEAT what he said, I decided to use a different cupcake. This one is from the Doodlefactory. Jenn, the enabler, is responsible for this as I HAD to get this set after seeing some of the cute cards she has made with hers.


Dearly Beloved's comment on seeing this one is somewhat more repeatable this time ---"ooh...psychedelic cupcake -- or is it a mushroom?"....MEN!!!

Notice the background on this card? Same as the father's day card I made for my brother. Just did a little something different with the image.

details:
card measures 5 x 5
panels: cut with nestabilities dies
stamped image: doodlefactory

Happy Birthday Mom - CPS120

My Mom has a birthday this week. She will be a whopping 59 years old! The sad thing is, she looks younger every time I see her! People now mistake us for sisters instead of Mother and Daughter. I like to think it is because I haven't lived in my hometown for over twenty years so people FORGET my Mom has TWO daughters. That being said, I look just like her so if I look as good as she does when I'M 59... yay genetics!

This is the card I will have to express to her on Monday. My card making mojo was M.I.A. for a few days - focused on the garden at this time of year. To the rescue came the CPS 120 sketch for this week.


Nestabilities Small and Large Labels were used for the image panel. The Flower image was coloured twice with PrismaColour Pencils, with the second image cut out and popped up for dimension.

And this is the sentiment inside the card.


Again with the Nestabilities Labels.

card details:
card base measures 5 x 6.5
Papers: CTMH Perfect Day Paper Pack
Sentiments: Verve Because of You
Flower Image: The Greeting Farm For Someone

A reworked card

I need a birthday card this week for the son of a friend of mine. Out came this card that I made during the card workshop at the Crop for the Cure.


Now, I wasn't really happy with it. Seemed a little plain jane to me. So, I decided to tweak it a little. Off came the balloons and on went Carl.


I cut two panels, same size, from some CTMH textured card stock (used both sides to get the different colours) using my small deckled rectangle nestabilities. Turned one ninety degrees and ... ta da. Notice that Carl is identical to the previous post? I had coloured two of him as I wasn't sure if I was going to pop him up on my cousin's card or not. So, there you go. A reworked card.

details:
card measures 4.25X5.5 inches
paper: CTMH
sentiment: CTMH
image: Stamps and Smiles

The Fresh Batch - SASSC19

This week's sketch over at Stamps and Smiles- The Fresh Batch was definitely a neat one to work with. I took inspiration from one of the cards that used a nestabilities labels die and came up with this birthday card for my cousin.


Carl has become a very popular subject with cards I am making for the men/boys in my life.

This is the inside of the card.


The card measures 6x6.

paper:
black cardstock base is CTMH
DP is "Namath" from the MVP line from patterned paper (got it at Desserres)
Nestabilities Labels Two was used for the panels.
The lower grey panel was embossed with my cuttlebug. I can never remember if that one is the herringbone or argyle. Whatever.
Outside sentiment panel was cut with my nestabilities small deckled rectangles...twice to make it smaller.
Stamped image and sentiment are Stamps and Smiles. Carl was coloured with -- my prismacolours!

Cakeabella

A card, finally! This is another cakeabella, this time I used Laura's Sketch 26 from 2 Sketches 4 You.


I experimented with my water-colour pencils this time. The bella panels were cut out with my nestabilities. The sentiment (CTMH) panel is a cuttlebug die cut. I coloured a few more bellas today but don't think I'll get to making them into cards tonight.

SASMR4 - For my chick flick pal

Ahhh...the final sketch challenge from Stamps and Smiles, SASMR4 .



This card will be going to my movie-going pal who celebrates her birthday this week.

The papers are CTMH - from the Key to my Heart paper pack. hmmm...now that I've cracked it open I can't seem to stop using those papers. I just love them!

Both sets of panels were cut with my nestabilities. The sentiment is from my favourite CTMH stamp set and look, what's that? Yup, another one of those flowers!