Christmas Series 2016 | Card 6 ft. Simon Says and the MISTI

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Merry Christmas everyone! It's the final day for my 2016 Christmas series, and though it wasn't as extensive as last year, I think it went quite well overall. I'm very much looking forward to 2017 and all the creative inspiration that is waiting for us.

In recent years the tradition of ugly sweaters has become popular for Christmas Day, so what better for a Christmas Day post, than an Ugly Sweater card?

Shockingly, this card required exactly zero colouring. I cannot remember the last time I did a card that didn't require colouring in some way. Instead, this card uses the MISTI (which if you haven't checked out yet, you totally need to.)

The ugly sweater boarder stamp is from Simon Says (I think it's Christmas Boarders) which I stamped using CTMH Topiary ink. The MISTI was fantastic because I was able to just reink the stamp and not worry about having to line it up perfectly to restamp. The MISTI just does it for you.

The greeting is from Hero Arts, and stamped with Lawn Fawn's Black Licorice ink, which is one of my favourite inks to stamp greetings with because it is so unbelievably crisp.

I mounted the panel on a piece of holiday red cardstock and then mounted both on a standard A2 sized card base. To finish it off I added a few red gems, just to tie it together.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. Don't forget to follow me over on the right sidebar so you don't miss out on any future posts, and toss me a line in the comments section below. I love to hear from you!

Christmas Series 2016 | Card 5 Under the Mistletoe

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Only two more sleeps until Christmas Day, which according to my four year old means it will take another hundred years. I remember being that excited about Christmas. It seems so long ago. She's so full of energy. I wish I could be half as excited about pretty much anything as she is about almost everything that doesn't happen today.

It's also my son's birthday today. So while he is out with his grandmother, we're here staying warm and relaxing before the craziness that is the next couple days begins.

To begin today's card, I stamped the bow on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I also stamped a mask on a post-it note and fussy cut it out.

I masked off the bow and stamped the mistletoe. Both stamps and the greeting are from a set that I have long since lost the packaging for. But I believe it is a Hero Arts set.

I then removed the mask from the bow and coloured the images using Copic markers. I wanted to keep the card simple, yet with every intention of adding a bunch of glitter and bling, y'know, because it's the holidays and because that's just the kind of person I am.

The glitter and bling didn't happen, the hubby saw it and was super impressed with how clean it was, so in the end I left it as it was. I mounted the panel on a standard A2 sized card base and that was that.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. Don't forget to follow me over on the right sidebar so you don't miss out on any future posts and toss me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think. I love to hear from you!

Christmas Series 2016 | Card 4 ft. Lawn Fawn

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

I know that Christmas is supposed to be full of fun and good cheer, but sometimes it isn't. Sometimes it's filled with not happy thoughts and feelings of loss and sadness. The trick is moving past those feelings and the things causing them and moving on to see the brighter side of things.

The Lawnscaping Challenge, created by Laurel, was the first challenge I ever entered. Way back last year with Caroling Critters. (Which won Honorable Gnome, btw)

Laurel helped me out with figuring out how to link my card to the challenge. She was timely and friendly, and no matter how many questions I asked (questions I'm sure she answered dozens and dozens of times before) she always remained patient and helpful and super quick to respond.

I think we all owe a lot to Laurel, it was your support and encouragement that has helped so many of us grow in our craft and expand in our art. Thank you so much for all that you have done, and we wish you all the best in the future. Merry Christmas to you and your family!

All the images and the greeting were stamped using Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly paper, then coloured in with Copics.

I then used 1/8" red ribbon to make the panel look gift wrapped. Then mounted on a piece of Holiday Green cardstock and adhered to a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. Don't forget to follow me over on the right side bar so you don't miss out on any future posts and toss me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think. I love hearing from you.

This card is for:

Lawnscaping Challenge #144

Christmas Themed and a Heartfelt Goodbye

and

the CLASSroom
December Pin-Sights Challenge

Christmas Series 2016 | Card 3 ft. MFT Stamps

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

For the challenge today, I had thought about creating a card that was covered in presents with bows and wrapping and glitter and toys, but then I thought I would do something a little bit different. Christmas, generally, is for the kids, and what greater gift is there than the children? I know some of you can think of many. There are days when I can also think of many other things, but the picture of their faces when they wake up to the lights and the stockings and the feeling in the air on Christmas morning really is the best gift ever.

My youngest is four and all she says she wants on Christmas morning is to be the one to hand out the gifts. We're just learning the letters so this will certainly be an experience.

To begin, I stamped this girl from MFT on Copic-friendly paper using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I coloured her in with copics to look like a little Santa, fussy cut her out and set her aside.

Next I used a couple of the Stitched Snowflake dies from Lawn Fawn and die cut some glittery snowflakes.

I used a snowflake embossing folder on my white panel piece and then adhered down the glittery snowflakes.

I then mounted this panel on a piece of red cardstock to pull the card together and then adhered both to a standard A2 sided card base. I then attached my little Santa girl.

Finally I used my black gel pen to go over her eyes and the buttons on her coat to make them stand out.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. Don't forget to follow me over on the right side bar so you don't miss out any future posts. Toss me a line in the comments section below, I love to hear from you.

This card is for:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

Gift It

Christmas Series 2016 | Card 2 Spinning Snowflake

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Believe it or not, I've never made a spinner card. Last year there were some beautiful cards with spinning reindeer and spinning snowmen and I was blown away. So this year, I thought I would give it a go, and while there are a couple things I would do differently, I think my first attempt turned out pretty well.

Took the above picture at an angle, while it didn't pick up the shine as well as I would have liked, I love shadows that the snowflake made on the inside panel.

To begin, I placed my circle die on the panel where I wanted the opening to be and ran that through my die cut machine. I then prepped the panel with my powder tool and heat embossed the greeting using silver embossing powder.

I then cut two snowflakes from some glitter paper. I used a length of stretch bracelet thread and adhered the two snowflakes together.

I lined up the front panel with a top folding A2 sized card base and ran it through the die cut machine a second time to cut the hole in the base itself.

I used Skor tape on the back of the front panel to secure the ends of the bracelet thread in place. I used 1/4" sparkle ribbon for the bow at the top. I then lined up the panel with the base and adhered the two together.

Unfortunately my camera just didn't pick up the amount of shine this card has. Everything shines. The ribbon catches the light, the panel is a shimmering cardstock, the snowflake glitters and the embossed greeting is metallic.

I tried to take the picture from a couple angles to try and catch it, but they just don't do justice to the card.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. Don't forget to follow me over on the right side bar so you don't miss out on future posts. Toss me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think. I love hearing from you!

This card is for:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge

Let There Be Snow

and

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

Ice Inspiration

Christmas Series 2016 | Card 1 ft. Lawn Fawn

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by, I hope you are having a great day.

This year I'm behind. Behind in my card making, behind in my Christmas shopping, behind in the decorating and behind in my blog posting. Just behind.

I'd like to tell you that it's because I have some amazing things coming, or that it's because I've been super busy with family stuff or holiday stuff or any sort of stuff at all, but really it's not. Don't get me wrong the posts I have coming are pretty good (at least I think so), but mostly it's my hands.

I was injured in high school playing rugby, I had no movement in my right wrist for over a year and was told that I would have arthritis at a very young age. And while I usually have to put my pencil crayons away during the winter months for the past couple years; this year in particular has been exceptionally trying.

So enough of that, because really it isn't all that fun to think about or talk about. Thank you for being patient and for sticking with me. I really appreciate every click, like, comment and view.

To begin, I stamped the hat from Lawn Fawn's Toboggan Together set and masked that off. I then stamped the penguin and masked him off, and then stamped the ice from Critters in the Arctic and masked that off.

I used Tumbled Glass Distress ink to sponge a soft cool halo around the images. I then removed the masks and coloured the images with Copics. The greeting is stamped from #MFTstamps.

The next panel was embossed using a super fun penguin embossing folder that my Mom had in her stash. Had I known she had that last year I'm sure we would have seen far more penguins. I trimmed this panel down to 4x5 1/4".

I cut a piece of red cardstock to match the hat as my matting layer and then mounted everything on a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. Don't forget to follow me over on the right sidebar so you don't miss any future posts. Toss me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think. I love hearing from you.

This card is for:

Lawnccaping Challenge #143

Let it Snow

and

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

Ice Inspiration

I {heart} Autumn Series 2016 | ft. Lawn Fawn and the Positive Die Cut

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Today is one of those weird days where I'm all alone. The older kids are at school, the little one is at Grandma's house and the hubby is at work. So I have the whole house to my very own self. All by my self. I don't even know what to do with my time.

LOL.

Yes, I do.

So a couple posts ago, I showed you all a use for the negative space when die cutting. You can see that post here. As promised, today I have a piece that uses the positive space, or the pieces that were actually cut using the dies. Not only that but the pieces I used today are the same ones that I had set aside in that post.

And while Autumn is technically over, a promise is a promise and I would be remiss if I didn't keep my word to you guys.

To begin, I used the tattered die cut for the panel, and then stamped the greeting using Lawn Fawn Black Licorice ink.

I then used Forest Moss, Gathered Twigs and Rusty Hinge Distress Inks to give the leaves the look of fall. Once those where dry, I ran them through the Xyron X (1.5") sticker maker. I adhered the leaves down the way I wanted and used some plain twine to tie the piece together, (see what I did there?).

I then cut a piece of dark brown cardstock to fit the front of a standard A2 sized card and used foam tape to mount the front panel.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. Don't forget to follow me over on the right sidebar so you don't miss out on any new posts, and toss me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think. I love to hear from you!

I {heart} Autumn Series 2016 | ft. Lawn Fawn

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Today I have a super sweet card featuring Lawn Fawn. When I first started stamping and card making a few years ago, Lawn Fawn was the reason. These little critters and just so sweet and they really work well together so mixing and matching sets is always easy.

To begin I die cut my focus piece using a Spellbinders set, then I positioned the two little mice and the greeting on my MISTI and stamped them with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. Next I masked off the mice and stamped the two pumpkins, also from a Lawn Fawn set.

I coloured the images with Copic Markers and then sponged Antique Linen Distress ink around the piece to make it look old.

I used the Lawn Fawn wood-grain background stamp with Chocolate ink from CTMH, on brown cardstock to create the background panel. I adhered that down using my regular tape runner. I then adhered the focus piece.

To finish it off, I added just a touch of Wink of Stella clear glitter to the buckle on the hat.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. Don't forget to follow me over on the right sidebar so you don't miss out on any future posts! And toss me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think, I love to hear from you!

This card is for:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge:

Thanks/Thanksgiving

I {heart} Autumn Series 2016 | with Technique Tip: Negative Space Die Cutting

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Here in Canada we are long past Thanksgiving. Ours is in October, however I think any time and especially now it is important to look at and be thankful for the things that we have in our lives. To really appreciate the good that we have. It's an unknown territory we are stepping into and a bit of reflection won't hurt anyone.

For today's card, I began by using the Stitched Leaves die cuts from Lawn Fawn on a piece of 110lb cardstock. I wanted to create the appearance of falling leaves. I set the leaves aside for another project (spoiler!).

I then masked off 1/4" all the way around my card base. I didn't want too many layers for the card, so I decided to do my sponging directly on the front of the card base as opposed to creating a second panel. I sponged together Dried Moss, Gathered Twigs and Rusty Hinge Distress inks; which happens to be my favourite combination for leaves and fall.

I then prepped the top panel with my powder tool and stamped the greeting, also from Lawn Fawn, in VersaMark ink and heat embossed it with gold. Normally I'm more of a silver girl, but gold is an autumn colour.

Next I took two lengths of bakers twine in heavy green and yellow and tied them around the panel in a casual bow. I really wanted the leaves to be the focus of the piece and felt that if I added anything else it would take away from that. So I kept it simple.

Finally I popped the panel up on foam tape and mounted it on my card base. 

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. Don't forget to follow me over on the right sidebar and toss me a comment in the comments section below, I love to hear from you!

This card is for:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge:

Thanks/Thanksgiving

Hello Halloween 2016 | card 5 ft. My Favorite Things

Hi everyone, thanks for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

I know Halloween is over, but I have more cards and it's still fall and I love Halloween and if it were up to me it would be this spooky season every season forever, hahahahaha!!!

Also, my blog and I don't have Christmas stuff ready yet. But I'm please with the direction the yuletide season is taking my work this year.

Anyway, today's card is one of my favourite of the year, and while it is late I'm hoping you'll think it was worth it.

To begin, I cut a piece of 110lb Copic-friendly paper down to 4 1/8 x 5 3/8" and stamped the bat from #MFTstamps "Witch Way is the Candy?" three times in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and again on Post-It tape to create masks. I masked them off and then sponged Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans and Seedless Preserves Distress Ink to create a night sky look. I would normally have used Dusty Concord, but I wanted something a bit brighter because the bats would be dark, and I didn't have it with me at the crop, so there was that.

I then used a #8 round watercolour brush to splatter on clean water and pressed it dry with some clean paper towel to create the splatter star look. If you have never done that technique on regular paper, I highly recommend you practice a couple times before doing it on your project. Otherwise you may be disappointed with the results of too much water on paper that isn't actually meant to handle it.

Once that was completely dry (and don't forget Distress ink takes a bit longer than other inks to dry), I prepped the piece with my powder tool and heat embossed the greeting from a Recollections (Michael's store brand) set in silver.

I then coloured the bats using the warm grey family. I never actually use my black Copic marker to make black, I typically use W5, 7, 9 to make it look as though it is black. I use a tiny bit of C1 or C0 to give a touch of shading to the eyes. I then used my black gel pen to brighten up the eye dot and my white gel pen for his little teeth.

To finish it off, I used glossy accents over the eyes and mounted the panel on a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. Don't forget to follow me over on the right sidebar and leave me a comment in the comments section below, I love to hear from you.

Hello Halloween 2016 | card 4 ft. Mama Elephant

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

I am having a crazy hard time staying on topic this season, and that is super weird for me. I love Halloween and I think it's pretty clear that I love creating cards, but something about the fall and the cooler weather just makes me want to cook, cook, cook and cook.

In some ways I think that the reprieve helps. It gives me an opportunity to recharge and when I do sit down in my art room, it's almost like sitting down for the first time with all my new things.

To begin, I cut down a piece of 140lb watercolour paper to 4x5 1/4" and prepped it with my powder tool. I then used VersaMark ink to heat emboss this super sweet witch kitty image from Mama Elephant's "Meowlloween" stamp set.

I smooshed Distress Inks onto a laminated sheet of paper (that's my palette) and a damp size 2 round watercolour brush, I then fussy cut the images out and set them aside.

On another piece of watercolour paper I created a black and gray water splotch also using distress inks. Once my stamped images were dry, I adhered them down with a strong two way tape.

The greeting is stamped using CTMH Archival ink to get a good crisp image. When stamping on watercolour paper, I prefer to use the MISTI to ensure a thorough stamp. Honestly if you have the opportunity to get your hands on it, take it. It is literally my most used tool.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. Don't forget to follow me over on the right side bar and toss me a line in the comments section below, I love to hear from you.

Hello Halloween 2016 | card 3 Sweet Treats

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Today's card is for the Card Concept, it is this new challenge that I have recently come across and I really like the way they lay it out. Now this is my first time there so hopefully I've got it figured out.

My understanding is that they give a concept (this week is Sweet Treats), and you draw your inspiration from that, but you have to use one or more of the styles they have listed. I think this is an excellent thing for someone who may be new to challenges or (like me) gets so many ideas in their head that they get all jumbled up. It kind of helps keep it on track.

For my style I chose Clean and Simple.

I don't have much of a put-it-together explanation, I think this one really just speaks for itself. The panel with the greeting is raised on foam tape, and I used some sparkling ribbon to cut the line between the panel and the accent strip.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. Don't forget to follow me over on the right sidebar so you don't miss out on any future posts, and toss me a line in the comments section below, I love to hear from you!

This card is for:

The Card Concept:

#59 Sweet Treats

Hello Halloween 2016 | card 2 Ft. Simon Says Stamp (again)

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Today I decided to create a shaker card. Something that I don't think has been up here since Christmas 2015, maybe something in the spring? I don't even know.

I had this idea in my head, but was super worried about trying it out because I've never done a partial die cut like this before.

To begin, I stamped the dog from Simon Says Stamp "Trick or Treat" stamp set on 110lb Copic-friendly paper and masked him off, I then used an assortment of pumpkins from Lawn Fawn's "So Thankful" and MFT's "Witch Way is the Candy" stamp sets.

For the partial die cut, I made two little marks on the edges of the panel right above where the pumpkins are, I then placed my die and lined up the cutting plates so that only the upper portion of the die would have the pressure as it went through the machine. After much breath-holding, I removed the die from the piece and saw that I only had to bring the cut down a tiny bit! I then used my Cutter Bee scissors to fussy cut out the rest of the piece around the stamped images.

Next I masked off all the images again, and used Distress Ink Chipped Sapphire, Forest Moss and Gathered Twigs to create the ground and the sky. I used Chipped Sapphire and Seedless Preserves to create the background sky that will be behind the shaker. I would normally have used Dusty Concord, but I was away at a retreat and didn't have it with me. I used a size 10 Round watercolour brush to splatter clean water over the piece to make it look distressed.

All the images are coloured with Copic Markers.

To create the pouch for my shaker I used the Fuse Tool from We R Memory Keepers along with an old 12x12 scrapbook page cover. I used a variety of sequins and some foil leaves as the shaker material.

Everything was put together and adhered to the top of a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. Don't forget to follow me over on the right sidebar so you don't miss out on any new posts, and toss me a line in the comments section below, I love to hear from you!

This card is for:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge:

Halloween Inspiration

Hello Halloween 2016 | card 1 ft. Simon Says Stamp

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

This is by far my favourite time of year! I love fall and I love Halloween and I love everything about it. Yay SPLs!! I live in an area where we don't typically get an actual fall, though we have been lucky the past two years, and fingers crossed for this one that we get a real Autumn.

So though this is a Halloween Series, I may also include some Fall/Thanksgiving posts. I'm in Canada so our Thanksgiving happens in October before Halloween but the rest of the crafting world is going to celebrate in November. So I'm just going to mash it all together based on what I feel like posting. Deal? Deal!

Here is the first card in the Hello Halloween 2016 series.

To begin I stamped the cat image from SSS "Trick or Treat" set on to 110lb Copic friendly paper and coloured the image in with Copics.

The greeting from Lawn Fawn, is heat embossed in black to give a bit of texture and dimension. I cut that panel down at an angle, and matted it with black cut at the same angle. I used a piece of patterned paper and mounted the entire thing on a standard A2 sized card base.

I used a couple of red and black enamel dots just to add some interest to the card and pull the red together.

Originally the patterned paper was going to be orange, and while it looked cute, it just didn't really work with the black cat in the red cape. Weird, right? I know. In the end, I'm glad I switched it out for the black with white dots.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. Don't forget to follow me over on the right sidebar so you don't miss out on any future posts, and toss me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think, I love hearing from you!

This card is for:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge:

Halloween

It's That Time Again

Hi everyone, thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

So I thought I would kick off this fall season with a card that just screams "Fall is Here!", using what has to be one of the most iconic themes of the Autumn season. 

Seriously, this card doesn't even need a greeting. It really just speaks for itself.

To begin, I prepped the background piece with my powder tool and stamped various small leaf images with VersaMark ink and then heat embossed them with clear powder to create a lovely tone on tone image.

I used the largest Oval die cut from a Spellbinders set to cut a piece of Copic friendly paper and stamped the images from Lawn Fawn's "Love you a Latte" and "So Thankful" stamp sets with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. For the masking I used a bit of 1" post-it tape.

I coloured the images with Copics and then adhered the oval flat onto the orange piece, then I adhered the whole panel onto a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. Don't forget to follow me over on the right side bar so you don't miss out on anything this season! Toss me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think, I love hearing from you.

This card is for:

Lawnscaping Challenge #139

Pinterest Inspiried

Flashback Friday | Hello Teacher

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

I know I said I was all done the Back to School series, but I have just one more. I created this card some time ago, and had prepared to give it to my daughter's teacher last year, but then her teacher turned out to be a Mr. and not a Ms, so it didn't really work.

I held on to the card and was able to give it to her teacher this year and just wanted to include it because I love the techniques and it worked for this time of year. So today will be a #flashbackfriday card.

Is that a thing? Posting a card that was created a long time ago? If not, it is now!

The image is coloured with Copics and fussy cut out. I popped her up on foam tape and used glossy accents on her glasses to make them look like glasses.

The background is tinted embossing paste through a stencil. My daughter goes to a French Immersion school, so the greeting was appropriate.

I hope you like today's (last year's) card and are inspired to create something of your own.

Back to School Mini Series | Part 6

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Today is the last day of the 2016 Back to School mini series. It has been so much fun working on these cards. Not surprisingly, I was quite the school nerd. Books and studying and school supplies, oh the school supplies!! Now that I have my own kids, I was really looking forward to taking them to buy school supplies, all shiny and new in the packages. So imagine my disappointment when I didn't get supply lists! The school just gives them stuff. Just hands it right to them, ripping the joy of back to school shopping away from me!

Anyway, here is the last card for this year's series, showcasing school supplies!

To begin, I stamped the pencil and the books from MFT's "Class Act" stamp set on 110lb Copic friendly paper using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. I then coloured them in with copics.

The panel with the books is raised up on foam tape, and I used clear Wink of Stella on the metal part of the pencil.

I then mounted the whole piece on a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. Please take a moment to follow me over on the right sidebar and toss me line in the comments section below to let me know what you think. I love to hear from you.

This card is for:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

Anything Goes

Back to School Mini Series | Part 5

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Well, we're winding down the Back to School series, check through the older posts if you missed out on the other cards. I think I only have one more to go, then I'll be moving on to the next theme.

This card is actually made up of the first background panel I created and the last focus piece. Funny how that stuff works out. I had in mind what I wanted to do when I created the panel, but then it just didn't seem to fit together, so I set it aside until this came together today.

To begin, I stamped the stacked books and the pencil image on to Copic friendly paper using Memento Tuxedo Black ink, then coloured them in with Copics.

I used the largest oval die to cut out the focus piece and stamped the little girl and coloured her in the same way. I then popped her up on foam tape and placed her on the panel.

I used a piece of yellow cardstock as my bordering layer and adhered the whole lot on to a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. Don't forget to follow me over on the right so you don't miss out on anything. Toss me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think. I love to hear from you!

Back to School Mini Series | Part 4

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

As you may have noticed I'm in love with the Class Act stamp set from MFT, and to be perfectly honest the vast majority of my Back to School cards are made with it. But today, I wanted to step away from that one for a quick minute and use a couple sets from CTMH.

I love the simplicity of this card while still being visually appealing. Clean and simple at it's finest. This card was so super fun to make, and it turned out better than I even imagined it would.

To begin, I cut down a piece of cardstock to 4x5 1/4". Using the MISTI I stamped the page lines from CTMH's "Teacher Appreciation" stamp set using Lawn Fawn's Mermaid ink. I then used the Cranberry ink to create the vertical margin lines for the paper.

The greeting is stamped using CTMH's Classroom Alphabet stamp set, I started with the "to" and found that when the stamps were put on the block together it left too much space between the letters, so the remaining works are stamped one letter at a time. Which really isn't as bad as it sounds. It really gives a new appreciation for those old fashioned typeset machines where they would create entire books by placing the metal stamps. If you haven't even seen one of these, you should Google it. They are crazy.

I used a boarder punch to add the notebook edge along the left of the paper, I love how it makes it look as though it were torn right from a book. I'm not really one for punches (anymore...) but this one certainly comes in handy. I didn't add any adhesive behind the little tabs and roughly lifted them with my fingers so it would look a bit more shabby.

I was going to leave it there. But I'm me. And I can't do stuff like that. I can't just stop when it would be reasonable to do so. Soooo, I stamped an apple from the MFT "Class Act" set and coloured it with Copics, fussy cut it out, and glued it in the corner. Just for a pop of colour. There is an apple in the "Teacher Appreciation" set, but it is solid and I like to colour things.

I then adhered the panel at an angle on to a standard A2 sized card base made from Kraft paper.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. Don't forget to follow me over on the right sidebar so you don't miss out on future posts. Toss me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think. Always love to hear from you.

Back to School Mini Series | Part 3

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

I must be super excited about this whole back to school thing (both the mini series and the fact that my kids are going soon) because I just can't stop making these cards. Every time I finish one, a little light goes on over my head because I have a new idea!

Moreover, I cannot even believe how many fabulous ideas and layouts I can do with just this one stamp set! Yay MFT!

To start off, I stamped the apple and girl image from MFT's "Class Act" stamp set with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on two pieces of Copic-friendly paper. I stamped the apple in a random array so I could make my own accent paper.

I coloured the images in with Copic markers. I added clear Wink of Stella over her boots and over the apples on the side bar, but as usual my camera fails to pick that up. 

I adhered the apple side bar strip down on to a standard A2 sized card, and then adhered the panel with the girl using some foam tape to give it a bit of dimension. There are a few really great greetings that come with this set, but I thought the image spoke for itself.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. Don't forget to follow me over on the right so you don't miss out on any future posts. Also toss me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think. I always love to hear from you.

This card is for:

TGIF Challenges!

Back to School

#TGIF69

Back to School Mini Series | Part 2

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

As promised, today I have the second card in the Back to School Mini Series. I cannot believe how fast this summer is flying by. Having three kids, it sometimes feels like time is not moving at all, but then I turn around and here we are moving into the third week of August! How crazy is that??

To begin, I used both the pencil stamps from MFT's "Class Act" stamp set to create my own background using Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Copic friendly paper. I then stamped the pile of books and the greeting from the same set onto a separate piece of the same paper and cut that down to a fishtail banner.

I coloured all the images with Copic markers. The banner is popped up on foam tape. I used a deep teal cardstock as a boarder layer to match the one book and pull the card together. I then adhered the whole lot to a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. Don't forget to follow me over on the right so you don't miss out! Toss me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think. I love to hear from you!

Summer Fun | ft. MFT Stamps "Every Day is a Picnic"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

This morning I was all ready with a second Back to School card for you, then I saw the SSS Monday challenge and my brain just leaped into creative mode overdrive (I assure you, that's a thing), resulting in this card.

You'll get a new Back to School card tomorrow. Probably.

To begin, I stamped the girl from MFT's "Every day is a Picnic" stamp set, using Memento Tuxedo Black ink on copic friendly paper. I stamped the sunshine from the same set in a repeating pattern on my panel and coloured all the images in with my Copics.

I used clear Wink of Stella and Glossy Accents on her sandles to give them that sparkly plastic look that I remember from when I was little. I never had a pair, but my friends did and I thought they were the best thing ever.

I covered the background panel with a scrap of vellum to mute out the sunshines because they were super vibrant. The greeting banner was cut from a piece of teal cardstock that matches the boarder layer and a pretty close match to her outfit. The greeting is heat embossed with white.

To finish off the piece I added a scattering of sequins and enamel dots, then adhered the whole lot onto a standard A2 sized card base.

As a special bonus I even did the INSIDE of the card. Wh-aa-tt? Actually, it happens more often than not. I just usually forget to include it in the post.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. Don't forget to follow me over on the right so you don't miss out! Toss me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think. I'd love to hear from you.

This card is for:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge:

Summer Fun

Back to School Mini Series | Part 1

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Wow! It has been a crazy long time since I posted. Like a whole month, and while I'm sorry I haven't put up anything new, I'm not sorry about how I have been spending my time. Summer is one of those times in my house when all plans and scheduling just go straight out the window.

We had some crazy vacation time, with my youngest going all the way to Thunder Bay with the Grandparents for 12 days. Her first time on the plane, first time on a boat, first time fishing (she caught four!), first time eating what she caught -- she thought that was just about the best thing ever.
My oldest daughter went with her Dad to Regina for a memorial and camping for 10 days.
I went to Kelowna to spend some time with my Aunt and then that got extended because my hubby and son decided to come out for the August long weekend so I got some extra days in the sun. I gotta say, coming back to Calgary and having to deal with the rain and crappy weather was the least fun ever.

Then my Mom and sister and I headed out to Revelstoke to take on the new Pipe coaster on the mountain for Mom's birthday. So it has been super non-stop.

Anyway! Let's just jump right into the first card in my newest mini series; Back to School! It really is the most wonderful time of year. I love all the new shiny stuff you get to have. Everything just feels so fresh.

That being said I wanted to do something that was clean and simple but just *screamed* back to school.

To begin, I stamped the apple and pencil images from MFT's "Class Act" stamp set around the boarder of the card. I then stamped the Teacher from CTMH's "Teacher Appreciation D1612".

I coloured the images in with Copics and used clear Wink of Stella on the silver part of the pencils. It occurs to me that it may be helpful if I listed the Copics I used in the image. If that is the case, pop me a comment below so I can start including them, but if no one is interested I won't take the time to do that. Just let me know!

I die cut the "hello" using Lawn Fawn's scripty hello die. I chose a green cardstock that matched the apple leaf as closely as possible just to tie the card together a bit more. I then used that same cardstock as a boarder piece and then mounted the lot on a standard A2 sized greeting card.

I was so pleased with how much it looked like the old school (get it?) bulletin boards that the teachers used to decorate when I was in elementary. Do they still do that? I'll have to look at my daughter's school when she goes back (IN ABOUT TWO WEEKS!!!).

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. Don't forget to follow me over on the right so you won't miss future posts! Toss me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think. I'd love to hear from you!

This card is for:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge:

Make for the Boarder

Under Water Watercolour

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

I don't really have a theme for today's card. It's one of those "almost any occasion" cards that was more for me to just paint and play around with than anything else. Which makes it perfect for the challenge today.

To begin, I cut my watercolour paper down to a standard A2 sized card. I then stamped the images from Darcie's Heart & Home (JCS204) set. I couldn't find a set name, just the number so if you are looking for it, hopefully that helps.

All the images are stamped with CTMH Archival Black Ink, this ink is great because it dries quickly and is completely waterproof.

I coloured the images with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers, adding the colour where I wanted it to be darkest then using my Koi water brush (size 2) to pull out the pigment. This is a new water brush for me, and so far I really like it. It's travel size and has a pretty good barrel volume. The water doesn't come out too quickly which is great and the bristles are quite long.

The background watery area was done by scribbling one of the markers randomly and then pulling the colour out. I love how the shade varies and it looks like there is some purple in there as well, but really it's all just one marker.

I covered her tail with Wink of Stella clear, and you can kind of see it in the picture, but really the camera never does it justice. But in real life she really sparkles!

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own.

This card is for:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge:

Create A Scene

Sunset Sympathy

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

I was a little bit torn on whether to add this card to the Floral Thoughts mini series or let it stand alone. In the end it seemed more fitting to keep it outside the series.

I wanted to convey a simplistic beauty while maintaining a subtle sadness that generally comes with giving a sympathy card. I saw this colour combination on Pinterest (I wish I had saved the link to share it, she had so many fabulous combinations, it was a joy to read).

I find it somewhat therapeutic to create sympathy cards when I'm missing my Dad; channeling my sorrow into something beautiful that he would have loved. Classic tortured artist, right? Nothing that extreme, I assure you. Just a way to remember him creatively, I suppose.

To begin, I masked off the top and bottom inch of the panel with post-it tape. I then sponged Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Abandoned Coral Distress inks to create the sunset background.

Once that is completely dry, I used my MISTI to stamp the swaying tree from Stampin' Up's Thoughts & Prayers stamp set in CTMH archival black ink. I used the MISTI to ensure that I could stamp image a second time in case it wasn't as dark as I wanted.

I cut the panel down to 4 x 5 1/4" and mounted that on a black panel cut to 4 1/8 x 5 3/8", this creates the tiny black boarder. I then mounted the entire bit on a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own.

Sunshine Shaker

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

I've had this design in my head for a little while now and it's just been itching to get out. So when these two challenges came around (and at the same time!) I was very excited.

I can't wait to share this with you, so let's just dive right in!

This card is a great collaboration of companies that I love! The stamped chameleon image is from MFT's Polynesian Paradise coloured with Copics and then fussy cut out.

The sun and clouds were die cut using Lawn Fawn's Spring Showers dies. The branch and little flowers are die cut using Spell Binder's Cherry Blossoms dies.

The sequins are from Doodle Bug and the paper is from my stash!

To add colour to the background and the sun I used Distress inks Mustard Seed, Salty Ocean, Tumbled Glass, Gathered Twigs and Spun Sugar.

I created the shaker part using the We R Memory Keepers Fuse Tool and an old 12x12 scrapbook sleeve.

I think that about covers the buffet of products used in this card, it was really great to just sit down and play around.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own.

This card is for:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge:

Photo Inspiration

and

Time Out Challenge:

#61 Inspired by Words

"Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine"

Anthony J. D'Angelo

Floral Thoughts Mini Series 6 | ft. Wplus9 "Beautiful Bouquet Dahlia"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Like most stamp sets in my collection, I first saw this one on Pinterest and fell in love. The moment I saw it, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. So into the shopping cart it went.

I wanted to create a warm and happy card and chose my palette accordingly. Interestingly, and it didn't even occur to me until right now, there is no glitter on this card. The embossed greeting is shiny, but other than that there is zero shimmer.

Mind. Blown. Right?

To begin, heat embossed the image in white onto 140lb coldpress watercolour paper. 

I then used my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers to colour it in. These pens are pretty much my go-to for colouring right now, and my absolute first choice when it comes to watercolouring. I cannot get enough.

Typically when I am creating a piece that will make it to the blog (because some don't) and moreso when it will be entered into a challenge, I write all the supplies and colours down so I can reference them during post. I have been led to believe that the paper for this post was stolen by a certain sweet-faced 4 year old that I caught in my craft space. Basically that translates to me not having a list of colours for you. 

The blue halo around the image was created by wetting the area with clean water and dropping in Tumbled Glass Distress ink.

The greeting from Clearly Besotted's "Sunshine and Smiles" set is heat embossed with gold. 

I then mounted the panel on a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own.

This card is for:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge:

Anything Goes

and 

Time Out Challenge #60

Floral Thoughts Mini Series 5 | ft. Lawn Fawn "Our Friendship Grows"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Today I'm using an older stamp set, in fact it is one of the very first Lawn Fawn sets I ever purchased, and by far the one I use the most; "Our Friendship Grows".

I honestly cannot say enough about this set. I love the sizes of the flowers, the different builder pieces and vases, and how easy they are to colour in whichever medium you feel like using. It's a win-win-win!

I used the Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers (SURPRISE!!) along with some no line watercolouring for an organic artsy look.

I wasn't sure what kind of card this was going to be when I originally sat down. I just wanted to paint something cheerful, and even though sunflowers aren't my favourite type of flower, I feel they are the happiest.

To begin, I stamped the images using Antique Linen Distress Ink, the large flower and leaves are from Lawn Fawn's "Our Friendship Grows" stamp set, the smaller blossoms and leaves are from the "Happy Harvest" stamp set, stamped on 140lb cold press watercolour paper.

I coloured the images using the Zig markers in two shades for each colour, except for the brown which was just a more concentrated secondary application of the same shade.

The greeting from Clearly Besotted is stamped with CTMH Archival Black ink, I chose this ink because it is super intense as well as waterproof, just in case there was an oops. You never know, and it is better to be safe than it is to be sorry.

I used light gray on the lower edge of the image and pulled it out with clean water to create a faded shadow. I used my clear Wink of Stella on the petals, but sadly the camera simply refuses to pick it up. But it is there. I promise!

Finally to finish off the panel, I adhered a few clear shimmering sequins down just so that the white space wasn't so white.

I then mounted the panel on foam tape and adhered that to a standard A2 sized greeting card.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own.

This card is for:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Add Some Shimmer

DIY - Card Protector Sleeves with We R Memory Keepers Fuse Tool

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

There are many different types of protector sleeves on the market and lots of great places online to get them. I found a couple places that sold them in lots of 100s, but the shipping was the same price as the product alone. Now, I may be cheap economical, but I don't really want to pay the same amount in shipping as I do for the item being shipped. Especially in Canada where the exchange is not super awesome at the moment.

I recently had a need to have a whole lot of protector sleeves because there is nothing worse than having super cute dimensional cards with embellishments getting ruined because of improper storage.

So today, I have a step by step tutorial (with pictures) to show you how to create your own for way less than the cost of ordering and shipping and (in my case) exchange. Let's dive in!

The first thing you are going to need is a regular sandwich ziploc bag. It doesn't actually have to be the Ziploc brand, but like anything else in the DIY world if you use cheap stuff you'll get a cheap finished product.

I'm not saying go out and buy super heavy duty bags, but something mid range that you would trust your snacks to will work just fine.

Use a straight edge and an knife to cut the zip part off the bag. This will be the opening, so you you don't want to have a hack job. Unless you want to have to tidy up the edge later, take an extra moment to do this part neatly.

In order to size the bag, use the A2 envelope as a guide, the larger size of the envelope will ensure that the card will fit with room to slide in and out as well as have room for dimension and embellishments and all the things that we love about card making.

Next, heat up your fuse tool. Place the ruler and fuse!

Because the plastic from these bags is lightweight you may have to play around a bit with speed and pressure when fusing. This plastic melts much faster than the stuff you may normally use, so use caution.

I also found that I could only do these in batches because there is no temperature control on the tool, so it needed a break to cool down then I could start again.

To remove the extra piece, I recommend using your cutting tool instead of a ruler and blade. The plastic is quite slippy so it may not stay straight. But do what works for you.

Here you can see what the protector looks like with the extra piece removed and the envelope still inside.

Here we have the finished product! Your own A2 card protector sleeves to keep your works of art safe, for only a few cents and no shipping costs.

YAY!

While the envelope will fit in the sleeve along with the card, it may be a tight fit and in the event that people are pulling the card in and out to have a look at it, it may be tear the bag. But totally your call.








I hope you found today's post to be helpful and economical because really, let's be honest, at the end of the day people are just going to toss the sleeve anyway, right?

If you have any questions or comments please leave them below, I love to hear from you all. If you like this post please follow this blog to see more!

Have a great day!