A Blast from the Past

Just a quick post of some older cards that never got their 15 minutes of fame. An old friend from camp is visiting which means, my guest bedroom has to be used as a guest bedroom. My poor little stamps are all tucked away in their little homes in the closet for the next few days. I know. I weep for them too.

The first started out as a Father's Day card. However, my dad doesn't fish & hates boats, hence the Happy Birthday sentiment. In all honesty, I bought the stamp for me, not my dad. I love lighthouses, boats, & the ocean because it reminds me of being a kid, family vacations, and summers at camp.


Paper: Kraft (SU), Plaid (K&Co - retired), watercolour paper
Stamp: Rowboat (Artistic Impressions), Teeny Tiny Wishes (SU)
Colouring Mediums: Black (StazOn), watercolour pencils (Staedtler)
Other: Modern Label punch (SU), DMC floss, eyelet & Crop-a-Dile, Corner Chomper



The second card is an attempt at the shabby chic-ish vintage style that's all the rage. I'm not big on vintage and don't do them well, but I know you are all a very forgiving audience. The patterned paper is from the same Sea Glass collection by K&Co. as the plaid in the card above. I sanded, distressed, and inked up the edges. In hindsight, I now realize the true importance of using fine grade sandpaper in the absence of a real sanding block (and the reason we shouldn't whatever grade sp is in the basement).

Paper: yellow (Bazzill), K&Co. Sea Glass dp, Kraft/Crumb Cake (SU)
Tools: Slice & design card (MM), paper piercer & template
Embellishments: Flowers (Petaloo), rhinestone

I pray that you'll make the most of today. And if possible, take some time to do something you love with the people who mean the most to you. The memories we make today do last a lifetime.

Thanks for coming by and I'll see you soon!

while you were out ...

I am loving my new Lawn Fawn stamps. These sets have such a carefree and whimsical look to them. They just make me smile. Today's card uses three stamps from the Just My Type set and MTSC 80. If you've never checked this company out, you don't know what you're missing!!

To build an office-y theme, I used thin cork to ground the image & sentiment. The floral print is part of the BasicGrey Green at Heart collection. I have such a weakness for BG papers. I can't resist them. Really, I need a 12 step program. LOL

The telephone was stamped twice in Tuxedo Black on Dusk (Bazzill) and Solar White (Neenah). Because the cork is noticably thicker than cardstock, I outlined the image on the white with Copic BG10 to give dimension without adding extra height.

To spice up the layout, I cut the coral mat and put the top askew, using the turquoise ribbon & white circle to cover up the seam. This was a last minute improv but I really like it.


A scrap of lined paper was torn, punched and stamped in Bahama Blue to balance out my makeshift bulletin board. A quick ruffling of my message, a new sprout & black pushpin and this baby was finito. I can't wait to ink up the rest of the images in this set. Toodles!!

Details:
Paper - Emerald (BG), Pen Pals (Grandma's Kitchen - WRMK), cork sheets (unknown)
Inks - Memento Dew Drops
Ribbon - Michael's
Tools - spiral, border, & 3/4" circle punches (EK), circle cutter (MS)

hip, hip, HOORAY!

I am so excited about the July release from Papertrey Ink. Last week, Nichole Heady posted this fab sneak peek which sent me running to my craft room. You see, I love Papertrey dies & the new Book Prints impressions plate will eventually come to live with me BUT ... I had been saving some alpha paper and neglecting my EK spiral punch. Until today.



I just love it when the mojo's flowing, the supplies are all at hand, and the card just comes together in a snap. Especially when you finally use stamps, tools, and paper that you have never put to good use. It's such a good feeling.

I don't know if I can give this baby away, but I definately wanted to share it with you all. Have a great one!!

Supplies Used:
Stamps - Fillable Frames #3 (PTI), Songwriters (Sassafrass Lass), Get Funky (scraptivity)
Paper - enchanted evening (PTI), alpha print (unknown), pen pals (WRMK)
Ink - creamy brown (ColorBox), dandelion, rich brown, new sprout, tangelo (Memento), fresh snow (PTI)
Tools - spiral punch (EK), paper piercer (MM), piercing template (SU)

July Parade of Blogs

This month, we were challenged by our hostess with the mostess, Amy, to use Ocean Tides, Aqua Mist, Melon Berry, and Dark Chocolate to create something fabulous with our Papertrey goodies.


Some of these colours were not my friend (yeah, I mean you Ocean Tides) and forced me to go WAAAY outside my comfort zone by using so much colour. Since I was trying something new, I decided to really shake things up and go big, and go square. I also decided to let the patterned paper be the star of the show. When it uses all four colours, it deserves to take centre stage.



Now, excuse me while I blog-hop. I can't wait to see what the other ladies have created. If you'd like to join me, the hop starts here. Thanks for swinging by!

The Details ...
Stamps - Enjoy the Ride (PTI)
Paper - ocean tides (PTI), cameo coral (SU), October Afternoon dp
Embellies - ribbon (Michael's)
Tools - Corner Chomper

2S4Y Sketch #56

I've visited the 2 Sketches 4 You site often and used Kazan & Laura's sketches for inspiration, but this is the first time I've actually played along.



I recently bought some yummy, summery striped paper from Jillibean Soup's Egg Drop Soup collection. I'm such a paper addict. But, it's such a happy print. Who could resist? And the floral on the back is also smile-inducing. (You'll see that soon in another post, I promise. It's waaay too cute to stay hidden.)

So, fellow stampers, if you've got some time today, why don't you give this sketch a whirl?

Thanks for coming by!!

Supplies:
Paper - white (Neenah), green (Bazzill), soft suede & cameo coral (SU), stripe (JS)
Stamps - On My Couch (PTI)
Ink - new sprout, bamboo leaves, pear tart (Memento), fresh snow (PTI)
Other - white gel pen (Sakura), border punches (EK), ribbon (unknown), chair die (PTI)

Absolutely Fabulous

I absolutely fell in love with the Dresses with Sashes stamp set when I saw this gorgeous card over on Diane's blog . Well, after a seemingly loooong wait and numerous disappointing trips to the mailbox, my stamps arrived. For this card, I decided to only use papers from SEI's Black Orchid paper pack. This baby has been in my stash of patterned paper for a while and, even though I do use it, I haven't made a dent in it yet.


With the recent heatwave we've been having, slipping into a fun and flirty dress like this would take any day from ho-hum to absolutely fabulous. Provided you've got the perfect sandals. Hope your day is equally fab!!

Supplies:
Paper - Solar White (Neenah), Black Orchid collection (SEI)
Stamps - Dress (Crescendoh), Signature Greetings (PTI)
Ink - Black (Staz-On), black marker (Zig)
Embellies - Ribbon (Offray), bling (Forever in Time)
Tools - Slice (MM), Corner Chomper

Enjoy the Ride

This summer is shaping up to be crazy hot and crazy busy. But, I did steal an hour last night to create something to share. With the exception of the card base, everything was raided from my scraps bin. I could say I do this as a way to recycle and help the environment, but really, who am I kidding? This is nothing more than a feeble attempt to justify buying more PTI paper!!



For this card, I inked up Everyday Button Bits. The base and black scallop circles are SU cardstock. The striped patterned paper is from BasicGrey's Ambrosia collection. For the image, I used London Fog dye ink from Memento and Midnight Black chalk ink (Tsukineko). The buttons were also from my stash of embellies and jazzed up with some red DMC floss.

Sorry about the poor picture quality. The clouds have rolled in this afternoon & rain is not far behind. However, this still hasn't given us a break from the heat and humidity. But, I'm not complaining 'cause this is 10x better than snow!!

Happy Stamping!!

Tools Used:
- Slice & Basics 1 design card (MM)
- paper piercer (MM) & template (SU)
- Corner Chomper (WRM)

It's a Moxie Fab World

Welcome back!! One of my new found fav blogs is Papercrafts' Moxie Fab World. I just love how they give you pictures of real life objects to get the mojo flowing. This week in Moxie Fab World, the Tuesday Trigger was this picture:



The dreamy, country colour palettes aren't part of my usual card making selections, since I'm more of a neutrals girl. But, earlier this week I made a card that did use these same colours:



No sense in reinventing the wheel when this one fits the bill perfectly. Now, excuse me while I go enjoy the sunshine. It's gorgeous out today!! Cheers.

Oh, Canada!!

It's been a few days since I've gotten crafty, but some birthday's shouldn't be overlooked. This card uses one of my favorite combinations, kraft, white, and pure poppy and forced me to finally ink up SU's Glorious & Free.



For anyone who has yet to visit Canada, it's truly a glorious country. I've always been proud to be Canadian, but since February, even more so. Hopefully the same patriotism and pride that Canadians displayed from sea to shining sea during the Vancouver 2010 Games will be on display today.

Happy Canada Day!!!

Supplies:
Paper - pure poppy (PTI) kraft, white (Bazzill)
Stamps - Glorious & Free (SU)
Inks - Chestnut Roan (ColorBox), Red Magic (VersaMagic), Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other - 3/4" punch (EK), white gel pen (Sakura), Stamp-a-ma-jig