Olivia Sympathy

I used one of my card sketches for this card.  It turned out pretty, so I thought I'd share it with you.

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):
Papers:  Olivia B&Ts; Colonial White, Chocolate CS
Stamps:  Sweet Flowers (retired), Comforting Thoughts (retired)
Inks:  Sorbet, Autumn Terracotta, Pear, New England Ivy, Chocolate
Embellishments:  Adhesive pearls, Colonial White crochet ribbon
Other items:  Double Scallop border punch (Martha Stewart), 3D foam tape

Stampin' Royalty Guest Designer

I was pleasantly surprised to be asked if I wanted to be a guest designer this week on the Stampin' Royalty blog. 

Well of course I did!

 

This week we are doing a sketch challenge

 and here's the sketch.

I seem to always be short on boy birthday cards, so I took the opportunity to make one for my stash.  ;)

I stamped the bot image with Staz-On onto SU watercolour paper, then I used my waterbrush and inks to paint the colours onto him.  I love this bot set!

I also used the SU Double Cog punch... love it!  Gosh, what would I do without my punches???

Thanks for visiting, and be sure to check out what the other Stampin' Royalty Goddesses created, and hey....why not play along with us?

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all SU unless otherwise noted):

Paper:  Newsprint DSP; Basic Gray, Tempting Turquoise, Black, Very Vanilla CS; Watercolor paper

Stamp:  Lots of Bots

Ink:  Staz-On, Black, Tempting Turquoise, Grey Wool (CTMH), Black (CTMH)

Punches:  XL Double Punch Cogs, Large Oval, Curly Label, 1 3/8" circle, Binder border (EK), 5/8" circle (EK)

Embellishments:  Pewter Jumbo eyelet, Pewter brads

Other items:  Crop-A-Dile, Blending Pen, Waterbrush, Oval Coluzzle (retired), Classic Oval Nestabilities die (Spellbinders), Sponge, 3D foam tape (other)

I CASEd myself!

I love these A Posy cards so much, I had to give them a go with the new Magnifique B&T papers.

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH):
Paper:  Magnifique B&Ts; White Daisy, Sky CS
Stamp:  A Posy
Inks:  Sky, Olive, Lagoon, Pacifica
Embellishments:  White Grosgrain, Lagoon brad
Other:  3D foam tape, Micro-tip scissors, Paper piercer

Humble Artists Swap card for August

It's now time to share my swap cards!

These are my swap cards I made this past July for the Humble Artists Swap which were for the August swap.

It was my turn to set the guidelines and these were what we all had to follow:

• 3 1/2" x 8" sized card
• Use a card design from Wishes or Originals
• Use one of your favourite colour combos from Jeanette Lynton's blog
• Use a circle and a square or rectangle somewhere on your card
• Use ribbon
• Use 2 other embellishments
• Have a minimum of 7 layers

I used a 50/50 mix of Prisma Glitter and Clear Detail embossing powder on the main bat stamped image, to give it a little glittery goodness.  I don't think my camera picked up the glitter very much in the photo.

I thought they turned out pretty cute, although I never really seem to give Halloween cards!

But they were fun to make, nonetheless.  ;)

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Layout:  Originals - Puzzle Backdrop

Paper:  White Daisy, Black, Clover Meadow, Twilight, Grey Flannel, Sunflower CS; Splendor B&T

Stamps:  Beware, Believe in Your Dreams

Inks:  Black, VersaMark

Embellishments:  Black stitched grosgrain, Pewter hinge, Pewter photo hanger, Pewter brads

Punches:  1 1/4" circle (CTMH), 1 1/2", 1 3/4", 2 1/2" circles (EK)

Other items:  Prisma glitter, Clear Detail embossing powder, Craft Heater, Paper piercer, Micro-tip scissors, 3D foam tape, Circle Coluzzle (retired), Pinking shears (Singer)

A Timber in Blue

Here's one of my fave sets (again) this time in shades of blues with a splash of red.  Yes, blue is not a typical colour for a Christmas tree, but still fun to do!  I used Magnifique B&Ts once again for my card.  It's amazing how different this card is from the one I posted yesterday, using basically the same products and just changing out the ink colors.

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Paper:  Magnifique B&T; Colonial White, Cranberry, Pacifica CS

Stamp:  A Timber

Inks:  Sky, Pacifica, Cranberry, Black

Embellishments:  Black brads, Red sparkles, Colonial White crochet ribbon

Other items:  Paper crimper (Fiskars), 3D foam tape, Paper piercer

A Timber CASE

I saw some cards made by Pine (Heather Nichols) that I just loved and had to CASE using CTMH stamps/papers/inks.

My little 3x3 card is made using a reverse side of one of the Mistletoe B&Ts. 

I created it with the idea in mind to give these to my customers who place orders with me a little closer to Christmastime.

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH):

Paper:  Magnifique B&T; Colonial White, Desert Sand, New England Ivy CS

Stamps:  A Timber - tree, Thank You - sentiment, Lifetime - stitching, Little Princess - swirl

Inks:  Chocolate, Bamboo, Pear, New England Ivy

Other items:  Red sparkle, Micro-tip scissors, 3D foam tape, Sponge

CTMH Spotlight Blog Hop - September

Welcome to the CTMH Spotlight Blog Hop for September! 

This month we are highlighting chipboard Dimensional Elements.

You should have arrived here from Melinda's blog, but this is a circular hop, so it doesn't matter where you start along the hop.

I used a chipboard snowflake from the DE Flurry set on my little 4x4 card.  One of the things I love about CTMH chipboard DEs is that they are white, and ready to take ink or whatever you want to add to them, or you can just leave them as is, like I seem to do so often.

On my snowflake I added some clear chunky glitter, using Liquid Glass to adhere it to the chipboard.

I hope you enjoyed your short stay, and now you can hop on over to Kristie's blog to see what she's created using CTMH Dimensional Elements.

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Paper:  Mistletoe B&Ts; Black, Colonial White, New England Ivy CS

Stamps:  All The Best - Noel, Unity - frame

Inks:  Cranberry, Black, New England Ivy, VersaMark

Embellishments:  DE Flurry, Colonial White ribbon, Black bigger brad, Chunky Glitter (SU)

Other items:  1 1/4" Circle Punch, Clear Detail embossing powder, Craft Heater, Liquid Glass, 3D foam tape

We've Moved Set

Gosh, I started this project soooo long ago.  I think it must have been around March, maybe.  It got set aside and I finally picked it up and completed it yesterday.  Sad thing was I didn't have much left to do.  Ever have projects like that?

It was so hard to take photos of, though.  The plastic cover reflects the light so terribly, so I apologize for my not-so-great pics.

I bought some empty SU stamp cases (for their cling stamps) when they came out in one of their mini catalogs, and started on this project not long after I received them (so that may give you an idea of when I started it... lol). 

I also started my project with an SU stamp set with the little houses, but by the time I finished my set, I had purchased a similar set with houses by CTMH which I used on the front cover.

The little plastic cases are just asking to be altered.  The outside has a plastic cover that you can slide in your paper so it stays protected.  Love that.  For the inside, I created a CS insert to separate my cards into two piles so they don't slide around.  I only created 4 cards and envelopes, but could of made 6 of each as I'm sure there is room to fit them.

For the "We've moved" sentiment, I just printed it out using a font on my laptop.

The cards are 3" x 4 3/4", and the CS insert is 5" x 7 3/4", scored at 3 1/2", 3 7/8", and 4 1/4".

Hope I've given you some inspiration/ideas today.

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Paper:  Sweet Home B&Ts; White Daisy, Indian Corn Blue, Black CS

Stamps:  Neighborhood, Good Neighbors (SU)

Inks:  Garnet, Black, Indian Corn Blue, Olive

Embellishments:  Colonial White paper flowers, Silver brad, Pewter mini brads

Punches:  Scallop heart (Marvy Uchida), Scallop trim edge (SU)

Heart To Heart Thanks...

I LOVE sparkles!  They add just the right oomph for this card to take it over the top.  :)

I'm also totally in love with this colour combo!  It's just so pleasing to my eye.

The stamp set I used is called Heart To Heart and is available only as part of the Magnifique WOTG (workshop on the go) Kit.  The larger leaves are actually from a heart shaped image, but I wanted to go a little out-of-the-box and try them out as leaves.  They work okay, I think...

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used are all CTMH:

Paper:  Magnifique B&T; Black, Pacifica, Olive, Colonial White CS

Stamp:  Heart To Heart - from the Magnifique WOTG Kit

Inks:  Black, Lagoon, Pacifica, Olive

Embellishments:  Clear Sparkles

Other items:  Micro-tip scissors, 3D foam tape, Large Coluzzle circle (retired)

Paper Bag Card

Isn't this the coolest idea?  A card made with a paper bag for the base?  I thought so.  :)

You can see Aaron Brown's videos on YouTube where she shows you how to make one.

Watch the videos here:

Part 1

Part 2

Go make one for yourself and then go to Aaron's blog, because she's offering a chance to win some great blog candy.

My card is very similar to Aaron's.  I tend to do that when I'm trying out a new technique, template (or whatever it may be), for the first time.  After I get a feel for it, it's so much easier to do something different.  It was really quick to make and I can see myself making one of these again.  And what a great use for all those paper bags!

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Paper:  Olive, Lagoon, Pacifica, Colonial White CS

Stamp:  So Sweet

Inks:  Chocolate, Olive, Lagoon, Pacifica

Embellishments:  Chocolate grosgrain, Colonial White twill, Lagoon stitched grosgrain; Chocolate bigger brads

Other items:  Waterbrush, Paper piercer, Paper bag (other)

Hooligans Halloween Candy Corn Treat Box

I've had the Scallop Envelope die (SU) for a while now and finally played with it.  I've seen many cute boxes created with the scallop envelope, so I wanted to try one out myself. 

I created a piece to wrap around the bottom and sides of the envelopes to adhere the envelope flats onto, creating a quick and easy box.  The CS piece is 1 9/16" x 7 3/4", scored at 2 1/4" in from both ends.  The B&Ts are from the Hooligans paper pack.  Even the little creature is from one of the B&Ts.  I just cut him out, matted him with some black CS and pop-dotted him with foam tape.

I'm always surprised how little the die boxes are because the finished projects I've seen always look so much bigger.  The size of this box is approx. 3 1/4" long x 2 1/4" tall x 1 9/16" wide.  Not huge by any means, but perfect for packaging up some Halloween sweets!

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Paper:  Hooligans B&Ts; Black CS

Stamps:  Tag The Occasion, Thriller (Sept. SOTM)

Inks:  Pear, Gypsy, Black

Embellishments:  Pear ribbon, Bitty sparkle, Purple chain (purse hardware by Leisurearts - LSS)

Punches:  1 1/4" circle, 1 1/2" circle (EK)

Other items:  Hole punch (EK), 3D foam tape, Scallop envelope die (SU), Micro-tip scissors, Score board (Martha Stewart)

(the bag for the candy is simply the one that I filled at the store...)

A Timber Christmas

Here's a Christmas card I just made using another great A-sized stamp set.  I love these little sets! 

This one is called A Timber and costs only $9.25 CAD, which includes 7 images.

Not a lot going on for this fairly simple card.  I inked up the tree image and stamped it once onto scrap paper, then rolled the edges in the same NEI ink before stamping it, to give it some depth.  I pop-dotted the present, dry embossed the Colonial White cardstock at the top, and crimped the Cranberry CS strip.  I was going to use Cranberry brads to decorate the tree with, but then remembered I had these red sparkles.  I like how they add the right touch.

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Paper:  Mistletoe B&T; Colonial White, New England Ivy, Cranberry CS

Stamp:  A Timber

Inks:  New England Ivy, Cranberry, Chocolate, Honey, VersaMark

Embellishments:  Chocolate polka dot organdy, Red sparkles

Other items:  Clear Detail embossing powder, Craft heater, Micro-tip scissors, Cuttlebug Holly Ribbons 5x7 embossing folder (Provo Craft), Cuttlebug (Provo Craft), Paper crimper (Fiskars), Slot punch (SU), 3D foam tape

Wishing You All Kinds of Happiness...

(This card is the one shown in my post below, but here's the deets on it.)

Just playing with a new-to-me stamp set that hadn't discovered ink yet, and some new CTMH colours -- Gypsy and Cotton Candy.  Aren't they yummy together?  I threw in a little Bamboo and Buttercup, too.

I used a waterbrush to paint the ink onto the little girl, after I stamped and clear embossed the image.

I also lazily pleated the ribbon.  I didn't want to pull out my sewing machine to do a simple gathering stitch, so I cheated and ran a piece of ScorTape down the backside of the Cotton Candy CS, then just pleated it as I layed the ribbon down, tucking and securing the ribbon ends down on the backside before adhering it to my card front.

Ain't she cute?

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Paper:  Zippidee B&T; Colonial White, Gypsy, Cotton Candy CS

Stamp:  Little Princess

Inks:  VersaMark, Black, Gypsy, Cotton Candy, Buttercup, Honey, Parchment, Blush

Embellishments:  Buttercup button, Amethyst waxy flax, Colonial White organdy with satin edges, Stardust Glitz Glitter glue

Other items:  Corner rounder, 3D foam tape, Micro-tip scissors, Waterbrush, Clear Detail embossing powder, Craft Heater, ScorTape (ScorPal)

How do I photograph my projects, you ask???

Quite often I have people emailing me asking how I take good ((cough)) pictures of my projects.  I always have to laugh at that because I am soooo far away from being a good photographer by any means.  I also don't have any type of photo-editing software on my laptop.  And I'm quite critical of my picture-taking, or lack of skills thereof.

So here's what I do to try to make my pictures look okay:

1)  I start with my really ugly homemade (extremely inexpensive) photo light box.  Here's some great instructions for you to create one of your own, which are very similar to how I made mine. 

I have 2 lights set up on either side of my box, nearest the front with the lights shining in from the top.  One light is an Ott light, and the other is actually a very similar one that I found at Walmart in the craft/sewing dept.  Just know that you need lights that give natural light, not the yellowed tones of standard bulbs.
(Note:  I don't use this set up for my layouts, as they won't fit.  I only use it for smaller projects...)

Here's an unedited before picture of my card, taken on a day that is gray and dreary, making my photo really fairly dark, even with some diffused lighting...

2)  Now I have to edit my picture.  This is where free is good.  I upload my photos to Photobucket.  Then one at a time I EDIT them.

3)  Once in EDIT, I first CROP, then adjust the CONTRAST and BRIGHTNESS to reach the desired lighting I didn't manage to capture in my extremely limited photography skills.  (I so need a class...  lol)

4)  Then before I save my edited picture, I add my name and blog address in a TEXT box.  Then SAVE it over the original.

5)  After it is saved, I right-click on my edited picture and save a copy to my laptop to upload here on my blog.

It sounds like a lot of work, doesn't it?  But it's worth it and after you do it a few times, you get used to it and it doesn't seem so bad.  Except on those days that Photobucket is being extremely annoying, which does happen from time-to-time.  Ugh!

So now here's the same photo after I've edited it. 

I hope I've answered your questions, and maybe even for those of you who didn't want to ask.  :)

Birthday card for my Friend

Using some leftover random stamped CS from my previous card, I wanted to make a birthday card for my friend.  Her birthday is next week and she's such a fall-colour-lovin' girl, that this should fit perfectly.

Inspiration for my card came from  this gorgeous one made by Lynn Put.

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used are all CTMH:
Paper:  White Daisy, Chocolate, Autumn Terracotta, New England Ivy CS
Stamps:  Timeless, Grown With Love, Tag The Occasion
Inks:  Chocolate, Autumn Terracotta, New England Ivy, Honey
Embellishment:  Autumn Terracotta gingham ribbon (retired)
Other:  3D foam tape

Giving Is Timeless... Heart 2 Heart Challenge

It's a colour challenge at the Heart 2 Heart Challenge blog this week.  The challenge colours are Honey, Autumn Terracotta and New England Ivy. 

Which admittedly are not my faves together, but I do like a challenge!  I also added Chocolate in there as a neutralizer, too.  ;)

With this colour combo, I new instantly I had to random stamp my own patterned paper.  I LOVE random stamping!  It's got to be one of my fave things to do with stamps and ink!  The stamp set I used is called Timeless and it is only available as part of the Olivia Workshop Kit.

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Paper:  White Daisy, New England Ivy, Autumn Terracotta, Chocolate CS

Stamp:  Timeless

Inks:  New England Ivy, Autumn Terracotta, Honey, Chocolate

Embellishments:  New England Ivy stitched grosgrain, Sunflower brads

Punches:  2 1/4" and 2 1/2" circle (EK), 2 7/8" scallop circle (McGill), Corner rounder

Other items:  3D foam tape, Sponge

My non-winning entry #3...

Well this is the last of my non-winning entries.  I really like this card. 

Santa has been flocked where his fluffy white trim and facial hair is. 

The rest of him was paper-pieced, except for his face which

I used a waterbush with ink and his boots I used watercolor pencils on. 

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH):

Paper:  Mistletoe B&Ts; Colonial White, Black, Garden Green, Honey CS

Stamp:  Share The Magic

Inks:  StazOn Black, VersaMark, Black, Cranberry, Bamboo, Baby Pink, Parchment; Black marker

Embellishments:  Mistletoe Accents Poinsettia flower, 3/8" Gold satin ribbon from Creative Basics Mistletoe Collection

Other items:  Wishes - Circle Collection, Clear Detail embossing powder, Fun flock, Watercolor pencils, Waterbrush, Glue pen, Bone folder, Micro-tip scissors, Craft Heater, Large Coluzzle circle cutter

Boring School Binders???

Boring school binders??? 

Why not make them a little more fun? 

Cole just began Grade 5 today.  This is his first year that his school supply list included binders.  The binders we picked out for him have pockets to slide sheets into on the front, back and spine.  So I just had to do something to decorate them somehow didn't I?  This is what I came up with this morning.  I thought I'd share with those of you who have school-aged children. 

I have a pack of SU Storybook DSP (retired or retiring, not sure) that I hadn't used for anything yet and I thought these would be perfect for Cole to make his binders uniquely HIS.  I trimmed the 12x12 sheets so the left side "wraps" around to the spine.

He can slide the front pieces out and colour them -- in his spare time, of course! 

The best part is that he loved the idea.  ;)

Don't ya just luv new school supplies? 

That was always the best part of returning to school... for me at least.  ;)

My non-winning entry #2...

Here's another non-winning card I submitted for the Make It From Your Heart Contest. 

I had previously submitted this card in our local Fall Fair and it took 1st place there.  ;)

I have one more non-winner to share with you, but I'll save it for another day.

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH):

Paper:  Olivia B&T; Sky, Chocolate, Colonial White CS

Stamps:  A Little Thanks, Botanical Borders, Smiles

Inks:  Sky, Chocolate, Pear, VersaMark

Embellishment:  Pear woven ribbon

Other items:  Corner rounder, Clear Detail embossing powder, Micro-tip scissors, Craft Heater, 3D foam tape

Looky what we did on Saturday evening...

Pauly Shore came to town, so of course we had to go check out his comedy show.  Hilarious! 

Loved him in Encino Man and Son-In-Law; my two faves he was in.  :)

My non-winning entry #1 for the Make It From Your Heart contest

I received a call from CTMH Corp. office yesterday telling me that I won for 2 of my entries for the Make It From Your Heart Contest for Consultants before each new Idea Book release.  Yay!

So now I can show you my non-winning entries.  Instead of showing them all 3 of them in one shot, I'll post them one at a time over the next little while. 

My 2 winning entries will have to wait until October for me to be able to share them with you here.

This one is a 3 1/2" x 8" double tag card, with one of the tags designed to hold a gift card.  You can easily attach a gift card with a glue dot.

So come back soon, as I'll be posting my second non-winning entry...

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH):

Paper:  Magnifique B&Ts; Colonial White, Chocolate, Pacifica, Lagoon, Sky CS

Stamps:  The Present, Classmate Alphabet

Inks:  Versamark, Chocolate, Pacifica, Lagoon, Sky

Embellishments:  Chocolate polka dot organdy, Colonial White round edge anchors, Chocolate brads

Punches:  1 1/4" cirlce punch, Corner rounder

Other items:  Clear Detail embossing powder, Craft Heater, Circle Coluzzle (retired), Sponge, 3D foam tape

Reusable Message Pad Holder

Don't you just love the idea of a reusable note pad holder?  You can easily just replace the note pad once it's finished because there's a slot to slide the cardboard backing into.  I can't take credit for the idea.  I came across it yesterday on Deb Felts' blog, where she shares her instructions on how to create it.  Luv that. 

This is my version of a phone message pad using Twitterpated B&Ts, and a new A-sized stamp set called A Sip.  I spelled out "Messages" with a set called Tiny Typewriter Alphabet.  Another fave of mine.  The cup is pop-dotted for added dimension.  I really wanted to use a Sweet Leaf button only to find that I'm out, so I improvised and used a Key Lime button, a retired colour.  I also wrapped a black pencil in striped B&T by using 1" wide Super Tape to adhere it with.

On the inside, I added a small piece of cardstock (my own addition to Deb's instructions) to wrap from the front to the back and decorated the front of it with B&T.  I only adhered this piece to the back and the bound side edge of the notepad, leaving the front free to be able to tear pages off of the notepad easily.

Oh, and I will also mention where I got the notepads from.  Quite a while ago I bought a pack of 5x8 notepads from Staples and had them cut them in half lengthwise to make them 2 1/2" x 8".  So I still have quite a few left over for future projects. 

Hope I inspired you to give it a try yourself.

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Paper:  Twitterpated B&T; Colonial White, Chocolate, Crystal Blue CS

Stamps:  A Sip, Tiny Typewriter Alphabet

Inks:  Sorbet, Chocolate

Embellishments:  Colonial White Crochet ribbon, Key Lime button, Chocolate waxy flax, Paper flowers from Chocolate Mini-Medleys Collection, Bitty Sparkles

Punches:  Word Window punch (SU), 1/2" circle punch (SU)

Other items:  3D foam tape, 1" Super Tape (Provo Craft), Pencil (Staples brand), Micro-tip scissors

It's September! That means a NEW Idea Book and a NEW Stamp of the Month!

Yay!  It's finally time to launch the new Idea Book! 

You can view it online HERE.

~~~~~

And of course a new month means a new SOTM. 

The featured SOTM for September is called Thriller.

Ask me how you can get it at a discount or for FREE.

Happy creating!  :)