Friday, October 29, 2010

Flower Bookmarks



The addiction continues, and this time round I made a few flower bookmarks.  The best part is they are made from scraps in my "to be used later" box.  This is a box I use to put things that don't make it on to a card for whatever reason:  changed my mind, colours were wrong, too big, too small etc., etc.  Figured it was about time I start using some things in the box rather than just adding to it LOL!

It's great fun mixing up the border punches along the bottom.  Next time I won't use the twine because it catches when you are putting the bookmark on and that would drive me nuts (that is the practical side of me speaking).  However, for aesthetics, it works just fine LOL!

Thanks for bearing with me and all these bookmarks!! If you haven't tried on yet, do!  They are very easy to make and the sky is the limit :)

Have a fabulous day!





What's In It? 

Verve Flower
Stamps: (Verve) Great Friend, (Stampin' Up) French Script
Paper:  So Saffron, Real Red
Ink:  So Saffron
Accessories:  Circle and Scalloped Circle Nesties, Stampin' Up! Border Punch, Script Embossing Folder, Ribbon, Half Pearl

Punched Flower
Paper:  Brocade Blue, Pretty in Pink
Accessories:  Circle and Scalloped Circle Nesties, SU Flower Punches, 3/8" Circle Punch,  Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, SU Border Punch, Silver Twine, Blue  Half Pearls

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Inkspirations Goes Off The Wall


 I loved the wonderful pictures in the inspiration piece and corresponding colours for this week's Off The Wall Colour Challenge so I just had to play along.  I combined it with this week's Inkspirations  sketch, even though I missed the submission link - darn it all anyway!  

The earthy colours were a great excuse to use my PTI Turning A New Leaf set (love this set!).  Leaf images just make me happy :) 

The wonderful striped ribbon which I found at my trustworthy ribbon supplier, the Michael's ribbon bin LOL started things off.  I matted it with the scalloped, white border for a little punch, embossed the white background panel with Diamonds in the Rough,  and added some green butterflies on the focal image.  Can't say I have ever seen a green butterfly, but they apparently exist in my craft room LOL! 


Scruffy is back to his normal self and still getting a bit more attention than normal so I have to bring him back to reality with his medications LOL!  He had me laughing the other day as one of the medications must taste awful.  He scrunched his face up like the guy on the Buckley's add and then he runs to the tap for a drink of water.  Thankfully he only has a few days left of that one.

Thanks for coming by to say hi and hope you're having or have had a great day, depending on when you read this post :)




What's In It?

Stamps:  (PTI) Turning A New Leaf
Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Wild Wasabi
Ink:  Certainly Celery, Close to Cocoa
Accessories:  Diamonds in the Rough Embossing Folder, Circle and Scalloped Circle Nesties, Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch, SU Scalloped Border Punch, Half Pearls

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Color Dare 82


COLOR DARE 82
Daffodil Delight
Night of Navy
Old Olive



This was such a fun colour combination to work with, I will definitely be using it again :)  I haven't used Night of Navy all that much, but the more I use it the more I love it.  Plus, it looks stunning with olive and celery, two of my favorite greens.

Once again, I paired this week's colours with Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch - can you tell I love her sketches LOL!  The large focal panel  made me immediately think of one of my favorite Stampin' Up sets, For All You Do.  I haven't used it for a while due to my recent Verve flower craze, so out it came. 

Some Girl's Papier polka dotted olive DP was a perfect match and accented with saffron all round.

The rest of the Team has lots of inspiration for you.  You can check out their creations here:

We'd love you to join us!  Simply create a card using this week's colours and add your card to InLinkz on the The Colour Dare Blog.  If  you are uploading to a public gallery, please make sure to use the keyword CD82.   Each week, Riley will select a Featured Stamper and showcase your card on her blog.


Thanks for stopping in and have a great day :)




What's In It?

Stamps: (SU) For All You Do
Paper:  Night of Navy, Paper Doll DP
Ink:  Old Olive, Night of Navy, So Saffron
Accessories:  5/8" Satin Saffron Ribbon, Black Half Pearls, SU Scalloped Border Punch, Dimensionals

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Garden Silhouette Bookmark


I only had a bit of time to stamp today so I decided to make another bookmark.  I really wanted to used some sheer, silver ribbon with a big bow or added a bow to the grosgrain ribbon, but being the practical person that I am, I just couldn't do it LOL!  I would be totally miffed having a huge lump in my book where the bookmark was not to mention my book not closing properly.  So, I keep things pretty simple in the embellishment department when I make these so they remain functional - at least from my perspective LOL!  I have a few more in store for you but I'll spread them over the next three weeks so you don't get sick of seeing them :)

Thanks for all your kind words about our kitty's teeth cleaning and possible tooth removal yesterday.  I'm glad to report his teeth (and gums) look fabulous.  They are all pearly white now and he didn't need to have any pulled :)  Only thing left to deal with is giving him some medicine over the next week.  His blood work was good and the vet says he is in great shape for his age - biiiiiig happy "sigh" :D  

We did have a fun discovery yesterday at his expense.  When we removed the bandage on his front leg where they had to shave a bit of fur to insert the IV, we noticed he has spotted skin like his fur pattern!  He's a spotted tabby and has spotted skin to match LOL!   Who knew?!  Needless to say, we are all glad this is behind us and it is great to have Scruffy back to his normal self today :)

Have a fabulous day and I'll be back tomorrow with my Color Dare card for this week.



What's In It?
Stamps:  Garden Silhouettes
Paper:  Pretty in Pink, Mint green
Ink:  Sage Shadow, Pretty in Pink
Accessories:  Scalloped and Square Nesties, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Threading Water Border Punch, Bling, Half Pearls, 1/4" Sage Grosgrain Ribbon

Monday, October 25, 2010

I Lift My Eyes


Amber let us chose our own inspiration for this sketch.  I chose the fabulous fall colours that are all around me.  You can even see a touch of the yellow tree in my neighbour's back yard on the left side of the card LOL!   I have many a happy "sigh" when I see the beauty around me at this time of year - that is until the leaves begin to fall and you have to rake them up LOL!

I chose the Verve Psalm 121: 1-2 Plain Jane as my focal sentiment and paired it with some Basic Grey Capella and an unknown polka dotted piece that was in my scrap pile.  Not thrilled with the mix, but nothing else I had seemed to work.

I rounded the corner on the top right to try to fill in that space a bit.  Still seems a bit empty, but I'm going with it for now.  Got all four sketches done this month (phew), so I'm a happy camper, and have my fingers crossed in the hopes of being the winner of the entire next release.

Off to take our kitty to the vet for  some teeth cleaning and a possible tooth extraction.  Poor little guy.  Hopefully he isn't mad at me for long at having taken him - one never knows with a cat LOL!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by for a visit :)




What's In It?
Stamps:  (Verve) Psalm 121: 1-2
Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Cream Linen, Basic Grey Capella
Ink:  Chocolate Chip
Accessories:  Labels 4 Nesties, SU Scalloped Border Punch, Corner Rounder, 1/4" Moss Grossgrain Ribbon, Yellow Button, Twine, Glue Dot, Dimensionals

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Abundant Blessings




I'm doing this month's challenges all backwards as this was the first Verve challenge for October LOL!  Nice to mix it up sometimes :) 

I chose the first inspiration picture as the gray in the background looked great with the red and orange and it wasn't a colour combo I would have come up with myself.

I decided to use this cute turkey from Bountiful Harvest.  I coloured him with Twinkling H2O's as I don't own Copics.  Had a ball with the feathers in his tail, but as you can see, my colouring of the pumpkin has much to be desired.  Most likely due to the fact I changed my mind on the colours so many times....but at least he twinkles LOL!

The red and orange panel are stamped with the leaves from Autumn Splendor  - just love these leaves!  A button on the sentiment and some half pearls to fill in the white space on the left and I'm just about caught up on the challenges for this month.

In keeping with the sentiment on the card, you guys are my blog's abundant blessings :)  Thank you to all of you who come by and visit (((hugs))).





What's In It?
Stamps:  (Verve) Autumn Splendor, Bountiful Harvest
Paper:  Basic Grey, Real Red, Only Orange
Ink: VersaMark, Black
Accessories::  Oval and Scalloped Oval Nesites, Twinkling H2Os, Half Pearls, Button, Twine, Dimensionals 

Friday, October 22, 2010

One More Bookmark....


I think I have to add making these bookmarks to my addiction list, as they are just too fun to make!! I have a few more that need to get done, so be forewarned LOL!

I love this night of navy and celery colour combo. Don't think I've used it much in the past, but will be in the future!  I embossed the butterfly with my Birds and Swirls embossing folder, scored the white panel and added this fun ribbon I found in the Michael's ribbon bin along the bottom.

Off to make another bookmark :)  Thanks for popping in!





What's In It?
Paper: Night of Navy, Certainly Celery
Accessories:  SU Border Punch, Scor-Pal, Circle and Scalloped Circle Nesties, SU Sizzex Butterfly Die, Birds and Swirls and Swiss Dots Embossing Folders, Bling, Ribbon

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Curtain Calling Verve


This week, Amber decided to combine the sketch with a colour challenge of brown, turquoise and orange.  As it turns out, these are this week's Curtain Call colours, so I got a two-fer :)  Absolutely love this colour combination! 

I pulled out Verve's Autumn Splendor, which I won through the release sketch challenges for the last release, and went to work.  Just love how Julee included the same shape leaves in different sizes as well as just their outlines.  Endless possibilities and combinations!

I stamped three of the small leaf images on the turquoise background panel with VersaMark to create a bit of a pattern (bit hard to see in the picture), and then used one of the large leaf images as my focal point.  The sentiment is a bonus "thanks for your order" stamp Julee included in one of my orders a while back.  The bling on the focal panel is a la Maureen.  Love how she often adds little touches of bling on her cards.  In my case, it filled in the empty space on the right of the leaves perfectly :)

The more I look at this colour combination, the more I want to make another card using it!  Think I know what I'll be doing today LOL!  Have a great day!




What's In It?
Stamps:  (Verve) Autumn Splendor
Paper:  Only Orange, Turquoise, Chocolate Chip
Ink:  VersaMark, Tempting Turquoise, Chocolate Chip, Only Orange
Accessories:  Labels 3 Nestie, Circle Nestie, Threading Water Punch, Orange Ribbon, Half Pearls, Bling, Dimensionals


Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Color Dare 81



 COLOR DARE 81
Peach Parfait
Rich Razzleberry
Sahara Sand

I had to do some substituting this week as I don't own any Rich Razzleberry or Peach Parfait, but the colours worked quite nicely :)

It was wonderful to use one of Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketches again as I just love her sketches and haven't had a chance to play along for some time.  That being said, I promptly flipped the sketch to accommodate my ribbon LOL!  

Since I still had Great Friend on my desk (actually it has never really been put away yet!), it was the perfect excuse to use it again...sorry....I just can't put these gorgeous Verve flowers down!!  I stamped the flowers in Apricot Appeal and matted them on to circle and Label 3 Nesties.

In an attempt (note the word attempt LOL!) to break my habit of using Swiss Dots on everything, I decided to stamp one of the images from Verve's Accent Notes on the Eggplant panel for a bit of a pattern, and used my PTI medium scallop die (love this thing!) for the side scallops.  A few black accents and I was good to go :)

The rest of the Team has lots of inspiration for you.  You can check out their creations here:

We'd love you to join us!  Simply create a card using this week's colours and add your card to InLinkz on the The Colour Dare Blog.  If  you are uploading to a public gallery, please make sure to use the keyword CD81.   Each week, Riley will select a Featured Stamper and showcase your card on her blog. 

The sun is shining here and the Fall colours are in full display...happy sigh :) Have a great day!




What's In It?
Stamps:  (Verve) Great Friend, Accent Notes
Paper:  Elegant Eggplant, Sahara Sand
Ink:  Apricot Appeal, VersaMark
Accessories:  Labels 3 Nesties, Circle Nesties, PTI Medium Scallop Die, 5/8" White Satin Ribbon, Black Half Pearls, Black Button, Glue Dot, Dimensionals 



Tuesday, October 19, 2010

My Newest Addiction....


Welcome to my newest addiction LOL!  Just love making these corner bookmarks.  They are a small canvas that is a lot of fun to work with - kind of like making a 3 x 3 card.  Love this colour combination and how it turned out.  Since I have a lot of friends and family members that read, this will most likely turn into the perfect stocking sutffer :)  I'm sure I'll be making more so stay tuned LOL!

Sorry about the horrible picture....I'll replace it shortly!  Totally forgot to put a coloured piece of card stock under the book as a background -- it was a crazy busy morning and the picture shows it!!





What's In It?
Paper:  Black, Real red, White, Going Grey
Accessories:  Martha Stewart Border Punch and Leaf Punch, Marvy Flower Punch, Circle Punch, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Ribbon

Monday, October 18, 2010

Verve October Week 3



In honor of Verve's Diva Jackie Pedro becoming a Dirty Girl on SCS, the Verve challenge this week was to CASE (copy and share everything) one of her cards.

I just love Jackie's work and had so much fun scrolling through her SCS gallery.  In the end, I chose this card.

In keeping with my Verve flower addiction, I pulled out my Dream Big flower set and layered away :)  I switched the colour of the flower and the side the leaves were on, as well as the embossed back ground pattern. The sentiment is from the Because of You set and I switched it to an oval shape and matted it white on white with the scalloped oval punch.

Had so much fun casing this card, I just may have to go back and do another one LOL!

As always, thanks or stopping by.  Hope you have a fabulous day!




What's In It? 
Stamps:  (Verve) Dream Big, Because Of You
Paper:  Black, White
Ink:  Pretty in Pink, Mellow Moss
Accessories:  Diamonds in the Rough Embossing Folder, PTI Large Scallop Die, 5/8" Pink Satin Ribbon, Stampin' Up Large Oval and Scalloped Oval Punches, Black Button, Glue Dot, Dimensionals

Friday, October 15, 2010

Curtain Call Act 51



Stacey came up with yet another fabulous colour combination for this week's Curtain Call challenge, so I had to play along again.  I had to substitute the Marina Mist with blue that is close to Cool Caribbean.  Figured the ocean themed titles were a match LOL!

I combined the colours with this week's Clean and Simple Fall To Layout because my Verve flowers were calling my name again :)   I used the Great Friend flower this time and stamped it with French Script for a little pattern on the flower.  The fabulous sentiment is from Kind Words, and I used the Leafy Branch embossing folder on the white panel for a little dimension.  I flipped back and forth between matting the embossed panel with black or leaving it white.  It's amazing how one little mat can change the look of your card so drastically.  As you can tell, the white on white won out :) 

Happy Friday and have a great weekend!!






What's In It?
Stamps:  (Verve) Kind Words, Great Friend
Paper:  So Saffron, Cool Caribbean, Kraft, Black and White
Ink: VersaMark, Black
Accessories:  Leafy Branch Embossing Folder, 5/8" Black Satin Ribbon, Black  Half Pearls, Dimensionals

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Ornamental Sketch For Me To Try



I decided to use this week's 2Sketches4You for this card as I have been wanting to use my new ornament punch again.  I paired it with the Martha Stewart Pine Branch punch so the ornament had something to hang on.

The white panel was just too plain so I added some Swiss Dots...I know, I know...to give it some texture.  Looking at it, I think I should maybe have tried the snowflakes instead.  Hmmm...may have to go back and try that LOL!

The upper portion of the card still seemed pretty bare (consequence of not using DP) so I added some red ribbon and a bow.  It's not part of the sketch, but something was needed up there.  Not totally sold on this card.  Something is just not sitting right with me...  But, tomorrow is another day, another card can be made, and so I move on LOL! 

Thanks for visiting today :)  Have a  blessed day.




What's In It?
Stamps:  Contempo Christmas
Paper:  Real Red, Mellow Moss, More Mustard
Ink:  Real Red
Accessories:  Martha Stewart Pine Branch Punch, Oval and Scalloped Oval Nesties, Stampin' Up Ornament Punch, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Gold Twine, Gold Half Pearls, Crimper, Ribbon, Button, Glue Dot, Dimensionals

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Color Dare 80



COLOR DARE 80
Poppy Parade
Pear Pizzazz
Chocolate Chip
Very Vanilla

I combined this week's Color Dare with this week's WaltzingMouse Sketch because the sketch screamed Christmas trees when I saw it and the colours were prefect.  Don't you just love it when the sketch makes the card for you :)  In addition, with this past weekend being our Canadian Thanksgiving, (lots of fun family time and my hubby the chef made a fabulous meal) it was a crazy busy weekend with very little stamping time, so a CAS card fit the bill perfectly :)

I embossed each tree with a different pattern, added some bling to the top of each tree, outlined the image with a black fine tipped felt pen, and presto, I had a great CAS Christmas card :)  This one may very well become one of my Christmas cards this year as it is easy to make and mail friendly - double bonus!
 
The rest of the Team has lots of inspiration for you.  You can check out their creations here:

We'd love you to join us!  Simply create a card using this week's colours and add your card to InLinkz on the The Colour Dare Blog.  If  you are uploading to a public gallery, please make sure to use the keyword CD80.   Each week, Riley will select a Featured Stamper and showcase your card on her blog. 

Have a fabulous day :)





What's In It?
Stamps:  (SU) Contempo Christmas
Paper:  Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, Real Red
Ink: Black
Accessories:  D'Vine Swirls Embossing Folder, Snowflakes Embossing Folder, Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Black Micron Fine Tip Felt Pen, Bling


Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Corner Bookmarks


I have seen these corner bookmarks on quite a few blogs, Denise Marzec's The Paper Landscaper, in particular. She has posted about seven or eight beauties on her blog, and I finally gave in and decided to try one.  You can find a tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers here.

I kept mine pretty simple, with minimal embellishments, as I wasn't sure how bulky it would be in the book.  After trying it in one of my books, it is just fine, so I may go ahead and add a few more gold half pearls to the tree to glitz it up a bit :)  

They are really simple and a lot of fun to make.  When I showed this one to my daughter (who is an avid reader), she told me she wanted a few for herself.  I now have a perfect stocking stuffer for her :)   

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend with lots of family time and a great feast cooked by my hubby, the gourmet chef in the family.  Turkey soup is made and we have a fridge full of leftovers to keep us going through the week LOL!

Back tomorrow with my Color Dare card.  Have a great day :)




What's In It?
Stamps:  (SU) Contempo Christmas
Paper:  Mellow Moss, Real Red
Ink:  Real Red
Accessories:  Oval and Scalloped Oval Nesties, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Martha Stewart Border Punch, Gold Twine, Gold Half Pearls, Dimensinoals

Friday, October 8, 2010

Just Adding Ink To My Mojo



It's the first Monday of the month so that means it's contest time with a chance to win some free Verve over on the Mojo Monday Sketch Blog.

I combined this week's sketch with a Just Add Ink colour combo from last week.  I somehow never seem to get to this challenge in time...maybe next week!

This wonderful Verve flower hasn't seen some ink in a while so out it come.  Love how you can turn it into a flower or a butterfly.  The sentiment was a perfect fit for the white space that was left and since I don't own any Rose Red ribbon I crimped a strip of paper to use instead.  I played around with a ton of options for the artichoke panel and nothing seemed to work so I defaulted to my card making crutch, Swiss Dots.  Not thrilled with the look, but I just couldn't get anything else to work so they stayed.

This weekend is Thanksgiving for those of us who life in Canada.  I always love reflecting on what to be thankful for - especially easy and enjoyable for a "glass half full" type of person :)

Since I don't know if I'll have time to create and post this weekend, I just want to tell you how thankful I am  for each and every one of you who takes some time out of your busy day to drop by and read my ramblings, leave me a comment, or simply just drop by (((hugs))).  It is food for the card makers soul :)  You bless me daily, and I have so enjoyed getting to know many of you on a deeper level.

Have a blessed weekend and I'll make sure I eat some turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberry, cherry pie etc. for those of you who aren't celebrating this weekend :D
    



What's In It?
Stamps:  (Verve) Enjoy, Feel The Sun
Paper: Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie
Ink:  Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories:  Circle and Scalloped Circle Nesties, Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch, Crimper, Black  Half Perals, Dimensionals

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Not One But Two Off Angle Panels!



I saved this Verve sketch for last because off angle panels and I don't get along very well...they just mess with my anal side something fierce!  However, due to my desire and quest for a chance to win some Verve, I will deal with it and make it work even if it I get worked over by a sketch LOL! 

This week's Our Creative Corner colour challenge as my spring board into this sketch.  More yummy fall colours to work with :) I pulled out some October Afternoon DP and the rust/cajun polka dotted Recollections DP I got at Mike's and went to work.  Then the hard part began as there wasn't just one off angle panel to deal with but two!

First one was easy as the sentiment went on it but then I had to figure out what the heck to do with the second one.  I was doing a happy dance at having two DPs on one card (though it doesn't really count as they are both the same pattern just in different colours LOL!) so it was back to card stock for me.  I pulled out my crimper to add some texture and interest to the panel and used a prima I got from Stacy (aka Twinshappy - yes, I still have some, Stacy!!) for the circle element of the sketch.  The top left corner looked a bit empty so a few half pearls solved the issue.

Phew!  I've completed all five sketches and even survived this one LOL!  Now, I get to wait and see if I'm one of the lucky winners announced this Friday at the release party.

Thanks for listening to my complaining today and have a fabulous day!




What's In It?
Stamps:  (Verve) Hebrews 11:1 Plain Jane
Paper:  Old Olive, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Vanilla, October Afternoon DP, Recollections DP
Ink:  Chocolate Chip
Accessories:  Crimper, Prima, Button, Glue Dot, Twine, Half Pearls, Dimensionals