Daisy Inspriation Card

Amber came up with some more wonderful foyer pictures this week as well as a great sketch.  I am still getting used to inspiration challenges, but after having done two, I must say they are growing on me :D  The sky is the limit on these and it is so much fun to see what everyone chooses to use for their inspiration piece.  Even more fun is seeing the same inspiration piece providing so many different cards that express everyone's personality and style.  That's what I just love about stamping.  Plus there is always room for learning more - just ask my one creative gene LOL!

I opted to go with the first foyer picture as there was a lot of white, and I love white space.  When deciding on what to use as inspiration, my eye kept going back to the wonderful daisy handbag in the bottom left corner. I think if you click on it you can get a larger picture so you can really see what a wonderful bag it is.  The colour combination on the bag was fun too, and since I love flowers, it was a slam dunk as my inspiration piece.  I used black for my main panel and then matted the white and magenta colours on top of it.  Next was the main image panel, and I was reeeeally wishing I had a big old Prima to put in the middle of it, but no such luck.  That meant I had to get creative.  I dug through my SU stamp sets and found a set I have always loved, Watercolour Garden.  It has a lovely daisy in it so I stamped it in magenta with a black center and was ready to go with it.  However, my "one creative gene" began to scream hysterically with a brilliant idea:  "Why not make your own daisies with your MS punch and mimic a portion of the hand bag!"  Oh my, I was giddy with delight as I punched, layered and made my own daisies like the ones on the bag.  All you ladies out there in blog land and on SCS are definitely rubbing off on me - thank you!!  I finished things off with some sheer black ribbon - for some reason I've been on a roll with it lately - and three black half pearls to balance things off.  I am applauding my one creative gene loudly this afternoon (especially after having to teach Sunday School to 65 Grade 1 - 4s this morning!) as I really like how this card turned out.

Thanks so much for stopping in today.  Enjoy the rest of your day, as much as you have left and have a fabulous week ahead.

Paper: Basic Black, Marvelous Magenta, Lovely Lilac, Pretty in Pink, White

Accessories:  Martha Stewart Daisy Punch, 1/2" Circle Punch,  5/8" Sheer Black Ribbon, Black Half Pearls, Dimensionals

Valentine's Mojo

This week's Mojo sketch was done by Teresa Kline.  I just love Teresa's work.  If you haven't checked out her blog you can do so here.  She also has a great SCS gallery.

When I first saw this sketch, my vacation mode mojo wasn't too happy LOL!  But after thinking things through a bit I decided I wanted to make a Valentine's Day card.  Initially there were two hearts in the circle, but it just wasn't working for me so I decided to go with my Heart Nesties in lieu of the circle. I tied a bow around one side of the heart and added a button to the middle.  I wanted to add a red button but didn't have any so I had to go with a pink button with red ribbon instead.  Of course, my Swiss Dots embossing folder had to make an appearance so I embossed the white heart for some texture (believe it or not, I actually bought a second Swiss Dots Embossing folder so I have a back up when this one wears out LOL!) and crimped the red panel in lieu of DP as I don't have any red and white or pink and white DPs I could use.  Hmmmm, I feel the need for some shopping :D.

I wanted to add a sentiment, and this fabulous "I Love You" from the Mike's $1.50 stamp bin was perfect and I just love the script.  Something was still missing so I pulled out my $1.50 mini heart punch from Mike's and added three hearts down the side, plus a button next to the script to balance off the button on the bow and then finished things off with five, silver half pearls under the sentiment. 

Thanks so much for dropping by and have a fabulous day :D





What's In It?
Stamps:  Craft Smart $1.50 Stamp from Michaels
Paper:  Real Red, Pretty in Pink
Ink:  Black
Accessories:  Heart Nesties, 5/8" Pink Satin Ribbon, Bottons, Red 1/4" Red Satin Ribbon, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Crimper, SU Scalloped Punch, Michael's Mini $1.50 Heart Punch, Glue Dots, Silver Half Pearls, Dimensionals

Crocuses in January

Tuesdays are always fun because they bring Mercy's weekly sketch. What a great way to get back into the stamping groove :D  I had a few things in mind for this but when I went to get the mail, lone behold there were the wonderful Flourishes Calendar Flower sets that I won on Christine's blog - score.  Since I am a January baby and Crocuses are January's flower (plus I LOVE them), I decided to give this set a whirl.  I toyed with inking it in black and colouring, but since I don't have Copics or markers I thought I'd try to just ink the colour on the stamp.  Out came the SU Spots and thankfully, the ink is in all the right places LOL!  I paired the Lavender Lace with Glorious green and Night of Navy.  Had to get the Swiss Dots in there somewhere and though my birthday is still two weeks away, out came the Apron Lace punch for the border.  What can I say, old B & E habits die hard....bowing my head in shame!  After taking the picture I almost think the crocuses need to be coloured in so the navy doesn't overpower them so much. Gotta love hind sight!

I am re-reading the Twilight series since I went to see New Moon over the Christmas break.  I must say Jacob's abs, pecs and guns got to me big time in that movie - excuse me while I wipe the drool off my keyboard LOL!  Thankfully, I've read three of the books already and only have one to go because my sleeping hours are once again suffering.  I'll have to put a hold on the other new books I got for Christmas until I get caught up on my sleep :D

Thanks for dropping in today.  Have a fabulous day :D

What's In It?
Stamps:  Flourishes A Year in Flowers Calendar Set 1
Paper:  Lavender Lace, Night of Navy
Ink: Lavender Lace, Glorious Green
Accessories:  Scalloped Circle and Circle Nesties, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Fiskars Apron Lace Punch, Silver Brads, 5/8" White Gross Grain Ribbon, Dimensionals

Verve Sketches Go Inspirational

I haven't stamped for about two weeks and it feels wonderful to do so again!  The kids are back in school and hubby is back at work, and this introvert is thoroughly enjoying the quiet house and some much needed alone time :D  Can you hear the "aaaaah" all the way from where you are LOL!

Amber has come up with a fabulous new twist for the 2010Verve sketches.  This year she will be using inspiration pictures as the twist.  Every month she will focus on a different room in a house and you can play to your hearts content without worrying about a twist -- at least that is wonderful for me because more than once last year I had to make a second card because I forgot to add the twist to the sketch LOL!   I have only done one inspiration challenge to date, so this will stretch me and get the old juices going!  In addition, each month's winner will will not only win the entire Verve release, but they will also get to be the Guest Sketch Diva for the next month.  That means they get to provide a sample of Amber's sketch for all of us to enjoy when she first posts it.  What a fabulous opportunity and change of pace for all of us :D


I chose this inspiration sketch to work from.  I love black, red and white cards and a little gray thrown in never hurts anyone :D  That being said, the picture I chose was an easy default for me!  Plus, since I love flowers, what more can I ask for LOL! !I kept with the flower theme in the picture by using Verve's Floral Whimsy.  Some black half pearls gave the image a bit of dimension and I used Verve's Circular Sayings for the sentiment and added three red Tiny Twinkles to balance things off.  I used my much loved Martha Stewart heart border punch for the red panel and finished things off with some sheer black ribbon.  


Thanks for stopping by today :D  I'm off to work on Mercy's Tuesday sketch next and then the Mojo Monday sketch.  Have a great day!




What's In It?
Stamps: Verve - Floral Fantasy, Circular Sentiments
Paper: Real Red, Basic Black, Grey 
Ink: Black, Garden Green, Real Red 
Accessories:  Martha Stewart Heart Border Punch, Black Half Pearls, 1 3/8" and 1 1/4" Circle Punches, Taylor Tiny Twinkles, Sheer Black 5/8" Ribbon, Dimensionals

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year everyone!!  Sorry it's been so long since I've posted.   Life gets busy when you host Christmas, and when company is sleeping in your crafting area it is not conducive to stamping LOL!

I must admit I actually miss not having the white Christmas we had last year.  However, I sure don't miss shoveling the four feet of snow off our driveway LOL!  Mind you, I did manage to lose two pounds with all the shoveling and my biceps hadn't looked that good in years!  So, to those of you who got hit by the snowfall on the East Coast, I empathized with you!!

Christmas was delightful.  I thoroughly enjoyed being without a schedule, having jammie days and simply enjoying family time.  We hung out, played on the Wii, made some puzzles and enjoyed eating all the wonderful food my husband prepared.  Yes, he is the head chef (and a gourmet chef at that) in our house and I am sues chef and clean up girl :D  On New Year's Eve my hubby made a FABULOUS five course meal that we shared with some very dear friends.  Butternut squash soup with roasted red peppers and fried garlic sausage to start, a caesar salad with home made sour dough croutons, grated parmesan cheese and shrimp on it, then  linguine with clams and shrimp in a delightful sauce, followed by some fabulous beef tenderloin with a raspberry sauce that was to DIE for along with some green beans almondine and a mushroom, three cheese risotto.  Dessert was chocolate cake with a raspberry/ pomegranate sorbet.  Oh, and I can't forget the fabulous wines too.  Needless to say, my mouth is watering as I type this and my taste buds are relieving that amazing, five star meal!!  The sad part of New Year's is these very dear friends told us they will be moving to Alberta sometime over the next few months as he got a dream job as a prof at the University of Alberta.  I almost cried when I hear the news, but am very thankful they are only one province over and with my hubby's brother in Edmonton and sister in Calgary, I'm sure we will visit them when we head out to visit family in Alberta. 

I always enjoy the start of a New Year as it provides a great opportunity to reflect back on the past year and look ahead to the new one.  It  never ceases to amaze me how much goes on in a year when I take the time to look back on it.  My kids are growing up waaaay too quickly (wish I could freeze frame them at times) and life just seems to sail by quicker than I'd like it to at times!  I remember being a kid and telling my mom I was bored, to which she replied, "When you are older, you will wish you were bored!"  How true her words were!!!  However, in the midst of all the business of the year, I have so many things I can be thankful for and wonderful memories I have treasured in my heart.

With a new year also comes an opportunity to set a few goals.  This year I 'm aiming to keep my stamping area much neater, I want to get the basement cleaned up and kept that way, and I want to get into a more scheduled exercise routine as gravity and aging definitely don't do good things to one's body LOL!  How about you?

Sorry I rambled on so long - think I missed you guys :D  I'll be back shortly with the first Verve Sketch of 2010.

Merry Christmas Everyone

Just wanted to wish you a blessed Christmas as you celebrate the birth of Christ, God's gift to the world, with family and friends.  May the peace, love, joy and hope presented to us that very first Christmas night touch and fill your heart in new ways, and may 2010 be a year in which some of the desires of your heart are fulfilled. 

In addition, I want to take a moment to thank every one of you who pops by to visit my little bit of blog land.  I have had so much fun starting this blog.  I love learning new things, and it's been wonderful learning about something in cyber world.  Built in bonus: it keeps the gray matter hopping and hopefully has me somewhere near where my kids are at in their knowledge of computers LOL!  However, even more so, I have enjoyed meeting and getting to know those of you who come by to say hi :D  Thank you for all your encouraging comments, they make my day (((hugs)))!!


Not sure when I'll be able to post next as we are hosting Christmas this year and things will be busy with family around.  However, as soon as things settle down and our guest room (aka my stamping room) no longer has people residing in it, I'll be in there like a dirty shirt!!

Christmas blessings to you all!!

Spring Mojo

What a fun Mojo Sketch Julee came up with this week. Just perfect for squeezing in a card before Christmas.

With all the news and pictures on blogs of the snow that has fallen on the East Coast, plus vivid memories of the huge dump of snow we got last Christmas, I decided to think Spring!  I pulled out this cute set and my Michael's $1.50 mini  flower punch and went to work with this colour combo that just makes me happy :)    Lots of flowers plus some butterflies and I managed to bring a tiny bit of Spring into my craft room :D  Thankfully, the Apron Lace punch I ordered on line for my birthday in January (gotta take advantage of the sales while they are happening) hasn't arrived yet or you know what I'd be very tempted to do LOL!!  My Threading Water punch worked wonderfully instead.

The sentiment had to have a soft feel to it to match the rest of the card so I pulled out SU's Think Happy Thoughts.  The sentiment stamped and punched easily, but when it came to centering the flower in the sentiment circle, I couldn't do it for the life of me - ugh.  I gave up after three tries so just pretend it's nice and centered, okay?!

The white space needed a little something so I tried various scoring patterns and finally settled on two lines a quarter inch apart on the top and bottom of the white panels.  Unfortunately, my far from professional photography skills could only get the top set to show up, but I promise you they are also on the bottom :D  Something was still missing, so I added a bow at the bottom of the sentiment ribbon for a bit of "umph" and  finished things off with a few brown half pearls on the butterflies and the center of my "centered" sentiment flower LOL.  Presto, Spring had sprung!

Thanks or taking a few minutes during this very busy time of year to visit!  Hang in there, only a few more sleeps and all your business and hard work will be rewarded by big smiles and thank yous.

 What's In It?
Stamps:  Sweet Dreams (SU), Think Happy Thoughts (SU)
Paper:  Mellow Moss, Cameo Coral, So Saffron
Ink:  Mellow Moss, Cameo Coral
Accessories:  Threading Water Punck, Michael's Mini $1.50 Flower Punch, 1/8" circle punch, Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch, Scalloped Circle and Circle Nesties, Brown Half Pearls, 5/8" Saffron Satin Ribbon, Scor-Pal, Dimensionals

My B & Es Continue....

Amber has come up a wonderful sketch to wrap up 2009.  It's hard to believe we have had a year of Verve sketches with twists!  I must admit, it is nice not to have to worry about a twist this month because with all that is going on in December, my little brain is on overload and I'm sure I would be making four and five cards per sketch due to forgetting to add the twist LOL!

I am bowing my head in shame today as I succumbed to another pressie B & E last night....  This is so unlike me - honest!!  Let me explain.  The first thing that popped into my head when I saw this sketch was to use a heart for one of the panels.  Since I was wrapping pressies with the kids yesterday afternoon, I was reminded of what I had purchased for myself from my family (gotta love being able to buy for yourself as just about everything I got was on sale or bought with a coupon :D) and the heart Nesties were included.  When my kids had maxed out their pressie wrapping attention span, I used the Nesties for this card.  I must say, they are a lot more challenging to get into than the MS border punch was, and I'm thankful the hard, plastic packaging they come in isn't totally sealed all the way around or I wouldn't have been able to get them out.  I giggled with glee while using them as they were so perfect for the card (I'm desperately trying to justify my errant ways, aren't I :D).  However, getting them back into their packaging and arranging them back into "nested" form was much harder than I'd bargained for LOL!  Guess it serves me right!!  I'm not sure where this evil little habit is coming from (maybe it's because I enjoyed watching Russell on Survivor and was totally miffed he didn't win the million dollars!), but everything is now wrapped and under the tree so I know I won't be doing any more pressie B & Es.  At least that is my story and I'm sticking to it....at least trying to stick to it as my birthday is in January and I have a few more Nesties coming my way...just kidding LOL!

Sorry, I digressed.  A little confession does wonders for the soul LOL!  Back to the card.  I found these fun DPs in my Costco DP Pack and matched them up with some lovely cream linen card stock.  Of course, my Swiss Dots embossing folder had to come out -- I'm really falling off the band wagon on this card! -- and I used one of my all time favorite sentiments from Wordsworth in the heart.  However, there was a lot of white space left in the heart so out came this cute stamp from Verve ( I'm not sure what you call this - a filligree?  Can anyone enlighten me?) in the "corners" of the heart and added a touch of bling at the base of each one for a little pop.  Finished things off with some brads and sheer burgundy ribbon.  Happy with how this turned out and must say the B & E was worth the final product - despite the shame of it all!!

Hope your Christmas preparations are well in hand.  I can't believe how under control things are at our house this year - it's such a wonderful place to be in!!  It takes all the stress out of the Season and allows me to enjoy it all the more.  The kids and I are are thrilled to have daddy all to ourselves for the next two weeks as he is on vacation, and I must say, I'm looking forward to seeing Princess and the Frog as a family tomorrow.

Thanks for popping in for a visit and letting me know you've been here.  Your comments are always so encouraging (((hugs))).   Have a blessed day.





What's In It?
Stamps:  Wordsworth, Verve
Paper:  Costco DP Pack, Cream Linen
Ink:  Baroque Burgundy
Accessories:  Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Heart Nesties, Brads, Sheer Burgundy Ribbon, Bling, Dimensionals

River Rock and Flowers

 

How things can change in a day.  Yesterday we had four inches of snow and today, it is basically all gone as it poured rain all through the night and it is up to 7C (46F) already.  Gotta love West Coast  snowfalls: here today, gone tomorrow!

I had two ideas in mind when I first saw this sketch, one being a focal sentiment and the other a focal floral (try saying that a few times quickly LOL!).  As you can see, the focal floral won out.  This Penny Black image has been a long time favorite of mine and I never tire of using it.  I decided to go with Black, River Rock and Cream because I wanted to stamp the flower image in black, and this lovely colour combination worked like a charm.  I used my Nesties for the ovals and had to stamp my  main image a few times because it isn't easy to get a good image on linen paper due to the texture it has.  However, after really inking up my stamp, attempt number three was successful LOL!   I used Itty Bitty Backgrounds for the River Rock panels for a subtle pattern as I didn't want to take away from the main image.  Wrapped things up (no pun intended LOL) with some sheer black ribbon and a sentiment.

Hope you are closer to being ready for Christmas :D  Have a fabulous day!

What's In It?

Stamps:  Penny Black, Itty Bitty Backgrounds (SU), Warmest Regards 

Paper:  Black, River Rock, Cream Linen

Ink:  Black

Accessories:  Oval and Scalloped Oval Nesties, 5/8" Sheer Black Ribbon, Dimensionals

Snowing Mojo

I veered off the sketch a bit here as a few others beat me to the punch using a snowflake.  I still wanted to use one so I opted to go with a square to change things up a bit LOL!   I just had to use a snowflake because we got four inches of snow last night.  One of my favorite things is to wake up to a blanket of freshly fallen snow and just enjoy the beauty of it.  I just love the sight of the deciduous trees with their branches outlined in snow contrasting against the pine trees with snow on their branches.  I also enjoy the quiet a snowfall brings.  It mutes sound so nicely!! You can't even  hear the cars driving down the road :D  Needless to say the kids are bouncing off the walls and went to school fully geared up with sleds in hand so they can go sledding down the hill at recess and lunch time.  To see the joy on their faces just warms my heart :D  May have to have a few races down the hill with them after school - what can I say, I'm a kid at heart!!

I based my card around this wonderful ribbon from Mike's ribbon bin. I  think I got ten rolls of the stuff and just as many in the blue and brown LOL!  The snowflake is a Cuttllebug die with some bling in the middle for some zip.  I crimped the brown panel to add more dimension and used the Swiss Dots embossing folder for the main panel as well as the scalloped square panel.  My "enabling excuse"  is it looks like snow and therefore I just HAD to use it LOL!   Finished the card off by adding a sentiment tag.  It's  hard to see, but there are pink snowflakes on the tag and a bit of bling in the center of one of them.  I fiddled with how to attach the tag for a while and finally settled on just adding a brad and gluing it on :D

That's it for today.   Hope you have a wonderful day!

What's In It?

Stamps: Savvy

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Paper:  Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip

Accessories:  Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Cuttlebug Snowflake Die, Crimper, Ribbon, McGill Label Punch, SU Scalloped Border Punch, Crystal Brad, Brad, Dimensionals