Hokey doodle!!!

Hokey doodle!! It's been a long time since I've posted. Life, I suppose, gets in the way. I've made a few cards, a few paper projects and a few other things while I've been on blog hiatus. I'll share a little 'o this and a little 'o that in the coming weeks. We've just completed a low-budget kitchen reno, which turned out fantastic! (at least *I* think so) that has taken up a lot of my time. Hopefully I can spend a bit more time in my crafting space. Fingers crossed.

This first card is one I just made for my aunts birthday. SU! Crumb Cake and the infamous Scallop Edge Border Punch, the other parts are non-SU!. Notice the Japanese Masking Tape - it's FRANTASTIC! I love how it sticks to everything and the variety of patterns and colours available.

This second card is for my cousins 30th birthday. Masculine cards are always a challenge for me, I kept this one simple...hoping he likes it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my Canadian friends! 

May your day be filled with family, fun, love and most of all.....TURKEY!

Peek-a-Hoo

Have I mentioned my love for Mr. Owly?? Not sure if I have. HA!

This card was inspired from a number of other bloggers who have done hide/seek cards lately, sooo cute. Definitely not my idea, but freaking cute! You'll note I whipped out the Scallop Trim Edge punch (again) and some chocolately ribbon. The sentiment is not SU! (sorry). I had accidentally grabbed the wrong punch so the peek spot is oval instead of round, I just went with it.  I have another one in the works that uses an even more 'interesting' shape, we'll see if that's worth sharing later. I didn't take a pic of the inside, but I had just stamped a branch for Owly to sit on (actually a flower stem, stamped horizontally)

Getting things together for my daughter to go back to school this week. Where did the time go?!?

In the dark....

A major storm passed through town last night. Rain, strong winds, thunder and lightning, none of which I'm a fan. The power has been out since 7pm last night and the latest update has it back by noon today.

So, last night we all huddled (all animals huddled in the room too, cats and dogs. They, in their fear of the storm, all forgot about their disdain for each other and for a few hours were willing to tolerate) the big bed by the light of a flashlight, well actually by the glow of our devices. iPad, iPod, Nintendo DSi- we each had our gizmo of choice and it helped to pass the time, especially for my daughter who doesn't deal with storms well at all.

Note to self- ensure all electronics are fully charged at ALL times.


- Posted from my iPad.

Simple Saturday

I believe that says it all.

I'd pick you...

A friend of mine was having a bad day so I thought I'd make her smile.  I put this tag together in a jiffy.  A few strips of paper, background stamping, punched flower (note the bling!) and a cheery sentiment make a great gift to brighten someones day. I dropped into the grocery store and picked up a lovely (read inexpensive) bouquet and delivered it with my tag....smiles everywhere!

Tag Team

I hadn't 'tagged' in a while and my attention span was low so it was obviously Tag Time.

The first tag is easy peasy, just some stamps a strip of paper at the bottom and a stamped and cut out birdy that's propped up on foam squares. I whipped out Owly parts and put one of my fine feathered friends together (have I mentioned my joy about the Owl punch?) for tag #2. The Scallop Trim Edge punch gives it a nice little detail at the bottom.  A bow, popped up sentiment and some background stamping that brings out the colour of Owly make for a nice combo.

You've probably already figured out that these tags make great bookmarks.  Leave the top ribbon or string longer and they'll mark your spot and brighten your day. 

Congratulations!

I rarely make 'fancy' cards.  They're too.....I'm not sure WHAT they are,  but they are.  So when I had to make a 'fancy' card for a 25th anniversary I was a titch nervous.  I went with elegant swirls, sparkle and pearls.

The patterned paper actually has a pearlized finish which is hard to tell on camera, but you can make out the sparkle from the heat embossed swirls (I used SU Iridescent Ice for the sparkle).  Then I tied a pretty simple bow with Very Vanilla and sprinkled some pearls on.  The sentiment stamped in Early Espresso is from the Congrats set.

Didn't turn out that bad.  In hindsight,  I could have used a bit more flourishy sentiment, but all the other ones I tried got lost in the background swirls.  It's ok though, I'll take it....I'm calling this one done. 

Simple Saturday

We planted these Pambina Plum trees 2 years ago.  This is the first time they've made fruit.  I'm not expecting to gather bushels of them, I'm not even expecting them to turn colour, but I'm still happy.

Obsession....

I'm obsessed.  It's crazy really, I've been making these boxes non-stop since I happened across the instructions.  It's not my design, the tutorial is available in lots of places (you tube, other blogs etc.) It's called a 2-4-6-8 Box.  Fantastic! Really simple and a great little way to dress up a small gift and make it extra special.  The taller box is the same idea only it's an 8.5" x 10.5" piece of paper scored every 2.5" instead of a 8.5" x 5.5" scored every 2".  Go ahead and Google the 2-4-6-8 Box and you'll get lots of different tutorials, pick one you like, make one...then stop...I dare you!

You will notice the Owl has arrived and I've begun my obsession with him.  I've already punched what seems like several hundred owls in a variety of papers and put all the bits in a tin. When I want one I can pick and choose his outfit as I please.  Yay! Happy Stamping Joy!

Bee Mine

Such a happy card (at least I think so!)  The heart from Polka Dot Punches is stamped in Blushing Bride, while the sentiment and beeeeee are from the Just B set and stamped in Rich Razzleberry. The stripey paper is from the Darling Doodles collection.

Wintergreen

So I discovered the Wintergreen DSP and have been playing with it.  It is old stock, but useful nonetheless.  This card uses the Wintergreen sheet cut into 1" strips then loopy-doodled in different directions to create the interesting background.  A scalloped circle in Rich Razzleberry with the sentiment/leaves from the Great Friend set brings all the colours together nicely.

Still Wintergreen DSP but this time a little less busy.  You'll note the Scallop Trim Edge punch was whipped out again.  The sentiment is from the Sweet Little Sentiments set and the two brads are from the current Subtles collection.

A little cherry cobbler....

I love Cherry Cobbler (the food AND the colour) it's great!  This little 3" square is perfectly 'cobblered'.  The DSP is from SU, but I'm not sure of the name of it.  The stamp is from the Matchbox Messages set and it's perfect for a card this size. 

Happy house!

A good friend of mine finished building her new home and just recently moved in.  What better time to create a card? I used the Good Neighbor set (which I'm loving) and the sentiment from the Congrats set (I think that's what it's called).  A strip of Marina Mist actually works well with the DSP (Petals & Paisleys). You'll note that I whipped out the Scallop Trim Edge punch again.  Ha!  All in all, I'm enjoying how this turned out (my friend did too!)

Simple Saturday

"Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities."

Aldous Huxley

Catch up time....

Was away for a few days on a family vacay and now back to work (the real world).  Hopefully in the next few days I'll have time to sit and create, and when I do you'll be the first to know.

Love Birds

Nothing says "Happy Anniversary" like a couple of caged birds.  Right??!?

Well, probably not, but I thought they looked cute.  This is a card I made for the 25th anniversary of a couple of friends of ours.  The stamps are from the Aviary set and the sentiment is from the Chit Chat Rub-Ons. The Scallop Trim Edge Punch and a bow of Very Vanilla finish things off. 

Simple Saturday

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Blings and Bows

Tags?!?  Yup.  I had this purple punched butterfly, so not sure of the colour of it, other than purpley,  stamped it willy nilly with flowers from the Cottage Garden set in Concord Crush, then stamped a sentiment from Occasional Quotes in the same colour.  You'll note I used the shimmer spray experiment (Champagne Shimmer Paint with rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle) and it worked ok for 2 pumps so I stopped.  Woot! I blinged my butterfly and used some just-happen-to-have-a-matching-colour-ribbon to finish things off.

This tag is one of my more 'elegant' creations.  No shimmer spray or bling. Flowers from the Friends Never Fade set are willy nilly stamped in Crumb Cake on the tag base.  I punched a Night of Navy circle with my shiny new 2 3/8" scallop circle punch and layered a white circle on top with my sentiment (it IS SU, but I don't remember the name of the set at the moment).  I used some Very Vanilla ribbon to make a bow and glued it to the bottom.

Extraordinary

More chipboard coasters! Yes.  That's more shimmer spray.  I used Pacific Point in the flower with some Crushed Curry for a centre.  I had a just-happen-to-have-a-matching-colour bling and some designer paper that had the right colour combo.   Then I used my Scallop Trim Edge punch on a strip of Pacific Point to tie it all together.  The sentiment (not SU) is stamped in Marina Mist.

I'm thinking I should get a display system for all of my chipboard creations.  Something like a spinny display with clips, there's a few out there that intrigue me.  Would be nice to have these on display on the mantle or coffee table or something. 

My first challenge

I really don't think I'm ready for this, but what the heck, it'll be fun. 
So this is my first challenge and it's from HSS - Hand Stamped Sentiments

This is my take on their sketch Challenge #25.  You'll notice that I've whipped out my Scallop Trim Edge punch, again.  The only SU items are the Pear Pizzazz cardstock, the Friends Never Fade floral and the sentiment from Occasional Quotes.  This is actually a card for my Mother's birthday which is tomorrow, I'm hoping she likes it.

Ok, so...that wasn't so bad. Challenge #2, where are you?

Size DOES matter...

I love me a 3" square. So easy and quick to throw together.  This thank you card is a base of Daffodil Delight embellished with a strip of Blushing Bride Designer Paper that's been edged with the Scallop Trim punch (of course!) The sentiment is from the Little Bit of Everything set.  Can't tell from the picture but there's a little bit of bling in the centre of the flower.

Oh the Pizzazz....love Pear Pizzazz.  This little cutie also uses a stamp from Little Bit of Everything and also has some bling in the flower centres.  The sentiment is stamped in Rich Razzleberry and little flowers in Blushing Bride.  A touch of just-happen-to-have-a-matching-colour ribbon and TADAAA!!

Sunny Day

So this one was a quickie.  I used Marina Mist as a card base...really like this colour! The designer paper is just-happen-to-have-a-matching-colour lying around and the ribbon is from the same "lying around" collection.  You'll note that the edge of the designer paper is punched with the Scallop Trim Edge punch and then I wove/I've woven/I weaved the ribbon through it. The stamp set isn't from SU (sorry) but I did use Marina Mist, Crumb Cake (the perfect colour for sand!) and Daffodil Delight in the stamping process.

I don't have a lot of SU supplies, but I do LOVE to create, so when I do sometimes it's all SU and sometimes it's not, but I ALWAYS try to use some SU in my project, as my collection grows that will change, but in the meantime......

Simple Saturday

I'm a small town girl, so when I have to go to a BIG city on business, there's a flood of fear, excitement and fear! A couple of months back I had to take a trip to Vancouver and we stayed at the Sheraton Wall Centre....this is a pic of the tower across from ours we were on the 21st floor and this is from our window, so there's way more tower at the bottom that you don't see (it's a two tower hotel, who knew?) Had fun, met a great group of people and most importantly....I shopped!

The Tri-Fold Victory

My first Tri-Fold card! Woot!  So this baby is Early Espresso with Designer Paper in Blushing Bride.  The stamp from Cottage Garden is done in Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride and Melon Mambo.  A strip of Old Olive that's been edged in the Scallop Trim and stamped with willy nilly Cottage Garden makes the belly band that holds the card closed.  I've stamped another solid flower in Blushing Bride and Melon Mambo then cut it out and decorated the band with it. 

Below you can see what it looks like with the band removed.  I like it.  Victory!