Boxing Day = NO MORE CHRISTMAS CARDS!!

At least not until September or so ;o)

This is for today's Limited Supplies challenge, which was basically to make a non-holiday card LOL! I used the Upsy Daisy stamp set, and the Urban Garden DP, with a colour scheme of Basic Gray and Baja Breeze. I really really really like this DP. I find it very inspiring.

I hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable Christmas/Hanukah! It was just us 5 this year, with my parents driving out for dinner yesterday. They are going back tomorrow, and hopefully taking most of our children back with them :o) We will join them for New Year's Eve (I have to work Monday and Tuesday - boohoo!!) I have been playing Rock Band with my boys for pretty much the last two days LOL! We're having a great time. When we're not fighting over who gets to play the drums, that is ;o)

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

Girlie, girlie, girlie

OK guess I'm in a girlie mood these days LOL! I blame it on all that yummy pink DP from the soon-to-be-released Candy Lane collection from SU! This card is for today's Sketch Challenge. I used a Stampotique image that I stamped at my friend Vicki Garrett's retreat last spring. She's a designer for this company and had just gotten some new stamps to play with. I loved these little goth girls, so I stamped a whole bunch :o) I used a blender pen and some Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette and Close to Cocoa ink to colour her in, to coordinate with the DP. And I finally ripped open that package of Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon I just received a couple of weeks ago. Isn't she cute?

Oh and I should tell you, I managed to STAY AWAY FROM WORK for an ENTIRE DAY today!!! Well, almost... I returned from seeing The Tale of Despereaux with the kids, and DH informed me that someone I left a message for yesterday had returned my call. So okay, I'll 'fess up - I called him back. But it was only a two minute call so it's like it barely happened... ;o)

And just ONE MORE SLEEP kids!! I know my kids are bouncing off the walls. Which is why I decided to take them to the movies - always a sure way to get them to sit still for a couple of hours (plus another hour if you count getting to the theatre and back ;o) )

Merry Christmas, everyone!

A-M

Repeat after me...

VACATION means NO WORK!! GAH! The good news is, I'm almost completely caught up on my paperwork for work. The bad news is, I'm spending my holidays doing WORK!! :o( Ah well, I just keep reminding myself that the more I get done now, the less overwhelmed I will feel when I return in the New Year... BUT I have decided that I will NOT do ANY work tomorrow! NONE!! Well, except for housework, I guess... LOL!

So as a reward, I stamp a little each night. :o) This is the first of two cards I made tonight:

OK, so I use the term 'card' lightly, as it's just a sliver of one, really, but it's SO DARN CUTE!! They call these 'scraplings', because, well, they're made from scraps. Specifically, they're intended to be made from the scrap of a standard size card (4.25" x 5.5") which has been shaved down to a 4.25" x 4.25" square card, therefore leaving a narrow 1.25" x 4.25" mini card. They make a cute gift tag, or a bookmark, or a quick 'thinking of you' kind of note you can leave on someone's desk at work or tuck into their mail box. I learned about these thanks to yesterday's Holiday Extravaganza challenge on SCS. I used a scrap of textured Kiwi Kiss c/s for the base of my scrapling, and a scrap of DP that I had left over from preparing make & takes for October/November. The stamp set is Bitty Basics (a hostess set that will be retiring with this cattie, and which saw ink for the first time tonight). I will definitely be making more of these!!

My next card is for today's Holiday Extravaganza challenge, which was basically a limited supplies challenge. The goal was to make a Birthday card using only one sheet of designer paper, two colours of cardstock (plus a neutral), three punches, and only one ribbon as an embellishment. I used the "Candy Lane" DP which will be featured in the upcoming Spring-Summer Idea Book and Catalogue, and paired it with Pink Pirouette and Riding Hood Red c/s. I also used Pink Pirouette striped grosgrain for my ribbon. The stamp sets are True Friend (flower image) and Lots of Thoughts (sentiment). The flower image was overstamped with Versamark and embossed with clear ep to give the card some texture. A very girly card, but it will definitely find a recipient :o)

Happy stampin'!

A-M

Another (holi)day, another card... or two!

or three, actually - I just saw the Holiday Challenge Extravaganza challenge for today and I'm feeling inspired! :) So stay tuned for another post, either later tonight or tomorrow morning...

Otherwise, after a busy day doing paperwork for my day job (Yes, I'm supposed to be on holidays, but I am planning on going back to a clean slate in January LOL), I finally sat down to STAMP!!

The first card, above, is for yesterday's Holiday Challenge, which was to create a square card, with a scalloped element, and a sentiment as the focus. I used a stamp from the Full of Life set for the sentiment, and the grasses from Inspired by Nature for the background. I love how simple and clean this card is! The colours are Kiwi Kiss, Pacific Point and Riding Hood Red.

The second card is for today's Technique Lovers Challenge, which involved the faux silk techique, but with a twist.

The pear image from Infinite Goodness was stamped three times onto tissue paper using a masking technique. Then I wrinkled the tissue paper by wadding it into a ball and then opening it back up again. Then I stamped the pear image again, this time on white cardstock, and cut it out (I tried doing it on a lighter green but didn't get enough contrast with the Old Olive). Then, using a regular glue stick, I glued the white pear to the back of the tissue paper,to correspond with the pear on the tissue paper, finally mounting the whole thing onto a piece of Old Olive cardstock (once again using the glue stick).

Here is a close-up of the faux silk panel:

Doesn't that look neat?

OK, time for a nice cup of tea, then onto that next challenge...

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

Taking a break from Christmas cards

Even though it's white-out conditions out there (perfect for stamping, btw LOL), I decided to stamp a non-Christmas card for today's Featured Stamper challenge. The stamper in question is Paula Tracy and I just fell in love with her soft sympathy card.

Mine is Baja Breeze and Kiwi Kiss instead of the soft powder blue she used. And I really liked the look of the panel in the bg, so tried to recreate it with my brayer (I used a reverse masking technique so that only the strip in the centre of the textured white cardstock got inked). And I used a different stamp set, which is not a negative-space kind of image, so stamped it in white craft ink and embossed it with white ep, on Baja Breeze c/s. And I used a faux-stitching technique on the three panels.

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

Fruity Inspiration

Told ya I'd be stampin' lots today :o)

This card is for today's Inspiration Challenge. I chose this fun pillow as an inspiration piece:

Isn't it great? I used Season of Friendship for the tree trunk and sentiment, and used the small solid circle from Enjoy Every Moment for the dots. The colours are More Mustard, Summer Sun, Tangerine Tango and Kiwi Kiss (the trunk is Chocolate Chip). I love how fun and citrus-y this card turned out!

I think this one will be going into my reserve stash.

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

Back in the groove

OK get ready for a slew of new posts in the next couple of weeks - I'M BACK! :o) And I'm discovering a whole bunch of new talent over at SCS - some amazing handiwork, there! SCS is featuring extra daily challenges over the holidays, and this is for the first one, an inspiration challenge. I chose the brown onesie as inspiration and made this Christmas card. This time last year I was SICK of stamping Christmas cards LOL but this year, I haven't really designed that many at all so I'm still happy with the theme.

The card features the Snowfall stamp set, which retired last year. I LOVED the big bold snowflakes in this set, and was rather sad to see it go... and I am quite fond of non-traditional Christmas card, so I have no problem with a brown holiday card :o) In fact, I think this one will be going to a neighbour of mine who has a wonderful, contemporary taste in design, and who I think will appreciate this card as well. The card will likely be accompanied by a nice bottle of wine, as a thank you for plowing our sidewalks, which I REALLY appreciate, especially during blizzards like we had yesterday - THANK YOU ZACH AND SHELLENE!

Oh and DH made it home last night. Well, this morning, actually, stepping through the door shortly before 5am. His shuttle van was long gone by then, so he had to take a taxi from Toronto, which cost $150 *gulp*. Needless to say, he really appreciated the plowed sidewalks as well as it's one less thing he has to worry about today! :o)

OK, stay tuned for more stampin'...

A-M

Happy Holidays!

YAY the holidays are finally here! And for the first time in a long time, I actually have the ENTIRE week of Christmas OFF!! :o) Rehearsals are also off for a couple of weeks so you know what that means - STAMPING!!!!!!!!!!!!

To start things off, I decided to warm up by doing today's Limited Supplies challenge on SCS. It has been MONTHS since I have done a challenge! Feels good to be back :o)
I used a stamp set that I just bought in November, but had not yet mounted, let alone used. It's one that was featured in last year's Holiday Mini, called Big on Christmas. I love the fun holiday images. I was going to use it to make my Christmas cards this year but alas, I have not stamped my usual series of 60+ cards this year as I have simply not had the time. Rather, I culled Christmas cards from my stash of samples and challenge cards from the past couple of years and used that. Felt good to put all of these cards in the mail to share with my loved ones! I also stamped and assembled 20 cards that I had prepared for a guest at my annual Christmas stamp-a-stack who was not able to attend. Thankfully, Big on Christmas was not retired with this catalogue, so I will be able to use it for next year's cards instead :o)

Today's challenge was to make a holiday card with as much blue as possible, and only use one non-paper embellishment. Glitter, it was noted, was not considered an embellishment for this challenge, so I decided to incorporate some silver glitter on the little ornament (which is hard to see in this photo, but is really glittery IRL). The colours I used are Baja Breeze and Not Quite Navy, as well as a splash of Kiwi Kiss.

ETA - OK, card #2. DH's plane is being held up in Vancouver due to a severe snowstorm here in Southern Ontario. AND I had to pick up the kids early from school today because it was a snow day. So I need to stamp to a) pass the time and b) keep my sanity intact ;o)

This one is for this week's Colour Challenge, which was to use Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Basic Grey and Not Quite Navy. OK, so I skimped on the Baja Breeze. But the design just took on a life of its own and it wasn't until I was done that I noticed that the only Baja Breeze on there was the few stripes on the DP LOL! I love this DP - as well as this colour combo - so this was relatively easy to put together :o) And it's hard to see in the pic, but the scalloped mat for my flowers (which is actually two scallop circles stuck together) is Not Quite Navy (it looks a lot darker in the photo). And no, you're not seeing double - I used my stampamajig to offset the flower image, which I stamped in Kiwi Kiss, and then in Not Quite Navy.

This card will be going out to my aunt, who celebrates her birthday in a few weeks.

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

Stamping? What is this 'stamping'?

Apologies, folks - I have been delinquent in posting anything lately because, well, I haven't stamped! Yes, that's right, I HAVE NOT STAMPED!! Life has been crazy busy, and between rehearsals for me and my daughter (her play was done on Saturday - WHEW!), road trips for work, nursing a sinus infection, and entertaining my mother (who was kind enough to come help out last week when DH was out of town and SOMEone had to ferry my daughter to/from rehearsals and performances every day that week!!), stamping has taken a back seat. Tragic, I know.
BUT I have a camp this weekend, and that usually inspires me to do some stamping, so you may see another post - with an actual CARD - in the next few days. Heck, I may even FINALLY have some time to design and produce my Christmas card for this year (nope, I've not even had time to do THAT yet!!)
So again, I apologize for being so neglectful and not sharing any projects with you. It's not because I'm not bothering to upload anything, it's basically because there is nothing TO upload.
And don't forget to check out Stampin' Up!'s Holiday Bundle sale!! There are about a dozen bundles at INCREDIBLE savings being offered, but only until December 1st!! So HURRY!! Click on the link in the right margin (the little shopping cart - see it?) to go to my business website and check out these awesome deals!
Happy Stampin'!
A-M

I got life!

And a little too much of it these days, actually... Been busy as all get-up with work, and then to make matters even more interesting, DD and I were taken by helicopter to a large hospital in a neighbouring community last Monday night (as in, a week ago), where she was treated for pneumonia and severe asthma. We were not released until Friday afternoon (as in, four days later...) THAT was fun. And because it was a respiratory condition, she was basically placed in isolation and could not leave her room. Thank goodness it was her and not one of the boys - there is NO WAY they would have been able to contain one of them in an 8 x 8 room for four days! LOL! She is much better now, and went back to school yesterday. But man, I wish I had had my STAMPS!! LOL! All that time on my hands and not a single solitary stamp within my reach... *sigh*

So today when I got back from my work road trip a little early, I decided to stop in and stamp a card before I went to pick up the kids. It is for today's Colour Challenge on SCS, to use Certainly Celery, Pacific Point and Basic Gray. I still haven't figured out what to do with Xmas cards this week (yes, I hear that clock a' tick-tick-tickin' too!!!) so thought I would play around with that as a theme. No, I don't think I'll be making 60 of these (too much cutting - ACK!), but the colour combo is interesting...
The card features the Season of Joy stamp set, as well as the challenge colours. The ribbon is Basic Gray taffeta, and I used one of the star designer brads on my sentiment tag.

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

Back in the groove...

OK, getting back into the swing of things... Have I mentioned that I have done SQUAT about my Xmas cards yet?!? I've usually at least got the design figured out by this time of year - ACK! Guess that'll be my project for this week. Oh yeah, and preparing for a workshop on Nov. 15 (going to Great Wolf Lodge this coming weekend - YAY! - so won't have any time to do any prepping). Not enough hours in the day, I tell ya!

So, about this card - it's for this week's Featured Stamper challenge, which features SCS'er Becca Stamps. I chose this card of hers to CASE. I loved how classy it looked, and was very curious about the technique she did on her main panel. Basically, it's an emboss resist technique, but instead of a brayer she used reinkers and water on a non-porous surface, and turned her paper face down into it to pick up the ink (see more info about her technique on her blog here). She used regular c/s, but I used watercolour paper instead. I used the same colour reinkers that she did (Bordering Blue and Old Olive), but I used a sheet of acetate (aka transparency or window sheet) instead of teflon on which to blend the ink and water (washed off easily afterwards with just a paper towel). I used the Baroque Motifs stamp set for the embossing and for the blue background, and the French Script background stamp on the main panel. The sentiment is from Upsy Daisy.

This card will be going to my dear old friend Julie, whose birthday was last Friday (yeah, I forgot to send her a card LOL! At least now I can start blaming my age ;o) ).

AND I want to share that I have FINALLY memorized all the words to a wicked song from the musical (Ain't Got No Grass, for those of you who are familiar with Hair). It's basically a string of words that have no connection with each other (ie. absolutely NO logical way of learning the sequence LOL) and sung at an unbelievably FAST speed. Don't ask me how I will be able to dance AND sing to this number - I shudder at the mere thought. But I'm at least ready for singing the durn thing at this afternoon's rehearsal, hopefully WITHOUT the aid of my score :o)

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

Must...stamp...again!!

OMGoodness, has it really been this long since I last posted?!? You realize this means it has also been this long since I last STAMPED, too!! ACK!! Well that's not entirely true... I did have my first workshop in several months last weekend. But stampin' for fun? Hasn't happened in WEEKS!

This card is for this week's Inspiration Challenge at SCS; it's based on artwork by Don Li-Leger that Stef had showcased for the challenge. I loved the colour blocking and Asian inspired imagery. I pretty much re-created one of the wall-hangings for my card. Lots of sponging, not too much stamping. The main image is from Embrace Life, and the sentiment and the image on the small Old Olive panel at the bottom are from Pocket Silhouettes. The other two colours are Ruby Red and So Saffron.

And how was everyone's Halloween? It was somewhat of a bust at our house... DH was out of town, so it was just me and the kiddos. My neighbours and I had decided to partner up and have one parent hand out candy for both our houses (from their house), while the other two took the kids around. Well, my 10yo daughter woke up in the middle of the night with great breathing difficulties and coughing; she was up for a couple of hours so she was a write-off yesterday morning. I suggested that she stay home for the morning (luckily I was working from home!) and rest up; by lunchtime her breathing was extremely shallow and her fever hadn't gone down, so I decided to take her to the clinic. The dr prescribed some prednisone, as the puffers she'd been using were obviously not working, and her oxygen levels were decreasing. SO she missed her class party, and she didn't get to go trick-or-treating. I didn't want her to bring her germs to the neighbours' house and I didn't want her to stay home alone too long, so I went out with the boys and my neighbour, but we only went around a couple of blocks before we came back home. I had a bag for my daughter, and most of the people were kind enough to give me some candy for her as well :o) She was a trooper though. And enjoyed seeing the kids who rang the doorbell after we came home.

AND in case anyone is interested, rehearsals for the play are going AWESOME!!! It's a lot of work (four hours on Sundays and three hours on Wednesdays, plus learning all of the lyrics for the songs in between), and so far has involved vocal work as well as choreography. The singing has been somewhat of a challenge these last couple of weeks as I have had the head cold from he&& - my sinuses are COMPLETELY stuffed, so my voice has been pretty nasal LOL I've also been short of breath a lot - which makes dancing and singing at the same time even more challenging than it already is!! We're supposed to start blocking out scenes next weekend, so hopefully I can give my (singing) voice a bit of a break. Oh, and my hair is growing nicely :o)

That's it for now, I think - happy stampin'!

A-M

Catching up...

OK, time to catch up on recent challenges... LOL! This one is for yesterday's Limited Supplies challenge - we had to limit ourselves to one design of DP, one ribbon and one eyelet, and feature the colour blue (any shade). I went with the same DP as my earlier card, basically because it was still on my table LOL! Plus, I have a schwackload of it to use up. And yes, the Christmas theme continues! :o) This time I used my only current non-hostess Christmas set, Season of Joy.

What do you think?

OH! And the puter troubles we were having the last few weeks? Turns out our router was dead. Thankfully, we had another one, and after spending almost 2 hours (and $39.99) with Linksys tech support, we finally got our connection working again!! So it wasn't our ISP after all...

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

Yikes!

Has it really been that long since I last posted?!? Wow. Yes, I suppose life has been a little crazy around here the last couple of weeks. Training the week before and flying solo at home, Thanksgiving last weekend (in Montreal), work road trip for two days this week, kids' activities, cast party last night (YAY!)... NO TIME TO STAMP - EEK! So I'm warming myself back up again with Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge. Not sure I am 100% pleased with this card, but I did get a box of new goodies this week (yes, another one! ;o) ) so I had to break some of them out.

The DP is from the Holiday Mini, it's called Frosty Day. And the stamp is from the Deer Friends hostess set. I am doing a workshop next Saturday and need to design some projects. I may tweak this one a bit and use it, I don't know yet... The hostess wants a Christmas theme and would like snowmen. This is the only current snowman stamp I own, however, so I may need to improvise (punches?) or borrow LOL! The lil snowman's face was coloured in with blender pens and Bashful Blue reinker. I had intended to use more Tangerine Tango than I did - maybe that's the splash of bold colour this card needs? Hmm... will have to play with it some more.

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

ARGH!!

It's official. Cogeco (our ISP) sucks arse. I have been working since last night to try and get the stoopid connection to work, only to be told today that they are fully aware of the fact that the network in our area has reached its capacity, but the work to rectify this is not scheduled to be done until THE END OF THE YEAR OR EARLY NEXT YEAR!! And we pay HOW MUCH money for this 'service'?!? Ugh. Time to find another ISP methinks.

I spent over an hour last night trying to upload my Colour Challenge card, only to keep getting timed out. And then this morning and most of this afternoon, I couldn't even get on the internet at all!! Talk about feeling cut off from civilization!! LOL! Anyway. Here is my card:

The challenge colours were Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango and Kiwi Kiss. Not a colour combo that I would have come up with myself, but I do like it - very fall-like at any rate. I got a schwackload of new goodies yesterday, so I broke out my new Pocket Silhouettes stamp set, as well as my new Kiwi Kiss designer prints paper and striped grosgrain ribbon. And see the scalloped oval mat for my main panel? It's actually two scallop circles that I offset and stuck together. Please, please - save your applause for my aria ;o)

OK, hopefully this time I am able to upload the $#**$&#* card... (but I'm not bitter...)

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

ETA: Since it seems to be working tonight, here is my Sketch Challenge card, too.

The main panel was done on watercolour paper, and coloured using Watercolour Watercolour Crayons (coloured onto the paper and blended out with aquapainters). The striped background was done by colouring the Classic Stripes background stamp with markers and stamping it (onto Very Vanilla c/s).

Thanks for looking! :o)

WHOA! Triple challenge!

Making up for lost time here today ;o) Decided to start with Beate's weekend sketch challenge, and then when I saw that her sample was a double-challenge, decided HEY! that's a good idea. Then when I was trying to figure out what embellies to use, I remembered Friday's Limited Supplies challenge (no embellies of any kind) and decided to leave it with no embellishments, and make it a triple-threat card. Oh yeah.I love this quote! LOL! Kind of sums me up, which is probably why :o) And crustacean acrobatics are always goofy... The crab is paper-pieced (which means, I stamped it on designer paper and cut him out) and his eyeballs were coloured in with my white gel pen, whereas the shrimp is coloured with a blender pen and Pumpkin Pie ink.

I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend! The boys are bugging me to go to the skateboard park this afternoon. Guess that means I need to shower...

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

I like this gig

This working-in-town thing definitely has its advantages - TWO MORNINGS IN A ROW that I've been able to put in some stampin' before I have to go to work! WOOHOO! LOL! Ah but not having to live in the same town as one's social work clients has its advantages too... *sigh*

Anyway. This is for today's Sketch Challenge on SCS. I decided to go somewhat monochromatic for this one, with Kiwi Kiss (of course!) and a splash of Basic Gray. The stamp is from Text & Texture - these are double-mounted stamps, with the background on one side of the block, and the bold sentiment on the other side. I really like this set but rarely break it out. The DP is from the Urban Garden collection. And I saw this kind of button/ribbon treatment on a card by the very talented Jenn Balcer - I just loved how she used ribbon to thread her buttons!! I didn't know if I would be able to squeeze the taffeta ribbon through this button but I did it! Doesn't it look cool? And I like how it brings together the two colours of this card :o)

Not sure who the recipient of this card will be yet. And actually, I'm amassing quite the stash of cards - maybe I'll gift them to teachers for the holidays LOL!

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

Breezy Thanks

I hope everyone had a good weekend! Mine was busy, but it was fun :o)
Okay, quick post this morning - I have to leave in a few minutes for work-related training... Just had enough time to make this card to unwind before my day starts!
This card is a double-challenge card. It is for today's SCS Colour Challenge (Really Rust, Baja Breeze and Chocolate Chip), and also fulfils the Thanksgiving-theme challenge swap that I entered (organized by a friend who moderates a Yahoo SU! demo group). Can you tell I just love this set?? I realized today what it's missing tho - an APPLE!! Wouldn't that just complete the set? Ah well. I guess my little blue jay will just have to do :o) (Besides, a blue apple wouldn't be too appetizing now, would it? LOL)
I hope everyone has a fantastic Tuesday! And Happy Stampin'!
A-M

Luv that Kiwi...

I think Kiwi Kiss has got to be my favourite In Colour to date. Even better than Purely Pomegranate :o) I love its fresh and tangy green hue. And it goes with so many other colours! Today is Sunday, which means it is Featured Stamper Challenge day at SCS. This week the Featured Stamper is Terrore3, a wonderfully talented stamper! The challenge is to pick a card from the featured stamper's gallery, and to CASE it (Copy And Share Everything) - basically, recreate it, but change one or two elements. I picked this card of Terry's - I love that it featured Kiwi Kiss :o) but I also appreciated the crisp simplicity of it. I LOVED the combination of the kiwi with the burgundy, but I didn't want to duplicate her card LOL so I subbed Basic Gray instead of the Bravo Burgundy.

I also chose a different stamp from the Oh So Lovely set, and used a different sentiment (from Upsy Daisy). And seeing as I don't have the large shape stamps, I used a reverse masking technique (with my brayer) to make the green highlight square at the centre of the card. Do you like it? You can never have too many birthday cards on hand, so this one will go into my stash.

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

This is the dawning...

...of the Age of Aquarius!! I'M IN, BABY!! :o) Got the call on Wednesday that I was cast as a member of the 'tribe', by the name of Linda - WHOOP! WHOOP!! OMGosh, I could hardly believe it - you shoulda heard me SCREAM when I hung up the phone! LMAO! Rehearsals start in a few weeks and I am PSYCHED!

In the meantime...

I've been prepping for a class I am doing tomorrow. We will be making these ADORABLE 'family' frames (sorry the photo is so small!!).

My good friend Vicki inspired us all to CASE the frame she had designed for an upcoming class when we spent the weekend at her place in the spring (for "Victopia" LOL) - I think each and every one of us made one! Mine is hanging in my foyer, and it didn't take long for some of my customers to notice it when they came for classes. Next thing I knew they were asking me to offer a class so they could make one too! The project uses the All in the Family stamp set (and Family Accessories), as well as the Neighbourhood wheel (the houses in the background) and the Define Your Life stamp set; the paper is Summer Picnic Designer Paper. The frames are 5" x 12".

And after all that cutting and prepping, I figured I deserved some stamping myself, so I combined Beate's weekend sketch challenge and the SCS Inspiration Challenge, and came up with this card:

We had to find inspiration from one of the rooms on an interior design website; I chose this one. I loved how the pale blue contrasted with the deep red couch. I also drew inspiration from the black accents (the bookshelf, the photo frame). I used the Eastern Blooms stamp set, as well as the Happy Birthday greeting from Amazing to Zany (retired). The blue is Bashful Blue and the red is the new Riding Hood Red.

OK, time to get back to work... now I need to set up my tables and supplies for tomorrow's class...

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

Breezy Vanilla Kisses

That was the name of today's colour challenge on SCS - if that title doesn't inspire you, then I don't know what will! :o) The colours, in case you hadn't guessed, were Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla and Kiwi Kiss - which happen to be my favourite colour palette these days! (If you don't believe me, scroll down and look at the cards I've been making this past few weeks LOL) I didn't do a fantastic job of my stamping on this card (one of the leaves is not fully stamped at the top, and I had to fill in the top portion of the sentiment with my black journalling pen LOL) but oh well.

The rock 'n roll inking technique was CASE'd from a fellow SU! demo named Suzy - I've used this technique a bajillion times before, but I never would have thought to do it with these two colours together! I love it!

And I recently saw a medallion element that used this silver hodgepodge hardware piece as its base and thought it was a fantastic idea! So I CASE'd that as well (and I apologize, I can't recall where I saw it, nor did I bookmark it!!) Here it is close up:

The felt flower is one of the new Flower Fusion Too pieces, in Baja Breeze. And the brad is one of the new SU! flower brads. The card will be going out as a thank you to my aunt, who subscribes all three of my kids to fantastic French kids' magazines (their renewals just recently came in).

OK, I think that's it for tonight. I still have some paperwork to do (yuck), so I should skedaddle.

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

In a Festive Mood

I don't know why, but I'm in a Xmas card kinda mood :o) I made these on the weekend and had planned on making a third one before I posted the set, but one of my fellow Canadian demos emailed one of my Yahoo groups asking for ideas using the new "Felt Flurries" felt snowflakes, so I decided to post these for her.

I really like the Deer Friends hostess set - it's so cute! And I'm a sucker for circle punchables :o) I decided to inset these images by punching out a 1 3/8" circle out of the DP panel, and to affix this panel to the card front using dimensionals, and then adhering the stamped circle (stamped once in one colour and then again in a contrasting colour and punched out) to the card base for a 3D effect. Here is a close-up of this element:

When I make the third card, it will be using the tree image from the same set, and DP from the same collection with more of the Old Olive. I'm thinking this might be my Xmas card this year, what do you think?...

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

Inspiring dishes

Today's Inspiration Challenge on SCS involved some very funky dishware. I was immediately stuck by the mustard coloured batik-style print on the one plate, so that's where I started for this card:

The effect on the embossed panel was achieved by inking my brayer in More Mustard, and rolling it on the de-bossed side of my "Textile" cuttlebug folder. I then carefully placed a white piece of c/s on the opposite side and folded the folder shut (you have to be careful not to let your c/s move around, or you will get smudges of ink everywhere). When you run the folder and c/s through the cuttlebug, the embossed part stays white, while the rest of the surface picks up some of the ink on the folder. Doesn't that look neat? It was a technique featured a few months ago on SCS (I believe it was a Technique Lovers Challenge?) and I loved the effect it gave!

The rest of the card is pretty straightforward: I used the large image from Friendly Flowers (retired) and inked it in Baja Breeze, and the sentiment (inked in Ruby Red) is from Best Yet (current Hostess set). If I had a do-over, I would probably dye the twill tape in More Mustard but oh well LOL! And the large silver brad is, well, because you can't have dishes without silverware ;o) Oh and I had started using True Friend for the Baja Breeze piece, but found the largest flower image was too small. But I had already stamped the triple lower image in Ruby Red on the base of the card. I decided to leave it.

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

My house is haunted

Because that is the only explanation for this story.

Seeing as I had already done today's challenge (see post below), and was still in a stampin' mood, I decided to do Beate's weekend sketch challenge early. I've been seeing some very nice Xmas cards on SCS so I decided to also use this as an opportunity to start playing around and designing some cards for a stamp camp (or perhaps even for my own use! :o) ) Anyway, I don't own a lot of current Xmas sets - suppose I haven't gotten in the mood yet? - so I decided to use my tried and true Season of Joy.

I searched high, I searched low. I read and re-read the labels on the stacks of stamps on my shelves, I went through my box of Xmas sets AT LEAST a dozen times (I don't usually leave Xmas sets out until it's time to use them - besides, most of my faves are retired anyway...) I panicked and thought OMG! Did I SELL it (illegally) to someone?!? Went through my 'for sale' list as well as all the recent emails from people who have bought my retired sets - not there. Not in my boxes of retired stamps. Not in my hidden stash of retired sets in that old dresser in the basement. I recruited my daughter to have a look through all the sets on my shelves, thinking that maybe my eyes were deceiving me and I was looking at it all along - no luck for her either. I phoned and emailed some of my stamping buddies, asking if I had perhaps lent it to them and forgot to get it back from them? Nope.

We're talking, FULL FLEDGED PANIC ATTACK!!

Then I took a few deep breaths, looked forlornly at my shelves, and decided to put it behind me and pulled out Season of Friendship instead. I made this card:

In a way, the missing stamp set story was serendipidous, as I really like this card. It was partly inspired by this beauty from my friend Debi on SCS - I loved her tree in the snow! :o) But I gave mine a splash of Riding Hood Red for that Xmas feel. The paper is the new Ski Slope DP that will be available beginning Oct. 1 (in the Holiday Mini). And I thought that filigree brad kind of looked like a snowflake, so I used it also (I think we definitely need snowflake filigree brads though, don't you??) The sentiment is from the Best Yet hostess set and was punched out using the new large oval punch.

But here's where the story REALLY gets weird... As I am tidying up my table after I finish this card, guess what I find underneath my pack of DP? *insert Twilight Zone theme here*

THE SEASON OF JOY STAMP SET!!

There is no way on God's green earth that that stamp set was there all along - NO WAY!! I tell ya, I turned my stamping room UPSIDE DOWN looking for that durn set! There is a ghost in this house and it is playing a sick joke on me. NOBODY messes with my stamps.

Nobody.

Simple Wishes

OK, I love this card. I will send it to its intended recipient (sorry, not gonna tell you who it is cuz I don't want to spoil the surprise :o) ) but I will be sad to drop it in that mailbox later this morning... which is why I love being able to immortalize my cards here and on SCS - this way I can always look back at some of my faves and recreate them easily when inspiration fails me... LOL!

I made this as a double-challenge card, for this week's Ways to Use It challenge (using silhouette stamps), and today's Limited Supplies challenge (using white as a predominant colour and only one stamped image). This is the first time I have inked this Upsy Daisy flower image (I have only used the sentiments until now) - it's stamped in Basic Gray. The accent colour is Kiwi Kiss - don't these two colours look great together? So elegant and fresh. And yeah, I'm in love with that Kiwi Kiss double-sided satin ribbon LOL! The card is 5 1/4" x 5 1/4".

I'm working from home today - I have a ton of reading and recording to do, plus I have a meeting with an agency just down the road from my house, so I decided to stay here. And instead of a coffee break, I took a stamping break ;o) And on that note, I guess I better get back to the grind...

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

Good friends

*sigh* This one will be going out to my good friend Catherine. Catherine is just one of those friends who, even if don't talk for months, and even if we live clear across the country from each other now, it's always such a comfortable place when we do get to talk to each other or see each other. Catherine always knows the right thing to say, she always finds the positive in every person and in every situation, yet she is always very direct and unafraid to tell it like it is (while always being so amazingly diplomatic about it! LOL) I trust her and respect her completely and miss her terribly. So I am going to send her this card to remind her of what a great friend she is :o)

This card is also for this week's SCS Colour Challenge: Riding Hood Red, Basic Gray and Always Artichoke. Even though it is a near repeat of last week's colours, it's all good because I didn't get to play last week anyway (and to be honest, Green Galore is NOT on my list of faves... LOL) I got some new rubber today (YAY!!) and had to break it in. This is a set from the upcoming Holiday Mini-Catalogue - I LOVE IT!!! It's called Season of Friendship. I love how bold and yet simple it is. Totally my style. And FULL of possibilities!! (There are also a small snowflake and a small flower, as well as a sentiment: "The season of friendship lasts forever" - Awwwww... ;o) ) I also broke out my new Riding Hood Red striped grosgrain ribbon for the first time. And the two shades of leaves were done by stamping the image twice in Always Artichoke without reinking.

I also got two Sizzix Big Shot dies in my order (the Baskets and Blooms one, and the pillow box). I'm still playing around with those trying to use them in my cuttlebug. That part works fine (WOOHOO!!), I'm just having a wee bit of difficulty getting the lil baskets to look right. My second one looks way better than my first one, though - so it's not that hard LOL! Diana Gibbs makes it look way easy - I just need to work on making the ends line up properly, and on trying to get a rounder shape (rather than a squished shape). I'm getting there...

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

I got a callback!!

I know! I can hardly believe it myself! Didn't think I was actually going to survive the audition, let alone get a CALLBACK?!?!!! OMG I am so excited! :o) Although this means I will have another week of being nervous and of psyching myself up to sing in front of a bunch of near-strangers... LOL! (Did I mention that they made us sing our vocal piece IN FRONT OF EVERYONE WHO AUDITIONED?!? Talk about nerve-wracking!! But at least no one else did my song LOL).

So to relax and get my mind off of it, I decided to stamp a card tonight. This is for a weekly swap I sometimes do with a bunch of fellow SU! demos that I keep in touch with. The challenge was to make an unusually shaped card. I decided to make a triangle trifold card.

They're a lot easier to make than they look, honestly! I once again used the Green Tea DP (mounted on Old Olive c/s as a base), and stamped images from the new Eastern Blooms stamp set, in Baja Breeze and Certainly Celery. And I hadn't used the new filigree flower brads yet, so decided to integrate one into the design as well. Aren't they pretty? They're quite heavy, too.

I won't find out who I am sending this card to until later this week. So for now it will decorate my work table :o)

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

Let the Sunshine in...

So, umm, I'm doing something a little crazy today... I'm auditioning for a local production of Hair. Have I ever done anything like this? No. Am I nervous as heck? Yep. But if I don't do it, I will regret it forever. This is my favourite musical and I can't pass up the opportunity to be a part of it. So aside from the 11 swaps I had to make (done!), and the banner for our dragon boat team (done!), I have also been preparing for my audition all week. Hence my lack of stamping/posting.

But I did take the time to make a card this morning. I used Beate's sketch challenge to make a card for my lovely neighbour, a very talented piano instructor who was kind enough to help me prepare.

The card uses the Eastern Blooms (new!) and All Holidays stamp sets, as well as some new goodies from the Fall-Winter cattie: Green Tea DP, Flower Fusion Too felt flower, flower button and Baja Breeze striped grosgrain ribbon. I will drop it off in her mailbox when I head over to the theatre in about ONE HOUR!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!

Wish me luck! And Happy Stampin'!

A-M

WICKED stuff!

OK, taking a break from swaps and workshop prep and laundry and packing for my work trip tomorrow... and STAMPIN'! :o) This card is for the WICKED challenge on SCS, a monthly challenge for SU! demos. There are always three categories - colour, layout and technique - and you can either do three different cards or combine challenges (any two or all three) into one card. For this one I combined the colour combo (Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss and Sahara Sand) with the layout suggested by the challenge hostess.

I used the tree image from the Deer Friends hostess set for the medallion. I stamped it twice (in Not Quite Navy and in Kiwi Kiss), and punched out the navy one with the 1 1/4" circle punch, and just the kiwi tree with the 1" circle punch. I then punched out the scallop circle in Kiwi Kiss and a 1 3/8" circle in Not Quite Navy, and put together the medallion, layering the tree with a dimensional. The DP is from the Urban Garden collection, and the ribbon is the YUMMILICIOUS new Kiwi Kiss double-sided satin ribbon - MMMMMMM!!

Kind of unconventional for a Christmas card, but that's the way I like my Christmas cards. Do you like it?

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

Shh!!

I think this will be the card I make for a demo swap I'm in this month:

But don't tell anyone as it's supposed to be a surprise! ;o) We were to make a card from newly-offered stamps in the Fall-Winter catalog. I chose Inspired by Nature. The main panel was partly inked (Baja Breeze for the petals), partly markered (Not Quite Navy for the flower centres and Old Olive for the stems), and then misted before the image was stamped (only part of the image was used here, too - there is a third flower off to the left that I did not use). Then I inked the other stamp from that set (long grasses) with Versamark and stamped it onto the Basic Gray background, then embossed with clear embossing powder. The designer paper is from the new Urban Garden paper - I think when I make the rest of my cards though, I will make the strip narrower, so you can see more of the grasses in the background. The sentiment is from Upsy Daisy (another new set, which incidentally is currently on sale with 15% off!), and the ribbon is the new Baja Breeze striped grosgrain ribbon (it's tied with hemp twine). I really like how this card turned out! :o)

And I really need to get in gear to get those cards done PRONTO (I have to do 11 for the swap and they need to arrive in Vancouver - at the other end of the country - by September 19), as I have also agreed to make a banner for our Dragon Boating team at work - the race is September 13!!! ACK!! I've bought the fabric, that's a start, right? LOL! Now I need to design what I am going to draw, and execute it (in fabric paints).

So if you don't see much stamping from me in the next week or so, you'll know why. That, and I am transporting one of my clients to a placement in Quebec on Sunday, leaving first thing in them morning and not returning home until Monday after work... Maybe I'll bring my fabric paints and work on the banner at the hotel?... Hmm...

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

More retired rubbah for sale!

OK, I went through my storage and found some new sets that I am willing to part with... again, if the name of the stamp set appears 'clickable', click on it to see its SCS gallery.

As always, price does not include shipping - please contact me to make arrangements.

$5
Simple Somethings
Sweet on You - SOLD (Payment and delivery pending)
Say it Simply

$10
The Fine Print - SOLD (Payment and delivery pending)
Gently Falling
Send a Celebration
Little Layers II
Reason to Smile (NUM)

$15
Fresh Flowers
In Full Bloom
Simply the Best
All the Best

$20
Sketch It

And don't forget, I still have some sets available that are more "freshly" retired :o) - check it out here!
Thanks for looking! And Happy Stampin'!
A-M

Summer's over! Or is it?...

Kind of strange how this weekend feels more like summer than any other the past two months? LOL! Took the family to the Shelter Valley Folk Festival on Saturday (had a blast! the kids were WIPED OUT - and me, too! LOL), spent some time in my garden yesterday "putting it to bed" and yanking cartloads of weeds (ugh). I wanted to take the kids to the beach or to the local splash pad (which is by the beach) but do you think I could convince them to go outside?!? I just don't get it. So I stamped a card instead :o) It's for this week's Featured Stamper challenge. Very simple, one layer card, but it's its simplicity that I loved!

It features the Garden Whimsy stamp set, and it's inked in Riding Hood Red and Kiwi Kiss, but since I don't have my first order yet from the new catalogue, and therefore no new In Colour ribbon, I had to make do with red gingham. Niki's original card uses a nice red satin ribbon and a wonderful Papertrey Ink stamp set that I am seriously coveting at the moment (I am a sucker for florals :o) ) But since I have a huge order of new stamps coming TOMORROW, I will be a good girl and wait...
Happy Stampin'!
A-M

Checkin' in!

Well, hubby's out of town again this week, so things are always a little crazy getting everyone organized. And I feel guilty stamping and leaving the kids with no parent to give them quality time... but I did manage to do yesterday's colour challenge tonight. It was Kraft, Black and Rose Red. I have a teen girl on my caseload whose birthday is in a couple of weeks; this one will be going out to her:

I love this girl. She is turning 17 but she is quite intellectually delayed. She LOVES the Backstreet Boys and actually got to go to their concert in Toronto a couple of weeks ago! OMG she was in seventh heaven! :o) She is IN LOVE with Nick Carter and has been wearing the same, threadbare BSB tshirt for FOUR YEARS, every Tuesday, religiously. I told her to buy herself a few new ones at the concert from me, and to retire the old one. I didn't want her to have to part with it though, so I suggested she make a pillow out of it and keep it on her bed. She liked that idea :o)

I also love my own children. I do. Even when they challenge my parenting and my patience. Take, for example, my 7yo (deep breaths). He's been very oppositional lately. Not sure what's gotten into him. Even the teachers at day camp have told me he's had issues there with not listening, getting physical with his brother... *sigh* I don't know what's wrong with him? Maybe the stress of going back to school? This morning he was mad at me because I made him wear a fleece hoodie over his sleeveless tshirt (it was 10C!!!); he called me a "mean mom". Tonight I was a "mean mom" because I "made" him lie to his friends because he told them he was getting a skateboarding magazine tonight, but I didn't want to take him to the store so he could buy it. And then I "made" him punch my craft table and kick stuff around because he was mad that he couldn't go and mad that I "made" him lie. Ah the logic of a 7yo. I tried to correct him and point out that he chose to hit/kick when he was mad, and that he could have made a better choice by, say, going to his room to cool off, but I might as well have been speaking Swahili. Instead he just kept sassing me. So he was sent to bed an hour early. Ugh.

Now you know why I stamp. It's therapy. LOL!

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

WOW! Faux embossing

This week's featured technique on SCS' Technique Lover's Challenge was a new one for me: faux dry embossing. Lynn, our new hostess for this weekly challenge, gave some very good directions for this simple WOW technique (click on the link above for details), and the card above is what I came up with. Isn't it cool?

The effect of this technique is kind of difficult to see from this photo, but you can see it better in this close up:

doesn't it look like it's embossed? It's really just a trick of the eye, achieved by layering a white image with a coloured one, one slightly offset from the other. Definitely WOWed me, in any case :o)

Happy stampin'!

A-M

It's VSN WEEKEND!

What is VSN, you ask? Why, it's Virtual Stamp Night - an online stamping event on Splitcoaststampers that occurs every few months, where a new challenge is posted every hour and stampers have 45 minutes to complete their card. Sound like crazy fun? ABSOLUTELY! :o) It's been a busy weekend, though, and I haven't been able to do all of the challenges yet, but I have until tomorrow night at 11pm to complete and upload them, so I should be able to finish. I have only done it from start to finish, in real time, twice - WHAT A RUSH!! My craft room was a disaster, but at the end of it I had something like 18 new cards, and tried lots of new techniques. I won't post all of my cards here (I've done 9 so far, and should have 15 by the time I'm done tomorrow), but I will post my favourite to date:

Isn't it adorable? The challenge involved using a color scheme that was inspired from the title of one of Joanne Fluke's novels, which all refer to a baked good of some kind (the theme for this VSN is BOOKS). I chose Key Lime Pie (YUM!). You can view the rest of my VSN album here, or better yet, COME PLAY!

Happy Stampin,

A-M

Tote THIS!

Isn't this the CUTEST tote?? It was designed by fellow SU! demo Andrea Walford, and as soon as I saw it this morning, I knew I had to try it! I altered her dimensions slightly to make a smaller tote. So the piece for my base is actually 4" x 6.5", and the pieces of DP are 6" x 8.5" and 6" x 7". My tote features the retired Berry Bliss Designer Paper (DP), as well as the Wonderful You stamp set (told ya it was one of my current faves LOL). I think I will put 4 or 5 cards in there and save it for a hostess gift.

Why don't you try one? They are a lot easier to make than they look.

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

You know summer's over when...

...soccer winds up! Tomorrow is the last soccer game for my 5yo, and it's also my turn to bring treats. I went to the grocery store to buy fruit tonight, but they were all out - guess I'll have to run there after work tomorrow after all... But I also wanted to give them a special treat since this is their last game, so I decided to make up little bags of candy and decorate them with little tags. All in the Family was the perfect choice for a stamp image!

This little one is for a girl, but I made some little boys too (there are three girls and five boys on the team). This is their team colours, too. Aren't they cute?

*sigh* It's really beginning to feel like fall, too. Mornings are soooo chilly! And I can't believe there are less than two weeks left before school starts! EEK! For once I have all of my shopping done. Although you know the kids are going to come home with another list on their first day!!

By the way, don't forget to check out my list of retired stamp sets that I am selling! There are still many nice ones left!

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

Fall Flowers

I recently joined another SU!-related Yahoo group, moderated by Jacqui Lines, a wonderful lady I met in April at a retreat in Kingston. This group does weekly challenges, and I joined just in time to participate in this week's challenge, which is a colour challenge. The palette - Tangerine Tango, Old Olive, More Mustard and So Saffron - is very fall-inspired, hence the name of this post.

The card I made features a Two-Step Stampin' set called Wonderful You, which is currently in my Top Five list - it's very versatile, and I've used the other main image (a leaf print) for many masculine cards, too! The colour palette immediately inspired me to use the two-step technique, as the orangey-yellows Jacqui picked all coordinate so well with each other. And to be different, I used a rub-on for the sentiment (from the A Perfect Day set).

What do you think?

Getting organized!

I love the beginning of the school year - always have! And I always start the year so organized. Sometimes, this organized state even lasts until December! ;o) This year I read a great school organization tip in Northumberland Kids magazine - it's by the "15-Minute Mom", who always has awesome tips! She suggests getting clipboards for each child and hanging them somewhere central (the kitchen is always the hot spot in our house, as it is in most homes, I think!), and using them to organize your kids' important papers (school trips, school schedules, sport/activity schedules, etc.) Having three kids, I can tell you that keeping up with everything they need to do for school, Girl Guides, Beavers, blah blah blah, is a nightmare! Plus, my youngest is in Senior Kindergarten, which is an every-other-day kind of thing, which means that he also attends daycare every other day, which means he (ie. ME) has TWO school schedules to contend with! And he's only FIVE!! LOL!

So I went to Dollarama on Friday and picked up three clipboards (yes, for just a dollar each!) and altered them to make them purdy:

I used some of my leftover Jersey Shore Designer Paper, which was retired last week - again, gotta make room for the NEW stuff! :oD The paper was adhered to the clipboards using Mod Podge (remember that stuff? If you did collages in the late 70s, you used Mod Podge LOL) - I like the "Paper Mod Podge" as it doesn't cause the paper to ripple. You can also put a coat of Mod Podge on top of the paper to seal it and make it more durable, but I didn't bother with this project. I girl-ified my daughter's clipboard (with ribbon, scallops and a more flowery paper), and identified each with the kids' initials, stamped with the Big Deal Alphabet set. Aren't they fun? I think I will hang these near the dry-erase board that I also installed in my kitchen this week. And I still need to buy my More Time Moms Family Organizer - it's the best family calendar I have found. I have used it for the last 5 or 6 years. I love it! It's got nice big squares for each day, and stickers for quickly labeling important days. And here's MY tip for making it even more useful for a busy family: I colour code things like appointments, activites, etc. by assigning each family member his or her own colour (I bought gel pens at Micheal's in five different colours). Yeah, I know, I'm a dork LOL! But it does work!

OK, enough 'work' for one day. I think I'll try the Featured Stamper challenge for this week - the featured stamper's gallery is super yummy!

ETA: Here's my card for the Featured Stamper challenge:

I loved the clean look of Jessica's card! I sold my Garden Silhouettes stamp set to another demo so had to sub; I picked the bamboo image from Embrace Life. I also changed the colour scheme - love this combo! It's Old Olive and Chocolate Chip. the Chocolate Chip layer under the layered stamped panel was run through the Cuttlebug with the stylized flower embossing folder.

Happy Stampin'!

A-M