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