roomie gifts for convention

I made a few gifts for my wonderful convention roommate Lydia. I wanted to wait until after convention to post these, and since you've already waited a bit for them I'm going to drag it out a little bit.

This is a journal I recovered for her. It's pretty simple to recover one of these, you just have to take the book apart, which isn't very difficult, but you do need to be careful that you don't have papers flying all over the place when you have it apart. The next hardest part is making the holes match the book. I wrapped the cardstock over the book so it would cover the holes front and back, but after I had it covering the front of the book holes I used an X-acto knife to cut the holes, then I glued it to the back and cut the holes from the front. Then I adhered a piece of whisper white cardstock to the inside, about 3/8" smaller on all sides to give it a nice finished look.




Stamps: none
Inks: none
Papers: Wisteria Wonder, Island Indigo, Pacific Point DSP
Misc: Matchbox Die (tag), Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die, 1/2" Concord Crush Poly Stitched Ribbon, X-acto Knife

One of the things I love best about Stampin' Up! is how all the colors go so well with each other. I called Lydia up and asked her what her 4 favorite Stampin' Up! Colors are and then I used them to make her projects. I think the colors look great together, so much so that I made myself some of the same things I made her.

I had so much fun at convention, and part of that was because of Lydia. We've been friends for years, but we hardly ever see each other since she lives so far away. She moved last year, and while she is closer, she's still basically on the other side of the country. Maybe one day we'll live in the same city again.

I'll post the other parts in the coming days.

fly me away....

When I made this card I was wishing for much warmer weather, and hoping against hope for a return of spring like weather.... well I think it worked, since we have had beautiful weather here the last few days. This was another birthday card for a sister in law last month. I love the beautiful wings embosslits die, it is so easy to use and makes such a wonderful addition to any project, or you can use it like I did here and have it take center stage.


Stamps: Well Scripted (retired)
Inks: Baja Breeze, Certainly Celery
Paper: Whisper White, Rose Red, Baja Breeze, Certainly Celery
Misc: Color Spritzer Tool, Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die

I sure hope this great weather sticks around for a few more days, it has been my inspiration for a couple scrapbook layouts that I hope to finish up soon.

happy happy happy

My cousin got married a year ago, almost to the day and I made her a cute little card and a little photo gift (which I will show you later). I love using people's wedding colors to go their anniversary cards. Hers were red and black. I also cased this card from Kathleen H on SCS, and changed all the colors and a little of the layout. I used the direct to paper technique to make the background black and silver. I took brushed silver cardstock and embossed it then flipped it over and took the Basic Black ink pad and wiped it across the surface of the card. I also used Stampin' Ups! new Rhinestones for the middle of a few of the dots as well as the butterfly.




Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Inks: Basic Black, Versa Mark
Papers: Real Red, Basic Black, Brushed Silver, Whisper White
Misc: Black Embossing Powder, Filigree Embossing Folder, Basic Jewels Rhinestones, Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die, Scallop Trim Border Punch

I will show you the mini photo album tomorrow.

beautiful butterflies

I think you all know by now that I love butterflies, and I love adding them to almost all of my projects. Stampin' Up! made that even easier for me to do when they made the Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die for the Big Shot. I love this die, it embosses and cuts out 6 butterflies in a matter of seconds. This was a card we did in my last class distressing, and while the card looks pretty without the butterflies, it looks great with them added on. I don't actually have my card to show you today, I ended up giving it to my mom to use, so I borrowed one she still had left over from class to take pictures of. Sadly I had a migraine that day and didn't realize how washed out the butterflies were until just now.



Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Inks: Perfect Plum
Paper: Going Gray (retired), Whisper White, Perfect Plum DSP
Misc: Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Movers and Shapers Die, Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die, Manhattan Flower Folder, Sanding Block, Stampin Dimensionals

I am in the process of editing a video for you all, but unfortunately my regular editing program is not working right. It keeps adding video effects and skipping actual video and muting things. I am now trying to find another editing program to use, and I hope to have this sorted out by the end of the day tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Simple Butterfly

I LOVE my Brayer!! I really do, it is so easy to make quick and easy cards. This one is probably the fastest yet. It takes less than 5 minutes to do the whole card, and yet it looks like it took longer. This is another card from my Brayer Basics class, the first and easiest. If you are in the Calgary area and want to take this class, email me and I'll add you to my class mailing list.

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Inks: Almost Amethyst (retired)
Papers: Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Sage Shadow (retired)
Misc: Organza Ribbon, Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die, Elegant Bouquet Impressions Folder, Modern Label Punch, Word Window Punch

new neighbours

Today has been a busy day, as has this last few days. I have been baking and trying new things, and today made homemade tortilla shells. They are really good, and my son loves them. Sadly my old and very abused rolling pin died while making them so I am now on the hunt for a 12-15 inch marble rolling pin, which I am noticing don't exist. SO if you know where I can buy one I, and ship to Canada, I will gladly send you a free stamp set from my retired for sale stamps. I should note my old one was not marble, but some weird plastic fiberglass thing and it was 12 inches, which for what I use it for is almost too small, hence the 15 inch wish list. I have also been making a lot of homemade white bread, and would love to try whole wheat, so if you have a great recipe for that I'd love it if you would share it with me.

We also got new neighbours recently, and I wanted to make them a card. I saw a very similar card done on SCS by KIM L, and wanted to case it. I do not have the good neighbors stamp set, but the paper stack from SAB has these cute houses and trees and clouds, so I paper pieced instead of stamping.



Stamps: Well Scripted (retired)
Inks: Chocolate Chip
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, SAB paper stack, Baja Breeze
Misc: Rhinestones, Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die, Stampin' Dimensionals, Rub Ons (Eggcellent Eggs Kit), 5/8" Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon

Butterfly Anniversary

This post is going to be quick... I am posting while we found some free internet on our way to a family reunion this weekend.

I made this card for my sister in law and her hubby. they celebrated their 15th anniversary a little while ago, and I wanted to make sure they got it before I posted it.


Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Inks: Perfect Plum
Paper: Perfect Plum DSP (retired) Whisper White, Perfect Plum, Sahara Sand
Misc: Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Scallop Edge Punch

has it really been that long??

Things have been really busy here, and when I went to visit a few of my friends blogs, on the sidebar it said I had updated my blog 5 days ago!! I normally aim for every 2nd day, so I am WAY behind!! I am very sorry for that, I think a big part of it was being nervous for my race on Sunday, and then being sore after. I am quite proud of myself. I was signed up for my very first 10K race and over 5K I took a ton of time of my previous time! I also ended up finishing at a little over 1 minute per Km faster pace than I was hoping to be able to keep up.

Enough of my ramblings, you all are here for a card.... this one is for my Sister in Law and her Hubby. They celebrated their 20th Anniversary last month, and while I do not make cards for every year (my hubby is one of 8, that is a lot of cards) I do do them for every 5 years, which is 4 for this year alone!



Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Inks: Baja Breeze
Papers: Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Soft Suede, Parisian Breeze DSP (retired)
Misc: Dazzlin Diamonds Glitter, Tombow Multi Adhesive, Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die, Whisper White 5/8" Organza Ribbon (sponged with Baja Breeze)

Adding more butterflies....

I really like butterflies, and I decided that the 3 that I used on my clear block tin from the Decor Elements Flutter set, just were not enough. I had some Night of Navy Decor Elements sheets and I decided to run them through the Big Shot and I used the Beautiful Wings die as well as the Timeless Type Alphabet Junior Sizzlits and this is what I ended up with.


I really love what it looks like now, and cutting the sheets of Decor Elements with the dies was super easy! I think I am going to have to do some more for elsewhere in the house. My son has already asked me to add some to the old laptop that he gets to play with, so now I am trying to figure out what to put on there for him.

better late than never

I made this card a while back for a PPA weekly color challenge, but didn't get it made in time for the submission deadline. I ended up going out of town right after that and never got around to posting it. Turns out that was a good thing, otherwise I would not have anything to show you today.

I am currently working on giving my blog a face-lift. Sadly I know nothing about how to do this, so it is taking me forever. It took almost no time at all to design what I wanted in MDS, but trying to get it to appear properly on my test blog is a completely different thing all together. Please bare with me if I don't get a lot of posting done over the next couple days.



Stamps: Vintage Vogue, Well Scripted
Inks: Certainly Celery, Lavender Lace
Paper: Very Vanilla, Certainly Celery, Lavender Lace, Barely Banana
Misc: So Saffron Striped Ribbon, Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die, Stampin' Dimensionals

If any of you have any experience making your own blog designs, especially with using sidebar buttons and links and such and would be willing to help, please email me. Thanks

Until next time, Happy Scrappin'

I love butterflies

I love swapping. You get so many wonderful cards that you can then either give just as is, or you can keep them and case them. This is a swap I got at Regionals and I love the color combo, so I decided to case it.

Stamp: Baroque Motifs
Ink: Whisper White, Basic Black, Mellow Moss
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Mellow Moss, Cameo Coral
Misc: Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die

Just a heads up that I am heading out of town tomorrow, I have set up a few posts for you while I am gone, but since I have never done it before, I am crossing my fingers that it will work.

Until next time, Happy Scrappin'

Video tutorials coming soon.

I have some news for you! I have spent the last day and a half figuring out how to tape and edit video tutorials. I have had several requests for video instead of photo tutorials, and I figured since I had a camcorder, why not. Turns out my camcorder stores the files in a not so used file type and converting them is a total pain, BUT I finally figured out how to do it. I will post them here once I finally have them uploaded to Youtube. I also had no idea that there was a time limit as well as a size limit so I had to redo the first one and it still took 93 mins to upload.

I am also taking requests for ideas for my future tutorials. Please let me know if there are any techniques you want to learn and I will do my best to get a tutorial made for you.

Since I am sure you are all here looking for something more than me just rambling about what I will be doing in the next day or so, here is another card. Just before Calgary Regionals I went to another demo's house for a shoebox swap. It was a blast and I loved all the cards we did. I am not sure whose design this was originally, but when my grams wanted a card to give to my step mom I knew they both would love this card, so I cased it exactly.



Stamps: Whimsical Words, Baroque Motifs
Inks: Whisper White Craft, Elegant Eggplant
Paper: Pale Plum, Basic Gray
Misc: 5/8" White Organza Ribbon, Half Back Pearls from the Pretties Kit, Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die, Stampin' Dimensionals, Top Note Die, Horizontal Slot Punch

Until next time, Happy Scrappin'

I'm scrapbooking again.....

....finally! Do you ever get stuck in a rut and you just can't get out? I have been making cards and cards and cards lately, and doing no scrapbooking. Don't get me wrong, I like making cards, but I got started doing this because I love scrapbooking, and I am so far behind that I really need to get my butt in gear and get scrapbooking. I did a 2 page LO for my club this month since we normally only make cards, I figured it would be a good thing to do. I should also mention I am a chronological scrapbooker. I like to start at the beginning and go from there, so this was a bit of a challenge for me since I an no where near Easter, but I wanted to do an Easter themed LO.

This was also a different sort of LO for me since I did a lot of things on here that I do not normally do. I am a very basic type of scrapbooker, it took me a long time to even use patterned paper. I have never used rub-ons on a LO before (esp on a picture!!) but I think it looks good. And doing the whole background paper as a patterned paper is also a new thing.

I have to apologize for the crappy lighting, I took these pics at night and I have really bad lighting in my stampin' pad even during the day but at night it is almost non existent.

Stamps: none
Ink: Orchid Opulence (on the bunny)
Paper: Cottage Wall DSP, Old Oilve, Orchid Opulence, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink
Misc: Large & Small Oval Punches, Ornament Punch, 1/2" Circle Punch, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Paper Snips, Cricut Pooh Font (for the title) Wiggly Eyes

I am planning on going quite a bit more scrapbooking in the coming days, I just hope I actually get it done instead of putting it off like I have been doing. It is so much easier to just make cards since they take less time and the ideas come to me so much easier. I had wanted to do another LO tonight, but I am getting behind on my running schedule, so I am off to run for 55 mins (yuck!!) If I survive I will attempt a LO tonight.

Until next time, Happy Scrappin'

Butterflies and love....

First off, please let me apologize for the bad pictures... my camera got dropped the other day by my son and it is acting up. I am hoping to get it fixed soon, but until then, I think the colors are a little messed up when I zoom in.

I am loving the new jumbo wheel from Stampin' Up! I really am a fan of the wheel to start with, but this new one is great. Because of how the words line up, you can use just part of it if you want, like tomorrow's card, or the whole thing like today's card. You can even take the rubber off the wheel and cut the stamp up into about 10-13 different stamps. I have made 4 or 5 cards that have very different looks with this set so far, and I think I will end up making a few more too. Not bad for a $9.95 stamp right?



Stamps: I {love} Love jumbo wheel
Ink: Taken with Teal, Melon Mambo
Paper: Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Taken with Teal, Melon Mambo Textured
Misc: Scallop Trim Border Punch, Heart to Heart Punch, Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die, Stampin' Dimensionals

I was planning on sitting down and actually getting some scrapbooking done today, but with the weather being so beautiful outside that plan is out the window literally. I am only inside while my son is having an afternoon snack, and then it is back outside to play in the melting snow and mud puddles. Remember when you were little and loved to go and get just disgustingly filthy in the mud? Now I know how my mom felt about cleaning us up when we were done....my tub will need a good cleaning tonight, that's for sure. The up side is I will have some great pictures to scrapbook if I ever get around to it.

Hope you all are having great days too. Until next time, Happy Scrappin'