mountains

For those of you that don't know, I live in Calgary, Alberta, and while I love living here, there are some things I wish were different. Like heat, we don't get really hot in the summer, which is kind of nice, but when it comes to gardening, esp vegetable gardening, it's not the best. Last year was unusually cold all summer, so I never did get much from my garden. When the frost killed my garden last year my zucchini's were only as big as my pointer finger. While this year has been better so far, it's not been really hot enough yet to get a good garden going. I've only had a handful of peas, bean, strawberries, and raspberries so far. The rest of the garden is growing, but I probably won't get a lot from it again this year. What does that have to do with stamping? Well it makes me think about how cool it has been, and that it's like an Arizona winter basically which inspired this snow themed card.

I love using my brayer, it never fails to create beautiful cards, super fast. I made a moon mask by punching out a 1 1/4" circle from a post it note, and to create the look of snow covered hills I ripped post it notes to the right shape and then sponged the blue slightly over the edge. To do this you will want to start on the post it note and rub in a circular pattern until you just barely rub onto your cardstock. Otherwise you can end up with too much color, or a big blob by accident.



Stamps: Extreme Snowboard, Lovely as a Tree
Inks: StazOn Black, Bashful Blue
Paper: Whisper White, Garden Green, Not Quite Navy
Misc: Platinum Shimmer Paint, Post-it Notes, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Sponges

To create all the wonderful shimmer on the card I made what I call Shimmer Mist. You take several drops of shimmer paint and add rubbing alcohol (70% works best) in a spray bottle. Then you can spray over your cards lightly. If you want a lot of shimmer like here, sometimes you will need to add the shimmer in layers so your card does not get too wet. The alcohol dries quickly, but can still warp your paper or cardstock if it gets too wet.

Hopefully the weather heats up so my garden will start growing better, and so I can be inspired to create some non winter cards and scrapbook layouts.

rubber resist take 2

I love simple color schemes, and black and white with a touch of red has always been one of my favorites. I wanted to see if I could make a zebra print using this technique, and I love the end result. When you are doing it this way it does take the rubber cement longer to dry since it is thicker, and if you want the black to look black instead of gray it also takes longer to dry, so please be patient with this one. I also found out by trial and error that thicker lines that wobble look more realistic than thinner straighter lines.



Stamps: Perfect Punches
Inks: Real Red, Basic Black
Paper: Whisper White
Misc: Curly Label Punch, Real Red 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Rubber Cement, Sponges

It's also a lot of fun to experiment with different tools to pull or drop the rubber cement with. I have used the brush that comes with it, as well as lollipop sticks, meat skewers, pencils, toothpicks and more until I found what I liked best. I sure hope you will play around with this technique and see what you can come up with.

more fun with re-inkers

I know I've said it before but I love re-inkers. You can do so much with them, so many different looks, and if you ever do get bored of trying new techniques you can always use them for what they were originally intended, to re-ink your ink pads and markers. I'm not sure this technique has a real name but I call it rubber resist. You use rubber cement to create a pattern, and after the first layer dries you rub over it with color from a sponge. I like to use yogurt lids and place a couple of drops of re-inker on it, then pick up the ink with a sponge. Always start with the lightest color fist. As soon as the ink is dry (only a minute or two) you can create a 2nd layer with the rubber cement, then let it dry (this usually takes at least 20 mins) and repeat until you have a pattern you like.

Here I used Tempting Turquoise then Pacific Point, and finally Night of Navy.

Stamps: Bugs and Kisses (retired)
Inks: Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, Night of Navy
Paper: Night of Navy, Pacific Point, Whisper White
Misc: Gingham Ribbon, Dimensionals

I have a ton more projects that use re-inkers and a few more with this technique, so I'll be posting those in the coming days. I hope you aren't sick of re-inkers by then, maybe you'll even be inspired to try some of them yourself. One quick tip, if you are a messy stamper like I am normally, use a pair of vinyl gloves, your fingers will thank you.

Hip-Hippo-Ray!..... I'm only a week behind

Well sort of. I had the best intentions to post some more cards last weekend, but then life got in the way again. I had fun at a national scrapbook day crop, thanks Becky.

This is a card I did way back in December for my niece's birthday. I try to not use pink a whole lot if I can help it, but since she loves pink I decided to go all out! Would you ever have though to use Christmas DSP not only for a birthday card, but for a PINK-licious card? I never would have, but my son picked up a scrap and said it looked perfect and to use it, so I did... it's a scrap of Holly Jolly DSP.






Stamps: Pun Fun
Inks: Old Olive, Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink
Papers: Watercolor Paper, Very Vanilla, Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Holly Jolly DSP, Cottage Garden DSP (retired)
Misc: Aqua Painter, 3/8" Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Sponges, Dimensionals

I hope I've inspired you to use some of your supplies or DSP in a way you didn't think of at first.

Birthday Beware!!

Did you miss me?? I'm hoping that some of you are still out there. I did not mean to take that long of a break from my blog, but life just got in the way. I've still been creating as much as I can, but I never seemed to get a chance to photograph it, let alone get it up here.
I had to create a ton of these for my baby's birthday, I can't believe he's 5 already!! Where has the time gone? He really wanted a pirate themed party, so I ordered the set Beware Pirates for the invites and then asked him what colors he wanted to use. I had a lot of fun creating the first one, but by the time I had done about 15 of them I'd had enough. Doing that much distressing and tearing and sponging takes a lot of time.




Stamps: Beware Pirates
Inks: Chocolate Chip, Basic Black, Real Red
Papers: Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Misc: 1/4" Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon, Cutter Kit, Sponges, Stampin' Dimensionals

I think I scored a 10 on this one, not only did I use the entire stamp set on one card, my son said it was the best card I've ever made. He sleeps with one on his headboard every night, it's been almost a month now and he still has it up there. Is there anything better in the world than your child telling you how much he loves something you make?

Thanks for sticking with me over the past 2 months, I promise to get back to posting more often. Hopefully I'll be back to every couple days in no time.

Scenic Season

Every time I look at this stamp I think how beautiful it is, and think winter is just magical.... then I look outside and see real winter and the moment passes. I am definitely needing a break from old man winter, thankfully we leave for Az in less than a week. I got the idea for this card from the fabulous Jan Tink. If you've never been to her blog you need to check her out, she is amazing. I love the colors here, again they are not your traditional Christmas colors, but they look amazing on this card.


Stamps: Scenic Season, Many Merry Messages
Inks: Night of Navy, Whisper White, Pacific Point
Papers: Rich Razzleberry, Night of Navy, Old Olive, Whisper White
Misc: 1/4" Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Sponges, Jumbo Eyelets, Brads,

I've been making Christmas cards, cookies, and cupcakes this week and listening to Christmas music the whole time and finally getting more into the Christmas spirit. Our tree has been up for a while now, and the lights were up on the house forever ago, but it still hasn't felt like Christmas around here. I think part of it is going back and forth to the hospital daily and not visiting with Grams at her place. Her place is always decorated so well, and we usually go over in mid to late November and add a few more to the walls outside her door, and several window clings inside too. Grams and Sevastian usually take walks around the whole place to see who else has their doors decorated and then they vote on who has the best door. Sevastian always votes for Grams door since he helped decorate it. I'm hoping it will feel a lot more like Christmas after we watch the school play on Tuesday. There really isn't anything cuter than young kids singing and dancing for their parents.

Vintage Snowflake take 2

I told you the other day that I'd post the other version of the snowflake card I did, so here it is. I wanted to see what it would look like with less white and more blue. What do you guys think of it? Which is your favorite and why?


Stamps: Christmas Punch
Inks: Sahara Sand
Papers: Whisper White, Sahara Sand, Bashful Blue
Misc: Snowflake #2 Die, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Dazzlin Diamonds Glitter, Sponges, Wide Oval Punch, Antique Brads, Snowflake Punch, Dimensionals

Again I used a slightly different Antique Brad for the middle and for this one I put some Dazzlin' Diamonds glitter in the middle of it too. To get the depth between the two snowflakes I placed a dimensional between them and another under the last one so the whole thing would pop up from the card base.

Magic Snowflake....

Only sort of.... It's not really magic, but it is cool. I love emboss resist, and it looks amazing on this card. The snowflake is done in white embossing powder and then sponged over with Night of Navy. I added a pearl to the middle for that little bit more, and it really makes the center pop. I love how much contrast there is on this card, I had originally done it in Marina Mist, but it looks a million times better in Night of Navy.


Stamps: Four The Holidays, Serene Snowflakes
Inks: Versa Mark, Night of Navy
Papers: Whisper White, Night of Navy
Misc: White Embossing Powder, Sponge Daubers, Silver Elastic Cord (retired), Pearls, Dimensionals

I had another long day today, but sadly I don't think it's over just yet. I realized I still have a ton of Christmas Cards to make, and I need to do them asap if I want to get them out before we leave. Days like today I am beyond grateful for wonderful caring nurses. My grams has been pretty out of it all day and her nurses are amazing! They have gone above and beyond what their actual duties are and I am sooo grateful for them.

Bethlehem

I love this card, I got the idea from a fellow demonstrator, Dawn Griffith. This makes for such a wonderfully simple card, but it is so striking too. I actually did 2 versions of this card, one with the silver glass glitter that you see here, and another with the Silver tinsel trim that I will post later. I embossed the main image with black embossing powder to add a little bit more shine to the card. I also used sponges to color the Whisper White cardstock with Bashful Blue and Marina Mist, then I ripped the edges.


Stamps: Come to Bethlehem
Inks: Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, VersaMark
Papers: Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Marina Mist
Misc: Black Embossing Powder, Silver Glass Glitter, Sponges

I love making Christmas cards, they really do seem to put me into a Christmas Spirit. I'm hoping to get the Christmas tree up soon, since we leave for our Christmas holidays in about 2 weeks. I highly doubt I'll be able to convince my hubby to put up Christmas decoration outside this year, so I really want to get the inside ones up soon.

Many Merry Christmas'

One of my all time favorite Christmas stamps is called Many Merry Messages. It is fantastic for both the outside and inside of any Christmas card. I use it at pretty much every Christmas SAS I do and most club nights that have anything to do with Christmas too. The rest of this card uses the new Northern Flurry embossing folder and the Level 1 hostess set from the current mini. If you like these stamps you need to host a qualifying workshop or party before Jan 3rd. I still have a few dates available, so contact me today.




Stamps: Many Merry Messages, Northern Hearts
Inks: Pacific Point, Crushed Concord, Whisper White
Papers: Whisper White, Pacific Point, Crushed Concord
Misc: Northern Flurry Embossing Folder, Rhinestones, Sponges, Dimensionals, Rhinestone Brads

I'm not sure you can see it real well in the photos, but the ribbon of paper with the saying Merry Christmas is actually curved outwards, and does not lay flat. I love the look it gives the card.

Northern Flurry...

Sadly that about sums up our weather lately.... cold and snowy!! I am really not a winter type of gal.... I think that snow is the worst of the 4 letter words, and about this time every year I wonder why we live in a place that gets winter for 6 months at least every year. I really do want to move somewhere (someday) that only has 1 season.... warm! The only good thing about snow and winter is that is makes for really pretty cards. If we never had snow, we would not have snowflakes to stamp and emboss onto cards, and that would be a shame. I was playing around with the Tags til Christmas stamp set the other day and made several cards with it, and then I decided to see what it looked like paired with this new embossing folder. I really do like how it turned out. Sometimes when you are just playing around with no particular idea in mind you end up with surprising results, and this time the surprise was a nice one.


Stamps: Tags Til Christmas
Inks: Real Red, Old Olive, Whisper White
Papers: Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Real Red, Old Olive
Misc: 1/4" Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon, Sponges, Decorative Label Punch, Northern Flurry Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Basic Rhinestones

Peaceful Christmas...

I think that is something we all hope for, but seldom get. I know that around here Christmas is an extremely hectic and crazy time. We have a great time very year, love the company, have more fun than we can imagine, but it is never peaceful. I love this stamp set, but wonder how the term Peace on Earth was associated with Christmas. This is one of the cards we did in this round of Christmas Stamp-A-Stacks... well almost theirs is slightly different, the card base was Cherry Cobbler instead of Early Espresso.



Stamps: Peaceful Season (level 2 hostess)
Inks: Wild Wasabi, Cherry Cobbler, VersaMark
Papers: Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla
Misc: Clear Embossing Powder, Basic Pearls, Sponges, Dimensionals

I had a great weekend teaching classes, but now I have to get on to something a bit more important. Christmas shopping/making for my hubby. If anyone has any great ideas on what to get or make for a computer guy who loves the outdoors, and wood working I'm totally open to suggestions. I have such a hard time every year trying to find a great present for him. It can't be large in size either cause I need to pack it into the car, since we do Christmas every year in Arizona.

I have tons more cards to show you all in the coming days and weeks before Christmas. I'm hoping to get one up every day, but life might change those plans.

Step it up part 4??? a slightly different version starring Jolly Jingles

I love wheels, they are so easy to use, super quick and they add the perfect touch to any card. This card is a slight variation from the other card. I used the Jolly Jingles Jumbo Wheel to create the background. Everything else is pretty much the same. I have been asked several times what ink color I use the most with my wheels, and I have to say VersaMark. It is a great way to add a bit of detail without overdoing the card, and if you do want to add color to it, you can use the pastels like I did here, or you can add embossing powder and have a lot of color. If you are unsure of what color to ink up your cartridges for your wheels, start with VersaMark, you will not regret it!



Stamps: Jolly Jingles Wheel, Tags Til Christmas
Inks: VersaMark, Real Red, Old Olive
Papers: Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Real Red
Misc: Real Red 5/8" Satin Ribbon, Decorative Label Punch, Crumb Cake Stampin' Pastels, Wheel Guide, Sponges

I sure hope you all don't get sick of things easily, cause I will be posting a ton of Christmas cards in the next few weeks. Every year I send out what feels like a million cards, but in reality is only about 125 or so. On both my side and hubby's side we have a huge number of extended family members, plus friends and such..... and I get bored after making too many of the same card, so I usually end up making at least 40 or so different cards, and I will be posting them all here. I have already posted several, but there are still a ton to post, and sadly, still a ton to make. Wish me luck that I get them all done in time.

Halloween Fun

want to know what I love most about being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator? The fact that I HAVE to Scrapbook!! At least that is what I tell my hubby. Stampin' Up! has a great promotion on right now where you can sign up to be a demonstrator for HALF OFF!! The starter kit is normally 215.00, but from now until Nov 30th, you can sign up for only 107.50!! Talk about HUGE Savings! I will get into that a little later with my next post. For my Stampers Club this month we are doing scrapbook pages. I let them choose their theme, Fall or Halloween, so I did both LO's. This is the Halloween one, and I love that these pics are from last year! That means I'm only 1 year behind!!! WOOHOOO!! The LO is pretty simple for the most part, and I LOVE that most of the little figures are made from the owl punch! How awesome is that?? I saw the little mouse done somewhere online (I'm sorry if it's your idea, I have completely forgotten where I saw it, if you came up with this please let me know so I can give proper credit) and just had to try it. Then I figured why not try a cat, and it was super easy. The tail for both comes from the leaves and branch from the bird punch. The tombstone is from the designer label punch.






I painted over part of the candelabra with silver shimmer paint to give it a little more of a spooky look.
Stamps: Wicked Cool
Inks: Basic Gray, Whisper White
Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Basic Gray, Basic Black, Whisper White, Perfect Plum DSP
Misc: Owl Punch, Bird Punch, Bat Punch, Designer Label Punch, Top Note Die, Sponges, White Gel Pen, 1/4" Basic Black Grosgrain Ribbon, Crop-A-Dile (cat's eyes), cricut

I had a lot of fun designing this LO. I love when you can use punches for more than one use, it makes them so much more versatile.