Mocha Christmas

Well - this card certainly suits the weather here today.  When I was greeting the children at the door this morning, I had a parent ask me how the Christmas concert was coming along.  I told him it was cancelled due to weather.  Yikes!

Anyway - I love monochromatic cards, and I love shades of brown - so today we have a mocha sort of Christmas card for Merry Monday.

I'm off to make some chili for dinner and then hunker down with some crafting.

If you live in Alberta - hope you're staying warm.  If you have green grass and blossoms - I'm jealous!

But it will come eventually.

Thanks for stopping by!

Joan

Monochromatic Sunshine

Happy Sunny Sunday and welcome to a sketch day at Sunday Stamps.  This week's sketch is brought to us by the talented Holly.

I switched the diagonal of the ribbons/banners because of the size I cut the piece with the quote on it; and I added the little flowers in the corner.  

I'm loving all the polka dots - and I lucked out and found a wee bit of Crushed Curry polka dot ribbon from when it was an In Colour....I'm very happy about it being a Regal beginning in June.

Hope you have fun with the sketch - and link your creation back to the Sunday Stamps blog so we can enjoy it.  You have until 6:00pm EST May3 to post your link.

This is a short and sweet post since I'm still working the Fort Trade Show today.  

Hope your day is full of sunshine and thank you for dropping by!

Joan

Smiley Sunshine

I don't often create rosettes - but I just had to for this sun.  The little scallop sort of makes me giggle because it makes the sun look like he has puffy little cheeks - he's happy about it too.

Anyway......I created this card quickly for the Friday Mashup.  One part of their challenge this week was to create a card with sunshine and the other was to create an easel card.  I left off the easel part this time - knowing I would want to put a lot of time into it, which I don't have this weekend.

So - I'm happy with this little guy.  Hope there is sunshine in your little corner of the world.  Thanks for stopping by for a visit - pop by my booth at the Fort Saskatchewan Trade Fair if you are in the area.

Joan

Always Be Yourself

I must say I'm having fun with the scanner I got for Christmas.  I'm loving being readily able to use old photos on my MDS pages.

I created this page for the My Digital Studio Website challenge - "Boys will be Boys".

I used elements from Downtown Grunge and Back to School for this page.  The stitching that is holding the title together is cropped.

I had a ton of fun creating this!!!

I'm now off to set up for the Fort Saskatchewan Trade Fair.

If you're in the area - come see me at Booth #7 in the Ice Arena at the Dow Centre.

Have a creative day - Thanks for stopping by.

Joan

Seriously Kicking Booty

I'm so ashamed - I got my Paper Pumpkin last week and didn't get to making the cards until yesterday.  

Excuse - I am getting ready for the Fort Saskatchewan Trade Fair - and then I got the flu on the weekend... I haven't been sick all school year, and my husband pointed out I've now been either sick or recovering for a month.

So - I'd say it's time to Seriously kick some booty and get over it!

I love this "Seriously" stamp!  The card above is the prototype (except that I sponged the rectangle piece because I got a bit of a halo on it when I stamped the words)

I also love the buttons that came with this kit - they're a bit heavy, but I love the feel of them.

For the second card, I stamped off the word before stamping it on the die-cut banner using the Stamp-a-ma-jig.  I did actually sew the button onto the cardstock with the twine that was included, before attaching the little heart with glue dots.

The "Bootiful Occasions" boot got inked with a marker to avoid it's greeting and I added some bling.  To get the wavy banner, I simply traced the existing banner.

Finally, since we're centering on the Paper Pumpkin, I decided to use the splatter stamp from last month  after cutting out the Vanilla portion of the die-cut banner.  

Hope you have a fantastic Tuesday.

I am UBBER excited because today I have my first Team Canada meeting.  I'm not even sure if I mentioned it before, since I got the invitation when I was flat sick in bed....

I was invited to join a team of 150 Canadian Stampin'Up! Demonstrators to work toward making the  experience of being a  Stampin'Up! demonstrator more rewarding in Canada.  Woooo Hooooo!

Totally excited.

Have a great day yourself and thanks for dropping by.

Joan

My Dolly and Me

Welcome to a new MDS Monday challenge.  Holly has a great sketch for us this week, and an added challenge to use the brush tool.

Oh how Allison loved this dolly!  I still have it saved for her in her box of memories.  That doll went with her everywhere!

I used DSP from Raspberry Tart, but I put them into photoboxes so that I could recolour them, and tear the edge of the larger piece.

To create the heart with the brush tool I used a heart from the "Box of Chocolates" download as a guide and then "dabbed it with the brush" all the way around.

Here is the sketch - I hope you have fun with it and link your page to the MDS Monday blog by 6:00pm MDT on May3.

Thanks for stopping by!

Joan

Medallion Congrats

Good Day everyone - and welcome to an awesome colour combination today at Sunday Stamps.  I wouldn't have naturally gone for these colours, but I really enjoyed using them together.

I used the Daydream Medallions set - I've hardly touched it since last years' convention - wish I had used it more.  I combined it with the congratulations from Layered Labels and used the markers to colour the sections the way I wanted.

Rhinestones, of course, finish everything off.

Give the challenge a try, and link your creation back to the Sunday Stamps website - we love seeing your interpretations.

Thanks so much for stopping by - I hope you have a marvelous day!

Joan

One's Destination....

What a fun sketch today over at Freshly Made Sketches.  I had everything laid out for it this morning before I went to school - but it's taken a while to get it posted this afternoon.

I used one of the ready made pieces on one of the sheets from the Fan Fair DSP and spruced everything up with a trio of buttons and brads.  Sort of sad though - the only ink is the distressing on the More Mustard Mat and around the little quotation.  I did stamp the globe from the "Open Sea" set on the envelope - 

I got my Paper Pumpkin in the mail today - so I promised myself that I had to get some business done before I sat down to play.  I'm preparing for my booth at the Fort Saskatchewan Trade Fair next weekend.....circle the date and come by to see me.

Now off to play with a pumpkin!

Hope your day has been swell - Thanks for dropping by.

Joan

Thanks a Ton!

Yipee - it's Hump Day!

Yipee - I'm going out for dinner tonight so I don't have to cook!

Yipee - Life is good.

Wow - don't know where that came from, but we'll go with it.

Today's card uses the colours from yesterday's Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge. And, since I'm getting ready for my May Technique classes - I decided to use the colour scheme while planning one of the cards.

We're going to be doing the Bubble Blowing Background technique - and I thought it worked perfectly with this little whale.

I blew the bubbles using the Island Indigo - although they are a bit muted, and I decided that our little whale needed some swimming company, so I die cut a bunch of his friends.  Pretty quick and easy - and the technique is so much fun.

The class will be on Friday, May 5.

If you're not on my mailing list, e-mail me and I can add you can join in the fun.

And here's some more fun.....

Our new Dolled-Up Birthday Kit came out yesterday.  I like this one!  It was created by Chris Gilmore from Coshocton, Ohio.

The Dolled-Up Birthday kit includes the following:

• Dolled-Up Birthday Photopolymer Stamp (1)
• 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" Crumb Cake Cardstock (6 pieces)
• 2" x 4-1/4" Very Vanilla Cardstock (6 pieces)
• Very Vanilla Medium Envelopes (6)
• Tea Lace Paper Doilies (6)
• Dress Up die-cuts (6)
• Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Spot (1)
• Vanilla 5/8" Flower Trim (6 pieces)
• Sponge Dauber (1)

Get everything you need to make six cards for only $17.95 (item 133913)!*

To assemble one card, follow the instructions below:

1. Place the stamp on clear-mount block D o H rubber side up and ink with the Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Spot.
2. Stamp "Happy Birthday" at the bottom of the card front.
3. Ink the Sponge Dauber with Soft Suede ink and gently antique the doily and the edges of the dress form.
4. Adhere the pieces to the card front in this order:
   • Doily
   • Very Vanilla Cardstock
   • Dress form
   • Flower

*Adhesive not included

You can purchase the kit through my on-line store - or contact me and I can order it for you.

Hope you have a "Yippee" sort of day.  Thanks for dropping by.

Joan

Merry Ornament

I enjoyed yesterday's sketch from Merry Monday - I'm just not sure how I feel with my end product....I think I should have left the pearls off of the framelit.....hmmmm.

Anyway - I used some of the Gumball Green Core'dinations cardstock that I had left over....and I really need to use up some of the Pool Party that I have so I don't get left with too much on my hands.  Just one of those things that I order because I'm excited to use it and then I forget about it.  Duh!

The piece of DSP is from the Print Poetry series - it works perfectly with the Window Frames Framelits Collection.

It's an exciting day - we get to register for convention today - I'll be teaching when it opens up - so I'll have to wait until I get home.....but.....  Woo Hooo!  It's going to be FANTASTIC!

It's Tuesday so there are some new MDS Downloads today....

On Holiday Photobook Template - Digital Download 134376 - $21.95

I am definitely getting this one! I created a book while on vacation last summer without using a template.  Why re-invent the wheel?  You can always easily change elements to meet your needs.

Beautiful Birthday Stamp - Digital Download - 134538 - $2.78

Wonderful Mother Stamp - Digital Download - 134536 - $3.89

Hope you have a marvelous day - thanks for popping by.

Joan

Zebra Birthday

Happy Monday - I've got the Friday Mashup for you today - a great sketch with a Birthday Theme.

The sketch could include a little scallop  - so instead of using a punch or edgelit, I created a "scallop" by fussy cutting some masked stamps from the "Postage Due" set and combined it with a piece of Natural Trim ribbon and a banner with the greeting.

Here's the sketch for the birthday theme.

Hope you have a fabulous day - thanks for stopping by to visit.

Joan

Medallion Thank You

Good Morning - it's a sketch day at Sunday Stamps this week and it is presented by Kathya...

fun fun fun.

Once again, I've reached for the little medallion from "A Round Array" - I thought it worked perfectly with the Sycamore Street DSP - which I guess I need to put in a different spot in my collection since Sale-a-bration is over.  Ooops!

For the top section,  I used my brayer to put white craft ink onto the Lacy Brocade embossing folder, then, after running it through the Big Shot with the paper, I quickly added some white embossing powder to help make the white section pop more.

The items through the middle of the sketch can be absolutely anything.  There is quite a variety of options shown by the Design Team, so don't miss out popping by the Sunday Stamps Challenge Blog for some inspiration.

Here is the sketch - You have until April 19 at 6:00pm EST to link your project to the challenge blog.

Have Fun!

Thanks for stopping by,

Joan

You're Amazing - Thank You

This little medallion from the sneak peak "A Round Array" set has got to be my favourite stamp right now.  I keep reaching for it in my projects.

Today's card uses the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.  I've flipped it on it's side and only added the one square of Floral District DSP.

I've started keeping the base piece that the stamps come in so that once I've attached the label to the stamp, I put them back into the base.

I'm mentioning this because I used the base piece for the  "You're Amazing" stamp to trace around my stamped image so that I could cut it out evenly around the whole image.

Here's the sketch...

Gotta Run - it's a professional development day today - and I'd best be on my way.

Thanks for stopping by!

Joan

Happy Bootday

This morning I'm sharing the card I created for my daughter's birthday, which was yesterday.  Twenty-two years old - my how time flies.  She recently discovered this stamp set when she came to Regionals with me and so we got the cowboy boots for her.  She also loves chevron, purple and glitter....so it all works perfectly.

I cut out one of the boots and raised it with dimensionals.  The stars on the boots have been covered with Tombow Glue and sprinkled with a glitter combination that Allison and I had created for another project years ago.  (Gotta love those little brads and buttons containers to keep things available for the future.

You can't notice in the photo but I've used the Silver Dazzle Marker to add a bit of silver pizzazz to the boots.  Finally, the rhinestones on the greeting have been coloured with purple sharpie.

Hope you have something to kick your heels up about today.  Thanks for taking the time to stop by to visit.

Joan

Mr. Magnet Man

I'm so, so close to finishing Elliot's "First Year" book.  I was inspired by a layout that I saw on Pinterest....and then saw a number of pages that people had created with it.

I've used mostly elements from "Seriously Teen" ... all except for the brads that I attached to the "netting" and the punches that I used to reproduce "Mr. Magnet Man".  Oh how Elliot loves to chew on him!  

The title is attached to a free form curved line - HERE is a link on how to attach text to a line.

I also played around with pie graphs after seeing the sketch and video on Heather Summer's April 1 blog post.  For this next page I also finally got around to cropping a ribbon.....I've attached the link for that video below the page.

Hope you are having a great day - Thanks for stopping by,

Joan

Kits and a Sketch

We've got a fun sketch from Tara this week at MDS Monday - and she has added an extra challenge of using elements from one of the MDS kits you've downloaded.  This is a great idea, 'cause I often go searching for elements, but I don't necessarily fill a spread with everything from one kit.

For today's layout I used "This and That"....when I saw the "Easy Peasy" embellishment I thought I went well with the cup stacking!

I didn't add any journaling because I wasn't there - and I lucked into having this photo at all; so I dribbled some extra embellishments down the left side.  I also flipped the pictures on the left to help highlight the stack of cups.

So - look through your kits to find a favorite and let's see what you come up with.  Here is the original sketch...don't forget to link your creation to MDS Monday by Friday April 19.

I've been madly scrambling to get Elliot's "First Year Book" finished before tonight so that I can get a whole whack of things ordered/printed without paying for shipping!  So - here is a page I actually began a while ago for one of our MDS Monday Challenges, but didn't use it.  I finished it up yesterday...

Thanks for stopping by:

Joan

Dressed Up for Sunday Stamps

Good Sunday Morning - and we're all dressed up this morning for Sunday Stamps.  Steph has an awesome Colour Combination for us - and I just had to create a springy dress with it.

I used the Dress Up Framelit Dies and created the skirt of the dress with one of the Tea Lace Doilies which I spritzed with Wild Wasabi and a bit of Not Quite Navy.  I used re-inker and alcohol in a Stampin' Spritzer.

The little heart piece in the background comes from the Artisan Embellishment Kit - it comes with lace/ribbon wrapped around it.  I flipped it to the white side and stamped it with one of the "A Round Array" stamps - which is  a sneak peak for the upcoming new Catalogue.  The little "For You" greeting is from that set too.

So grab the colours - and let's see what you come up with!  Be sure to link your creation to the Sunday Stamps Challenge Blog so we can come and visit!

Thanks for visiting me today - 

Joan

'Brellas & Boots & Piano Hands

The Friday Mashup! this week included using umbrellas in your project - I tried very hard to absorb the positive energy from this card, considering it was snowing yesterday while I was making it.  I know spring will come, I know spring will come.

The second part of the Mashup was to use a Double Z Fold.  I was going to use a belly band to help keep the card shut, but it would get in the way of the umbrellas - so I decided to use the Decorative Label punch tucked under one of the umbrellas to keep it shut.

The Kissing Technique was used for the second umbrella using "Beyond Plaid".

Here is the Challenge:

1. Create a project using an "Umbrella Image".
2. Create a "Double Z Fold Card".
3. Or Mash it Up and create a "Double Z Fold Card with an Umbrella Image".

I've also been working on getting Elliot's "First Year" book finished.  This is a plain and simple page - but it's a theme we will return to repeatedly.  

Here is the first time we took piano pictures.

He's my little sweetheart!!!!

Hope you have someone in your life that you absolutely love to pieces - young or old!

Thanks for dropping by -

Joan

Colour Refresh & FREE SHIPPING

I don't care what anyone says - I love this time of year at Stampin'Up!  You never know what little surprise is going to be around the corner, but you know change is in the air because the new catalogue will be launched soon.  And today - we got our first surprise - it's a

To be honest, I don't often use the colours that are retiring.  And I love that Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Soft Sky, Pool Party and Calypso Coral are joining the main groups!  Plus - Yipee for a softer shade of gray!

Also - this weekend, April 6,7,8  you can place any sized order and get FREE SHIPPING!  I'm having a Mystery Hostess Virtual Event attached to this opportunity - so either e-mail me with your order or place your order through my on-line store (from ANYWHERE in the country!!!) and by using the assigned Hostess Code  (NARXF9ZS) , you may win $35+ of FREE product.

Oh - and butterflies - I worked with butterflies on the weekend and this month's BEST OF set is Best of Butterflies...

I was inspired by Andrea Gideon's bleached butterfly and so cased her card.  Wow, I love this....so I decided to try the bleaching on some other colours.  The Elegant Eggplant isn't too bad - not crazy about my added ink on the Night of Navy.  But ya gotta try!

Hope you're having a great day - thanks for dropping in.

Joan

Tissue Flowers & Kitchen Karaoke

A bit of an odd title - but it fits both creations for today.

The sketch for today's card comes from Freshly Made Sketches - easy peasy - can go in soooo many directions with so many options for the shape.  I decided to finally use some of the White Creped Filter Paper to create a flower using the Blossom punch.  I punched out 8 blossoms, 3 of the 1 1/4" scallop circles and 3 of the 7/8" scallop circles.  I spritzed them all with reinker and alcohol using the Stampin' Spritzer, attached them together with an Antique Brad and then scrunched all the layers together.  

Easy Peasy!

See that little group of hanging utensils?  I created that in December for another page I made - I LOVE how you can save  creations with MDS so that you don't have to re-create the wheel each time.  Not that I expect to create a lot of kitchen pages - but that little group is available whenever I need it.  For this spread I added the little clips to hang them from the line.

Hope you are having a wonderful day!  Thanks for taking time to visit.

Joan