Travelling Adventure

Guess I'm still in a travelling frame of mind....and so are the gals over at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  Their challenge for today was an inspiration challenge of "Beach/Pacific Coast Highway".  Not sure that I'd want to ride a bike on the highway but I don't have any car or shell images.  I do on MDS - but I'm itching for ink right now. (I did a lot of MDS pages while I was gone!)

The sketch for this card is from The Paper Players, which I've turned on its side.

I've used the faceted buttons for the first time, and I have had this twine in a little drawer for a while and had forgotten about it....

I'm going to spend the first part of this afternoon reading over notes I took at convention and making plans for the rest of the summer and the fall.  Bonnie Turber presented a session at convention titled "I am doing Business My Way" with Rhonda Wade and Tami White giving tips on how they run their businesses.  I have some things I'm going to tweak "My Way" also incorporating some of the ideas I got from Shannon West during her session "I am Having Fun".  I loved how she focused on the 5 senses during her presentation.

I got things put away yesterday but didn't get any stamping done because my daughter asked if I wanted to go to West Edmonton Mall with her.  Since she hadn't really seen me for the past 3 weeks I thought that was the best idea.

Hope you have someone special to spend time with today - thanks for visiting me for a bit.
Joan

Popsicle Enjoyment

 I could have used a couple of yummy popsicles today - it was beautiful outside!  That's one thing that summer brings more of - the ice cream treats.  We went to a family owned ice cream spot last night with the family - they're only open through the spring/summer months.  Makes it an extra special treat!!!

Anyway - today's sketch is from Stamping 411 and the Summer theme is from The Paper Players.  I love the bright colours in the Floral District DSP.  For the Daffodil Delight section, I used the White Craft Pad with the Fancy Fan Letterpress Plate.  I can't wait to get my new Fancy Fan embossing folder!!!!

For the popsicles, I used our coloured embossing powder.

This past Saturday I had my Open House and Retirement Sale.....here is the Make and Take that the ladies did.

 This weekend was extra special because I got to visit with Elliot Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I love him to pieces!!!

Hope there is someone in your life, young or "old", who you love to pieces.  

Thanks for taking time to stop by - 

Joan

When not at home.....MDS

As I mentioned the other day - I'm in Calgary with my husband, who is attending meetings.  I got some shopping done yesterday, but I also worked on a challenge using My Digital Studio; that's what I'm sharing today.

The above layout is using a photo for colour inspiration from Our Creative Corner.  The colours were blues, oranges and a bit of brown.  I chose to use a couple of pictures of Elliot taken a couple of months ago when he was beginning to be able to hold on to things.  This bunny was so soft and the perfect size for him to seize onto.  Of course "playing" really translates into "chewing".

Today's challenge over at The Paper Players was using polka dots.  Ironically, I  used polka dots on the sketch I did yesterday, but I decided to do a second layout using polka dots specifically for this challenge. I took the sketch from Love the Journey - a blog I stumbled upon today.  It was a pleasant surprise to find out that the owner of the blog - Lee Anne - is an Albertan also.  It's a small world!  I took her sketch quite literally because I liked how her hexagons were placed.

Well, enough of being inside....I think I'll go take a walk before dinner.  Hope you are enjoying your long weekend.  Thanks for taking time to stop by.

Joan

Sunshine Smooches

I am loving this design from the upcoming "Summer Smooches" Designer Series Paper.  It's just so bright and fun.  

Today's card uses the sketch from The Paper Players.  Quick and easy to work with.  In addition to the new DSP, I used one of the Designer Fabric Summer Smooches Brads.  Oh, my, word!!!  I love these because they're covered with fabric.  Rich elegant fabric!

And to make things more fun - Stampin'Up! is opening up this Summer Smooches Special to EVERYONE from April 1-30.  You can purchase these items and more, which will be in the upcoming 2012-13 Idea Book and Catalogue.  EXCEPT for these fabulous fabric brads - they are exclusive to this special....your not going to want to miss them - they're so gorgeous.

e-mail me if you want to find out more.

I'm off to work on my Newsletter - busy busy day...I'm aiming towards a movie and knitting tonight!

Hope your day is great!  Thanks for stopping by!

Joan

Cherry Gold Christmas

Well, I'm two for two (two days in a row!) ...not what I'd call a "roll" but it's a start.  I need to get the craft room cleaned up a bit after all the events I've done and then the groove will get settled into some more!

Today I joined the challenges at The Paper Players and Create with Connie and Mary.

The Paper Players are playing with Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla and Gold until the end of the year.  What a rich combination!  I hadn't used my gold embossing powder all season - and I haven't used this Snow Swirled set either, and I really like this tree - especially when you mix embossing powders!

The sketch I've used is from Create with Connie and Mary - I've tweaked it a wee bit because of the tree.  It's a fabulous sketch - so many things could be done with it!

Well, the morning is almost over and I need to go over to the school to put all my instruments onto the stage for our 1st dress rehearsal tomorrow morning.  I will be a very happy person once Thursday comes along this week!
Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday - thanks for stopping by for a visit.
Joan

Holly Snowmen

Well I had fun with these little guys this afternoon!  I used the colours from this weeks' Paper Players  - River Rock, Always Artichoke and Riding Hood Red.  The sketch is the Mojo Monday Sketch.  I must say that I love this combination of colours and I can see me doing this sketch again. 

I put the Always Artichoke mat through the Big Shot with the Striped Embossing folder going in two directions.  After I cut out the holly leaves using the Stocking Accents die, I folded them and slipped them through the crimper.  The holly berries are raised on dimensionals and have Crystal Effects added to make them glisten, and I added Dazzling Details to each of the snowmen's hats that have pompoms.

I cutting away to get ready for two nights of Christmas Stacks this weekend and another trade fair.  I'm glad I have Allison to help out.  I'm "paying" her with a hair appointment tomorrow. Works for me!

Hope things are working out your way too.  Thanks for stopping by for a visit.
Joan

Recipe to Create

I love when there is a specified "recipe" to follow on challenge blogs.    This week at The Paper Players they have a "Let's get Cooking" recipe challenge which means a project that includes:

•  3 different patterned papers
• 2 different ribbons
• at least one punch
• and a sprinkling of glitter

I've used 3 different designs from the Beau Chateau DSP.  I've included the Chantilly crochet trim and the Velvet Stitched Ribbon.  I used some Linen Thread to gather up one edge of the crochet trim to create the rosette.  Three punches were used - Modern Label, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border and I used the Decorative Label punch to create the curved edges on the central piece.  The dressmaker's mannequin is covered in Dazzling Diamonds.

I hope your day is going well for you!  Thanks for stopping by for a visit!
Joan

Simple Fall Gratitude

It's been a very busy weekend, and I'm glad to be home - frustrated with a stuffy nose - but glad to get home.  I had a great time at the Fine Arts Conference and learned a lot of new stuff to take into the classroom!  So - I've created a relatively simple card this afternoon to fulfill my stamping need. 

The Paper Players are looking for a fall element in this week's challenge - the trees are pretty much bare here and the leaves on the street have even been picked up so that's why I selected these lovely bare trees.  The sketch for today's card comes from Stamping 411 and the colours are inspired by a photo at Hand Stamped Sentiments.

I have a lot to look forward this week - hope you do to!  Thanks for stopping by.
Joan

Halloween Bats

I know we've only just begun the month of September, but these colours today spoke Halloween to me.  The combo are the colours for this week's challenge over at The Paper Players: Rich Razzleberry, Basic Gray, Old Olive and Whisper White.  The sketch is from Create with Connie and Mary.  The area where the bats are (retired punch), is where the sketch has a folded ribbon.  I wasn't happy with any of the ribbon I have for this particular colour scheme, so I add the trio of winged creatures.  I can't believe that I cut out that jagged edge around the frame. - but once I started I had to keep going.  Finally there is the parade of spiders around the edge which I stamped with Basic Gray and then "coloured" in with a Versa Mark Pen so that they weren't too dark.


Hope that your weekend has gone well - It's been a busy weekend here - I've got to get my MDS book done this coming week - that's the goal I've set for myself.  I'll be sharing some of those pages with you in the future.

Have a great end to your weekend - Thanks for stopping by!
Joan

Sailing out of Summer

 Well, it really sucks that the last two days of summer were spent nursing a migraine! What a complete waste of time.  I woke up today relieved of the headache before heading to school for meetings.  After school I made sure I got some stamping done!  I decided that for this week's Paper Players sketch challenge  I would use one of the Summer Mini sets (The Open Sea) which will be gone soon.

I brayered some Early Espresson onto the embossing folder to add that bit of depth before embossing.  What a wonderful sketch this is - one to keep in mind for workshops!


I had an Open House this past weekend, and re-did my Door Prize box with some of the new Mocha Morning Specialty paper.  To be honest, I may never redo this box - I love it!  I used the Lace Ribbon Border, put it through the crimper which made it bend around the edge of the lid easily.

It won't take long before the school routine gets set in, but I'm happy I'll still have time for stamping and sharing classes with my peeps!

Hope the summer is winding up well for you also - thanks for stopping by for a visit!  Joan

Holiday Extremes

What a productive day - and as I said - holiday extremes:
For this weeks' Paper Players there was a Clean and Simple Sketch.  Thought I would pull out my "Pick Your Poison" DSP and see what happened.  For the "light" inside of the pumpkin I coloured the sections with Daffodil Delight and then covered them with the Dassling Detail - just added a wee bit of sparkle.  I'm going to keep this sketch in mind for workshops this year - those three little sections could be filled with virtually anything!  Love it!

These are the Christmas Tags and the tin I created last week.  I'll be offering this whole thing as a class this fall.  I took the container on page 19 in the upcoming Holiday Mini as inspiration for covering my tin.  Ya gotta love how embossed paper no longer looks like paper - especially after you distress it a bit also.

Finally,  I created this scrapbook spread this afternoon....again, in preparation for classes this fall.  I love how preparing for SU events helps me to get my own scrapbooking done.  Allison and a friend spent an afternoon in the park last fall taking pictures of each other.  Since "I" rarely get pictures of her,  I'm glad to get them from other people!  Gotta love Facebook for that.

So, I'm going to relax for the rest of the evening - maybe finish my book.  I hope you have had a productive weekend - in whatever area of your life that needed "production".  Thanks for taking time to stop by!
Joan

It's almost Time....

This week it's "School Daze" at The Paper Players Challenge.  I can't believe the school year is almost upon us again.  Ya Know - it's one strange profession - you close EVERYTHING down for two/three months (depending on where you live) and then you start EVERYTHING back up again.  I'm always excited to get back though - it's good to see the kids again and to see how they've changed in that short amount of time.

I had to go into some retired paper for an appropriate background - and when I found the die-cut "message" - I thought this would be a perfect card for one of my friends who retired in the spring and won't be starting up again in couple of weeks.

I'm spending this week in Banff - my husband has a conference - and will enjoy the final bit of relaxing before my head starts swimming with school start up again.

I hope you have a fantastic day - not filled with too many plans yet.  Thanks for stopping by!
Joan

Sunflower Smile

Today's card is for the The Paper Players sketch this week which is designed by Nance.

I really really love this new sunflower stamp - I just think that I really really need to figure out how to use it.  I'll be scoping out some galleries for this!!!  I tried stamping the image on watercolour paper but the detailed lines didn't show up.  I tried quite a variety of different things before deciding to use one colour and not colour anything in.  However, I liked how the petals turned out when I did added ink with the aqua-painter (I just totally botched the inside of the flower) - so I cut out the petals to raise up above the stamped image.

Hope there are loads of things for you to smile about in your life today!  Thanks for taking the time to stop by for a visit.
Joan

Summer Camping

Wow - I'm not sure about all the redness in this card - but it'll have to do.  There are three different challenges incorporated in today's card:

Color Throwdown - Using the rainbow palette....so we have very colourful sleeping bags today.  I used Elegant Eggplant, Marina Mist, Lucky Limeade, Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango and Poppy Parade.  I had started out with Bear being Tangerine and Daffodil (thank goodness for watercolour paper!!!!!)  Once he was on the card though, there was just too much red going on - so I dirtied him up with some crumb cake.

I had to give Bear a pair of Sock Monkey's glasses so that he didn't look so angry about camping. His teeth have been whitened with gel pen.

The sketch comes from The Paper Players this week.  I told Nance that I was going to try and think outside the box for the two circle areas (where the sleeping bags are)....but I still ended up using paper. :(       Ooops!!!  I just noticed on the Paper Players blog that this is suppose to be a Clean and Simple Sketch - Sorry - this may be a little overdone for that.

Finally, the summer theme of the card comes from Hand Stamped Sentiments.

We have a beautiful day outside so I think I'm going to go for a walk - I walked SOOOOOO much when I was in Ottawa - I need to make it a better routine.  We're also excited in our house tonight because we're going to see WICKED!  WoooooHoooooo!!!!!!

Hope your day is full of sunshine and excitement!  Thanks for visiting - Joan

Clean and Simple for Tuesday

It's a fairly clean and simple card for today.  The simple clean sketch is from this week's challenge over at The Paper Players.  I moved the matted section to the left in order to reveal more of the embossing.  Except for the colouring, this would be a great card for a workshop - simple, quick and easy.

I've finally used some of the new paper - I am loving these two new colours together (Pool Party and Island Indigo).  The chair is also from a new set called "Cherish Friendship".

It looks like we're in for more rain this evening.  I walked on the lawn this afternoon and it's still moist from the previous numerous days of rain.....and the mushrooms are starting to grow.

Ah well - counting down the days of school - that's something to look forward too.  I hope you have something to look forward to also.  Thanks for stopping by!  Joan

Flip Flopping with Laughter

I'm loving the bright fun colours that The Paper Players have put out as a colour challenge this week: Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi, and Daffodil Delight. As soon as I saw them together I thought of a bright summer day - and grabbed the flip flops.

I've used the Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge for today and incorporated the Spotlighting Technique. I haven't done it in a very very long time.

We have a BBQ tonight to go to for our Church Music Ministry windup - the sun has started to shine now too so that's fantastic. Hope you have something to look forward to this evening. Thanks for visiting.
Joan

Stainglass Tortoise

Okay - it's not really a stainglass tortoise - just two different challenges.

I had a lot of fun making this first card based on the stained glass window shown below from Daniel Maher Stained Glass - which was the site for the Inspiration Challenge over at Splitcoast Saturday. I love stained glass and am in awe of the people who can create such intricate works of art with such a difficult medium. I had fun with my punches creating all the little bits for my creation - the tiniest circles were made using the eye parts of the Two-Step Owl punch. Once I had all the pieces down and the lines drawn, I added Crystal Effects to make them glassier. It really perks up the colours a bit too.


Our dear little tortoise is sending Thanks for the challenge over at The Paper Players this week - remembering how important it is to send messages of Thanks, especially in an age of electronics. It's much more fun to receive Thanks in the mailbox! The sketch for this card is from Stamping 411 this week.

I guess the weekend is coming to a close and I will be happy once Wednesday is over this week. Hope it has been a wonderful one for you. Thanks for taking the time to stop by.
Joan

A Musical Thank You

This is the time of year that I start making Musical Thank You cards for the parents who have helped me out in my music program through the year.....thus the reason I keep ALL retired Stampin'Up! musical sets!

This week, the girls over at Raise The Bar were requesting Thank you cards for Teachers - I no longer have children in school - but being a teacher - I give the Thanks You's out instead.

The Paper Players challenge this week has been "Anything Goes" - So - I've used two of my favorite stamp sets, I've used one of my favorite techniques - embossing! and then of course, my favorite add-on for almost EVERY card I make is Dimensionals!

I'm chomping at the bit now - only four school days until concert day - and somehow some teachers are still sneaking in a field trip. Arggggghhhhhhh! I do have fantastic kids - but I'm not feeling as confident about this concert as I have for others. Oh well - ya never want good rehearsals anyway!

So - take it as it comes - it will all be good. Thanks so much for stopping by!!!!! Have a Fantastic Day.
Joan

Roll with the Punches...

Ya just gotta love punches.....they can be so so versatile. Butterflies turn into flowers and straight lines can turn corners..

I know these pansies have been around for a while, but today was the first time I'd ever made them. A Colour Dare Design Team-mate, Lesley (Always Playing with Paper), used them yesterday on her Color Dare card, and I promised myself I would give them a try. The tutorial that both of us used is from Kathy - the Paper Stamper. I used watercolour paper instead of regular or Shimmer paper. I got so hooked on making them that I even went to look for the different colour variations that pansies come in. They are one of my favorite flowers because they are just so happy looking. The sketch I used for this card is from Stampin' Royalty.

I created this second card a couple of days ago using the Paper Players Sketch Challenge and the Stamping 411 Color Inspiration which was Rose Red, River Rock and Always Artichoke. I used one the the flowers from the Triple Layer Punch to create the flowers on the outside of the oval.

I'm thoroughly enjoying the "Fabulous Phrases" stamp set, which I recently got, and desperately hope it won't end up on the retiring list June 1. Guess I don't have to wait long to find out! I find it such an exciting time of year in Stampin' Up!

Well, hope there are some things in your world that you are looking forward to. Remember to look for the good - don't dwell on the bad.....although it can be hard sometimes!
Have a terrific Thursday!
Blessings, Joan