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

Black Magic Butterfly

Welcome everyone to a sketch day at Sunday Stamps....and Holly has a quick and easy sketch for us this week that I'm sure could have tons of wonderfully creative interpretations.

I've kept my card relatively simple.  I've used the Black Magic Technique for the butterfly and this card will be done at my Technique class on February 15.  The link to the technique, demonstrated on Splitcoast is HERE.  It's really easy to do, and gives some use to those pencil crayons that a lot of us have hanging around if we have school children.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when you join us.

1. Please provide a Link back to us in your Post.

2. Please link directly to your blog post for the challenge.

3. Feel free to use any Brand of product.

4. Deadline is Friday February 8th @12pm EST.

5. Have FUN!!

Be sure to check out the Sunday Stamps blog to see what the rest of the design team has created with Holly's sketch.

Thanks for stopping by - Have a fabulous Sunday.

Joan

Flowers & Butterflies

Wow - I've lost track of time getting ready for my 15 Birthday/All Occasion Card Stack tomorrow.....and then helping my husband & friends stuff campaign envelopes for the Alberta Teacher's Association election - time flies!!!

Here are two cards created at the Extravaganza last week.  I love monochromatic cards - and the above is no exception.  When I saw these flowers in the spring catalogue I completely looked them over with a firm No Thank You.  Yeah - well - I've now ordered about 3 packages.  I LOVE them - and so does my daughter.  Just goes to show you  - some things you need to play with before you make a final decision.

I love, love, love, this butterfly!  Even embossed in Pool Party!

Well - Friday evening is almost over - I still have bits and pieces to plan for tomorrow - so I'll keep this post short.

Thanks for dropping by - Have a fantastic weekend.

Joan

Butterfly Thanks and a Cover

Happy Thursday - Just about done the week - hope it's been a good one for you.  I've been busy, but I've had my share of lazy moments too.

Today I'm sharing a card created with a sketch from Freshly Made Sketches....I can't believe I used these two pieces of DSP, but I do like them together.  My father would be scolding me right now though - because the patterns aren't matched up to flow properly from one into the other.  (That brings back sewing memories!!!! Yeup - my dad taught me to sew)

I embossed the framelit pieces just to add a bit of texture, and of course the butterflies are "flying" off the page.

I'm also sharing my 1st Altered Book Cover that I finished the other night.  I had a lot of fun with it.  

1) I added an expired strip of DSP along the spine

2) I added Marina Mist reinker to Gesso to paint the cover and get rid of the original yeuky colour.  I painted over some of the DSP, but left the spine free of paint.

3)  I created a "gel skin" with Self Levelling Clear Gel and used some of our retired beads mircrobeads and glitter.

This is the piece I created and I've only torn off chunks to use on this cover.  That much glittery goodness needs to be spread around!

Here is a side view of the book - it's full of the Mandalas and Zendoodles that I've been doing over the past couple months.

Have a fantabulous day - Thanks for stopping by.

Joan

Season of Sweets and Beyond

This week's challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments is "Anything But a Card"...and while my last project is a card, the rest of the projects are not.  My goal today was to use some of the new products from the Holiday Catalogue.  I was reminded at Convention, by Bonnie Thurber, to show ideas to do with various products outside of what they are "suppose" to be used for.

All of my projects are based on the little envelopes included in the Season of Sweets Designer Kit.  For the project shown above, I used the envelope as a little frame, tucking Elliot's picture inside and decorating the outside.  

To ensure the "frame" stays standing, I added an "anchor" using the Modern Label punch.

Next, I created a scrapbook page using the envelope as a frame again, but adhering it to the page.  (That's Elliot's father, Grant, at his second Christmas.)  I stamped snowflakes from Snowflake Soiree, and used the Snow Flurry  Big Shot die to create the snowflakes with Very Vanilla Cardstock and the Champagne Glimmer Paper.

Finally, I used the envelope as the base of a card.  I covered the inside with card stock and created a belly band to keep it shut using a strip of the die cut elements from the Design Kit; including the little holly leaves and berries.  The berries are covered with Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details to add a bit of bling.

I'm on a roll here - so I'm off to play some more.  Thanks for stopping to visit.
Joan

Happiness Quilt

The days of making quilts are gone for me - but it's fun putting paper ones together....Quilts was the challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I've used the Floral Districts DSP for the flowers in the middle of each square.  The squares were mounted on white card stock before being cut with the Top Note Die and then embossed with the Fancy Fan Folder.  I'm not sure about the two random strips of ribbon - but that's where I went.  

I also finished off a  Mini Album using the Serene Silhouette set.  I used a tutorial from the 2012-13 New Catalogue Edition from Create with Connie and Mary.  I had to make a few adjustments because I didn't have everything that was used in the tutorial.

My cover is pretty much the same.  I didn't have a coiling machine so I used ribbons to join all the pages together.

I don't have the English Ivy Simple Sentiments stationary - so I used the flourish from Creative Elements on Very Vanilla card stock  for the pieces that used the stationary.

Of course, since I didn't have the stationary - I didn't have the envelopes with the fancy insides or the fancy edges.  So, I "cut" off the envelope glue off a regular Vanilla envelope using one of the Adorning Accents Edgelits.

I also chose to use the Finishing Touches Edgelit for some of the parts instead of the scallop border punch.

I like the final results.....now I just have to decide who to give it to.  I must commend this group of women who create things for the tutorials.  The steps are always straight forward and easy to follow.  And they are such an inspiration!

Hope you are finding inspiration in your life today.  Thanks for stopping by.  Only three days left of school....whooooohooooo!!!!!
Joan

Double Stamped Watercolour

I stumbled on something new today - well, new for me.  I was working on two challenges - Freshly Made Sketches and colours from Stampin' Royalty....Pool Party, Island Indigo, Old Olive and More Mustard.

I selected an image from Serene Silhouettes and pulled out some watercolour paper.  I coloured the stamp using Markers and then wet the watercolour paper before I stamped the image.  I spritzed the paper with water, but I also rubbed it around with my fingers (which miraculously didn't have any ink on them!).  I didn't want water to be pooling on the paper.  I stamped the image and, of course, the colours ran - as they should with watercolour paper.  I decided to ink up the image again, use the Stamp-a-ma-jig, and re-stamp overtop of the blurry image.  

I'm sure this is nothing new - but it allowed the image to look sharper.

It's a beautiful Wednesday evening.  Hope you're enjoying the flora and fauna in your little neck of the woods.  Thanks for visiting mine.

Joan

A Bird, A Butterfly.....and a Snowman

Today I've used the Mojo Monday sketch along with the colours from the Paper Players....Lucky Limeade, Melon Mambo and Basic Grey.  I love when I find challenges that challenge me to use things I rarely use - like Melon Mambo.  I like the colour 'cause it's so bright, but I'm not really a pink person so I tend to neglect it.

After I inked the summer image from "Four Seasons", I spritzed it with water to change it up a bit.  You can barely see the spritz marks in the photo.  I love how this set has a tiny image to go along with the scallop image for each season.

On Saturday, at our Extravaganza, I demonstrated the embossing resist technique after having coloured an image.  This is the little guy I used for my demonstration - I hadn't had anything to add him to.  But...today I remembered that Lesley Croghan - Always Playing with Paper is now hosting a Merry Monday Challenge helping us get a head start on cards for Christmas.  Yay!!!

I'm starting to count down the days with kids.....there are shockingly few!

Hope you have something fun/exciting to count down to.

Thanks for stopping by,

Joan

Doily Thanks

Here I am with my morning off...challenges done, and now off to concentrate on my Newsletter.

I've used the Mojo Monday Sketch for today's card as well as the colours from over at Hand Stamped Sentiments - Daffodil Delight, Sahara Sand, Basic Grey and Basic Black or another Neutral.  I'm not sure why the colours spoke doilies to me - but there ya go.

ALL the pearls on - but now I'm glad I put them on every scallop instead of every other one.

Well - it's a busy day - so this is short and sweet.

Hope you get everything you want to accomplish crossed off your list today

Thanks for visiting

Joan

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Don't Hesitate - Join Now!  E-mail me and I'll give you all the details.  You can join for your own personal crafting, as a hobby, to make a little money and order with friends, or to have your own home based business.  You could become the active demonstrator in your area.

RockinRoll Seasons

It's such a sunshiny day today, that I just had to use bright colours for today's creation.  

I've started with the sketch from The Paper Players - and since the central focus was circular, I decided to try out the new "Four Seasons" set - it's one of the Hostess sets that will become available in 5 days!

I've used the Rock and Roll technique for both the scallop image and the little flowers .  The little bird is punched out and popped up.  The colours I've used are:  Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade and Tangerine Tango.  The tiny tag is tied on with Lucky Limeade Baker's Twine.

Hope you're having a super Sunday!  Thanks for visiting.

Joan

In-Colour Floral Thanks

I finally got back into my stamping room after being hit with some sort of bug for two days - it hit hard, fast and left...thank goodness!

So - I decided to play with a few of the new In-Colours.  Gumball Green is Great!  Midnight Muse is bordering on Not Quite Navy - but nice and bright.  And Summer Starfruit - well, I'm just going to have to see how that one goes - it's a funny colour on it's own!

The sketch is from this weeks' Freshly Made Sketches challenge.

I also created some bookmarks which I'm going to include with the New Catalogue at my Open House - among other goodies - on June 2.  I was inspired by a set that Brenda Quintana had posted on Stampin'Connection.

Hope you're geared up for a fun weekend.  Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

Joan

Ballooning Thanks

When I lived in Edmonton, during the summer, you'd see the hot air balloons rising from the river valley.  I don't know if I'd ever have the guts to ride in one - but there is something so peaceful about them floating through the air.

This isn't one of the new sets I got yesterday, but it is new to me and it worked best with the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches today.  I did use one of the "Itty Bitty Banners" with its matching Framelit.

I took the colours from the inspiration photo at Stampin' Royalty.  The photo was of  bright beautiful flowers, which I've transferred to the balloons.  I've used a piece of upcoming DSP called "Comfort Cafe" and the Daffodil Delight Stitched Grosgrain ribbon is new too.

I do like when I have my morning off from school - I can get the challenge of the day done, and putter around a bit with Stampin' stuff.  When I get home this afternoon I'm going to have to start getting to work on some masks for my concert.  Busy, busy, busy.

Hope you have a marvellous day - thanks for visiting.

Joan

Spreading Ink Flowers

I just MIGHT have gotten this technique figured out.  We were going to do the Spreading Ink Technique at our Team Meeting tonight (it got cancelled due to low registration because our fearless leader, Tamye, is in Orlando on the incentive trip) ......I was suppose to help run the meeting, and figured I better try this technique YET AGAIN, to see if I could do it.

I followed the tutorial on our demonstrator website and achieved a bit more success.  I think the trick is to remember to dab the ink onto the soaked paper - use the aqua painter to brush the water on instead of just spritzing the paper with water.  I also used glossy paper for the first time.  I've tried regular card stock and shimmer card stock in the past.

Also - I like the above flower best (I created 4) - and I think it's because I used only one colour so there was no chance for "mud" to form.

Because I created the 4 flowers, I used this Poppy Parade one on the sketch challenge from Freshly Made Sketches this week.  Again - I used just the one colour.

I'm frantically getting ready for my All Occasion Card Stack this weekend.....hope you've got some excitement planned for the near future - something to look forward to.

Thanks for visiting for a while.

Joan

Shipload of Thanks

Happy Tuesday everyone - Here's my Friday Mashup! Creation....  The mashup for the past week was...

1. Make a project using the "Sketch".
2. Or Make a project using the "Ghosting (aka VersaMark Resist) Technique".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project using the "Sketch & the Ghosting Technique".

I hadn't done the Ghosting Technique for a while.  I did it two different ways though - the ships have clear embossing powder over top of the versa mark because I sometimes find the white doesn't stay white.  The Earth does not have any embossing powder added.  Both turned out okay.

I kept the sketch pretty true to form - I adjusted it for a more masculine theme by omitting a "ribbon" at the top of the tag and added the globe for the extra embellishment.  Those little holes at the top are not part of the original sketch and they were SUPPOSE to be brads.  I decided they were too close together so I left them as "Paper Piercing".

I'm off to take a nap - a bit late for one, but I'm weary.  I came home exhausted after an awesome weekend of music - and I caught a cold while I was at it.  So resting is the plan.

Hope you are well in your part of the world - thanks for stopping by for a visit.
Joan

Bright Blossom Thank You

Oh I just love when the rhinestones on my cards pick up the flash from the camera....

I started working on this Mojo Monday sketch this morning and finished it before getting down to taxes!  Now the taxes are done, the card is posted, and it's time to go find something mindless to do.  I'll pick up the pace again tomorrow.

Hope your Monday was marvellous!  Thanks for visiting!
Joan

Spring is in the Air

As soon as I saw the challenge at Stampin' Royalty - "Spring Things", I knew I had to get busy with the project I had planned.....I was inspired by the photo on page 5 of the April Stampin' Success Magazine. 

 I have put this bird cage at our front door for the past two years.  Sometimes it's empty; last year I stuck a chickadee inside (ceramic of course).  When I saw the example in the magazine I knew I had to duplicate it.  I literally had to cram in  the wreath I used as a nest, and the eggs are drastically oversized, but I'm happy with how it turned out.

I've been using pearls or rhinestones as the bodies of my butterflies, but I like the added flowers too.  Linen thread was used of the antennae....it worked well.

The styrofoam eggs are covered with layers of the Blossom Bouquet Triple flower and then spritzed with Soft Suede.  I moistened the paper a bit to make it more pliable, and attached the layers with a hot glue gun.

These little flowers are standard....the Boho Blossoms punch - largest blossom in 5 layers.  Each layer was spritzed with water first before crumpling it up.  I used sewing pins through the middle to hold them together.

Finally, I used the left over butterflies for a card using the sketch from Stamping 411.

I've been babysitting Elliot the past three afternoons while his mom and dad get moved into their new place.  I'm bushed!  But I had a good time.

Hope your weekend is off to a good start.  Thanks for taking the time to visit.

Joan

Umbrella Thanks

I'm sorry I haven't used this set more often - I really like the images - this umbrella and the corset.

Today's creation is a blend of Stampin' Royalty for the sketch, Handstamped Sentiments asks for watercolour this week  and Color Throwdown for the colours - Elegant Eggplant, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, and I used Baha Breeze instead of Brocade Blue.

I used ink and aqua painter for the umbrella and for the faces of each of the watches I added a bit of Crystal Effects.  I absolutely love this pleated ribbon; it's so easy to work with.

We've only got one more day of school before spring break.  Wooo Hooo!  

I haven't shared a picture of Elliot since he was born - he's such a precious calm baby! 

Have an enjoyable day!

Thanks for visiting! 

Joan

Blushes and Banners

I'm gearing up for an upcoming Extravaganza with our extended Stampin'Up! Team next weekend.  I'm going to be doing a demonstration using the new Blushing Bride Smooch Spritz and I'm taking the ideas right out of the January Stampin' Success Magazine.  

For the card above, which uses the sketch from Stamping 411 (positioned horizontally), I've used the Smooch by spritzing it right onto the rubber stamp image and then stamping it.  You have to spray lightly or stamp lightly otherwise the image is fuzzy; and the areas where there is more of the spray glistens very nicely.

Next I'm sharing a Valentines banner I created using a tutorial from Create with Connie and Mary Occasions Edition 2012.  Check out their website if you're interested in getting a whole whack of fantastic creative ideas with products from the Occasions Mini and the SAB mini!

I had to change some of the things on my banner because I didn't have the same supplies as were used in the tutorial, but I'm happy with how it turned out.  I also added a central heart to the banner, just to make it a bit longer.

As I sit in my stamping room in the basement this afternoon, I can hear the water on the road in front of the house as the cars drive by.  Very bizarre for January 29 in Northern Alberta!  Hope it doesn't rain like it's expected to later!  However, precipitation is precipitation - and the farmers will be needing it!!!

Hope you are having a great end to your weekend.  Thanks for taking the time to stop by for a visit.

Joan

Silvery, Snowy Thanks

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted a card - AND the fact that I missed an entire Friday Mashup!  I have been busy these past two weekends, and I did spend this whole last week preparing for a Christmas Trade Show - but still!  Well, I have this whole week off - so in between doing report cards and tweaking things for the next Trade Fair - I will be catching up on my usual challenges.

So - this week at the Friday Mashup they were looking for heat embossing and gratitude.  We've celebrated our Thanksgiving already - so I thought I'd gear my card towards thanks at Christmas or in the winter.  The sketch is from Stamping 411.

I embossed these wonderful Serene Snowflakes with silver embossing powder.  I used the Versa Mark Pen to touch the snowman's buttons and added embossing to them also.  The Lace Ribbon Border was punched from the Brushed Silver Paper as well as the one little Northern Frost snowflake which I had leftover in a drawer waiting to be used.

Well - I am thankful for this week off - I've got lots of upcoming events planned and need the time to prepare, in addition to necessary jobs, reading, cleaning, napping! 

Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday afternoon.  Thanks for stopping by for a visit.
Joan

Gratitude Tea

Just a quick post before I run out the door to head to the city for our team meeting - well, and to be honest - browsing around one of the shopping centres first.

I used today's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches along with the colours from Stampin' Royalty: So Saffron, More Mustard, Old Olive and Elegant Eggplant.

For the main matt - I rolled More Mustard onto the Striped Embossing Folder with a brayer before putting the Saffron paper in to emboss it; so the Mustard is embedded in the "lower" stripes.  The teacup was done on watercolour paper and I had to do two to get one I liked.  Fancy teacups always remind me of my Grandma and going to the back lane neighbors for tea when I was a little girl.  I do remember proper tea parties too - I just don't recall what the "real" purpose of them were.    I do remember being dressed up and offering around the plate of goodies to the guests.  Good Times!  Good Memories!

And I'm off .... to more good times with Stampin' Friends - hope your day is enjoyable too!  Thanks for stopping by!
 Joan