Tea Party Prep

After taking advantage of Create with Connie & Mary's Occasion Mini Tutorials - I've decided to host an Afternoon Tea in April and create this card along with the Tea Shoppe Explosion Box.  Since I'm in the midst of doing that planning, it worked perfectly that today (Create with) Connie & Mary had a sketch as their challenge - so I used it.  

I created the background with the Delicate Doilies set with Pool Party ink on Pool Party paper.  I'll share the Explosion box later on - 

I've been creating all afternoon - 5 cards done for the upcoming All Occasion Stack in May.  I am NOT usually this prepared, but because I have a number of in-home workshops coming up, I wanted to be able to show them what stamping opportunities I'm having in my home in the future.

So - busy, busy, busy - Wooo Hooo - Hip hip Horray!

We've had a dump of snow today - on the eve of Spring Break.  I'm sure anyone who was going to the mountains to ski is thrilled.  My daughter is leaving for Mexico on Sunday - so she can't wait to get out of here!

I'm staying put - and happy to do so.

Hope you are happy with whatever plans are on your calendar - Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

Joan

Smooch Spritz Mashup!

Even though this post is coming in late I'm pleased that I got the Friday Mashup done on Friday.  I will be using this card in my demonstration tomorrow.  First - the Friday Mashup begins with an inspiration photo

1. Make a project using the "Inspiration Photo".
2. Or Make a project using the colors "Cherry Cobbler, Regal Rose & Whisper White".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project "Inspired by the photo using the colors Cherry Cobbler, Regal Rose & Whisper White".

I used the Paper Doily Sizzlits die and used it as a mask for spritzing the Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz over top.  It got a bit heavy in some section, but was okay once it had dried.

I think I'm ready for our Extravaganza tomorrow - I'll have more to share with you then - and one more spritz idea.  Have a wonderful weeked - thanks for stopping by.

Joan

Mojo Happiness

 I actually started this Mojo MONDAY card on Tuesday and finally got around to finishing it on Thursday - life just sometimes gets in the way of creating.  However, a lot got done in those two days - Tuesday was spent shopping with my daughter and Wednesday began with cleaning and ended up being a major purge of "stuff" - so that was a day very well spent!  So, today I have vowed to work in my stamp room most of the day....we'll see how that goes.

So - The sketch for the card above is from Mojo Monday - I changed that layering a wee big because the doily was initially showing under the ribbon - I guess it wouldn't have mattered once I put the flower on.

The colours are from Hand Stamped Sentiments - a yummy vanilla cupcake with "Pool Party" icing and a silver candy bead on top.  I used the pen from the "Rue Des Fleurs" set in the Occasions Mini; inking the florish with silver ink and the pen with black.

I'm getting ready for an Occasions Mini Open House on Saturday and since life has been busy, I've turned to casing some cards using the new sets.  Below are two that I cased from Sharon Field at Created by You.  I've changed colours, images or imbellishments somewhat - I like how she took the centre thread out of the quilted ribbon to use it on the tag below and I also like how she just highlighted parts of the umbrella.

That's it for now - I'm off to my room - looking forward to a great day!  Hope yours is full of productivity too.  Thanks for visiting - 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

Let it snow...well, not yet!!!!!

 I'm fine with the fallen leaves right now, and the crisp clear air - don't want the white stuff yet - but I do like snowflakes - and that's what the Friday Mashup is all about -

1. Make a project featuring "Snowflakes".
2. Or Make an "Easel Card".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create an "Easel Card featuring Snowflakes"

Easel cards are fun - and I do enjoy making them, now that the initial fear of them has subsided!  And as the quote on the Friday Mashup states - "A Snowflake is winter's butterfly".  I think that's wonderful!  So - I used the "Snow Much Fun" 'cause these snowmen are so cute - and I used the silver glimmer paper with the Northern Frost die.  I just HAD to add rhinestones to the centres of the snowflakes, and a mini jingle bell to the end of the snowman's hat!

Here are the next two pages in the anniversary book.....

 

 Grant - our musically talented son - who drums in a band and creates wonderful piano pieces that  make me stop and listen

I'm looking forward to more  holidays together!

Hope your working into a wonderful weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!
Joan

Heartfelt Kisses

 I have a coupler of challenges meshed into today's card - Hand Stamped Sentiments have a Think Pink Challenge out because October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month - so I pulled out some pinks and decided I had to use the lips again - and when I glanced at the "Floral Fillers" set, I wondered if I could use the Kissing Technique with the lips - and it worked perfectly.  The sketch is the Saturday Sketch from Stamping 411 and although I missed the deadline for posting a link, there was a die cut challenge at Just Add Ink - so that's why I added the swirls along the bottom.

I noticed once I saw the card on the computer that I added absolutely no bling of any sort - I may have to fix that - add some rhinestones or something.

Below are the next two pages in my anniversary book...

 I had fun stringing these little people together.  And one of the main logos for our school board has been the apple with the check mark in it - so that worked well too.  I LOVE the grunge set - especially the little pieces of tape!

This flower page is a case from someone on MDS - I regret not writing down whose ideas I borrowed for a couple of my pages!

It's pretty windy here today - still walked to school though and it wasn't too bad.  I hope your day has been a good one - and thanks for stopping by!
Joan

Remember When

Leaves, leaves, lots of leaves...Hand Stamped Sentiments is challenging the use of Cherry Cobbler, Pumpkin Pie and Not Quite Navy - which works with SUO challenges of including leaves in your project and I've used the sketch from Stamping 411.

I did end up using Early Espresso for the bases of the leaves - and in hindsight figured that using the Not Quite Navy would have been pretty cool too.  I tried twisting the Seam Binding Ribbon, holding the twists in place with glue dots.  The punched leaf has been stamped with the veins from "Gently Falling" and then crumpled up.

The following are the A and B pages for the alphabet book I created for my husband for our 25th anniversary next week....all done on My Digital Studio.  I love the capability of being able to change the sizes of stamps - connecting them and manipulating them.

Hope your week is going well - thanks for stopping by!

Joan

Fall Brad Mashup!

 Well, I'm sad to say that this is my last posting as a guest designer for the Friday Mashup!  I have thoroughly enjoyed my opportunity to work with these talented ladies.  The mashup is a fun concept and I will continue to work on these weekly challenges!  So - for this final Friday of September the mash up, which is a Fan Favorite Pick created by Lisa Runyon, is:

• Make a "Fall themed" project
• Or Make a Project that uses "Brads...lots and lots of Brads".
• Or "Mash it Up" and create a fun "Fall themed project that uses lots and lots of Brads".

One thing I love about fall beside the crunchy leaves on the ground, are the Black Eyed Susans which come into perfect bloom at this time of year.  I walk past a yard which has a whole bed full of them, and some other little groupings scattered around in other beds.  I smile each day I pass and see this one little grouping, standing tall and unwilted while the other plants around them are beginning to fade.  They're just so happy looking.  So - they were my inspiration for this card - and I chose to use brads to highlight the "eyes".

The Crochet Trim has been changed up a bit.  At the Regionals I was at two weeks ago, one of the home-office demonstrators showed how to colour the trim with ink.  You need to wash it out a bit first to remove the chemical that is on it - otherwise the ink sort of beads on top of the fibers.  I just rinsed the trim out with a bit of handsoap, dried it with my heat gun and then applied the ink from the ink pad with a sponge dauber.

Be sure to head over to The Friday Mashup! to see all the FALL-icious cards the DT have come up with.  Be sure to link your own creation to that blogsite and when posting on a public gallery remember to use FM26.

The last two Saturdays have been spent at Stampin'Up! events - now tomorrow I'm attending an Orff workshop.  Should be full of musical fun, fun, fun.  Hope your weekend is gearing up with things to look forward to.  And thanks again to Holly for the opportunity and privilege of being a guest designer for September!

Thanks for stopping by,

Joan

Simple Christmas

That carpet of leaves outside is getting deeper and deeper - and crunchier and crunchier - so I know that the days are numbered before Christmas will be here.  I have read on a couple of websites how many weeks or days there are - but I don't really want to give the fall up yet.

Today's card uses the sketch from Just Add Ink this week, and has a simple nature to it for keeping it simple over at Stampin' Royalty.  What simpler way to dress up a wintery or Christmasy card than with either the snowflake embossing folder or the Northern Frost Strip Die.  On top of that, the Silver Glimmer paper makes it supper easy to add glitz to the snowflakes.

I had my first practice with the Grade 4 handchimes today at lunch - they're so excited, and did pretty well for the first day.  Looking forward to a good year.
Thanks for dropping by for a visit - 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

Floral Filler Butterflies

It's amazing what you discover when you use something properly!  I have used this Fancy Fan Letterpress plate a couple of times on previous cards, but I neglected to put in the impressions pad.  I'm not sure why I thought of it today, but image my surprise when I ended up with a totally different result!  Duh! The areas without ink are raised ever so slightly.  I had liked the effect I was getting before - so now I have options.

Today's colours are from Create with Connie and Mary.  I wasn't sure what direction I was going to go in with this combo; there are so many possibilities.  The colours are Rich Razzleberry, Lucky Limeade, and Pumpkin Pie.  I saw Halloween, Fall, last take at Summer - totally cool combo!

Initially when I embossed these glossy butterflies with the Floral Fillers I thought I'd swirl each of the colours on them as we do with the embossing resist technique; but I opted for leaving each level it's own colour and like how it turned out.  The little banner is cut from the Petal Cone die.  I distressed the paper fibers by pulling the Bone Folder over it like you do to curl ribbon.  That made it easier to "billow" across the bottom.

I can't believe tomorrow is Friday already - this week has gone by quickly - amazing what going back to work does to time!  Be sure to check back tomorrow - I've been keeping a secret and am so excited I can finally tell tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by today - Hope your September is off to a great start!
Joan

Imagine Paris Possibilities

 

Oh I love this new Mocha Morning Specialty paper - it's so rich!  Of course bit of velvet swirled on anything makes it rich.  I've used the Sketch from Our Creative Corner today.

I received a warm fuzzy from my daughter this morning....she saw the card I made yesterday - with the cupcake.  She said, "Oh, someone has to have a birthday soon 'cause this card is so pretty."  It made me feel good after the fuss I had with it yesterday.

Spent a bit more time stamping today - I made up some sticky-note packages with matching pens to stock up on Hostess/Door Prize stuff.

I copied one that my friend, Amy, made a number of years ago for our staff at school with our Mascot on it.  There are large magnets on the back so it can stick on the fridge.  The pens have a piece of DSP inside.  Everything is quick, easy, and I'm not sure why I've waited so long to put them together.  I've had the supplies for ages!

That's how it works sometimes though - Hope you're having a wonderful weekend.  Thanks for taking time to stop by.
Joan

Snowman in August...

I've been waiting to get my hands on this snowman set - and today was the day.  I've used the Mojo Monday Sketch - except I flipped it so that I could have the little birds rolling along the bottom.

I've used a new "Snow Burst" Embossing Folder from the upcoming Holiday Mini.  I'll purchase ANY embossing folder I think - I just love when the paper has texture!  While looking at the card just now, I've realized that I neglected to put the rhinestone into the centre of the snowflake which Snowman is holding - so you'll have to use your imagination!  I will be adding it for sure!

And now - I want to give a HUMUNGOUS THANK YOU to Lesley Croghan from Always Playing with Paper!  She offered to help me with creating a new SU banner for my blog - and then she surprised me with the design you see above - and I LOVE it!!!!  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you - Lesley!!!!!!

I accomplished an awful lot today - ya know when you start one job and it sort of migrates into an additional job.....today I cleaned the linen cupboard, the back entryway and took labels off old wine bottles.  (My husband should be bottling some time before the school year starts again)  I had to go pick up the quilts that were at the cleaners because nights are getting a bit cooler this week - if you keep the windows open.

Tomorrow - who knows what's in store!  But I'm ready for anything, and I'm sure some crafting will be included!  Hope you're able to include some crafting in your day - and thanks for stopping by for a visit.

Butterfly Gratitude

I'm back from the mountains and raring to get into gear......I had planned on doing some planning while in the mountains, but that didn't work out -  which I guess is good in the long run.  The weather was pretty good - but it sure is warm back at home.  Perfect for spending a wee bit of time in the basement stamping.

I created this butterfly card for the Friday Mash Up! this week and I used the sketch from Stamping 411.

The Mash Up! was:

• Create a card with butterflies and bling  OR
• Create a card using Perfect Plum, Marina Mist, one other colour and a neutral  OR
• Create a card with butterflies, bling and the Color Combo.

I chose Wisteria Wonder as my extra colour and Very Vanilla as the neutral.  I actually like these colours together - I'll have to keep them in mind for the future.

I'm going to have to make sure that I get some school planning in during the next while - in addition to workshop planning....not much time left - but I'm NOT counting yet!

Hope you have some events to look forward to - and thanks for taking time to stop by to visit.
Joan

Purple Mash-Up

 

I'm not altogether sure what happened to today - but it went past with a lot of things accomplished - which is good.  I didn't get to creating a card until the early evening - ....Hmmmmm - maybe I'd get more done if I picked that time of day more often - if I start creating in the morning I tend to get nothing else done.

ANYWAY - enough rambling!  Friday's Mashup! was to:

• Create a project with "glitter"  OR
• Create an anniversary project  OR
• Create an anniversary project with "glitter"

I guess I just got "bling" stuck in my head for this one.  I did actually take apart a number of "ice" rhinestones to glue within the scallop - but the purple wasn't that great so I opted for the clear rhinestones that I didn't have to use glue for!!!

I'm going to have to work on using the Designer Frames Embossing Folder - I tried to get the "frame" within a piece of cardstock; but after going through the Big Shot there were indentations from the outside of the folder.  Any ideas from anyone?  I opted to just cut the oval out and mount the centre sentiment.

My daughter is heading down to the Calgary Zoo tomorrow - I'm sure she'll have a blast with her friends....all over 20!  Those were the days!

Hope you have some fun things planned for this weekend.
Thanks for visiting!
Joan

Butterfly Hope

Happy Monday!
It was good to get back to school this morning, although I did have a wonderful spring break on Vancouver Island! It was fun coming back to a Stampin'Up! box too!!!! It contained the new "Strength and Hope" set from the upcoming Mini. I absolutely love this butterfly!

I've used the sketch from The Sweetest Thing and that fantastic Paisley Petals DSP.

Hope your Monday is fantastic - I thoroughly enjoyed making my breakfast without turning on the kitchen light this morning! Love, Love Love the sun!!!!

Thanks for stopping by - Joan

Here's the story:
In November (yeah, that long ago), my mother asked if I would make a replacement for the Christmas decoration I had given her a couple of years ago. It was done in SU Christmas colours and papers and said "JOY". My mother has kept it out on her bookshelf ever since, but asked (in November) if I could make her another one without the Christmas Colours......
So here it is.
As you can tell from the colour scheme, I made it a week or so ago; around the same time I was working on the "Framed Tiles" and the inserts for the Simply Adorned necklace.

Yipee Horray it's Friday!
Thanks for stopping by! - Joan

ps: here are the close up's of the different panels.

Candles and Cake

Just a quick post this evening...sort of running around with my head cut off. Getting ready for this weekend's Birthday stamp-a-stack, getting ready to help a bride with invitations, and helping the daughter with a gift for a friend. But it's all good and I know everything will lend well.

So - I made this card earlier in the week - I can't honestly remember if it was for a challenge or not - I usually write them down - oh well. I'm enjoying this flower die.....makes making flowers easier for me.

Suppose I should have made a green card for St. Patrick's Day - ah well. Now I guess I'd better figure out what I'm going to wear to school tomorrow that's green. My how life can be filled with interesting dilemmas.

Hope you're dealing well with whatever life throws your way - thanks for taking the time to stop by. Joan

Thanks-Merci

I was on a roll this afternoon - got three challenges included in this card....
Splitcoast Colour Challenge - Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Baja Breeze, Neutral
Just Add Ink - Sketch
Random Amusing Challenge - Using more than one punch or die cut

Hope you are enjoying warmer temperatures - I'm loving the sun, especially later in the evening. It shines so nicely in my stamping room.
Thanks for stopping by today - Joan

Paisley Birthday Wishes

Another busy Sunday afternoon - I love it! I've been full of creativity today - my first creative venture was reinventing a descant this morning in choir - it worked - but it wasn't what I was suppose to sing! Good thing the director is my husband! LOL

I used more of the Paisley Petals paper this afternoon using the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge from The Sweetest Thing. The "scallop" around the outside of the circle was created with 1/2 inch circles. The Flower is one of the Paper Daisies which I used Cherry Cobbler re-inker and my aqua-painter on. I love how it turned out. I guess I didn't really follow the sketch exactly because I don't have a central piece in the middle - but the greeting is close.


I also worked on these two little inserts for the Simply Adorned frame. I'll put it together with the baubles and take a picture for another day.

I have to secretly start working on a project for my daughter - She's not out of the house very much lately, so it may be difficult to stamp with her here. She often comes to see what I'm up to or just to lay down on the floor in my room. Oh well, I'll just have to figure out a sneaky strategy!

Hope your Sunday has been marvelous. Thanks for stopping by! Joan