Loving Brocade Blue

I was just chatting the other night with a friend about how much I love Brocade Blue & More Mustard together for masculine cards. I don't make masculine cards often, but over the next couple days you'll see a few of them. I've been asked to make up a few birthday, going away and all occasion cards for some co-workers, how could I say no?

This card is fairly simple, as most masculine cards are...kinda like men themselves! ;)
I used Chocolate Chip DSP for the circles, popped them up with some dimensionals. The sizes are 1", 3/4" and 1/2". There's a couple of the 5/16" brads on there and I used a Texturz Plate for a piece of the chocolate chip background.

I was looking forward to playing with my new stuff, but only managed to get one set put together as my husband ended up home early. Besides, I was losing my "crafty" with every yawn.

I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!

So little time...

So many new things to play with!

I received a bonus from Stampin' Up! this month, $125 in free products - my choosing! How cool is that?

But, I've been so busy at work I completely forgot that it was scheduled to arrive today. And oh, how I love that man in brown!

Here's a little peek at what he delivered yesterday, but I simply ran out of time to play last night after my kickboxing class, preparing bottles, lunches, packing bags...you get the idea.
Be sure to check back tomorrow, I've got new stuff and a husband who's out ALL evening - yeah, me!
Have a great Tuesday!

Happy Birthday...

...to my baby sister! Muah!

Here's the card I made for her to celebrate her day. I know what you're thinking...that's an awful lot of blue! It's her FAVOURITE colour, so I went all out!

It's a wee bit detailed, so here goes:

Colours used: Night of Navy, Brocade Blue, Bashful Blue and Whisper White
I used markers in Brocade Blue and Bashful Blue to colours random squares on the Night of Navy DSP. Cool effect, eh? I stamped out 3 cakes and the cake holder from the On a Pedestal stamp set in all three colours onto Whisper White card stock. Cut each of those pieces out and used Crystal Effects to secure the micro beads. Ribbon is 5/8" grosgrain in Brocade Blue & 1/2" striped grosgrain in Bashful Blue and I tied the two together at one end. There's tiny strips of co-ordinating card stock "sewn" onto the buttons (that little trick I showed you a little while ago), and 2 of those buttons are from Playground and the other, I'm not quite sure;) Stamped out happy birthday from the Birthdays Count (retired, but remember I told you - I don't care!) onto Whisper White and layered it onto Brocade Blue. I used mini glue dots to secure that piece and the buttons to the card. Finally, I coloured the candles in Brocade Blue & Summer Sun, cut them out and put a tiny bit of Crystal Effects on the flames.

And...that's it! Enjoy!

Stars & Circles

My apologies for not posting yesterday! Busy day at the apple orchard!! What a great day for it though! Beautiful, gorgeous weather here in Southern Ontario!

Here's a card that I had to try out after I saw it in the new PaperCrafts mag!

Colours used are Whisper White, Night of Navy and Brocade Blue. I used some DSP from the Print Patterns III (hostess) in Night of Navy, 2 sizes of star punches and the 1 3/8" circle punch. There's one strip of Night of Navy that I sponged with White Craft ink and layered some 5/8" grosgrain ribbon on it. Popped the circles off with Pop-Up Glue Dots, a dimensional under each of the large stars. I used 2 silver brads to secure the small star to the large stars for the left and right ones and a rhinestone brad from the Pretties set to secure the centre one. Stamped a simple and elegant "happy birthday" in Night of Navy from "Birthdays Count". I don't care that it's retired, it's my absolute favourite Happy Birthday to use! ;)

Let me know what you think!

Inspiration in Action Challenge

Gretchen Barron, who does fabulous work posted this sketch challenge on her blog on Thursday.








When I found it, I just had to try it - plus, I needed a masculine thank-you card for a friend of mine.

Here is my version of the sketch:

The colours I used are More Mustard, Elegant Eggplant, Ruby Red and Soft Suede. I used Autumn Traditions DSP and watercolour paper. There's some paper-piercing and I popped the three leaves at the top using some dimensionals.

Awesome sketch Gretchen!

Snappy Birthday!

So, I'm going to brag for a bit here...

This is the project we made for our Girls' Night Out club meeting on Tuesday night. Thanks Heather! I love the punched creations she comes up with - so awesome!

My princess also enjoys stamping, punching and crafting in general. Now that she's a little older, her and I have a blast playing together in my stamp room. Prior to Tuesday night's get-together, she wanted to create the project too! Of course, how could I resist my little sweetie!?


Here's her wonderful creation:

She literally did everything herself - just by looking at mine. The child just amazes me!

Enjoy your Thursday!!

A complete departure

Wow! This card was difficult for me to do!

Those who know me, know how much I LOVE blue and silver for Christmas. Well, I have the Night & Day Specialty DSP from the mini and just adore the window sheets. I wanted to use the Serene Snowflakes, but wanted to include the DSP as well. For me - this was crazy! Black on a snowflake!?!?! No, no, no, no!

Here's how it panned out:
I used Kraft, Bermuda Bay and Basic Black. I stamped the snowflakes in Bermuda Bay and popped out a 1/2" circle in Bermuda Bay card stock, on which I filled in some dots with my Basic Black marker. I took a 1 1/2" x 4 1/4" piece of Bermuda Bay CS for along the bottom, but needed to secure the Window Sheet to it! So, I punched some holes using my 1/16" hole punch and used a needle to help with the Linen Thread. The sentiment was done with markers (Merry in Basic Black and Christmas in Bermuda Bay). I sponged both the Kraft pieces on all the edges in Basic Black. And there's a couple dimensionals behind the sentiment piece as well.

Let me know what you think!

Love this Build-A-Bear

I could give this to my husband for our anniversary IF he hadn't insulted me the other night!!! Just joking - about the insulting, not the card!

My princess took one look at this card and asked - "is this Kanda and Putter?" Kanda is her bear we made for her 3 years ago while Daddy was overseas and Putter is the new little guy we made for the little prince. I thought it was so sweet!

I used Rose Red, Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive and Whisper White. The stamped images are coloured with markers. I secured the sentiment with two "ice" rhinestone brads and while the picture doesn't show all of it, there's some paper-piercing on the card as well.
Ugh - they're just so stinkin' cute!
Have a great Tuesday!

Build-A-Bear

Who can resist those cute, cuddly little darlings?

Well, Stampin' Up! has teamed up with Build-A-Bear Workshop and they're all in the new Holiday Mini Catalogue! There's tonnes of products to choose from, even for the Big Shot!!

And this month:

• Host a workshop totaling $330 (before s/h & taxes) or more and choose any one item* from the 2009 Holiday Mini Catalogue for only $14

This includes ANYTHING you see in the Mini Catalogue - even if it also appears in the idea book & catalogue. Example: Movers & Shapers die (pg 201) worth $57.95!!! *Unfortunately, the $14 item doesn't include My Digital Studio or hostess sets.

When you're ready to book your workshop, just send me an e-mail!!

Have a great day!

Twick or Tweet

I am in LOVE with the new products available in the new Holiday mini catalogue!!

This set is Twick or Tweet and I used some Night & Day Specialty DSP, the colours are Black & White and Pumpkin Pie. There's some Black Gingham Ribbon, two black brads from the Vintage brad collection and 1 silver 5/16" brad that I coloured using a permanent black marker. All the edges of each Pumpkin Pie piece has been sponged with Pumpkin Pie ink and I used the Mat pack to perfectly align the brads.

A super-simple card, really easy to make and I love it!

If you haven't had the opportunity to check out the Holiday Mini Catalogue, take some time to do so! There's a link here on my blog, but if you prefer to hold it in your hands - just give me a call and I'll get you your copy. You'll be happy you did!

Greetings, Earthling!

Cute, cute, cute! That's how I would describe this set! I had been hmmm'ing and haaaa'ing on this set for a while and finally got it. More importantly, finally played with it!

I used Rich Razzleberry, Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo and Whisper White. Textured two layers of card stock with the Big Shot and my texturz plates. Stamped out the little alien in Basic Black and coloured it with markers. Finished off the sentiment with 3 silver brads.

Easy, peasy!
Have a great day!

Dasher

I'm pleased to say that I've created something and managed to get a couple pictures of it!! It has been a good night for me so far...got the kiddies to bed seamlessly and headed down here to play. I've had a couple of VERY busy days at work, so I'm feeling very good about not thinking about work right now.

On with the card....

Colours used are Soft Suede, Real Red and Whisper White. The DSP is Christmas Cocoa Specialty and it includes this beautiful flocked design in Real Red. I used 5/8" grosgrain ribbon in Real Red, 1/4" grosgrain in Whisper White but used my Soft Suede marker to dye it. I stamped the greeting from Many Merry Messages in Soft Suede and Real Red and there's 2 of the 5/16" Neutral brads holding the vellum in place. Dasher is fantastic and under $12 - check the last page of the idea book & catalogue to find him!

Enjoy the card and I'll see you tomorrow!

Finished the butterflies...

But I cannot, for the life of me, get a good picture of them.

We tried and tried tonight, but no luck. The princess is happy with them, so that makes me happy.

I'm feeling very, very blah right now because I haven't had any time to scrap/create/play at all. I'm starting to lose a bit of creativity and I'm not happy about it. I'm looking forward to a slower day tomorrow at work (we'll see about that...) and an evening alone once the kiddies are in bed. Here's to hoping that I'll have a dozen projects to share with you tomorrow.

And a quick reminder that there's a promotion on right now:

The decor elements Growth Chart is currently only available in one option - Old Olive, Taken with Teal and Chocolate Chip. When you purchase the Growth Chart you'll receive a free applicator tool. It's only available until September 30th, so be sure to order yours today. Can't wait to get mine for the prince's room.

Check back tomorrow!

A whirlwind week

Say that 3 times fast!

It's been crazy busy around here for this past week, and it's looking like this coming week isn't going to be much different.

I've taken the time to update this blog with the mini-catalogue, hostess special and some projects - these updates are along the right-hand side of the page. I haven't, however, had ANY time to myself to stamp, create or even play. Not good, not good at all.

This week, I'll be working on some beautiful butterflies for my princess' room - check back often! The picture is from our demonstrator magazine - hence, where I got the idea from. It'll be adapted to suit our needs and won't be like a baby mobile. Be sure to check back to see the finished project!

Thanks and I hope you've enjoyed your long weekend!