Early Mother's Day Card

Hi Everyone!

Well, I did finally make time to put together a card that's been bouncing around in my head for a few days now. It didn't turn out exactly as planned as I was hoping to make some paper roses.
The main stamp is Penny Black? I'm one of those newbies who was so excited about using a new stamp that I threw away the original packaging! Now, I'm living to regret it and when I do buy new cling stamps I keep them with the packaging or label them. The sentiment is from JustRite Stampers which I purchased from Crafty Capers  in Nanaimo. This set is sew kewl as it came with the stamping block, sentiments and also the Spellbinders to make assorted tags.
The papers were from Doodlebug Design Inc. (dots), Stampin' Up! (Plain) and Little Yellow Bicycle (Plaid). The plaid one was actually in the baby section!
I coloured the image with Copics and can't remember which colours I used because I kept playing around with different ones. Bling was added around the sentiment and the glittered leaves were cut out with the Cricut (StoryBook cartridge). Ribbon is from Michael's and I made the glue dots myself with the glue gun and tinted them with Ranger Alcohol Inks. I wish that the thread colour had stood out more on the stitching so if you can't tell... it's like a peacock blue that I had left over from some quilts I made.
Thanks for looking! Please don't hesitate to critique me... I'm learning!!

Stylish Blogger Award

Good Morning!
I signed in last night to find a wonderful surprise!!  Priyanka nominated me for the Stylish Blogger Award!  She is a wonderful, gifted, and very intelligent crafter and I feel honoured that Priyanka nominated me.  So, I must pay this forward along with telling 7 things about me... Eeegad..

First to name the following lovely ladies who I think deserve to display this badge:
1.  Stacie
2.  Lindy
3.  Victoria
4.  Gail
5.  Nancy

Herès your badge that you have all earned... You are all sooo special!!

Now.. 7 things about me!

1.  I love playing with stamps and paper!

2.  I love working with the elderly because it is so much fun!

3.  I love sunshine but not the heat

4.  I also love to quilt and tole paint but need to set aside more time!

5.  I can hardly wait to be a grandma one day!  Payback is grand!

6.  I have to stay away from the SPCA and the auction or I would be over run at home!

7.  I love Terry and all our boys and their girlfriends so much because they think I am talented .. but then again they are predjudice!

8.  Just one more... I wish there were 36 hours in a day so I would have more time to work on the things I love!

Thank you again Priyanka for giving me this award!!!!

Masculine Generic

Hello again!

I had an idea pop into my little brain on the way home tonight so I threw dinner in the oven and went to work on bringing my idea to life.
I started with the Stampscape images, slowly building until I was happy with it. Some stamps you may not recognize as I stamped them half off the page, like the small lakeside cove.
The inks used were: From Adirondack - Aqua, Stonewashed, Willow, black; From Memento - Potters Clay, Cottage Ivy; From Distress Pads - Frayed Burlap, Crushed Olive and Weathered Wood.
Once I was finished I sprayed the image with glossy laquer and highlighted a few tiny spots with a glitter gel pen in platinum. I looked at the photo I took and those highlights don't show but they do look great when the card is tilted. As I always do of late, used the Martha Stewart photo corner punch to make it look like it could have been a photograph.
The sentiment is from Thomas Kinkade and states: 'If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles.'
The papers were random ones I had from a huge package from Costco. (I'm finally using them!) I stitched them together and then popped the image up on top. The sentiment was stamped onto cream cardstock, stitched and then the edges ripped and distressed.
One thing I should have done was to find some of my old fishing gear to stick on there. Hmmm.. I think I know where it may be so if I do remember to add some I'll post an updated photo!
Thanks for looking!

Card For Stacie's Aunt

Hi again everyone!
It's still cold with snow on the ground so I spent a few hours playing in my favourite room! I stumbled across a blog last night and will link it to this post when I find it again. The blog owner is Stacie and her Aunt has been diagnosed with breast cancer and having her mastectomy soon. She was hoping to have people send cards to her address and she will bundle them up for her Aunt to make her day after her surgery. Being new to all of this, this will be the first card I've made to send to someone from the net be it Blogspot or SplitCoast.
I started off with Stampin' Up! glossy cardstock and Ranger Alcohol Inks. The ink colours used were Rasperry, Lemonade, Sunshine Yellow and Pearl. The stamp is from Hero Arts - Silhouettes and stamped with black Brilliance ink and then embossed with Clear Kaleidoscope. I thought it was just clear until after I put the heat gun down. Actually, I'm impressed with how it turned out and wish you could see the lovely look that doesn't show in this photo! The sentiment is also embossed and from Stampin' Up! Ribbon is circa 1990 from my stash. Papers are all unknown.
Thanks for looking and I'll post the link to Stacie as soon as she gets back to me via e-mail.

I finally have it!!  Stacies Blog is http://craft-princess.blogspot.com/

My Hunny's Valentine

Hi Again!

This is a quick addition of the Valentine I made for my Hunny, Terry. I stepped out of my comfort zone and used more bling than I'm used to... and he actually loved it! I can't remember what the papers were but do know that the solids were from my stash of Stampin' Up! The heart was done on the Cricut and the ribbon and rhinstones were generic from Michaels.
Thanks for looking!

The One That Got Away!

Hi Everyone!

It's Friday night and rather than doing 'date night' at Home Depot I coloured in the Stampscape I put together last night!
This time around I played with doing a sunset sky that didn't look too over the top but it just didn't turn out quite as planned. The colours didn't gel together right over the mountains but the hint of sunset did go as planned on the water.
You'll notice my fly fisherman is walking on water. OOOps! His legs should have been cut down slightly but then again, one of my sons is 6'10" tall and an avid fisherman, (We live in the Salmon Capital of the world),which would justify a sasquatch sticking so high out of the water! (I like the idea of blaming someone else for one's booboo's)
As usual, I used Adirondack dye inks along with some Memento ink pads as well. The colours used were: Cool Peri, Willow, Meadow, Citrus, Aqua, Pool, Terra Cotta and Raspberry from Adirondack. Also used were Weathered Wood and Frayed Burlap Distress Inks and then Memento Cantalope to highlight some areas on the cabin and rocks.
My new stamps should be in at Crafty Capers in Nanaimo pretty soon and I'll be able to change up the scenes a lot more... yay!! Next you'll get tired of viewing fields!
Thanks for stopping by for a look...

Love That Country Livin'!

Good Evening!
The weather is terrible so I headed to my favourite 'girls only' room and finished off what I had started last night!
This Stampscape is of my retirement home and property. I have a feeling that the house will be slightly larger than shown because I love old 'stuff.' I can hear the birds chirping in the trees as I type this out. Wonder if I'll have internet way out there??!!
I played around with the new cabin stamp I bought last week. It looked funny with mountains in the background so I toyed around with living on the prairies. The sedge filler stamp really helped fill in the voids here and there and though the fences don't really meet well... it looks old and worn out like me.
The colours I used for this were Adirondack Ink Pads in Pool, Terra Cotta, Willow, Meadow, Citrus, Black and from the Dirstress Ink Pads were Cracked Olive and Frayed Burlap. This scene is far from perfect!! If you look hard in the upper left corner, the ink ran when I sprayed the scene with glossy varnish! I didn't even notice that had happened until I was almost finished mounting everything so decided... to go ahead anyway! If I can't cover it up then I'll do another one. Should I scrap this one then I'll play around with white highlights.
I'm not sure why but, the ribbon took on a brassy hue for the camera when in fact it's a beautiful tan.
Thanks for looking and hope you like it!

Valentine For My Boys!

Good Morning!
Well... I now have glitter spreading throughout the house! We had another windy day/evening with heavy rain so spent the evening in my craft room making up Valentines for the boys as they'll all be home for a roast dinner tonight.
The papers used were Bo-Bunny, Kraft and some unknown red I had in the drawer. I used the oval Nestabilities, Cuttlebug with Swiss Dots and an unknown CB Woodgrain. The stamp is from Penny Black and the hearts were punched from Sukwang (sp?) and loaded with red glitter. I did the hearts a couple of times because I didn't put the Sukwang on the red paper first... hence having more glitter than usual flying around. My 8 month old rescue dog also helped herself to some glittered hearts and spread them around the house!
The stamp was coloured with copics and being that I wasn't adventurous it's coloured like the picture on the stamp.
Thanks for looking!

Thank You

Good Morning!
Well... I finally felt well enough to sit in the craft room and play!  I pulled out these papers from Stampin' Up! that I've been hoarding for quite a while and finally decided to use them up.
The main colours are baja breeze, kiwi and next to navy.  Nothing stood out on the card so I used my large scallop circle punch and made the corners.  The layered circle is popped up.  The greeting and flowers are from Stampin' Up! Spring Solitude and were embossed in silver.
Not my best work and it looks much better than what the camera portrays.  I'll blame the camera again!
Thanks for looking!

More Cards Are Coming!

Hi Everyone...

I'll be posting more in the next couple of days.  My neck has been bugging me and even though I want to play in my craft room I just haven't been able to!  :o(  So.. as soon as I can get busy again there will be more to look at.  Until then, thanks for your patience!