Blogger Challenge

Here is my card I did for Tami's challenge. She asked us to make a card using metalics. Right away I knew I had to use my Big Pieces set. Since I am on a roll with the gate card, I decided to make a gate card for this challenge. My card was based in black with copper paper on the gate folds. On top of the gate folds I created a decorative flap by placing various circles on black cardstock. Wanting to add a unique look, I made hinges by covering a piece of paper with Versamark and embossed in gold. The gold paper was trimmed and bent in the centre to create a spine. Brads were inserted where screws would be placed in a real hinge. Hinges were adhered to cardstock with double-sided tape because it needed a strong bond. Circles were adhered to the flap with sticky tabs and with pop up dots.

I created metalic circles by doing the following:

- Embossed with black on black paper, then painted with Pearl-Ex powders
- Stamped with ColorBox metallics
- Embossed with gold powder
- Embossed with gold powder, then painted with Pearl-Ex powder
- Embossed black on copper paper

Options were endless with this versatile set.


This next piece has to be the funniest story out there. It reveals just how crazy us stampers are, as we wait for the new catty to come out. Thanks Barb for the laugh!

UPS Memo

To: Drivers and Security

Date: June 20th , 2007

Subject: Crazy Stampin'Up! Ladies

This time of the year has come around once again. Stampin'Up! is releasing the New Idea Book and Catalog. Please be extremely cautious of Stampin' Up! demonstrators (SUDs) for the next two weeks.

Watch out for the following:

1. At the distribution centers, please be on the lookout for SUDs. In the past they have been known to cut fences and sneak inside covered with close to cocoa ink in hopes of blending in with the trucks.

2. The ladies have been known to run after your trucks. If they catch you and ask if you have a "package" for them, be careful with your answer. They do not take "no" for an answer. If you do not have it, just say "I will double check in the back" and turn and run as fast as you can to your truck and drive away. Do not turn back and look, just keep going until you are a safe distance away.

3. They have also been know to drive up next to you at a stop light in their mini vans and SUVs and ask if you have a package for them. Turn up your radio and pretend you cannot hear them. Do not let them approach your delivery truck at an intersection. SUDs have been know to stop traffic and throw all your packages off the trucks until they find their new Idea Book and catalog.

How to Deliver the New Idea Book and Catalog

1. Be sure you have fixed your squeaky brakes, If not - park your truck two blocks away so the SUD can not hear you coming.

2. Put in your earplugs and secure your safety glasses.

3. If you see children looking out the window, put your finger up to your lips and say "SHHHH".. They are on a "lookout" for you and are being paid to "alert" their mothers (SUDs) when they see you coming to the door.

4. Approach the front door and very quietly, set the package down in front of the door (Make sure you place it in FRONT so when she opens the door, the box will be in the way and give you a little more time to escape).

5. Back up as far as you can and reach for the doorbell, (BE READY TO RUN !!!). Ring the doorbell and make a mad dash back to your truck and drive away....DO NOT LOOK BACK !!!

The UPS corporation is informing you of this because in the past years, SUDs have been known to scream at the top of their lungs with excitement and try to tackle you with hugs for delivering their catalogs. After you have been smothered with appreciation for getting them their catalogs on time, watch out for flying packaging material as they will open up the box before you have had a chance to leave, or they have gone inside.

Best of luck to you with this mission, and remember...

Let's Be Safe Out There!!!!

Blogger Challenge

Isn't this bunny just the cutest? I love him so much. For Maria's challenge I had to make a trifold card. This was my first attempt at making a "gate" card, and I quite like it. The image was stamped onto watercolour paper and coloured with the following: Tombow watercolour markers, watercolour pencil crayons (both were blended with brush and water) and regular pencil crayons. Why? Because I don't have Gamasol for my sparce number of Prismacolour pencil crayons and I only have a package of 8 watercolour pencil crayons. Thank heavens for my painting background; it gave me the knowledge to shade in various portions of the image while maintaining a professional look. I felt this image needed a picnic look and the only red or black checked paper I had on hand was this nine year old scrapbooking paper that is too out-of-date to use in my scrapbooks. To finish off the card I used this ladybug ribbon. Thanks, Maria, for the inspiration.

Nature in my own back yard

I like to start my day with a nice cup of coffee on my deck. It is so peaceful and pretty. It is about the only time I can really relax. (Yikes, when I proofed this I noticed the fence. Man, I really need to get it stained soon -- LOL).

I love sunflowers

I love sunflowers (as if you can't tell -- ROFWL). When I saw this Inkadinkado image, it "spoke to me" (learned that saying from my girlfriend - LOL). It said, "go outside of the box", and so I did. I embossed this image with black, on black paper (as if you couldn't tell), and painted the image with Pearl-Ex powders. Each of the 20 cards I painted were unique from each other--a bit of pink here, a deeper shade of green there, and I love them all. Each image called for their own colour of matting, depending on the look of the background. After I matted and placed the image onto the card front, I added a Stampendous "Sympathy" sticker, ribbon, and three mosaic tiles rather than the usual brads. Now, if I can just figure out how to add a dragonfly to that sunflower!

Cuppa Love

Mmmm, who doesn't love the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Mmmm, delicious. I like to start my day with a cup of Columbian roast. My sisters and mom love coffee as much as I do. Coffee is such a social thing. Here in Canada, we all spend our time at Tim Horton's. Tim Horton's is now filtrating into the United States. Did you know Tim Horton was a hockey player for Toronto? My grandfather knew Tim Horton, personally, and frequented the first Tim Horton's coffee shop in Toronto. Neat, eh?

Sarnia just opened a Starbuck's, and I went there with my girlfriends last week. My new favourite drink at Starbuck's is a Venti orange frappacino. What is your favourite coffee shop drink?

The Cuppa Love image is a wonderful new stamp from Sunshine Designs. The coffee beans is an unmounted stamp from an unknown source. It is a stamp with only five beans. To make the beans look more plentiful, I stamped several times, overlapping the beans. Images were coloured with Prismacolour pencil crayons. I like to add buckles to my cards and added two on this card. Papers are Magnolia.

So, here's to you, my reader. Enjoy this cuppa love.

Willowgrove Stamps

Check out my girlfriend's Willowgrove Stamp site. You'll soon see some of my cards using Kathy's stamps. Kathy is the designer of her line of stamps.

Rubbah Therapy

Well, here is one of my cards that I made this week when I posted the "Do Not Disturb" on my stamp'n room door. I love this stamp from My Favourite Things. It was fun coordinating papers on this card. If you look carefully, you will notice that in the two small circles, the purse and shopping bag were stamped on pattern paper and the two shopping bags in the larger image were also stamped on pattern paper. I think that the use of pattern papers on cards are appealing. It seems to be a popular trend at the moment. Another popular trend that we are seeing, is the use of a tab. I added a tab to the larger image and stamped "Time To Shop." Enjoy your weekend. Happy Stamp'n.

Doodle This

Here are two more cards using Doodle This. My inspiration for these cards came from Maria who challenged her readers to use a minimum of five layers. Being a lover of layers, I went right to work. The first step was to go to a Stamp'n Up colour chart and keyed in cool carribean and white as my colour choices. Wow, there were 91 combinations to choose from. The Certainly Celery and Really Rust interested me, and because I didn't have those colours in stock, I turned to the textured cardstock I had from Hobby Lobby. The textured cardstock colours are of high quality and resemble S.U. colours. Next, I layered my card with several colours of cardstock, and finished off with a patterned paper from Magnolia. The stem for my flower was stamped onto white paper using Cool Carribbean ink and coloured in with matching Tombow markers. Using Magnolia paper, again, I stamped the flower onto a colour that resembled Really Rust, and embossed in gold. After cutting out the flower I curled my flower and attached it to the card front with a brad. To finish off my card I added orange stickles to the smaller flowers on the stem area, and added brads.



For my second card I added several layers of coloured cardstock, then stamped my image onto Cool Carribbean and embossed with gold. Areas were coloured in with a turquoise Tombow marker. Three flowers were embossed in gold and edges were curled up. Three brads were added to finish the card. I can't believe I actually made these cards without any ribbon. How did that happen?



Why don't I think I have enough ribbon?

Do Not Disturb

Today I have a "Do Not Disturb" sign on my stamp'n room door. Okay, maybe not literally, but everyone knows not to disturb me today because I'm on a stamp'n blitz. I haven't had the opportunity to stamp in days, and I'm feeling a little tense, so I'm not going to go to the beach, I'm not going to the grocery store (okay, so we have to have grilled cheese -- sorry, Don), and I'm not going for a walk. It's my day to play -- LOL!!



Today is Splitcoast Stamper's Sketch Challenge day and this is what I made. I so love the Magnolia line of papers; they are so bright and cheerful. The magenta and red papers are Magnolia, and the purple is S.U. I ran the plain magenta paper through my Cuttlebug and placed it on the right hand side of my card front. Next, I used my Close to my Heart "Alfresco" stamp and S.U. Perfect Plum ink pad, to create a flower bloom. Unfortunately, in this photo you cannot see the dark centre pop up (I used a pop dot). Because the card was a little plain, I felt it needed something more, so I added a stem and leaf, and finished the design off with ribbon. It is a rare day when I don't add ribbon to a card. Even the men in my life get ribbon on their cards. Did you know that there is even military camiflage ribbon? Yup, and I used it for my step-son's birthday card, wishing him well in his military life. Okay, better go and finish more cards...

Dragonflies

This is one of my favourite stamps and comes from Stamper's Anonymous. I'm intrigued by the design which resembles an architech's drawing. I added little jewels on the body, and embellished with cording and old looking money found in the bead section at Walmart. The card still looked too bare so I went downstairs into the scary basement (it's full of junk and about to be renovated), and squeezed through a ton of junk and located my childhood stamp collection. I knew I kept that book for a reason -- LOL, snort. Still thinking the card needed something more, I added two green brads. When it comes to making cards I certainly don't believe in "less is more." I like to add and add until I exhaust all options.

Snappy Birthday

Crab & Co is another set that I love to play with because it is so versatile. Images were coloured with Prismacolour pencil crayons and the background was coloured with chalks. My Cuttlebug was pulled out and used on my background papers, and to punch out the number 60. Crabby & friend was mounted on top of Cool Carribbean (yah, I just had to use it again), and Real Red, one of my favourite colour combinations. A tab punch was used to add the "snappy birthday" sentiment.
Small square brads were added to the top of the cards, and finished off with ribbon.

Tonight I am attending a Stamper's 10 evening at my girlfriend's house. This is my last chance to order the in-colours for the year, so I'm going to stock up on Cool Carribbean. Do you think six packages will be enough -- LOL--Snort. I was so excited to hear that I can officially join as someone didn't have the time to continue with the group this year. Although I have been attending the evenings, once a month, I wasn't able to participate and have a chance to play hostess. Tonight we are going to make curled paper flowers on our cards. It is a technique that I have been wanting to learn for some time now. After we're done, several of us are going out to our newly-opened Starbucks. I can't wait to see my girlfriends because it has been a while since we got together. Stay tuned for tomorrow's posting where I will reveal the curled flower card.

Happy Father's Day

Masculine cards are a struggle for me. Are they for you? I pulled out Stamp'n Up's Thinking of Father set and stamped the image on watercolour paper. Then I coloured the image with Tombow markers and blended with brush and water. I followed a sketch from Maria. Where two individual circles were to be placed, I stamped old fashion spectacles. Happy Father's Day to all the men out there, and to that special man in my life.

RAK from a Stamp-Shack friend

Look at all the goodies I got from Terry - aka Scrappinnuts. Isn't she so sweet to have mailed me so many goodies? Included in the package was a bella stamp, many bella images, a lovely homemade little journal, and embellishments for cards or scrapbook pages. Thanks Terry, you're so sweet.

I'm Cinderella. Who Are You?

You scored as Cinderella, Your alter ego is Cinderella! You often find yourself doing a lot of housework, but if you are patient, your hard work usually pays off. You are prone to losing things, so dont rush through everything. Cinderella 81% The Beast 63% Goofy 63% Peter Pan 56% Sleeping Beauty 56% Cruella De Ville 50% Pinocchio 44% Ariel 31% Snow White 25% Donald Duck 19% Which Disney Character is your Alter Ego? created with QuizFarm.com

Graduates In My House

I pulled out my Doodle This set for my daughter's graduation card. It is a new set for me, and I can tell that I'm going to use it a lot. It is so versatile. What I like about it so much is that Stamp'n Up designs their stamps for cards, and the images are perfect for those 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 size cards. Doodles and flourishes are hot right now and I hope S.U. introduces more of them in their upcoming catalogue. Images are embossed with gold and then coloured with markers. To make the flower pop I added pop dots. The congratulations sentiment is a sticker from Stampendous. They are a high quality sticker that adds a classy touch.



It's been a busy week in my household. My daughter graduated from the University of Windsor with a Bachelor of Arts, Honors, in Anthropology. She will be attending Humber College, in Toronto, to continue her studies. Sarah will be studying International Development Management, and hopes that her international work placement will be in Africa.



Can you believe I don't have a picture of Adam alone? How did that happen?!! Adam graduated from highschool and will be returning next year to do another year of highschool because he isn't ready to take that big plunge into college. When he does go to college he is thinking about entering the Child & Youth Services program and hopes to work with preschool children.

Good luck to my graduates. May all your dreams come true!

Colour Challenge

Todays colour challenge was fun. It came from my Shackie friend Tami. The colours are pink, rose and copper. It is a wonderful combination and is more versatile than one would think. The designs I used were perfect for the S.U. Doodle This set. I stamped the image on watercolour paper and coloured it with Tombow markers and blended with paint brush and water.



Unfortunately, you cannot see the pretty glittery stickles that I added to the flower. I don't use Stickles much because I don't think about it, but when I do I feel it always give a card that final punch.

There are Bellas in the House

My daughter asked me to make her a set of cards using my bellas. I'm going to surprise her and give them to her, along with her card, at tomorrow's graduation ceremony (she graduates with an anthropology degree and will attend Humber College, in Toronto, to continue international development management studies in Sept).

See those teeny tiny sponge stamps? While my sister was rummaging through her scrapbook supplies she came upon them and had no idea why she bought them because she doesn't even stamp. I was so excited when she offered them to me because I knew they would go so well with my bellas. They are from All Night Media. Never again will I overlook children's stamps!



While I was making my daughter's cards, my sister asked me to make her teenage babysitter a set of cards for her birthday. I had lots of fun with my bellas, can you tell?

Flourish Thank You

Cool Carribbean is one of my favourite S.U. colours, and I'm so sad this temporary colour will not be sold as of July 1st. When I attend the Stamper's 10 night this month, I'm going to stock up and order six packages, with the hope that it is enough. I will have the matching stamp pad for a very long time because I bought the ink refill. By then I'll have moved on to another favourite colour.

Simple, yet elegant, cards are a struggle for me, but I am quite pleased with how this design turned out.

The stamps I used are new to me, and are called See-D's. Yup, the stamps come in what resembles a CD case. Stamps are unmounted grey rubber and are sticky on the backside. There are 33 stamps in the "Elegant Paisley" set. There are so many sets that I would love to have in this series. Check them out See D's

I used three stamps to complete the flower: long flourish stem, short flourish, and flower top. Thank you was added, and came from the same set. Brad is from Jo-Ann's, and ribbon is from Costco.

Well, I'm back from Mississippi. The weather was so nice and hot. I love sitting in the sun. It is such a happy moment in life. Much to my disappointment, the weather remains a coolish warm, here in Sarnia, during the day, and is quite cold at night. Ugh! I lost two hanging baskets to the cold weather two weeks ago, and picked up two more baskets yesterday. They better not die!! I had a wonderful time with my sister and her family. It was great to see my mom who was visiting from Atlanta. I hope my mom comes to visit me in the fall.

Okay, on to my cards. I love this image that was mailed to me for a virtual swap over at the Stamp-Shack. I coloured the image with watercolour pencil crayons and blended with brush and water.

Tomorrow I will post some cards I made while on vacation, so check back -- you won't be disappointed.