Barbara's Cards and Crafts

Copic cozy

2011-04-17T12:12:00.000-05:00

Okay, it's not really a cozy, I just like to call it that !

This is how I store my Copics on my desk.

I have several of these containers taped together.

I used Sookwang tape but they were coming apart during transport so I clear taped the outside. It's not very attractive right now but it works for me.

I started out with black containers but the store ran out and so I added some clear to the mix. I am in the process of replacing the black ones.

Anyways, I wanted to find a way to transport my markers without having to take them out of the containers so I made this tote.

I did not use a pattern. I measured the sides of the containers and the length and added a 3/8" seam allowance. I followed general instructions for making a tote bag. This tote is reversible and I used several different Amy Butler fabrics.

To keep the bottom stable, I cut out a piece of foam core board that fits inside the tote. The flap is just a long piece of fabric. It sits underneath the foam core board.

I hope that you are having a nice weekend. :-) I went to a copic class yesterday and got to take my cozy for a test drive.

Barbara

Stampsmith

2011-04-08T12:16:00.000-05:00

Do you remember Stampsmith? These beautiful photo stamps come in so many wonderful images and were (are?) sold by the sheet.

I came across a folder this morning that had these lovely ladies stamped in many different colours. Years ago I had stamped a whole bunch of them on glossy paper using a brayer because that is the best way to get a good impression with such finely detailed stamps. I came across the folder while sorting through some magazines.

The paper is Amy Butler and the sentiment is by Hero Arts. I used my fancy dancy Bow-dabra to make the bow and a Martha Stewart lattice punch for the scallop.

Have a great weekend!
:-) Barbara

Bronte will do anything for a treat !

2011-04-04T13:04:00.003-05:00

(click on the picture for a larger view)

Bronte is learning some new tricks and Bella wants to shout it from the rooftops!

I love these images by Mo Manning. I used 2 different stamps to create my scene. You might recognize Bronte from yesterdays card. I used the same stamp, Girl and dog . Bella comes from this stamp Did you hear .

My daughter's alarm clock went off at 5:00 am yesterday so I decided to get up and stamp again.

This card really makes me happy! I just love Bronte so much!

The clouds are dies by PTI and the patterned paper is by Amy Butler.

I hope that you are having a wonderful Monday. It is warming up here and the snow is slowly melting. I love this time of year!

:-) Barbara

Flying Bronte

2011-04-02T12:08:00.002-05:00

Oh poor Bronte! He doesn't look very happy!

I made this card for Bronte and Bella's challenge #76 (buttons and bows) but I just realized that I didn't use any bows. I glanced at the post and read buttons and ribbon and so that's what I made.

Bronte comes from this digital stamp. I cut him out of the image and then put him in a ribbon sling/basket.

The tree and balloon are both cut with a Silhouette.

Bronte, the tree and the balloon are adhered with foam tape for dimension.

I had so many other things that I should have been doing this morning but the kids slept in late and I just felt like playing!

Have a great weekend !

:-) Barbara

I made a card !

2011-03-28T18:36:00.002-05:00

I am not stamping much these days because we are spending lots of time emptying out our basement in order to finish it.We have been here for 12 years and we have decided that it would be nice to have the extra room that a finished basement offers. 

To the card, my sister's birthday is coming up next week and although I had already made a card for her, I really wanted an excuse to use some new Papertrey stamps so I made another one. 

This card uses stamps from Friendship Jar, Spring Fillers, Button Boutique,  Enjoy the Ride (sentiment) and Background Basics Newsprint. I cannot wait to play with these stamps a bit more! I am especially in love with Button Boutique! 

 I only order from Papertrey a few times a year because the shipping to Canada is expensive for small orders but when I saw Button Boutique I knew that I needed it .Unfortunately I waited a few days after the February release and it was sold out so I had to wait until March. 

I hope that it is starting to feel like Spring where you are. I am loving the above freezing weather that we are having!

:-) Barbara 

Fossil Inspiration Challenge

2011-03-12T14:35:00.004-06:00

I have to admit that this card started off as a joke. I wanted to use this Stampin' Up set to make a card and I found particular humour in the sentiment that came with it. I pictured this wholesome looking stamper running around town with her glue gun and glitter, spreading graffiti where ever she went. Funny, right? Then I saw the Fossil inspiration challenge on SCS and decided to incorporate this bird.

I spent entirely too much time creating this little purse. Since I didn't have a bird stamp that was small enough, I actually had to trace this one. (click on the picture for a close-up view)

As you can see, I was only very loosely inspired by the purse. Well, except for the purse itself !

Have a great Saturday! I'm stamping tonight!

:-) Barbara

An under the pillow card

2011-02-17T11:39:00.000-06:00

These are quite possibly my favourite cards to make.

Barbara

This is what's making me happy today

2011-02-09T09:57:00.000-06:00

Good morning,
Yesterday I was looking through some CHA pictures and I came across a bulletin board that was quite vintage looking. I'm sorry, I don't remember which booth or even where I saw the pictures because I immediately went down to the basement to find the old frame that I had been saving. I already had a corkboard that was exactly the right size so this took about 10 minutes to put together.

It felt SO good to do something creative because it has been such a long time.

I can't wait to fill it up with inspiration! So far I have a picture of my kids when they were young, some patterned paper and some digital paper, and a bow that I made with my new Bowdabra.

I also managed to make a card ! That made me very happy !

All stamps by Hero Arts. :-)

It is so cold here today that all I want to do is stay inside. So far I have no reason to go out but lots to do at home!

Barbara

Super Mario Magnet Board

2011-01-26T15:08:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was my son's birthday so 3 days ago I decided to make him a card. He loves Rubik's cubes so I thought that I would make him a Rubik's cube card. My online searching brought me to this really cool and completely functional paper cube. That is so much cooler than a card I thought! So I set about printing and cutting the 3000 (lol) pieces. At some point (about 1/2 way through) I decided to take a break and stumbled upon this Super Mario magnet board. WOW, I thought. That looks super cool ! It's a magnetic board with movable magnets! My girls confirmed that indeed it was super cool and so I set to work.

The boxes are made of printed cardstock and each one has a magnet. Behind the background is metal so that the magnets will stick.

This is another shot just to show that the magnetic boxes move. Each magnet box is about 1 1/2" square.

This was a labour of love. From start to finish, it took 2 solid days of cutting and folding ! My daughter Katherine even helped with some of the assembly (thank you Katherine!) .

He did seem to like it though. :-)

Barbara

Yes, it's been a long time

2011-01-23T13:32:00.002-06:00

I haven't blogged in a very long time. I have had some things come up that have required all of my focus. I still won't be blogging regularly.

My son will be turning 17 on Tuesday and he requested a birthday cake that looks like food. I decided to make these Chinese Food cupcakes from the What's New Cupcake book. I am putting the pictures here instead of Facebook because I don't want him to see them until this evening when we go out to dinner.

I used jumbo cupcakes and placed them on top of a cardstock base that I cut to fit the inside of the take-out boxes. This is the 3rd recipe that we've made from this book. The ingredients are readily available and the recipes are easy to follow.

If you are my friend on Facebook, you will probably be seeing these again tomorrow. :-)

Barbara

Thank you Kathy!
the vegies are as follows :
broccoli -green fruit chew split almost in half with green icing and sprinkles
carrots, pork, and egg bits- fruit chews (Starburst)
peas- runts
green onions- green licorice

Penny Black thank you

2010-11-09T10:36:00.000-06:00

Good morning!
I had the best time ever at Stamp Club on Saturday night ! :-) Rebecca is such a wonderful hostess ! There were 10 of us there including 2 new members .Joining us were Anita from the Hero Arts Flickr group and Lauren who taught math to 2 of my children. I felt instantly at home with both women and I can't wait to get together again!
Rebecca demoed the cutest snowman card made with the SU top note die and had kits made up so that we could all make our own card . Fun! I stayed up way past my 9:00 bedtime (lol) so you know that I had a great time!

This is the card that I sent to Rebecca to say thank you . While it is not modelled after any one card in particular, it reminds me of something that Emily Leiphart would make. I just love her clean style and use of Kraft cardstock!

The image is called Warm and Merry and is by Penny Black. I stamped the image twice on white cardstock and cut out just the smallest mouse and coloured it with Copics. Since only 1 arm was visible, I cut the second arm from the second stamped image. I then stamped the whole image on a Kraft card using ArtPrint Brown Memories and distressed the edges of the card with Tea Dye Distress ink. The sentiment is by Hero Arts.

I am really looking forward to our next stamp club! This is such a fabulous group of ladies!

Barbara

Vintage Penny Black

2010-11-05T13:08:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I go so long between blog posts that I almost forget how. I have had a busy few weeks and not much time for crafting. I did have sometime yesterday though and I made a bunch of cards for our local Humane Society who is having a craft sale. In between making doggie Christmas cards, I spotted this wonderful Penny Black stamp sitting on my shelf and decided to make a quick holiday card. I'm pretty sure that I bought this stamp 10 years ago and I still love it.

The image is gold embossed on some Webster's Pages paper, matted to some blue polka dotted paper (digital) and then sewn onto a pink card. I sponged all of the panels with Distress inks before assembling the card. To make the bow I tied a single bow, used the ends to tie a second bow and then looped the ends under to make a third bow. I then stitched it in the middle to hold everything in place. Clear as mud? LOL!

I am looking forward to a wonderful weekend including shopping for winter clothes with my daughter tomorrow afternoon and then STAMP CLUB at my friend Rebecca's house tomorrow night. YES, I'm shouting! LOL! I am so excited!

Have a great weekend. :-)

Barbara

Penny Black enjoy your day

2010-10-21T14:11:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon,
It's been so long that I'm probably just talking to myself ! LOL! To the 2 people that are reading this , hello !

I have been so busy that I haven't had much time for cardmaking. I got the sweetest surprise in the mail yesterday though and that made me want to sit down and create. :-) Virginia was the winner of my blog candy a few weeks ago and she sent me a beautiful thank you card and some Cuttlebug embossing folders. What a lovely thing to do! Thank you again Virginia!

The pink strip was embossed with one of the folders. :-)

I coloured Betsy Bluebell with Copics and adhered her to the card with pop dots. The label Nestabilities were a present from my husband when he was away on his last trip. He is so wonderful to go to Hobby Lobby for me when he travels!

Not much else to say .

My kids have another 3 day weekend so I likely won't be posting until next week sometime. I hope that your week is going well !

Barbara

Silhouette and Lil Lolita 60's Ivy

2010-10-06T07:00:00.003-05:00

Good morning !

This card started off as me playing with my Silhouette and lots of glitter.

I first cut the background (beautiful lace by Lori Whitlock) out of white cardstock and adhered it to the sticky side of a full sheet of label paper. I then applied pink glitter to the entire background and burnished it with my finger. Not in the plan was spilling the jar of glitter everywhere! Oops! After cleaning up I cut around the outside edge of the background with my x-acto knife.
I had the 60's Ivy digi stamp already coloured so I adhered the top half of the image to the card. The bow is made out of seam binding ribbon and the gems were coloured with Copics.

Have a great day!

:-) Barbara

Penny Black Brush Poinsettia

2010-10-04T12:13:00.000-05:00

Hello ! How is your Monday going so far ? The weather is beautiful here which makes me almost like fall. It generally isn't my favourite season ! Did you do any stamping on World Cardmaking Day? None here unfortunately but I did some yesterday.

This is a holiday type card that I finished yesterday while taking breaks from cleaning out the garden for winter. The embossing folder is new - Marc brought it home from his latest travel. What a sweetie !

The poinsettia is a brush stamp from Penny Black. I have always loved this series ! I heat embossed the image twice - once using pink embossing powder and once using green. I then cut out both images and added some stickles for sparkle.

The swirl design was done freehand with a paper pricker. I felt that the edges needed a little somethin' .

I am finishing up some birthday cards today and hoping to enjoy some of the nice weather. Winter will come soon enough here !

Have a great day !
:-) Barbara

Penny Black Joy

2010-10-01T09:50:00.002-05:00

Good morning ,

The colours were difficult to capture as was the sparkle.

Yesterday I had a few minutes to stamp and I made 3 cards using supplies that were on my desk. I already had the pink sparkly panel and the cut out holly image , so all that I did to complete this was to adhere both to a Pool card and stamp the sentiment. Since I ~~only own 1 Penny Black holiday sentiment stamp~~ like to get as much versatility from my stamps as possible, I just inked up the word "Joy" from this stamp.

To create the pink sparkly panel I used Sookwang Tape and some Art Institute ultra fine glitter. IRL I am tickled pink with the colour combination of red, pink, green and Pool ! :-)

Today I have some birthday and thank you cards to make before my kids get home from school . Since today is early dismissal , I'd better get started !

Barbara

I wish I had time to stamp !

2010-09-30T14:29:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon ,
The theme for this week has been *rushing* ! I have been running around a lot and haven't had much time for cardmaking. I did stamp yesterday but it was disasterous and I didn't actually make anything.

I just finished this card but really, it was already made. I had everything except the stamped image sitting on my desk as it was an extra card kit that was left over from stamp club. I printed off and coloured the Lil Lolita digi image a few days ago and when I was cleaning my desk, I moved her on top of the card kit. Really all I did was glue everything together.

The snowflake stamps are (retired) Hero Arts and the sentiment is Clear Design Happy Day Animals. The digi stamp is a Lil Lolita which I love. The label die is by Accu Cut and the notecard is Pool (Hero Arts).

I have some birthday cards that I would love to make today before my children arrive home from school so wish me luck !

Disk empty Feb 2006

2010-09-27T13:59:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon,
I was looking through some of my old pictures and decided to look into "Disk empty Feb. 2006" . I file my picture like that. Nice, huh? It's no wonder I can never find anything ! LOL !

I came across this plate that I had made oh so long ago and thought I would share it. The plate is white ceramic and the image was stamped onto Lazertran ( a water slide decal paper). I *think* that the sentiments were stamped using Staz On but I can't remember for sure.

The main image is a Dolly Mama stamp by Stamps Happen and all of the sentiments are by Hero Arts.

It was coloured with coloured pencils on cardstock and then photocopied onto the Lazertran.

I should get out my Lazertran again as I bet it would be fantastic with Copic markers ! Since they are alcohol based , they wouldn't run when placed into water .

Have a great afternoon,
:-) Barbara

Blog Candy Winner !!!!!!

2010-09-27T08:04:00.000-05:00

First of all , thank you to Penny Black for the wonderful blog candy! These stamps are fabulous! Also, thank you to everyone that entered !

These have to be about the worst pictures ever! Sorry ! I had my son do the draw before leaving for school and it was still dark out. We literally took the pictures 5 minutes before racing off to the bus!

The lucky winner is :

Virginia Lu !!!!!

I was so excited to see Virginia's name as she has been a wonderful supporter since the beginning of my blog. Congratulations Virginia! Please email me with your address and I will get these off to you right away!

Have a great day everyone!
:-) Barbara

Penny Black inclinations

2010-09-24T16:27:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon,
While I had the stamp sitting on my desk, I decided to make one more card .

It was difficult to capture the sparkly pink ep on the main image and the intensity of the deep red ribbon.

This one isn't a Christmas card although it does have red and green on it.

It is beautifully sunny out this afternoon and I am hoping that we have a nice weekend ! I hope that you have a nice weekend as well ! Remember , you still have 2 days left to sign up for my blog candy !

:-) Barbara

Penny Black blog candy !!!!

2010-09-23T13:27:00.000-05:00

The wonderfully generous people at Penny Black have sent me these stamps to offer as blog candy to one lucky reader ! These are some of the new holiday stamps and they are super cute!

(click on the picture for a larger view)

To be elegible to win all you have to do is follow these steps :

Step 1. Sign up to follow my blog. All you have to do is click on the Follow button on the right hand side. If you are already a follower simply go on to step 2 or 3.

Step 2. Post about this candy on your blog (I would love it if you would help to spread the word but this is optional) .

Step 3. Leave a comment on this post after you have posted about this giveaway .

I will keep this contest open until Sunday September 26th and will draw a winner on Monday September 27th .

Edited to add - Important note: I've had a few people email to say that they have signed up but they have had trouble leaving a comment. I have this same problem with some blogs. I think that I've left a comment but really I haven't .

After commenting and choosing a profile , you might have to click the submit button TWO times. Click once and if you don't see a message saying that you comment has been published, click a second time. You should see a message that says "your comment has been published".
This is important because this is the list that I will be using for the draw.

Thank you Penny Black and good luck everyone !

:-) Barbara

Penny Black - another holiday card

2010-09-23T13:25:00.002-05:00

Good afternoon,

When I made yesterday's card I had to make the main panel twice because the first one was too big for the lacey background. It pretty much covered all of the lace .

So this morning, I took the first panel and matted it to some patterned paper and sheet music and this card was created. I added the rhinestones because it needed some visual weight at the bottom.

I am getting so excited for stamp club! At last count, we have 20 people coming! :-) It is going to be so much fun !

Remember to enter my Penny Black blog candy below. The draw will close on Sunday !

Barbara

Penny Black Lacey Christmas

2010-09-22T11:50:00.001-05:00

Good morning ,
Well, I have spent the morning stamping instead of working on my to do list. Sometimes that's the way it is !
I have appointments and errands to run all afternoon so this will be quick.

I cut the lacey background with my Silhouette (file by Lori Whitlock). It is folded in half and adhered to a transparency with double sided tape. I used 2 Penny Black stamps - Inclinations is stamped in red and is the main panel. The mistletoe is actually a flower from the clear set "Thinking of You" . I stamped it in green and then added the berries using red Stickles.

The felt poinsettia is attached to a twill tape bow.

I love that a lot of non-Christmas stamps can be used for holiday cards just by using reds and greens and some themed embellishments.

I hope that you have a great day !

:-) Barbara

Hero Arts warm wishes

2010-09-20T16:10:00.003-05:00

This was tricky to get a good picture of . For some reason the red , which is more of a burgundy, turned out cherry red while the background colours completely faded.

This was fun to make and my first time making an easel card. The directions are on Splitcoast here .

The inspiration for this card came from the latest Papercrafts (Sept/Oct page 74) although I didn't know it at the time. Amy Tsuruta made a card with 3 figures stacked in a triangle and it wasn't until I finished making my card that I realized where the inspiration came from . Do you ever do that ? (I loved her card BTW!)

It is cold here this afternoon and I am making a hearty soup and fresh bread for supper. The kids will be home soon so it's time to start cleaning up my stamping mess !

:-) Barbara

All stamps by Hero Arts

Yippee , stamp club !!!!

2010-09-20T11:07:00.000-05:00

I am so excited to be hosting stamp club next Saturday ! It has been far too long since our group got together to stamp, talk about stamps, eat and enjoy each others company. I am particularly excited because we will have a few new people joining us (hi Anita!) . It should be lots of fun !

This is what I have been doing for the last day or so.

I am making little card kits so that everyone can create a card while they're at stamp club. I've grouped together some patterned paper, ribbon , buttons and other bits and pieces and I can't wait to see what everybody does with these. So while I have been very quiet on my blog, I am busying myself with stamp related fun. We are also having a garage sale so I will be doing some selling and some buying ! I love garage sales !

I hope that you are having a great start to the week !

:-) Barbara

Penny Black Holiday card

2010-09-16T07:50:00.000-05:00

Good morning ,
I have had this card on my desk for quite a while but it didn't have the top layer attached to the green card base. I am sure that it has been here for 3 weeks or longer. Does anyone else do this ? I have no idea why this happens! I finally attached the top panel and took a picture so here it is.

I used very soft colours for this card and then added a pop of traditional red and green. The background uses bits and pieces of patterned paper that were stitched in place although you can't see that because the main panel covers most of it up. The stamp is by Penny Black and is called Berry, Berry Christmas . I coloured it with Copics and added some stickles to the berries.

Today will be filled with card making and errand running. I have 2 birthday cards to make today.

(...no your eyes aren't playing tricks on you if you were here earlier and this post wasn't here. I am trying to keep the blog candy post on the top of the page !)

Have a great day !
:-) Barbara

Lil Lolita again

2010-09-15T15:05:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon !
Today's card is for my daughter Michelle. It is an under-the-pillow card just like the one that I made for Katherine a few days ago.

This is the card that made me fall in love with Lil Lolita stamps in digital form. I love the fact that they can be resized which essentially gives you many stamps in one.

These are such wonderful images to use to practice colouring with Copics.

Today and tomorrow I will be spending some time getting ready for a stamping garage sale that I will be hosting next Saturday. I can't wait !

:-) Barbara

An under-the-pillow card

2010-09-13T08:41:00.000-05:00

Good Monday morning . This is going to be a very quick post as I am running all day today. I made this card for my daughter and I will slip it under her pillow after she leaves for school. I am madly in love with these Lil Lolita stamps and was super excited when I saw that they had been released in digital form for a limited time . I missed these digital stamps the first time they came out and so I ordered some in rubber but they haven't arrived yet. These are the perfect stamps to practice my Copic colouring with! The sentiment is by PTI.

Have a wonderful Monday!

:-) Barbara

I don't even remember making these :-o

2010-09-08T11:11:00.000-05:00

Good morning !

First of all , I would like to say a huge thank you to the sweet people that left comments on my last 2 posts ! Even though I have sadly neglected my blog over the summer, it totally warmed my heart to read your kind words ! You made my day !
Today is the first day of school and it is mostly quiet here .We had to rush around this morning to get the youngest and middle child on the bus but things went pretty smoothly. My oldest daughter starts this afternoon at 12:30. Her schedule, as it stands, has 2 spares in the afternoon and then last class which makes no sense so she will be spending some time today trying to get that fixed.

Here are 2 quick cards that I made although I have no memory of making them. They were in my pile .
Both cards are made with Penny Black stamps . :-)

It is cold here today ! I can see the leaves changing colour and the air is very crisp. I miss summer already !

:-) Barbara

Penny Black thank you

2010-09-07T15:05:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon,
Our house is filled with piles of school supplies waiting to be labeled and the trying on and washing of clothes. School starts tomorrow and none of us are ready. Thankfully the kids only go on Wednesday and Thursday so we will have a long weekend to get organized for the real routine that will start ever so quickly. It is such a change from the lazy days of summer!

This is another quick card that I made early in the summer. This uses 2 Penny Black clear sets. The Eiffel Tower is from Illumination and the sentiment is from thinking of you.

I pop-dotted the tower for a bit of dimension.

I hope that you are enjoying your day!

:-) Barbara

School is almost starting

2010-09-06T10:06:00.000-05:00

Wow, it is really starting to feel like Fall here. My kids don't start school until Wednesday so I am enjoying the last few days with them at home.

I finally finished a card that has been sitting since the end of July. This has been in a "half done" pile along with about 10 other cards patiently waiting for a few minutes of my time.

The wonderful floral stamp is by Penny Black and the sentiment is by PTI .

Tonight we will be celebrating my daughter Michelle's birthday because she was away at camp on her real birthday. It should be a nice evening full of friends and family.

I hope that you are having a wonderful holiday weekend !

:-) Barbara

Penny Black Guest Artist layout

2010-08-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

Good morning !

As mentioned yesterday , I was invited by Penny Black to be a guest artist. This was the layout that I created. :-)

I enlisted the help of my daughter Katherine for the journalling as this was her school trip. She also gets credit for the photos!

Here are the instructions. :-)

Paris 2010

Stamps
30-023 Thinking of you
30-024 Enjoy
40-37K Mixed Media

Instructions
1. Computer generate title and glue to the top of a 11 ½ x 11 ½ sheet of pink cardstock.
2. Using scalloped scissors, cut a strip of pink cardstock and attach underneath the title.
3. Print pictures and add one in the top left corner and the second in the bottom right corner.
4. Print journaling on a piece of tea stained paper and gold emboss swirl border design on the left side.
5. Attach the journaling block to the top picture.
6. Stamp rose on white cardstock using markers and cut out.
7. Glue beside the journaling block.
8. Stamp Mixed Media on tea stained paper using pink chalk ink. Cut out and glue beside bottom picture.
9. Using brown ink, stamp “La Tour Eiffel” on a tag and add a bow.
10. Glue beside the “Mixed Media” image.
11. Gold emboss swirl border design twice on vellum and cut out.
12. Glue beside the tag.
13. Layer layout panel to a sheet of 12x12 Kraft cardstock.

Have a wonderful day!
:-) Barbara

Penny Black Guest Artist

2010-08-18T09:54:00.000-05:00

Good morning !
A while ago I was invited to be a guest artist for Penny Black. ♥ I created a card and a scrapbook page using these beautiful stamps. Have you seen of the new releases that they have been showing ? Grab a coffee and take a look at the catalogs that are now online. Penny Black .

Which are your favourites?
I have a few favourites here , here , here , here , here, here and here and I love the sentiments here and here , but really, I love them all !

This is the card that I created. It uses Daisy Fields and Dreams Come True . I will share the scrapbook page tomorrow.

May all your dreams come true

Stamps
4070F dreams come true
4042K daisy fields
Instructions
1. Using markers, stamp daisy fields twice in the top part of a white card.
2. Cut a piece of yellow cardstock using scalloped scissors and attach it to a strip of pink cardstock.
3. Glue to the card under the daisies.
4. Attach a bow to the cardstock strip.
5. Stamp sentiment with black ink in the bottom right corner of the card.

Have a wonderful day !
:-) Barbara

Hero Arts Halloween

2010-08-16T07:00:00.002-05:00

Good morning,
I hope that you had a nice weekend .I went to the Farmer's Market with my daughter on Saturday and spent the day in my pj's stamping and cleaning on Sunday. Fun ! Every year in October my friend Christine hosts a stampy garage sale so I am trying to organize some of my lesser used stamps and accessories.

One of the Basic Grey paper pads that my husband brought home from MN had fall colours so I decided to make a Halloween card. The girl image is from pc crafter and all of the other images are from Hero Arts. I used OWL-OWEEN and a retired stamp called Halloween Hats.

The hats and one of the spider webs were attached with pop dots.

The spiders are covered in Glossy Accents.

We have had rain for a few days now so I'm hoping for a break in the weather to get some yard work done. My sister and nieces are coming for a visit on Saturday and I cannot wait to see them!

Have a great day!

:-) Barbara

Thinking of you

2010-08-13T07:30:00.000-05:00

I made this card long before we went on vacation but didn't get around to posting it. All of the stamps that I used are by Penny Black.

This one has lots going on. I layered the papers and sponged ink on the main panel and added ribbon and vellum and a punched edge. The flower and butterfly are from this set and the sentiment and swirl are from this set. The paper is a mix of digital, sheet music and Basic Grey.

I always like to keep a few extra "thinking of you" and "thank you" cards on hand . That way they are easy to pop in the mail when I need them ! Right now my stash is pretty low so I'm hoping to get back stamping soon! For now though I am enjoying the summer with my children.

:-) Barbara

Sorry for my absence

2010-08-11T11:24:00.001-05:00

We had a wonderful vacation and now I am enjoying the week with my children who are all at home. The weather is great and our summer is so short so I will be away a bit longer. I hope that you are having a nice summer as well !
Barbara

Bella and Bronte at the beach

2010-07-29T11:13:00.002-05:00

Good morning !
I am getting ready to go on holidays so this will likely be my last post for a while. I actually have a bunch of new cards made but I don't think that I will have time to photograph any of them before we leave.

I am SO in love with Bronte that I decided to make another card for the paper piecing challenge here but it looks like I'm a day late. Oh well, I had fun making this !

(click on the picture for a large view)

Lots of paper piecing and pop dotting going on!

The clouds are by Hero Arts and the sentiment is by Penny Black . Two of my favourite stamps!

A cute story before I go . My husband phoned me from the Mall of America and asked if there was anything I wanted. I asked if there was a stamping store and he said "Archivers" so I emailed him a list.

6x6 paper pads by Basic Grey or Little Yellow Bicycle .

So he goes into the store and the lady says that they have 5x7 pads by Little Yellow Bicycle and would that be okay?

"I've been married for 18 years" he says. " I don't make judgement calls" .

LOL!

and with that he puts his phone on the counter and points to "the list" .

The very helpful woman took him by the hand and filled up his basket.

What an awesome hubby! :-)

I hope that you have a wonderful week !

(eta, I've just added this to the seeing spots and dots challenge here !)

Barbara

Mo's Digital pencil

2010-07-26T07:00:00.041-05:00

As soon as I saw the "To Mo's" digital stamp from Mo's Digital Pencil Too I knew that I wanted to put Bronte in the shopping cart! I love Bronte! He is the cutest dog in the world! I went through all of the Bronte images and decided on this one. He is now holding a shopping list! This just makes me smile. :-D

Since I am not at all digital saavy and wouldn't be able to figure out how to meld 2 images, I hand cut the inside of the cart, cut out the sweet dog and placed him inside. He's not actually glued in place so I can remove him and put other things into the cart if I want. I had the "I love you" stamp by Hero Arts on my desk because I use it so much and it just seemed like the perfect sentiment.

Bella's dress is paper pieced .

(click on the picture for an enormously large view)

I have had the main panel finished since February but wasn't sure quite how to finish the card so I put it into my "someday" pile. Today was "someday"! I used bits and pieces of patterned paper for a soft , patchwork look . I am really happy with the way that this turned out, mostly because I just love Bella and Bronte together!

I have added my card Mo's paper piecing challenge here .

Have a wonderful day !

:-) Barbara

Time goes by so quickly

2010-07-24T08:58:00.002-05:00

Good morning and happy Saturday !
I slept in until 7:00 am today. :-) I was out stamping until 11:00 last night which is pretty late for me so I figured that I would sleep in a bit today. I had such a wonderful time! I saw friends that I haven't seen for a while which was great !

This morning I was looking through some pictures on my computer and came across this layout that was made at least 7 years ago. It just jumped out at me because it feels like yesterday. My baby will be 14 next month!

The picture was taken at my in-laws house on the ocean (in New Brunswick) which is where we will be going on vacation soon. I can't wait !

Today is all about cleaning and yardwork. I don't mind at all though because it looks beautiful out. Have a wonderful weekend . :-)

eta - I just found this 7 year old card . :-) Do you recognize the flower stamps? They are from the 2003 Hero Arts catalog ! I was really big into stitching then !

Barbara

An under-the-pillow card

2010-07-23T07:00:00.003-05:00

Good morning,

It has been a while since I have left a card under my daughter's pillow so I put this together this morning. I was actually able to sneak it in while she was still sleeping! I hope that it makes her smile. :-)

This was quick to make because the jar was stamped directly onto a white card. In order to get it to appear as though it were cut out, I just cut around the bottom of the jar with an X-acto knife and glued the patterned paper underneath. The label and the scalloped decoration were cut out and adhered to the card.

All stamps are by Papertrey.

I woke up at 5:00 am and thought to myself "it's going to be an early night tonight" but then I remembered that today is Friday and I'm going to a stamping party at my friend's house. Yay! It should be tons of fun!

I hope that you have a great weekend !

:-) Barbara

Hero Arts just saying hello

2010-07-21T08:49:00.000-05:00

Good morning ,
This is a very quick card that I made to mail off to my daughter who is in Quebec. She loves dogs so I knew that this would be a perfect stamp to use! It is called Friendly pup. The sentiment and birdie are from the clear set Mi Casa. Both are by Hero Arts.

I stamped the puppy with black ink on Kraft cardstock and cut him out. The birdie was stamped directly onto the Fabriano notecard and coloured with Copics. The pink paper is by My Mind's Eye and the ledger paper can be found here .

It looks like a wonderful day outside! My husband and son are off helping with a Habitat for Humanity house today so I am glad that the weather is so nice.

I hope that you have a lovely day today !

:-) Barbara

Kathy Martin - Digital Doodles

2010-07-19T07:00:00.002-05:00

Good morning , I hope that you had a nice weekend ! I spent Saturday helping my daughter clean her room. She is a collector like me and sometimes things get crazy. She asked me if I would help and I said absolutely! It's so much friendlier with two. :-)
We also added some new shelves to my son's room for his Rubik's cube collection. My poor children don't stand a chance having 2 parents that like to collect "treasures"! LOL!

On Sunday I did some baking and then we went downtown for a family bike ride. It was such a beautiful day!

I made this card using 2 stamps from Kathy Martin's Digital Doodles from 2Peas. You can find them here.

Kathy's images are lovely and they just make me smile!

I used Copics to color the images and a bit of paper piecing. Most of the elements are pop dotted for dimension. I also added just a touch of glitter to the butterfly.

I'm not sure what's in store for today but it looks like it's going to be a great day! Thank you for stopping by.

:-) Barbara

Hero Arts Fishies

2010-07-16T06:58:00.001-05:00

It has been a long week. I am very happy that it is the weekend and that my husband will be home tonight. He has been out of town this week and last and I miss him. It's so nice to have him home on the weekends !

I stamped and cut out the elements for this card while I was waiting for texts from my daughter who was at the hospital. I love these cheery little fishies!

I found the panel of patterned paper strips in my scrap box and decided to use it.

I adhered the panel and the fishies with pop dots for dimension. I also used gemstones for some sparkle.

I will pop this in the mail today for a friend that I'm getting together with next week.

Have a wonderful weekend !

Thursday

2010-07-15T07:00:00.001-05:00

I have nothing new today so I'm sharing a card that I made a few weeks ago .

I used images from this set by Penny Black.

I painted a background using Twinkling H2O's and then stamped the images in Black Archival ink. Easy peasy.

Yesterday started off not so great when I went to have a shower only to find that there was no hot water. I phoned my husband who is out of town and he walked me through relighting the pilot light. I was happy that I didn't blow up so that was good! There were a few other mishaps throughout the morning but the day turned out okay because I got my hair done. That always feels great.

I'm not sure what's in store for today. It looks absolutely beautiful out so I am already feeling recharged and ready to go!

Have a great day!

:-) Barbara

Happy Birthday Elizabeth !!!!!!

2010-07-14T07:00:00.004-05:00

Good morning,

First of all , thank you for the well wishes for my daughter Katherine. She left the hospital at 9:00 pm last night with mild heat stroke. She was told to rest and drink water - things that we parents tell her to do anyways! In fact, drink water is a running joke in our family. It'll cure just about whatever ails you.

Saturday was my niece's birthday !!! I hope that you had a very Happy birthday sweet Elizabeth !!!!! I didn't want to post this card until I was sure that she had received it.

My niece lives in Prince George , BC. Her family will be coming for a visit near the end of August and I cannot wait! I haven't seen them since Christmas. I sure miss them!

The card that I made is a spinner card. It was so much fun to make! The puppy is from pc crafter, and you probably recognize Betsy Bluebell with her sweet balloons. The paper is my newest favourite digital paper from Pink Petticoat and the clouds are cut with the Silhouette and embossed with a folder by Cuttlebug. Oh, and the sun is a punch by EK Success.

:-) Barbara

I need a smile today

2010-07-13T12:15:00.001-05:00

update
Thank you so much for the thoughful comments. My daughter is still sitting in the waiting room of the emergency department in Quebec. She has been there for 8 hours now. I just phoned the hospital to make sure that her name was on the list and was told that they are busy and will get to her when they can. Poor sweetie. :-(

Good morning ,
I started this card yesterday but decided to leave it overnight to simmer. I finished it this morning and it brought me a smile.

This morning when I turned on my computer I had a message from my daughter in Quebec saying that she was headed to the hospital with suspected heat stroke. She has been sick for 2 days and we have been trying to convince her to get checked out but she is never one to create waves. I am glad that she went but feel so bad being so far away from her. My husband feels bad too because he is away and can't do anything to help either.

I have also spent a good part of the morning with Canada Post trying to find a missing package. I hope that it shows up!

My youngest daughter offered me her chocolate though. That was so sweet !

"Enjoy your day" . Yes, that does bring me a much needed smile.

Barbara

Stamps by Penny Black

Hero Arts - Take Time for a Friend

2010-07-12T08:00:00.003-05:00

Good morning ! I hope that you had a wonderful weekend. My husband came home from a trip and helped me finish planting all of the shrubs that I bought. I did some on Friday but I still had a lot to do .

By help I mean, he dug the holes to the proper size, filled the holes with soil and then put the shrubs in place. :-) I was busy weeding the gardens and doing other neglected yard things.

I did manage to make a card . I just started adhering patterned paper pieces to a Kraft card base and then decided to use this wonderful "What's Perking" stamp set from Hero Arts.

I wanted to dishes to be bright to stand out against all of the patterned paper so I stamped them on cardstock and cut them out. These dishes kind of remind me of my Fiestaware!

I used gemstones to mark the sentiment and to dress up the coffee pot.

The papers are all from my scrap box.

:-) Barbara

Completely inspired by Michelle Wooderson

2010-07-09T10:09:00.001-05:00

( this is my second post for today. Scroll down for my first card. )

I've been up since 5:30 am. My soil was delivered at 8:00 am. Before heading outside I decided to check Google Reader just one more time.Gah. I saw Michelle Wooderson's post and thought I would make a quick card. :-) This card is completely inspired not only by Michelle's picture, but by Michelle's style as well.

Here is one of the inspiration pictures

and here is my card

As soon as I saw the blue strawberry fabric I knew which stamp I was going to use. It was already on my desk from this card that I made yesterday. I coloured the image with markers, misted it with water and then stamped onto watercolour paper.

I cut out the flowers for extra dimension

and added a polymer clay button by Jane Beljo to the bow.

Both stamps are by Penny Black. Patterned paper is a mix of digital and pieces from my scrap box.

I'm off to plant some trees. For real this time!

:-) Barbara

Dreams come true

2010-07-09T07:00:00.003-05:00

Good morning ,
How has your week been? I've only done 1 load of dishes and 1 load of laundry all week. That doesn't happen when the whole family is here! My household will be back to normal soon though.

Onto today's card.

This is very clean looking. I adhered pieces of patterned paper to a sheet of cardstock and then cut it into strips to use on various projects. The piece that I used was just slightly smaller than the card and is attached using foam tape. I stamped the sentiment on a piece of white cardstock and then the corners were rounded before attaching the panel to the card. The rose was stamped with markers and cut out.

I hope that you have a great weekend! Yesterday I impulsively bought some shrubs to go all along our back fence so I will spend the morning (hopefully just the morning!) planting. The soil is being delivered at 8:00 am and I have a lot of work to do to get ready for it.

:-) Barbara

Thinking of you

2010-07-08T07:00:00.012-05:00

Good morning,

Today I have a card featuring Penny Black's mid-summer . I coloured the image using markers, misted it with water and then stamped onto watercolour paper. I kept this card very simple to highlight this beautiful stamp. The sentiment is from this set and the paper is from Pink Petticoat. I saw Lucy posting about this paper the other day and I spent the morning downloading! LOL! The background paper is actually a soft green although it seems to appear tan in the picture.

The main panel is adhered with foam tape for depth.

I love the simplicity of this card.

Today my son and I will be doing a few errands and relaxing a bit. We've had a quiet week as the rest of my family is away. My husband returns tomorrow and my youngest returns on Saturday.

Number 1 on the list is to finish putting together a care package for my daughter. She has had a rotton start to her University experience. They are in a heat wave with no air conditioning, her camera broke when a water bottle spilled in her purse and she got a "billet blanche" (a white ticket) for not signing in properly. If you get 3 white tickets you can lose priveledges. The worst thing is, my daughter is a rule follower so getting a white ticket by accident really made her unhappy!

Have a wonderful, sunny day, billet blanche-free day !!!!

:-) Barbara

Two more cards for my daughter

2010-07-07T06:54:00.004-05:00

Good morning !
Today I have 2 more cards that I made for my daughter who is away at a University program in Quebec.
Both cards use PTI's Year of Flowers : Roses and Signature Greetings . Both cards are paper pieced. I bought Signature Greetings because it has so many beautiful sentiments.

The layout for the first card was inspired by this card by Maile Belle.

That's it for today - short and sweet . I hope that your week is going well !

Stamps: Papertrey

Paper: Amy Butler, Hero Arts digital, My Mind's Eye

Ink: Memento

Accessories: scallop scissors-Fiskars

Techniques: paper piecing

:-) Barbara

Betsy Bluebell

2010-07-06T06:00:00.001-05:00

Good morning! I hope that you are having a good week so far. I made this card for my daughter Katherine who is away at school for 1 month. I will be mailing her a card every other day to let her know how much I miss her! We drove her to the airport at 4:30 am on Sunday and I since I tend to be a morning person anyways, I spent the rest of the day stamping. I actually made 8 cards so that was a great start !

This card has a lot of paper piecing. I stamped Betsy Bluebell on white cardstock and then stamped her dress on patterned paper and the bouquet on newspaper. I also stamped and cut out each of the flowers individually. Everything that isn't paper pieced is coloured with Copics.

The sun is cut out of newspaper and the hills are patterned paper. Betsy Bluebell is adhered with foam tape and I added some ribbon and a button for a bit of depth.

Yesterday afternoon my son and I bought a bunch of care package items to mail to Katherine so we are hoping to get that in the mail sometime this week.

Have a wonderful day !
:-) Barbara

Lacey edged card

2010-07-05T08:00:00.028-05:00

I love my Silhouette. LOVE it.

This card was very quick to make. It cut the crochet edge card out of kraft cardstock, added some patterned paper, stamped the sentiment, added a bow and it was done.

I love the neat edge and I love the sentiment. I have a number of these stamps from Penny Black

and just as many on my wish list. :-) They are so inspirational .

Crochet lace card by Loni Stevens for Silhouette

Sentiment by Penny Black

Patterned paper by Basic Grey and Crate Paper

Nestabilities die for the scalloped square and square

Happy July 4th part 2 to my American friends !

:-) Barbara

What's Cooking and Love Birds

2010-07-04T08:00:00.009-05:00

Good morning , today I have 2 cards The first one uses the "What's Cooking" clear set by Hero Arts. There are so many wonderful stamps in this set.

All of the images are stamped with Memento ink and coloured with Copics except the apron which is paper pieced. I used bits of patterned paper for the background - all were from my scrap pile.

The second card features the cling set "Two Birds" by Hero Arts. One of the bird images was stamped on cream cardstock using ArtPrint Brown Memories ink. The sentiment is computer generated.The patterned papers are by Basic Grey and My Mind's Eye. The gorgeous button is by Jane Beljo.

Have a wonderful day and Happy July 4th to my American friends!

:-) Barbara

May all your dreams come true.

2010-07-02T06:59:00.000-05:00

Good morning and Happy Friday!

Today I have a card featuring 3 Penny Black Stamps. The silhouette image is called Inclinations, the sentiment is "Dreams" and the butterfly is from the clear set "Illuminations".

I stamped the silhouette using green ColorBox on the ledger paper that I love so much. You can find it here. The butterfly was stamped twice with Pink VersaColor directly onto the ledger paper and then stamped a 3rd time onto cream cardstock, cut out and adhered with foam tape. The patterned paper is by Basic Grey . To create the bow, I stitched 2 bows together and added the button on top.

Have a wonderful weekend !

:-) Barbara

I love to play with paper

2010-07-01T08:00:00.010-05:00

I don't always have a card in mind, sometimes I just like to colour and cut out shapes or play with my Silhouette or collect digital paper. I gather these treasures into little piles with the thought that I might use them someday. For the most part, the pile just keeps growing.

This card is made up of bits from my pile. :-) The rose image is from pccrafter. I cut it with my Silhouette. The pink polka dotted paper is digital paper by Hero Arts. The sentiment is by Penny Black.

Everything on this card was already cut or stamped, I just assembled it.

The sentiment was already stamped directly onto a piece of patterned paper .I just stiched in place. I also added a row of gemstones for some sparkle.

Do you do this to? Do you make lots of cards or do you just gather your treasures?

I hope that you have a wonderful day!

Happy Canada Day to my Canadian friends !

:-) Barbara

Here she is again :-)

2010-06-30T06:59:00.002-05:00

Don't you just love her sweet smile? :-)

I knew that I wanted this card to be quite layered so after colouring the image, I just grabbed some bright patterned paper and kept adding and adding until I felt it was done. The sentiment is stamped on vellum and then attached to the floral paper using a strip of tape at the top. The tape is hidden by the yellow scalloped edge.
The patterned paper is by K&Co and the image is coloured with Copics. Both the main image and the sentiment are by Penny Black. I really love these sentiment stamps - Penny Black has a ton. I will enable you. Look here.

Only a few more days until my daughters are off on their adventures. We spent yesterday shopping for t-shirts and shorts and today will be all about making lists and packing. My oldest daughter will be away for a month so there is some planning involved with that!

Have a great day!
:-) Barbara

Betsy Bluebell

2010-06-29T08:00:00.003-05:00

Good morning! I have another card to share using this clear set by Penny Black. I just love these sweet images! They are so much fun to colour. I especially love that I can sit down and practice with Copics as they have been pretty idle since I bought them.

I am hoping for some sunshine today so that we can do a little bit of work in our yard and maybe go for a bike ride. This week I have all 3 teenagers at home so I am enjoying my time with them. Next week my oldest daughter will be away at a University program in another province and my youngest will be travelling with gramma so it will just be my son and I at home. He's hoping to take his drivers test soon so we will be doing tons of driving!

Have a great day!
:-) Barbara

Enjoy your day

2010-06-28T08:00:00.004-05:00

Oh what a wonderful weekend we had! On Saturday we went to The Ex (it was open this time!) and enjoyed a few hours before it rained. We ate fair food and I went on rides that made my stomach turn. Fun times! LOL! We had all 3 kids with us and that made me the happiest. Being teenagers, it's difficult sometimes to get them all to come out with us. Oftentimes one of them is volunteering or off at an activity so it's great whe we can all be together.

Sunday morning we joined hundreds of dogs at "Paws in Motion" which is a fundraising walk for the Humane Society. We brought our beagle and my moms Shih Tzu and had the best morning ever. I LOVE dogs! The rain held off until the walk was over and the dragonflies kept the mosquitos at bay - it really couldn't have been a nicer day!

I did make one card this weekend. Saturday morning I was up long before my family so I was able to do some stamping. I really love the mornings and I am almost always the first one up.
The adorable girl on this card is from Penny Black. She is from the new "Betsy Bluebell" series. I coloured her with my Copics. The sun is a punch by EK Success.The polka dotted paper is digital (Hero Arts) and the embossed polka dots are a folder by Cuttlebug that I just got from my LSS on Friday.

Today should be pretty low key. My daughters will be travelling soon so we have some loose ends to tie up and some errands to run but that's about it. Have a wonderful Monday!

:-) Barbara

Saturday morning

2010-06-26T07:55:00.002-05:00

Good morning! I woke up long before the rest of my family so I decided to make a card. :-)

For about a month I have been randomly leaving cards in my kids rooms for them to discover. During exams it was everyday but it has trickled down to every few days now.
Most of the designs are quick to make and some of the stamps have taken permanant residence on my desk. Like the "I love you" stamp.

I suspect that this sentiment will always be close by for me. You are one of my nicest thoughts. It makes me smile from the bottom of my heart just to read it!

Today we will be going to The Ex ( a local fair) if the weather cooperates.It looks beautiful out so far! This will be our second attempt at The Ex. A few days ago I woke my kids up early and drove around town picking up their friends and we got to the fair by 10:30 only to find out that it didn't open until 3:00. Seriously! LOL! They were all very good sports about it and we ended up going to Toy Story 3 instead. Being the mom of a 17 year old boy, I was the lady that was bawling at the end of the movie while trying not to embarrass my children. Good thing the theater was dark! :-)

Have a wonderful weekend!
Barbara

All stamps by Penny Black
the graph paper can be found here.

No cards to share but I have been stamping

2010-06-25T15:26:00.002-05:00

Hello! No new cards to share .....yet. I have been stamping though! I've been working on a special project and I hope to have some new cards up soon. :-)

While school is officially over, I have still been crazy busy. The weather is nice and we have enjoyed as much time outdoors as possible.

I hope all is well where you are.

Barbara

A quick card

2010-06-23T08:05:00.006-05:00

Good morning ,
It looks like it's going to be a busy day today even though school is officially over! My oldest daughter has an appointment this morning and my youngest daughter is going to her first of 3 end of school parties this afternoon so we will be running today!

This card is a Silhouette design and the stamps are by Hero Arts. If I get a chance later today I will add the details. :-)

Have a great day!
Barbara

Monday, Monday

2010-06-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday! I hope that you had a nice weekend. We had my parents over for a bbq yesterday and the weather was beautiful. :-) I miss the sun so much when it rains for days on end.

I made this card just for the pure joy of creating. Most of the elements are from pccrafter and I used the Print and Cut feature on my Silhouette to cut them out. I love this feature so much!

We are down to the last few days of school and then things will quiet down a bit.Hopefully!

Have a great day!
:-) Barbara

My Father's Day card

2010-06-19T07:07:00.003-05:00

.....was completely inspired by Lisa's Father's Day card.

The man stamp is called "Ryan" and is by Rubber Romance. I bought him from the artist on Etsy here. The sentiment is by Hero Arts.The paper is from "Joy Ride" by Cosmo Cricket.

Have a great weekend! If we are lucky, we will see the sun. My parents are coming over tomorrow for a Father's Day bbq so it would be nice to be able to sit outside.

:-) Barbara

Thankful

2010-06-18T08:00:00.003-05:00

A friend of mine was in a car accident a few days ago and I am feeling thankful that she is okay. The Jeep that she was riding in is totalled and the driver is in the hospital but things could have been so much worse.

I dropped off this card with some flowers to lift her spirits and let her know that she is in my thoughts.

This is another card that I didn't make note of the products used when I made it.Sorry! It is mostly Silhouette Print and Cuts and digi paper.

Exams are almost over and then it's on to the end of year parties!

:-) Barbara

French thank you card

2010-06-17T08:30:00.001-05:00

A lot of times I will make cards without sentiments so that I can just add the appropriate greeting when needed. My daughter needed a thank you card for her French teacher so I told her to look through my stash and pick one out that she liked. The "Merci" was stamped on a piece of vellum and added to the bottom.

I made this quite a while ago and there is really a lot going on in terms of product.Sorry that I don't have time to add specifics but I would be happy to answer questions.The flower and cherry tag are print and cuts from my Silhouette and the paper is all digi.

More exams and driving around today. Have a great day!

Barbara

We do not remember days .....

2010-06-16T07:00:00.001-05:00

Lately all of my days have been a big blur.I'm sure that a lot of parents feel the same way at the end of the school year.

I was pleased at how quickly this card went together because I had some of the elements pre-made so I mostly just assembled it.A few weeks ago when I had a few minutes, I made the digi paper. It is a combination of Hero Arts Polky Dots and Vinnie Pearce Typography Paper. I was thrilled when I learned how to change the colour of the dots in Gimp so I printed off a bunch of different papers! (okay truth be told, I had a near meltdown because I couldn't get it to work the way that I thought it should and so dh came upstairs and helped me.) :-)

The colours in this card make me happy! I stamped the flowers directly onto the pp and then clear embossed the middle one. I decided to do some shading with my Copics so that the flower would stand out more. The sentiment is stamped on vellum. Both images are Penny Black.

Today I will be driving kids to and fro. It looks like a hurricane hit my house and we have no food. I will be happy for this week to end!

:-) Barbara

We cannot direct the wind

2010-06-15T10:23:00.002-05:00

I am literally leaving the house in 5 minutes and I won't be home until tonight. This is exam week for my kids which has me driving all over the place to get my children where they need to be. Last week it was award ceremonies, the week before.....

Anyways, I have been trying to make my kids motivational cards almost every day to help them with end of the year stresses and to let them know how much I love them. Somedays it's just a post-it note on their laptops. Today I decided to take a picture.

I love these Penny Black stamps. The brushstroke series is timeless.

Have a wonderful day!

:-) Barbara

It's been over a month. Oh my.

2010-05-30T10:31:00.003-05:00

Likely the only way you are seeing this is if I pop up on your Google Reader. I'm sure that others have given up completely. Sorry! I cannot believe that the time just got away from me like that.
I haven't been idle. Quite the opposite I guess! I just haven't had time to take pictures or blog. I have been spending a lot of time outdoors in the yard planting and slowly working towards some kind of landscaping. I have never been interested in gardening of any sort until about 2 years ago and now I am learning by trial and error. Sadly I have killed as many plants as I have grown but it is a fun learning experience.

A few crafty things that I have done lately. I made new cushions for my deck chairs.I found some wonderful indoor/outdoor fabric and sewed pillowcase type covers.I will take pictures if it stops raining. :-)

For Mother's Day my mom had a wonderful dinner at her house and bought little gift baskets for all of the ladies in attendance. I used my Silhouette to make name tags. I think there were 14 of us.

I've made a few cards but I haven't taken any pictures. I do hope to have some crafty time soon. Until then I will be enjoying the gorgeous weather whenever I can.
I hope that you are well!

Barbara

I have always wanted a basket .

2010-04-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

No cards yet, sorry !
I did make a fabric liner for my bicycle basket yesterday though. My dog had to get in the picture too!

I used mostly Amy Butler fabrics and the basket came from a Habitat for Humanity store about 10 years ago. I was using it to store craft supplies.

I hope that your weather is as wonderful as ours is. I have already taken my beagle for 5 bike rides around the neighbourhood. She runs alongside my bike on a leash. That took a little bit of coordination on both of our parts! LOL!

:-) Barbara

Wow, sorry ! I guess I fell off the face of the Earth.

2010-04-24T17:48:00.003-05:00

I can't believe how long it's been since I've stamped or blogged. I don't think that I've stamped anything since before we left for Hong Kong. I have just been caught up in real life I suppose! No tweeting or Facebook or even checking out blogs. My husband has been away and I have been busy with Spring cleaning both inside and out. I am so excited to see green outside but there is so much work to be done!

My daughter and I went for our first bike ride today. I bought a retro bike last summer and didn't even get to ride it once due to all of the rain that we had. I am happy to say that it has now been ridden and I'm planning to make a cute Amy Butler basket liner for the (I think) adorable vintage basket!

I'm hoping to start stamping again by Monday but I likely won't have anything to show for it until at least Tuesday. I feel a little bit rusty!

I hope that your Spring is as beautiful as ours has been!

:-) Barbara

Still no cards

2010-04-12T14:31:00.003-05:00

Good afternoon,
I'm starting to think that I will never make another card. I am finally feeling better after spending most of last week sick. My husband, who was out of town, is now home and sick himself.
I was hoping to get some stamping done over the weekend but that didn't happen. After unpacking and doing tons of laundry, I just ran out of time. This morning I had to drive my daughter to a special French exam and this afternoon my other daughter has a doctor's appointment. Maybe I will stamp sometime this week!

Have a great Monday. :-)
Barbara

Second day on the couch

2010-04-06T19:06:00.011-05:00

Good evening,
We arrived home on Tuesday at midnight and I woke up on Wednesday sick with whatever my girls had. I have not left the couch in 2 days. Hopefully, I will feel better tomorrow and get some unpacking done. My husband left for a business trip on Wednesday so my kids are taking care of me. :-)

I started to write this post while we were at the Vancouver airport so I will just put up the pictures that I have so far. This was really an incredible trip!

As stated earlier, my son had "saved up" birthday and Christmas presents from my parents to go to Hong Kong and he wanted me to experience it with him. One of the main reasons for our visit was so that he could go to the puzzle shops in the area.

This is my son in Michael's shop. Did you even know that so many twisty puzzles existed?

This is Calvin, his wife and my son at Calvin's puzzle shop. We went up a very narrow flight of stairs only to enter a maze of shops that seemed to span forever. Each shop was about 8'x6' - tiny!

This is the view from the harbour. Unfortunately, it was foggy/smoggy every day we were there so we didn't get to see the mountains or the Giant Buddha.

Here is my son after going in about 3 toy stores. He had to buy a big shopping bag to carry his puzzles.

Here I am saying to my son that he should buy things while he had the chance because we might not get back to the toy stores. Apparently I took my own advice! LOL!

This is my dad sitting outside while we shopped in the toy stores. He decided to sit on a stool and watch our loot while we went from store to store.

As soon as I'm feeling better I will share some more pictures.

:-) Barbara

oops, I'm out of room

2010-04-05T18:43:00.002-05:00

We are starting to pack as we are leaving this afternoon and I have run into a snag. I decided to pack my "findings" first and then pack my clothing but I ran out of room. I guess my clothes will be coming home in a garbage bag. :-O

Barbara

Have a Happy Paradise

2010-04-03T20:14:00.005-05:00

That was written on one of the tote bags. How fun is that?! Who doesn't want to have a happy paradise?

Yesterday we went to 2 markets. We started at the "ladies market".It was mostly clothing and purses. I can't even explain how many people there were and how crowded it was. We mostly just looked because it was just SO busy. Next we went to the toy and stationary shops that we had visited the day before but had the taxi drop us off one street over. This was the garment making district and there were entire shops filled with buttons and ribbons. It was overwhelming and I would love to go back! I didn't buy much because there were no prices listed and Roxanne mentioned that sometimes the prices will double for foreigners. I did buy some adorable crocheted strawberries and some ribbon. I wish that I would have purchased more ribbon as it was so beautiful! At the end of the street were the toy and stationary stores that we visited the day before. We couldn't actually get into the stores though because the middle of the street had turned into a giant market. There was booth after booth of clothing and purses and electronics. It was so busy that we could barely move. This time we didn't buy much because as soon as we showed any interest in something we were bargained with - even when we tried to politely say no thank you.

We came back to the hotel for supper at about 5:00 and I was able to stay awake until 7:00. I actually slept through the whole night not waking up until 6:00 am. I will just get used to the time change and it will be time to go home! LOL! Today we will be doing whatever my son wants to do because this is his trip *grin*. Maybe I will get back to the markets though!

:-) Barbara

BDE

2010-04-02T04:28:00.006-05:00

As my daughter would say "Best Day Ever"!!!

Today we met Roxanne at an area of town that was street after street of wholesale shopping. We were there for almost 5 hours and made it through about 1 block. Above is an example of one store. She showed my son some super cool toy stores and he ended up buying a ton of puzzles. Interspersed with these toy stores were stationary-type gift stores. OH MY WORD.

This is Japanese Masking Tape. This was one thing that I was hoping to find.

I also bought some post-it notes, decorated Bandaids, a toilet paper roll cover that looks like a milk carton, some paper, cardstock paper strips, pencil cases that say "Happy Paradise" and some towels that are folded into an ice cream cone. Oh, and the "shrilling chicken" for my husband. It makes a loud noise when you press it.

I will get more pictures later - maybe after supper. I was just so excited to share some pictures of my crafting finds! Tomorrow we will go back to look at clothes and some of the sewing shops where they had spool after spool of ribbon in the windows.

Roxanne has just been incredible. Never in a million years would we have had the experience that we've had without her. She has shown us around and shared her incredible knowledge with us. It has just been so amazing and something that I will never forget.

♥♥♥
:-D Barbara

This is what seasick looks like

2010-04-01T18:12:00.002-05:00

Hello!
As I write it is now Friday morning. This picture was taken by my son yesterday while we were on a harbour tour. We are really having trouble with the time change and decided to go on this tour just to get out of our hotel room. We knew that if we stayed in the room, we would fall asleep. The scenery was beautiful but I was feeling sleep deprived and the water was choppy.

We met Roxanne for supper last night and she is just incredible. Roxanne is from my sons Twisty Puzzles forum and has been helping us around and telling us where to go locally. Today she is taking us on a cable car ride and then to a local junk market. Can you imagine? We have never met this woman before and she is taking us around like we have been friends for years. She teaches at the local university and is friends with Mr. Meffert which is how she got so interested in twisty puzzles. She also likes to mentor young puzzle enthusiasts because as she says, it keeps them out of trouble. :-)

Yesterday morning we walked to a local mall which was huge. It turned out that it was very Americanized though which made me laugh. There were store like The Body Shop and Ralph Lauren and Toys R Us. I am actually quite surprized at how Western things are here. Hopefully I will be able to find some souveniers for my girls today at the junk market.

It's breakfast time now so I'm off. Good-night to you all!

Barbara

What a night

2010-03-31T16:18:00.003-05:00

Good morning ! Well, it's morning here. :-)
I am starting to get used to the time change.
Yesterday we went to the History Museum and the Science Museum in the day which was nice. Our big event happened at night though. My son is huge into Rubiks-type puzzles. He belongs to a "Twisty Puzzles" forum where they discuss and show pictures of all things puzzle related. Before we left my son had been in contact with one of the senior members of the forum who lives in Hong Kong. She was going to tell us where to shop and maybe meet up with us if she wasn't too busy. The stars aligned and we were able to meet her after she was done work. She took us to a little shop that was filled to the rim with puzzles and my son was like a kid in a candy store. He bought a bunch of stuff and the owner gave him 4 free gifts. Pretty awesome,right?

While we were there, Roxanne's phone rang and she told us that we were going to go out for supper with her and a friend. We took a taxi to a little resteraunt where we met MR. MEFFERT! THE Mr. Meffert! LOL! He is a puzzle manufacturer here in Hong Kong and one of my sons idols. We had supper with Roxanne, Mr. Meffort and 2 shop owners where they discussed new puzzles and showed off unreleased prototypes. Mr. Meffert gave my son a puzzle which Roxanne suggested that he sign. OH My Gosh, I thought my sons head was going to explode! We wouldn't have planned a more perfect evening! After supper was over, the puzzle shop owner took us to his shop where my son bought even more puzzles. I don't think that he will ever forget this night.

Jean-Marc, thank you for allowing me to be a part of this special trip. I would not trade this experience for the world !

:-)

In Hong Kong

2010-03-30T19:11:00.005-05:00

Good morning,
It is 8am Wednesday Hong Kong time and this is our second day here. We landed on Tuesday at 6:30 am and were lucky enough to get an early check in at our hotel. The above picture is the view from the upstairs lounge.
Yesterday we went shopping at Stanley Market which I found to be very much like the outdoor market in Hawaii. We were pretty tired so we didn't do a lot of shopping and ended up back at the hotel at 4:00 pm. Jean-Marc and I decided to have a wee nap and slept through supper and straight on until about 1am. Luckily I was able to fall asleep for a bit longer and didn't actually get out of bed until 5:00am.
Today we will visit the History Museum and the Science Museum.It is overcast here so we thought it best to stay indoors. I am also hoping to find the local mall but since this is really my sons trip, I'll have to temper my shopping somewhat! LOL! I understand though that the mall is just a 5 minute walk from the hotel. I would really love to find some art supplies such as patterned tape and papers. I am also looking for souvenirs for my girls.
The internet is spotty at the hotel but I should be able to post a few times while we're here. I'd love it if you'd stop by and say hello!

:-) Barbara

My last card for real

2010-03-26T12:00:00.005-05:00

Good afternoon !
I should be doing so many other things right now instead of downloading digital kits and making cards so I'll keep this quick. In my defense, there may be method to my madness. I have spent the morning buying digital kits so that I can possibly learn how to use Gimp on the 16 hour plane ride to Hong Kong. I might even read the instructions! LOL! Not knowing anything about editing software, I went on the 2Peas digital forum and did a search for free software. I figure that if I learn this and like it, maybe I can buy something like Photoshop.I'm getting ahead of myself though! One thing at a time.

I made this card using Vinnie Pearce Typography Paper 1 from this kit and the clouds are from this kit.
The stamp is from Hero Arts - K5325 Cityscape.

The button is from Jane Beljo. I love these buttons!

I'm sure that I'll post again before we leave and hopefully while we're away but this will be my last card.

Have a great day!
:-) Barbara

My first hybrid card

2010-03-25T07:00:00.003-05:00

Good morning! This will very likely be my last card before leaving for Hong Kong on Sunday. My daughter is leaving for London this morning and I have a fancy dinner to go to tonight. This weekend will be all about packing. It sure takes a lot of work to get ready for a trip!

I made this card for the 2s4y challenge here.
This is Laura's sketch

and this is my card

I am all kinds of excited about this card!!!! First of all, I bought some digital kits from 2Peas after seeing cards from Alice and Lucy. The flower are from Hero Arts Garden Flower Sketches, the background is from Vinnie Pearce's Typography Corner and the floral paper is from a free kit by Sara Schmutz called "Just About Me".

While playing around, I figured out how to work in layers. Not a big deal to those who know how to do it, or for those of you that read instructions rather than blindly clicking around in hopes of finding the right thing, but it was super exciting for me! LOL!

I channelled my inner Jill and inked up the edges. I know, my inking is very subtle but it's there. I almost forgot that I own a stippling brush. Who knew?! I used Tea Dye Distress Ink.

The stamping on this card is the sentiment which is from the Essential Messages clear set.

Don't you love discovering new things?! There are so many possibilities with paper and ink and technology!!!!

:-) Barbara

Just a Note

2010-03-24T06:40:00.002-05:00

Good morning!
I am just popping in with a quick card today. I have 3 kids on Spring Break and I am trying to help my oldest daughter get packed for her band trip to London and my son and I packed for Hong Kong. My youngest daughter and husband are staying home. Crazy!

This card uses elements from the Hero Arts clear set Just a Note. This is such a cute office inspired set! I also love that it's clear because it makes positioning a snap! I wanted to have some text on my notebook paper so I used a little tiny piece from this pp.

You can see on the left hand side where I stamped the notebook page.

I used a real office tag and stamped the larger envelopes on manila paper. The small envelope was stamped on a piece of Memory Box paper.

Today is all about shopping and running errands! I hope that this brand new blanket of SNOW doesn't slow us down. You'd think that I'd be used to it by now! LOL! Every year after everything melts and we are convinced that it is truly Spring, we get another cold snap.
Have a great day!
:-) Barbara

Digital Doodles by Kathy Martin

2010-03-23T12:02:00.001-05:00

When Kathy Martin asked me to make a card with one of her new digital stamps, I was more than happy to do so! I have been following Kathy's blog for quite some time and was so excited when I found out that she was going to start designing stamps. Congratulations Kathy!

Digital Dooldles can be found at 2Peas. Here is a direct link to Pretty Packages.

This is such a pretty stamp! I've made 2 cards using it.

For the first card I printed the image on 3 different patterned papers, paper pieced it onto a main image and coloured the bows with Copics. The patterned paper is by Cosmo Cricket and the sentiment by Hero Arts.

I also paper pieced the stamp for the second card.

Thank you for stopping by and make sure to check out Kathy's stamps at 2Peas!

:-) Barbara

Two stamps on this card

2010-03-22T07:00:00.002-05:00

Hello ,
There are 2 stamps on this card. Can you guess what they are? Tricky, huh?
The speech bubble is one and the sentiment is the other. What a brilliant idea! The speech bubbles are in a set called "Write Your Message" and the sentiment is from "Essential Messages". I love these! Imagine the possibilities!

I stamped the sentiment on pink cardstock and then outlined it with the speech bubble and cut it out. I glued 3 pieces of patterned paper to a Kraft card, did some stitching and DONE. Easy peasy!

Isn't it helpful that I've linked these stamp sets for you? I try to do that when I have time because I know how frusterating it can be to have to search for things. :-)

Green paper - Amy Butler, Bird paper- Memory Box, Sheet music (real sheet music)

Have a great day!
Barbara

Moxie Fab-Diggin on Doilies and Lace(2)

2010-03-21T12:27:00.002-05:00

This card was totally inspired by the Moxie Fab blog banner!

The doily was cut with my Silhouette (doily file 1438 by Silhouette) and attached to the card with spray adhesive. The sentiment is from Essential Messages by Hero Arts and the gorgeous polymer clay button is by Jane Beljo. Here is a link to Jane's Etsy Shop.
I am just taking a little break from doing laundry and getting ready for our trip to Hong Kong next week. I have so much to do! I hope that you are having a great weekend. :-)

Barbara

Moxie Fab - Diggin on Doilies and Lace

2010-03-21T09:53:00.004-05:00

Good morning,
This card was made for the Diggin' on Doilies and Lace challenge on the Moxie Fab blog.

The card and flower were cut with my Silhouette and the center sentiment is from the Hero Arts What's Cooking set.I stamped it with Teal Blue Staz On on white cs.

After adhering just the center section of the lace to the card, I folded up the petals slightly for dimension. The white flower and sentiment were added with pop dots.

Thank you for looking and have a wonderful day!

Silhouette card by Valerie Foster, white flower- Flower_1023, Silhouette
Sentiment, Hero Arts
Teal cardstock, DCWV
Brown and white cs, Neenah paper
Staz On Teal Blue ink, Tsukineko

:-) Barbara

Hero Arts & Webster's Pages

2010-03-20T07:00:00.010-05:00

Good morning,
This is card #3 for the 2S4Y challenge.

This one is made with a mix of Basic Grey and Webster's Pages paper and a Hero Arts Butterfly and sentiment. The butterfly is from Antique Engravings and the sentiment is from Essential Messages.

I am quite happy with one part of this card in particular but you probably won't guess what it is. The Webster's Pages paper had the design printed on the left hand side and when I added the butterfly, it looked a little bit unbalanced. I decided to stamp some greenery on the right hand side by using my Hero Arts Hydrangea stamp. It looked good but it was still missing something. I remembered having some stickers that got banished to the basement about 7 years ago (seriously) and so I went downstairs and found them. The rose and the bee came from a sheet of PSX stickers.

The butterfly was stamped on white cs with Memento ink and coloured with Copics. I stitched around the outter edge of the panel with light blue thread.

I'm off to do errands with the kids today. My son needs a new suit and my daughter needs a skirt for her band trip. Have a great day!

:-) Barbara

2 Sketches 4 You - Kazan's Sketch # 48

2010-03-20T06:30:00.000-05:00

I decided to make a second card for the 2 Sketches 4 You challenge.

Here is the sketch

and here is my card

This one is a mix of die cuts, stamped images and patterned paper. The focal image is a section of Webster's Pages paper. I stamped a Hero Arts butterfly onto the paper and then stamped the sentiment on the butterfly.The brackets are a Silhouette die cut as is the cream coloured swirly frame.
All of this is layered onto some Amy Butler pp and then that is layered onto some Cosmo Cricket pp. The scalloped border was created with a slit punch.

Thank you for stopping by today! I hope that you have a wonderful weekend! My kids are starting Spring break next week and I will be trying to get ready for Hong Kong. Busy,busy!

:-) Barbara

2sketches4you & Hero Arts Hydrangea

2010-03-19T22:00:00.000-05:00

Good morning!

This is my first time playing along with this challenge. My inspiration for this card was the beautiful Hero Arts Hydrangea stamp.

Here is the sketch

and here is my card

I used a Webster's Pages die cut for the center panel. It looked like this when I started
but it wasn't the right size or shape for what I needed.
I cut off the sides and cut it in half horizontally before gluing it back together.
I also added some green flowers to the top right corner to balance the design.

The hydrangea was stamped on tea stained paper using Heliotrope and Split Pea VersaColor ink and embossed with sparkly EP.

The sentiment and the butterfly were also stamped on tea stained paper.

I added a ribbon to the back of the hydrangea panel and then attached the whole thing to a larger sheet of Webster's Pages paper. When the card was assembled I stitched around the outer edge of the hydrangea panel.

Wow, that was pretty long winded! LOL! Thank you for looking and please let me know if you have any questions. :-)

Barbara

Hero Arts Cuckoo Clock

2010-03-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

This card made itself.
Some nights, when I'm getting ready for bed and I don't have the time or inclination to clean up my craft room, I will just do a quick sort through. Keep and recycle.

This morning when I came downstairs, this card was sitting on my desk.

The polka dot paper had previously been glued to a card front. The green paper was sitting on top and the cuckoo clock, a duplicate that I made from this card, was sitting just beside.

An unusual colour combination for sure, I really liked the way that it looked when I glued everything together. The only things that I added intentionally were the pearls and the sentiment. I love that the Hero Arts clear sets come with sentiments!

Have a wonderful day!
:-) Barbara

Hero Arts - Just a Note

2010-03-18T08:00:00.001-05:00

Good Thursday morning! I have a quick card to share with you today made with the Just a Note clear set by Hero Arts and a butterfly from Antique Engravings.

I stamped the notepaper image on a piece of Basic Grey paper and then attached it to a background paper from My Mind's Eye with the tiny thumb tack.
The butterfly was stamped on white cs and coloured with Copics. I also added some Stickles for sparkle. The border across the middle is the cute little ruler stamped on cream cs. There are so many cute images in this set!

Today I am hoping to get some Spring cleaning done both inside and out. This is my absolute favourite time of year!

:-) Barbara

Caardvarks Photo Inspiration challenge

2010-03-17T17:46:00.008-05:00

I made this card for the Caardvarks photo inspiration challenge instead of cooking supper tonight. :-p

Here is the photo inspiration

and here is the card that I made

I stamped the flower silhouette on Basic Grey doily pp and embossed it with sparkly EP. I used Moss Green Color Box ink.

The butterfly is from Antique Engravings by Hero Arts. I stamped it on white cs with Memento ink and coloured it with Copics.

The scallop is made with the ever popular slit punch.

I can't believe that it's almost 7:00 pm and it's still light out! Now to clean up. :-)

This is actually my second post today so scroll down to see the first post.

eta - the blue background is a sheet of paper by Basic Grey. :-)

Barbara

Embellish Magazine Color Challenge with Fabric

2010-03-17T07:00:00.003-05:00

Good morning!
Today's card was made for Embellish Magazine's Color Challenge with Fabric.

Here are the colours

and here is my card

This was definitely a challenge for me! These are not colours that I usually work with. Once I got started though, I really loved making this card!

I used 2 Silhouette Print and Cut files from Cosmo Cricket for the girl and the dress. The file of the girl actually has her in shorts so I cut the pants and top to fit overtop. In order to get the size right, I layered the clothes directly on top of the girl and then moved them (without changing the size) before printing and cutting.

The dress is pinned to a piece of fabric using a Hero Arts pearl and a tiny piece of crafting wire. I didn't have any pins that small so I made my own.

The scissors are a stamp from the Hero Arts "Just a Note" clear set. The pin cushion is a Jolee's sticker. I made the spool of thread with my Silhouette. I cut the spool on kraft cardstock and then wrapped it with thread. I did this just so I could hear Julie say "SHUT UP!" LOL! I hope that she sees this. :-)

(you can click on the pictures to see the details better)

The scalloped border is fabric as well. I used double sided tape to attach the fabric to some white cardstock so that I could die cut it. I used my Accu-Cut for this. The green background paper as well as the red measuring tape are both from a Cosmo Cricket 6x6 paper pack.

This started off as a simple card but as I got into making the embellishments, it ended up taking half the day to make!
Now I must track down some more Kraft cardstock. This was my very last piece!

I hope that you have a wonderful day.
:-) Barbara

Moxie Fab - Diggin' on Doilies and Lace

2010-03-16T07:00:00.001-05:00

I went to town with my Silhouette on this one! The challenge was to use doilies and/or lace as a focal point.

I started off by cutting the green background and adhering it with pop dots for dimension. I then white embossed the sentiment (Hero Arts) on Pool cardstock and attached it to a scalloped edge white border.The scallops were cut with a slit punch.

The yellow lace was cut with a "doily" file by Silhouette and the pink lace was cut with the "bloom" file (Donna Downey). The butterfly is "heart butterfly" by Hero Arts. I removed some of the middle pieces on this one and moved the hearts around a bit because I knew that I would be cutting it fairly small. The gemstones are also Hero Arts.

Lots of cutting and dimension on this card.

I am so happy to see our snow melting and I am loving this beautiful weather! Have a great day and thank you for stopping by! :-)

eta - this card measures 5" x 6 1/2" .

Barbara

Tuesday Trigger - Lovely on the Green

2010-03-15T08:00:00.003-05:00

This week's Tuesday Trigger is brought to you by Alicia Thelin. I loved both the colour and the patterns in the trigger and Alicia's card is very pretty!

Here is the trigger

and here is my card

I started out by stamping the Cuckoo clock on real wood paper with StazOn ink. The surface was a bit slick so I had to be careful not to move the stamp at all for fear of smudging.

The idea in my head was very clean and simple but I just got this beautiful paper in the mail and wanted to use it! It is by Webster's Pages and is called Lullaby Lane & Life's Portrait.

The scalloped border is a paper by Cosmo Cricket and the toile-like border strip is the reverse side of the Webster's paper.

I stamped the sentiment (retired Hero Arts) on acetate because I knew that it wouln't fit on the toile paper strip. This way I didn't have to worry about the gap that is created when you stamp on 2 thicknesses of paper.

I hope that you had a wonderful weekend! We are enjoying some seasonally warm weather which is great for taking our beagle to the park!

:-) Barbara

Caardvarks Photo Inspiration challenge - take 2

2010-03-13T07:30:00.000-06:00

I decided to make another card for the Caardvarks photo challenge.

Here is the picture

and here is my card

This one was more about the process than the end result. Sometimes I like to just see if I can replicate something using the supplies that I have so I took this photo quite literally. The birdcages are a Silhouette file, the bird is by Hero Arts and the butterflies are a punch by EK Success.

It is raining here today which is wonderful because it means that some of the snow is going to melt! YAY! I love Spring!

It also just hit me that in less than 2 weeks I will be going to Hong Kong with my son. I have never been outside of North America so I am really looking forward to this trip!

I hope that you have a wonderful and creative day!
:-) Barbara

Embellish Magazine Borders Color Challenge

2010-03-11T16:00:00.001-06:00

The colours in the Embellish Magazine Borders Color Challenge are so pretty that I couldn't wait to see all of the wonderful cards made with them. There are truly some beautiful cards!

This is the photo inspiration showing the colours.

and here is the card that I made

I cut the yellow background with my Silhouette. The file was quite intricate so I removed a lot of the detail when I resized it.I also stretched it to be a rectangle instead of a square.It's not easy to tell but this is the same file that I used yesterday (Butterfly Floral Lace Square by Samantha Walker).

The birdcage was embossed in white in a pink notecard and cut out. The gems were clear but I coloured them with my Copics for a peachy colour.

The butterfly is also by Hero Arts.It is stamped with Memento ink and coloured with Copics.

The green border was cut with a Slit punch (SU) and tied with a yellow ribbon.

The card is Fabriano Mediovalis which seems to be the card that I am using most often these days. :-)

Thank you for looking and have a wonderful day!
:-) Barbara

Moxie Fab - Diggin on Doilies and Lace

2010-03-10T08:00:00.007-06:00

I am just loving challenges lately! Today's card comes from Moxie Fab's Diggin on Doilies and Lace.

I used my Silhouette and a very intricate cutting file for the background. I put my machine on the slowest setting possible and played around with the thickness level. When the cutting was done, I used my poking tool to pop out all of the little pieces. I absolutely love this lace paper! I used a spray adhesive to attach it to a Fabriano card.

The clock is from the Hero Arts Cuckoo clear set.

I stamped it twice and coloured it with Copics. Parts of the second image were then cut out and added to the first image with pop dots.

I wish that I could capture the texture better!

Thank you for looking and have a great day!

eta- the Silhouette file is called Butterfly Floral Lace Square by Samantha Walker

:-) Barbara

Tuesday Trigger : Sweet on Spring

2010-03-08T08:30:00.001-06:00

Oh my! This weeks Tuesday Trigger is just so full of fun that I almost didn't know where to start! I played around a bit with the colours and then decided to take the trigger quite literally. I was going to try to copy the whole layout but that proved to be too busy looking so I settled on just doing the top row. :-)
Here is the trigger

and here is my card

The first box is a piece of Memory Box paper with pencils from Just a Note (Hero Arts). I wanted the pencils to be a little bit shorter so I cut off the eraser and then cut out some of the pencil. When I had the length that I wanted,I glued the erasers back on.

The second box is Basic Grey paper and a tissue paper flower. Thank you Teri Anderson for the idea! I cut the tissue paper with my Nestabilities before crumpling them because I found that it gave a more uniform look.

The third box is also Basic Grey paper and the cake/stand is a Silhouette die cut. After cutting out the cake I popped it with foam tape and then covered the pieces in Stickles.

The last box is a retired Hero Arts stamp (F3833 Vertical Stripes Background) stamped on cream cardstock with Baby Blue VersaColor. The jar of cookies is a sticker by Jolee's.

To get the outside border even, I drew a box in pencil on the inside of the card and then stitched around it with my unthreaded sewing machine.

Thank you for stopping by today!

Barbara

Hero Arts toaster

2010-03-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

Good morning!
Today's card comes to you from the Hero Arts clear set What's Perking. I just love this set! The toaster is paper pieced with some Basic Grey paper and the toast is stamped on Fabriano and coloured with Copics. The sentiment is computer generated on Kraft cardstock. It's a pretty simple card. :-)

I hope to do some stamping today but it's been a crazy week so who knows. Have a great weekend!

Barbara