Muse #224

Well here I am again, struggling for inspiration for a "man card'"! I need a birthday card for my Dad, and I was drawing a blank so started looking through challenge blogs for an idea. Well, thank you Tracey McNeely for this little gem on the Muse Challenge blog.

I thought a rainbow of color would the perfect fit for a birthday card, and love the look of the raised die cut sentiment. And this was pretty quick to throw together, so that was the icing on the cake! However, I am now debating whether it looked better before I reattached the raised sentiment?!Undecided.

Thanks for stopping by,
T

Muse #221

Yowza! It has been a long time since I have posted anything. I seem to be short on time for crafting lately, and have only made cards when I needed one for a family birthday, or something along those lines, and have not taken the time to take any pictures or blog any projects.

Well it is a very grey day here in Manitoba, so instead of flying, I am home working on a card. We are having a Pre+Canada Day pot luck tonight at my gliding club, and it is also a secret celebration for a club member, Glen, that has been with the WGC for 50 years! He is 85 and still flying. A truly amazing guy, and an inspiration to everyone that knows him.  I wanted to make him a thank you card for all the time he has put into volunteering at the club over the years as an instructor, treasurer, and chief grass cutter, etc. I always struggle to come with ideas for man-cards, so I started looking around on the internet for ideas and came across this thank you card on this week's Muse challenge:

Pretty manly, right? I liked that it was square and bold, with a bit of a geometric style, so started playing around with this idea. Well, long story short, after many different versions of this card, I ended up with a round window on a rectangular card! It just worked better than the square did, so all my card really has in common with the Muse is that it is a thank you in blue and white!  No problem, I'm sure I will end up using the square pieces for another project.

The funniest part is that I had this idea in the back of head to cut a glider out of white paper (since there is no such think as a stamp of a glider) but the reason I went to the internet to look for ideas is that I figured fussy cutting a glider was a bad idea that was going to take entirely too long, and would likely end up looking terrible in the end and landing in the trash can. I was just planning to do a blue sky window with some pretty cumulus clouds (the kind us glider pilots live for) and I had it all assembled, but ended up deciding it was missing something. I showed it to my stamping buddy, Sue, and asked her what it needed. She said, "A glider." Argh! So, I thought I would give it a try and see what I could come up with.

It took three tries to come up with something I was happy with, so was every bit as time consuming as I feared it would be. I even had to peel the clouds off and preposition them to make it work with the glider attached, but in the end I am happy with how it turned out, so it was worth the effort. I even dipped it in Versamark and embossed it with clear powder to make it shiny like a fibre glass glider. Not easy to see in the photo on this dreary day. Here's a different angle:

 I think the guys will be pretty floored when they see it. They don't know about my "other" hobby!

Thanks for stopping by,
T

MIM #261

Hi there,

It's been basically forever since I posted anything! I generally get too busy during the summer, and stamping falls by the wayside unless I need to quickly make something for a birthday party or wedding. Well it seems that summer is winding down, and we are having a dreary day (and too windy for flying) so why not pull out some craft supplies and look for my mojo?

I was enamoured with the card Betsy made on this week's Make it Monday challenge at PTI, and wanted to give that idea a try.

Wow, her photography is fantastic. Anyway, the challenge was to utilize floral sets in a way that is guy friendly. I always have a shortage of man cards in my stash, and this seemed like a lot more fun than my usual "go to" for guys, plaid. (Actually I did think about working some plaid in here!).

I used my Life, Meadow Greens, & Simple Sunflower sets for the foliage and flowers. I'm not sure how masculine this is? My husband did give it his approval, but he may be a bit biased! My line of thinking was that sunflowers = farming, and are not too fussy/fancy, so they make a good fit for a more masculine feel.

I found a scrap of kraft that was already embossed with a woodgrain texture, and it was just the right size to fit with the floral images, although it's a little too big and sort of defies the rule of thirds. Breaking it up a bit with twine and sentiment banners partially corrects the problem. I doubt most guys would recognize the rule of thirds had been broken anyway, right?

Thanks for stopping by,
T

Day 10: Paper Crafting Alphabet

Hi there,
This is my last post for today. I wanted to participate in the last challenge for the week of anniversary festivities at PTI. I only had a wee bit of time before heading out the door with my honey for a Valentine's date day, so I had one shot to throw something together. The challenge is to use the letters of your name to see what elements to use in your project. Given my tight schedule, I probably shouldn't have used all 5 letters, but they all sounded appealing! I used bakers' twine for T, added a polka dot border for A, used an unused set for N (actually I have used this set before, but only the poppies, this was the first time I've ever used any other stamps out of this set!), I used a gingham folder to add a dry embossed texture for I, and lastly, I used a stitched rectangle die cut for S. I wasn't exactly blown away with the results, but I didn't have time to tweak it, and it's not too shabby, so I'm rolling with it.

We then headed off to the Canadian Museum of Human Rights, and then the Great Ice Show at the Forks, followed by dinner at one of our favourite Thai spots. It's been a hectic day! Time to turn in.

Drinks at the ice bar with my Love

Thanks for stopping by,
T

Day 9: Saturday Snail Mail

Hi there,
I'm doing a second post today for yesterday's challenge at PTI. It's a thank you to the warehouse staff that do a fantastic job of getting orders shipped out efficiently, especially each month a release time when they are super busy!
Thanks for stopping by,
T

Day 8: Color Pop Fortune Teller

Hi there,
I think I'm getting more crafting done this week than I have the past year thanks to PTI's anniversary! The Day 8 challenge  is a color challenge using one of those folded paper thingies like you used to use in grade school to find out who you were going to marry/how many kids you would have/etc. Good times! I got limeade ice, blueberry sky and spring rain, so it seemed like I should make a guy-friendly birthday card. I never have enough of those in the shoe box. I was trying to squeeze in a few challenges today (last day!), so I thought I'd choose a color blocked layout with white embossing.for a quick card with some punch.
Thansk for stopping by,
T

Day 3: Grab & Craft Challenge

Hi there,
Day 3 of the PTI anniversary fun is a Grab & Craft challenge. The idea is to spend 5 minutes grabbing supplies from your craft room, and then using them all on a project.

It didn't even take me 5 minutes to grab stuff. I knew I wanted to use this striped grosgrain ribbon because I never use it, because it's generally too fat to fit on a card. I had just seen this ribbon scrumching technique last week at stamp club and was determined to try it out at home and use some of my unloved ribbon. I knew exactly the layout I would use, so it was as simple as picking some bright inks and cardstock to match the ribbon, and a stamp set to stamp a background. It's so easy to get striking results with this Friendly Flowers set, and I'm short on thank you cards, so Keep it Simple was an obvious choice for a sentiment since it would give me a variety of fonts to choose from. An ignored pack of brads that totally coordinate with these flowers was the last thing I grabbed. Hopefully I will remember to use those brads with this set again in the future.

This project was pretty quick to assemble, too. I probably spent more time fiddling around with the ribbon and brad than I did on stamping. I should probably pull out some more stamps and colors and make a few more of these babies.

Thanks for stopping by,

T

Day 2: Dress Up Inspiration

Hi there,
I made a card for Day 2 of PTI's anniversary countdown. The challenge is to create a project inspired by an item of clothing. I just happened to pick up this top on Saturday, and thought it was perfect for this task.

I started out by using the blue, yellow and brown tones to smoosh a watercolor background on a stitched rectangle, then embossed trees over top once it was dry. I was pretty happy with the simplicity of it, so decided not to add much more. Just a bit of matting for contrast, and a sentiment embossed in white on vellum.

I hate to make the same card twice, so I love a watercolor background. Even if I tried, I would never be able to replicate this one.

Thanks for stopping by,
T

Day !: DT Favorites

Hi there,
It's aniiversary time at Papertrey Ink. I decided to jump in on the Day 1 challenge and make a card using Lizzie's favorite color palette from one of last year's projects.

Thanks for stopping by,

T

Create Along With Us - Jan 2016

Hi there,
I decided to join in with the Create Along With Us challenge that coincided with release week at PTI. I loved a card that Nichole posted the first day, and thought it would be a great opportunity to use up some paper scraps. I seem to be a bit over run with scraps lately! Here's a look at her card:

Yum! Love these colors, so much. Just gorgeous though it's a very simple design. I'm short on baby cards though, so I pulled out some pastel scraps to see what I could use to make strips. I opted to a unisex card, but will probably nake a few more this week.

I had tons more scraps, so I've pulled out the bolder colors as well and layed out a few color schemes to make up a bunch more cards. Time to refill the old shoe box!

Thanks for stopping by,
T

PTI November Blog Hop

Hi there,
It's been way too long since I posted any cards! Summer is so busy with outdoor activities, but now that winter is setting in, I hope I can devote some time to stamping. When I saw the inspiration for this months blog hop at PTI, I had to dive in. I'm completely in love with this color palette.
Chartreuse with Hawaiin Shores! Plus a lot of white with silver. I also added some Limeade Ice, and a scrap of a darker turquoise, maybe from SU, that was as close as I could find to the darker blue in the challenge photo.

 

I love this ornament die, but have never tried paper piecing with it (& probably never will again! That was finicky).  I first cut the outline from white card stock & the detail die from a Luxe Silver adhesive sheet, then cut it four more times in different colors to get all the pieces needed to fill in the frame.

Once the ornament was pieced together it was pretty quick to pop it up with foam on a stitched rectangle matted with Hawaiin Shores. I added a sentiment in silver embossing, a chartreuse bow, and adhered it all to a white card base, et voila! My first Christmas card for this year is done. Now I just have to decide who to give it to!

 

I'm also going to link this baby up on the Work it Wednesday challenge on the SSS blog. They are wanting to see what everyone is sending out for Christmas this year, so get over there and show off your creativity!

Thanks for stopping by,

T

MIM #210

Hi there,

I'm posting a Mothers' Day card today for the Make it Monday challenge. This Keep it Simple: Mothers' Day set is really getting a work out lately! I just wish I had a Fathers' Day set.

The challenge is layering vellum over a patterned background to soften the look. I opted to take it one step further and use my new Sheer Basics patterned vellum, which has stripes that are a little more opaque than plain vellum. I like how the bold stripes contrast with the more busy, flowing floral pattern of the debossed background. I inked up the embossing folder with markers, and embossed the flowers on the vellum with matching Zing powders. A little banner for the greeting is secured with a button and twine.

Thanks for stopping by!
T

PTI April Blog Hop

 Welcome to Blog Hop Challenge Day at PTI! I've been on a bit of a Mothers' Day jag this week, filling up my box to sell a bunch of cards to family at a birthday dinner tomorrow. When I saw this inspiration photo on Nichole's blog, I thought it was perfect for Mothers' Day, so here I go again!

I used the navy and white stripes in my background, and the pink roses for my bouquet, keeping it fairly simple with nothing more than a white embossed sentiment to finish things off.

That's all for now. We are having a garage sale today, so hopefully I'll have some free time to do some hopping later this afternoon!

Thanks for stopping by,
T

MIM #207

 Hi there,
Last minute, I know, but I managed to squeeze in some double partial die cutting tonight when we got home from Easter dinner at my aunt's. Laura Bassen showed off this fun technique for the Make it Monday challenge. I find if I neglect to try something out as soon as I see it, it fades from memory within a few weeks, so I made it a priority to make time for this. Now, hopefully I'll remember to use this idea again another day.

I'm loving this pink/yellow and orange combo lately. Must be a spring thing? Reminds me of tulips, I guess. Too bad the colors look a bit darker in these pics, but it does pick up the dry embossing, which sometimes gets lost in a brighter photo. I wanted to highlight the heart, so I cut a second one in white and gave it some stripes with pink, yellow and orange markers.

Off to bed, though tomorrow is another holiday for me. Looking forward to seeing what PTI has in store for us in tomorrow's Make it Monday video! I'm pretty much never home on a Monday to watch it, and pull out some stamps to play with, so tomorrow is a special day.

Thanks for stopping by,
T

CC#31

 Hi there,

It's my Mom's B-Day today. Hard to believe she's 70! Scary. The good news is, her and my Dad (who is 75) were off to the gym when I called her earlier. They are making a habit of working out lately, so hopefully they will be staying healthy for a long while yet.

So, today I needed to make her a card. Why, you may ask, did I wait until the last day to make her a card? Good question! I was wishing I had started sooner. Talk about being behind the 8 ball. I had no idea where to start, but gathered a bit of inspiration from the Card Concept Challenge's cup cake theme. I vaguely recalled having a cup cake die set, and though it would pair well with this shaker kit and sprinkles. I actually ordered this kit a year ago with plans to make something fantastic for my niece's 7th and Dad's 75th birthdays, but was horribly disappointed when it was on back order, and took MONTHS to arrive, too late for either birthday. I basically chucked it aside when it arrived, and it has been collecting dust ever since. Well, it is dusty no more since I needed to come with something fab on a tight timeline. These dies really do make it quick to stick a shaker together. I spent more time picking out paper/colors than assembling this.

We'll see what my niece thinks of it, and if she'll be expecting one for her birthday. She was pretty enthralled with the infinity card I made for her brother's birthday and wanted one of those, but maybe she'll change her mind?

This shot shows the shimmer on the sentiment, and the sprinkles on the cup cake a bit better. As it turns out, my cup cake die cuts were too large to fit on this card, so I ended up just hand cutting a base and using a cloud die for the icing. Whatever works! I would like to have added a candle on top, but it seemed a little too crowded and busy already. Speaking of, I'm not sure what style this card would be. Clean and layered, I guess? It's definitely layered, but a little less "clean" than my usual style. Busy and layered?!

Time to make black forrest cheesecake! Thanks for stopping by,
T

Floral Fusion

Hi there,
Don't you just love anemones? They bloom in the most gorgeous colors. I don't have an anemone stamp set, but I figured this hostess set from SU would do the trick if I watercolored them like anemones.I wouldn't normally think of using chevron stripes vertically, but I initaially started this card following the layout from the Fusion challenge. With these large flowers, it just wasn't working, so I ended up flipping the card to landscape giving me vertical stripes instead. I thought about cutting another piece of vellum, but then decided to just roll with it. Why not?

Here is a look at the challenge graphic that kicked thisproject off:

I love how saturated the colors are. Mine aren't as deep because I used watercolor paints. I think Copics would be fabulous to capture this depth, if only I had the right shades.

Thanks for stopping by,
T

MIM #204 - "smooshing"

Hi there,

This week, the Make it Monday challenge at PTI is some thing Laura Bassen has referred to as smooshing. Basically, it's just inking up an acetate sheet, spritzing with a bit of water, then smooshing your card front right into the puddle, and peeling it back to see what is revealed. It's a bit of a craps shoot, really. You never know what your going to get!

I smooshed 4 different color combos last night, and just set them aside to dry, and had a look this morning. This one was my fave. I think it's just raspberry fizz and summer sunrise, though I used 3 colors on the others. This may have been the first one I did, and I wasn't that enthused with it, but they seem to get better as they dry. All 4 turned out pretty well, so I'm sure I'll turn the rest into cards as soon as I figure out what I want to do with them.

Hopefully this shot allows you to see the Wink of Stella added to the butterfly and sentiment die cuts? I'm more than a little addicted to that pen. The shimmer it adds is so pretty, and it's such a quick and easy way too add little something to a card. I couldn't bring myself to cover up any of this background, so I cut the butterfly from the card front, mounted it on raspberry fizz cardstock, then added the butterfly back in after jazzing it up a bit. I colored the rhinestones yellow to tie them into the color scheme.

 

Fun! I'll definitely use this technique again. I think it's a great way to inspire a project when your not sure where to start. Just smoosh a background and see where it leads you.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

T

CC #30

Hi there,
I made a Thinking of You card today inspired by the Card Concept's latest challenge.

I was drawn to the spring look of the pastel shades in the bouquet, and made a clean, layered card with a bouquet is similar colors. I also added a bit of embossing inspired by the texture of the vase.

Now, I really must get to bed because it's midnight according to the clock. Is anyone else tired of dealing with this whole daylight savings concept? The clock is not fooling me! I know what time it really is, and I'm not looking forward to struggling to get up for work for the next couple of weeks. I really wish we could just put an end to this semi-annual tom-foolery.

Thanks for stopping by,
T

MIM #203

Hi there,

Wow, this week's Make it Monday challenge was lots of fun. I was very skeptical when I watched Ashley's video, thinking there's no way this won't look like a hot mess if I try it! It did start out that way. I thought her watercolored images were so pretty, it was almost a shame to doodle on them, and I figured I may get stuck at that point. Mine weren't that pretty! So I had nothing to lose by forging ahead. I still didn't like the look when I first outlined the images, but as I added more details, they gained more dimension and started to come together. I think I'll have to try this again with some other stamps. I don't have a lot of solid images, but was thinking I could use the back of some of my floral images.

It's always difficult to capture with a camera, but I added some glitter to the butterfly wings to jazz them up a bit.


This is the sample card that Ashley made to demonstrate this awesome technique. You have until Monday morning to post a project if you want to dive in and give it a try!

Thanks for stopping by,
T

LIM 213: This makes me happy!

The theme this week at the Less is More challenge is a project inspired by something that makes you happy. Well, today I am very happy that it has stopped snowing! This was the scene out my front window a couple of hours ago:

Thank goodness that quit, and the sun came back, which got me thinking about spring! So I thought, why not do some flowers in a sunny yellow with a bit of a country feel, like what I expect to see out this window in a couple of months?

Thanks for stopping by,
T