End of another school year

I have to admit, over the past couple of years, I haven’t given end of year gifts to my sons’ teachers. This year, I thought I’d make a few card packs to give to my youngest son’s teacher. I made two separate packages of 4 cards along with a storage folder. The card base is PTI cream CS. On top of that is Sahara Sand with the bottom edged with an SU border punch. Layered on this is the new Early Espresso CS from SU, which is my favourite brown and I know I’ll be using this over and over. I added some patterned paper from My Mind’s Eye. I used some brown satin ribbon and tied a bow with my Bow Easy and secured it with a brown button using brown embroidery floss. The stamps used are from SU’s Vintage Labels and Teeny Tiny Wishes sets. I used a 1″ and scalloped circle punch on the sentiment. The card holder comes from the Paper Cut. There are 10 holders in the package and they can each hold up to 12 A-2 size cards and envelopes. Mine only holds 4 cards and 4 envelopes because the cards have ribbon and a bow adding to their bulk. I added the same patterned paper and layering paper on them to customize them a little more since I didn’t want them to be plain white. I finished it off with 5/8″ chocolate chip ribbon. I adhered the ribbon on the back of the package so it wouldn’t shift around.

Here is the second card and holder: For this card, I used the same PTI cream CS. I layered some Baja Breeze with the same scallop border punch and on top of that is the patterned paper from My Mind’s Eye. I added some SU vanilla satin ribbon around the base of the layered paper along with some self-adhesive brown pearls in 3 different sizes. I stamped the frame and sentiment (from Vintage Labels) in Momento Rich Cocoa and punched it with a large oval punch (SU) and this was layered with another SU die cut with the Big Shot. I made the package the same way as the first one with the same patterned paper used on the card. I used some old Baja Breeze 5/8″ ribbon to use to tie the flap down.

I hope you like them! Thanks for looking.

Birthday Cupcakes

I made this card for Mercy’s Tuesday Sketch Challenge (MTSC79) . What a great sketch! I can see myself using this many times over. I decided to make a birthday card because every week or so, it seems either I need one or one of my friends or family needs one. My sister was over when I made this and as soon as I was done, she asked if she could have it! I asked her to wait at least until I took a picture of it! Turns out she didn’t need it immediately so I can hang onto it for a bit. I think I will make a bunch of these cards over the next few weeks, just to have them handy. I used PTI (white CS) for my card base. I used some retired SU DSP, layered with going grey. I stamped the cupcake topiary (Crazy for Cupcakes from SU) with Momento Tuxedo Black and coloured it with various copic markers. I added some Diamond Glaze to the cherries. The sentiment is from the same set. I added a few self-adhesive half pearls and tied pink satin ribbon (SU) under the main image. I popped up my cupcake image with SU dimensionals. Thanks for having a look today.

Little Red Wagon

I came across the Little Red Wagon blog after viewing Rosanne’s blog and decided to participate in Challenge #33 to use beads. Well, this got me thinking…I bought a whole bunch of beads to put on hat pins at Mary Maxim in Paris, Ontario one day, thinking I was going to use these ALL the time on my cards, because they looked so pretty! I don’t think I used them very much, since I can only find a couple of cards on my blog or on my SCS with them! Part of the reason is that the hat pins I bought are so flimsy! Every time I try to add the piece on the end to secure the beads and pearls or even to get it to go through the ribbon in any given spot, the pin would go all wonky. It’s virtually impossible to straighten it out again. Anyway, I had a pin half done sitting in my drawer, so I thought I would try to use the hat pin look again. It’s hard to see in the photo, but a couple of the beads are light pink and they match the patterned paper. My card uses an old sketch from Mercy (MTSC34) . I am loving the Basic Grey patterned paper I bought a little while back. I especially love the 6 x 6 packs because the pattern on the paper is perfect. I never realized that the scale of the pattern is so much larger on the 12 x 12 papers. This patterned paper is from the Green at Heart pack and it is layered on the new Pear Pizzazz SU In-colour. I love it when I can match up papers so nicely. The ribbon is from the dollar store and I made two bows with my Bow Easy. I’m telling you, if you don’t have one of these little baby’s, you need to get one! Unfortunately, I fiddled with it so much, it looks awful! Normally the bow would look much nicer than this. The sentiment comes from Verve and I used my nesties to cut it out an layer it. Thanks for having a look.

Donna

Eat, Sleep, Stamp

What a great motto! It’s too bad we have to factor work into that equation as well. Oh well. This is my first submission for the Eat, Sleep, Stamp sketch challenge (ESS88). The layout is fairly straight-forward, but sometimes that can be a challenge. If there isn’t more than one layer, I find it tricky to decide what to add to it. In this case, I started with some Papertrey Ink white CS. I used Basic Grey patterned paper from the Origins pack. I cut the patterned paper according to the layout. I added the die cut leaves from Sizzix in Wild Wasabi, which in real life matches the green in the top panel. They were adhered with two-way glue. I also added some yellow prima flowers that I have had in my stash for years. They have a rhinestone brad in the centre and I adhered them with a glue dot. My (lop-sided) sentiment comes from the retiring SU rub-on package called “Chit Chat”. I’m going to have to fix that later on since it’s bugging me.

On a separate matter, I attended the Copic Certification class held in Toronto this past Sunday. I did learn a bunch of new techniques in the class that I hope to incorporate into some of my cards in the near future. I went with two lovely ladies, Joanne and Sue. I also met up with a fastastic woman named Rosanne, who was my boss in my very first “real” job. I had bumped into her a few years ago after not seeing her for many years (she moved to a different city about an hour away) in Buffalo at a scrapbook convention. What a treat to see her again! I do hope we can stay in touch. I’ll be checking her blog regularly (www.rosannes-blog.blogspot.com).

That’s it for now! I have made a couple of cards over the past week, but I’m not sure if I’ll post them. I’ll think about it…

Donna

Let’s Celebrate

My girlfriend was gratious enough to offer to sell some of my cards for me at her workplace and I was able to get rid of quite a few and make a few dollars in the meantime. She suggested I make more birthday cards and she would sell those as well. I usually make way more cards than I will ever use, even after giving a bunch to family and friends for their own use. I figured I might as well try to recoup even a tiny percentage of what I spend on this addiction! So, here is my card for today’s SCS Sketch Challenge (SC284). I wanted to keep the card fairly simple. I decided to use my Flourishes Calendar Set, featuring the rose image. I coloured the roses yellow, which were my grandfather’s favourite colour. He had lots of roses in his backyard garden in Toronto and when we visited in the summer, I always had my nose stuck in them because they smelled so yummy! I used Papertrey Ink White CS as my base and added some Basic Grey patterned paper for my layers. I contemplated doing some stitching around the layers, but I couldn’t be bothered getting my sewing machine out and then searching for some thread! Instead, I added a few light green self-adhesive rhinestones to the corners. I stamped the rose in Momento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured it with my copics. They are actually brighter IRL. I cut the image out with an oval nestie and popped it up with dimensionals. I tied some ribbon around the card and made the bow with my Bow Easy – love that thing! I tied a light green button from Papertrey Ink with some white embroidery floss. The sentiment is from SU’s On Your Birthday set. Thanks for having a look!

On Your Birthday

Wow, two days in a row making two cards each day! Alright! Woohoo! Ok, enough of that. I was intrigued by today’s Mercy’s Tuesday Sketch Challenge (MTSC77). At first I thought I’d use a paint chip sample behind the round panel, then I thought, nah, I don’t really want to do that, so then I was on a quest to figure out what papers to use. I’m taking the Copic Certification course in Toronto this Sunday, so I thought I’d pull out some of my copics and play around a little bit. I like this asian-inspired flower stamp from Hero Arts, so thought I’d go with that for my round panel. It was also the right size, so that helped in my decision.

I pulled out the following supplies for my card:
Card Stock: Papertrey Ink. White, Black, YoYo Yellow
Patterned Paper: Basic Grey June Bug and Green at Heart
Stamps: Hero Arts, Stampin’ Up! (On Your Birthday)
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers
Accessories: SU Textured Impressions Square Lattice embossing folder, brads, dimensionals

Thanks for having a look!

Strut your Stuff

It took me a few days to figure out what I was going to do for the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge (SSSC72) this week. The sketch threw me a little bit, but after playing around with it a little bit, decided to turn it clockwise. I also incorporated today’s SCS Color Challenge (CC274) to use Tempting Turquoise, Cameo Coral and Ruby Red. I haven’t inked up the peacock from Flourishes Strut your Stuff stamp set, so figured today would be a good day for it (after checking out some amazing cards in the gallery). Here is what I came up with for my card. I started off with a Papertrey White CS. I layered some coral colored patterned paper as well as some striped paper from My Mind’s Eye. I stamped the peacock in Momento Tuxedo Black and colored it with various copic markers. I also added some iridescent blue Pearl-ex using an aquapainter filled with floor wax for some shine. I cut it out with my nesties label. I aded some retired SU ribbon and finished it off with the sentiment stamped and layered with circle punches. Thanks for having a look.

Mojo Monday

Let’s hope I have my mojo back, ladies. This is my second card today. I hadn’t made a card in weeks but it felt good getting back in my craft room. This card was made for today’s Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge (Week 142). I decided to use some of my new Basic Grey paper. I love these soft colours. My card base is Papertrey White CS and I layered a soft blue panel over that. I then added the Early Espresso punched panel on the bottom and added Certainly Celery and the patterned paper over that. I stamped the Sentiment from Verve’s Forever in our Hearts set on white cs with Momento Rich Cocoa. I layered the sentiment with the blue and added some satin brown ribbon on the side. I popped up the sentiment panel. My circle panel is stamped with SU Craft Chocolate Chip onto the soft blue. The stamp is from the Circle Circus set. I cut out the image because I didn’t feel like dragging out my circle nesties. I punched the Espresso circle with a 1 11/16th circle punch. That’s it! Thanks for having a look.

Mercy me, I’m late!

To make this card for the last Mercy’s Tuesday Sketch Challenge (MTSC76). I really wasn’t sure how I was going to go about making this card, seeing as I haven’t stamped in a few weeks. I go through these weird phases where I just feel like going in my craft room. That doesn’t stop me from buying supplies though! I placed a large order of mostly paper from Addicted to Rubber Stamps and I’m excited to receive them in a few weeks. I’m already loving the Basic Grey paper I purchased about a month ago, although I didn’t use it with this particular card. I thought I’d make a wedding card since I don’t have any in my stash, and one of my neighbours or friends ask me for one from time to time. I started with Papertrey White CS and layered the grey rose patterned paper with basic black. I tied a wide (retired SU) organdy ribbon bow around that panel and adhered an old button from my Baba. I tied the ribbon with my Bow Easy, which I bought from a friend who had an extra one (thanks Joanne!). I had struggled with bows for so long and this little baby makes them perfect every time. I used Papertrey’s Big and Bold Wishes in Onxy Black on White CS and layered it with black and grey. I added 3 self-adhesive pearls to the sentiment panel and popped the sentiment up with dimensionals. Pretty simple. Thanks for having a look.