I Love You Watts

I was so inspired by last week’s Unscripted Sketches that I made two cards. This one was for hubby; he’s been behaving himself lately so I needed to let him know. ;)

It’s hard to see but I coloured the backside of the vellum bulb bright yellow in the center of the heart and lighter yellow just outside of it. I love colouring hte back of vellum; such an awesome look. I wish it showed up more. The hearts are coloured with a Copic and then I added Glossy Accents to the top.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Watts and Watts-SSS
Ink: black Archival-Ranger 
Paper: SSS card kit, scraps white CS
Accessories: holiday shapes die-SSS, Copic R27, Glossy Accents

Roses Sympathy Card

A dear friend of mine’s mother died back in the Philippines and poor thing wasn’t able to go back in time for the funeral. She will be going just not right away. She displays my cards for months or longer so this one had to be a really good one!

The colours aren’t quite right, a bit too yellow, but I had to make sacrifices to get the white to look white. The background colour is Soft blush which is practically the same as pink pirouette, much pinker than it looks. I shamelessly CASEd Debbie Olson so I have to give credit where credit is due. This is one of the stampy-est cards I’ve very made! It was super fun though!

Lining up these stamps takes some practice but when I got these stamps I practiced until I got it right. Then I kept the best ones in the case with the stamp set and marked the points I found easiest to look at while lining up. I marked these same points in the actual stamp too. Now I look at the stamped images I saved for a few seconds and I’m ready to go!

Choosing colours is hard too. This time I got brave and used a bright red (poppy for PTI fans, real red for SU!), berry sorbet and blush. I was surprised that it was bright but not garish. I save combos I like on the back of the same practice stamped images. I also like autumn rose with blush, stamped off once for one layer.

I pretty much copied Debbie’s card by looking at the photo so you can do the same by looking at mine! Foam dot layering is the key along with not adhering the edges so you can curl them forward slightly to give a realistic look. Thanks for visiting!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: PTI
Ink: chocolate, melon berry, chartreuse, moss-PTI, pink pirouette, real red-SU! antique linen distress
Paper: ivory, blush CS-PTI
Accessories: labels 8 Nestabilities, foam dots- Jody Morrow, silk ribbon-May Arts

Watermelon Card for Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

Welcome to another Papertrey Ink Blog Hop. This month the focus was luscious, mouth-watering summer fruit colour combos. I was missing many of the colours of inks and papers used in the combos so this truly was a challenge for me!

First I had planned on using this one and omitting the new leaf which I DO NOT like. The challenge did say we didn’t have to use every colour. I planned to make a 3-D, triple-scoop ice cream cone with dies and stamp some gorgeous berry sorbet and GOLD! swirls behind. Oh yeah! But I had NO harvest gold paper. Maybe the colour is too new to be in my multi pack I bought and rely on heavily? I’m still switching over from SU! to PTI as my main source of cardstock. I have no scraps either and don’t remember using any as card bases (the only way I’d not have any scraps) so I guess that must be it. I will have to write down my idea (I guess i just did, didn’t I? hee hee) and make it later!

I usually get to the card right away, sorry! Here it is finally! The colour and inspiration photo is below. I don’t usually take a lot of inspiration from colour challenge photos but I was kind of stumped on a way to use these colours especially since I don’t have any raspberry fizz, limeade ice or new leaf ink.

I hope you enjoyed my card! Please keep in touch by subscribing by email or adding my blog to your feed reader of choice. All the options are at the top of my sidebar. Enjoy the rest of the blog hop.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Sweet Life, BB-Hearts-PTI
Ink: Ranger Archival black, PTI white, frayed burlap Distress ink
Paper: new leaf, hibiscus, raspberry-PTI
Accessories: white EP-Hero Arts, white pastel pencil, foam dots-Jody Morrow, lace, gems-stash, dies-Lifestyle crafts

Thanks Coach

My 6 yo is finishing his gymnastic lessons this week so I made a thank you card for his coach.

Pretty CAS so not much to say. I joined the new challenge called Fusion where they basically have two challenges, a sketch and an inspiration and you can use one or the other or combine them. Then the really nifty part, you can vote on your favourites! Cool right? Click on the graphic below to visit the challenge.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: PTI Thanks All Ways
Ink: Ranger Archival black
Paper: Echo Park, terracotta CS-PTI
Accessories: chocolate bakers twine-PTI, E08 Copic marker, Cork adhesive sheets-DCWV

PTI Blog Hop Pastel Smiles

Time for another PTI blop hop! This month the challenge was to pull out our favourite floral set and combine that with a colour palette featured on Nichole’s blog.

I’m afraid this isn’t my favourite floral set but my favourites don’t lend themselves to being stamped in multiple colours which is the second part of the challenge. I love larkspurs but it really works best in one colour and my other favourite is Sweet Life which could be stamped in multiple colours but I often find myself challenged to find three colours that work well to come up with one coordinated final blossom so trying to get them done in multiple colours seemed like too much work! It wasn’t until I started typing this that I thought about Life which would have been great, darn it! Oh well, this turned out really well even if it is CAS which isn’t my forte.

I personally don’t think of these colours as neutrals as referred to on Nichole’s blog, they are lovely pastels! I didn’t end up using the fine linen though. The layered die cut technique is from JJ Bolton’s blog, if I wasn’t typing this at 3;30 am I’d happily link it! She was featured at the CASE Study blog recently which is where I found the link so that might help you find it.

I hope you enjoyed my card! If you’d like to see more of my work, be sure to visit again by subscribing by email, I have to get a new RSS feed thingie since I think mine is the type that is ending soon or bookmark me! Thanks so much for dropping by and have fun visiting some more blogs on the hop!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: PTI
Paper: white CS-PTI
Ink: wisteria, lavender, moss-PTI, pirouette, eggplant-SU!
Accessories: tag die-Spellbinders, rhinestones-Dollarama, eyelet-WRMK, ribbon-Masterstroke ribbon, twine-Queen and Co, foam dots-Jody Morrow, eggplant marker-SU!

Eiffel Tower Merci Card

I made a ton of thank you cards for my sister for all her wedding showers and engagement parties. Since there were so many multiples and I haven’t posted them until now, along with lots of swaps, I didn’t post much December and January. My kids and I also made lots of cards for Newtown but they didn’t turn out blog worthy as I was hurrying. I hadn’t noticed how bad those months were until recently and I’m so sorry. Bad blogger. Here’s what I was up to!

I don’t do CAS very well but I was proud of this. I usually hate when I make CAS but not this time, yeah! I can’t remember for the life of me what DP this is, maybe Echo park? A basics pack? Sorry. I feel like I am always apologizing on this blog. Bad photos, forgetting sources, not enough posts… I would help if I got a few more comments so I had some feedback that let me know what you guys think!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE

Stamps: a.muse
Ink: archival-Ranger
Paper: black CS-SU!, white CS-PTI, silver paper-stash, DP-Echo Park?
Accessories: rhinestones-Zva, foam dots- Jody Morrow, WRMK corner chomper, circle Nesties, Cuttlebug embossing folder

Papertrey Ink December Inspiration Blog Hop–Ivory Roses

This month’s inspiration was to use white on white. A touch of colour or neutrals were permitted. I decided to go with ivory on ivory since the music paper I used as a base for my flower wasn’t was vintage and not white any more.

This was a very hard card to photograph. The top, further away and at a deeper angle to my lights turned out OK, but the bottom faded away to almost nothing. Ugh. On top of the ivory, I added a bit of yellow shading to the music rose, green to the leaves and flourishes and pink to the small roses. All flowers are handmade.

I used a Cuttlebug folder for the embossing around the card to add dimension. Then I added more dimension with the picot circle die cut, flourishes foam dotted so they aren’t just popped up but are flat at one end, one layer foam dotted one third of the way down and double layered 2/3 of the way down so the end sticks up quite nicely.

When you can’t use colour for contrast, you have to look for other ways to get dimension. This card is over 1 and a half inches thick; maybe closer to 2”. It won’t even fit into a card box to be delivered. It will require hand delivery for sure! The sentiment says “Sending our Thoughts and Prayers”.

I am also going to enter this into the Shabby Tea Room Challenge to add a new card or your favourite of 2012. I have several favourites from 2012 but why not enter a new one?

I hope you enjoy the rest of the hop. If you liked my project I hope you will visit again and subscribe, the sign up thingies are on my sidebar. Thanks!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: JustRite-Sentiment, PTI-flourishes
Ink: Scattered straw, spun sugar Distress, moss-PTI, pink pirouette-SU!
Paper: ivory CS-PTI, vintage music paper
Accessories: circle, tag die-Spellbinders, flourish dies-PTI, large rose dies-Spellbinders, mini rose dies-Cheery Lynn, pearls-Dollarama, foam dots-Jody Morrow, Hug Snug seam binding ribbon

Blue and White Snowflake Pillow Box

I signed up for emails from a new challenge, the Friday Mashup. They have a two part challenge. You can play one part or the other or combine them! I decided to go for both and combine that with making another project for my Swap-Bot challenge to use the stamp stamp multiple ways.

Sorry for not folding the box ends together. Funny, I didn’t even think about it until I had taken the photo, mailed it and realized it looks weird in the photo! Since we all know what they look like, I know you can use your imagination! Silly me! It did help it sit up there to photograph it since it was flat.

The little bottle is the same as the Vintage Parfum card, looks very different right? That was the point of that challenge, to use a stamp in lots of very different ways to get out of a rut of always using it in the same or similar ways. I thought it made a great tag. The box is great for gifts or gift cards.

It’s hard to see but the silver bow has a tiny rhinestone in the center and so does the snowflake on the bottle. Can you see the loops on the ribbon edges? It is formed from a looped cord attached to a tiny satin edge, so much classier than the old picoted ribbon I used to use in the late 80’s on country wreaths!

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Click on the photo to visit the challenge post. I’m also entering this in the Simon Says Stamp ‘Anything Goes’ Challenge.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Graphic 45 Olde Curiosity Shoppe
Ink: Versamark
Paper: white CS-SU!
Accessories: ribbon-stash, pillow box die-PTI, rhinstones-TE, cord-SU!, hole punch-Fiskars, snowflake ribbon-May Arts

Sarah’s Shower Card and Cake

My sister is getting married and yesterday was a huge shower for her. It was arranged by the family of her fiancée and they are Italian. My family is of British descent and it isn’t a heritage we really honour in any way. But the Italians have quite a few traditions and lots of fabulous food so I am having a blast joining in with all the fun!

This is the card I made for her. If you are really on the ball, you will remember that I already made her a card but since this is what I do, why not make another? Especially since he really likes birds and I found this paper with two sweet little birdies on it and an appropriate sentiment! The trim isn’t 100% perfect but it does match better IRL. I think I’m going to have to buy some matching ribbon from PTI because it’s an odd colour to match.

So back to the shower. In my circle of friends, our tradition is to have a bridal shower one afternoon or evening, have appetizers and desserts in someone’s home, usually whomever has the biggest house, and bring lots of gifts. The Italian tradition is to rent a banquet hall, have served lunch, several courses, wine, music and mostly money in cards as gifts. Wow, what a huge difference! I loved every minute! I’ll take cheesy mushroom risotto, spinach and cheese-filled, cream sauce-covered pasta, stuffed herb stuffed chicken breast over veggies and dip, pastry-covered mini sausages and brownies made from a mix any day!  And tartufo (Italian layered ice cream), fruit and a sweet table later! It just isn’t doable in my group as we don’t have the money but it was scrumptious. I don’t want to sound ungrateful for any of the showers I’ve been invited to; they are fun and lovely especially since the company is most important but it was a nice afternoon out sans men and it was great getting to know some new extended family.

One of Sarah’s fiancée's sisters is a cake maker and make this beauty for the shower. Amazing huh? The cake plate even is to die for. Another fun part of the shower was the door prize draws. I have a big voice and I was sitting with the ‘sisters’, so I was nominated to call out the winners. I ended up winning a door prize basket! No, I didn’t cheat! A nice fabric covered box with a tin of cookies, some Hershey’s Kisses, a coffee mug, bath salts, body wash, a bath pouf, a candle and a packet of hot chocolate! Awesome. Then I also won the centerpiece! Whomever was sitting in the seat with the yellow ribbon tied on it got to take it home. Every chair had a different colour and I only chose the seat I did because it was at the back so out of the way because I had the baby and the stroller. I had thought a little curling ribbon was an odd choice in decor!

My card based on November’s SFYTT. You have a couple days to try it out! I’ve actually played 11/11 so far and I am so proud. Watch me drop the ball on December’s sketch! As you can see, I rotated mine 180 until it was upside down. And then stretched it to landscape orientation. But all the elements are still there in basically the same places!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: WMS Say It Loud
Ink: Autumn Rose-PTI
Paper: Autumn Rose CS-PTI, DP-Blush MME
Accessories: lace-Fabricland, trim-stash, flower-Michaels, pearl brad-Recollections, punch-EK Success,

Case Study Warm Winter Wishes

I loved the inspiration piece they chose for the CASE Study challenge this week. Click on the photo to check it out.

I decided to use snowflakes instead of leaves. I had planned on a very simple once layer card like the one provided to CASE but my brain just couldn’t stop trying to come up with my own spin on it; a way to make it my own. So I thought of die cutting a hole and adding the sentiment to acetate using white Staz-On ink. But honestly, I HATE using white Staz-On. It is messy and hard to clean off of stamps and blocks. It has to be re-inked every time you use it and doesn’t even always give a great impression. I guess I could have carefully heat embossed it but I didn’t think of that until I am typing  right at this moment! So I left the acetate alone and just used it to support the snowflakes I inserted into the opening then stamped the sentiment on the inside of the card.

I got this all done and even photographed it then decided it needed more bling. So I added glitter to the aqua snowflakes and rhinestones to the sentiment area. Shame you really can’t see the glitter at all. It is white so it can’t be helped. I’m entering this into the Caring Hearts Card Drive. I have to hurry and get it and my other card in the mail. I’m sure they would love it if you could help out!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: SU!
Ink: hawaiian shores, aqua mist, blueberry sky-PTI, bashful blue-SU!
Paper: aqua mist CS-PTI, white-TE
Accessories: label dies-Nesties, snowflake dies-MFT, rhinestones-Kaisercraft, glitter-Stampendous

Horse Frame Gift

Another horse themed blog post. Seems to be a theme huh? And there is one more to come! The cards I made for the fundraiser.

I made this for my son’s riding teacher. She is also my friend’s daughter so it will be perfect for their home. This started out as a basic frame from IKEA. Less than $10 for sure, maybe less than $5! I wouldn’t buy it for my stash unless it was pretty cheap. I cut some clouds with a PTI die out of Eclipse tape and used them as masks. Then I airbrushed the sky and grass.

In case you didn’t know, you can totally air brush with Ciao markers. I keep a small elastic wound around my airbrush several times which holds them in place and keeps them from moving as I work, easy solution for sure. Because the Ciao marker slides in too far, I just align the amount of the marker tip that protrudes until it is the same as a Sketch marker and let the elastic snap tight.  I stamped and coloured the horses with Copics of course.

This would totally work with a thrift store frame and a fresh new mat too. I can think of so many fun ideas for images that would work with the same sky and grass. A child holding flowers or balloons, a pet, a bird in the sky with a picket fence below or a baby carriage. Or you could add glitter to the lower part for a snowy scene.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: SU!
Ink: Memento
Paper: Xpress It
Accessories: Copics and airbrush system, Eclipse tape, cloud die-PTI

Horse Thank You Card for October SFYTT

This is a very belated thank you card for my girlfriend. Her DD taught riding lessons for summer day camp this summer and my son was in her class. Because we live very close together and she was driving her daughter there anyway, she drove my son also.

This may sound like a small favour to you but it was huge to me. Huge enough that without her kindness, my son probably wouldn’t have been able to attend even though his grandma paid for the lessons. It would just be too much for me to get up and get everyone ready to go so early so many days in a row. You may not be aware but I have lupus, fibromyalgia and serious fatigue as a result. Getting everyone ready and out of the house is a major undertaking. I am so grateful to her and since she also rides, I made this horse themed thank you card for her.

My son helped with the Copic colouring in case you were thinking it isn’t as detailed or refined as my usual work. I’m teaching him the theory behind colour selection (greyer and cooler further away and in shadowed areas for instance) and shadowing (choosing a light source and the difference it makes depending on it’s shape) and colour blending. He prefers to draw in pencil and not colour but yet wants to use my Copics. Hmm…. Maybe just the novelty of something he isn’t allowed to use?

The sentiment panel is an unusual shape, I know. I used a ticket  punch on the corners then decided the panel was too wide for the space I’d left. So I trimmed the panel down and started to repunch the corners when I decided I liked the unusual shape!

For once there is plenty of time to play in this challenge! Crazy unusual for me! I ALWAYS link up at the last minute. Half the time I forget to post in time to actually enter the challenges I’ve made cards for. Seriously??? Click on the sketch to link to the post. Can you believe that I’ve played in every sketch so far this year! I can’t either! I am rarely so disciplined!

I’ve been having some serious behavioural issues, the kind that require therapy and professional diagnosis, with my 5 year old. On top of that, I’ve been having some other very frustrating things going on; it’s been a terrible couple of days. If you are reading this and have a few seconds to linger, please leave me a cheery comment or (clean) joke. I can use all the help I can get today. I rarely post anything personal unless it directly relates to why I made a certain card (as above) but I could sure use a pick-me-up today. Thanks in advance.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Horse poetry-CDS, sentiment-SU!
Ink: Memento black, Vintage Photo Distress
Paper: Archaic-Basic Grey, chocolate, vanilla CS-SU!, kraft CS-PTI
Accessories: ribbon, ticket corner punch-SU!, foam dots-Jody Morrow, Copics

Grad Hat Box

I can’t believe I forgot to post my latest video! I made it ages ago but I guess I still have a pretty hefty dose of baby/breastfeeding brain.

Here’s the link. Graduation Hat Box I wish I knew how to post the link that shows up as a thumbnail of the video with a play button in the center. If you know how to do that, pretty please leave me a comment?

These are the cards I put inside each box. I was making them for triplets plus one other kid from another family so these are just 2 of the 4 cards I made. The inside of each grad hat coordinates with the cards.

The circles and star are dies by PTI and I added a sweet doily to the girl ones. They are very simple as that is all I had time for after spending quite a lot of time making the boxes. We added gift cards to the boxes too but there was lots of room for a tiny or small gift. The cards measure 3 or 3 1/4” so they aren’t too small.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: PTI
Ink: archival black-Ranger
Paper: doily-Wilton, DP-Echo Park, CS-SU!
Accessories: PTI dies, iTop (grad hat brad), foam dots-Jody Morrow, embroidery floss, ribbon-SU!

PTI Stamp-a-Faire Challenge-Card Set

This is my entry for the Correspondence Badge, Card Set. I love the design that Melissa Phillips created; I had to substitute a lot but I think you can see her inspiration.

Here’s my set all together. I can’t believe I managed to get a decent shot of them all together!

In the close up you can see the tiny bit of shine I added from glitter in the heart within the butterfly die cut. I decided to use Scor-Tape behind the die cut instead of liquid glue to jazz up my design a bit; I love the subtle way it catches the light.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Mega Mixed Messages
Ink: Memento toffee crunch, aqua, moss-PTI
Paper: white CS-TE, kraft CS, DP-PTI
Accessories: dies-PTI, ribbon-stash

PTI June Blog Hop Challenge #2–Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining

I ended up making 2 cards for this month’s inspiration challenge! I wanted to use some yellow too but when I tried adding it to my other card (see below), it just didn’t look right. Too bright! So, I made another one!

I hope it’s not too hard to figure out why there is a silver heart cut out from the cloud. Every cloud has a silver lining right? Or does the expression go ‘every dark cloud…’. I’m not sure, anyway…

I added Glossy Accents to her little rain boots. Cute right? I used this month’s SFYTT for this card. Click on the sketch to go to that post.

I hope you have fun with the rest of the blog hop. If  you enjoyed this card, I hope you will visit again; I have subscription thingies on my sidebar.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: MFT
Ink: Memento black
Paper: All CS and DP-PTI except white CS-X-Press It and silver-unknown
Accessories: Oval Nesties, cloud and heart dies-PTI, ribbon-May Arts, Copic Markers and airbrush system, word window punch-SU!, foam dots-Jody Morrow, Glossy Accents-Ranger, Mettler sewing thread

Felt Needle Case for Waltzing Mouse Stamps Blog Party

ETA: I'm sorry the pics are so dark and yellow. I'd retake them but I already mailed it away. Believe it or not, I already lightened and colour corrected them, apparently just not enough. My apologies! I decided to think outside the box for this challenge. We are to use Felt or Cozy Fabrics as our theme. I made a needle case for a swap on Swap-Bot and it turned out perfect for this challenge!

The case is made of felt except for the front panel. You can just see the very tip of the ribbon I tied into a bow threaded through a hole in each page and tied in the back.

Here you can see the layers I used to make the case.

Onto each page I glued a different white lace. They look pretty right?

Here you can see the bow that ties it all together. You can’t see the ribbon on the front because it is under the label. I hope you enjoy the rest of the blog party! If you like my project, I hope you will visit again. I have subscription thingies on my sidebar!

RECIPE
Stamp: WMS, gingham background-PTI
Ink: Chocolate, pink pirhouette-SU!
Paper: white CS-SU!
Accessories: pink flowers-Prima, pearls, seam binding ribbon-stash, lace-WMS and stash, Nesties dies

Hostess Gift Set

I never used to bring a hostess gift when I was invited somewhere until I saw so many lovely gifts people posted on their blogs. I just wasn’t a custom when I grew up or at least not one I was aware of. I feel so grown up when I bring something with me. But now I don’t know, do I still send a thank you card when I give a hostess gift and card? Or do I save the card for after? Hmm.. if you know, please leave me a comment and fill me in!

I covered a little can with DP and added a cute little handle. You can see the card I made too and behind is custom tissue paper to wrap the gift. I put a shower gel and purse-sized hand cleaner inside. I added Scor-Tape and glitter to the mini clothes pin to hold the card on to the can. I hate using envelopes when I am hand-delivering a card. Seems so wasteful!

Here is how it looks put together! I hope she likes it!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: WMS Say It Loud
Ink: red-SU!
Paper: all SU!
Accessories: label die-Nesties, clothespin-Michaels, ribbon-SU!, tissue-Dollarama, glitter-MS

Celebrate–You Deserve It!

I managed to do the March SFYTT! Third one in a row! I can’t believe I remembered! Hubby got a promotion in Feb and it took me this long to make him a card, shame on me.

I used Graphic 45 Le Cirque paper because it is so masculine. Hubby took one look at the card and said, “It’s very guy.” Yep, definitely not girlie. The sentiment panel is much more obvious and intense looking IRL. The EP is called Medieval Metals and is a mix of gold, silver and copper. You can’t see that it is metallic in the photo. Yeah, you can probably tell that the little words on the Kraft paper were not my original intention. I wasn’t sure if the EP would be OK for the tiny lettering. I decided it would be fine but I accidentally grabbed another colour of EP. Nuts! And it did NOT look good. But I think it looks OK in the end. I inked the DP the embossing is on so the embossing would show up more.

The star is cut from DP glued to thin chipboard. Then I glittered the edges with black glitter. I figured glitter was OK because circus costumes are so sparkly. And it is black. I cut the bottom panel with a large scalloped punch because I thought it looked  like a curtain held back with cords or rope.

Click on the sketch to see visit the site. You only have a few more days to participate.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: WMS Say It Loud
Ink: Versamark, Vintage Photo Distress, chocolate-SU!
Paper: Graphic 45, black, kraft CS-SU!, chipboard-Ellen Hutson Craft-a-Board
Accessories: WRMK heart distresser, punch-EK Success, twine-Karen Foster, Medieval Metals EP-Sweet Stamps, foam dots-Jody Morrow, Sizzix star die