IO Challenge - Quick Holiday Gifts

I didn't think I'd participate in Impression Obsessions challenge "Quick Holiday Gifts', but I got it together and made a little box that can hold a gift card and maybe a couple of very special chocolates.
Please excuse the awful photo, my batteries died and I couldn't re-take the picture.

I used Impression Obsession Trees (DIE217-E) and Sentiment dies ( DIE174-W) to decorate the box. I know it doesn't look like a box in the photo, but it is a small box based on a cigarette box. I know it is rather simple, but I don't do 3D projects if I can possibly avoid them !
This was the first time I got to use my new sentiment dies and they cut beautifully!

Happy Hobbitdays!

I'm not much into Christmas, especially when we don't have snow, but I do LOVE December because it means a new Hobbit movie! YAY!!! Don't know what I'll have to look forward to next year, guess I'll just be my regular Grinchy self.
I almost forgot to do the Impression Obsession Clean and Simple Holiday Card challenge, maybe because CAS just isn't my thing, but I do hate to miss the challenge. So I used three IO dies to make this card.

I used the Reindeer ( DIE228-G ), Holiday Top Word Edgers ( DIE 232-M ) and the holly from the Twig Wreath ( DIE023-X )
I hope everyone has a wonderful December, no matter what you celebrate (even if it's just the new Hobbit movie).

Clearly Christmas

Even though my Christmas cards are finished for this year, the Curtain Call's 'Clearly Christmas' challenge graphic really stuck in my mind. I finally had to try to make a card (at the last minute) inspired by the gorgeous photo.




This photo just screamed 'bokeh' to me. So I gave it a try and got white pigment ink everywhere! That darn stuff just refused to dry even with a heat gun. I have certainly learned that it may not be the best product to use when I'm in a hurry.
I'm a bit fond of shaker cards right now, so this card is another shaker using the Spellbinder's Mix-n-Match Ornaments. I made this card differently than my others by not raising the ornaments on foam tape, but instead using fun foam in behind. It is easier, but I'm not sure that I like it as much, but I like that it was easier! I filled the shakers with a mixture of beads and microbeads.

Shaker Card with Deer

This shaker card is filled with  possessed microbeads, and I thought glitter was difficult to deal with. HA! It's nothing compared to these crazy things. I think I got too many in this card, but there was no way I was going to try taking some out! I think they have some sort of static charge that makes them chase each other. The darn things are crazy!
The background is embossed with a Provo craft snowflake folder. The trees are Impression Obsession's Evergreen Trees ( DIE217-E). The deer are IO's Small Deer (DIE117-C) and I used IO's Holiday Top Word Edgers (DIE232-M) as a matt to my shaker frame.
I had been looking forward to making this shaker card as I had it all planned out from when I first saw the Holiday Word edgers.I made up this card as soon as my new dies arrived. Imagine my dismay when I saw Kittie Caracciolo( IO's DT) posted a card (not shaker) with a very similar look. I wasn't going to post this card because of that. I actually have had a discussion with a friend about this very thing a few months ago. She said "How do you use IO dies without it somehow looking like you are CASEing Kittie?" I have no idea what the answer is. So feel free to attribute the idea to Kittie because she used trees and deer and a Holiday Top Edgers in red. I hadn't seen it before I made my card. So any ideas? Comments?

I am entering this here:
Impression Obsession Christmas Greetings Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Anything Goes
Hiding in My Craft Room Freestyle Challenge

Blue and Silver Christmas (in a box)

I had so much fun doing the forest in a box that I couldn't wait to try again! This box folds flat for mailing in an A2 envelope ( 41/4 x 51/2 ). I embossed all the blue patterned paper that I used to decorate the inside and outside panels with a snowflake embossing folder. The sentiment is from the Impression Obsession All Occasions II stamp set. I used this sentiment, not because it's my favourite and I can always find it, but because for some reason I think it's funny with the icy cold colours of the card. Really.
I was very excited to get some new IO dies. I used the 'Merry Christmas' (DIE 236-N). This is in a very fine script so I supported the whole thing with acetate. It worked out well as you really can't see the acetate behind it. Another new IO die is the beautiful 'Reindeer' ( DIE 228-G), which I decorated with the Holly die from the Twig Wreath set (DIE023-X). I also used the Evergreen Trees (DIE217-E). The sentiment is stamped on SB Labels One, and the snowflakes I found in my box of Christmas stuff and I don't know where they are from.
I plan to use a lot of IO dies in the future on my cards. I have a LOT of things on my NO BUY list, like patterned paper and Spellbinders dies (have way too many), but IO dies (and stamps) didn't land on that list, especially with that great sale they just had. A girl's gotta have some fun, right? After that sale, I did have to add background stamps to the list, but at just $5.00 for an IO b'ground stamp I topped up! Considering that they are supposed to be 'seconds', the quality is amazing! I know, because I got some last year and they are fabulous. I can't wait for my order to arrive, but with the Christmas madness approaching, I'll be surprised if I get it before the new year!
(oops! I don't mean that IO won't mail it quickly, I'm talking about Customs and Canada Post!)
I'm entering this card here:
http://mitrafriant.typepad.com/impression_obsession_news/2014/11/new-challenge-christmas-greetings.html
Hiding in My Craft Room Freestyle Challenge

Forest in a Box

This is one of those box cards that folds flat and when open a everything pops up. This one folds flat to 4 1/4  x 5 1/2. I made the base from kraft cardstock and filled it full of Impression Obsession goodies. I don't have a sentiment on the front panel yet as I haven't decided where it's going, but I have a couple of layered  of SB dies waiting to be stamped.

I used the following IO dies:
Birch Trees and Cardinal DIE079-U
Small Deer DIE117-C
Evergreen trees DIE217-E
Small Bow DIE057-AA  ( I put these on the side panels, so you can't really see them in the photo)

I'm entering this here:
Impression Obsession Christmas Greetings Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, Anything Goes
Hiding in My Craft Room Freestyle Challenge

Sparkle and Shine

Another card with my preferred design, but this time using the gorgeous 'Merry Christmas' die from Impression Obsession.

 I used a rectangle of Be Creative tape behind the negative diecut, and then I covered the back with a piece of cardstock so the underside of the front panel wouldn't be sticky. I then used the paper I peeled off the tape to die cut the die again. This gave me perfectly fitting pieces to mask off the areas that I wanted to use white glitter in. The coated Be Creative paper is easy to remove from the tape and did a good job of keeping the gold and white glitters separated. i raised the front panel with foam tape and covered a bunch of punched stars glitter and stuck them on.
This is so super sparkly in person, and it completely satisfies my inner Magpie.

I am entering this here:
Impression Obsession Christmas Greetings Challenge


( To Katie B. Please start a blog Katie, I would love to be able to comment on your wonderful work !! Thanks for all your sweet comments. They are always much appreciated! )

Ooooh Shiny : part two

I seem to be stuck on a particularly simple card design for Christmas cards this year. I'm really digging into my metallic cardstock stash and glitter. Well, I do love me some shiny!
These cards are based on the same design as before, but this time I was lucky enough to have my friend come over and bring her wonderful Impression Obsession die, "Merry Tree".

I used Be Creative tape in the negative space and rubbed the glitter into it. It stays stuck!
I'm entering these cards here:
Impression Obsession Christmas Greetings Challenge

Here's proof that you can't believe everything you hear on the news. According to our National broadcaster, the Maritimes were blasted by a nor'easter, and buried under snow yesterday. Here's what was actually going on !

That's my Mom raking leaves!  What's going on today? Yup, more leaf raking!
For some reason I have yet to discover, the Ontario based so called "National" news channels lump all the Maritime provinces together. My relatives out west see this drivel, and don't believe us when we tell them that we don't have snow. I still had flowers and vegetables alive outside yesterday.
Parts of New Brunswick got blasted with snow, but this is a different province! A lot of years we don't even have snow for Christmas! So don't feel sorry for me, I haven't shovelled anything yet! ( Bit of a fib there, I have shovelled dog poop.)

Ornament Shaker Cards

My ever-so-generous sister gave me a cute Spellbinders Ornament set called Mix-n-Match Ornaments. I thought it would be fun to make shaker cards with them. Okay, so 'fun' might be the wrong word. Cutting foam tape to fit the back of the ornaments was not fun and neither was discovering that Microbeads are living entities that don't want to go where you want them to go. They have their own plan!

I mixed the demon possessed microbeads (the ones I could catch) with a few larger beads that were much more cooperative.
The first card I made, I didn't think it through very well. I ended up holding the card front over my head while trying to stick the bead filled ornament in the right place. D'oh !!
So, I realized that if I diecut two circles where I wanted the ornaments on the card front, I could attach the ornament then fill it from the back and just glue another piece of paper in behind. So much easier! The mircobeads still acted like psychotic life forms however. I don't know how to make them behave!!
The gold embossed sentiment is from a JustRite stamp set. The gold mirror cardstock I bought at Dollarama years ago, and I'm sorry I didn't buy more. It's so awesome for Christmas cards.

I'm entering this card here:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes

Christmas Vase

I recently got some more Impression Obsession dies and one of them was an adorable Mason jar. I was eager to try it out, but I was trying to stay focused on Xmas cards, so the mess I was making wouldn't be too out of control.

So I decided to use a bunch of my IO dies to make the Mason jar a Xmas vase. I made a card base from a heavyweight red cardstock and cut another piece for a matt. I edged some patterned papers with TH Pumice Stone DI. I cut the jar out of watercolour paper, which I painted with Peerless watercolours. I used the IO Small Bow and cut it a couple of times to layer it up. I cut some greenery with IO Pine Branch and made my own Holly branch by wrapping Florist Tape around a wire and gluing on holly leaves and berries cut from the IO Twig Wreath set. I made my "pointsettias" from the IO Layered Flower die set. I put gold Liquid Pearls in the centres of my flowers. The sentiment is one I use a lot, from the IO All Occasion II set.
This card is quite different compared to all the other Christmas cards I'm making this year, but I always seem to do one tall and skinny card every year.
P.S.
If you like IO products, check out their annual sale on NOW !!

I'm entering this in the IO Christmas Greetings Challenge.
and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge

Snowhere To Be Seen !

My friend posted some photos on her blog of her dogs in the snow. The pictures were taken just a couple of days ago. I was shocked by the amount of snow that was in those photos. This is one of her photographs.


Here is a photo of my dog taken today.

We live 30 minutes apart !!! Seriously!
I took my dog to agility practice on Sunday which is right by my friend's house. For the first half of the drive there wasn't a speck of snow to be seen, the second half was a Winter Wonderland. Blue sky, sun shining and snow everywhere! GORGEOUS !! Some would say I should be thankful that we get so little snow, so that seems like a good segue to my card for Impression Obsession's latest challenge, "Thanksgiving Wishes". (Although, for us Canadians, Thanksgiving has long since passed)

My friend ( with the dogs) asked me if I still use my Slice. I am so glad she reminded me about it because I don't have any Thanksgiving type stamps or dies. I don't do Thanksgiving cards, but I had a piece of BoBunny paper that looked like it would do as a b'ground, and I just got these most wonderful IO leaf dies ( DIE095-D ) I cut them out of a patterned paper and added colour with TH Distress inks and some shine with TA Glitter Glam. The sentiment was cut with my Slice. I added a punched border to the lower edge and have burlap showing out the top edge. A few sequins, and I was done!

I have to apologize to all my favourite bloggers as I have been unable to keep up with their beautiful work. It has either been raining, just finished raining, or about to start raining this entire month so far. I have weather related migraines and have only had two days that I didn't feel miserable. I haven't even been able to play with all my new IO dies. :(  Not that it has stopped me from wanting more! I hope IO extends their sale to us online (and loyal) customers. My wish list never gets smaller!

Ooooo!! Shiny!

I am not a very prolific card maker. That is a statement of fact. But, I kind of got obsessed with a new die and lost my mind!! I made ten cards so far with this die and I'm not done yet. I don't usually do the same card twice, but all these cards are the same design but done two different ways and they are all SHINY !
I used the incredibly awesome Pile of Gifts die from Simon Says Stamp Stamptember release. I put Be Creative tape on a piece of card stock and stuck it on behind the negative cut out. For some cards I diecut the gift pile out of metallic papers and pieced it all back in. For others, I cut the gift pile out of the paper backing from the Be Creative tape, and pieced it back in. This allowed me to remove individual pieces and fill the areas in with different glitters. I found that a 5mm ball stylus was very good for pushing the glitter into the tape. I attached stripes of metallic paper down the sides of each card and then mounted the diecut panel with foam tape. All the stamped sentiments are from the first two JustRite stamp sets I ever bought. (You know you like a stamp when, years later, it's still your go to.) The sets are Christmas Nested Sentiments and Christmas Nested Frames and Occasions. I also used the Christmas Nested Sentiments on the inside of my cards and a sentiment from a newer JustRite set, Christmas Labels Twenty. On some of the cards I used the Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder by Ranger, and it is just so beautiful!
I have lots of photos. I am really crazy about these cards!

I am linking to :
 JustRite Christmas Linky Party: http://justritestampers.typepad.com/justrite-inspiration/2014/10/christmas-linky-party.html
Simon Says Stamp "Show Us What You Made" : http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/blog/show-us-what-you-made/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FzvpCX+%28Simon+Says+Stamp+Blog%21%29
Hiding In My Craft Room, Any Holiday : http://www.hidinginmycraftroom.com/2014/10/himcr-171-any-holiday.html
Allsorts Challenge Christmas: http://allsortschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/week-282-christmas.html

Rustic Christmas Card

My super awesome sister just sent me three gorgeous new Spellbinder 5x7 card creator dies, which is great, bringing up the grand total of my 5x7 dies to <drumroll> four. Now don't get me wrong, I have more Spellbinders dies than I know what to do with. All different types of them, borders and labels and A2 card creator ones, but I only had one for 5x7 cards, and I know why. I'm afraid of 5x7 cards. Mind you it's not the mind numbing terror that I feel when I see a doll. ( The ads for the Annabelle movie send me flying out of the room!!) It's more that quiet desperation you felt when sent to the chalkboard to do some stupid problem involving a train going who knows where at a mysterious rate of speed, and you don't know why you want to know, let alone how to figure it out.

Anyway, I didn't start this card by making a big scary 5x7 card base whose empty expanse would intimidate the heck out of me. I started instead with a lovely JustRite b'ground stamp, to which I added pieces I cut from the Spellbinders 5x7 Reflective Moments die. The image was coloured with Copics and I stamped and cut extra Holly leaves to add another layer and to cover with Glossy Accents. I used Liquid Pearls for the Mistletoe berries. I cut out the centre of the stamped image and then I stamped the centre part of the stamp ( the lacy looking oval) on acetate with Stazon. I wanted the sentiment on the inside of the card to be visible. The sentiment is from JustRite's Christmas Labels Twenty. When I was done putting most of the elements together, they would only fit on a 5x7 card. This was a much better way for me to tackle a larger card. Now, if only I could find a way to deal with my fear of dolls!
I'm linking this to
  JustRite's Christmas Linky Party
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Get Krafty
Allsorts Challenge #282 Christmas

Birdhouse in Blue

A few weeks ago I picked up my first Heartfelt Creations stamp set on sale at a local store. I had always avoided HC stamps, not because I didn't like them, but because I did ! There are so many wonderful companies that make beautiful stamps, and I have learned that it is best for me to have tunnel vision and restrict myself to only a very limited number of companies. I had recently added SSS stamps to my short list and didn't plan to add any more. HA! I've heard it said that the road to Hell is built on good intentions, and I'm in the process of building a super highway! You wouldn't believe how fast I went from no HC stamps to the entire Sunflower collection and it's the Garden Romance ones that sucked me in. I love birds so how could I resist the sweet birdhouse with flowers? It is so much fun to paint, and I used it to make my favourite card ever, but I can't share it yet. I don't want the person I'm sending it to, to see it now.
I made a card very similar to this one already, and I'm probably going to make a whole lot more. I get obsessed sometimes and right now it's all about this stamp and the SSS die I'm making Christmas cards with. I go from one to the other depending on my mood.

I kept this card pretty simple for mailing, I love making flowers to add to this image, but I have others done like that. I stamped the image with Pumice Stone Distress ink and painted it with Peerless paints. I also added Wink of Stella in clear to the flowers which only shows in person. The frame is made with Spellbinders Devine Eloquence.

Simon Says Stamp has a Watercolour challenge here: http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/simon-says-use-watercolors/

Ghoulish Greetings at IO

I didn't think I'd be able to enter IO's  Ghoulish Greetings Challenge. Impression Obsession has THE VERY BEST Halloween dies. Seriously, the very best! But, even though I love Halloween, I don't have any reason to do more than one card so I can't justify buying all the great Halloween dies that I would so love to have. If I do a card, I use Halloween papers to make it. So I thought I'd be sitting this one out,  but Carmen to the rescue! She sent me some of the most adorable little ghosts cut from IO's die (DIE121-E ). I used those little darlings, some cute paper, ribbons, IO's fence die (DIE934-U) and the really useful IO Bare Branch die ( DIE022-U) to make a tag. I don't make tags, so this was fun and different.

The Impression Obsession DT does the most wonderful Halloween cards, and if you love Halloween, you have to go see them!!

                                                                                                                                                                    

A Bit of my Crafty Space

The Winnie and Walter blog asked for people to take a "craftie" of their space. Here's a little piece of my work space. Not going to show my whole desk! Too scary !!

I keep a lot of my dies on my giant pegboard next to my desk. I like to be able to see them. This board is 8 x8 feet, almost floor to ceiling. I love that it is so big, because I can hang just about anything on it, so I don't forget what I have! ;)

WCMD : Pattern Play with Shay

Okay, three challenges in a row, done on the same day. Who am I ??!!
Another challenge on the Winnie and Walter blog is "Pattern Play with Shay". The challenge is to use anything to create a pattern on your card. I am in love with the beautiful pattern of the Spellbinders Filigree Delight die.

I used what may be my favourite stamp right now. It's called 'Bird Haven' by Heartfelt Creations, and I stamped it with Distress Ink and painted it with Peerless Watercolours. I fussy cut a couple of the flowers and put them on foam tape. This card makes me happy! I love using watercolours and I am very fond of fussy dies!

WCMD : Unexpected Stamping

I can't believe that I found another challenge on the Winnie and Walter Blog that I just couldn't resist trying. I had this big plan to avoid challenges and just do my own thing. That didn't work out too well, I seem to need a challenge to get inspired. This challenge called for unexpected stamping, basically to use stamps differently. I thought the concept was really interesting and although I'm not thrilled with my card, it is a concept worth further exploration.

I die cut a scalloped triangle out of white card stock and embossed it with a snowflake folder. I repeatedly stamped "Merry & Bright" on the card base. I cut a frame out of green mirror card to mat the top layer and used foam tape to raise the front up. I added a trunk and a star to my tree to finish the card.
The 'unexpected stamping' aspect is that the tree is filled with word stamps.
You can find the challenge here:
http://www.blog.winniewalter.com/2014/10/wcmd-2014-unexpected-stamping-with-kelly.html

WCMD Colour Challenge

I saw an intriguing colour combination challenge on the Winnie and Walter blog for World Card Making day.
http://www.blog.winniewalter.com/2014/10/wcmd-2014-colour-combo-with-gayatri.html

These aren't  colours I would usually use together, and I really like challenges like that. Peach is not a colour that I am fond of, so for some strange reason, I can't resist a challenge with that colour. I think I'm trying to learn to like it ! :)

I used one of the flower stamps and a sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp Summer Garden set, and the matching die. I think this might be a CAS card. (Oh Horrors! Nooooo!!)  I've been taking my nasty migraine medication the past two days, and I have no control over my brain and never know what kind of card will come out of the chaos! So I hope real CAS card makers (like the other Shona, who is awesome at CAS) will forgive me for making a hash out of their style.
One amazing thing happened during the making of this card. I used Liquid Pearls and (you should sit down for this), I didn't stick my fingers in them or set anything on top of them !!! I can't believe it, it's pretty much a miracle !

Unity Be Inspired Challenge

I really meant to do a card ages ago for the Unity Be Inspired challenge this month. I haven't been very much into card making lately and I forgot all about it. D'Oh ! The inspiration picture is gorgeous and I knew I had to try something for this challenge. Better late than never, right !


I was just saying today that I bought all these Dylusions Sprays and I never use them. ( I remember why, now!) Good Grief, what an awful mess I made!
I did use something I do love, the OUTSTANDING Unity SMAK kit from April 2014.  I also used a sentiment from the March 2014 KOTM. I still have so many images to use from both these sets. I love the kits!

I used copper embossing powder for the stamped image on the outside and the sentiment on the inside of my card. I used Rubber Cement to mask off my leaves so all the spray wouldn't get on them and then I used Dylusions yellow with a paint brush to colour them. I wish I had done this earlier as the light is dreadful here at night. ( Yes, Carmen, a lightbox is a great idea). The ribbon and the matting on the card are more of a red purple than they look. They match my hands perfectly. Told you I made a mess! Something else that doesn't show up so well is the fact that the whole front is covered in Shimmer Spritz. Can't get enough of that stuff!

Square Cards - IO challenge

A quick card for the IO challenge to make a square card. I used Impression Obsessions C-A-C Woodgrain  and IO's Sunflower Barn (H1157). This card measures 4 3/4" square.

Beautiful Stamped Background?

So I have another card for Impression Obsession's Beautiful Stamped Background challenge, and I'm not so sure that 'beautiful' is the right word for it. I'm thinking 'interesting' might be more appropriate!

I was looking through my IO Cover A card stamps and although I have some that are certainly more beautiful, the Splatter stamp (CAC059) kept drawing my attention. Looking at it, I thought it might be fun to stamp it using water. So I took a piece of watercolor paper and with a TH applicator, I applied two colours of Distress Ink, Stormy Sky and Bundled Sage. I then sprayed my background stamp with water and lay the paper on top and used a brayer to press it onto the stamp. I then quickly heat dried it so it didn't run. I then took my two inks and applied them to the stamp and pressed the paper down again. I LOVE the way it turned out! It has a lot of depth to it and kind of makes me think of granite.
I decided not to cover it very much, so I just used the Garden Umbel stencil from Memory Box with Molding Paste and a sentiment from the IO All Occasion II stamp set ( CL307).
I cut my card base to be narrower on the front so I could add a MS border punched piece to one side which shows the striped paper I lined the inside with.

I just discovered that Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday challenge is to 'Make Your Own Background'. Here's the link: http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/simon-says-make-your-own-background/
AND Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge is " Rock the Techniques". I laughed when I saw that, since I thought my water stamping looked like granite rock.
http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/?p=1893

Autumn Wreath

So I've been sick for about a month now, and haven't felt like doing much of anything. I did manage to do a complete re-install of Windows in my laptop. Talk about a pain in the behind ! At least now, I can finally leave comments again on all my favorite blogs. YAY!! I did manage to cut a supply of little diecuts from my scraps. Tedious to the nth degree, but good to have a stockpile.

 I cut a bunch of Fall coloured leaves from two dies from two different Impression Obsession sets, DIE022-U and DIE023-X. I glued them to the Impression Obsession Bare Wreath (yeah, I know I use it a lot), and glued that to a background made using IO's Woodgrain C-A-C (CC034). I stamped the woodgrain with Versamark on Kraft card stock and embossed it with clear powder, then I applied TH Vintage Photo Distress ink with a blending tool. It's amazing how much it looks like wood panelling! I added a jute cord and mounted the front on a red card base. This is a very simple card that actually took ages to do because of all the little leaves, which is why I like to cut these things ahead of time!

I'm entering this in Impression Obsessions 'Beautiful Stamped Backgrounds' challenge and also in Hiding in my Craftroom's Think Fall challenge

Watercoloured Chipmunk

I haven't been inspired to make cards lately, but I came across a new to me challenge blog called Hiding in my Craftroom. Their challenge is to "Think Fall". Seeing that reminded me of a sweet stamp a very dear friend gave to me that I have been meaning to use. Although I don't believe my friend shares my love of chipmunks and red squirrels, she knew that this stamp was perfect for me. So tonight I inked it up with TH Walnut Stain distress ink and painted it with a water-brush and distress inks. The stamp is a Giordano studio stamp. I've never seen this brand before and I wonder if all their stamps are this cute?

I cut the panel out with Spellbinders Labels 35 and edged it with a Krylon Copper pen. The background is stamped with Justrite's Autumn Swirls and heat embossed with copper embossing powder. the ribbon is from Webster's Pages. The copper embossed b'ground is beautiful IRL. That was another stamp I was eager to try and I LOVE it! Both these stamps are so perfect for Fall.

Here's the Hiding In My Craftroom Challenge : http://www.hidinginmycraftroom.com/2014/09/himcr-164-think-fall.html
Thanks for looking !

Watercolor and Ink

I saw a card somewhere that had stamping with white ink over a watercolored background. I didn't really stop to examine it in detail, it didn't interest me at the time. I took another stab at cleaning my desk, and found a watercolored background that I hadn't done anything with, and a butterfly stencil that had never gotten out of its package. That card I saw popped into my head, and I decided to try the technique with the butterfly stencil. I wish I had taken note of the card and blog I had seen it on, as maybe it would have turned out better if I knew what I was doing! I know the original didn't have butterflies, and I think it had sequins, but I think sequins always look like crap when I try to use them, so I cut vellum butterflies from an IO die (DIE046-A). I randomly scattered them around and put some Stardust Stickles on them for bodies. The sentiment is from the IO All Occasion II set (CL307), which I heat embossed with Liquid Platinum embossing powder.

After I go and try to wash the hot pepper out of my eye again, I'll see if I can find the original card, although it seems to me that it was based on someone else's card. If anyone knows where this idea came from, please let me know so I can credit them.
I think it's a good sentiment for a friend, so I'm entering it in the Impression Obsession challenge: The Gift of Friendship
http://mitrafriant.typepad.com/impression_obsession_news/2014/08/impression-obsession-challenge-.html

Floral Heart

I love the Floral Heart die( DIE054-S) from Impression Obsession. I haven't used it for a while, so I thought I'd dig it out to make a CAS card for the IO challenge.

I cut the card base and the front panel with the die. I put vellum behind the front panel so I could put the die cut piece  back in after colouring it with TH Distress Inks. I sprayed it with Glimmer Spritz, gotta have me some shiny! :) I used the IO All Occasion set (CL307) for the sentiment. I heat embossed that with Liquid Platinum embossing powder. It was my first time using it, and it is really beautiful.
The Impression Obsession challenge can be found here : http://mitrafriant.typepad.com/impression_obsession_news/2014/08/impression-obsession-challenge-clean-simple.html
I am also entering Simon Says Stamps Monday Challenge : Anything Goes
http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/?p=1837

OCC Bonus Day

One of the featured cards on OCC's Bonus Day in Stretch Your Stamps 2, showed mirror stamping. I thought it might be fun to try with an elephant from an old Hero Arts set that has never seen ink! I'm not big into cutesy stamps, but my Niece loves elephants, so since that stamp set has lots of elephants and the stamps are very simple line drawings, I thought it might work well for this technique. VersaFine ink was recommended for this, so that's what I used and it worked!

The elephant on the right is from the original stamp, and the one on the left is the mirror image. The mirror image did stamp lighter, so I went over it with a fine marker in the same colour. So glad it was a simple stamp! ;) My only balloon stamp was a solid image and after stamping the balloons, I decided they also needed to look more like coloured in line drawings. I don't think I did the best job, but I do like it better. So, after making the card, including Diamond Glaze on the balloons and elephants, I made the bad decision to add a sentiment. BIG MISTAKE ! I put it on an angle. *sigh* Lucky for me, my Niece is only six and may not be too critical.

OCC Day 1, Background Stamps

The first day of Stretch Your Stamps 2 was about background stamps. I lurve me some b'ground stamps. I used one of my Impression Obsession's Cover-A-Card stamps. I think their C-A-C stamps are wonderful, and I wish I could own them ALL! Okay, that's just crazy, I could never use that many, but they have the most amazing variety.

This card was inspired by one Kristina Werner did, not that it looks anything like her's, but the b'ground is stamped on watercolor paper and painted. I used my Peerless watercolour paints. I started with two values of a true blue, moved to two values of a turquoise blue and finished with green. The design is heat embossed in silver. I used two circle dies to cut my coloured piece and also cut a hole in my card front. I stamped and heat embossed a Simon Says Stamp stamp on 40lb vellum for the centre. I die cut the SSS 'you' from the leftover circle piece. It had looked really bare ( remember, I am not a big fan of 'white space' or CAS cards), so I cut a strip from the rest of the leftovers and added it to the bottom after I edged the bottom of the card front with a strip of silver embossing. I used Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock for the base. Where had this been all my life? I can't find it here, so I order it from SSS, and it is SO worth it!

I think I should send this to the member of my dog club who hosted the most amazing barbecue and get- together for us today at her gorgeous hobby farm. The food was wonderful and the desserts were divine! I'm worried that I may have just put the twenty pounds I lost, right back on in one sitting!The scenery at her place,over looking the river, is stunning, and we had two bald eagles putting on quite the aerial display over the adjoining field. My dog got to play with some of her friends, so she had a great day too!

OCC Day 3 Alphabet Stamps

I was feeling a little burnt out, or bored lately so I thought that maybe another Online Card Class would inspire me. The class is Stretch Your Stamps 2 and the purpose is to expand the way you use various types of stamps. Day 3 was about using alphabet stamps.
I thought it would be nice to use some stamps other than my JustRite collection for a change. So for the first card I made inspired by OCC, I used JustRite stamps! LOL! I am a creature of habit!

I used my JR Alphabet stamps to make a white heat embossed background. Those stamps weren't seeing the light enough, and it's such a fun font. The ice-cream cone is also part of a JR stamp set called The Scoop Vintage Labels Four. I used Spectrum Noir pencils to colour it, and then I covered the ice-cream part with a slightly diluted coat of Diamond Glaze to secure the tiny beads. After a short argument with myself, I managed to use a Unity stamp for the sentiment. I used black card stock from Simon Says Stamp. I just got a package in the mail and I love it. It's smooth for stamping and has lovely weight to it. I may have to acquire a few more colours ! I used a shiny textured pink paper down the sides since the pink ice-cream was shiny as well. I've had that paper for at least five years and never used it before! Time to use up some of my paper stash! (Which is going to take forever, considering the size of the pieces that I use!)

JustRite Don't Be So Negative Challenge #126

One would think that after doing something over and over again without the desired result, one would be intelligent enough to give up. Apparently I'm not that smart! I can't seem to resist doing shiny cards for challenges, you know, the ones you just can't get a decent photograph of.
I got the beautiful JR Rose Garden b'ground stamp and finally got around to inking it up. I must be in a strange mood because I inked it up with Versamark and stamped it on black! I covered it with clear embossing powder which made all the black nice and shiny (my favourite word). I used Twinkling H2Os to paint in the flowers and leaves (more shiny). I used an Anna Griffin embossing folder on the front of the card base and sprayed it with Shimmer Spritz, yep, more shiny. I cut "with Sympathy" using a die from Simon Says Stamp. I realized that I have gone completely bonkers when I was crawling around on the floor looking for a minuscule piece of the die cut paper to put back in the letter "t". I discovered that a black Glaze pen could fix the problem. This after I had re-cut the die twice and lost the same piece two more times. *sigh* It's way easier to use the cut piece rather than the negative space when you're dealing with something so detailed. I finally finished the card with a die cut butterfly and a velvet ribbon.

I won't tell you how many pictures I took trying to get one to show all the shine. The Twinks also change colour depending on the angle, in this photo they look more blue, but they are really more pink!

The JustRite challenge is found here: http://justritestampers.typepad.com/justrite-inspiration/2014/07/justrite-friday-challenge-126-dont-be-so-negative.html

Just One of Those Days!

I have dog fur in my glue. I also have it in my inks, my paint, often in my tea and usually all over my clothes. Since I have a primarily white dog, it's best that I don't wear black... oh, and black makes me look like a vampire, but that's a different story.
So living with dog fur has never bothered me, it's a small price to pay for a huge return, until the other day. Now, I only have one dog and my mother's extremely hairy little dog likes to visit me a lot, but I had been looking after a friend's two dogs for two weeks and my parent's two (hairy) dogs for a few days as well. Are you keeping count? That's five. Five fur making machines! Everything was going great, I LOVE having lots of dogs, and my dog is a party girl, so she was having a blast! One day last week they were all partied out, and everyone was napping. I thought it was a great opportunity to make the card I had in mind for the JustRite Don't Be Negative Challenge without having five little helpers. I gathered together some gorgeous Xmas papers, my SB Poinsettia dies and my JR Festive Poinsettia stamp set. I carefully cut my precious, carefully hoarded, Anna Griffin paper with the dies, and planned to stamp in behind the negative space with my JR stamps. I opened the package and the smallest one was MISSING !! I didn't panic at first, I had used that set recently and figured it must still be somewhere on my desk, okay, so maybe it was still stuck to a block... maybe it fell in the top drawer, the middle drawer, the bottom drawer. I looked in a box with dies, one with embossing folders, looked under, over and around my computer. I crawled all around the floor under my desk, which was unusually clean.
Oh God ! NOOOO!!! THE FLOOR IS CLEAN!  PANIC! I had vacuumed not once, but twice since I had used that tiny one inch clear stamp.
I swore that there was no way I was going to go through the Central Vac canister, I didn't know when it was emptied last. But, I NEEDED that stamp, and it would take too long to get another set, so I asked my husband for help.
There was enough dog fur in that canister to make Cruella deVil orgasmic. It had the opposite effect on us! We took it out on the back deck and started going through it, handful by handful. Dust and fur flying everywhere. Then the phone rings. It's my friends, they are back a day early and are on their way to pick up their dogs. I had to leave my poor husband to go through the mess on his own while I rounded up the dog's stuff.
He never found that stamp, but I did. It was in the drawer where I keep my inks, still attached to a small acrylic block that fitted itself just perfectly between the stacked Distress Ink.
I never did make that card. I thought it best that that stamp stay lost for a while. There are some things that you should keep from your partner, you know, for their own good.

Okay, so here's what happened instead ! I still used the same basic idea, but only used the largest die and matching stamp. The sentiment is from the same Festive Poinsettia JR set. The paper is by Authentique. I cut and stamped on the same paper as the front panel, but coloured it green with Peeled paint Distress ink for the leaves. I used the back side of the paper (which was already red) for the flower.

I outlined the die cut negative spaces with a gold Krylon pen and the front panel is raised up with foam tape.
I'm so glad I found my missing stamp, this has got to be my favourite Xmas stamp set ever! I do think the original card would have been better, but I'll save that for another time. ;-D
The JustRite challenge is found here: http://justritestampers.typepad.com/justrite-inspiration/2014/07/justrite-friday-challenge-126-dont-be-so-negative.html

IO Nautical Challenge

I can't believe I almost missed this challenge. It's because of the nautical stamps that I fell in love with Impression Obsession. Seeing that I was running out of time, I thought I better keep it simple and then I went crazy with the IO Shells C-A-C background stamp (CC122). I used VersaMark and Ranger's Pale Gold Embossing Pearl first on white card stock. I then used a few Distress inks to rub over it, and then I sprayed Shimmer Spritz on it. When it dryed I covered it in Vesamark again, and heat embossed it with Utee. There is no way I can capture the depth of shimmer and shine on this paper. IRL it is AMAZING ! I cut a double frame with Spellbinders Labels Thirty-Five. I used a sparkly card stock and a shimmery card stock from DCWV. I used IO's Seashell dies (DIE077-W) to cut out the shells from the sparkly cardstock. The whole thing is mounted on a five inch Neenah 110lb top-folded card base.

Here's the challenge : http://mitrafriant.typepad.com/impression_obsession_news/2014/07/new-impression-obsession-challenge-nauticalbeach.html

Christmas in Non-Traditional Colours

The JustRite challenge is to do a card using non-traditional colours. After much consultation with my sister last week I decided on aqua, white and silver. I wear aqua and white a lot in the summer, so I don't associate that with Christmas.

I used the gorgeous JR Festive Poinsettia stamps with the matching SB dies, and a very old JR set called Christmas nested Sentiments.
You can find the JustRite challenge here: http://justritestampers.typepad.com/justrite-inspiration/2014/07/justrite-friday-challenge-125-non-traditional-christmas.html

Colours of Summer

The Impression Obsession challenge is "Colours of Summer". I still have the gorgeous Hollyhock die by Impression Obsession that my friend, Carmen ( Papercraft Goddess) loaned to me. I love, love, love this die, and it always is out of stock whenever I go to place an order. I think I love it because although it is a Hollyhock die, it makes me think of Glads. I am crazy about Glads, and planted a lot of them and can't wait until they bloom. This card is very simple with a background embossed  with a Cuttlebug folder, and a lot of die cuts, which I painted with Peerless watercolours. I punched two holes in the top piece and threaded a ribbon through. I mounted the top on a card base made with Neenah Solar white #110lb card stock.

Thanks for looking!

Black, White and Pink All Over

Most card makers seem to love sketches judging from the number of sketch challenge blogs out there. I prefer to avoid those. Luckily JustRite only posts the occasional Sketch challenge, they like to mix it up with other types, which works for me! I am not one of those people who can look at a sketch and put together something brilliant, or in my case, even something mediocre. It has been suggested that my contrary nature rebels against being told what to do. Really? Moi? ( Shut it, Sis!)
 I am in awe of people who can take a sketch and turn it into something amazing, and rather than drive myself crazy (again, shut it, Sis) I usually avoid doing them. I just can't stay away from JustRite , especially since I got the most gorgeous stamp set and couldn't wait to play with it ! I pretty much did a Happy Dance when I got Rose Bouquets Vintage Labels. I may hate long stemmed roses (especially red, OMG I can't stand red), but I adore miniature roses and the Rugosa roses that are planted all along one of the streets on my dog walking route. The scent is divine! So I had to have this set, and it's even better in person! Okay, so it doesn't take much to make me happy, and getting something that I will get a LOT of use out of pretty much always works! Practical and difficult, now you know all about me! LOL!
I pretty much knew from the start that I would use SB Gold Majesty Circles and half the rose image( the whole stamp is gorgeous, but only half would fit) from the Rose Bouquet set, and after numerous attempts in various colours, I settled on black, white and pink.

I also used the JR Sweet Lace Background stamp, the Garden Gate Background stamp, and the sentiment is from JustRite's Hydrangea Vintage Labels Seven. The music paper is some old Theresa Collins paper. I have quite a stash of it and wish I had even more! The ribbon is MME.
I'm glad I decided to do the challenge, I'm actually happy with the card (although it might just be that stamp), and I can't wait to see what Sheri has up her sleeve for the next challenge.

This card is entered in JustRite's challenge #124 found here: http://justritestampers.typepad.com/justrite-inspiration/2014/06/justrite-friday-challenge-124-sketch-inspiration.html


I am still having problems leaving comments.It may have something to do with all the Google Chrome problems I've had. I have cleaned the registry, and run numerous things to try and fix my issues. I installed and uninstalled Chrome four times. Everything seems to be back to normal except for my problem with Blogger. This is driving me crazy, But I'm not giving up!

Please take the time to visit the challenge and leave the fabulous girls some love since I may not be able to, and better yet, join us! ( Carmen, this means YOU!)
Kathy Jo, I tried three times to comment on your lovely blue and white card. The glossy tiled look is gorgeous and I am so glad you got the time to play at JR again!
UPDATE : My card was picked as a winner! I get to chose a set of JustRite branded dies to go with my fabulous stamps. YAY!!!

In My Thoughts.

Just a quick and simple card using a Memory Box stencil and a stamp from Unity's January 2014 KOTM.  I keep seeing cards with an angled piece on them, so I thought I'd give it a try with some older MME paper and this lovely stencil. I first stenciled everything with a white ink and then went over it with TH distress ink in Pine Needles.This actually makes the leaves look raised, almost like they have a thin layer of embossing paste on them. On the top I used Molding Paste and I cut a Sizzix die bookplate out of chipboard and covered it with copper embossing powder. I added a metal butterfly that I coloured copper with a Krylon pen.I like the simplicity of this card and I adore the stencil so I think I'll do a few more in a similar vein while the remnants of Hurricane Arthur blow stuff around tomorrow.
Update: Arthur blew the power out here all day (Saturday) and wreaked havoc on my Mom's vegetable gardens. I was lucky that we re-hung the tomatoes under the upper deck to protect them, and all my vegetables and flowers were protected from the wind. I felt sorry for the birds today, they were really getting blown about.

I hope things are working better for me as I have been having the worst time trying to leave comments. I write them and post them and they vanish into LaLa land. I can get about one in three to work, and usually I have to switch browsers to even get that! So I will be having a lovely time visiting everyone participating in Unity's Friends with Flair, but who knows if I'll be leaving comments!

It Could Only Happen to Me !

JustRite's Challenge #123  is a very pretty colour challenge.

I
I love the colours, but I had the worst time coming up with anything. So, as usual, I left it to the last minute and had to rush to get a photo taken before the rain came. You won't believe what happened, but more about that later.

I used a stamp that I had wanted to get for quite a while now, and I like it just as much as I thought I would ! YAY! It's called Floral Thank You and I like that it is a cling stamp that I can do some fun techniques with. This time I just coloured on the stamp with Faber-Castell Big Brush markers and Distress markers and lightly misted the stamp before applying it to the cardstock. I layered that on pink and then on a white piece cut with Spellbinders A2 Locking Loops, which I layered on pink and then the white card base. It's a simple card so I thought it would benefit by a lot of layers! I haven't used much bling lately, so I got happy with a whole lot of little shiny gems!
So, see how nice and clean this card is? Well, it's not any more! I thought I'd try and get a couple more photos, you know, and pick the best one. Look at closely at the upper left corner of this next photo.

That's a Chickadee, and here's the card right before it fell into a planter full of mud! That little begger is kind of a pet. I call him Chirp, and he usually chirps at me before he flies at me, but this time he didn't give me any warning! I hand feed him and he is so darn cute I guess I can forgive him for wrecking my card.