Evening at Ambleside

A few weeks ago the weather was almost summer-like here in Vancouver. We went down to the beach nearby and had a picnic. I spent most of the time trying out my new camera. What I created was this page based on a sketch by Becky Fleck. I used the new Island Oasis DSP to add to the beach theme, although as you can see from the photos, it's definitely NOT a tropical beach in the background. All of the images that I popped up on dimensionals were cut out of the DSP itself. I don't own the matching stamp set ... yet. I will soon :)

Swaps on Saturday

This is another of the fabulous swaps I received from Sabriena's Swap last month. This fantastic card was made by Jody Kelley. She used the Petal Card die for the Big Shot to make the envelope to hold the tea bag. The DSP is Razzleberry Lemonade and the Cardstock is Rich Razzleberry and Whisper White. The sentiment is from the Favorite Thoughts set available in the current Summer Mini.

Stampin' Royalty Challenge #21

Another Wednesday means another challenge over at Stampin' Royalty. This week is a fabulous colour challenge for you. I have to admit that colour challenges are an absolute favourite of mine. I think it had to do with the 6 months I spent on the Design Team over at SPCC. (see my sidebar for the link). Anyway I was so excited to make this week's sample. Not only do I love colour challenges, BUT purple and green is my favourite combo. Don't forget to check out what all the other Stampin' Royalty Goddesses did for their samples!

This week I tried a new technique for me. First I stamped the image in Chocolate Chip Craft ink on watercolour paper, and quickly poured clear embossing powder over it. Then I heat set it. Next I used my aqua painters and ink pads to paint in the images. Because the image is embossed,the image is raised up. This creates mini 'walls' (for lack of a better term). This means I could use a lot of water from the Aquapainters and not worry that the ink would run all over the page. I love the softness when you use a lot of water with the ink.

If you look closely you will see that the ink does run a bit. This is because once it was all dry I decided to spray it with my new Smooch Spritz. I think I held the bottle a little too close to the card as it got a bit blotchy and made the ink run a bit. Next time I'll be more careful. Anyway, the shimmer adds a nice touch but it didn't really show up in the photo above. no matter how I moved the card around in the light box, I couldn't highlight the shimmer, so I tried it on my chair (see photo below) It worked a bit better, especially if you look at the sentiment. Don't forget to stop by Jody's blog to see her creation with these colours. The Fun Stuff:

1. Paper - watercolour paper, Very Vanilla, Rich Razzleberry, Certainly Celery

2. Ink - Chocolate Chip Craft, Rich Razzleberry, Very Vanilla, Certainly Celery Classic

3. Stamps - Artfully Asian (level 2 hostess)

4. Punches - Scallop Trim Border and Corner, Scallop Oval, Large Oval
5. Accessories - Rich Razzleberry 1/2" Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon (turned over), Stampin' Dimensionals, Dots Textured Impressions Folder for the Big Shot.

Practical Scrappers - Felt Challenge

This card was made for this week's challenge at Practical Scrappers. We were to use felt, or fabric, or tulle. I used some of the recently retired Sweet Pea Stitched Felt flowers. This card was cased from the fabulous Mary Fish. I changed up a few little things, but really liked the simplicity of Mary's design. The colours in this card are Pretty In Pink, Old Olive, Rose Red, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip. Punches used are Modern Label, Word Window, Scallop Trim Border and Corner punches. The leaves are stamped from the Petal Pizzaz set and the sentiment is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set.

Itty Bitty Bits

This card was inspired by a card made by my upline during the reward cruise last month. These coordinated clear buttons, punches and stamps are all available in the current summer mini. This card was super easy to make and very effective.

Summer Mini Favours

Isn't this the cutest little box? These little party favour boxes are from the current Summer Mini. My upline Angela, came up with the idea to punch a slot in the top and wrap the strap through it. It really jazzes up the box. I stamped the orange from the Tart and Tangy set. The sentiment is from the Family Phrases set.

Swaps on Saturday

This fabulous swap was part of the swap organized by my friend and fellow Stampin' Royalty Goddess, Sabriena Satchwell. The flowers are from the Watercolor Trio set from the new Summer Mini. I love the colour combo used in the card. Soft Suede, Bashful Blue, Not Quite Navy, Rose Red, and Old Olive.

Mother's Day Swap

This is what I did with my final copy of the swap I made a few weeks back. I used this to make a quick Mother's Day card for my Mother In Law because, of course, my dear Hubby didn't bother to buy one, or ask me to make one. (but I've been married long enough to know to be prepared.) I managed to cover up the So Sorry sentiment with the Mother's Day sentiment.

Father's Day Floral

This card is a hybrid made with My Digital Studio. It started out as a designer template. I took the elements out and printed them individually and then carefully cut them out and popped them up on dimensionals. I used some corduroy brads and buttons to add interest.

Stampin Royalty Challenge #20

This week at Stampin' Royalty we have another Sketch Challenge for you. Above you will find my take on this week's sketch. I used the King Of The Grill stamp set from the current Summer Mini catty. I used Watercolour Pencils and my Aqua Painter to colour in the image. This card will be for my hubby Brad. He truly is the King of the Grill at our house. When I saw this set I knew I had to get it. The inside of the card says Happy Father's Day. The paper is the Thoroughly Modern DSP with a bit of Soft Suede and Whisper White thrown in.
Please click here to go to Stampin' Royalty to see what the other fabulous Stampin' Goddesses have created, or go here to see more details of Goddess Angela McKay's creation.

Practical Scrappers - patterned paper challenge

This week's challenge is patterned paper over at Practical Scrappers. I dug out this fabulous 'To The Nines' specialty paper from Stampin' Up! I really wanted to use it up because this paper has the colour Sage Shadow on it and it's one of the colours that will be retiring at the end of June, so that means this paper will be retiring too. This paper is great because it is of cardstock quality. Because this paper is double sided the inside of the card has the same paisley pattern as the cover panel on the card. I attached a piece of Whisper White on the inside to allow for a message. The sentiment is from the All Holidays stamp set. I stamped it in Sage Shadow and then mounted it on a piece of Chocolate Chip. Then I mounted that on one of the Kisses die cuts from the Sending Love Notes cards from the last Occasions Mini. I added some Chocolate Chip satin ribbon and popped the sentiment up on dimensionals.

Father's Day Fun

I had to use my new Motorcycle stamp from the current Summer Mini. The patterned paper (DSP) is from the Thoroughly Modern DSP set. I stamped the image with Basic Black. I used a combination of Watercolour pencils and an Aqua Painter to colour the image. But the next day I looked at the card again, and decided to change the colour from orange to brown. So I tried the Watercolour pencils and Aqua Painter again. It didn't turn out the way I liked, so then I coloured it in with a soft suede Stampin' Write Marker. It's Ok but a bit fuzy. I probably should have stamped the image again, but I didn't want to take the card apart.
The ovals were made with the Ovals die for the Big Shot. The sentiment is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set. It was punched out with the Word Window and then mounted on a punch out from the Modern Label punch. The ribbon is Basic Black Satin Ribbon.

Swaps on Saturday

Here's another card from Marie's Occasions' Mini Swap. It uses the Love Bandit stamp set. I really like the colours in this card and how she coloured in the images. This card was made by Linda Willman.

Clean and Simple Rub Ons

Talk about an easy card to make. I added a few rub ons and voila. 3 minutes and I was done! These rub ons are from the Lovely Flowers Bundle which is a Level 3 Hostess set. I used my absolutely favourite colour as a background. (Elegant Eggplant of course)

Stampin Royalty Challenge #19

Originally I started this page as an entry into the Artisan Award contest at Stampin' Up! but then I put it down and left it for a while and decided to enter another page instead. So when I saw that this week's theme challenge was 'family' I knew I had my page and pulled it out to finish it up. This is a hybrid page. I used MDS (my digital studio) to make the title, the journaling and the 2 large flourishes. It's hard to tell (my dad's camera again) but the white cardstock has been embossed with the finial press textured impressions folder for the Big Shot. The stamp sets are I {Heart} Hearts and Tiny Tags. I used the small heart punch, the heart to heart punch, the ticket corner punch, the large heart punch and the tiny tags punch on this page. The colours used are Rose Red, Regal Rose, Whisper White, and Basic Grey. Other accessories include the pretties kit and pretty in pink taffeta ribbon. Don't forget to click on the link above to go to Stampin' Royalty and see what all the Stampin Goddesses have done. You can click on their pictures and go to their blogs to see how they made their creations.

Practical Scrappers Punches

I got a picture of this little mermaid from somewhere and I'm afraid that I can't find the source of this idea. Anyway, I was able to figure out how to reproduce this lovely mermaid from the original picture. If you look at the photo above, you can see more details as to how she went together. The body is made from the large and small oval punches. I covered them with Fine Supernova glitter. The head and arms are made out of 2 circles of Blush Blossom punched with the 1 1/4 inch circle punch. The hair was made by punching Apricot Appeal with the Scallop Circle punch. I trimmed one circle to make the fringe. The flower in her hair is made with the Boho Blossoms punch. I covered it with Fine Cosmo glitter. The rhinestone is her hair is from the Circle Ice Rhinestone Brads.
I mounted the mermaid on a Hugs Sending Love Note. The background is made from 2 colours of the Chunky Glitter. I scooped the green and blue into my hand and spread them out on the glue. The sentiment was stamped from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set and mounted on Certainly Celery cardstock. The scallop shells were made as below.
I started by punching the scallop oval punch and cutting it into 2 pieces. Then I scored it with a bone folder as below.

Then I trimmed the edges to form the shape below.

I added small pieces to make more detail on the bottom.

So Sorry Sympathy

These cards may look familiar. I made a bunch of these swaps early last week. I wound up with 4 extra cards. Well my uncle passed away last week after a prolonged illness in the hospital. And it's been a bit hard on his remaining siblings, including my Dad. I had these So Sorry cards left over, so I added the 'With Sympathy' sentiment and I plan to not only give one to my Dad, but also to his other siblings (my Aunt and Uncle). It's always hard to lose a family member, but at least I know that at 83 years old, my Uncle lived a long and full life.

Practical Scrappers Sketch

This page was made using My Digital Studio from Stampin' Up! I made it for Friday's Sketch Challenge over at Practical Scrappers. The backgroud paper is from The Sweet Pea paper pack. The stamp (brush sets) used Baroque Motifs, Greatest Moments and Greatest Moments II, Frames With A Flourish, and Medallion. I used the torn edges brush to make the photo border, the ribbon and stitching are embellishments from the program too. The flowers are from the Sweet Pea designer pack and the grey button is from the Corduroy Button pack.

Swaps on Saturday

This wonderful swap was made by Petty Wong. I chose to display this swap, this week, because it uses several items from the last Occasions Mini that will be available again in July when the new catalogue comes out. Petty used the Vintage Wheel and Whisper White craft in to make the background on the Rich Razzleberry paper. I think this is a cool idea - look for something similar in some of my upcoming posts. She used the Top Note for the middle and then folded it in half for an interesting look. You could attach a gift card in there, or stamp another message, or another image. The sentiment is from Well Scripted (available July 1) and the flowers were made with the Beautiful Wings Embosslit for the Big Shot (also available July 1)

So Sorry Swappin'

This is a card I made for a swap organized by my friend, and fellow Stampin' Royalty Goddess, Sabriena Satchwell. You will find a link to her blog here or on Stampin' Royalty. This swap was kind of a last minute thing as after Sabriena organized this swap, a few of her participants dropped out. (don't you just hate that!) So I agreed to come up with a quick card for her. So I basically took the layout of this card here from last week. I made 24 of these bad boys and I actually did it in one marathon evening. This card was super easy to make. The floral stamps are from "Awash With Flowers" which will be available in July. The sentiment is from the set, "In A Word" from the current Summer Mini catty. The white background was embossed using the Squared Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder for the Big Shot, also available in the Summer Mini. The colours used are Melon Mambo, Certainly Celery, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White and Basic Grey.

Just Add Curtain Call

I combined two challenges to make this card. I used the sketch from Just Add Ink and the Colours from the Curtain Call Challenge over at Stacey's Stamping Stage. I used the new stamp Birthday Block from the new Summer Mini and I coloured it in with my Stampin' Write Markers. Aside from the cardstock (colours listed below) I used the new Square Lattice embossing folder for the Big Shot.

Stampin Royalty Challenge #18

This week's challenge at Stampin' Royalty is 'anything but a card'. I decided to make these handy ceramic tile coasters. I actually made a set with my Grade 2's for their Mother's Day gifts. These coasters were very easy to make. The stamped tiles above were made using Staz-On ink and stamps from Stampin' Up! Stampin' Up sells black Staz-On which makes a great image, but if you look around you call also find Staz-On in a few other colours. I used purple and brown as well. The trick to making the image permanent is to find a tile that is a bit porous. These tiles are ceramic tiles, but they aren't shiny and the surface is not completely flat. This allows the ink to sink in a bit and makes the image permanent. The ideal tile for this activity is tumbled marble, but I just happened to have 40 or so of these tiles in my basement left by the previous owners of our house. The tile on the top right is made using rub-ons. These rub ons are called Bright Delights and because they are retired you can find them for a great deal on the Stampin' Up! Clearance rack. Because these tiles are ceramic, the image went on easily and firmly. I wouldn't use these for coasters though as they might now be terribly durable, but they are great for home decor.

Practical Scrappers - stickers challenge

Here's my first sample for the design team over at Practical Scrappers. The idea behind this challenge blog is to use up the supplies you have on hand. This week's challenge is to use stickers.
Well I have a ton of stickers in my stash. I think I originally became obsessed with paper when I started collecting stickers back in Elementary School. The stickers on this card are the butterfly and the flower. I bought them waaay back a few yeras ago. I was immediately attracted to these stickers because they are my favourite colours (purple and green). The tiny pearls on each corner are also stickers from my stash.
This card is made mostly with Stampin' Up! product. I tried to match the colours to the stickers as best as possible. I don't think that they show up well in the photo, but I thought they were pretty close in real life. (new camera coming soon...) The colours from SU are: Certainly Celery, Almost Amethyst, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White and So Saffron. Stamps - Tiny Tags, Accessories are So Saffron Grosgrain, tag punch, ticket corner punch, top note die, linen thread and buttons from SU.

Color Throwdown #90

Purple and Green is my favourite colour combo ever!! So when I saw this week's Color Throwdown I knew I had to try to get my card done on time. This card is actually one that I am going to try to make with my Grade 2 class this week as Mother's Day is coming up soon. Basically this card is centred around punches. The Boho Blossom punch and the retired Spring Flower Boquet punch were used for the flowers. Other punches I used were the Ornament, Modern Label, Word Window and Ticket Corner punches.

Scripted Graduation

I made this graduation card for a customer the other day. It's kind of a mix of things from the current catalogue, Occasions Mini and Summer Mini. First I attached the patterned paper (DSP) to the front of the card. I made a bit of a patchwork pattern to include several different pieces. The Sentiment was stamped using the Well Scripted set (available in the upcoming catalogue - july 2010- yay!) and mounted it on another piece of the DSP. The A plus is from a new set in the new Summer Mini.

Inside I stamped the Graduation stamp from the last page in the current Summer Mini, and mounted it on another piece of the same DSP. As you can probably tell this card was made for a young man (who's graduating from University).

Swaps on Saturday

This beautiful card was made by Kim Adriannsen It uses the vintage wheel and the well scripted stamp set.