Happy Birthday Hat

I decided to make this cute party hat. 

I used some of the new In Colors.  I really struggle with the new Summer Starfruit.  Yellow is not my favourite colour by any means.  But I really like Navy so I thought I'd try out this combo.

I'm entering this puppy in the Hand Stamped Sentiments Challenge this week.

This week they want party favours that can be "Anything BUT a Card."

 I used Summer Starfruit ink on paper of the same colour for a tone-on-tone look.

I punched out a lacy trim and then pleated it so that it would lie flat along the bottom of the hat.

I curved a few strips of paper for a burst out the top of the party hat.

Here's another look at that lacy border.

Colour Q Challenge #148

This week's it's another BRIGHT colour combo over at the Colour Q.

This page took me a lot longer than you would suppose.

I started with the Baby Board Book Template and then changed it so much that you won't really recognize which page it's from.

This page really summarizes the drama on our recent trip to Europe.

From the time we landed in Paris, Teagan would NOT eat. 

I guess the food was slightly different than at home.  I know that children really like to control things when they feel out of control, and sometimes the only thing they can control is their behaviour.  So, rationally I UNDERSTAND why she wasn't eating.

But OH, the drama...

We spent 5 days in Paris and Venice, and then got on the Cruise ship in Venice.

Then we put the kid in Kids Camp so that Brad and I could actually get some rest.

Well Kids Camp was feeding them tons of sugar and crap.

You know, ice cream, cookies, cake...

And Teagan was still refusing to eat at meals.

With all that sugar and very little sustinance, she got sick.

She started throwing up at Kids Camp and spent the day in the infirmary as

Brad and I were on a tour.

Then she was confined to our stateroom for 2 days.

They take the possibility of Novovirus VERY seriously on cruise ships.

Our room was sanitized (TWICE).

Even though the doctor agreed that we were most likely right about why she was throwing up, they needed to follow protocol.  Once she was confined to our stateroom, that meant that one of us was confined as well.  We finally got some electrolyte powder from the doctor and had a huge stand off with Teagan about making her drink it before she could leave the stateroom.  I'm sure everyone on our end of the boat got to hear Brad yelling at her.

But she drank it.

And she got better.

And she started eating...

Well - eating more than she was before.

And we told Kids Camp to restrict her sugar intake.

And all was well until we tred to get off the boat in Pompei and her security clearance wasn't updated and we were almost late for our tour.

And then at dinner that night, my son ate too much and threw up on the table in the fancy restaurant...

Thank goodness we had a great relationship with the medical staff by this point.

And they believed me when I told them that Connor wasn't sick and they didn't restrict ALL of us to the stateroom.

kids...

Just A Little Fairytale...

So after many, many, many, many hours spent tranferring MDS to my newer computer I finally sat down to play.  Transferring all those files took hours, and hours.  I got my new laptop around Christmastime and i was dreading the transfer of MDS so I put it off, and put it off, and then I heard about MDS 2.  So I decided to wait until I heard more about it.  Well, MDS 2 arrives on Wednesday, so I finally bit the bullet, and transferred it all over this past weekend.  Now I'm totally ready for the MDS2 upgrade when it arrives on Wednesday.

I have all these A-dorable photos of Teagan from her dance recital in June.  I finally sat down and tried out the Walk In The Park II kit that I haven't used yet.

She looked soo cute in her little tutu.  And with her hair in a bun, I think she felt like a princess.

During the concert she looked so serious.  I think she was searching for us in the crowd.  It's her first time on stage in the spotlights.  We prepared her for the fact that she probably wouldn't be able to see us in the audience, but she tried to find us anyway.

Here's a look at the two page layout.  When I get MDS 2 in a few days, I'll be able to do this right in the program itself.  I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!

More Convention Display Samples

Here's a card I made featuring the Affection Collection stamp set.

I know that this card made the display boards as I saw it on some other blogs.

I tried to use all of the latest In Colors on this card.

I really, really, really like how the new ink pads work with full image stamps like these penants.

I used the heart framelits to punch out the large heart shapes.

This little label was a two step process with framelits and the Big Shot.

First I stamped the image and then ran it though the big shot with the Apothecary Label Framelit.

Then with the smallest Label framelit.

I stamped the penants in 4 of the In Colours and carefully cut them out.

I used tombo to glue them down on some Pear Pizzaz Bakers Twine.

Then I used small brads to attach the twine to the card.

Here's a closeup of the Embossing that I did on the front of the card.

And below - voila! the finished card.

Display Stamper for Convention

I have entered this card in Stampin' Up! Only Challenges.
This week their challenge is to use
BUTTONS or BRADS

I originally made this card for the display boards at Convention. 
I'm really sad that I didn't get to go last week.

I haven't seen this card pop up in anyone's convention photos,

so I guess it didn't make the display boards.  

This card was made to feature the Daydream Medallions stamp set.

I started by using the bleaching technique with the stamps and Island Indigo paper.

When the bleach dried, it was a bright yellow colour.

It paired really well with Daffodil Delight.

I used the flower punch to create this cute flower.

I layered three of them.  The middle layer is from the Summer Smooches paper.

The top two layers were curled and popped up for depth.  I layered two buttons for the centre.

The bottom image is from the Daydream Medallion set.

I mounted it on a piece of Summer Smooches DSP. 

It took a bit of work to centre it exactly, but I'm pleased with the result.

Stampin' Royalty Challenge #134

This week we have a fabulous challenge for you over at Stampin Royalty.

This week we're looking for projects featuring

BUTTONS

Hop on over to Stampin' Royalty and check out the new samples from the Design Team.

 

I put together this little frame featuring the new Comfort Cafe suite.

I started this project with a great project in mind, but it didn't quite turn out the way I was expecting.

I really wanted to use the above sentiment so I needed to find a photo that would be apropriate.

Unfortunately the photo I found was overexposed, so it didn't realy turn out the way I was expecting.

But I love the paper and I really LOVE those new buttons.

Here it is.

Colour Q Challenge #147

It's Tuesday, and that means another challenge over at the Colour Q.

This week we have a very BRIGHT colour challenge for you.

I knew I wanted to scrap this photo of Teagan in the pink Hello Kitty Volkswagon Convertible.

 I took this photo last week, in Barcelona.  We found these little carousels all over Europe.  Someone pointed out to me that the Europeans really live out on the street as they don't really have backyards in the cities.

For this page I used the "On The Go" digital kit and stamped the images in the challenge colours.  Then I copied and repeated them to make the little banner on the left of the page.

Hop on over to Colour Q and join us this week!

Two posts in one day????? What's going on?

 Crazy right?  I can't believe it myself. 

Since I've arrived home 4 days ago I have made 5 post-worthy cards. 

This one was inspired by a scrapbook page on the display boards at convention.

And I used tons of layers - LOVE this colour combo!

It's been a while since I played along with the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge,

and I really like this week's sketch.

I pulled out a new Hostess Set called Carry On,

Used my Big Shot and punches for some details,

Added a flower accent - I punched the middle out of some Floral District DSP,

Added some ribbon and here we are.

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Yesterday was my hubby's 35th birthday. I decided to pull out the set Memorable Moments, yet again.  I just love the numbers and sentiments.  This set is perfect for personalizing a birthday or anniversary card.   

On our trip through Europe I found myself completely overwhelmed and surprised by all the patterns that I saw.  So I decided to take lots of pictures of them and use them to create a series of cards.

Here's the first card in that series.

The card above was inspired by the marble patterns that I saw in Florence and Pisa, Italy.

  

 

I used this photo taken of the cathedral in Pisa. 

Everyone knows all about the famous bell tower which stands beside it.

Here's a quick photo if you don't know which one I mean.

I used Whisper White, Cajun Craze, and Always Artichoke. 

I brushed on a bit of Sahara Sand to add texture.

Then I decided to use the sketch from Try Stampin' on Tuesday. 

I turned it sideways.

I made the zig zags with the Tasteful Trims die. 

I used a few punches and some fussy cutting to cut out the sentiments and frames.

And then popped everything up on dimensionals.

I ran it through the Big Shot with my new Fancy Fan Embossing Folder.

I sponged on some Sahara Sand.

 And voila - the finished card.  What's so perfect about this card is that not only my hubby knew exactly which picture I used for inspiration, but he also loves the colours.