Berry Bees Birthday

Good Morning Blogland!
It has been way too long since I have posted on my blog and I do apologize for that. It has however been a busy and sometimes exciting, sometimes nerve-racking time lately. My grand-daughter had some minor surgery last week so I was staying with my daughter to help her through all of that. Between Kasey's 2 pre-operation check-ups/appointments, we did manage to take Kasey and Jace to the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition. It started the evening of Wednesday Aug. 8th and was over Sunday Aug. 12th which meant our trip there had to happen before Kasey's surgery. Kasey came through her surgery exceptionally well and is doing great. Mom and Gammy (thats me) survived it too.  Plus we had family arrive from Alberta and the Red Rock Folk Festival was on. My hubby was born and raised in Red Rock and that was our home town until 6 years ago. The Festival was the perfect time to go "home" for a couple of days and re-connect with many of our friends and family.

Now, on to the subject of this post, lol. A while back, I applied to the Design Team call over at One Stitch At A Time and guess what; I was PICKED.....Whoot Whoot!!! I heard from Choccy the same weekend I got an email from Mynnette Kitchen so I was walking on cloud 9 for days. I was so EXCITED and it has been very hard to keep all of this a secret. I didn't think I could do it but, I managed to pull it off......barely!
For the challenges at One Stitch At A Time, all of us on the DT use images each week from a variety of artists BUT you can find and buy those images all at the same store; Stitchy Bear Digital Stamps. I have a link to this fabulous digi stamp store on my sidebar PLUS Stitchy is offerring an awesome Collab right now and its FREE with any $7.00 purchase on the Store site. You better hurry though because this deal expires August 19th.
Today, I am posting my very first Design Team card for the One Stitch At A Time blog. I should have had this post set up to go live this past Sunday morning and I thought I had done that. Imagine my horror at finding out I didn't have it done! I want to apologize to Choccy and all of my fellow teamies at OSAAT for not getting this done properly. I am so sorry girls :( :(
The challenge this week at OSAAT blog is Challenge #126 Anything Goes, easy peasy :) The link disappears August 18 so be sure you link up your cards soon. This week's challenge is being sponsored by

With 3 x Promarkers

To win this you must use a SBDS (Stitchy store)product

and for those that enter with none SBDS creations

With a $3 coupon to spend in store

Here is the card I made for my first challenge as a DT member:

Front view

Close-up of rhinestones in flowers

Close-up of glitter on wings

Inside of card

Another view of front

Card Recipe:

Image - Stitchy Bear Digital Stamps "Baby Bees" by Priyanka
Cardstock - Bo Bunny Double Dot 'Kiwi Vintage'
Patterned Paper - My Mind's Eye 'Magnolia'
Flowers - Prima
Ribbon - Offray
Rhinestones - Dollarama
Sentiments - CTMH 'Say It In Style' & 'Special Friendship' stamp sets
Ink - CTMH 'Garden Green'
Glitter - DecoArt Glamour Dust
Image coloured with - Copics

I am entering this card into the following challenges:
Papertake Weekly Challenge - Spots & Stripes
The Crafty Pad - Summer Vacation
The Pretty Little Ribbon Shop - # 13 Add some Bling or Sparkle
One Stop Craft Challenge - #195 Summer Holiday (summer is when the strawberries are ready)
Cardmadfairy's Digi Days Challenge - Go Floral
Simon Says Stamp - Bingo (Ribbon, Free, Blooms)
Ribbon Carousel Challenge - RCC66 Celebrating Summer
Crafting Life's Pieces Challenge - CLP #50 (I turned the sketch upside down)

Thanks so much for popping by to visit today. I hope you have enjoyed your stay.
Hugs xo

I'm Late, I'm Late For a Very Important Date!!!

Oh my gosh......I am so LATE with this post, YIKES!!!
I have a very special announcement to share with all of you. I am on a DESIGN TEAM...Whoot Whoot!!!! I was so excited when I received an email from Mynnette Kitchen, owner of Technique Tuesday, 52 Christmas Card Throwdown and On a Stampage blogs, asking me to join her Technique Tuesday Crew! This month I made my very first DT card; it is so exciting, lol. The challenge this month at Technique Tuesday is Baby Wipe Re-inker cards and you have totally got to try this technique. It is fabulous and super easy to do.....honest :). Mynnette has a fabulous tutorial on her blog with easy to follow instructions and pictures showing each step. Just click on the Technique Tuesday Crew icon in my sidebar and that will take you right to Mynnette's tutorial.
Here is my card for this fabulous technique:

Front View

Side View

 (to show a bit of dimension)

Close-up of main flower and butterfly

Inside of card

Card Recipe:

Rhinestones - Dollarama

Pearl Halves - 4 Ever in Time

Ribbon - Offray

Embossing Folder - Cuttlebug 'Leafy Branch'

Card Base - Recollections

Inks - CTMH 'Grey Wool' & 'Black'

Re-inkers - CTMH 'Juniper', 'Cotton Candy' & 'Gypsy'

Cardstock - CTMH 'Sweet Leaf' & 'Grey Wool'

Patterned Paper - CTMH 'Lucy'

Stamps - CTMH 'Say It In Style', 'Lucy Workshops on the Go Exclusive Stamps',  'Special Friendship'  & 'Princess Wings'  stamp sets

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp - Bingo (Ribbon, Free, Blooms diagonal line)

Pile It On - #33 Bingo (Emboss, Image, Pearls middle row down)

ATC's & Cards With Attitude - #20 Lace/Anything Goes

Fat Pages With Attitude - #20 Add Some Texture/Anything Goes

Paper Pretties Monday Challenge - #52 Anything Goes

Simply Create Too - #19 Anything Goes

Thank you for popping by today. I am working on post #2 for today right now so stay tuned for another card I am sharing today ;)

Hugs xo

Celebrate Hiking & Canoeing

Today I want to share a card for a guy that is both sporty and in the United States patriotic colours. I don't seem to get enough opportunity to make cards for guys so I am often in a brain freeze when planning them. I guess, maybe its because I just naturally prefer to create with flowers, ribbons and all things lacey. I don't know, lol. Once I had a bit of an idea of what I wanted to do, it all just sort of fell into place.

Here is my card:

Card Front

Inside of Card

Recipe:
Patterned Paper - CTMH "Fanfare"
Inks - CTMH Archival Black, Outdoor Denim & New England Ivy
Stamps - CTMH "Happy Camper", "Say It In Style" & "Curly Sentiments" stamp sets
Brads - CTMH
Water Colour Pencils & Blending Pen - CTMH
Card Base & White Cardstock - My Stash

For the image on my card, I again tried the masking technique with the "Happy Camper" stamp sets. It turned out much better this time and I had a lot of fun doing it. I coloured it all in with my water colour pencils then blended with my blending pen. I thought I would take a break from the Copics, for this card anyway, lol. I love using the blending pen because it blends the colours so the shading blends in and you don't see all of the pencil lines. Like the Copics, if you aren't happy with the result the first time, just keep blending and adding or removing colour.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Sporty and/or Patriotic
Paper Pretties Wednesday Challenge - PWC212 - Red, White & Blue
Pile It On #27 - For a Guy with a Sports Theme
Card Makin' Mamas - Challenge #48 - Color Challenge Red, White & Blue
Make My Monday - Colour Wheel Challenge Week 1 - Primary Colours

For this card, I used a sketch from Freshly Made Sketches #41.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I am signing off as it is my fur-babies 6th birthday today. I have 2 Shih Tzus who are brother and sister from the same litter. Their names are Angel and Zeus and my hubby and I spoil them terribly. Every year I buy them a birthday cake from K-9 Delights Bakery. They specialize in all natural gourmet baking and treats for dogs; Angel and Zeus thoroughly enjoy the treats I buy for them from this fabulous bakery.

Thank you so much for popping by today.

Got to run, I have puppies to brush before hubby gets home and we have their birthday party.

Hugs xo

Christmas Card

Christmas in purple is something I have wanted to try for awhile now and today, I did. I used the sketch provided by the very talented Mynnette at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown.
 Here is the sketch she drew for this week's challenge:

I had a lot of fun with this challenge and the sketch was so easy to work with so I plan to use it again for sure. Just today, I stumbled upon another challenge blog that looks like a lot of fun called
The Squirrel and the Fox. They are located in Australia so you will have to figure out the time difference to enter their challenges. Their current challenge is "Winter or Summer" which gives you a nice choice on what to make. The blog is run by Linda and Tracey and Tracey spells her name just like I do, lol. Pop over there and have a look around as their DT has some awesome creations to share with you.

Here is my card:

View of the whole card

A view of my card from straight on

Close up of the top and some of the flowers

Close up of the bottom

Card when it is closed

I used an image by Sarah Kay again, ( I really like alot of her stamps), and I stamped it onto Copic paper with Momento Black ink. Naturally, I coloured my image with Copics (boy have I fallen in love with these markers...lol!).
Copic Colours: B00, B02, B06, BG10, BG15, BG18, C3, C5, C7, E000, E23, E29, E31, E33, G02, R000, R46, RV23, V12, V15, V17, Y06, YG63, YG67.
Papers:  lilac cardstock - Co'ordinations; striped paper - Bo Bunny; other patterned paper - Paper Pizzazz.
Spellbinders Labels 17 to cut out image and paper behind it.
Flowers:  white with puple spots, lilac & solid purple - Prima; large white flowers - Dollarama.
Rhinestones & ribbon - from my stash.
Snowflakes - K & Company.
Sentiment Stamp - Stampin' Up 'Snow Swirled' stamp set.
Ink for sentiment and distressing edge of lilac cardstock - CTMH Pansy Purple.
Today was also the first time I have ever used my Cuttlebug. I have used Cuttlebugs that belong to other people before but never mine. I have all kinds of embossing folders and currently own 3 different Spellbinders sets so this tool is going to come out of its box a lot now lol.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
52 Christmas Card Throwdown - sketch challenge #6
Addicted To Stamps - Challenge #31 - Bingo This time I used the top row of the Bingo card: Lilac, Monochromatic & Bling Bling
Simon Says Stamp - Diamond Jubilee - Use Crowns and/or Gems
Crafty Card Makers - Distress It
Pretty Little Ribbon Shop - Challenge #11 - Lots of Layers
The Squirrel and the Fox: Challenge #19 Winter or Summer

Well, thats it for me for today anyway. Thank you so much for stopping by to visit me again. I truly enjoy having all of you come by and leave me little comments; I read each and every one of them.
Hugs xo

Scrappy Challenge

Hello Friends!

I want to tell you about a brand new challenge blog called DATS Designing Divas. This blog is run by a good friend, Donna who is also the owner of DATS Scrapbooking here in Thunder Bay, ON. Donna and her Divas kicked off the new blog with a fabulous blog hop that had a super prize, and I won!

 So, I wanted to use the scrumptious goodies I won and could hardly wait to ink up this fabulous stamp that is the image of my card. You can see their 1st challenge, Happy Scrappy Day, and all of the fabulous samples from the DT. Be sure to stop by for a peak.

Here is the card I made using some of my awesome blog hop candy:

I am also entering this card in 365 Cards Day 56 - Loud. The bright colours I chose to work with on this card are fairly outside the box for me, lol. Simon Says Stamp has the challenge right now of Anything Goes so this card will definitely enter their as well.   I am also entering this card into Pile It On's Challenge #18 Mother's Day.....But....No Flowers; not even on the ribbon, patterned paper, nowhere.  Now THAT was very hard for me....lol. A card for a female but NO FLOWERS?!? I managed it, with great difficulty.

For this card I used the following items:

Recollections - pink & green cardstock

Jillibean Soup - patterned paper

Celebrate It - ribbon

Basic Grey - buttons

Stampin' Up - twine

Dollarama - gems

Wilton - doily

Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps - "The Krafty Stamper" image

Copic Markers - B02, B06, B12, BG07, C1, C3, C5, E000, E23, E31, E33, R000, R46, RV06, Y06, YG41, YR07 & the Blender pen as well.

Thanks for stopping in to visit.

Hugs xo 

Happy Birthday

Addicted To Stamps is celebrating their 1st Birthday with a blog hop and a card challenge. Guess what their first challenge is.....cake (of course) and/or stitching. I did both on my card and the stitching was even done by hand. I am also entering this card in this week's Pile It On challenge which is Sparkle & Shine. The cupcake patterned paper is very glittery although it doesn't show up in the picture.

The Crazy Challenge and Card Makin Mamas both want to see "Girly" cards so I will enter this card in both of their challenges as well. This card is also being entered into 365 Cards Day 55 - On The Fringes challenge where you had to have atleast 4 different 'fringes' on your card that you made yourself. Aren't edge punches awesome! They help add such dimension to our creations. Lets not forget Simon Says Stamp where the challenge this week is Anything Goes.

Here is the front of my card:

The inside with a good close up of my stitching:

Here is the full view of my card. As you can see, it is another easel card lol.

As it has been a long day and the surgical site on my neck is giving me a lot of pain tonight, I will be back later to list the materials I used.

Thanks for stopping by :)
Hugs xo

Sparkle & Shine On a Sketch

Pile It On has a fantastic challenge for us this week; Challenge #17 - Sparkle & Shine. Here are the rules: Combine Pile It On's challenge with atleast one more current challenge (at the time of their posting) and link it to their blog by Saturday evening. It can be a card, scrapbook page, altered item, etc. Easy peasy! Who doesn't love adding Sparkle & Shine to their creations lol? I know I do! The Pile It On design team have posted their stunning creations on the blog for your viewing enjoyment. 

In addition to this week's challenge at Pile It On, my card today was made using the fabulous inspiration of Dawney's sketch. That is this week's challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Challenge. One of the product designers being showcased this week is Martha Stewart so I used one of her punches on my project too. The design team has some awesome creations for you to look at so be sure you have a peek.

Here is my take on Dawney's lovely sketch. I had so much fun making this card. 

Here is my card laying flat, ready for giving.

My monthly kit, "Graceful" from Created With Paper arrived last week and I couldn't wait to make something with it. I love the fabulous colours in the So Sophie papers from My Minds Eye. I used another Sarah Kay stamp, Isabelle with Puppy Coco, which I stamped with Momento Ink. I coloured my image with Copics using B21, B34, C1, C3, C5, E000, E23, E29, E33, R000, R01, RV25, RV29, Y06, YG63 & a Blender Pen. The flowers and rhinestones are from Prima and the ribbon is from my stash. For the lacy trim around the outside of my card, I used the Martha Stewart border punch, Doily Lace Trim. I have left the sentiment off when taking my pictures because I wouldn't want the recipient to see their card ahead of time if they happen to look at this post.

Well, I have a few things to get done this afternoon, so I am going to get my card linked up and get off this laptop. Catch you all later, and thanks for stopping by to visit.

Hugs xo

Spring Flowers

Don't you just love springtime, the birds are singing and the flowers are starting to pop up. The sun is getting warmer this time of year and you know it won't be too much longer before its time for short sleeves again. One of my favourite springtime flowers is tulips. They come in such a rainbow of colours and their scent is beautiful.

The current challenge over at the Simon Says Stamp Challenge blog fits perfectly with this time of year. This week you had to make a card that fits with the theme "April Showers Bring Spring Flowers". This week has been the first time I have been able to papercraft since my neck surgery so I was finally able to make an Easter card for this year. Yes, its a week late but what other choice did I have. I am also entering this card in the current challenge at the Pile It On blog. Their challenge this week is "Pop It Up" and I believe this card is a pop-up type. I just loved this stamp when I bought it and I was determined I would use it no matter what.

Here is the card I finally got to make:

The stamp is Tina Wenke's "Rabbit in Watering Can". Isn't this stamp cute? The cardstock is Core'dinations and the patterned paper is some left over paper in my scrap box. I inked the edges of the patterned paper with ink from Close To My Heart which is also where the sentiment is from. The image on my card was coloured with the following copic markers: C3, C5, RV11, RV34, V12, V15, V17, Y06, YG41 & YG67. I have 3 blendable violet copics now so I took a chance on blending the tulips on my card. As this is the very first time I have ever tried the blending technique with markers of any kind, I am super excited with the results.

Anyway, my neck is now screaming with pain at me after being on the computer for a bit getting my posts up so I am off to rest it again. I hope all of you are well. Thanks so much for stopping by to visit. Take care and stay safe.

Hugs xo

Yes, It is Another Christmas Card

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Here it is, New Year's Eve and I still had a Christmas card to make for this year. I am horribly behind so thankfully I wasn't scheduled to see the recipients of this card until New Year's Day anyway. They are also VERY understanding family members which is lucky for me.
On to the card. 365 Cards - Day 300 was Super Sketchy Sunday and Pam had another wonderful sketch for us to work with. The very talented Design Team had some awesome creations from this sketch for us to look at, so be sure you pop over there and check them all out. The Simon Says Stamp Challenge going on right now is "Anything Goes" so this card will also be entered in that challenge. They too have a very talented Design Team and you really need to visit them to see all of their creations as well.
Here is Pam's sketch for this week:


When making my card, I decided to rotate the sketch and turn it on its side. Instead of buttons I used the faux stamps. Here is what I came up with:



I had a lot of fun with this sketch and will probably use it again.

Recipe: paper, cardstock & "stamps" - Hot Off the Press; ribbon for bow - Sheer Creations; satin ribbon - my stash; poinsettia - Prima; rhinestones - Studio 18; sentiment tag - Michaels



Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Hugs

Best Wishes Card

I needed to make a birthday card for a friend in our coffee club at River Heights apartment building so I chose a challenge from 365 Cards - Day 303. Kim had us flashback to Day 80 where we had to "take some stamped, handwritten, computer generated, etc. (whatever method you can think of) letters and cut them out individually as part of your sentiment." I chose to cut out the sentiment "Best Wishes" from some paper and attach the letters individually. I will also enter this card in the Simon Says Stamp "Anything Goes" Challenge.

Here is my card:
Recipe: papers, tags, cardstock & sentiment - Hot Off the Press; fibers - EK Success

Hugs

Stamped Background

I decided I would work on another challenge today. This is from 365 Cards - Day 305. Jennifer decided that we would Flashback to Day 148 - Background Challenge. For this, we had to stamp a sentiment all over the background paper of our card. I'm not too sure, but by adding the tags with words on them, I may have messed this challenge up a bit. Oh well, I am sharing it with you and entering it anyway. I will of course be entering it into the Simon Says "Anything Goes" Challenge too :)
Here is my card:
Recipe: paper & tags - Hot Off the Press; ink - CTMH; stamped sentiments - CTMH "Say it in Style" stamp set; rhinestones - from my stash.
Thanks so much for stopping by today.
Hugs

Happy 28th Birthday Son

Well, my first born turned 28 years old yesterday so "Boy Oh Boy" do I feel old right now. How fitting that this is the title of the challenge from the 365 Cards blog that I chose to work with. All this week, 365 Cards is holding Flashback challenges from this past year. I chose Challenge Day 302 - Flashback Day 33 "Boy Oh Boy" The challenge was to create a masculine card with a touch of pink. Since I love to combine challenges, I will be entering this card into this week's challenge at Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes and I chose to use this month's card sketch by Lucy Chesna from MSW.

Here is Lucy's sketch:

Here is the card I made:

My touch of pink is pink vellum that I matted the leaf and half circle embellishments with.

Recipe: papers, cardstock & vellum - Hot Off the Press; sentiment - CTMH "Say it in Style" stamp set; ink - CTMH; fibers from my stash.

I hope you enjoyed my cards. Thanks for stopping by to visit.

Hugs

"Ms Holiday Cheer"

Whew....what a whirlwind these past couple of days have been! I never did get back on here Christmas Eve to post this card but I still want to share it with you. Both Simon Says Stamp and Pam at 365 Cards brought us another fabulous challenge this past week, Day 297 - White Space. I was also able to enter this card in Barb's Non-Traditional Colour Challenge at My Sketch World where the challenge is to create a Christmas card using non-traditional colours. Although there is a wee bit of green (trees HAVE to be green), my main colours are pink, black & white. The bling I used combined with Barb's challenge also makes this card eligible for this month's challenge over at Pile It On
Here is the sketch Pam gave us to go with this challenge:

Here is the Bingo Card we had to pick a row from that Simon Says Stamp gave us to work with: the challenge was to pick a row on the bingo card and use those elements on your creation. The row can be horizontal, vertical or diagonal.

The row I chose is: Ribbon/Twine, Gems and Sparkle/Glitter. For full details on this challenge, go to Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Lets Play Bingo.

At first, I wasn't too sure how this would turn out but when I was done, I totally loved my card. Here is what I came up with:
Recipe: cardstock - Recollections; stamps - "Ms Holiday Cheer" stamp set from CTMH; ink and water colour pencils - CTMH; pink stickles - Ranger; pink ribbon and gems - from my stash.

I hope you have enjoyed my card & thanks for stopping by.

Hugs,