"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,

Embossed Christmas Card

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!

I have a couple of cards I want to share with you today. The first one is from a challenge at 365 Cards, Day 294 - ABC's & 123's. Our challenge was to use a combination of alphabet and number stickers on our card. The beautiful example that day was brought to us by the talented Annie Ling; be sure you check out her blog.

Here is my card entry for this challenge:

I enjoyed making this card so much, I made 2 of them. I just love blue and silver together at Christmas!

Recipe: blue cardstock - Paperabilities; silver cardstock - Creative Memories; patterned paper - DCWV; image - Stampin' Up "Snow Swirled" stamp set; silver embossing powder - CTMH; ribbon - Offray; letter & number stickers - Stickopotamus by EK Success.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Be sure to check out all of the talented card makers at 365 Cards. See you later ;)

Simon Says "A Sketch"

Over at the Simon Says Stamp blog, the challenge this week was to create a card using the sketch pictured below. I really like this sketch and despite the fact that I had planned to do a VERY different take on this, I will definitely use this sketch again. Be sure and drop into the Simon Says blog and have a look at DT examples and send them some love on their personal Blogs.



Here is my attempt at this sketch:

Recipe: paper & tags - Hot Off The Press; ink - CTMH; flowers - Prima; ribbon - unknown; card base - from my stashl

Well, I hope you enjoyed this card as much as I enjoyed making it. Thanks for stopping by.

Easter Layout

Just thought I would share this layout with you. I love the stamp set I used because the bunnies are so cute. The pages are in page protectors and there is journalling on the left hand page but it is hidden behind the chipboard butterfly.



This picture shows the butterfly is swivelled to reveal the journalling. The layout is from the "Magic" book sold by Close To My Heart. I love using the "Magic" book for layouts because this book is filled with dozens of ideas for interactive scrapbook pages.

All of the items used on these 2 pages are from Close To My Heart. Thanks for stopping by :)

A Blossom With Bling

I have been wanting to try out my new punch from Stampin' Up and one of this week's challenges at 365 Cards gave me the perfect opportunity to do just that. And with my love of glitter, rhinestones, etc., I was also able to work this week's challenge at Cupcake Craft Challenge blog into this card too :)

365 Cards Day 289 - Pretty Petals challenged us to create a large flower on a card using petals we created ourselves. At Cupcake Craft, Cupcake 172.....Don't Look at the Light was a challenge to use anything that sparkles, shines, glimmers, gleams, glitters, etc on our card.



Here is my take on these 2 challenges:

Recipe: cardstock - Recollections, patterned paper - Hot Off the Press, ink - CTMH, sentiment - My Stamp Box "Everyday Lines", corner punch - Paper Shapers, burnished velvet technique - Be Creative Tape Sheet & Glitter Ritz in Lilac Pink, Extra Lg Blossom Punch - Stampin' Up, rhinestones - Imaginisce.

I attempted to give the flower some dimension by curling each petal before attaching it to the card front. I really enjoyed making the flower and this card.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

365 Cards Day 279 - Super Sketchy Sunday

This week I decided to give one of the challenges from 365 Days a whirl. When I browsed their daily challenges, I loved this sketch the moment I saw it. Since it was my dear hubby's birthday, it also gave me a chance to try out this stamp.

Here is my take on Pam's sketch:

Recipe:

Patterned paper, button, leather 'ribbon', embellishments and caption - BoBunny's "Et Cetera" line which is the December monthly kit at Created With Paper

White cardstock is from my stash
Ink and watercolour pencils - Close To My Heart

My husband really liked this card. Thanks for stopping by today :)

Two's Company from Cupcake Craft Challenge

Good Morning!

Are you enjoying the snow as much as I am? I love this time of year and will gladly keep the snow falling until New Year's Day. It wouldn't be Christmas without the fluffy white stuff lol.

Anyway, I would like to share with you the card I made for my dear husband in honour of our 26th wedding anniversary. My card goes perfectly with this week's challenge, "Two's Company", over at the Cupcake Craft Challenge blog.

Here is my take on their challenge:

Recipe: Cardstock & papers - Hot Off The Press

Flowers - Prima

Stamp - Sarah Kay "First Kiss"

Copics - B12, C5, E000, E23, E33, G19, R000, RV34 & YG41

Ribbon - from my stash

My card also goes well with Sherri's Shaped Card Challenge over at the My Sketch World - Forum. Be sure you have a look at both the Cupcake Craft Challenge blog and the My Sketch World forum.

Thanks for stopping by my blog

Remaining 2009 Calendar Pages

Our weather here has been absolutely fabulous the past several days! All of our snow is gone and I can't resist spending time during the afternoon on my balcony where it has been a glorious 20 degrees Celcius each day.
While I was browsing through my blog, I realized I had never finished posting my calendar pages from the calendar I had made for my husband and I last year. I have posted them here however I can't remember all the products I used. I am very sorry that I can't include the recipes with these. I hope you enjoy looking at them.

July Page:
For this page, I used pictures of my children when they were very young.

October Page:

This page features pictures of my fur-baby's first Halloween in 2006. The 'princess' is Angel and the 'fireman' is Zeus.

November Page:

For this page, I was inspired by an article and photo submission in a Canadian Scrapbooker magazine. One day while I was babysitting my grand-daughter Kasey, I took her outside to play in the leaves and explore the colours of autumn. These are some of the pictures I took of her that day.

December's Page:

Once again, I chose pictures of my children from years ago. These were taken on Christmas 1986, my daughter's very first Christmas.

Thank you for stopping by to have a peek.

Hugs, xoxo

2S4Y, Cupcake Craft Challenge & MSW

I love trying to participate each week/month in several of the various blog challenges that are out there. It is an added challenge when you want to try and make a couple of the challenges go together into 1 item. This week was no exception, but as an added bonus I found I was able to roll 3 different blog challenges all into 1 card...whoo hoo!! Kazan at 2 Sketches 4 You provided the sketch for the card, Cupcake Craft Challenge provided a specific detail that had to be found on the card, and Alecia at My Sketch World provided the "recipe" for making the card. When you have a few moments, be sure to check out each of these blogs. You will find a never ending pool of inspiration at each of them.

Kazan's Sketch 47:


Cupcake Craft Challenge 80 - Round & Round. "We want to see lots of circles..."

MSW - Alecia's Recipe Card Challenge:
Make a card using the following items - atleast 1 hole cut out, atleast 2 patterned papers, ribbon and atleast 1 button.

Here is my efforts on Kazan's sketch 47, Cupcake Craft's Challenge 80 - Round & Round and Alecia's Recipe Card Challenge:

2010 Scrap-A-Thon

MSW Sketch-a-thon was a month long challenge where diffent sketches were posted every day for the first 20 days in the month. We then had until March 3rd to upload them into the Gallery and onto each specific challenge thread. I had a lot of fun doing these challenges and sketches but I only managed to complete a few of them.

Lucy's Sketch:

My take on the sketch:

I totally enjoyed making this card! The garden hose and water are heat embossed and the plant was stamped with a glue pad then glittered up. I paper-pieced all the clothes, even her Crocs and the scarf on her hat.

Recipe:

HOTP papers

Stampendous embossing powder

CTMH "Ms Gardener" & "Say It In Style" stamp sets, inks, and water colour pencils.

Lucy's Sketch:

My take on the sketch:

Recipe:

Prima Flowers

Creative Memories pens, templates and letter stickers

Unknown cs, die-cuts and pape

Lucy's Sketch:

Here is my take on the sketch:
I had to alter this one a bit because the sketch was designed for a 12 X 12 page and I was working on an 8-1/2 X 11. It is not one of my favourites for sure.

Recipe:

Creative Memories Vellum Title

Everything else is Unknown

Thanks for stopping in for a peek.

Hugs xoxo

Back Into The Swing Of Things

Hi All!
I know I have been away for a very long time but I am hoping things have settled down enough that I can get back into the 'groove' of things. Between my son, daughter, grand-daughter, husband and myself, our whole family has had such a long stretch of colds and illnesses that I was beginning to wonder if we would ever break out of it...lol. I also took some time to concentrate a bit on my CTMH business and finally have my first Stamper 6 Group up and running which I am very excited about. I am working with such a super group of women and look forward to each of our get-togethers with gusto.
Anyway, on to today's cards............
My good friend Darcy Magbanua asked me if I would be interested in hosting a workshop at this year's annual Scrap For Heart. This is a huge event each year with all the proceeds going to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. I said "sure" and began my search for what I would do for this. Naturally I began checking my fave blogs and it turns out this was perfect timing! This month My Sketch World is hosting their 2010 Sketch-a-thon. From February 1 - 20, Lucy will post a different sketch each day, rotating between card sketches and layout sketches. You have until March 3 to upload your creations to have your name entered into the drawing for a chance at some super prizes. So, I used a couple of Lucy's sketches to make my workshop samples AND I am able to enter them into the Sketch-a-thon contest. I love it when I can combine 'challenges'. Well, you only have 45 minutes for your workshop at Scrap For Heart and that has to include set-up and clean-up time. This only leaves you with 25-30 minutes TOPS for the actual creating....YIKES!! Because of this time frame and the fact that I have never put on one of these before, I have kept the card the participants will make very simple; I just hope it isn't too simple. The first card in this post is the one the participants will actually make. The second card is another sample to show the participants a variation on how it can be done.

CARD SKETCH: FEB. 16th by LUCY CHESNA of MY SKETCH WORLD

MY TAKE ON THE SKETCH:

RECIPE:

Close To My Heart - "Flower Child" & "Say It In Style" stamp sets, ink, cardstock and patterned paper

Unknown - daisy flower and ribbon

CARD SKETCH: FEB. 2nd by LUCY CHESNA of MY SKETCH WORLD

MY TAKE ON THE SKETCH:

RECIPE:

Close To My Heart - cardstock, purple plaid patterned paper, button, fibers, ink and "Flower Child" & "Say It In Style" stamp sets

Hot Off The Press - pale purple patterned paper

Unknown - ribbon and bling

I will be back after Scrap For Heart to share my new layouts with you which, will of course, be made using more of Lucy's fabulous sketches. Thank you so much for stopping by today!

Hugs xoxo

August Sketch Challenge Voting

Hi All:
So Sketchy has posted the page with all of the August creations on it as well as the rules for casting your vote for the best creation in August. Just click on the link It's Voting Time and you will be taken to the post where you can cast your vote. The voting will remain open until Thursday, September 10 at 10:00pm MST. Stop by there and check it out.
Hugs, xoxo

So Sketchy August Sketch Contest

I managed to get a few pages and cards made in August and I was able to use some of them to double up on some challenges too. My Sketch World hosted their ABC Summer Crop during the entire month so I combined a couple of the August sketches from So Sketchy with the "recipe" from MSW and uploaded my creations to both blogs. I LOVE it when I can combine challenges because I have more time to spend on each creation. AND So Sketchy is trying something new .... the winner of their August Sketch Contest will be picked by YOU! The deadline for sending in our entries was Sept.4th which means that Allison will be posting the entries and voting rules anytime. Once she does that, I will post the direct link for the specific post on my blog. So, be sure to hop over to Allison's So Sketchy blog to have a look at all of the fantastic entries and don't forget to cast your vote for your favourite.

Here are all of my entries for the August sketch contest. (Allison doesn't allow anyone to post her sketches on their blog so above each of my creations you will see a link to the specific sketch on her blog.)

Sketch August #4

Sketch August #7

This was my calendar page for August.

Sketch August #9

Sketch August #11

This is September's calendar page.

Thanks so much for stopping by to have a look at some of my creations. I hope to see you again soon. Hugs xoxo

2 Sketches 4 You Laura's #33

Laura was in charge of providing the sketch this week over at 2 Sketches 4 You and what a great sketch it is. I really enjoyed doing this one. Here is her sketch:

And here is my take on it:

I also used this card for the V=Violet chanllenge over at My Sketch World in their ABC Crop. I will be back to post more in a day or so. Thanks for stopping by!
Hugs xo

Cupcake CC Birthday & 2S4U Kazan's #33 & MSW P=Patterned Paper Challenge

I finallay found some time to work on one of Kazan's sketches over at 2S4U I had not submitted anything all summer, so I figured I should get back to 'normal' and I decided I would give her sketch #33 a try. I just loved this sketch when I saw it, and I was able to make a card to use for 3 challenges all at once. This card was perfect for the challenge at 2S4U, of course, MSW "P=Patterned Paper" Challenge and Cupcake Craft Challenges "Happy 1st Birthday" Challenge.


Here is Kazan's #33:

And here is my take on it:Recipe: All patterned paper is from DCWV Sweet Stack, CTMH "Cupcake Sprinkles" stamp set and inks, Prima flowers, Ranger Stickles, Offray ribbon and Kaisercraft Pearls.

Cupcake Craft Challenge is having their Blog's 1st Birthday Celebration this week and the prizes they are giving away are AMAZING. Each member of their Design Team is giving away their own blog candy plus CCC also has their own prizes. Pop on over to the CCC blog and read all about it.
The P=Patterned Paper challenge at the MSW Forum required that you make a card using atleast 3 different patterned papers, so again this card was perfect.
Thanks for stopping by :)
Hugs xoxo

Guest Designer Spot at My Sketch World.

Where has the summer gone?? I can't believe we are over half way through August already. Whew, has this ever been a busy past few months! I am sooooo far behind on my posts and I have soooooo much to share with you. First, my huge news :) I was asked by Lucy Chesna from My Sketch World if I would be a Guest Layout Designer for August!! Naturally, I said YES. I was so excited when I got her email, I could hardly contain myself. She sent me the sketch I was to follow and I also had to write a short bio about myself.

Here is the sketch Lucy sent me:

Here is my take on Lucy's August 1st layout sketch:

In addition to being a Guest Designer, I also had to choose a "job" on the MSW Forum and do it from August 1 - 15. I decided I would do the "Gallery Pick of the Day". Each day, I had to browse the MSW Gallery and choose atleast 1 layout and 1 card that a member had made and then write a post in the forum featuring their creations. Even though it was pretty difficult to make my choices, I LOVED doing it and was sorry when my term was over. If you get a chance, stop by MSW and check it all out. The talent over there is amazing. Lucy is fantastic and all of the girls are just fabulous. I have made many friends there and I enjoy chatting with each of them. Right now, they are having an ABC Summer Crop during the whole month of August. The crops are always tons of fun and the prizes are super. Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by.

Hugs xoxo

I Won My First Scrapbooking Blog Challenge!!!!

I know I have been away for quite a while, and I do apologize for that but I have been super busy participating in various challenges over at My Sketch World. Lucy Chesna is the creator of this blog and her and her DTs post some amazing challenges on the MSW Forum every month. Well, back in May there was a challenge posted on the MSW Blog by Tara Thynne and the challenge was called "In Stitches". Tara asked you to "do some hand stitching on your layout!! Be brave and try this easy to do technique. You can use any of Lucy's featured sketches as the foundation of your layout. Load your layouts in the gallery and email it to me." Needless to say, the hand stitching intrigued me so I decided to give it a try. Here is the layout I made and entered:

Here is a close-up of the hand stitching I included on my layout:

I used a Bazzil template and I am hooked on the hand stitching. I have since bought another set of templates, this time with Swirl Borders, and I am anxious to get some use out of those very soon. But, there is more........Guess what?? On June 15th, I found out from Tara that I had won this challenge!! I was sooooo excited when I heard that. I haven't received my prize yet, but I sure can't wait to see what I won. Tara kept the prize a secret so I will have to wait for it to arrive before I can share it with you.

Well, as it is 11:52 pm and I have an early morning tomorrow, I am going to head off to dreamland for now but I have a LOT more news to share with you about My Sketch World.

I will be posting more news about the happenings at My Sketch World so be sure to keep checking in. Until we chat again.....Hugs xo