Stampin' UP! with Hayley Kew

Birthday Craft Day!!!

2012-03-11T11:24:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful sunny day here in Ottawa!!! My family and I took hit up The Stanley Farm Sugar Shack this morning and had a blast. Today is the last day of my mother’s visit so we wanted to do something fun J We had never been before and would totally recommend it. Our son was a little nervous of the petting farm part but he enjoyed his yummy pancakes and french toast and the play structure, as well as the horse wagon ride.

All set up for my birthday craft day!!!

It is soo nice to have my craft room back to clean and tidy working order. I celebrated my birthday yesterday by having a craft day with my family and friends. After the ladies went home for the day I popped back down to make my Freshly Made Challenge card. I was a little lost for colour so I also took a peak at The Colour Throwdown Challenge for the week and did a combo challenge.

My Challenge(s):

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

Tapestry Effect – Step by Step

· Choose at least 3 colours to use for your piece

· Sponge all over the white card stock (I usually start with the darkest colour and go to the lightest colour)

· Ink up your stamp with white pigment ink

· Pour clear embossing powder over the whole piece of cardstock and heat thoroughly

· If you have some spots where it doesn't stick anymore, emboss what you have. Next dab the embossing Ink pad all over the cardstock, pour embossing powder over and heat again

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Here comes Peter Cotton Tail...

2012-03-09T11:58:00.002-08:00

HAPPY MARCH!!! I love this month not only because I celebrate my birthday but because it is the beginning of SPRING J And when I think spring I think beautiful pastel colours, sprouting bulbs and EASTER!!!

I had an absolute ball being a part of the Design Team over at The Friday Mashup for the month of February. I just could not wait to get back at the weekly challenges. This week we were asked to make a 3-D treat basket or pouch and if we wanted to use the colours Green & Yellow.

It has been a few weeks since I have been active in my craft room and I finally got my mojo back after taking a peak through several fabulous blogs and facebook pages. I came across a super cute project that a fellow stamper and her daughter had made and so when I say this challenge I just had to mashup her punch art Bunny with The Friday Mashup challenge. This little cutie will be waiting for my son on Easter morning... I know it would have been cuter to see him stuffed but I just could not trust myself to buy Easter chocolate quite this early lol J

My Challenge:

Make a project using the "colors Green & Yellow".
Or Make a "3-D project that's a Basket or a Treat Pouch".
Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Treat Basket/Pouch using the colors Green & Yellow".

My Project:

Tiny Tips:

My tip for this week is to take a closer look. I really wanted to use a stamped image for the eggs on this project. I had a cute little set from last year which has retired but I really do my best to only use current products so I had to take a closer look at what I had. I had an order arrive just last week with Stampin’ UP!’s “Easterbunny” stamp set. The egg image was too small for this project so what I did was used the balloon from the hot air balloon a little bunny was floating in!

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Mom x2 (...almost)!

2012-02-24T09:48:00.002-08:00

Well this is my last entry at The Friday Mashup as a guest designer. I have had such a blast and would like to thanks the ladies over at TFM for inviting me to join their team J Anytime you need someone I would gladly come back for more fun!!!

This week we were asked to make a round project using the kissing technique. I had never used this technique before so I was excited to give it a try. We are very lucky to have a new little niece on the way J So I thought I would take the time to make my lovely sister in a law a special card for her special day!

My Challenge:

1. Make a project using the "Kissing Technique".

2. Or Make a "Round" project.

3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Round project featuring the Kissing Technique".

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

I chose to do both “kissing” & “kissing with a twist” on my project this week. Super fun stampin’!!! Beate Johns has two fabulous tutorials available over at Split Coast Stampers on how to use both of these techniques.

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/kissing_technique/

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/kissing_with_a_twist/

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Dino Thank You!

2012-02-20T07:30:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday and Happy Family Day to all of you out there celebrating! My son is not feeling very well today – really hoping he is better in time for his birthday party. So I am just popping in with a quick post today!

Well our son’s 3^rd birthday is this Friday and we are all set for his party. I am even ahead of the game and finished making his Thank You cards yesterday afternoon J I used the Freshly Made Sketch (as I did for his invitations) just seemed fitting that I keep along the same sort of theme.

Here is his invitation:

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

Rather than going with a stark white background to your stamped image make it a little more interesting to look at with some sponging and stamping to create the perfect little scene J

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Stampin' UP! Shabby Chic Style

2012-02-17T13:23:00.000-08:00

Back with my third installation as a Guest Designer at The Friday Mashup J We were given a cute sketch and sweet theme this week. I was not totally sure what “Shabby Chic” meant but after some clarification from one of the lovely design team members I was off and running.

I accidently came upon this set when I made a mistake on an order I made and to be honest it is one of my favourite sets now. Though it was not really my style (or so I thought) I have used it a number of times and I am always happy with the results!!!

My Challenge:

1. Make a project using the "Sketch".

2. Or Make a "Shabby Chic / Vintage" project.

3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Shabby Chic/Vintage project using the Sketch".

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

Paper Rosettes!

1. Cut a 1 ¼” x 12” piece of card stock or designer paper

2. Trim along one edge with punch desired

3. Using your score tool, score along every ¼”

4. Then mountain/valley fold along each score line

5. With a strong adhesive glue the two ends together (overlapping the mountain/valley folds

6. Punch out a circle piece of cardstock (which you will not see)

7. Pull together at the center and use a STRONG adhesive to glue your punched out circle to the backside of your paper rosette

8. Decorate as desired

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What Would YOU Do?

2012-02-12T16:21:00.000-08:00

I was really excited when I saw this Mojo Monday sketch! I could not wait to get working on it but when I sat down in my craft room to create the juices were just not flowing L So I thought why not put it out to my readers. I feel like this card is missing something...

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

This is where you come in J What would you do to add a little zaa zaa zoom to this card?

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Who's In The Spotlight?

2012-02-12T10:10:00.000-08:00

My goodness it has been a busy week for me J I am back with my second entry as a Guest Designer at The Friday Mashup. This has been such a fun experience so far. It has given me the opportunity to take a look at a number of new blogs which I have never visited before and I have to say there are some truly talented crafters out there. So fun to see all the unique takes on each week’s challenges.

I made this card for my son’s best friend who has been ill with an ear infection and fever that just would not go away. He is feeling better now but not 100% yet. Thought this little guy might help to cheer him up!

My Challenge:

1. Make a project using the "Spotlighting Technique".

2. Or Make a project featuring "Penguins".

3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project featuring "Penguins using the Spotlighting Technique".

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

I chose to go with the reverse spotlighting technique on this card. At first I was going to use my circle punch to cut out a spot for my colour technique but then I thought that going with the square would keep with the general design of the card.

Fabulous tutorial on this technique over at Split Coast Stampers!

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/reverse_spotlighting/

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YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

2012-02-03T09:56:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday All!

I cannot begin to tell you how excited I was when I was asked to be a Guest Designer at The Friday Mashup for the month of February!!! It took me all of two seconds to write back and accept J

I have had so much fun playing along with the challenges for the past month it will be really fun to get to take a look at all of the fabulous designs each of you come up with for the next couple of weeks.

Here is my first entry for the month of February J

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

I learned the hard way that it does not always pay to be frugal with your card stock. When using the fashionable hearts embosslit die it is best to give yourself a larger piece of card stock than you need. I cut out squares just big enough to fit the die and ended up breaking my die L Sometimes you have to learn the hard way but hopefully this tip will help someone avoid disaster in the future!

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Love is in the Air

2012-02-01T09:37:00.000-08:00

It is the month of LOVE and I just thought I would share with you the projects that my stampers club made last week for their sweet hearts J

Hershey Chocolate Nugget Mailboxes!!!

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You make my whole face SMILE!

2012-01-29T10:40:00.000-08:00

Hope you have all had a nice weekend. It was a beautiful one here in Ottawa loads of sun and reasonable temperature as well. I was busy working but my husband and son were able to take advantage of the weather and get a lot of sledding in. My little trooper took a tumble today on the hill and has a little road rash on his cheek but his daddy told him not to worry because, “chicks dig scars” lol.

New, New, NEW who doesn’t LOVE NEW stamping items!!! With the Occasions Mini and Sale a Bration in full swing this demo had loads of NEW items. So this week’s Friday Mashup Challenge was PERFECT for me to break into my new stash once more! I used the Calypso Coral and Lucky Limeade 1/8” Organdy Ribbon (which I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE I might add) and a Sale a Bration stamp set Sprinkled Expressions, super cute J

If you would like to find out how you can get your hands on these two fabulous Sale a Bration items please feel free to contact me (stampinupwithhayleykew@gmail.com) and in the meantime take a peek at the Sale a Bration page on the Stampin’ UP! website - http://www.stampinup.com/ca/enc/20584.asp

My Challenge:

Make a project using the "Sketch".
Or Make a project using "Something NEW in your stash". (Stamps, ribbon, pretty paper...anything!)
Or "Mash it Up" and create a project "using the Sketch & something NEW in your stash".

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

How to tie the perfect bow – something this gal has to work at J Thank you KT Hom Designs!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OGZLJBvq8Q

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So Good To “Gnome” You!

2012-01-28T20:02:00.000-08:00

From the moment I saw this little set in the Occasions Mini I knew I MUST have it. There is one person that I can think of in my family who will love the little Gnome cards they will be receiving over the next year hehehe J

I decided to break this set out of the box for this week’s Freshly Made challenge. We were given a great sketch and now that I had my stamp set picked all that was left was the colour theme. So off to Google I went (what did we do before Google). I wanted to keep with the “traditional” Gnome colours and I was able to find some great pictures for reference.

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

Just a small tip this post one that you think I would have learned by now! When colouring with the basic black marker give your piece some time to dry before mounting it as the black ink for some reason takes a lot longer to dry than the others and it WILL smudge!

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Mojo Throwdown!

2012-01-26T11:55:00.000-08:00

Almost made it to the end of the week stampers, it has been a one of ups and downs for me but I’m still standing J A good friend of mine has a little girl who will be celebrating her 6^th birthday next week and I wanted to make a fun card for her special day!

I decided to combine this week’s Mojo Monday Sketch with the colour combo Challenge at The Colour Throwdown. I have been itching to use my new scented embossing powders and thought this would be the perfect time to break them out. I was a little weary about purchasing them as I am quite sensitive to scents but I was pleasantly surprised that the finished product is very subtle and quite pleasant. Mmmmmmmmm vanilla!

My Challenge(s):

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

Want to add a little glitter to your card but don’t want the mess of using dust glitter, the perfect solution rhinestones!!! They are easy to use with self- adhesive backs and what little girl does not love a little bling!

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A Card for Baby

2012-01-23T10:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a baby shower for a really good friend of mine. Not only am I lucky to have this wonderful women as a friend but I will be working with her and her husband next month when their baby arrives as their doula. I am so very blessed to have the 3 BEST jobs in the world. #1 being Ethan’s Mother, #2 being a Birth & Postpartum Doula and #3 being a Stampin’ Up demonstrator J

Wanted to make baby a very special shower card and so I decided to use the Pals Paper Arts sketch this week to get me started. The parent’s to be have gone with a woodland theme nursery and wonderful colour theme. I thought it would be neat to try to combine both into this card. I had to go into the vault and use a stamp set that has been retired but it was so perfect I just had to do it!

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

The weekly challenges that I take part in give you loads of room to add your own creativity into each challenge. Normally I stick to the placement and dimensions of the sketch to a T but this time I used a little wiggle room as I wanted to make sure you could see at least one set of trees in the back ground.

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Valentine Love

2012-01-21T19:06:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post before I head off to bed J

Valentine’s Day is approaching and so I have been making special cards for those loves in my life! This week I combined the Freshly Made Sketch with the Colour Throw Down Swatch and this is what I came up with.

My Challenge(s):

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

A fun way to add a little colour to your main card stock is to use the letterpress plates from Stampin’ UP! I chose the Heart Pressed and Lots of Love plates for this card and simply used my brayer to apply the real red ink to the plate before sliding it through my big shot. Now I had to be very careful and steady handed to get it on my first try as any shift in the cardstock will smudge your image.

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TGIF!

2012-01-20T11:07:00.000-08:00

It has been a busy week for me so I have been looking forward to the weekend since about Tuesday morning J It will be a busy weekend but loads of fun things going on starting with my birthday card club class this evening.

This week at the Friday Mashup our Challenge was to explore the world of paper piercing and if we wish we could add the colour combo aspect as well. There are some fabulous “paper piercers” out there who are happy to share their ideas with us up and comers, which was a huge help this week. When I settled on the design I wished to go with I thought I would create an elegant look with this card.

My Challenge:

Make a project using "Paper Piercing".
Or Make a project using the colors "Blushing Bride, Riding Hood Red & Early Espresso".
Or "Mash it Up" and create a project with the "Color Combo & Paper Piercing".

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

When attempting to create an elegant vintage look I tend to use my cutter kit, in particular the distressing blade. Also adding the dark sponging around your focal point helps to make it pop!

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Pure Enchantment

2012-01-18T10:48:00.000-08:00

Sunny +16 in San Antonio, Texas, USA and Sunny -22 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada... Hmmmm where would I rather be right now??? The answer at Stampin’ UP!’s Leadership conference so I am setting that goal for myself for next year – you heard it here! My up line is in the states taking in this conference and I CANNOT wait until she gets home to hear allllll about it J

Last week I was picked as a Friday Mashup Glamette so I REALLY wanted to bring it this week and come up with a fantastic card to see if I could wow the ladies once again. Our challenge this week was to make a thank you card using designer paper. Sale a bration starts on January 24^th and with my pre order I was lucky enough to get my hands on some of the fabulous products before their official launch. On this card I used the Everyday Enchantment Designer paper, ribbon and brads along with their colour theme.

My Challenge:

Make a "Thank You" themed Project.
Or Make a project "Using Designer/Patterned Paper".
Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Thank You project with Designer/Patterned Paper".

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

Diamond Fold Card – this is the first time I have made a diamond fold card and I have to say I will be making more. I often feel like the cards we make are truly a piece of art and what a nice way to display such a piece. The one tool I found critical in the making of this card was my scoring tool!!!

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Birthday Card Club

2012-01-17T10:53:00.000-08:00

This month I started a birthday card club. It will run for 3 months and each month we will make 12 cards, 3 each of 4 designs. I wanted to make sure we had something for everyone so one card will be suited towards women, one towards men, one towards a little girl and one towards a little boy J

There are two classes per month being offered and we had our first session this past weekend. Here is a sneak peak of the cards we made! Can hardly wait to share next month’s designs!!!

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I dig you... So you’re invited!

2012-01-13T11:39:00.000-08:00

Our son will be turning 3 next month - HOLY MOLY where has the time gone? He has been very into dinosaurs for the past year so we thought it would be fitting to have a dinosaur theme birthday party for him. Those of you who know me know how much I love to throw a party and sometimes may (perhaps) go a little over board with the decorations. I think I may have set a bar a little high with Ethan’s 1^st under water theme birthday party and last year’s 2^nd train theme birthday party so this year I decided to give myself (and all of the wonderful family and friends who have helped out in the past) a break and have his party at an indoor play place for kids! We selected the dinosaur theme party so this year both my husband and I will be able to kick back and enjoy, rather than being up until 1am the night before finishing the decorations J

I did however want to make his invitations!!! I loved the sketch for this week’s Freshly Made Challenge so I decided to go ahead and use it as the template for Ethan’s invitations.

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

It is possible to make a simple card still receive that WOW from its recipients! One of my tricks for doing so is adding lots of layers and textured papers. On this card I used two different embossing folders, my crimper as well as sponging to add another element of texture.

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Glamette Kew

2012-01-13T10:07:00.000-08:00

Thrilled to have been chosen this week as a Friday Mashup Glamette! I have had a very busy week of card prep for my upcoming classes this weekend but cannot wait to get started on this week’s challenge a little thank you/dsp action coming your way later this week J

Turlte & Co. - Birthday!

2012-01-09T10:59:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday!

I thought I had missed my chance to post for Freshly Made’s Challenge but I am getting this one in just under the wire!

I am in a birthday card mood lately. I am starting a monthly birthday card club this month and cannot wait to get started. We are going to be making 4 card designs per night – little boy, little girl, feminine and masculine card per night something there for everyone!

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

I was in love with this little stamp set from the moment I saw it and the fact that Stampin’ UP! makes a donation to Ronald Macdonald House Charities with each purchase of this set makes it all that more appealing. Our family was impacted by the wonderful work of RM House, they help so many wonderful families going through very tough times so go ahead and purchase Turtle & Co. and help support RM House and the good work they do!

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Nautical Birthday Card for my Sweet Sailor

2012-01-08T09:57:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful weekend we are having here in Ottawa J Hope you are all out enjoying the sunshine and snow!!! We took our son sledding for the first time this year and he LOVED it. We did try one trip down a small hill last year but he was NOT impressed!

My challenge this week from Friday Mashup was to create a birthday card. This happened to be the perfect challenge for this week because Thursday just happens to be my husband’s birthday J The birthday card was one part of the challenge the second being the use of chalks or pastels. That is not something that I have added to my collection yet so was not able to partake in that aspect of the challenge but did manage to rock out a pretty sweet birthday card (IMO) of course!

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

Waterfall Card Tutorial @ Split Coast Stampers http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/waterfall_card

1. Cut your Neutral Cardstock in the following measurements: 5¼" x 8" (1), 1 5/8" x 1 5/8" (4). Cut your Colored Cardstock in the following measurements: 2" x 2" (4), 5½" x 4¼" (1), 9" x 2" (1), ¾" x 4" (1).

2. Fold the largest piece of neutral colored cardstock in half, and then stamp it as desired. Also stamp the four neutral-colored squares.

3. Attach your stamped squares to the slightly larger colored cardstock squares with your adhesive.

4. Next you will need to score your 9 x 2 strip of colored cardstock. Starting at end of strip, score 2", 2¾", 3 ½", and 4 ¼" from the end.

5. You can then fold along the scored lines and you should have a strip which looks something like the following picture (let's call this Piece A).

6. Attach the horizontal strip (the one which measures ¾" x 4") to front of card with eyelets or brads.
Note: it is very important that you do not use any adhesive in the middle of this piece!

7. Next, attach piece A to the horizontal strip you just attached to the card front. To do this, slide the longest section of piece A between the horizontal strip and the card, making sure to center it in the middle of your card. Line up the very edge of the scored end of piece A with bottom of the horizontal strip and attach with adhesive.
Note: the adhesive placement is very important you do not want to attach the scored side and the longest section of piece A together!

8. Attach your first stamped image to the bottom 2" x 2" space at the scored end of piece A.

9. Apply adhesive to the scored sections of piece A only, and attach remaining stamped pieces.

10. Once you've attached these pieces, you should be able to gently pull the bottom of the longest section of piece A directly down and watch the stamped images flip one at a time and then slide behind piece A.

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Butterfly, BLUE, Thank YOU!

2012-01-06T02:54:00.000-08:00

I survived my husband’s first day back to work after our Christmas holiday together. My son and I spent most of our day in the kitchen cooking and baking things to freeze for the winter because WINTER has come to Ottawa brrrrrrr!

I did manage to squeeze in a little crafting as well while my son took his nap. This week’s Pals Paper Arts Challenge was a colour challenge. We were asked to design a project using Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy & Very Vanilla. I have to say I do like this colour combo and know a very special great grandmother of mine who will love this card!

I was in the mood to try a new technique and I came upon Reverse Spotlighting and thought I would give it a try. Never a dull moment when you have so many fabulous tutorials to inspire creativity at Split Coast Stampers J

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

Reverse Spotlighting...

1. Stamp images in desired ink.

2. Punch random holes in stamped images (1-3/8" circle punch used in example).

3. Stamp and cut out the same image on pieces of coloured card stock.

4. Line up and mount images behind punched holes.

5. Trim overlaying images with scissors or paper cutter.

6. Mount images into place for completed project.

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Are you Twitterpated? I sure AM!!!

2012-01-05T06:13:00.000-08:00

Moving right along this week with my Mojo Monday post!

As I mentioned in a previous post I have had the pleasure of using some of the new products being released this month from Stampin’ UP! I chose to keep exploring these fabulous items and for my Mojo Monday Challenge I decided to go with the Twitterpated colour theme and gorgeous designer paper.

I could not stop there I also used the twitterpated designer buttons, P.S. I Love You stamp set, Hearts Collection Framelite Dies and Fashionable Hearts Embosslits Die. All of these products and more I just CANNOT WAIT to share with all of you in my upcoming classes and clubs!!!

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

Being the lucky demonstrator that I am, I have a fabulously talented Stampin’ UP! mentor (Monica Hornof check her out at http://stampsnjewels.blogspot.com/). She is always passing on loads of helpful hints to us so we may in turn pass them along to you. Here is a must know about the proper use of the NEW framelites!

1. Cut out your larger shape with the larger framelit.

2. Only THEN place your smaller frame where you want it on the shape and cut out the frame.

*** DO NOT put the two frames on at the same time. The larger one will likely shift over top of the smaller one, which will warp the die and even possibly cut into it***

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2012 Sparkle and Shine

2012-01-04T16:52:00.000-08:00

I was quite excited to see that this week’s Friday Mashup Challenge was a New Year inspired card with lots of “sparkle”! We had a very low key New Year and did not actually stay up late enough to ring in the New Year so it was great to be able to express the glitz and glamour of New Year’s Eve with this week’s project.

With January in full swing at Stampin’ UP! we are retiring the Holiday Mini catalogue and launching the NEW Occasions Mini catalogue AND starting a little later this month Sale a Bration. Being a Stampin’ UP! demonstrator has countless benefits one of which is being able to preorder NEW items before they are available to the general public. I could not wait to take them for a test drive and used two such new products on this card (Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details from the Occasions Mini and Sprinkled Expressions Stamp Set from the Sale a Bration catalogue).

My Challenge:

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge:

Make a project that "Sparkles".

Or Make a project "Celebrating the New Year".

Or "Mash it Up" and create a project "Celebrating the New Year that Sparkles".

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

Dazzling Details glitter glue is a beautiful addition to the Stampin’ UP! arsenal. The only thing to remember when using this fabu product is that it does take a little extra time to try. You want to make sure you give yourself plenty of time to let your card dry before sending it off. I also find it is best to fully assemble your card and then add your glimmer look as a final touch.

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Christmas THANK YOU!

2012-01-04T16:46:00.000-08:00

We landed in Ottawa early yesterday morning and I could not wait to get back down to my craft room. We had an absolutely wonderful Christmas and New Year with our families but 3 weeks away from my crafting was a bit tough J If only there was some way to take it with me...

While I was away I was unable to take part in the weekly challenges so I was thrilled to see that the end date had been extended for the last 3 Friday Mashups, next up a lovely sketch and watercolour challenge. I will be the first to admit that I am not the best when it comes to water colouring but I am putting in the time and practise makes perfect (someday lol).

Our son was one lucky boy and was spoiled rotten for Christmas. Call me old fashioned but I sure love to send out handmade thank you cards to all of those wonderful people who take the time to share a Christmas present with my family and here is one I will be mailing out shortly!

My Challenge:

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge:

Make a project using the "Sketch".
Or Make a project using "Watercoloring".
Or "Mash it Up" and create a project using the "Sketch & Watercoloring".

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

There are a few different ways to watercolour an image. I chose to go with the ink and aqua writer technique. I simply press my ink pad cover into the actual ink pad while still closed to transfer a small amount of ink to the cover, open the ink pad, pick up a small amount of ink with my aqua writer and off I go!

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Welcome 2012!!!

2012-01-04T16:39:00.000-08:00

Hope that each and every one of you out there had as wonderful a Holiday Season as we did!!! Wishing you all a New Year full of peace, health and love J

One of Ethan's favourite presents this year, his very own bucket full of dinosaurs!!!

I meant to make this post before I left for the holiday but there was too much to do before we left for Nova Scotia so I was thrilled when I got back and found out not only did I still have the chance to post this week’s challenge but the TWO before that as well!!!

I have been working on a wedding gift for a lovely couple who were married last summer and it just so happens I have used one aspect of the Friday Mashup Challenge on their project – chipboard. Usually I love to mashup both parts of the challenge but for this project I was going with a clean look rather than distressed.

My Challenge:

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge:

Make a project featuring "Chipboard (Precut or Diecut )".
Or Make a project with "Distressing ( ink, scissors or the Cutter Tool Kit)".
Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Distressed Project featuring Chipboard"

My Project:

Tiny Tips:

When dying chipboard pieces you will want to make sure you have an ink refill of the colour you will be using as it sure takes a load of ink to get the colour you want. They are quite porous and suck up the ink like a sponge J

Thanks for stoppin’ by!

Last Blog Post of 2011!!!

2011-12-09T12:59:00.000-08:00

TGIF! What a week I have had busy bee I am these days. My family and I are getting ready to head home to Nova Scotia next week to spend Christmas with our family and friends J I still have quite a few projects to wrap up before we leave so I am going to say this may be my last post until after we return to Ottawa in the New Year.

My Occasions Mini and Sale a Bration preorder arrived this afternoon and I could hardly wait to get down to my craft room to get started with the fabulous new products! Boy was I happy when I realized I would be able to use one of them on this week’s card!!!

As I mentioned time is a precious commodity these days and so I took a few of my favourite challenges and mashed them all into one this week! I took the sketch from Freshly Made, the Colour Combo & Theme from Friday Mashup and the Dazzle aspect from Pals Paper Arts and this is what I came up with!

My Challenges:

Make a project featuring "Snowmen".
Or Make a project using the colors "Blushing Bride, Baja Breeze & Basic Grey".
Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Snowman project with the colors Blushing Bride, Baja Breeze & Basic Grey".

“Fred Astaire knew that it was fun to get dressed up for a special occasion. And occasionally we like to dress up our paper craft projects as well. Whether you choose to add a little or add a lot, show us the sparkle, shine, or decoration that makes your project just a little bit fancier. We fancy what you create!!"

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

Glitter – I know most of us love to use this delightful embellishment but it can sometimes be quite a pain when it gets all over the rest of the elements on your card that you do not want to “sparkle”. Usually I fully assemble my card and then add glitter but with this particular card that little trick would not work as I would be sure to get glitter on the ribbon as I was shaking off the access glitter. I was then concerned about glittering the snowman and then having to flip it over to add adhesive and possibly smudging my glitter and taking away the puffy look – SO I added my adhesive to the back of my card stock before applying to glitter and simply help the card stock up to apply my two way glue, glitter and then placed it on my card. Worked like a charm!

Thanks for stopping by!

Mojo/PPA Mashup!

2011-12-05T17:09:00.000-08:00

Happy Mojo Monday evening everyone J The hustle and bustle is upon us and I too am feeling the heat... So little time to craft!!! That being said I have decided to combine another challenge this week. I am going with the Mojo Monday sketch and the Pals Paper Arts Colour Challenge for this card.

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

I have been using designer paper for quite a few cards this holiday season but instead of going with a colour design pattern for this project I decided to give my card a little pizzazz with a same colour design by using my Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder.

Thanks for stopping by!

Look What I Found!!!

2011-12-01T21:27:00.000-08:00

The Christmas Season is upon us now and I just can’t seem to get enough of Christmas Cards!!! I went a little silly this year and bought many fabulous Christmas Stamp Sets but this one has to be my favourite!!! I LOVE Snowman J

I have been a little lost with my colour selections lately and boy have I found the answer! I came upon a new challenge site http://colorthrowdown.blogspot.com which provides you with a different colour swatch each week to work with J So I decided to combine the Mojo Monday sketch with the Colour Throw Down swatch and this is what I came up with!

My Challenge(s):

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

My tip for this post is get out there and surf the web. There are some truly fantastic blogs and websites to take a look through to find helpful hints and inspiring ideas for projects. I have listed some of my favourite along the right side column of my blog and I encourage you all to take a peek!

Thanks for stopping by!

Up, Up and AWAY!!!

2011-12-01T09:45:00.000-08:00

Happy Occasions Mini/Sale a Bration Preorder day everyone J Oh yes and the 1^st of December too!!! Our week continues to be a little gray here in Ottawa so again I chose to brighten up my craft space with an uplifting card for this week’s Freshly Made Sketch.

My family and I will be heading home to Nova Scotia 2 weeks from today to spend the Christmas Season with our family and friends. I am sooooo looking forward to this time and break from the busy couple of months I have had but already my mind is looking forward to 2012.

In January I am going to be holding a 3 month Birthday Card Club and I believe this card may be one of the 9 designs we will be going with...

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

I am not sure about you all out there but I am not a huge fan of the craft ink. I find it a little hard to work with because of the added drying time required. That being said I often have a need for some white on my cards and thus my solution is to use my versa mark, white embossing powder and heat tool. Yes there are a few extra steps required but I find the end result to be exactly what I am looking for! Just love these "puffy" clouds.

Thanks for stopping by!

"When you are in love you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams"...

2011-11-28T10:34:00.000-08:00

Dreary day here in Ottawa so I decided to make something Pretty to brighten up my day J Now that my Holiday Card Club is winding down I have started to think about the New Year and all the exciting things moving forward. I have started to plan my Valentine’s Day Card Class and thought I would give you all a sneak peek of one of the 3 card designs we will be using!

This week Pals Paper Challenge was to use pearls as the embellishment to add a little sparkle to our project. I thought that would tie in quite nicely with the card I had designed.

“When you are in love you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams”. ~ Dr. Seuss

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

I love to use my Stamping’ Around Wheels but I am not always the most accurate in my placement. Sometimes that is okay if you are going for a more abstract look but on this card I wanted to have a nice clean line and so I decided to break out my Stamping’ Around Wheel Guide. It is the perfect tool to provide you with perfect placement of your stamped image.

Thanks for stopping by!

Thank You!

2011-11-26T16:41:00.000-08:00

As most of you know Ottawa is not our home. We are originally from Nova Scotia and moving to Ontario was a HUGE change for us. We have such wonderful family and friends back home that were very hard to leave but job opportunities brought us here and here we have been for over 4 ½ years now! Making friends is not easy to do when you are in a new city but I am happy to say that I have been fortunate to make some of the best friends a girl could ask for. We have been going through some rough times these past few months and I wanted my friends to know just how much we appreciate them now and always...

So for this week’s Friday Mashup I chose to make a thank you card because I am so very thankful to have each of these people in my life and cannot imagine how I would have gotten through the past few months without them!!! Usually I mash it up and rock out both parts of the Challenge but I wanted to make this card rather than a Christmas Card this week so here you go... J

My Challenge:

Make a project featuring "A Christmas Theme".
Or Make a project using the colors "Aqua, Chocolate and White".
Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Christmas themed project using the colors Aqua, Chocolate and White".

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

Criss Cross Card

· Two 4 1/4" x 11" pieces of cardstock for your card base (used tempting turquoise)

· One 4" x 5" piece of patterned paper (used Berry Blossom DSP)

· One 3 3/4" x 5 1/4" piece of cardstock for insert (used Chocolate Chip)

· One 3 1/2" x 4 3/4" piece of neutral cardstock for insert (used Whisper White)

· One 1 1/2" x 12" piece of cardstock for card band (used Whisper White)

Step One: Score both 4 1/4" x 11" pieces of cardstock at 5 1/2".

Step Two: Take one scored piece and cut it diagonally from center top to the bottom left.

Step Three: Take the other piece of scored cardstock and cut it diagonally from the center top to the bottom right.

Step Four: Add adhesive to the rectangle back of one of the cardstock pieces.

Step Five: Tape both pieces together. Make sure both long edges of the diagonal sections are on the bottom.

Step Six: Cut the patterned paper in half diagonally.

Step Seven: Adhere it to your card front.

Step Eight: Add Sticky Strip on the bottom of the middle panel, as well as on the bottom of the triangle flap that will be on top of the card. Tape the card base together and set aside. (I chose to skip this step and just adhered the insert into the actual card rather than have it slide in and out, so when you take the band off the card flaps open up on either side!)

Step Nine: Take both pieces of cardstock for the insert and use the corner rounder on the top corners.

Step Ten: Tape together.

Step Eleven: Stamp and add tab and other embellishments as needed.

Step Twelve: Take the 1 1/2" x 12" piece of cardstock and score at 5 5/8" and 11 1/4".

Step Thirteen: Add Sticky Strip™ to the end of the strip with the small 3/4" scored section. Tape the band together.

Step Fourteen: Decorate the card band.

Step Fifteen: Slide your band over your card. Your card is finished!

For an excellent tutorial with pictures step by step head over to http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/criss_cross_card/.

Thanks for stopping by!

Fresh & Clean Christmas!

2011-11-25T10:50:00.000-08:00

This evening is my monthly stampers club and we will be making two fun Christmas cards and I thought I would share one with you. I decided to use the sketch provided by Freshly Made Sketches and will be entering this card in their weekly challenge.

I have been very into making rosettes lately, I LOVE my score tool and any chance I can use it I do! There are so many fun looks you can go with. This week I decided to keep with a basic design to keep the card simple and clean. I went with the colour theme from Stampin' UP!'s Holly Berry Bouquet DSP. Love the colour embossing powder and Wild Wasabi fit this card perfectly.

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

Over the past few weeks I have been struggling with the best choice of adhesive when making my rosettes and today I came to the conclusion that a hot glue gun works the best. It dries almost instantly and provides an excellent firm base for the centre of your rosette. You can be certain it will not come apart when assembling your card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Glamette Once More :)

2011-11-24T18:53:00.000-08:00

The ladies over at Friday Mashup loved my "Breaking Dawn" inspired card!!!

And for the record totally team Edward {heart}

"Do I Dazzle You"?

2011-11-22T21:40:00.000-08:00

Half way through the week!!! Looking forward to this weekend we will be putting up our outdoor Christmas lights and helping our in laws decorate their house as well J Just love this time of year.

For this week’s Friday Mashup I took a break from Christmas cards as I was very inspired to create a unique card after seeing a movie that I have been waiting a LONG time to see... Can you guess which FABULOUS movie I am talking about?

My Challenge:

Make a project using "Paper Rosettes".
Or Make a project using "the Sketch Above".
Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Project with the Sketch using Rosettes".

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

When you adhere the two ends of your rosette together make sure to put the adhesive on the right said of the DSP in order to give yourself a finished edge. I made the mistake of not doing that and then had to hide my oooppppssss with a different element which after I had done so was very happy about because I feel it gave this card a fantastic finished look!

Thanks for stopping by!

Snow Much Fun!

2011-11-22T03:46:00.000-08:00

Hope you have all had a great start to your week. As always I have been busy stamping away and this is what I came up with for the Pals Paper Arts Challenge this week! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow... I am saying that now but I might be singing a different tune after a month of actual snow J

Once again I went with the colour theme from Stampin’ UP!’s Letters to Santa DSP. I have fallen in love with Riding Hood Red, also when a saw Snow Much Fun I just HAD to have it. My son loves snowman and after he saw this card he carried it around the rest of the day J

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

Want to make your image “POP”? Rather than just using your Basic Black ink pad go the extra step and fire up your heat tool with your black embossing powder! Small tip I will give you is to then watch when you are colouring with your stampin’ mark markers as when the ink gets on the glazed embossing powder it will rub off onto your paper if you are not careful J

Thanks for stopping by!

Time to Decorate!!!

2011-11-21T06:06:00.000-08:00

Season’s Greeting, Peace on Earth, Merry Christmas! Okay not quite yet but Holiday Card prep is in full swing and I am excited to share with you my submission for this week’s Freshly Made Challenge.

For the challenges this week I have stuck with the colour theme from Stampin’ UP!’s Letters from Santa DSP. I was really not sure how pink would fit into the equation but it works very well on this ornament sheet and so I decided to go with it!

Hope this card gets you thinking about putting up your Christmas decorations! We are planning to get started this coming weekend J

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

I find bows to be a little difficult to make with a stiffer ribbon but still wanted to add a piece to this card and so I went with a “cheater bow”. So now how do you make sure you have the side of the ribbon showing that you want? After making your loop make sure you have the correct side of the ribbon on either side facing forward before you tighten your knot!

Thanks for stopping by!

First Snow of the Season!

2011-11-20T17:08:00.000-08:00

WOW! Did not intend to take that long of a break from blogging but time got away with me and here we are November 20^th!!! I will be getting this post in just under the wire but here we go J

For this week’s Mojo Challenge I decided to go with the colour theme from Stampin’ UP!’s DSP Letters to Santa. We had our first little snow flurry this weekend so I was inspired and wanted this card to have LOTS of snowflakes on it.

December is the last month for my Holiday Card Club and I have been toying with new ideas for my cards as the designs I have previously come up with were just not doing it for me anymore J What do you think? Is this a keeper?

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

Texture can add dimension to the simplest card. You can achieve this look by doing a number of things. On this card I chose to go with layering of paper types as well as embossing with my big shot.

Thanks for stopping by!

I'll Be Back!

2011-11-19T19:50:00.000-08:00

Hello Readers J

To say this has been a busy month for me would be an understatement! I will be back blogging this week for sure. Hope you are all well and getting excited about the upcoming Holiday Season!!!

Chocolate Elegance

2011-11-03T09:43:00.000-07:00

Happy Thursday readers! The weekend is almost here and we are going to have 3 full days of sun (according to the weather station) so let’s hope it happens because I have loads of laundry to do J Also this weekend I have been invited to run a workshop hosted by my lovely sister in law. The timing could not be better Stampin’ UP! just announced their newest promotion, hostesses can earn an extra $45 in additional Stampin' Up! products when they host a $450 workshop (along with the $70 awarded at that level this means $115 in FREE PRODUCT!!!) between November 1^st and December 15^th. If you would like to host a workshop and take advantage of this offer please feel free to contact me as I do have spots remaining for this time frame!

This week’s Pals Paper Arts Challenge is a colour challenge. We were asked to use Early Espresso, Soft Suede and River Rock. Hmmmm is anyone else thinking chocolate J I had thought about using “Eat Chocolate” but I try as much as I can to stay with current product and so I chose to go with the more vintage look of “Established Elegance” which I just received last week. I also decided to try out a new technique the “Brick Wall” with the collage that I stamped. Hope you like what I have come up with!

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

For the “Brick Wall” technique I followed along with the tutorial given by Birgit Edblom at Split Coast Stampers. I did however add my own little touch! After I had each brick piece cut out I sponged each edge with Soft Suede to give more defined edges before placing it on my card stock to mount.

(http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/brickwall/)

Thanks for stopping by!

Cracked Glass Birthday!

2011-11-02T13:11:00.000-07:00

Can you believe November is already here! Time is flying by and we are charging ahead to 2012. It was a bit of a dull day here in Ottawa so I decided that for this week’s Freshly Made Challenge I would go with bright colours J

I realized today that not only do I have one fabulous stamping friend having a birthday this month I have THREE!!! So that means birthday cards are in my crafting future. This one will be making its way to a very special gal on the East Coast.

I am always looking to try new techniques (split coast stampers have fabulous tutorials on their website) and so I decided to give the “cracked glass” effect a shot this afternoon. I was very happy with the results and hope you all enjoy it too.

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

Cracked Glass Technique...

· Stamp image

· Rub versa mark ink pad over the entire image to be embossed

· Apply first layer of clear embossing powder

· Heat with heat tool

· Apply at least 2-3 more layers of clear embossing powder (to add your subsequent layers you may apply powder when project is still heated or wait for it to dry and then apply another layer of versa mark ink)

· After all layers have been completed put project in freezer for a few moments to ensure it is cooled

· Bend paper until it forms cracks in many different spots

· Use a sponge and dark ink colour and rub over entire embossed surface to accentuate the cracks

· Use a tissue to rub off access ink from embossed surface.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mojo Welcome

2011-11-01T06:20:00.000-07:00

Candy anyone? How about a little eye candy J Here is my Mojo Monday card. This is the third and final “welcome” card to be given to my last new recruit!

As I mentioned I wanted to their cards to be personal to them and it just so happens that this special women is expecting her 2^nd child this spring a new niece or nephew for me!!! It felt fitting to use the colour theme from Stampin’ UP!’s Nursery Suite dsp and since we are not sure if there is a little princess or pirate in there I decided to keep it neutral!

As you can see my big shot played a huge role in this week’s card. I used many different elements to make this card pop. Stampin’ UP! has decided to extend their current promotion until November 11^th. If you are interested in getting a FREE BIG SHOT (or $125.00 in merchandise of your choosing) for only the cost of a starter kit $215.00, please feel free to contact me and join my team today! This is a $560.00 value for $215.00 (tax and shipping INCLUDED!).

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

Though I bought it months ago today was the first time I used my Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer Punch. I absolutely love it but have a little tip to help you get the best results possible when using this punch. You will want to make sure that you are standing and pressing down evenly on a very sturdy table.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sweet Dream Mashup!

2011-10-31T09:40:00.000-07:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY!!! Wish you all a safe and fun evening J We will be taking our little dino out this year for the first time trick or treating. He will be going with a little friend of his and he is very excited!!!

For this week’s Friday Mashup I continued onto my second “welcome” card for one of my new recruits. Our challenge was to reduce, reuse, and recycle. So I decided to recycle an old look, one of my favourite Stampin’ UP! dsp’s and colour theme Razzleberry Lemonade!!!

As I had mentioned in my last post I wanted to make each new recruits card something that had to do with them personally. Well this lovely lady is currently reading a fabulous series and I thought she may need a book mark so I decided to go with a card design with a detachable book mark! I stamped “sweet dreams” on the book mark because this particular series is bound to give you sweet dreams hehehe...

My Challenge:

1. Make a project using the "Sketch".

2. Or Make a project using "Recycled / Repurposed Materials or Supplies".

3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project "Using The Sketch and Recycled /Repurposed Materials or Supplies".

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

I found the idea for this fun card over at Split Coast Stampers (http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/bookmarkcard/). I do not have the Creatopia (the tool used to make the perforations along the card to detach the book mark) in my collection yet, but I do have the fantastic multipurpose tool put out by Stampin’ UP! which can do the very same thing! It comes as part of the Cutter Kit and I would be lost without it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Trying Something FRESH!

2011-10-29T17:48:00.000-07:00

Hope you are all having a spoooktacular Halloween Weekend! We have been to a few kids’ parties and got to show off our little dinosaur J His costume was a hit he absolutely LOVES it. I have a feeling he will be playing dress up well after the 31^st.

So I have decided to try something new this week and take part in the Freshly Made (http://freshlymadesketches.blogspot.com/) sketch challenge.

I was very lucky to recruit three new ladies this month with the fabulous promotion Stampin’ UP! offered (A FREE BIG SHOT or $125.00 IN PRODUCT – still time left offer good until October 31^st). I thought it appropriate to make a “welcome” card for each of the lovely ladies in a style which I thought best suited them. This is the first card I came up with for my first new recruit.

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

I love using the seam binding ribbon that Stampin’ UP! sell but the one thing I find tricky from time to time is how easily it frays. This time I decided to use that to my advantage and add it as an element on my card. I rolled adhesive on the back side of the ribbon starting at the point where I wanted the fray to end and then pulled on one piece of thread to give it that wispy look.

Thanks for stopping by!

3 Times Lucky!

2011-10-29T17:22:00.001-07:00

I have been chosen again this week as one of the “Glemettes” at Friday Mashup!!! Going to give it my best shot this week to “ROCK THE MASHUP” J

Radical Ribbon

2011-10-27T12:13:00.000-07:00

So I was sitting here designing the project for my next stampers club and had the idea I would combine our project with this week’s Pals Paper Arts Challenge. So my stampers following my blog will get a sneak peek of what they can expect next month (lucky them!!!).

This week we were asked to use ribbon as the element of style in your design. They had also mentioned keeping the project simple but once I got started I could not stop!!! I love Christmas and everything about it. I am not a huge fan of giving gift cards (as I LOVE to wrap presents) but when you are shopping for that person who has it all sometimes a gift card is just the thing. That does not mean you cannot “wrap” it though J

I choose to make a double pocket card, in the first pocket is a tag which adds a decorative element to your card and in the second pocket right behind the flower you slip in your gift card for that someone special.

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

After finishing my card I really wanted to add a wee bit of sparkle so I gave it a spray with my vanilla shimmer smooch spritz from Stampin’ UP!. My tip for the week is when using your smooch spritz it is a good idea to hold it far away from your project as you spray if you hold it too close (as I did ooppss) it will cause your stamped image to run a little and your card stock will appear to have a wet look to it. We live and we learn J

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday Bling!

2011-10-25T06:19:00.000-07:00

A very good stamping friend of mine has a birthday coming up so I thought it fitting to make this week’s Mojo Monday project all about her J She continues to inspire my creativity daily and I hope she knows just how special she is to me!!!

This week I chose to go with the colour palate from Stampin’ UP!’s Paisley Petals. It gave me 11 wonderful colours to choose from. It was a tough decision but after a lot of cutting and moving around I made it work.

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

I wanted to make the flowers on this card stick out so I cut them out and applied them to my card with Stampin’ dimensionals but it was still not quite enough. So I decided to add a little “sparkle”! Now I have been known to go a little crazy with glitter in the past but believe I have found a balance now hehe J. I used Stampin’ UP! Dazzling Diamonds glitter to add a little bling to this project.

Thanks for stopping by!

A Blast from the Past!

2011-10-24T09:56:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a fantastic week readers!!! I have 3 stampin’ events and will be blogging about all of the projects we will be working on J For now here is my Friday Mashup Challenge. I was unable to make the post for last week due to very busy work schedule (but I plan to complete that challenge also as the theme was something I was really interested in doing!!!).

This week we were asked to use a Belly Band for the first part of the challenge and if we wished to add some twine. I have to admit I had to dig into the vault for this project as I mentioned work has kept me quite busy and I didn’t want to miss out on another week!

This is a project I made with my Stampers Club. When Beyond the Garden (a Stampin’ UP! dsp) came out in the summer mini I could not wait to use it as this colour palate is soo me! In the same mini they released colour embossing powders to coordinate and I was sold, add to that a fantastic stamp set (Fabulous Florets) and it doesn’t get any better than that!

My Challenge:

1. Make a project featuring "A Belly Band".

2. Or Make a project using "Twine".

3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project "Using Twine with a "Belly Band".*

My Project:

Tiny Tips:

Ever get finger prints on your embossed projects? When heat embossing an easy way to eliminate such a problem is to use the Embossing Buddy sold by Stampin’ UP! Initially I did not as I was not sure what it was for really but after learning from another demonstrator and seeing the results for myself it made it to my MUST HAVE list!

Thanks for stopping by!

Comfort & Joy

2011-10-21T06:14:00.000-07:00

TGIF - I have had a busy but wonderful week J We have a fabulous weekend planned and hopefully you all do as well. So better late than not at all is what I say. For my Mojo Monday card I chose to go with one of the beautiful sets from the Stampin’ UP! Holiday Mini cattie, “Comfort & Joy”.

For the past several cards which I have made I have been using my DSP for colour inspiration but this time I chose to take a peek through my colour coach and went with the Sweet Set combo of Wild Wassabi, Marina Mist and Early Espresso. I felt it fit well with a holiday card and it is that time of year!

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

I felt the bird needed some colour after I finished heat embossing with the pewter embossing powder. I did not want to go ahead and colour it in with my Marina Mist stampin’ write marker because I felt that would be a little too much colour and might take away from the look of the embossing. So I decided to use Aqua Marker to give just a subtle touch of colour.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sugar, Spice and all things Nice!

2011-10-20T11:48:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon readers J When I am not taking care of our wonderful son or paper crafting I am out helping share in the joy of the birth of a baby with amazing families as their doula. I did not make the deadline for last week’s Pals Paper Arts Challenge as I attended not one but TWO births in the last two days!

I decided for this week’s challenge I would stick with the theme from last week (fall colours) while using the sketch from this week. I chose to go with the colour theme from Stampin’ UP!’s Spice Cake designer paper. This week’s sketch was a square card which is perfect for making a Gate Fold Card.

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

Baby wipes are not just for diaper changes!!!

· Fold your baby wipe in half and then fold it in half again. Place on a surface which will protect your craft table.

· Starting with your darkest colour of re-inker, start adding drops to your baby wipe.

· With you second re-inker, add more drops to your baby wipe.

· With the lightest coloured re-inker, fill in all the white spaces you have left on your baby wipe.

· Ink up the stamp using this makeshift inkpad.

· Stamp the image on cardstock.

For a more detailed example of this technique with pictures for each step pop over to the fabulous tutorial given by Beate Johns at Split Coast Stampers!

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/baby_wipe/

Ps: I also wanted to include a pic of my card from last week because I was very proud of it and wanted to share!

Thanks for stopping by!

Holy Moly Mojo!

2011-10-16T16:51:00.000-07:00

Hope you have all had a wonderful weekend. Mine has been a busy one and I am getting this post up just in time!

For my Mojo card this week I wanted to use a new stamp set which just found its way to my craft room “Patterned Party”. So I decided to go full out with loads of patterns on this card. I used the colour theme from the Stampin’ UP! designer paper Just Add Cake, so many fantastic colours to choose from.

The Sketch:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

If I am ever looking at a sketch thinking, “what colours should I use”... I do one of two things. I consult my colour coach (a fantastic tool listing all of the Stampin’ UP! colour options and the colours that complement them) or I take a look through my stack of designer papers as each of them have been matched with a variety of fabulous colours which all coordinate with each other, so even if you do not want to necessarily use a sheet of the DSP on that particular project you can rest assured the colours will work great together.

Thanks for stopping by!

2 for 2!!!

2011-10-13T18:59:00.000-07:00

Very excited to have been chosen again this week as one of the “Glemettes” at Friday Mashup. 2 for 2 yahoo!!! Looking forward to the new week’s challenge and hoping one of these times to “ROCK THE MASHUP” J

Stay tuned this weekend for a few new posts...

Halloween Mash UP!

2011-10-11T09:50:00.000-07:00

Hope all of my Canadian readers had a fantastic Thanksgiving Weekend. We were under the weather at my household this year so we will be having our turkey dinner this coming weekend yahoo!!!

For this week’s Friday Mashup we were asked to make a Halloween theme project, I have not made a Halloween card yet this season so I was very excited about this challenge.

I am a huge fan of Halloween it is such a fun holiday. When I was young my mother used to make all of our Halloween costumes by hand. Looking back I really appreciate her having done that for us (perhaps not at the time because children seldom appreciate half of what their parents do for them until they have grown up and started their own families)! So I have decided that I will do the same for our children. Our son is 2 ½ now and this year he will be a T-Rex. He is REALLY into dinosaurs at the moment so it will be perfect. Okay back to my card... J

My Challenge:

1. Make a "Halloween themed" Project.

2. Or Make a Project using the colors: "Black, Pumpkin Pie, Lucky Limeade & Concord Crush".

3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Halloween project using the Colors listed above".

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

I love using buttons on my cards and here is a cute little trick I learned from a good friend of mine, rather than using bakers twine or lined thread on your button why not use card stock? How you may ask? Just use your paper snips to cut a thin piece of the card stock of your choice (not too thin) and you will want to be able to tie it. As I learned this little technique takes some practise but now I use it all the time. On this week’s card I used two pieces of card stock, one I tied and cut on and angle and the second I used to curl to add a little more dimension to my card.

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Rich Razzleberry, Lucky Limeade and Pumpkin Pie OH MY!

2011-10-08T16:49:00.000-07:00

I would like to wish all of my Canadian readers a Happy Thanksgiving weekend. Hope that you will be surrounded by family, friends and love!

This week’s Pals Paper Arts Challenge was a colour challenge. We were asked to use the following colours: rich razzleberry, lucky limeade and pumpkin pie. This is one of those times when it is fantastic that all of the cardstocks, designer papers, inks, embellishments, etc. which Stampin’ UP! offer coordinate. It makes these colour challenges a lot of fun.

When I set out to make a card I do not always have a person in mind who will be receiving it, but this card will be finding its way to a very special person who is going through a rough time right now.

My Challenge:

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

There are times when I do not want to have much Whisper White left on a card and when that is the case there are a few things that I will do to add an extra splash of colour. This time around I chose to use my spritzer tool and Stampin’ Write Markers. Very simple technique to do and it will leave the recipient of the card thinking J

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Yippee!!!

2011-10-07T07:04:00.000-07:00

Good Morning Everyone!

Just a little note to let you all know that I was picked as the "Mashup Glamette" for the fall theme card I posted yesterday :) Very excited and cannot wait to tackle this week’s challenge... Stay tuned :)

Time to Mash it UP! fall style

2011-10-06T06:24:00.000-07:00

Fall is my absolute favourite time of year. I love everything about it! The smell in the air, the cool weather, the beautiful colours, Thanksgiving, Halloween – yep my favourite season of all.

So this week’s Friday Mashup Challenge was perfect for me. We were asked to create a fall inspired project with the use of many, many, MANY brads. At first I was unsure how I could incorporate so many brads into one card and then I got an idea... the dotted scallop ribbon punch of course.

“Day of Gratitude” has been one of my favourite stamp sets since it was released. I love the leaf stamp the best and though it is a wee bit time consuming to cut out each little leaf I feel it really adds the textured look that I was going for with this card.

My Challenge:

1. Make a "Fall themed" project.

2. Or Make a Project that uses "Brads...lots and lots of Brads".

3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a fun "Fall themed project that uses lots and lots of Brads".

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

Have you ever thought to yourself OUCH my fingers hurt after popping many, many, MANY brads through the card stock of your projects. Here is the answer to help make life much easier for you, the paper piercing tool and mat pack sold by Stampin' UP! Wish my husband and I had been aware of these products before assembling our wedding invitations years ago J

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Here to Brighten UP! Your Day

2011-10-04T11:20:00.000-07:00

The first Monday of each month marks the Mojo Madness Contest J Each week we all play for fun but the first sketch of each month the top picks will receive fantastic stamping prizes so this week I tried my best to pull out all the stop with a fun colour explosion and embellishments galore!

I am a big fan of the new 3/8” Ruffled Ribbon that Stampin’ UP! brought out this year. It is a very light weight ribbon and very easy to work with. I have to admit I am not the best when it comes to tying bows for my cards but this ribbon makes it easy.

I wanted to go with a designer paper that used as many of the new in colours as possible so my choice was obvious Berry Blossoms. It uses wisteria wonder, calypso coral and lucky limeade all in one fantastic pack!

The Mojo Sketch:

My Mojo Card:

Tiny Tips:

When you want to add a background stamp to your main card but do not want it to be the focal point a fantastic way to do that would be to use the same colour ink pad as your cardstock. Here I have used Lucky Limeade and it blends nicely into the background without taking attention away from the rest of the card.

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"Raise it UP!"

2011-10-03T19:09:00.000-07:00

Good evening everyone. It was a rainy day here in Ottawa but we are not going to let that gets us down are we? I don’t think so! Time for some PPA fun J

This week we were asked to “raise it up” for the Pals Paper Arts Challenge. Heat embossing is a fantastic way to add that Zaazaazoom to your projects!

I have been holding on to my Cherry Cobbler embossing powder since my pre-order when the new 2011-2012 Stampin’ UP! Idea Book and Catalogue was released in July and with the holiday season upon us now is the time to crack it open!

My Challenge:

“Pals Paper Arts wants you to raise it up this week! Add charm and elegance to your design with embossing! Grab your heat gun and embossing powder to raise an image, a sentiment - or both! Heat embossing is such an easy way to add the WOW factor to your card!”

My Card:

Tiny Tips:

When I want the sentiment of the card to literally bounce off the page I use Stampin’ Dimensionals to raise the image.

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Herringbone Holiday Mojo!

2011-10-02T10:16:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend. It has been a very busy one for me. One of the highlights being a gathering with a few family and friends on Saturday to celebrate World Card Making Day!

The week has flown by my Mojo Monday post is going to be making it in just before the deadline this week! I have been taking the time to rework my blog and also get a Facebook Fan Page underway, so it has been a busy one.

The weather has started to change here in Ottawa and that means... Christmas is on it’s way!!! Yes I know we also have Thanksgiving and Halloween before then but I just could not help myself and jumped into one of my Christmas paper packs this week for my mojo post.

A close friend of mine shared this fantastic new technique with me called the Herringbone Technique and I just couldn’t wait to give it a try! Please feel free to email me for details on how to use this technique on your next card J

The Mojo Sketch:

My Mojo Card:

Tiny Tips:

When using a dark card stock for the main card base it is always a good idea to insert a piece of whisper white card stock to give yourself a nice surface to write your message. If you want to take it one step further you can also decorate the piece with a stamped image and any other techniques you think would finish off the look of your card!

Thank you for stopping by!