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Monday, October 31, 2011

Sweet Dream Mashup!

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!  

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Trying Something FRESH!

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 31st.

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 31st). 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!

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


Thursday, October 27, 2011

Radical Ribbon

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!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Birthday Bling!

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!



 

Monday, October 24, 2011

A Blast from the Past!

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!  

Friday, October 21, 2011

Comfort & Joy

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!    

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Sugar, Spice and all things Nice!

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!

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!

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Holy Moly Mojo!

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!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

2 for 2!!!

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...

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Halloween Mash UP!

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.


Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Rich Razzleberry, Lucky Limeade and Pumpkin Pie OH MY!

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

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, October 7, 2011

Yippee!!!

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 :)


Thursday, October 6, 2011

Time to Mash it UP! fall style

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

Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Here to Brighten UP! Your Day

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.

Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, October 3, 2011

"Raise it UP!"

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.


Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Herringbone Holiday Mojo!

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!