Monthly Archives: December 2010

bittersweet

Goodbyes are bittersweet aren’t they? The one thing that stays the same about life is that it’s always changing. Is that how it goes? While I’m not really sure where I’m going with my creative dreams, I know that after almost 6 years of hostessing the WT challenge on Splitcoaststampers.com, it’s time to make a change. I’ve loved this challenge and it’s hard to give it up. Sometimes you just know when it’s time to make a creative change. The “bitter” is it’s hard to say goodbye and the “sweet” is a little more free time on Thursday mornings. It was always a bit chaotic trying to post the challenge and get five kids out of the house at the same time.

I hope you’ll join me for my last challenge. You’ll find the challenge details, my profuse thanks and the introduction of the next WT hostess HERE.

You Make My Heart Happy

This card is for those who’ve played along each week with the challenge. You have truly made my heart happy. Thank you!

Part of today’s challenge is to try something new. My something new was creating a stamped and misted background on Sticky Back Canvas. I love this stuff. It has the most wonderful texture and you can do so many things with it. Here I stamped it with the Hero Arts Cling Music Background in Coffee Archival Ink by Ranger. After heat setting with my heat gun I misted it with three different colors of Glimmer Mist (see supply list for details). Some of the spray was flicked on for a splotchy and artistic look.

The other part of today’s challenge is to combine at least three of the previous WT challenges from over the years together in one design. At first I counted 9 challenges but as I look closer I can find at least another two on top of that. I love to mix it up.

Quick Tip: If you want to staple an element in the center of your design where a regular stapler won’t reach, just staple it before adhering to your project.

Supplies: kraft cardstock by Bazzill, Claudine Hellmuth Sticky Back Canvas, sewing machine, Coffee Shop, Sweet Clover and Patina Glimmer Mist, Cling Music Background and Anytime Messages stamp set by Hero Arts, twine, flower by Prima, bird image by Craft Secrets, rhinestone flourish by Zva Creative, wood bingo motif and leaf trinket pins by Maya Road, Coffee Archival Ink by Ranger

Happy creating!

a little joy tag and a whole lot of snow

Has anyone been following the 12 Tags of Christmas? Have you been to the CLASSroom to check out the 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Touch? They are so fun and festive and a great way to try out new techniques.

This little JOY Tag is packed full of inky techniques and yesterday I had a wonderful time putting my own feminine spin on things. I hope you’ll join me today in the CLASSroom for the step outs. Also, don’t forget to stop by the CLASSroom each day and leave a comment. Ellen has some wonderful goodies to give away.

My last post was titled for the birds. Little did I know how apt that would be. We’ve been having record amounts of snow here. School is now closed for the third day straight.

And. it. is. STILL. Snowing.

Unbelievable!

One thing the snow has brought us though is many many birds to our new feeder. It’s on the porch so some of the birds were a bit shy but no longer are. We now have two pair of cardinals and they are so gorgeous.

The kids are enjoying the snow immensely. I’ve been trying to get some pictures but we have wide open spaces here, all you see is white and it’s hard to see in a photo exactly how much snow we have. We did have record amounts for one 24 hour period. Yesterday the total was up to 80 cm and it’s still snowing so for those of you who don’t do metric, I’m thinking it’s been at least a yard since Sunday.

I’m pretty excited. It looks like we’re going to have a very white Christmas.

Thanks for stopping by…

it’s for the birds

Thea weather today is for the birds. Actually I don’t think they like it much either as they are huddled up on the bird feeder outside trying to eat and stay warm. We’re all staying warm in the house as school buses have been canceled today and therefore….no school. There go my plans of getting lots done as I had great ambitions of getting a lot of projects created today. I’m still hoping to get more than a few done but we’ll see how it goes.

Today’s card is a simple one using some odds and ends and rub-ons. I love this bird image and I’ve placed on the front of this Maya Road library card pocket.

Supplies: kraft cardstock by Bazzill, Cappella patterned paper by Basic Grey, Tiny Attacher by Advantus, twine, rub-ons by Kaiser Craft, Library Pocket by Maya Road, flower by Prima, white pigment ink by Clearsnap

Have a beautiful day!

Christmas Town Cards

I think perhaps I should call this past week, “card week”. I’ve shared 9 cards so far and two today makes 11. Now that doesn’t often happen so I hope you’ve enjoyed them.

I’m finishing up the week with a couple more holiday card designs. It’s a beautiful winter day here so I’m enjoying the snow from my windows and trying to finish up writing my holiday cards. I’m feeling pretty relaxed and festive so what a great combination.

The following card designs are two more Lily Bee cards using the Christmas Town line. I love unique Christmas color combos and this line is perfect for going the traditional route or changing things up a little.

Supplies: kraft cardstock by Bazzill, corner rounder, Christmas Town papers, stickers and rub-ons by Lily Bee Design, sewing machine, twine, button by Jenni Bowlin, rhinestones by Zva Creative, Linen Ribbon by May Arts, chipboard ornament by Melissa Frances

Have a simple wonderful weekend!

oh so sweet

One of my favorite lines released this year has to be the Sweetness line by Pink Paislee. Every time I pick it up to design it makes me so happy.

Imagine my delight when I was asked by Paper Crafts magazine to join four other designers for a little challenge and found out we’d each be using the Sweetness line. I was thrilled. Thanks so much Pink Paislee and Paper Crafts!

Each of the designers were asked to create a card with the Sweetness line and each was given a different occasion. What a fun way to wrap up Card Creations: Favorite Occasions Week.If you haven’t seen this special issue, it’s loaded with fabulous ideas for all your favorite occasions.

Here’s a peek at the card I created. I hope you’ll stop by the Paper Crafts Connection and check out the many different looks from this one line. The cards are stunning and I know you’ll enjoy all the different styles.

As for me, I just couldn’t put away these beautiful papers without creating more designs.

XOXO Sweetness Card

The Sweetness canvas strips are so gorgeous and I love the added texture. I’m totally hooked.

Wishing you a sweet, sweet day!

i wish

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Isn’t that the truth? We all have things we wish for. Peace, happiness, time are some we can all use a little more of.

I wish I could do it all but the reality is, that I just can’t.

Many of you know that I created the Ways to Use It Challenge on Splitcoaststampers.com a long time ago. I can hardly believe we’re at challenge #299 and it’s been almost 6 years. It’s been a joy, an inspiration, and a wonderful way to be part of the SCS community. I’ve made some wonderful friends, pushed my creativity, learned many things. It’s also been a very large commitment and after spending most of 2010 considering it, I’ve decided that WT300 will be my last challenge. I know I’m going to miss it but it is time.

Today’s card uses the sentiment wish paired up with butterflies and some fun inky, altered papers and letters. It was fun to get my fingers inky again. This card is for today’s Ways to use it challenge and the challenge is letters. A monogram, letter stamps, chipboard letters and you can even spin it into written letters so it should be a fun and broad challenge. I hope you’ll find the time to play along with us here.

Butterfly Wish

I was wonderful getting oh so inky for this card. The beautiful patterned paper is from the House of 3 line from Pink Paislee and comes as a beautiful white paper with embossing. I love how you can ink it to whatever color you wish and make it your own. The butterflies are also punched from this paper and inked.

As for the letter part of the challenge, I’ve used some beautiful big Pink Paislee chipboard letters and then altered them. They are stamped with the Hero Arts Friend Definition stamp for a unique look.

Supplies: cardstock by Bazzill, patterned paper and chipboard letters by Pink Paislee, Classic butterfly punch by Martha Stewart, Tumbled Glass, Frayed Burlap and Crushed Olive Distress Ink by Ranger, Coffee Archival Ink by Ranger, Friend Definition stamp by Hero Arts, Twine, Tiny Attacher by Advantus, Leaf Trinket Pins by Maya Road, Coffee Shop Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels

Happy creating!

6 sketches & a digital file

Do you like sketches?  If so, I thought I’d share the sketches that I drew up for the previous 6 Mitten Weather cards. You can use them to create Christmas cards or get creative and put your own spin on the sketches.

Another thing I have to share with you today is the digital file from my Noel King Card published in the Nov/Dec issue of Paper Crafts magazine. this card can be found on page 47. I’ve had a few requests on how to do this so I’ll share the basics on how I created it. For those of you who don’t want to bother with creating it yourself, you’re welcome to download the version below for printing off yourself.

To create this text art you’ll need to use Photoshop, Photoshop Elements or another graphics program. I created mine in PSE and here are the basic steps…

  • create a new 4×4 inch blank file at 300 dpi
  • go to view and then select grid to help you layout the project
  • creating a separate text layer for each main letter spell out N, O, E, L and arrange them into a square shape. add color as desired
  • Simplify or rasterize layers so that you can widen letters to form a square
  • add smaller type layers for the black sentiment additions
  • save and print as desired

Happy creating!