Yellow Dog Greetings

Way Hey Hey ...

2012-01-28T09:58:00.005-05:00

One of the challenges on the Scraptures online crop last weekend was to make a music themed page.
As soon as I read it I knew what I wanted to do...a page with some of my Great Big Sea tickets.
Then I remembered I had the autographed poster from the show in Hamilton in 2010...so I added that as well...and here's what I came up with...thanks for lookin'

Another stide step card

2012-01-22T12:14:00.004-05:00

I had so much fun yesterday making a side step card for one of the Scraptures challenges, I decided to make another one today as a sample for a Valentine card class tomorrow.

Here's my second attempt at a side step card, the flower isn't completely dry yet from spritzing, so it's not as "fluffy" as I would like it to be.

The one I made yesterday I reversed the folding so the larger side ended up on the left, I will save that one for a left handed friend :)

Mmmmmm cupcakes!!! (ATC)

2012-01-22T11:06:00.002-05:00

I am hosting a cupcake ATC on Swap-Bot this month

I knew I wanted to use my favourite colour combination - pink and brown - for the ATCs

I love love love the SU cupcake punch which I used for the cupcake top and bottom, icing sprinkles and cherries

I used my crimper to give some textutre to the bottom of the cupcake and to the piece of brown cardstock that goes across the centre of the ATC

These are heading out to my swap partners in Lake Stevens Washington and Melbourne Australia

And now for something completely different....

2012-01-21T16:22:00.003-05:00

I also finished off a pom pom scarf today.

I hope Niblet will be proud of me!

I love knitting with this wool, it's so soft and fluffy...like a unicorn...I COULD DIE...ok sorry, Despicable Me reference there...

Anyway, this is the second pom pom scarf I have made, the first one, came out a bit shorter, I knitted three stitches between each pom pom, this time around I only did two and am happier with the outcome.

Thanks for lookin'

Young at Heart Challenge

2012-01-21T16:07:00.003-05:00

I am on a roll today with the Scraptures online crop challenges!

YAY!! Another scrapbook layout challenge.

For the "young at heart" challenge, I used this picture of my dad who to me is the epitome of young at heart.

When my brother and I were growing up, he was always the one causing trouble (breaking windows with snowballs).

I love seeing my Dad with my nephew, being a very hands on Grandpa...taking him camping, fishing, playing games, being silly...all the things my brother and I enjoyed growing up.

Part of this challenge was to incorporate squares.

16 candles challenge

2012-01-21T16:02:00.004-05:00

16 candles challenge, a movie from the 80's, my decade...
LMBO...I HAD to do this challenge.
As soon as I read it, I knew exactly what picture I wanted to use.
Hope it gives you a giggle

Some Like It Hot Challenge

2012-01-21T15:58:00.002-05:00

Next challenge, another scrapbook page.

This one was themed "Some Like It Hot"...perfect for a cold January Saturday...

I used a picture from the first cruise DH and I took in 2009.

This was our first stop on the cruise, Princess Cays in the Bahamas....the cruise line's private island...it was absolutely beautiful!!

Beautiful girls challenge

2012-01-21T15:53:00.002-05:00

The next challenge I attempted this morning was a "beautiful girls" themed scrapbook layout.

I am loving getting back into scrapbooking again, those Scraptures ladies are a good influence!!

For this challenge I couldn't think of any more beautiful girls than Candice, Holly, Alley and Carole, who were all bridesmaids in my wedding.

These girls were troopers, Holly was 8 1/2 months pregnant, it was March, snowing and they all braved the cold withough complaint to get some great wedding pictures.

The picture I used on this layout was before we headed to the Ancaster Old Mill, standing beside our big SUV limo. Kyle insisted on riding in the limo with the girls, and I wanted my Dad by my side too.

Online crop weekend at Scraptures!!

2012-01-21T15:49:00.002-05:00

I have been having soooooo much fun today participating in the online crop over on the Scraptures Forums. I am a new member of the forum and the ladies have made me feel very welcome...awwwww....warm fuzzies are nice on a cold winter Saturday!

So I've been working on challenges since about 9 this morning and it's now almost 4:00, so I thought I would post some of the things I have been working on.

The theme of the online scrap is "oldies but goodies"

The first challenge I did was an "affair to remember" step card, soooooo fun, I have never made one before!

12 months of Coasters - PIC HEAVY

2012-01-19T15:30:00.007-05:00

A few people have asked for pics of all 12 months of the coaster calendar...so here they are...

Thanks for lookin'

SNOW!!

2012-01-19T12:54:00.002-05:00

It's starting to look a lot like....oh wait...too late for that!
We are finally getting some snow!!! Other areas of Southern Ontario have had their fair share of snow already this winter, but here in Hamilton / Burlington, not much to speak of.
Here's the view from my office right now...

Valentine cards...

2012-01-19T12:42:00.003-05:00

Yep I am a bit early on the Valentine cards, I know...but I am gonna be overseas for a week in Scotland hangin' out with my family and celebrating my Nan's 90th birthday YAY!!!!
Doing two Valentine card classes next week, so needed to get my butt in gear.
I saw these two cards on Jenn Tinline's blog / newsletter and thought they were adorable.
Here are my versions of Jenn's cards:

I love that the owls are gazing at the moon in this one

I used 5 different embossing folders on this one to get a patchwork look

And if you notice that these pictures are better than ones I have posted recently....the ladies over on Scraptures gave me some picture taking tips (natural light and no flash)

gift card holders

2012-01-19T12:21:00.002-05:00

Today is the last day at work for our most recent OPS student.
I was asked to make a gift card holder as part of her gift.
I love this template, and it's not even made from a toilet paper roll!
Here are the two holders I made, using SU Spice Cake DP
The flowers are a la Jen Hoover, she showed me how to make these a while ago

coaster calendar

2012-01-15T21:59:00.004-05:00

I finished off my scrapbook this afternoon of the 2009 cruise (a whole scrapbook in a weekend...not bad huh??? Helps that our computer crashed and I don't really have a whole lotta photos to use).

Once that was done, I started another project I have been thinking about for a few days.

Sherry posted a really cute calendar she made on Stampin Scrappin Roadtrippers and Deb was kind enough to send me the templates for the 2012 calendar.

I have a bunch of coasters that I have had for a while and have never done anything with...so I broke out my Spice Cake DP from SU and made a calendar from six coasters.

You all know how much I love love love to shred the edges of paper, and with three layers for each month, it took me some time to shred and ink up all the paper, all in all I am quite pleased with how it came out. Not sure if I want to add some more small embellishments or if I am going to keep it as is...will sleep on it and decide tomorrow.

Here are the first three months of the coaster calendar...thanks for lookin :)

Sorry about the dull pictures, I either need a new camera or to figure out a better spot to take pictures...

Look at me go!!

2012-01-15T09:52:00.003-05:00

The ladies over at the Scraptures forums have been a great inspiration and motivation for me this weekend

I have been seriously delinquent in my scrapbooking since I started making cards (5 years ago!!)

This weekend I did a 12 x 12 scrapbook page of #1 phew's grade 8 grad & did7 pages in a scrapbook from a 2009 cruise!

I am on a roll!!

Here is the page of # 1 phew's graduation, sorry the picture isn't very good, the page is too big to fit in my scanner...

Video tour of my craft room

2012-01-09T22:04:00.004-05:00

Pay it Forward Valentine Ornaments

2012-01-07T17:58:00.003-05:00

Yes, I am still making these star ornaments, I blame my friend Wendy, she got me hooked on them cause she gave me one in 2010. That's my story and I am stickin to it!!
Deb started a pay it forward game, where someone sends you something they made, and in turn you send something to the five next people that you made...and so on...and so on
So I thought it might be fun to make these little ornaments for the people that I am sending to

Here's the outside, closed:

And here's what it looks like open:

First ATCs of 2012!!

2012-01-07T17:54:00.004-05:00

I made 15 of these Valentine themed ATCs today, 14 for the SSR Love is in the Air swap, and 1 for a Swap-Bot Valentine ATC swap

The sentiment is clear embossed and then inked up with cherry cobbler and soft suede ink, I used a baby wipe to remove the extra ink from the letters

Thanks for lookin!

One last pic for this year....

2011-12-31T12:29:00.002-05:00

Here's a pic of me and #1 phew on Christmas day at mum & dad's

I made him sit down for the picture, it's the only way he doesn't tower over me

At 14 he is 6 foot 2, at almost 41 I am 5 foot 3 (if I stretch)

I "heart" my family

2011-12-31T12:22:00.004-05:00

So here we are on the last day of 2011...how will you be ringing in the new year?

I will be hanging out for a few hours at least, with these crazy people....my family

This pic was taken at #1 phew's grade 8 graduation this past summer (thanks Alley for sending it to me!!)

Not sure how he convinced grandma and his dad to do the vulcan sign (is that what that is???) but there you have it...

So from left to right, here are the people I love most - cousin Josh, my short little mum, my slightly taller dad, cousin Alley (who gets married in 2o12!! YAY!!!), my bro and #1 phew

New Years Resolutions

2011-12-30T10:19:00.002-05:00

So here we are on the last Friday of 2011
2012 is less than 48 hours away
What am I going to do differently next year??
I've decided 2012 is going to be the year of ridding myself of all things uneccessary...whatever they may be
I am still contemplating giving up facebook (again) but it's really the only way I communicate with some family members overseas...so I am still thinking on that one
To get a head start on my resolution, I started today by deleting my pinterest account - I never did get the whole appeal of that...if I don't use actual bulletin boards at home why do I need a virtual one?? So that's gone.
Next, I deleted my Random Rants and Rambles blog, I haven't updated it since mid October, do I really NEED 2 separate blogs??? Nahhhhh...so that's gone too.
Not a bad start to the cleanse :) and its still 2011

Happy Post Christmas!!!

2011-12-28T11:23:00.005-05:00

So Christmas is over for another year....362 days til next Christmas for those who are counting :)
(you're welcome for that reminder)...now on to counting down the last 4 days of 2011...

I am happy with my crafty progress over the holidays, made all my own Christmas cards again this year, as well as a big order for a United Way fundraiser for work and a few smaller orders for friends and family.

Last year I participated in a handmade Christmas ornament exchange on Stampin Canada, Wendy was my partner and she made me the COOLEST paper ornament I had ever seen. It looked like a small book all folded up, then you open it and it makes a star. I wanted so badly to learn how to make one!

Wendy brought it to our SU downline Christmas party, and then our SU upline (the lovely ML) sent us a video on how to make it. Here's a link if you are interested:
http://www.dawnsstampingthoughts.net/2011/12/paper-star-ornament-video-.html

So I made a bunch for Christmas for family....and then this one for my cousin-to-be Mike who shares my love for zombies and skulls, I think everyone should have at least one skull themed ornament on their tree :)

Here is the ornament folded up / closed:

And here is is open:

Doily revisited

2011-12-16T14:05:00.001-05:00

I mentioned in a previous post that I remade the doily Christmas card in black ink, and liked it better than the one that we made in cherry cobbler ink.

Here is the black one, which do you like better??

Careful what you ask for....

2011-12-16T14:02:00.002-05:00

Someone asked me to make a Christmas card in the colours of the Jamaican flag...cool!!! I love a challenge!! First thing I had to do was figure out what a Jamaican flag looks like...turns out it looks like this:

Here's the Christmas card I made based on the flag:

Send Christmas cards to our troops overseas!

2011-12-11T09:43:00.003-05:00

I will be sending off a few cards this weekend to troops overseas.
I write a note and tuck it inside, but leave the card blank so they can use it to send home to loved ones.
If you would like to send a card to our troops, here's the address:

Any Canadian Forces Member
Op Attention
Kabul
PO Box 5140 Stn Forces
Belleville ON
K8N 5W6

More Christmas Countdown

2011-12-11T09:35:00.003-05:00

Starting to think with 14 sleeps left til Christmas I should concentrate less on making cards and more on shopping...well maybe this week...until then...here's more cards :)

Doily in cherry cobbler (from SAS with ML), I remade this one doing the doily in black and liked it even better

Loved this one we made at the SAS so much I bought the stamp set, Carole redid this one in green and it looked great!

Two variations of a card we made at Stamparama, I like it in purple, a non traditional Christmas colour (and I love anything purple), but I do really like it in the green as well

Countdown to Christmas Continued

2011-12-11T09:19:00.004-05:00

I have been delinquent in uploading Christmas cards to the blog

We made close to 170 cards for a United Way fundraiser at work, so that took a few weeks to get done, luckily I had some help

So here are a few Christmas cards I have been working on the past little while...

3-D Christmas tree using the pennant punch from SU:

Snowman shaker:

Two variations on a snowman card from another snowman card made during a SAS with ML

Lovely as a Tree Reflection

2011-12-10T11:17:00.005-05:00

We learned this reflection technique at Stamparama this fall...I thought it was so fun and different

You stamp your original image on the cardstock, then again on a piece of acetate, line it up and press down to get the reflection, lovely as a tree is a perfect stamp for this, looks like the trees are reflected off the water / ice

Christmas Countdown

2011-11-24T10:23:00.003-05:00

One month today is Christmas Eve!
Time to get all those Christmas cards in the mail!
I have family overseas in England, Scotland and Australia...so better send those off first!
Here are the first two of the five cards we made in my Christmas Card Clinic last night...will post the other three later on.

This one is supposed to look like a wreath on a door.

Here's the second card ~ please note the lovely bow made with the bow maker I bought at Stamparama :)

How Rude!!

2011-11-19T17:57:00.002-05:00

Wenchie is hosting a "How Rude" card swap on Stampin Canada this month.

Here's my contribution

Image was a free digi, sentiment from Graphicat Stamps

Fancy Folds part 3

2011-11-16T11:25:00.003-05:00

Here's my first attempt at a tri fold card (I think that's what it's called).

Again, this is a card I have always wanted to make, but was intimidated to try it It's really easy! The most time consuming part was cutting all the DP for the different sections.

This is the third card we'll be making in the fancy folds class this week, none of the cards are embellished, wanted to focus more on the techniques.

Here's the card from the front:

And from the top:

Fancy Folds Part 2

2011-11-16T11:16:00.005-05:00

At Stamparama in October we made a holiday themed never ending card I thought it would be fun to make a birthday one in our class this week

I posted the video of the never ending card here:
http://yellowdoggreetings.blogspot.com/2011/11/i-made-video.html

Here are some pics of the cards as it's folded:

Fancy folds part 1

2011-11-16T11:03:00.003-05:00

I call this starfold card "An Ode to Gail"...Gail makes the most amazing cards!
If you haven't seen her works of art, you should check out her blog here:
http://jackpineridge.blogspot.com

For the World Card Making Day blog hop in October, Gail made a spectacular starfold card...I wanted to make one ever since I saw it.
Here's Gail's starfold card:
http://jackpineridge.blogspot.com/2011/10/hey-all-canucks.html

Spectacular huh??? Ya, I know, you're gonna be disappointed now when you see mine! It took me near forever to figure out the template, I am seriously math impaired, particularly it seems when it comes to triangles!

Anyway here's my crappy first attempt at a starfold card a la Gail, now that I have the measurements figured out, the next one will be better (maybe).

Ohhhhhhh look what I got!!

2011-11-16T10:32:00.001-05:00

I was at Michael's yesterday picking up some stuff I needed (yes needed) All the Halloween merchandise was 90% off...and look what I found!!

I am bummed there were only 2 left, but super excited they were only 49 cents each!!

Snowman Shaker ATC

2011-11-09T20:58:00.004-05:00

If I haven't said so already...I love love love the new shaker frames from Stampin Up.

They are not so practical for mailing (thicker = extra postage) but they are sooooo cute!

I made this snowman shaker ATC for a quick ATC swap on Swap-Bot (this one is headed to Ottawa).

I love that the little microbeads look like snowballs in his tummy! The snowman is from the Button Buddies stamp set - too cute!

Dog ATC

2011-11-09T20:53:00.003-05:00

You likely are aware that I live with two big yellow hairy beasties (hence the name of the blog).

Ruby and Gordon keep me warm at night, keep me company when I am sick and are a never ending source of laughter and funny stories...so when I saw there was a dog themed ATC swap on Swap-Bot I signed up (I know you are surprised).

At first I thought, Ohhhhhh I will make a yellow dog ATC, but that might not be the choice of my partner (this ATC is headed to Finland!) so I decided on something a little more generic.

I made a video!!!

2011-11-09T20:32:00.002-05:00

I made a short little video of my never-ending card
I even fashioned a holder out of a baby wipe container to hold the blackberry while I filmed the card (as you can see in the video, even with two hands I had trouble with the card on the second go through).
If you are interested in checking out the never-ending card video (all 15 seconds of it), here's the link (I even added some music for ya):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flPT01MJ5RA

Because I am a dummy & Ter is too nice to say so...

2011-11-06T12:05:00.002-05:00

Over on SC, Ter is hosting a gold / silver Christmas card swap. With this swap, you send one extra card and she is going to mail them overseas to the troops.
So when you do this, you can't use glitter on the cards, it could get on their uniforms, reflect and perhaps give away their position - not good.
So I made my cards, sent them off to Ter (weeks ago) and only figured out TODAY that I used silver glitter on ALL of them....DUH
And of course, Ter is too nice to say that I am a dummy....lol...so this morning I made a variation of the card, used silver twine and NO GLITTER
I like this little 3-D tree, its easy to make, 4 punches of the pennant punch, stick em together and voila...Christmas tree.

Variation on a theme...

2011-11-06T12:03:00.002-05:00

I liked the owl ATCs that I made this morning so much, I decided to use it as a template for the SC November 1-1 swap.

Here's the full sized card based on the owl ATC.

Really - I need help....

2011-11-06T12:00:00.002-05:00

I think I have an ATC addiction...joined three more swap-bot ATC swaps this morning...

One of the last ones I joined was a stamped owl ATC swap...I love the owl punch and coordinating stamps, so I wanted to use that.

Paper pieced his chest to match...so cute...another ATC for the binder :)

WHAT?!!?? More ATCs???

2011-11-05T11:31:00.007-04:00

Yep...more ATCs, I just can't stop myself from making them

OK so maybe I wouldn't have to make so many if I stopped joining ATC swaps...

I joined three separate Christmas ATC swaps, so made 14 of those this morning and one last Halloween ATC swap (made three of those).

Here's what I came up with - thanks for lookin'...

Christmas shaker ATC for SC swap:

Variation on the ATC above for Swap-Bot swap:

Swap-Bot Halloween ATC Swap...1 for the road:

(sorry about the pics, home computer died so I have to take pics with the BlackBerry for the time being)

Bat Treats!!

2011-10-30T11:15:00.005-04:00

Got to spend time with some special friends this weekend . Jason, Sue, Abby & Sarah were visiting from California.

Since I won't get to see the girls for trick or treating, I made them these little bat treats filled with chocolates and Halloween pencils. Cute & super easy to make.

Here's a link to the bat template if you want to give it a try:

http://smm_media.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/bat-treat-holder-template.pdf

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-30T11:01:00.009-04:00

Here are the three cards I made for Halloween this year
Dracula - all punched! Super easy to make:

Embossed medallion (note the skulls on the DP in the background LOVE IT):

Spooky rosette (don't think I will be making too many of those...fiddly fiddly):

Thanks for lookin' & have a SPOOKTACULAR Halloween!!!

Someone save me from myself...

2011-10-09T10:01:00.002-04:00

I joined another ATC swap on Swap-Bot!

Partners were assigned this morning, and yep, I got up early to start working on my ATCs

I knew when I signed up that I wanted to make something with the Stampin Up owl punch (I freakin love that punch!!!)

For this swap we were assigned two partners, so I made three ATCs, two to swap and one to keep. My swap ATCs will be on their way to Florida this afternoon (lucky ATCs!!)

No dogs in the craft room

2011-10-08T15:38:00.003-04:00

I have a "no dogs in the craft room" rule.
This rule has been put into place for good reason and applies more so to one yellow dog than the other as HE is more prone to stealing / destroying things when HE comes in there

Did I tell you about the time I found a chewed up stamp in the backyard??? Really - HE steals from the craft room!!

So, I was working away on ATC's today, turned around to get something and found this

Now, keep in mind, this dog weighs over 100 pounds and is not quiet at the best of times

And don't let the slippers fool you, they were already there, HE did NOT fetch them!

It's a good thing he's so cute :)

Even more ATC love!

2011-10-08T15:30:00.003-04:00

Made 10 ATC's today for the Autumn ATC Swap over on SC - Wendy has been kind enough to host the ATC swaps for the last several months. This month's theme is "Pumpkins and Goblins" so of course I had to go the Halloween route!!

I really can't get enough of ATC's right now, I am making them for swaps on both SC and Swap-Bot

Here's the group of ATC's together - all ten of them

And here's a closer look at one up close:

Say thanks to our troops...

2011-10-06T12:29:00.002-04:00

So...in the aftermath of World Card Making Day and the fantastic CANADIAN blog hop that I participated in...I sat looking at my card (see post below) and thought to myself...I really do like this card...what am I going to do with it now???

For some reason this very Canadian card made me think of my stampin friend Gigi and her son who is in the armed forces and recently returned from overseas...that got me to thinking about how grateful I am for the hard work of our armed forces all over the world.

Well?? HELLO! Earth to Donna...that's what I should to with this card...send it to our troops, let them know that someone back home is thinking of them...

So I did a bit of research this morning and found a website with addresses to send a card to "Any Canadian Forces Member" here's the link if you are interested:
http://www.mdn.ca/site//Commun/message/addresses-2-eng.asp

So my Canadian card will be making its way overseas to Afghanistan soon to a member of the Canadian Forces, how cool is that??? Hopefully with a bit of time, I can make some more and send them on their way...

World Card Making Day CANADIAN Blog Hop

2011-09-30T19:31:00.006-04:00

Hello World Card Making Day CANADIAN Blog Hop hoppers!!!

Welcome! Glad you found your way to my little blog :)

For this CANADIAN blog hop, I wanted to something patriotic to showcase our RED & WHITE pride...what could be more Canadian than the maple leaf and moose?? OK...well maybe a beaver...but I will leave that to someone else.

So here's my World Card Making Day CANADIAN Blog Hop card, thanks for stopping by!

Next on your blog hopping adventure you are off to visit Annie at http://creativeunwinding.blogspot.com/

If you arrived at my blog accidently and want to start the blog hop from the beginning, there are two groups, one starts here with Tara at http://creativeaccents.blogspot.com/

The other starts here with Nicole at http://www.canadiannickelscrapn.blogspot.com/

Happy hopping and Happy World Card Making Day!

More ATC love :)

2011-09-24T13:08:00.002-04:00

Here's another ATC I made this morning

This one is for the Autumn ATC swap on Swap-Bot

Can ya tell I am trying to use up the stash of DP I have????

I was surprised how nice this Halloween DP looked with the new SU colours (wisteria wonder and lucky limeade)

ATC love...

2011-09-24T12:41:00.003-04:00

I joined a few more ATC swaps on SC and Swap-Bot

Here's the ATC I made for the Halloween swap on Swap-Bot

The brads are very cool! I love them, my friend Judy brought them back for me from a scrapbook store in Paris!! (as in France!!)

You're my cup of tea...

2011-09-18T13:22:00.004-04:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I love love love tea!
Tea granny - that's me - and yeah, I likely do get the love for tea from my grannies :)
So when Ter posted a tutorial for a starbucks inspired cup card...how could I resist?

If you want to try it out - here's a link to the tutorial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oouz-j6i0tY&feature=player_embedded

And here are the two cards I made (I scanned them on a yellow piece of cardstock so the white lid would show in the picture). You can also use these as gift card holders! I know I would love to receive a Starbucks gift card in a card shaped like a cup!!

So here's my Starbucks inspired cup (complete with sleeve kept from a Starbucks chai latte earlier in the week):

And here's the more generic one:

True Blood ATC swap

2011-09-11T19:16:00.005-04:00

I am all about making ATC's lately...maybe because they are so small?? Dunno..

Anyway...I have joined a few ATC swaps on SC and signed up for a True Blood themed ATC swap on Swap-Bot. In case you are wondering...ATC is Artist Trading Card, and they measure 3.5" x 2.5"

I have even set up a binder to hold all of my ATC's in clear sheets that I am sure were meant for sports cards...but they work great for ATC's.

For the True Blood themed swap, couldn't decide if I wanted to go vamp or were, so I did one of each...here's what my partner Meagan (in Illinois) will be receiving:

Holiday Sneak Peek Part 4

2011-09-08T09:01:00.001-04:00

Here's a link to Jen's blog.
The cards she made for last night were SPECTACULAR & FANTASTIC :)
http://j-inky.blogspot.com/2011/09/its-card-night.html

Holiday Mini Sneak Peek Part 3

2011-09-05T18:06:00.003-04:00

OK we won't be making this one in the workshop this week - I only have one of this stamp set and I think making three cards with the same set might be a bit much when working in a group...so maybe we will do this one another time, but I wanted to make this one to show how versatile one stamp set can be...so far we've seen the Stitched Stocking set as - well stockings...then baby booties...and now...TA DA...a hobby horse...cool huh?
I didn't add a sentiment, and the ribbon folded funny in the scanner - but you get the idea...

Holiday Mini Sneek Peak Part 2

2011-09-05T17:17:00.003-04:00

Here's the second card I made with the Stitched Stocking set and punch

The stockings make really cute baby booties ;)

Not sure why the colour came out so off in the pic...it is one of the new SU in colours, Pool Party.

Thanks for lookin'

Holiday Mini Sneak Peek #1

2011-09-05T15:57:00.003-04:00

Jen and I are doing a holiday mini sneek peak workshop this week

I wanted to do a few different cards with the Stitched Stockings set and coordinating punch.

Here's the first card I came up with...kinda tedious with the piercing....but I am happy with how it came out. I love the little jingle bells - they even ring!

I also learned a new skill...using a needle threader to get the twine through the bells. After 5 minutes of looking at it like a monkey, I Googled it - DUH - hahaha I can tell you that putting the thread in the needle threader THEN putting it through the bell didn't work ~~ and yes Jen I can still hear you laughing!!!!

Happy Birthday Adrian!!

2011-09-04T10:56:00.002-04:00

Today is Adrian's first birthday!

Can't wait to see him later and give him a BIG birthday hug!!

Here's the card I made for his birthday, this is a CASE of a card Deb showed us at a recent Stampin Scrappin Roadtrippers get together she hosted last month.

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf???

2011-08-01T16:00:00.004-04:00

Here's the next card we'll be making in our Twilight class this week

When the vampires come out to play, the werewolves don't like to be left out

Go team Jacob!

I love the wolf stamp, which is part of the "for-bitten" stamp set from Our Craft Lounge, which as you may recall was a gift from my awesome friend Jen.

Mmmmm Starbucks

2011-07-31T12:54:00.003-04:00

I joined a Starbucks themed card swap on Swap-Bot.

Here's the card I made for my partner.

This was really fun to make.

A little tedious punching out all the logos, but overall I am happy with how it came out.

Bite Me...

2011-07-31T11:37:00.002-04:00

Planning another Twilight themed card making class sometime in August.

Here's the first card I came up with this morning. I love how the Cherry Cobbler looks with black and white - very vampirey

Thanks for lookin'

Christmas in July Stamp a Stack

2011-07-30T07:39:00.005-04:00

This week I attended a Christmas in July stamp a stack with my lovely SU upline ML.

I was not keen on this HUGE doily stamp the first time I saw it, and I am not convinced I like it as much as the HUGE medallion stamp...but I like how ML used it on this card

This next card features a new stamp set, it's so cute! I love the little bird on the snowball! The snowflake was punched with one of the new triple layer punches. The snowflake and circles are all new in colours for 2011 - 2012.

We made a third card as well, but when I got home I realized I had messed up the embossing on all three copies we made of that card...sheesh...so I am going to do some repair work on that one and will post it later.

How cool are these???

2011-07-11T15:38:00.002-04:00

The creative wonder that is Jen never ceases to amaze me!!

Last week she made up these uber cute flowers with SU fabric

I even got a personalized (because I am uber challenged) lesson on making them

Now I can make something with all that SU fabric I keep buying (of course after making these, I had to buy this fabric too)...sheesh....

Christmas in July part 2

2011-07-10T14:04:00.002-04:00

Here's the second card for tomorrow's Christmas in July class

Not thrilled with this one, but I am not feeling so hot today - so it's gonna hafta do

Christmas in July

2011-07-10T12:39:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow night Jen and I are doing a Christmas in July class

Here's the first card I made, uses the pennant parade stamp set

Jen will be uber proud of me, I made the garland on the tree out of chunky glitter...GLITTER!!!

I USED GLITTER!!!!!

Sneak Peek part 3

2011-07-10T10:07:00.006-04:00

Here's the last card I did. This one features the "my friend" stamp set and the new 2011 - 2012 in colours (lucky limeade, pool party, island indigo, calypso coral and wisteria wonder) - who comes up with these names?????

In the class this week, we added crystal effects to the raindrops to give them more dimension, when I made up the extras (including this one) I left the crystal effects off, that shite takes FOREVER to dry.

Be sure to stop by Jen's blog http://j-inky.blogspot.com/2011/07/oops-day-4-5-so-far.html to check out the projects she made for this class.

Sneak Peek part 2

2011-07-10T10:03:00.003-04:00

Heres the second card I did for our sneek peak class. The cones are made with the pennant parade stamp set and coordinating punch. The ice cream and cherry were made with the cupcake punch...added ruffled seam binding ribbon on the bottom.

Colours are early espresso, blushing bride and cherry cobbler.

Congrats HT!!

2011-06-25T12:51:00.004-04:00

One of our co-workers is getting married in July...I was asked to make her a card for her work wedding shower.

The card needs to be larger than usual...there are about 30 of us that will sign it.

I started with an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of vanilla cardstock folded in half.

This one was fun to make, lots of layers, lots of details...hopefully it looks something like a wedding cake :)

Congratulations to HT and soon to be Mr. HT!

I have a new blog...

2011-06-25T10:07:00.002-04:00

I started a new blog this week.
You may know that I suffer from chronic insomnia, I am lucky if I get a few hours consistent sleep a night.
Sometimes it's just crazy random thoughts or ideas that keep me awake.
I thought maybe blogging them would help clear them out of my poor little brain.
The new blog is called Random Rants and Rambles...here's the link if you are interested in checking it out:

http://randomrantsnrambles.blogspot.com

Grad for G

2011-06-24T07:23:00.003-04:00

One of our youth clients at work is graduating high school this month.

He has not had an easy go of things (to put it lightly) and I couldn't be more proud of him for making some positive changes in his life, including going back to school to get his grade 12 diploma!

I found this Dr. Suess quote, which I thought was a good fit:

"You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You're on your own and you know what you know,
You are the guy who'll decide where to go."

Way to go G, we are all so proud of you!!!

Happy Father's Day!!!

2011-06-24T07:15:00.003-04:00

My pot and pan is not a typical "suit and tie" kinda dad...

He's more of a hands on - "get in there and get it done" kinda dad

So for father's day - as much as I liked the yellow and black tie card...it wasn't really a "my dad" kinda card...you know what I mean?

I had given him the faux wallet last year, so this year went for something a little more colourful, based on the masculine birthday card I made a few weeks ago (also helped that I had extra paper cut already!)

Happy Fathers Day to MY pot and pan (or potsticker as Jen calls him)...love you mucho!!

Vintage Upsy Daisy

2011-06-14T21:46:00.003-04:00

Upsy Daisy is by far one of my favourite stamp sets from Stampin' Up!

Not sure what I love about it, but I do I do I do...

This one was cut at 4.25 x 11", scored and folded in half at 5.5" then scored at one inch on either side of the fold.

The DP was crimped and added to the scored end, twine tied around the outside of the card...then all the layers added.

Coloured the daisy in early espresso and old olive, card base is crumb cake, sponged the edges, added the button and TA DA...

This was the last card I made for tomorrow's class, and I think it's my favourite of the three...

Vintage butterflies

2011-06-14T21:38:00.003-04:00

This card is a great demonstration of things I have bought and rarely used.

I have had the butterfly die for a LONG time and this is the first time I have used it.

HAD TO HAVE the vintage wheel, and I think this is the second time I have used that.

I think the faux stitching and roughed up edges give this one a cool vintagey look.

Paper is rich razleberry and the wheel was inked in soft suede.

If I made another of these cards, I think I would do the sentiment in soft suede instead of rich razzleberry.

Vintage - Sense of Time

2011-06-14T21:34:00.003-04:00

Carole was nice enough to lend me her "Sense of Time" stamp set for this week's vintage class.

I knew I wanted to use this set, I really like the big clock for some reason...

One more masculine card...

2011-06-14T21:31:00.005-04:00

Here's the nautical themed masculine card that Jen did for last week's class.

I love the colour combinations that she used...very manly :)

My BFF's hubby is a sailor, I think I will save this one for his birthday!

Ohhhhhh I just realized I scanned it and posted it upside down...please stand on your head to view this one LMBO

I'm a delinquent blogger...

2011-06-14T21:22:00.003-04:00

OK I will fess up - not only am I a delinquent blogger, I'm also a delinquent crafter...

*sigh* Sometimes I just have no mojo...anyway, like a few posts tonight as I get caught up...

For some reason I didn't scan / post the third project we did for the masculine class last week - a Father's Day wallet...I had made one of these before, and liked it (I am pretty sure my dad still has it??!!??)

Here's the outside

And here's the inside, room for 4 gift cards and if you were so inclined, there is a cash pocket as well (or you could put a coupon for a car wash or something in there)

I'm still going!!!

2011-05-29T22:22:00.005-04:00

OK this is the last card & post for tonight...already past my bedtime!

Here is the Father's Day card for this week's "masculine" themed class.

Not sure if you can tell from the picture, but it's a joy fold, I love all the layers in this type of fold.

The smaller card on top has another layer of white inside, and is stamped with "Happy Father's Day" in black.

The centre yellow tie is stamped twice, the second one cut out and layered, so it's popped up, not sure if you can see that in the picture either...

Anyway, there you have it...

I have an idea for one more card for this week, but it will have to wait til tomorrow...I'm crashin'!

Nighty night...

Poor Poor Gordon...

2011-05-29T21:11:00.004-04:00

Poor poor Gordon.

It's thundering here in Southern Ontario tonight.

Gordon is NOT a fan of thunder....neither is Ruby, but she just hops up on the bed and trembles.

Here is Gordon trying to squeeze through a hole {a hole MUCH smaller than he is} between the bathroom and the closet in the spare room.

So far I have not been able to convince him he won't fit through there...let's hope the storm passes quickly.

I'm on a roll today...

2011-05-29T21:09:00.002-04:00

This week Jen and I are doing masculine themed cards...for some reason cards for guys are much harder for me to come up with...but I always need just as many (well nearly as many).

My plan (as of now) is to do one masculine birthday card and one Father's Day card...here's the masculine birthday card...

More summer mini sneak peeks

2011-05-29T19:15:00.003-04:00

Here are the two cards that Jen made for our summer mini sneak peek class last week.

I love the colour combinations that Jen picked for both of these cards.

Mine may not look 'exactly' like her samples...I am not very good at following instructions {lol}

Alley's wedding samples

2011-05-29T17:11:00.005-04:00

Alley and I got together today to make some wedding invitation samples (best way to spend a Sunday!!)

Her colours are black and granny smith apple green (we used SU's gable green). I wasn't too sure on this colour combination at first, but now that I see them together - WOW!

We wanted to somehow incorporate her dragonfly theme into the invitations as well...here's what we came up with today.

Criss cross card (they are so great for wedding invites!!) in black and gable green with a black and white invite card insert.

We embossed the dragonfly and the love sentiment.

Here's the first sample...

Here's the second sample, with black sponged edging - we both decided we liked this one better...

Oh Canada!!

2011-05-25T13:12:00.002-04:00

OK, yeah, it's a little early for Canada Day celebrations...

I made these cute little flags from a new stamp from the SU Summer Mini and some sucker sticks that I bought for some crafty purpose and then never used...ya ya...I do that a lot...

Don't mind the dirty cutting mat under the flags, didn't realize how yucky that looks til now...maybe I should clean that!

Swap-Bot - update your blog swap

2011-05-25T13:08:00.002-04:00

I think I have mentioned before how much I love love love love love Swap-Bot
Who doesn't love something in the mail other than bills????
I have done lots of tea swaps, card swaps, tote bag swaps and some electronic swaps...
My favourite electronic swaps are blog swaps
Right now I am participating in an "update your blog swap" - each person gets assigned 5 partners and you send each a link to your blog...
Great way to find new blogs ...I am off to check out my partners' blogs now...

Here's a link to Swap-Bot if you are interested in checking it out:

http://www.swap-bot.com

Summer Mini Sneak Peek - Part II

2011-05-25T13:06:00.001-04:00

Here's the second card I made for our Summer Mini Sneak Peek class tonight...

This one features the Pretty Postage stamp set and coordinating punch as well as the cherry cobbler baker's twine.

Thanks for lookin'

Summer Mini Sneak Peek

2011-05-18T22:24:00.003-04:00

Next week Jen and I are doing a Summer Mini Sneak Peek class featuring new products from the Stampin' Up! Summer Mini.

Here is my first sample, this one uses one of the new triple punches (not sure on those yet) and the baker's twine...

I am still liking the look of the layered embossing - can ya tell????

Hey....remember me????

2011-05-18T20:46:00.002-04:00

Wow it's been more than a month since I posted last...I think I had a serious case of no mojo!!

I found a little bit tonight and made this card for the Stampin Canada May 1-1 swap.

I really loved the steampunk ATC's that I made for a swap last month, so I made a full size card version...and a few more ATC's - one for me (duh I didn't keep one for myself in the swap!!) and one for Niblet - cause she's my friendy-friend and she said she liked it...

Scrapfest in Kitchener

2011-04-09T23:31:00.005-04:00

Jen and I made a last minute decision this morning to head to Kitchener to Scrapfest... We had a short (but sweet) visit with some of our Stampin' Canada friends when we got there... What's better on a sunny Saturday than a little road trip and shopping for scrapbooking / card making supplies???? Not much :)

Steampunk ATC swap

2011-04-09T23:24:00.002-04:00

Cat over on Stampin Canada is hosting a steampunk ATC swap this month

I really like making ATC's - they are so small and cute

I wasnt too sure what steampunk was, so luckily she shared some examples...basically it's making things look vintage, a mish mash of styles and items...So here's what I did...

Newsprint design paper from SU, distressed and inked the edges, stenciled the clock over top, all in soft suede...Added the string, little tags, birdcage and brad, layered it on soft suede cardstock and a back layer of cardboard (you cant see that), then added the silver clip on the left...So what do you think????

Quilt card

2011-04-06T22:10:00.005-04:00

Although its kinda fiddly, this will be my new favourite way to use up scraps of design paper and cardstock. Each small square is .75" x .75".

I started with a piece of white paper 3.75" square to adhere the pieces to. Once they were all attached in the pattern that I wanted, I ran it through the cuttlebug - can you tell this is my new fave embossing folder from Stampin' Up?? (yep I used it on the card base as well).

Here is a link to the tutorial on SplitCoastStampers:

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

And here's my card:

Inlaid embossing

2011-04-06T22:06:00.003-04:00

Another technique that I have wanted to try is inlaid embossing. To do this you attach your shapes to your cardstock before you run it through your cuttlebug or big shot, making it look like the shapes are part of the paper.

In this case I adhered the hearts before embossing the paper in the cuttlebug...pretty cool effect...I like it :)

Faux Canvas

2011-04-06T22:00:00.002-04:00

One of the techniques we learned at Stamp a Rama last weekend was faux canvas, demonstrated by everyone's favourite SU upline ML! Basically you put crystal effects over top of a stamped image and then drag it in different directions with a toothbrush COOL! When it dries it looks like canvas or linen almost. Here is ML's swap card from Stamp a Rama which uses the faux canvas technique:

And here's my version:

Stamp A Rama

2011-04-04T21:35:00.007-04:00

I think I posted before that I was going to Stamp a Rama on April 2 Jen, Val and I had a fab time! It was such a fun day! A whole day of card making...what could be better than that? I would highly recommend this event, there may be another one in the fall... Here are my pics of the projects we made - please keep in mind that I don't tend to follow instructions, so the actual samples in some cases were quite different from what I ended up with. The stamp set we got with registration was Nature Walk, so all of the cards (except the cupcake ard and tag) were made with that set, here we go... This cute little tag was attached to our goodie bag:

We made 2 copies of this card, one we kept and the other was donated to the Ronald McDonald House in Hamilton:

I have the bestest friends ever!!

2011-04-04T18:20:00.002-04:00

I heard recently that the best thing a man can do for his health is get married, and that the best thing a woman can do is cultivate her relationships with her girlfriends.

I am soooo very lucky to have the best friends a girl could ever hope for.

Having said that, I had to share with you this awesome cute adorable SOCK MONKEY card that my friend Lise made me for my birthday.

She hand cut that sock monkey!! Now that's love...thanks Lise :)

Cupcakes part two...

2011-04-04T18:17:00.004-04:00

I have been delinquent in posting the fab cards that Jen made for our cupcake class a few weeks ago.

Here they are...yummy enough to eat huh???

This one had just the right amount of colouring in the mini cupcakes...even for me :)

I love love love the colour combination in this next one!

Mmmmmm cupcakes!!!!

2011-03-26T12:13:00.002-04:00

This week Jen and I did a cupcake themed class...she even made chai latte cupcakes for us which were DEEEEE-lish!!

Here's one of the cards I made using the new SU create a cupcake stamp set and punch.

I coloured the cherry with markers and added crystal effects to make it glossy and 3-D.

SC Spring Swap

2011-03-20T16:55:00.003-04:00

Andrea is hosting a Spring Swap over on Stampin' Canada

After hmmmm-ing and hahhhhh-ing most of the day today, I finally came up with something.

Not sure I am thrilled with it...but it's done.

Of course, I made seven and the swap calls for nine, so I have to go back and make two more.

And I forgot to add the wire to the top of the cage before I scanned the card, so just see it there in your imagination :)

Thanks for lookin'

How cool are these?????

2011-03-20T14:15:00.004-04:00

Look at the uber cool stamp set sneaky Jen picked up for me when we were in Buffalo last weekend!!

Ohhhhhh!!!! Ahhhhhhhh!!!!

I think this calls for another Twilight themed card class!!!! Who's in??

Fab weekend...

2011-03-14T10:22:00.003-04:00

WOW - what a great weekend!!

Spent Saturday celebrating Jen's birthday (we went shopping in Buffalo)

Sunday had lunch with my brother and #1 nephew, even convinced him to stand still long enough to get a picture with his favourite Auntie (yes he is a teeny tiny bit taller than I am, I barely come up to his shoulders any more!!!)

Today (Monday) heading to Grove City Pennsylvania with momma to check out the outlet malls! Gonna shop til we drop!! Woot Woot!!

Happy Birthday Niblet!!!!!

2011-03-12T09:53:00.003-05:00

In honour of Niblet's birthday today- I have selected a new blog design.

One with birds!!!! Yes, I "heart" her THAT much :)

Happy Happy Birthday Jen!!!

Hope we can enjoy a Starbucks birthday cake ball on a stick later!!
(also hope you're not mad I "stole" this pic of you from your blog)

Stamp a Stack preview....

2011-02-06T17:14:00.002-05:00

Yep, it's that time again...time for a Stamp a Stack

Woo Woo

Jen, Carole and I are hosting a Stamp a Stack on Feb 19th in Hamilton (registration closes this Wednesday Feb 10th if you want to come and haven't signed up yet).

This SAS will be an all occasion event, I saw this super cute card on the Stampin Addicts Sale a Bration blog hop and thought it would be perfect for the Stamp a Stack.

Here's a link to the original card on Jennifer's blog (scroll down a bit to find the card):

http://www.sunflowerstamper.com/2011/01/stampin-addicts-sale-bration-blog-hop.html

And here's my CASE of the card:

SNOW DAY!!!!

2011-02-03T16:59:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was a snow day here in Southern Ontario...didn't get the 30 cm (12 inches) of snow that was predicted, more like 8 inches I would guess.

Since I didn't have to come in to work, I hung out at home with the pooches, here's a pic of Ruby & Gordon enjoying their snow day, chilling out on the couch