Just Because......

 Welcome to my blog today and are you ready to see the NEW challenge at Shopping our Stash? We want  you to dig in your stash and make a card Just Because you want to send a surprise hello or thinking of you for a friend. Everyone loves to get a card Just Because you are a thoughtful friend. Mine is for a friend I haven't heard from in a while and I hope it gives her a smile.

As you see I have been "working" from the lake, trouble is to get a good picture you only have a 2 hour time frame to get good sun. Working from the lake has a few disadvantages, one is if you forget a part for your project you have to improvise. I thought I had my large Hello die with me, I had 20 other dies but not Hello so Hugs just has to take it's place. I gorgeous Delicate Blossoms from Hero Arts, since I'm missing the packaging and google was no help I believe it's Circa 2010. I used a fairly new 3D folder (only one that was packed) I was really concerned my red inks were going to last as who would think to bring re-inkers? Hugs was die cut out of red metallic poster board and I layered it on two more heavy weight die cuts to elevate it.

Finished the inside with a couple of scraps and a Thinking of You die cut, of course leaving space to add my own sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see your Just Because card in our gallery at SOS.

Coral Rose

 On Friday afternoon a group of retired ladies get together for bowling, most are friends that worked together at Woolco/Walmart, no prizes, no pressure the only thing we strive for is reaching a 100 count in pins for the game, we do have over-achievers that double that goal, a lot of laughs and a great afternoon with friends. The one of the staff has had surgery and I made this card for all of us to sign and have it delivered to her. I love my ancient Stippled Rose stamp from Stampin'up, it makes for a quick card in a hurry. 

I really had trouble picking a colour for the rose, I'm sure I went though the rainbow trying to decide as my favourite colour is purple but not everyone is a fan so teal/turquoise came to mind but when I sat down with my markers picking out colours  I spotted the coral and it was decided.  

All layers were cut with Elizabeth Craft Designs Stitched and scalloped rectangle dies. The Thinking of You is a sticker sentiment from Starform, in my stash for eons, the small sentiment is perfect as not to overshadow the focal point.

The sentiment I found on a verse page and thought it was perfect. 

Thanks for looking today, stay safe and stay well.

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”― Albert Einstein

 

Pink and Green is the Colour Challenge.

 I have just recently found the challenge at Color Hues, This is my 5th time entering the challenge. I like the colour combo challenges as long as there are not 6 colours to try to work with. The challenge has also helped me make cards for my stash as they can be any theme as long as you use the colours. 

I am not sure where the image is from, it is something I had printed from my digital images I needed a floral card to send to a friend that I just found out is in a nursing home and I wanted her to know I have been thinking of her. The Hello was cut three times and glued together for dimension.

As I was taking the picture of the inside my camera went a little wonky and the picture ended up fuzzy. Oh well IRL it is clear. Although I haven't used tis stamp in years, it is probably close to 20 years perhaps I needed to do something with it before I stamped. 

I am entering this in:

Color Hues the Color Challenge ~~ #15 Pink & Green

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week. 

Thinking of You.............

 Peach and Green are not my go to colours but when I saw the challenge at Color Hues I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and give it a whirl. I knew I had a gorgeous flower already printed, I thought the digi was from Beccy's Place but couldn't find it in her store. The parts of the card have been done for quite a few days but life seems to get in the way of crafting some weeks. Since tomorrow is the  end of the challenge I needed to get 'er finishe
d today.

It's a deeper shade of peach and the sentiment is die cut three times and layered to elevate it. The layers were die cut with Elizabeth Craft Designs stitched and scalloped rectangles.

I have made this for a friend that is dealing with a terrible disease, I wanted her to know I'm think of her every day. 

I am entering this in:

Color Hues ~~ #12 Peach and Green

Thanks for visiting today and stay safe stay healthy.

Make a Mess!!!

 It's a brand new challenge at Shopping Our Stash and we want you to make a mess!! Well that's not hard for me, even if it is a clean challenge I still get in a mess.  I had a plan and a plan B in case plan A didn't work out. I bought a Gelli plate close to two years ago and had never even opened the package, so after watching a Jennifer Maguire video on her first attempt at using a Gelli plate I thought I can do this. I won't tell you how many times I watched the video either.  Her finished cards are fabulou.  Since this is a "messy" challenge I did just that had inky fingers and inky backs as well as the fronts of the cardstock. I must admit it was fun and I can't wait to play again.
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The finished product, this was the only print I deamed usable but I'm keeping the rest they might grow on me. I knew the stencil I wanted to use and being floral I used Worn Lipstick ,Picked Raspberry and Wilted Violet, Seedless Preserves Oxide inks. The stencil I used is from Hero Arts which I have had for a few years and I think I have used it before. I made a frame with the wonky rectangle dies, I cut and layered three for some dimension. Thinking of you is also many uears old and the butterflies  were in my box of odds and ends, it was amazing what was in that little box. 

Closer look at the print and I added nuvo drops to the butterflies.

Finished the inside with one of my very oldest sentiment stamps from Stampendous  I also found the little kitten die cuts in that box and I know the recipient of this card likes cats. 

Behind the card are 4 of the prints I made today.

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you will get messy with us at Shopping Our Stash. 

KISS ~~ Keep it Simple Sister....

Time for a new challenge at Shopping Our Stash and Donna thought it would be a good idea to "Keep it Simple Sister" in other words Clean and Simple. Now this isn't usually my forte' but I did some research and found a simple card to make, although sometime simple isn't fast and easy.

I made the background with distress oxide inks did some die cutting of the flowers, the oval was cut with Nellie Snellen oval set, the thinking of you is from Impression Obsession. The flowers are the newest dies being around 2 years old,  When you do CAS there isn't much using of stash. If I was doing this card there would be sparkles, rhinestones, butterflies and more but I pulled the reins pretty hard.  

Love these flowers and have now just started using them, there are 6 in the set. and of course the oxide background, my favourite thing to do, fun and messy.

A sentiment from a fairly new set, but first time inking it, I love the sentiment, it is very comforting. 

Thanks for stopping by today and head over to the main blog there are simply beautiful inspiration over there.

Wildflowers in white.

I made a "thinking of you" card for a friend, I don't make a lot of black and white cards but I found the most awesome patterned paper pad at Dollarama for $4.00 WOW, even if I only use 1/2 of the pages it's a bargain. I also used (for the first time) wildflower (or weed) dies, I cut all 6 of them just to decide which I wanted to use. Here is my card.

This is one of my favourite sketches to use. Isn't that flowered paper just gorgeous.

Close up  of the die cuts.

Finished the inside with one more of the flower die cuts.

I would like  to enter this in:

Tuesday Throwdown ~~ Black and White

Thanks for visiting today 

Thinking Of You in Purple

I'm joining in the Hop to Stop raising awareness to Domestic Violence. This is the third year for the hop and I feel honoured to make a card I hope you will join the hop as well.

 You see, purple is the color of National Domestic Violence Awareness month. 

1 in 3 women will experience domestic violence over the course of their lifetimes. 

Let that sink in - 33% of all the women you meet. 

Women between the ages of 15 and 44 are more likely to be injured or die as a result of domestic violence, than through rapes, muggings and car accidents combined.

And women aren't the only people who are affected! Women, men, transgender - gender doesn't matter. Domestic violence is something that exists regardless of gender, socioeconomic status, religion, education level, etc.

This image is one I was given and I don`t know what company it was from.  Since I looked at the butterfly folder and left it home I used an Darice autumn leaves folder  as I wanted some texture. The oval and rectangle  were cut with Elizabeth Craft Designs. 

The sentiment is from Impression Obsession.

Please join me at the Hop to Stop with your purple cards.

Thanks for stopping by to see what`s on my creating table to day.

It's a COLOUR challenge at Shopping Our Stash

What a fabulous Thanksgiving day we had, lots of good food and great family!! As Canada celebrated Thanksgiving the U.S. celebrated Columbus day I hope it was awesome. If you were not celebrating any holiday I hope you had a wonderful weekend.

Shopping Our Stash challenge #273 is a Colour challenge, Alica has picked some awesome fall colours.  Now fall colours are one of my least favourite on the colour wheel but I dug my heels in and made it work. I guess that is why it's called a "challenge". Here is what I created.......

Here is the colour inspiration for you . 

I used a bundle set from Stampin'up that I have had since last year, I've used the flower dies but not the paper and it had every colour in the colour swatch. 

I carried the paper to the inside along with a flower, the sentiment was bought when I first started making cards. All the flowers were cut from scraps. The Thinking Of You was a die cut that was in my little box of treasures. (sometimes I cut several in different colours to see which I want to use)

I would like to enter this in 

Allsorts Challenge ~~ Colours of Autumn

Thanks for joining me today and don't forget to head over to the Main Blog and check out what the rest of the design team have made and don't forget to read the rules on how to enter. 

Shopping Our Stash Challenge #270 ~~ Fairies and Angels

What a beautiful challenge at Shopping Our Stash!!  Fairies and Angels. There are a lot of different and beautiful stamps and digis of angels and fairies, I decided to give some inky love to a very old stamp from the Artful Stamper.

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Isn't she beauiful! I coloured her with a very pale blue and her wings with touches of pink.

I used White Opal liquid pearls with water to glaze her wings.

Finished inside.

Thanks for visiting today and head over to Shopping Our Stash  check out all the gorgeous fairies and angels that the rest of the design team have done for inspiration.

Cut and Paste is Challenge #269 at Shopping Our Stash!!!

Thanks to Chana I'm heading way, way out of my comfort zone, it's not that I don't have the equipment but no stamping and colouring is foreign to me. Shopping Our Stash  #269 is Cut and Paste......use stencils and dies only....NO STAMPING.  Here is my offering for the challenge.

So many firsts on this card....first time to use the Hero Arts Large Lotus Pattern stencil and technique, first time using the Impression Obsession Die they have both been in my possession for at least a year. First I spritzed the white cardstock with Dylusions purple ink spray when dry I sponged Spun Sugar distress ink over the flowers.

I cut the purple vellum that I found at a yard sale 4 years ago, then I cut the inserts for the flower and leaves from scraps of shimmer paper. Wow I paper pieced it!!! Cut and paste is what we want.

The Hello was cut with a Cuttlebug die plate (it's ancient) and seeing how Chris has layered a word sentiment on top of a black one to give dimension  I just needed to try it. Wow another first. 

Inside of the card using a scrap of purple cardstock from my stash...a sentiment will be added later.

I am entering this in:

Hiding in my Craft Room #266 Super Scraps Saturday.(everything except the base was a scrap)

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you will join Shopping Our Stash for "Cut and Paste" Don't forget to check out the blog and see what my teamies have done for the challenge. 

U is for Ugly ~~ Ugly Paper that is

I don't know where our leader get's all these ideas from but this one is a doozy, Dig out the ugliest paper you have in your stash and make us at card for the Challenge at The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers.  I must admit I was very challenged with this one as my planning didn't include ugly paper or anything that matched, I must get better at packing for the challenges I plan on creating while at our cottage.  I am very pleased I did manage to get a week ahead on most of them.

You know that paper looks much uglier IRL, what ticked me was I have a stamp at home that would match the paper,  I used an old Hero Arts Stamp and the sketch from Stella Says Sketch,.

Here is a closer look at the paper and my newest project ~~ making the candy dots. I bought a toaster oven at a yard sale a few years ago to do crafts with but until today it was the first time I used it. Since I was at the cottage I put it outside on a tall table hubby made (perfect height) right in front of the electrical outlet that way I didn't stink up the cottage as the plastic melted.

Simple Thinking of You on the inside

Challenges I am entering this in:

Catch the Bug Stella Says Sketch (loosely followed)

Challenge #117 at The Cheerful Stamp Pad is ~~~ Anything Goes!!!

The new challenge at The Cheerful Stamp Pad is Anything goes. It's the most favourite of all the challenges. The sponsor for this challenge is Little Blue Button Stamps, check out the blog and the store they have some really cute images. For the first week of the challenge I picked a super cute girl drinking a hot coffee/tea. I thought it looked like a nice friendship/thinking of you card. So have a peek at what I have done.

Now isn't she the cutest digi ever? I thought it looked like she was thinking about the friend she was going to send the card to. this is a different fold I wanted to try, It is a tri-fold you will see how it works in the next picture.

It is similar to a Z fold but it is taller at the back than at the front but fits in a A2 envelope.

These are the two sentiments I chose to put on the inside. Question do you think they look too much "birthday" or do you think it could be used just to perk someone up?  Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks for stopping by today and get busy and join the Anything Goes challenge at The Cheerful Stamp Pad.

Shopping Our Stash #201 ~~~ Your Oldest Washi Tape

Looking for my Clear it Out post scroll down or click HERE.
Washi Tape is the challenge at Shopping Our Stash. use washi tape OR make faux washi tape OR use washi tape stamps. Tutorial 1: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/fauxwashitape/  Tutorial 2: http://skippingstonesdesign.com/tips-tricks-thursday-creating-faux-washi-tape-with-wendy Tutorial More resources: https://www.pinterest.com/ritakvos/tutorials-washi-tape/  There are some ideas for you. I used my oldest, believe it or not when a challenge at Drunken Stampers came up Washi Tape I didn’t even know what it was, I had to Google it then go out and buy some so this is my very first washi tape.

I am so washi tape challenge I had to search for a design, I am not sure who’s idea I used but it is a great one. The “flower” I stamped three times and coloured with Calypso Coral Blendabilities, fussy cut and elevated each layer. This will be a card for a friend that is recovering from a stroke.

Close up of the flower image and washi tape.

The inside of the card.

Thanks for stopping by today and start digging through your huge stash of washi tape and join us at SOS for they challenge….you know you really want to.

Challenge #197~~~Lost and Found

Looking for my Clear it Out post, scroll down or click HERE

Shopping Our Stash Challenge # 197 is Lost & Found -- use something you've re-discovered (could have been lost, you could have just forgotten you owned it). As you know my room has been recently decluttered now there were lots of lost things found, one was my tulip border embossing folder, so that is where I was starting from. I was sorting a box and an already coloured and fussy cut image was found so step two now to figure out what to do with my two found items, well on seeing The Crooked Stamper’s Sketch #3 I had it made in the shade. Here is it………

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This stamp is from the Stamp Barn which is no longer in business but the Frog’s Whiskers in Cambellford bought it and you can still get the image in cling mount and a die to cut it out. At Scrapfest on Saturday I bought the die to match my stamp. Of course I didn’t get to use it as this image was already finished waiting to be used.

The cute little butterfly button is from a package I had forgotten I had bought at Winners at Christmas I found it in a box of cardstock I was sorting. I made some clouds with a plastic cloud template and All Night Media chalks.

Here is the inside of the card, The sentiment is from Stampendous and is called N058 Light in Dark.
I would like to enter this in :
The Crooked Stamper’s Sketch #3

Thanks for stopping by today and go find something you have lost or forgotten you owned and join in the fun at Shopping Our Stash.

Thinking of You……………….

Last Monday I made a design team card with the awareness ribbon Angel with a pink ribbon for Breast Cancer, today I made an Angel with a periwinkle blue ribbon for Esophageal Cancer for a friend. The +image is by Charmaine Flannery at Sweet Pea Stamps, this is a very versatile You can  give support to any person no matter what the cancer by changing the colour of the ribbon. Here is the ribbon chart I used.

And now on to my card.

The background was embossed with butterflies and the patterned paper is from my scrap box.I used the sketch from The Crooked Stamper Sketch Challenge 1

Close up of the Angel

Inside of the card using the Top Note die.

I would like to enter this in”

The Crooked Stamper Sketch Challenge #1 It is the new sketch challenge blog on the block.

Thanks for stopping by today and come back again soon.