Card of sympathy

...for the family of a dear online stamping friend from another board, Glinda Chasteen (known as "Dreis1" over at TwoPeas) who died on Christmas Eve. Anna Griffin stamps. I hope her family will receive an avalanche of cards from her sister stampers.

Four challenges!

I woke up this morning, wanting to partcipate in all these challenges, but really not having enough time to do separate projects for each one. So, after a little planning (as I was washing floors!), I managed to do them all with one project. Here they are:

Created by Hand...make a Christmas ornament (I used one of my favourite Christmas papers, from Kaisercraft in Australia, with each of eight circles outlined with Krylon gold leafing ink)

Crazy Amigo...use hearts (there it is, hanging off my ornament, stamped with this beautiful Quietfire Design calligraphy Christmas tree) stamp

Arty Girlz...make SMALL art (my ornament is 2 1/2" in circumference)

Pretty Paper Hearts...use symbolism ( I used the Christmas tree and the heart itself...each symbol being self explanatory)

And here's the little paper ornament:

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. This may well be my last blog post till the New Year, as I'm travelling to Quebec to spend the holidays with my daughter, son, and grandchildren. I wish you all a wonderful, safe, and peaceful holiday!

Relax!

Kianel was kind to us today over at Ismaki, and gave us an easy sketch. I think she knows how BUSY we all are! (lol) The current theme over at Wednesday Stamper is bows!

Here's my interpretation of the sketch...with a bow It's a little "Happy Hopper" reminder for us all to take some time for ourselves over the busy holidays. Thanks Kianel! The sentiment stamp is from Impression Obsession.

I'm looking forward to more wonderful sketch ideas from all
the Ismaki gals, and more great Wednesday Stamper
challenges in the New Year!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS everybody!

Christmas ornament

This week's Cuttlebug Challenge is to make something other than a card, and over at Wednesday Stamper, we're to use bows. I'm creating several of these, in different colours, to include in Christmas cards for special friends. For this one, I alcohol-inked glossy cardstock, cut it with the Cuttlebug Christmas Tag die, embossed it with the Winter House and Swiss Dots embossing folders, then added the ribbon and some beads with a Swarovski Crystal heart. The ornament looks the same on the other side as well. I've done these before and attached them to Christmas cards, but I must say, I like them better all alone as "tuck-ins." That way, I can use more beads too! (lol) I've decided
to use this one as "car bling," and will hang it from my
rearview mirror as a little festive touch as I drive
from Nova Scotia to Quebec to spend the holidays
with my daughter, son, and grandkiddies.
Ooohhh, I LOVE Christmas!

Thanks for the challenges, and thank YOU
for taking some time to stop by my blog today!

Christmas card

This card is for my musical sister, and was created to share in some fun challenges: Created by Hand Tuesday (trees trio template), Audrey's TMTA (Seeing Red; I created my ATC as an arch and incorporated it into a card, hope that fits the challenge...can ATC's BE different shapes if they're the correct size??), Crissi's and Julie's Arty Girlz Tuesday (Favourite Medium . My favourite medium for Christmas this year is using watercolour markers for stamps...such a simple and fun technique!), Sandy's Crazy Amigos (Keeping Warm...what better to keep us warm than MUSIC and LOVE?), Sammi's Crafty Muse (let's make a Christmas card!) and Nancy's Gothic Arch Sunday (trees).

I used a sentiment stamp from Quietfire Design, and a flourish stamp from Inkadinkado.

Thank you so much for visiting today.
I hope you're ALL keeping warm and happily preparing for the holidays!

Sympathy Card

I've done this card for a dear friend whose husband recently died after a very long illness, during which she nursed him and cared for him over a period of many years. The card follows Beatrix's sketch this week over at Ismaki. The coloured background was created with Ecoline watercolour inks sprayed over Arches 140 pound cold pressed watercolour paper. I embossed and distressed the small squares with Tim Holtz Distress Inks, then outlined the larger background with Krylon 18 Kt Gold Metallic ink. The sentiment and flourish heart stamps are made from Suzanne's beautiful hand calligraphy, from Quietfire Design. The images are from Lunagirl CD's.

I really hope this card as a sympathy card doesn't offend anybody's sensibilties. I believe that sympathy cards don't necessarily need to be sombre or floral, but that they can reflect enduring love that transcends death. This beautiful sentiment stamp from Quietfire Design fits what I'm trying to convey.

Thank you for visiting today.

Madonna and Child

The current challenge at One Powerful Hour is to use altered dominoes, and over at TGIF, it's "games."Well, I LOVE dominoes...not to play the traditional game, but for artsy play. For this card, I printed my favourite Madonna and Child (Bernardino Luini's altered image on tissue paper, then cut it into three equal pieces and affixed them over three dominoes, and clear embossed each. I used a little UTEE, some old MM letter rub-ons, then added a tassel and a silk ribbon rose.

I have a framed print of this beautiful image in my "Happy Room," where I'm
lucky to enjoy hours of creating and art play every day.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today.

Christmas tag

This week's Created by Hand challenge is to use the colours red and green, and the fun gals over at Crazy Amigo want to see our tags! I'm really enjoying challenges where I can create things to use for Christmas! I made ten of these for my daughter to use on her gifts this year. I love this stamp, one of the new Christmas releases from Quietfire Design. It's so festive and elegant, and works so well on these Cuttlebug tag shapes.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today.
I wish you a creative week!

Arty Girlz Challenge

This week's challenge over at Arty Girlz is frames. I cut the frame with my new MM Slice, stamped it with a music score from Quietfire Design, used the SU scallop punch for the border and computer generated the sentiment. Thanks for the challenge ladies!

Four challenges

I liked this week's Ismaki sketch so much that I did a second card. Thanks again Manue! I created this card also to fit with the Created by Hand challenge (which is to use Christmas and music), the Crazy Amigo challenge (to use "hands"), and Arty Girlz (to use favourite colours; I always love black and gold together).

The image is from a 1921 Good Housekeeping magazine. The music stamp is Inkadinkado, the sentiment stamp is Hero Arts and the Christmas tree stamp is from Susanne Canon's beautiful hand calligraphy over at Quietfire Design. I used the Martha Stewart Lace Doliy border punch over Swiss Dots cuttlebugged gold cardstock, and embellished the Nestabilities scalloped circle with Kaiser pearl beads.

Thanks for visiting me today. I wish you a creative week!

Ismaki Challenge # 41

I always look forward to Monday mornings now, partly because I'm retired and no longer have to fight through rush hour traffic (lol), and partly because I look forward to starting a week of card creating challenges with Ismaki as the first! Manue has created this week's Ismaki challenge sketch.

It was delightful to work with, THANK YOU Manue!

The design team's cards are really wonderful; hope you'll stop by over there to see them. "Our Isa" didn't do a card for this week's challenge, and although I'm missing her lovely creations, I imagine she's just a little busy getting ready to move from the UK to Canada next month! I look forward to catching up with her when her move is complete, and she's settled in to her new Canadian home in Toronto wih her husband and their children. It will certainly be an adventurous Christmas for them all!

The sketch is here too, just below my card. I used a limited edition Santa produced by Sherry Graves of the Stamp Shack, and given to me as a very treasured gift by my friend Kim. I LOVE this stamp,and will use it often for my Christmas cards. Thank you again Kim!

Thanks again for taking the time to visit my blog.
I wish you a happy, creative day!

Saturday's Workout Challenge

This week's challenge for Saturday's Workout is to use a split negative technique. Here's my offering, using stamps from Impression Obsession and Quietfire Design. Thanks for visiting!

Art Creations, Crazy Amigo and TGIF Challenges

So there's a new challenge in blogland! Over at Art Creations, there'll be an image posted every week by Wil, Hermine, Femmy and Pepeetje, and we're to use the image in our creations. This is the current image; there's a much larger version over at Art Creations for you to download and use.

As soon as I saw this beautiful, pensive woman, I knew I wanted to create a card for a friend who's struggling with some of life's unexpected circumstances. I've submitted this piece for the TGIF challenge this week too, where the theme is "Vintage," and for Crazy Amigo, where the theme is the moon! I decreased the woman image, made her a little more subdued, positioned her inside the window, then positioned a moon image as a reflection in the window. After printing, I distress inked the whole piece, wanting a subdued, vintage look, used the sentiment from Quietfire Design, and added platinum UTEE in the top right area of the window frame.

This one really had me working outside my comfort zone...always good. Thank you so much for visiting; have a happy, creative weekend.

Challenges

My daughter and her husband have blessed our lives with four happy, healthy, and very busy little grandsons, and when I saw this new Quietfire Design stamp, I just had to do a card to send along. I know this will give their parents a chuckle.

It was designed to fit several challenges too: Arty Girlz (where the challenge this week is to use quotes), Wednesday Stamper (where the challenge is snowflakes), Created by Hand (where the challenge is Christmas tags...I incorporated mine into a card again), and the weekly Cuttlebug challenge, where we're to use crayon resist. I'm not sure whether you can even see my resist, but it's on the snowflake Cuttlebug embossed layer, with light blue crayon, then oversprayed with very light blue Ecoline ink mixed with Winsor and Newton Iridescent Medium. I punched the snowflakes from blue velvet paper, then applied double sided tape to the reverse of the punched areas, and sprinkled Martha Stewart blue glitter over the tape. I used the Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Two dies to cut and emboss each layer, and the Stampin' Up scallop punch for the border.

Thank you so much for visiting today!

Wednesday Stamper Challenge

This week's Wednesday Stamper challenge is snowflakes. I used this new snowflake-shaped Christmas stamp from Quietfire Design, created with Suzanne Canon's beautiful hand calligraphy, and used a flocked flourish paper as one of the circular layers, to pick up the flourishes in the stamped image. I used Krylon gold metallic ink to paint the silver snowflake, and used the same ink to edge some of the layers.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today.

Created by Hand Challenge

This week's challenge over at Created by Hand is to create a Christmas tag. I did the tag, then decided to mount it on a card. :) This one uses one of the new Christmas stamps from Quietfire Design with a simple Versamark-and-clear-embossing-powder-resist technique and blue chalk ink. The circle and scallop are cut and embossed with Spellbinders Nestabilities. I rubbed a little Encore Silver ink around the edges of the foiled paper. The dark blue paper is velvet flocked. All the new Christmas stamps at Quietfire Design are 20% off till Sunday...go see them, they're GORGEOUS! Thanks for visiting today!

Daring Cardmakers, Gothic Arch, & Technique Saturday Challenges

The Gothic Arch challenge this week is to use silhouettes, and the Saturday's workout challenge is to use the thread technique, and the Daring Cardmakers are using birds as their theme. The crow stamp is from Quietfire Design, the sentiment stamp is Hero Arts. I've never done the thread technique before. It was so simple! I cut the arch, stamped the image and the sentiment, then just wrapped the thread around a part of the arch, then brayered over the whole card with "Old Paper" distress ink. Then I sponged some "Vintage Photo" ink around the edges. Have a look at all the entries on these fun challenge blogs...some great inspiration there!

Thank you for stopping by today. :)

Challenges

This week's CBH challenge is to use alcohol inks. This week's Cuttlebug challenge is to emboss on a die cut. I inked up some gold matte paper with Lettuce and Stream alcohol inks, cut the ornament shape with a Cuttlebug Die, then embossed it using two Cuttlebug folders, and added some Stickles on the roofs of the houses.I cut an ornament shape from chipboard as well and glued the paper to the chipboard, for a little more stability. Then I outlined the ornament with gold krylon ink, and stamped the sentiment (from Quietfire Design). The little pearls are from "Kaiser Scrapbooking." Thanks for taking the time to visit today!

Challenges...

Well, Kianel at Ismaki REALLY challenged us this week!

I needed a wedding card, and decided yesterday that, no matter what the Ismaki Sketch would be, I'd do the wedding card with the sketch. This card has taken me the whole day to design and create, but I think I'm happy with the results. Kianel's sketch was to use for the inside of our card. My first photo is the outside of the card, the second photo is the inside, and the third image is Kianel's sketch. Thanks for another great challenge!

This week at Arty Girlz, the challenge is to take inspiration from a blog. So I decided to use the colour scheme from my own blog to do these challenges. Thanks Crissi and Julie!

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit today.

My heart is full...

Well, after staying up till the wee hours, glued to the American election coverage, I have to say MY HEART IS FULL!

So, that's the genesis for this card, where I've
combined three challenges.

Over at Arty Girlz, the challenge is to use some freehand work. Oh my. I use stamps because I can't even draw stick people! So the best I could do was to dot black ink around the border of my oval, and you wouldn't believe how long it took me to do THAT! The oval on my card is the third dotted attempt. Sigh. So, Crissi and Julie, I really did try! ;)

Over at Crazy Amigo, the theme is hearts.
I stamped the SU heart with Vintage Paper Distress Ink, then overstamped the Quietfire Design sentiment in India Black Ink. This picks up the theme over at Created By Hand,
which is to use black and brown tones.

Thanks for stopping by today. Now, in my lingering celebratory mood, I'm off to see everyone else's wonderful things!

Gothic Arch

Kelly (over at Artsy Visions) set the current Gothic Arch challenge, which is to incorporate vintage children into our piece. I started this with an Ecoline Inks background (from Quietfire Design, done with the shaving cream technique), then stamped the Lazar Studio Werx gate with India Black Ink. This gorgeous little charmer is from the Vintage Children 1 sheet from Quietfire Design, which is where the crown stamp comes from as well. I stamped the crown in several layers of gold UTEE, cut it out, and added some stickles for crown bling.

Thanks for visitig my blog today.

Ismaki Challenge # 38

This card uses Beatrix’s wonderful Ismaki challenge sketch for this week, which is posted just below my card. The angel and music stamps are Inkadinkado. The sentiment is computer generated.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Created by Hand Challenge

This week's Created by Hand challenge is to use ribbon...easy! ;) I hoard ribbon almost as much as I hoard paper! The base for this card was created with Ecoline Watercolour Inks on Arches watercolour paper. The I used a Martha Stewart edge punch to create a stencil, and stippled Pan Pastel Violet Shade on the edge. I used Martha's punch to create a 3" square from white cardstock as well, stippling Pan Pastel Violet Tint over the punched square, then stamping one of the new Quietfire Design "Thanks" stamps. Everything was outlined with Krylon 18Kt Gold Metallic ink, and I added the ribbon and hat pin.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Crazy Amigo Challenge

This week's Crazy Amigo challenge is to use quote stamps. For this first card, I used "Love" from Quietfire Design, in a clear embossing/resist technique with an Ecoline Watercolour Inks background, along with my very favourite Madonna and Child stamp from Toybox.

This card also uses the same clear embossing/resist technique, with a lace stamp from Paperbag Studios
and a quote stamp from Quietfire Design.

Thank you for visiting my blog today.

Ismaki Challenge

Here's my card for this week's Ismaki challenge sketch,
and below the card is their sketch.

I used a Paper Inspirations Santa stamp and one of my
favourite snowflake stamps from Impression Obsession.

This snowflake is a smaller version of the stamp I used

to create the Christmas gift tags just below this post.

Thanks for visiting!

Impression Obsession Team Challenge

Our team challenge this month is to create tags. For these Christmas tags, I used various Impression Obsession stamps with the Nestabilities Classic Circles set, a Cuttlebug die, and a Stampin' Up Round Tab Punch. Impression Obsession also has several "To and From" stamps to personalize the reverse of your tags.

This tag uses one of the Leigh Hannan Damask snowflakes with gold embossing powder and dimensional pearl paint. The sentiment is from the clear set "Mini Messages."

This tag uses a section of the Flower Background stamp, designed by Leigh Hannan, and this sentiment stamp. I added gold Stickles, and edged the circles with gold metallic ink.
This tag uses the Leigh Hannan Swirl Background stamp, which I think looks beautiful all on its own on an ornament shaped tag.

This tag uses the small Damask Snowflake, and
this sentiment stamp.
This tag uses the Small Leaf Wreath stamp and a sentiment
from the Mini Messages set.

This very simple tag was cut from a Cuttlebug die and stamped with the Swirl Background stamp, and embossed with Ranger Seafoam White embossing powder.

Please look to the right side of my blog, where you'll find clickable links to all other Impression Obsession designers' blogs, where you'll find more delectable tag ideas!

Thanks for visiting today.

Created By Hand Challenge

This week's Created by Hand challenge is to use walnut ink. The background for this card was created by mixing two colours of Ecoline watercolour ink with Winsor and Newton Iridescent Medium, spraying onto wet 140 pound Arches cold pressed Watercolour paper, then spraying droplets of reconstituted walnut ink crystals onto the still wet first layer. After it was dry, I stamped this beautiful new Quietfire Design sentiment stamp with Black Versafine Ink, then outlined the stamped layer with Krylon 18Kt gold leafing ink. I mounted the stamped layer on a a piece of formerly ecru cardstock I'd sprayed with walnut ink, then mounted both pieces on another piece of the prepared watercolour paper. After I mounted these on black cardstock, I added the organza ribbon and teapot charm.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today.

Thank you

This week's Created by Hand challenge is to do a thank you card. For this one, I used a beautiful new hand lettered calligraphy stamp by Suzanne Canon. I decided that I wanted the lettering to be the focal point, so I kept the card simple, and simply outlined the Thank You piece with metallic ink. The punch is one of the new edge punches by Martha Stewart. Please believe me, this card is perfectly rectangular (lol). I'm away from home right now, and have no access to my scanner, of course, so I used my camera, and can never get a shot that perfectly captures the correct dimensions.

Thanks so much for visiting today.

Remembering my friend Deb...

I created these cards remembering my dear friend Deb, who died on October 11th. during Breast Cancer Awareness month last year. This card will go to her husband Jamie, the love of her life.

I created the two following cards at the same time, with the same techniques, while I was enjoying time spent remembering her wisdom and her friendship. This all came about as a result of a card making celebration over at TwoPeas. I participated by creating a challenge for card makers. You can read about the challenge and see cards created for other wonderful women
right here at TwoPeas .

The stamps and the majority of supplies are from Quietfire Design. This is my Quietfire design team project for October. Thanks for stopping by and remembering with me today.

Christmas challenge

How LUCKY I am to be able to design for Impression Obsession! This month, we were challenged to create a Christmas "set" of some kind. I decided to do this set, using RED for this week's Arty Girlz challenge, and lots of Swarovski crystals (one of my favourite ways to add bling and texture) to fit with this week's Wednesday Stamper challenge, and vibrant metallic colours, to fit with this week's Crazy Amigo challenge. My set includes this little box with tiny gift cards. After temporarily removing all the hardware on the box, I sprayed it with white Gesso (Krylon) first, then painted the inside with Lumiere Metallic Silver, and the outside with Lumiere Metallic Crimson. After it dried, I lightly distressed it with sandpaper, then stamped all over with a Top Boss Tinted Embossing Pad and one of my favourite background stamps, this Swirls background here. Then I replaced the hardware (painted silver with a Krylon Silver Leafing Pen) and glued lots of Swarovski crystals for the necessary Christmas bling effect (lol).

I created the cards, with horizontal and vertical folds, to fit inside the little box, using the Leigh Hannan Holiday Set, and the Oblong Ornament, using silver embossing, StazOn stamping, and Tombow colouring,
then adding lots more Swarovski crystals.

I LOVE the holiday season, so it was pure bliss creating this set, which will be going to my daughter (who's raising four little boys, and studying full time at university, and too busy to create anything herself! lol).

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today, and please be sure to stop by to see the fabulous work of other Impression Obsession designers, who'll all be posting some time today:Daniela's, Dina's, ,Julie's, Kelli's, and Laura's.

Quirky Challenge

This week's quirky Created by Hand challenge is to use a coffin template.

Yep. Really. A coffin. Okaaaay then.

So this is my offering. The stamp is from Quietfire Design. The image is one I found on the 'net. I added the little googlie eyes
and the bride's flowers. The coffin had to be upside-down so I could fit the stamped sentiment the way I wanted to. ;)

So, hmmm, what might be a "useful" occasion for this little thing? I know! How about a GOTH WEDDING?? If you have any of those coming up, I'd be pleased to donate my little card. :) Hmmm...another thought...Suzanne suggested using it as a card for a wedding anniversary...GREAT idea 'eh? (lol) Maybe I'll use it for my OWN next year...think it'll send an interesting message??

Thanks for stopping by today to see my funnies.

Ismaki Challenge Sep 29

Another lovely Monday morning with another delightful Ismaki challenge sketch, this week from the artsy Beatrix. The sketch is below. I rotated it 90 degrees for my card. The pumpkin stamp is Penny Black. The sentiment is Impression Obsession. Thanks so much for visiting my blog today.