Another Digi Stamps 4 Joy

Hey there!
I had fun with the first card I created with these little tags, so I created another one, this time for the dog club I belong to.  Check out Digi Stamps 4 Joy for their monthly challenges.
Simple was the name of the game here.  I printed the tag at 4x6" and coloured the tree and present with Stampin' Up markers and Zig Luna metallic pens.  The dog stamp is one in my stash.  I then covered the background with red watercolour.  Michaels plaid washi tape was used in place of my usual ribbon and then I added a snowflake metal charm at the top.  The greeting is an old one from my stash.

Have fun creating!

Digi Stamps 4 Joy Challenge

Hi All!

I've been happily creating Christmas cards for my mom and ourselves.  I saw this challenge on Digi Stamps 4 Joy for November and an idea came to mind for it, so here we go!

The monthly image must be used for each month's challenge, so I emailed and received the images a few days ago.

I started by colouring in the Tree image after printing it about 4x6".  I traced the tag onto paper from a pad in my stash then fussy cut the tree and present from the original tag and adhered it in the same spot.  I printed the snowflake tag EXTREMELY small and added it to the present.  A coloured acetate layer was added to the top.  I tied it all together with some Santa ribbon from last year's present!  The 5x6.5" card was covered with lightbulb patterned paper from my stash, then another piece of ribbon from that gift.  Added the tag and voila!  Done card!

New Work

Hello! 
Long time no chat!
And that is my fault...
We got back from our trip and had to deal with a lost package that included some personal items that were one of a kind.  It took all my energy and ambition to get it resolved. 

As most will receive this on November 11, I offer this tribute to our fallen citizens:

So now I'm back to playing!
I needed to complete an Advent Swap lately with the craft group I am a member of and thought I'd show you my contribution.  Each year we are given a number and we are to create 26 ATCs with that number and place them in an envelope only with our number.  So starting December 1st we have a creative Advent envelope to open each day.  This year I have #24.  In the past when I had #4 for example I would chose an image with 4 of something, but this year I went the easy way out. 

I chose and older Poinsettia image from Magenta and hand coloured the stamp with my SU! markers, huffed on it then stamped it onto the mustard ATC.  The greeting is by Our Daily Bread.  I created the envelope with the Envelope Maker by We R Memory Keepers.  SUPER fun tool!  I do not remember who makes the number stamp.  If you look carefully, you can see the 24 I coloured with my black marker after I inked the stamp in red :)

Keep Stamping!

Pockets of Fun

Hello!

We're just finishing up our 20th anniversary holiday and I thought you'd like to see something I made for this trip.  We took a Disney Cruise as part of the fun and a while ago families on the cruises decided to start little gift exchanges as a means of getting to know each other or just 'pixie dust'  (anonymous gift to make you happy)  This volunteer tradition caught steam and started to produce some beautiful handmade pocket style holders that are hung outside the staterooms on the fish clips that the staff use to leave messages.  Hence the name 'Fish Extenders'  If you are curious to learn more, use your search engine to look for 'Disney Cruise Fish Extenders' and you'll get LOTS of images.  Just another way to add more fun on your trip. 

Back to my pockets.... My hubby wanted a traditional Mickey and Minnie style but I never do traditional... :)  I have to do a twist :) 

I added two self cut mickey head silhouettes out of Canadian fabric (the back uses the same maple leaf fabric too!)  I even added some lace on Minnie's bloomers :)

I did not personalize the pockets as there are just me & hubby, and the choices should be obvious!  You may remember the post I did last year where I learned to crochet.  I made sets of four coasters of these as my gift for each cabin then assembled little things like pens, candy, stamp, nail stickers, etc. for individual gifts.  

Memories of Summer Reminder

Hello!

So this is my last time to play with the ladies at Quirky Crafts Challenges.  I love the challenge of themes and images and being asked to come up with a project.  It really gets the creative juices flowing.  If you are this way as well, let Cazzy know over at Quirky!  She is always looking for guest designers and may even ask you to join the team! 

Bugaboo provided me with two more images to play with this week: Girls Craft On and the quote that goes with it.  I personalised her a bit to make her look like me, then fussy cut her out.  I used markers and Zig Wink of Stella brushes to add life to her. 

A while back I created this background in my art journal at a class.  I added a couple things, then wasn't sure how to complete it.  This theme and image was just the thing!  The background is layers of gesso & dimensional medium through stencils.  Once dried I rubbed on ink and gold Inka Gold then stamped on some script with permanent ink.  I had gone back with green dimensional medium and a happy stencil and let that dry.  I love incorporating fabric and this sheer piece didn't have a home, so it got applies along with the flower to anchor it. 

Now I was able to adhere my Craft Girl (with a little longer hair and glasses added by me) to the flap with the fabric.  The quote was printed out, die cut with Spellbinders Lables 8, then sprayed with Tattered Angels spray.  I matted it on red watermelon printed paper and added a cut out CRAFT word also sprayed with different Tattered Angels spray.  All that was needed was to use ink markers to write the title of Summer 2014 .....

and open the flap to add my summer memories...

Hot Summer Sun, Memories of Summer

Hey all!

Summer was great wasn't it?  Here in Alberta, Canada we got SNOW this week which was a reminder that summer is OVER!  So what are your memories of this summer?  The challenge at Quirky Crafts Challenges is precicely that.  Create a project reflecting your memories.

 Bugaboo is sponsoring this challenge and they provided me with this uber cute Birthday Word Search to play with.  I chose this because I am a smack dab, right in the middle of summer, never had successful birthday parties, summer baby!  I turned 44 this summer and dispite my last sentence, I loved my birthday.  Warm, family times with my mom's homemade cakes!  Yum!

So after colouring in the yummy bits and adorable girl on it, I cut around it and adhered it to a 5x7 postcard.  I used Zig Wink of Stella brushes to give these images a birthday type pop.  Two people will have hopefully have fun getting and playing with these cards...

Red Red Wine Birthday

Hello!

It's reminder time on Quirky Crafts Challenges! This time I used 'This Wine' and a wine glass image from Crackerbox to make a quick birthday card.

 

Started with my 5x6.5" white card base.  Then I found some soft handmade shimmer paper a couple years ago that gives a really nice texture to the card.   A square cut from some tea bag folding paper was covered by white vellum.  I printed the two images on the vellum before cutting and adhering.  The border is some old Sandylion border stickers I've had in my stash forever!  Like I said, Nice and quick.  Hugs!

Red, Red Wine

Hello!!!

Time to celebrate!  Another amazing summer ending with a great Labour Day weekend!  How best to do this?  Why with Red, Red Wine!  This is the theme of our latest challenge at Quirky Crafts Challenges.  Cracker Box has given us some cute images to play with this time and I went for a a card that can be given with a a bottle of wine as a gift...

My usual 5x6.5" white card base has a piece of grape printed vellum, the coloured bunch of grapes image, then the wine quote has been printed on swirl printed vellum.  I wrapped the whole thing with purple sheer ribbon and secured it with a large square brad from my stash. 

Put a Stamp on it Reminder

Hello!

My turn to be late on posting... SO sorry!
I have been enjoying the entries so far and want to thank everyone who has entered my first ever challenge at Quirky Crafts Challenges.  For those who have not yet, why not? :)  Any craft project that has postal elements to it are well come.  Think dies cuts, postage stamps, post boxes, those fun postage edge scissors we all collected at one point...

This Art Journal page is my reminder project.  Basically layers of paper, stickers, images printed on tissue paper, ephemera all adhered with Matte Medium.  The silhouette image, postcard and gear corners are from our sponsor Stitchy Bear.  The papers, stickers and ephemera are from my stash and range from Me & My Big Ideas, Prima and unknown :) 

I finished off the pages with my journaling stencil and dimensional paste. 
Let's see what you can come up with!

Put a Stamp On It!

Hi All!

This week is my turn to select a challenge for Quirky Crafts Challenge.  SO exciting!  And so I hope you'll play along... Any project goes as long as it's crafty and uses a postage theme.

I LOVE postage themed images and have quite a few in my collection! I used these Postcard 2 and Cat Mail images from Stitchy Bear for this week.  Then the Postage dies from Spellbinders came out, and then I had to start to rein myself in!  The postcard was print on the backside of shimmer cardstock in 5x7".  I cut out a piece of K&Co. paper with postage scissors to create a bit of depth.  Then cut out the cat mail image with the Spellbinders die and edged it with a black pen.  The quote is an old SU! stamp and the paw is PSX, both also cut out with Spellbinders. 

 The second postcard was printed 5x7" same as the first.  The Cat Mail image was printed on stationary and trimmed to 4x6" then matted onto black paper.

I look forward to (virtually) visiting each one of you who take up this challenge!  Hugs!

What's Quirky Cooking? ... With Ribbons!

Hi all!

Time to remind you about Quirky Craft Challenges current challenge of What's Cooking?  Robyn's Fetish provided us with some cool images to play with.  This week I played with the appropriately named 'Cake'.  I coloured the printed images with my SU! markers then trimmed them ready to add to my projects.  I had a square left of paper from last week (Berry Patch by Imaginise), so I used it to mat the first image.  On the 5x 6.5" white card base I placed a scrap piece of glitter green card then wrapped it with some Michaels strawberry ribbon.  Add my matted image then stamp 'celebrate' in the bottom right.  Voila!  A pretty birthday card!

Card two took advantage of an old scrapbooking mat from my stash to mat the image.  It was the perfect size for the card front too!  Then just wrapped it and tied a bow with some fuzzy green decorator ribbon from my stash.  Wanted to add a 3D element, so added some old Sandylion strawberry fuzzy stickers. 

Have fun all!

What's Cooking?

Hi there!

It's time for another Quirky Craft Challenge!  The challenge this time is What's Cooking? (with the use of ribbon)  Robyn's Fetish is sponsoring this challenge and gave us images to play with.  The image I played with this week is My Little Cook.  She's perfect for those little girls that are always wanting to help in the kitchen.  I printed the image onto copic paper then coloured this cutie with my SU! markers.  I've found this combination works ALMOST as well using copic type makers.  That said, I am not the best blending artist. 

I ran my two Michaels ribbons across the bottom of a white 5x6.5".  Used a scrap piece of green paper on the top, then placed my fussy cut little cook on the right side.  Spellbinders Fancy Tags was used to create the little sign. 

 I wanted to make a birthday card for a friend's child with this image.  So the colouring was done in the same way, then trimmed square.  The red card base of 4x8" is covered by a layer of green glitter card, then Berry Patch paper by Imaginise.  Michaels ribbon wraps around the left side and I made a quick bow at the top as well.  The image was matted on the back side of the same Imaginise paper.  Super Cute Birthday!

Get Cooking!

Down the Silk Road... Again

Hello!

Happy birthday to me!  I'm 44 today and totally happy with my life!  Had a great crafting day at a friend's home yesterday and relaxing today with my hubby cooking for me!

I'm back to a card for today's challenge at Quirky Crafts Challenges.  The image a received this week from Unky at The East Wind is called Tuxedo Sleeping Cat.  Such a cutie and already precoloured.  I started with an Asian print tissue.  I separated the layers of tissue until I had just the top, decorated one and used double sided tape to adhere it to a piece of black shimmer cardstock, then to a 5.5x6" white card base.  Used a strip of same black card to make a strap along the top and topped it with a stamped kanji of 'cat' that had been punched with a decorative punch from Creative Memories. Printed and cut out Tuxedo kitty and adhered him to the front.  Quick and easy! 

I used the scraps to decorate the inside as well...

Down the Silk Road

Hi all!
Beware of summer flu bugs!

This is a little late and I apologize to all...

This week at Quirky Crafts Challenges we are playing with images from The East Wind aka Unky.  The theme is The Quirky Silk Road- Oriental Theme.  I started with Ashley5 from Unky and circle quotes from Squigglefly.  Ashley was coloured with my watercolour crayons and water pen.  Accents on her dress were done with a clear Zig glimmer pen.  So much fun to colour too! 

I fussy cut her out and placed her on a card front covered in pink silk and ribbons.  I punched out the dream quote and sprayed it with gold Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist.

So this is the 5x7" finished card....

 

But were there not 2 coloured images?  :) 
I had a great idea for a decorator project with a tray I picked up a couple weeks ago at Value Village...
First I covered it with white gesso and let dry.

Then I painted the sides and edges with green Silks Acrylic Glaze.  I did two coats and the paintbrush made a streaked earthy pattern so...

I stamped all sides, inside and out with a bamboo stamp from Hero Arts and Staz On.

I placed scraps of silk and fabric on the bottom of each compartment, then filled each with an Asian element I have in my kit.  I took different angles to show the stamping.  The same circle quote was also used in this collage.  Whatcha think? :)

'Dying' for Christmas

Hi!

Yes, it is July.  At Quirky Crafts Challenges we are playing with images from Stichy Bear to create a Christmas Project that also makes use of a die or punch.  My second image is this Arctic Fox created by Delicious Doodles.  He is so elegant, I wanted to make an equally card with it. 

After printing and cutting him out with my Spellbinders die, I covered him with Sookwang double sided tape and clear beads. 

I layered him with glossy grey cardstock I've been hording for a while.  On the card base of 5x6.5" I placed a slightly smaller piece of the same cardstock and then some textured stationery paper I got moon ago at Staples.  Then came the beaded fox.  I used the smaller die from the same set to trim a greeting sticker and matted it with a scrap from the gray paper. 

 

Pretty?  I think so!

Here's a close up of the beads and paper texture.  'Till next time!

 

Where Bloggers Create 2014

Hi all!

I am pleased to be showing you another of my creating areas in this year's edition of Where Bloggers Create.  Karen Valentine at My Desert Cottage hosts this fun show and tell every year and this is my third time playing.  Here are my posts for the basement area from 2013 and 2012. Nothing much has changed in the basement this year, so I thought I'd share where I sew. 
**This is NOT another hobby, because my husband has restricted me from having another hobby until I get rid of one of my other ones... LOL**

Up the stairs in our guest room is where I go when I get the itch to create something with my sewing machine. 

 

 Yes, I am a big kid who still has lots of stuffies and dolls :)  

Those wooden cabinets were made by my dad years ago and now that he has passed away, I treasure them.  Inside them I hide my sewing stuff.  

 

My outdated Singer is in the white case on the bottom right, next to the green bin that has my threads, buttons, scissors, etc.  In the drawers on the bottom left I have odds and ends in the top drawer and cut pieces for a quilt in the second drawer.  The bottom drawer has my various patterns.  I also have a bit of a stash of fabric hidden away in 3 trunks I purchased from Ikea years ago and covered with fabric. 

Where do I cut my fabric?  I have a foldable 6' (1.82m) table that I keep in the closet that gets unfolded and set up above the bed when I need to cut fabric.  Place a large cutting mat on it and we're ready to go! 

These were taken a couple weeks ago when I was creating a new awning for my outdoor swing.  Click HERE to check that out if you're interested...
So that's about it for my sewing area...  I occasionally do a fabric project and will post on this blog when I do.  The final pic is me, working away in my little corner.  Hugs!

Quirky Die-ing For Christmas in July!

Hello!

It's time to brush off those Christmas images and dies/punches to create some awesome art! Quirky Crafts Challenges has a challenge to use both a Christmas image and a die or punch.  So using the Stocking image I was given to use by Stitchy Bear, I created 2 cards this week. 

For my first card, I used my usual 5x6.5" white card base and added strips of washi tapes (Recollections), Santa ribbon from my stash and a strip of paper.  I've been wanting to create more cards like this as they are quick and fun.  I coloured the image with my SU! markers and Sakura metallic markers then fussy cut it.  Where's the die?  I used my Spellbinders Labels 8 and cut out a layer out of some shimmer vellum and edged it with a silver marker.

The second card is using another Mojo Monday template.  I used a red foil embossed card base that I trimmed to 4x7".  A strip of Christmas ribbon was attached down the centre and the two outer corners were punched with a holly corner punch.  After a layer of green cardstock I adhered the stocking I had coloured with watercolour crayons and a water brush.  I also added some metallic marker touches and fussy cut this one too.  The greeting was stamped on scrap blue paper and punched out with a circle punch.  The holly and leaves are paper die cuts from Prima (very old from my stash). 

So what are you gonna create with punches/dies and your Christmas images?  Have fun!

New Awning

Hi there!

I mostly do papercrafts, but I also enjoy the occasional sewing project too.  So when I need to fix something, or the itch appears to create with fabric, I go upstairs to our guest room where I have my sewing machine.  In a couple weeks I will be posting more detail about my sewing area, but for now we will look at my latest sewing attempt.

Our outdoor swing has an awning that ripped up two years ago, which I replaced with a generic one last year.  Unfortunately it was not acceptable or long enough.  So I gave myself a challenge to make a new one in time for Canada Day and our BBQ with neighbours. 

I basically just took a 45"(114cm) folded denim type fabric from Ikea at 86.6" (2.2m).  Edged it all with a zigzag stitch to keep from fraying, and a small overlap hem on the cut ends.  I cut cotton bias tape into 10" (25cm) strips and pinned them approximately where the bar holding the awning was.  I went out and verified the placement before sewing them directly on the fabric with a simple repeated 'X' on the centre of the bias tape strip.  The placement ended up being about 7" (17.7cm) from the sides and 11" (28cm) from the front and back.

Then it was a simple task of tying the awning to the swing.  Not as gorgeous as the purchased one, but functional!