Encore sneak peek - Open Sea

Another sample of the Open Sea ... hope you are not getting bored!

I am just loving the Nautical DSP - it allows you to do so many wonderful colour combos with this set and the great thing about Stampin' Up! Products is that they all coordinate so well together - I love the Word Play stamp set to add an additional sentiment to my envelope - the Go in the Directions of your dream goes great with the compass and is awesome for a Father who is retired and traveling!

I also just love the little Game Spinner hands and am so glad that they were carried over when the Occasion's Mini ends today - they added perfect male bling to this card and coordinate with the compass stamp perfectly as well - think this card would have also been perfect with a 'retirement sentiment' from the Teeny Tiny Wishes instead of the Happy Father's Day sentiment!

Thanks for stopping by and leaving your warm and wonderful comments - they make my day!

Open Sea Sneak Peek

Only two more sleeps until the Summer Mini goes live ... so excited!

This is a set that I have currently pre-ordered in My Digital Studio along with the coordinating Nautical Expedition designer series paper ... only because I love the versatility of the resizing of the stamped images in the MDS and well printing out the DSP as you need it requires less storage in my tiny space!

That said the more I play with hybrid projects the more I want the traditional set too! I just love watercoloring the ship and the complimentary pieces that go with it are just too cute ... I paired this set with the Uncharted Territory as well to dress up the envelope - don't they just go great together?

On this card I used the World stamp up in the corner punched out as the 'sentiment focal point' with the Teeny Tiny wishes set ... and well the Early Espresso and Marina Mist are just a striking combo specially with this set!

Four Frames Flower Garden

Another sneak peek at the Summer mini offerings that goes live May 1st and the new Ideas Catty that goes live July 1!

This card features the Flower Garden embossing folder from the Summer mini and the Four Frames stamp set that matches perfectly with the Decorative label punch!

Just loving all my new goodies - I am like a little girl on Christmas morning!

Thanks for stopping by!

Strength and Hope CASE

I saw this flower daffodil crop up on a couple samples out there in the Stampin' Connection site and thought it was too cute ... my apologies for not having a link to site did not think to go and bookmark the blogs of the demos who shared the flower tutorial :(

This week I decided to try it with the Strength and Hope card for the Color Throwdown challenge last week of the Navy and White with another 'color' but did not submit this one case I ended up with two other colors cause the daffodil looked silly without some 2 step Bird punch leaves in the Old Olive :)

This is another one of those 'sparkly' cards that a photo does just not do justice! I embossed white on white with the words from the Strength and Hope set and than used the Iridescent Ice over the Night of Navy butterfly with some pearls as accents!


This is a perfect card for this weeks Shabby Tea Room challenge as well .... make something with butterflies ... with the new Strength and Hope Campaign set I think I could be entering everyday this week cause I am so loving this set!

Clean & Simple Color Throwdown

Loved this fun layout from over at the Clean & Simple Challenge 137 ... been working really hard on keeping my class cards more simple so that they are not three hours long so these challenges are really helpful ...

Was also inspired by the Color Throwdown #138 ... Navy, White and any color so I chose Melon Mambo!And than with those inspirations I came up with the following Strength and Hope Campaign card featuring the Ribbon Border and a Vintage Flower Adornment ... this turned out way more sparkly in real life!

Here is an attempt to catch the sparkle on the butterflies ... I stamped them with Melon Mambo and sponged with Night of Navy and than covered with Versamark and sprinkled with Iridescent Ice emboss powder and heated - GORGEOUS and of course some Rhinestone gems to finish off the bling!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and thank you to everyone who leaves such warm comments - they make my day!

Mash it up!

Being away on Friday did not stop me from coming back to be inspired by an awesome Friday Mashup Challenge ... create a Black and White & Square card ...

Which was an awesome challenge to pair with the Create with Connie and Mary Challenge ... which was also a square card challenge!

So here is my final inspiration .... Black and White Fabulous Florets .... the more I play with this set the more I just LOVE it! I paired the black and white stamped images with a little bit of embossing powder for some pop factor and used the Heard from the Heart Sentiment and a Rosettes as finishing touches!

I cut out the stem and a black embossed with white floret and popped them up on dimensional's for a bit of added dimension ... I just love the way this one turned out and hope you do to!

Happy 'A La Card Monkey' Easter

Hope everyone is having a peaceful and restful long Easter Weekend ... I have so been relishing the wonderful extra days! Friday we took in a Toronto Blue Jays game which was totally awesome - close action packed game that went into extra innings!

Then 'reality' hit for yesterday with errands - what a zoo at Holiday can make of the grocery stores man - twice as many shoppers equals three times as long line ups for some reason!

Thankfully today I got to spend lots of time in the craft room catching up and relaxing ... partaking in some challenge inspired card making!

Thank you to the Colour Q for the following color combo ...

Along with the A La Card Monkey Challenge for the following layout challenge ... which was just too cute and inspired the card belong!

So had to tweak the Color Q colour combo a wee bit using a Subtle's collection of Baja Breeze, Certainly Celery, So Saffron and Pink Pirouette and incorporating the Easter Blossoms stamp set with the Inspired by Nature set and using the Scallop Edge border punch with the Decorative Label punch ...

and of course a nice close up of some bling on the sentiment as well as in the basket of the little girl!

Happy Easter too all - and for those of you who get tomorrow off as well enjoy the extra long weekend and for those heading back to normal work life - hope the Bunny was good to you and that his arrival will continue to mean sunny warm days for those of us who have so been longing for more signs of SPRING that we have had this weekend!

Bare Essential Challenge

This is a card inspired from our April Team Challenge combined with the Clean and Simple layout ... our Team challenge was to create a card using one stamp set, one ink color, one embellishment and two cardstock colors...those of you who know my card making style know how much of a challenge that really was for me - but I managed with a little creative 're-inking'!

I chose for my Stamp set the Because I care set, for my one ink color I chose Certainly Celery, my one embellishment is the 'connected strip' of Rhinestones which I cut three off of and my two colors of cardstock are Old Olive and Whisper White!

So now looking at my card you are likely thinking HEY there are more than two colors there ... that is where re - inking comes in .... I used my brayer on my Whisper White cardstock to create two tones of Certainly celery on my second layer background image and than stamped the Because I care hydrangea on the lighter side!

I also used the brayer on the paper ribbon I cut out to make it look like it was Certainly Celery cardstock as well and than stamped the sentiment on Whisper white with the Rhinestones for that added flare!

I admit that the Clean and Simple challenges are always a true challenge for me - but are VERY helpful in inspiring me to be creating the quick and easy cards for classes and workshops!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sneak Peek - Flower Garden

So here is another fun Sketch for this week ... from over at The Sweetest Things hop on over and check them out lots of great ideas and inspiring card designs!

And here is my inspiration from the challenge!

So this baby features the Pacific Point, Tempting Turquoise, Melon Mambo and Old Olive combination which was awesome to showcase the new Flower Garden embossing folder ... which I admit did not really WOW me in the summer mini however seeing samples made with it IRL has totally converted me - it is a nice deep embossed image with lots of potential for adding pop to a card!

I also played some more with the new Fabulous Florets stamp set and paired the Beautiful Wings embosslit with this one... which you can see below here accented with some pretty half back pearls and some sponging on the wings.
And considering we have had year more snow this week - I am ever so more ready to spend time hiding in the craft room with my floral images and butterflies and experiencing a virtual spring down there!

A La Card Monkey Challenge 52

So this weeks Challenge over at A La Card Monkey was lots of fun ... make a card using following layout and a theme of your favorite hot beverage ....

Now unfortunately I do not have any traditional stamps that have a 'beverage theme' at this point and well I finally got back into my craft room and was itching to use hands on stamps ... so came up with a compromise and I boiled up the kettle and made a nice cup of Hot Chocolate and threw a shot of Baileys into it and come up with the following ....

I just loved that it is show casing the awesome color combination of Marina Mist and Crumb Cake with the new Fabulous Florets stamp set .... such a pretty set! I paired it with the Baroque Motif vine with Versamark on the Crumb Cake cardstock as I thought this set matched nicely with the mini version on the Tiny Tags set to tie it all together and well that wonderful Chantilly Crocheted lace - just divine!

Here is an up close of the Tiny Tags Stamp set combined with the Tiny Tags punch ... and the Ice brads were a perfect compliment to add some bling!

As much as I move My Digital Studio - I have to admit it felt so great to be back in the stamp room getting down and dirty with my stamps and inks!

Creative Scrappers #152 meets Saturday ScrapSketch27

So the craft room is almost back to a temporary state of workablity - in that everything is back in its container and sorted from the big fall and a small work space is emerging.

As they say everything happens for a reason - my other half has taken pity on me and the perils of 'store bought materials' and their lack of quality these days and taken measurements to build me a custom made storage unit to hold my papers, punches and other products!!!

In the meantime another MDS offering inspired by the Saturday ScrapSketch 27 over on My Digital Studio offered by Alesha Walls ...

Which I used to create the following right page layout using the new Color Challenge from over at Color Q I missed the deadline for it however loved that it showcased some of the awesome colors in the new Beyond the Garden DSP! Also love how the button gives so much dimension stretched up so large - hoping it turns out as crisp when printed!

Then we blog hopped over to the Creative Scrappers and participated in the Sketch #152 which as such a pretty layout as well!

And here is my left side layout for this challenge ... again using the same colour scheme, Beyond the Garden DSP and accenting with a Beautiful Butterfly die layered with textured papers to create the sponged look and depth and some half back pearls for bling factor! I also used the Just Believe stamp set at 20% opacity on the Crumb Cake background to give a tone on tone Wersamark look!

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday Mashup!

Ok - so the craft room has had a tragic accident - the three shelf wall storage unit that I had over top of my workspace came crashing down the past week despite the 300 pound wall anchors holding it!

Fortunately the universe was looking out for me and neither I nor anyone else was IN the craft room at the time having just momentarily vacated it to head upstairs for lunch with the kids!

However the proceeding mess and lack of storage has made it a little less than workable in there - so no traditional cards until I can carve out sometime to shop for new storage solutions!

So for this weeks Friday Mashup I had went to my trustee much loved My Digital Studio to get creative with the layout and color scheme ... and had so much fun I created not one but THREE entries and finally had to tell myself to stop and go make dinner!

Entry number one makes use of the Blueberry Crisp DSP, Baroque Motifs stamp set which I think matches the DSP perfectly when accented with some Flower Brads with some Pearl Accents

Entry number two was inspired by a desire to create a more masculine care so I went with the new Nautical Expedition Designer Series paper and matching Open Sea stamp set with the sentiment from the For All You Do stamp set.

Finally entry number three uses the Filled with Love stamp set to create the background paper and paired it with the Just Believe floral image and sentiment of the Elements of Style sentiment.

Stampin' Celebration Sketchy 4.14

Playing with the double challenge today while playing with My Digital Studio!

First was inspired by the Color Challenge over at Stampin' Celebration ... just such pretty spring colors I just had to use them to scrap the digital conversion of my parents wedding!

And of course I was so VERY excited to see a double page layout inspiration over at Sketchy Thursdays it was just perfect as well for the wedding photos!

I apologize as I do not know how to do a side by side layout insert - so the photos are on top of each other - so I will have to ask you to use your imaginations :)

First is the right hand side of my layout ... I used the Shades of Spring Designer Series paper as well as the Springtime Vintage which both showcased the colors in the Stampin' Celebration challenge well with Rose Red, Always Artichoke and accented it with Perfect Plum and Certainly Celery.

The sentiment Celebrate is actually from the Chat Room Celebrate download and I blocked out the part that said 'the everyday' with a punch and matching DSP to the background!

I played with the Paper Daisy and inserted it as a photo so I could crop the image around the photos as well as used the drop shadow to color the others Perfect Plum.

The left hand side of the layout features the continuation of the eyelet border, Rose Red Seam binding with a layered bow flower and Vintage Flower Adornments.

I stamped the Cherry Blossoms from the Easter Blossoms set onto the Plum Purple square and change the opacity of both to 60% to make it a softer look. I really love viewing all our old photos and am so grateful to my Aunt for taking the time to be keeper of the family memories both her own and mine by extension and the extra time in converting all of these wonderful memories to digital.

My parents marriage might not have been destined to last a lifetime and is often recollected with 'bitter memories of divorce' - however being able to look back and see that at one time they were indeed happy and in love and knowing it was those wonderful times that brought my siblings and I to where we are today - it is very cathartic to scrap those memories into something beautiful and remember that while their life's journey may have had some bumps in the road and ultimately taken them in different paths - there is a reason to still celebrate that time in their life's - for without it we would not be here!

Creative Scrappers meets Sketchy Thursday 4.7

I am a lover of the matching 'double layout' in my scrapbook - so I went looking for another scrapbooking challenge to coordinate with the Sketchy Thursday I have been trying to keep up with.

I found one with some cool layouts over at ... Creative Scrappers
Which inspired this layout of Christmas 1970 ... sure wish I could remember what was catching our attention out that window - perhaps looking for Santa?

Than paired it with the Sketchy Thursday for my right page layout ...

Which I used to create this layout! Lots of fun with the Rhinestone bling and 5 point flower poinsettias!

Thanks for looking :)

Scrapsketch 26 & Color Q

Congratulations to Alesha Walls on the safe arrival of her newest addition to the family - a beautiful baby girl - whose arrival inspired this weeks Saturday Scrapsketch over on My Digital Studio!

I was also inspired to incorporate into my layout this weeks Color Q challenge as well as ... such pretty combination of colors - felt so springy.

So inspired by these two challenges I looked through my 'Vintage' photos of my childcare and came across these fun ones from an afternoon at the Great Aunt's yard - blowing bubbles and having fun - I have many a fond memory of playing at their place on a Sunday afternoon!

I incorporated a lot of different elements into these pages ... the Sweet Stitches DSP paper, Baroque Motif brush stamp vine, One of a Kind brush stamp set and lots of half back pearls and glimmer brads!

Fabulous Florets - Mojo Monday 185

This weeks Mojo Monday Challenge for Week 185 entries was lots of fun ... I opted to play with the My Digital Studio as my Stampin' room is slowly being over run with dozens and dozens of Petal Cone vase creations for next weeks AECEO conference!So I made three different cards inspired by the layout ... and using the same stamp set Fabulous Florets and the same Designer Series Paper Beyond the Garden ... both of which will be available to customers as of May 1st ... they will be in the new Summer Mini in both the traditional stamping versions as well as the My Digital Studio download - as well as some very pretty coordinating embellishments which will make creating tradition, digital and hybrid creations a breeze!

I choose the color combo for my first card based below on the Color Throwdown Challenge which was orange, blue and kraft or aka the new Crumb Cake...are these colors not so pretty together and the Beyond the Garden DSP tied in perfectly?

This Happy Birthday version features the Sentiment from the Curly Cute brush set - which is also available in traditional stamp in the current catalog! I created the matching flower from the DSP by using the Blossom Party die cut in My Digital Studio and matting it with the color pick option to the DSP centre of the flower...and of course blinged it up with some glimmer brads!

Thank you card also used the sentiment from Curly Cute as well as the Pom Pom trim embellishments which are available as well in traditional format and stamped the flower images from the Fabulous floret over top of some layered punches filled with a darker dynamic duo color option to give the two toned feature to the images and accented with some Half Back pearls!


Finally the My Dear, Kind and Wonderful Friend sentiment from All Holidays which is very similar to the above card except I switched out the DSP and colour combo to Tangerine Tango and Melon Mambo!

I always love how you can use the same stamps, the same DSP sets and yet come up with some vastly different and beautiful projects ... just another reason why Stampin' Up products are some awesome to me - they co-ordinate so wonderful together and make coming up with projects a breeze!