Tuesday 24 December 2013

CASology 76 - Party!


The new CASology Cue Card is Party!



And it's a two-weeker, my friends! That's right - two weeks to enjoy yourselves and all the holiday festivities and still have time to play along!

When I sat down to make my party card, it occurred to me that Party does not lend itself to CAS. Parties are full of people, noise, food, mess and FUN! But as usual, the DT has risen to the challenge!

I chose to show lots of people at my party, but I kept it CAS by making them stand in a row and hold hands so there could be lots of white space! lol! This is a MFT die (and as you can see this is a girls-only party!). To add some fun, I stamped a balloon in a rainbow of tiny pops of colour and drew in the 'string' with a Copic Multiliner. A Simon Says Stamp sentiment finishes it off.

Now it's your turn. Enjoy your holidays, but know that CASology is here for your party cards when you get a chance. The deadline will be Sunday, January 5.

And don't forget to check out the rest of the DT to see their party cards!




Saturday 21 December 2013

Holiday Inspirations Crew - New Year's!


Welcome to the final (for 2013) Holiday Inspirations Crew blog hop!



This time we're doing a 1 day event to provide you with tons of inspiration to ring in the New Year!

We're making projects using products we like and some of us are even offering prizes. Check each blog for which prizes are being offered and when the winners will be announced on that blog.

I went ultra simple for this one. MSE Parfait numbers, the '1' substituted with a branch from a tree and a Stampin' Up starburst stamped in Versamark/Summer Sun and then embossed in Egyptian Gold for sparkle.

The kids are finished school for two weeks and last minute preparations are underway. Tomorrow (Sunday) is our much-anticipated performance of We Three Spies (our Christmas musical at church). I hope you have some fun plans for the weekend!

Don't forget to stop by the other members' blogs for some more New Year's Inspiration. Happy New Year!



ETA (Jan 3): This card was chosen as a favourite! Woohoo!





Thursday 19 December 2013

Muse 48 - Joy to the World


Marion made a beautiful, springy, fresh, awe-inspiring Muse card for our inspiration this week:




 But I'm afraid I'm still in Christmas mode, so this is what I came up with. I focused on the window and the placement of the flowers around the window.  I inlaid the Savvy die cut into the grey panel, leaving out the centre of the o. I popped up the grey panel to create a window (although not all the way through). The "to the world" is from Market Street stamps (sadly they've closed).

This will be our final Muse challenge for 2013. You'll be able to vote for your favourites starting Monday at 8:00 am EST until 8:00 am Tuesday. We'll announce the Featured Members and Honorable Mentions on Tuesday at noon, as usual, and our next challenge will begin next year. January 6, 2014, to be exact!

I would like to thank the members of the DT - Marion, Laurie and Therese - for providing so much inspiration for us! Getting to know these three wonderful designers better has been a real privilege and lots of fun! Thank you also to our Guest Muses, who have shared their creativity and talent as well.

And finally, thank you for all your support and participation throughout 2013. Who knew when 2013 started that I would end up 'owning' my very own challenge blog! (Thanks so much to Jackie Rockwell who created Muse and who entrusted it to me).

I wish you and your families a very happy holiday season and look forward to seeing you all in January!


Wednesday 18 December 2013

Scrabble tile ornaments-in-progress


Over the summer, I bought a Scrabble game solely for the tiles. Now that it's December 18, I figured it was time to actually use some of the tiles to make something. I found these little ornaments on Pinterest:


DIY Christmas Ornaments: Each student could make an ornament with their name

But sawing the letter trays is beyond me. Or at least beyond what I was prepared to do at the time.  I made a set of "love", "hope", "peace" and "joy" (the 4 Sundays of advent) for someone who reads this blog, so you can't see them until after Christmas.

Then I spoke to my sister who had also seen this Pinterest photo and suggested a vertical orientation and since I had the letters left over, I made ornaments for my kids. I glued the letters I needed to a strip of cardstock. Then I glued the ribbon loop to the back of the cardstock before adding another layer of the wooden tiles (blank side facing out). I'm in the midst of putting Stickles down the sides (see below), but it takes a lot of drying time, so I'm afraid you're seeing these in progress and not quite completed! I added some beads at the bottom of the ribbon for extra colour and fun!



Tuesday 17 December 2013

CASology 75 - Knit


This week's CASology Cue Card is Knit!


What a perfect cue card for this time of year (at least here in Toronto where it's been very, very cold this past week!).

I used a knitted scarf from Papertrey, an alphabet from MFT and a little 'wishes' from Clearly Besotted. I love to mix up my stamps to create something that the makers of the stamps never envisioned. The scarf was intended for a snowman and my original thought was to make a snowman card. Then I thought that maybe the scarf could keep something else warm. Like the word 'warm'. Once I got the letters out, I immediately saw where the scarf would look best and stamped the scarf  in Poppy Parade and then masked it before stamping the letters in Soft Suede. The similarity of the Clearly Besotted 'wishes' font made it the obvious choice to finish off the card.

Now it's your turn! But before you go, check out what all the other DT members came up with for your inspiration!

Monday 16 December 2013

Happy Birthday Carol!


Today is Carol Mayne's birthday!

Our happy-dancin' friend Bev is hosting a little birthday party for Carol today. Since Carol is experiencing wintry weather in her part of Canada, Bev suggested that we go with a tropical theme for our cards.

I tried to create a beachy feeling by using the colours of sand, water, sky and sun. And one, single, solitary Simon Says Stamp sentiment stamp.

Happy Birthday, Carol - I hope you have a wonderful day and enjoy all the warm cards and wishes coming your way!


Sunday 15 December 2013

Muse 47 - Joy!


I made this card for this week's Muse Challenge.

Here's Therese's fun card (that adorable crocodile is sure to make anyone smile!)

I focused on the clean layout, the colours and the positioning of the elements. I used an Impress sentiment and holly from T and A Stamps.

There is still time for you to play along! The deadline is Monday morning at 8am but if you can't play, don't forget you can still come back to vote from Monday morning to Tuesday morning at 8 am.

Saturday 14 December 2013

CFC123 - Pinterest-Inspired Snow


A snowy card for this week's CASual Friday challenge:



and inspired by this photo I found on Pinterest:

Le Manoosh: Photo


I used my favourite snowflake shape from Uniko's Stunning Snowflakes. I love that there are 3 sizes so you can build up a blizzard! Everything on here is embossed either in clear or a coloured ep. I stamped the Savvy sentiment in Versafine Onyx, then embossed in clear. Then I stamped the white snowflakes in Versamark and embossed in clear. Then I stamped a couple more, embossed with Turquoise, stamped a couple more, embossed in Green. etc., etc. This panel was probably heated about 8 or 9 times and I found it interesting that after the initial couple of times, it warped. But after that, as I kept heating it, it flattened out again.

Then I chose this position on the the Smoky Slate card base, to emphasize the feeling of the snowflakes falling from top left to bottom right. Feel free to leave me a comment and let me know if that worked for you! ;-)


Friday 13 December 2013

Sometimes you just gotta....


...step outside your comfort zone! lol!

This card is for (obviously) Harlowe, who is turning 3. Harlowe is the great-granddaughter of my neighbour, who is a lovely and spunky lady who from time to time asks me to make cards. You've heard me talk about her before, here and here.

Now as you can imagine, the cards I like to make are not always the ones an 84 year old would like to buy. Or that a 3 year old will find interesting when she opens it. It's important to be flexible.

So lots of colour and sparkle, not a lot of white space, and bigger than I usually make (5x5). I used PTI's number die for the 3 and Memory Box dies for the letters. These were cut out of pink glitter paper. The Stickles are not even dry in this photo - my neighbour needed the card the day I made it and I was running out of light, so I took the photo as soon as I got them on.

In the end, I quite like it! Very cheery and bright!

Thursday 12 December 2013

12 Days of Holiday Projects - Day 12


Welcome to Day 12! Wow! December is flying by! (my kids disagree, but they're not the ones doing all the preparing!)


Today I have a sweet treat for you. Remember a while ago, I bought these chocolates for Kate's teachers? This is how they looked when I bought them:



I knew I wanted to make them look more festive, so at the time, I planned to swap out the black ribbon and add a holiday tag. But then I thought, why not use the tag that's there? I just turned them over, embossed a sentiment and added a little white strip for the kids to write on. As an added bonus, all the product information is still attached.

Just a quick way to show that you can buy something fairly ordinary and easily 'jazz it up' a bit for any occasion!


Don't forget to check out the inspiration from the rest of The Crew:

Wednesday 11 December 2013

Big News - The Card Concept

This is my second post for today - for my Day 11 of the 12 Days of Holiday Inspiration, please scroll down.

Grab this DT Badge for your blog

By now you've heard about the newest challenge blog on the block - The Card Concept. It's different from other challenges in that instead of focusing on one style, there are 12 designers using 6 different styles, all using the same inspiration.

 It's a bi-weekly challenge starting in January and I'm one of the 'Clean and Graphic' designers.

Here's the definition of Clean and Graphic

-clean lines
-simple treatment of text
-no frills
-bare-boned
-message is communicated quickly.

Here's a card I made ages ago that I think represents Clean and Graphic really well:



For each challenge you can choose your favourite style or decide to go outside your comfort zone and try a different style! You know I love to make designs that are very clean, but I also truly appreciate all the intricate beauty of some of the design styles that have a lot more elements - I'm looking forward to working with these 11 amazing women and learning something new, too!

12 Days of Holiday Projects - Day 11




We're getting near the end - it's day 11! I hope you've gotten lots of inspiration for your holiday projects from this little party we've been hosting!


My friend Geri has been making fabulous place cards for her holiday table, so I decided to follow her lead. These cards match my old Crate & Barrel plaid tablecloth. The Papertrey alphabet stamps give a modern feel and the holly die adds a classic and traditional touch. I used Real Red, Kiwi Kiss and Always Artichoke paper and ink.


Don't forget to check out the inspiration from the rest of The Crew:

Tuesday 10 December 2013

12 Days of Holiday Projects - Day 10/ CASology 74 - Snowflake


I'm doubling up my posts again today:

It's day 10 of the Holiday Inspiration Group Christmas blog hop:


and CASology, where this week's Cue Card is Snowflake:



One thing I'm really good at is pinning things to my inspiration board on Pinterest. There are so many cool ideas out there! I don't always go back to my board and actually make a card based on the photos I've pinned, and that's something I want to work on.

This photo's colours and thin lines inspired me to run upstairs right that minute and make this card.


iPhone Wallpaper

I cut the Simon Says Stamps snowflake in white and then cut it again out of the grey panel. I coloured the white snowflake with Copics and then laid it back into the grey panel.

Now it's your turn - lots of other 'snowflake' inspiration:

Monday 9 December 2013

12 Days of Holiday Projects - Day 9




Welcome to Day 9 of a 12 day event to provide you with tons of Holiday-themed inspiration. We're making crafty projects using products we like and some of us are even offering prizes! Check each blog for information about what prizes are being offered and when the winners will be announced on that blog.

For today's card I used a new Tim Holtz tree stamp. Tim Holtz products are often a little too 'collage-y' for my style, but these trees cried out to me. And then I decided to try a technique I hadn't tried before - I inked up the stamp with white acrylic paint. Really thick. I stamped the image twice and then immediately sprinkled glitter all over the paint to get the feeling of fresh snow on the trees. I asked Struan if he thought that they looked like trees and he said "Oh yes mom. Either trees or bird poop!" Charming, isn't he? 


Don't forget to check out the inspiration from the rest of The Crew:

Sunday 8 December 2013

12 Days of Holiday Projects - Day 8/Muse 46





Welcome to Day 8 of a 12 day event to provide you with tons of Holiday-themed inspiration. We're making crafty projects using products we like and some of us are even offering prizes! Check each blog for information about what prizes are being offered and when the winners will be announced on that blog.

Last week, I resumed (after a two year hiatus) my role as Chair of Kate's school's School Council (Co-chair, this time, actually), which I had previously held for over 5 years. We had a big budget meeting last week and as a result of all the meetings to get everyone on board, I was a pretty constant presence in the school. This gave two teachers the opportunity to ask me for some cards. One asked me to make sets of thank you cards for 12 volunteers (they're getting 5 cards each due to lack of supplies on hand and I haven't started these yet - no worries, they're not due until Friday (eek!)). And the other asked me for 10 'wintery but not necessarily Christmas' cards for her own children to give to their teachers.

This card is inspired by Laurie's Muse card for this week:



I was inspired by the intricate die cut and the slanted lines of the dp, as well as the small pops of red.  I used a Simon Says Stamp snowflake and Stampin' Up DP. There is still time for you to play along! The deadline is Monday morning at 8am but if you can't play, don't forget you can still come back to vote from Monday morning to Tuesday morning at 8 am.


Don't forget to check out the inspiration from the rest of The Crew:

Saturday 7 December 2013

12 Days of Holiday Projects - Day 7




We're now on Day 7 of a 12 day event to provide you with tons of Holiday-themed inspiration. We're making crafty projects using products we like and some of us are even offering prizes! Check each blog for information about what prizes are being offered and when the winners will be announced on that blog.

Yet another bell card for my Church Christmas Card project, and again for my mom's church. This image is a real handbell and it came from Handbell Services Inc. The sentiment is from Eat Cake Graphics.

Again 24 of these got made, simply stamped and coloured and then a some glitter added for sparkle.

Don't forget to check out the inspiration from the rest of The Crew:

Friday 6 December 2013

12 Days of Holiday Projects - Day 6


5x7

4.25x5.5

 Welcome to Day 6!


You may have heard me talking about making photo cards for a couple of my friends. This design was totally cased from the fabulous Jennifer McGuire (except for the stitching - I don't sew!). I made 80 of the red 5x7cards for the Taylors and 35 of the green 4.25x5.5 cards for the Kirchners. (see below for the 'open' views).

By about the 30th time, I became very proficient at using that tricky die cut. I covered the back of the paper I was cutting with double-sided tape and then ran it through my Cuttlebug. I found that it was important to have the writing actually running along the long side of the 8.5x11 page (ie. think 'grain' of the paper). The trick was to actually leave the die cut IN the die, so I could use a paper piercer to remove all the little 'loopy' bits. Then I turned the die back over, pressed it onto the vellum and carefully peeled the die away, leaving the die cut (almost always) perfectly in place. Now to say that it went smoothly 115 times would not be quite true. The important thing is that it's now finished and all the cards have been delivered!


Don't forget to check out the inspiration from the rest of The Crew:

Thursday 5 December 2013

12 Days of Holiday Projects - Day 5



We’re a group of online crafty friends who love being creative. We're now on Day 5 of a 12 day event to provide you with tons of Holiday-themed inspiration. We're making crafty projects using products we like and some of us are even offering prizes! Check each blog for information about what prizes are being offered and when the winners will be announced on that blog.

This card is a CASE of this card by Deanna Jean here. As you probably guessed, this one was made (24 times!) as part of my Church Christmas project, for my mom's church, to help support her handbell choir. 

The bough is from Old Island Stamp Company, the dies for the bow and the bells are from Papertrey. I added some dimension to the bow with a red Copic marker - next time I'll choose a slightly darker shade! And the sentiment is from Hero Arts.

Don't forget to check out the inspiration from the rest of The Crew:

Wednesday 4 December 2013

12 Days of Holiday Projects - Day 4




It's Day 4 of the 12 Days of Holiday Projects!

We’re a group of online crafty friends who love being creative. We're now on Day 4 of a 12 day event to provide you with tons of Holiday-themed inspiration. We're making crafty projects using products we like and some of us are even offering prizes! Check each blog for information about what prizes are being offered and when the winners will be announced on that blog.

I love this graphic card - I cut the letters using my Silhouette, embossed the green strip with my Grosgrain Texture Plate and printed the sentiment on the computer. That's an MFT snowflake as well, cut in silver mirror card. I made 24 of these for my Church Christmas cards.

Don't forget to check out the inspiration from the rest of The Crew:

Tuesday 3 December 2013

12 Days of Holiday Projects - Day 3/ CASology 73 - Ribbon


I'm doubling up today - this card is for the Holiday Inspiration Group - Christmas Day 3



 as well as for this week's CASology Cue Card, which is Ribbon



Ribbon makes me think of gifts and one of the best gifts we could get this Christmas would be Peace on Earth, don't you think? I had this square sentiment from Creatiate and a little ribbon from Simon Says Stamp. I heat embossed the ribbon in silver and then heat embossed the sentiment in clear before masking and sponging the 'present'.

So it's possible to make a CAS card with heat embossing and sponging. In fact I would say it's easy if you follow the absolute number one rule of CAS and leave loads of white space.

Now it's your turn - but before you go, check out the rest of the DT's interpretations of Ribbon!