Friday 29 November 2013

Taking a Little Break

I'm going to take a couple of days off. I'm up to my eyeballs in Christmas cards for two of my friends. The sample I presented them has a very intricate die cut on it and I am now 'stuck' cutting 112 of them. (You can see them next week when they're all finished). I don't mind, really, but it does take time. Plus we're trying to get the tree up and I'm trying to keep up with my DT work and there's always lots of blog-visiting and commenting to be done! I'm not complaining, just explaining why I won't be here until Sunday.

Until then, here's some photos of me and the other Salvation Army Timbrellists (and the band) at the Santa Claus parade a couple of weeks ago:




And now that we're unpacking Christmas boxes, here's a photo of the gift bags my mom made for us (mentioned here) so you can see the different patterns and sizes. (All sizes come in each pattern - I really can't tell you how much I treasure these bags!!). If you're a sewer, they're probably not that difficult to make, but alas, that is a gene I did not inherit...


Finally, I went to our craft show yesterday (the place where I normally buy Tickleberry's for the teachers). Rest assured, I bought some (for me!) but then I found these sheets of chocolate bark that I think look very elegant and bought them for the teachers instead. I'm going to swap out the black ribbon for red and add my handmade tags. What do you think? (Espresso, Peppermint, Cherry and Orange flavours).



Thursday 28 November 2013

Muse 45 - Poinsettia


This card is for this week's Muse challenge - here's Lucy's beautiful window card:



As you can see I added quite a bit of colour. I chose to focus on the snowflake that was cut out and then set back in, but offset (I think that is just so clever!). I created a 'window', stamped my Impress flower in Poppy Parade and then offset it and stamped it again  in Melon Mambo. I carefully added gold Stickles in the centre of the flower and Stardust around the frame.

There's still time for you to play along - the deadline is Monday morning at 8:00 am. If you're out of time and can't make a card, you can still vote for your favourites between Monday morning at 8 and Tuesday morning at 8.

Wednesday 27 November 2013

CTS55 - Merry Christmas


I thought I'd give this week's CAS(E) This Sketch at try:




A very simple card, using a masked portion of a Memory Box stamp and an unknown clear snowflake. I slid the front panel to the right in an attempt to balance the 3 snowflakes on the left.

ETA (Dec 7) - this card was selected as a favourite!


Tuesday 26 November 2013

CASology 72 - Shop


This week's CASology Cue Card is Shop.



While I am pretty good at shopping, I struggled to think of a way to portray it on a CAS card. And then all of a sudden, I remembered shop class from Grade 7 and 8. Ah, Mr. Murdy. You have to be pretty darn brave to give 12 and 13 year old kids access to band saws and welding torches!

I used a single (old) Stampin' Up stamp in Versafine Onyx on kraft cardstock, mounted onto a black card base. Very simple. Very masculine.

Now it's your turn - the DT had a blast with this Cue Card - go check it out!


Sunday 24 November 2013

Christmas Tags



Tracey asked me to join her for today's installment of her 25 Days of Christmas Tag series.



I don't usually make tags. A few years ago, my mom gave me one of the best gifts ever - she made each of us a set of different-sized fabric drawstring bags for wrapping Christmas gifts. This is an eco-friendly tradition that my mom has had in her house for ages - we each have a set fabric pattern, so we don't need tags - we know who each present belongs to.

I don't sew, so this gift of these bags is so appreciated - especially every year when it takes me about half an hour to 'wrap' everything and place it under the tree. And I tell my kids that I have a special way of tying the bows so that I would be able to tell if anyone tampered with them!

So having told you all that, I do need to make tags for the teachers' gifts. Because Kate attends a school that is very multicultural, the gifts and tags need to be gender neutral and religion-neutral. Usually, we give them Tickleberrys. (Chocolate covered dried fruit), but I didn't have any on hand for the photo, so I used leftover Halloween Candy!

I love the long shape of the tag - it allows for the colourful message on the front and lots of room on the back for Kate to write "From Kate". I used CSS' Alpha Duo, overlapping the letters as I went. Coloured with Copics, edged in Stickles and quickly tied with silver cord.

I think it's ok for tags to be cheap and cheerful - unlike cards, I suspect they get thrown out with the wrapping.

Saturday 23 November 2013

Musical Thanks


Each year around this time, I starting thinking about gifts for teachers. If I was smarter, I would have started thinking about gifts for teachers about a month ago!

Kate's piano teacher has always loved the handmade cards we give her, so this year I'm going to make her a set of these in different colours. Can you see the piano keyboard? Very simple card using Neat & Tangled's Across the Page set, stamped in Versafine Onyx and embossed in clear.

Friday 22 November 2013

FFC22 - Merry Christmas!


Today's the start of our final Festive Friday Challenge for this year! This challenge is a fun one - go back and choose your favourite FF challenge from 2013 and make a card. It's a two week challenge and at the end there's PRIZES (check out the details on the blog).  All the Challenge graphics are available on the FF blog - go choose your fave!

I chose three - Merry, Kids' Theme and Wreath:




If you live with a 10 year old girl, you know that making these bracelets out of little colourful rubber bands on the Rainbow Loom is all the rage! Kate made this bracelet/wreath for this card, which she will give to one of her friends. I used a new stamp I just got from an Etsy shop called Creatiate.

So this is it for Festive Friday 2013. Don't forget to join us in February 2014 as we start a new year of creating Christmas cards!



Wednesday 20 November 2013

CTS54 - The Heart of Joy


See what you can do with an 'o'? I was just playing around the other day, filling my recycling bin, when this idea popped into my head. I used this week's CAS(E) This Sketch, turned on its side:



I used Gina K's Lots of Letters set and an unknown 'to the world'.

Muse 44


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


I changed the season and went retro with some old Stampin' Up brads and a Simon Says Stamp Christmas tree die.

I hope you'll play along with us this week - the deadline is Monday morning at 8:00 EST. If you can't play, you can still pick your favourites - come back to Muse between 8:00 am Monday and 8:00 am Tuesday to vote!

Tuesday 19 November 2013

CASology 71 - Bell


This week's CASology Cue Card is Bell.



I went ultra simple and used two die cuts (Papertrey Merry and MB Bells (a small portion of it)). I always think that white on red looks very festive and a little shine from the bells perks it up even more!

Now it's your turn - go get your bells on and show us what you've got!

But before you go, make sure you check out the blogs of the other DT members for some more inspiration - you'll see some really clever interpretations this week!



Saturday 16 November 2013

Interactive Thank You!


A quick post for this Pinterest-inspired interactive thank you card. It could easily be a Valentine. I used a Stamps of Life die and an unknown sentiment. Running off to drop kids off at programs and get to marching practice - the Santa Claus Parade is tomorrow and I march each year with the Salvation Army band. 




Friday 15 November 2013

FFC21 - Red White and Aqua


Time for some Festive Friday mid-challenge inspiration!



We're still on the Red White and Aqua challenge, but it ends on Wednesday and then starting next Friday is our final challenge for 2013. Wow! Where did the time go?

This is a card to show you how easy it can be - a  pretty die cut, some red 'candy' and done! You could whip up a bunch of these very easily if you need to!

So come on, play along - you'll be glad you did!

Thursday 14 November 2013

Muse 43 - Joy!


This is for this week's Muse challenge. While I love snowflakes (ink and paper, not the real ones!), I'm not a huge fan of purple, so I chose to interpret Therese's card as 'not usual Christmas colours' and went with grey and black with a pop of aqua.



This snowflurry is an old retired stamp (ETA - I just double checked - it's not retired, it's HERE.) from Kitchen Sink Stamps and the sentiment is from Clear and Simple Stamps. To make it a little more festive, once it was stamped, I covered the panel in Versamark ink and then embossed the whole thing with iridescent embossing powder. And then I spent a very long time trying to get a good photo!

I hope you'll play along with us at Muse this week - the deadline is next Monday at 8:00 am. If you can't make a card, then please make sure you come and vote for your favourite 3 entries after the deadline and before Tuesday at 8:00 am. We'll announce the winners at noon on Tuesday.

Wednesday 13 November 2013

Church Christmas Cards

No new card today, but yesterday, I finished the 334 Christmas cards that I make for 2 church congregations to hand out to their members. Can I get a "Hallelujah!", please? Even though I try to make these throughout the year, there's always a crunch near the end, and I made about 100 of them in the last week.

Some of these cards you have seen already (see My Church Christmas cards page) and some will be shown here on MASKerade in early December.

Now onto the 100 personal photo cards that I make for 2 of my friends (80 for one, 24 for the other).

I love making Christmas cards. I guess it's just as well!

Have a great day, everyone!

Tuesday 12 November 2013

CASology 70 - Triangle


This week's CASology Cue Card is Triangle!



I really wanted to emphasize the rich red of this AMuse Santa's hat (which is almost a triangle!). But I also wanted to create a little interest, so I popped up the panel and edged it in the same stickles that I used for the trim on the hat. I'm not going to lie - it takes good eyesight and/or bright light and a steady hand to get the stickles right on the edge of the card. And it will warp as it dries, but it flattened out again on its own once it was completely dry. But the look is so sparkly and festive, it's worth the effort and the time.

Now it's your turn - triangles are very trendy right now - can't wait to see where this week's cue card will take you!

Monday 11 November 2013

Twin Birthdays!

 I have twin nephews who live in the UK, and their 7th birthday is coming up. I always struggle a little bit with these cards - I don't want them to be the same, but I don't see them very often and therefore do not know things like favourite colours and interests very well. So I looked around for some inspiration.


For the first one, I used the sketch for this week's CASE This Sketch Challenge, a Sweet Stamp Shop sentiment and a PTI number die.




And for the second, I loosely used the artwork from the classic Pink Floyd album The Dark Side of the Moon, some Technique Tuesday stamps (after some very tricky stamp surgery) and a Memory Box number die.

Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon




Sunday 10 November 2013

Happy Birthday Ellie!


This is the birthday card I ended up giving to my (very soon to be) 13 year old niece, Ellie. I LOVE how her name works with these lines. And then I added 13 colourful lines for her age.

I created this with my Silhouette. I cut it all out, took the 'line' pieces out and coloured them and then popped them back in and Stickle-fied them.

I know it's not the most feminine of birthday cards, but I hope she'll love the subtle message here!


Saturday 9 November 2013

Cath, You are the Moxie-Fab-Best!

This is my second post today. For my Thanksgiving Inspiration Crew post, please scroll down.



Welcome to what is probably the biggest blog hop in papercrafting history! We are all still reeling from the news that Cath is leaving Papercrafts, but that didn't stop 285 of us from doing what we do best - making a card to mark the occasion!

Moxie Fab Banner 4

Cath - we all wish you the very, very best as you move into the next exciting chapter of your career. We will miss you, but your legacy of Moxie Fab-ness will live on! You're the Moxie Fab-Best!

Below is the list of all the participants in this blog hop - I'm number 109, in case you're trying to figure out where you are!

(Simon Says Stamp die)


Holiday Inspiration Group - Thanksgiving




Time for some (US) Thanksgiving inspiration from the Inspiration Crew!


We’re a group of online crafty friends who love being creative. This time we're doing a 1 day event to provide you with tons of autumn and Thanksgiving-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.

When Donna made this card, I knew I had to get those leaf dies from Lawn Fawn. When they arrived, they were all stuck together with little pieces of metal - ready to be snipped apart, but I thought I would just die cut them all together because they were arranged very nicely. I stamped and embossed the 'thank you' in gold. And that's the white panel.

For the 'orange' panel, I got very inky, which is not like me. I used sponge daubers to daub Honey, Marmalade and Raspberry distress ink all over a white panel slightly larger than my leaf panel. I just kept going until I was happy with the colours. Then, while it was still damp from all the distress ink, I dumped gold ep all over it and then knocked most of it off before heating it - so there's some shine and texture. Finally, I ran the edge of the orange panel along my versamark pad and then put more gold ep to create the tiny gold border.

Head over to the other blogs to see lots more inspiration!

Friday 8 November 2013

FFC21 - Red Aqua and White


Time for a new challenge at Festive Friday!


I used the inspiration photo as my starting point and used this very simple ornament stamp and (again) one of my favourite Christmas sentiments by Stampabilities.

This is our second last challenge for the year - time is getting short! Looking forward to seeing what you come up with for this!



Thursday 7 November 2013

Muse 42


You're witnessing history here, my friends. That's WASHI TAPE! Yes, I own one roll and it seemed like this challenge was the perfect opportunity to pull it out. If you know me well, you know that I'm generally late to most trend parties and sometimes I don't arrive at all!

This is my take on Laurie's beautiful white, CAS Muse for this week


I used Doodlebug Washi Tape, The Cat's Pajamas snowflake die and lots of Stickles.

I hope you'll have time to join in all the fun and play along! The deadline is Monday morning at 8:00 am EST, when voting will begin. But even if you don't make a card, you can still vote for your favourite 3 cards. Hope to see you there!

Wednesday 6 November 2013

OLW165 - Holiday Cards (No Red or Green)


I'm back! You must have all been way too busy making Christmas cards to Play the Game last week (thank you to Yogi, Janet and Cheryl!) so I thought I'd better take another kick at the one-layer can and host OLW165.

This week's challenge is to make a one-layered Holiday Card. With no red and no green.

I made this simple card with two stamps, one inkpad and some stickles. See how easy? See how pretty?

ETA, so that you can avoid your snow looking "like Tinkerbell vomited while walking backwards" (thank you Susan, for that enduring image!) - I 'drew' a line with the Stickles and then smudged it with my finger, to spread it out and make it look a little less like a line. And not because I needed to cover the rest of the sentiment (there's more on the stamp that sits under "Merry Christmas") that I had masked with tape, but it smudged anyway. Now you know all my secrets!

OLW165 Rules

l.  Create a one layer card.  This is defined as a single layer of cardstock folded in half.  No other    
     layers allowed.

2.  Create a Holiday card of your choice, but don't use any red or green .  Remember to keep
     embellishments to a minimum and NO ADDITIONAL layers of cardstock.
     
3.  Post your card online and link it to the InLinkz button in the sidebar to the right.  If you link to your blog, please link to the specific post and not your blogs main page.

4.  HAVE FUN!! I can't wait to see what you create!

Tuesday 5 November 2013

CASology 69 - Brown


This week's CASology Cue Card is Brown



I just got this sentiment from a new Stamps of Life Set (Extras4Lights). I admit I did not buy the original Light set, and really, I just wanted the sentiments from this set. There's one about Jesus being the Light of the world, which will be perfect for my Church Christmas cards.

Anyway, back to this week's challenge - I didn't think I'd have much use for this particular sentiment, but when I started thinking about brown, reindeer came to mind. And then came the 'ping' as my friend Bev (this week's Guest Designer!!) would say, when I connected the 'magic', 'glow' and Rudolph's nose.

I used Suede ink and a Brown Sugar card base - I just love how the red pops off the brown, making a monochrome card that much more interesting!

Now it's your turn! Before you go, here are links to the blogs of the other DT members - please take a look at the inspiration they've provided: