Vintage Santa

I made this little wall hanging tonight to take to my Father-in-Law tomorrow. For the main Santa image, I used a photostamp from the Christmas Cards Sheet 1 by The Stampsmith. In keeping with the vintage look, I used some patterned paper called Hollywood Vogue & Wonderfall from Webster's Pages.

Here's a close up of Santa.
I hope this finds everyone having a wonderful Christmas holiday and all the best to you all for a happy, healthy and prosperous new year!

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Handcrafted Prima Shoe

This stunning creation is from my friend, Val Wilson. I can't tell you how much I love this gorgeous little prima shoe! Now, I need to find a special place for it. My youngest daughter (7 years old) wanted to try it on, she thought it was so pretty! I had to explain to her that this is a special little shoe, just for Mum's enjoyment, not for her to wear! lol :)

She tucked a cute little card inside the shoe along with some yummy Quality Street chocolates, yup, you guessed it, as soon as I took the picture I ate the chocolates! lol :)

Here's a side view.

Val also created this gorgeous Christmas tree star ornament. Thanks so much, Val, for both of these. I'll treasure them for years.
If you look in the picture above, to the left of Val's star ornament, is a sweet little angel in a pink dress. This was given to me on my first Christmas by a friend of my parents. So, it's 36 years old.

Also, the dark pink ornament in the bottom right belonged to my grandmother. It's about 70 years old. I love the old ornaments with all their detail. My tree is adorned with a mix of old and new and lots of treasured handmade ornaments. I'm gonna miss the tree in another week when we take it down for another year.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Christmas Card from Mum

My Mum surprised me this year with this gorgeous Christmas card that she made. She's been a scrapbooker for years, but has just recently been recruited into the world of card making. I've been trying to get her into it for years and she's recently started taking a few classes with a friend and made this card at one of the classes. I love it! The ornament stamp is gorgeous and I love the way she added bling to it to make it look festive.

If Blanca is reading this, thanks so much for finally getting my Mum into card making after all my efforts! lol :) The cards she made at your class were gorgeous!

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Christmas Cards from Friends

I've received some gorgeous handmade Christmas cards this year that I'd like to share with you. This first one came from my friend, Tracy Houghton in Calgary, AB. Thanks so much, Tracy, I love the easel style.

The funny thing is that I received the next card the same day, another easel card from my friend, Yvonne Balmer who used to live here, but has recently moved to Houston, TX. Thanks so much for brightening up my day with this sweet creation, Yvonne. Miss you!

OK, this is like an easel parade, as this card came from another wonderful friend, Kim Prince. I feel like I'm behind the times as I still haven't made one of these cards. I'll have to try one for the one of the next cards that I make.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Xmas Wreaths

My daughters each made a sweet little wreath at their after school day care program. I thought they turned out really cute and a neat idea to use up old scraps of material and a bit of raffia.

The one above is the one that Alexandria made. The one below is the one that Natalia made.

For the base of the wreath, they used a 4 inch metal ring, like what you would use to hold cue cards together with. You can get these at any office supply store. Each strip of material is about 1 1/2 inches wide by about 6 inches long. You can trim the pieces after you tie them onto the ring, if they're a bit too long. It's just easier to tie them on if the material is a little longer.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

I almost won a new car!!!

I went out to volunteer at a Mooseheads Hockey game last night and my name was drawn from the thousands of spectators to go on to the ice to shoot the puck from the blue line behind the center line for a chance to win a new car! The only thing was that they cover up the net and only leave a hole a tiny bit larger than the puck that you have to get in the puck through! Well, I was so nervous that the first time I went to shoot the puck, I actually missed the puck! lol :) On my second attempt, I shot the puck and it got within a few inches of the hole! OH, so close! That new SUV sponsored by BMO (Bank of Montreal) sure would have been nice to win. It certainly would have been a happy holiday! :) Oh well, I got a few consolation prizes from the Mooseheads, including a T-shirt, a ball cap and set of tickets for the next game (which I gave to a friend's son , so he could go enjoy the game since I'll be away for Christmas holidays.)

Well, that's all the excitement for here. I've been working a lot of overtime hours lately, trying to make up for some sick time I had taken off. No rest for the weary. I hope to get in some crafty time soon so I'll have something to share with you all.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Ophelia Charm

I have a card to show you today showcasing the beautiful, Ophelia. I saw this key chain yesterday at the Dollar store and I knew straight away that I wanted to pull it apart and add an Ophelia image from The Stampsmith to the inside and use it as a charm on a card. it fit perfectly! Ya gotta love the Dollar store, eh? :)

Here's a close up of the charm.

Just a reminder that we have another challenge for you all over on The Stampsmith Challenge blog. The current theme is 'The Holiday Season.' Please pop on over to check out some eye candy from the rest of the Design Team along with some gorgeous challenge submissions! This one is open to any stamps, and the winner will win a gift certificate to The Stampsmith Store to build your collection! We also might just have another treat up our sleeve...

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

TSC5 - Christmas

Our current theme over on The Stampsmith Challenge is The Holiday Season. Create a card or project with this theme in mind and post a link to your creation for a chance to build your stamp collection from The Stampsmith. For this 1st challenge of the month, although we'd love to see you use your stamps from The Stampsmith, remember this challenge is open to all stamps. One lucky winner will be chosen and posted on the blog on Dec. 15th and will receive a gift certificate to The Stampsmith Shop.

Here's a close up of The Stampsmith sentiment that I used. It's from the Christmas Greetings Sheet. (Please note the reindeer is not part of The Stampsmith stamp.)

This will be our final challenge for 2010, after taking a little break for the holiday season and we'll return again on Jan. 15th. Now, please pop on over to The Stampsmith Challenge blog for some more eye candy from the rest of the Design Team!

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

New to You Challenge

Our local group of crafty gals are getting together tonight and our challenge this time around is to use a 'new to us' stamp that we got from Kim. At our last crafty night, she passed along some older stamps that she doesn't use anymore and this is one that I got from her. I love butterflies and dragonflies, so I had to take this one. Thanks again, Kim! :)

This is the sketch that I followed from Crazy 4 Challenges:
I'll be sharing the project with you soon that we made tonight. Stay tuned...

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Dragonfly - P1-622 (Stampers Anonymous)
Cardstock: Wild Wasabi (SU), Ivory (Staples), Avocado (CRS)
Patterned Paper: Classic K McKenna (K & Company)
Digital Patterned Paper: Subtle Watercolour Background (Art Creations Friday)
Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Tools: Edge Distressor (CTMH)
Embellishments: Green Bling (Dollarama), Tim Holtz Distress Stickles - Peeled Paint (Ranger)

It's all make believe...

I had some fun tonight playing with this fun image of Marilyn. Ya gotta love her, eh? :) I found the quote online and printed it off to fit inside this Spellbinders 'Fancy Frame.'

Here's a close up of the lovely Marilyn.

Here's a close up of one of her quotes.

Just a reminder that we have a new challenge up over at The Stampsmith Challenge. The current challenge is to make a card or project with 'Gratitude' in mind. I hope you decide to join us in the fun for a chance to build on your Stampsmith collection with a $15.00 gift certificate to the The Stampsmith Shop!

I'm also going to enter this creation for the SDC19: Girly Girl Challenge over on the Stampotique Designers Challenge blog. This challenge is open to Stampotique stamps or stamps of your choice, and it doesn't get more girly than Marilyn, so I figured this would be perfect.

The next few days are going to be very busy on my end, but I'll be back soon!

Thanks for stoppin by! :)

TSC4 - In honor of Thanksgiving, a Thank You card

This is my DT card for our current challenge over on The Stampsmith Challenge. This time around, we're asking you to make a Thank You card, in Honor of Thanksgiving, using a stamp by The Stampsmith. I hope you decide to play along in the fun with TSC4 for a chance to win a $10 gift certificate to The Stampsmith Shop!

For my card, I used a photostamp from The Mountains plate - found under Landscapes in The Stampsmith Shop. I wanted an image that painted a quiet, serene picture in your mind to go with the beautiful quote that reads:

There is a calmness to a life
lived in gratitude, a quiet joy.
--Ralph H. Blum

Here's a close up of the Gratitude quote in case you can't read it above...

In Canada, we celebrated Thanksgiving last month, but I'll like to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who's celebrating it this month. I wish you a wonderful holiday spent with family and friends, whom I'm sure your grateful for! Safe travels if you're travelling to be with them, as well.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Lest We Forget

As a proud Canadian, who comes from a long line of military serving family members and who's also married into the military, I pondered long and hard over this remembrance montage. I used the leaves photostamp from The Mountains plate found in under Landscapes created by The Stampsmith. My card depicts Canadian soldiers, the famous poppy and the sentiment, Lest We Forget under it. The most important element in my card which isn't meant to fade into the background, though, is a snapshot of a few of the names of the 11,285 Canadian soldiers who died in France and whose remains were never found. The towering, 10-storey, white limestone Vimy Memorial Monument is located at Vimy Ridge, near Arras, France. The striking memorial features a 30-tonne limestone figure carved from a single block, a hooded figure representing Canada herself, gazing down on a single tomb overlooking the Douai plain.

I've created this 5" x 7" montage to be added to the bulletin board at my daughter's elementary school. One of the teachers has took it upon herself to add pictures of all the Canadian soldiers of the current war in Iraq with the province they came from. It's very moving to look at all the pictures and think how their families lives have been affected. It's my hope that these families have found some comfort in the fact that their loved ones didn't die in vane, but by fighting for our freedom. For that, we will all be eternally grateful.

In order to create the Canadian flag for the bottom corner of the soldier image, I used the Julius Gray font and re-sized it to the size I wanted. This is a free download and you can use either the flag or just the maple leaf image from the flag. Once you download the font (tff), move it to your fonts folder. Choose the Julius Gray font, then type 1 for the flag or type 5 for just the maple leaf. The link above gives more info on this, if my explanation isn't clear.

With Remembrance Day coming this November 11th, I hope you will take the time that day, and every day, to remember our fallen soldiers and those who currently serve to protect our country, and the freedoms that we are so fortunate to have.

With Remembrance,

TSC3 - Using Ovals - Audrey Treasure Box

Our challenge over at The Stampsmith Challenge blog this time around is "Using Ovals." I made another Audrey Treasure Box, nearly identical to the one I made a month ago, but with a couple slight differences. I've been busy lately with work and life in general, so I'm cheating and using this as my Design Team project. :)

Here's a close up the beautiful, Audrey.

A different angle of the altered paper maché box.
I hope you decide to join us over at The Stampsmith Challenge! With every entry, you have a chance at winning some new rubber from The Stampsmith! So, what are you waiting for? Come on over and join in on the fun! :)

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Audrey (The Stampsmith)
Cardstock: Chocolate Brown (CRS), White Glossy Cardstock (CRS)
Patterned Paper: Lost & Found - Portobello Road "Family" Brocade Paper by Jen Allyson (My Minds Eye)
Ink: Ancient Page - Chocolate (Clearsnap), Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Tea Dye (Ranger)
Tools: Oval and Scalloped Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Cuttlebug, Sponge (SU), Edge Distressor (CTMH), Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz
Embellishments: Pewter Antique-Look Hardware (Tim Holtz), Handmade Paper Flower, Grungeboard Flourish (Tim Holtz), Lace Doily (Dollarama)

Halloween Sari by Kelly

My friend Kelly made this gorgeous sari for my oldest daughter, Alexandria, last year for Halloween. She got all dressed up to go to a costume party the other night, I even did her make up all fancy for her. She had a blast and said she felt like a real Indian Princess. So cute. :)

Here's a close up of her make up.
Both my girls went to their Halloween party for Brownies tonight. Alexandria was a Vampire and Natalia was a Vampiress. Oh, the Twilight, vampire craze, eh? I'll share more pics of their costumes soon.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Butterfly Kiss Altered Cigar Box

I started this altered box last month at our local crafty group get together. Louise led us in using a wooden cigar box from the Dollarama and we glued patterned paper of our choice to it, sanded the edges and sponged it with distress ink. For my main image, I used a precious photostamp from The Stampsmith called, Butterfly Kiss.

Here's a front shot to show you the little feet and the dimension of the flower that I made and the butterfly that I cut out.

Here's a side angle...

and a close up of the flower...

This was a fun project...I think this will make a nice little gift when filled with something special.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Butterfly Kiss (The Stampsmith)
Cardstock: Chocolate Brown (CRS), White Glossy Cardstock (CRS)
Patterned Paper: Velvet Floral Paper, Scarlet Rec Daisy - Scrapbook Walls (Chatterbox)
Ink: Ancient Page - Chocolate (Clearsnap), Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Tea Dye (Ranger)
Tools: Peony Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Cuttlebug, Sponge (SU), Clear Shimmer Smooch Spritz, Wooden Spindles for feet (Michaels)
Embellishments: Pearl Brad (K & Company), Chocolate Pearls (Dollarama), Handmade Paper Flower, Lace (Dollarama)

Stampsmith Challenge #2

We have another challenge for you this week over at The Stampsmith Challenge. This week we're asking you to create a card or project using 'black and white plus one other color.' We hope you decide to play along in the fun for a chance to win some new rubber from The Stampsmith! :)

For my Design Team card, I chose to use a hint of red with my black and white wedding card. I used a photostamp of a beautiful bride and handsome groom along with a Shakespeare sentiment from the Wedding Bells plate by The Stampsmith.

Here's a close up of the sentiment.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Wedding Bells (The Stampsmith)
Cardstock: Flat Black (CRS), Flat White (Staples), Dusty Durango (SU), White Glossy Cardstock (CRS)
Ink: Ancient Page - Coal Black (Clearsnap)
Tools: Cuttlebug, Textile Texture Embossing Folder (ProvoCraft), White Lace (Dollarama), 1/8" Dimensional Squares
Embellishments: Black Bling (Dollarama)