Baby's First Steps

My friend's little guy, Nicholas, just started taking his first steps, so I had to make a card for her in celebration! I've been itching to use this digi stamp of a walking baby, so this was the perfect occasion!  I was going to leave the entire image as a sketch, but I opted to colour in just his outfit as a highlight colour.

For the 'Baby's First Step' sentiment, I simply typed it out using Scriptina font - 36 pt. Then, I printed it off using my new Brother printer.  Yippee, I finally got another printer.  :)

Here's a close up of the image.

It seems so quiet here tonight, my youngest daughter is at a sleepover tonight with her Sparks (Girl Guides) group.   So, it's just Jim and I here with our oldest daughter.   It's funny how differently a child acts when they're not with their sibling.   We had a relaxing night, watched a couple of IMAX movies that we picked up at COSTCO and now she's asleep on the couch.   Well, I better call it a day, we have to get up early to go get Natalia and I'm sure the alarm will be blaring way before the time that I want I to get up!  lol  :)

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Supplies:
Digi Stamp: Walking to You (Stretch 'N Bubbles - stretchnbubbles.blogspot.com)
Cardstock: Flat White (Staples), Goldenrod Linen (CRS)
Patterned Paper: Denim Sandbox Flowers - Scrapbook Walls (Chatterbox Inc)
Touch Markers: 36 - Cream, 144-Pale Baby Blue (Shinhan Art)
Tools: 1/8" Dimensional Squares (EK Success), Brother Printer, Scriptina font - 36 pt.
Embellishments: Baby Blue Button Brads (Making Memories)

RAK from Yvonne

I feel horrible for just getting around to posting this now, and it's not for my lack of appreciation of this wonderful package that arrived in my mailbox last Friday, I just haven't been feeling very well and haven't got around to posting it 'til now. It really did brighten my day when it arrived, though! I was so excited, I used the stamp to create a card the next day. You can see that card HERE.

My friend, Yvonne, sent me the beautiful card above along with the wonderful goodies below.  Thanks so much, Yvonne! We certainly do miss you around here, especially for our monthly crafty nights.

A background stamp by Hero Arts - called Patterned Stripes.

A very cool spiral bound notebook, some pigment ink and some pretty bling.

I created a card today, I'm about to post it, so stay tuned...

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Cards from Kim and Val

I'm just getting around to posting a couple of cards that that I've received lately.   First up, is a card that was created by my friend, Kim Prince.  I drew her name this month for our monthly card swap and received this super cute 'Martini Girl' card.   It goes great with the funny sentiment.  Too cute!  I love how she used the silver Glitter Ritz on the dress, gloves and stockings.  I hope you can see in the picture that she also has shimmer on the two base layers.   It's so sparkly and beautiful!  Thanks for sharing this with me, Kim!   :)

This gorgeous card was a RAK from my friend, Valerie Wilson.   She knows how much I love butterflies and this soooo cheered me up!   It's a beautiful collage and the colours are so soft and beautiful - I love green and pink together!  Thanks so much for your well wishes and for sharing this card with me, Val!  :)

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Finally a card to share!

I finally created something again today! I'm still not quite feeling up to par yet, but I had a card to make for tonight.   A bunch of my girlfriends came over to my place tonight for our monthly crafty night and I had to get my swap card done...I finished it just in the nick of time! Nothing like leaving it until the last minute!  lol  :)

Our swap theme this month was to use a digi image of our choice and one new item in our stash. I used two digi images and the bubbles and bling are new.  The bubbles are a new embellishment for me to use and were quite a bit of fun to play with.  I think they give a neat look and I may just have to buy some more of those!  My background was made using a new stamp (Stripes Pattern by Hero Arts) that I received in the mail yesterday from my friend, Yvonne.   Thanks so much for the goodies, Yvonne!  I love them!  I was attempting to make the background look like decoratively painted walls.  You know, when they mask off the walls and paint different vertical sections.

I had a great time tonight with the girls.  So nice to have everyone over for a bit of crafty fun.  The yummy treats are always a nice bonus, too!  lol  :)   Thanks again, so much, to Catherine, Louise and Deborah for bringing the treats.  I didn't quite finish my project from tonight, but I'll likely finish it tomorrow, plus I have a few cards from friends to share with you.  So, stay tuned for those, too.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Stripes Pattern (Hero Arts)
Digi Stamps: Bubble Bath (Sassy Studio Designs), What's in a Bath (Create with TLC)
Cardstock: Soft Sky (SU), Blue Bayou (SU), Flat White (Staples)
Ink: Soft Sky (SU)
Touch Markers: 0 - Colorless Blender, 18 - Peach, 29 - Bareley Beige, 36 - Cream, 136 - Blush, 143 - Mint Blue
Tools: 1/8"" Dimensional Squares (EK Success), Quilling Tweezers
Embellishments: Aqua Ribbon (Michaels), Bubbles & Bling Stickers (Momenta)

MIA for a week while recouping

Another update...Well, it's been a week yesterday since my surgery and I feel so much better already! I've got a lovely 3 inch scar now that looks pretty nasty, but so far no infection, so that's great! I'm still having a lot of pain in my back from the incision site. I get pretty tensed up trying to relax.  It's extremely uncomfortable since I can't lay back to relax on the couch and I'm normally a back sleeper so that means I can't sleep on my back right now, either. I'm not a belly sleeper at all, so that leaves one side I can sleep on, which makes my left arm sore. Anyway, I'm healing up, so I can't really complain. The pain and numbness is gone from my arms and hands and I don't seem to have any more pain in my neck. I'm still getting some headaches and quite a bit of shoulder pain, but I think that's just from the incision healing. It makes sense that my body is confused after having a tumor (the size of a large lemon) removed from my back and then having to deal with the cavity that it left and trying to regenerate around it. I'm obviously still really tired and now I'm coming down off the morphine that I've been taking every six hours for the past three months. I'm doing well, though. I just have to go off it gradually, but I'm down to only taking one a day now as apposed to four a day. So, another few days and I should be done with it. Thank goodness!

Well, I haven't felt up to crafting yet, but I might play a bit this afternoon.  We'll see.  Hopefully I'll have something to show you soon. :)

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Post-Surgery Update

Just a quick update to let you all know that my surgery went really well yesterday and I'm now recouping at home.   I had a horrible headache last night from the anesthesia, but it's almost gone today.  Now, I'm just left with the pain in my back where they removed the tumor.   The morphine is helping with that, though.   I'm still pretty weak, but I know it'll get better as the days pass and I'm well on my way to getting back to normal!   :) 

Thanks, again, to everyone for their well wishes and I hope to be back to some crafty therapy soon so I'll have something new to show you.   Ok, off to nap again.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Surgery Tomorrow and a RAK

My friend, Catherine, stopped by this morning to drop off a yummy casserole for my family to help out since I go in for surgery tomorrow! YES, tomorrow!  Yippee! :)   She also brightened my day with this beautiful Sweet Pea Stamps card. She used the image, Come Softly. I really like this one.  We were laughing over the fact that we may just need to put in another order shortly since we just missed their newest release of stamps...I think they've created some addicts! lol :)

Thanks, again, so much for thinking of us, Catherine, it's nice to have the meal all ready for tomorrow for the kids to eat while I'm off getting 'fixed' up. Posts will likely slow down for a bit while I'm recouping, but I'll be back as soon as I can!   We'll just call it crafty therapy!

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Spring Bunny Basket Tutorial

I've had a few requests for a template for the Spring Bunny Basket that I made this afternoon, so I thought I'd share the directions with you all.

Punches Used for Bunny:
Circles~ Body: 1 3/4",Head: 1 1/4", Muzzle & Feet: 3/4", Tail: 1/2", Eyes & Nose: 1/4"

Ovals~
Ears: Small & Large

Basket Base~
Step 1: First, cut a piece of cardstock to measure 7" x 7" square. Using your scoring blade, make score lines 2" in from each of the four sides. (If you click on the picture below, you will probably see my score lines better.)

Step 2: Using your cutting blade or scissors, cut along the scored lines as shown below. ONLY to the centre square, though. For the tabs, I folded the middle part back and then cut 1" off the two end pieces to create the tabs. Then, with my scissors, I freehand cut the diagonal pieces to finish the tab design. On the bottom of your box, add double-sided tape to the tabs. If you're using plain cardstock, it won't matter which is the top and which is the bottom.

Step 3: With the double-sided tape facing down, fold up the sides of the box at the pre-scored lines. Remove your tape and form a box by folding the corners in to meet each other. Your diagonally cut tabs should be on the inside of your corners as shown below.
Patterned Paper~
Cut a strip of patterned paper that measures 12" x 1 1/2".  Apply double-sided tape to the back side and adhere to the top part of the pink basket base.  I also scored the sides so that it lays smooth against the basket base.  I suggest wrapping it around so that your seam is hidden behind the bunny.

Scalloped Edge~
Cut 2 strips measuring 1 1/2"  x 8 1/2" of Pink Pirouette (SU) cardstock.   I used my diamond scallop border punch.  You can get two sides from each piece.

After you've scalloped all the borders, cut your pieces so that the top edge measures 3".   Make a score line 1/2" from the straight edge.   Trim the sides with your scissors so that they taper towards the score line.  Add double-sided tape to the back side and fold over to make the finished edge for the basket.  Fold in half and attach to the basket base over the patterned paper.  As you can see, I used Terrifically Tacky Tape or red-line tape on the outside of the scalloped border to make sure it stayed down.  

Basket Handle~
Cut 1 strip measuring 1 1/2"  x 8 1/2" of Pink Pirouette (SU) cardstock.   Add double-sided tape to each of the ends as shown in the picture and attach to the inside of your finished basket base.   Using a thumb tack, poke a hole in each side of your basket base though the handle so make a hole for your jumbo brad.  This will secure the handle to the box quite well.

I hope you have fun making this Spring Bunny Basket!  Again, I have to thank Mercedes Weber for the original design, I've just helped with a few pictures for those who prefer visual tutorials.  I hope this is easy for everyone to follow!   Have fun!  :)

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Spring Bunny Basket

Unfortunately, both my girls are home sick today from school and they needed a little cheering up and asked to make a craft. So, I thought this sweet little bunny basket would do just the trick. I saw this basket originally on Mercedes Weber's blog. You can see her project here.

This is the one that I made showing a bit more of the side, as well. 

This one was made by my 8 year old daughter, Alexandria.

This one was made by my 6 year old daughter, Natalia.

They had so much fun making these and are very cute, if I do say so myself!  The girls are feeling much better, their fevers are almost gone so hopefully they'll be good to go back to school tomorrow.   On a happy note, I finally have my consultation appointment with the 2nd surgeon tomorrow, so wish me luck that he can book me in for surgery soon to have this tumor removed and I can get back to my old self!  I'll keep ya posted. Thanks again to all of you.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Supplies:
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette (SU)
Patterned Paper: Pink Polka Dot (K&Company)
Ink: Pink Pirouette (SU), Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distress Ink (Ranger)
Tools: Sponge Circle Punches (Creative Memories), Small Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Hole Punch, Oval Custom Cutting System (Creative Memories), White Gel Pen (Marvy), Chocolate Gel Pen (Staedtler), Sponge (SU), Scallop Dot Border Punch (SU), Double-sided Tape, Terrifically Tacky Tape - Red Line (ProvoCraft)
Embellishments: Pink and White Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon (Michaels), Pink Jumbo Brads (Dollarama)

Happy Birthday, Hubert!

It was my oldest brother's birthday yesterday and this card is for him. There's a little extra java treat inside for him, since he enjoys his java as much as I do! :)

I'm always challenged to make masculine cards, so I needed a little inspiration for this card.  I found just that from a card by Laurie Schmidlin. I absolutely adore her work, you can see her blog here.   Thanks for the inspiration, Laurie, you rock!  :)

To make the background panels, I crumpled up a plastic bag and inked it up and the pounced it on the cardstock.   Sponged on a little extra ink by spearing it around.  Then, I randomly stamped all of the java words and cut the paper in thirds and mounted them on the chocolate cardstock to make the panels.

I don't think you can really tell in the full card pic, but the stitched medium is actually chocolate brown felt ribbon.  Very cool stuff!  I found this a while back and have waiting for the perfect project to use it with.   I think it works well with my masculine card.   I like to embellish a card, but didn't want it to seem girlie so this gave it just the right added touch.   I hope my big brother likes it!  :)

Here's a close up of the felt ribbon and Fancy Scallop Border Piercerabilities.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Chai Latte - Savoir Faire (Inque Boutique)
Cardstock: Ivory (Staples), Chocolate (CRS), Textured Olive Green (CRS), Olive (Creative Memories)
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Tea Dye (Ranger), Memento - Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko)
Tools: 1/8" Dimensional Squares (EK Success), Cuttlebug, Fancy Scalloped Border Piercerabilities (Spellbinders), Sponge (SU), Crumpled Plastic Bag for Distressed Background
Embellishments: Chocolate with White Stitch Felt Ribbon (Michaels)

Some Easter Fun

A bit of Easter fun! :)

Thanks for hoppin' by!  :)

Happy Easter

Isn't this too cute for anything! lol :)  I got this vintage image as a free download from The Graphics Fairy.  She has some really awesome images - if you haven't already, you should go check out her blog! 

I hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful Easter weekend with loved ones and safe travels if you're travelling to be with them.   Happy Easter from my family to yours.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Easter Chick and Eggs

I wanted to make an Easter card for our neighbour's little girl and this is the design that I came up with.  I used my small circle Nesties to die cut the eggs, then I embossed them each with a different pattern.  I've been wanting to play with this cute little chick for some time now...I only got the stamp about 2 years ago and just haven't got around to it yet...sound familiar?  lol  :)  Seriously, I think this little chick (called, Just Ducky) is simply too cute for anything.  He looks so sad - like he thinks you're going steal his eggs!   Poor little guy!  lol  :)

I know my pictures have been pretty bright over the past couple of days, but Jim has our camera.  So, I've been using my scanner and I'm not good at changing the colours to make them look more realistic.  Anyway, I guess you get the gist...just imagine that they're not quite as bright in real life!   lol   :) **Edited** I changed the colour a bit in PhotoShop, so now this card looks more like it does in person.

Well, I'm off to play with the kids.   They're done their easter crafts and they want to go play a board game.  I hope everyone is having a nice, relaxing Easter weekend with their family and if you're travelling - drive safe!

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Just Ducky (Impression Obsession), Happy Easter - Greetings Galore (Impression Obsession)
Cardstock: Soft Mauve (Recollections), Lime Green (CRS), Flat White (Staples)
Patterned Paper: Easter Bunnies (came from a paper pack - not sure who made it)
Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Watercolor Crayons: Apricot Appeal, Barely Banana (SU)
Tools: Small Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Cuttlebug, Textile Texture Embossing Folder, Paisley Embossing Folder, Birds & Swirls Embossing Folder (ProvoCraft), Aqua Painter (SU)
Embellishments: Mauve Gems (Colorbok)

Sweet Pea Gold Challenge and Mojo132 Sketch Challenge

I incorporated two challenges in one for this card. First, I used a Sweet Pea Stamps image for their current 'All that Glistens is Gold' challenge on Sweet Pea Stampers.  I know I didn't use a lot of 'gold' in my project, but I honestly don't use a lot of gold.  I'm more of a silver kinda gal!    Anyway, the butterfly in the patterned paper is gold along with the flower flourishes in the corners and the connected circle borders on my stamped image.  Hopefully, that's enough for the challenge.

Secondly, I followed the current Mojo Monday sketch. I love following these sketches and I think it's fun that Julee's doing some round or square options now, too.  I like making round cards for the kids, they always seem in awe when they get a round card - something different from the norm.  :)

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Come Softly - ©Ching-Chou Kuik's Fantasy Art Collection (Sweet Pea Stamps)
Cardstock: China Red Linen (CRS), Ivory (Staples)
Patterned Paper: "Family Roots" - Defining a Family by Jen Wilson (Signature Suite), Ambrosia/Winsome (Basic Grey), Archaic/Rusty (Basic Grey)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine), Memento - Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Touch Markers: 0-Colorless Blender, 11-Carmine, 14-Vermillion, 18-Peach, 29-Bareley Beige,  136-Blush, 144-Pale Baby Blue, 175-Lime Green, (Shinhan Art)
Tools: Super Fine Detail Clear Embossing Powder (Ranger), Embossing Buddy (SU), Embossing Tray, Heat Tool (Marvy Uchida), Quilling Tweezers
Embellishments: Sheer Black Ribbon & Sheer Black Polka Dot Ribbon (Michaels), Gold Butterfly Lines Peel-Off's