Baby card, some DE with bling and a pretty favour box

I'm starting to get back into the groove and I believe my mojo may be back!! It's even getting to the point where I'm thinking up projects in my sleep. There have been a couple of nights now where Baja Breeze ribbon and glass glitter have been the main focus of stamping dreams. Am I an addict or what? Addicted, stampin crazy, whatever you want to call it, it does feel good to be back in my stamping space.

I needed a baby card to welcome a new baby girl into my cousin's family. It seems that I may have gotten a little carried away with all of the pink:

That is what happens when you are the only female in the house. This card is done in pretty in pink and whisper white. The stamps used come from a couple of different sets: Valentine defined and A Slice of Life.

My next project involved dressing up my new clear block storage caddy. The case is very plain and industrial looking in my opinion and needed to be prettied up a bit. I had a Decor Elements flower left over from when I decorated my shower curtain (yes - I DE'd my shower curtain with vinyl flowers much to my husband's dismay!!). That poor flower needed just a little something so I added quite a few basic rhinestones. This is the prettiest, blingiest caddy around now:

Finally, I needed a pretty box for a thank you for a new client. I used the Big Shot and the Fancy Favor die to cut out the early espresso card stock. After folding at the score lines to make them more defined, I ran the box through the Big Shot again using the Elegant Lines embossing folder. The top edge of the box was cut using the top portion of the Fancy Favor die to cut a strip from Very Vanilla Patterns Designer Series Paper. This adds a nice touch to the favor box. The flower was punched from strips of First Edition designer series paper that were distressed using the Distressing Essentials kit. I used the large, medium and small scallop circle punches to layer for the flower with an antique brad in the centre.

Please check in again to see the latest project I have been excited about. Funny though, I still haven't made a project using my baja breeze seem binding and baja breeze glass glitter. Maybe next weekend.

Thanks for stopping by. Take care.

Pat

Stylish Blogger Award - to me ???

Well it took me two days but I found a beautiful comment on my blog. Charlene had stopped by to visit and passed on the Stylish Blogger Award:

Well knock my socks off. Thank you so much Charlene. Being a relatively new blogger and not computer savvy at all, it was a nice treat to be recognized. It is also nice to see that Charlene is from the next province over, Manitoba. I always get so excited to meet fellow Canadian stampers. Please stop by Charlene's awesome blog: http://www.stampinallaround.blogspot.com/

After receiving this award, I must do the following:

1) Thank the person who gave this award to me and link it back to their blog
2) Share 8 things about myself
3) Pass this award to 8 other individuals that I have recently discovered
4) Leave a comment on their blogs so that they can pass along the recognition!

Here are 8 things about myself:

1) I am married with two grown stepchildren and my own five year old son. Love my famiily!!
2) I currently work full time but may be on the verge of becoming a SAHM. Stay tuned to see how that plays out!
3) I have been stamping for almost 10 years now and have been an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator for two years.
4) We have no pets but my son and I would love to have a dog. The big boss rules though and so far, no dog.
5) I never realized how hard it was to come up with 8 things to say about myself.
6) My favourite TV shows are Greys Anatomy, Private Practice, Off the Map and The Big Bang Theory.
7) I love to read but never seem to have time to do it. If I pick up a book, I don't get any stamping done!!
8) Whew ... I LOVE BLING!!!!

Now to tell you about some of the wonderful blogs I have visited. Please stop by and see the wonderful creations to be found here:

1) http://aspenstamps.blogspot.com
2) http://krisisstampin.blogspot.com
3) www.craftingwithkitties.blogspot.com
4) http://www.stampinwithtonya.blogspot.com
5) http://stampingsolutions.blogspot.com
6) http://www.stampcravings.blogspot.com
7) http://www.terryficcards.blogspot.com
8) http://www.stampinseasons.blogspot.com

Wow there are a lot of nice blogs out there. Stop by and check them out.

I will post later with some of the projects I have been working on this weekend.

Pat

With Sympathy

Sympathy cards are the hardest type of card to make. It is important to make something tasteful and meaningful, something that expresses what is often hard for us to say. The Thoughts and Prayers set is great for a sympathy card but I always seem to fall back on a retired set, Hope for Comfort. The sentiments in this set are perfect for these sad occasions. Today I made a sympathy card for my friend and co-worker, Donna. The sentiment inside this card says "May the love of God grant you peace, the love of friends bring you comfort and the love of your dear one live forever in your heart." Very fitting. Here is the card I made for Donna:

This card was made using Marina Mist card stock for the base and then sponged around the edges using Night of Navy. The image was stamped using the emboss resist method on glossy paper, brayered with marina mist, baja breeze and night of navy. The scallop circle was cut out of Night of Navy using the large scallop in the Circles #2 die on the Big Shot. A white gel pen gave the scallops some accenting. The butterflies were cut with the Beautiful Wings embosslit out of Night of Navy and vellum. Basic pearls embellished the butterflies.

From making a card for a sad occasion to celebrating the birth of a new life. My next project will be a welcome baby card. I hope to post the baby card tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by. Take care.

Pat

Teacher Appreciation Week

Teachers are amazing. I spend five minutes in my son's Kindergarten class consisting of 21 children and I am completely overwhelmed. How do they manage everyday when I can barely manage my one? I have always respected and admired the people who take on the monumental task of being a teacher or a childcare provider. As this is Teacher Appreciation Week, I wanted to let Ty's teachers know how much we appreciate them. Here is the card I created to let them know:

The picture doesn't appear to accurately show that this card is done with the in colour, Concord Crush, as it looks almost navy here and not the deep, rich purple. This is my favourite of the in colours. The card base is embossed with the Framed Tulips embossing folder. The petals are stamped in Concord Crush on Whisper White using the Build a Blossom stamp and punched out with the Blossom Petals Punch. The leaves are stamped in Always Artichoke. The center of the flower is stamped from the set First Day which was in last year's mini. I had to show the inside of the card as well as this uses the FYI set found on page 148 of the big catalogue. I have had this set for quite a while and this is the first time I have used it but it definitely won't be the last. The ... after the FYI was done using the basic rhinestones. Oh how I love my bling!!! This is the first time I have used bling on the inside of a card and I kind of like it. :)

Sadly, my next project will have to be a sympathy card for my friend and co-worker, Donna. Just last week I showed you the Queen for a Day birthday card that I made for Donna and she absolutely loved it. Donna's mother passed away today and I have an idea for a beautiful sympathy card to give to her. I will be using my favourite sympathy set, Thoughts and Prayers. This project will have to wait until tomorrow as my poor eyes are too tired to do a good job tonight.

Thanks for stopping by. Take care.

Pat

Whew - ready for Valentine's Day to be over!!

Haha ... it was only a short while ago I was raving about how much I love those Valentine projects. Well, I think I've reached the point of Valentine overload. Here are the two cards we made for Ty to take to the lovely hostesses of the Valentine dance party he went to today:

These were a 3 x 3 card and a 4 x 4 card using real red and whisper white. The heart was stamped with whisper white craft ink using the Sweetheart stamp set and then heat embossed with white embossing powder. The punch out was done with the large heart punch which happens to coordinate with the Sweetheart set.

I then realized that a card hadn't been made for my own special Valentine. It was done in a hurry and when you know the recipient isn't very judgmental ... well let's just say I felt it was all about the message and not so much about the presentation!! haha Poor Phil. This card will be attached to a huge box of chocolates so all will be forgiven. :)

This is a swing card using scallop circles cut with the big shot. I love how the layer behind the heart somewhat resembles the read out on a heart monitor. This layer and the small heart used the red glitter paper and were cut using the tasteful trim die with the big shot and the small heart punch.

So that is definitely it for all the Valentine projects this year. Next will be some special cards to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week this week. Ty's wonderful teachers will be getting these on Wednesday once the craziness of the Valentine celebrations are over. Check back for my next post on this project.

Thanks for stopping by. Take care.

Pat

What - no bling??

I can't believe I created a card with absolutely no bling on it!!! Must be slipping a little bit.

I may have already mentioned how much I love the Valentine Defined set but I will say it again - "I LOVE IT". Though it may appear to be valentine specific, I can see this set being used for wedding and anniversary cards. My sister-in-law has a wedding anniversary next week so I better put this set to work again and hopefully post a pic of the anniversary card.

This is another sneak peak of tomorrow night's club project. The easel card is a fun and unique way of displaying a lovely card. The card base is 4 1/4 x 8 1/2, scored at 4 1/4 and 6 3/8 to create the easel part of the card. The heart stems are stamped in real read and then again with whisper white craft ink. The heart vines are stamped in whisper white craft as well. Circles #2 die was used for the scallop circle. The inside layer of the card had the love you sentiment popped up to support the easel. This might have to be my last Valentine's Day project as the big day is on Monday.

Thank you for stopping by. Take care.

Pat

Oh .. to be Queen for a day ...

I'm never very organized, no matter how much I am determined to be!! Stamp club is only two nights away and I am only partly prepared. It seems that I have been in a creative funk and have become lazy to the point where I'm cruising the blogs looking for projects to case. Time to put my thinking cap on and come up with my own creations! In addition to having to prepare for club, I have several birthdays coming up that required special cards. Here is the one I created for my co-worker, Donna: (spoiler alert for my club ladies - we are doing this card on Wednesday!)

Donna is a wonderful lady and very much deserving of being a Queen for the day, if not all year round. This card uses basic black card stock for the base and Pacific Point for the layer. The PP is run through the Big Shot using the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder. The Vintage Wallpaper folder is one of my absolute favourites and I use it quite often. Of course, the Queen deserves some bling so I spritzed the Pacific Point layer with a shimmer mist made from the frost white shimmer paint and rubbing alcohol. Just love that shimmer! The flower was punched from strips of First Edition DSP that had been crumbled, distressed with the tea stain and azure blue inks in the distressing kit and then punched out with the scallop circle punch. A clear rhinestone in the centre of the flower added another little touch of bling. The stamp used was from the You're a Gem set on page 25 of the Occasions Mini. This was punched out with the small oval punch and layered on basic black punched out using the Decorative Label punch. I'm so sad that this punch has been temporarily back ordered. Hopefully that will be rectified soon. A little more bling with the basic rhinestones and then finally, a trinket crown from the set of three Trinket Crowns found on page 24 of the Occasions mini. What a nice touch the crown is for the Queen. haha

Hopefully my club ladies won't mind a sneak peek of one of our projects. The remaining projects will be posted after club. Until then, take care.

Pat