Monday, December 31, 2007

Happy New Year!!!


Its seems to me as I get older, the years just fly by faster and faster..............I remember wishing years away.......if only I were 16 I could drive, if only I were 19, I could get into the clubs legally (hee hee!) if only, if only, if only.....

And now my thoughts are more predisposed to thinking if only time would slow down.......I need more time to feel the soft skin of my baby against my cheek, if only I could relive the feeling I got witnessing his expression the first time his toes touched the dewy grass.....if I could rewind the clock just a little to take back something negative that I had said or just to spend some more with the special people in my life.........and now the time has come to embark upon another year................my sweet smelling cherub sporting hummer cologne and prepubescent mood swings........one minute confirming that I am the best mother in the world and in the next breath looking at me like I have a huge horn growing out of my forehead (the "evil" mom!).................all a part of development they say!!! Given a chance, I probably wouldn't change a thing. I wouldn't want to be twenty again, especially with this amount of life experience.........I think I would be too sensible to make it worth my while!!!! I still have my memories to cherish.

So I am hopeful that 2008 will bring many new and exciting experiences for me and you. No resolutions for me. I am just going to try my best to remain diligent in accomplishing what it is that I need to do first and then what I want to do beyond that.

Have a safe and enjoyable evening and here's hoping that the last several hours of 2007 are memorable and lead you into a happy and prosperous New Year.

Card Recipe: Three Rose Image from Hanna Stamps- The roses on this card are burgundy and beautiful in real life, but look so dark in the scan. Sentiment is from the Things that Hanna would say Stamp Set that will be released this Friday.

DP is From Rusty Pickle, Ribbon and Brads from Stampin' Up!!!!

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Feeling the LOVE!!!!!


Valentine's Day is one of my Favourite Holidays. Probably because it usually involves Chocolate......lots of Chocolate..........did I mention that I like Chocolate? Also I love images of hearts.....I love to stamp hearts, doodle hearts and punch hearts out of DP (as you can see in my previous post). I flipped when I saw this cute little heart box of chocolates in the New Hanna Valentine set............isn't it just the sweetest?

I had purchased a box of plain embossed cards in the event that I needed a quick greeting. You can imagine how thrilled I was to find the embossed heart pattern. I watercoloured the main image (which has chocolate written in script on the top of the box) and mounted it on dimensionals on the top layer, which was faux stitched. I then layered red and white to fill the area in the middle of the card. To add a little extra pizzaz, I filled in the outside border of the box with a gold Zig Painty pen and made a little gold border on the heart box. All the little accessories that accompany Hanna's Valentine are just the sweetest!!!! The great thing about this set is that you can use it well beyond Valentines Day. For instance, check out Kristi's Blog to see the sweet baby card that she created.

Hanna's Valentine is available This Friday, January 4th........HERE

Hanna's back in town!!!!


and ready for the next Holiday! Isn't she a Sweetheart? How do you like her fresh and funky do?

I KNOW that i've said this before and probably will again, but I am sure this is the BEST Hanna set yet!!! Well I probably think so because this set involves Chocolate!!!!

With so many delicious accessories to add to your designs, you won't run out of ideas for her. I have been working diligently in my Stamping Palace this weekend. Stay tuned for new Hanna samples each day until Friday, when Kristi will release her, along with the "Things Hanna Would Say" sentiment set!!!

RECIPE: Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink Cardstock and Rusty Pickle DP, Choc Chip and Pallette Noir Ink. Aquapainters and Markers, Machine Stitching. I paper pieced Hanna's Dress and Suspended her on a Word Window Punch Accent.............A smidgen of Pink Grosgrain anchors her platform!

See you tomorrow!!!!!

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Blessed at Christmas

F

In just the blink of an eye, Christmas will be here!!! I still am not quite ready, but in my mind, that's okay. I am sure that things will fall into place as they should. I haven't been stamping much this week as I really have been focusing on the things that need to happen, like clearing a path for Santa!!! All the gifts have been purchased. I have to find one more gift that I had stowed away (ever hide something to find that it is forever lost??) and all the presents will be wrapped.

But does this really matter in the bigger scheme of things? I don't think so. What is more important to me is having my small family around me, good health for my parents and a good and happy life for my son.


This week we got a terrible scare. My Father was in an accident on the 401, which is essentially Canada's Trans Canada Highway. He hit some black ice and lost control of the Truck, hitting a Guardrail, spinning back across the road to hit the cement median divider head on. I think that he hit a couple of more times as the back of the Truck was smashed up as well.

His Truck as you can see, was damaged fairly badly. We are not sure if it will be written off, but there is a good possibility. Fortunately, there was a lot of Truck between that cement barrier and my father. Apparently when the airbag went off, it gave him quite a start, but other than that, he came out of the accident unscathed. I am thankful for that. I am thankful that there was no other cars involved. I am glad that the Transport driver that was coming behind him was able to slow down. I am appreciative of the kind men who stopped to ensure that he was all right before they continued on their journey.

So in reflection, if there is a light layer of dust on the bookshelves or a ketchup fingerprint on the fridge............does it REALLY matter????? What matters to me is that I will enjoy another safe Christmas with my Family, my Father safe and sound.

Card Recipe:

My Favourite Things: Baby it's Cold Outside
Rusty Pickle DP
SU! Pretty in Pink and Whisper White Cardstock and Watercolour Paper
Stickles, Ink Pads, Aquapainters.
Heidi Swapp Clear Snowflakes, SU! Rhinestone Brad and Tafetta Ribbon
Making Memories Button Brads

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Staying True to my word............well not really!!!




I could tell you that I was totally committed to forging forward with my Christmas chores, I could tell you that being the rebellious one that I can be, that I just said to &%$$ with it and stamped my face off, disregarding the fact that I really NEED to be getting things done.

Well neither is the truth... exactly!!! I actually spent some time getting class projects done and had to do a bit of cleaning to ensure that my stampers weren't bitten by the dust bunnies!!!!

I actually started back to work yesterday after a two month healing hiatus................let me tell I was not prepared for the fact that I would be really really tired when I got home............actually I was getting really really tired by 2:00 p.m. when two of my coworkers stopped in for a chat...............they claim they caught me doing a head nod!!! So here I am home after day 2 exhausted and although I may muster up the teeniest bit of strength to stamp, I pulled this card out of the coffers so that I would keep up with my personal commitment to posting regularly (way better than cleaning commitments, to me they are more like New Years Resolutions Pshaw!!!!!).

Anyway, this card was made very quickly with the soon to be retired Winter Bright Scrapbooking kit. You can view it HERE after December 30th, it will no longer be available.I used the SU! Scallop circle as well as Nestabilities Scallop Circles as a base for the main image, which Hails from It's Snow Time which also retires at the end of the month. A little Double Stitched Wasabi Ribbon, A pretty border made with a Martha Stewart Punch and some stickles of course.............did you notice that Stickles and Liquid Applique seem to be a main staple for me these days??? and last but not least a Big Old Juicy Ice Brad complete the wintery look of this card!!!

Stop by again, I hope to have something new cooked up for you!!!!

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Nursery Necessities-New Catalogue Release



As quickly as Christmas is coming on, so is the release of the new Stampin' Up! Spring and Summer Collection.

Nursery Necessities was one of the sets available for preorder to Demonstrators. Initially I was a little hesitant to order this set, but my word, I am LOVING it. I can see so much potential for this set in card making and scrapbooking.

I intially thought of Primary Colours when I first looked at the sailboat image. I used markers directly on the rubber to get the range of colours on the stamp. A primitive frame was created with Sewing Maching Stitching (Note: Primitive is a great word to describe a sloppy or amateur attempt at sewing!!! ha ha!!!) The Star image was stamped and then punched out with our New Star Punch!!! Way cool~~ I can see myself using this punch a lot!!!




This card was created for a swap. I was looking to create a card that wasn't too time consuming (particularly because of the due date coming on really fast!!! now you all KNOW that I am a huge procrastinator, but this time, it was a lengthy shipping process that put me under the wire for time!!)

Anyway, I also wanted a card that would be easy to make, yet still attractive. I used the Scallop Circle, Large Star and slot punch to create the Large embellishment. The Boats were stamped tone on tone, with the sentiment stamped over in Blue Bayou.

I really like the way this one turned out and think it would work really well for Birth Announcements.







Elephants on Parade is a long card that is very quick and easy to make. I stamped a line of Elephants and simply added punched and brad embellished flowers over their Trunks.

TIP: When you are stamping multi images in a line, it is a good idea to stamp on a piece of cardstock an inch or two longer than your required size. This way you can cut to size and still manage to have a visually pleasing and well balanced main image.

So, I am officially recuperated and will return to work tomorrow. If you don't hear from me for a day or two.............don't worry, I'll be back.

Happy Stamping!!!!

Vicki

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Happy Mail Day!!!!!


Yesterday I was sure that I was going to be diligent and committed to the tasks that I had set out for myself. I would not stray........I would stay focused and not get distracted!!!! I had a plan!!!!

Well then I got the brilliant idea that I should go out to check the mailbox.............Bad Idea....well actually not so bad.

There it was deep down in the pile, underneath the various colourful Christmas Cards, the oh so familiar (as of late anyway!!) Cardboardy type Mailer..........I KNEW it just had to be for me!! And there they were, my New My Favorite Things Stamps. If I really was all that committed to forging forward with my endless list of chores, I'd have done the responsible thing and set the package aside for later. But OH NO!!!!!! I had to tear into it, just like a Kid on Christmas...........I purchased a few sets, but this is the one that had me from hello!!! I just couldn't resist getting some ink to it and making this quick little card. Tell me, would you have done the same thing??? And when I saw the sweet little mitten image, I KNEW I had to make a pair to hang from the Snowman's Branch arms.

So it starts again today...............wrapping, dusting a little last minute stocking stuffing shopping............No Stamping........nope, absolutely none.........well not until a little later at least!!

Recipe:

Stamps: MFT Baby it's cold outside
Paper: Pre Made Embossed Card DCWV, Real Red, Watercolour Paper, Black
ACC: Aquapainters, Markers, Liquid applique, Linen Thread

Friday, December 14, 2007

Bloggers Challenge Week 25


The Challenge this week was to create a Sympathy card.

I have had this Pussy Willow image from Sunshine Designs sitting in a drawer for months now and thought it would be a nice subtle image to suit the mood of this card.

Stamping the image on Kraft Paper with Basic Brown Ink, I added some copper highlights to the image and coloured in the blooms with white gel pen. I then sponged over the entire image with Sahara Sand ink to tone down the blooms and add a little depth to the main panel. Using the French Flair stamp with gold encore Ink, I stamped a background on Vanilla Cardstock. Both the main image and the background panel are layered on Baroque Burgundy Cardstock. I wrapped linen thread around a real twig to act as an anchor for my sentiment, which came from the Fancy Flexible Phrases Stamp Set (SU!).

For more Sympathy Card Ideas, Follow the links to my Fellow Challenge Bloggers.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Can we think about another Holiday Already!!!!!


I know, I know.............I probably sound Horrible for even suggesting that we shouldn't be focusing on Christmas Preparations, but in the spirit of procrastination (well actually, this card has me WAY ahead of schedule). I just needed have a reprieve from Christmas Wrapping, decorating and baking. I spent the good part of my morning addressing and writing little notes in my Christmas cards, which were all handmade this year! (yes, I procrastinated SO much last year that I did have to send out some boxed cards....eek!!!!) and So I thought I would try to come up with a "springish" design today!

I also got my New Catalogue Preorder from Stampin' Up! yesterday and had to try these delicious Rub ons!!! I have to tell you that they are EXCELLENT quality. You might ask if there is a difference between brands of rub ons and the answer is most definitely yes!! Some rub ons are really a challenge to apply while others flake off easily...........these went on quite smoothly and with all pieces in tact. When I open a new package I store them in a Zip Loc type bag. I am not sure if that makes a difference, but I would think that over time, if exposed to air, they may dry out a bit!!! Items in the New Catalogue will be available for purchase on January 2nd. Give me a call to get your copy!

So this is my Hanna Valentine/LOVE card!!!! Unfortunately I the lavender ribbon photographed a little garishly!!! The little kiss and hug border was created with the cutest little Tonic Punch I picked up some time ago. Again, the Rub ons are from Stampin' Up! I cut the Flower in half in order to use it as a border type embellishment, leaving me another half for a rainy day!!! The Sentiment reads "It's a Love thing" The package contains one sheet of White and one sheet of Black Rub ons!!! I created my own "wrapping paper" for the box by shading the sides with an aquapainter and bashful ink, then when dry, doodling in some little hearts. Some Glitter to the Ribbon and Amethyst Pants give this subtle image a little contrast!

Don't forget that this sweet Hanna image is available December 14th!!!!!! Follow the Hanna Icon to order your own set. For more great ideas, follow the links to my DT members Blogs. The cards are all fabulous!!!!!!

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

and the WINNER IS.........................................


Allison from Stampin' when I can! I wish that you all could have won. I used Random.Org which generated the number 7.

If you haven't visited Allison's Blog, you should seriously consider doing so. If you want the scoop on the latest tutorials, tips and give a ways, that is the place to go!!! So Congrats Allison. If you p.m. me your Address, I'll have a little package out to you by Friday!!!!

This is my Extremely Bright Hanna Card for Kaitlyn, a family friend who is celebrating her 12th Birthday on the 24th of December. I wanted to achieve a Cartoon Character look to my image, so I used my SU! Stamp n' write markers directly to watercolour paper. Why bother with Watercolour paper when just colouring you might ask??? Well I find if you work quickly when the markers are wet, you can get a great blend on the paper. In order to do this (see the lighter portions of colour on the ribbon>) I colour the lighter shade of colour onto my image and then quickly blend the darker colour into the lighter colour with loose fluid strokes, almost like painting, blending one colour into the other. I then outlined the image with black marker to emphasize the whole image. DP is from Crate Paper. I used SU Celery, Rose Red and Pumpkin Cardstock. Embellished with Primas, MM Flower Brads and some unknown ribbon from "M's"!

As you know, Hanna's perfect package is being released this Friday Night!!!! Hop on over to the Hanna Site to see what's new!!!!!!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

The Perfect Package is Perfect for all occasions!!!


I have to admit and if you have been following my blabberings as of late, my brain is in Christmas mode, so everything I do seems to have at the least a hint of Christmas....even my all occasion cards have been in hues of Red and Pomegranate!!!!

So I sat down in the wee hours of the morning and willed myself to do something with a springish theme ( you will learn a WHOLE new vocabulary and "vickiisms" if you stick around here!!!). I also pulled out my sewing machine as I am always admiring the cards that have real stitching on them although I am totally a fan of faux stitching too because it is so easy!!!

Do you like this DP???? It is from Crate Paper. It has the nicest feeling to it...........sort of a rough texture. I used some River Rock and hints of Guava Card ck to pick up the secondary colours in the DP. I used SU! Stamp'n write markers and aquapainters on watercolour paper for the main image with Guava, Celery, Soft Sky and various colours for her hair. The Fancy Border under the main image was created with a Martha Steward border punch!!! I then punched a Large oval in the Polka dotted pattern, a smaller oval in Guava and stamped my sentiment (so many sayings) in Navy on River Rock........

Stay Tuned for more Sneak Peeks before Friday when the perfect package will be released!!!

Monday, December 10, 2007

Counting Down to Christmas- The Perfect Package!











How Many more Shopping Days until Christmas??? Egad, I anticipated that while home recovering from surgery, I would have a leisurely time preparing for Christmas this year.

Gifts would be purchased and elegantly wrapped, my Christmas cards dutifully mailed out by the 5th of December...........perhaps some baking done.............do you think that this has happened???? NO, Nadda..................not in the LEAST!!!!!

Now in all fairness to myself (and we must treat ourselves well in order to be good for those we love!) I hadn't felt like doing ANYTHING up until about a week ago. But since then, you'd have thought I'd get moving along with things. NOPE!!! All I have been doing is stamping a few things, cleaning up the mess, stamping a few more, cleaning up the mess............well you know how it goes!!!! I did get some nugget boxes completed for little gifties, but I know that they won't be complete without the tags!!!!

Speaking of Tag, I was tagged by Sue who was tagged by Toni, who was tagged by me of course! I rolled on the floor with laughter when Sue came to the deduction that I was responsible for her tagging and then informed me "what goes around comes around" . Now in the spirit of Christmas, I can't bring myself to make you all endure any more funky facts about myself. SO, I am not completing shirking my responsibility to keep the game going..............just freezing it for the moment. I am sure that over the Holidays, I can dream up some other tidbits of information that you will be hanging on the edges of your seat waiting to hear!!!!!!!

And NOW for the Card.....................a double gift card (You can see the awesome tutorial here)
In order to "Paper Piece" (that is adding the designer paper on the images) the parts of the stamp that I want to highlight, I stamped the image onto the front of the Designer Paper, cut them out and then ran them through my Xyron Sticker Maker.........you know, the thingy that sat in my closet for three years before I figured out I didn't have to literally have to make a sticker with it, that it comes in handy for all sorts of things!!!!! Then I easily applied the paper pieces to the parts of the image that I wanted. The rest of the image was coloured by picking up the ink from Markers Scribbled onto a CD or in the lid of the inkpad with an aquapainter.
Primas, SU! Brads and our great punches round out the final design.

Cardstock: Celery, Dasher and Rose Red Designer Paper, Wild Wasabi and Pomegranite Cardstock, all from SU!!!!!
Images: Perfect Package-Hanna Stamps: you can get this new Hanna on FRIDAY over at Hanna Stamps!!!! Just follow the link on the Hanna icon and check out Kristi's fabulous Hanna website!!!!

Sunday, December 9, 2007

The Perfect Package is Coming Soon!!!


















Here is a Sneak Peek of what you can expect in the new Hanna Stamp Set "The Perfect Package" which will be release THIS FRIDAY!!!! YEP, THIS FRIDAY. Let me tell you, these sets just keep getting better and Better!!!!

This card is a Pocket Card and was also inspired by Charlene "LilLuvsStampin""
I used Cerise DP from SU as well as all sorts of punches and accessories..................

Also I have been Tagged by a Texas Grammy!!! It's not everyday that happens and all the way from Texas to boot!!!! I am so blessed to be on the Hanna Design Team with Bev. Check out her Gallery by Following the Link on the sidebar........you WON'T be disappointed. So here goes:

The rules of the game:

  • Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
  • Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, we all want to know them.
  • Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.



Seven things about me that I am sure that you didn't know and probably wish that you hadn't heard!!!!!

  • I have spent the last 7.5 weeks at home growing fingernails!! NO SERIOUSLY.........big honkin strong back scratching nails!!! I have NEVER had fingernails............nope, not a one. They are usually non existent, paper thin and have flaked off!!! Really, the down side to this is that I now have a line up in my household (please let me clarify that this is a G rated conversation!) lining up for back scratches. PLEASSE don't inform the neighbourhood dogs, they'll all be over wagging their tails and looking for a little scratch behind their mangy ears!!!
  • I used to put Peanut Butter on my Hotdogs..............Yes, I am really going out there and spilling it all......................it is quite tasty actually and then I had to start pretending that I was all grown up, so it's Green Relish and Cheese Whiz now!!!
  • I am a DIET PEPSI holic.....................yes, I am embarrassed to admit that it is my morning ambrosia.............whether it's right out of the bottle or served in a fine glass with ice.........I can't get enough of it.
  • Did I mention I am not only addicted to Rubbah, but to Acrylic as well!
  • I KNOW that you all just want to know this one!!! I can light a cigarette lighter with my toes! (and NO, I refuse to elaborate!!!)
  • Gosh, I am running out of oddities to share..............maybe I should give you the email addresses of a few close friends!!!!!
  • When I grow up, I want to be Like a Texas Grammy (In a Stetson of course.........ya know my mom went to Texas and bought me a Beautiful Stetson, but it is too small for my Pumpkin head...........oops, rambling again!!!) and overcome my propensity for sweets!!!
And now for my Victims.............well, what I really mean is the peeps that I want to play tag with today:

Pat Huntoon
Toni Tessler
Ida Krause
Lori Tecler
Jane Bosi
Marilyn Sanclemente


and

YOU

Seriously, check out these ladies Blogs. They are fellow Bloggers Challenge Club members and they are a creative and talented stamp artists

If you are still reading, I am offering Blog Candy one post down. Now I know that a lot of you have the stamp set already,,,,,,,,,,but there will be some other surprises in the package and you could always use the set for BLOG CANDY!!!!!!




I Won!!!!!! and you can too!!!

I am SO excited that I still haven't come down!!!! As I mentioned on my last post, I had created the Santa card for a My Favorite Things Guest Designer Contest!!! Well Guess what???? I WON!!!! I won ! I won! I WON!!!! I WON!!!! (can you tell that I am STILL a little excited????????)

So I get to be a GUEST Designer for January for the yet to be released stamps. Now HOW exciting is that!!!!! It was a THRILLING day in my Stamping Palace!!!!

Now normally, I just don't have the greatest luck, in fact I couldn't win a jig for an Orphan Pig......although once I won a half ton of Compost............yep, Black Gold..............recycled poop!!!! Let me tell you, it was nice for the garden, but I really was less than thrilled about it. I couldn't wear it, spend it or even sell it!!!!! But I was secretly a little excited because I did win something. I buy the odd lotto ticket, but haven't won anything more than 10 bucks!!! So now I feel as if I have HIT THE JACKPOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!!

I am also very happy to see that I have almost 25, 000 hits on my site!!! That excites me too!!!!!

So as I bask in the glow of winning something meaningful, I would like to share the wealth with you!!!!

I have a little stamping package available for the winner, to be drawn on Tuesday. I would LOVE to hear your comments about the best or worse thing that you have won! Check back Wednesday morning to see if YOU are a WINNER!!!!!

I have the Very Punny Stamp Set from Stampin' Up!!! , Which was used to create This Card
as well as some ribbon and other neat little goodies!!!!!

Hope that you are all as lucky as I was this weekend!!!!!

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Bloggers Challenge Week 24-Old World Watercolour


The Challenge for this week was to complete a card using watercolour techniques. Wanting to kill two birds with one stone, I also used this card for a SCS Challenge which was to create an Artists Trading Card and then incorporate it into a larger card.

I used This Method to watercolour my Shabby Santa.

Inspired by the wonderful watercolours of fellow Bloggers Challenge and Hanna Stamps design team member Anna Wight I have tried to adopt a similar style when watercolouring with markers and reinkers!!

The ATC was created with the Naughty but Nice Stamp as well as SO Many Sayings. I made a small tag with the Word window punch, layering the Olive onto the Burgundy and trimming a small border. Liquid Applique creates an illusion of fluffy snowflakes!

Layers of Imaginsce DP, Burgundy and Olive Cardstock, along with some coordinating Ribbon and a matching prima complete this Jolly old elf!!!!

Follow me to the links on my sidebar to see my fellow members watercolour creations!!!!

Monday, December 3, 2007

Guess Who's Joining the Hanna Design Team?????


Only TWO of my Favourite Stampers in the whole wide world!!! If you have been following my blog for some time or are a Subscriber to the Dirty Dozen Design team Gallery, then you will be familiar with these former Dirty Girls!!!!!

Sherry Cheever and Jeanne Streiff!!!!
Now you can find them in TWO places on my Sidebar!

So in honour of welcoming them to the team, I created this card for the JBWW that they host each weekend, using Hanna's Mistletoe of course. Even Sharks need a little Christmas Love Baby!!!!

Are you a fan of this stamp?? If so, you only have another 27 days to purchase it. Silly Sealife
will only be available until December 30th, when it will retire in order to make way for all sorts of new sets, available in the Spring and Summer Idea Book and Catalogue, Launching on January 2nd. You can view the Retirement List in its entirety HERE.

The Cute little mistletoe comes from Hanna Stamps-'Tis the Season
I cut the circular shaped cards and used the cuttlebug embossing template to add texture to the base layer. The "Fish Bowl" was also cut with a circular cutter and trimmed at the top with Scallop Designer Scissors (Boy I had to blow the dust of these baby's!!!) I sponged Blue Sky and Cool Caribbean around the embossed imaged to create the water and sprinkled on some Magic Scraps Sand for the Bottom. The sharks were painted with Markers and Aquapainters and a little stickles just for good measure.

So Thank you Kristi for bringing Sherry and Jeanne on Board and Thanks Ladies for saying Yes!!!!! If you pop on over to their blogs, you can see some awesome Hanna cards already!!!!!

Friday, November 30, 2007

Bloggers Challenge week 23-one stamp, two looks





The challenge this week?? to create two different cards using the same image. I picked up this image in Ottawa this summer at Heather's Stamp Haven. It had such a peaceful and serene look to it and the samples were great!!!! So for this first image I stamped the image in versa mark and embossed in silver for a tone on tone look. I actually created this card for a ways to use metallic paper challenge on SCS!



Since I really like this image and had yet to use it, I decided to created a second card with this image.


To create this care, I stamped the image in Stayzon ink on Whisper White Paper and coloured with an Aquapainter and Watercolour Wonder Crayons. A little DP to accent the image, some stickles and glitter and this card was completed in a snap.

I see so much potential with this Stamp and can't wait to play with it some more.

Follow the Links on my Bloggers Challenge group to check out more wonderful creations!!!!

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Hanna's Soft Christmas


For those of you waiting patiently for the next release of Hanna, here is a little card from 'Tis the Season to tide you over.

This card was created for the SCS Colour Challenge today. Basic Gray, Bashful Blue and Certainly Celery. Doesn't it make an interesting combination. It perfectly matches this ribbon that I picked up in the $$ bin at Michaels!!!! The little silver bar reads Cherish, which looks lovely on the card, but not so in the scan.

This card is quite simple, so no directions today.....if you have any questions, drop me a line!!!!

Happy Stamping!!!

Monday, November 26, 2007

Stamping like a Texas Grammy!!!!


This was another FABOO week on SCS for Featured Stamper, Texas Grammy!!! She is a Fellow Design Team Member for Hanna Stamps with an awesome Style. Check out Bev's Gallery Here Also, if you check my Hanna Stamps Design Team Sidebar, you can link to Bev's Awesome Blog!!!!!

Congratulations Bev!!!! It was really fun to play today and thanks to BETH for organizing these awesome challenges each week!!!

And now for the down and dirty on the Card. The idea for this card was cased from Bev's Card
The main image is from the Time Well Spent stamp set. A terrific new Level Three Hostess set that will appear in the Spring and Summer Catalogue. You can get this set starting in January when you host a qualifying workshop. The missing you sentiment hails from the So Many Sayings Stamp set, which is a level one set in the current catalogue. I used Cutie Pie Designer Paper and Pomegranate Ribbon, both which are SU! featured Specials presently. Contact me if you wish to benefit from any of the current sales

The centre of the flower is embellished with a Build a Brad, an awesome embellishment that is available in the current catalogue. The dimensions of this card are 4x4".

Have a great day!!!!!!

Vicki

Sunday, November 25, 2007

and the WINNER IS.........................................

Karen Foltz!!!!!!!

YAY Karen!!!!!!!! email me at vickig@kos.net with your info and i'll be sure to pass it on to Kristi right away!

Thanks to all of you who took the time to visit my Blog and leave a comment.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend,

Vicki

Friday, November 23, 2007

Bloggers Challenge week 22-Inspiration comes in all forms


What inspires you???? Inspiration comes in all forms, People, places, things can all be wonderful sources of inspiration! This weeks Challenge was to create a card inspired by something else.

Problem for me this week was that I was not feeling very inspired. Most of the time I am soaking in all of the stimulus that I can, paying attention to the colours of nature, perusing the layouts of billboards that I see in my daily travels, making a mental note of new colour combinations while cruising the aisles of my favourite clothing stores...................this week, it just wasn't happening for me. So what did I do??? Took a virtual trip to Pottery Barn to find a source for my card...........and I found it very very quickly!




Isn't this the sweetest little serving plate. I just loved this Christmas Dinnerware's clean and simple design. This image definitely inspired me to pull out my never used Christmas Cheer Cricut Cartridge and make a card, which worked up very quickly. I used a tannish Bazzil Card stock for my Reindeer Base, Basic Black for the Hooves and Burgundy for the nose and collar. I attached mini bells with mini glue dots and added black line to the deer image with a sharpie. The card looked a little bare with just the reindeer and sentiment, so I made a little liquid applique snow fall in my craft room. Hope you enjoy my cute little guy as much as I enjoyed creating him.

I'm heading over to my fellow challenge bloggers sites to see what inspires them. Won't you join me???? Check my sidebar for the links!!!

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Hey Girlfriend!!! How about some BLOG Candy!!!!




Happy Thanksgiving to my friends South of the Border !

For my Northern Neighbours, you also have something to celebrate too because you can also be the LUCKY winner of some BLOG CANDY!!!!! Yumma Yumma!!!!!!

Kristi over at HANNA stamps is not only very Thankful for the success of her new line of stamps, but graciously thankful to those of you have supported her in this new venture!!!!
She will be launching her official Hanna website any day now along with the release of two new stamp sets, one of them being a terrific sentiment set that will compliment all of your new Hanna's plus the ones that will come to us soon. YOU can be the winner of this yet to be released sentiment set!!! (aren't you just wigglin' with excitement????) Hey Girlfriend is just one of the cute sentiments that are in this very kewl set! To get more clues about what other sentiments you have to look forward to and to increase your chances to win. Hop on over to my design teammates blogs, which you can link to from my Hanna sidebar.


How to win:

You have until Sunday at 12:00 est to post a comment on this blog.

Only one comment per person please and since I am Thankful for many things, including sweets and chocolate, I would like to know what your favourite Thanksgiving dessert might be!

A winner will be drawn randomly (by my ds) on Sunday and an announcement will be made sometime after that.

The winner can contact me with their information and snail mail address as well as permission to release that info to Kristi, who will mail your set to you directly.

Good Luck and I hope that those of you celebrating today have a wonderful and safe Holiday with your loved ones!!!!!

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Featured Stamper Challenge

I was really excited to see that Today's Featured Stamper is Papermoon04!!!! Visit Shelly's Gallery to see some Beautiful Creations.

I have admired Shelly's artwork for some time now and I know that you will really enjoy her gallery.

Isn't neat how you can change the look of a card by simply altering the layout slightly or changing the embellishments. I think that I prefer the Satin Ribbon, which give the card a more elegant look, however the stitched grosgrain enhances the whimsical look of this card.

Recipe:

All images SU!! Baroque Motifs, Garden Silhouettes and Brighter tomorrow. I used Kraft and Purely Pomegranate Cardstock and Pomegranate and Versamark ink. A little piercing to the main image and borders give the card the little extra oomph that it needed. This colour combination was also Featured on SCS colour Challenge this week. I was unsure how these cards would work up, but check out the Gallery to see an amazing array of Kraft and Pomegranate based cards.

Happy Stamping!!! I still have a few more weeks at home and am feeling SO much better, so I hope to be posting a lot of neat ideas for you!!!!!

Come back and visit soon!!!!!!

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Remember that Snowglobe Tutorial I promised??


You can view it HERE
On Splitcoast Stampers! A big thanks to Beate and Jen who were instrumental in having my project posted there!!!!

I'll be watching the Snow Globe Gallery to see your awesome creations!!!!!

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Hanna Makes Rain!


I love to combine images from various stamp sets to create some interesting scenes. When looking at this little ducky from Rain Rain Come this Way! as well as the little Rain Drops, I was thinking that it would be neat to use the Hanna from "Tis the Season to Splash the little Duck!!! You don't have to be boxed in by the theme of a certain set, just let your imagination run wild!!!!!

This Magical Hanna (Isn't she amazing!) was very fun to create!

Rain Rain is being released at Midnight tonight!!!! Follow the Link to Hanna Stamps to be one of the first to get this sweet sweet stamp set!

Recipe:

Paper: Bazzil Basics, Night of Navy and Whisper White from SU! Glitter Stack from DCWV
Ink: Palette Noir
The images were coloured directly with SU! Stamp n' Write Markers. The Skirt, Top and Umbrella were paper pieced and the small flowers and word window punch were punched with the Glitter Stack Paper. Green Galore and Old Olive Ink were sponged around the Hand drawn pond to create the look of grass.

Basic Grey Button, The Large Flower and Spring Flower Punch were used to create the embellishment in the upper left hand corner.

Hope that you come to visit my site again soon!!!!!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

One more Sleep or Sooner!!!!!


Until you can order this New Hanna Set! Rain Rain Come my Way. Hanna will be arriving donning the coolest Wellies that I have ever seen, a funkaliscious umbrella and a whole load of accessories that will allow you to make the sweetest cards ever!!!!!! Isn't that the cutest little worm??? Anyway, Kristi plans to release this set at Midnight tonight, so hop on over to Hanna Stamps and get yours!!! Can't wait to see what you create!!!

This Card was created based on a Sketch Challenge on Split Coast. You have probably figured out that when I do have time ( and I have PLENTY OF TIME right now!!!) I Love to play the challenges. You can find a list of the daily challenges on the Home Page of SplitCoast which is HERE. You are certain to have loads of fun with a new challenge every day!

Card recipe:

Stamps: Hanna-Rain Rain come this way
Paper: SU! Watercolour Paper, Eggplant and Celery DP I think is Scenic Route
Punches: Small and Large Oval and Corner Punch from Su!
Accessories: Watercolour Wonder Crayons and Aquapainters, Brads and Stickles of course!!!!

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Did I tell you that I just LOVE this new Hanna????



Rain Rain come this way has got to be my FAVOURITE set yet!!!!! I have quite a few samples to share with you and can thank Rainy Hanna for helping me get my Stampin' mojo back!!!!

Isn't the little puddle just the cutest???

Did you know that Watercolour Wonder Crayons work amazingly well when you want to get coverage on coloured card stock???? They are just Opaque enough that you can nicely add layers of colour onto your paper. That being said, I used the white gel pen on the white areas of the image for complete opacity. The DP is from the DCWV Glitter Stack. I also used Whisper White, Celery and Lavendar Lace CS from Stampin' Up!!!! Metal Concho is from Making Memories and the silver brads are from SU! I also used small dots of stickles to create a fine mist!!!!

I can't wait to share more samples with you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, November 12, 2007

She's Here!!!!! Saving for a Rainy Day!!!!


I am SO excited to be sharing a sneak peek of the latest Hanna-Rain Rain come this way!!!!! This has got to be my FAVOURITE Hanna Yet!!!! Isn't her Umbrella just the sweetest!!!!!

As soon as I set eyes on this set, I knew that I had to make a "Rainy Day" fund Bank. I found this Tin Bank with removable lid at one of my local dollar Stores. The completion of the Bank was actually quite easy. First I cut a piece of DP from the DCWV Glitter Stack and adhered it to the can using Sticky Strip. Sticky Strip is a wonderful adhesive for adhering things to dimensional objects, to heavy items such as metals and wood bits and to ensure that your paper projects wont lift. I also use Sticky Strip when making mini albums or covering composition books.

Once I covered the tin, I also placed a line of Sticky Strip along the top border, then rolled the rim through a pan of microbeads.................another great use for Sticky Strip................gee this is starting to sound like an infomercial for Sticky Strip!!! No, Really, this stuff is great!!!!!!

I stamped the sentiment on a half inch border, sponged celery ink to the edges and wrapped this band around the can as well. I then cut a turquoise strip with one scalloped edge and adhered this strip slightly over top of the celery image.

Hanna was coloured with markers on watercolour paper Click HERE for my own tutorial on watercolouring with Markers. The little flowers on her dress were free handed with Stamp n write markers. I then cut her out and mounted her on the tin with dimensionals.


The finishing touches for this can included punching a hole through the side of the tin with a Crop-a-dile and tying Celery and Turquoise Grosgrain Ribbon Through. I freehanded the little Price Tag and added some punched flowers with Rob and Bob Studio Snap Centers. a coordinating hatpin from Making Memories was just the little extra element that this project needed.

What a great place to save your pennies for the latest Hanna Set, which should be released THIS FRIDAY!!!!!!!

Stay Tuned for more Sneak Peeks. I am totally enthralled by this set and am having a hard time putting her down!!!!!

Hope you enjoyed this little project!!!!!!

Follow the Links on the Hanna Stamps Design Team sidebar to see what my fellow DT members have been up to!!!!!! You won't be disappointed.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

What a Hoot!!! Featured Stamper Challenge


Sunday is Featured Stamper Challenge Day over at Splitcoast! Today's Featured stamper just happens to be one that I admire and a fellow Hanna Stamps Design Team Member, Frances!

Why is it a Hoot???? Well, because Frances is also known as Stamp Owl. She Hails from Australia (which just happens to be my number one dream vacation destination) and I have been a fan of her creations for quite some time!

The Challenge is to CASE the Featured Stamper's Card while changing a few elements and keeping some the same. I cased THIS CARD

You really must check out her Fabulous Gallery
In addition, if you follow the link on my Hanna Stamps Design Team sidebar, you can have a look at her fabulous Blog.

For my card, I used DP from Basic Grey's Mellow line. I also used Turquoise and Chocolate Chip Cardstock and Turquoise Grograin Ribbon, all from Stampin' Up! The main Butterfly image is from the Garden Whimsy Set. I stamped the Butterfly in Turquoise on Vanilla Cardstock. Then I coloured over the antennae with Chocolate Chip Marker. I then stamped the image on Vellum with Versamark ink and embossed with Hologram EP. I cut the body out, punched holes in the image with my Cropodile and layered this over the main image. Brads and layering the sentiment in graduated oval punches adds some additional dimension as does the sponging to the edges of the main image.

Friday, November 9, 2007

Bloggers Challenge Week 20-My "D"-Man


Today's challenge was to prepare a card or Project using Pictures. I took this as a great opportunity to start my Christmas Crafting. This Scrapbook on the Wall Page will be a Christmas Present for my 11 year old Son Jonathon...........Shhhhhhhhhh Don't tell him!!!!!!!

Jonathon is generally more an artist than an Athlete (hmmmmmmm takes after me!) but after having the opportunity to play tackle Football last year, he has become a Football Fanatic!!!! This year he played on the Defensive and Offensive Line. He quite enjoyed playing with his age group this year. Last year, he played in a different League and given his size and stature, was a nine year old playing with 12 and 13 year olds! Needless to say and in his words, he spent most of the season on his butt. I admired his determination to stick it out and play again this year. He hopes to play in High School and I will be behind him all the way!!!!!

Scrapbook on the Wall is a very neat and simple project. A few tips for success:

  1. Purchase a canvas and paint the background with acrylic paints. I painted this canvas with Black and then used MM Copper Scrapbook Glaze drybrushed through for some contrast.
  2. Ensure that you use a very strong adhesive to secure your elements. I use Sticky Strip to Secure photos, matting and chipboard as it is quite durable. I am not all that concerned about keeping everything acid free in this case as over time, the pictures and element will fade with light exposure (I'll do an archivally safe layout for his scrapbook!)
  3. Follow the same layout principles as you would with cardmaking and scrapbooking and you will have an attractive and well balanced layout.
I am off to check out all my Bloggers Challenge Friends Projects now. Care to join me??? Follow the links on the sidebar to check out this talented group of ladies awesome creations!!!

Keep your eyes peeled on my blog!!! Hanna Sneak Peeks are coming soon!!!!!

Friday, November 2, 2007

Bloggers Challenge Week 19-Embellishments


A dual challenge Card. My first challenge was to complete a card using embellishments. I decided to dip into my stash of "Pretties" Pearls and place them on the inside of the flowers. A little Double Stitched Pomegranate Ribbon highlights the images that have been stamped in Chalk ink, which was my Second Challenge.

It was a Huge Challenge as well, adding the faux stitching with the stamp from the All in a Row set. I have been totally in awe of how Beate uses this stamp so perfectly and thought I should give it a try. I would say that I am fairly happy with the results given that is it my first time. The trick is to rock the stamp ever so slightly to ensure you cover both layers of paper. The Chalk ink gives such a soft image when stamped on vellum. I have had these inks kicking around my closet for eons and never really used them. Julia, the moderator for the Ways to Use it Challenge created a Beautiful Card by using Chalk inks on vellum, which was Totally my Inspiration for this card.

Please check my sidebar to view my fellow BLOGGERS CHALLENGE GROUPS wonderful Creations!!!!!!!

Wednesday, October 31, 2007


To all of you who have sent well wishes and good vibes my way, for the beautiful flowers and fruit baskets, phone calls and gorgeous cards, I am forever grateful!

I am SO blessed to have so many wonderful friends in my life and I need to tell you that I appreciate each and every one of you!!!!!

Your kind gestures have definitely helped me to remain positive and optimistic about getting back on my feet as quickly as possible!

I just love you all bunches!!!!!!!


This card was created for the SCS Colour Challenge. Follow this LINK to see other great cards using this colour combination of Real Red, So Saffron and Tempting Turquoise. This challenge automatically said bright and cheery to me and since I am in need of a gazillion Thank you Cards right now, Pick a Petal came to mind as a perfect stamp set for this challenge. Using mainly Real Red, I incorporated the two complimentary colours into the layers and the Flower Center. Doesn't that Circle Scallop Punch create a sweet layer????? The sentiment hails from SU!'s So Much Set. Both of these images are available in the Fall Winter Collection Catalogue

Well since I am feeling a little better, I hope to be posting a little something for you each day!!!!!!

See you soon,

Vicki

Friday, October 26, 2007

Bloggers Challenge Week 18-Hanna's Mistletoe

So, the challenge this week was to create a card or item primarily with Designer Paper. I decided to make this 2-5-7-10 box that was designed by Jenn Balcer. See the Tutorial Here on Splitcoast Stampers. To see other great DP projects, check out the links to my fellow challenge bloggers as listed on my sidebar.

The main image on this little gift box comes from Hanna Stamps-'Tis the Season, Available TODAY over at Hanna Stamps. Our Generous Kristi is still offering free shipping all around the world!!!!! Don't forget to check out Hanna Stamps Design Team blogs for more great samples!!!!!

The paper used on this project is from DCWV Christmas Stack. There is a lovely assortment of paper in this stack and the price was definitely right!!!!! Circle and Scallop Punch are from SU! The red border on the lid of the box was crated with the Martha Stewart Border Punch. A little Real Red Ribbon finishes the box of quite nicely I think!!!!!!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

One More Sleep!

Until you can order the latest Hanna set-'Tis the Season. This Hanna is Happily decorating for Christmas and comes with all sorts of neat accessories to make the prettiest Christmas cards ever.

To order this new Hanna, click on the Hanna Stamps icon on my sidebar. I hope to have some more samples for you soon!!!!

Recipe:

Stamps: Hanna, 'Tis the Season
Ink: Black, Bashful Blue, Sage Shadow
Paper: White, Sage, Real Red, Soft Sky and MM Christmas Dp. I coloured these images with Markers. Embossed the Snowflake onto the circle and finished it off with some SU! Red Ribbon and a fire brad.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Tis the Season- Are you ready for more Hanna


Isn't she just the sweetest???? Hanna is busy getting ready for Christmas!!! Tis the Season, the second set in the adventures of Hanna Stamps, will be released this Friday.

This is just a little peek of the adorable stamps that are available in this set. Check out Hanna Design Team Bloggers to see more delicious samples.

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Tis the Season, Hanna Stamps
Paper: Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, White
Acc: Embossing Powder, Stickles, Rhinestones, Blue Bayou Double Stitched Ribbon and Photo Corner Punch all available from Stampin' Up!!!!!

Stay tuned for more Hanna designs................I am slowly getting my Stampin' Mojo back!!!!!

Sunday, October 21, 2007

I'm Home!


I am home!!! I actually was released from the Hospital Friday morning, which was about three days ahead of schedule. Determined to stay there for as little time as possible, I willed myself to get up and walk as well as do all the other little things that I was required to do before they would let me come home.

Although I still feel pretty much like I have been run over by a Mack Truck, I know that I am well on my way to healing! Last week I had these visions of coming home and getting right to work on all these projects that I have milling around in my mind, but really, it was all that I could do to make it up to the bathroom, shower and receive a few visitors. I am feeling progressively stronger each day and think that I might get a little something done!

I made this little card last week using Hanna and Imaginisce Papers. I find this paper line to be so rich and am looking forward to what they will come out with next! The Paper is very good quality double sided cardstock (the lime paper pieced purses are the opposite pattern to the brown) and I find the designs and colours so vibrant. I used Stampin' Up! Ballet Blue and Chocolate Chip Cardstocks to compliment this DP and coloured Hanna with SU's! Aquapainters and Watercolour Wonder Crayons. The small sentiment stamp is from Studio G clear Stamps.

I purchased a Making Memories Grommet setting kit last Christmas (everyone should by themselves a little present too huh??!!) and haven't used it much as I have not done as much scrapbooking as intended. I have managed to place them on a couple of cards now and quite like the look that they achieve.

Well I am determined to get well really soon so that I can share lots and lots of neat ideas with you over the next several weeks!!!!!!

Stop by soon and see what's cookin' over here!

Monday, October 15, 2007

Halloween Popcorn Slider


Hello!!! Hope you all had a great weekend! Mine was spent busily doing some deep cleaning, seeing that I won't be able to do much for the next several weeks.

This Halloween Popcorn slider is a really cool project that was posted on Splitcoast Stampers today. For directions, go to This Thread

I used the Autumn Apparitions set for this project. Thanks to my friend Brenda for lending me the set!!! i may have to break down and order it because it is absolutely adorable!

I used the Creepy Designer Paper from Stampin' Up! as well as Black, Really Rust and Whisper White. I coloured the vines and stems with an Artichoke Stamp'n write marker and sponged Artichoke ink to the edges of the main image. A little Pumpkin Ribbon threaded through the layered circle completes the project.

Well, I hope to post early next week. I am off to the Hospital in the morning and don't anticipate that I will be out before Friday. Please send good vibes my way tomorrow!!!!!

Happy Stamping!

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Bloggers Challenge Week 16 Ornaments

  1. So I am totally unsure why this is underlining and I have messed around with it long enough, so I'll keep this brief!!!
  2. This Challenge was SO much Fun
  3. I plan to post a tutorial when I am out of the Hospital, hopefully next weekend.
  4. Check out my Bloggers Challenge Group in the sidebar to see all of the great ornament ideas
  5. Gotta go! this underlining thingy is bugging the crap outta me! ( I am a Stamper not Computer Savvy evidently!
  6. Look Below for a second sample.


























Hanna's Hatbox


You wouldn't be surprised, but Hanna has a few hatboxes. this little Hatbox looks like it might hold some Bon Bons (yeah I know, I'm always thinking Chocolate!) or some Pretty Sandals.

This Bright and Cheery Card was Made with images from the "But I need it" Stamp Set, newly released this month. Go on over to the
Hanna Website to Check it out. Kristi is offering Free Shipping for the month of October.

This was a quick and easy card as the gorgeous DP from Imaginisce did a lot of the work for me! All I added was a punched border (Martha Stewart Crafts) in Pixie Pink and som eof this Yummy Olive Wide Grosgrain from Stampin' Up! anchored with some of their Brass Hodgepodge Hardware. I stamped the sentiment directly onto the striped paper, painted the hatbox with SU! markers and aquapainters and punched and layered the circle images. Using Designer Paper can save you so much time when you need to whip up a card in a hurry!!!!!!

Hope you have a great day!!!!!

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Casing Sweet Miss Daisy


This Jolly little fellow was created for the Featured Stamper Challenge on Splitcoast Stampers. This week, one of my Favourite Card Artists and fellow Design Team Member for Hanna Stamps, Anna Wight was the Featured Stamper. It was quite a feat choosing from her all of her delightful creations, but I settled on THIS CARD. I loved the way she made this Santa look so vintage and hoped to create a similar effect on my Card. If you have never visited her blog, check my Sidebar for her Blog Link and Go there!!!!!! She happens to be an amazing Photographer as well. Her Blog and Splitcoast Gallery are definitely divine for the eye!!!!

I am totally in love with this Christmas paper from Imaginisce. I have made several cards with it now and am coming close to depleting my stock pile (unfortunately for once in my life, I was frugal and only purchased one sheet of each!). The card base and matting is SU'S! Always Artichoke. Isn't this Santa the cutest??? He can be purchased in the SU! Holiday Mini, which is available until November 30th. I stamped Santa with Black Stayzon onto watercolour paper and coloured the image with Aquapainters and SU! Markers. A little Button with Linen Thread, Hardware and printed twill completes the folk art feel of the card. His little "star Garland" was created with fine gauge wire and little star confetti that I picked up somewhere. I find the best way to roll ribbon is to remove the nub off of one end of a Q-tip. Then wrap the wire tightly around the post until you achieve the length that you desire. The wire then slips off easily to be used as a cute embellishment. I supposed that a fine knitting needle or crochet hook would work for this as well.

Monday, October 8, 2007

Clearly Hanna!


Although she was tedious to Photograph today, you can see that Hanna looks CLEARLY terrific!!!!!

Have you ever stamped on Acetate? Well it's a snap Here is a Cool Tutorial from Splitcoast Stampers to help you along. I probably could give you great directions too, but I am a little lazy and why reinvent the wheel!!!!

Not too much time to babble today, so heres the goods:

Stamps: But I need it, Hanna Stamps
Paper: Acetate, Watercolour Paper, Chocolate Chip and Pixie Pink.
Ink: White and Black Stayzon

I coloured the Beautiful Hanna in with STampin' Write Markers and then blended with an Aquapainter............both of these Products are available through Stampin' Up!!!!!

TTFN!!!!!

Vicki

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Fresh and Clean-Happy Thanksgiving


This card was created for the SCS Inspiration Challenge. To me, it has a very clean look and is quite different than my usual designs. I just HAD to have the Pick a Petal stamp set when it first came out and sadly, it has been collecting dust ever since!!!!

For my Canadian Friends, I hope that you are enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving Weekend. I have my Bird in the sink awaiting a bath and Mom is upstairs whipping up some of her AMAZING stuffing! Jonathon will even get in on the action this year as he attended his first cooking class last week and they learned to make Maple Glazed Sweet Potatoes. He is eager to try the recipe out at home. Now THAT is amazing in itself. No Sweet Potato has tickled his palette since he started eating Tuna Sandwiches at the age of 10 months. I am sure that if I had whipped up this dish and asked him to sample it, he would have wrinkled up his nose and said NO WAY (he is pretty much a salad and raw veggie guy). I think I better keep him in cooking classes...................next one is Thai themed (Yum!).

So today I am Thankful for many things; for my small but wonderful family, good friends, a warm safe home and the ability to enjoy my passion of papercrafting. I am thankful for the many great people that I have encountered and gotten the opportunity to know through this hobby and for being blessed to teach my love for stamping to others.

Well, I better get on to getting that Turkey ready...............................it is sitting in the sink. The package said Young Turkey,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,which evoked mixed emotions..............I was thinking "Young mmmmmmmmmmmmm very very tasty", but then on the other hand I was feeling horrible that this poor little birds life had to end so soon!!! Couldn't they just have put TURKEY on the package, or TASTY TURKEY or perhaps REALLY TASTY TURKEY THAT HAD A FULL LIFE ????? YOUNG Turkey..................what' were they thinking?????? Nobody would buy a tough old turkey.................anyways, I am rambling again.

The Card Recipe:

All materials from SU! with the exception of the cutest little Basic Grey Buttons

Pick a Petal, So Much (the White part in the middle of the Flower), All in a row
Paper: Bashful Blue, Gable Green, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Pixie Pink
Ink: Pumpkin, Pink Passion, Bashful Blue
Paper Piercing Tool!!!!

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Hanna Hatbox Christmas




With Christmas rapidly approaching and given the fact that I am a total procrastinator, I am vowing to get onto my Christmas Cards early this year!!!

I am really embarrassed to admit it, but first of all, I am HORRIBLE at sending out cards to people (thus a lot of belated birthday greetings get sent!!!) and last Christmas, I sent quite a few Store Bought Christmas Cards!! ( I hope that I didn't cause anyone to fall of their swivel chairs or that you will never come back to visit because you are so thoroughly disgusted by this revelation!!!!)

So, this year I commit to sending ONLY homemade cards!!! I will not buy boxed cards......I won't, I WON'T!!!! (They say affirmations are good to correct behaviours!) It will definitely help that I will be off recovering from Surgery for 8 weeks, so I really don't have much of an excuse this year.............my hands won't be affected!!!!

Well, on with the card details:

Isn't this Designer Paper Yummy???? It is from the Imaginisce Christmas Collection. ABSOLUTELY Gorgeous EH???? The Hat box Images are from HANNA Stamps
of course! I haven't been able to put this set down since it arrived at my doorstep (Did I tell you about chasing the Hot Purolator man down the driveway as he just about left with Hanna????? Well, that's another story anyway!) So I stamped two hat boxes onto the main panel. I stamped a third onto scrap, coloured them all and them cut out the third box separating the lid from the bottom. I cut the cute little penguin from the patterned paper and mounted him slightly behind the bottom of the box. I mounted the lid on dimensionals to give the card a little more depth. The sentiment comes from the naughty but nice stamp set that can be found in the Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalogue Finally, the card is embellished with Fire Brads and Stickles!!!!