Saturday, February 28, 2009

Black Velvet and a Rockstar! Day 2 Hanna Peeks


Everyone needs a little black dress right??? That dress that just works for every occasion......well Dress up Hanna, our large Dress up Paper Doll set, has just that sweet little dress. I wish that the photograph of this card would capture the elegance of it's beauty in real life (hope that doesn't sound arrogant, but it IS very pretty!!!) I actually used flocking powder on the dress-hint, I ran the image through my xyron sticker maker to ensure that I got an even coverage of adhesive.

I cuttlebugged the white background and used a dab of Kaiser Craft DP for a little bit of Pizzaz!!!!

Clean and simple............................. not a difficult card to make, but would be a nice one to receive I think!



This is Rockstar Hanna!! Isn't she sizzlin hot??? I just love this fun and funky image. I Found and old Scrapbooking CD that had the pink flowers printed on it and then stamped the accessory images in stayzon. I coloured with Copics, cut out Hanna and the amp , added a hemp pick up chord and some funky ribbon to finish the card off.

I set the sentiment directly under her feet to anchor her image.

Go take a peek to see what the other Chickas have been up to!!!!

Happy Stamping

*****Vicki~~~~~

Friday, February 27, 2009

Hanna Sneak Peeks Day one! Wee Hanna



Today's the day!!! I am so excited to see some of my fellow DT's Sneak Peeks for our March Release. We have some very cute sets this month, as well as two new Riley's I created this Tin Purse and Magnetic Paper Doll set with "Wee Hanna".






I have been saving this recycled tin for quite some time because I knew it would come in handy one day! I covered it with Paper Trunk Lemon Lime Paper from the Jelly Bean Collection......
and some $$$ store Ribbon.




To make the Magnetic Paper Dolls, I stamped the images onto Neenah White Paper and adhered them to some Magnet Sheets that I found at the dollar store. I cut them out with love.......hehe I say that because it was a wee bit tedious I must say, but not as bad as threading a needle.........




I coloured them with copics and used some white gel pen for highlights!!!!



This is the whole Shebang!!!! Look at all her little outfits!!!!! Isn't she stinkin' cute??? I had to admit that I have been playing with them a wee bit.................. I have a little girl in mind for this project, but I'm not sure I'll be able to part with them!!!!




I finished the purse by adding a Basic Grey magnet attachment, a Tag with the sentiment. Using my cropadile, I punched a couple of holes in the top of the tin, set some SU! Heart Brads and braided a hemp Handle.

Check out my Fellow DT members blogs for more great sneak peeks!!!! You can hop from my sidebar!

Also, we have TWO.........yes TWO fabulous guest Designers this Month...............

Silke and Jennifer

I can't wait to see what everyone has come up with!

I'll be back with more peeks tomorrow!

Happy Stamping!

*****Vicki~~~~~

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Stamps and Smiles Sketch Challenges





My friend Jennifer of Jennifer's Sweet Designs has opened her own stamp company this week.........Check out Stamps and Smiles, if you haven't already!!

She is such a sweet lady and her images are doubly sweet!!!

She has a four day sketch challenge going on. Today is day three. I have been having fun playing with the sketches and thought I'd share a couple of the cards that I have made for the challenges.




The first card is made with an adorable image from Our Craft Lounge called Hello Spring.
I used Paper Trunk Designer Paper, along with black and white Cardstock to create this card. I coloured lightly wiht copics, but used lots of Dazzling Diamonds Glitter to bring out the bling in the whites of the flowers. SU Brads and some old old buttons complete this card.





I was THRILLED to go to my mailbox today to find a little package from Stamping Bella. I swear this is probably the shortest amount of time that any image has waited to be inked! I totally totally adore these HUGGABUG Stamps The main image is LOVE beetle, the sentiment from lovey Huggabug. Isn't she just WAY CUTE.............I smiled the whole time I was making this card!



I kept it rather simple, focusing on the image rather than using a lot of DP here. I used Real Red, Basic Black and Neenah white cardstock, with a smidge of Kaiser Craft Designer paper just for effort!!! Isn't the ribbon funky? I found that in the $$ bin at M's...........

I am hoping to complete the fourth and final sketch tomorrow...............Want to play along? Check out the info on Stamps and Smiles.......play all four challenges and you will be eligible to win all the stamps in the new release~!!

See you tomorrow with another card and a little more bla bla bla!!!!

Happy Stamping!

*****Vicki~~~~~

Tuesday, February 24, 2009




I am very excited to be hosting the Pink Cat Studio Designer Challenge this Month!!! The challenge Takes place over at Paper Craft Planet.

I'll post the details here along with the link so that when you play along, you can upload your creation into the Gallery!!!

Challenge Description

The challenge is to create a ONE Layer Card. One Layer Only!!!!! The only exception to the one layer rule is that you can use some Paper piecing on your stamped image. Other than that, just one piece of cardstock. You can Sponge, Dab and add all the ink and embellishment that suit your fancy as long as you keep it in one layer.


Date the challenge ends:
Wednesday March 11th, 5 pm EST

Requirements:

A Pink Cat Studio stamp must be used as the main stamp on the card or project. It is okay to use stamps from other companies as well.

To be eligible for the prize you must upload your card before the deadline to your PaperCraftPlanet gallery and include the tag PCSDTC2. You may enter only 1 project for this challenge.
If you have questions about this challenge, please post them in this discussion thread.

Prize:
On March 11th, a winner will be chosen by a random draw from all of the challenge participants. The winner will receive a grab bag of Pink Cat Studio stamps. The winner will be announced in the PCP challenge discussion thread and on the Pink Cat Studio blog. Some cards from the challenge will be displayed on the PCS blog.


To achieve the look on my sample, I sponged various colours of ink using masks to block out the areas that I wanted to leave white. I used the eyelet setting portion of my Crop o dile to emboss the dots around the main image. Jellyroll clear glitter pen to add bling to the wings and the only dimension on the card is the Prima Flower and Brad. I am looking forward to you sweet designs!!!!


Happy Stamping~!

*****Vicki~~~~~

Paper Trunk Tuesday!






As you might have noticed, I have been using a fair bit of Paper Trunk Designer Paper on my projects lately. When I was at CHA, I totally fell in love with their paper line and Carrie was kind enough to give me some to take home and play with! The paper is totally recycled and has such a nice feel to it.






I don't know about you, but one of the things that I love about papercrafting is the way that the paper smells and feels in my hands.......hmmmm now that was a candid confession eh?? Especially when the paper has some texture to it.







I have a great admiration for the talented people who do digital creations and have even done a few myself, but I much prefer working with my "stuff".........choosing the papers, stamps and inks.....digging through my drawers of flowers and baubles........seeing all things as potential embellishments. For example, the little piece of burnished copper curtain chain was attaching a tag to a pair of jeans i just purchased recently.




I made this project with the Batik like of Paper. I used Three Papers-Divine, Lovely and Exquisite........funny, but these are three adjectives that I often use when making posts on blogs.........I wonder if they have a paper called Delicious as well??? hehe..........well umm nope......sounds like I want to eat it, but really I just want to make things!!!! lol!



You can find the template for this great project over on Maria's Blog. Maria is one of my fellow Pink Cat Design Team members and the talented creator of the Christmas Stamping Blog. She is SO talented and as soon as I saw this tutorial on her blog, I knew I had to try to recreate it. If you want to give it a try, the link is HERE.




From Three Sheets of paper, I was able to create the box, the matching Gift Card and a third card for a friend that's having a birthday this weekend. I still have enough scraps to make at least one other card





Guess What???? Go check out the ELzybells Blog Today!!!! The February Elzybells are available today and to Celebrate, Elizabeth is giving away Beaucoup Blog Candy!!!! Certainly enough that if it were real sweets, you'd have a good toothache!!!!! Pop on over and see what's happening!!!! I am Loving those Chocolate sentiments and sweet new cupcakes!!!!!



Project Details:


Stamps: Classic Pickups and Smarty Pants-SU!
Ribbon, Punches and Rubons-SU!
Flowers: Bazill and Prima
Brads, Bazill Big Brads, Karen Foster Loopy Brads, $$ store Screw Brads
Ink: SU! Chocolate Chip Craft ink for Stamping and Sponging

Coming up: Pink Cat Challenge and Sneak Peeks for the Hanna March Release!


Happy Stamping!

*****Vicki~~~~~

Monday, February 23, 2009

Fundraiser for the Australian Red Cross Victorian Bush Fires Appeal

My Friend Lisa, who I had the opportunity to meet and participate in a Copics Class at CHA is heading up a Fundraiser for the Victims of the Victorian Bush Fires. I am essentially copying and pasting her Recent blog post here, rather than rewriting what she has so eloquently written. It would be wonderful if you could help to support this cause!



No doubt you have heard about the devastating Victorian Bushfires that have claimed many lives and homes, including entire towns. We in California have experienced similar devastation because of our extremely dry, hot weather and never-ending drought conditions. Like every natural disaster, our hearts and prayers go out to people affected, and many of us wish there were something we could do to help. Well, there is!

Through this wonderful world of blogging, I've made friends with Debbie Pamment. Debbie lives in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, and has donated food, money, and blood to help the fire victims. Yet she still laments not being able to do more, especially since she knows people who have been directly affected by the fires. This got me to thinking about the Splitcoast Non-Raffle for Midwest Flood Relief held last August. So I got in touch with Jenn Balcer (who, by the way, is every bit as sweet as I've heard she is on various blogs and postings) to find out how we could get something similar started for the Victorian Bushfire victims. She offered to help get it all set up on SCS for us once we pull it together, and suggested that I contact Peggysue, who spearheaded the Midwest Flood Relief non-raffle.

Peggysue got right back to me when I PM'd her, and gave me a wealth of advice and encouragement. I can't thank her enough! So, with the advice and encouragement we needed, Debbie and I are teaming up to get the ball rolling.

The first order of business is to solicit donations of prizes, which can be either products or handcrafted items. All of these will be displayed in a special gallery set up on the SCS website. The donors will mail the prizes directly to those who win (which could be anywhere in the world... the shipping cost will be part of your donation to this very worthy cause), and there will be a winner for EACH prize, so hopefully lots of chances to win! But, most importantly, we will be helping our Aussie friends. All money raised will go to the Australian Red Cross Victorian Bushfires Appeal.

If you are interested in donating an item, be it a stamp set, crafting materials, a handcrafted item, or anything else, please contact me (lhjulberg@charter.net) or Debbie as soon as possible. If you know someone who might also be interested in contributing, please forward this blog post to them. Any way we can get the word out is most appreciated. We'd like to have commitments and photos of all the donations by next Saturday, February 28th, if possible so that we can kick off the non-raffle in March.

The most wonderful thing about stampers and scrappers... in fact, all crafters... is the amazing amount of generosity, the spirit of giving and sharing, and all the kindness and fun. These are the reasons I cannot let a single day go by without checking in, even if only for a few moments. It's always refreshing to my soul. Oh, and the eye candy is pretty darn wonderful too! *smile*

Thank you so very kindly for considering this request for donations. And remember, if you can't donate, then stay tuned for the non-raffle because we'll really need your help then!

God bless,

Lisa

Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - Week Five




This week, Maria not only had a sketch challenge for us, but a colour challenge as well! The challenge, to use pink, purple and blue on the card! Now that is a colour combo that in my opinion is a little tricky, but it looks like the Design Diva's stepped up to the plate to create some Gorgeous Cards!





I decided to let Pink take the forefront in my card. I seem to have a thing for using Valentine Paper on my Christmas Cards lately! I stamped the main image on and used K&CO Valentine paper for the main panel.





This is Noelle from Stampotique. She is a eccentric and Beautiful Girl, in the mood for some Festive Spirit. I like stamping these images onto light coloured DP and then I just use a little marker to fill in large blank areas or to shade. I embossed some small snowflakes around the main image as well as sponged the edges for added depth. In order to fulfill the sketch requirement, I used Heidi Swapp Clear Snowflakes to the upper and lower corners for a subtle look.




I stamped the sentiment and punched it out, using the SU! word window punch. I then sponged the edges for some depth and mounted it onto th emain image. I used Provocraft Snowflake Border, Martha Stewart Border punch and snowflake Cuttlebug to create the borders under the main image. A touch of Metallic Ribbon completes the look.

Follow the link on my sidebar to see what delicious eye confection the Design Diva's have in store for you this week!!!!

Enjoy your day and don't forget to check out the enchanted Lily Release!

*****Vicki~~~~~

Enchanted Lily has arrived!



Today is the day that Lily arrives in all her glory, over at Pink Cat Studio. This whimsical little set has four main images as well as lot's of sweet sweet sentiments and you can get yours today! Can't wait to see what you create with these pretty stamps. In fact, come back wednesday as I am hosting a Pink Cat Challenge!!!





This is the image that inspired the Enchanted Lily Stamp Set. A couple of months ago, Melissa hosted a challenge in which she provided a PDF image of this Daisy Waving Lily. The participation was overwhelming and so was the desire for more fairies! I really love this stamp set.


I created this Frame using Designer paper from Paper Trunk. This one is from the Jelly Bean Collection and matched the colours in my picture just perfectly! The Frame is from the Dollar Store and this project was quick and easy to make. I added some rub ons and a little wide grosgrain ribbon along with my copic coloured Lily to complete this easy gift item.





Don't forget to hop on over to my fellow DT members blogs, you won't be disappointed!!! Be sure to visit our Guest Designer Suzanne Dean as well


Happy Stamping

*****Vicki~~~~~

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Pink Cat Studio Sneak Peeks Day 2





The new Pink Cat Enchanted Lily series will be release tomorrow over at Pink Cat Studio. I can't decide whether Toadstool Lily or Lily Pad Lily is my Favourite. Actually I love all four images along with the sweet sentiments that accompany this set. For this card I used Pink Pirouette and Burgundy Cardstock, along with Basic Grey Designer Paper. I stamped the image and cut out the shape with my Nesties Labels, coloured with Copics and white Gel Pen and used a Big Bazzil flower as an anchor for my main image. The Martha Stewart Heart Border punch makes a nice layer as well I think! Prima Flowers, Pink Ribbon and two tiny dewdrops complete the look.




This is a sweet sweet image as well. I absolutely LOVE the Paper Trunk Designer Paper and have been using it on my cards that I have posted over the last few days. This one is from the Jelly Bean Collection. I cut the large flower out of the paper and used it as a base to mount my main image. Aren't the colours absolutly delicious?? Check out all the Beautiful Lines at Paper Trunk

I had so much fun creating these cards for this sneek peek.........make sure you check out the Design Team creations and don't forget our Guest Designer Suzanne Dean

I'll see you tomorrow with our Final Reveal and an illustration of the Stamp Set!


Happy Stamping!!!!

*****Vicki~~~~~

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Swinging by with a Sneak Peek!

Look at these playful little Fairies........two enchanted Lilies, without a care in the world!!! Boy, I wish I could frolic across the grass in my bare feet......hmm quite a notion!!!! First of all, I am not the frolicking type..........lol a little heavier footed then our sweet fairies and secondly, there is NO GRASS Peeking THROUGH YET!!!! ..............ummm yes, it is a bone of contention with me. I realize that it's still February, but geez, not even a glimpse of spring? Seems to be getting colder and colder if you asked me!

Well this card differs just a wee bit from my other cards? Can you tell in what way? Since I have had Copic Markers in my clutches, I have totally ignored all other colour mediums. I find the Copics quick and easy to use and now it's an automatic response to grab for them when I need to colour an image.

This time, I thought it would be nice to bring out my Prism Colour Pencils and Mineral Spirits. Although they are a little more time consuming then using the copics, you can get such a rich and pretty colour result! Because I wanted to include the enchanted swinger along with the enchanted flower wander, there was not much room to add much else to this 6x6 card. Cardstock is by Prism and SU! Punches by SU! Flowers by Prism and SU! Pretties kit.

To see some fabulous Sneak Peeks, please follow the Link for the Pink Cat ladies on my sidebar

In addition, we have an awesome Guest Designer this month......Please Check out Suzanne Dean's artwork HERE

More Sneak peeks tomorrow and Monday, with the stamps being released this Monday over at Pink Cat Studio

Happy Stamping!

*****Vicki~~~~~

Friday, February 20, 2009

Metal Mania-Hanna Stamps Friday Challenge

I arrived back from Toronto safe and sound!!! What a fun week! The meetings that I attended for work were very promising to my profession, the team that they had selected to form the working group phenomenal! We got a lot accomplished and it gives such as sense of empowerment to know that our group had good representation in terms of consultation for policy/management changes. I was also blessed to be grouped with some very nice people so we enjoyed each other's company for sure!

I love Toronto. Although I wouldn't want to live there, I always enjoy the excitement and hustle and bustle of the big City. I worked in Scarborough for about 6 years when I was younger and really enjoyed going downtown for the night life............now sleepy Kingston is more my speed....lol


I created this card for the Friday Hanna Stamps Challenge. The challenge is to use some metal on your card. If you want to play............go HERE Did you know that when you enter a card into the Friday Challenges, your name goes into a draw for a Hanna set of your choice. Make sure you enter your card on the Hanna Forum


Recipe:

Hanna Sentiments
Reading Riley
Real Red and Brilliant Blue Cardstock, The Paper Trunk Designer Paper, Nestabilities, Notebook Punch, Cuttlebug Embossing Template, Karen Foster Compass, $$$ store metal, sponges and Momento Black Ink as well as Creamy Caramel.

Pink Cat Release Sneak Peeks coming tomorrow!!!!!

Happy Stamping

*****Vicki~~~~~

Monday, February 16, 2009

Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - Week Four



I am pleased to share another gorgeous sketch with you this week. My Gosh, Maria is so talented!!!! In addition to the sketch, the challenge was to use a snowman image on the card. This image is from Rachel Anne Miller. I used it to do some bulk Christmas Cards this past Christmas and it's quite pretty!

I embossed the image with versamark and heated Silver embossing powder. I filled in some areas with a light shading of Copic Markers. The Paper is actually Valentine's DP from Bo Bunny Press, but I thought it looked pretty sweet for a Christmas Background as well. Kiwi Kiss and Pomegranite Paper and Ribbon, finish the look of this whimsical Christmas Card.



Would you like to play along? Follow the link to the Website on my Sidebar. Want more Christmas Inspiration?? Click the links for the Christmas Stamping Designers..... I have had a peek at some of the designs and they are GORGEOUS!!!!!!

I'll see you all on Friday with My Hanna Stamps Challenge. I'm off to Toronto for a business meeting.....hmph........my Real work getting in the way of my stamping!!!! Well, actually I am quite excited for having been chosen to attend this working group weekend and having a few days in the City!!!!

Happy Stamping

*****Vicki~~~~~

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Blog Candy Winner and Stampotique




Here is the Winner of the OCL Tooth Fairy Set..........

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

45 

Timestamp: 2009-02-15 19:52:37 UTC


Sue D said...

Cute set and I like how you did the wings.

Congratulations~ Please email me your snail mail at vickig@kos.net and I will pass it on to Cami over at Our Craft Lounge!!!


If you have followed my blog for a long time, you will have seen this card before! I apologize for not having anything new to post today, but I'm heading out of town and had to focus on the upcoming Pink Cat Release and My Christmas Stamping Card, which I will post tomorrow

I reposted this card, because it's definitely one of My Favourite Cards, the image is by Janet Klein and the stamp can be found at www.stampotique.com (follow the link on my sidebar~!)


I Love this big bold image..................She is coloured with copics and the background is sponged in with Sahara Sand. Base cardstock is Artichoke, with Chocolate Chip Accents..........

I'm not going to be too wordy today as I have lots to accomplish before I hop on the Train tomorrow morning............

Enjoy your day!

******Vicki~~~~~~~


Friday, February 13, 2009

This Tooth Fairy Approves of Candy-Blog Candy!!!!


Today is a BIG day at OUR CRAFT LOUNGE They are releasing 28 new sets today!!! Can you imagine THAT!!!!! Click on the link above to see them all.

And to Celebrate, they are also giving away LOTS and LOTS of Candy!!!! Yes, if you leave a comment here, you can win the adorable Tooth Fairy Fun set!!! Isn't she a sweet little Character??? I will choose a winner on Sunday! Please, only one comment per person!

Visit Cami's Blog for a complete list of all the Awesome Stampers who posted samples on their blogs today!!!!! Our Craft Lounge is giving away one of each of the 28 New Release Sets!!!!



Look at all the fun images in this set. I only tipped the Iceberg with the sentiment, the sweet Fairy and the Tooth.

To make this card, I first stamped the main image onto cardstock and stamped the sentiment around the outside to form a border. I sponged Blue Bayou ink in around the image to create a sky! I then stamped the main image on Vellum with versamark and embossed with silver embossing powder, cut the wings out and mounted them over the main image. I filled the filled some of the "areas" in with stickles. I the coloured and cut out a third image and mounted that on dimensionals on top of the wings.

Isn't that Designer Paper SO pretty. The Hanna Booth was across from the PAPER TRUNK
Booth. The Lovely owner Carrie, kindly gave me some of her Beautiful Designer Paper. It's recycled paper and comes in such Gorgeous Designs. This one is from the Jelly Bean Collection and is called Caramel Apple. It's gorgeous Double Sided Paper....go over and see what she has!!!!

Good Luck !!! and Happy Blog Hopping!!!

*****Vicki*****

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

High Hopes Challenge #17 Sketch Challenge



High Hopes Stamps has a wonderful Sketch Challenge this week. If you want to play Hop on over to their Blog to see the sketch and beautiful samples from their super talented Design Team.

I loved the sketch and decided to do two cards, one on the masculine side, the other a little more feminine.

Isn't Ace, just the coolest creature!!! I LOVE Dragons......I was born in the year of the Dragon actually and have collected some very cool Dragon "stuff" over the years. I coloured him with Copics of course, and used some white Gel pen for highlights. I cut him out and mounted him on some old old DP that I had in a kids pack from Provocraft. I wanted him to look like he was on the Airborne side.....lol. THe base colours for the Cardstock are Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip and Not Quite Navy. Believe it or not, the messy stitching was planned. I wanted a bit of a rough and tumble look to this card. I added some Crystal Effects to his Aviator Glasses to make them look.....well like glass!!!! You can't really see it in the photograph, but in real life it is quite neat.....c'mon over, you can take a peek and make you a cup of tea!



I chose a monochromatic Theme for Huggable Hank. Purple, Purple, Amethyst and more Purple. Did I ever mention that Purple is my Favourite Colour? Yep, just to look at....... and for cards and all my favourite flowers are purple......Hydrangeas, Lilacs, Crocus and Iris. I almost bought a purple Mustang once, but the deal fell through!!!

Anyway I used some SU Designer Paper for this Card, along with Whisper White and Lovely Lilac Cardstock, The Little Balloon Candle is recycled from my Ex Husband's Birthday Cake......yep, I baked him a cake last week.........imagine that!!!! lol I coloured with Copics and used White Gel Pen for an accent!!!!!

Hope you have a great day!

*****Vicki*******

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Masculine Birthday


This must be the week of challenges and challenging cards! Sometimes making masculine cards can be a challenge in itself!!! I created this card for my Brother in law for his Birthday. When I was at CHA we were situated directly across from the Coredinations Booth. What delicious paper they have. I love the way that you can distress the paper and the almost felt-like texture it has after sanding. I used a paisley cuttlebug folder to emboss before sanding.

The main image in this card is from the retired Bronc Buster Set. I stamped the image onto Creamy Caramel Paper with Chocolate Chip Craft ink. I distressed and inked the edges of the main panel to give it a distressed look. To get a deeper choppy look, I went direct to paper with the ink pad. The more blended look around the sentiment was created by applying the craft ink with a sponge. A little Rope, adds to the "Western" look of the card and a metal accent reinforces the masculine feel.

Hope you get really creative today!

*****Vicki*****

Monday, February 9, 2009

Christmas Stampin' All Year Long




I am VERY VERY excited to let you know that I am part of a fabulous new Bloggers Group. Christmas Stampin' All Year Long. This group was founded by Maria Bell a fellow Pink Cat Studio Design Team member. What a great idea and if you know me and my tendency to procrastinate, you will know that being a part of this great Design Team will allow me to have quite a few cards ready for Christmas.

You can link directly to the Christmas Stampin Blog by Clicking on the Picture on my sidebar. As well, you will see links to the talented Design Team Members. The other cool thing about the site is that you are encouraged to play along. Think about it, I haven't done the actual math, but I am thinking I should have about 40 weeks of cards completed by the christmas mailing deadline....you can too.

One of the things that I am thinking about it completing the challenge, is in making cards that are not too complicated. To provide you with some ideas that are easily duplicated and that you could make in batch if you wanted to make a bunch of the same card.

This card is definitely one of those cards. I simply cut the oval pieces with my CM Oval cutters. I cuttlebug embossed the Kraft Layers with the House and Snowflake embossing templates. I then rubbed white Craft ink over the image and added some Irridescent Stickles to the tiny embossed snowflakes. I used wide Riding Hood Red Grosgrain ( I LOVE this Ribbon) and stamped the sentiment on the SU large Oval Punch. It was looking a little dull, so I went around the edges with some gel pen. Linen Threaded Heart Buttons pull a little more colour into the card to complete the look.

Thanks Maria for inviting me to be a part of this Group!!!! I am very excited to be getting a start on My Christmas cards and sharing ideas from the members with my readers!

Happy Stamping!

*****Vicki*****

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Sympathy Cards



I find that Sympathy cards are always difficult to make. Sending someone a card is always difficult under these circumstances and wanting to make something that is appropriate for the receiver is always a concern for me. It seems that I have been making quite a few cards lately for my Mother. She is a gem, always doing nice things for myself and Jonathon, so when she asks for a card, it is no trouble at all to do that for her. It just seems that I have been doing it much too often lately.

The Blossom image from Our Craft Lounge Oriental Garden set is a perfect image for this card. I stamped it on Kraft Top note Die Cutouts in Brown Momento Ink. I used copic to add some subtle colour to the leaves and then filled in the blossom with white gel pen. I sponged some Sahara Sand ink around the image for shading. Base Cardstock is Kraft, with Chocolate Chip and Basic Grey DP accents.

The Oriental Garden set also contains pretty fans, bamboo, Lanterns, bonsai and Script. It will be available soon on their website

Enjoy your Sunday and I'll see you again soon

*****Vicki*****

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Busted-Again!



I love this sassy, campy stamp set!!!! Hanna is just so cheeky in her Police uniform. I created this card for the Hanna New Set Challenge in the Hanna Member forum. The challenge is to make a Black and White Card-Black and White ONLY using the busted set. You have until March 2nd to upload your card. The winner of this challenge will win two Hanna sets of their choice.


You can find the deets HERE




I made this card using paper from DCWV All dressed Glitter Stack. Silver Accents help to keep the embellies Neutral and I coloured with Copics, of COURSE!!!! and accented with Silver Gel Pen!

Happy Stamping!!!!

*****Vicki*****

Friday, February 6, 2009

And how did your week go?

e






I have to say that our week didn't go all that well! As you can see our family had a bit of a mishap on Tuesday evening. I had decided to go to bed early that evening, so at 11 p.m. (yes, that IS early for me) I headed outside to have a ciggie before I went to bed. Now smoking is a horrible habit, i'll be the first to agree, but in this case, my bad habit probably saved my Father's Workshop from burning to the ground. It was a very cold night and usually I don't come out of the stairwell to smoke, but for some reason I did.





Anyway, I noticed some smoke and some red flashing reflecting off the snowbank behind my Father's building. Initially I thought he was coming into the yard (unusually late for him, it's only the ladies in the family that are the night owls). I was thinking it was the brake lights of the truck reflecting in the dark. WRONG!!!! The flashing was too big for Brake lights. I rang the back doorbell to my Parents entrance several times and ran across the large yard to see what was happening.




I thought perhaps the scrap wood bins had caught fire. Wrong again. I couldn't believe my eyes when I came around the corner to find the entire front of the Truck ensconced in flames. Flames were shooting off the Truck, of which the front end was pretty much gone and dancing onto the eaves of the building.



Our wonderful Firefighters responded quickly, but the Fire spread fast and furious setting the rafters and attic on fire. Fortunately the men with their huge team of Volunteers contained the fire quickly, preventing the loss of the entire building. They worked swiftly and proffessionally in the freezing cold to save what my father had worked so hard to build over the years.






I understand that it's only "stuff". We are well insured, it can be replaced and it could have been much worse. The truck could have been parked in front of the Garage of our home, it could have been our home, someone could have been hurt, someone could have died. For that I am relieved and graciously give thanks to our creator.






On the other hand, in losing stuff, sometimes you lose some of the attachment that goes along with it. It broke my heart to look into my Father's eyes to see the pain of someone who had designed and built the workshop with his own hands. Someone who had built a business over 25 years after retiring from the Government with 27 years of service. Someone, who at 73 years of age continued to work each day, his work keeping him young, healthy and maintaining a zest for life. His Stuff will be replaced. Ever Industrious, he was forging forward on Wednesday, making arrangements for all the things that will have to be in place to rebuild, using his humour to cope.





He is a determined man, but for a moment early last wednesday morning, he looked broken and it was killing me to know that there wasn't a damn thing I could do to fix him. For all the things that he took pride in and all that he had worked for had taken a bad beating. To him, the "stuff" was much more than "stuff". Each bit of "stuff" bears residue of his blood, sweat and tears. Each bit of "stuff" acquired slowly and steadily through his hard work and dedication. I thought for a moment early that morning, that he would take this as a sign to retire as I am sure that the fire had also scorched his spirit beyond repair.

This morning it seems that he will forge forward , his resilience and strength shines through. The truck will be replaced, the building repaired and I hope and pray that his spirit was only singed and will heal in due time.

Have a lovely weekend. Hope to have some Pretties for you to look at tomorrow

*****Vicki*****
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