Taking A Dip

Hello Everyone!

How's your New Year's Eve plans coming?

Last night DD & DH went to the movies...Avarator or something like that... When I found out it was 2 1/2 hours long I knew I didn't want to go. I was happy to stay home and play the Wii. I'm now first in a bunch of levels...lol It's a challenge staying ahead of everybody else. Seems like I have to practice three times as hard or else they get lucky once.

See my new stamp. I know another house mouse. Can you believe I didn't know Hobby Lobby carried stamps. I had been there a few times but missed the stamp isle. They keep it in a back corner. DD & I went to the store and that is when I located it and just had to have the stamp.

The pattern paper was from my Costco stash. If you look closely I put stickles on the paper to give it a little more bling. Just on the dots in the centre of the starburst. Once again I used the copics for coloring. You just can't beat them. Cardstock and ribbon is from SU. The words Happy Birthday are embossed using the distress embossing powder. Crystal Effects on the sunglass lens. So nice to do a cheery/springy card.


I'm off to the scrapbook store today for some cardstock. Getting ready to work on a scrapbook page and I need to match up some paper. Not much else to do here today cause it's raining again. Ugh!

Bye!

Yvonne

Asian Flair

Hi There,

Most blogs have been pretty quiet. Everybody enjoying family togetherness. I've been getting a few cards done late at night when everyone is sleeping snugly in their beds and I'm wide awake.

The stamp set used for this card was one of the first free stamp set I earned with Stampin' Up back in 2003. It was a hostess set. I finally mounted it! It's a set of six or seven pieces. Really quite cute.

Birds & Swirls is the cuttlebug folder used in the background. Nestabilities for cutting out the ovals. You can see how I used dimensionals to vary the height.


The fan was stamped with versamark and then embossed with black detail embossing powder. The images were colored in with copic markers. Look at all the little pearls. Adds a touch of elegance.

When I was making this card I would have liked to have had the bamboo cuttlebug folder for the background. Would have matched so well.

How's those New Years Resolutions coming?

Enjoy your day!

Yvonne

Merry Christmas & A Little Gift Box

Merry Christmas To All!

Had a relaxing Christmas day with DH & DD. Unfortunately my son and his family weren't able to be with us this year. This was the first that DS didn't spend Christmas with us so that was a little weird. We had nobody to hand out the Christmas presents! We were able to chat in the afternoon so that was good!

As always Santa spoils me...and he always seems to find some crafty stuff to surprise me with. I got a new cricut cartridge to help make calendars. Every year I want to make calendars for Grandparents but always leave it too late. I think I need to start now and do one a month...I'm good at the planning stage...execution...I need to work on that aspect.

The project I'm sharing today is supposed to be an advent calendar. If you make two of them you will have 24 days. I only needed a 12 day one ... a drawer for each day that DD is home. You can use matchboxes for the drawers but I made each one of my own. It turned out not bad. I would change a few things if I was to make another one. Make sure you are really accurate on the folding. lol



If you're wanting more detailed directions check out the mini calendar on the top right side of my blog. It's under December 1st box.

It's going to be a pretty busy week as we hope to get out and tour around with DD and see some sights so there may not be many posts. I'm already thinking ahead to 2010 and New Years Resolutions - blog more often...

A little tidbit of what is to come in 2010 - I'll be attending the CHA Show in Anahiem January 22 - 27. I'm registered for the show and to take some classes so I'll be letting you know what those are and keep you up-to-date on new releases at the show.

Enjoy your holidays with family & friends.

Yvonne

Black & White Snowflakes & Tags

Good Morning,

So how many more sleeps until Christmas...not enough! How's your Christmas preparations going?

I have some presents wrapped now and will be heading back out for a little more shopping today. Wrapping presents meant I needed to make some Christmas Tags. So the second photo today is all about my tags. I actually used my Cricut machine to cut out the tags and then I simply used my stickles and liquid applique to decorate them. Pretty quick to make but drying time was overnight on the stickles. I think I was a little heavy on some of them.

The Black & White Snowflake card is one of my favorite. The snowflakes are cut using the Spellbinders snowflake dies. The white background is the snowflake embossing folder on white and I cut it into strips. The ribbon was from Costco and the sentiment from Stampin' Up. The snowflakes are all raised on dimensions and the white layer on each snowflake is covered in glitter ritz for a bit of sparkle. To do that I ran my cardstock through my Xyron machine and then I used the snowflake die to cut out the shape. All I had to do then was peel off the protective paper and apply my glitter. No mess at all (except for the little bit of glitter I got on myself). I placed a little pearl in the centre of each snowflake and on the ends of the tag sentiment.



I need to go to the postoffice today. Mail out last parcel...yeah it's going to be late, just a little...think of it as a longer Christmas. A couple more cards to pop in the mail and then a little shopping.

Hope you're enjoying your day and I look forward in checking in with you tomorrow.

Yvonne

Santa & Acrylic Paint - Who Would Have Thought?

Hello Folks,

Little late in the day for my post but housework really does take longer than you think and groceries were on the to do list today too. I'm all set now for a couple days of either crafting or Christmas shopping.

This card is a little bit of a fancy fold as you can see from the second picture. What I want to focus on though is Santa himself. The image was stamped using stazon on a plastic window sheet. On the backside of the window sheet I sponged acrylic red paint into the santa area and then used a green paint and finished sponging the background. You don't have to cover it solid as you want a bit of a marble effect.The piece of cardstock in behind the window sheet is vanilla colored. While the paint is still wet place the window sheet over the vanilla cardstock and press the two pieces together. When the paint dries it attaches itself to the cardstock and no need for glue. Click on the picture for a better view.



Going to go and barbeque some turkey burgers for supper.

Enjoy your evening. Maybe watch a Christmas special.

Yvonne

Is There A Mouse In The House? - Recessed Window

Hi There,

Sunday - what are your plans? If the fog burns off here we are planning on going for a drive. Going to go to a flea market and then DH has something else planned but I can't remember exactly where it is but there is a boardwalk and maybe some neat things to see. Must remember camera this time. I haven't taken any pictures since I moved here...except for pictures of my crafts.

I have posts to share with you all week now. I'm taking some new mediction for my back but it seems to keep me wide awake. That's okay, my back hasn't felt this good in three years.

You must go and check out my actual blog site. There is an advent calendar at the top right hand side. Everyday you can click on another box to reveal a project and instructions. They cover a variety crafts. The one for December 1 I want to recreate. It's definitely a papercraft one! lol Go have a look...I know you want to.

I'm back to my house mouse stamp again. I've had these colored up with my copics for awhile now but just needed to get them made into cards. Both of these are the recessed window card. The instructions are at Splitcoaststampers. I did make a minor adjustment. You can see in the third picture I have a 1/4" spine on my card. It helps so it will close like a traditional card. If you've clicked the link above you can see how they have the card stand more like an easel.

I've added Dazzling Diamond glitter, crystal effects on the berries, some dew drops in the corners and krylon gold pen to edge most of the card. Gold Embossing on the sentiment and I'm so pleased with myself that I used some of my pattern paper that I've had since 2001. It finally just worked with the cards.




That's all I have for this morning.

Yvonne

Quick & Easy

Good Morning,

Well it really is morning, about 4:00 a.m. to be exact. I've been up scrapbooking and then thought I should blog for a bit.

Today's share is a card made at the class I took last month. I love the colors and it was super simple to stamp. Some days I need a few more of those quick and easy cards. All products are Stampin' Up.

Popped most of my Christmas cards in the mail today. All those extra layers and embellishments add extra postage to the cards. They can't go through the regular metered mail so there is a surcharge on each card. Works out to about a $1.00 a card. The line up at the post office wasn't too bad either.

Plans are to get my packages in the mail tomorrow that need to go to Canada. If I do it tomorrow I believe they will still arrive in time for Christmas. Once that is done I can concentrate on decorating the tree and shopping for the family that will be with me for Christmas.

Guess I should try and get some sleep.

Good Night.

Yvonne

Baby, It's Snowing Outside!

Good Morning,

Well I must share with you that I had snow yesterday. Not much in our area but non-the-less, snow! We were forcasted for anywhere from 3 - 5 inches but got away with a few flakes and a really good frost overnight. BTW having just recently moved from Nova Scotia to Southern Texas I wasn't expecting to see snow this year. The snow wasn't all that exciting to us but residents here were pretty excited about those white fluffy flakes. lol

In the meantime I finally finished my page of Xavier crawling. After I uploaded the page I realized I forgot to put a date on the page so will go back and put that on.

As always I used my Cricut for the shapes and letters. George & Basic Shapes was used to cut the 10" green circle. Zoobaloo for the animals (aren't they cute?) and lettering. Finally for those palm trees I used Life's a Beach. The leaves on the top were cut from green Co-ordinatins cardstock and then sanded slightly. It took a long time to sand inbetween all those leaves. The pattern paper and little animal brads were purchased from The Cutting Garden but I can't remember which line of paper. I bought all the pieces though cause it was just so cute for a boy.

The layout idea came from this sketch at So Sketchy! I changed quite a few things but I think you can still see the basic ideas.

Had a lot of fun with this double page layout.

Enjoy your week-end. I think I'm going to try and finish my Christmas cards. I've got most of them addressed but still need to do that Christmas letter. Actually DH is supposed to do the letter.

Yvonne

Slider Card "Holiday Cheer"

Good Morning,
December 1st already. I'm a day late on posting but things got in the way. Can you believe Christmas is 24 sleeps away. Yikes. I really need to do some Christmas shopping. Oh, I did do a little shopping on Saturday. I bought Xavier the cutest cowboy slippers. He won't be able to pull those babies off. lol

Todays card is a slider card. When you pull on the tab the window opens to reveal a message both on the tag and through the window. Most slider cards I've seen are just the basics of the card, they don't stand up. Or in other words they don't really seem to be a full card but more of a card front and there is no place to write stuff.

This is a standard 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card. I'll give dimensions for this card but they are easily adapted. I cut in 3/4" on three of the four sides so I would have a 3/4" border. (I used my Fiskars cutter to do this)Measuring from the bottom edge of the card score in 1 1/2" and then 3" making sure you only score on the window portion. That second score line can be altered depending on how wide you want the window to open. Last place a score line at the top of the card. This should be at 3/4" and will connect the two vertical cut lines. I used a full cardfront to work with so I also need to have a piece of the same color for a backing. 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". Holding this piece in place behind the cardfront punch out a semi-circle so you will be able to see your pull tab.

The tag that goes in behind needs to be wider than the opening by about 1/2" and as long as the top of the card to the bottom of the opening. So in this case it was 3 1/4 x 4 3/4". You can round the corners on the tag, leave the square, etc. The bottom of the tag gets attached to the bottom of the window. I used double sided tape and applied it to the window portion (the 3/4" fold at the bottom of the window)Make sure you line it up even. Pull on the tab and the window should open. Once you're satisfied glue the back insert to the card to enclose the tag. Make sure you only put glue around the parimeter so the tag can move freely when pulled.

You can add pattern paper like I did or you could simply stamp images directly to the cardstock. Whatever image you decide to put on the front make sure you only glue it down between the first and second score line so the window can open.

You can also go to Splitcoaststampers and search under the resources for directions to this card. They do theirs slightly different but the window portion is the same and may give better pictures.
By the way the image was colored in with copics and the stamp set was Stampin' Up.

Have a great day.

Yvonne

Caardvarks Challenge

Happy Sunday,

I know I told you I would be back Monday with an interactive card...and I will be...but I decided I wanted to do a card for Caardvarks Challenge. The challenge here was pretty simple - any stamped colored in image.

I really like the way the card turned out. Lots of layers. I used Co-ordination cardstock. Cuttlebugged the light purple with swiss dots folder. I've had some beautiful stamped vellum for years. Stampin' Up manufactured it years ago. If you could see the image clearly it has dragonflies, butterflies & ladybugs on it. The stamps are all from Stampin' Up. The images are from the set "God's Beauty". I really do like this set. Makes such classy cards. All images were stamped on white cardstock and colored in with copics and cut out. The flower centres and dots on butterfly have Tiara stickles and the salutation is gold embossed. The layers are raised up with dimensionals. I've shown an extra pictures so you can see the depth. A little white organza ribbon to finish it off.




That's all. Enjoy your Sunday.

Yvonne

Brayer or Sponges???

Good Morning,

A short update on yesterdays adventure. We went to the Texas Renassaince Festival. It was very interesting. Lots of great period costumes. Both from the workers and attendees. Some of the costumes were a little more riska than others but I won't go into detail here. We did watch some jousting and there were juggling acts, belly dancing. Oh and it covered a huge area. I must admit that I'm not quite used to the crowds. It was very slow travelling just to get there. I have no idea the number of people who come out to this event but it is huge.

So todays card I made the night before I left Nova Scotia. I was out for supper at a friends house, Alison, and we did a crafty project after supper. When I do a multicolored background on my glossy cardstock I usually use a brayer. She used sponges. Easier to control where the color goes and you can use any color combination you want, just not what is limited to a multi-colored pad. I can't remember exactly what colors were used but it was about five. It worked great and very easy to blend. The moon was masked out with a circle. A quick card but still classy looking.

It's the week-end now, nothing planned, maybe I will take a trip to the craft store today.

See you Monday. Just a hint...it's going to be an interactive card.

Yvonne

Paisley Page

Good Morning,

Yesterday I enjoyed the US Thanksgiving. Just the two of us but I actually cooked a turkey and all the trimmings. I actually think it was about the best tasting bird I've ever cooked. Lots of flavor. Even made an apple pie from scratch. Do you know how hard it is to find a recipe for the apple filling. I looked through my cookbooks, or some of them and couldn't find my recipe so I headed online. I ended up with one that had way to much cinnamon. It was still good but not the way I remember it. Guess Christmas is coming and I can try again. lol

My scrapbook page today is of course little Xavier. It sort of goes with page I did a few days ago. The picture in the top right hand corner is my DS when he was about 5 months old. Xavier is about 6 1/2 months in this picture but he is wearing the same vest and moccasins that his Daddy wore.

The paper was from Costco. Double sided pattern paper, no cardstock used. Covered pieces of chipboard and sanded the edges with matching paper. The square fame under DS was sanded on the edges as well. The whole page has a distressed feel to it. Tied pieces of hemp between the two pieces of red paper.

Today I'm not shopping any Black Friday sales. I'm hoping everybody is shopping and we are going to the Texas Renaissance Festival. Looks like it will be fun and it's not very far away from our place. I'll let you know how it went!

Enjoy your Friday.

Yvonne

Ornaments

Goodness! Can't believe it is Wednesday.

I've had stuff to share but not the time to share it. I've been busy trying to find a car so I won't be housebound. Yes, I know I'm in a large centre but they do not have public transit. If I could hop a bus to get to the mall I would, but I can't. So after two days of driving to dealerships, searching the Internet for the last month I ended up with a VW Eos. It wasn't on my list when I left the house yesterday morning but the deal was right and I liked the car. It's a convertible - that was my requirement. lol

Today's card I completed on the week-end and actually made four. Got to get those Christmas cards done. Did you know it is the 25th of November and that makes it ONE month till Christmas. I don't even want to think about it yet but I can't keep pretending forever that it's not coming.

The cutout ornaments on the card are from a retired SU set called "ornamassortment". I had bought it but never really used it as I found it difficult to color in. I used the copics to color in this time and it worked very well. If you look closely I also used Diamond stickles to embellish the ornaments. I sometimes have trouble with the stickles making sure it doesn't look to globby. Is that a word? Anyway when drawing the little lines on the ornaments I kept the tip right to the paper and moved slowly and that seemed to help. The ornament paper was bought at Hobby Lobby a few days ago. Cuttlebugged the green paper behind the ornaments. Anything that has a gold edging to it was done with a gold Krylon pen. Dimensionals were added behind the green cardstock for the saying and the cuttlebugged piece. Three of the four cards got gold ribbon and the other has three gold dew drops in place of the ribbon. I think I preferred the ribbon. Makes me think about unwrapping presents or wrapping. lol

I'll share a scrapbook page tomorrow.

Yvonne

Snow Globe Christmas

Good Afternoon,

A little late in posting this morning. Had to wait for the camera battery to re-charge.

I've included four different cards today all using the same stamps and basic idea, but each one just modified a little.

To make the snowglobe it is very simple. I used the largest circle from the nestabilities to create the globe. For the light blue paper I started with approximately a piece of paper 4 1/4 x 8 1/2. You then want to fold this is half. Place your nestability on your folded cardstock with the nestability slightly extended past the fold. Cut one more circle from co-ordinating cardstock for the base. Now cut this circle in half to make the base for the card.


This card it is hard to see but I also cut a piece of transparency the same size as the globe and stamped it with white stazon snowflakes. All images are glued under the transparency with the exception of the "North Pole" sign. Considering the extra work involved using the transparency I probably won't make anymore this way. The WOW factor isn't there. I would use the transparency if I was going to turn it into a shaker card. (There's another project for me!)

This sample I inked the edges of the globe to give it some depth. Also the background is cuttlebugged using the snowflake folder. Dazzling Diamonds on the ice flow (same technique on all four cards).

Blue snowflakes stamped in the background. Oval punches used for the wording and dimensionals for depth.

Similiar to card above but sponged color on edges and used marker to color in words and hat to get the two-tone effect.

That's all for today. Let me know which card you like best.

Yvonne

Like Father, Like Son!

Good Morning,

As promised a scrapbook page today. I think it is so cute. New Years 2007 I snapped this photo of my husband and son. My sons wife, Steph took a pic of Xavier with his little touque rolled up just like Grampa. I couldn't resist doing a scrapbook page with it.

I used my cricut to cut out the block with the letter "B", the large words and the tag with "priceless". A scrapbooking program for the text. A stamp for the touque that is over the "B's" and then I put crystal effects on it to raise it & make it glossy. Chipboard pieces are covered with scraps of pattern paper. The brads are altered with distress "Straw" colored embossing powder.



Uneventful day yesterday, almost. We went to buy a new Barbeque cause we now have natural gas hook up for it but the old barbeque can't be converted. Well we buy the barbeque and then it won't fit in the car. When that happens start taking pieces out of the box and see if you can make it fit. Sure enough we got it in. On hindsight though the $60.00 delivery fee might not have been so bad as it would have come assembled then. lol

Side note for my Nova Scotia friends as I type this we are only 4 degrees warmer this morning. Better find the sweatshirt to go walking.

Yvonne

Asian Flair

Good Morning All You Bloggers!

Talk about the card first and then a story update!

This is another card I did at Terri Mill's class. I thought it was very pretty and exceptionally quick. The color of the cardstock is Razzleberry and the pattern paper is Razzleberry Lemonade. What do you think of the lattice work. Used black & razzleberry cardstock with the lattice die from Stampin' Up. The two are offset so the black shadows the razzleberry but apparently my photography skills could be better. The lady is from the set "Dream Garden" and is black embossed. Popdots to give some dimension and you're finished.



Spent Friday & Saturday shopping. I bought a bed-in-a-bag for the bedroom. First try I got it home and it was missing the bedskirt. Back to the store Saturday. There were some great deals. Won't bore you with details but aside from getting it at 50% off they also had a promo for every $50.00 spent you got $10.00 coupon for this week. Yea, I know...I've picked out the shoes I want. lol

My goal Saturday was to make it to some outlet stores that are just 20 minutes from the house. On the way there I stopped at a Hobby Lobby. WOW! Never been in one before. Just not crafts. Home Decor too! There was lots of things but I came out of there with just two pieces of pattern paper and brads. I was thinking Christmas cards. There was a Michaels just down the road from there but I didn't stop...I was so good. Ooops there's another Kohls store...that was the chain I bought the bedspread at. Stopped just for a look and that is where I found the shoes that I want. Spent an hour trying to decide to buy them now or wait to use my coupon. My good sense prevailed and I'll drive back out this week. Oh a Bed, Bath & Beyond within walking distance, must take a peak. Okay finished there, now I'm too tired to keep heading to the outlet stores and I still have to stop at the grocery store. Oh well, another day. lol I can remember the old days when I could power shop for 12 hours and then still pick up a major grocery order before heading back home which was a two hour drive. Maybe I need to train better.

That about covers the week-end. I am working on a scrapbook page too. Maybe tomorrow I'll have it finished.

Enjoy.

Yvonne

The Three Snowman

Good Evening,

Friday night already. Well I've had quite the week. Between computers and card classes I've kept quite busy.

I believe I had mentioned I was going to go to a card class offered by a Stampin' Up demo, Terri Mills. I found her through the Stampin' Up Demo locator. The locator listed ten different people within a 5 mile radias but Terri was the only one who had anything listed for classes on her website. The class was fantastic. Made eight different cards & envelopes for $20.00. Price was great. Everything was very organized. Stations were set up, you received your package of precut items (and I might add everything was cut precisely, no need to trim) and worked your way through the stations. Used the big shot for die cutting and embossing, new tips on shimmer paint, used stencils just to cover a few of the ideas. I'll share more of them as I post the cards from the class. If you're in the Woodlands area and are looking for classes she is one to check out.

A little about the actual card now. Everything used is from Stampin' Up. A nice big snowflake punch. I love how the ribbon was used for the scarves. I think the name of the stamp set was Christmas Punch but there are numerous snowman stamps that you could use. I think I have one that has long since been retired that would work well. Just have to find it in my boxes of still packed stamps. No major techniques on this one but very cute! Lots of layers to give the extra "WOW" factor. You know me, I like layers! So Wednesday was a very good day.


Thursday was not so good. I took a class at a local scrapbook store and was very disappointed. I did not complete any of the four cards. I brought everything home unglued so I could try and trim the pieces so they would fit properly. Probably won't take more classes. Also I got my computer back but it still seems to be having some glitches and for the price I paid to have it fixed it should be new!

Enjoy your week-end.

Yvonne

What to call it? Accordian, Z, Easel Card

Good Morning,

Uneventful day yesterday. A computer guy came and checked out my desktop, after 2 hours of not being able to get all the viruses out he's took it home to either wipe the hard drive or try a couple other things on it. It won't be back for a couple of days.

Heading out the morning to a card class. A local SU demo runs classes in her home so though I would check it out. I'll let you know how it goes and share my projects.

So what would you call todays card? I don't know either! lol It is very easy to make though. Looks harder than it is. Are you ready, here's the directions.

Base is 11 x 4 1/2" scored at 5 1/2 and 2 3/4". Now (I use my Fiskars cutter but you can use and exacto knife too), you need to create a window, my window has a 3/4" border. From the 2 3/4" score line place your paper in the cutter 3/4" and cut down 2 1/4", rotate and make sure you keep the 3/4" on all sides. Start with some cheap paper and make a template first so you understand how it all goes together and then get out your favorite paper. That's how I usually do mine when I'm working with a design I haven't done before. Now that you have cut the window, fold the window portion back to the spine. I placed pattern paper on the portion that folded back. It was cut 4" x 2 1/2" and then I cut out the centre leavng 1/2" border. Fits in there perfect. Don't throw away that little piece you just cut out. I used that piece for the photo corners you see in the centre. I used the small photo corner from SU's punch (it has two different sizes of photo corners on one punch). Punch out three of them. The diamond in the centre of the card. Celery - 2 3/4" square and the dark green color is 2 1/2" square glued together. When putting your glue down just watch the you don't get glue in the top and bottom right hand corners as there is a small part of the square that will show through to the inside of the card. Embelish the lower left hand corner of card. I used my scallop punch with a raised up image. If you don't put an image there make sure you have enough scrap pattern paper to punch out an additional photo corner. Also when I folded back the window frame I DID NOT glue it down. It raises up slightly just to create a little more depth on the card. Also the scallop circle was only glued to the very front of the card so again take care where you are putting your glue.

For the inside pattern paper 5 1/4" x 4" and then I put additional layers of cardstock as the pattern paper was dark and I wouldn't be able to write on it. So my layers there are 2 5/8" x 4 1/8" (dark green) 2 1/2" x 4" (celery).

Rudolph's nose has crystal effects on it and quite a bit so it is nice and raised. I colored in the stamp with my markers so I could two-tone it. Chocolate Chip Brown for the reindeer and Always Artichoke for the words around the deer. Colored the nose in with Really Red.


Let me know what you think of this card. If you make a card of this design send me a pic and I'll put it up on the blog. Like to see others work. You can send it to ybalmer@hotmail.com or you can always leave comments in the comments section. If you're reading from a subscription to my blog you're probably not even seeing the blog itself. You have to click on the name of the post to get to the my actual blog. Even the article looks differnt there as there are not ads and it's prettier. lol At the bottom of each post is a comments section. I've added this little bit of info as I know some of you were unaware of this.

Off to card class - enjoy your day.

Yvonne

Embossing on Pattern Paper

Good Morning,

The sun is shining and it looks like a nice day. Yesterday was overcast and dull.

Didn't get around to post yesterday as my desktop computer is having issues. After I start it I get a black screen with a white cursor. It goes all through the process but windows doesn't want to load. I've got an e-mail into Geeks on Wheels but nobody has returned my call so I think I maybe moving onto somebody new. I did figure out how to upload using my laptop without uploading all the pics I have on my camera card.

I made this card yesterday. Dug out a very old retired Stampin' Up set. I always did like this set though. There's another image of a little child with a snowman too. I colored the image first with Copics and then I had to start looking for paper that would match. The bright blue is a retired color from SU and the red pattern paper I've had for years. I was trying to figure out what to do with the background and then decided I would try embossing on the pattern paper. After the image was embossed I sanded it off so it would stand out a little more. Everything still looked a little flat so I cut the pattern paper in two and slipped a piece of the blue inbetween to make it look like more layers and it breaks up the front of the card. The card is a 5 1/2" square. Merry is from a differnt stamp set and the cocoa cup is also from the snowman set. Nestabilites used to cut out the circle and layer up the image. Notice his little hat and marshmellows - I used Puffy Fabric paint I got from Michaels. I used to use liquid applique but it can be hard to find. The puffy fabric paint comes in a huge bottle and you just squeeze it out. I let it drive for 10 - 15 minutes and then use my heat tool to puff it up. Looks so cute!



Yesterday I signed up to take a card class on Thursday morning at the local scrapbook store. I will share them with you once I've completed them. Also found a hair salon yesterday. Nothing exciting done. Just colored and a bang trim. My driving around was fairly uneventful yesterday. Missed a couple of turnoffs but won't make the same mistake twice. You learn through your mistakes! Remember that when you are crafting, there are no mistakes just learning experiences. I've had a lot of learning experiences in my crafting life. lol

One more bit of exciting news. My Grandbaby is crawling. Only 6 1/2 months. I know, I'm so proud! lol

Have a Great Tuesday and I'll see you tomorrow.

Yvonne

A "Beary" Christmas

It's TGIF. What could be better than that?

So finished my version of the "Easel Card" aka Halloween card posted a couple of days ago.

I used Stampin' Up cardstock and pattern paper. The bear stamp is from Stamp City. It was colored in with Copics. Using your watercolor crayons you could create a similiar effect. Just remember to stamp it on watercolor paper if you are going to be using a lot of water with your crayons. That's the beauty of copics is that you can go over and over the same area with the markes without effecting the quality of the paper. I did use the ornaments cuttlebug folder on the celery background. The bear has pop dots under him and the "Holiday Hello" in the corner - the centre has a Making Memories clear bubble over the words. If you have crystal effects you could create a similiar look.

Side view isn't a great shot but you get the idea.

Just a short chit chat today. Went yesterday to the Motor Vehicles to exchange my Nova Scotia license (sniff) for my Texan license. I just want you to know the government agency here is just as friendly as all those motor vehicle offices in Canada. lol You all know what I mean. Would it hurt them to smile, just once?

I probably won't post again until Monday but I do have it already done and it is another interesting fold. Most of the cards for the next month will all be of the Christmas variety.

Not sure what my plans for the week-end are but I'll let you know on Monday. Have an enjoyable week-end.

Yvonne

Boo - a little late!

Happy Wednesday Folks,

It's going to be another sunny day here in the mid twentys. almost makes it hard to craft...not really. lol

First off my cell phone story. I gave up my Canadian cell phone and need to get another one here. I'm trying to find a carrier that will give me free long distance back to Canada. Almost all of the companies that I check into give free long distance nationally and to Mexico. I finally find one company that has long distance to Canada included in the plan. I won't mention the specific carrier. I go in sign up, get the phone and head home. The next day the movers are delivering stuff and DH is trying to get a hold of me as no house phone yet. I keep losing his connection in the house. Don't really think much of it as I was a little pre-occupied. The next day I'm wanting to call my DD. We always have a long chit chat. So a couple of things are going on this night. There's quite a storm happening. I believe we may have even had flooding and tornado watches out for the evening. Surprising enough I didn't get to fussed about it. So I ring her up from my kitchen and after about 30 seconds the call is dropped. Hmmm....I check the bars on my phone and I don't have any. I run around the house and in certain areas I might get one bar but it comes and goes. Turns out if I sit on the roof I might get reception. So I go out to my front step to call her back. I get one bar if I tilt my head the right direction. So we're having our chit chat. Important stuff you know...Survivor, Amazing Race, what we ate for supper.
Now I will get off topic for just a minute...I maybe living in the Houston area but we are in a quiet little subdivision off of a state reserve. So earlier in the day I saw a squirell in the backyard. No big deal, seen lots of squirells. Later in the afternoon coming home from shopping there is a deer at the end of the street. Seen lots of deer too and in town (Alberta) but we had our share of deer in our subdivision in Antigonish (NS)too. Here's what I wasn't prepared for. Back to the part about it being 10:00 at night sitting on my front step talking to the DD this racoon came scooting around the corner looked up at me and I swear at that point the DD didn't need a cell phone connection to hear me. I'm not sure who was more surprised me or the racoon. Needless to say he ran off and my DD wanted to know if I had stepped on the poor thing as she was sure by the screach that it had to be a wounded animal.lol At the end of the day I've taken my cell phone back and am still looking for another provider.

CARD INFO

Now for what all you crafters have been really waiting for a little info about todays card. First off, I didn't make this card. It was given to me by a good friend, Ann. Okay, I had to beg for it a little bit but she did give it to me anyway.
I thought it was such a unique fold. There are about 5 different layers on this card, lot of cut out work. The window is cut out and then popped up for a little more depth. The bats and skelton are all cut out. This card is a regular 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 card. You can close it up and mail it in a regular envelope. The front part is scored at 2 3/4" and folded in half so it will stand. You stamp and decorate it anyway you want but so it will stand notice the tab at the very top of the card where the little gem brad is. It's designed so the front of the card can slide under the tab so the card will stay standing up. So cute. I'm going to try one of these in the next couple of days. If I could just find my Christmas stamps maybe I would try it with one of them. (All my stamps are still in boxes until I get shelves for them. ugh)
Thanks again Ann for the great card.



Found the mop, darn, guess I'm off to wash floors now. Enjoy your day.

Yvonne

I'm Back - House Mouse Christmas

Hello Everyone,

I officially moved into our new home a week ago. Things are unpacked and put away (except the garage, not my domain). Over the next few days I'll share little tidbits of our moving in with you as well as a new project each time. So for the bloggers that only want the scoop on the project just scroll down to the pictures and for all others read from the top down.

Last Monday (October 26th) was the date the movers were to deliver furniture. Wouldn't you know it - no rain for days and the day we want our furniture it rains, and rains and rains. Not just a drizzle either. They unloaded a few boxes that days and finished up on Tuesday. Most of what they unloaded the first day was garage stuff. Too bad as it would have been nice to have organized some stuff before more boxes arrived. Have you ever noticed when you are moving that it doesn't matter how organized you have your cupboards, closets, drawers or whatever they can still manage to take something from a downstairs bathroom and put it in a box with the good china? Maybe they do that in an attempt to make sure you unpack all boxes between moves.

I also unpacked my craft room last. As many of you know I had my craft room located in the attached garage at my last location. Mistake. Not only was my craft stuff in there but also boots, coats, shoes, fitness equipment, typical garage stuff - like flashlights, Canadian Tire Money, and anything else that didn't seem to have a home somewhere else. When they labelled the boxes it all was labelled "Craft Room". My craft room was full of boxes here that weren't my craft room stuff. Won't make that mistake twice!

That's all I'll share of those stories today but I will get to today's project.This is a House Mouse stamp. I had stamped off a few images of it before I left. Thanks Skylar for the use of your stamp. My goal was to color a bunch of them in while I was between houses. I packed my Copics and everything with me. Well I only got two images colored in.
So the images was colored with Copics. All the berries have Crystal Effects on them. Gives that nice raised up glossy look to them. The holly leaves have Dazzling Diamond glitter on them. Used my scallop nestabilities to create the window effect on the card. In two of the corners I cut out holly images using the Cricut, applied Dazzling Diamonds to them as well and then put a red Dew Drop with each holly leaf. didn't glue down the corners of the leaf to give the card a little more dimension.



That's all I've got for today. Will have a special project to share tomorrow. It's a Halloween card but a neat design. I didn't make it but want to try something similar with different stamps.
Be sure to check back!

Yvonne

Purple Bear & New Border Punch Uses

This is my last pre-loaded card I have on my computer but I may have a couple other things I'll be able to share in the next couple of days.

This is the same SU set I used a few days ago for the side step card. This time I made it a monochromatic card. Makes it easy to do it in whatever color you want. I used Vintage Purple which was an "In Color" with Stampin' Up a couple of years ago. The background I cuttlebugged with the snowflakes folder then I ran it through my sticker maker and then put gliter ritz all over the background. In a lot of places only the raised up areas grabbed the adhesive which was kinda cool.

I did get to the Make & Take at the scrapbook store on Wednesday. They had punched out a big flower, probably 2 1/2" in diameter with five petals. They then used a border punch and only punched the ends of each petal. We punched another flower just slightly smaller and then inked up the tips on both flowers. Then we made a brad to put in the centre using the new Imaginice Brad Maker. I bought one from The Cutting Garden just before I left and only had time to play and make one brad but it did work nicely. Looking forward to trying it out some more.

Please bear with me as I was unable to edit the photos on the laptop. Actually just not sure how to do it on this one.

Stop now if you don't want to read about my personal ramblings....

Now I'll give you an update on the rest of my driving days. After the trip to the scrapbook store I came back to the apartment for a mental rest. Watched a little TV then headed out to pick up some groceries for supper. There should be a grocery store every three blocks but I couldn't seem to find one. The area is really nice cause they hide all business behind trees to keep things pretty. Great, except when you need to see these buildings to know where to turn. I thought I knew where the grocery store was as we had gone there before. At the end of the day I ended up at a Super Walmart and picked up what I needed. Oh, did I mention that it took me two hours to get $20.00 worth of groceries and ....I could have probably walked there in 15 minutes.
About the same story for yesterday trying to find the post office. I even had the GPS with me but I kept driving in circle...I knew I was close but couldn't find it. It's like a maze.
What to do today. Another Make & Take at the scrapbook store. No problem, I know how to get there. They are doing it on the Bazzill stitching templates. Hey, I've got one of those but never used it. Maybe I'll pick up some tips. Other than that, WE GET OUR HOUSE TODAY! Yippee!
Well that's a wrap for today. have a good week-end.

Yvonne

Christmas Stockings

Hi,
I'm back again...and I just posted yesterday. Don't get confused with the dates of the posts. The next few will all read the 8th of October. That is the date I loaded the pictures to blogspot so I would be able to blog when I didn't have pictures on my computer. Using my laptop interm.
This card was done using the dies from Spellbinders. (I think that was the company). I cut them out of the shiny cardstock, also called mirror. These dies are a pack of two and one will cut and one will emboss.
You'll notice the centre of the sock is cut out and I filled it in with Glitter Ritz. It's my new favorite toy these days. To round out the card I used some pattern paper that was discontinued from Stampin' Up and added some dew drops. The stamped image is in gold embossing and I don't know who manufactured it.

Other news I did get a car to drive last night. By the time we got to the dealership to pick it up it was dark. Great...my first attempt at driving in Houston is at night. I don't like to drive at night at the best of times. Made it home though with only one oooops. I missed the turnoff into the apartment complex so just had to go to the next block and turn around. Well it wasn't quite that simple with one way streets and all but they do let you do u-turns here. lol That helps.
So I now have wheels so I can go out today and cruise around. DH is at work and has a supper meeting as well so I have all day to browse. A local scrapbook store is having anniversary celebrations so I'm heading over this morning as they have make & takes as well. From there, there is a Michaels and Joanns right close. he he
Hope you have a great day and I'll share my adventures tomorrow.

Yvonne

Glitter Ritz & 4 x 4 Side Step Card

Hello There,
Quick update for all those interested in the going ons in my life...otherwise just scroll down a bit for info about the card.
I left Nova Scotia on October 15th with mixed emotions. I met a lot of great people, many who became good friends and one day hope to return to the Maritimes (at least for the summers, lol). I have arrived at my destination Houston, TX (side note - the weather cooled off the day I arrived - the locals think it's wonderful, 22-25C - I was looking for hot but it is still nice).
We will be getting the keys to our house on Friday (we've been over every day looking)and the movers will deliver our furniture on Monday. By Wednesday I should be unpacked and in my craft room. Can't wait!

One other thing before I get to the card - My DD, Kristen has submitted a drawing to be used on a T-shirt contest. Winners are chosen by number of votes. If you're interested in helping her out click on the link DesignsByHumans and vote. You do have to register to be able to vote however they don't send you a bunch of e-mails, just click the box that you don't want any updates etc.


Thanks for your patience in my long winded chat.

Today's post. I actually did this card a few days before I left. The stamp set is from Stampin' Up and is in their Winter Mini Catty. I can't remember the name of it. Cute though. I love to cut out all the little characters. The hats are all separate stamps so you can mix and match.
Do you notice all the glitter on the snow. I used the new glitter called "Glitter Ritz". It is so fine and smooth. Actually smooth enough you can stamp overtop of the glitter and it will still give a clear stamped image. You see the iceberg. I covered a piece of cardstock with double sided tape and then stamped the iceberg and cut it out. Worked like a charm.
I did have a lot of trouble though stamping the red image with north pole. My red ink pad must have been too juicy. Normally dye based ink the image dries immediately. Not this time. I must have smeared about four images. I even left one over night and the next morning I ran my thumb over the image and it smeared. lol I finally used my red marker and colored on the stamp and it worked great. Where there is a will...there is a way!


I posted a side step card a couple weeks back but it was a 6 x 6 size. I prefer the 4 x 4 finished size and I also used cardstock for the base this time instead of pattern paper. It stands much nicer.

If you are still reading, thanks for stopping by. I'm looking forward to getting back to some serious crafting within a couple of weeks.

Yvonne

Rockin' Baby

Good Morning,
Well I was busy creating cards yesterday so I might actually have something to post over the next couple of weeks.

Here's a quick catch up on my life (I'll make it short as some of you are really here to see cards!). We did purchase a house in the States, our home here has sold and I should be leaving around the 15th of October. DH left yesterday. Went to Toronto and spent the day with DD and then he is getting close to Houston now as I type. It's been a whirlwind of a month, with selling off all our vehicles and other "stuff" that we didn't need and I'm hoping that after I get to Houston things will get back to normal or at least not so hectic. We are living in an apartment until we can take possession of our home which will be the last week of October. Unfortunately I won't have any crafting stuff with me and won't have a lot to do. Oh gosh, I guess I'll have to browse the stores. lol

I did get a card made this morning for a friend who just had a baby boy. I can't take credit for the design of this as I copied it from Hands, Head & Heart. Pretty cute and pretty easy. I used my circle scissors cutter, punches & cuttlebug. The only thing that is stamped is Special Delivery". The card really does rock too!



I'm going to try and get a few more cards done today. I did get a scrapbook page done for Xavier last week but forgot to take pictures before I gave it to Mom & Dad.

Have a great Sunday!

Yvonne

Angel with Accordian Fold

Good Morning,

TGIF!
This is the last card I had uploaded to my blog to be posted while I was away.

Update on my house hunting...hmmmm....seen a lot, realtor is very big on one area only. Apparently having power lines in your yard here is a big deal. I'm told there has been a study done linking health issues to power lines over your house so re-sale on a house with power lines is slow.
I've looked at subdivision where the whole subdivision seems to be on the direct path of all flights at the George Bush International Airport. lol What a shame as I liked some of those houses.

Maybe I need not to be so cheap and I could probably find exactly what I'm looking for. Did a second look at one house yesterday and decided it wasn't as nice as the first time we looked. (Had something to do with seeing a lot of houses I really didn't like first so it had looked pretty good when I saw it.) lol

Thinking about looking at some new builds but have also asked for a second look on another house. Wish me luck!

This card was going to start out being a Christmas Card. The stamp is from a Christmas set but I colored the dress a light purple and then decided on the pattern paper that matched and it just got off track from there. I do like the accordian fold and it's a little different with the ribbon on the right hand side. I used that great gold Xyron pen to edge the sides of everything to create the look of more layers. It really helps to give a finished look.


Can't forget some Dazzling Diamonds on the wings and those Nestabilities to cut out the angel and the layers.

I didn't do a very good pic of showing the accordian fold on the card but there is actually two folds.

Time to go wait for the Realtor. Plan is to be home Sunday night whether we have chosen something or not. If not we will look again when I actually move down.

Have a good week-end.

Yvonne

Vintage Photos

Good Morning (from Houston)

Yes, we made it. What a relief. Quick post white I'm waiting for the realtor to go look at houses.

This is a different card for me. Kim gave me some vintage (women) stamps for my birthday. I've had this stamped and colored for quite a way but hadn't finished it.
I quite like it and would like to try some more. Dew drops were added down the side of the card and the image was cut out using Nestabilties.



Gotta run. Have a great day.

Yvonne