Spellbinders - Dahlia

Happy Canada Day!

Haven't made any plans to do anything specific todayother than coffee in the a.m. for sure.
This was my Dahlia template that I purchased from Lisa last week at the Scrap & Shop in Antigonish. I'm up early this morning as I've can't stop thinking about other ways to use this template. I'm sure there will be more ideas to come.

This first card I cut each of the circles out of pattern paper, distressed the edges and inked them up. Layered the petals together by using a dimensional in the centre of each and curling up the petals. Stamped and cut out some leaves to add some background filler.

These flowers are made by using all of the metal templates at once. I use tape to hold them together so I can cut them to have a more layered look. I actually cut it twice with two different papers and then alternated the colors/patterns and you get two similiar cards.

Used some pearls from my Pretties Kit - Stampin' UP.

This is a side view so you can see how it is layered up. After I had taken the photos I decided to add a small pearl in the corner of each photo corner. It added a little more to it.

I'm going to try some of these with glitter. Maybe tomorrow when I'm at the Cutting Garden.

Not sure what is open today but I will stop at a grocery store if they are open and maybe check out some plants. If you still need to add to your garden Sobey's has their flowers all on sale. Buy one get 50% off the second. Thursday & Friday that changes to Buy one get one free and Saturday is their last day of the season in the plant department and everything will be 75% off.

Enjoy your day!

Yvonne

Happiness Is A Journey - Alcohol Inks

Good Day,

Hard to believe that it is already June 30th. Summer will be here soon....or fall if we wait to long. I'm confident that it is going to warm up soon and dry up.

The cards for today are made using Stampin' Up set "Happiness Is A Journey". Once again I did a variety of cards utilizing the same set just varied a couple of things.
all the cards I used glossy paper for the image and alcohol inks. Alcohol inks are great for making quick cards and masculine cards.

The above card I used really rust for the base and accompanied it with ribbon and home-made dew drops.

For a variation I switched to bordering blue cardstock and made three panels and again added some dew drops.

My last card I switched it to long and narrow. Altered the ribbon by using a copic marker to color in what was white dots. Added some metal embellishments to add to that manly look. Stamped and embossed the image in black directly to the pattern paper. The image itself is raised up with dimensionals. The other two cards the image is raised up also with dimensinals and then the sentiment is raised up again. I always go for the dimensional look.


I have a special treat to share with you tomorrow. So stay tuned.

If you're out celebrating tomorrow and don't have time to tune in well..."Happy Canada Day!"

Yvonne

Peonies

Good Morning,
Another lovely day in Nova Scotia. It's raining yet again...so I thought we could use a little pick me up and I would share at least a sunny, cherry card.
House Mouse stamp colored with copic markers. Swiss dots was used for the background. Cardstock colors are certainly celery and retired mauve mist. The sentiment is a retired PSX stamp. Word window punch to make the tabs.

I did get a few cards made yesterday. Played around with the alcohol inks and was very happy with the results. Also I used the new Spellbinders Dahlia die. Those cards turned out pretty good too. I'll mix some of these cards in with my copic creations.

Certainly a good thing I went outside with my camera yesterday and snapped a few pictures. These are taken in our backyard by the pond. The peonies are in full bloom.
Thought I would share a couple pictures with you as I was really happy to figure out the color accent on my camera. Reading the instructions and then playing with it really helps. It's so neat how you can get part of the picture in color and the rest in black & white. You just decide which color in the photo you want to remain and only those items that are the specified color will photograph in color and the rest become black & white. When Xavier comes over I want to try photographing some pics of him using this technique. I think I might scrapbook a page of these flowers. I have an idea in mind.






















This picture shows the reflection of the peonies in the pond. Doesn't look like I got any pictures of the fish swimming around.

That's all for today. I'll be back tomorrow as I have lots of cards still to share.

Yvonne

Smile

Hello,

I'll start by giving you a run down on my road trip Thursday. Left early in the morning...directly after coffee at Second Cup. An uneventful drive to Antigonish and arrived in town around 9:30 a.m. After dropping off my taxes I went to the Scrap & Shop. What a great little scrapbook store. Lots of great product including Spellbinders, cuttlebug, embellishments (my favorite), inks, and of course paper. Lisa will have her on-line store up and running soon to compliment her actual store. I'll be sure to add her link to my blog as soon as everything is live. Here store is actually featured in the latest edition of Canadian Scrapbooker. After a little shopping therapy and lots of chatting I made a not quick stop at Barbaras for coffee. I must mention I also visited with Barbara at the scrap store but we managed to still have more crafting to discuss at her house and after two hours I had to get on my way cause I still wanted to stop at Bob & Pams and it was already 3:00. lol

A quick visit and supper, thanks guys, I was on the road heading home. I hit downpour after downpour on the road between Antigonish and Halifax. Lots of people had to pull over to the side of the road. I choose to follow a really big mobile home which for some reason I felt safe behind. Arrived home before 9:00.

About todays page. Of course it's Xavier. All die cuts are done with the cricut. I used chalk to shadow the word "Smile" as ink was too difficult to get into the small areas. The camera was shadowed with ink. Those are homemade dew drops on the camera.

I really like my filmstrip. I cut the filmstrip from Mickey & Friends cartridge out of yellow vellum. Then I took another strip of yellow vellum and printed black & white photos onto it. Next I used brown ink and a sponge to cover both pieces in ink. I trimmed down the photo piece so it would fit in behind the filmstrip piece. I think it gave a wonderful effect of looking like an actual negative.


The paper is by Imaginice. I really like buying kids paper.

I still have a few more copic cards to share over the next couple of days.

Hope you're enjoying your week-end.

Yvonne

Spring

Good Day!

Had a summer post a couple of days ago now I'll do my Spring post.

Colors are Mauve Mist and Certainly Celery for cardstock. Colored with copics.

Not much time to chit chat...getting ready for work.

Going on a "Road Trip" tomorrow. Pam...if you're reading this I'll be stopping up.
Will be stopping into Lisa's shop in Antigonish too.

Why am I going on a road trip you ask.....I need to get our income tax done. I file as a business so I have until the end of June. I'm such a procrastinator on doing this.

Bye

Yvonne

Coffee Time

Good Morning,

Do you still need that first cup of coffee? Coffee is my inspiration for this card.

Firstly...I've only colored in this stamp once before and I gave it as a birthday card. That time I watercolored it and was very time consuming. Toay I used the copics. So much fun to do. The main stamp is a House Mouse design (if you couldn't guess) and the other two smaller stamps are from an old coffee set from Hero Arts. (Really old set!)

I've mentioned before that I go to the "Second Cup" for coffee ... lots. The staff in there are always so friendly, cheery, efficient that I've decided to take a card into them and let them know that they are appreciated. Every once in a while remember to let the people know who are doing a good job and reward the ones who are doing a bad job by not returning.

This isn't a standard size card however I will be able to make and envelope to fit it uing the scor-pal. If you own a scor-pal please go to their site for instructions on making your own envelopes.

Off to enjoy my day...hope you enjoy yours too!

Yvonne

Summer In Nova Scotia

Good Morning,

Summer is officially here in Nova Scotia so I thought I should make a card celebrating "Summer". lol Do you think I'm a little cranky about the weather forecast for the next few days?

On the up side, cause there is always an up side, I had the opportunity to make lots of cards yesterday. I believe I have six done.

Lots of layers to this card. The image was colored with copics and layered onto the blue and red Stampin' Up cardstock. That image is raised up with dimensionals. The green cardstock was cuttlebugged with the bubbles embossing folder. Made me think of rain drops. That was then layered onto red and then the blue. A nice blue ribbon to tie things together. Ha Ha Pun intended. Then to brighten the otherwise drab colors I used a bright yellow for the word. I used Stampin' Up's oval punches that layer to each other. You will notice I punched them off centre to give a different shape. Don't be afraid to step out of the box.

If you click on the photo you can see I did a little shading with the copics. Did I mention in my last post that I think I like them.

What are you doing today? Growing up do you remember what Monday's meant? Mondays were always a wash day. Now we do laundry whenever we need it.

Have a great Monday, throw in that load of laundry and then multi-task by goin to the craft room.

Yvonne

Copics

Happy Saturday,

Went out for my coffee and cinnamon bun this morning. Of course I shared the cinnamon bun with Kevin. Also stopped by Vogue Optical and I think picked out a couple new pairs of glasses. Not as boring as the ones I'm wearing now. I do have to get my eyes re-checked again though before I can order the new glasses. Something fun to look forward to.
Also did a little shoppng on Thursday and Friday. Picked up a set of the deckled edge Nestabilities and some cute brads for scrapbooking and a couple other things but I won't go there (in case DH is reading this, lol).
From todays title you can safely assume that I colored the image in with Copic Markers. Do these ever work cool. I have the Twinkling H2O's and Stampin' Up's watercolor crayons - I really enjoy both mediums however, I do have to use watercolor paper in order to be able to shade without the paper falling apart. The copics give a different look.
I did use a paper that is design for copics but it pretty much looks like regular white paper. You can color over the same part of the image many times and the paper holds its bond.

I added a metal embellishment to the top and toppd it off with a little ribbon. I cuttlebugged the background as well. Be prepared to see a few more projects colored in with the copics. I already have a couple house mouse images done and a flower with butterflies.

Do you like the new Nestabilities too?

I have supper in the crock pot, dh is outside for now, so I think I'll head to th craft room and play.

Maybe I can make DH a card for Father's Day using those Copics... do you think I could tell him I needed them to make him a card?????

Yvonne

Watercolor Garden II

Good Morning,

Well I've been having a fairly unproductive week. Seems like I'm running in circles and not accomplishing anything. I've managed to go shopping at least twice to scrapbook stores and bought some paper only to come home and realize I already had bought that paper two days before. On the up side, goes to show I really like the paper. lol Of course it was paper to do pictures of Xavier.

Pretty standard card today. No fancy folds. I used Red Riding Hood and Pink Pirouette cardstock from Stampin' Up. Those two colors will be retired at the end of June. The stamp set is old and has been retired for a long time. It was called Watercolor Garden II and is what they call a 2-step stamp set. The flowers are actually double stamped. Both layers were stamped with the red but the first stamped image was inked up and stamped on scrap paper a couple of times to make it lighter. The second stamp was inked and stamped directly to the paper. The stem in green was stamped first and then you stamp your flower images to create a complete picture.
Background was swiss dots from Cuttlebug and used the scor-pal to make a couple of lines underneath the swiss dots. So easy to vary the look of your card.

That about covers today's post.

Hope everyone is ready for Father's Day.

Off to get some crafting in today.

Yvonne

Fantasy Keepsake Box

Hello,

Here's the project I've been keeping under wraps for a couple of days now. It's such a cool box. Folds up into a great rectangular box and when the lid comes off it opens up to reveal four smaller boxes that nestle on top of each other. It was very easy to make. Actually this was my first attempt. Usually I have to try it a couple of times to work out all the kinks but everything just flowed smoothly. I've had the directions to make this box printed off since 2006. lol The directions for this project can be found at StubbyStampers.
I used double sided paper and cardstock to make the little boxes. A bone folder is a must when you are folding these boxes.


Heading out to supper with the girls.

Bye
Yvonne

spinner card

Good Morning,

The picture of this card isn't great and looked better in person. it is a spinner card and the little circle says "Happy Birthday". Spinner cards are easy to make, especially if you design a template first and then save it to re-use whenever you want to make another.
The Cutting Garden has this card on display and will be doing it in class this Wednesday. I only used pattern paper on the front so I felt I still needed to dress it up a little. Added some diamond stickles to some of the flowers - made a big difference. Diamond stickles also give the illusion that the stickles change color as the angle of the card turned.

I have lots to do today and I have to take pictures of the special project I'll be sharing tonight or tomorrow morning.

See you!
Yvonne

Sunday's Drive

Good Morning,
No papercraft samples this morning...maybe later today.
I wanted to share with you some pictures I took yesterday. We went to PEI for the day. We can get to our Grandson in just under three hours. Not too bad.
I will be turning some of these into scrapbook pages but just wanted to share sooner. He's now two months and has started to smile. I think it is so adorable.

I believe this photo is saying, "Enough Nana...put down the camera."

Went out for lunch. He was so good.

This one makes him look really chubby. His face has filled out but he is still slim. It's just those stripes. lol Maybe the way he's propped up too.

Just wanted to share a little with you.

I do have a special project to reveal tomorrow evening...can't show it any sooner cause it's an item for a swap. Some of us girls are getting together tomorrow night and this item is my share project.

I'll try and share something paper related later today....

Yvonne

King of the Jungle

This is Grizzley...King of the Jungle...not really. More like Fraidie Cat but he does look regal in his photo! this is one of the cats that recently moved in order to reside in Toronto with Kristen. Grizzley was Kristen's cat when the kids lived at home.

The thought bubbles and lettering were from Planting Cartridge by Cricut. The crown was from Duddlecharms. I also used the Cricut Design Studio to weld the letters together. I like the program.


Click picture to see the glittered crown and the royal jewels. Okay, cheap bling from Michaels. I did brown stitching all around the letters to match the border.

The thought bubbles were sponged with Kiwi green ink and stitched but layered onto brown cardstock. The embellishments are buttons. Some I had purchased but I think the blue fish was from a bag of buttons I received from Mary B. a few years ago. They're still coming in handy. Once again this layout was based on this weeks layout challenge from 52sketches52weeks.

This is the co-ordinatng layout and it was my own design. Used my nestabilities to cut the photos and layer up the mats. the mouse border was Cricut from Animal Kingdom, the lettering was Script from Sizzix Sizzlits. Just for info sake the sizzlits work better in the Cuttlebug than they ever did in my Sizzix machine.

Here's hoping the sun is going to peak through the clouds today.

Enjoy your week-end.

Yvonne

Coredinations & Cuttlebug

Hi There Bloggers,

It's Friday. Rainy, but Friday. Got any big plans for the week-end? We're thinking about heading to PEI to see Xavier. Word is he's smiling and laughing now. I think my camera needs a trip. Better make sure the battery is fully charged.

Nobody commented on "Picture Pages", the trivia...Picture Pages were first introduced by Captain Kangaroo and then Bill Cosby took them over.

I seem to go in spurts using certain supplies. I was on a mission to make some manly cards and dug out my trusty sailboat/lighthouse set. I then wanted to use something other than pattern paper for the background. I didn't have anymore that matched. Do they not say "Necessity is the mother of invention?". Anyway, I was having trouble finding cardstock to match and then I went to my stash of core'dination. I seem to have it in my head that I can only use this for embossing or distressing, can't seem to think of it as regular cardstock. After making the move to use it I decided I still needed to emboss it. After I did that it still seemed pretty plain so I sanded it and then lightly rubbed blue ink over the embossed areas. Ended up just looking tacky, so I flipped it over and sanded the other side. Took a good look at it and decided I really liked the subtle look of the two shades. I did a little paper piercing around the edge of the blue. The sentiment is on there straight...must have been the angle the card was sitting at when the photo was taken.
The second card is just a different size with brads and hemp to accessorize.




Think I'm going out to supper tonight. I'll let you know how that goes.

Scrapbook page tomorrow...hint...it's of Grizzley!

Yvonne

Mommy Time

Morning All!
Wasn't yesterday a nice day? Had the hair appointment. Just the same old look, so you don't need a pic. Once I got home I did a little work in the gardens. That was a bit of a mistake... only spent a little time pulling a few weeds but I really felt it in my back last night. Could not get comfortable anywhere in the house. Long night - short sleep. Then on top of that I get up this morning go to the computer and there is an article on there about the importance of getting the right amount of sleep. Quality and quanity. I didn't know you could get both at one time! lol

Sharing my scrapbook page I finished last week. Just some pictures of Steph with Xavier and with her parents just before and after Xavier is born. The pattern paper is from the bulk buy packages at Costco. Cardstock is Bazzil and the metal embellishments are the Dollar Store. They've been sitting in my stash for quite awhile now. Once again the idea for the first page was last weeks sketch on 52Sketches52Weeks and the second page was my own design. Had to come up with something that would work with the first page. I liked the idea of the tabs and I was able to incorporate metal brads with the same finish to help tie things together.

Today I'm hoping to work on some kitty picture pages. Speaking of "Picture Pages" which childrens show or celebrity used to have "Picture Pages" as part of the show?
Leave a comment if you know the answer.


I'm outta this computer. See you tomorrow.

Yvonne

View Master Card - Caardvarks Challenge

Good Morning,

Monday and a sunny day, who could ask for more. I have a hair appointment this morning, early so I'll get that out of the way and then be able to enjoy the rest of this fine day.

Had a great Sunday. Went for a drive yesterday and got a bit of a sunburn but it was so nice. Stopped out at Masstown Market. That place is always soooo busy. There is supposed to be a cheese factory not far from there. Does anybody know the name or address? I would like to stop in. Also had a Stampin' Up workshop last night. Lots of fun! Thanks Ladies.

The next couple of posts have double duty. One, they are cards that will be done in class at the Cutting Garden and second they are also for a challenge on Caardvarks blog. The challenge this week is 3-D or interactive projects. There are some great ones already posted on their site.

This is an interactive card. It's called a View Master card. We all remember those view masters we had as kids. A few posts ago I talked about black & white TV well my view master slides were black and white too. lol If you look at the second post you can see how the type of seashell has changed. There are a total of four different images that you can see through the hole. This card was a little time consuming but it was the first time I've ever done one of these. I've always seen them just never took the time to figure it out. The card itself actually looks better in person. The pattern paper was a bit of a challenge to figure out how to use it with this type of card and also find stamps that would work with it. The sample is already at the store if you're wanting to take a closer look.




Have a great day and get outside. There are never enough summer days for me.

Yvonne

More Lattice & Prima Flowers

Good Morning,

I've had a couple days off of blogging. I did have a couple cards to share but just didn't get around to posting.
I was busy making in my craft room though and have some scrapbook pages and a few cards done up so will have something to share for the coming week.

Weather is supposed to be nice today so I don't want to waste it inside. Have to make the most of the days when the sun is shining.

Both of these cards I used my plastic template to make the lattice cuts. This is a great way to use of bits and pieces of double sided designer paper. A 12 x 12 piece sure can go a long ways. I did use a stamp for the background on the cardstock and also to stamp the sentiment. The embellishments are just Prima Flowers with a Dew Drop in the centre. Oh, by the way there are some new Dew Drops at the Cutting Garden. I was over there on Thursday.


Saturday I picked up some cool scrapbooking paper at Photo Memories. Kitty paper. It's really bright and bold. I don't usually scrapbook the cats. I have a couple layout of them but their looks don't change a whole lot. lol I just really liked the paper. Actually since Xavier has been born I keep seeing lots of paper I really like. It's always the really cool, brightly themed paper that I want. Haven't had the opportunity to use paper like that in a long time. There were other pieces that caught my eye but I was being good and decided I had to pick pictures first then the paper. I hate it when my practical side wins out over my impulsive side. (I must confess...my impulsive side did slip some really cute brads in with the paper purchase...but I'm planning on using those on a layout of Grandbaby!)

Enough rambling...enjoy your Sunday and I'll visit with you tomorrow. Stay tuned for some interactive cards.

Yvonne

Aprons - Caardvarks Challenge

Good Morning,

Post will be short & sweet.

Answer to yesterdays trivia.

Question: Why do we say "Goodnight, sleep tight"?

Answer: Soemtime during the sixteenth century, British farmers moved from sleeping on the ground to sleeping in beds. These beds were little more than straw-filled mattress tied to wooden frames with ropes. To secure the mattress before sleeping, you pulled on the ropes to tighten them, and that's where they began saying, "Goodnight, sleeptight."

These two cards are for the Caardvarks Challenge. The challenge was to make any shaped card...not the regular square or rectangle. I've been having lots of fun with this challenge. Stop by their site and have a look at all the different ideas. The challenge ends tonight.

I made the Father's Day card first and then I worked on the girly apron card. I used double-sided pattern paper. Thought this would be a cute invite card for backyard Bar-B-q's or an invite to dinner. Changing things up a little it could even be used for wedding invitations. Once I got started on accessorizing this card I couldn't stop. First I punched a decorative border in a strip of paper for the top of the apron. You know, a little ruffle. Then I used a white gel pen for stitching. Decided some white liquid pearls were in order for the centre of each scallop. Maybe some pockets would be cute. Three pockets later and posies for them. lol Don't forget some eyelets. If I would have had some white ribbon I would have put that around the neck as a strap but all my ribbon was too wide.


This apron was made strictly from cardstock. A little sponging with ink to two-tone the cardstock and of course some tools for accessories. BTW the template is 4 1/4" x 11". Folded in half. A 1" punch for the neck circle and the arm holes as big as you want. I always make my template out of a plain piece of paper first and then trace.



No trivia today. I'll have something tomorrow. Must finish getting ready for the Cutting Garden.

Bye
Yvonne

Chalks, Chalks, Chalks

Good Morning to all in Blogland!

The sun isn't even shining yet and I'm feeling cheery. Must have had a good nights sleep. If not good, better than the night before.

So....where you able to answer yesterday's questions....What cartoon chacacter said, "Th-Th-Th-Th-That's all folks." If you answered Porky Pig you are correct. You dont' win anything excempt either being really good on trivia or you used to watch the cartoon on TV in black & white. lol Just kidding - maybe you where one of the lucky ones who had a color TV! I'm really going to show my age here...does anybody remember when you could buy a see-through film to put over your black & white TV that would make things tint a different color. Kinda weird. Just for the record I was a very young child when we got our first TV. Probably five and we didn't have electricity as you know it today but a generator. Enough said about the younger years.

The cards from todays share are from a class I'll be teaching next Wednesday morning at the Cutting Garden. Chalks will be the technique of the day and we'll be covering chalks as background, with versamark, and with blender pens. So contact the store directly if you want to come and play. I might add there is always some lively chatter about an array of interesting topics. lol I shan't say anything more. lol

The base color of the cardstock on this one is eggplant.

Like the choice of blues and greens together.

Love the color combo's on this as well. Tried to use some colors I don't normally use. I think the word is "Challenge myself".

I've had a thought of what my next card is going to be........off to create.

A couple more months and I will be celebrating my first year anniversary blogging. I'm starting to collect a few items so I can have a blog candy give away. Sounds like fun and a way for me to say Thank you to all of you who read my blog. A couple of months ago I installed the live traffic feed on the blog. You'll notice it on the right hand side. It shows where people are from who are visiting the site. You can also click on "watch in real time" and see more information. Stay tuned folks.

See if you can answer this one - Why do we say, "Goodnight, sleep tight?"

See you tomorrow.

Yvonne

Graduation Cap - Gift Card Holder

Hi Again,

You're getting two posts today. Yea, don't get used to it. lol
Finished getting the groceries and the embrodiery floss I needed for this card. I know I have some already but I can't find it. I did counted cross stitch in another life. I obviously tidied up too well.

The card, idea, template was cased from Alicia Coulombe on Splitcoaststampers. Click on the link for the directions. I have some friends/family graduating this year and thought this was a super cute card. You can also fit a gift card or cash into the base of the cap.




Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-That's all folks. Leave a message in the comments section if you can identify the cartoon character that used to say that!

Yvonne

Baby Congrats

Good Morning Monday,

Week-end was great. The sun shone nice and hot yesterday. I so love warm sunny weather. Makes me cheery.
I had this card uploaded into my blog area for a couple of weeks but forgot to post it.
Catherine made this sweet little card when Xavier was born. It's so cute. I love the giraffe and the cuttlebug button folder makes such great borders.

Grocery shopping is high on my list today and putting some cards into the mail.

I maybe back later with another post.

Yvonne