For Lynn

I finally got a Cricut!!!

This card I made for my Mama3 (I consider myself to have 3 moms). Her birthday was Oct 19th and while I had this card made in time for the occassion, I haven't managed to get it to her or get it up on here until now. Did you know I'm a huge procrastinator?! My Mama3 loves fall and all the colours of the season so this card was made just for her. It was a stroke of luck that I procrastinated though because now I can enter it in this week's Heart 2 Heart Challenge which was to make something halloween or autumn themed.

I like to use my blog to thank the people in my life that I make the cards for or just let everyone know how special they are to me. Lynn has been my Mama3 since I was 15. She has always been there for me. She is so supportive of everything I have done and often gives me a different perspective in life. I'm so glad to have her in my life. Thanks Lynn! And happy birthday!

All products are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted.
Cardstock: Pacifica, Colonial White
Pattern Paper: Dreamin'
Stamps: For Every Occassion
Ink: Autumn Teracotta
Cricut Cartridge: Art Philosophy
Embellishments: Chocolate Ribbon

Blog Award!

Yay, my first blog award! I feel special. Thanks to my favourite Upline, Nancy Ball! Please make sure to check out her awesome blog.

This award recognizes inspiring blogs with less than 200 followers. Go me! It's also a way for new bloggers to become more recognized for their amazing talents. Liebster means "favourite" in German.

I'd like to recognize and thank the following five bloggers (in no particular order) for their wonderful talents and for always giving me so much inspiration! Please check them out by clicking on their names below.

Notes by Nina - a fellow British Columbian and a fantastic card maker!

Danielle G - all the way from the east coast with tons of artistic talent.

Violet B - always enjoying the great cards here.

Jen Rubio - love her work!

Suzi Davis - a great author (for something different than art) who needs to attend to her blog more but is forgiven due to things like having a toddler and a new baby...


If you would like to pass this blog award on to others, simply follow the directions below:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blog who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award onto your blog.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
5. And most of all, HAVE FUN!

Another Challenge

This week's challenge over at the Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog  is simply that there is to be no use of patterned paper and one must use at least three different colours. My three colour choices were Purple, Olive, and Colonial White. So happy to use some purple!! Obviously still can't get away from the green though... This card is for my Nana who's 82nd birthday is coming up at the end of the month. Thanks for checking it out. :)

All products CTMH unless otherwise posted.
Cardstock: Smokey Plum, Olive, Colonial White
Stamps: Mayberry, You and Me, With Love, Delight, For Every Occassion
Ink: Pansy Purple, Olive
Embellishments: Opaques, Purple Fiber
Green ribbon not CTMH.

Baby Boy

I totally couldn't wait to delve into one of the new paper packs from CTMH and I think the colours of Dreamin' are awesome! I had to make a card for a brand new little guy who came into this world a few days ago, and this is what I came up with. I know it's not your typical baby looking card but I think it works. Besides, he's pretty close to being a fall baby and those are probably the first colours he will properly be able to see anyway. See how I put a circle around the month he was born?? I thought it was rather clever... Please ignore the imperfections of my circle cutting (I distressed the edges of the blue circle to hide it better) as the Cricut Expressions machine is still only on my wish list for now. I'm saving up though!

All products are CTMH unless otherwise noted.
Cardstock: Colonial White, Pacifica, Sky
Pattern Paper: Dreamin'
Stamps: Little Reminder (stamp of the month for January), Dreamin' Workshop
Ink: Pacifica, Goldrush, Autumn Terracotta
Embellishments: Colonial White ribbon, Brown button

For My Sis

It's my sister's 27th birthday today and so I wanted to do a special birthday card for her. I started it at the beginning of the week with Heart 2 Heart's colour challenge (using the colours Pear, Cocoa & Sorbet) as well as Mojo Monday's weekly sketch challenge (shown below) but it's taken me this long to get the time to finish it. I would like to acknowledge a fellow blogger here, as without her H2H prize winning goodies, I wouldn't have had anything Sorbet to add to this card! Thanks Romaine!

I'd like to think this card is cheery, sociable, elegant and refined, soft but strong, and beautiful in generally every way without being overdone by tons of details - just like my sister! My sister is probably my most favourite person on earth and has always been there for me in my life. She's younger than me but she's still someone I look up to a lot of the time. I don't think I could have survived this life without her! Love you sis!

All products CTMH unless otherwise noted.
Cardstock: Colonial White, Cocoa
Pattern Paper: Miracle, Perfect Day
Stamps: For Every Occassion, Delight, You and Me
Ink: Chocolate, Pear, Sorbet
Embellishments: Adhesive Gems, Sorbet Ribbon
Embroidery thread from my stash.

Come Alive

I consider myself to be fairly good with words - especially if they are written. Currently, I am at a loss for words to describe my experience this week at a course called, Come Alive, located here in BC on Gabriola Island.

Before this course, I felt as though my life had spiraled out of my control. I was angry, confused, lost, and in so much pain. I didn't know what to do but I knew I had to do something! With the help of my dad, we found this course and the means for me to go.

I am sure the experience contained similarities and differences for all who attended, but I can tell you what I learned from it all. I learned to breathe. I learned how to get out of my head and back into my body. I learned that each individual has his or her own pain and that I can't take that away from them no matter how much I try or how much I sacrifice. It is their pain, not mine. I learned how to love, without losing myself and getting caught up in everyone else's "stuff." I learned how to forgive myself; to accept myself as the pure, innocent and beautiful being I was born as. I learned to live in the moment. I learned to love myself - without the need for others to prove it or not prove it to me. I learned to breathe.

I am finally free.

I further wanted to express the fact that I shared this experience with the most amazing, open, loving, supportive group of people I have ever been with. We arrived as total strangers and left (after five days) as close friends. Many will go their own way and many will remain forever friends. I will always feel very warm in my heart with the memory of them all and the experiences we had together.

I recommend this course to anyone who is lost or wants to feel connected. I recommend it to anyone who strives for peace and contentment in life. I recommend it to anyone who wants to feel loved. In fact, I simply recommend it to everyone.

There are no sufficient words to describe the lightness and warmth that I feel since this amazing experience.

Happy End of My Creative Slump

Seeing as I managed to finally get back into the creative groove after almost a full month slump, I thought I'd get cracking on the challenge blogs. For Heart 2 Heart this week the theme is child's birthday. I was originally going to do a boy birthday card but as you will see, things really didn't turn out that way. The sketch for Mojo Monday is as follows and then my masterpiece. Do you think the elephant stands out enough? And I hope you can see all the sparkles. Enjoy!

All products CTMH unless otherwise noted.
Cardstock: Buttercup, Olive
Pattern Paper: Boom-Di-Ada
Stamp Sets: Life's a Jungle, Dainty Thoughts
Ink: Hollyhock, Olive
Embellishments: Itty Bitty Metallic Brad
All other embellishments (square brads, ribbon, sparkles) from other sources (probably Michael's).

"Just Keep Swimming"

Without going into much detail, let's just say that my life certainly has not been going as my original (or even revised) plans proposed. I have been finding myself riding up and down all kinds of plunging, emotional waves. These are the kind of waves that break suddenly and can dump swimmers, pushing them to the bottom with great force. These are the preferred waves for experienced surfers - something which I most definitely am not! I find myself alternatingly fighting the strength of these waves and allowing them to swallow me under for a time. I'm not sure how long this section of ocean lasts before I can enjoy the pristine calm of shallower waters (see previously mentioned "plans") but for now all I can do is take the advice from the very wise family movie, Finding Nemo, and "just keep swimming."

I figured I'd make a card to help solidify my resolve just a little bit.
I was too late for the Heart 2 Heart Challenge but the sketch was SO perfect for what I wanted to do. In fact, it was kind of crazy how the sketch was almost exactly what I had planned in my head. So here it is; sketch and my version.

All supplies CTMH unless otherwise noted.
Cardstock: Dutch Blue, Garden Green, Bamboo
Pattern Paper: Rustic Trail
Stamp Set: Hot Diggity
Ink: Goldrush, Autumn Terracotta
Embellishments: Black Bitty Brad, White Bitty, Regular and Big Brads
Stickles
Sentiment written by me.

New! New! New!

So many new things to tell everyone about!!
In case you are unaware, the new Close To My Heart Idea Book is now out and all products are available for order! Please contact me to get yourself a copy so you can view all the wonderful new projects and products.

This month's Constant Campaign is a good one! In August, when you spend $55, you can get the stamp of the month set for only $5.50, plus a FREE A-sized bonus set. This essentially means that you would get two stamp sets for just $5.50! It's a steal of a deal.

Here is a look at some of the artwork created with the stamp of the month. I love this one! Time to get started on your Halloween projects. Don't leave it 'til the last minute! Contact me to take advantage now!

Some Inspiration from Heart 2 Heart

I love the Heart 2 Heart challenge blog as it is always providing me with inspiration for my next creative project. This week it really is all about the inspiration as we were given a photo from which to derive from. Here it is:

For this card I kept with the paneling idea. Also, more and more I am noticing I like the boldness of having black in my creation. Somehow there ended up being a LOT less white than I had originally intended. Guess I got carried away with colour. I used a few different bits and bobs for this card. Hope you like it! Thanks for checking it out.

All products CTMH unless otherwise noted.
Cardstock: Crystal Blue, Black, White Daisy
Pattern Paper: Miracle
Stamp Set: For Every Occassion
Ink: Buttercup, Goldrush, Smoothie
Embellishments: Just Blooms, Mocha Opaques
NOT CTMH: green ribbon and green wire

Bang For Your Buck

One of the things I really love about Close To My Heart is that they have a deal every single month to help avid/obsessed scrappers like myself get as much goodies as we can without breaking our bank accounts too much. This month, if you spend $50 before shipping and tax, you can choose one of five items (regularly valued $9.95-$16.50) and only pay $1 for it! Items shown below.

Click on the image to see a larger version and let me know if you're interested in ordering anything here. I know I'm going to get my order in soon! Happy scrapping everyone!

Studio J Creation

Being that it's the last day to get a free jpg file from Studio J, I figured I better get on it!! It was surprisingly much more fun than I thought it would be. I think it would be awesome to create these online and then just order all the stuff to make it for real instead of just getting a picture of it... Then again, one wouldn't be able to change the size of things and flip pictures so easily in real life... These photos were from shortly after my little one's birth (as you can see). Let me know what you think!

I never had this paper package called Twitterpated so it was really fun to be able to use it. That was one of the things I enjoyed most about Studio J too; picking the paper and the layout design. So easy! Cheers!

Twilight Dreams

I had the idea for this one in my head and managed to get all the pieces together the other day before finally being able to put it together just now as Nevae is napping. This one is simply for my own personal pleasure as I wanted to use the You and Me stamp set from CTMH. I also thought I better practice some embossing which was perfect for this card because of the white. White ink just never seems to show up as bright as one might want it to. I found an old CTMH paper pack in my stash which worked perfectly as well. It's so nice when everything comes together just how you want it to... Enjoy!

All products CTMH unless otherwise noted.

Cardstock: White Daisy, Twilight

Pattern Paper: Aspen

Stamp Sets: You and Me, Lucky

Ink: White, Lagoon

Embellishments: Big White Daisy Flower, Pink Button, White Floss, and the pink flowers ribbon is from my stash.

Thanks for visiting!

My Life as a Maze

I often get to feeling as if I'm living in a giant maze. I know there is an end to it somewhere with sunshine and rainbows and a pot of gold and all of that, but somehow I just can't seem to ever get there. I am in a maze full of dead ends! Yes, sometimes I get closer to the finish before I hit yet another dead end. Yes, I learn not to go in certain directions again (sometimes this takes repeated attempts). Yes, I feel I am fully "experiencing" the journey - whether times are good or bad. But for all of this traveling so to speak, it often seems as if I'm actually getting nowhere! I do know where it is I want to go and I do try many different directions (I think) but somehow I keep ending up at those stand-stills or cross-roads where I realize I really haven't gotten much further than the last direction I tried. It would be so nice to get up high and have the bird's eye view of my maze of life. If I could only see exactly how to get there... Alas, I must continue to trudge along, carrying my little bag of hope with me and start mapping out my next plan of attack. Maybe I need to run into one of those vacation detours again...

Mojo Monday and H2H Colour Challenge

I was looking at the cards I've done in the past few months and I realized there were only about three or four of them that didn't have any green in them. Wow, green is such a versatile colour! I'm not sick of green yet but I was glad for Heart 2 Heart's colour challenge this week which did not include green at all. The required colours for the challenge were as follows:

Now, I didn't actually have any Barn Red so I hope it's ok that I used Cranberry instead. Very patriotic colours for those in the good ol' US of A.
I also thought I'd get in on some Mojo Monday this week so here is the design sketch to follow:

Ahh, it's so nice to be off work this week and getting some of my creative juices flowing onto paper instead of just in my head. Now if only I could be getting paid at the same time... Ok and here is my masterpiece!

All products are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted.
Cardstock: Bamboo, Colonial White
Pattern Paper: Lucky, Magnifique
Stamp Set: Hot Diggity (this one is just so fun!)
Ink: Cranberry, Outdoor Denim
Embellishments: Canvas Badge, Blue Button, Red Brads, Hemp, and the red ribbon was in my stash from Who Knows Where. Oh and googly eyes from WalMart.

Thanks so much for visiting and for all your comments!! :)

Butterfly Miracle

I made this card for my most recent gathering. I used the Delight stamp set and Miracle paper. We did the stamp rolling technique for our butterfly and I chose the "Life is good" sentiment as it is short and sweet. I may not necessarily agree with it right now but "fake it 'til you make it" right? Right. As always thanks for visiting and feel free to let me know what you think!

All products CTMH unless otherwise noted.
Cardstock: Colonial White, Sky Blue
Pattern Paper: Miracle
Stamps: Delight, Treetops
Ink: Lagoon, Pear, Desert Sand
Embellishments: Colonial White Ribbon, Opaque Gem

For My Dad

I know this is late but this is the Father's Day card I made for my Dad (who unfortunately hasn't received it yet!). I just wanted everyone to know what a great Dad I have. He really is of the best variety. My Dad is of the kind who is ALWAYS there when you need him, no matter how big or small the obstacle. He is the kind of Dad who lets you make your own decisions and choices, and then gives his never-ending support for what was chosen whether he agrees with it necessarily or not. My Dad is the kind who leads by example, yet isn't afraid to point out his own faults and weaknesses (yes Dad, I know you have none...). My Dad is the best and I know without a doubt that I won the family lottery when I was born his daughter. I even found a quote by Alexander The Great which sums up my Dad pretty good: "I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well." Thanks Dad!

All products CTMH unless otherwise noted.
Cardstock: Colonial White, Chocolate,
Pattern Paper: Magnifique
Ink: Lagoon
Embellishments: Assorted Blue Button, Hemp, "Dad" from a random selection of sticker letters I had (not CTMH).

Weddings

Summer is the time of weddings and that's what the challenge is this week for Heart 2 Heart. I love the look of black and white with one accent colour. I chose blue for "something blue." My second choice would have been red. I stamped all the swirls and then had to add one of my own, done with hemp inked in blue. It didn't turn out as perfect as I wanted and if I did it again I would simply draw it in black ink. I also wanted to make the sentiment stand out a bit more... I guess it's critique myself day at home. Overall, I love the idea of this card more than what it actually turned out to be (does that make sense?). Thanks for visiting. :)

All products CTMH unless otherwise noted.
Cardstock: White Daisy, Black
Stamps: Playful Flourishes
Ink: Black
Embellishments: Black and transparent blue ribbon, Blue Flower, Black brads and black bitty brads.
Additions not CTMH: Stickles, Love sentiment, Blue sparkle dots, Diamond brad in center of flower.

Heart 2 Heart Sketch Challenge

Well I'm a bit late getting this one in for the week but it seems my life revolves around work, ball games, hockey games (Go Canucks!), and kids. So for last week's challenge at Heart 2 Heart it's a sketchy one. And by sketchy I mean that in the most literal sense; basically follow the pattern. I love to see the variety that comes out in these ones. Here is what the sketch is and following is my own interpretation...

This was a really fun card to do. I made it 4x7 and used some nice bright colours. For some reason I just couldn't follow the sketch exactly by putting the image on the bottom left side, so here's my cute birdy on the right instead. Fairly simple but I'm happy with the result.

All supplies are CTMH unless otherwise noted.
Cardstock: Hollyhock, Buttercup
Pattern Paper: Boom-Di-Ada
Stamp Set: Hot Diggity
Ink: Garden Green, Hollyhock
Embellishments: Sweet Leaf Ribbon, Yellow brad

As always, thanks so much for visiting. Love all your comments. :)

Drop-In Mondays!

Every second Monday of the month I will be hosting a class where one can come and learn a new technique for stamping, scrapbooking or paper crafting at each session. Anyone and everyone is welcome to come for $5 each to cover the cost of supplies.

All classes will begin at 6pm and are expected to last 1-2 hrs.

Dates and techniques are as follows:

June 13th: Scallop Punch Flowers

June 27th: Masking

July 11th: Windows

July 25th: Everything Ribbon

August 8th: Paper Piecing

August 22nd: Heat Embossing

I will be giving a gift to all those who sign up and pay for the full 6 sessions in advance.

If you plan on attending on any of the days, I would appreciate a heads-up close to the time, simply to have supplies ready for you.

In order to give you as taste of what we will be doing. Here are a few examples for the first class on June 13th. Thanks to Brenda at Stamp. Scrap. Create for the techniques.

All products CTMH unless otherwise noted.

Cardstock: White Daisy

Pattern Paper: Miracle

Stamp Set: Dainty Thoughts

Ink: Pear, Lagoon

Embellishments: Assorted Green Buttons, Sweet Leaf Ribbon



All products CTMH unless otherwise noted.

Cardstock: Bamboo, Hollyhock

Pattern Paper: Miracle

Stamp Set: Dainty Thoughts

Ink: Hollyhock

Embellishments: Assorted Green Buttons, Natural Hemp

All products CTMH unless otherwise noted.

Cardstock: Colonial White

Pattern Paper: Magnifique

Stamp Set: Dainty Thoughts

Ink: Chocolate, Pacifica

Embellishments: Assorted Blue Buttons

Not Another Card

The Heart 2 Heart challenge blog is on the same track as me this week as I thought it was time for something other than a card to show off and it seems they did too. Here is a scrapbook layout I did a little while ago using CTMH's old Emporium paper that I never seem to tire of. It's a simple layout but I think these photos suited something simple, yet classy. Actually, now that I am noticing the details, I guess I can add this to Heart 2 Heart's button challenge for the month as well!

All supplies are CTMH unless otherwise noted.
Cardstock: Sweet Leaf, Cocoa, Crystal Blue
Pattern Paper: Emporium
Stamps: Simple Stitches, With Love
Ink: Desert Sand, Garnet
Embellishments: White Daisy Flowers, Assorted Basic & Clear Buttons & the other colours are CTMH as well but old so I don't remember what collection they are from, Metallic Brads

Thanks for visiting!

Heart 2 Heart and Mojo Monday 191

For the Heart 2 Heart challenge this week we are sharing techniques. One of my favourite techniques is masking. This is a very easy technique and I often find myself using it as a different way to make an aspect of my design stand out.

To do this, simply choose the shape that you would like to mask around. In this case, I masked around the owl inside the scallop circle shape. I punched out the scallop shape using my CTMH Scallop Punch on a scrap piece of paper. Next, I placed the shape on my piece of square cardstock and held it still while I used my sponge to simply ink around it. I am partial to inking in a sun-ray-type pattern but the possibilities are endless.
While I'm here, I could point out the stitching technique as well, which I very much admire but hate doing as it is somewhat tedious and time-consuming. I tend to enjoy faux stitching much more...

I am also entering another challenge this week. I thought I would finally give one of the Mojo Monday sketches a try. So here is the sketch with my card following. I stuck with some nice, bright colours again for this one. I just love the owl and his big googly eyes!

All products Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted.
Cardstock: Colonial White, Olive, Hollyhock
Pattern Paper: Boom-Di-Ada
Stamps: Hot Diggity, Dainty Thoughts
Ink: Olive, Hollyhock
Embellishments: Autumn Harvest Assorted Brads, green embroidery thread, yellow ribbon and googly eyes from outside sources.

Bright and Bold

My little Nevae is sick today and although I feel really bad for her, by taking a second nap she has given me the time to do another card. Wow, two in one day! That almost never happens...
Anyway, I needed a break from the browns and greens for a moment. I needed something bright and bold. Here it is, using another one of my new stamp sets. Enjoy!
Oh, just a side note: In case you think your eyes are bobbling when you look at the Happy Birthday, you are not crazy! I just stamped my Blue Denim overtop and slightly to the side of my Autumn Teracotta, giving it this trippy effect. (Insert smiley face here).

All products CTMH unless otherwise noted.
Cardstock: Colonial White, Sunset, Blue Denim
Pattern Paper: Lucky
Stamps: Hot Diggity, sentiment stamp from the sale bin at Michael's
Ink: Autumn Teracotta, Blue Denim
Embellishments: Autumn Assortments Buttons and orange Brads

P.S. Thanks to Nancy for the idea of popping up the frog body from a card workshop I did with her many mooooons ago. Cheers.

Life is Good

Well it's been another busy roller-coaster week. I have been working lots (16 hours last Saturday!) and Moose (my boyfriend/illegitimate husband/or whatever you would like to call him) has been home with the kids. Nice to trade places once in a while... With that, baseball and other unmentionables, I was hard-pressed to find time for any of my creative needs. But then my latest CTMH orders came in the mail...!!
I just got the beautiful Miracle Level 2 paper pack as well as a few new stamp sets and I couldn't wait to use them. I've been eyeing the Treetops set forever! Just love it. Here is the card I made today while my little one was napping.

All products are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted.
Cardstock: Colonial White, Chocolate
Pattern Paper: Miracle
Stamps: Treetops, True Happiness
Ink: Olive, Chocolate
Embellishments: Chocolate Ribbon, Assorted Green Brads