Dear Self - A little inspiration

I wanted to join in with a splitcoast challenge since it has been quite a while since the last time I did, so I went to my favourite challenge (inspiration challenge) and saw Tim Holtz Mania (IC551) and chose this pin from the inspiration board.

I have several 'Dear Self' sentiments from Create with TLC, and today I have a card using another of these fabulous digi stamps. I cut and embossed the sentiment using large petite ovals, sadly a discontinued die cut set. I used a silver paint pen to edge the sentiment and several other layers and accents.

We all need a reminder occasionally to be brave, to move forward, and that today we will win! I know I do. I really love the secret I'm showing in this photo - the underside of the pattern paper is ORANGE! The sage, grey and ivory print is one of my absolute favourite papers of all time, and I have rarely featured the orange print. Today, the flowers show the bright and happy flip side. While I could make all sorts of ethereal connections from this print to the sentiment,  I won't. I'll leave that for you to do, if you choose.

The little orange glow is highly appealing, I think. I couldn't find any pink anything I was willing to use like my inspiration piece for this card since I wanted to keep the focus on the sentiment.

I used Cinch and Go dies to create these flowers (since I couldn't find my tattered blossoms dies - it took me an hour of looking before I finally gave up and turned to this die set instead!!), and they are super simple to assemble. I used an awl to make the hole in the center larger so I could fit in this many pearl stamens, and I really love the effect.

stamp; dear self (create with tlc)
paper; everafter (cosmo cricket - discontinued); horizon, lily white, front porch (bazzill)
accessories; yellow pearl stamens (darice); stack and fan flowers, cinch and go flowers, make a wish, i'll never leaf you, labels 41, labels 41 decorative accents, lg petite ovals (spellbinders); silver paint pen (uchida)

Hangover Humour

The inspiration challenge on Splitcoast is all about buttons. Love it! I love buttons. I chose this inspiration pin and it reminded me of a plaid paper I have. The rest of my card fell into place from there.

The Funny Bones stamp line from Riley & Co. has quickly become a favourite since they were introduced. I have a wee collection of them now and I really love making funny cards. I was going to make a card for new years using this sentiment, but I have another idea up my sleeve for that post (Come back for my Season of Giving blog hop post on New Years Day - so much inspiration and so many chances to win from every blog participating!!). My other favourite source for cheeky sentiments is TLC Creations.

This plaid paper is an older paper from Basic Grey, Bow Ties, but it was just too perfect for this challenge, and I have a particular weakness for plaid paper - I have quite a bit of it.

I've used Timeless Rectangle to create this side border and sentiment frame. The sentiment was cut and embossed using Classic Rectangles Lg. This magnificent paper bow was cut using Becca Feeken's new die set Tiered Multi-loop Bows. It is so easy to use with gorgeous results!! This is another set that has quickly become a favourite of mine.

Season's Greetings and Merry Christmas to you in these final days leading up to Christmas.

stamps; hangovers (riley & co)

paper; bow ties, figgy pudding (basic grey); white (bazzill)

ink; onyx black versafine (tsukineko)

accessories; timeless rectangles, classic rectangles lg, tiered multi-loop bows (spellbinders); lime crush rhinestones (bazzill)

Inspired CAS

My card for this weekend's Inspiration Challenge is very different for me.

I chose this snowman painted on a wood shutter for my inspiration. I decided to change the colours a bit to get another traditional coloured Christmas card into the stash. I also chose to go clean and simple (CAS) for this card so is was snail-mail friendly.

Colouring on kraft paper is one of my favourite mediums. I used copic markers for the hat and scarf, and I wanted a grainier texture for the snowman to mimic the texture of the wood shutter so I used prismacolor pencils for the white portions. I am quite delighted with the outcome.

Have a lovely day, friends!

stamps: christmas characters (inkadinkadoo)
ink: onyx black versafine (tsukineko)
paper: have a merry christmas (carta bella); kraft, white, kraft dotted swiss, raven (bazzill)
accessories: handwritten holidays dies (sizzix); copic markers; prismacolor markers

Inspired Christmas Pixie

The Inspiration Challenge on Splitcoaststampers each week is one of my favourite challenges. This week, I found this pin on a the IC pintrest board and have used it to inspire my whimsical Christmas card.

I adore this little Christmas Pixie from Tiddly Inks, and I think it might be discontinued. I looked on the website and didn't find it.

The little poinsettia accent is from 5x7 Holly Frame, and I love the dimension it adds to the card. After I cat and embossed the accent, I coloured parts of it using the same copic markers used for the Christmas Pixie.

After the wings were coloured, I went back over them using clear wink of stella pen to add all that sparkle. It's quite wonderful! I used clear wink of stella on the poinsettia as well, and it adds such a special touch. The sentiment banner was cut by hand and then sponged. I think the Hero Arts stamp set I used has also been discontinued.

This colour palette is a favourite of mine. The softness of it is very appealing and is such a lovely change for a Christmas card. Yes, another non-traditional Christmas card.

stamps: christmas pixie (tiddly inks); joy to all (hero arts)
ink: only black versafine (tsukineko); bundled sage, iced spruce distress ink (ranger)
paper: cozy christmas (my mind's eye); horizon, white, smoky (bazzill)
accessories: 5x7 holly frame, lg classic squares (spellbinders); gold pen (marvy/uchida), clear wink of stella (zig); copic markers

Self-Control

Hello, friends. I saw this pin on an amazing Pinterest board in today's Inspiration Challenge on SCS, and I was inspired by the calm colours.

I am a high school teacher, and this sentiment speaks to me. Really. I love my students and I adore working all day, every day with the youth in my city, but some days what they come up with just makes me laugh. Frequently.

I love the pairing of the Pierced Word Bubble die with the knit print on this pattern paper from Authentique: Cozy. To me it's a visual representation of what the stamped sentiment says. I know. On occasion, perhaps today, I over think what I do, but when I saw this pattern paper, it all fell together. It was a fun little epiphany moment.

Since finding these cheeky sentiment stamps from Riley and Company, I have been using them fairly frequently in my paper crafting because I enjoy the contrast between the what is said, and the more structured traditional layouts of my cards. So much fun!!

Increasingly, I have noticed embellishments are getting big again. As I was searching my aging stash for this project, I discovered my embellishments haven't necessarily aged well, and my style has changed. Time to get creative to make it work because I have a whole bunch to use up before I can replenish my stock! I coloured some of these flowers by smooshing a few ink pads on my craft sheet and sprayed the ink with water. Next, I simply rubbed the flowers through the ink and left them to dry. I will be trying the ink on watercolour paper backgrounds soon, so stay tuned!

I hope today is a day of revealed blessings for you.

stamps; self-control (riley & co)
ink; onyx black (tsukineko), ocean aqua, pebble adirondack ink, tumbled glass distress ink (ranger)
paper; cozy (authentique), horizon, kraft, lily white (bazzill), vellum (paper accents)
accessories; pierced word bubbles, A2 curved matting basics A, A2 curved matting basics b (spellbinders), mulberry flowers (petaloo), triple butterfly punch, leaf punch, branch punch (martha stewart), buttons (basic grey), sewing machine, thread

A little inspiration

Happy weekend. I wanted to create a little something using a cheeky stamp I recently acquired. I do love sentiments that are a bit of a giggle.

The inspiration challenge today on SplitcoastStampers is a lovely pinterest board, and I have chose this delightful bridal wreath for my inspiration.

The lattice in the Decorative Fancy Diamond reminded me of the crossed twigs in the heart wreath. I wanted the lattice to be accented, so I sponged it with Juniper Adirondack ink.

I have used Reverent Square as the base for my decorative panel. This is such a gorgeous large die and it's among my top 5 favourite 6x6 decorative dies. Most of the cards I make are 6x6 and I am thrilled that there are so many lovely 6x6 dies available.

The sentiment was adhered centered over the ribbon inside the reverent square. Having the Decorative Fancy Diamond frame the sentiment softens the card.

I have quite a collection of cheeky sentiments, and I will be using them in the near future. And isn't there a wee bit of truth to this? I admit I am more virtuous on some days than others - aren't we all?

I used a wee pre-made flower and punched some branches to create the bow spray. I sponged the branches with brown ink to add visual interest. I used a few beads I had laying around to create the pin. I'm quite pleased with this project.

stamps; women are not moody (riley & co)
ink; juniper adirondack ink, bundled sage, frayed burlap (ranger), grayed flannel memento, onyx black versafine (tsukineko)
paper; ancestry (k&co), walnut cream, sterling, fern (bazzill)
accessories; sm & lg petite ovals, reverent square, decorative fancy diamond, fancy diamond (spellbinders), branch punch (martha stewart), flower, beads (unknown)

Inspired by Courage

Spring Break started in our school system, so I have a week off! I decided to not do any work or research this weekend. Instead, I grabbed a few card making supplies that I had laying around. It's a simple card, which is just what I needed today.

The digital sentiment is from tlc creations. I went and checked out today's inspiration challenge at splitcoast stampers. Today's challenge is a flickr album by a woman that makes some amazing hand made books. I was enthralled by the remarkable hand stitching on her books, so I decided to do some simple cross stitches to embellish my card.

Thanks for popping by!

stamps; sentiment (tlc creations)
paper; black & white timeless (kaiser), raven, white canvas, amsterdam (bazzill)
accessories; white satin ribbon (offray), white embroidery floss (dmc), adhesive rhinestones (zva)

Knot it!

I pulled out my Ultimate Encyclopedia of Knots and Ropework by Geoffrey Budworth this morning. Check out what I did with this book and some linen cord I have from i {heart} papers;

I decided to make a man card inspired by this fabulous bookend on the My Sweet Muffin website, the inspiraiton challenge on Splitcoaststampers this weekend. I've used Documented by Simple Stories for the multiple browns as in the bookends. This sentiment is from Pretty Phrases by Paper Smooches and I've stamped it with Tuxedo Black Memento ink.

This knot is called the Vice Versa knot. Not bad at all! Have a great week!

stamps; pretty phrases (paper smooches from ihp)
paper; documented (simple stories  from ihp), java, kraft (bazzill)
ink; tuxedo black memento ink (tsukineko)
accessories; linen cord (canvas corps from ihp)

splitcoaststampers - inspiration challenge IC342
ccee stampers - man card
pile it on - create your own embellishments
fabulous friday -  make your own embellishments
use your stuff - make it by hand
pause, dream, enjoy; 3 things - squares (paper, ribbon, sentiment)
lil red wagon - get krafty
wags & whiskers - use kraft
  

And She Sparkled

On the Splitcoast Inspiration Challenge today, I found this book on the inspiration website, Bibelot. Not hard to see how this relates, eh?!! I grabbed my Viola paper and set to work...

I used a Fancy Labels 3 die to cut the white card stock and applied the coordinating Nestabling from Want 2 Scrap. This sentiment is from Thinking of You by Technique Tuesday, stamped with tuxedo black memento ink. It looked stark against the deep purple background paper, so I sponged a little shaded lilac distress ink on it.

As if there wasn't already enough bling, I added this sweet Sparkler to add shine to my little black bow.

stamps; thinking of you (technique tuesday from ihp)
paper; viola (memory box from ihp), raven, canvas white (bazzill)
ink; shaded lilac distress ink (ranger from ihp), tuxedo black memento (tsukineko from ihp)
accessories; bow easy (from ihp), sparklers (webster's pages from ihp),  fancy labels 3 nestabling (want 2 scrap from ihp), scorpal (from ihp), clear rhinestones (zva from ihp), black ribbon (offray), fancy tags 3 (spellbinders from ihp)

splitcoaststampers inspiration challenge - IC339
Our creative corner - embellished frame 

IHP Spring Botanical

Thanks for popping in to visit me today! I sincerely love it when you do, especially since I've been MIA so much for the last several months.

Today, I made this elegant wasp card. I don't normally thing of wasps as elegant, but this gorgeous image from my Spring Botanical set defies common waspish nastiness!

I coloured this image using the following distress markers; wild honey, rusty hinge, walnut stain, pumice stone, and white picket fence across the eyes for a little highlight. First, I stamped  the lovely shaped background on walnut creme cardstock using Pumice Stone distress ink. I cut the image by hand and sponged the edges with Pumice Stone. Then, I stamped the wasp slightly off center using rich cocoa memento ink on top of the pumice stone background.

I then stamped the wasp twice more on watercolour paper using rich cocoa memento ink. I coloured these images using distress markers and blended the colours using my handy dandy aquapainter, but it's almost as easy to use a little water colour brush and a bit of water. I cut the images and mounted them on the walnut creme base and added a little sparkle to the wings with stardust stickles. I wish all wasps looked this lovely!! I'm sure they do and I'm just too busy swatting at them to notice!

After I assembled all the parts, I stamped the sentiment from the Spring Botanical set in the corner using black soot distress ink. I sponged the edges of all the Carefree pattern paper - the darker papers were sponged using gathered twigs and the lighter using pumice stone.

I layered my watermelon crochet trim with ivory satin ribbon because I love the depth, and this coral colour is one of my all time favourite colours.

I lined up these lovely blooms just because I like them...

Thanks to all the people who make up challenges every week! I love them, and I appreciate the inspiration so much! If you have time, do stop by the challenge blogs I have listed for a little inspiration for yourself - I know it really helps me!

stamps; spring botanical (gourmet rubber stamps from ihp)
paper; carefree (authentique from ihp), walnut creme, flintstone (bazzill), watercolour paper - 140lb cold press (strathmore)
ink; black soot, gathered twigs, pumice stone distress inks, distress ink markers (ranger from ihp), rich cocoa memento ink (tsukineko from ihp)
accessories; watermelon crochet trim (may arts from ihp), ivory satin ribbon (offray), stardust stickles (ranger from ihp), doily die (marianne desgins), flowers (recollections)

splitcoast inspiration challenge IC338 - charming charlie 
deconstructing jen - sketch challenge ds53 
craft a scene - spring flowers
crafts & me - fabulous flowers 
creative card crew - dimension
crafty calendar - things with wings
ladybug crafts - things with wings
scrap creations - bingo (glitter, flower, ribbon)
party time tuesday - shabby chic 
our creative corner - shabby chic 

Riddersholm Design - Wrought Iron Inspiration

Happy Sunday, y'all. I sprained my foot at my high school last Thursday, so I was forced to stay put all weekend and I took the time to get some paper crafting time in. My foot is quite painful and incredibly ugly right now, but all in all, it's not a bad trade off...

This weekend, I've used some gorgeous paper from the new Fleamarket line by Riddersholm Design. I just love the blue, brown and cream colour combination for this lovely paper collection! I was inspired for this victorian garden feeling from yesterday's Splitcoast stampers challenge from the Vintage Trading Company. I love these cream wrought iron garden stakes from their website.

I've used a sentiment from Scripture Collection 9 from Our Daily Bread Designs, which I've had for awhile but not enough hours in the day to get it inky!  I chose to stamp it on this designer paper because the pattern on it is so muted that it enhances the sentiment rather than overwhelming it. I really love the little blue splotches, which add a lovely pop of colour.

While I'm not a huge fan of birds, I love the graceful shape of this little resin bird from Riddersholm Design, and it was perfect for the inspiration challenge and this sentiment.

Have a blessed week, everyone!

stamps; scripture collection 9 (ODBD)
paper; Fleamarket - Stains (Riddersholm Design), powder blue, flintstone (bazzill)
ink; pitch black adirondack (ranger)
accessories; lg rectangle, labels 18, fleur de lis rectangle, ironwork motifs, sm scallop rectangle (spellbinders), twill ribbon, resin bird (riddersholm design), ivory satin ribbon (offray), taupe pearl flourish (zva), blue pearlized brads (unknown)  

splitcoast inspiration challenge # IC335
anything goes - things with wings
party time tuesday - 2 or more ribbons
inky impressions - 2+ ribbons 
crafts 4 eternity - ribbons
stamp, scrap and doodle - ribbon
4 crafty chicks - favourite embellishment (ribbon)
crafts & me - favourite colour combo (blue, brown and cream!)
aud sentiments - anything goes 
creative craft challenges - anything goes
papertake weekly - anything goes
digi doodles shop - anything goes
poodles parlour - anything goes

Blue Bridal Butterfly

Okay, so say Blue Bridal Butterfly ten times fast! I can't do it, and I applaud you if you can. I've never been very good with tongue twisters, but my kids can rock them! What part of the gene pool is that from?!!

Last Saturday, I saw the Inspiration Challenge on SCS, and I really loved the bridal fan that Stef chose as one of the inspiration photos. The fan ribs made me think of my butterfly die and how it would look just like that fan if I layered a vellum butterfly over it.

Lovely. And it's my favourite smoky shade of blue too. *contented sigh*

This butterfly is layered over so many divine little details. First, this blue printed paper is from the Genuine 6x6" pad by Authentique. I can't say enough wonderful things about this paper. It's like Mary Poppins - positively (practically?) perfect in every way! I used white crochet trim by May Arts running the height of the card, echoing the skeletal feel of the butterfly. The butterfly is mounted on the hanging sign portion of the Tim Holtz die, Hanging Sign. The butterfly body is made of Snow White pearls from Kaiser Craft and each layer is supported by Adhesive Dimensional Squares, giving it a lot of depth.

Making 3d embellishments is one of my favourite things to do, and for this bow (made using my handy dandy Bow Easy), I've used a new line of dies that Kate is carrying at i {heart} papers from Memory Box, and this one is Scalloped Posie. I filled the middle with a Snow White pearl from Kaiser Craft.

And with all these lovely details, a perfect, simple sentiment to bring the feel of the whole card together. I'm a big Ali Edwards fan, and this sentiment is from her Ordinary Days set by Technique Tuesday, stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento ink. I have got to remember to order a refill soon! The embossed lines around the border of the card are at 1/4" done using my Scor Pal tool.

stamps; ordinary days (technique tuesday from ihp)
paper; genuine (authentique from ihp), powder blue, oxford, coconut swirl (bazzill), pearlescent vellum (paper accents)
ink; tuxedo black memento ink (tsukineko from ihp)
accessories; scallop posie die (memory box from ihp), snow white pearls (kaiser craft from ihp), bow easy (from ihp), scor pal (from ihp), adhesive dimensionals (zva from ihp), white crochet trim (may arts from ihp), butterfly die LR0114 (marianne dies), bigz butterfly die, hanging sign die (sizzix), smoky blue seam binding ribbon (really reasonable ribbon) 

A Little Inspiration

Happy Saturday, peeps! A friend of mine made the suggestion for today's Inspiration challenge on Splitcoast, so I decided to play along since her suggestion is for one of my favourite local artisan stores - The Galleria. I loved this store at its original location on Kensington Road, and I still love it in historic Inglewood.

I got my inspiration from a photo of a necklace that Stef chose, seen at the top right of this page on the Galleria website. This fantastic card only took 35 minutes to make, thankfully, since I have a very tight deadline for a paper due this Friday. The best part of this card is that I was able to use up some squares left over from the card I made earlier this week!

I cut hearts from the left over squares. And I sewed them on! My day is looking up thanks to all the fortuitous happy things coming together here. The hearts are cut from Bonjour paper by Kaiser Craft. The Snow White pearls do double duty by hiding the stubby top thread, securing the line of sewing. I know, very clever indeed!

I love the loose, loopy look of this sentiment, and it is absolutely perfect here! I do love this Loving Words stamp set from Technique Tuesday. Love, LOVE!! I used London Fog Memento ink to stamp the sentiment, because I wanted a soft look for this card. The embossed lines are made using my Scor-Pal. It's a tool I can't live without! And the new Scor-Pal has many more lines, which I love to bits!! These lines are scored at 1/4" from the edge of the paper, giving an elegant, clean framed look to the card.

Enjoy the remainder of your weekend, and thank you so much for stopping by!

stamps; loving words (technique tuesday from ihp)
paper; bonjour (kaiser craft from ihp), coconut swirl, horizon (bazzill), kraft (american elements)
ink; london fog memento (tsukineko  from ihp)
accessories; heart nestabilities (spellbinders from ihp), snow white basics pearls (kaiser craft from ihp), scor pal (scor-pal from ihp)

Another card of many challenges...

I've been running around for 2 weeks now. It's a really long story and the bottom line is I'm going back to University to upgrade my teaching certification. I've been substitute teaching for 2 years and I need more hours so rather than waiting by the phone (figuratively speaking), I'm taking charge. I know this has all been prepared ahead for me because when I started pursuing this new direction, everything has fallen into place quite easily in a very short time and I've not had any push back from any administration I've dealt with. I'm intimidated about returning to post secondary education after 16 years, especially since I've been told I need to take graduate courses and by the time I'm done my teaching practicum, I'll be 1/4 of the way through a Master's degree. My pre-menopausal brain may just fall out my left ear!!! The final pieces on my new path will be in place in the next couple of weeks since I can't register for my classes as an Open Studies student until December 9th. Yoish!

And since all of this new stuff is running around inside my head, I couldn't fall back asleep very early this morning. Instead, I took a peek at a bunch of challenges and they all inspired this card;

It didn't turn out quite the way I wanted, but it's close. I'm trying to reassure myself that the mojo has NOT left the building, but I am quite distracted right now...

Most of the supplies for this card are from i {heart} papers and there are direct links in the recipe list below. Kate has a fabulous Black Friday sale going on her website this weekend, and you would do well to take advantage of it!!

stamps; good cheer by ali edwards (technique tuesday from ihp)
paper; bonjour (kaiser kraft from ihp), walnut creme, coconut creme (bazzill)
ink; tea dye distress ink (ranger from ihp), rich cocoa memento ink (tsukineko from ihp)
accessories; sm classic circle nestabilities (spellbinders from ihp), white pleated ribbon, sage/brown ribbon (may arts from ihp), pink basic lines rhinestones (zva from ihp), dotted scallop border punch (ek success), resin rose (recollections)


scs sketch challenge - SC360 - going to call this inspired by...
scs colour challenge - CC350
scs ways to use it - WT350 - again, inspired by - I used a bow AND a straight line...
scs inspiration challenge IC312- glenna jean Riley nursery

Inspired IHP Cut Out Buttons

I love buttons. I was one of those kids who loved to go grab Grandma's button jar and sort them, touch them, admire them and pick a new favourite every time I got my hands on the jar. Now, I have a button stash that makes my heart pitty pat and I am continuing a long line of button hoarders which, I hope, will carry on for many generations!

The inspiration challenge on Splitcoaststampers this week is all about one of my favourite things - buttons!  The Blumenthal Lansing company website has a glorious plethora of buttons and creative projects that feature their buttons. I chose this lovely trinket box as inspiration for my project.

 Isn't this set of drawers darling?!!! I love everything about them and here's what I did;

I wanted to use my spellbinders dies in place of the buttons, but there were none small enough to fit my narrow strips of paper, so I modified my design to support only 1 large and 1 small medallion.

 I love the elegant look of the black, white and kraft papers together. I used For the Record by Echo Park with kraft and raven card stock by Bazzill. The medallions were created combining Fleur de Lis and Parisian Motif dies by Spellbinders. Kate at i {heart} papers is out of stock right now, I see, but contact her to see when she will be getting more in! The Ivory/Black check ribbon from May Arts is a perfect match for this paper and, while I know there is no ribbon on the inspiration piece, I love the look of the medallions hanging on the ribbon supported by that grand, luscious bow. I can see this exact same card done in a Christmas theme as well.

I invite you to take a look through the Blumenthal Lansing website and see if you are inspired to be creative today!

paper; for the record (echo park), raven, champagne (bazzill), heavy vellum (paper accents)
accessories; ivory/black check ribbon (may arts), parisian motifs, fleur de lis accents (spellbinders), adhesive pearls (k&co)