Teddy Bear in a Teacup

All right, the teddy bear isn't really in a teacup but my first thought to use this image was to add a handle to the boat and turn it into a teacup. Sort of a "tempest in a teapot" theme. But thankfully I came to my senses in time and made this card instead.

The image is a free digital stamp from Ildi Co that was offered for a challenge on the Paper Arts Copic Buzz group site. I also combined this with a sketch challenge from my favorite online scrapbook store - Scrap & Stamp.

This digital company is new to me and the image is one that I wouldn't necessarily have chosen but I ended up having a great time using it and I'm really quite pleased with the result.

I decided to try a new technique (to me) and cut-out and then layered the bear pieces and waves to really get a 3-D look. I chose a very general rub-on sentiment because I wanted to keep my options open for using it later. The patterned paper is from Basic Grey's "Offbeat" paper pack. I added the thick white eyelets because I thought they added a nautical flair.

Halloween Cards

Trick or Treat Everyone!

This is a record, 2 blog posts in one day but this will be a quick one. I just wanted to post my Halloween cards before Halloween is actually here!


This first card is my very favorite - the bats & stars are altered with glitter and glossy accents and then connected with orange wire. The stamp is from the Recollections "Halloween" set. And thanks to Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge for the "Hocus Pocus" inspiration. I just love the witch on this stamp since the spray of stars following her tones down the "scary" and pushes up the "whimsy" (kind of like the movie). I wanted to add some dimension to the card so in addition to layering the papers, I also added punched bats and stars that were embellished with glossy accents and attached to orange wire.




This card is totally thanks to my friend Jacqui since I used her stamps (another Recollections set). The images are coloured in with Copics and then cut out and mounted with pop dots.




This card is another favorite from this year. I used a Penny Black stamp along with the Cuttlebug web embossing folder. The bats are punched with Martha Stewart bat punch and then glossy accents added for shine. And, of course, I used my Copics to colour everything in.




I got the idea for this card from a UK paper-crafting magazine. Pulling gently on the sides of the card causes the stamped witch legs and ghost to pop up. The stamp on front is a Stampin' Up image that I pulled off a make & take. The paper is super distressed to give the entire card a spooooky look.

Crop for Kids and The "Not So Secret Garden"

Last weekend's Crop for Kids was so much fun ... two days of scrapbooking, card making, classes and socializing with friends just can't be beat! I managed to complete 7 scrapbook pages which I will post later this week hopefully. First, though, I wanted to share the cards that I made in the "Not So Secret Garden" class. The cards worked out well, but what really impresses me the most is how simple the techniques are - I never would have guessed. I am so happy that I took this class (even if it was an 8:30am start-time). Check out more of Jo's ideas in her blog - http://mypaperplayhouse.blogspot.com/


Paper & Ribbon Flower

This first flower is made of strips of patterned paper and ribbon simply folded over and glued. So simple! Jacqui adapted hers by cutting the loops and I might try cutting the loops myself, but using a patterned scissor.



Tissue Paper Flower

This flower is very striking (although it certainly won't be a card that can be mailed). It was created with roughly cut circles of tissue paper that was then crumpled and spritzed with glimmer mist.



"Daisy" Flower

The flower on the left-side is the one I will most likely never make again. It is a great design that involved taking scalloped circles, folding them into eighths, then cutting and shaping the "petals". The reason I won't do it again is that I found it really hard not to keep cutting at the petals trying to make them just perfect. I stopped in time but doubt I could do it again.

Die Cut Sewing Tissue Flower

The second flower was lots of fun to make. It consists of sewing tissue paper and patterned paper cut flowers which were scrumpled and then sprayed with glimmer mist.



Lollipop Flower

This "lollipop" card is probably my favorite. It was created with nothing more difficult than roughly cut circles of different papers and tulle which are connected with a coloured brad.




Class sponsored by the Scrapaholics - http://www.meetup.com/Scrapaholics
and Pick of the Patch http://www.pickofthepatch.blogspot.com

Pop-up Princess Card

I've recently discovered a British crafting magazine called "Papercraft Essentials" (http://www.papercraftessentials.co.uk). Each issue comes with freebies (papers plus some sort of embellishments). I don't particularly like the style of most of the cards shown but the techniques and explanations are just excellent!

I wanted to make a special birthday card for my son's friend and I found the perfect project in the magazine, issue #43. Not only is the card pretty impressive but it also made use of severl of my favorite things - cricut, cuttlebug, and glitter. The card closes flat and is held shut with a chain, but when opened the castle inside pops up.



So, how to make this fun & impressive card?

Step by step (all measurements metric):

1. Create your card base by scoring a 15x30cm piece of cardstock at 5cm, 9.5cm, 10cm, 20cm, 20.5cm and 25cm.

2. Create a pop-up using cricut Design Studio software and the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge. Select the castle and stretch to 10.472cm by 5.527cm, and cut. I then embossed the castle using the Fiskars stone texture plate and my cuttlebug. Score-fold at 5cm, 7.5cm and 10cm on either side of the centre.

3. Concertina-fold each side so the centre section sticks out to the front, then glue the ends to the card (careful to line up the folds).

4. Decorate as desired. I used the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge to cut out a paper doll, clothes and accessories. I added some glitter and bling to the crown and dress and stamped a cute little pumpkin carriage (Snag 'Em Stamps) behind the castle.

Crop for Kids 2009 - summer crop

What a wonderful treat! This past Saturday I got to spend an entire day scrapbooking with friends, thanks to the "Crop for Kids" organizers. Jacqui, Leslie & I took part in the summer crop (sort of a warm up to the weekend-long crop in October) and had quite a good time. We each won a door prize that we liked and I was even productive! I tried to use more patterns and techniques so I feel pretty good about my efforts. I managed to get several pages completed which brings me almost up-to-date for 2009 (let's not talk about pre-2006 though).

This first layout is for Phil's 46th birthday. Note the 2 PP's! And I added black & yellow brads for interest. The tags for the title were coloured using copic marker to achieve the same off-white tone as the paper.




This 2-page layout covers a recent visit we made to the Boundary Bay Airport air show. Again, I used a bold PP. I also used copics to colour the title cloud and the tags. The cloudy effect was accidental at first but I liked it so much that I continued it for all the tags. I also used my new Cricut to cut the "ready set go" words for the tags. The font is from the Disney Mickey Font cartridge. I really like how the colour in Luke's shirt is picked up in the paper and embellishments (again, a total fluke).





I'm busily finishing off and photographing the cards I made so will post those shortly. As well, I will get pictures of the make & takes up as a couple were pretty cute.

Cute purse gift card holders

My DS were invited to a birthday party for a pair of sisters this past weekend. I absolutely love shopping for little girls so was excited to hear what present ideas the boys had. Imagine my disappointment when they said the girls wanted a gift card to IKEA (they are saving for a kitchen playset). Well, had to make the best of it and so decided to make a very fancy gift card holder for each girl.

This is what I came up with:





I started with a purse template that I modified from a few ideas found on split coast stampers. I used some pretty embossed PP for the purses and then embellished with felt ribbon, ribbon handles and lots of Stickles glitter. I used some cheap flowers (bought at Walmart) and coloured them to match with my Copic markers. The edges are liberally glittered with matching Stickles. The flaps are created with EK Success border punches and are held closed with velcro. The gift card pocket is revealed when the purse is opened.

I'm pretty pleased with the result - pretty, sparkly and fun. The girls were pretty pleased with purses. More so than with the gift cards, actually!

Forgetful, not lazy

I've have been very forgetful about adding stuff to my blog (why bother when almost no one reads it?). But for my faithful reader, Jacqui, here are my latest creations.

I've been having lots of fun experimenting with all my Copic markers (I just can't seem to stop buying more colours). I have a couple of Penny Black stamp sets that work beautifully with the Copics. I also got a free pack of paper in a crafting magazine so I tryed out some patterned papers I wouldn't normally use. Check out all the patterns and layers on Grumpy Kitty in particular!


A "Just because" card made for my niece Jamey.


Grumpy Kitty card - sentiment reads "I may be difficult ... but I'm cute". I quite like the contrast between the flowery papers and the grumpy cat. Like he's thinking "what the heck am I doing on this girly card?" I distressed the edges of the papers quite a bit to soften the contrast.


Balloon Kitty