Crop du Soleil

Sunday was just a wonderful day! 12 uninterupted hours of scrapbooking at the Photo Express Crop du Soleil. I am pleased to have completed the layouts I had planned, plus a bit more. I also packed much lighter than usual (although I still had a large stack of supplies to carry in). And I can attest to having used everything that I brought!

2010 Winter Olympics

I tried something new this time in that I didn't print off my photos. Instead, I printed off a proof sheet of all the pictures I might include and then I was able to print off the photos at home later to the exact proportions I needed. This worked out particularly well when I decided to make this row of photos match the wave pattern in the paper. The paper and die-cut title, by the way, are part of a limited edition set created by Photo Express. The mattes are made with paper from my stash.

The Allsorts Challenge for this week was to turn something from "rags to riches" and so I created "The Olympic Flame" embellishment by repurposing a City of Coquitlam advertisement. I absolutely LOVE free embellishments (LOL).

There will be a 3rd page to this layout that will have all of the journalling as I wanted to write quite a bit about the experience of living in a host city during the Winter Olympics.

Challenges:

• Allsorts Challenge - Rags to Riches - alter or recycle something

Recipe:

• Patterned paper - Photo Express
• Die cut title - Photo Express
• Cardstock - stash

Monsters at Rest

This is one of my favourite pictures of the boys and I really wanted to give it special treatment. When I came across this "monster" paper & sticker set I knew that I had to use it with this photo. After all, the kids were being absolute monsters that day until they just collapsed on the couch.

Recipe:

• Cardstock - stash
• Patterned paper -
• Cardstock stickers -
• Letters - Quickutz "Reuse" alphabet set  (thanks Jacqui for letting me use your brand-new dies!)

Monsters Vs Aliens Birthday Party


This layout was an extreme challenge because I had no pictures for it. I took a couple during the party but all but one were too out-of-focus to be usable. And the party was so incredibly hectic (what was I thinking asking Luke's entire kindergarten class???) that I hardly took any pictures anyway. I was able to redeem just one photo by blurring out the busy background so that the shot of Luke blowing out his candles was sharpened in contrast. I was absolutely thrilled last month then to come across a digital stamp of two kids in a movie theatre. I created a row of kids, added some clipart 3d glasses, and "voila" a "picture" of the kids in the theatre.

Recipe:

• Cardstock - stash
• Patterned paper - Piggy Tales "Billy Goat Gruff"
• Letter stickers - Piggy Tales "Billy Goat Gruff"
• Digital stamp - Karen's Doodles
• Brads - stash

Making better use of images

Just like most crafters, I love to acquire stamp images and other supplies but I don't always use what I have.  With that in mind, the latest challenge fromthe PCP group for Phindy's Place is quite a good one for me. Phindy has challenged us to use one image in two different ways (all the better to justify our purchases). I am still working on the second card using this image, but I wanted to post this first card today as it is based on a sketch for the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge ending tomorrow.

Other challenges:

• Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge - sketch

• Pile It On - animal-riffic
• Hand Full of Stamps - something sweet (what's sweeter than a hug?)
• Cute Card Thursday - dimension (I've got layers, popped up embellishments, thick ribbon)
• Play Date Cafe - colour challenge

Quirky spring card

I just picked up the brand-new Basic Grey paper pack "Kioshi" and I had to use it for a card right away. I just love the quirky feel to the designs. They feel spring-y to me without being sweet or pastel-y (are either of those words???).

The stamp is from Stamping Bella - her dress and shoes are paper pieced with a bit of Stickles added to the flower centres. I also added Stickles (black diamond) to her hair - it provides a wonderful shine. At first I added a traditional style bow but it just didn't suit the feeling I was going for so I retied it, purposely making it loose and lopsided. It probably looks like a sloppy bow but I can't help myself - I just like the way it turned out (LOL).

I'm entering this card into several challenges, as follows:

• MAWTT - sketch
• One Stop Craft Challenge - let it shine
• Totally Gorjuss - ribbon
• Corrosive Challenges - paper piecing

My baby boy is turning 7

I am feeling quite old these days because my son is turning 7 next week. It really has come up quickly. I wanted to make sure his card was special so I let him pick out the image and colours.

I used a sketch from Truly Scrumptious Challenges (I will be adding this sketch to my file for future use as it is a very versatile design. The red patterned papers are Basic Grey with the rest coming from my scraps. Everything is coloured with Copics, then Stickles and glossy accents added for shine and dimension. The image is new from Bugaboo - I believe it's supposed to be a giant cupcake but I really thought it worked well as an ice cream sundae (glossy accents added to the chocolate sauce gives it a bit of shine as if it has hardened).


I'm entering this card into several challenges, as follows:

• Fab N Funky - use something new
• Truly Scrumptious Challenges - sketch
• Cute Card Thursday - birthday or anniversary
• Crafty Creations Challenges - spots & dots
• Creative Card Crew - going dotty
• Charisma Cardz - something for the kids
• Little Red Wagon - use copics

Pollycraft design team call

Pollycraft is holding a design team call with a slight twist. Instead of just submitting samples of one's work, Paula has two adorable free images and challenged anyone interested to show their stuff. The images are available for anyone whether applying for the design team or not so you MUST check them out. This is my first submission using Codi Stylin'.

I wanted to use an unexpected colour palette for this card. Codi is so sweet looking, but I just know she has some attitude (check out the t-shirt). I decided on papers from the Basic Grey June Bug collection. The flowers are all fussy-cut from a pattened paper in the set. The paper ribbon is also part of a larger pattern. You absolutely can't tell in the photo but my favourite part of this card is the "lip gloss" (glossy accents added to the lips).

In addition to the Pollycraft DT challenge, I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:

• Pollycraft Challenge - image
• Totally Papercrafts - sketch
• Creative Cottage - flowers
• Crafty Calendar Challenge - flower power

For anyone interested in the details, here are the products used:

• Basic Grey, June Bug patterned papers
• glossy accents
• unknown cream cardstock
• Copic markers (see colours below)

Thanks for looking and wish me luck in the Design Team submission. The competition is extremely stiff so I don't expect to be selected but it's worth a try!

Fairytale girl

Getting this card finished has been quite the undertaking! I worked on my paper-pieced princess over a couple of days until the only thing left to add was her crown. I located the gold paper that I wanted to use, cut out the crown but then couldn't find the princess. I looked for days! Even my DH looked but she had seemingly disappeared. I had already made the card base (based on a challenge) and I needed to finish the card that day so I picked out another paper-pieced image I had done awhile ago and tried to make the image fit. Of course I ended up just hating the finished product!

Finally, I gave up and dismantled the card. Of course it was shortly after that I found my little princess (attached to the bottom of my paper cutter!!). Oh well. It gave me an excuse to start over with the card layout and I'm actually more pleased with this sketch. So, without further ado, here is my paper-pieced princess card and the challenges she is (finally) ready to enter.

• 
  C.R.A.F.T. - use citrus colours
• 
  
  Create 4 Fun - sketch
• 
  
  One Stop Craft Challenge - spots & dots
• 
  
  The Pink Elephant - spring
• 
  
  Totally gorjuss - something sweet (isn't she just the sweetest little princess?)

Recipe:

• Basic Grey patterned papers
• Technique Tuesday stamps (princess & sentiment)
• Stickles
• Gold foil (for crown)

Karen's Doodles Challenges have started

Yay! Karen's Doodles now has several challenge blogs up & running. Each blog will be running a different challenge each week. We can enter in all of the challenges but have to make new projects for each. I doubt that I will be able to enter each challenge every week but the stars were aligned this week (in other words, the kids went to bed early) and so I was able to finish up 3 cards! Every card uses a Karen's Doodles image (they are just soooo much fun to colour). I'm entering each into a selection of challenges so make sure to scroll through to the very end.

First up is "I didn't do it". I used the following sketch challenge from Karen's Doodles Challenge - US.

As well, a couple of colour challenges seemed to fit my mood:

• Simon Says Stamp (PCP group) which called for vanilla, brown and teal
• Pile It On Challenge which called for just one colour plus neutrals
• Stampin for the weekend where it's monochromatic week

I used papers from my stash along with a new ribbon that I just bought at Michaels. I wish I'd had some feathers to add but all I could find were some old scraggly seagull feathers that the kids gave me. Instead I added a white puff-ball behind the ribbon to hopefully add the impression of feathers everywhere.

My second card uses "Movie Date" which is one of my favourites.

I used Basic Grey papers and another sketch challenge, this time from Karen's Doodles Challenge - Netherlands.  The other challenges that apply to this card are:

• 
  
  Fab N Funky Challenges for their theme of "weddings"
• 
  
  Cute Card Thursday for their theme of "celebrations"
• 
  
  Saturday Spotlight for their theme of "friendship"

My final card uses a brand-new image from Karen called "Peekaboo". This time I chose a sketch from Simon Says Stamps.

I'm not totally happy with this card as I think the ribbon is too dark a green and the flowers need more volume (I may have to make a trip to Michaels to look for substitutes). And I really had a hard time coming up with a suitable sentiment. I figured this could work as a friendship or encouragement card. The papers are Basic Grey per usual.

• 
  
  Karen's Doodles Challenge - Scandinavian for colours - pink, baby blue, lime green

Spring is (really) coming

Here is card that I created for my Mom (who is still half-buried in snow). I used a wonderful digital stamp image from Tales from Pollycraft called "Follow the Leader", along with Basic Grey papers, to make a card that just feels like Spring to me. I only used 4 Copic colours and I added more shading than normal.

As usual I'm entering this card in a few challenges:

• I Love Digi - sketch
• Polkadoodle - wings
• C.R.A.F.T. - flowers

I linked my card on the Play Date Cafe challenge (which was to use light yellow, deep yellow and white) although I think I actually used too much green to technically qualify. But using lots of yellow is such a departure for me that I wanted to share my result.

Easter cards

I can't believe that it is already March and there are signs of Spring everywhere. It was a very mild winter here on the West Coast and yet I am still very ready to see the end of Winter! I spent some time this weekend making an Easter card for my niece. The image is a new one from Karen's Doodles - isn't she just the most adorable little bunny you've ever seen? I used a sketch from a new challenge site I only recently discovered called Create4Fun.

Challenges:

• Create4Fun - sketch
• Simon Says Stamps Challenge - mother's day or girlie
• Stamp Something - something girlie

Dragons are girly, too

I love Dustin Pike's digital stamps and use them all the time for birthday cards but I hadn't realized that I tended to only use them for boys' cards until the latest challenge on Doodle Dragon Studio. Kerri challenged us to make any Doodle Dragon Studios DRAGON IMAGE GO GIRLY. I used a sketch from Midnight Madness to get me started and then went crazy with girly colours, patterns and embellishments. I thought it would be fun to have the flower (made with QuicKutz "daisy" die cut) with several petals flying off in the wind created by the carousel horse.

I'm thinking it might need some glitter and glossy accents to really finish it up but I have to mull over it for awhile. I would likely add glitter to the flowers & petals, maybe to the dragon herself. And som glossy accents to the horse or just the saddle? What do you think?

The challenges this card fits with include:

• Doodle Dragon Studio - go girly with a dragon
• Midnight Madness - sketch
• Simon Says Stamps Challenge - mother's day or girly
• C.R.A.F.T. - mother's day or flowers

Recipe:
Digital stamp - Doodle Dragon Studio
Papers - Basic Grey
Die cut - QuicKutz "daisy"
Copic markers

St Patrick's Day Humour

I "scrap-lifted" the idea for this card from Yvonne at Big Scrappy World. Yvonne is a design team member at Bugaboo Stamps and when I saw her submission for their latest challenge I just had to make my own version using the same (more or less) sentiment.

I apologize for the crooked photo (and for the cat tail in the top-right corner) but I wanted to make sure I got this posted in time for the Bugaboo challenge which closes tomorrow.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

• Catch the Bug Challenge - who needs green?
• Copic Creations - wee bit of green
• Cute Card Thursday - lucky green
• The Pink Elephant - green
• Pile It On - lucky me
• Truly Scrumptious - sketch
• Lexi's Creations - anything goes
• Inky Impressions  - add green
• Crafty Catz  - shades of green and St Patrick's Day

Recipe:
Image from Bugaboo Stamps
Basic Grey papers
Clover leaf clip-art from Microsoft
Copic markers

Optimistically Pink

I hope that the weather isn't going to turn around and kick us in the backside, but it looks like Spring is arriving early on the West Coast. My camelia is in full bloom in the backyard, the grass is overdue for its first mowing and the cherry trees are bursting into flower. I was very glad to see some challenges asking for pink because there is nothing more cheerful and spring-y than pinks (in my humble opinion).

I used this beautiful image (and sketch) from Mo's Digital Pencil and then tried a couple of new things with the colouring. First off, I coloured the hair black which is something I rarely do (and really need to practice at). I also tried to add some dimension and detail to the kimono by adding glitter and using embossing pens on the swirls. I'm not thrilled with the effect as it thickened the lines. I like the glitter though that is added to the butterflies and the flower in her hair. As usual, I used Basic Grey papers.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

• Mo's Digital Challenge - sketch
• One Stop Craft Challenge - optimistically pink
• I Love Digi Challenge - use pink
• SophistiCat Challenges - oriental themed
• Corrosive Challenges - Asian themed

Also, thanks to Gina for letting me know about the SophistiCat and Corrosive Challenge blogs. Both have Asian themes this week and after checking them out I had to add them to my ever-growing list of blogs to follow.

A new great-nephew

Had a busy evening making a card to welcome the newest addition to the family - my husband's nephew and wife just had their second child (another boy). Can hardly wait to see pictures! In the meantime, I had to make a special card to welcome baby Cody.

I am entering the card in a couple of challenges, as follows:

• Phindy's Place - use green, blue & orange
• All That Scraps - use newspaper or a book
• Truly Scrumptious Challenges - sketch

Purple Potpourri

It meant missing the start of the final Canada/US hockey game (thank goodness for radio) but yesterday I took a great card class at Clipper Street. The theme was "purple" and each card was quite different in its design. I intentionally (and unintentionally) changed each card a bit so any deficiencies are probably my doing and not Jo's (she was the instructor and designer). I am entering some of these cards into challenges where they meet the requirements - it will be noted right after the description.

Card #1 has a shadow box opening in the front with a rub-on greeting inset. The bugs are coloured with Copics and then pop-dotted for added dimension. I really like the vine ribbon along the side - I have a strip in my ribbon stash and have wondered what to do with it so I'm really glad to have an idea now. I also added a couple of jewels to the dragonfly's antennae so that there was some sparkle on the card.

• Cute Card Thursday - ribbontastic! - I think the vine ribbon on this card just makes it
• The Pink Elephant Challenge - a touch of green (there's plenty of green on this card)

Card #2 has lots of glitter. The "U" is chipboard painted over with a white glitter paint. I also added Stickles to the "2" and the flower. I quite like the way the opposing corners of the card are rounded. My one complaint about this project is that the Kaiser Craft rub-ons we were given were faulty and bits of the letters were actually missing (so the missing loop on the "e" isn't due to bad adhering on my part - it actually was missing from the rub-on). I will have to touch this up with a fine pen before using the card.

• Crazy 4 Challenges - use 3 different textures (at least 4 or 5 textures,depending on how you rate embellishments - smooth PP, rough PP, glittered chipboard, glittered flower, smooth button)

Card #3 is my favorite because of its simple lines and glittery detail. I coloured the stamped image with my Copics and then glittered over it with translucent blue highlight. I love how the glitter takes a somewhat non-descript image and makes it very appealing and fun.

• C.R.A.F.T. challenge - ribbon and sparkle (you can't ask for more sparkle and aside from the ribbon bow on the top button, I also think the border punched purple swiss dot paper has the feel of lace or ribbon to it too)

Card #4 is a simple little side fold card. I like the offset scalloped circles though. Jo's design had an embossed sentiment in the centre but I decided to go with a few more circles topped with a flower instead. I thought I could add the sentiment on the far right side of the inside once I decide what to use the card for.