Thank you teacher

Last day of the school year and the kids are completely excited! I had fun teasing my youngest (just finished grade 1) about the final day being filled with lots of tests but his brother took pity and told him the truth pretty quickly. Poor me, couldn't have fun for long at all. I guess I shouldn't complain though because I did get to make a bunch of cards for the boys' teachers (2 teachers for each boy!) so I had a busy week of creating. Here is the first card (and my favourite):

The papers are all Basic Grey and the digi is Jan Brett, coloured with Copic markers. I chose a sketch from Papertake Weekly as my starting point - honestly, I can't survive without sketches! I modified the sketch a bit by making the border punched strip larger and then not extending the middle strip (the ruler paper) to the bottom of the card. And, of course, I didn't add the sentiment separately since it was incorporated into the image itself.

Challenges:

• 2 Sisters - anything goes
• 4 Crafty Chicks - school's out
• Charisma Cardz - anything goes
• D.L.Art Thankful - use "thank you" as your sentiment
• Digital Tuesday - amazing animals
• Love to Create - anything goes
• Paper Playtime - anything goes with a sentiment
• Papertake Weekly - sketch
• Partytime Tuesdays - anything goes

Fishing boy

Today's card is based on the current sketch at Stella Says Sketch and uses an adorable Bugaboo digital stamp. I coloured him using Copic markers and the background was created using Dylusions ink sprays (aren't the colours gorgeous!). I love the blues on the bottom of the paper (suggests water) coupled with the browns/reds & green on the top (reminds me of the woods in Autumn). I chose an embossing folder from Cuttlebug for the kraft card base - I think the folder is supposed to be a space design but I thought it was suggestive of ripples in water. I plan to use the card as a thank you for my Dad (he recently helped me with a whole bunch of work around my house). He's an avid fisherman so I think he'll like this little guy.

Challenges:

• Little Red Wagon - kraft
• Paper Crafting Journey - kraft
• Pause Dream Enjoy - 3 of something (3 brads)
• Simon Says Stamp & Show - a bit of brown
• Stella Says Sketch - sketch 

Tags, tags, tags

Debi from Country Lane taught us not to waste ink in last weekend's class. When we were creating our backgrounds for the main project, she encouraged us to capture the extra ink by blotting onto manilla tags. I was pleasantly surprised at how gorgeous the tag backgrounds ended up looking and decided to use them for some additional projects. Debi also taught using magazine pictures as part of interesting collages (wow, didn't we do this in elementary school?) and I LOVED this idea. I have to pay more attention to the crafts my boys are doing in school as there are clearly some great ideas that I've forgotten! Here are the tags that I ended up with...

All 3 tags use Dylusions stamp elements that are coloured with Tombow and Copic markers. The tag backgrounds are all Dylusions spray inks combined with Dylusions stamps. I suspect that I'll end up adapting these tags into cards for Send A Smile 4 Kids but we'll see...
Challenges:

• 2 Sisters - anything goes
• ATC's & Cards with Attitude - anything goes
• Crafts & Me - anything goes
• Creative Belli - anything but a card
• Fat Pages & Cards with Attitudes - anything goes

Inky fun

The kids were with their Dad last weekend and I took full advantage of the time by taking an all-day class at my LSS, Country Lane. The class was "Bold & Kooky" and was all about using Dylusions inks and stamps to create amazing fun projects. The primary project was a small canvas (although I use the word canvas loosely since it was actually a really heavy card) which I ended up adapting into a large card.

The class was very much out of my comfort zone as it was unstructured and imperfect. We started by spraying the heavy card with Dylusions spray inks (I used purple, pink & orange primarily), then adding water and kind of swooshing the inks around. Once the paper was dry we added in stamping elements to create additional interest and then glued on stamped elements. I had a hard time letting myself just go with the process but it was such fun and I love, love, love the backgrounds that were created! I haven't used Dylusions before but have lusted after the stamps for quite a while so this was a great opportunity to give them a try too.

This card is going to be donated to Send A Smile 4 Kids - most of the cards that I make (and most donated) are more suited to kids but I think the Dylusions line is perfect for teenagers. I can hardly wait to play some more!

Challenges:

• ATC's & Cards with Attitudes - anything goes
• Fat Pages & Cards with Attitude - anything goes
• Papercrafting Journey - hand coloured image
• Squirrel & the Fox - sparkle (check out her tiara)
• Stamp and Create - bold & bright
• Use Your Stuff - use some hand-made elements (the background paper!)

Always Coca-Cola

Today I have a layout to share that I created this past weekend at Crop & Create. The challenge was to create a layout about everyday moments including one's guilty pleasure. Well, I can't say that I feel guilty about my diet Coke addiction, but I have been looking for an excuse to create a page about my very favourite thing (excepting my kids & pets of course).

The papers and photo came from the Coke store in Las Vegas. I created the flower by die cutting a cut open diet Coke can (cool, huh?) using Tim Holtz' tattered flowers die. The finishing touch was the addition of a sprinkling of clear dew drops to suggest the bubbles in a freshly opened pop.

Challenges:

• Crafting for all Seasons - layers
• Papertake Weekly - anything goes
• Recycle, Re-purpose, Re-invent - anything goes & metal
• Secret Crafter - anything goes
• Try it on Tuesday - anything goes

Cutie patootie puppy card

Just back from a wonderful weekend at Crop & Create sponsored by Scrapbook & Cards magazine. I took wonderful classes from 3 of the great women in scrapbooking - Becky Fleck, Vicki Boutin and Kimber McGray. The classes were all based on techniques and I learned so much that I'm eager to try.

But first I want to share a card that I made for one of the weekend contests - Why Hello There. And I am so proud to admit that my card was chosen by Kimber McGray as the winner! Being selected as a winner by someone who has published 4 books on scrapbooking and card making was a total thrill! But enough of the bragging ... here is the card:

I used a couple of new toys for this card - the Grand Madison Window die cut from Memory Box and the Flowers & Leaves die cut from Marianne Design Creatables. The cutie patootie puppy is a front & back stamp from Art Impressions - he is so adorable but I have to admit he's being sitting in my drawer because I've been intimidated about colouring him. I've been working on my colouring though and I'm actually pretty pleased with him. The toughest part of this card was aligning the window and dog on either side of the acrylic so front & back matched up. One last thing to add, I didn't want any writing inside the card to show through the window so the inside of the card actually opens up to the right (the buttons are kind of a handle) so that I can write a nice note.

Challenges:

• 2 Sisters - inside & out (show the inside & outside of your card)
• Aud Sentiments - any sentiment
• Crafting for all Seasons - lots of layers
• Cutie Pie Challenge - die cuts/punches
• Die Cuttin' Divas - anything goes
• Divas by Design - anything goes
• Let's Ink it Up - use your favourite embellishments (mine are die cut shapes and flowers)
• Paper Play - use 2 of something (2 buttons)
• Secret Crafter - anything goes
• Simon Says Stamp - anything goes
• Top Tip Tuesday - dig out something old (stamp has been in my stash for ages!)

Happy birthday to my BFF

One of my very best BFF's had a birthday earlier this month and I needed to make her a very special card. She is a Siamese-lover and when I came across this image online I printed it in black & white and then coloured it to match her cats more closely. The papers are from Bo Bunny and really match her personality - vibrant, colourful and fun. I lightly sanded and inked all of the papers plus I tore and inked the middle stripe (using the actual paper design for my guide).

My favourite part of the card is the medal on the front. I stumbled across a bunch of metal highland dance medals at a garage sale and I think it makes a perfect embellishment. I covered the dance competition name/date with the flower and then added a bit of sparkly ribbon. Totally fun!

Challenges:

• 365 Cards - Use some sanding or other type of distressing plus include some tearing
• Craftroom Challenge - Birthdays
• Crafty Creations - Circles (lots of circles in the paper)
• Divas by Design - Anything goes
• Fab 'n Funky - Celebrations