Paper Sundae's Challenge #7

Happy Sunday.

Today we have a sketch challenge from Paper Sundaes, and I've combined it with an image from this weeks sponsor, the Stamping Boutique .

I hope you'll join us with this week's sketch challenge.

Sugar Creek Hollow Sketch Challenge

Today we have a nice sketch to play with from Sugar Creek Hollow.

The card is made using a Sugar Creek Hollow image.  I skipped a part of the sketch, artistic licence (ok, ok, I forgot to double check the sketch before finishing it off, LOL!)/

I hope you like it.

Paper Sundae's Challenge #6 - Distressing

Happy Sunday!

Today's Paper Sundae Challenge was to make a card using the Distressing technique, and our sponsor is Paper Jewels.  Here's my creation:

It's coloured with copics, and distressed with sponging.

Enjoy your Sunday, and take time to check out the 2010 Olympics--Go Canada!

Fancy Floral

Here's a card I made recently using one of the new Sugar Creek Hollow images.  As soon as I saw it I loved it, so perfect for just about anything--thank you, thinking of you, feminine birthday...

It's paired up with this designer paper from SU.  As you can see I'm still going crazy with lace LOL!

Do you like the little purple pendant die cut on the edge?  I've been very "thrifty" lately and anytime I have a background piece that will be covered over I try to cut something out of it to use elsewhere, and this little purple pendant was one of those.

Do you have any little tricks for card making thrift to share with us?

Thank you...for the best days of my life

Todays card is for my wonderful husband, and was made with inspiration from the challenge at  Just My Sketches.  I had to pick one of five songs, and I chose Thank You by Dido, here is a link to where you can listen to it:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFRm2srRC64  Such a great song, and made me think of how happy I am to have DH to come home to every day. 

Thank you to Carla for the image used here, of Tilda and Edwin skating.  I saw it used on a card somewhere and knew I wanted it for a card for my honey, and when I asked around she was kind enough to volunteer to send me some :-)

When I listened to this song and read the words, I thought of things a couple does together, those happy moments that we store up for later, and it made me think of the image of Tilda and Edwin skating.

And are you all watching the Olympic Figure skating?  Talk about amazing choreography!  Here's to all those athletes!

Try out this challenge, it's so inspiring to listen to a song and see where it takes you!

The new Just My Sketches challenge starts today, and you have two weeks to participate.  I can't wait to see what you create.

Paper Sundae's Challenge #5 - A glittery spring (get well) card

Happy Sunday!  And Happy Valentines Day AND Happy Chinese New Year!  Wow, so many festivities happening, plus it's the Olympics!  Have you been watching these?  I found the opening ceremonies (and especially the "gossip" the commentator shared) to be riveting.  I love watching the figure skating, it's so creative!

Speaking of creative, it's another Paper Sundae Sunday!  This weeks challenge is a "Glittery Spring", and we once again have a sponsor, Paper Makeup Stamps.  Join us in this weeks challenge and you have a chance to win a prize.

I felt a need to build a "useful" card, and it seems  a lot of people have been getting colds and flu's lately, so I decided to use this cute get well fairy from Paper Makeup Stamps to make a spring themed get well card.  I used my Spica pens on all the flowers and the fairy and then sprayed Tattered Angels glimmer mist over everything.

I'm off to watch some olympic events now, and set my PVR on some others, so my final words today are "GO CANADA!"

Vintage Valentine

Tomorrow is Valentines!  Do you have a card ready yet for your special loved ones?  What are your Valentines traditions?

For my husband and I, our Valentines traditions seem to change every year LOL!  Some years we make a fuss, sometimes not.  We'll see what this year brings :-)

This card was made using one of the OCC sketches, SASSC47.  The main image is from a very hard to find SU set called Vintage Valentine, and I was grateful to be able to snag some images of it in a swap, they are just so sweet.  It's been coloured with copics as usual...

I hope you have a lovely Valentines day!!  Remember, it's not about the chocolate, rather it's a day to remind those people you love how much you adore them :-)

Families are like Quilts...

This card was made for a Sugar Creek Hollow challenge that was given to us on the Design Team.  We were asked to make a card using 3 specific images.  Now combining 2 is usually pretty feasible, but three makes it that much more interesting :-)

For this card I used Powerpoint to layer the one image over the other and change the size to fit perfectly on a card front, so the quilted background is one image, the flower in the centre a second image, and the sentiment a third one.  It's all coloured using copics and a white gel pen was used for the faux stitching.

What do you think?  To get other ideas as to how to combine these three images you'll enjoy seeing the creations of the other ladies on the design team, it was amazing how many different ideas everyone had as to how to combine them.

This week we've been doing introductions to the ladies on the design team, and I hope you've had a chance to preview these.  I've been asked to share a few words about myself and why I'm a part of the SCH design team.  

Firstly, I LOVE making cards--the creative expression, and in such small measures.  I have a super busy life working full time, taking courses part time, and finding time to spend with my wonderful husband...it's amazing there's time left to maintain this blog!  The time I spend making cards really does help me to balance out my life with some fun time for me, using that creative part of my brain.  The Sugar Creek Hollow design team is one I'm particularly happy to be a part of--not only is the artwork interesting and unique, but the ladies on the design team are super experienced crafters and computer savvy too and I'm learning a ton from them.

Anyway, I could write a book about me, but you probably would get bored so I'll wind it up.  Stay tuned for more SCH cards here in the coming weeks.

Chinese New Year - Traditions

It's getting easier to get the right feel from these Chinese New Year cards, and soon it will be too late to keep making them....it seems I've been running behind for months....

So this is my favorite so far of my Chinese New Year cards, what do you think?

I've been very curious about this major celebration that I don't partake in, probably because it's always bypassed me.  I've asked my friends all about it.  The large family gatherings with large volumes of yummy food sure sound appealing!

I did a Google search on Chinese New Year traditions and came up with a post from UVic that had some interesting tidbits, so thought I'd share that link with you:  http://www.educ.uvic.ca/faculty/mroth/438/CHINA/chinese_new_year.html

Whether you celebrate this holiday or simply are a watcher from near or afar, I wish you lots of good fortune for the year ahead, for the year of the Tiger!

Cute and Girly

Today is the first monthly challenge for the Paper Jewels blog.  Jenny was kind enough to give us a pretty easy theme:  "Cute and Girly".


I used this adorable Bilmalarna image from Paper Jewels called Mimosa with flower basket.  These cute little drawings are from an artist in Sweden, and they really do have that Scandinavian feel to them.


With all the Valentines cards lately, I was tired of pink, so went with creme and beige and a subdued blue, I think it still manages to be cute and girly, especially with the lace :-)  The background (hard to see here) has blue clouds painted in with my copic air gun.


I think this'll make a great birthday or thank you card, a great multi purpose card to have tucked away in my stash.  At the last minute when I got to use it there's still room for a small sentiment.

Barn swallow

It's been a creative couple of weeks and I've made a bunch of cards I haven't had a chance to show you yet, and here is one of them:

The image is a digi from Sugar Creek Hollow, and it's been coloured with copics.  I love this image and have managed to colour it in a lot of different ways to get different looking birds.  When I did this one I looked out the window and based it on some of the female birds eating at our feeder.  The feathers do not come from the birds in the back yard LOL! but from the craft store...one hopes there is a humane way that they collect these!

The Sugar Creek Hollow store is now open, and there is a mad rush to get 200 followers, if you sign up now you have the chance to win some goodies :-)  

Paper Sundae's Challenge #4

Sunday's here again, can't believe how quick this week has gone by!  

It's time again for another Paper Sundae!  If you haven't already, check out this weeks challenge at Paper Sundae's, this week they've given us a great sketch challenge.

And we do have a sponsor again, which means if your participate in our challenge you have a chance to win a prize from Paperworks Co.

So here is the darling Valentine card I made with one of their images using the sketch provided:

This image was super easy to colour, and just the right size to be a focus of the card.  I dressed it up with some lace, which I seem to have become addicted to LOL!

So now I've got enough lovey dovey cards for my DH for a while, guess I have no excuse not to write in one and tuck it in his gym bag :-)

Is it snowing in your neck of the woods?

It seems some people are experiencing spring right now, while others are buried under several feet of snow, what's it doing in your neck of the woods?

Here's a sweet card thats using a snow theme, I'll be using this for a snow themed swap.  isn't the image cute!?

The image is from a new store opened recently by my friend Jenny called Paper Jewels.  A fellow crafter, she's set up an online shop here in Canada so we can buy these Bildmalarna stamps locally.  I just love them, they are so cute and easy to colour too!

And yes, I did manage to use my airgun again, this time to get some colour on the edges of the snowflakes :-)

Watch here for more of these in the coming week, I just got an envelope full of "paper jewels" {tee hee}, and can't wait to play with them.

Chinese New Year - Year of the Tiger

I was at T&T yesterday and noticed there are a lot of decoration starting to be noticeable for the Chinese New Year.  Chinese New Year is coming up quickly, with the big family meals, if I am correct, on the 13th, and the New Years on the 14th.

Now that so many of my friends have passed to me empty "red" money envelopes to make cards with I'm committed to finishing these and sending them off.  I've got 3 done so far, and have another 9 or so to make!  Here is the second one I made, thank you to IVY for the lovely envelope :-)

You'll notice that there is a cute little dancing TIGER on the front, and that's because this is year of the Tiger.  Last week I promised to share a bit more information with you all about this, so I've done a bit of research :-)  Here is a good link for you to read more about the year of the Tiger and see what birth years are Tigers http://www.yearofthetiger.net/ 

Stay tuned for more Chinese New Years cards in the next couple of weeks :-)

I will remember you...

Happy News!  I've been accepted to another design team, this one is for Just My Sketches, which is a challenge blog with a twist....

Just My Sketches offers challenges twice a month with both a sketch and an inspiration element based on MUSIC (talk about creative!)


The first challenge was just posted today.  Of the song choices, I chose to use I WILL REMEMBER YOU by Sara McLachlan.   

So, you are wondering how I got this card out of that song, right?  Well, my mom and I used to listen to the tape with this song on it all the time (yes, it was a few years back before CDs, LOL!)  I don't get the chance to see her, but I remember the times we shared, so this card is for her.  We both love the seashore, and I know this is one of her favorite stamps in my collection, so I thought it was appropriate.


(Note: If you want to see a large image of the card just click on it.)


The beige and blue on the perimeter of the main image was shaded in with my copic airgun and then the rest was coloured with copics, it's getting easier and easier to use it and them!  


I really like the combination of inspiration and sketch challenge, if you want to try it out check out the the challenge site Just My Sketches, for the details and see what you come up with :-)