Changes all around

 The past month has gone by quickly and while I have not posted them I’ve created a lot of nice cards as I am getting back in to my craft room.  Normally at this time of year I spend weekends skiing, but I’ve been battling health issues that have prevented that, and so my card stash is growing.

This was a rough week with one of my cats very ill, my own health issues and doctor appts and tests, and hubby down with the flu.  On top of that, a big doozy was work changes, my self and almost my entire team affected.  I’m still reeling from the news and processing my plans for 2025.  It is disappointing but in life we have to roll with the punches, as they say.  I made this card yesterday, it fits how I’m feeling

I used SU card stock and dies compined with some art papers I got from Amazon 

Getting back in to the swing of things

 Getting back in to card making means pulling up and using rusty skill sets and I still have not found all my supplies.  Today, I should have invested time in locating my rubber roller tool that I use on difficult to stamp detailed images.  I also should have pulled out the watercolor pencils.  Getting a high quality evenly stamped image was impossible and colouring this well also impossible, but I still think the finished product looks good.

Golf happy birthday

 Made a birthday card for hubby— featuring his favorite sport, golf.

Happy overall with it but if I made it again I’d do the sentiment differently as it just blends in.

Image is from Colorado stamp company 

LL237 Lovely Legs~Tee-Rific Dad

Coloured with Copics

CAS Rhino Thank you

 It’s been fun and a little bit overwhelming digging through my supplies and dreaming up my next card creations.  So many options, so little time.

This stamp sets is one I had not used yet and I believe I picked it as it has many unique sentiments for a thank you card.  And the Rhino is super cute!

Meowy holidays

 I’ve been enjoying unearthing my craft room, it is almost heartbreaking to see all the stamps and supplies which have been gathering dust.  I wonder if I will ever use it all?  

What has not been a joy is figuring out how to blog again....I need to set up a new "photo corner" so you don't see my scratched paint, I need to download a new app to edit and add watermarks to photos.  I did manage to update the colours on my blog itself, but couldn't do a lot of edits without losing key elements.  Luckily I didn't break it in the endeavour!

This card features another LOTV image.  Sadly I don't know the name of the stamp, I looked in my email for the receipt but could not locate.  The stamp itself is just plain grey rubber with no sponge / sticky backing so I had to employ the "lick and stick" method (no worries, no spit involved lol!) to stamp it, and it did take about 4 tries to get a good stamp.  This was not aided by the wobbly folding table that moves underneath when I employ force--still debating if I will take over the kitchen table and island again, the island was the perfect height and so solid for crafty things!

It's coloured with Copics.  I love colouring with my copics and can not imagine making cards otherwise.  I do have chalks, watercolour crayons, watercolour pallets, and pencils, however do not enjoy any of those the way I do my markers.   I'm thrilled that after so many years my copics are doing so well.  However it did cause me to appreciate that might not last forever.  I completed an inventory -- I have about 200 copics, and about 130 ink refills.  That means at some point I will be down 70 markers.  I spent yesterday hunting refills, which is surprisingly challenging.  Amazon wants to charge $30 per refill (crazy!), Ebay wants $16 shipping per marker (I emailed the vendor to see if that could be fixed, he has not responded), Online retailer in US took an order but it's on hold pending their shipping review as I am in Canada.  Finally found Curry's in Canada and ordered a few, but then somehow saw I managed to order a black 100 and 3 of the blending formula (?????) not sure how that happened, sent them a note to see if they can refund that/cancel that.  Yikes!  If not I'll be experimenting with many techniques to use up blending formula lol..... Anyway, the hunt for copic refills is on!

Winter carols

 This is the first card I made in several years and I am thrilled in how it turned out!  I used a gorgeous House mouse stamp and am entering this in the House Mouse and Friends Monday Challenge.

I stamped the image on Gina K pure luxury 80lb paper using Tim Holtz black soot distress ink. I then coloured with Copics.  I used craft ink on the edges and dotted with a white paint pen.  On the background I stamped snowflakes with white craft ink and sprayed with tattered angels glimmer mist.  

Farewell to Bear

 My first post in a long time.  It’s been a challenging couple years with illness and the burden of work, and I’m entering 2025 with the commitment to resuscitate my life.   I unearthed my craft room as part of this path.

I made three cards on my first day ‘back’.  This one made me cry and will go as a final gift to my cat whom we had to rehome recently.  I miss him every day and hope his new life is good.

My craft room is still missing some key components— we had a flood last year and my craft room was packed up in a rush.  The printer, silhouette, my Scot pal and stamping mat are amongst the missing items.  Luckily my Copics were safeguarded carefully.  Everything is in different order though.  I used to have my ribbon on special racks on the walk, but those came down in the Reno and now I have a giant bin of ribbon on to dig in.  I managed to cut my finger open fussy cutting and observe my vision is not what it used to lol!

As for this card, I think it may be the first time I inked up this stamp which I’ve had over 10 years!   My craft goal this year is to buy NO new stamp sets, paper or supplies except for adhesive and some copic refills, I have SO much stuff already waiting to be played with.

Image is LOTV.  I pulled out my precious Gina K pure luxury 80lb white cardstock for the image which is a delight to colour on.  DP in SU.

Digging out my craft stuff again

 

Where has time gone, it looks like it has been 2 years since I blogged, and I have missed it.  The Covid era has continued, and the past couple of years have included golf, skiing, yoga, zumba, gardening, a new job, and travel.  So much to catch up on!

Right now my mother in law is sick in the hospital, so tonight I dug out my craft stuff again, set it up on the kitchen table, and put this together:

Bag of chips

Friday morning, the end of week 10 in self isolation.  It’s been a tough week.  Businesses are trying to open up and restart operations but logistics are challenging and many of us don’t want to risk it and leave out home.

At my workplace we had large layoffs this week, and due to that and other factors had to put a one year suspension on my golf membership.  Will find a more economical option for the next few months and look forward to next year.  I think a lot of people right now are dealing with similar challenges.

On a happier note, here is a card I made up last weekend, using a digi from StampAnniething.  I love this card, it makes me think of being at an actual birthday party where we mingle and laugh and eat chips.

Week 9 at home - stamp party fun

Well, this is the end of week 9 at home due to Covid.  The government will be lifting some restrictions next week but I don’t plan to return to the hair salon or a restaurant for a while, no matter what the rules are.
This weekend a stamp company, StampAnniething, did an online stamp weekend with online Facebook tutorials and a bunch of free digis.  I made this card:

I really liked the idea of a sunshine but I don’t have a sun die, but I do have a background with sun ray, so cut the corner off to become a sun.  Quite pleased with it.

Challenge FS692 Hello the cat

This morning I decided to play with a challenge at Splitcoast Stampers website.  I’ve been really sad to see diminished activity on the site as Facebook and Pinterest groups just aren’t as much of a community and it’s important to support the communities—even online ones—that you care about.

Today’s challenge is to take a card from the gallery of another specific card maker and copy it with a few modifications.  I enjoyed reviewing Lauries gallery as it looks like she’s been crafting about the same time frame as I and looks like we’ve both experimented with similar things over the years.  Interesting to see trends shift and morphed.

The card I chose to copy is Hello from the cat.   I do love cats.

I’m out of black card stock so substituted with dark grey, which paired well with some paw print patterned paper—though I wish I had that paw prints embossing folder Laurie used!  Substituted cat and ball of wool images by a couple from Lawn Fawn.  Didn’t have a small hello sentiment so used a die from Simon Says.  Instead of accenting with sequins used some clear gel dots.

Super fun to play along with this challenge!

Rebirth of golf during social distancing

The weekend is here!  The end of week 8 of social distancing for me.   Yesterday the weather got up to 29 degrees and was beautiful and sunny.  I went to play 9 holes in the evening and was shocked at how packed the golf course was at 6pm on a Friday night.  Fully filled tee sheet from opening to close.   It seems that golf is having a rebirth.  Given the challenges golf courses have had in recent years with attracting and retaining new golfers and the aging demographic of golfers I hope this helps  draw a whole set of future golfers to the game.  I think there is an opportunity here for golf courses to bring back the sport.

The card I’m sharing today is one I made a few months ago using the Lawn Fawn Happy Wedding set.  I love Lawn Fawn stamps and they have been one of my main go to brands this past year as they are cheery and also quick and easy to colour.

This card came out so elegant and yet was very simple to make.

A sunny Friday during social distancing

The week flew by, and Friday is here.  News from the government and health officials is that we are succeeding in flattening the curve so businesses will start to reopen on a staged basis over the next few weeks.

For me, I’ve been enjoying working from home, and I’m a super germ freak at the best of times. Cramming myself in the elevator and sharing tight office space with others is not something I’m keen on, so I’m hoping they don’t make us resume our commutes to the office too soon.

After weeks of waiting, the super hero card kit I’d been waiting on from StampAnniething arrived.  I wish I’d gotten extra of the paper it’s fabulous and with only 24 small sheets I’m afraid to cut in to it 🤦‍♀️.

Here’s the two images I coloured.  First was the blonde, as I am comfortable colouring blonde hair.  After colouring the rest of her though her face and hair were too muted to pair with the bright clothing so I dug our my ancient Spica pens.  I’ve stored them carefully and they still work!  There is a bright yellow sparkly one so I used that to add a bit of extra oomph and definition  to her hair.
The black haired was my first time attempting black hair in many years, and I used some new colouring techniques and super thrilled with it.

The set came with a stencil so I used that rather than cut into the patterned paper to create the background.  It didn’t go so well.  In the end I sprayed it all with Tattered Angels glimmer mist, let it dry, then layered everything on top and it came out ok.


Can’t wait to put a card together with the blonde one this weekend.

Fun wine cards

When they listed the businesses to stay open as essential services, liquor stores were included.   With stay at home orders it has seemed like there has been a lot of wine consumption in general.  Good or bad, it is what it is.  Myself, I enjoy a glass of wine on the deck with lunch after a round of golf, or at dinner with friends.

Here are a couple cards I made using a fun new sentiment set combined by wine relaxing Tilda.

I thought it was interesting how different they could turn out with different colour schemes.  Here’s the fun stamp set used:

All colouring is with Copics.  Tilda is stamped in Brown Adirondack ink

I think I like her better as a blonde... but hard to say.

As usual, lots of foam tape used for dimension 

New arrival cards

It was one of those mornings where I woke up at 5am.  Urg.   Had trouble finding inspiration for card making last night so read a fluff book on kindle ... a young witch, with a cat, investigating a murder...nice cheery escape :-)

A few months ago I got a new coordinating stamp/die set from Spellbinders—I wanted something simple without too much colouring and good for new baby congratulation cards.

Such an adorable image, and the layering dies are awesome.  Super quick and easy to dress up and put this together.

The background is a background die from lawn fawn.

Missing you cards

While they talk of restrictions easing it will be a while before things go back to normal.  Luckily with cats and hubby at home, being an introvert, and also being technologically savvy, I haven’t been too lonely.  Zoom and phone calls, texting and the online world all keep me connected.  However for a lot of folks, perhaps living alone and more extroverted and especially those not used to using technology to connect, it’s a tougher time.  

Last night I made a couple of missing you cards—not my normal style.  Colouring is with Copics, and stamp is a Simon Says set.

The miss you and heart were stamped by colouring on the stamp directly with SU markers, and the blue sentiment is using Tim Holtz distress oxide ink.

Another Monday at home

Week 8 for me of working from home begins.  This would be a lot more enjoyable if it weren’t for the constant uncertainty and fears about what comes next.  And Murphy’s law, after grey and rain on the weekend it sunny today lol!  Urg Monday!

Yesterday I worked on a paper cleanup project to sort old papers for shredding, as we have a mobile shredding service coming today.  There were phone bills going back to the 90’s!  This task was clearly overdue.

Did manage to find the time to reorganize my craft area that has taken over a corner of the living room, and made this fun card last night.

Cat image and sentiment  is from Snarky Cats set from Tim Holtz, and accenting is with Tim Holtz Spills and Splatters set.   Colouring is with Copics.

TV binging during social distancing

Well, yesterday I mentioned the rain, and despite great plans to clean my craft room I got sucked into watching 5 movies on Netflix back to back.  It seems in conversation with others that Netflix and Prime binging are the primary pass times of most households at this time.

I watched a movie called Darkest Hour set in the early days of WWII in England.  It is an excellent movie, very thought provoking during these out of the ordinary times.

Luckily, before I glued myself in front of the TV I did manage to make a card.  This one uses yet another digi from StampAnniething, which seems to be what I’m in the mood for creating with these days.  These girls are cheery and the style is a bit more Anime than most of the artwork I’ve coloured in the past, requiring someone bolder techniques in colouring.  I’m enjoying experimenting and learning this style.

All colouring is with Copics.

I used a brick embossing folder for the background, and then some ivy and sentiment dies to dress it up.

Weekends during Social distancing

Saturday morning is here, and I’m snuggled up in bed with my cat.  The sun is shinning outside.  Normally on a Saturday morning in May I’d be golfing but I didn’t make a tee time due to a rain forecast of torrential rain.

Golf is one of the few things we are able to do outside the home right now, and the golf course has been packed.  Getting a tee time is virtually impossible.  We will see if this ushers in the rebirth of golf.  Last night (Friday night) I had a 5:30 pm tee time.  Lots of young people there (20s and 30s).  Both courses where we golf were booked solid, and the parking lot was completely full.  I guess with the bars and restaurants closed the golf course seems more appealing.

This week I received in the mail some cute Tilda stamps by Magnolia from Sweden:  a golf girl, a golf green with flag, and two different wine drinking Tildas.  I expect to get a lot of use out of these.

They are all made of different rubber, and two are foam mounted while the others are not, very odd.  Also not deeply etched rubber and quite challenging to get a good impression when stamping.  Not impressed with the quality of these I have to say.  However I do love the artwork.

Here is the first card I made with them:

Tilda is coloured with Copics:

Background is embossed with a new clouds folder, kitty cat is Lawn Fawn, and the sentiment is SU.  Fence is a memory box die. Lots of foam tape used on this one as usual.

Friday-end of week 7 of self isolation

It’s Friday again.  The end of week 7 of working from home during the COVID times.  I must admit I do miss things like dinners with friends, skiing, going to plays and live theatre and craft classes and networking/social events, however I am loving working from home.  No commute, no makeup, no high heels.  No running around hunting for keys and drinking my coffee on the go.  It is a lot easier to get up at 7 than at 5:30 in the morning.

Another card I made last weekend using these super cute digi stamps from StampAnniething:

It’s printed on Neenah crest solar white 80lb paper, and coloured with copics.  The cat is from lawn fawn, and the window die cut is memory box brand. DP is SU.

The weekend will be here soon, looking forward to that too.