Four months later

Wow - has it really been that long since I've posted? A lot going on here and my mojo has taken a toll, along with the stress! However, I've made some fabulous changes for me and I'm feeling great. I've joined the gym, started yoga again, am going to start running and also started a program with Isagenix. I am happy to say that I've lost 11 lbs this month and am still going strong!

Now, on to a couple cards. I keep forgetting to take some pics, but here are a couple that I've made lately.

Both are using Magnolia stamps (apparently that is all I've been using lately). I won't put the supplies I used as I'm tired (and lazy?) but, I did stamp the main image on PTI cardstock with Memento ink.

I am still using my Copics a lot and LOVE them! I recently took a class on them and learned a lot about blending, colour choice, etc. I feel I'm missing some major colours in my collection, so I will be making a purchase sometime in the future!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Sick, sick and still sick!

I've been fighting a cold for weeks (months, it seems) and then the stomach flu hit late last week. Blah! I haven't done much stamping in ages but did want to update my blog so I am posting some of the cards I've made in the last little while - Magnolia and SU!

This is one of the Christmas cards that I'm sending out. I've made a bunch of different ones, but they're all very similar - simple but nice. This one uses Old Olive as a base with Real Red and DSP for layering. I can't remember the DSP off the top of my head but it's the one in the mini (frosty day?). I love it and will have to make sure I get at least one more pack before the catty ends! I used Baja Breeze ribbon around the layers. The stamp is from Cute & Curly and is punched out with the Curly Label punch. I stamped it again in Old Olive and then cut out the oval and mounted it using a dimensional.

This card uses Blue Bayou as a base (5.5 square). The patterned paper is by Basic Grey (Granola) - I LOVE it! I need to buy lots more, I think :) I did have some trouble matching the colours with my stash of solid papers but I do like how it turned out. I used Night of Navy and Chocolate Chip underneath the patterned layers. I ran Blue Bayou ribbon along the side and made a little bow for it. I'm not happy with the bow so I think I'll have to adjust that before sending this one out. There are crystal rhinestones on the bottom right corner as well. Tilda in striped tights is coloured in using Copics, of course! I have more of these on my wish list for Christmas :)

Thanks for looking, as always. I love hearing what you all have to say! Stay healthy and the countdown is on! I hope you're all more organized than I am this year. I'm not finished any of the gifts/cards I'm making. Yikes!

Paper Craft Planet

I've recently discovered Paper Craft Planet - it's a community for paper crafters and it's a great place to get ideas and meet new people.

I submitted this card for the first Pink Cat Studios challenge. I love how it turned out, even if I deviated a little from the rules (I used 3 different types of embellishments instead of 3).

The challenge was to use:

1 ribbon (twill tape)

2 backgrounds (Basic Grey Boxer printed paper)

3 embellishments (stapes, star brads, swirl clip.

I used Cranberry Crisp for my base along with Night of Navy and River Rock (all from Stampin' Up!). I coloured in Billy with Copics, blending a red and a brown for his handkerchief and pants to make more of a "cranberry crisp" colour - it looks perfect in person). I sponged the edges of the image panel with River Rock ink and stamped the sentiment in Chocolate Chip on the twill.

Thanks for looking and a special thank you for all my followers!

Winter card

I've been on a Tilda kick lately and had to post at least one more before I move onto other stamps. I am completely thrilled with how this one turned out!

The background stamp is from The Stampin' Place. They have some fabulous scenery stamps! I haven't looked at the other stamps, but I'm sure those are great too. The sky looks a little wonky in the photo, but it looks great in real life (thanks to my husband!).

I stamped both images in Palette Noir Black on Stamper's Select White cardstock (both from Papertrey Ink) and then coloured them with my Copics. I didn't shade too much on the images so I'll probably go back and finish that up soon.

The card base is 5.5x5.5 Real Red cardstock. I mounted the main image on a piece of Cool Caribbean. The Real Red grosgrain ribbon and silver cord is also from Stampin' Up.

Tilda with her lantern is popped up on dimensionals (and her boots aren't cut off the card, it's just the photo). Gasp... I just realized I didn't put any Stickles on the card! I will have to do that on at least the wings and lantern light when I go back to shade!

I really like these background/scenery stamps and I have a few more that I need to ink up and make cards with!

I hope everyone is able to think about Remembrance Day or Veteran's Day tomorrow. My oldest son has an assembly today and his class sang a song. It was an awesome reminder of all the people who have and are risking their lives or lost them for other's freedom.

Cherry Tilda

One of my best friends is in Vegas right now so she can go to MADONNA! Before she left, I gave her the following card to cheer her up as she's been having a rough time lately.

I received this stamped image so I just coloured her with my Copics. I love how she turned out! This is definitely a Tilda that I will have to buy! I used Riding Hood Red for the card base along with Bashful Blue, Washington Apple DSP. I have Tilda sitting on a piece of Bashful Blue ribbon. I'm not sure who made the flowers, but I think they are Primas. I've got 3 little rhinestones in the top right corner and then a crystal brad in the flower centre.

My friend loved it and I'm glad! This is one of my favourite cards! I think I need to buy some more Crystal Effects as he rainboots would be better with shiny-ness :)

Billy and Tilda

I've got a few cards to show tonight. Two using Billy from Pink Cat Studios and one using Tilda with Rose from the Pink Collection (supporting Breast Cancer Research).

This is one of my favourite cards, ever, I think. I love how the layering turned out even if it is a simple card. It's mostly SU! supplies: Autumn Vines DSP, More Mustard, Really Rust, Sage Shadow and Chocolate Chip cardstock, circle punch, markers to colour the image, clip and twine. I did use some ribbon from Michael's and Stamper's Select White Cardstock from PTI.

I love this DSP and I thought it went well with the cowboy image. I don't have any western patterned paper so I wasn't sure what I was going to use and then I came across this - it worked perfectly!

This next one is also Billy. I used the super hero image and cut it out. I used Brilliant Blue, Real Red, Basic Black and Brushed Silver cardstock. The stars on the red is from the Billy Background Plate 4 stamped in silver Encore ink. I used the SU! scallop punch, large star punch, and small star punch for the little medallion. The blue ribbon is trimmed in silver and goes perfectly with the card, even if it's not from Stampin' Up (I bought it at Michael's last Christmas).

I think I need to add Billy's little dog to the silver panel though. I coloured using Copics. These the the BEST markers. I love how the SU! ones coordinate with their other products, but the alcohol markers are fabulous! I'm still working on shading and getting them to look fabulous, but I'm happy with my progress so far.

This last card has one of my new favourite images from Magnolia. They have a line of stamps that were introduced for Breast Cancer Awareness month (October) called the Pink Collection. You can see all the images available at the previous link. I purchased mine here. Diana is a really sweet woman and shipping is incredibly fast!

I used Pink Pirouette and Purely Pomegranate cardstock by SU!, Stamper's Select White from PTI, and a sheet from the Pink Patterns collection from PTI. I coloured her using Copics, with some help from my artist husband (thanks Neil!), added Star Dust Stickles to her wings and the rose and put a tiny rhinestone in her bow, to cover up where I got carried away with colouring her hair! There are also two pink rhinestones on the bottom of the top layer. The sentiment is from SU!'s All Holidays set. What do you think of the rhinestones at the bottom? I feel it's a little unbalanced, but I don't want to put two more rhinestones at the top as I don't think there is enough room. Any other ideas?

I'm on a roll - another birthday card

My mother-in-law's birthday was last week. We went down for dinner and cake on Saturday. The kids had a blast, of course. They love visiting Grammy and Grandpa. Mommy and Daddy love visiting, too! It's wonderful being back home! We did enjoy our jaunt to Alberta, but like Dorothy said, "there's no place like home."

Anyway, this is the card I made for her, using Tilda of course!

Card base is Cameo Coral (5.5x5.5), next layer is SU! DSP from the Spring/Summer catalogue and I can't remember the name. Apricot Appeal and Old Olive are the next two layers. I used my Nestabilities to cut out the scalloped circle, using that same DSP (does anyone remember the name?). Chocolate grosgrain for Tilda to rest against and I used my Copics to colour her in. I keep forgetting to sponge the edges until the layers are all stuck together. I need to put a sticky note on my table to remind me!

Happy Birthday Hunter!

My son had a 6th birthday party to go to yesterday so I whipped up a pirate card using Pink Cat Studio's Pirate Billy stamp. I love these Billy plates! I think I should pick up the other ones available and the Lily ones, too. You never know when I'll need to make a girly card.

I stamped the images on PTI Stamper's Select white cardstock (the BEST) using Staz-On black ink. I coloured the images using my Copic markers. I didn't shade anything since the spaces are pretty small. The sword, skull on the pirate hat, and the skull and crossbones all have Diamond Stickles on them. I used SU! cardstock: Wild Wasabi, Blue Bayou, Apricot Appeal and Real Red. There are two fake gemstones that I picked up from the dollar store. These are great as they already have adhesive on them. Gotta love that!

As always, thanks for looking and have a fabulous day!

Tilda, Tilda and more Tilda!

NOTE: does anyone have any tips for using Blogger? What I have when I'm creating a post is not what I get when I preview it and it's very frustrating! I have used other blogging software before and have never had this problem. Thanks :) ETA: sorry for all the extra spaces - I can't seem to get rid of them. Argh!

I've been making a lot of Tilda cards for the Magnolia-licious Yahoo group that I'm a part of. There are a few activites that I participate in: Raining Cards, Card Mingle and now the Birthday RAK (random act of kindness). For Raining Cards, 4 people are choosen each month and everyone who participates, sends a card to those 4. This month was my month and it's been FABULOUS getting beautiful cards almost daily! The Card Mingle involves being paired up with another person and you send them a card for that month that is based on a theme. September was Back-to-School and October was Autumn. The Birthday RAK is straight forward. You're given a name and you send a card from the whole group. It's a great way to practice your stamping skills (and who can forget fun!).

I buy most of my Magnolia stamps from here. Diana is the creator of Scor-Pal, which is a MUST HAVE for paper crafters, and she has opened up a Magnolia store. She is fabulous as is her store!

Here are a few that I've made in the last couple weeks:

This card was made for the Card Mingle - I love how it turned out, especially the colours. I used SU!'s Bella DSP, which is beautiful. I coloured Tilda with my new Copics. I love them but am still getting the hang of things. They're are great, but there is a learning curve to them.

One of my best friends had a birthday earlier this month and she usually wears black, but once in a while she will wear a Wild Wasabi or Kiwi Kiss green colour. I have made her cards before and they've always been black and green, so I wanted to do something different for her. This is one of my favourite cards so far and she loved it too! Simple, but fun. More DSP from Stampin' Up as well as a Cuttlebug embossing folder and Nestabilities.

I was lucky enough to receive a whole stack of stamped images from a fellow Magnolia-licious member a few months ago, so that is where this one came from. I don't have a birthday Tilda, so was grateful to have had this one on hand. She is so cute! I used DSP from Stampin' Up again (can't remember the name but it goes with the Tart N Tangy stamp set). You can't really tell from the photo, but there are red Stickles on the icing. I love those! So simple but they add a lot to a card - dimension and sparkle.

I haven't been able to give this one away yet. I just love it! I recently bought the Martha Stewart "glob" punch. I can't find it on her website, but I picked it up at Michael's. It's so great for dripping Stickles! I punched it out of black paper and then used Diamond Stickles to make is sparkle. I also used my rectangle scalloped Nestabilities. They are great for cutting and embobssing. Love them! The Elegant Eggplant piece of cardstock is embossed using the Cuttlebug Distressed Stripes folder. I also have dark purple rhinestones in each corner of the Wild Wasabi cardstock. I picked these up at Michael's as well, but I didn't keep the packaging so I don't know who makes them. They were just on an end aisle and it was a fluke that I found them. I love that they are self adhesive.