Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge: Anything Goes II

Hello Everyone,

You are getting two posts in one day - can you believe it!? In my earlier post I made a card using the "love" word die from Paper Smooches. For that card (just scroll down) I used the negative cut for the focal image. I certainly couldn't let the positive cuts go to waste ... So, card number two was created. I Love this card (not that I am at all partial)! I die cut the heart and coloured it with three red copics (R05, R20, and R27). I layered the "love" cuts one on top of the other and glued them to create a raised chipboardesque die cut. I cut the "i" and "u" from white paper and coloured them with the R27 copic. The background square is embossed with a woodgrain EF. Heart and letters are all popped up on foam - i used clear foam for the letters, so that it wouldn't show. I don't think you can see it in the picture, but the "Love" and the "i/u" are all coloured with Wink of Stella glitter pens. In real life it has a very pretty shimmer to it. Since the challenge over at PS Sparks is "Anything Goes", I am entering this one too! I love the mileage you can get from a simple die. Thanks for stopping by, and Happy New Year!

Happy Stamping,

Meg

Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge: Anything Goes

Well Hello Everyone,
Sorry for my long absence; as usual, once the school year started, work took over and crafting took a back seat. I will also say that having our house on the market really put a spanner in the works too. With all the showings (keeping the place in staged mode) I wasn't able to craft. We finally sold our house in September, and found a house we love in Perth, Ontario in October. We moved here mid-November and are finally really feeling settled. Between teaching and moving, there simply hasn't been a lot of time to craft. I wasn't even sure  that I would Christmas cards made this year ... however, I got my new craft space set up and managed to get them done.

So, the first challenge I am going to enter this year is the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge. I have to say that I Love me some Paper Smooches. I created my first Valentine with their Love die. This is a very CAS card - I used the die to cut the word love out of the focal panel three times. Stamped the "i" and "u" (Hero Arts Alpha set), mounted the whole thing with foam adhesive on a Kraft base. The hearts are an old punch I have had for years. Finally, I used my trusty uniball white gel pen to add a little faux-stitching and Voila! I love this card because it is pretty gender neutral. Anyway - I hope you like it.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

CAS(E) this Sketch 45

Hello Everyone,
This week I am participating in the CAS(E) this sketch challenge; here is the sketch

I love this sketch - it is so simple and beautiful. It also provided the perfect opportunity to use this new Penny Black die. I just knew that it would be perfect for this card. I also got the opportunity to use this great senitment set from Uniko Studios - this is the first order I have made from them and I am super-impressed with the quality of their stamps. I cut the branches from Neenah Solar White CS and coloured them with Copics. I added some Glossy Accents to the berries - they look quite luscious in real life!

I am thrilled with the way the card turned out. Hope you enjoyed stopping by.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Missed it by that much...

Hello Everyone,
I was bound and determined to participate in this week's Muse challenge and was not fast enough. I loved Therese's card, so I decided to case it anyway and post it. I got this great little house die from Heather's Stamping Haven here in Ottawa a while ago, but had not yet used it. So following Darnell's NBUS lead I felt it would be just perfect for this challenge. I did a pretty direct case of Therese's card. We are in the process of selling our house, and I think this design would make a great change of address card. I love the simplicity of it - I did a little blingification by putting on the pop of red with the heart, which I had to glitterify with my Wink of Stella glitter pen. :)

Happy Stamping,
Meg

CAS-ology Cue Card: Silhouette

Hello Everyone,
Sorry for the absence - the end of August and the start of school is always a crazy time for me. Work takes priority and unfortunately stamping falls by the wayside. I am cutting it very close for this week's CAS-ology challenge; when I saw that the cue card was silhouette, this Penny Black Daisy die jumped right into my brain. I also just got the "Fabulous" sentiment in a new Uniko Studio set - so what a great pairing! I love the way this turned out - the funky paper from which I cut the flower is from a pack I got at Michael's. I can see that this bold sentiment is going to be so versatile. Anyway I bet stop typing and actually get this uploaded to the CAS-ology blog before time runs out - I am almost out of time!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

CAS(E) this Sketch 40

HI Everyone,
My local stamping store Heather's Stamping Haven just started carrying the new dies from Penny Black - of course I needed to get a couple. I got this Daisy die and am loving it. I saw this week's CAS(e) this Sketch and new I had a winning combination. So I looked up this tutorial from Julie Ebersole and decided it was time to try it out.

I didn't have the inchies that Julie used, so I doubled up two pieces of Neenah Solar white cardstock and covered it with Eclipse masking paper. Then I ran it through the Vagabond with the die to make a deep impression, but not to cut it all the way through. I peeled off the masking paper around the flower and sponged with Mustard Seed Distress ink; next, I sponged with Spiced Marmalade. Finally I peeled the masking paper from the flower. I covered the whole panel with Versamark Ink and clear embossed the whole panel. I repeated this process 4 times to create an enameled effect. I love the way it turned out - it is glossy goodness. The photo doesn't quite show off the gloss to its full effect.

Thanks for looking.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Muse Challenge 29

Hello Everyone,
I missed the Muse challenge last week and was determined not to make the same mistake this week. So I was wxcited to see that the Muse this week is Laurie Willison - I LOVE her cards and find her blog so inspiring. I will admit that this card is no exception, but the colours were challenging to me - a more muted pallette than I usually work with. It took a couple of days of percolating, but the card finally worked itself out last night while I slept! Anyone else dream card designs?!

I decided to use the "sketch" and work with a slightly bolder tone of the same colours. I kept the background very monochromatic and let the flowers add the punch of colour. I pulled the blue, yellow, and green from the background of Laurie's card and used those colours for my flowers. I love the result. The flowers are from a Verve set called "Make a Statement" and the sentiment is from Paper Smooches "Sentiment Sampler" - love that set. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge: Sheer

HI Everyone,
I have decided to join in the Paper Smooches Sparks challenge this week. The theme is to include something sheer/clear in your card, I decided to go with vellum. I had seen a card with coloured vellum strips and loved it - I can't for the life of me remember where I saw it, so I can't credit the original designer... If anyone recognizes it, please give me a heads up. Anyway, on to the card,

I cut four strips of Vellum and coloured them with four copics 2BGs, 1RV and 1YR. I then wrapped the focal piece with them. I cut the Paper Smooches "Love" die from Neenah Solar white and coloured it with RV copic. I stamped the "you" from the "Miss You" sentiment from the PS set "Sentiment Sampler". I added the little rhinestone heart for just a little blingification. I am pleased with the way it turned out.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

CAS-ology: Gold and Summer Card Camp Week 3 Day 4

Hello Everyone,
Today the challenge over at Summer Card Camp is totry something new. Debbie Hughes and Kristina Werner - the queen's of CAS - decided to go shabby chic. I too have tried this style in the past, and while I admire others' creations, I just don't like it for myself. So I decided to do another entry for the CASology Gold challenge and step outside my box... a little.

I stuck with a simple design, but really blinged it up. I made my own glitter paper using sook wang tape and  Glitter Ritz Microfine glitter - I am not a big glitter gal, but this glitter is exceptional. I used a new Memory Box die and a Martha Stewart snowflake punch. How I stepped outside the box... First of all the amount of glitter, secondly the washi tape. You may not think this is revolutionary, but I love it on other cards, I just never know how to use it - apart from holding my dies in place when I am die-cutting. So I took a page out Julie Ebersole's book and used it at the top of the card. Lastly, I used some sequins - I have avoided this trend because I thought that like washi tape, they look great on other people's cards, just not sure I would use them. I got some with a recent Neat and Tangled order as a thank you (I love that they always include a little gift with the order), so I thought that this would be the perfect time to use them. I started out by "sprinkling" them all across the top portion of the card front like snow, but it just did not look right. So, I did what fit more with my style ... I used them to embellish the single snowflake - I layered a white one inside a larger gold one and topped it off with a gold bead.

 I did not step way outside the box, but did incorporate things that I wouldn't normally use and I love the result. Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Muse Card Club: Challenge 27

Hi Everyone,
When I saw the inspiration card for this week's Muse challenge, I loved the combo of purple and red - that is what inspired me to create this card. I just got the Neat and Tangled "Across the Card" stampset and had to try it out. So I stamped it and embossed in gold; then I used PTI's "Quilled Elegance" to create a border above and below. I used the purple/red combo to add a bit of colour. Head over to Muse to check out the fabulous inspiration card and play along!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Summer Card Camp 2 Week 3 Day 2 and CASology Cue Card 54: Gold

Hello Everyone,
Today we had yet another amazing class at card camp - one of the techniques was embossing die cuts. I chose to put my own twist on this and follow along with the new CASology Cue Card: Gold. I will admit it probably would have been easier to just emboss the die cut of the flowers, but what I did instead was I created a mask with Eclipse Masking paper and used the negative as a mask on my card front. I sponged the fower space with Versamark and embossed in gold. I peeled that mask off and replaced it with a mask of the oval and sponged around the flower with  Peacock Feathers Distress ink. Then I stamped the Hello sentiment in Delicata Gold Pigment ink - I actually triple stamped this to get the opacity I wanted. I love the way it turned out. I didn't really stick to the  colour combo of the week for camp, but my inspiration was a Tiffany's box - turquoise and gold. I hope you like it. I loved all the funky "mixed" EPs Jennifer used in today's class, so I am going to try mixing my own concoctions - if it works I will post again later.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Summer Card Camp Week 3 Day 1, Part Two

Hello Everyone,
I have another card to show you! This time I am casing the delightful card that Kristina Werner demonstrated over at Card Camp today. I changed things up a little, but essentially, I used the same sketch and distress watercolour technique she used. The heart and sentiment are from a die set that Kristina desgined for Simon Says Stamp - the thank comes in a heart that fits inside the heart I watercoloured - but it looked a little too washed out with the heart around it, so I just cut the sentiment out and adhered it onto my die cut. In true Kristina fashion, I not only added the white dash lines, but also used my corner rounder! Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Summer Card Camp Week 3 Day 1

Hello Everyone,
I have a card to share inspired by a technique that Jennifer McGuire demonstrated over at Summer Card Camp today: layered background stamping. I used the Mint Motif "Beyond Borders 2" set to create my layered effect. Following Jennifer's directions I stamped the background in white (Color Box Frost White) and then I stamped the same pattern in the negative space with SU's Crumb Cake ink. The sentiment was made using a PTI alpha die set and the little hearts were created with a Martha Stewart punch and an EK Success one. I veered away from this week's colour scheme a little by adding the red hearts and the little hearts in the center are purple although I think they look dark blue in the photo. Anyway, this layered background is a funky new technique I know I will use again - at first it looked complicated, but it turned out to be quite easy. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Summer Card Camp: Week 2 Day 2 - Technique Tuesday!

Hello Everyone,
Today is Technique Tuesday over at Summer Card Camp! My card is a direct case of the one shown by Jennifer McGuire. I did use a different stamp set than hers, but really came up with the same results! She was demonstrating an emboss resist technique for layered stamping. Essentially, do all your step stamping and then stamp versamark over your layered image with the first layer stamp and clear emboss. The point of this is to be able to do the watercolour wash over the image afterward. I used my versamarker to colour the images and then applied the clear EP. Quick and easy - creating a grreat effect. Amber Kemp-Gerstel also demonstrated a cool ombre embossing technique, but that will have to wait til later - after I have run my errands! Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Summer Card Camp Day One/Week Two

Hello Everyone,
Today sees the start of the second week of the fabulous Summer Card Camp - I love these online classes; honestly, if you haven't taken one yet - don't delay... go sign up.

Today's card is based on of this week's sketches and the colour palette for the week. I did struggle a little with this one, as the colours are not really ones I gravitate toward. However, I think I am pleased with the resulting card - I am still not sure... I used the same distress ink water colour technique that Kristina used, except I used Peacock Feather and Crushed Olive - I really like the pop of blue in the flowers. Anyway, hope you like it.

Happy Stamping
Meg

Paper Players Challenge 153: Christmas in July

Hello Everyone,
Today I am playing along with the Paper Players Challenge: Christmas in July! Yesterday morning when I checked out the blog for Heather's Stamping Haven here in Ottawa, I saw that the new Memory Box dies Heather had ordered were in. Of course I had to work a stop at Heather's into my morning errands. I got the gorgeous tree die that you see on this card. Now of course a big rationalisation had to go along with the purchase since I really don't NEED another Christmas die - but certainly I cannot send out the same old cards to people every year - so really the purchase was altruistic - it will bring joy and surprise to the recipients. Just to balance out the card, I used "old" Christmas tools too! Hope you like it! I added a touch of B00 (copic) to the tree to create the snow, and used Picket Fences Distress paint dauber to the frame in the background. The star is also a Memory Box die and the banner is from Simon Says Stamp.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Muse 25 and CAS-ology: Neon

Hello Everyone,
This week I am posting a card that fits both the Muse challenge and CAS-ology. I loved Therese Calvird's card over at Muse the moment I saw it and I knew exactly what stamp set I would be using; then when I popped over to CAS-ology and saw that the cue card was Neon - I knew exactly what colour scheme I would be using! The stamp set I used is a delightful one from Annabelle Stamps -I just love these happy flowers. The set is called "Standing Tall. I just love these delicate outline stamps - they scream "Colour me!" So, I did, with some Neon markers. Now, my photo doesn't show the truly delightful bright of the Neon the way it does in real life  - so you will have to trust me when I say that the colour really does Kapow!. A simple, happy card - my fave. The only added "embellishment" is a touch of Glossy Accents in the center of each flower. Thank you Therese for the great inspiration.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Online Card Classes: Summer Card Camp 2 Day two and three

Hello Everyone,
I am lucky enough to be taking Jennifer McGuire and Krisitna Werner's Summer Camp Two online card class. If you have not participated in these classes, you must check them out. They are fantastic! Everyday, you get new inspiration videos which teach techniques as well as PDF instructions for all the cards.

So today's card comes from the "homework". I chose to combine one of the day two techniques and one of today's cards (by the great Laura Bassen). The technique Jennifer taught yesterday was called multi-inking with masking. I sort of did the reverse of this for today's card - instead of inking up the sentiment in different colours, I white embossed on coloured strips. The inspiration for the strips/thesketch/the colour scheme are from today's card by Laura. The sketch is one they have provided us as is the colour scheme. Idid play with the colour scheme a bit by changing the pinky-red to a real red and I added a strip of green. This is a birthday card for my husband who turns 52 this week. I used two different stamp sets - one from Avery Elle "Handwritten Sentiments" and the other from Jane's Doodles "I Got This" - these are both new, I was also joining in with Darnell and her NBUS movement - Never Before Used! Check out her blog. Anyway, I hope you like it - the inside sentiment says "You Colour My World", which is why I chose the rainbow colours. My husband is an heritage carpenter, so that is why I added the wood veneer stars and embossed the card base with my woodgrain EF.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Muse 24, Happy Canada Day!

Hello Everyone,
It is nice to be back after a long absence. Happy Canada Day to all! The last month has been so busy - between wrap-up at school (so nice to be on summer hols) and getting the house listed! I mentioned in my last post that we had found our dream property - unfortunately after the inspection, we decided to walk away - there was just going to be too much work off the bat. We have found another place that we love - in many ways a much betterchoice for us . . . funny how things always work out. However, we can't put in an offer until we have a firm offer on our house. The good news is that we have had plenty of traffic through our house, but no nibbles yet. My whole family is praying to St. Joseph (we are quite a clan, so that is a lot of positive energy on my side) and we hope to sell soon. All this to say, that we are living in a bit of a showhome at the moment which has also curtailed my stamping somewhat. Now that I am off for the summer - all this will change ... lots of time to stamp!

I popped over to Muse today and was thrilled to see that we are getting a little bit more time each week to participate, and was also thrilled to see the Muse card for this week by the awesome Laurie Willison. The moment that I spied that funky colour of green, I thought NEON - I bought some Hero Arts Neon ink stamping spots and this is the perfect challenge on which to use them. So, here is the card I created.

I stamped the paint strokes from PTI's Watercolour Wonder set in the Hero Arts Neon inks and then added the sentiment from a Hero Arts set (can't see the name on the package). I embossed the whole thing with clear EP to really saturate the colour. I will be sending this one to my bestie Wendy. Anyway, thanks for stopping by - I promise to post more new cards soon!

Happy Stamping
Meg

Muse Challenge 19: Michelle Williams

Hello Everyone,
So sorry for the hiatus - it has been crazy busy. This time of year is always crazy at work (I am a teacher), but we are also selling our house! We were not expecting this development at all. We planned to stay in this house for another two years and then move out of the city. My friend is our realtor and has me on a search of the areas we are interested in so that I can keep an eye on the market. Well wouldn't you know our dream property came up and we just had to jump, so we have been madly getting the house staged and ready to sell. Needless to say that stamping has taken a back seat! However, I vowed that I would find some time this week to play along with Muse. I love the inspiration card, but was not sure what I was going to do. In the end I came up with this one. A very simple design using a new stamp set from Jane's Doodles (I Got This) and an oldy, but goody from Wplus9 (A Pocketful Valentine). The sentiment is from one of Kristina Werner's sets available at Simon Says Stamp (Envelope Sentiments). I was inspired by the circle image around the sentiment and thought that the arrows arranged circularly was a fun take on that. I also liked the bright sunny colours and chose my rainbow based on that. I think this will be a fun card to put in the mail. Thanks for looking - I am off to comment on some of the other amazing creations over at the Muse Card Club!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Muse 15: Jen Mitchell

Hello Everyone,
Sorry for the absence - I am a teacher and we are heading into the final stretch of the school; I have been swamped with marking etc..., so I have had little time for stamping. I was so disppointed at having missed last week's Muse, I vowed not to miss this week. I am just going to make it! I love this week's Muse: Jen Mitchell - I have followed her blog daily for ages and just love her work. I am so happy to see her work honoured on other blogs and on design teams etc... I was inspired by the lovely little butterfly on her card - so that is what I went with - in a big way. Enter my Jumbo butterfly! I stamped it on watercolour paper and coloured with distress markers. Then I spritzed with water and perfect pearls - it has a lovely pearlized sheen in the light. I tried to stick to the same colours, but added orange and red to the butterfly. I really love the way it turned out - until I noticed that my wet wipe landed on the front and bubbled the paper a bit right over the butterfly. Time is ticking to get this entered, so no time to redo it. Please try to ignore that! Anyway, glad to be back in the saddle.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Muse 13: Inspiration Made Marion

Hello Everyone,
Time for another Muse Challenge! This week's muse is Marion Vagg - one of my faves - I just LOVE her style. This week's card does not disappoint. I was drawn to the colours and the striking simplicity of the design. The flowers made me think of the tulip festival Ottawa presents every May. During WWII, the Dutch royal family came took refuge in Canada. To commemorate this and Canada's role in the liberation of the Dutch people at the end of the war, the Dutch government sent over 100, 000 tulip bulbs as a thank you. The festival is fantastic and the tulips are absolutely beautiful - it is one of the many things I love about living in Ottawa. You can go here to read more about our wonderful tulips. All this to say, that I thought of our beautiful flowers when I saw Marion's card and that is what inspired me to make mine. The die I used is a Memory Box die - I believe it is called "Dancing Tulips". I cut thetulips from white cardstock and then coloured them with copics. The senitment is from a Clearly Besotted set - I can't remember which one I used, so I will add that in later. Thanks for stopping by - I am off to comment on the other wonderful creations at Muse.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Muse 12: Watercolour Flowers

Hello Everyone,
This week's Muse card is designed by Therese Calvird. I love it! Instantly I was drawn to the watercolour look of the flower and the large bold sentiment. I was over at Jill Foster's blog and she does some amazing things with watercolouring. I used one of the techniques she demonstrated with Distress Markers. It is really simple. I coloured the flowers with spiced orange, mustard seed and worn lipstick; on the leaves I used pine needles and crushed olive. Then I spritzed with water and sat back while the colours blended. Heat and fussy cut. I wanted them to have a little more sparkle, so I added some rock candy distress stickles to it. The background leaves are stamped with a Hero Arts shadow ink and the sentiment with Ranger jet black Archival. I love the way it turned out. Thanks Therese for the wonderful inspiration and thanks to everyone else for stopping by!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Muse Card 11: Laurie Willison

Hello Everyone,
The uber-talented Laurie Willison is this week's Muse. I just love her cards. This week my mojo seemed to be almost non-existant, but I didn't want to miss joining in. As you can see, I went for an almost direct case of her card and am just getting it in under the wire! I used SU's apothcary accents for the die cut, and their En Francais background stamp. I also used Kristina Werner's Handwritten Sentiments from Simon Says Stamp. I am pleased with the way it turned out. Hopefully imitation is the sincerest form of flattery - Thank you Laurie for great inspiration card.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

CASology Cue Card 38: Up

Hello Everyone,
I am just getting this in under the wire. It has been the usual busy this week, but for some reason my energy has been low. When I saw the cue card at CASology,  I thought "Up" was great inspiration and yet nothing popped into my head. I was worried that I wasn't going to come "up" with anything to submit. Then last night - at some point during my dreams, this image popped into my head. Such a simple concept. So, I got up this morning and headed to the basement craft zone and this card came together in a matter of minutes. I love the way it turned out. Some things are truly worth the wait. The image is from PTI's "Happy Trails" set and the sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp "Handwritten Sentiments" by Kristina Werner. Now, I am ready "up" load my card! Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Ugliest Card Ever! Welcome to the Hall of Shame

Hello Everyone,
Well, I was blog hopping on this lovely April Fool's Day and came across the "Ugliest Card Ever" blog hop over at Suzanne Dahlberg's blog: Card Yard - it is too funny. I am shame-facedly posting this lovely as my submission. I spent hours on this card and what a disaster - not sure what I was thinking! The colours alone are enough to send you running in the opposite direction. Layers, colours, texture all in the wrong proportion. So I apologize for subjecting you to this travesty - but I just had to join in the fun! Thank God I have learned from my mistakes.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Muse #10 and CASology - Hope

Hello Everyone,
I wasn't sure if I was going to make it on time to participate in the challenges this week. My card has been percolating in my brain since I saw the beautiful card Ardyth Percy-Robb created for this week's Muse Challenge. Then when I saw the CASology cue card (hope) I felt that the sentiment for my card fit the theme perfectly! I was inspired by the layout/sketch of Ardyth's card and ran with that. I created a negative mask to sponge my clouds and then masked them off to stamp the sun. The senitment is from a Hero Arts set; the clouds are a Memory Box die and the sun stamp is from a Lawn Fawn set. I am really pleased with the result. Thank you Ardyth for the inspiration. Thanks for looking.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

CAS-ual Friday: No stamps

Hello Everyone,
This week's challenge at CAS-ual Friday's is "No Stamps" - Hmmm! That had me stumped for a little bit and then this card popped into my head. I used the paper bead die from PTI to create the rays. The cross is cut out from the SU! lattice die - when that die first came out I resisted buying it because I didn't think I would really use it even though I loved the design - boy am I glad I caved. I love its versatility. THe hills are also a PTI die. This is my Easter card for this year. Thanks for looking!

Happy stamping,
Meg

Cas-ology Song: Happy Birthday to You

Hello Everyone,
This week's CAS-ology is song. So I did the obvious, and went with "Happy Birthday to You". I had a birthday card to make for my best friend's daughter, so this is what I came up with. It doesn't look CAS, but it was actually very easy to put together. I used "Notebook Doodles" from Lil' Inker - I almost didn't get this set because it was a little more than I usually spend, but I am just loving it! It was very easy to take the various swirls and put them thogether to make the focal image. Then I just quickly coloured everything in. I also embraced patterned paper (took the online class "Pattern Play"). I have a fair bit of it, but use it sparingly. I added some rock candy stickles to the peace sign - you can't really see it in the picture, but itdoes add a little sparkle IRL. I had a lot of fun with this card - thanks for looking!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Pattern Play Card Class Day Two: Part Two

Hello Everyone,
Yesterday I posted a card I made using the technique that Jennifer McGuire showed us in Pattern Play class. Today I am posting the card I made with the positive die cut from that card. I masked off the area where the "Thanks" was going to go and stamped some flourishes from the Lil' Inker "notebook Doodles" set. I used another technique that Jennifer had demonstrated in the "Clean and Simple 2" class - I stamped in yellow, then inked in yellow and orange to create some gradient colour; finally I inked in straight orange. The lighting wasn't great when I was photographing the card this a.m., but in real life it is more distinct. Love the way it turned out.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Pattern Play Online Card Class Day Two

Hello Everyone,
I am dropping in to share the card I made for today's Pattern Play class. I loved Jennifer McGuire's idea of using emboss resist and sponging to change up the look  of a pattern. So, that is what I did. I started out with a piece of yellow patterned paper that had white polka-dots on it; then I stamped my background with versamark and clear embossed. Next, I sponged all over with Spiced Marmalade distress ink and sponged just around the edge with fired brick. I love the way it turned out. I die the Thanks sentiment and popped everything on dimensionals. I will use the positive die cut on another card. Anyway, thanks for stopping by - if you haven't taken one of these online classes, you really have to try it out. They are fantastic.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Pattern Play Card Class: Day One

Hello Everyone,
I am thrilled to be participating in another of Kristina Werner and Jennifer McGuire's online card classes. This one is all about using patterned papers. I have to admit that I love patterned paper and have lots of it, but never really use it effectively. Today's class focused on how to combine different papers by balancing the large, medium and small designs. I cased one of Kristina's cards almost directly - I used her sketch. I was surprised at how easy it was to pick out the papers. The papers I chose all come from one pad and with the sketch in mind it was simple figuring out how I juxtapose them. Initially, I didn't have the thin strip of yellow between the bold floral pattern and the stripes and it looked too fragmented; just adding that thin little strip really pulled things together. The speech bubble and sentiment are from a new Neat and Tangled set called "Just Thinking of You". I just love it. Anyway, thanks for stopping by and I look forward to hearing from you.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Muse Challenge # 9: Marion Vagg

Hello Everyone,
It is Monday, so it is time for a new Muse challenge. This week's inspiration comes to us from the fabulous Marion Vagg. If you are not familiar with her designs, you really need to hop on over to her blog and feast your eyes. Here is her inspiration card for this week's challenge.

The colours and the layout are gorgeous! I love the somplicity of this design. I was inspired by the colours and the white stamped image. Here is my card:

I chose to create a similar colour scheme in the background. I used three shades of blue Inktense pencils and coloured in wide stripes on watercolour paper.  Then I blended these colours together to create the gradient background. I dried it with my heat tool, and stamped the lattice background in versamark and white embossed. Next, I die cut the white flower (love my wafer thin dies). and stamped and mounted the sentiment. It makes for a lovely soft card even though the colours are "cool" tones. Thanks Muse for the challenge; thanks Marion for the inspiration; and thanks to all the "players" for leaving me comments! :)

 

Happy Stamping,
Meg



Muse Challenge 8: Therese Calvird

 

Hello Everyone,

Week after week the gals over at Muse just keep coming up with fantastic inspiration cards - this week's is no exception. Therese Calvird is this week's muse - be sure to check out her blog. All I can say is WOW! I was inspired by the layout, so that is what I went with. The flower is from Clearly Besotted's "With Love". Check out their stamps, because they are gorgeous and so fun to use. The sentiment is from Neat and Tangled's "Kindness Matters" - another great stamp company. The butterfly is a Memory Box die that I just love. I sponged Behind the window with distress inks and used the same colours to colour my butterfly. The flower is coloured with copics. I am really pleased with the way this turned out - I think I will send this one to my sister! Now I am off to see what other creations people have come up with at Muse!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Caseing Julie Ebersole: Case Study# 131

Hello Everyone,
I was super-excited when I saw that Julie Ebersole is the Case Study Muse! I LOVE Julie's cards! When I saw which card was selected, I was even more excited - Julie was the designer who introduced me to colouring on Craft paper. Here  is her card:

It is so soft and beautiful, yet it also has a striking vibrant quality to it too. I think that is what appeals to me most - I love vibrant colours, but I also love simple, elegant design. So her is my card:

I think the inspiration is pretty obvious. I used the flowers from "Loving Thoughts" ( a CAS-ual Fridays stamp set). The sentiment is cut from two separate dies. The "Love" is Paper Smoochesand the "You" is from Simon Says Stamp. I love the way the card turned out. I used some Glossy Accents on the little hearts to give that added touch. Thanks for looking and commenting!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

CASology Cue Card 34: Bunny

Hello Everyone,
When I saw the cue card this week at CASology, my heart sank a bit: Bunny. I immediately thought cutesy and that is just not my style. I also thought Easter, but I prefer to make religious Easter cards as it is a religious holiday, not a secular one. Then I remembered my funky crazy Paper Smooches Bunny and I knew he would save the day. I just got 'Lil Inkers "Notebook Doodles" and "Talk Bubbles" from Simon Says Stamp; so, I put them all to good use and came up with this simple fun card. I have mentioned before that I send cards each week to a small group of family and friends and I think this is a perfect "All Occasions" card. It was super easy - I clear embossed my bunny and coloured him with my distress markers. The way they blended makes him look furry (in my opinion). Anyhoo... hope you like it - he makes me giggle!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Muse Week 7: Laurie Willison

Hi Everyone,
I am so happy to be taking part in the Muse card challenge this week. I just love Laurie Willison's cards and this new one for Muse does not disappoint. She had me at the Craft background! I love stamping on craft. I chose to case Laurie's card pretty directly! I was inspired by all of it. I used SU's "Delicate Doilies" for the background on the card base and on the sentiment tag. The sentiment is from CAS-ual Friday Stamps "Loving Thoughts" - I will just add how fantastic this new line of stamps is! The black ribbon I tried embossing with the same doily pattern I used for the background; it doesn't pop as much as I would have liked, but it is still a cool effect in real life. I am really thrilled with the way this card turned out - it will definitely find its way into the cards I send out each week to friends and family. Thanks for looking and thank you in advance for all your lovely comments!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Muse Week 6: Deanna Jean

Hello Everyone,
I thought I was going to miss this week's Muse, but I am just going to make it. It was a crazy busy week at school and I have been so tired in the evenings, I have not had a chance to stamp. I would like to take a moment to say that I am loving the Muse inspiration designers - it just keeps getting better and better. Now, when you see my card you may think: "How was that inspired by Deanna Jean's card?" This card has been percolating in my brain since Monday morning when I first saw the inspiration card this week. What I loved about Deanna's card were the flowers and the frame. I decided to use the flowers as the frame - I also wanted to keep it simple because this stamp is such a delicate image. I love all the white space, but instead of using white as my card base, I decided to go with craft and use white to colour the flowers - I love the way it pops off the page. I am thrilled with the way the card turned out. Of couse I had to add a little bit of bling - my husband always says that that is the touch of "Megness"! Anyway, I hope you like my contribution.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

CASology Week 33: Circle

Hello Everyone,
the CASology cue card this week is circle. I made this card for my mom's friend who is turning 90. I was hoping to enter it into both the CASology challenge and the CAS-ual Friday challenge (Hiho Silver), but I was too late for CAS-ual Fridays :( However, I am going to be able to make the week 33 at CASology. The background of the circle is actually done with two shades of blue in a watercolour technique and is a little more intriguing looking IRL. I am still really pleased with the way it turned out. I love using a window in the focal image of a card; I also love the juxtaposition of the square card and the circular window. Well I am not going to go on and on - it has been a long week and I want to try to get a card in for the Muse challenge too!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

CAS-ual Fridays: Black and White Plus One

Hello Everyone,
I was excited to see the challenge at the CAS-ual Fridays blog. Black and white, plus one other colour. I had a request from the principal at  my school to make some thank you cards. She wanted something simple and elegant. When I saw the challenge at CAS-ual Friday, I knew what my colour scheme would be. Then I remembered this card at the wonderfully talented Tasnim's blog. I love the use of value in the way she sponged the background. All of these inspirations combined and I came up with this card.

This was a CAS card indeed. I masked off the sentiment area, and stamped the vines in versamark, then white heat embossed them. Next, I sponged with Broken China Distress ink. Finally, I took off the mask and stemped the sentiment. Really easy and I think a striking result. Thanks for looking.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Muse #5: Marion Vagg

 

 

Hello Everyone,
When I saw that this week's Muse is Marion Vagg, I actually squeeled in delight. I LOVE Marion's designs. I first came across her blog through one of Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner's online card classes. I saw Marion's gorgeous creations in the gallery and started to follow her. If you haven't checked out her blog, you must - it provides a plethora of inspiration! Have I gushed enough?! Here is Marion's Muse card:



I love the yellows and orange and that is what I drew my inspiration from. It made me think of the Tulip Festival we have each spring in Ottawa. I don't have a tulip stamp, so I opted for roses instead. Here is what I came up with:

I created a watercolour background on which to stamp the roses. I used Fired Brick, Mustard Seed and Orange Marmalade Distress inks. I used the same distress inks to ink up the Hero Arts background stamp too. I love the way it turned out. Thank you so much Marion for your wonderfully inspiring Muse card. I am just loving this card challenge blog!

Happy Stamping,
Meg
 

Thank you Anita!

Hello Everyone,
I had a lovely surprise this morning. I was scrolling through some previous posts on my blog and noticed new comments on a card I had entered in a CASology challenge. One of them was from Anita (mypapercraftworld.wordpress.com) letting me know that she had awarded me the Liebster Blog award! Here it is:

 

I am so touched. I decided in January to start taking my papercrafting hobby a little more seriously. I made the commitment to blog more (so far, so good); I am a Stampin' Up demonstrator and I have been running classes with these prducts for a few years. I am finding that I am outgrowing their products, style and the limitations of the demo agreement. So, I decided to continue classes, but just not as a demonstrator any longer. I was worried about making this decision, but when I did I had another wonderful surprise. The owner of a local stamping store (Heather's Stamping Haven) asked me if I would be interested in teaching at her store. So I made up some sample cards and I will be teaching two classes in March and April! I am so excited!

 

So, all this to say that this Liebster Award is just another sign that I am moving in the right direction. Now here are "rules" of the Liebster:

• Thank the person who haas given you this award.
• Post the award on your blog.
• Pass the award on to five other bloggers who inspire you and have fewer than 200 followers.
• Leave a comment on each of their blogs letting them know they have been given the award.

 

I follow many blogs everyday, but here are the five I am passing the award to:

 

1. Jen W. at JENerally Speaking
2. Tasnim at Cards and Bookmarks
3. Deanna at Kloset Kreations
4. Shirley at Shirley-Bee's Stamping Stuff
5. Sue Wieberg at Crafting the Day Away

Thank you ladies for all the inspiration.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Muse Challenge #4

Hello Everyone,
This week at Muse our inspiration is the above-pictured card by Therese Clavird. I love the purple and chartreuse colour scheme. This is what I drew the inspiration from - that and the drink of course. I knew I wanted to use that colour scheme, but it took a couple of days before the card percolated to the surface of my brain. Today, when I got home from school, I felt it was time to move the ideas that had been brewing to the paper.

 

This is the result. I love this little stamp set - it is by Stamp Barn (a local stamp company) and is a signature set from Heather's Stamping Haven here in Ottawa. The picture does not do the card justice - in the picture the colours look blue, but it is purple! Anyway, I am excited to head over to Muse to see the other great creations.

 

Happy Stamping,

Meg

 

CAS-ual Fridays: Love Song

Hi Everyone,
this week at CAS-ual Fridays, the challenge is "Love Song". This card is inspired by the song "Thank you for Being a Friend" - I am celebrating platonic love. My best friend has been in my life for 27 years and I am so grateful for all the love, support, fun and laughter she brings me. Each week I make her a card and send it to her, just so she knows - in the midst of the "busyness" of life - how much she means to me. This is my homage to her! The "Thank you" heart and the sentiment are both from Kristina Werner's line at Simon Says Stamp. I cut the heart from masking paper and sponged the card front with fired brick distress ink. Then I white embossed the sentiment. Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

CASology 31: Red

HI Everyone,
Time to play along with CASology again, This week's cue card is red, When I went to the mailbox yesterday and saw that my new Neat and Tangled stamps had arrived, I was thrilled! I knew that I wanted to use it for this challenge. I thought this card would be simple to make and while the concept was simple, the execution was way more time consuming than I was anticipating. Funny how the simplest design can be very tedious to make! I am pleased with the way it turned out. Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Stamping,
Meg