Happy New Year, Ombre Coloured Embossing Paste and Light!

Hello Everyone,
I trust your holiday season has been full of joy and hopefully some rest too. I must say that compared to last year's deep freeze, this year's weather has been much milder, however it has meant the first green Christmas I can remember in a long time. Today I am happy to play along with  CAS-ology where the cue card is light. I did want to link up to Make It Monday over at Nicole Heady's blog, but I don't have any PTI schtuff on my card.

Over at Make It Monday, it is an a la carte challenge - you can choose from any of the Make it Monday tutorials. I decided to use one that Laura Bassen did on creating backgrounds with embossing paste. I decided to combine this with the CASology cue card this week. I created my embossing paste background a little differently than the way Laura did it. I mixed some translucent paste with transparent microfine glitter from Glitter Ritz and then spread it on the cardstock using a stencil from Simon Says Stamp. Once it was dry, I placed the stencil back over it to create a mask and then I sponged the paste with Distress Inks: Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade, and Mustard Seed. How does this tie into the cue word light? Well the result is like some of the spectacular colours of morning light first thing in the a.m. I love the way inking the embossing paste really brings out the glitter. I die cut the Hello from several pieces of white cardstock and then used my Xyron to add stick to the front, so that I could cover it with white glitter. Once covered, I inked it up with the same colours of Distress inks. It needed more depth for the Sentiment to pop, so I die cut it out of black cs and offset it. Then I added the black shadow panel before mounting it on the cardstock. After all that beutiful morning light does create shadows! Here is a closer look at the glitteriness of the background.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I love to hear your feedback, so feel free to leave a comment. Have a Happy New Year!

Paper Smooches Sparks: Anything goes

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are all enjoying the lead up to Christmas. I am so glad to be off for the Christmas break. I am not sure how I did it, but I managed to get all my Christmas cards done on time. Today I am playing along with Paper Smooches Sparks. It is an Anything Goes challenge. So, I broke out my favourite die sentiments from Paper Smooches. I am now on a mission to have all my "thank you" cards done prior to the hols and this little die is perfect.

The background is stamped with Hero Arts Looped Circle BG stamp embossed in white on watercolour paper. I watercoloured it with Picked Raspberry Distress Ink. I used a bit of Perfect Pearls with the water and it gives the watercolouring a beautiful sheen. I did a general wash and then when it was dry went back to darken the centers of the looped circles. I die the "thanks" four times and layered them. The top layer has been glitterized with Glitter Ritz glitter. It has the most beautiful glittery effect.It is hard to see in the photo - here is a close-up to try to capture it.

I love the way this simple card turned out. Thanks for stopping by and leaving your feedback.

Happy Stamping,

Meg

Bling on the Silver

Hello Everyone,
I have been crafting like mad trying to catch up on my Christmas Cards - not having my craft space for a couple of months and a super-busy school year has made it difficult to create. I am way behind, but having fun all the same! Here is another entry for CASology's Silver Challenge and I am going to link it up to Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Bling it on! Here is my creation:

I used a Memory Box die to create the ornament. The base is a dark purple paint chip that I coloured with Wink of Stella and then clear embossed - it is quite sparkly in real life although it was really hard to photograph. The fancy loopy overlay is cut from some silver metallic paper. The branch is a die I had in my stash - I don't know what company it is - I also cut this from a paint chip and treated it with Wink of Stella and clear EP. The sentiment is from a PTI set called Holiday Cheer. I am pleased with the solid colour block effect. The deep purple is gorgeous on the rich red. I wish you could see the sparkle. 

Not even this pic shows it off - oh well. Thanks for stopping by - I love tohear your feedback!

Happy Stamping,

Meg

CASology: Silver

Hello Everyone,

What a week! I have never been so happy to arrive at the weekend. School has been crazy busy - I have been out of school at least one day almost every week for the last month or so because of meetings etc... at the school board. Most of the time I enjoy this time out as it is invigorating for the old brain to have adult conversation all day; however, the frequency of this time away has become a little disruptive to the classroom. Every time I am away, it requires about three hours of prep work to provide lessons for my supply teacher... Anyway - as I said, so happy it is the weekend.

I was thrilled with this week's CASology cue card: Silver. A couple of weeks ago, I bought a fabulous 12 x 12 pad of metallic papers. There was one silver one with a hexagonal white pattern throughout it that just really looked cool. So  I die cut the Avery Elle sentiment from it and placed it on a white embossed panel; Then I layered this diagonally across the card base. It looked a little to stark on its own, so i added the strips of the metallic paper. Still felt it looked a little unfinished, so I popped on the holly and berries - Perfect! I love the way it turned out.  It was really hard to photograph - here is a side view, so that you can see the sheen of the metallic paper.

We got quite a bit of snow this week and the silver on the card reminds of the crisp sparkliness of the snow in the sunshine! Thanks for stopping by... It is always great to hear your feedback.

Happy Stamping,

Meg

Paper Smooches Sparks: Anything Goes

Hello Everyone,

I can't tell you how great it is to be back in my craftroom again (we had a basement flood at the end of the summer and the renos were recently completed)! The best part of being out of my room was setting it back up, as I was able to reconfigure it to better suit my crafting needs. Today I have created a simple little Christmas card for the latest Paper Smooches Sparks challenge. I love the Anything Goes challenges, but this time i was almost stumped because I wanted to make a Christmas card, but I don't have any PS Christmas sets. So even though this is a simple little card, it actually quite a while to make as its composition is thanks to the combining of Four PS sets... none of which are Christmas sets! Talk about stretching my stamps!

The "holly" branch is from Botanicals 2, the "berries" are the little open dot from the Reflections set filled in with a little red Wink of Stella, and the sentiment was created using the Mini Monograms set. Finally, I felt the sentiment just needed a little something extra, so I added the tiny heart from the Sweet Hearts set! It is hard to see the twinkliness of the Wink of Stella (I also added some clear to the leaves on the holly sprig), but in real life it adds just the right amount of shimmer. 

Thanks for stopping by, I love to hear your feedback!

Happy Stamping,

Meg

CASology: Eat

Hello Everyone,
I was thrilled to be picked as an honourable mention at CASology for last week's challenge. You can see my entry here. It is time to play along with CASology where the cue card this week is "eat". This almost had me stumped until I remembered the Cheeky TAWS stamp set Tooty Fruity! I kept this card very simple by colouring the tomato with my copics. How does relate to eat? Tomatoes are edible after all...

I am thrilled with the way this simple cheeky card turned out. Thanks for stopping by and as always, I love to hear your feedback.

Happy stamping,

Meg

Muse: Keep it Sweet and Simple

Hello Everyone,
I am thrilled that I was to see that I was a top three featured member over at Muse! You can see my card here. This week the challenge is to keep it sweet and simple with this card as our inspiration:

I am taking my inspiration from the simple colour scheme and the tag focal image. I decided on a white on white with a pop of red and green. I mounted the focal sentiment on a central panel to mimic the tag. Here is my card:

I die cut the fabulous Avery Elle sentiment from some beautiful gold foil paper. The holly is part of the sentiment die and I simply coloured the leaves with a green Wink of Stella and the berries with a red one. The background panel is embossed with a holly embossing folder. Here is a look at the gorgeous golden foil paper.

I am thrilled with this simple card.

Thanks for stopping by - I love hearing your feedback.

Happy Stamping,

Meg

CASology: Flag

Hello Everyone,
Today I am playing along with CASology where the cue word is flag. My card is inspired by my wonderful country Canada's flag. I have always loved the simplicity of our red and white beauty with its proud maple leaf front and center.

I bought this set of Memory Box coordinating tree dies last Holiday season and didn't use them as much as I thought I would. As I was moving back into my craftroom and unpacking all my schtuff, I rediscovered them. I also came across some foil paper that I had forgotten about. This card just popped into my head - colour scheme (red and white) and the red central image were inspired by our flag. The sentiment is from a retired Stampin' Up set - I think that was one of the first stamp sets I ever bought. The foil paper was really hard to photograph - only an angled shot would capture the glorious red.

Thanks for stopping, I always love to hear your feed back!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

One More for Less is More

Hello Everyone,
I was sad to see that I missed the deadline for the Virginia's View challenge, but am happy that the card I made fits the Less is More challenge for More than One tree!

I bought this Impression Obsession die in the summer and have been waiting to be able to use it. I love the way the bright white pops on the craft background. This die makes me think of my cottage and its beautiful paper birches. I smeared a bunch of Tsukineko Delicata ink on white cardstock to create my own metallic paper. Then, I die cut the fabulous Avery Elle Christmas sentiment from it. This has got to be my favourite gold ink because it really sparkles in real life.Once I glued the craft panel to the card base, it looked a little too plain, so I added the thin strips of red to either side.

Thanks for stopping by - I love to hear your feedback. Don't forget to head over to Less is More to see all the beautiful creations posted there.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

One More for Muse and Less is More

Hello Again,
I am back with another card for this week's Muse Challenge and I was thrilled to see that it qualifies for the the Less is More challenge, which is more than one tree! You can see the Muse inspiration card here; it was created by the fabulous Marion Vagg. I love the ombre-esque quality to the balloons and the way the black sentiment pops against the colour and all the white space. This is the source of my inspiration.

While I was at Home Depot yesterday, I was ambling by the paint department when the paint chips hollered at me. So, of course I had to pick some up in all sorts of colours. I die cut my trees from them to capture that ombre effect. I wanted dimension, so I didn't die-cut the sentiment out fromthem directly. Instead I die-cut it in white and popped it on top - I wanted it to pop the way the black panel pops on Marion's card. The sentiment is from a Papertrey Ink die as is the snowy hill. The tree is a die I picked up from a local craft store - I don't remember the company name. I also embossed the background with my trusty Swiss Dots EF - that was the very first embossing folder I bought! I love the way the monochromatic colour scheme and the white space create a very clean look.

Thanks so much for stopping by - I would love to hear your feedback. Please head over to Muse and Less is More to see all the wonderful creations.

Muse Challenge 94: Marion Vagg

Hello Everyone,
It is great to be writing this blog post! I posted awhile ago that I would absent from blogland - we had a flood in our basement and I had to pack up my craftroom and move things into a pod that has been living in the driveway. Finally, The basement is pretty much done and I have my craft space partially set up - I retrieved the necessities from the pod, as I just couldn't wait. So, I had enough of my stamping "schtuff" to make a card or two. They are moving the rest of the things from the pod back in later today - Yay!

At any rate, when I saw the Muse inspiration card from Marion Vagg, I just knew that I would have to play along. Here is Marion's card:

I Love the die cut sentiment and the soft ombre style effect of the sponged balloons. I saw this card by Laura Bassen and decided to combine the two inspirations. So, I created this card:

I used a little Christmas tree die to create a stencil and sponged my colourful trees. Then I used the sentiment die from Papertrey Ink and die cut it out of the panel. Finally, I cut three more of the same sentiment and layered them all before inlaying it back in to the panel. I feel the trees emulate the colourful balloons and love the way the peace sentiment blends and pops the way Marion's Happy does. Overall I am pleased. I made one more for this challenge, but I will post it separately so that I can enter it too. Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Stamping,

Meg

Copics for Cardmakers Day one and craft room update

Hello Everyone,
Long time no post. Well my craft room is still in a shambles after our flood. The good news is that all of the restoration needs and budget have been approved so we are just waiting to get a start date on the repairs. I can't wait for the reno to be done. So, my crafting tools etc... are mostly packed away. I had already signed up for the new online card class, so I made sure to keep out some paper and my copics.

Today in class we worked on basic blending and I must admit it was really fun playing around with blending techniques and colour combos. Here are some of my favourite combos:

I am really looking forward to the rest of the classes. Today's class also really helped crystalize which colours I "need" to get next!

Happy Stamping,

Meg

Just a quick note...

Hello Everyone,
I just wanted to give a quick heads up... My crafting will be put on hold for a bit - much to my dismay. We had a flood in our basement which is where I have my craft space. Thank God, none of my cardstock, inks, stamps etc... were damaged, but everything needs to be packed away while they do the repairs. The good news is that we were going to redo the basement at some point anyway - so, this has moved that project up - new floors, new drywall, new paint - yay! So, I am hoping to be back in my craft haven by the end of September (they say two weeks, but in real life I am banking on a month).

Happy Stamping,
Meg

One More for Paper Smooches Sparks

Hello Everyone,
It is an "Anything Goes" challenge over at PS Sparks. I have one more entry (you can see my first entry here). I used the PS set "Just a Note" for the focal image and the PS set "Scripty Sayings" for the sentiment. This is a very CAS card.

I got the idea for this one from Lisa Adessa of "I'm In Haven" blog. She posted a while ago that she is a supply teacher and leaves a thank you card for the teachers she replaces. My first thought was, "They should be thanking you." As a teacher I know how invaluable it is to have a reliable supply teacher when you need to be away from the classroom. So, I decided to make this card to leave for my supply teachers when they replace me in the classroom. Especially since I teach grade 7/8, so I really am endebted to them for covering for me!

Thanks for stopping by - I love to hear your feedback!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

CASology 109: Java

Hello Everyone,
This week at CASology the cue card is "Java". Gotta admit that a morning is not complete without my cup o' java. As a matter of fact, every Sunday morning, I get up and meet my BFF for a long run and breakfast. We sit and chat and have cup after cup of coffee. So, she is the inspiration for this card. The image and sentiment are from the My Favourite Things set "Hot Stuff". I love this little set and although I don't pull it out all the time, it is perfect for this kind of card.

I coloured with Copics, but didn't have a flesh tone for her arms. So, I used my lightest shade of pink and then went over it with the colourless blender and it lifted just the right amount of colour.

 

Thanks for stopping by. I love to hear your feedback too. Don't forget to swing by the CASology blog to see all the fantastic entries there.

 

Happy Stamping,

Meg

 

Muse and Paper Smooches Sparks

Hello Everyone,
Today i am playing along with Muse and Paper Smooches Sparks. The Muse card this week is by the fantastic Marion Vagg. Here is the card she created for our inspiration:

I was inspired by the striped background with a white focal point. I decided to take a page out of the Stretch Your Stamps 2 lessons and use a non-traditional stamp to create my "striped" background. I have been a little obsessed with the Paper Smooches set "Just a Note" lately - I just can't get enough of it. Ihave been making all kinds of cards to keep at school with it. So, I chose the fat pencil image and coloured with Blue, Green and yellow. For the white focal point, I used a word bubble die (not sure what company it is from, and stamped the "Just a Note" sentiment in it. The sentiment is from the Paper Smooches set "Sentiment Sampler". I love this card - I will be mass-producing this one and keeping it in my desk drawer at school.

Hard to believe that it is back to school the week after next. Much as I enjoy my summers, I am keen to get back and meet my new batch of students! Thanks for stopping by - I love to hear your feedback!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Time Out Challenge: Inspiration - Anita

Hello Everyone,
When I was checking in on My Paper Craft World (the blog of Anita in France), I saw that she is guest designer over at the Time Out Challenge. I never need any encouragement to take time out to craft! So, I decided to play along. I pretty much cased Anita's card with a couple of changes. I changed the orientation from portrait to landscape, embossed in gold instead of white and created the die cut shadow with a single shade. I am really pleased with the way this card turned out - thanks for the inspiration Anita!

Thanks for stopping by - love to hear your feedback!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Last Day of Class at Stretch Your Stamps 2 :(

Hello Everyone,
I am sad to say that today is the last day of class over at Stretch Your Stamps 2. Today we were to play with the things we have been taught over the last two weeks. I cased one of Laura Bassen's cards - she encouraged us to use an unusual stamp to create a background. I used an embellishment stamp from the Avery Elle Rounded Diamonds set to create almost a direct CASE of the card Laura did.

I used Pale Tomato, Orange Soda, and Butter Bar inks ( all Hero Arts) and Ranger Archival balck for the sentiment. The sentiment is from Neat and Tangled's "Kindness Matters" set. Then I decided to look for a stamp that I wouldn't typically think of as a background builder. I pulled out Paper Smooches "Just a Note" and used the crayon to create the next card. The sentiment is from the PS set "Sentiment Sampler". I think it turned out okay.

I was thinking that I could make a bunch of these and keep them in my desk at school, so that when I have a bravo to report on one of my students, I can send home a little card instead of just sending an email.

Thanks for stopping by - I would love to hear your feedback!

Happy stamping,
Meg

Stretch Your Stamps 2 Day 10: CASEing Laurie Willison

Hello Everyone,
I have long loved Laurie Willison's very minimalist style. So, I was thrilled to see that she was a guest teacher today at SYS2. This card is pretty much a direct case of the cards she demo'd. Essentially you do some tone on tone stamping using a silhouette floral stamp; then on white cardstock, you create your won designer paper by stamping with the same colour and stamps. This paper is the panel out of which you die cut your sentiment. I really love the very simple look it creates.

I used Pale Tomato Hero Arts Shadow ink and dug out some old coloured cardstock to match. Here is my second card - not as direct a case - I added a little dash of Megness to it!

 

I am super pleased with the way these two turned out.

 

Thanks for stopping by - love to hear your feedback!

 

Happy Stamping,

Meg

Stretch Your Stamps 2 Day 9: Gettin' Squidgy and Scribbly!

Hello Everyone,
Dawn Wholeslagle of WPlus9 demo'd this technique yesterday and I have to admit that it scared me a bit. Then i was over at Shirley Bee's (please go to her blog immediately if you have not already been introduced to this stamping genius) and loved her description of it being squidgy stamping and then scribbling. That was all the encouragement I needed. I must admit that as my card was coming together I was trepidatious - I did not think I was doing a good job at all. Then all of a sudden it was done and I loved it. All the scribbles that had me going "Uhoh" just worked! If you haven't tried this technique, you really must. In particular I love the scribbly freehandedness of the background juxtaposed with the crisp bold sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by - I would love to hear what you think!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Stretch Your Stamps 2: Ghost Stamping

Hello Everyone,
Over at SYS2 Yana Smakula demonstrated a ghost-stamping technique using some silhouette leafy stamps. It made me think of this gorgeous card I had seen over at Maureen Merritt's blog. This card uses white pigment ink to create a faux Bokeh effect. Dawn at WPlus9 had done a video at her blog. The technique demo'd today at SYS2 inspired me to case Maureen's card and this bokeh technique. Since this uses the Spring Blooms set from WPlus9 on which we are focusing in class, I thought i would uplaod it! My circle inking was a little splotchy, so I think I would prefer to use circle stamps - great excuse to get the circle set from SSS!

Thanks for stopping by - I love to hear your feedback.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Stretch your Stamps 2: Day 9 Multi-colour inking

Hello Everyone,
Today over at SYS2 Jennifer McGuire demo'd a multi-layer inking technique to add shadows to stamps. So that is the technique I decided to try. Instead of stamping then re-inking in darler shade and wiping some of the ink off, I used a q-tip to add my shadows. I pretty much cased Jennifer's card. I didn't use a background stamp though. I also didn't add the "gilding" to the leaves. I am pleased with the way it turned out. This card uses WPlus9 "Spring Blooms" and Winnie and Walter's "Big, Bold, and You".

Happy Stamping.
Meg

Stretch Your Stamps 2 Day 8: Part Two

Hello Everyone,
Here is card number two that I made today. This card is a CASE of another one that was demo'd in class today - this time it was encouraging us to use graphic stamps to create borders. I used the smallest rounded diamond from the Avery Elle set of the dame name to create my border pattern. It was stamped in Pale Tomato and Orange Soda Hero Arts inks. The sentiment is a Paper Smooches die ( I love this die). Great way to make a really striking, quick and easy card. I love it - if i do say so myself! If you are not familiar with the online card classes, you really should check them out - I have taken them all and find them to be super-fun and very informative!

Thanks for stopping by - Love to hear your feedback!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Stretch Your Stamps 2: Day 8 Rounded Diamonds

Hello Everyone,
Today over at Stretch your Stamps 2 online card class we are again focusing on the use of graphic stamps to create backgrounds and borders. I love the samples provided today. The first card i made is a CASE of a card demo'd by Kristina Werner. It uses the medium tear drop from the AVery Elle stamp set "Rounded Diamonds" to create a repeating ombre pattern. I used Hero Arts shadow inks: Butter bar, Orange Soda, Bubble Gum, and Pale Tomato. I used the Lawn Fawn "Milo Alphabet" to stamp the sentiment. I am much happier with the inks and stamping I did today. I do find that using Hero Arts inks require some real "work" to use, but I think I am getting the hang of it.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving your feedback!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Stretch Your Stamps 2: Day 7 Rounded Diamonds

Hello Everyone,
I have been doing a lot of stamping today, but don't really have a lot to show for it - nothing seemed to be working out to my satisfaction. Laura Bassen demo'd a great card using Avery Elle's "Rounded Diamonds" to create a beautiful rainbow coloured flower. I did make my own version, but was not happy with the way my inks were stamping this solid stamp. First I tried Hero Arts Shadow inks, but find when they are fully dry, while they even out beautifully, the colours are muted and almost muddy looking where they overlap each other. So, next I tried my SU! colours which were definitely brighter, but were way blotchier. AAARGH! I am in the market for new inks, but don't know what to invest in. I am intrigued by SSS inks, but know they are formulated the same way as Her Arts, so I am not sure I want to invest in them. Any advice? Here is the card...

This is the one with the SU! colours - the blotchiness is not as bad in real life as it appears in the picture - I think I will try again tomorrow. I also made this card with the same set using the Hero Arts inks... I think I like the way it turned out, but as I mentioned I find the final colours a little dull for my taste.

For this one I covered the darker inside shape with clear wink of stella to brighten it up a bit.

 

Anyway... Thanks for stopping by - As always I love to hear your feedback!

 

Happy Stamping,

Meg

Day 6 Stretch Your Stamps: Outline Stamps Colouring

Hello Everyone,
Just a quick post to show my take on the tag demo'd by Laura Bassen. She was showing how you can use tags to crop an outline image and use colour boldy to highlight a portion of the image. I chose the water lily image from the Clearly Besotted set "With Love". Orignally I was going to make the focal image a tag, but then I decided I liked it as a panel instead. I stamped the flower in Memento Jet Black ink and coloured with my Copics. I used Y17, YR09, and RV09 for the petals and YG 05 and 07 for the lily pad. When I am layering colour with copics, sometimes I find that the outline of my stamp disappears or dulls a bit. In order to "crisp up" the outline, I simply trace it with a black marker.  The sentiment is from Avery Elle's "Oh Happy Day". I embossed the card base with an SU! woodgrain EF and added a few gems.

Thanks for stopping by - I love to hear your feedback!

Happy Stamping,
Meg