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

CASology Week 30: Fariytale

 

Hello Everyone,
I made the New Year's resolution to blog more regularly and one of the ways I was going to ensure that was to participate in CASology challenges every week. Well I am sad to say that I missed last week's challenge. The cue card was "game" and I have to say it had me totally stumped. I was really impressed with all the entries, but try as I might, I could not come  up with anything. I love this card that was an honourable mention so much that I went out and bought Spirograph!
                                                            
At any rate, the minute I saw that this week's challenge cue card word was "Fairytale", I knew exactly what I would do. I just purchased the "A Little Lovin" stamp set from Paper Smooches and I thought the frog would be a perfect homage to the fairytale  "The Frog Prince". I coloured his royal Frogginess with my coipcs and added a touch of Glossy Accents to him and the heart just to create abit of dimension. The baker's twine added a nice balance and voila - my CAS card was done! He really is a cute frog - I'd kiss him! Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Stamping,
Meg