This stamp set from Verve is quickly becoming one of my ‘go to’ sets … it works for so many different types of cards!  This one says “the happiest of days” inside…

The cream strip is actually a pretty satin ribbon, and … recognize the scalloped panel?  Sheesh — but I love it! You can find the free svg file HERE. Papers and chipboard butterfly are by K&Co.  My mom ordered some birthday cards, so this is one of them.

We spent the better part of yesterday putting the kitchen back together. It’s almost done! With two of us, it didn’t take nearly as long as I was dreading it would. Still some cleaning, but it’s nice to have a functioning kitchen again. My dishes are all back in the cupboards and everything!  We still have to do the tile backsplash, but it could be a week or two before we start on it — so until then the plywood backsplash is just fine.

Thanks for stopping by today.

This ATC trio is one I sent to Sue for our January first mailing. I used lots of different things (tools) for these … Cuttlebug embossing folders, Cuttlebug and Boss Kut dies, my cricut, 3-d butterflies, chipboard butterflies …

The three are joined together with a brown ribbon that has a loop at each end.

I used the Cricut to cut out the little envelope/holder, and the flourish embellishment. The envelope had a notch out of the top which didn’t appeal to me, so instead I used a circle punch — punching out a semi-circle where the notch was.

It was a fun project to work on!

My counters are in, the sinks are in, and the faucets too. Water in the kitchen again - woo hoo! The bathroom faucet gave the poor plumber no end of grief. What should have taken maybe an hour and it took him almost 3-1/2. Even so, it’s barely on. It works, but if there are any problems with it they won’t be able to be fixed and specialty taps wll have to be ordered. All this because of an undermount sink - who knew? Anyhow — at this point everything is working wonderfully and we are really happy with it. Hey - my back is even better today so things are looking up.

Thanks for stopping by today.

When you change your counters from something you don’t like to something you DO - what a difference it makes. The BLACK in our kitchen has been replaced by something with peach/orange/brown/black & cream. Sounds awful, but it’s gorgeous. Picks up on all the wood - especially the butcher block breakfast bar. We are SO pleased!  The plumber is here now so hopefully I will have water in the kitchen and powder room today. (There are always unforeseen problems - I know this now). Fingers crossed!

Here is a soft and pretty card - I left it blank inside so it can be used for whatever occasion I chose. “Thinking of You” works for so many things! While it doesn’t really show up in the web-ready photo, there is a luxurious cream satin ribbon wrapped around the scalloped panel. The scalloped panel is my free .svg file, which can be found on THIS post. Such a simple shape, but I am using it a LOT!

Here is a detail shot — I added stickles to the leaves, to the center of each scallop and a few lines of it across the bottom of the tree…

This week I pulled all my items from the store at E-scapeandscrap. It was a sad feeling, to be hitting ‘delete’ instead of ‘upload’. I know it was the right decision, but it still was a bit hard. So I guess I can no longer say I work from home!

Thanks for stopping by - Happy Friday.

Whoa - can you ever get sidelined with back pain! I must have overdone it yesterday, as I can hardly move today. Thankfully DH is working from home today (a rarity) so he has been able to help me with the dogs. Otherwise I don’t know how I would have managed. Grrrrrr… I’m losing patience with this.

Onto something cheerier … this is another card I made using the Accent Essentials cartridge that shipped with my Cricut. Same glittery papers as yesterday’s card (by DCWV) however the 3-d sticker is by K&Co. Looking at it, I realized I could actually make these quite easily with the same cartridge - all those shapes are on it!

Here is a closer look at the pretty paper…

The “Hi” is on the same Cuttlebug die in the “Forever Friends” folder/die set that I used on yesterday’s card. It’s kind of cute and one that I will use the most out of the words.  Also included are “Forever Friends”, and “Kindred Spirits”.

LOL - you will notice that the decorated panel is once again mounted with foam tape … it’s my new ‘thing’.

Thanks for stopping by today!

I love paper crafting magazines. I keep them and go back through them again and again, and can’t bring myself to get rid of any. They are my reference materials - how can I toss perfectly good reference material?

I have decided to do more than be inspired by all the wonderful talent that gets published, and am taking the January 2009 CARDS magazine and using every page as a jumping off point. Not really a New Years Resolution, but more of a way to step out of my creative box in 2010.

Here is the first card I did …

I used my Cricut for this card - I knew I wanted a scalloped square and was about to make my own cut file when I remembered that the Accent Essentials cartridge had just what I needed. I cut the scalloped square and it’s shadow, as well as the rounded corner squares and shadow.

The fun little tab on the tag is actually the Stampin’ Up Modern Label punch - I just folded the excess over to the back of the tag. The 3-d butterfly sticker is from the bargain bin at Michaels. I stretched myself to use yellow, it’s not a colour I’m usually comfortable working with. I loved the sparkle on the blue & yellow background paper though! I rarely do square cards, but since I have some square envelopes there isn’t really any reason not to make some square cards.

The “Hello Friend” was cut out using my Big Shot and a new Cuttlebug Embossing Folder set that comes with a word die. I bought the set mostly for the embossing folder, but thought I should at least try to use some of the words. I think this will make a nice birthday card for a far-away friend!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Ahhhh chalks. I remember the first card I received that had been coloured with chalks. This was before email was common, so I had to write my pal back and ask her how she coloured it - then wait for the mailman to bring me the reply! Of course we didn’t have anything like that in Canada, so then I had to order a set and wait for THEM to come in the mail.

I still have that same set of chalks. Not because I hardly use them, but because they last forever! I love the soft look when you use them … which is how I coloured today’s post:

Here is a close-up of the butterfly image.  (Yes, another butterfly). 

All images by Stampin’ Up, decorative paper is from my long-time stash, and I have no idea who manufactured it. Likely Provocraft, as I believe they were the first ones to sell those large paper packages at Michaels.

Man - I’ve dated myself TWICE in one post!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Today’s post is another one of those cards I completed with pieces from my “in progress” box …

The decorative panel was brayered, and images were stamped with black ink. The ground was done using a torn paper mask and make-up sponge. The Calligraphy stamp (from QuietFire Designs) is one I bought to use on ATC’s, but it works for cards sometimes too!

Thanks for stopping by today.

 This is a card I have had finished for awhile, but never did get it posted. I’m pretty sure this was a free stamp set from one of the Stampin’ Up Sale-a-Brations…

Today the demolition of our cabin kitchen continues. This will be the hard part - getting the backsplash off without damaging the beautiful butcher block breakfast bar. I will also lose my kitchen sink and kitchen water source, so am not looking forward to that. Thankfully the new counters will be installed late next week, and the tap as well. The kitchen is going to be so bright after all the black that was in there - black counter, black backsplash, black appliances, with dark cabinets. The cabinets and appliances will remain, but the backsplash will be cream and the counter is much lighter than BLACK. 

Thanks for stopping by today.

The CAS (Clean and Simple) challenge at Split Coast this week, was to create a CAS card using any shade of teal, white and one other colour. I chose brown as my ‘other colour’.

The butterfly was die cut out of a scrap of the same teal cardstock as the card base, then embossed. This is a set by Cuttlebug that comes with the die and 4 different shaped embossing folders. Of COURSE I nabbed the butterfly one as soon as I saw it, ha ha. You may recognize the butterfly - I use this set a LOT! Butterfly was rubbed with a bronze metallic rub-on (I’ve had these for over 10 years — they last forever) for a bit of sheen, and to tie in the brown.

The white panel was embossed with the Victoria Cuttlebug embossing folder, and I also used it for the top inch or so on the inside white panel.  I used the ‘oval’ and ’scalloped oval’ Nestabilities and some ribbon from Michaels.

As for my back - it is a little better every day. I didn’t need to take any Advil until after supper last night, so that is a good sign.

Had Brandi back to the CARE clinic to see Dr. Brian for her check-up and her eye pressure is back down to ‘9′ which makes us all happy. We continue with the 3 sets of drops, twice a day, 5 minutes apart, and go back to see him in a month. I brought Cooper with us and Brandi is SO much calmer when he is there. She didn’t shake or worry at all — she didn’t want to lay down in the waiting room, mind you — sitting was as relaxed as she could get. But that is so much better than she is on her own and since Cooper is always up for an adventure it seemed like the thing to do.

Funny little guy - he must have remembered that time we took her in and they kept her overnight. We had brought him then to keep her calm and HE was really upset with us that we were going back to the car without her. He was practically dancing as we left yesterday WITH Brandi.

Thanks for stopping by today - stay warm and dry!

Good morning! First of all, I updated my blog header, so if you aren’t seeing the pretty red heart you may want to hit your refresh button. (Mom - that is the curved arrow at the top of your window, close to the house icon  :-)  )

I have been working on a couple of Valentine’s but decided not to post them until February. I have also been working on a couple of Christmas cards, which I don’t plan on posting until December. I WILL post the ones I create for the Split Coast Christmas Card Challenge as a group of 10, but these ones are cards with bits and pieces that needed ’something’ and I didn’t have time over the holidays to figure out what the ’something’ was. Now that I was able to take my time with them - I’m pleased! It is always fun to create a ‘one of’ card. And it’s even better to finally be able to put Christmas AWAY.

Today’s post is a card I sent my BIL for his birthday. John — I hope you have a really great birthday!!

Between taking this picture and putting the card in the envelope, I visited our LSS. Picked up some of Tim Holtz Distress Stickles and his Crackle Paint so had to try the crackle paint on this card. I didn’t get a photo of the finished one though - sorry. I added the crackle paint over the knife image - and then rubbed it with brown ink to show off the crackles. It looked SOOOOOO good. I am going to want a gallon of this stuff, ha ha.

I also added “Crystal Effects” to the key — you know, since the card was laying there drying anyhow. Grin. It gave the paper key some substance and I like the way it caught the light. All stamps used in this project are by Stampin’ Up, but I have no idea if they are in the current catalogue or not. They work so well for a masculine card, and since my Dad always carries a pocket knife - I HAD to have this set.

Thanks for stopping by today.