Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Custom Wedding #2

One of my husband's former coworkers from Italy invited us to his wedding next month in Sicilia (Sicily) but unfortunately we can't attend for many reasons. I'm still upset about that as it would've been our first visit to the island. I looked around for stamps with Italian verbiage but had no luck so I knew I had to pull out my letters and customize it. Of course I could've used one of my many English congratulations sentiments but it wouldn't have been the same. I knew we should've stopped in the craft store near Formigine back in 2005! Since it's a springtime wedding, I wanted to make something bright, cheery and floral. Did I overdo it?

Sources: DCWV and Provo Craft cardstock and paper; Hero Arts letter stamps; heart stamp of an unknown brand; Stampin' Up Ballet Blue ink and brad; Diamond Sparkles by Personal Stamp Exchange; Carla Craft long reach daisy punch

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Happy Anniversary #2

I made this card for my sister and her husband. I'm finding the Stampin' Up Congrats set so useful and have used it again here. As you can see, I wanted to try something a little different and make a sort of accordian effect but it didn't quite turn out the way I thought it would. Oh well, I'll make a better attempt next time around.

Sources: DCWV and Staples cardstock; Aitoh silver origami paper; Japanese rice paper; SU! Congrats; SU! Garden Green ink; Urban Scrapyard ribbon; Carl heart punch

Monday, April 27, 2009

Copics

I couldn't decide if I wanted to buy Stampin' Up markers or Copic markers. This has been a major dilemma for the past few weeks so I figured I'd go for a walk to Curry's and check out the Copics to see if I liked them or not. Art stores tempt me way too much and seeing all those colours made me want them all. In the end, I decided just to get a few basics and start from there. I bought a couple of greys for shading, plus two skintones, a blender and basic black.

I haven't illustrated since I was a teen. I had a great talent for sketching but never pursued it because I was introduced to music before I had a chance to express my own desire for drawing. So here I am years later not playing the piano or violin but stamping, colouring and drawing instead. As a mother, I hope that when my son is older I'll be able to pick up on and foster his natural talents instead of what I want for him the way my parents wanted me to pursue music because it was their interest.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Custom Wedding #1

I received an order from my friend Kevin for a wedding he's attending. He saw my other wedding cards and thought they were very nice so he asked me to make one with the bride and groom's names on it. He thought I was going to make the same ones as before but little did he know all my cards are one-offs and the ones he'd seen were already gifted. I decided to go with classic silver, white and black with a splash of red to symbolize love and passion. I printed the names using Bradley Hand font and then embossed it to make it pop. For some reason this card didn't want to photograph well. It looks much better in person. Kevin liked the card so much he paid double the price I quoted him. Thanks so much, Kevin!

Sources: Essence du Papier, DCWV and Staples cardstock; sentiment stamp of an unknown brand; Memories Black ink; McGill circle punches; Fiskars Threading Water border punch; Carl heart punch; Offray ribbon; SU! brads; Zig emboss writer; Personal Stamp Exchange Sparkle embossing powder; Hot Boss embossing heat tool

Monday, April 20, 2009

Baby Card #2

I'm an aunt! My niece Madeline was born on Saturday so the first thing I had to do was to create a card for my sister and her husband. It took me forever to decide which stamps and colours to use. The layout was even more difficult because I wanted this to be the best card yet. Finally I decided to use create a 3D bunny using soft pink paper that looked somewhat furry. The whole process took a while since I had to stamp the bunny three times, cut out the ears, bow and arms plus glue the pieces onto cardstock. I thought about using dimension squares but it looked ridiculous so I just glued the pieces straight on to the bunny giving it just enough texture but not too much. I had just bought my first border punch and wanted to use it which I think completes the card perfectly. I really like to personalize my cards whenever possible which is why I waited until they announced the baby's name to finish the card.


Sources: Cartiere Miliani Fabriano cardstock; Provo Craft paper; SU! A New Little Someone; Stampendous Hey There Cupcake; HOTP Plain & Simple ABCs; Memories Artprint Brown ink; Fiskars Threading Water border punch

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Baby Card #1

My sister had her baby today and it's a girl! I made this card for my parents to send but I haven't finished mine yet as I want to personalize it and the baby hasn't been named yet. Since I'm a late bloomer with regard to the Stampin' Up brand and I missed out on a couple of their best baby sets, I decided to hit eBay and was able to win the ones I really wanted which made me so happy! I always welcome the opportunity to make pretty, pink cards so here it is.

Sources: Staples cardstock; SU! Baby Firsts, Congrats; Memories Black ink; SU! Pink Passion ink; Jewels chalk; Offray ribbon; Fiskars flower hand punch; McGill square punch

Friday, April 17, 2009

Christmas Card #2

Wow, I'm on roll here. This is the last card of Geno's order and I'm excited to ship them out. I have to admit I stole the idea for this card from the one my husband made for me this past Christmas. It's really the mountains that make this card but the polar bears are adorable, too. In my husband's card, he centred the one polar bear with the tree as if they were the only two living things in the vast barren arctic. His mountains were also perfectly cut at 90 degree angles and lined up. I don't think mine look half bad though considering I cut them freehand! For my card, I decided to add a second polar bear in the foreground. This card was a huge hit with the kids.

Sources: Staples cardstock; Provo Craft papers; Sunshine Designs stamps; Memories Black ink; Laurentien pencil crayons

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Christmas Card #1

Now I'm moving on to the last two cards for my order which are Christmas cards. These will be fun because I love making Christmas cards even though every year I wait until the last minute and never get them done the way I want to because I've run out of time and have to rush, rush, rush. I noticed in other blogs that stampers have a goal to make a few Christmas cards per month during the year so it's not overwhelming once the holiday season begins. It's a great idea and I should try to do that. However, I'm a huge procrastinator with an eight-month old baby so chances are that's not going to happen! Anyway, it was really fun doing this card because I already made a similar one this past Christmas. I've had the idea in my head for a while now and I actually drew a sketch for it which I've never done before. I wanted to emboss the edges of the snow but got lazy when it came time to doing it so I used glitter instead. I also wish I had oval punches for the sentiment so that's something else to add to my list of crafting supplies to buy.



Sources: Staples cardstock; Japanese rice paper; Sunshine Designs stamps; Memories Black ink; Stampin' Up Brilliant Blue ink; Diamond Sparkles by Personal Stamp Exchange; Gary Burlin silver glitter glue; Stampin' Up tearing edge; Laurentien pencil crayons; Marvy snowflake punch

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Father's Day #1

Okay, I'm going back to my big order. The next card is a Father's Day card. Again, this is for someone I don't know and I don't have too many masculine stamps. I'm making a note on my wish list to get some masculine stamps which will make my life easier when it comes to making future cards for men! For this card, I didn't think animals would be that appropriate so I decided to use a very old stamp of a little boy giggling. I decided to go with an asymmetrical layout and I think it works quite well.

Sources: DCWV and Staples cardstock; Hero Arts and Stamper's Edge stamps; sentiment stamp of an unknown brand; Memories Black and Artprint Brown inks; Vivid Butterscotch ink; Stampin' Up Taken With Teal and Garden Green inks; McGill circle punch; American Crafts premium ribbon; Dimensions squares; Laurentien pencil crayons

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Mother's Day #2

Here's the second card for Amanda's Mother's Day order. Since Amanda makes jewellery (gorgeous custom stuff), I thought she might like my use of beads to create a flower. If she doesn't choose this card, it would make a lovely card for either my mom or my mother-in-law. I wish I had a more fancy punch for the sentiment or layered it differently as it looks too plain. I'm also not too keen on the grey ink. If anyone has suggestions on how to improve this card, I'd love to hear them!

Sources: DCWV cardstock; Provo Craft paper; Stampin' Up Basic Gray ink; Sweet Petites grosgrain ribbon; Personal Stamp Exchange Diamond Sparkles glitter; McGill square punch; beading wire and beads of unknown brands

Monday, April 13, 2009

Mother's Day #1

My friend Amanda wanted to purchase a Mother's Day card and she asked me to create a few she could choose from. Her criteria in terms of colours and objects were yellow and green flowers. I definitely had a lot of those colours in my stack of papers so it wasn't hard for me to come up with some ideas. Here's the first card I came up with.

Sources: Staples cardstock; Provo Craft and Hot Off The Press papers; SU! Botanical Blooms (stems); Stampendous Hey There Cupcake (sentiment); Memories Black ink; ICG alphabet punch set; Carla Craft long reach daisy punch; SU! brads; Kane wave scissors

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Random Occasion #1

Okay, I promised myself I could stray one more time from my order to make another card with my Pun Fun stamps. I didn't know who I was going to give this to when I made but when I finished I had someone in mind. In fact, I decided to put it in my stash of spare cards and decide later since it's suitable for any occasion and it's always nice to have a few cards lying around.

Sources: Staples cardstock; Hot Off The Press papers; SU! Pun Fun, brads; Memories Artprint Brown ink; Fiskars Nostalgia corner edger

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Happy Birthday, Teresa

It's not every day that a friend turns 40. I've known Teresa for 26 years ever since we worked together at my very first corporate job. It's hard to maintain friendships for that long when they start so young. Life takes you to so many places and interests change. I'm so glad that we've been able to stay in touch all these years. Have a fantastic birthday, Teresa!

Sources: DCWV cardstock; Provo Craft paper; Stampendous Hey There Cupcake; HOTP Tiny Words & Images, Plain & Simple ABCs; SU! Lavender Lace and Elegant Eggplant inks; Sharpie twin tip permanent marker in purple; Diamond Sparkles by Personal Stamp Exchange; Jewels chalks; Dimensions squares

Friday, April 10, 2009

Birthday Card #5

It's time for a masculine birthday card. All masculine cards are hard for me except when I make them for my husband and dad because I know them well and they don't mind the occasional heart or flower. If a close friend has a specific interest like bikes or skiing, that also makes it easy. However, this one is for someone I don't know at all so I knew I had to make it neutral. After a bit of planning, I decided to use my square punch with matching papers in masculine colours and add a couple of embellishments. This is what I came up with and I'm very pleased with it. I may have to make more of these!


Sources: DCWV cardstock; Provo Craft papers; Stampendous Hey There Cupcake; SU! Ballet Blue ink; McGill square and circle punches; ICG alphabet punch set; Offray ribbon and another unknown brand; DMC embroidery thread; random button from my stash

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Punny Birthday #1

I got sidetracked from filling my order because I wanted to break in my new Pun Fun stamps from Stampin' Up. The animals are too cute and I wanted to see what I could do with them in terms of layout and colours. I ended up choosing the bird because I was thinking ahead to a bird-lover friend's birthday in July. I ended up separating the sentiment portion of the stamp from the image and this is what I came up with. I hope you like it!

Sources: Staples and DCWV cardstock; Provo Craft papers; SU! Pun Fun; Memories Black ink; fine black Sharpie pen; Jewels chalks; Dimension squares

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Birthday Card #4

Today I felt like making something all pink and pretty with flowers everywhere. Maybe I went a little overboard. I'd probably make this card again without the stamped flowers.

Sources: Staples cardstock; Provo Craft paper; floral stamp and vase of an unknown brand; HOTP Tiny Words & Images; SU! Pink Passion ink; Memories Black ink; Jewels chalks; SU! tearing edge; Fiskars flower hand punch; Carla Craft long reach daisy punch

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Anniversary Card #1

I decided to take a break from the birthday cards and make an anniversary card. Since I buy my paper in packages, there's always a colour that I don't like. So have a lot of mint green cardstock and paper that I either need to give away or find a use for. Some years ago, I bought a package of random pieces of beautiful Japanese rice paper that I never want to use. Today I sifted through the stack and found a sheet that had gorgeous red and gold colours in addition to mint green. Then it dawned on me that I could combine it with my mint green cardstock and surely come up with something nice. I never thought it would work but it does and the response I received on it was phenomenal. I guess I need to take more risks!

Sources: Staples cardstock; random Japanese rice paper; sentiment of an unknown brand; Vivid Red ink; McGill circle punches; Offray ribbon

Monday, April 6, 2009

Birthday Card #3

I got so many compliments on the first drink card, I decided to make a second.

Sources: DCWV cardstock; Provo Craft paper; Rubber Stampede drinks; SU! Congrats; Memories Black ink; Laurentien pencil crayons; Jewels chalks; Fiskars Nostalgia Corner Edger

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Birthday Card #2

With the next birthday card, I wanted to try using bold colours that I wouldn't normally put together. I got my inspiration from my friend Jenn who has incredible fashion sense. When I think I have zilch to wear, she'll show me interesting combinations to create new outfits that revamp my closet. This drink stamp is a very old favourite of mine and I'm glad I thought of a new way to use it.

Sources: DCWV cardstock; Provo Craft paper; Rubber Stampede drinks; sentiment stamp of an unknown brand; Memories Black ink; Laurentien pencil crayons; Jewels chalks; Fiskars Nostalgia corner edger; Fiskars Majestic paper edger

Friday, April 3, 2009

Happy Birthday, April

I made this card for my dear friend April in San Diego. She's been visiting us every year since we moved back to Toronto and I always look forward to her visit. I didn't do the best job stamping the sentiment as it's a little crooked and a bit smeared but practice makes perfect. I put a cherry on top of the cupcake because you're extra sweet, April! I know you will love your gift.

Sources: DCWV and Staples cardstock; Stampendous Hey There Cupcake; SU! Congrats; SU! Basic Gray, Pink Passion and Taken With Teal inks; Urban Scrapyard ribbon; Dimension squares

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Birthday Card #1

I have four women's birthday cards to make and this was the first of them. I wanted to use my new Botanical Blooms set from Stampin' Up. I love getting free stuff with my orders. In my second order from Stampin' Up I also got the bone folder and tearing edge so I wanted to test these out on this card. The bone folder is amazing but I'm not sure I'm using the tearing edge correctly as it seems to cut more than tear. Anyway, I still like the way it looks.


Sources: Staples cardstock; Provo Craft paper; SU! Botanical Blooms; sentiment stamp of an unknown brand; SU! Basic Gray ink; Vivid Butterscotch ink; Diamond Sparkles by Personal Stamp Exchange; SU! tearing edge; Fiskars Nostalgia corner edger

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

My First Card Order

My friend Geno placed a big order for ten cards which is enough to get him through the rest of the year. Looking at the calendar I figured out that I have about 1.5 days to make each card in order to get them in the mail, over the border and across the continent before next month when Geno needs to write his first card. Since all the cards are shipping at one time, I didn't have to start at the top of his list but I did with a Mother's Day card. It's relatively simple and it was my first time using brads.

Sources: DCWV cardstock; textured paper of an unknown brand; sentiment stamp of an unknown brand; Memories Artprint Brown ink; Urban Scrapyard ribbon; SU! brad; Fiskars Segull paper edger