Blue Christmas ....

Well, here's my first card (on my blog) for a long time ! I guess I just had lots going on, or at least that's the excuse I keep telling myself LOL! After some nudging from some really great friends I decided nows the time to catch up a bit.

Not much has happened really. We had a good start to the school year. Jonah's in s/k and Matthews's in grade 7 and loving it .... NOT ! LOL Just kidding, they like it okay. They're both doing well with their teachers, thank goodness.

We enjoyed a great Christmas, 2 actually. The first with Craig's side of the family on Christmas day then my side of the family on boxing day. Nice to spend time with family.

Tomorrow night we'll have our closest friends over for a small New Year's Eve bash. We're all excited.

Ian & Kim's Wedding Sept 13 2008

Click on View All Images and it will open in a new window and pictures will be a bit bigger.

Yet another "troop" card :)

Recipe : Prints pack paper, basic black ink, versamark ink, black embossing powder, True Friend stamp set and Coluzzle cutting system.

Celebrate !

Recipe: Prints Pack paper, basic black ink, circle punches, Celebrate Everything stamp set. Another card for the troops.

Thank you for bearing with me in my absence, like you had a choice LOL. Just kidding, sorry I was away from the blog for so long. Hopefully this post will kick start me again and I'll be here more often.

A polaroid a day til ......

I was listening to cbc radio today (radio station listened to all across Canada) and they had a story about someone who took one picture a day for 18 years. His story is quite interesting. He started to capture a polaroid a day in March 1979, the pictures stopped in October 1997 (he passed away at 41). Here is a link to the pictures http://photooftheday.hughcrawford.com/The photographer is Jamie Livingston. The blogger is Hugh Crawford. A man named Chris Higgins found the pictures on the internet (by accident). As you can see (on the 1st link just above) there is no information on the site at all, just pictures. So Chris wanted to know who this was etc. So he investigated. Here is a link to Chris's story and what he found out about the photgrapher (Jamie). http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/15131 I thought you might find it interesting. It's neat to see someone who has "documented" his life with pictures. It's too bad he isn't here to write a post with every picture.

The picture I've posted above is from October 1997, he and his fiance were married shortly after.

Spoolie Album

I was flippin' through youtube and came across a video that just made me go "COOL ! I just HAVE to make one of those !"
So off I went down to my craft room for all the supplies. This album is made out of a ribbon spool (a really fat one that holds wide ribbon). I took off one side to make the lid and I kept the other side on (it's the bottom of the album). I needed "pages" but I didn't have any chip board so I used my Marvy scalloped circle punch and cut out circles from a cereal box. I cut out 12 circles (to make 6 "pages"). I laid out 6 circles about 3/4 an inch apart in a row, I then laid a long piece of black ribbon over the circles, then I put the remaining 6 circles over the ribbon. I used fast drying craft glue from my LSS to hold the circles together. I cut out pieces of SU! designer paper using the Marvy scalloped circle punch and adhered them to the cereal box "pages". Then I just embellished with pictures and stamps etc.
Isn't this just the coolest thing ever?


Lid of spoolie album

Inside album with the lid open. Hard to see but I left some extra black ribbon at the edge of the first "page" and I tied it so when you open the lid you can just pull the ribbon and it makes it easier to pull the "pages" out. (Actually it can be seen in the picture below)

The "pages" fold in like an acordian.

This is the bottom of the album. I put in a picture of my niece because I made this album for my SIL and since my niece is her only child I thought it was a nice idea.

This album is made of pictures of our trip to Santa's Village (hence the Christmas theme and paper) last summer. I took my oldest son and my niece. We had such a great day.

I will probably post the recipe someday LOL. Everything is SU! except for the Marvy scalloped circle punch and the cereal box I used instead of chip board.

If you have any questions please feel free to email me (see on right).

I went away for the Mother's Day weekend and made a few cards. This is one of them.

Recipe - Bashful Blue cardstock, Real Red cardstock, SU! designer paper, Real Red ribbon, Enjoy Every Moment stamp set, Tart & Tangy stamp set, dimentionals, clear embossing powder, ticket corner punch. Non-SU! Versamark orange ink.

More cards for the Canadian troops ....

I guess this first one is my favourite because it's just so dang cute ! I have made all of these cards very simple because I was afraid that if I put bows and things like that they would get ripped off too easily. After all these cards have a long way to go before they're sent back home. All cards are blank inside so the troops can put in their own message to loved ones.

This card is in French and says "hello". I make many of the cards in French because there are many French troops there too. I figure with this card it could be sent home to a child or even a wife or sister. There's lots of women out there that still like Pooh isn't there? LOL

This card looks slanted in the photo but it isn't really. I guess I'm just not all that great at taking pics :)

I didn't put the recipes for these cards because I mixed SU! with other stuff, too many to mention.

I've sent almost 200 cards so far and I have about 50 made right now. I'll wait until I have a few more before I send them. If you want to participate, email me and I'll send the info to you about what size they need to be, where you can mail them etc.

Funny pic I just had to share ...

I know this blog is intended to have just cards and things I've made but I came across this pic on youtube and I just couldn't resist.

Cards for the Canadian Troops overseas

These are some of the cards I made for the Canadian Troops stationed overseas. These will be mailed to a fellow SCS'er in Alberta who will in turn mail them somewhere and eventually they'll get to the troops who in turn will then have a card to send back to family in Canada. I did these in French (I don't speak a word so I had to really be careful I put the right stamp on the right card LOL). There are so many French Canadians overseas that I figured plenty of people would be making cards in English but I bet not that many in French so that's why I did that.

I made them simple because they have a far ways to go to get to the troops and another huge journey back to Canada, I wanted to make cards that would last, not get squished or easily wrecked.

Card for a friend ....

This card is called a waterfall card. I got the tutorial here . I made this card for a special lady that helped me out lately. I don't want to give away any details otherwise it'll spoil the surprise.
I went away for ascrapbooking/card making weekend. I did a little scrapbooking but mostly cards. This card is one of them. I think if I make this kind of card again I'll have an easier time but this card took me probably close to an hour to make (can you tell I'm a little challenged in following directions on paper while chatting with girlfriends?).

Here's what the card looks like when the little string is pulled.

Recipe - Tart & Tangy stamp set, Artfully Asian stamp set, Old Olive ink, Real Red ink, Basic Black ink, Real Red cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, SU! Designer paper, eyelets, hemp twine and glitter glue (non SU!).

Announcements for a friend ...

A friend of ours and his fiance are expecting in August (hopefully the ultra sound tech is right and it's a girl LOL). I wanted to give them something personal and I thought this was a great idea. I used the SU! hostess level 1 prints pack and I didn't have enough to make each card the same so there's 3 cards with each paper (luckily I had a couple of packs). I made a total of 30 cards.
Recipe - I'm Here SU! stamp set, SU! level 1 hostess prints pack paper, Pretty In Pinl cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Whisper White grosgrain ribbon, Regal Rose and Rose Red inks, Ticket Corner punch, Marvy purple scalloped circle punch and Coluzzle.

Thank You Embraced

I went away for the weekend to a scrapbooking and card making "get-away" and I loved every single second !
Anyway, i made a few cards for the troops but I also made a few for myself. This is one of them.
Recipe - Bashful Blue cardstock, Brocade Blue ink, Embrace Life stamp set, Artfully Asian stamp set, brads, Glossy Accents (I didn't have SU! Crystal Effects) and a Cuttlebug embossing folder.
I'm not sure what the technique is called on this card but I refer to it as inking Cuttlebug.

My new best friend ! LOL

Today I will introduce you to my new best friend. I mentioned to a friend that I detested how sticky my scissors got when cutting the EZMount foam when I mounted my stamps. Then it was sugested that I use a hot knife. "What in the world is that?" was my response.
Since then I have bought one, let it sit on my counter for a week because I read the directions and was too intimidated to try it. A friend (hi Liz) sent me a link to a tutorial and I then saw how easy a hot knife really is to use.
So here I am today intruducing you to my new best friend, the hot knife :)


This tutorial is for unmounting and remounting (on EZMount) a stamp set that is already mounted but you can also remount a stamp set that hasn't been mounted on blocks yet.
The first step is to separate the rubber from the foam. Once you have done this make sure the back of the rubber is clean before you attach it to the EZMount. I find that any sticky stuff usually just rubs off with my finger.

Cut a piece of EZMount just a bit bigger than your stamp.

Peel off the paper on the EZMount (the paper with the writing on it) to reveal the sticky side of the foam (there's a sticky side and a non-sticky side). Place your rubber on the foam.

Say hello to my little friend ! LOL

First of all. It's called a HOT knife for a reason. Enough said :)

Peel off paper from the back of the foam. Holding EZMount in one hand, slice through foam with the other. Once the hot knife is hot, it cuts through foam like it's butter ! Do not force, if you have to use force the hot knife isn't hot enough yet (takes about 5 minutes to get hot). Cut right along the edge of the rubber. Try not to cut on an angle (so that the foam is smaller or bigger than the stamp).

I store my mounted stamps in cd cases. (Of course the set I chose to use for this tutorial barely fits in a cd case so it looks terrible but you get the idea). If it was a stamp set that was already mounted, I take the stickers off the blocks and put them on the outside of the cd case. If the stickers are still on the sheet then I put the sheet either in the cd case (if it fits) or with it.

I hope this clarifies using a hot knife for you. I almost forgot, this hot knife cost me $20. The best $20 I've spent in a long time !

Any questions, please email me, I'll be happy to help :)

Funny sign ...

Isn't that just the funniest sign ?

We were at my BIL & SIL last summer. They have a huge outdoor pool and this sign is posted right beside the pool ! I cracked up when I saw it !

This is a chipboard book I made with a number of different papers, rubons, stamps and ribbon.I should have written the recipe down as I went but I didn't so now I'm sorry but what can ya do right? I had so much fun decorating this book ! I bought the book with the rings included (The book was already cut and ready to go). All I did was put the papers on that I wanted, sanded the edges and it was ready ! The book might look big because of the pictures but the pictures are actually resized to be about 2 x 3. The book is about 3" x 8".

This 1st page says Toronto Zoo Aug 2007. Matthew & Jonah are alike when it comes to water fun ! We had to bribe them with ice cream to get them to leave.

This 2nd page says Jonah is such a big boy now. He loves to get himself dressed (you can see in the picture that his pants are on backwards).

This page says You better run Mommy if you know what's good for you ! (The picture of these pages didn't turn out so well. The pic on the left is of my son pointing a water gun right at me).

Messy face ... we love you. (Need I say more?LOL)

This last page says Matthew, what a goof-ball you can be sometimes. here I am trying to take a great picture of my beautiful innocent children and you pretend you're being goosed ! You really make life a lot of fun !
We had such a great day ! We all go to see the animals we love. You guys even got to run through the sprinklers in the water park.

Earth Hour

I have found something that I hope everyone will take part in. It's called Earth Hour. Best of all, it's free ! Yahoo !
http://www.earthhour.org
Please sign up and take part in this worthy cause. If anything you'll save a tiny smidge on your hydro bill :)
The school my children attend is taking part too. Since the actual Earth Hour event is on a Saturday, the school is doing their own Earth Hour the Friday before. Everything that can be turned off will be (Lights, fax machine, photo copier etc) for one hour. Really, what's an hour? But it's a start, right?
Our family will be taking part on the Saturday night from 8 - 9pm. We'll probably play board games or something fun.
It's good if you sign up but it's not necessary to sign up if you want to take part.

Embrace Lantern

I made this last night at Crop & Craft Til Midnight at our local craft store. I actually didn't stay til midnight, just too tired ! LOL I made it thinking about one of my best friends. I'm trying to think of an excuse to give it to her, maybe I'll give it to her just because.
I found the idea for this lantern here at Splitcoast Stampers.

This picture is really dark but I wanted to show you what it looks like with a candle inside. This is the best I could do :)

Recipe - Not Quite Navy cardtock, Sage Shadow cardstock, watercolour paper, Stazon black ink, watercolour pencils, Embrace Life stamp set, eyelets, Natural hemp twine and parchment paper. All items SU! except the parchment paper and the watercolour paper.

I've been tagged !

Oh boy, I guess someone had the tagged bug and decided to tag me ! Okay, actually 3 people decided to tag me ! I am honored that I've been tagged ! But I am asked to tag 7 people and to tag 7 people for everyone who has tagged me well, that makes 21 people and I don't think I even know 21 people LOL! So I am going to act like I was tagged once (I'm sure you understand). I will still link to all 3 that have tagged me but I'm only going to tag 7 people (I think that's fair). *smile*

Here are the ladies that tagged me Amanda Sewell, Jen and Katie.
The rules of the game:
• Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, we all want to know them.
• Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
• Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Okay so you want facts, here ya go ....
1. My dh says I'm morbid because I like shows like Dr.G. Medical Examiner and Cold Case
2. I order way more stamps than I actually use. My craft room is loaded and there's more on the way !
3. I have an obsession with the news (especially 6 o'clock news), let me watch it and don't bug me til it's over
4. When I'm alone in my car I crank the music and I sing along. I'm really good, really ! I would so get a record deal ! LOL
5. I am very emotional. I even cry at some commercials even if they're only remotely sad.
6. I am a closet chocoholic !
7. Matthew Mcconaughey is secretly my husband, shhh don't tell anyone.

Now for the 7 lucky ladies ...
Donna
Jody
Nikki
Natasha
Julia
Marge
Lori

Oh happy day ....

I was at a loss as to what to call this card. How do you find names for all your cards? Maybe when you comment on this card you could put that in your comment. Much appreciated.

Recipe - River Rock cardstock, Real Red cardstock, SU! designer paper, Groovy Guava ribbon, white cardstock, Embrace Life stamp set, Basic Black ink, Giga (or Mega, I can never remember which is which LOL) punch, Word Window punch, Coluzzle, Watercolour pencils and Blender Pens.

A Tart & Tangy Thank You !

Here is yet again another simple card. maybe that'll be my signature, simple cards. Ya right ! I'll get better, I promise. I just have to get some guts when I'm making cards that's all. Next time I make a card I should go on the net and take a look at some of your blogs and get inspiration. Ya, maybe I'll do that, next time :)

This stamp set is from the newest SU! brochure (March 1 - May 31 2008). I love this set because it's so summery and fresh. Lots of ideas with this one.

Recipe - Old Olive cardstock, white cardstock, River Rock cardstock, Old Olive Prints Designer paper, Basic Black ink, Ruby Red ink, Old Olive ink, Tart & Tangy stamp set, Short & Sweet stamp set, circle punch, scallop punch and word window punch. I put pop up dots under the scalloped circle to make it stand out.

Happy Birthday Jonah !!

Look who's 5 today ! March 4

His shirt cracks me up ! "My dad's Bass is bigger than your Dad's Bass" and his backwards pants. Too cute !

Embrace "This" !

Man I wish I could make a card a day ! That would be so nice. Well unfortunately I just don't have enough time or enough spunk (I guess that's a good word for it). So my blog will just have to be happy with a card every couple of days or so :)
This card here I'm not sure what I'll do with it or who I'll give it to. I might just keep it and put it in with my demo stuff. Something to inspire my ladies.
Recipe: River Rock cardstock, Real Red cardstock, SU! designer paper, Groovy Guava ribbon, Watercolour paper, Embrace Life stamp set, Basic Black ink, Watercolour pencils, Scallop punch and Blender Pens. All SU! items except 8 little circles on the flower I coloured in with silver gel pen. Just to give it a little sparkle.
Ok I know my cards are simple but I'm a bit challenged in the making cards department but I'm getting better :)

SAB Happy Hellos

I went to an all day scrabooking event yesterday. I did scrapbook, really I did, but I have to confess I did more card making than scrapbooking LOL.

With this card I used a stamp set from Sale-A-Bration that's on right now. I got this set for free and so could you !

Recipe - Lots of Thoughts free stamp set, Old Olive cardstock, Old Olive prints designer paper, Whisper White cardstock, River Rock cardstock, Basic Black ink, Old Olive ribbon, circle punch and scallop punch.

I punched the Whisper White cardstock with the scallop punch and put it behind the other Old Olive designer paper scallop and put some pop dots underneath so the Happy Hellos wouldn't get lost on the card.

How I store my rubber stamps cont ....

Well I have to say that I think I might rethink the way I mount my stamps. Although reusing the foam that Stampin' Up! ships with the stamps is a great idea (and a money saver too) I think I might use something like EZmount from now on. I'm not crazy about the idea of spending more money but I think it'll be worth it. After all EZmount isn't really all that expensive.
The reason for the change, well when I reuse the SU! foam, I find that no matter what I do the back of the stamp is sticky. Not really sticky but sticky enough that it leaves a tiny bit of stickness on the cd case. I find that EZmount is not sticky at all and still sticks beautifully to the acrylic blocks. So although it'll cost a little more money, from now on any new stamps I get I'll be mounting them with EZmount.

How I store my rubber stamps

This is how I store my rubber stamps. I bought these cd cases at Wal-Mart. I just took out the black center piece that usually holds the cd. Also make sure you do not buy the slim cd cases, they’re just too thin.

First I make sure I have everything I need. Unmounted rubber stamps, Craft & Rubber scissors (sold by Stampin’ Up!) and an empty cd case.

Carefully peel the rubber from the foam that it originally came on.

Peel the paper from the other side of the foam. You will now have a very sticky side of foam (that you just took the paper off of) and a not so sticky side of the foam (that you took the rubber off of).

Adhere the rubber to the very sticky side of the foam.

Cut around your image, taking care not to cut too close as to cut the stamp but don’t leave too much rubber around the image or it will stamp messy. Always make straight cuts.

Your stamp is almost ready to put into the cd case except that the foam is still a little too sticky. So you now need to stick it to fabric of some sort to get it to be less sticky. I usually use my pant leg. Once you can see that it’s not so sticky anymore you can put it in the cd case. Arrange them however you like.

I scan the sticker sheet and scale it down a bit if needed so it will fit into the cd case. Label the side of the case with the name of the stamp set and you’re ready to go !