An Early Valentine

A creatively-slow weekend, but I've been on a Copic-Colouring-Kick and haven't moved the images into cards as yet.  With Valentines around the corner, I thought this Verve quote would be nice in a card.  I picked up some of the new Jillibean "Hearty Barley" line - love the craft paper look, although I never think to use it.  Next time I'll dig out my white ink pad...

The roses were an afterthought but I'm glad I went with it:

The little silver "love" heart charm is left over from a wedding invitation package I made for a friend a while ago.  I have lots left so with the season of Love just around the corner I guess I'll get to use a few more.

I kept the inside pretty simple... again the sentiment is from Verve:

Speaking of Love & Romance...... I'm off to watch tonights episode of Batchelor... can't help myself - lol.

Coffee & Friendship

Does it get any better then coffee & friends?  (Okay... maybe wine & friends??... lol) 

I adore this Uptown Girl image from Stamping Bella.  I've been practicing with my Copics again and this was a big job for me - yikes - took forever.  Didn't I just finish saying I like the smaller images?  But I'm loving these Uptown Girls - so fun.

Designer paper is MME & the coffee pot on the inside is from a Craft Lounge set that I have.  Sentiment is from a wood block stamp of Dawn Houser.

The inside:

I suppose it's rare for me to make a card without a whole pile of layers, ribbons, bells, bows.... yadda, yadda... but this one just seemed better left alone... like two good friends with big mugs of coffee.

Back soon.........

Missed My Copics

I'm certainly not the best at adding colour, but I've missed the relaxation I get from sitting with my Coffee & Copics.  Admittedly I like to colour up the smaller images and the blending probably takes me longer then most... but I love it.  

Here's a baby card I made for a friend at work:

I love this sweet Mo Manning image.  Designer paper is from a K&Company 12x12 pad combined with a bit of Whisper White and Barely Banana.  Used a combination of Spellbinders & MFT dies (what the heck did we do before dies?). 

And the inside:

Love this sentiment from Verve.

Just working on a few Valentine cards now and glad I finally broke the seal on getting back to card making.  Happy to be back blogging too.  ;)

Night all.

I'm Back...

Well hello everyone!  It's odd to read my last post and and see how I assumed my father would be home soon from hospital, but that wasn't the case.  He has remained in hospital since that time.  He's doing fine now, but it's been a very long road for him... and our entire family.  But as I said, he's doing well now - still in hospital - but expected to come home hopefully by April of this year.  Blogging or making cards wasn't a priority as I spent most of my time at the hospital or trying to help out in other ways.  When a family member is sick, I guess all those things we thought were so important - just aren't anymore. 

So........ in the last couple of weeks I've been sifting through the dust of my craft room... moving things from one big pile and into smaller piles... and was just too intimidated to try anything.  So I cleaned it top to bottom, floors, windows and all.  I took a spin around of some of my favorite blogs for inspiration and then discovered some new paper & stamps I had bought back in Sep/Oct ... and I tried a couple of test cards.  And........... they turned out horrible!!  LOL - OMG - they look like failed grade 3 science projects.  But I kept plugging away until it felt more natural and finally came up with a card that I wanted to post... even though it took FOREVER to do!   

And here's the inside:

Oh - and I did a little blog facelift too... New Year and all that.  Going to try and post a little more routinely as well and hopefully even put some cards in my Etsy store. 

Well that's it from me.  'Till next time.........

For Dad

Well my Dad is having a few medical problems lately and unfortunately is back in hospital.  The real bummer is that I've been sick (just a bad cold) and have not been allowed to visit.  I got to skype with him yesterday though from his hospital bed - how cool is that?!  (Thank you Steve Jobs...)

So here's a card I made for my father who I'm sure will feel just like this picture once he's home doing all his favorite things.

Stamp is Art Impressions (love their funny images!) and the sentiment is Verve.  Coloured with Copics and used my MFT dies for a border.  (love those SU! corduroy buttons Vicki!!).

Here's the inside:

Oh - almost forgot... it's (Canadian) Thanksgiving!  I'm very thankful for my family.  We're actually going to celebrate next weekend when we can all hopefully be together.  Enjoy your turkey!!

A quote on "Courage"

I love that special quotes have become so popular.  Everyone uses them on Facebook, on t-shirts, notepads and picture frames.  Before computers changed our lives, I used to write them down on scraps of paper (I still find them in old purses).  Since then, I've always collected my favorites and would keep them in a folder on my computer - I accumulated hundreds that either made me laugh or touched my heart in one way or another.  I always thought, "that will make a great card".  I obviously didn't have a good quote about "backing up your computer" because I lost them all last January when my computer crashed.   Thank goodness for Verve and their beautiful quote stamp sets.  I love this one about courage.

Paper is Fancy Pants Honeysuckle.  Dies are Spellbinder & MFT.  Love the cordoroy brads from SU!

Cutting this short - off to watch Big Brother.  Rachel has got to go!!  =)

For The Birds

Hi again!  I made a couple of cards using the new Spellbinder die "Bird Santuary".  What a great set!

As you can see I used a few MFT dies as well as Spellbinders and even the Martha lattice edge punch.  I love that flourish die from MFT in the 2nd card and it cuts like butter!

Well that's it from me again... the sun is coming out which means I'm off the computer!! 

Back soon!
Carla.

Friendship

Well it's been a while.  All I can say is, "great summer!".  I did manage a few cards over the last month, but time just never seems to expand to include blogging them.

For this one I used the Just Rite sentiment for friendship.  I really like the wording.  The DP is Fancy Pants Designs - love the tiny print and of course being a brown-fanatic I bought tons.  I used a combination of MFT and Spellbinder dies. 

Well I'm looking forward to posting more regularly now that summer is (mostly) over.

Back soon!!
Carla.

For Another Happy Couple

And yet ANOTHER happy couple this summer.  Love making wedding cards!

I had to use more of this gorgeous Pebbles designer paper (glad I bought lots!) It's just so elegant and perfect for this kind of card.  Sentiment is Verve and I used my Spellbinder & MFT dies once again, dew drops, lace & seam binding... and of course a little glitter.  (What's a wedding without a little glitter?)

I went to this particular wedding and it was one of the nicest weddings I've ever attended.  Such a beautiful couple... inside and out.

Okay folks - that's it for wedding cards for a bit.  I'm missing my Copics and need to do a little colouring....... back soon.

Wedding Post - Part Deux

I promised I'd be back shortly with another wedding card so here it is:

This was fun - I went with cream instead of white and it matched so nice with this American Crafts paper.  Sentiment is Verve and the usual combination of Spellbinder & MFT dies (love my dies!). 

Here's the inside:

Enjoy your weekend all!  Hope you're staying cool...I personally love the veggie section at Costco........ so wonderfully cold!!

It's Wedding Season!

I've had a few requests for wedding cards this summer and I love making them.  Love indulging in all the pearls, ribbon and lace.  Here's the first one:

Isn't this Pebbles paper gorgeous?  I used a mixture of Spellbinders & MFT dies, a little sewing, lace & flowers.  Sentiment is from Verve.

The inside:

Sentiment on the inside is Penny Black - I love the beautiful font.  Back tomorrow with another wedding card!

Just Because

I don't remember how, but I stumbled across a graphics site that shared images.  I chose this bird nest and today put it into a card.  I seem to be on a bit of a bird-kick lately......

I was meant to be making 3 wedding cards, but I had this sheet of 6 little birdnests that I printed and they were just hoping for a little Copic love. 

Sentiment is Verve, paper are various small pieces from my stash.

Back to the craft room to make my wedding cards........  lol.

Life is Sweeter when shared with Friends

Happy Sunday y'all.......quick post today.  Wanted to share another card I made using the Pebbles paper.

I coloured this sweet Mo Manning image with copics & added the Hero Arts sentiment in a Spellbinders Labels 20 die.  Lovin my MFT dies too - I used 3 in this card...  left border & both rolled flowers. 

Thanks for your comments - makes my day!  Off to grab some groceries for the week..........

Thinking of you today.

How about this little rustic flower window box by Stamping Bella?  Isn't it the sweetest?!!  I love it.  After colouring with copics I added glitter and then liquid pearls to the flower centers for a little texture.  Sentiment is Stampendous & cut out with Spellbinders Labels 20.

Now I am crazy over this new Pebbles paper. I love the small delicate print.  Plus you know that part on the 12x12 that has the info and the bar code?  Well on the opposite side it gives you a strip that will match both sides of your page.  In this card, it's the strip that goes directly beneath the flower embellishments.

Enjoy your Saturday everyone!  I'm pretty sure there's another Pebbles paper card in my very near future... like, I just need to make a coffee first!  lol

Love

Isn't this a pretty verse?  And so true, eh?  I think this would be a lovely sentiment for a wedding card.  It's from a Verve set called "Love Story".  I paired it up with Just Rite "Kindness" and layered the Spellbinders Labels 20 & Fancy Tags 3 for the center.

I wanted to stay with soft colours so this Girls Paperie "Vintage Whimsy" paper was perfect.  I added a little texture with the Swiss Dots embossing folder and used a MS punch & Spellbinder Parisian Accent to give it a border at the bottom.

A little stitching, some ribbon and viola. 

A short post today... but wanted to pop in quickly with a card.  I don't want to lose the momentum of posting!!  =)

From my lips to Verve's ears...

It would be so hard to pick a favorite stamp line in today's market... simply because there are just so many "must have's".  I have my favorites at MFT, Flourishes, SU!, Kraftin Kimmies, Stamping Bella, Quietfire Design, Just Rite and of course Verve.  But when I look at which ones I use the most, it ends up being Verve.  I just love their beautiful fonts, clean lines and useable themed sets. 

So from my lips to Verve's ears.........

This sentiment is from a set called One Person by Verve.  Love it!  The paper is from American Craft,  Spellbinders used are Nesties 10 & 18 along with Fancy Tags 2 & 3.  How did I ever do a card without Spellbinders before??   I also used one of my all time favorite dies from MFT at the bottom.

So back to work for me tomorrow.  I've had a lovely break from work and did lots of walking, reading, napping and even a few cards.  Just total bliss.

Thanks for visiting!!!

Whoops - missed the month of June...

But I've got July right at the beginning!  Looking forward to making lots of cards and doing lots of posts... (right... famous last words).

I'm on a wee little bit of a holiday at the moment and took some time out yesterday to make a card when my friend Gabriela and I challenged each other.  I'm late in posting mine, but here we go.........

Sentiment is Verve and this gorgeous Fancy Pants paper is full of inspiration.  I only wish I had distressed the edges... but forgot.  :(

Wanted to quickly mention that I am missing out on posting on some of my favorite blogs... but I'm having a computer issue that needs looking into.  I try in vain to leave a comment and then when I do, I get bounced back to google log-in and asked repeatedly for my user name and password.  This is so frustrating that I just stopped until I can find a solution.  Only a very few blogs allow me to post comments.  Wanted to explain since I haven't been posting any comments anywhere recently.

Awkward........

So I making a card with my 8-yr old niece yesterday and singing along to Lady Gaga's "Born This Way". Quite understandably, I jump up & break into this amazing dance and think I'm impressing her beyond belief. She stares at me and says, "Awkward...." (lol!!)


So here is my Lady Gaga inspired card.  I think the little spray of glittery flourish really does it - lol. 
 

All the paper were scraps from my stash.  As much as I love cutting into a brand new sheet, I love the inspiration my scrap drawer gives me when I open it up and see certain papers overlapping others and think... "there's my card".  I hadn't put my vellum away yet, so I added a little with my new Fancy Tags 2 die.  The beautiful flower I received from my friend Gabriela and the sparkle flourish from Michael's were a nice finishing touch.
 
I'm honestly not very good at listing all the products I use.  I try but it just doesn't come to mind when I'm flying through whatever project.  I'm amazed & envious when other bloggers are so detailed in all products they use, but I just never think about it until I'm sitting at the computer.  Maybe it would be easier if my craft room was close to my computer room... so there would be no running up and down the hall looking for the name of this and that (as I type).  If there is ever anything you are wondering about, please ask.  I always read my comments (thank you!!) and I will definitely respond with 'where I bought this' or 'how I did that'. 
 
Back to my incredible dancing..................  (awkward!)  lol

A Little Chocolate...

Okay, mojo is not completely back but I dit manage a little card over the long weekend....

A recent post by Becca Feeken (Amazing Paper Grace) inspired me to get out some vellum and use with my Spellbinders (Parisian Accents, Parisian Motifs and Labels 21).  Sentiment by Verve, DP are scraps from my stash and I added a bit of zig-zag sewing, buttons & pink baker's twine.  Probably a bit over-the-top in the busy department, but can you blame me...???... haven't made a card in ages and wanted to use everything - lol!

APB

Posting an APB for my MOJO. 

It has been missing for a few weeks now.

I've looked everywhere.

If you have seen it, please return it. 

Thank you,

Carla.