Something Old, Something New

So I decided to give the Verve 'Something Old, Something New' challenge a try this morning. I had an idea as to what I wanted to do in terms of what type of card but I honestly had NO idea what stamps I was going to use. I ended up selecting, 'Practically Perfect - 2009' and 'Family Phrases - 2007', the latter being a set I had never inked up before. I love doing photo cards, as I find it makes the card a little more personal. Several of the photo cards I have made for people in the past, are now displayed in baby books or on general display. I also tried to think outside the box when it came to colours. And to top it all off, I used scrap pieces of paper - I didn't get into a single sheet of new paper! This has been a goal of mine all summer! Instead of using pattern paper, I used the sentiment, 'Our little miracle' to form the background and then I used the 'daddy's little girl' stamp from the Family Phrases set to bring in a little pink. I like how it turned out, as it's not a girlie, girlie card but the pearls and pink do give it a little touch of 'girlie'. On the inside, I used some more scrap paper and inked in pink the girl bunny image from the Practically Perfect set, stamped it off once and then stamped it on the corner. I used the 'welcome baby' stamp from the Family Phrases set to finish off the inside.

Eat Sleep Stamp challenge #98

I have never partcipated in one of Tracy's challenges before and I really struggled with the oval image. I laid out this card several times, with several different papers and just didn't like how it was turning out. I needed a sympathy card for a funeral that is on Monday and so I dug through my stamps to find something appropriate ... and that would fit in the oval template I had created. I like how the image did turn out - the image on the right is actually the mirror image of the one on the left. Used a handy little trick for that :) All the paper is from my box of scraps - that's been one of my goals lately to not cut into new paper until I've gone through the stash and checked to see if I had something that I could use. About a year ago, I 'won' on Ebay, 2 bags of scrap paper (each weighing a pound), which is absolutely amazing for a card maker!! You can't tell in the picture, but I roughed up the edges of the oval shaped brown paper and the blue paper is actually vellum with the design printed on it.

Because I wasn't happy at all with how it turnd out, I decided to whip up another card, as I have a 40th birthday party to go to tonight.
I used the same sketch but substituted the rectangle 'danger' sign instead of the oval, as I came across it earlier this morning and thought it was perfect!! The checked background is actualy hand-made. I cut out strips of the red and black paper and then wove them together, to create the checkered background and I LOVE how it came out!! So much so, I actually have another checked background ready to go! I used some vellum I had laying on my craft counter and then put some black ribbon on topof it. The 'danger' sign is mounted on red then cardstock and thesentiment is stamped on white cardstock, then mounted on red and then black cardstock. I used a couple brads that I had in my stash to finish off the card.

Babies, babies, babies everywhere!

Yesterday was an absolutely horrible day, for more then one reason. I started off the day finding out that a young girl I knew but wasn't close with, committed suicide. She was 21 and stunningly beautiful. One of those things that you can't explain, no matter how hard you try to wrap your head around it. It then progressed way further downhill from there, but I don't want to re-hash it at this point. Needless to say, I'm sure I will eventually talk about it but yesterday was full of tears and heart ache (Stacey and the little peanuts are okay!).

I made this card on Monday, for a friend who let me know she is expecting - in March!! She's already a super mommy to a brilliant and bright girl named Taylor and I know this new little bundle of joy will be so loved!! They aren't finding out what they are having, so I needed something general neutral, so I went with purple and blue. I can't wait to pop the card in the mail. I also made a little card for the big sister:

On the inside, I'm going to write ... 'is going to be a big sister?' Taylor has a thing for owls at the moment - so I think it's going to be a hit!!

Happy birthday Pardner!

This is a card for my dad - his birthday is on Sunday and I wanted to do something kind of fun! I bought this stamp set a while ago, second hand and this was actually the first time I've inked it up!! The penguin background is actually stamped ... which means there is no pattern paper used!! I can definitely see myself using this set much more often!!

Couple Cards To Share

My best friend is expecting twins - she is technically due December4th but I believe they are looking at mid-November at the latest as she has had some issues. They also kept the pregnancy to themselves as long as possible and once it was out, they kept the twins part a secret for about a month longer. I've known for months and months ... so it's nice to be able to be able to at least acknowledge it!! I was getting really good at denying everything and anything associated with Stacey and pregnancy!! This is just a really simple card - using Picnik to do a little photo editting. They aren't finding out what they are having - although I've got a feeling one is a boy ... so I wanted to keep the card fairly gender neutral.

The second card I want to share tonight is the wedding card I did for Carmen and Carlo, who got married in Kelowna at the end of August. I was a little off on their wedding colour (the blue lighter and not so much teal - more Tiffany's blue with a tinge of sea green ...) but I lke the simpleness of the card. And I love using a picture and making the card that little bit more personal. I wasn't there when they opened their wedding gift from Jeff and myself (I gave them a box of 40-ish hand made cards which made Carmen cry, as cards have always been our connection through the years - we send each other snail mail all the time).

I had a great card day today - got several done that I had been wanting to work on but hadn't had any real solid ideas. I'm hoping to have some more of those cards to post this week.

Happy Birthday!

So I needed a funny card for a 50th birthday party we were invited to but were unable to attend. This is originally not at all what I had planned on doing for the card ... I was in the shower getting ready to face the day and knew I wanted to use some of my Hambo stamps but as I'm in the process of mounting them all on the thin E-Z mount foam, I couldn't find all the stamps that I had wanted to use. And I can't even recall the name of this stamp set - I think I was given it without identifying information, as it's just tucked in an accordian folder with my other 'nameless' stamp sets. Overall, that card came together super quick and it's going to be so easy to use this card layout for a variety of cards ... so maybe I will get crafting again today! Especially since it's my last day before I head back to work tomorrow.

I'm Back!

So I seriously need to give my head a shake! It's been almost a year since my last post- which is insane! It's not like I haven't been crafting in that time frame - I have been super busy. So much has happened - I've moved into an amazing house and I'm loving my job as an educational assistant - I've had the summer off but I feel like I haven't accomplished anything this summer! And I go back to work Wednesday! That's crazy! I also have job interview that day as well -- so fingers crossed for that!

I've decided to devote more time to being crafty so I do have a card to share today if my computer decides to co-operate! I've been trying/fighting with it all day! So - hopefully later I can post my latest creation!!