Saturday, December 29, 2012

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #129

Sadly, this is the last ever Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge, as Claire takes the company in a new direction for 2013 - but I'm very happy to be playing along!  I'm using a WM favourite, "Seasonal Remedies" with some Carta Bella Winter Fun papers that I didn't get a chance to use before now...
Patterned papers are Winter Fun, Carta Bella; Cardstock is Chocolate & Colonial White, CTMH; Ink is Chocolate, CTMH; Stamp set is Seasonal Remedies, Waltzingmouse Stamps; Ribbon, CTMH.
 

Friday, December 28, 2012

Freshly Made Sketches #66

I have another Christmas card with the December Key Ingredients kit today... using this week's Freshly Made Sketch:
 
Patterned papers are Winter Frost, We R Memory Keepers; Cardstock is Black and White Daisy, CTMH; Black Ink, CTMH; Stamp set is Merry & Bright, CTMH; Bling, ribbon & papers from the Key Ingredients kit; Dies are Spellbinders & My Favourite Things; Martha Stewart snowflake punch.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Sketchbook Saturday #86

I made some time for cardmaking this evening, and it was heavenly to be doing it at a leisurely pace! Over the last few weeks, there has usually been a reason to get a card made as quickly as possible and sent off somewhere... so this one represents the first of my 2013 Christmas card stash. I just received my Key Ingredients kit for December on the 24th, so I'm taking advantage of the lovely wintery papers to start my cards. I used the current Sketchbook Saturday sketch by Chupa:
 
Patterned papers are Winter Frost by We R Memory Keepers; Cardstock is Slate & White Daisy, CTMH; Stamp set is Seasonal Rememdies, Waltzingmouse Stamps; Ink is London Fog, Memento; Copic Markers; Ribbon, Bling & Blue cardstock are all Key Ingredients kit; Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge, CTMH.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Holiday Knitting

Every year I get a project or two knit as Christmas gifts, so I thought that I would share the shawl style scarf that I knit for my sister-in-law.  It's called the "Holden Shawlette" and is a free download on Ravelry if you're interested...  I took a class on it this fall, at my favourite knitting store: Serenity Knits which was wonderful - knitters are such great people, and I find the class idea such a great way to try something new.  This is a large triangular scarf, started in the middle of the top, and knit back and forth, increasing each row until we were at around 400 stitches.  I've used a lovely icy-blue bamboo yarn that was wonderfully soft, with a lovely lustre.  My SIL loved it, so here she is modelling:
And a close up of the lace:
 

Coming up for air!

Happy Holidays!  I hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas, and some quality time with friends and family.  I didn't really intend to take things so slowly blog-wise over the last few weeks, but as with all of us, family and holiday commitments come first, and a computer in the shop for several weeks made the break happen whether I wanted it to or not!  I am excited to get back to crafting, trying out new things, and even getting going on next year's Christmas cards!  I still have all of my product sitting out in my craft room, and I intend to keep it going while I'm still in festive mode.  We have some wonderful colour stories coming up at Dynamic Duos... and of course the Close To My Heart spring 2013 catalogues should be in my hands shortly, so there are lots of fun things ahead.  If you like a good Boxing Day deal... surf the stamp and paper companies today - I've just placed a lovely Verve order, and may look at a few other products as well.  For now I have a couple of things to share... this was a Pinterest idea that I gave out to several friends, wonderful jars of a homemade hot chocolate mix.  They were very cute, and well received:
And here is another reason for my slow December blogging - my daughter, the Cupcake Diva had 3 fairly large orders this month (and I am her lovely assistant!) so we made over 350 mini cupcakes, and 3 dozen regular sized ones.  Needless to say, we're not looking to bake any more cupcakes in the near future.  Here is a chocolate fudge cupcake with a white chocolate buttercream icing done for a holiday baby shower:
Stay tuned for some serious papercrafting, I can hardly wait to get back into my room! 

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Dynamic Duos #33

This week's Black Tie colour combo for Dynamic Duos#33 is Gold & Basic Black, with a dessert option of a musical theme!  I stuck to a CAS style for this one, using a card done by Karen Pedersen as inspiration. 




































Using a circular mask, I stamped the music sheet background stamp from Universal Backgrounds onto the white panel. I scored the edges, then covered the stamped image with coarse glitter.
We would love to have you join us at Dynamic Duos this week, we ask that you use just the two colours of the challenge, and you may add neutrals like kraft, skin tones, greys etc.  Hop over to the DD blog to see all of the Dynamo's inspiration for this week, or you can see their links on my sidebar.
On a personal note - I HAVE MY COMPUTER BACK!!!  Yes, as you can see, I'm a little excited.  Almost two weeks without being able to upload or edit photos among other things.  No more sad cell phone photos!  I have a few projects to share that I'll be posting over the next few days.

Cardstock is Black, & White Daisy, CTMH; Gold paper from my stash!; Stamp sets are Universal Backgrounds & Pear & Partridge WOTG, CTMH; Ink is Black, CTMH; Martha Stewart coarse glitter; Gold cord from my stash.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Freshly Made Sketches #65

I made 4 of these quick cards today, keeping in mind that I wanted flat cards that could be mailed easily.  I used the lovely Perfect Fit Holidays stamp set, the Pear & Partridge papers and this week's Freshly Made Sketch  We are also sharing Christmas projects at the Heart2Heart Challenge blog this week:
Patterned papers are Pear & Partridge; Cardstock is Tulip & Champagne; Stamp set is Perfect Fit, Holidays; Inks are Olive & Cashmere; Copic & CTMH markers.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

SFYTT for December

Well here we are with the final Sketch For You To Try for 2012, (and the last ever!), and I am pleased to say that I've been able to do all 12 sketches for the year :o) After my December card, I will give a list of links to all the monthly cards at the bottom of my post. Jen has an awesome prize to give away to one lucky player on Christmas Day... This was a harder sketch for me, one tilted panel I can handle, but 3?? So I went for something a little less structured, and a bit distressed using some lovely Authentique papers:
 
 
Patterned papers are Peaceful by Authentique, Cardstock is Black and Colonial White, CTMH; Stamp set is Merry & Bright, CTMH; Inks are Black, Bamboo & Pear; Martha Stewart coarse glitter; Martha Stewart snowflake punch; Let it Snowflake dies, My Favorite Things.

Here are all of my 2012 SFYTT posts:
January
February

March

April

May

June
July

August

September

October

November

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Dynamic Duos #32

It's monochromatic week at Dynamic Duos!  Our colours are Pretty in Pink and Rose Red, so I have chosen CTMH's Hollyhock and Blush with a few touches of black thrown in.  I have had major computer issues this week, with our desktop crashing... and it could be another week or so before it is back, so I apologize for the poor quality of my photo taken with my husband's cell phone!  Once I'm back up and running, I'll edit the post with a decent photo :o)  I really love this Eiffel Tower image, and all the delicate images that came with it in the La Belle Vie workshop on the go, so I was excited to use it for this week's challenge:
I cut out the Eiffel Tower, the library card and the Magnifique die cuts with the Cricut Artiste cartridge and then stamped them with their coordinating stamps in black ink. Then I used Copic markers to shade the Magnifique banner in both of the pink shades of our challenge.  Both the tower and banner are popped up on pop dots, and I added some bling to the scallop and the top of the tower.  A very different card for me, but I love it!  I have used this week's Mojo Monday sketch.
     We hope you'll join us over at Dynamic Duos this week, we ask that you use just the two colours from the challenge, but adding neutrals like black, kraft, skin tones etc. is allowed.  Head on over to the DD blog to see what the design team has come up with this week, or you can see all of their links on my sidebar.
Cardstock is Hollyhock, Blush, Black and White Daisy; Stamp sets are Jardin, La Belle Vie, and Approved; Ink is Black; Baker's Twine and Sparkles; Cricut Artiste Cartridge - all CTMH; Copic Markers; Tilda Swirl die.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Tags for Dynamic Duos #31

I think I'm pretty much done my Christmas cards for 2012... so I decided to take advantage of this week's Christmassy colour scheme at Dynamic Duos to get some tags made.  Our colours this week are Certainly Celery & Real Red, so I used Close To My Heart's Pear & Holiday Red.  I die cut all the bases in Kraft cardstock, then got busy stamping and die cutting snowflakes to embellish them.
Here are a few close-ups:



We would love to have you join us this week at Dynamic Duos!  You need to use just the two colours (or something similar) in your project - and the addition of neutrals like kraft, black, greys etc. are allowed.  Check out the rest of the design team's projects (links on my sidebar, or visit the DD blog!)  Not everyone went with a holiday theme - so there is plenty of inspiration.
 
Stamp sets are A Very Merry Christmas, & Perfect Fit Holiday, CTMH & Vintage Christmas, Waltzingmouse Stamps; Cardstock is Kraft, Holiday Red & White Daisy; Inks are Pear & Holiday Red; Spellbinders Vintage Ornament dies; Let it Snowflake dies, My Favorite Things; Cricut Artiste & Art Philosophy cartridges, CTMH; Hemp, buttons & sparkles, all CTMH.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Inspired By #52 & Deconstructed Sketch #79

Well how 'bout that?  Two Inspired By cards in two days!  I new immediately what papers I would use when I saw Laurel's inspiration photo... and decided to use the Deconstructed Sketch flipped up on it's end:
 
Patterned papers are Dear Mr. Claus, Cosmo Cricket; Cardstock is Colonial White, CTMH; Martha Stewart twine; Ink is Desert Sand, CTMH. 

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Sketchbook Saturday & Inspired By

I've been trying to play along with both of these challenges for the last few weeks, and finally got a chance to make something!  I went with the red/white black colour story from Laurel's Inspired By photo this week, and used Chupa's Sketchbook Saturday sketch - and instead of a tilted tag, I made it a tilted ornament:
Here was our inspiration photo:
And our sketch:
Patterned papers are Mistletoe, Making Memories; Cardstock is Kraft & Colonial White, CTMH; Burlap ribbon, hemp & buttons, CTMH; Spellbinders Vintage Ornament die, Let it Snowflake dies, My Favorite Things.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Snowman tea light ornaments

The store where my daughter works decided to raise money for cancer research by selling homemade ornaments over the next few weeks... so we found this idea on Pinterest using battery operated tea lights to make them into little snowmen.  I hand drew the hat, but otherwise used my Coluzzle to cut the circles, sponged the edges with a little heavenly blue ink and glued down all the bits and pieces.  Oh, and we coloured the 'nose' with an orange Copic marker for the carrot effect.
Cardstock is White Daisy, Black & Cranberry; Ink is Heavenly Blue; Cranberry waxy flax; Snowflake die (arms), My Favorite Things; Copic marker; 1/8" hole punch.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Dynamic Duos #30

I made something sparkly for this week's Dynamic Duos challenge!  Our colours are Midnight Muse & Silver, and this didn't turn out anything like what I started to make...  I initially thought that they'd make a great guy card, but what I ended up with is anything but!  I love this lacy little die cut, and am glad to have an excuse to use it:
Be sure to check out all the inspiration from our Dynamos... you can see all their work on the Dynamic Duos blog - or click on the list of links on my sidebar.  We hope you'll join us - and if you don't have the exact colours, just use something similar, and you can add neutrals to your creation as well.

Patterned paper is Magnifique; Cardstock is Grey Flannel, Grey Wool, Pacifica & White Daisy; Stamp set is You're Invited; Ink is black; Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge - all CTMH.  Tilda Swirl die.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Frame 'em up!

Here are the last two cards that we did at my Christmas card workshop.  We used the wood panelling papers from the Dakota paper pack, and cut them into frame pieces that they sponged softly with slate ink.  The ornament & mitts were stamped in the base colour, then again on scrap paper in contrasting colours that we glued on for the cuffs and the stripe on the ornament.  A little glitter, a few snowflakes and some baker's twine, and voila:
 
Patterned paper is Dakota, Stamp sets are A Very Merry Christmas and Glad Tidings (Verve); Inks are Slate, Sky, Gypsy, Cotton Candy, Black & Pear; - all CTMH; Martha Stewart glitter & snowflake punch; Baker's Twine, the Twinery.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

A little burlap

I have another card from my Christmas card workshop to share with you today.  This card is a case of similar ones done by Vicki Wizniuk & Allisa Chilton (you can see their blogs linked on my sidebar).  It's fairly small, the base measures just 4" x 4 1/4", and the circle is glued down only on it's bottom half.  It fits perfectly into a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" envelope.  I added tiny sparkles to the flowers on the wreath, and used CTMH's amazing burlap ribbon on the bottom.  This week at Heart2heart Challenges, the theme is Christmas - so I'm sharing it there, too!
Patterned paper is Pear & Partridge; Cardstock is Cranberry, Cashmere & Colonial White; Stamp set is Merry & Bright; Inks are Cranberry & Olive; Cranberry Waxy Flax; Clear button & burlap - all CTMH.

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