TCC Feature Friday~ Sunflower Thank you

TGIF!

My vacation begins after work this afternoon, whohoo!!

I’ll be spending a week at the cottage my family rents each year. I’ve got some posts planned for while I’m away, so don’t miss me too much :)

We usually go on Saturdays, but this year my dad will take the boat up on his own, while my sister, mom and I attend my parents’ high school reunion.  My uncle who is retired from play professional basketball is coming in from Victoria, British Columbia to play in the Alumni Basketball game.  AND I will finally be able to reveal my big project, because I will also be attending a shower for one of my good friends.  On Sunday, we’ll head up to the cottage with the dog.

So onto The Character Cafe Feature Friday.

One of the July images that everyone has been raving about is the Sunflower, so I knew I wanted to play with it for a thank you card my mom needed.

This card turned out a little more ‘country’ than I had planned; actually, this card didn’t come together in a traditional way…but I’m content with the results.

I initially planned on using last week’s WSC sketch, but I didn’t work out as I had hoped.  This card is smaller, 4 1/4” square.  I had about 4 different kinds of paper for the background, but they were all too busy and took away from the image, so I settled on this green paper from my stash.

The image is coloured with watercolours; I like the gingham ribbon and I think that is what makes this “country”.  I forgot to take a pic of the inside, but there’s a simple “thanks” stamped there.

Make sure to hop around to the rest of The Character Cafe Design team to see their work this week!

Billie ~ Shelley ~ Tesa ~ Colleen ~ Heather ~ Mary ~ Kendra and Kelly ~ Sara ~ Elaine 

Happy Friday!

Ciao for now,

Technorati Tags: The Character Cafe,Digital stamps,Feature Friday,A Paper Buffet

Read More

Sneek Peak # 3

My ribbon skills developed during my four years working in a flower shop while in University paid off for this project.  Making bows out of wire ribbon is one of my favourite things when wrapping things, especially at Christmas time.  They are really easy to make once you get the hang of it.

Here’s another peek at what will be revealed on Saturday.

Leave me a comment and let me know if you’d be interested in a wire-ribbon tutorial.  This would be for big bows for packages, wreathes or home decor, they’re a bit too big for cards.

Happy Thursday!

Ciao for now,

Read More

TCC Work it Wednesday

Don’t miss another Work it Wednesday tutorial and challenge over at The Character Cafe blog. The incredibly talented Heather is this week’s host with a tutorial on how to create scenes.

Each Work it Wednesday tutorial includes a challenge where YOU can win a fabulous image from The Character Cafe Store.

Hop on over!

Happy Wednesday!

Ciao for now,

Technorati Tags: The character cafe Design Team,The Character Cafe,digital stamps,challenge,work it Wednesday,A Paper buffet

Read More

Sneak Peek #2

I’m busy trying to get everything ready for my week up at the cottage, so expect some timed posts next week:)

Here’s another peek at my project that will be ‘unveiled’ on Saturday, when the recipient will finally be ‘presented’ with my creation…

Happy Tuesday!

Ciao for now,

Read More

Working on something big…and loud

But I’m giving it to the person on Saturday, and in the element of surprise, I really don’t want her to see it online before she sees it in real life.

So until Saturday (when my cottage vacation begins~whohoo!) all I’ll be able to show is some sneak peeks.

I will say, this is the most proud I’ve ever been of one of my creations thus far and now this is all I want to make! :)

 

The colour combo of orange, grey and blue has found a way into my heart.  And my new flower punch that I got as a birthday gift :)

Ciao for now,

Read More

Post # 2: CPS125

Yup, can you believe it? This is my second post today! And I’m in a bit of a hurry to make the deadline for the CPS challenge, so I didn’t even have time to add my regular watermark,…sheesh!

I needed to make a masculine birthday card, so I used the CPS layout for this week.  Actually, truth be told, I was going to use this layout for a shower card, and still might, but when I picked the papers and the colours, although there was  a hint of pink, the greens and browns took over and it became a ‘boy’ card, lol.

I had every intention of following the sketch perfectly, but decided to try something new with the ribbon loops.  I’m not sure how I like it, and the camera seems to have skewed the green, it does match the Old Olive paper much better IRL.

I also glued the cake at the wrong angle, oops! so the ribbons are to the upper right instead of like in the sketch.

I used SU Close to Cocoa and Old Olive for this card; DP is Studio K and the ribbon is from Michaels.

We are having quite the storm roll through, which means it’s perfect weather for stamping!

Happy Saturday {evening}!

Ciao for now,

Technorati Tags: CPS Challenge,handmade cards,A Paper Buffet

Read More

One card, three challenges

I needed some inspiration for a thank you card for a customer, so I started off at Taylor’s Cupcake Challenge to see what the sketch was for this weekend.

Ok, so I had my layout.

Next I needed some colours to work with, so I headed over to the Color Throwdown.  I’ve always wanted to play along, but until last week, I never had all SU cardstock ( I mostly used Bazzil), so this is my first time playing along.

Colours for this week are:

 

Add one more challenge, found while blog hopping; There She Goes August release challenge 13- Wings and Things.

So, put them all together and what do you get…

I even remembered to finish the inside of the card!

I used SU Chocolate Chip for the base, layered with Certainly Celery and the DP is Martha Stewart.  I used my nesties to cut circles out of Perfect Plum and inked up my new Hero Arts butterfly stamp in matching ink.  A nesties tag, with the sentiment stamped in Chocolate Chip and some Chocolate Chip to finish it off.

I’ve got a few more cards to make today, and tomorrow, my Godson Ethan is coming for a visit! Well, his parents are bringing him of course, he’s only 6 months old!

Happy Saturday!

Ciao for now,

Technorati Tags: Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge,Color Throwdown,There She Goes,Hero Arts,Stampin Up,A Paper Buffet,handmade cards

Read More

TCC Feature Friday! Ty and the Lemonade stand

It’s here…FRIDAY!

I’m super excited to show you my TCC project this week…as soon as I saw the July releases, I knew I had to use this image.

Not a lot of blabbing, I’ll just get right to it!

I used the SFYTT from last week, and I really love this paper…sorry, not sure who makes it.  They must be from the same company because the colours are the same, but only the one on the bottom is double sided, and it’s green circles.

This card looks pretty awesome IRL because of all the dimension…lets take a closer look, shall we?

 

 

ok, just one more because I love it

I used my watercolour pencils to colour Ty, some crystal effects on the frog jar, lemonade pitcher and glass, and I printed a second image, coloured it, and put it up on dimensionals.  I cut out the “25 cent” sign from the bottom image, sponged the edges, curled them a bit and used dimensionals again.  I wanted the edge of the main image to stand out, but I didn’t want to sponge it.  I dragged the edges through Night of Navy ink and then used my blender pen to pull it in from the sides to frame it a bit.   I think I’ll have to perfect that a bit, but I do like the different look.

We’ve got a special addition with a guest DT member this week, Verda…hop on over and see her snazzy work!

How can you be a guest DT member? Play along with our Work it Wednesday challenge, and it could be YOU!

Make sure you travel around the DT blogs and see what other creations they’ve come up with for these incredible July images! Like what you see? Head on over to The Character Cafe Store and put a few in your shopping cart! :)

Billie ~Colleen ~Elaine ~Heather ~Kendra and Kelly ~ Mary 

Sara ~ Shelley ~ Tesa 

Don’t forget, our blog hop is still happening until Saturday…get hopping and you could win TWO TCC images

Happy Friday!

Ciao for now,

Technorati Tags: The Character Cafe Design Team,The Character Cafe,digital stamps,handmade cards,A Paper Buffet

Read More

Work it Wednesday Challenge

Today is another Work it Wednesday over at The Character Cafe Blog.  This week, it’s hosted by Tesa, who created a tutorial about stitching on your cards

I created this card using the MojoMonday layout and the stitching technique Tesa taught us.

I used my new favourite Cosmo Cricket paper, SU Mellow Moss and SU Old olive cardstock.  Sentiment is from SU Full of Life set and the ribbon is from Michaels, but matches quite well!

I also used this paper for a card I made for my mom; she needed a thank you card for her French teacher.

I created this card last week, it’s already on the way to the French teacher.  It’s very French-country, n’est pas?

I sent it along with a note to my mom in French..and realized how much I’m losing by not speaking it.  I grew up in a city with a very large Francophone population, and here in London, it’s almost strange to hear French.  I must keep using it!

Don’t forget to visit The Character Cafe Blog to check out Tesa’s tutorial and enter the challenge.  You can win TWO Character Cafe images!  If you’re uploading your card to SCS, you can use the keyword TCCWIW4 so we can all see them together.

Happy Wednesday!

Ciao for now,

Technorati Tags: The Character Cafe,Work it Wednesday,Digital stamps,A Paper Buffet,Mojo Monday,handmade cards

Read More

July Blog Hop: The Character Cafe

Good Monday Morning to you!

It’s here! The release of the July images from The Character cafe and to celebrate we’re having another blog hop!

You should’ve come here from Heather’s blog, if you haven’t, please go back to the Character Cafe design team page to start at the beginning.  This is very important since we’re offering another discount code  (30% off)for a purchase at The Character Cafe and the code needs to be collected in order.

As with our last blog hop, there will be a FREEBIE some where along the way.  The rules are also the same; please leave a comment on each blog along the way and a final comment on the Character Cafe blog to be included in the draw for some free digital Character cafe images! There will be a first and second prize and you can earn more chances to win by becoming a follower on The Character Cafe blog (if you’re not one already, and if you’re aren’t- why not?! lol) and/or by posting a link on your blog.  Just make sure to tell Kendra and Kelly so they can give you another entry.

You may have seen her already if you’ve been following along with our Work it Wednesdays, but here’s my card using Ziggy the Bee

Ziggy was coloured with water colour pencils.  I used Fun Flock © for the flowers, So Saffron designer paper, So Saffron cardstock and Temping Turquoise cardstock.  I used my favourite MS border punch and threaded some ribbon through it, I really like how it turned out.  I received a new flower punch for a birthday gift, and I like the little accent it gave this card.

The next piece of the code you need so you can fill your shopping cart at The Character Cafe store is:

“F”

Now buzz on over {had to fit one pun in here ;) }  to Shelley’s blog to see what she has for you over there!

Happy Monday!

Ciao for now,

Technorati Tags: digital stamps,blog hop,freebie,discount,handmade cards,A Paper Buffet,The Character Cafe Design Team,The Character Cafe

Read More

Snapshot Saturday: Apartment hunting in Paris

Today is my friends housewarming party- she just bought her first house and is having everyone over to celebrate.

I thought to keep with the housewarming theme, I would show you two pictures that captures why I may not be able to afford to live in Paris, France…or at least not without an apartment the size of a shoebox.

23 metres squared = 75 ft squared

185 000 Euros= $ 247,425.38 US

29 metres squared=95 ft squared

240 000 Euros= $ 338,266.38 US

Happy Saturday!

Ciao for now,

Read More

The Character Cafe- Feature Friday

TGIF!

If you hop around the TCC DT blogs, you will get a sneak peek of July releases, as we get ready for another blog hop on Monday, July 20th---but here you get to see the whole thing.

That’s entirely because I hosted the Work it Wednesday over the TCC blog and already previewed the card :)

Here’s another look at my Ziggy the Bee card, using the Mojo Monday sketch from this week

Make sure to check out the  rest of the DT blogs for a sneak peek, play along with our Work It Wednesday challenge for a chance to win two digital images from The Character Cafe.

And Monday will be our July release blog hop!

Happy Friday!

Ciao for now,

 

Technorati Tags: digital stamps,The Character Cafe Design Team,handmade cards,A Paper Buffet,Work it Wednesday,Mojo Monday

Read More

Bridal Party Thank you cards- Custom Order

Earlier in the week I mentioned that a friend of mine asked me to make thank you cards for her bridal party, and shared with you the bridesmaids’ cards.

I’ve finished all the cards and they’ve been shipped, but thought I would show you the rest of them.

Here are the cards for the groomsmen.

I’m really happy with the way these turned out, especially the one with the stripes. 

Here are the cards for the parents:

Again I used the metallic shell buttons which just worked so perfectly!

Well, I had another long day on the road, so this post is quite short- and I didn’t even put my lovely watermark on the pictures because I’m just too lazy to open up Photoshop!

Happy Thursday!

Ciao for now,

Technorati Tags: handmade cards,custom order,A Paper Buffet,wedding party thank you cards

Read More

I’m hosting Work it Wednesday!

At The Character Cafe Blog.  Hop on over and come play our challenge with the chance to win TWO TCC images, and get a sneak peek at one of the July new releases!

 

Click here.

 

See you there!

Happy Wednesday,

Ciao for now,

Technorati Tags: digital stamps,The Character Cafe,Challenge,Contest,handmade cards,fun fock,Stampendous,A Paper Buffet

Read More

Impressed, Amazed, Inspired {by you} with Tissue paper flowers

I had a friend contact me to make her a few cards for her upcoming wedding.  Her and her fiancé are having a small wedding and asked for thank you cards for their bridal party and for each sets of parents.

The wedding colours are hot pink, deep purple and green.  Here are the two cards for the bridesmaids.  The bride picked a different sentiment for each set of cards and picked “Impressed, Amazed, Inspired {by you}” for the girls’ cards.  I love this sentiment from SU “Sweet Little Sentiments” set.

I used the wedding colours and distressed all the edges of the paper (my new favourite technique).  The card stock is Bazzil and I used Bazzil Bling in Bank Roll (green) for some added sparkle and shine.  The hot pink paper is Basic Grey and has this wonderful distressed effect to it.  I tore the bottom edge and sponged SU Lovely Lilac.

I also finally tried these tissue paper flowers, they’re super easy to make.  I used my nesties to cut out circles from tissue paper and then found the most beautiful shell buttons that just happened to be in pink and purple, it was fate!  The sentiment is stamped in Whisper White.

Here’s another angle where you can see the flowers a bit better.

 

 

 

 

I’ve still got the boys’ cards to make, I found some striped paper with all the wedding colours in it- stripes are my go to pattern for masculine cards.

The parents’ cards will be a bit more traditional, I’m still designing them.

It’s a beautiful sunny Sunday here in London town, I hope you all have a great day!

Happy Sunday,

Ciao for now,

Technorati Tags: handmade cards,custom order,wedding party,thank you cards,A Paper Buffet,tissue paper flowers,Stampin UP,Sweet Little Sentiments

Read More

Snapshot Saturday: The Counting Crows

Hello weekend!

I’m looking forward to spending the day with some friends to celebrate my birthday (yes, again, that’s the fun of a weekday birthday…two celebrations!)

As I mentioned earlier in the week, I spent my actual birthday doing one of my favourite things- going to a concert.  I saw The Counting Crows perform at Rogers Bayfest in Sarnia, Ontario (about 1.5 hrs North West of London). The Trews opened for them, and they seemed to be a crowd favourite.

We still had a few issues with people trying to jam up and squeeze in front of you, which annoys me to no end.  I also don’t understand the people who consume so much alcohol at an outdoor concert and become very rude and confrontational. I’m all for enjoying a beverage, but not to the point where you can’t remember the concert.   Why can’t we all just get along?

Anyways, enough of the rant, on to the pictures!

The guitarist from The Trews.  This guy was born to be a rock star, he was jumping all over, playing the guitar behind his head and getting the crowd in a frenzy!

 

 

 

 

 

Lead singer and guitarist of The Trews

 

 

 

 

 

Adam, Lead singer of the Counting Crows.  We were sooooo close!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think this one is my favourite picture

Adam playing the piano

 

 

 

 

 

 

The weather is turning around and the sun is trying to peek through the clouds;  I’ve got some gardening to do and some cards to finish for another custom order before my guests arrive.

Did you get to check out all the lovely and talented Character Cafe DT projects this week?  (see previous post for links)

Happy Saturday!

oh and ps- 1) I forgot to mention how funny it was that after my post for last Friday’s TCC post, that no one else likes Groovy Guava paper either! it made me laugh so much!

and 2) thank you all for the lovely comments on my post about my bridal shower invites and my slide show. 

and 3) Thanks for the birthday wishes :)

Happy Saturday!

Ciao for now,

Technorati Tags: Rogers Bayfest,The Counting Crows,The Trews,concerts,A Paper Buffet,The Character Cafe Design Team

Read More

The Character Cafe Feature Friday; Syd the Golfer

Another Friday, yay! I know I say it every week, but TGIF!

Yesterday, as I mentioned was my birthday and I was lucky enough to do one of my favourite things…go to a concert! We saw The Counting Crows perform and they were awesome! I’ll be sharing pictures soon :)

Here’s my card for this weeks Feature Friday over at The Character Cafe. I love this image and have been lucky enough to be inspired by my DT members who played with this image over the past few weeks.

I took some clues from DT members and cut out the background of the golf cart- tedious work! But the effect makes it all worth it.
I popped it up on dimensionals and used my watercolour pencil crayons to colour the image. I’m having so much fun colouring and I need to look for a bigger set of watercolour pencils, mine only has 12 colours.

I used the Nesties curvy rectangle die to cut out the card- I seem to remember how much I like this effect, I must do it more often!

For the golf ball, I used my circle nesties and then ran it through my Cuttlebug with the swiss dots folder (after stamping my sentiment) but made sure that the indents were backwards, so they resembled a golf ball. I’m pretty sure I saw this somewhere in my blog hopping travels, but I can’t remember where…so if I borrowed this idea from YOU, thanks! I highlighted the indents with a grey marker to add some depth and popped it up again on dimensionals.

I really am loving playing with these digi images, they’re great to work with and super easy to manipulate. Make sure you hop on over to The Character Cafe to pick up Syd the Golfer, he’s perfect for summer masculine cards.

This card is going to my friend Jamie, yet another belated birthday card, eek! Again, I’m hoping he’ll think it’s so awesome, he’ll forget it’s late. I’m so behind this year.

Check out all the rest of the DT’s creations and have a great weekend!

Billie ~ Colleen ~ Elaine ~ Heather ~ Kendra and Kelly

Mary ~ Sara ~ Shelley ~ Tesa

Happy Friday!

Ciao for now,

Technorati Tags: digital stamps,handmade cards,golf,masculine cards,The Character Cafe Design Team,A Paper Buffet

Read More

In Pictures: Custom Bridal Shower Invitations

Today, is my birthday and I'm reminded how lucky I am to have the my friends and family in my life and the means to do what makes me happy.

Sometimes I'm very amazed that I can take a piece of patterned paper, some cardstock, a stamp and some ink and make something beautiful. This is what makes me happy.

Happy Thursday

Ciao for now,

Read More

An origami gift box and butterfly birthday wishes

I’ve been a busy little worker bee these past few days. I’m just putting the finishing touches on a custom order for 40 bridal shower invites. Just a few more ribbons to tie and then I’ll be able to share them with you :)

In the meantime, here’s a little package of goodies I’ve put together for my sister’s birthday which was last week. I found this tutorial for an origami gift box and had to try it for myself. It’s super easy to make and no adhesive is needed!

I used some sparkly dp from my stash and some purple cardstock for the bottom- the picture for some reason makes it look indigo, but it’s purple.

So what’s inside you ask?

Some goodies from one of my favourite Etsy stores, Savor. Some whipped soap and lip butter, yum!

I have something else to add, but it doesn’t fit in the box. This box was made using a full 12x12 sheet of DP for the top and I cut the cardstock to 11.5 x 11.5 for the bottom. You want the bottom to be a little bit smaller than the top so the fit together nicely. I will definitely be making this gift box again and will play around with the sizing.

A simple birthday card to go along with gift. I’ve been very envious of all the butterflies I’ve seen on cards lately, so as I was buying everything browsing at Michaels, I found some butterfly stamps. I really like them, but I wish a co-coordinating punch came along with them…does anyone know if there’s a company that makes the butterfly stamp and a punch together? it’d be so much easier to cut out! I used some purple and pink MS markers to add in the ‘flight path’ of the butterflies

Sorry for the dark picture, when I tried to fix the lighting, it made everything really bright and skewed the colours, KWIM?

I’m hoping my sis will find the package soooo cute, she’ll ignore that her gift is going to be more than a week late! Love ya sis! ;)

Well, that’s it for me tonight, back to the table to finish the bridal shower cards, and then I have two more custom orders to complete. AND, it’s A Paper Buffet tax time, so I’ve been trying to do a little bit of accounting every night…that’ll put you to sleep no doubt!

Make sure to check out The Character Cafe blog tomorrow, where Mary will be hosting Work it Wednesday and a challenge for you all to play along!

Happy Tuesday,

Ciao for now,

Technorati Tags: handmade cards,origami gift box,A paper Buffet,Etsy,Savor,The Character Cafe

Read More

The Character Cafe Feature Friday

It’s Friday again and that means another Feature Friday for The Character Cafe’s June releases.

I challenged myself this week and made a monochromatic card, this is the first time I’ve made one.  It’s also the first time I’ve used my SU Groovy Guava paper.  Remember that one? It’s one  of the seasonal colours from nearly two years ago.  I have to admit, it is low on the bottom of my lists of favourites (and I mean last on the list), but I found some patterned paper that seemed to work well with it, so I thought I’d give it a shot.

I still haven’t decided if I like this card or not…I’m not sure if monochromatic cards are for me, but they sure are a challenge!

I used the wedding cake image, which includes the sentiment from The Character Cafe June release.  Groovy Guava made up the base and the other paper is from my stash. 

I finally used the Martha Stewart rub-on stitching tucked away.  I love the look of stitching on cards, but I don’t have a sewing machine and I do not have the patience to hand sew, so this method seems to work.

Make sure to check out the other DT members to see their projects and of course The Character Cafe blog for the first Work It Wednesday and challenge.

Billie ~ Colleen ~Elaine ~  Heather  ~ Kendra and Kelly

Mary ~ Sara ~ Shelley ~ Tesa

Happy Friday!

Ciao for now,

Technorati Tags: The Character Cafe Design Team,The Character Cafe,digital stamps,A Paper Buffet,handmade cards,Feature Friday,Work it Wednesday

 

 

 

 

Read More

O Canada!

Happy Canada Day!!!

Today Canada turns 142 years old!  How lucky we are to live in such a beautiful, safe country. 

Here’s a few tidbits about Canada you may not know:

Canadians:

• Eat better than the French
• Are more wealthy than the Americans
• Have more lovers than the Italians
• and Live longer than the Swedes (source: Maclean’s magazine, July 06/09 edition)

Canada ranks #1 in vacation spots and often we, as Canadians forget that and travel overseas or down south.  Let’s rediscover Canada!

Here are a few pictures to share…although I’ve never been to the East Coast, so that’s one place I’ll have to visit first!

Vancouver, British Columbia

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kittsilano Beach, Vancouver, British Columbia

 

 

 

 

 

Driving along the Malahat, north of Victoria, Vancouver Island, British Columbia

 

 

 

Banff National Park, Banff, Alberta

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lake Louise, Banff  National Park, Alberta

 

 

 

 

 

Banff from the Gondola,

Banff National Park, Alberta

 

 

 

 

Lake Penache, Northern Ontario, where we rent a cabin every year

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The colours changing driving home to Northern Ontario.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunset in the Toronto Harbour

 

 

 

 

And of course, me and my dog Bailey, sitting on the dock at my Aunt’s summer home on Manitoulin Island, the largest freshwater island in the world!

Happy Canada Day! (and Happy Birthday to my sister…yup she gets fireworks on her birthday every year!)

Don’t forget to check out The Character Cafe for a digital freebie to help us celebrate Canada Day.  It also marks the first Work it Wednesday for The Character Cafe!

Ciao for now,

Technorati Tags: Canada,Canada Day,Vancouver,Victoria,British Columbia,Banff,Lake Louise,Alberta,Lake Penache,Ontario,Toronto,Manitoulin Island,The Character Cafe,digital stamps

Read More