Thank everyone!

I want to thank anyone and everyone who has left comments or gone away with a wee bit of creative inspiration from the cards I've made or trips I've taken.  My creativity seems to have become a little dry as work and family life have overtaken my time. 

So, this will be my last post here to let you know there won't be any more.  I will hopefully continue to make a few cards for the shops I have sold to, people I love and sanity it gave me. 

I will be poking my nose into your blogs from time to time and I go away having truly enjoyed this little adventure I called "The Joy of Cards".  

Our little cruise to ALASKA!!!

After a whole year of waiting we finally got to leave on our cruise! Yes, we booked this last August and have been counting down ever since. Chad dropped us off at Canada Place and away we went!

Our room was HUGE! At least compared to the other cruises I'd been on. It was perfect for the 3 of us. We spent much time in our room because of the view so it was the cruise to have the extra space. Don't these two look like a couple of little kids excited for Disneyland? They kept me laughing all week! It really is different travelling with just girls and they were so gracious to let me tag along!

My daily dose: of view.... (yes, this is our room and that is a pic of only half the window!!!)

Our daily dose of..... ice cream! Hmmm, hmm good! I miss the ice cream!

Our daily dose of..... room service! This was the funniest one as it was like pulling teeth to get them to deliver something that wasn't specifically on their little menu. I had to beg them to send just some chips not the hot dog and they sent this huge dish! We all had our fill and it looked like we hardly touched it!
We did have breakfast delivered almost everyday. Fruit, muffins, toast, yogurt, coffee & hot chocolate were our usuals.

Ya, Pam and Laura kept me laughing. They were wayyyyy to excited for a sing-along Abba night! I've got some choice video to prove this too!!! hehehe I makes me laugh just thinking about them!

Yes, they both were chair dancing, throwing kisses and just plain crazy! I couldn't stop laughing! And neither could anyone watching them!!! They were they main attraction!

"I'm too excited to sleep" Pam wanted a nap and Laura thought otherwise! I caught many choice pics of them!

We had 3 stops and we took a tour in each one. Our first stop was Ketchikan and we had a silly ride on the Duck Tour! So funny! They called it an amphibious vehicle, first you drive through the town then you drive right into the water and your a boat! It really was perfect because we had some rain here and we were safe and dry!

I also have many pics of Laura taking pics! We were such tourists! (And Pam was always smiling!)

In Juneau we had a tour up into a temperate rain forest. This golf cart took us up the hillside to a lookout point. Our driver was the accountant so we thought of Chad. Ahhhh!

It was amazing what can grow without sunshine. The forest was thick with misty fog yet green and lush. We saw an eagles nest in the distance and the local owl.

They also had this green house to walk through which had to most gynormous hanging baskets we had ever seen! Pam and I thought of mom every step of the way in here! She would have LOVED it!

Then the bus took us on to the Mendenhall Glacier. This is what I'd been waiting for! I could have sat there for hours just taking it all in.

The blue color the ice takes is stunning!

There are not very many pics of the 3 of us but this one makes me smile!

Our 3rd and final stop was in Skagway. We were here for 12 hours so we got the chance to take a 5 hour jeep ride into Yukon! We took turns driving and followed our guide. There were 6 jeeps all together ( I think) driving, stopping at some sights and driving some more!

We actually drove through BC on our way to Yukon and then back to Skagway.

Then back on the ship for 2 days at sea before getting back home. We had amazing weather, hours of watching the world go by and the peace and rest that I needed.
Now back to reality....

Acetate - again!

Yes, I've been playing with acetate! It is the clear stuff that you used to use for overhead projectors! I found an old box of it somewhere. You can pick it up at any stationary store or for better quality stuff CHF sells clear card sheets which are WAY thicker! All I did was cut a strip and attach it along the right hand side. The scallop oval and jewels are on top on it

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Anyway, this was a card I was asked to do for a class but it didn't work out. So, I thought I'd share it with you! The Bella is colored with Copics which worked really well on this patterned paper. It makes such a difference what kind of paper you color on! This is Sugar by Cosmo Cricket and Prism cardstock.

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Well, I'm off camping for a week, have a couple days at home and then to Alaska!!! I hope you are having a wonderful summer too!

More holiday coloring....

Yes, I had to play with a few images that required a wee bit more time than all the little ones I did for cards! :) This one is actually stamped on a sheet of acetate with Stazon and then colored on the reverse side. Get it?

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It took some getting used to, but with a little patience and and swaks of markers I blended, blended and blended until I was happy. The great thing about acetate is if something isn't working you can wipe it off and start over.

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Blending is also very different on acetate and so is the depth and brightness of the colors but it was fun to try something different!

The clouds in TK images always give me a bit of trouble. So, I didn't stamp them with the original image. When I was finished coloring I stamped them in white craft ink on the top side! The little hint of blue sky was colored directly onto the box and the clouds have a subtle hint of floating on top!

When I was satisfied, I attached it to this varnished, wooden jewelry box. Added the sentiment, ribbons, jewels and flower and my daughter loved it! To make the jewels and hardware brown and also used my Copics to color them. Thanks to their alcohol base, they color so many surfaces!!! LOVE THEM!!!

3 weeks to go!!!

Last summer a couple special girls in my life decided to go on a big holiday and I get to tag along!!! My sister and her bff wanted to celebrate a big birthday :) we all agreed a cruise was the way to go! So, it didn't take us too long to decide on an Alaskan cruise and find the perfect itinerary and travel date.

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Now, I've been counting down for quite some time and realized yesterday it was time to start celebrating! 3 weeks left!!!

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I've been wanting to make a fun card for the occasion and this is what I came up with! I borrowed these stamps from a friend, Paradise Found at Cornish Heritage Farms, and got to spend some time chatting and stamping at another friends' house! How great is that!!! (Thanks for the invite dear friend, it was just what I needed yesterday!)

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I also stamped 3 more layouts with this set and will post them as soon as I have them all together!

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Happy stamping!

For the Love of COLORING!!!

This is the product of my camping holiday! (on top of hanging with the fam, roasting way too many marshmellows, enjoying the sun & ocean, and stinking like campfire!!! :)

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I brought my markers, choice stamps, ink & paper. Pack little and create much!!! Loads of experiments, duds but still came home with about 90 images colored to make into cards! Yahoo!!!

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Here's to everyone finding your idea of a holiday this summer!

I keep forgetting to take pics!!!

I keep forgetting to take pics of gift sets I make! Oh, well! I know I've made them but it sure doesn't give me anything to post!

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This is a set of cards I made for a special pastor in our church. He had his 75th b-day and we had a great time showing our appreciation of him.

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They are so simple! My Minds Eye has created their Tres Jolie set of wonderful papers, and stickers that match. Most of these cards use the stickers as the border/ribon down the side, which match perfectly!

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Then I used a variety of stamps and sentiments for the focal point! Voila! I made 4 of each and gave him the whole set!

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Here's to easy cardmaking!

Whistler Mountaineer Train Ride!

We finally got to enjoy Chad's birthday gift from last November! A train ride to Whister! This is a 3 hour ride from Vancouver to Whistler and it is through some of the most spectacular terrain out there! No cars around here!

On the way up we were in the last car and got some cool views of the train too!

Here's us!

And our travelling companions, Pam & Laura!

I loved watching Laura get camera happy! She just got this new toy and made good use of it! Yes, this is her head on the side!

We stayed there for 2 nights, just hanging out and enjoying the beautiful weather. They are really getting all excited for the Olympics and have this bobsled for you to pose it!

Then we decided to have one big "play time". Gear, helmets, boots....

and ATV's!!! What a fun way to spend 2 hours!

That is Chad behind the splash!

Me trying to be brave! (This was my first time on a bike since my accident, and boy it really did hit me! Talk about facing some fears!) I did get more courageous and ended up being covered in wet mud!

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Incredible food, fun company, and some adventure! What more could a guy want for his birthday!

THE coolest school stamp set EVER!!!!

Making the Grade (school) by Cornish Heritage Farms!

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I offered to make cards for a staff appreciation lunch at my daughters school. I bit off a little more than I planned on chewing though. I thought it was for teachers and I'd make about a dozen cards. Oh, no! It was for all staff; office, TA's, library etc. etc.

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Turned out to be more like 30! Ooooops! Oh, well! I'm still glad I offered to do it as this set is THE BOMB!

This is a close up of one of them. The background is also a stamp! Perfect for school!

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Hope your stamping more than me these days!

Check it OUT!!!

This is what I woke up to on Mother's Day!!! Pancakes, pink milk shakes, pink napkins, orange slices all enjoyed by candlelight!

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I've got the best girls in the whole world! Chad was at church volunteering and not at home to help. They did this all by themselves!!!

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My pancake was even in the shape of a letter M!

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What a great way to start the day! Love ya girls, you really are the bestest!

Happy Mother's Day...

... to every woman out there! Each one of us was created in the original plan to be a mother so whether you have kids, choosen not to, haven't had the opportunity, have not been able to or just aren't old enough yet, here's to you this weekend!

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The pic above is a photo of the tea towels I've made for my mom! She has become fairly computer savy, thanks to the grandkids, but I don't think she will see this before tomorrow evening!

These are a set of plain towels I bought at Walmart. Stamped on 'ticking' material I bought at my local fabric shop. They recommended it is the smoothest cotton in the store. It stamps beautifully!!!

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Then just nice & easy sewing right onto the tea towel!

Here are the close ups of the other 2!

I used Nature's Silhoettes & Silhoette Blooms II from Cornish Heritage Farms!!!

AWESOME SETS!!!

Oh for the time to color more!!!

This is one of the images I colored while away camping a while back. I used ultra thick clear embossing powder to cover the whole thing to give it a glassy feel.

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The background stamp is Cracked Earth from Cornish Heritage Farms stamped in dark brown ink on rust paper. Finished it off with a frame corner and ribbon.

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On another note, I created about 50-60 cards 2 weeks ago to fill some orders for the store I sell in and forgot to take any pics!!! Oh, well! I guess that should be a good excuse to make more!

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Have a great weekend!

Time to Reflect & STAMP!!!

Now, I didn't get much time to stamp but a little is always better then nothing! And who am I to complain, I got to go to 2 of my girlfriends houses today to chat! What a great day off work!

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I've started growing my appreciation for Splitcoast Stampers sketch challenge on Wednesdays. When I just want to create something but limited in time it such a great way to get started!

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Along with the sketch challenge I also wanted to play along with Cornish Heritage Farms Backgrounder Blitz week! They are THE BEST at creating FANTASTIC background stamps!!! Let my heart be still while I wait for the new release!!!

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So, this card (no patterned paper, just ink & stamps) is my culmination of both worlds and the colors we are renovating our bathroom into right now :) Love it!

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Found some joy today! I hope you did too!

Splitcoast Sketch Challenge

I don't usually take the opportunity to participate in the daily challenges Splitcoast Stampers offers but today was a little different.

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My friend Lisa was hosting the sketch challenge! And it happened to be my day off work so how could I not play along! The idea was to use your oval punches or die cuts on an angle!

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So, I stamped the full version of Rose Garden, by Cornish Heritage Farms, and punched out the section I wanted to use. How simple a fun to change it up a bit!

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There are sooo many beautiful cards posted there with this sketch. If you haven't checked them out before you may want to take a peek!

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Thanks Lisa for giving me a great excuse not to do what I was supposed to this morning! hehehe

My PLAYING!

Here is my pile of tidbits that I created while away camping! All I let myself pack is my little case I got from Micheals and my cutter (ok the 6x6 paper packs didn't fit but I had room in my suitcase! :)

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White ultra smooth paper, stamps (unmounted or acrylic mostly), inks & Copics! That's it!

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I brought my 6x6 patterned paper packs to be able to choose matching markers. I select the pp I want to use with the stamp, do the coloring and then keep them together for when I get home and can actually finish them into cards! (Notice the pp's underneath some of the images)

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I also had more time than I ever do to just take my time so I also got to play around with stamping Thomas Kinkade's and more coloring! I will post those as I complete them!

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What a great weekend!

My world just expanded - AGAIN!

Now, I know there really isn't much to this but the point is how easy it is to stamp on FABRIC! Yes, I had a push from Sherrie with her pencil case and a while back I also made pencil cases but they were really kid like not for posting :)

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With these Crafty Secrets stamps I was surprised how well pigment ink stamped them. But I really needed to have a fine/tightly woven fabric.

This one I used Archival ink and again I was in shock at how well all the details stamped! Again, just simple stamping to show it actually works! Felt funny sewing on fabric again and not paper!

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Happy stamping!

A Weekend Away!!!

This last weekend we had the pleasure of being able to go camping for a few days! Ya, it was cold and rainy part of the time but the trailer my parents have is like a hotel on wheels! Furnace, microwave, tv and of course we must bring card supplies!

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This first pic is my youngest daughter getting creative with her ink!

We enjoyed the bubbles....

The play station. Yes, even Allie looked like she wanted to play! My parents are not dog people and have not wanted to let her in the trailer (whose to blame them, she sheds soooo much) but because Chad could only come for one night and we had no where else to bring her on a spur of the moment she was allowed this time!

As always, she found a cozy corner and called it home!

Maya had so much fun creating that Dad & K also came to see the fun!

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I still think they were just wanting to join in! :)

Ahhh, you can't have a good campout without a FIRE!!! This pic above is Chad's idea of making the best smores. Squishing the chocolate into the marshmellows and then roasting them.

Getting the toasting to perfection and being prepared to sandwich them all together. (Notice the graham cracker hanging out of his mouth and the other in his hand waiting)

It was quite a sight to see him eat his melted mess!

Hmmm, hmmm good!


Chad could only stay for one night and then go back to work while I had a couple more days off. So, the girls and I had much fun playing games, trying out silly masks and crafting together! We stayed in our pj's all day!


Then out of no where the sun appeared for a few hours! So we hit the beach! West coast style, in our winter coats not bathing suits!

All in all it was a much needed break from the regular schedules of life!

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I also got to spend quite a bit of time with my Copics and stamps but I haven't taken any pics yet so, give me a few days and I'll show you the play time I had too!

Oldie but Goodie!

It has been a long time since I've done much embossing! So, I made this one by reverse embossing with clear powder on white paper and coloring the background with foam & Ranger Ink.

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Stamped the branch with craft ink, added some glitter to the flowers, stamped the sentiment with the same craft ink, layered it up and added some ribbon. Yes, I love ribbon on just about every card!

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This was actually quite quick and easy! Gotta love that!

Congrats to....

My dear friend Sherrie! She has just accepted the invitation to be a part of Cornish Heritage Farms design team! In honor of her new gig (and my lack of creativity these days) I've been inspired by one of her recent cards with their new stamps!

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Here is the link to her original, now I know hers is amazing, but I had fun with it and REALLY, REALLY, REALLY enjoyed stamping today!

I took this shot thinking you may be able to see all the glitz a wee bit more, but maybe it didn't work! Sorry!
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Happy stamping all!

What farm is fresh?

I've always thought it odd that this stamp set was called Farm Fresh! I've never yet got a whiff of any fresh smelling farm!!! hehehe

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Oh well! It still is a set I really love! I'm still working on using up pre-stamped backgrounds and coloring pre-stamped images. Slowly, but surely I am working through my stash. Good thing I've had a stash too. I've just plain not been feeling to creative lately. Too tired, too tired of seeing bad things happening to good people, too tired of feeling tired. It is just all too draining!

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I guess I've kinda been in a slump lately.

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Thankfully, I got to spend yesterday evening at a friends house, and this afternoon at another friends house and boy was that time needed muchly! After relaxing with them and seeing all their fun new stuff I got a bit of an itch to play again.

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But, my creative space is such a disaster right now there is no way anything very good can come out of it! So, I spent the evening doing some shopping and picked up some shelving stuff & baskets.

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The plan now is to CLEAN UP!!! Wish me luck!

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(Maybe I will take a before and after shot, hmmmmmm, we will see how brave I am!)

One person...

Great quote: To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world!

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I think this is one of my favorite luvey cards I've made. Of course, a pic never does it justice but I was going for simple elegance and I think I got it.

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Her dress is all glitz up and just pops out IRL!

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I used some super old patterned vellum I found stashed away, Papertrey's sentiment and Wordsworth image.

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Hey, something old and something new! Kinda fits for a wedding card eh? hehehe

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Ya, it's late and I'm not stamping enough! Hope you out there are all stamping more than me these days! :)

I thought December was busy!!!

Yikes!!! February has been absolutely jam packed with way too many big celebrations!!! My mom just had her 60th birthday, my sister's 30th & my daughters 13th birthdays are tomorrow and I had my b-day kinda lost in between! :)
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My sisters and I decided to throw a big party for our mom and this is the invitation we made for it. Kinda simple, her favorite colors and she is a flower fanatic so we thought they were perfect for her.
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One afternoon a few weeks ago we got together with the 4 kiddies (nieces & nephews all 4 & under) and we managed to make 38 invites. I don't think the 3 of us had been able to spend time like that together in quite some time and it was great to be able to do this!
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Sorry, I've not been able to post this sooner but we didn't want her to see it and I haven't had much time for the craft table these days!
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Here's to future stamping time!

Finding Treasures!

It seems every time I go through my stuff to clean up or sort things I find things I've pre-stamped and never used! This time it was these uncolored flowers. Yes, this is an old stamp SU! set but sometimes these old sets are just what you're looking for!

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Anyway, these images are stamped on glossy paper. I wanted to color with my Copics but I've been told that they don't work on glossy. I went ahead and tried anyway!

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They definately don't blend but you can still use them. You just don't get the shading that these markers can give you on nice, smooth paper.

I also took a very light grey to go around the image and give it a wee bit of dimension. Yes, I know they look like they are floating in thin air but oh well!

Then just layered them with some cardstock, stamped a sentiment and used simple embellishment on each to finish them up!

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Happy stamping!

I'm Getting Distressed!!! :)

Yes, my distress is all about the ink though! Ranger Ink that is! In a few days I have the pleasure of presenting another card class at my LSS and it features 4 different ways to use Ranger's Distress Inks. This first card is called brushless watercoloring. The focus really is the stamp and I just didn't want to cover it up with a bunch of embellies so I picked my favorite bg and let it speak for itself!
This second card is making the paper look kinda like leather. The real name of the techique has slipped my mind right now! Figured it was a great masculin looking paper so the trees and again very little embellies to finish it off.
This pic really does not do this justice. It is dark outside and I just can't seem to get a nice shot. Anyway, this card started off being ivory c/s. The ink is applied to a craft mat, spritzed with water and then you smear the paper over top. Kinda fun, real inky and I liked that in this sample it was a soft look.

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The fourth card we are doing I've shown you a while ago. It is having some fun with the spritz and flick technique!

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The whole idea is just to show the girls there are many way to use this ink and it is way more fun to use than just stamping with it!

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Getin' Inky!

Fun & Simple

I found my self sitting and coloring images a little while ago with no plans to use them. I just plain picked marker colors without a care for being able to match them to papers I have!!!

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Sometimes, ok most times for me, my favorite cards are the ones I don't plan out. I start with one thing, say the color image, and look for ways to use them later.

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There is much talk about notebooks or journals where many people jot down thoughts and ideas. I have come to terms with my mind not being able to work that way. :)

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I tend to wing it! Sometimes for good and sometimes not so good. And I'm ok with that!

This is just another way I used the same colored image and focused on a different color scheme. I like the first one much more but I thought the purple inked background stamp on the teal paper was kinda fun!

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Here's to finding what is fun for you!

Could I add anything else?!?!?!

This is a card I made for a dear friend's birthday. She has been the queen of techniques with the philosophy of more is good (even though her style has changed since then :)

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Anyway, I had a ton of fun trying to use my Ranger alcohol inks in as many ways as I could on this. The background was ivory paper, smeared with ink then "spritzed & flicked" with water.

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The photo corner and arrow were silver & copper and thanks to the inks they are now black and red! The funny square, jewel thing was an architectural stone which I inked up and covered in glaze and pressed in the jewel. The stamp is also from a set she gave me a couple of years ago. We both have a soft spot in our hearts for vintage stamps!

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Then a little piercing and copper paper to mat it with and I don't think I could add one more thing! Maybe next year I will try to go more simple and clean, like her current style is!!!

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Enjoy your day!

Another Calendar, with some tricks....

I know I've shown you a bunch of calendars already, but this one has a few tricks that I've added and wanted to show you. I have really been enjoying playing with my alcohol inks and copic markers. This flower was a teal color from the store so I colored it with a deep red copic marker! I also colored the jewel brad to match!


In this one, I used my copics to color the red baubles and red brad. My ranger ink to color the arrow. It was silver to start and now it is teal!

This one, I also colored the spiral with my copics.

Last but not least, that flower was white to start! But not more, thanks to my copics!!!

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I love being able to color anything I want! It is awesome!!!

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Happy stamping (or coloring) today!

More Background Stamps!

Simple, and hopefully elegant. I love the big b/g stamps to make my own patterned paper! Here I've used a few more of the pre-stamped card stock I had before I recieve my order from Cornish Heritage Farms. They have soooo many wonderful new ones it is not easy deciding how many I can afford to get!

Well, this is a super quick post tonight! I've not been a huge blog poster but I do love to share when I can!
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Happy stamping!

My Christmas Projects...

Every Christmas for the last 5 or so years I've been making my mom & sisters something special for Christmas. Things, like card sets, coasters and stamped candles to name a few.

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This year I planned to make these calendars last summer, got crazy busy this fall and only decided I HAD to do them on Dec. 23rd!!! Oh my, how crazy is that! Seeing as each one took me about 3-4 hours that is all I did until our get together!

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I used 4 x 4 chipboards coasters, 2 - 12x12 designer papers and lots of flowers & embellies!

Here is a side view...

And here a few of the pages to show you some of the different, yet very simple layouts I used.

Since then, I decided to make a few more for friends!!! They are soo fun!

As Martha as I'll ever get.... Christmas 2007

I saw this idea in a commercial to use cranberries inside, upside-down glasses and then they become candle holders!!! Make sense!?!?!? Anyway, this is the easiest way to create something fun. Then we got to thinking about all kinds of things you could put inside the glass depending what the occasion is - gumballs, paper curls, tinsel or whatever!

Anyway, this year Christmas was a year of posing and picture taking! Everyone got in on the fun! (This is my beautiful 12 year old daughter!!!)

Even my 4 year old nephew loved his new camera!

Getting lessons on what new camera's can do! Great! Now Chad wants another new toy!!!

Grandma is enjoying her yearly Christmas story reading time to the Grandkids! It looks like they are all enjoying it too!

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Every year I get to enjoy Christmas Eve with my parents, sisters and our families. We eat fun food, exchange gifts and enjoy each others company.

My sister making fun of my re-using a Christmas bag from last year!

My sister Pam and I, before we both got sick! Well, you can't say we don't share!!!

Then on Christmas morning, "Dad" gets to pull out the gifts from under our tree!

This year, he got the gift "wrapping" that never ends! Thanks to an un-named brother-in-law of mine, Kassandra has been dying to wrap Dad's gift with an endless amount of saran-wrap. I think she actualling used packing plastic and doubled the size of the gift with the many layers!

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He was pleased when he finally got the end though, it was his Lord of the Rings extented editions that he has been wanting. (Yuck!) hehehe

Then the girls got the first of 2 big gifts. This is their reaction to finding tickets to the TobyMac concert in February!

Then getting a Wii. Maya was great, she got all excited and was cheering with Kassandra until Chad asked her if she even knew what it was. She has no idea what it was but thought it must be good!

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If anyone is considering some kind of video game, this is most definatly the way to go! I've even enjoyed a few games of bowling!!!

An action shot!

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That was our Christmas in a nutshell! Yes, both my sister and I got sick, missed a few extended family get togethers but all in all it was a great week.

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If anyone actually made it to the end of this post I'm impressed! I posted most of this for the out of province family! Happy New Year!