Friday, October 30, 2009

Shine Brightly...High Hopes Challenge #50

Hello and happy Friday! I hope your week has been a good one. My daughter was able to go back to school today. I had kept her home for two days to monitor her. She has had no fever, so I'm pretty sure she just has a lousy cold. Half the city seems to be coughing and sniffly...and no, not every cough or sneeze is the H1N1 virus people! My goodness, people are just in a panic! That being said, let's all be sensible and carry hand sanitizer...and if you are sick, please don't share!

Ok...enough babbling, and on to my card!

The challenge over at High Hopes this week is "All About Kids". I love this stamp. I have never actually caught fireflies before. I did see a ton of them at camp this past summer. They are so beautiful. I stamped the image on Neenah, and used my trusty Copics to colour her in. I added some Glossy Accents on the jar to make it look like real glass. You know, I realized that I don't often put flowers on my cards!! I have a stash of them, so I'll have to make sure to pull them out more often. I used colours which I figure every little girl loves! This pretty double sided design paper is from Kaiser Craft. The cardstock is a mix of Coordinations and Stampin Up.


I thought I'd pull out my sewing machine and add some stitching. I really love this look. I kind of cheated and hand wrote the sentiment. I cut it out as a banner, and pop dotted the middle of it for some added dimension.
Here's the closeup ( I think you can actually see the Glossy Accents on this!!):

Kids are awesome! I am one of the Sunday school teachers at our church, and let me tell you...our kids bless us on a weekly basis! We love to encourage them to "shine brightly"! God made each and every one special (that goes for us big kids too!)...and He wants us to shine for Him! That's what I had in mind while I was making this card. I love how cardmaking gives you time to reflect on the person (or the reason) you are making the card for. Who doesn't love to receive a card that let's them know they are loved and appreciated!
Hope you have a fabulous Friday night...and be safe tomorrow if you are out trick or treating!
Blessings,
Melanie

Humble Pie Challenge

Make sure to head on over to the Humble Pie blog to participate in the weekly challenge. This week is a sketch challenge. There's a $10 gift certificate towards Humble Pie stamps up for grabs!

I'll be back later in the day with a new card to post!

Melanie

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Let It Snow: A Motivet Christmas

Thursday already...where has the week gone? So, I last posted that my family had avoided all these nasty bugs going around...I spoke too soon. I've been working from home the last two days, as my daughter has been home sick. She woke up the other day with a sore throat and a bit of a cough. In previous years, she probably would have still gone to school. However, with all the hype surrounding H1N1, I thought it best to keep her home and monitor her in case she spiked a fever. No fever yet, but she is a bit run down. So, it's a jammie day for her again! Hopefully, this is just a cold that she is fighting...time will tell.

So, on to my card! Have you seen the new Motivet stamps from their "Traditional" line? I love them! Lucky for me, my friend Phebe is carrying them in her store. Phebe owns The Town Scrapper , a fabulous little store in Petrolia, Ontario. She carries some great stamp lines. So when I was out there the other day, some of these new Motivet stamps found their way into my bag!

This is one of my favourites. I absolutely love Christmas carols. However, I am NOT a singer! That is something I really wish I had a talent for. My husband is a musician, so a lot of people assume that I sing as well. Nope. Well, I do...but it doesn't mean that people want to hear it! I do love listening to children sing, and these three are out in the chilly winter air carolling for everyone to hear!

The image was coloured with Copic markers. I have never created a night sky behind my images before. I started by masking the image and sponging Memento London Fog behind them. This just wasn't quite deep enough, so I added some Memento Black as well. (it looks smoother in real life...you'll have to trust me on that!) This was the first time I played with my Polar White Flower Soft. It is just perfect for snow...so sparkly! I drew little snowflakes with my Inksentials pen. Then I debated whether to "Stickle" them up, or go with Flower Soft snowflakes. I obviously opted for the latter. What do you think?





Here's the closeup:



I added some Glossy Accents to the lamp shade ( why does this never show in pictures?? lol). I finally got a snowflake Spellbinders, and this was the perfect card to use them for! I have seen some beautiful snowflake medallions created with these, and was excited to try it out. However, I'm noticing that I covered my centre rhinestone with Stickles...oops. I will be sticking another one on that, so just pretend that there's a lovely un-Stickled rhinestone in the middle! Thanks for humouring me. Then sentiment is also from Motivet (I added the snowflakes). These lovely papers are also available at the Town Scrapper.

I am excited...since Halloween is almost come and gone, that means stores will be putting out Christmas stuff soon! Some already have. I'll be on the hunt for little treasures to use on cards and other projects. I love this time of year.

Have a wonderful day...and thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

Melanie

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Popcorn the Bear: Thanks a Bunch!

Good morning! I hope this day finds you all happy and healthy. There are so many colds and flu going around. Does anybody go anywhere without hand sanitizer these days?? So far, my family has managed to avoid all these bugs, and I'm hoping it stays that way!

We have been so incredibly blessed by so many of our friends and family lately, that I have been in need of thank-you cards! I was able to ink up one of my brand new stamps yesterday to make this card. I first saw a card with Popcorn the Bear from Crafter's Companion a month or two ago, and instantly fell in love with this cutie! I was thrilled to find out that the Rubber Room in London, Ontario now carries these stamps. I picked up two sets when I was there this past weekend, and hopefully the other will see ink soon too!

As always, I stamped Popcorn on Neenah and coloured him with Copics. I was trying to achieve a "furry" look, so I avoided blending the colours very much. I used a lot of feather strokes in many, many layers. I was pretty happy with the way he turned out! I won't tell you how long it took to cut this little guy out...but I am very grateful that I have Cutterbee scissors! These are the best for cutting out detailed, finicky images. Popcorn was pop-dotted for dimension. I added just a touch of shimmer to the flowers with a Spica pen (although it probably isn't showing up in the picture!).



I kept this layout fairly simple. I sponged the edges of all the layers with brown ink. The ribbon was originally white, but I coloured it with a Copic marker to match the cardstock. The papers are from Cosmo Cricket and Basic Gray. The sentiment is included in this stamp set.

Here's a little peek at the inside (those flowers are also included in this stamp set!)

:


This card just happens to fit in with two challenges this week! (love it when that happens!)


1. Stampin' Sisters in Christ is asking for a card that expresses thankfulness.


2. Kraftin' Kimmie is asking for a card with shades of autumn (brown, rust, green and/or yellow). (Kimmie, I'm hoping you will count the dark orange shades in the flowers as the "rust" requirement!!)


I hope you all have a fantastic day, and thanks so much for stopping by! Oh, and don't be shy...leave me a comment to let me know you were here. I'd love to come by your blog and see your creations too!

Blessings,

Melanie

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Thankful for Friends

Good afternoon! I can't believe the weekend is almost over already. We have been so busy. We took an impromptu shopping trip to London yesterday in search of costumes for the kids. While it was fun, it certainly ate up a lot of free time! I'm still hoping to squeeze in some time for stamping, although it honestly is not looking promising. I have acquired some fabulous new stamps over the past few days, and am very much looking forward to inking them up!


So, I thought I'd share a thank-you card today that I made a few weeks back for a couple at our church. Friends truly are such a blessing, and I thank God for those He has put in our lives. It is so comforting to know that you have friends who are there to help in a time of need.

This was a stamp that had been sitting uninked in my binder...can you believe it??!! I love this image from Whiff of Joy. Their stamps are just so beautiful. I bought this stamp on my very first visit to The Town Scrapper .




Melinda was stamped on Neenah cardstock and coloured with Copics. I used Nesties to cut her out, but used a technique I saw on another blog. I first placed the die over top of my image and marked where her hair would extend outside of the cut piece. I trimmed around her hair, and tucked the die underneath so her hair would not be cut with the rest of the circle. I really like this look where your image extends beyond the border. The DP is from My Minds Eye. Some of favourite papers are from this company. The edges were distressed, and I added some machine stitching.



As you can see from the closeup, I added a bit of blue underneath Melinda to "ground" her. I also added just a hint of blue around her body. The edge of the circle was sponged with Distress Ink. I also used a Copic Spica pen to add a touch of shimmer to her jewelry and the hearts. A bit of Frosted Lace Stickles adds a lovely sparkle to her wings. The sentiment is from the Amy R. Thank-You Sentiments, and was matted on one of the Spellbinders Fancy Tags.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Blessings,

Melanie

Friday, October 23, 2009

One card...three challenges!!

Happy Friday stampers!

I confess...I am quickly becoming addicted to challenges! I really enjoy looking at all the participants projects and seeing how different the interpretations of the challenge rules are. Wow, there are some talented papercrafters out in blogland!

So, I made this card for the following challenges:

1. Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge #9 : Based on Luke 2:11, make a project featuring the nativity or other theme about Christ's birth.
2. High Hopes Challenge #49 : Non-traditional Christmas Colours
3. Kraftin' Kimmie's Challenge #2 : Who's Got Some Buttons!

This adorable nativity scene is from High Hopes stamps. I love this stamp! I decided to go with shades of teal (yes, I know it looks more blue in the pictures, but in real life it's teal!) for my non-tradition colour choice. I absolutely love teal! I also wanted to do a card with a lot of sparkle. So, I started with a card base of deep teal and sponged the edges with white ink. The nativity image is recessed in that window (not sure if the dimension is showing in this pic), which was cut with my Nesties. The DP is from a Christmas pack I picked up last year, but the cover fell off so I have no idea of the company! lol This card also features some dollar store treasures...the snowflake and the word "hope". I picked up a pack of these super sparkly snowflakes, so you might just see some more in the future! That little wooden "hope" was painted white and then generously coated with some beautiful white sparkle. I also coated some buttons with some Martha Stewart glitter in a deep blue...love that colour of glitter! Finally I added some little rhinestones on the DP. Can I just tell you that I was a glittery mess when done with this card! lol It was on my face, in my hair, on my clothes!!!






Here's a closeup of the image. As always, it was stamped on Neenah cardstock and coloured with Copics.




I loved making this card! Christmas is just my favourite season, and I love making projects that focus on true meaning of Christmas. What a beautiful quiet moment we can peek in on, with Mary, Joseph and the little baby Jesus.

Make sure to find time to get inky this weekend!

Blessings,

Melanie





Don't forget about the next Humble Pie challenge!

Pop on over to Humble Pie Stamps to play along in the new challenge this week. We are asking for a Halloween-themed non-card project! Hmmm...can you think outside the card?? There are some great projects posted by the DT to inspire you! You DO NOT need a Humble Pie image to participate, but if you do have one...ink it up! You can also find out who the winner of last week's challenge is.

Have fun!

Melanie

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Trick or Treat with Emma (Cute Card Thursday)

Can you believe it's already October 20? Halloween is just around the corner! Our kids have always enjoyed dressing up and going trick or treating around the neighbourhood, but the majority of our evening is spent at our church for our annual Fall Festival. Lots of fun to be had here...games and candy galore! If you live in the Sarnia Lambton area and are looking for a fun alternative, drop me a line and I can give you the info!


I love cute Halloween costumes! For my daughter's first Halloween, she was an adorable little lamb. Now of course, she is all grown up at the age of 9, and cute is just not the way she wants to go...it's gotta be "cool" now! She was a mime last year, which was a lot of fun . She is still trying to come up with an idea for this year. This adorable little Emma image from CC Designs takes me back to when "cute" was still "cool"!






Emma was of course stamped on Neenah cardstock and coloured with...(let's say it all together) Copic markers! The design papers are from Karen Foster and Imaginesce. The ribbon was from the dollar store. I snipped the green cardstock to create grass for Emma to stand on. I pop dotted Emma for some extra dimension. I kept the layout simple, so that the image took centre stage.


I'll be entering this into the Cute Card Thursday Challenge, which is calling for "spooky" cards this week. Here's a closer look at Emma!







Hope you all have a fantastic day!


Blessings,


Melanie

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Tilda's Sweet Thoughts

Happy weekend stampers!! Looks like we are in for another chilly one here in southwestern Ontario. Fall is definitely here! Actually, I sent my daughter to school in her winter coat and a hat one day this past week!

I need to ask, have you ever completed a card for a challenge, and then just forgot to post it?? I confess. I have. (blushing here!) This card was one I made for Mojo Monday last week, but my week just sped by and I did not get little Tilda posted. So here she is, late, but still pretty cute nonetheless!

I love this Tilda image. She is from the new Yummy for Your Tummy collection. I got her from The Town Scrapper . Phebe has several of the stamps from this collection, including the cute little rolling pin! (There are some adorable "baker" Tildas that go beautifully with this rolling pin.) I'm sure these stamps will go quickly, so make sure to get yours now! The design paper is also from The Town Scrapper, and I love this paper! It has just a bit of shimmer. I coloured Tilda with Copics, and added some Glossy Accents to her lollipop. I find myself printing a lot of sentiments from my computer lately, this one included. Tilda and her rolling pin were pop dotted for some extra dimension, and matted on layers cut out with my Nesties. And now Tilda, are you ready for your closeup??!!


I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! As always, thank you so much for stopping by. Please feel free to leave me a comment...I love to know who's been visiting!

Blessings,

Melanie

p.s. Don't forget to hop on over to the Humble Pie blog to play along with this week's challenge!

Friday, October 16, 2009

Humble Pie Challenge: Buttons and Bling!

Happy Friday morning stampers!! The challenge this week over at Humble Pie is to create a project that includes "buttons and bling", both of which I love!!


For my card this week I used the Haunted House image from Humble Pie stamps. I stamped the house on Neenah cardstock and coloured it with Copic markers (do you all get tired of hearing me say that??!!) The sign on the door says "Keep Out", so I thought it would be fun to add a silhouette up in the attic window...the only room with a light on. Creepy? Enough to keep you out? Mwa ha ha ha. Ok...I don't do scary well! But hey, I tried!

Take a look:



I love the shows on TV where they do house makeovers, and I've seen some that just focus on the "curb appeal" of the house. It is from these shows that I drew the inspiration for my card! I am just imagining the look on a prospective buyer's face when their real estate agent shows them this little gem! The little "For Sale" sign is hand-drawn...didn't have a stamp for that!! The sentiment is my own, printed off my computer. As for the required buttons and bling elements, well I decided to "bling" my "buttons"! I coated some buttons with Glossy Accents and covered them with some Martha Stewart glitter in onyx. I did the same with the little rhinestones on the sentiment. I also added some Stickles to the little ghost die cuts. The "creepy" ribbon is a dollar store find. The fabulous orange paper with the trees if from Reminisce, and I THINK the striped paper is Bo Bunny...but I forgot to check before I glued the piece with the company name on it to my card! (lol...oops!) I also snipped the edges of my cardstock to create grass. Everything was distressed with a dark green ink.

So, head on over to Humble Pie to play along this week. You could win an awesome prize!!

ETA: Don't have a Humble Pie stamp yet?? You can feel free to use ANY image for now, as long as you are following the rules for the challenge (buttons and bling) this week! If you would like to get your hands on one of these great stamps, contact Phebe at The Town Scrapper! If you win this week, you will receive some "Maggie Bucks" to spend at the Town Scrapper on Humble Pie stamps! So go get inky!!

Have a fantastic Friday!

Melanie

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Heartfelt Thanks

Good morning! We had a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend here, spent with family and friends...but boy, was it COLD!!! My daughter always takes part in a Highland Dancing demonstration at the Brigden Fall Fair, and we were remembering how the last two years were ridiculously hot! We were all shivering this year...but the girls did a great job! We of course went to the midway and had fun on some of the rides, toured the exhibits and got caramel apples as a treat!

So, I thought a thank-you card would be an appropriate post after Thanksgiving weekend! Most of the supplies for this card are from The Town Scrapper . I used a CC Design stamp featuring Emma from their fall release. The design paper is all from My Minds Eye. I used my Fancy Tags Spellbinders (The Town Scrapper has a great selection of Spellbinders!) for the sentiment...I really love these tags! They are so pretty. The sentiment is also from CC Designs (Thank You Sentiment Set). The edges were all distressed with brown ink. I added a few rhinestones from my own stash...gotta have a little bling!



Emma was stamped on Neenah cardstock and coloured with Copic markers. I used the colourless blender to create the polka-dots on Emma's dress. If you try out this technique on a dark colour, like this brown, be patient with it! It took me several applications of the colourless blender to achieve the look I wanted.


Speaking of thank-you's...I would like to thank the ladies over at Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge Blog . I played along in their challenge last week, and was awarded a "Shining Star"! What an honour! All of the entrants submitted such beautiful cards. There is a lot of talent over at that blog. What a lovely group of ladies, and I enjoyed participating in their challenge.

One more quick note...Phebe at The Town Scrapper has the new CC Designs release in! Have you seen these stamps? They are gorgeous! I can't wait to get my inky paws on the Emma Angel set! She also has a great selection of paper and embellishments. Take a trip out to Petrolia to visit her! Now is the time to start your Christmas cards ladies...the season will be upon us before you know it!

Have a blessed day!

Melanie

Saturday, October 10, 2009

High Hopes Challenge #47 and Stampin Sisters in Christ Challenge #7

Happy Thanksgiving weekend!!


I love fall. It is probably my favourite season! The trees are just beautiful at this time of year. I love walking through the woods during this cool, crisp weather with the leaves crunching underfoot, and the squirrels racing around gathering nuts! As I am typing this post, there are two pumpkin pies baking in my oven...LOVE the smell of pumpkin pie baking! Eating it isn't half bad either!



So, on to my card. This is the first time I have ever entered a card into more than one challenge! High Hopes challenged us to use layers. Over at Stampin' Sisters in Christ, they put forth the challenge to make a card showing the earth rejoicing (Psalm 97:1). The glorious colours of autumn seem to be a celebration of our awesome Creator! I know I rejoice when I see this colourful display!



This cute little High Hopes puppy is named Watson. I have made birthday cards with Watson, but thought it would be fun to let him get outdoors! This was a fun card to make, as I wanted to create a fall backdrop. The pile of leaves and the little pumpkin are also High Hopes stamps, but the falling leaves are from CC Designs. The sky was sponged with Memento ink and a hand cut cloud template. This is a fast, easy way to create a sky.




The tree is hand-drawn. Everything was of course coloured with my Copic markers, and stamped/drawn onto Neenah cardstock. If you are going to use hand-drawn images on your card, make sure to use Copic compatible ink! I used a Copic multiliner. These are very handy fineliners to have on hand. The sentiment was printed from my computer. I love this quote! Unfortunately it turned out a bit small, but it says: "Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."


Here's a closeup of the image.







I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Take time to reflect on what you are thankful for. God is great, and I thank Him for the many blessings he has sent my way.



Melanie

Head Over to Humble Pie Stamps for a new Challenge Today!

Did you get in on the fun last week over at The Humble Pie Blog ?? You don't want to miss out on the great challenges and prizes, so go on...this week you could win a store credit for The Town Scrapper ! The challenge is to use scallops somewhere on your card. Now, that's not hard at all! So what are you waiting for?? Go and play along!

Melanie

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Brand Spankin' New Humble Pie Blog!!

Happy Saturday!! I have some exciting news for you all. Phebe, the owner of The Town Scrapper has launched her own line of stamps, which now has it's very own blog, Humble Pie ! Over at this new blog, you will find bios on the Humble Pie design team affectionately named The Bakers, projects designed by The Bakers, challenges, prizes and more!! Here is my first submission as part of The Bakers!





This little guy from the Humble Pie stamp line is named "Batboy". The supplies for this card can be found at The Town Scrapper . I stamped Batboy on Neenah cardstock and coloured him up with my Copic markers. The DP is from Making Memories. I love that paper with the spider web...it's flocked (which just won't show up in a photo!), and the little spider is glittery. The sentiments are cut out from a 12x12 sheet of paper full of Halloween themed words and phrases. I have seen a few card designers pop up their sentiments with pop dots to achieve this wavy look, so thought I'd try it out! I think it's a technique I will use again...it adds great dimension to a card. I distressed the edges with black distress ink. I added just a touch of glitter to Batboy's wings and the "S" on his shirt with a glitter pen. I also used my Spica pen to add a little shimmer to his eyes. (again...this isn't showing up in the pic, so you will have to take my word for it! Here is the closeup:





So, hop on over to the Humble Pie Stamps blog, and get in on all the fun! I know that Phebe will be offering up some candy...so go and check it out! Don't forget to see my post on the DT call for Humble Pie Stamps HERE !

Have an awesome weekend!
Melanie

(oh...and Happy World Card Making Day!!! Make sure to find some time to get inky!!)