Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Colourful Thank-Yous!

Hello! Long time, no see! It is nice to be back in blogger land. Here is a quick post that I was supposed to make back on June 5, before I went on my first vacation of the month *lol* Now, two days before my next vacation, I am finally getting to it. I made a group of thank-you cards for a friend of mine who graduated with her bachelor's degree last month. They were based off a card a made a while ago, shown on the left of the photo:


I love these little guys! They are just so cheery and colourful - perfect for a thank-you card in my opinion.



I have dusted off my sketch book and I am back to crafting tonight! I am making some birthday cards for my little sister (more affectionately known as my little blister) as her birthday is coming up on June 28th. Needless to say, I will be a busy bee preparing everything for my vacation (I leave on Friday! Woohoo!) and crafting. AND to top it all off... my sister requested a friendship bracelet for her birthday. You know, the kind made with embroidery floss? I used to make them all the time but my hands have definitely become rusty in the friendship bracelet making department... I have dusted the cobwebs from my OLD (let's say, 14 years old) instruction book and am going to try my hand at that again tonight! Hmmm... I wonder when I am going to find time to sleep in the next two days?? *lol* 

Thanks for stopping by! I plan to share the birthday cards created for my sister tomorrow and Friday :) 
Supplies used:
Stamps: Pursuit of Happiness (ret)
Paper: Lucky Limeade (ret), Concorde Crush (ret), Raspberry Ripple, Midnight Muse, Pear Pizzazz (ret), Wisteria Wonder, Daffodil Delight, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: Lucky Limeade (ret), Concorde Crush (ret), Raspberry Ripple, Midnight Muse
Tools: Labels Framelits, Hearts a Flutter Framelits (ret I believe), Delicate Doilies, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Bitty Butterfly Punch, Fancy Fan Embossing Folder, Cross Hatch Embossing Folder
Accessories: Linen Thread, Misc Brads (garage sale), Dimensionals

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Birthday Wishes for my Wonderful Mom!

Hi again! Time for post #2 and a little bragging about what a fantastic mom I have! She really is the greatest mom a girl could ask for. She dedicated her life to raising me and my 4 brothers and little sister and for that, we are forever grateful! It's nice now that we are older, we can give back just a smidgen of what she gave to us all these years :) Below is my favourite pic of my mom and I on the Stanley Park train :) and also a couple pics from my convocation two years ago and a shot from a mother-daughter photo shoot we had last fall:


I know it is safe to post this card a few days before my mom's birthday (it is on Saturday) as I know she does not read my blog and isn't on Facebook! *lol* The card I made fit two challenges perfectly, Colour Q and The Paper Players:


My mom is an avid lover of the ocean. She grew up in Victoria, BC. I remember as a child that every chance we could, we went to Vancouver Island to visit relatives and comb the beaches. I have seen the island from the most northern point accessible by vehicle right to the most southern point, as well as east to west :) It really is a beautiful place to explore! Keeping all things ocean in mind, I made this card for her special day:


Love it! And so will she I am sure :) Since my stampin' stash doesn't contain any certainly celery or soft sky, I substituted pear pizzazz and pool party. I used a window sheet to emboss the coral, giving it that nifty transparent look. Shells and seahorses are so ocean-y, that I can practically smell the salt water waves from here. I made the second tier of the stair-step (instructions from this lovely lady's blog) card into green and gray waves. This reflects the ever changing look of the ocean. And the large panel on the last tier of the card was perfectly made into a lighthouse. Mom LOVES lighthouses and I know she will love this too.


Here's a view of the stair-step:


Thanks for stopping by! :)

Supplies used:
Stamps: By the Tide, Uncharted Territory (ret), Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Pool Party, Island Indigo, Very Vanilla, Pear Pizzazz, Michael's Gray
Ink: Basic Grey, Pool Party, Island Indigo, Pear Pizzazz, Versamark
Tools: Scoring Board, Cloudy Day Embossing Folder, 3/4" Circle Punch (mask), Cropadile
Accessories: Blender Pen, Linen Thread, Dimensionals

Inspired By...

Hello there! Well today is the last day of my work week, and it is just zooming by! Soon I will be on the road for a nice, long 12 hour drive to see my mom! :) yay! Before I head out, I have a few posts for you :) The first is a new Inspired By... challenge!


This week was my pick and I chose a bright, colourful make-up/fashion pallette:


Well, I really like the colours in this picture (that's why I chose it *lol*). I ended up using the colours from the top left square and came up with this card:


Now, this is definitely not my favourite card by a long shot... but it is ok and will serve its intended purpose. This was one of those cards where I just had to keep adding things because I was not satisfied with the look. It started with the embossed background and when that wasn't enough, shimmer spritz was added and when that wasn't enough, rhinestones were added and finally, when that wasn't enough either, the butterfiles came along.... then I decided to stop the madness. After all that, I decided the card is not terrible :) *lol*


I put to use this most recent sketch from Pals Paper Arts:


I was too late to enter the challenge, but I like the sketch none-the-less! Don't forget to pop over to Charissa's blog, Snippets by Design, to see how this photo inspired her! And also a reminder that we will be taking a three week break from both Inspired By... and KCRR as Charissa and I will be on holidays for the rest of the month! :)

Supplies used:
Stamps: Really Good Greetings
Paper: Raspberry Ripple, Wisteria Wonder, Regal Rose (ret), Flirtatious DSP (ret)
Tools: Elegant Butterfly Punch, Bitty Butterfly Punch, Owl Builder Punch, Corner Rounder (CTMH), Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder
Accessories: Stiched Satin Ribbon, Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

KCRR Meets Dynamic Duos

Hello there! It's nice to be back in blogger world! I had a break since last Friday, and after today's post and two tomorrow, I'll be on holidays until Monday! Woot woot! :) I am headed to the beautiful capital of BC, Victoria, to visit my mom for her birthday. I have been super busy the last few days preparing to go away. I don't like to leave a messy house, so I have been cleaning & organizing like crazy. This includes my car (aka travelling house *lol*) I also got around to tending to my parent's lawn at there home here... oh boy was it a mess! Since my parents are frequent travellers, they decided to hire a lawn company to tend to the grass this year (usually I mow it, but since I don't live there anymore, they decided to give me a break). Unfortunately, the lawn company has yet to show-up and this is what I am left with:


Over a foot tall THICK grass!! Gross!!! It was not fun to cut... and extra unfortunately, the lawn mower broke half-way through the cutting! *sigh* Hopefully the lawn company does show up to fix this mess... Anyways, I digress, onto the challenges! Charissa and I decided to play with KCRR a couple days early this week to accommodate my vacation, and I wanted to play along with the Dynamic Duos as well:


 
The selections for KCRR this week were: using the spritzer tool, river rock, and a third option this week, the blossom petal builder punch. Hmm what interesting selections! Now, I am not the biggest fan of river rock, but paired with the bold colours from Dynamic Duos, I think it looks nice! Here's what I came up with:


The spritzing is hard to see, as I used the river rock marker on top of the dark raspberry ripple petals. Here's a close up...


Overall, I am pleased with this card :) it will be my parent's anniversary card (which happens to fall on the same day as my mom's birthday, fancy that :) )


Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to pop over to Charissa's blog, Snippets by Design, to see what she created with our KCRR elements. Tomorrow will be the new Inspired by... challenge, then it'll be a three week break as Charissa will be on vacation for two weeks and then I am gone again for a week! :)

Supplies used:
Stamps: Memorable Moments
Paper: Wisteria Wonder, Raspberry Ripple, River Rock, Very Vanilla
Ink: Raspberry Ripple
Tools: Blossom Petal Builder Punch, Framed Tulips Embossing Folder, Colour Spritzer
Accessories: Raspberry Ripple & River Rock Markers, Lace Ribbon, Linen Thread, Pearls