Thursday 31 October 2013

Trick or Treat!

It's time! We're all ready and I promised I would show you how we dressed up our candy.

This process has to be quick, easy and inexpensive. We started by using the Silhouette to cut ovals from cheap thin white cardstock and scoring them. Then we stamped eyes and a mouth (using Paper Smooches Shadows set - notice that the eyes are slightly different sizes - I put all 3 ovals on one block, so that I only had to stamp each ghost once). Kate stamped the Hero Arts sentiment in orange and then we glued the back to the front, around the full-size nut-free candy bar.






Here they are all ready to go. I hand out full-size candy bars only because it helps me keep count (yes, I'm one of those people!) I have little ones as my back up stash in case we get more people than we expect.


Here's Kate and our little friend Trinity, ready to head out into the rainy, windy but unseasonably warm night!

I hope you all have a fun time - stay safe!

Test

2013102901 by ardythpr1
2013102901, a photo by ardythpr1 on Flickr.

I have reloaded this photo from my Flickr account to see if the quality is higher.  What do you think? It seems a little crisper to me.

I still have a lot to figure out about how to post from Flickr. Like how to add an inlinkz. If you know how to do this and are willing to share, I'd be willing to listen! I'll go check You Tube as well.

Wednesday 30 October 2013

OLW164 - Play the Game


It's my turn to host this week's One Layer Wednesday challenge and I thought we'd have some fun! The title is Play the Game (any Queen fans out there?!) and the challenge is to make a one layer card that is inspired by a game or some form of play.

My card is based on an old game, Twister. When you play Twister, shenanigans are sure to follow as you have to put your right hand one one colour and your left foot on another until everyone is twisted up all over the place!

I drew a grid for placement of my dots, used a Casual Fridays sentiment and a Paper Smooches hand. Perfect for a kid's birthday (or maybe a more grown up friend?! lol!)!

OLW164 Rules

l.  Create a one layer card.  This is defined as a single layer of cardstock folded in half.  No other      
     layers allowed.

2.  Create a card of your choice featuring a game or some form of play.  Remember to keep
     embellishments to a minimum and NO ADDITIONAL layers of cardstock.
       
3.  Post your card online and link it to the InLinkz button in the sidebar to the right.  If you link to your blog, please link to the specific post and not your blogs main page.

4.  HAVE FUN!! I can't wait to see what you create! Let the Shenanigans BEGIN!
>

Tuesday 29 October 2013

CASology 68 - Black


This week's CASology Cue Card is Black.



A few weeks ago, I was visiting with Kelly in Chicago. She took us to the Chicago Cultural Centre in the old library and there was a really cool light installation called Shift. At first the whole room appeared to be empty and fairly dark. The floor was white and there were 3 different coloured lights on the walls near the ceiling. The magic began as you walked into the room - three shadows were produced, each in a different colour. As the lights changed colour, your shadows would, too. But then it got even better. When two of us stood near each other, our 6 shadows would intersect, creating even more colours. We stayed in there for quite a while, talking about light and colour and trying to figure out how it all worked. And jumping around like crazy cardmakers, of course!

I tried to reproduce that effect here by having the 3 primary colours intersect. Where two of them intersect, a secondary colour is produced, and in the area where all 3 intersect, you get black. OK, I helped it a bit (it was really kind of a muddy dark grey, but the theory was correct and it should have been black!) I finished it off with a simple sentiment from Stampin' Up.

Now it's your turn! I can't wait to see what you'll come up with for this one! Here are links to the blogs of the other DT members - go check out what they came up with as inspiration for you!







Sunday 27 October 2013

2013 Pumpkin Carving




I was hoping for some crafting time this afternoon. I guess I should be more specific. I was hoping for some cardmaking time. But we figured it was probably the best time to carve the pumpkins for Halloween, so I thought I would show you why there's no card here today. 

This is the traditional annual picture (See this post for some past photos). Struan carved his own pumpkin for the first time - and added red acrylic paint (such a crafty (if slightly gory) boy! lol!). Kate's pumpkin was based on the 3-eyed aliens from Toy Story - it's kind of hard to tell from this photo, but I did my best.


But there were some casualties along the way - my favourite kitchen knife snapped, as did one of the little pumpkin carving knives that look (and are) so cheap, but work so well! There were no human injuries, though, so that's a relief! Here are the helpers at work.



Now for the indoor work - Kate wants to dress up the candy bars we'll be handing out as ghosts, so that will be the next project. We have the prototype ready and I will show you the results once we're finished.





Friday 25 October 2013

OLW163 - Orange You Glad You Played Along


Karen is hosting this week's One Layer Wednesday challenge and the challenge is to use orange.  I used a lot of black, but hopefully that just has the effect of making the orange stand out more!

Very simple (except for the masking of the nose!) card - Impress snowman face and the new Stampin' Up clear Endless Wishes stamps.


FFC20 - Wreath


Time for a new challenge at Festive Friday - include a wreath in your project.



I used this new wreath from Papertrey, along with one of the sentiments from the same set (after some surgery, so I could stack the words). I stamped in Versafine Onyx and embossed in clear and then coloured in the wreath with copics before adding Stickles for lots of sparkle.

We're getting close to winding up these Festive Friday challenges - there are two left before we take a break to celebrate the fact that we've been making our Christmas cards all through the year and we have nothing to panic about. Right?!

If you haven't been playing along all year, well, you'll know better for next year, but there's still time - come play along!

Thursday 24 October 2013

Muse 40 - Hope


This week, Darnell is our Guest Muse at Muse. October is breast awareness month, and Darnell's beautiful card is packed full of meaning and inspiration and is designed to provide hope for someone who needs it.



I took it to the absolute minimum, I think, while still preserving the message. These spring flowers are the epitome of new life and hope. As Darnell says in her post, we all know someone who has been affected by this terrible disease, and supporting each other with cards, words, thoughts and actions are ways that we can fight back.

I stamped the (very old Stampin' Up!) flowers in Melon Mambo and Lucky Limeade and then shaded them with some copics.

I hope you'll play along with us this week. The deadline is Monday morning at 8:00 am EDT. Then you can vote for your 3 favourites until Tuesday morning and the results will be posted on Tuesday at noon.

Hope to see you there!

Wednesday 23 October 2013

Tuesday Trigger, Blog Friends and Apologies to FLW


I know. I said I was done with fall leaves, but a perfect storm of events put me temporarily back in the mood.

1) This week's Tuesday Trigger has those beautiful pink leaves (we have a few of them around our neighbourhood). Against the dark wood bowl and the lighter table, the colours really captured my imagination.



2) I received a package of this die cut from Joyce. When she made this card, I loved it so much, I went right to the Lil Inkers website to order it  but it was sold out (it's now back in stock, of course!). When I mentioned this to Joyce, she immediately (and very generously) cut a bunch of them in white (so I could colour them) and sent them to me in the mail. Thank you Joyce!

3) As I started to play with one of them, it reminded me of Frank Lloyd Wright's Trees of Life stained glass design:



This design was really my first introduction to FLW many, many years ago. Even then, I was attracted to graphic, geometric design. Since then I've been to Taliesin (Wisconsin), Taliesin West (Arizona) and Robie House (Chicago) - still a few to go!






Tuesday 22 October 2013

CASology 67 - Country


This week's CASology Cue Card is Country



We're all friends here, right? So I can tell you without fear of judgement or reprisal that I'm DONE with pumpkins and fall leaves, right? For this year anyway (actually, I still have a couple to make!). Maybe it's because we celebrate Thanksgiving earlier than our American friends, but I'm ready to get onto the good stuff - bring on Christmas!

When I sat down to make my 'country' card, I remembered that Christmas colours are also the colours of Italy's flag. So I stamped my Technique Tuesday sentiment, and masked and sponged a couple of rectangles, trying to mimic the proportions of the flag.

And now it's your turn! It's fine if you're not done with pumpkins and turkeys and fall leaves,  if that's what country means to you, but I did want to show you that you can go in other directions, too!

Here are links to the blogs of the other DT members - go see what they've done to inspire you!

Saturday 19 October 2013

Muse 39 - Thank you!


For this week's Muse challenge:


I focused on Marion's colours, paper piecing and the inset heart. I cut a bunch of 1/4 inch strips in white and navy and laid them on a 4x4 piece of whisper white. I started in the centre, with the navy going all the way across and then for the rest of the navy stripes, cut them at 2 inches, filling in the rest with the remaining white strips. I cut two hearts (since my focal panel is actually two layers thick) and glued them in. This little Stamps of Life sentiment fit in perfectly!

There's still time to play along this week - the Muse deadline is on Monday at 8:00 am. And whether you play along or not, you can still vote for your top 3 from Monday at 8 until Tuesday at 8.


Friday 18 October 2013

FFC19 - Whimsy


Time for some mid-challenge inspiration for the current Festive Friday challenge:



This one was inspired by a photo on my Pinterest inspiration board. I think that the bright pink against the different shades of grey and white is really fun.

I used a Stampin' Up die, a Copic marker to colour the tree (I didn't have any pink cardstock that I felt was exactly the right colour!) and a Martha Stewart punch with glittery paper for the little star.

There's still time to play along - the deadline is on Wednesday - hope to see you there!

On another note, yesterday was my long-awaited trip to the David Bowie Is.... exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario.



It was amazing - I have been a fan since my early teens, I own every studio album and about 60% of the music on my MP3 player is Bowie. The exhibit was made up of a lot of the stage costumes that he's worn on stage and in videos throughout the years, handwritten lyrics and other memorabilia and music, music, music! A perfect way to spend a couple of hours!







Thursday 17 October 2013

OLW162 - Grateful


Does this ever happen to you? I have stared at this word for so long it makes no sense to me. None at all. I was half convinced that the stamp company (MFT) had made a typo.

Assuming that they didn't, and that this is indeed a word, then I love this card! I love the graphic shapes of the leaves (masked using an Avery Elle die) in the warm autumn colours (from my Pumpkin Patch and Autumn Leaves Kaleidecolor pads) and all that white space!

Heather is hosting this week's One Layer Wednesday challenge and it's to include a leaf (or leaves) into your one layer card. I hope you'll join us!

Wednesday 16 October 2013

Tuesday Trigger


The current Tuesday Trigger is so warm and cozy:



I decided to focus on the chevron shapes and the colours, while opening it up a bit and making it feel a little airier.

I used a little chevron from Paper Smooches "Design motifs", and an Inkadinkado sentiment (yes, again!).


Tuesday 15 October 2013

CASology 66 - Pumpkin!


This week's CASology Cue Card is Pumpkin!



It's certainly that time of year! I've made a lot of pumpkin-y cards over the last week or so, and I was a little stumped about what to do for today.

In the end I masked and sponged a strip of pumpkin (using yellow in the centre, and red on the edges to realy make the orange stand out. I used a DeNami pumpkin face instead of the 'o' in my Hero Arts sentiment.

This will also be a last-minute entry into Cheryl's OLW challenge - to use Fall Colours.

Now it's your turn - but before you go, don't forget to see what the rest of the DT created for your inspiration!

Sunday 13 October 2013

Muse 38 - Thank you!


For this week's Muse challenge, inspired by Therese's 'cupcake bouquet'.



I focused on the colour and shape of the sentiment, the colours in the bouquet and the shape of the 'frosting'.

I used an Avery Elle sentiment, an old Papertrey flower (masked) and some little dots. I love the almost Art Deco feel of it.

There's still a bit of time for you to play along - the deadline is Monday at 8:00 am EDT. But even if you don't have time to play along, you can come over and vote for your favourite 3 entries between Monday at 8:00 am and Tuesday at 8:00 am.

Saturday 12 October 2013

Holiday Inspirations Group - Halloween Day 7, OLW 161


Wow! It's day 7 already - a whirlwind week of Halloween inspiration!



Today, I decided to combine with this week's One Layer Wednesday challenge, hosted by Cheryl. Fall Colours. These are probably not the exact colours she meant, but they are definitely fall colours!

I chose the same menacing eyes from this card from Day 2 and cut them using my silhouette. I lined the card with neon orange (which actually raises an interesting question about whether this is truly a one-layered card, doesn't it!?!) so that the eyes would be 'lit' from inside.

Now, for your final round of inspiration:

Friday 11 October 2013

Hope You Can Cling To - Peace & Quiet

It's a busy day at MASKerade today. This is my THIRD post. Please scroll down for my Halloween and Festive Friday cards!


Today is my turn to host the daily HYCCT challenge at Splitcoaststampers. These challenges are all hope-themed and the cards will be donated to a Cancer Centre in Texas. (for more info, see here).

My challenge is called Peace & Quiet (sometimes you need that!) and it means making a card with no sentiment on the front. Just let your image do the talking.

If you have time to take look at the gallery, you will see images with strong messages of friendship, hope, strength and courage.

For my card, a rainbow is a small miracle that represents a promise and a star is a light shining in the darkness. I hope that someone will be encouraged by receiving this card when they need it.

I used grand calibur circle nestabilities to create the rainbow and outlined the star in glitter so that it would sparkle.


Holiday Inspirations Group - Halloween Day 6

This is my second post today. For my Festive Friday post, please scroll down.




Day 6 - This sweet image is an old one from Elzybells (sadly, no longer with us), with a Michael's sentiment and spiderweb.

I don't know about you, but I think that Halloween is definitely for the kids. I just love seeing the little ones carefully climbing up my front steps, waiting with bags and eyes wide open for a treat, but still not sure if they'll get a trick instead. I clearly remember the first year that Struan really could understand what we were doing when we went door to door for candy; the funny part was the next night, when he couldn't understand why we couldn't do it again!

Here are photos of my favourite two little ones, from Halloweens past:

2005

2007

2011

As always, there's lots more to see:

FFC18 - Who-vian Whimsy!


Time for a new Festive Friday challenge. This time the challenge is to make a project with a whimsical theme.



It doesn't get much more whimsical than these trees. They remind me of Who-ville. I fell in love with them when I first saw them on Bev's card here. I mentioned this to Bev in my comment, and, being Bev (amazingly kind and generous), she sent me a whole forest of them before she "dumped" her Cricut for her new Silhouette Cameo! I've waited a while for the perfect opportunity to use some of them. I used vellum for the stars and Glam Pink and Firefly stickles as the ornaments, and a new Papertrey sentiment.

And while we're speaking of Bev, after months of anticipation, she and I met up in real life last weekend! We had a too-short, but very fun time in a little town in Wisconsin, shopping, chatting, having lunch and laughing like old friends. We almost parted without a photo, if you can believe it, but in the end we did get a couple.


I also met Kelly in Chicago last weekend, but I'm waiting for photos from my sister's phone (mine died before the day started!) and then I'll post about that!



Thursday 10 October 2013

Hope You Can Cling To - Words to Inspire


Tomorrow is my HYCCT Challenge at Splitcoaststampers (if you want to play along, or just for more info, see here), but today I'm participating in Angela's challenge - Words to Inspire.

When facing a tough time, we can all use some words of inspiration and encouragement. I chose to focus on 3 powerful words that will hopefully help someone just when they need them.

I used MFT's Max Alpha for the 'brave, strong, loved' and Stamps of Life Basic4ABC for the 'you are'.




Holiday Inspirations Group - Halloween Day 5




This card was inspired by the blog header of Mary Dawn at My Pink Mexico. I love how one side has such a clean controlled feeling, and then the other side has bold pops of colour in such uncontrolled FUN!  I'm sure we could get all philosophical about the duality of personalities (I am a Gemini, you know! lol!), but that's for another time...

I used an old Stampin' Up pumpkin, a Tim Holtz sentiment and MFT spltats and slatters.

Now go see what everyone else made for your inspiration today!