Thursday 30 November 2017

AJVD - Season's Greetings


I'm on the A Jillian Vance Design blog today with this card that uses a new product - INKpression plates. And look how I used those flat sequins to create a border!

Sunday 26 November 2017

FS564 - Joy, Joy, Joy


Congratulations to this week's Splitcoaststampers' Featured Stamper, Andrea, aka papercrafter40.

I chose two cards as my inspiration



(focused on background technique)



(focused on 3 word sentiment)

That bokeh background is awesome so I focused on that, although I changed the colours. Here are some things I learned (the hard way - this is the 3rd attempt at this background technique).

  1. make sure your background colours are dark enough so that the white ink will show up
  2. using different shades of similar colours helps with the unfocused-bokeh effect. Andrea achieved this better than I did, by staying within one colour family, although I like the fun feel of my colours, too.
  3. Lots of white dots are better than a few.


Don't Forget about Ellen Hutson's Sale! 20% off !


I used:


Thursday 23 November 2017

Wednesday 22 November 2017

Muse 243 - Deck the Halls


Oh my goodness, aren't these mice adorable! This is my card for this week's Muse challenge, where Kim brought us an equally cute inspiration:


I focused on Kim's:
-mice theme
-dotted background

Thanksgiving is long over here in Canada (we celebrate in October), so I went with a Christmas theme and pulled out some un-inked Stampin' Up stamps and coloured them with Copics.


I used:

Tuesday 21 November 2017

Ellen Hutson 11th Anniversary Blog Hop (Day 2)


Welcome! Today, I'm thrilled to be hopping with some very talented ladies in the 2nd Day of Ellen Hutson's 11th Anniversary Blog Hop!



It took me forever to come up with this card. Only because when I was asked to participate, I was told to use my favourite Essentials by Ellen products. I completely freaked out! Favourite?! What?! That's like choosing a favourite child!! Haha! I went through all my EBE sets again and again. When I finally settled on Bold Blooms and Bold Blossoms (with some help from Modern Christmas), this seasonal card came together quickly.

I love the dreamy quality the soft colours give this card.

Happy Anniversary, Ellen! I wish you many, many more!

PS - there are PRIZES! Check out the CLASSroom for all the details!

The next stop on the hop is the fabulous Donna Mikasa!


I used:

Monday 20 November 2017

EH Pin-Sights - Happy Thanksgiving


Good morning! Here's my card for the current Ellen Hutson Pin-Sights Challenge:

NovemberColorTrend

I was totally captivated by the rich colours in the leaf photo - from greens to yellows to that deep purple, and I knew I wanted to use those, so I started to experiment.

I started with what I know best - Distress Inks. I blended a full 4.25x5.5 panel of Neenah with Seedless Preserves, Fired Brick, Ripe Persimmon, Wild Honey and Forest Moss. I loved the depth of the colours. I then took a leaf stamp and started stamping with water (spritzed the stamp with water, held it on the panel for about 4 or 5 seconds). The immediate effect was less than impressive. 

So I thought I would try Distress Inks on watercolour cardstock to see if the water would be more noticeable. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the same intensity of colour on that cardstock and really, the water didn't seem to work at all. 

Next, I tried Distress Oxides on watercolour. They blend beautifully and the water lifted pretty well, but the colours I have were not quite right.

After doing all this, I looked back at  my first panel and could see that while they effect was still subtle, it really had developed a bit as everything dried. Of all my work, this one was the one I liked best.

I cut a few full leaves from the first panel I had created and then blended a narrower strip and stamped the leaves a little closer together so that they would be visible even on the smaller surface.

I created my sentiment with stamps from two different stamp sets. They have a similar line weight and hand-written feel, so they work well together.

I used:

Sunday 19 November 2017

FS563 - Happy Birthday


Congratulations to this week's Splitcoaststampers' Featured Stampr, Helen (heleng). I chose this card as my inspiration:


I focused on Helen's:
-floral theme
-general layout
-script/text sentiment strip

I changed:
-colours
-technique

You'll see in my blending technique in the video (below) that I kept each colour very dark and concentrated in the centre, then softened it as I blended outwards in a circular motion. This was to create differences in tone on each flower.


I used:


Saturday 18 November 2017

Challenge Me A Christmas Card with Michelle Lupton



I'm so excited to be here today with Michelle. She has started a really fun series called Challenge me a Christmas Card, In past years, people were asked to give Michelle a challenge and she would make a card. This year, she's kicked it up a notch and is asking a friend make a Christmas card based on the same theme or inspiration. 

Michelle and I became friends a few years ago when we were both on the A Blog Named Hero Design Team. She is a very talented card maker and a lovely person as well! I am so thrilled that she asked me to play along!

Here's the inspiration:


And here's my card:


I focused on:
-colour scheme
-Nordic theme
-Christmas trees and snowflakes

Don't forget to head to Michelle's blog to check out her card!

I used:



Friday 17 November 2017

SugarPea Designs - Sweet2Repeat Blog Hop

 
Good morning! It's time for SugarPea Designs' Sweet2Repeat Blog Hop! Now that you have had a chance to play around with the newest goodies, our Design Team has come up with even more inspiration for you!

Would you like to WIN a $20 gift certificate to spend on some SugarPea Designs of your own?  Please visit with each of our design team members listed below and leave a comment for your chance to win! 
My first card (above) has a rainbow of inlaid snowflakes in a grid pattern. I used a direct-to-paper technique (also known as smoosh the ink pad right on the snowflake) to colour my snowflakes.



This card uses the end of one of the shorter branches from Pinecone Greetings 'upside down' as pine trees. 


My final project uses the bars from Off the Charts as festive stripes with a message. I created my own topper and edged it with the zig zag edge from Stitched Borders I. 




Eskimo-Kisses


 Off-The-Charts

Pinecone-Greetings

Christmas-Tag-Greetings

SugarCut-Snowflake-Die



Thursday 16 November 2017

AJVD - Inlaid Die Cuts


I'm on the A Jillian Vance Design blog today with a video and tips for inlaying die cuts. This card has 3 inlaid die-cuts ranging in difficulty from simple to complex (but even the most complex is really just a little fiddly and time-consuming).

I used:

Wednesday 15 November 2017

MCV89, 25 Days of Christmas Tags


Once again, I'm excited that Muse: ChristmasVisions is sponsoring a day of my good friend Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags feature. If it's new to you, click here for more details. SO. MANY. PRIZES! (Including one from MCV!)

The whole MCV team is playing along with some special guests, so please check it out and play along!


I created my tag using some old and new MFT products. I stamped a panel of layered snowflakes in pretty pastel colours and then created my own 'topper' by cutting the same tag out of silver sparkle cardstock and then cutting a scalloped border on an angle with one edge of a scalloped square.  I stamped my sentiment in Smokey Grey Versafine ink for a softer look, and placed it on the same angle as the topper edge. I left plenty of space to write the recipient's name.

I used:

Tuesday 14 November 2017

Catherine Pooler Designs - Paradise Found Release


There's a lot going on at Catherine Pooler Designs today! There's a blog hop to celebrate all the amazing things happening!

First - 8 new colours of Catherine's amazing inks! They are called the Spa Collection and are rich and warm and oh so perfect for fall and holiday cards (used in all of my cards today)

Second - A release of new products - stamps, dies and a plaid background stamp that makes for some very cozy cards! (Two cards and videos before)




Third - All of the products from the Naturally Inspired Stamp of Approval collection are now available for purchase individually - lots of stamps and dies and some very, very sparkly embossing powder. (used above, except the embossing powder, used in 'Warm Wishes' below)




Fourth  - SOAPS! With names and scents to match the new inks! How fun is that? 


My first card (above) uses the new inks with products from the Naturally Inspired Collection - I love how the rich warm colours create the perfect autumn bouquet!




My second and third cards use the newly released Plaid Background in a rainbow of the new colours (see video below), along with some previously released sentiments. That plaid is perfect for cozy cards full of warm wishes!




Next stop on the hop is the fabulous Ingrid!
I used:

Monday 13 November 2017

IB72, MUSE242 - Fa La La


So. I'm the Muse this week! Our poor friend Tracey is on the DL (broken collarbone), but still managing to keep up with all the work she does for her 25 Days of Christmas Tags feature (if you don't know it, be sure to drop by and see - it's amazing - so much talent and so many prizes available!). Anyway, I've stepped in with this card that I also made for this week's Inspired By All the Little Things Challenge.



I focused on:
-white tree on grey background
-white 'ornaments'

I used: