Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Interested in Winning a Huge Prize Package?

Anyone interested in winning a huge prize package of Paper Crafting goodness? Check out Lisa Faldulto's blog for an awesome blog prize. She has some amazing creations on her blog that will definately inspire you. You'll have to hurry as the draw is July 3rd. You can find her blog here: http://lisafalduto.blogspot.com/

Monday, June 22, 2009

Got Sketch 104 Sketch 3

After not scrapping in months it felt good to be back at it again. I always find that the sketches by Janna Wilson & Valerie Salmon in their Got Sketch classes are so awesome. They definitely motivate me to scrap. The sketches in GS104 are just as awesome as the previous class sketches.

This layout is based on a sketch by Valerie Salmon and I think it works perfect with this adorable pictures of my great niece Dakota. She was certainly the Diva at her 3rd birthday party last weekend & I got some awesome pictures.Dakota loves lipstick & chapstick. Give her a tube of chapstick & she has to continue to apply it until its all gone leaving a messy face & gross lips. Lol Unfortunately she was given some as a present & couldn’t wait to get into it. That’s what she’s holding in her hand.

This sketch also worked in perfect with Kelly Jo's blog challenge as I was able to use my Fiskars circle Squeeze Punches and the scallops from my USX on this layout.

Have a great day & thanks for looking!

Got Sketch 104 Sketch 2

Recently I signed up for another Got Sketch online class by Janna Wilson & Valerie Salmon. This one is Got Sketch 104. I have taken all of their classes to date & even though I am in the middle of renovations, I hated the thoughts of missing out on their newest class.

Recently there has been a bit of a snag in my renovation plans. The guy who was doing the drywalling for me can’t start now until the 15th of July. (He was supposed to start 2 weeks ago.) Normally I’m a very patient person when it comes to stuff like this but since my house has been in chaos since the end of May, I really can’t wait another 3 weeks for the renovations to begin. I don’t have any livingroom furniture now as it went out to the dump at the end of May..so did my computer chair. Now I’m sitting on lawn chairs in my livingroom. Fortunately he was able to give me the name of a guy who does drywalling & I am waiting for him to come to give me a price on the job.

I spent 2 days packing up my closet & all my books. The clothes had to come downstairs in garbage bags & then I figured I could put the books in my closet as it won’t be drywalled. With my health issues, all this lifting, folding & packing has been bothering my shoulders & arms.

On Sunday I figured that I needed some “me” time and started in on the sketches from last weeks class. I haven’t scrapped in months and since Kelly Jo (one of the Lead Fiskateers) issued a challenge on the Fiskateers blog I figured it was a good time to start scrapping again.The sketch that this layout is based on is by Janna Wilson. I chose to use these adorable pictures of my 2 year old great nephew Andrew at his cousin Dakota’s 3rd birthday party last weekend. Every time he saw my camera he said cheese…I thought that it was funny as he was eating those cheesies & didn’t want to put the bag down. This sketch is perfect for showing off all the cute pictures I got of him.

This sketch also worked in perfect with Kelly Jo's challenge as I was able to use my Fiskars One Way & Star Squeeze Punches on this layout.

It's not too late to join in all the fun of the Got Sketch 104 class. Just click on my "blinkie" and it will take you there.

Have a great day & thanks for looking!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Penny Black & Friends Challenge “Celebrations”

This weeks Penny Black & Friends Challenge is “Celebrations”. It's also the Penny Black Challenge's First Birthday. It can be can be any celebrations ~ birthday, engagement, anniversary, new baby, new job, etc..the list is endless. As always....you can make a card...altered art...bag..notebook etc the only rule being that you use at least one Penny Black or sentiment.

Being in the middle of renovations I decided once again to make a card since I am in a “time crunch”. I used my Penny Black “Party Dog” image and colored him with my Prismacolor Pencils & Gamsol and added Glossy Accents to the nose & candles. I then mounted it on Stampin Up Chocolate Chip Cardstock and used a pattern paper from my stash. I used the Birthday stamp from the Stampin Up Wow Flowers set and mounted it on several layers. I’m quite happy with how this turned out.Thanks for looking & have a great day.

House Mouse Challenge #42

This week the House Mouse Challenge is Neopolitan and we’re to use Chocolate, Strawberry and Vanilla as our inspiration. I decided to use my House Mouse “Birthday Cupcake” image and stamped it on Stampin Up Very Vanilla Cardstock. I colored it with my Prismacolor Pencils & Gamsol and added Glossy Accents to the tongue, noses & candles. I then mounted it on Stampin Up Chocolate Chip Cardstock and mounted it again on Heidi Grace Pinkish Cardstock. The striped paper is also Heidi Grace. I used the Birthday stamp from the Stampin Up Wow Flowers set and mounted it on several layers. I’m quite happy with how this turned out.Thanks for looking & have a great day.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Going once, Going Twice….Sold!

On Saturday (June 13th) my mother & I went to an auction sale. I’ve only been to 2 previous auction sales and that was probably about 15+ years ago. Saturday’s auction sale was a special one. My aunt (mom’s sister) is 93 and since she hasn’t been able to live on her own anymore is in a retirement home. She’s been living in it for about 2 years now and has finally decided to give up her home and contents. We went for moral support.

It was a long day. We arrived about 8:45 am in order to get a parking place nearby. Since her home is out in the country I knew that the road would fill up fast. The sale started at 10:30 am and didn’t end until 2:30 pm. Everything was sold including the house. It was an excellent day and my aunt was amazing. She held up so well. She arrived about 10 am and stayed for the entire sale. She was still there when we left around 4 pm.

I bid on and won a book called “Joshua Doan” written by Gladys Francis Lewis, published in 1956. It’s out of print and very rare and hard to find. This book used to belong to my grandfather and was a gift from a cousin of his in 1964. The reason this book means so much to me is that its about my Great Great Grandfather’s brother Joshua Doan who was hung in 1839 in London, Ontario during the McKenzie Rebellion. Lucky for me that there weren’t any other Doan descendants at the auction and the book only sold for $4. The first time I saw this book it sold for $50 and that was about 10 years ago. This book for me is a real treasure & I am so thrilled to finally own it.

I also bid on & won my aunt’s silverware set. It’s a boxed set and is a service for 12. I have always wanted a really nice silverware set and am so glad that I won hers. She was telling me that she had saved up stamps from a local grocery store to get the silverware and then had to start over again to get the box. (years ago you were given stamps with your grocery purchased and could use them to buy items out of a catalogue) Also tucked inside the box was a Pickle Fork that was a wedding present from one of her mother’s relatives. (My aunt & uncle were married for almost 60 years when he passed away.) I love that this silverware set has a story and a history. I think that she was thrilled that I won her silverware and that it’ll remain in the family.

Since I am basically the family historian, my aunt gave me several old family photos as well as a portrait of my grandmother, her brother & their parents in the original frame. I am so thrilled that she thought of me and gifted these wonderful treasures to me. Saturday was definitely my LUCKY DAY!!

I can honestly say that bidding is definitely addictive and after this auction, I can definitely see myself going to more. lol

Have a great day!

Back to Class!

With all that I have going on in my life right now, taking a class is the last thing I have time for. But when it comes to Janna Wilson and Valerie Salmon’s Got Sketch classes, I can’t say no! I’ve taken ALL of their Got Sketch classes and when this one came up I knew that I couldn’t miss it.

So in the middle of having my apartment renovated, I’m going to be taking a class. Lol Starting next week my bedroom, the upstairs hallway and the stairway is going to be drywalled & painted. This week I have to move everything downstairs into my livingroom. Fortunately it will only take the guy about 1½ days to drywall the upstairs and the remainder of the first week he’ll be sanding. After he’s done, the painters come in and it will probably take them a day or two to paint upstairs. After the upstairs is done then we can move the stuff out of the livingroom & back upstairs and then they can start painting the kitchen & livingroom. It will probably take a month or so to finish everything and then I can start shopping for new furniture and have it moved in. Right now my livingroom furniture & computer chair consists of lawn chairs.

So since most of the work I have to do is this week (moving everything downstairs), I’m hoping that while the workers are here I’ll be able to squeeze in a layout or two since there won’t be anything else for me to do until they are done. lol

The nice thing about Janna & Val’s classes are that you can work at your own pace and even if you don’t get the sketches done during the class, they are yours to keep. At the end of the class they always give you a set of sketches to go cards to save for future reference. I have all my “sketches to go” on a frame that I altered to hold them. This was a project in one of their earlier classes that I took. (I’ll have to take a picture of it and post it later.)

If you have never taken one of Janna & Val’s classes you should check it out here http://gotcrafts.typepad.com/classes/got-sketch-104.html You WON’T be disappointed!

Hope to see you in class.

Happy Birthday Fiskars Crop Challenge

My little great nephew Andrew turned 2 a couple of weeks ago & since I’m behind on my card making & will see him today at his cousin Dakota’s 3rd Birthday party, I thought that I’d create his card and enter it in for Kelly Jo’s (one of the Lead Fiskateers) Birthday Card Crop Challenge. There are lots of circles on this card – scallop circles for all the faces, circles for the eyes & nose on the Sesame St. Characters so it definitely has the criteria for the challenge. (I previously made 2 birthday cards for the challenge & neglected to have circles on them).

Kelly Jo’s Challenge required us to “Create ANY birthday related project (scrapbook page, 2 cards or altered item) with circles somewhere on it. The circles are to tie in Fiskars 360th birthday.”

The first card that I created was CASED from a Sesame Street card that I saw on SCS. (I don’t have the original creators name). I did do some changes on my card such as the eyebrows on Oscar and I added a tag to the bottom of the card. I love being able to take my punches and turn them into a cute card.I’m not sure if this looks like “Hello Kitty” (it’s supposed to be) or “Good bye Kitty” but anyways it’s my second card in Kelly Jo’s Birthday Card Crop Challenge. This time I remembered the circles. Another cute punch card that I CASED from SCS. Again I do not have the original creators name.I managed to get my challenge cards posted and headed off to my great niece Dakota’s 3rd birthday. What a great day! Family, friends, sunshine, warm weather, an outdoor pool & park and lots of room for the young ones to run around & play. I got lots of great pictures to scrap too!

I also got to see my two new great nephew’s Gavin (born May 2nd) and his cousin Dallas born six weeks later on June 8th. (Little Dallas was only 6 days old and at his big sister’s birthday. Mind you he slept through the whole party.) I also gave my sister the “Thank You” cards that I made for her & she loved them.

I just have to share a picture of my two new adorable great nephews. I love all of my great nephews & nieces and am so blessed to be able to share in their lives.

This first picture is Gavin who was born on May 2nd.Now for a peek at little Dallas who was born June 8th and is only 6 days old in this picture.Can you tell that they are cousins? Hopefully being only 6 weeks apart in age these two will grow up to be great friends. I'm sure that the two of them are going to keep us busy running after them.

Have a great day and thanks for looking!

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Birthday Cards

I made a couple of birthday cards yesterday for Kelly Jo's (One of the Lead Fiskateers) Happy Birthday Fiskars Crop challenge only to realize when I went to post them that I forgot that they had to have circles on them.

The criteria for this challenge was "Create ANY birthday related project (scrapbook page, 2 cards or altered item) with circles somewhere on it. The circles are to tie in Fiskars 360th birthday."

Oh well, guess I'll have to start over again. Here's the cards that I created for this challenge before realizing that they needed to have "circles" on them.

The first card uses a light purple CB Swiss Dots embossing folder. I then used the Stampendous "Agapanthus Cluster". I love this stamp. I colored the stamp with markers & misted it with water and then stamped the image. I also added glitter glue to the center of each flower. The sentiment is from the Stampin Up set "Wow Flowers" punched out with the large oval & then mounted on the new Scalloped Oval punch.The next card I used Close to Cocoa cardstock and some pattern paper from my stash. I stamped the image from the Stampin Up set "Golden Oldies", colored it with Copics & added Glossy Accents to her birthday hat & glasses. I also used my new Fiskars Effervescence Border Punch and ribbon from Walmart.I'll just add these to the stash of cards that I've set aside for my mother. I know that she'll enjoy sending them out.

Oh well, it's back to the drawing board for me. I have to think "circles". That's the problem when you have your PC downstairs & scraproom upstairs, you miss out on the details. I knew I should have taken my challenge list upstairs with me. lol

Hope you all have a great weekend. I'm off to an auction sale this morning and then tomorrow it's a birthday party for my 3 year old great niece Dakota. TFL!

Friday, June 12, 2009

Penny Black Challenge Blooming Gorgeous Week 52

This week (week 52) the Penny Black Challenge is Blooming Gorgeous. They are pretty open as to what you create as long as it has a Penny Black image or sentiment on it. I chose the Penny Black "Swine & Roses" stamp and colored it with my Prismacolor Pencils and Gamsol. I also added Flower Soft to the bouquet that the pig is holding.
Thanks for looking & have a great weekend.

House Mouse Challenge #41 Red, White & Blue

This weeks House Mouse Monday's Challenge #41 is Red, White & Blue. Although I am Canadian, when I read that the challenge was Red, White & Blue I automatically thought Patriotic. In Canada our colors are Red & White so adding in the blue was a little difficult for me. After digging through my pattern paper, I found this red, white & blue paper that was perfect for the challenge. Adding a House Mouse image was the next trick and I thought that the baseball player mouse would be perfect. I used my Martha Stewart border punch for the stars, my Marvy Scallop Punch and added Glossy Accents to his hat to give added dimension. I'm happy with how it turned out.
Thanks for looking & have a great weekend.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

He’s Here….

He’s finally here…little Dallas Benjamin Richard made his entrance into the world on Monday, June 8th at 12:20 a.m. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 15 1/2 oz and was 21 inches long. Both mommy & baby are doing fine. Dallas is the son of my niece Chantale & her husband Ben and little brother to Chloe & Dakota. Yes Dakota you’re tall enough!

It was so funny last week my niece & I were discussing Dakota (she’ll be 3 on June 14th) about her being a Big Sister and she said “I can’t be a Big Sister, I’m not tall enough.” I didn’t know that they had height requirements on being a big sister. lol

Another little one to love & spoil. My oldest niece Natasha (Chantale’s sister) gave birth to a boy Gavin Richard Keith on May 2nd. He’s their 4th child. Natasha & her husband Greg have 3 boys and a girl. Gavin & Dallas will hopefully grow up being great friends as well as cousins since they are just a little over a month apart in age. Another niece Shaundra and her husband Chris had a baby girl on May 29th. Soon these little one's will be the subjects of my layouts. lol

Congratulations Chantale & Ben!! Also congrats to Natasha & Greg plus Shaundra & Chris.

A Fiskateer Share

Previously I mentioned that during a chat in the Fiskateers Chat Room, I was challenged by Lyn D – Lead Ambassador for Australia to create a card with doodles. I noticed this morning that she had posted my challenge card as well as Tamara’s on the Fiskars Anz Blog. This is a great blog with lots of “eye-candy”, inspirations and ideas. You’ll definitely want to add this to your list of blogs to visit. Thanks again Lyn for a fun challenge! You can see my card as well as the blog post here:
http://fiskarscraft.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/06/a-reader-share.html#comments

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Punch Happy!!

There here!! Yesterday’s Happy Mail brought my new Limited Edition Fiskars Summer Squeeze Punches. I really hesitated on whether or not I needed them but when I saw that one of my favorite eBay sellers had the entire set….I knew that I HAD to buy them. What can I say….I’m addicted to punches.
Unfortunately living in Canada we don’t have the luxury of having Hobby Lobby, JoAnn’s, etc to stalk for these new punches. The nearest Michael’s is an hours commute (one way) so scouting it isn’t possible nor do they even carry these new Limited Edition punches.

My addiction to these Limited Edition Squeeze Punches started last summer when Fiskars had a contest to help name these punches. I was one of 12 who picked the name “Scaredy Cat” for the cat punch. Those who’s winning names were chosen also won the punch that they named. So far I have 2 out of the 4 Halloween Punches (Scaredy Cat & You’re So Corny) and only 1 of the Christmas punches (A Total Flake). But I did manage to find the entire Spring and now the Summer collection of these awesome punches.

The summer line of Fiskars Limited Edition Squeeze Punches consists of “Makin Waves”, “Soleil”, “All Scream” and “Getting Antsy”. Check out Fiskars Crafts (http://www.fiskarscrafts.com/ ) for some great ideas on using these punches.

I can’t wait to play….The ants go marching 2 by 2 hurrah, hurrah….

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Challenge Cards

The other morning I happened to end up in the chatroom with Tamara & Lyn D (Lead Ambassador Australia). We had a great chat talking about various things, among them how Lyn’s enjoying doodling on cards. Lyn issued Tamara & I a challenge to create a card with doodling on it & email it to her. Well, I’m not a doodler at all but I accepted her challenge anyways. Here’s my card for Lyn’s Doodle Challenge for Tamara & I. I used the High Hopes Love Bandit stamp, colored him with Prismacolor Pencils & Gamsol. I then cut him out & popped him up on dimensionals. I then doodled the black lines around the edge of the card, drew in the hearts & colored them with Soffle Pens. I then hand wrote the title on the card. Thanks for making me get out of my comfort zone & to make me think out of the box Lyn. It was a fun challenge. Here's my "Doodle Card". You can find Lyn here http://fiskarscraft.typepad.com/my_weblog/ or at her personal blog http://www.lynd.typepad.com/.

The next challenge that I decided to do was the House Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge. I found this blog a few weeks ago and since I have acquired quite the collection of House Mouse stamps, I’ve decided to put them to good use by doing these weekly challenges. For this weeks challenge #40, it’s Wedding/Anniversary’s. Well since I don’t have any wedding or anniversary House Mouse stamps I decided to use the “Lovely Confetti” image. I colored it with my Copics and punched it out with my Marvy punch and layered it on a Marvy Scalloped Circle. I then added Glossy Accents to the hearts. Then I added a circle stamp, popped it up and layered it with my SU scallop circle. The verse is an old stamp that I have and it’s punched out & layered on a Marvy scalloped rectangle. Check out all the other great challenge cards here http://housemouse-challenge.blogspot.com/.The third challenge that I did was for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge that I’ve recently stumbled across. You can visit the blog here http://pennybfriendssaturdaychallenge.blogspot.com/. This weeks challenge #51 is a sketch. I love the sketch that Domi came up with. I used my Penny Black Love Notes dog image, colored it with my Prismacolor Pencils & Gamsol and cut it out with my Nestabilities. The pattern paper is from a DCWV Mat Pack. I finished it off with Prima flowers & added a brad in the center of each of the flowers. The sentiment is from Inky Antics.Thanks for looking & enjoy your day!

Monday, June 1, 2009

Stampsmith Photostamp Cards

Today I decided to make some cards using my Stampsmith Photostamp images. I love these images & Estelle (owner of Stampsmith) is just the nicest person to deal with. I have bought several of different stamp plates from her & love them all. She does ship to Canada too! You can see her stamps at http://www.stampsmith.net/. She has so many beautiful photo stamps to choose from.

I purchased these two Marilyn Monroe images from her some time ago & finally got around to inking them up & making cards with them.

The first card “Marilyn with Flying Dress” was stamped with Ancient Page ink. The pattern paper is from a mat pack, I used my Martha Stewart Apron Lace border punch, black ribbon, a prima and an added pink rhinestone brad from Dollarama.The second card uses the image “Marilyn Sitting” was stamped with Ancient Page ink. The pattern paper is from a mat pack, I used my Sizzix for the scroll, an EK Success Photo Corner punch, the glitter flower is Heidi Grace & I added a ¼” circle with my Fiskars punch and a brad in the center. I love how they turned out.Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Baby Update

I had posted earlier on my blog that my three nieces were expecting and all due in May. Well, I’m thrilled to announce that this month we’ve added two new members to our family. Baby Gavin was born on May 2nd to my niece Natasha and her husband Greg. Then on Friday night (May 29th) my niece Shaundra and her husband Chris welcomed their new daughter to the world. I’m not sure on the spelling for their new daughters name so I’ll have to find that out.

I was talking to my youngest niece Chantale this afternoon and she and her husband Ben are still waiting….not too patiently I might add for the overdue arrival of their first son. By the sounds of things she should be going in any day now.

How lucky am I to have 3 new babies to love and spoil. This takes my Great Niece count up to 6 and my Great Nephew count is currently at 8 and holding for this newest babies arrival.

Month End Update

Wow…it’s so hard to believe that it’s already the first of June. Another month has passed us by and I’ve completed my updates. I’m actually surprised that I’ve created as many cards as I have this past month. But then 12 of them are Thank You cards for my sister and plus a few birthday cards thrown it too. Here’s my month end update:

May 2009 Completed Projects
Cards Created – 45
Layouts Completed – 0
Mini Albums Completed – 0
3D Projects Completed – 2
Punch Art – 0