With Sympathy

We are finally starting to get some warmer temperatures here in the Toronto area, and rain - instead of snow - is forecast for later today. I'm hoping it will melt the snow that remains and wash away a lot of the grit that winter and snow mounds seem to accumulate.

I can't wait to get my hands "dirty", not with ink, but with gardening! I'm starting to see crocuses and early blooming flowers peek out of the ground - yay!

I got some time over the weekend to devote to cards - double yay! :-)

This was a quick sympathy card I put together using Stampin' Up's Just Believe, and the tag image from Everything Eleanor. I've seen many cards that pair these 2 images together, so I can't take all the credit for this card.

I originally stamped the panel and trimmed it to size, but when I saw this embossing folder in my stash, decided to start over as I wanted to "frame" the image within the embossed area. Mat framing is in Midnight Muse and Smokey Grey cardstock. The sentiment, from PTI's Mega Mixed Messages, was stamped in Midnight Muse on a tag from Spellbinders Ribbon Tag Trio, which also holds the silver/grey satin ribbon to finish off this easy CAS Sympathy card.

Back soon with a card or two that I worked on over the weekend. Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

Motorcycle Birthday

Here's another attempt to step outside my norm of making cards geared to women (i.e. pink; flowers; bling; ribbon).

Not that motorcycles are strictly for guys! I have several gal pals who ride motorcycles. Hmmm ... perhaps I'll put together a "girlie" motorcycle card in the future for them ;-)



This motorcycle diecut is from a Rubber Stamp King set, that also has a coordinating stamp set. Love how the dies also have embossed detail.

With the nicer weather arriving, I'm sure we'll see alot more of these vehicles on the road.

Vrroom, vrroommm!!

Oh Happy Day - Blog Candy Score

Recently I was tickled pink to find out that I won some blog candy from the amazingly talented Jennifer McGuire. She shared a wonderful organizational system for dies on her blog, which I have adopted as my own - I absolutely LOVE IT!

If you want to have a peek, check out her video by clicking here.

My comment on her blog won me some lovely stamp sets, including "Oh Happy Day" from Avery Elle, a fabulous collection of sentiments with an adorable font.

So I paired the title sentiment with a Unity Bicycle image stamp I've had for some time, but never got around to using - until now - for a CAS card design.

Hard to tell by the photo, but some of the dots on the bottom of the card have Diamond Stickles to add some interest to the card.

The quality of the Avery Elle stamps is outstanding - crisp and clean. I will definitely be looking to pick up more from them in the future.

Hope you have a "Happy Day" too!

Papertrey Ink Pretty Peonies Anniversary Set Birthday Card

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of PTI stamps & dies (just ask my card making gal pals! LOL).

This Papertrey Ink Anniversary set, released in February 2012, remains one of my all-time faves of their Anniversary sets. I love the images, the sentiments, how well coordinated the stamps are, and especially, their sizing.

I recently had to make a Birthday card for my BFF, whom I've known since Grade 7, so this is the set I reached for.

Sometimes, it takes me a lot of time to put together a card I'm happy with - the layout, the colours, the elements. Many times I've spent hours in my craft room, only to scrap everything I've worked on, frustrated at myself.

This card wasn't one of them ... it seemed to design itself ! (If the card fairy was there helping me out, why doesn't she come back more often?) :-)

Along with the Butterfly image stamp from the set, I used the matching die set, as well as Spellbinder's Circle Nesties (and Small Scalloped Circles). The top half of the card was embossed with dots, while the bottom half is stamped with a sentiment from PTI's Think Big Favorites #12. The scalloped border is actually PTI's Heart Border die tucked under to only show the top part. A piece of gingham ribbon finished it off.

My friend was delighted with her card - and I was happy with the way it turned out.

Hope you like it too & thanks for stopping by.

Stampin' Up's Petite Petals

When I first started seeing cards made with this set on Pinterest, I tried to shrug off the urge to buy it as I felt I already had enough "flower" stamp sets/dies in my ever-growing collection (does it never end? LOL).

But over time I realized I couldn't live without it so I broke down and purchased it. I'm SO glad I did. It has to be my most used Stampin' Up bundle to date - it's so versatile!

I decided to do a card with a vase of flowers to herald in Spring. With the winter we've had here in the Toronto area, I felt it would never get here! Alas, the warmer temperatures are almost here (almost, as we're still not quite out of the woods), and here's my card:



I used a combination of Stampin' Up cardstock colours (Calypso Coral, Crisp Canteloupe & So Saffron) to punch out the flowers after stamping them with the same colour ink, then added a bit of extra detail with smaller flower punches and an ivory pearl for the centres. I used the SU Sizzlit Leaf die, along with one of the vase dies from PTI's Mega Gracious Vases, which was sponged with Old Paper Distress Ink to soften the edges. The border punch used is one I've had for a long time (likely purchased at Michael's).

Now if only the REAL flowers can start to show their lovely faces!

Happy Spring!