Thank You Momiji Centre

I was lucky enough to get accepted as a vendor at a lovely local Art/Craft sale which took place this past weekend, an event I've had my eye on for some time but never thought I'd be a part of.

The venue is totally A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! It was located in the central hall of a Japanese Retirement Residence, which was open to the Public for this event. As you entered, you passed a Koi water garden (sigh!). There are 2 enclosed "Libraries" on either side of the long corridor leading to the back, and the ceiling was almost completely glass to allow that gorgeous sunlight in. Both Libraries had super large wood/glass doors, which were open for the event and housed local artisans showing off their beautiful, handmade work. I was located towards the back of the main hall, which had tall bamboo plants almost to the ceiling, on a direct path to a fundraising Cafe that sold sinfully delicious desserts & snacks - could I have gotten a better spot??? Not at all!!! LOL

To be honest, I didn't care a bit if I sold any of my cards ... I was so humbled by the friendliness of the residents and their friends and families, how completely respectful they were. They truly made us vendors feel like "family", and I can't wait to go back and see them again. The Event Coordinators and Volunteers also deserve to be recognized as they did a wonderful job - a huge "Thank You" to you all!

I wanted to show off a lovely card rack that was gifted to me by my Sister-in-Law, Donna. I sent out word to family that I was looking for one but never in my life did I expect to have one of them find the PERFECT ONE, and in such short time. It arrived just in time for this event. It's a 16-pocket spinner, and is located on the left side back corner of my table.

Each of my customers received my business card with each purchase, which provides the link to this blog, so if you happen to be one of them, I want you to know how very appreciative I am for your support and that I hope we meet again at the Momiji Centre at next year's event.

Thanks so much for dropping in and reading my post!

Pop! Clink! Fizz!

I had a lot of fun - and frustration (LOL) - putting this card together.

I've always had a vision in my mind of how this card would come together ever since I saw the PTI release for this stamp set - PTI's Propose a Toast stamp set & co-ordinating die.

It doesn't look anything like my mind's vision! :-)

Does that ever happen to you? It's rather common for me. Many times I set out to create a card, only to go off on another creative curve to end up with a design that is nothing like what I thought it would be. Oh well ... at least I got something done!

The basic pieces of my original idea are here. I used Acetate with the Propose a Toast die to simulate glass champagne glasses, and the words to portray what happens when a bottle of bubbly is opened for a celebration. The PTI Notched Hearts Banner Die Collection diecuts were an afterthought (did I mention I have a HARD time doing CAS cards? LOL).

The sentiment is from PTI's Congratulations Mini Stamp set, and a few iridescent rhinestones were added to finish this card off.

Thanks for "popping" in ;-)

Foliage Thank You card

Early in the Spring I spent the weekend with some card making gal pals at a cottage up north. We go twice a year to spend the 2 or 3 days stamping to our hearts content, without feeling guilty that we're not cleaning the house, or watching the kids (for some of us), or making meals for our DH's. Each of us is responsible for one meal, we all pitch in where needed, but mostly, we gab, we laugh, we drink, we enjoy each other's company and feed each other's creativity. If one of us arrives feeling a sense of no mojo, that quickly changes with the inspiration from what others create.

This card was inspired by one of our gang, Christa, who has a fabulous CAS style that I admire, and try to imitate (i.e. CASE).

As you can see, it's a very simple - yet elegant - card that can be used for any occasion/sentiment. In this case, the stamp set used is Stampin' Up's French Foliage (now retired), with the "Thanks" sentiment from PTI's Wet Paint stamp set. The edges of the card were sponged using Vintage Photo Distress ink to soften the look a bit, and the sentiment panel was accented with Stampin' Up's Real Red cardstock to bring out the linear pattern on the MME graph DP a bit.

Hope everybody had an amazing Father's Day weekend!

Retirement Card for a Dear Friend

Sometimes when I see the digital pictures of the cards I've made, I really - REALLY - wish I knew how to take better photos as I never seem to do the cards justice. (Note to self: learn some basic photography skills!)

This 5" X 7" card is a case in point!

I have a very dear friend who will be retiring after 37 years of teaching, and a more giving person I have never met. Of course, I had to make her a card to celebrate this momentous time in her life, and this is what I came up with:

I recently acquired the My Favorite Things Die-Namics Lily die set (which I thought would make amazing White Trilliums, which are the official symbol for our province of Ontario). As soon as I saw all the lovely cards made with this die on Pinterest, I had to use it for her card.

I used cream & soft pink as the main colours on this card, with Stampin' Ups Mellow Moss for the stems/leaves. The flower "parts" were all cut from the pink cardstock, with some areas coloured with a pink Tombow marker to give them a bit of definition.

I then used the Spellbinders set "A2 Devine Eloquence" and cut the 2 largest dies in cream, adhered the larger to a pink base, then popped up the second die cut in the centre. The largest cream base was dry embossed using an Anna Griffin Embossing Folder release from Cuttlebug (5" X 7"). PTI's Tiny Tags die/stamp set were used for the "Enjoy" sentiment. I finished it off with a satin edged organza ribbon bow.

I hope she likes it ...

Thanks for stopping in - enjoy your day!

Sharing a Couple of Cards

As promised, I'm trying to catch up with all the cards I've been producing lately, but not posting.

My bad!

Both cards are what I consider "summer-y" ... reflective of the season and all the wonderful activities that people enjoy.

My first card uses the Memory Box dies Mini Golf Carts and Golf Border die. I paired it with a sentiment from PTI's On The Links stamp set.

The sky/cloud background was sponged using cloud diecuts, which were moved around to achieve the scattered cloud affect.

The next card uses the Whimsy Stamps Sailboat die, with various sections cut from DP and/or cardstock & put back together. The smiling sun is from PTI's Heart-2-Heart #6, as are the cloud diecuts. The sentiment is from PTI's Birthday Basics stamp set.

Along the edges of my "waves", cut with Impression Obsession Wave Dies, I added a bead of Frosted Lace Stickles to give the edges a foamy affect ... like breaking waves ;-)

That's all for now. I've been SO wanting to join along in so many wonderful card challenges, so hopefully my next post will be along those lines!

Enjoy your weekend, wherever you may be, and thanks for spending a wee bit of it here with me.

Custom Grad Card & Update

It's hard to believe I've not made one single post in almost two months! When I had this blog design developed, I vowed to post frequently so as not to have wasted my money on the blog's cost.

But I've been busy with a couple of Craft Shows, with one more weekend event booked for later this month, so it's not as if I haven't been creative. I have, I have ... it's just that I've neglected this blog in favour of producing more card choices for my potential buyers.

Soon all that should settle down and I hope to do some catching up by posting all the cards I've been making since my last post in early April.

For today, I have a custom graduation card ordered at my last sale. I used the school colours and the Graduate's name (done with a CTMH letter stamp set), along with the Congrats embossing folder, PTI's For the Graduate cap die, and Tim Holtz Vintage Market Alphabet/Number set for the graduating year.

The numbers were touched up with a Wink of Stella brush in clear glitter - love how it adds that subtle touch of shimmer!

So nice to see the warmer weather (which makes it even harder to craft inside) - hope you are enjoying it. Happy Summer and thanks for taking the time to drop in.