Sick anyone?

I have been struggling with a flu/cold since Christmas day... not too much fun but now it is just a nasty head cold. Have you seen these new vintage images from CHF...called "common cold"? There are quite a few fun ones and I thought I would pair it up with one of my favorite sentiments "suck it up". My mother in law gave me oregano oil in my stocking and this stuff is supposed to help with cold and flu. ONE POTENT drop under the tongue...it has me dancing a little but I have learned to "suck it up". I think I make that funny face the boy is making in the image too...

The copic coloring I did on this image was a little different. I used the palette technique and rubbed some colors (YG95, BG10) onto a transparency and then used my blender pen to pick up the color. This gave me a softer water color look while maintaining the tones of color that are in the patterned paper.

The fun paper is by Cosmo Cricket "The Boyfriend Collection" and I tweeked the journaling label a little and added "sick" with my dymo label gun.
Here are the rest of the card deets:
Stamps:
Common Cold (SEP), Domestic Love (ATC) by Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink:
Tuxedo Black Memento (Tsukineko), Red Pepper Adirondack (Ranger)
Paper:
Boyfriend (Cosmo Cricket)
Accessories:
Copic MarkersDymo Label Gun
Arrow Sticker, Label (Cosmo Cricket)
Punch (EK Success)
Tiny Staples (Tim Holtz)

See you tomorrow for my "news" and for the Taylor Sketch challenge!

Back in the saddle again....

Hello again....after a little break I am back and refreshed! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a little break too!
Want to see what occupied A LOT of my time last month?...
These are the quilts I made for family. I didn't end up following any pattern, I just cut a bunch of brick size pieces in 10 different patterns and then sewed them all together!
Here is a close shot of the one I did for my husband's folks. All the fabric is Michael Miller....yummy stuff!

Here is a close shot of the one I made for my dad. I think they all really loved them and what a huge relief it was to finish them on time!

A couple of catching up things:
Did you know there are two certification classes being offered in Anaheim during CHA. They are Friday and Saturday (January 22nd and 23rd). I will be teaching both....if this is something you are looking to make a part of your CHA trip applications can be found here:
COPIC CERTIFICATION APPLICATIONS
We are going to have a blast!

Also....some fun news is going to be announced here on January 1st! Watch for that!!!!

Ok...I lied....

I decided to do one more post before Christmas....
This is what is going on our table for when my family comes for Christmas... I decided to do some fun, whimsical, non-traditional colors.
If you have empty rolls of TP around you can make these fun little table crackers and stuff them with fun things. I used Studio paint and stamped the woodgrain backgrounder from Cornish Heritage Farms on kraft card stock.
I sent the kids hunting around the neighbourhood for pinecones then I added some paint to a yoguart container and a little bit of water and shook to coat these pinecones. Here they are drying on some parchment paper.
I went to the dollar store looking for some cute hair accessories and didn't find any so I bought a bunch of the plain silver clips and made my own. This was very easy...some some cute spellbinder dies, felt and buttons.....
I had some extra pine cones left over so I added them to the table centerpiece. I rolled these candles in epson salts to give them the snowy look. The blue candles weren't quite the right shade so I painted those and then rolled them in the salt. The paint acts like glue and it worked quite nicely.

Well all my "crafty" prep is done....and the projects I will show you after Christmas (as to not ruin any surprises).
Merry Christmas!

Christmas Winter Wishes

Hello! Welcome to Taylor's sketch challenge friday...I thought it would be perfect to end the week with something Christmas, traditional, dainty and pretty....some of my few favorite things!
Can you tell I'm loving the petite papers from Webster's pages! I did a tag last week using this same paper HERE...I am so glad the pack has more than one sheet of this!
I created my own frame by using my spellbinder dies and then covered it with glue then glitter. A nice snowy feel...even though it is rain here.

Here are all this cards' details:
Stamps:
Skater's Pond (Thomas Kinkade) by Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink:
Espresso Adirondack (Ranger)
Paper:
Linen (CHF)
Petite Papers (Webster's Pages)
Accessories:
Copic Markers
Glitter (Martha Stewart)
Die cuts (Spellbinders)
Felt Strip, Flowers (Prima)
Ribbon (Offray)
Button
Crocheted flower (made by me)

A little close up to see how I combined a spring crocheted flower with the pointsetta. I tried to mimic this color scheme in the skirt of the skater. Pink and Red can look sooo pretty together.
Here is a close shot of the image. An oldie but a GOODIE! I stamped it on new linen paper from CHF and it instantly gave it this pretty aged feeling. Added glitter to my scene as well with my glue pen.

Here is the sketch so you can play along in TAYLOR'S challenge.
Don't forget to see what the rest of the sketch crew came up with:
Monika Davis: M.A.D. Stamper
Melissa Sauls: In Stamping Mode
Alice Lihsuan-Wertz: Alice's Little Wonderland
Lisa Hjulberg: The Craft's Meow


Just a little note to let you know that I am taking this next week off...Wishing all of my blogging friends a very BLESSED CHRISTMAS to you and yours!

Kissin' Cookies

Mmmm, yummy post today! Julia challenged us on SCS to make something sweet and share a family favorite recipe as well. I have a lot of those great glassine bags that I can give away cookies in and thought that this would be a quick and tasty recipe to share as well.
Here is my close shot of the card with Flopsey. The sentiment jumped right out at me as I was using Hershey's Kisses in my recipe. I did a little paper piecing with the recliner and colored flopsey with my copics. For the bunny I used E40,E43,E44 and a little R20 in his ears and cheeks. Added a skiff of highlights with my opaque white paint from copic as well.
The crocheted flower I made myself and I thought the chocolate ric rac added a nice compliment to the ever so fabulous "early bird paper collection" from Cosmo Cricket.
Yummy, here is the close shot of a family favorite and the recipe:
1/2 c. margarine
1/3 c. peanut butter (I use smooth)
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 c. flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Hershey's Kisses (I used 50...but maybe I ate a few)

Cream together your butter and sugar. Add egg, peanut butter and vanilla...mix well. Mix dry ingredients then combine all together. Roll 1" balls in your hand and roll in a plate of sugar to coat, place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes (or until you see cracking of the edges of the cookie). Place hershey kisses in the center and bake 2-3 minutes longer. Remove, cool and enjoy!


*******Here is a fun little alteration to my stick pin. Thinking of chocolate I LOVE dipped items. Ice cream cones (Dairy Queen), fruit, pretzels...basically anything goes well with good chocolate. I wanted my stick pin to have that chocolate look so I dipped it in my golden acrylic paint and blasted it with my heat gun. I love that it is very imperfect... just like a real dipped item.
See you back here tomorrow for some Taylor sketch fun! I'm off to enjoy some coffee and cookies!

Clear Ornament

Hi everyone! We had a little blast of winter here last night and it put me in the mood to make a little winter ornament. I picked up these clear glass ornaments last year at Michaels after Christmas...they were CHEAP! I stamped this little pure innocence girl "Flurry of Love" from My Favorite Things on the ornament with Stazon ink.

I colored her outfit from the backside of the glass with my copics. As you can see the blending ability of colors is a little different on non porous surfaces and I find I needed to reach for a little bolder colors. For example her face I colored with E13. Her jacket is a combo of BG13, BG18.

After I was done coloring I used my rock candy crackle accents to cover the front of the glass. It dried with that neat crackle effect which was hard to capture in the photo but looks great in real life! Final touches of liquid applique for the snow and I was done!
A sweet little gift item that I can tuck inside a card.

Enjoy your day!

Tags o' plenty!

Yesterday I had a lot of fun with "the girls" making some Christmas tags....I managed to squeeze in a few for myself while showing some basic ink/stamp techniques. There are too many stamp companies, patterned papers and techniques to mention them all by name. I basically took a "smattering" of my supplies down to the kitchen table and just had at it! Way fun!
Here is a closer shot at one of my more "technique" tags. This tag is only one layer but looks very deep due to all the technique steps...the camera didn't catch my shimmer from my glimmer mist so you have to take my word for the glow of the "walnut gold" spray.
Another technique tag done with a pretty background stamp. Yes, we glitterfied everything! LOL!
I also had some fun with felt too...adding softness and texture to a few of my tags. This one highlighting beautiful patterned paper!
I'm looking forward to adding these to my gift packages this Christmas!
Off to finish up some projects....I promise to show you some photos when I am done! Until then I am under my sewing machine....I have a cheap Janome machine that I purchased when I got married....it owes me NOTHING....I just hope it holds out till I am done my gifts!

Thanks for stopping by and have a good one!

Taylored Expressions Challenge #94!

Had to pull this photo.....see you Monday!

Happy Friday! Well this week just FLEW! Most of the time I didn't know whether we were coming or going and trying to maintain the delicate balance of a very full Christmas schedule! I have noticed that this year in particular is very busy but I think that is because my kids are old enough to have a social life...but not old enough to drive. Their social life is ours right now and don't get me wrong...I'm NOT complaining as I know I will miss these days soon enough. I am just thrilled it is FRIDAY!

I showed you a wintery tag yesterday so today's tag is a little more general. I picked up these great memory capsules and couldn't wait to try them out!
It was so easy to make a little frame with my spellbinder dies, I could just slip them over top of the bubble to see which sizes I would need.

I thought this gorgeous botanical flower stamp matched the feel of this paper perfectly! I stamped and then colored the flower with copics, I also went over the flower with my clear spica pen for some shimmer. I used some microbeads for the memory capsule....tip: don't use too many beads or you won't see your lovely image.

I tacked down some trim on the bottom of my tag as well as above my sentiment. If you look closely you can see how I followed the sketch. One main panel and then two off set panels (my flower and my sentiment). I love Taylor's sketches for inspiration, they are truly a creative "kick-start"!
Here is a close up of the capsule. So pretty with the beads and I let my circle wander a little off the edge of my tag for fun. I used my copics RV0000, RV11 and R37 to color the flower...I know, not a common color combo but it worked really well giving me a lot of contrast on the petals in a very small amount of space.
Here are all my tag details:
Stamps:
Botanical Bliss (ATC), Silhouette Blooms II (Kim Hughes) by Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink:
Espresso Adirondack (Ranger)
Paper:
Petite Papers (Webster's Pages)
Shipping Tag
Accessories:
Memory Capsule, Tiny Attacher (Tim Holtz)
Microbeads
Circle dies (Spellbinders)
Copic Markers
Clear Spica Pen (Copic)
Ribbon (Prima)
Eyelet (We R Memory Keepers)

Here is the sketch so you can play along in TAYLOR'S challenge.
Don't forget to see what the rest of the sketch crew came up with:
Jami Sibley: More is More
Monika Davis: M.A.D. Stamper
Lynn Mercurio: Stamperosity
Melissa Sauls: In Stamping Mode
Alice Lihsuan-Wertz: Alice's Little Wonderland
Lisa Hjulberg: The Craft's Meow

Enjoy your weekend...I get to make a bunch of gift tags this weekend for my christmas gifts...hoping to share pictures with you on Monday!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

It is -8 here and the perfect conditions to "let it snow". They are calling for some snow in our forcast by the weekend...my kids are THRILLED!
Believe it or not snow is not a regular occurrence here on the west coast of Canada. We usually get it once and then it melts away into rain. So snow is pretty exciting here when it happens (exciting on the roads too with inexperienced drivers)...
I am having the girls over this weekend to make some pretty christmas tags and so I have all the "tag goodies" on my desk and couldn't help but play a little!
I picked up this gorgeous Webster's Pages Petite papers yesterday and this sheet was calling to me.
The large christmas tree was perfect for the fun winter scene I wanted to create.
I played along in the WT challenge today on SCS....we were challenged to pick a winter carol and incorporate it into our project....perfect! I'll be humming this song all day!



Here is a close up of the tune...it is a rub-on from Melissa Frances.
Here is a close shot of the stamped portion of my tag. This little fireplace scene is from "night before christmas" in the rummage bin from Cornish Heritage Farms. I stamped the scene then paper pieced the little girl with the candle over top as I wanted to color her jammies pink with my copics. I also used my glue pen and glitter to add ornaments to the tree and to jazz up the little stocking.

Now just waiting for the snow.....

Marching Band Madness

My daughter has been in FULL swing with marching band "gigs" (as she calls them). Tis' the season.... Here they are the MEI SCREAMIN' EAGLES MARCHING BAND!

I did this really fun layout of her with the band. Mainly Melissa Frances paper products in this layout (minus the prima flourish). The letters come as a off white sparkle color and they needed some more "punch" so I airbrushed them with a dark marker to match. I ran out of "H" as well so I cut out the negative portion from my chipboard sheet to have the letters that I needed. Instead of using the "o" I used the middle part of it so that I could create a note.
I stamped my "aged sheet music" Scrapblock from CHF to go behind the big band picture.



Here is a closer look of her...playing with her hat, hitting the high note and a grin of accomplishment....You rock sweetie!

Bella Birthday Bash

I'm chasing my tail once again as I didn't get this card finished in time for the Bella blog hop but I am pleased that I did get it finished in time for the Birthday Bash Contest! This card fits the bill perfectly for me today as my little sweetie turned 14! She is definitely one of "my favorite things!" I know this Ketto girl is more "spring" but I winterized her a little with cutting out one of the hats from my patterned paper to make her a little more festive.
Here is a close up of my "list". She is at the top of it! For fun I added some fun favorite winter activities with some Melissa Frances rub-ons.
Here is my whole supply list:
Stamps:
Ketto's Dolly, top 10 favorite things memory block (Stamping Bella)
Ink:
Tuxedo Black Memento (Tsukineko)
Paper:
Jolly by Golly (Cosmo Cricket)
Accessories:
Copic Markers
Snowflake dies (Spellbinders)
Felt
Brad (American Crafts)
Rub-on sentiments (Melissa Frances)
Dymo Label Gun

Happy Birthday to both my girl and Stamping Bella! See you monday!

Taylored Expressions Challenge #93!

Happy Friday everybody! It is sketch challenge time again...we took a little holiday last week but here we are again....hope you play along!
We have had an exciting week in our family! My sister had a baby....this is one of the best occasions to create a card! These fabulous vintage images are from the "baby dear" set in the Rummage Bin at CHF. Did you know that Julia created this set? A definite "must have" for your stamp collection.
The images are colored with copics...you can tell that I reach for my light markers A LOT...this is why...they pair up beautifully with the soft vintage paper from Melissa Frances.
I had to chuckle a little as I added in the "oh, boy" sentiment in the last image....this particular "little" baby tipped the scales at a whopping 9lbs11oz!


Here is a close shot of the dimension on this card. I covered each one of my images with a circle fragment. I love how it makes my embellishment look like I bought them this way...but actually made them.
I know my sis looks at my blog so she gets to see this card.
Now the really fun part.... to try to find the perfect little gift to go with my card....








Here is the sketch so you can play along in TAYLOR'S challenge.
Don't forget to see what the rest of the sketch crew came up with:
Monika Davis: M.A.D. Stamper
Lynn Mercurio: Stamperosity
Melissa Sauls: In Stamping Mode
Rachel Sztonyk: Gingerbread Gallery
Alice Lihsuan-Wertz: Alice's Little Wonderland
Lisa Hjulberg: The Craft's Meow

Have a fabulous weekend! It's my babys' birthday this weekend...she turns 14!

Good friends, good books

Read any great books lately?....other than Twilight (not a twilight fan).... I would love to know, I'm always on the search for a good read. It makes times in airports and airplanes zoom by a lot quicker! I'm dabbling and having some more fun with fabric. I love that it is so easy to apply with the creatopia machine from xyron. They get fabric adhesive applied to the back and make my fabric a sticker! No sewing required! ....My sewing machine is occupied these days with Christmas projects....
I thought the fabric circles (cut out with my spellbinder dies) made the perfect kind of "gum drop" tree.
Reading Flopsey is from My Favorite Things...I just inked the bunny and not the books so that I could rest Flopsey under the gum drop tree. Colored with copics E40, E43, BG10, BG13, BG18, YG01, YG03. I did add a little white liquid applique for flopsey's tail...cute little puff of dimension.

Here is a little close up of the fabric. All Michael Miller fabrics. I got them to puff by adding a little cotton batting under them. I just cut the one size smaller of the circle nestie through my cotton batting. Easy!

Today was a "play" sort of day....I think I am avoiding my half done Christmas projects....

See you tomorrow for Taylor's sketch challenge! Yup! We are back at it this week!

Ready for Snow

The sun is out and the temperature is starting to drop. I am ready for some snow...what about you? Anything but more rain is fine with me...
I wanted to show you a nice close up and highlight the flexibility of rub-ons. This sentiment from Melissa Frances didn't appear in the package this way but by rubbing on one word at a time you can manipulate your sentiment to flow with your image. I wanted to go gently around my heart die cut and have my "falling" actually falling...
This card is button galore and I really loved the cute TINY buttons on the scarves of these polar bears.
These bears are so sweet! They are called "Polar Love" (Stephanie Fizer) for My Favorite Things. Colored up with my copics. White bears are perfect for practicing that "fade away to white" technique with the blender pen. You can see a video of that technique HERE.


Here is the whole card in it's button glory. There is actually a button challenge going on in the CARDS blog...my inspiration for today! I used Melissa Frances paper for the background and that lovely sparkly snowflake is from MF as well! Can you see where I used my multiliner?
I made the mound of snow and added the scarf tassles. I even had cut a bit of my image (by mistake) with my heart die...but was able to draw the missing piece back in with my multiliner.

I'm off to work on my Christmas gift projects...time is ticking! It's December 1st! Ack!