Wednesday 28 March 2012

Dreamin' of Summa time

Apparently it's spring. I haven't evidenced a whole lotta spring happening though. There's a bit; tulips are poking up, grass is starting to green, the mud is gone (hurrah), but I'm still feeling the chill. I have the heat on. I'm warming up with a cup o' Earl Grey. But I know spring will make it's grand appearance and then SUMMER. I'm definitely a summer girl. (Maybe a little less now that I have kids and I can't just relax and read a book lounging on the beach ;)

The photos in today's page were taken at a somewhat-local exhibition that happens every September long weekend. Living on a farm, we have an affinity for tractors and even with all the other events and shows going on, the tractors are a big hit with us.

Have a peek:
 





Mason was almost 14 months here - a super fun age! He thought the tractors were great! (as did we all!) I have WAY more photos of him on various JD's (John Deere for all you cityfolk) but I didn't want to overcrowd. Maybe I'll do a 2nd page coordinating layout with some of the others.

Anyways, boy, was he a trooper. It's a pretty long day starting with a 90 minute drive to the fair and then walking around all day (which he was either walking, in the stroller, or in the wagon), and then another drive home.  Not to mention that it's usually pretty hot and you're in the dust. Thinking back now, this was a super fun day and I'll have to scrapbook some other moments too. Looking at the animals and the petting zoo were some other highlights!

Hope you're having a great start to your day! Yay for Wednesday. My weekend blew by but now it's already mid-week again! 

Take Care!

Tamara

Tuesday 27 March 2012

A Little Thank You

By little, I mean 3x3. I love these cards and I think my customers appreciate them too! This was a super easy but simply beautiful little card! I got the idea from Jessica Taylor.

Take a full sheet of Whisper White card stock and stamp over the entire sheet with the image(s) you desire. (In this case, I used Flower Fancy in Baja Breeze and So Saffron). Then cut up your card stock into the appropriate size (I cut mine 2 3/4" sqaure to fit the 3x3 card base). Adhere to card base and pop up a sentiment. You could make this into a regular sized card as well (4 1/4" x 5 1/2"). 

Hope you like today's little card!

Tamara 

Stampin' Supplies:

Stamp Set: Flower Fancy, Short & Sweet
Ink: Baja Breeze, So Saffron Classic Ink
Card Stock: Baja Breeze, So Saffron, Whisper White
Accessories: Modern Label Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

Monday 26 March 2012

A Baby Brag Book

This is an adorable little brag book that I made for our cousin who had a baby girl in July! They live in another province so I finally got to meet her in January! Her name is Zienna and she's such a cutie! (I don't have any photos of her so you'll have to take my word for it.)

Anyways, this is a really easy album to make. If you'd like me to post a photo tutorial, please leave me a comment and I'll do one up!

Enjoy!
Tamara


Stampin' Supplies:
Card Stock: Perfect Plum, Pretty In Pink, Nursery Nest DSP
Stamp Set: Rough Type Alphabet, Bordering on Romance (Occasions Mini)
Ink: Perfect Plum Classic Ink
Tools: Big Shot Die Cutting Machine, Top Note, Paper Piercing Tool, Stampin' Dimensionals, Decorative Label punch, Itty Bitty Punch pack
Accessories: Flower Brads, Crochet Trim, Basic Jewels Rhinestones, Clear envelopes (for inside)

Friday 23 March 2012

Simple Well Worn

This is a GREAT fall-to layout and you can switch it up to portray anything you like! This masculine card was for a customer who's been down with an injury. The Well Worn designer series paper contains some great "manly" images. The earthy colours are fun to use as well. I sponged all the edges of the circles and ovals with Early Espresso. A simple greeting with a metallic brad and it's done! Pretty simple but still makes a statement!

Be sure to stop by tomorrow!

Thanks,
Tamara


Stampin' Supplies:
Card Stock: Soft Suede, Marina Mist, Very Vanilla, Well Worn DSP
Ink: Early Espresso
Stamp Set: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Tools: 3/4" circle punch, Wide Oval punch, Large Oval punch, Paper Piercing Tool, brad, stampin' dimensionals


Thursday 22 March 2012

Mojo Monday - A Baby Card



I decided to play along with the Mojo Monday Challenge this week! I really enjoy these challenges as it helps me to create a unique card rather than CASEing all the time! 

Here's the sketch:




 

Here's my take:

I needed to make a card for a brand new baby that was born in our church so thought I'd use the challenge as a starting place. I knew I'd use the Nursery Nest DSP as I'm making some coordinating photo blocks as part of the gift. I'll be sure to post photos when I have those completed too!

Baby Girl came a week late so the sentiment on the card fits perfectly! She was definitely So Worth the Wait! I stamped the Baby Bundle stamp in behind the sentiment using Blushing Bride Classic Ink. It adds another baby element and fills up all that white space.

I didn't want the card to be overwhelmingly girl, but I wanted it to hint at girl, so I paired the Pink Pirouette background in the DSP with some Marina Mist, Perfect Plum, and Concord Crush accents. I'm pleased with how it turned out. Let me know your thoughts!

Tamara

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps: Word Play, Baby Bundle (Occasions Mini)
Ink: Versamark, Blushing Bride Classic Ink
Card Stock: Perfect Plum, Whisper White, Marina Mist, Concord Crush, Pear Pizzazz, Nursery Nest DSP
Accessories: Basic Jewels Rhinestones, Black Embossing Powder, Stampin' Dimensionals, Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Floral Fusion Sizzlit, Little Leaves Sizzlit, Scallop Border Punch

Tuesday 20 March 2012

A Cup of Thanks

I completely forgot about posting yesterday! It was my birthday and I guess I'm getting more forgetful with age! So sorry! 

The card I'm showing today is CASE'd from Heather Summers. I love her work! She has a super cute purple pig on her blog today and it's a giveaway so make sure you pop over to her page and leave a comment!!


This card features the stamp set Tea Shoppe (available until April 30th!) and the Everday Enchantment Designer Series Paper (free with a $60 order but only until March 31st!)

The DSP has a sponged look around the edges already but since I cut this down from 12x12, I needed to sponge the unsponged edges to make it go. We used the labels framelits for a simple and sophisticated background for the oh-so-pretty teacup. The teacup was stamped on Very Vanilla cardstock using Pool Party ink and then fussy cut. It doesn't take long at all and adds so much to the card! I used the sticky note technique to get a smaller size for the tea bag sentiment. In case you can't read it, it says "you suit me to a tea".  Some coordinating Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon and a couple of pearls and there is a beautiful card!

Kudos to Heather on a beautiful card design! 

I think I might go have a cup of tea :) Earl Grey is my fav, what's yours?

Tamara


Sunday 18 March 2012

A New Tradition!

This past fall we went to a local Pumpkin Patch and it was so fun! It was a pretty cold day, but we suffered through it and saw all there was to see!

This page was so fun to create. I love how the photos stand out but they blend in at the same time.

 Getting a decent picture was difficult! I don't know if Mason has ever stood still longer than 5 seconds in his life! I think I may have close to 20 photos of our heads in those wooden cut outs and Mason isn't looking in ANY of them. This is the best I could do! 

I just love the little photo of Mason yelling at Charlie Brown. They were just his size.

I'll have a TON of new cards to show off (including a BEAUTIFUL Inside-out Joseph's Coat Technique card that my mom-in-law made for my birthday!) So many talented people in my family!! Make sure to check back this week for those!!


Hope you've had a GREAT weekend - oh, and if you haven't signed up for Heather's My Digital Studio course yet, do it quick. If we can get 50 more people to sign up, she's going to extend the class another two weeks and keep the content available until the end of the year!! Amazing!!! Go HERE to sign up! It's only $20!!!


Tamara

 

Friday 16 March 2012

DinoROAR!

How did it get so late? The day completely got away from me! It's almost 10pm and no post!

I'm SO so so happy I got this stamp set. When the 2011/2012 Idea Book & Catalogue came out I did the "eenie meenie miney moe" between I Dig You and Dinoroar - 2 incredibly cute stamp sets that are geared towards little boys (or big boys, or construction/dino diggin' girlies).  I Dig You won out BUT then I had some extra hostess dollars and really didn't know what to get so I got Dinoroar...finally!!! Why didn't I get this set months ago?!?!?!? I can only hope that it makes the cut into the next catalogue! It's so stinkin' cute!

I had wanted to try a gatefold card for some time. I kept seeing them on other blogs and decided to give it a shot. They're pretty easy to make and have a lot of "wow" to them so all in all, they're a great card style to switch it up once in a while. Every time I showed this card off, people said, "Wow, that's a cool card!". I even made a bunch for my sidelines as a monthly swap AND this one was sent in to Stampin' Up! for a demonstrator challenge. (That's why the photo isn't so great. It was in a clear envelope for sending and since I forgot to take a photo of it at home, this is the best I got!)

 There she is! Ever since The Land Before Time, I will ALWAYS think of any triceratops as being 1) a girl 2) named Sarah 3) REALLY bossy! Anyone with me?

Anyhoo, I love this colour combo of Lucky Limeaid and Island Indigo. Those colours just go together like peanut butter and syrup (don't tell me you've never tried it...A.maz.ing)

The polkadot DSP is from the 2011-2013 In Colour Paper Stack, the Lucky Limeaid brads are from the In Colour Designer brads, and I ran that Lucky Limeaid panel through the Big Shot with the Houndstooth embossing folder. I stamped the dino in Jet Black StazOn on Naturals White card stock and them coloured him using an Aquapainter and ink pads.  I didn't get a photo of the inside :( but it says "ROAR - that means happy birthday in dinosaur" I also used a flower punch to take a "bite" out of one corner of the inside panel.

Too bad I don't have better photos. You can't even tell it's a gatefold card! The good news is that this is one of our cards for this months' technique class on the 21st! I will be sure to take some better photos and post them all so you get the full meal deal.

Alright, I've gotta jet and find some other fun and fancy fold cards to teach to my wonderful stamp club! They've got high hopes for this class (as do I)! It's gonna be grrrreat!

Have a super weekend!

Tamara

Thursday 15 March 2012

Trend Colors

I think I've mentioned before that I am head over heels in love with yellow and gray. I've done a few scrapbook layouts using these two colours and I made a Valentine's card for my hubby as well. Now, when I showed it to him, he thought it was girly SO he didn't get it! I gave him a different card (it was an old swap and I just made a card base for it). 

I sent this card into Stampin' Up! for a challenge entry instead. I haven't heard anything so I guess I didn't win :( Boo hoo.

I still think it's pretty :) What do you think?

 I think this could easily pass as a wedding or engagement card as well.  If I hadn't sent it to Stampin' Up!, I probably would've used it for an upcoming wedding. I guess I can always recreate it (but make it better somehow!)


I'm so happy tomorrow's Friday. Anyone else with me?


Tamara


Stampin' Supplies:
Stamp Set: Take it to Heart (Occasions Mini), Fabulous Phrases
Card Stock: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer paper
Ink: Versamark, Jet Black StazOn
Accessories: Basic Black satin ribbon, Black Embossing Powder, sticky strip, Stampin' Dimensionals, Multipurpose Liquid Glue
Tools: Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine, Heart Collection Framelits, Fancy Fan Letterpress Plate, Heat Tool
 
 

Wednesday 14 March 2012

Punch Art Panda

I don't often need to make get well cards. That's a good thing in my opinion. So how was it that last week I needed THREE! There has been a lot going on in my family and inner circles lately so with a bit of a heavy and anxious heart, I created. 

This card is for my brother, Dean. I doubt it's reached him yet since I popped it in the mail on Sunday. I had wanted to make him a Steampunk themed card but was having a rough go of it and wasn't happy with any of my ideas so I switched gears completely. His wife brought him an uber soft, incredibly cute stuffed panda and some flowers for his hospital room. (He had surgery on March 5th and had a long string of complications occur to which he ended up having an emergency surgery and two blood transfusions among other things. THANKFULLY, he was released today and came home. My mom went over to help with the transition. I am so thankful to all of my friends, family, and church family who have diligently been praying for him and to my Savior who hears and answers our prayers!!!)

Anyways, here's the card:

 Awww...isn't it cute?!? It's a center step card so it sits up nicely. I think he'll like it. He's a bit of softie (but don't tell him I said so). Dean, if you're reading this - I love you! 

Have a great day, folks!

Tamara


Tuesday 13 March 2012

January Thank You's

Every month, I try to make a new 3x3 Thank You card for my stamp club orders. Sometimes I brainstorm and plan them on my own, and other times I get inspiration from ones I see on blogs or Pinterest.  

January's card was pretty simple and quick. I had seen a full card on Stampin' Connection (a demonstrator only website) and I just simplified it (as well as changed the punch) to make it fit a 3x3 card.







I write on a little sticky note inside so that the recipient is able to re-use this card. Cute, eh?

Thanks for stopping by today!

Tamara

Stampin' Suppliies:
Stamps: En Francais, Outlined Expressions (SAB)
Card Stock: Lucky Limeaid, Whisper White
Ink: White Craft Ink, Jet Black StazOn
Accessories: 5 petal punch

Monday 12 March 2012

Super quick!

Good Morning! This is just a super quick post today! I hope you like today's page :)

 Features my favorites- yellow and gray! And I threw in a pop of red as well. This is Mason when he was not quite 1 month old. He fell asleep in the curve of the nursing pillow. So sweet! Hard to believe that now he's literally running around the house with his underpants on his head yelling "Captain Undies, Captain Undies!!"

Have a great day!

Tamara

Saturday 10 March 2012

A Productive Morning!

Yaa for Saturday! While I wasn't able to sleep in today (our 2.5 year old gave us a 6:45am wake up call!) I DID manage to create 4 cards today! One for my mom, a dear friend who has been quite sick, a stamp club member who was injured at work, and my big brother who is in the hospital after some complications from surgery earlier in the week! Now I just need to pop some stamps on them and send them off!

I'm not going to feature any of those cards today as I don't want to COMPLETELY ruin the surprise for the recipients (just in case they ever read my blog). 

What I am going to share today is a page I created in MDS:

 Anyways, this page is super cute. Heather Summers is a pretty amazing woman and I am so grateful that she's willing to share her pages and tips with us! I completely and utterly LOVE this photo of Mason and me. He was "tolerating" a kiss from me but wasn't about to return it! The journaling details some of the things I love about him and I hope he'll treasure my words when he's all grown up :)

I'm sad to say I'm a little behind in the scrapbook class. I've completed 11 of 20 pages! Eek. That's sure a lot better than if I hadn't joined the class (which you can too if you like), but I had hoped to do one page a day. Maybe I'll be able to catch up a bit over the weekend.



I hope YOU have a productive day doing what you want!!

Tamara

Friday 9 March 2012

"Me Make Man Card..."

Just imagine me saying that like Tarzan.

Why are masculine-appearing cards so much more difficult or seem to be more difficult? I'm sure it takes me twice as long to create a simple man card as it does to create a complex and beautiful feminine card! 

I'm going to go all introspective for a moment so if you get bored, just scroll down to the first pic!

I think as a women, we like complicated things. We do like simple things (why else would we fall for a man? ouch.) but deep down, we like it when it's crazy! We add too many things to our already busy day, take on another aspect of our job that we don't really have time for, have kids ('nuff said), like to have more than two ingredients in our salad, and have to add pearls and/or ribbon to EVERY CARD WE MAKE! There, I said it. Rant finished. 




One of the reasons I fell for this card is because it LOOKS simple. There's a truck. That's about it...until you look closer. Yes, there's still a truck, but there's a really cool/complicated technique around that truck. I touched on it yesterday, it's Mosaic Stamping. If you have never tried this before, then get to it! You'll need some leftover rubber bits from when you mount your stamps. Cut it up into all sizes with straight edges. Then, mount allllll those little bits onto a clear block (if you're using clear stamp rubber bits) or onto an old wood block (literally a 2x4 or other small hunk of wood). I suggest going with the 2x4 as then it will be a permanent mosaic stamp. If you go the clear route like I did, there will come a day when you say to yourself, "Self, I know there are 150 little itty bitty pieces of rubber clinging to that block, but it's the size I need for this project!" so you will have to take off every piece. At least I kept them in a ziploc bag so when I DID have to recreate the mosaic, I could just pull all my little pieces out and re-stick them to a clear block.

Some other things to note, I used a simple design for the background with the Stripes embossing folder. I also sponged the edges of the background and cardstock sentiment to tie  into the sponged/antique look of the main image panel.

Let me know what you think. I designed this card myself and so I'm always a little more proud of these cards than ones I CASE completely. I'm Peacock for a Day (well, yesterday too I guess 'cuz that was my own creation other than the layout).

Have a GREAT weekend!

Tamara



Thursday 8 March 2012

My First Challenge Card!!

I decided it was about time I participated in an online challenge. I'm an avid follower of many blogs and challenges but have never actually completed one....until now! 

I am pleased to announce that I played along with The Paper Players Challenge #85 "Spring has Sprung" today as well as using the sketch from Mojo Monday (even thought it's now Thursday)!
 

I had a few goals in mind, namely to create a card that's a little more over-the-top than usual for my style, to come up with a bookmark-type element that I could possibly use for an upcoming conference a friend is organizing, and to have some new material for all of you!

Less babbling, more photos, right?

Here ya go...
 
 My colours are Soft Suede, Baja breeze, Lucky Limeade, and Very Vanilla.  I used the Mosaic technique that I learned from Dawn Olchefske's blog a few weeks back. 
I coloured my image (from Lovely as a Tree) using Lucky Limeade and Early Espresso Stampin' Write Markers and then stamped my mosaic stamp (homemade) in Versamark. Following that, I then heat embossed with Clear Embossing powder. My clear powder had a little run in with some leftover back embossing powder in my Powder Pal hence the black flecks. Kinda looks like it's intentional or like I colour spritzed it but...no, I didn't. I need to get a new clear embossing powder. Next order.  Once it cooled, I sponged some Soft Suede ink in all the grooves and then wiped off the excess with a paper towel. I sponged the edges of all paper layers as well to give it an aged/antique look.  

The bookmark/tag received a string of pearls anchored with a bronze metallic brad at either end. I like how the pearls are dainty and the brads bring in some structure. 

I pulled a single thread from the Baja Breeze seam binding ribbon to create the scruncy ribbon on top of the tag. For the ribbon around the circle (Bigz Die 3 1/2" Circle) I adhered Sticky Strip to the back and then folded the ribbon over itself to created that ruffled edge. I was really pleased with how it turned out. I wasn't quite sure if it would look alright when I started.

I ran the Baja Breeze pennant through the Big Shot using the Elegant Lines embossing folder and then sponged just the edges and embossed portion to help it stand out a little more.  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes (a must have stamp set!). 


Here's the finished card one more time so you don't have to scroll all the way back to the top!


Hope you've enjoyed today's post! I sure enjoyed creating this card and may just make it a habit to participate in more of these challenges!

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Tamara

Wednesday 7 March 2012

Autumn Family Photos


This past fall, my good friend, Louisa, did some AMAZING family photos for us! I am so blessed to have friends with so much talent! I've been having a lot of fun creating scrapbook pages to compliment our beautiful photos. 
The photos were taken in "The Bunkhouse" which was the homestead of my husband's great-great-grandparents. Our son, Mason, is the 6th generation. I love that I married into a family with so much history! I'll have to do a scrapbook to capture some of that history. Someday.

This page features many of the Sale-a-bration goodies that can be ordered FREE from the Sale-a-bration catalogue with a $60 (Canadian) order. To make an online order go to my Online Store.

Thanks for stopping in! 

Tamara