Vintage Clockworks

Clockworks was on my Top Ten of "First things to buy from the new catalogue". I've had it for months and have made a few cards but now I'm really getting into it! What an amazing stamp set!! Just check out this beauty:

 That's a work of art! I almost want to frame it! It's CASE'd from Carolyn King, an Australian demonstrator. She has done a whole set of cards featuring this stamp set and using a similar style. Amazing work, Carolyn! I used this card for my Collage Stamping technique night and received a TON of "WOW" comments.  I'm also planning to give a card to my pastor for Pastor Appreciation Month, however, his will say 'thanks' or 'thinking of you' rather than 'happy birthday'. 

 Just look at the detail. This is definitely worth the time to create! It's probably a 15 minute card if you have all the punches. The only piece that was snipped out by hand is the actual watch part.  The face and cogs are all punched out.

As always, I LOVE to read your comments! Hope you're feeling inspired!

Tamara

Evergreen Shimmer

Evergreen is so elegant and I'm excited that it's MUCH more than a Christmas set. It does have some Christmas images (words to silent night) but the main trees are good for year round. Evergreen trees are coniferous (which means they are green year round - hence the evergreen).

Gathering ribbon adds such an elegant touch. 

 Silver Glimmer Paper adds a touch of shimmer and the Lacy Brocade embossing folder some added texture.

I CASE'd this card from someone but I can't remember who or where I first saw it! If it's you, thank you! I LOVE this design!!

Enjoy!

Tamara

By the Seashore

My wonderful mom-in-law lets me borrow anything and everything from her stash of supplies! I snagged her "By the Seashore" stamp set before she even opened it (with permission of course). I had a seen a sample at the Tacoma Regional convention and knew I had to CASE it. I made this for our stamp club swap this month.

I framed the edges and then sponged Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight, and More Mustard. After that I stamped the sealife in Jet Black StazOn. It's mounted on Gumball Green and a scallop punch of Tempting Turquoise holds the giant T and a tiny "thank you".

What do you think?

Tamara

Gingerbread Love

I came across a similar card on Stampin' Connection. I changed it up to make it my own and then presented it at our October edition of the Christmas Stamper's Dozen class. C to the UTE! (Cute).

The little "bows" are just two hearts punched out using the owl punch and then glued down with a rhinestone (coloured with a red Sharpie marker). Very simple card but super - you guessed it- CUTE!

Thanks for stopping in!

Tamara

By The Seashore -take II

I'm really liking this set. It was one of those sets I thought would mostly be useful for scrapbooking, but I'm changing my tune the more I play with it.

 This was one of our technqiue cards from this past Wednesday. Our technique was Collage Stamping. I CASE'd this card from Karen Leveille (saw it on Stampin' Connection - not sure if she has a blog). The only thing I changed was to use the Woodgrain Embossing folder on the card base (it reminds me of drift wood) and I added the little vintage faceted button on the main starfish. The linen thread is tied to it. Love the clean look.

Hope you are inspired!

Tamara

Snowflake Soiree

I have to admit I was SAD when Serene Snowflakes was retired. I loved the simplicity of the snowflake images BUT then in the Holiday Mini was Snowflake Soiree and my snowflake void was filled!

This lovely card was designed by Josee Smuck, a Canadian demonstrator! I kept her basic design but changed the red and pink for Pool Party and Island Indigo. There's something about blue snowflakes that just feels right.

It's actually not a difficult card to create. It LOOKS complicated but it's quite simple. You can view Josee's video on her blog for details on how to make a "one sheet wonder". 

Can you tell I love the Silver Glimmer Paper? How many projects have I used it on so far? A LOT! The Snowflurry Bigz Die is a quick and easy way to create intricate snowflakes. These ones are just popped up on a dimensional for a quick accent.

Hope you're getting geared up for the big day!

Tamara

Diggers and Things

I've recently started making kid's birthday cards for a ministry at church. Here's my latest:

 It was inspired by a card I saw on Stampin' Connection by Tiffany Quilter.  

I'm loving how quickly this card came together! Not too involved (since most kids don't spend a whole lot of time oohing over a card) but enough detail that mom (or dad) might take an extra long look!

Enjoy,

Tamara

Evergreen

I'm loving the Evergreen stamp set from the Holiday Mini catalogue. It makes my heart beat a little faster, especially when I see all the beautiful samples on various blogs!

Here's  a direct CASE from Leena Girsa that I used at my most recent Christmas Stamper's Dozen:

Simple and elegant.

Thanks for looking!

Tamara

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps: Evergreen, Greetings of the Season
Card Stock: Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding Ribbon, Glimmer Brad, Dazzling Details
Tools: Big Shot, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder

Snow Much Fun!

Snow Much Fun! This is a GREAT winter stamp set. It doesn't have to just be for Christmas. Snowmen are cute all winter long!

This card was a CASE from Andrea Gerstner whom I found on Stampin' Connection (our demonstrator only gallery).

Isn't it cute? I love the snowmen in this stamp set!



Enjoy!
Tamara

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps: Snow Much Fun
Card Stock: Whisper White, Marina Mist
Accessories: Basic Rhinestones
Tools: Big Shot, Snowflurry Embossing Folder, Watercolour Wonder Crayons, Aquapainter

Owl Occasions

This is the one of our "Celebrate the new mini class" cards from August. I'm behind (that's the understatment of the year!). I CASE'd this card from Julie Davison (she always has such great designs).

What's better than googly eyes? SELF-ADHESIVE googly eyes! Yep, no fumbling trying to stick these eyes on. They're just like the pearls & rhinestones with their own glue dot.

 

I just love the chevron!!

Enjoy!

Tamara

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamp Set: Owl Occasions, Bitty Banners
Card Stock: Island Indigo, Gumball Green core'dinations, Real Red, Whisper White, Early Espresso
Accesories: Basic Pearls, self adhesive googlies, Markers - Gumball Green, Island Indigo, Early Espresso, Island Indigo Ruffled Ribbon
Tools: Dimensionals,Chevron embossing folder, Big Shot die cutting machine, sanding block, Itty Bitty punch pack, Window Frames Framelits

Christmas Mini Cards

These cute little 3x3 cards were my Thank you's with all July orders! They came together pretty quick (partly because I didn't have a lot of time). I'm loving how easy it is to stamp and then cut using the framelits. What a versatile bundle!!

I especially love the gingerbread man. I saw a sample with a bow tie and a hair bow for a little man and lady so I'll have to get a sample done like that to show you!

Thanks for stopping in today!

Tamara
 

More Flutterby's

Butterflies make me think of my mom. She used to say (and probably still does) "Butterfly flutters by".  So whenever I think of butterflies, I think of her :)

Sidetrack: Isn't that a cute bow? It's a multiloop bow with three loops! Love it!

I CASE'd this card from Jill Hilliard and she CASE'd it from our Idea Book & Catalogue. 

This is a super QUICK card! And so fitting for so many occasions. You can just pop a sentiment inside or leave it blank. These would be super cute as Thank You cards to give to someone in bulk.

Enjoy!

Tamara

Supply List:
Card stock: Summer Starfruit, Whisper White
Ink: Raspberry Ripple, Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit, Gumball Green
Other: Midnight Muse Stitched Satin Ribbon, glue dot

Papillon Potpourri

I am quickly falling in love with this stamp set - Papillon Potpourri.  I saw this card on Angie Juda's blog and knew I had to make it just for fun! 

I LOVE how it turned out! I made some changes to make it my own but it's still blatantly inspired!

Stamping and punching out those butterflies was a quick job with the help of the new Elegant Butterfly Punch! I stamped three butterflies on very vanilla and punched them out. Then I stamped them again onto the main image panel. I eyeballed the spacing, can you tell? Then I just gently folded each butterfly in half to give it some lift and adhered it using Tombo multipurpose liquid glue. I love the soft look the sponging brings. AND I am love love loving those new brass designer buttons! We are most definitely using those for technique night next week! We're calling it "The Magnificent Mini" and it's going to be great! I'm going to sneak in a Christmas Card. It's not too early, is it?

Enjoy!

Tamara

Products Used:
Stamp Set: Papillon Potpourri
Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, some DSP
Ink: Primrose Petals, Baja Breeze, So Saffron, Crumb Cake (for sponging)
Accessories: Crumb Cake Seam binding Ribbon, Brass Button, Linen Thread, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Big Shot, Dimensionals, glue dot., Elegant Butterfly Punch

Harvest Blessings

Hubs and I celebrated our 5th anniversary on Saturday. We spent the morning at the beach with the kids and then had a nice dinner out and a movie. Nice to have time just the two of us. I think the last time we went to a movie together was just May 2011, just before Lucia was born. 

I made him a card. He's a farmer agricultrualist so I thought the tractor image from Harvest Blessings was quite fitting. The sentiment seemed to fit our family as well. 

I'm loving the woodgrain embossing folder and after seeing SO many amazing samples using the Core'dinations paper in the mini, I think I'm gonna have to get me somma that! It's nice stuff!

I stamped the image in Black StazOn and coloured it in with an Aquapainter and ink pad lids. I coloured the sentiment direct to stamp with markers and stamped. I pierced the woodgrain embossed early espresso with my paper piercing tool and then threaded linen thread through using a needle. I tied it in the back. It's hard to see but the main circle is mounted using dimensionals. Hubs was impressed, but not to the extent I was looking for. Cards don't excite him that much.

We recently went on family vacation to my hometown on the Sunshine Coast, BC. Here's our only family pic from the trip:

If you're from British Columbia - HAPPY BC DAY! 
Have a great week!

Tamara

CASE'd..

I promised I would share my version of the card I CASE'd from Wendy Weixler. You can see her original post here.



I loved everything about her card but I changed it up just a bit since I wanted to use it for my ribbon technique class. I added a multiloop bow (complete with antique brad) and used Pool Party and Island indigo instead of Wisteria Wonder and Elegant Eggplant.

 I often choose not to do a sentiment since I have no idea what I'll end up using this card for. I can also pop a "Happy Anniversary" or something on there when the time comes.

What a beautiful stamp set! It looks like it's painted or watercoloured on but it's a few stamps! Stippled Blooms is definitely on my Must-Have list!

 It's our 5th anniversary today so we're going to the beach for family time and then dinner and a movie tonight for just me and the hubs.

 Enjoy your Saturday!

Tamara

A Cup o'Tea

Are you wondering what that thing is? 

Does this help? We're getting closer to solving this mystery...

Yep, it's a tea cozy. A GIANT tea cozy, mind you. I guess the bigger the tea pot, the bigger the cozy. And this is a pretty big teapot. It's the portmerior collection by Sophie Conran. We held my BFF's bridal shower on the weekend so I bought her this teapot (well, this one's mine, but I bought her one of her own) and then made a tea cozy to fit it. Yes, I sewed. I'm not really much of a sew-er (did you know if the hyphen isn't there it says SEWER?!?!) I worked until late into the evening in my sweat shop (aka upstairs craft space) and got 'er done. I also made this cute tag to go with it. It says "handmade by me" on the back, just in case my sloppy sewing didn't give me away :)

You might be wondering why I didn't use Stampin' Up! fabric. I tried. Really I did. It just wasn't big enough though. I needed 28" wide and SU was only 21". It just.wouldn't.fit. Sigh.


I made this tag with the From My Heart stamp set, apothecary accents framelits, and the cool new paper piercing templates. Those are GREAT! I coloured my stamp with markers and then stamped and cut it out (yes, by hand). Easy peasy. I added some large pearls to add a touch of class.


What do you think? Would you be proud to have your teapot so modernly adorned?


Tamara
 


 

1674 Photos

Would you believe me if I told you I have over 1600 photos on my camera right now? I'm in the process of uploading and sorting them but it's going to take a while. Especially since DH is using the computer to play Starcraft right now. I have a TON of new projects to share but am having a REALLY hard time finding a) time, 2) energy, and iii) quiet to think.  I don't have a camera on my laptop or I would take some poor quality photos of what I've been working on. 

Here's a teaser of what's to come shortly...
1) Papillon Potpourri, Stippled Blooms, Scentsational Season, From My Heart, Ribbon techniques, a SEWN tea cozy, and quite a bit more. 

I was quite surprised (pleasantly?) to see how many photos of projects I had uploaded. Now to sort through and create posts!!

Let's see if I can dig up a card to share...

 This is an absotootolutely beautiful card by Wendy Weixler. I CASE'd this card for my last technique night but changed the colours and added a multiloop bow! I'll post my creation and link to Wendy's blog next time! Hope this will tide you over for now!

Enjoy your day!

Tamara

Bragging Rights!

This won't be your average post. I just have to brag for a bit. My upline, Desiree Spenst, is at Convention in Salt Lake City right now! She's been keeping us home-folk apprised of the happenings and I have to brag about her. She not only earned the FIGI Incentive trip but also awards for recruting and downline, Advisory Board AND she's in the Top 20 demonstrators in CANADA! Yep, she's MY upline alright! I'm just so proud of her! She works so hard and is so good to her team! I don't know how she does it all but she does it and does it very well! 

Congratulations Des on your achievements this year! You ROCK!! Can't wait to see you when you're back!! I'm sure I'll know by the glow coming from your direction :)

And here's a card for those of you who come to check for card inspiration!! One of my sidelines made this (not sure who so 'fess up if it's you). Love the faux stitching around the sides!! 

Tamara
 

Dino-ROAR!

One of Mason's friends celebrated his 3rd birthday a few weeks back. It was a dino-themed birthday so I made a dino-themed card.

I love the images in this Dinoroar stamp set. They're fun to watercolour. Here, I punched them out and adhered them to a Daffodil Delight circle (1 3/8" circle I believe).

 I also added some fun Island Indigo brads.

Here's the whole card.

And a matching envelope!


Enjoy!


Tamara
 

Um, I have a BLOG???

Would you believe that I forgot I even have a blog? I started work last week and then we had an insect problem at our house and moved up to my in-laws place for a long weekend (they were in Calgary at the Stampede. Can I get a ye-haw?) so now I'm back and was checking my email and went "MY BLOG!". Ya. That.

 Here's a punch art card that I did just for fun. I used the Blossom Builder punch to make the flower and leaves and the 2 3/8" scallop circle for the clouds. The sweet gnomette? is from Gnome Sweet Gnome out out of the Occasions Mini catalogue this year. I cut her out and popped her up (after watercolouring her of course).

I just tore the edge of some Always Artichoke and sponged it a bit to resemble grass. I love how tiny the gnomette is compared to the flower. 

I gave this card to my brother-in-law's girlfriend as a "going away" card. She moved back to Calgary and then the two of them are off to Vietnam for a year! 

If you have any questions, feel free to drop a comment! 

Tamara

Tea Party

Remember that Top Secret post I made a few weeks back? Well, I finished the invites and have popped them in the mail now so I'm free to share them with you. I don't think the bride-to-be is one of my followers anyways so I should be safe.

 This was inspired by a card Sandi MacIver did that I linked to in the Top Secret post. I changed it up a bit (of course) and simplified a tad (but not enough because doing 50 of these still took hours and hours!).  

I'm so happy with the end result though and it was so worth it! I don't have a photo of the back :(  It's a postcard style invite and the back just has the invite info and I stamped three vertical teacups down one side. 

I printed the "You're Invited" off the computer on Very Vanilla card stock and then punched it out using the Modern Label punch. The teacups were stamped in Marina Mist Classic Ink and then CUT.OUT.BY.HAND. 50 times. Can you say hand cramp? Then three little pearls were put on (that's 150 altogether if you're keeping track). I just love the Hello, Doily background stamp. It's inked up in Elegant Eggplant and stamped on Perfect Plum. I really like the contrast. That circle is just Very Vanilla card stock punched out with the 2.5" circle punch and sponged with Soft Suede (hard to see).

 That's Very Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon and a cute bow topped with an Antique Brad.

I adore these but I want to know what you think. I hummed and hawed over the blue teacup. Do you think it's too much? What colour would you have done? I contemplated embossing it in clear and then sponging the blue over so it would be reversed. The white prats would be blue and the blue parts would be white. Then, I came back to reality and realized I didn't want to stamp, powder, heat emboss, sponge, and cut out 50 teacups. 

Righto!

Tamara

Lucia's Birthday Party!

We celebrated Lucia's first birthday in a BIG way! We had an open house (at my in-laws because it was supposed to rain-which it did) and I think we had at least 40 people come throughout the day! The birthday girl was a wee bit grumpy but it's her party and she can cry if she wants to! And she did. Every time we put her down. We had a rainbow theme so here's a bunch of projects that had something to do with rainbows. (Get ready for onslaught of photos here:)

Invites I made in My Digital Studio

Rainbow Twizzlers packaged cute using Stampin' Up! cello bags, the labels framelits and a retired hostess stamp set.

Retired DSP pennant banner. The letters were cut using the Cricut.

Fun! That cute photo ferris wheel is from Mexico and has pictures from when Lucia was a newborn.

Skittles. Taste the Rainbow.

The main food table.

Pinterest inspired craft.

Cake from Costco I couldn't resist getting.

Fruit Rainbow and yummy dip (mix cool whip with flavored yogurt = YUM!)

Rainbow veggies with mushroom clouds (not lethal ones)

Lucia is handing out invites.

The fam on Lucia's actual birthday (June 27th). The cake didn't turn out very well (it didn't come out of the pan in one piece) so it became a trifle! She's heading to bed here.

It was a great day! I need a vacation to recuperate from all the planning and prep! Thanks to all who came out! She's such a special girl and I was so happy to celebrate such a big day!

Tamara