Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Ghost Shapes



Ghost shapes are becoming quite popular but I just can't bring myself to buy them as they can be quite expensive.

Then while checking out Lauren Meaders blog I found out how easy it is to make my own. For this card I used the stamp set Flight of the Butterfly which is really quite pretty. I stamped randomly on Whisper White CS in Pale Plum and Chocolate Chip ink. I layered my image on Chocolate Chip CS and stamped a cute little saying in the corner.

Next I used my Butterfly BigZ die with my Big Shot to create a butterfly ghost shape from my Stampin' Up! 20mil thick Window Sheet. I stamped an image from the Butterfly set in White Staz On ink and allowed to dry for a bit. I used mini glue dots to attach to the card but am not thrilled that you can see them. I will have to figure out what adhesive is best to use without it being seen. If anyone already knows how I would appreciate any tips on this.

I hope you enjoyed todays card.
Margaret :)




Monday, June 29, 2009

I'm Glad There Is You



I whipped together this simple 6 x 6 scrapbook page for my WOW demonstration at Saturday's Mini Megameeting. One of my embellishment topics was creating your own card candy. For this page I punched a scallop of Old Olive CS and covered with Versamark ink, coated with Iridescent Ice embossing powder and heat set. I then punched a 1 3/8" circle from patterned paper and I also punched a flower to add to my layers. I popped the flower up for added dimension and finally added a half back pearl to the center of the flower. This piece of card candy can easily be made in multiples and cost pennies each.

The scrapbook page itself is made with a Whisper White base. I then added a layer of Pink Pirouette designer paper and placed my photo over top. I never used to be a rub-on person (even though I would buy them) but I have come to realize they are not that difficult to use and they can add some great appeal to projects. I placed a white flower on my photo to take up some of the black space and then I added black text to the side of my page as my title.

I hope you have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by.

Margaret :)


Thursday, June 25, 2009

Christmas in..... June?



I really want to say Christmas in July. There must be a saying or movie or something about that because it's stuck in my head but I just can't seem to wait until July.

For this card I wanted to showcase altered brads. I love sparkly brads but I just don't like paying the price for them. For this card I used regular silver brads but changed them. I covered the top in Real Red CRAFT ink, cause it's nice and juicy. I then sprinkled iridescent ice embossing powder on them and then heat set them. Since the brad is so smooth if you apply a lot of pressure or rub the top of the brad with some force it will smush/ move the new coat. This really doesn't matter to me much as I have no intention of rubbing it against other things. LOL Anyway, I love the sparkly look of the 'new' brad. By being able to alter my brads I can create brads in any colour I choose.

So I used retired Christmas designer paper from Stampin' Up! on this card. I decided to use a simple layout for this card and still quite a bit of white space. I stamped my image using a new Level 2 hostess set from the new Stampin' Up! catalogue coming out in 7 days (6 if you don't include today). Wooo hoooo! I punched my sentiment out using the Wide Oval punch and popping it up on dimensionals. I then placed my brads along the right side to complete the card.

This card took me about 5 minutes to complete. Super simple yet with a little POP from those sparkly brads.


Enjoy the beautiful sunny day.
Margaret :)

Wednesday, June 24, 2009


Another gorgeous day out. Last night I popped over to my parent's home to visit 2 of my mom's sisters visiting from the Netherlands. It was really nice to sit and chat with them as I haven't seen them in years. I think the last time I saw them was 15 years ago but I could be wrong, it may be less than that.

Well I wanted to share this adorable purse with you. It was one of the little projects that Sylvie taught me a few weeks ago when I was visiting her. It was super quick and fun. I love boxes, purses, cartons etc but I don't like when the pattern involves cutting out several portions. Simple is much better for me.

This purse we just slightly trimmed in the sides, scored and folded. The faux stitching was added using the white gel pen. We then added some patterned paper and a strip of ribbon. In the top of the purse we punched two slits for the handle which is also made of two strips of paper. This gave a nice sturdy handle. The purse is finished off with a few prima flowers, a paper flower punched out of patterned paper and a rhinestone brad. On the inside of the purse (the ends are open so you can see in) there is a box of chocolate. Mmmmm mmmmm.

Thanks for looking and I hope to see you again soon.

Margaret :)

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Simple Birthday Wish



I hope everyone enjoyed Father's Day. It was a beautiful day on Sunday and a perfect lazy day. This meant that I had to kick myself back in to high gear last night as I have announcement designs to create for a client and I have a demonstrator Megameeting to prepare for this weekend. I am doing a WOW presentation so all week long I will be sharing with you my WOW items. I hope they will come off as WOW as I feel they are.

Today I am posting a card where I have used Pop Up Glue Dots. I never know what to use them for but when I was at Convention a couple years ago, we were shown how to use them with embossing powder.

For this particular card, I covered the glue dot with Real Red craft ink, applied Iridescent Ice embossing powder and then heat set. I did struggle a bit with my ink as you can see I got some on my card. It is a live and learn, trial and error thing but it is doable without getting ink all over your card. I then cut my image out using the top note die. I trimmed one end off so that I could line it up with the edge of my card. I then stamped Happy Birthday using a new stamp set from the SU! catalogue, Teeny Tiny Wishes. I then ran the base of the card through my Big Shot with a texture plate and assembled the card.
Thanks for popping in today. I hope you will stop by often to see what is new.
Margaret :)

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Honest Scrap Blog Award

Can you believe that I have been given two blog awards in one week. I feel very honoured as these awards have been given to me by very talented stampers. This award was given to me by Kellie Winnell and if you haven't visited her blog you really need to as she is very creative.

So this award you have to reveal 10 things about myself and then pass it on to 7 people….So here are my 10 things….


I have 4 brothers and two sisters.
I have 22 nieces and nephews.
I work full time while also building my own custom invitation business.
I actually have straight hair. (I perm it)
I cherish my fiance and two step daughters. (well, soon to be- have to marry first LOL)
I have to raise $2000.00 to be allowed to walk in the 60km End Cancer walk.
I can't drink Coke or Coke products.
I don't watch much TV. (no time - I need to stamp)
I love the colour red.
I am so thankful for all the new friends I have made since I started stamping


Now to pass this onto 7 other people….
These people inspire me and I'm sure they will inspire you too.
Margaret :)

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Predator



So last night I went to the A&W Car Show in Guelph with my '72 Nova. My girl was shining and drew a lot of attention. I don't know what exactly drew them to my car like a flock of birds. It was either the fact that a girl was driving or it was that as soon as I opened the hood they saw a crazy set up that many probably never see. It was great. LOL There must have been 10 guys walk up as soon as I opened the hood and walked away. When I came back a couple asked me what the heck was under the hood, so I had to explain my carb set up to them. I also got a lot of comments on the paint. I love pearl orange. The sunlight dances off the car and it seems to change colour a bit depending on the time of the day.
Obviously there was no chance of me winning anything last night as it was Chrysler night and Truck night and my car fits into neither category. Mind you, one guy told me that if I put a Dodge emblem on the front of the car I would definitely win first prize. I thought that was pretty funny. There was one boy who really liked my car, so I let him sit in the drivers seat and I took a couple pics on his camera for him.
I love my car and hope to have lots of sunny car show days to take it out to.
Thanks for looking and hope you enjoyed checking out my sweet ride.
Margaret :)






Monday, June 15, 2009

Lemonade Stand Blog Award

I'm posting twice in one day - can you believe it?

I feel so honoured that Andrea over at My Stamping Heaven gave me the Lemonade Stand blog award. I met Andrea 2 1/2 months ago and she is really fabulous. She is a certified Copic Marker instructor and makes really, really great cards. If you've never checked out Andreas blog I would recommend that you go to her site and check it out.


Being as I am not very eloquent in my words, I have copied and pasted directly from Andrea's blog. LOL

The guidelines for the Lemonade award are:

Comment on this blog.
Cut and paste the award logo and use it in your own blog.
Nominate 5 blogs you feel show great attitude and gratitude.
Link to your nominees within your blog post.
Comment on their blogs to let them know they've received the award.
Link back to the person who gave you the award to show your appreciation.

And here's a little about the Friends award:

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to five bloggers.

And without further ado here are the 5 bloggers I nominate:

Debbie Pamment

Kellie Winnell

Karen Motz

Christine Ewing

Angela Koobs

Thank you so much for sharing your designs/ stories with us.

Margaret

Friday, June 12, 2009

Friend


First off I have to apologize. The quality of this picture is really bad but at the time I took this picture and had this card I was having great difficulty taking clear photos.

I do love this card though and the softness of it. I saw a card on Splitcoast well over a year ago and although I don't normally CASE cards I just had to make a card similar to the one I saw. I'd tell you who it was if I remembered but unfortunately I don't. I stamped my images in Staz On ink on watercolour paper and used my ink pads to watercolour them. I then layered the smaller flower over the larger one and added a Barely Banana button to the centre. These are last years In Colours Soft Sky and Wild Wasabi (which tells you how old my card is) The stamp set, Time Well Spent, is also a retired hostess set from a year ago.

I stamped flowers and leaves on my background layers and tied a piece of White Taffeta Ribbon around my second layer. I then stamped my sentiment and added a dash of yellow to tie in my button and colouring on my main image. Finally, I popped up my flower, layering it just slightly over my sentiment.

Thanks so much for visiting me today and I hope you have a great weekend.

Margaret :)

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

A Century Ago....


Today I don't have any paper crafts to share with you. My week is tied up with invitation orders and has left me with no time to stamp. I'm not complaining by any means as I love the work I do. Once this order is done, I get to go onto designing baby announcement cards for another client. I'm very excited about this potential job.

Since I have no cards or projects to share, I decided I would share one of my most recent photos I took that I really love. It was from my photography course, black and white week. I never knew that black and white photography could be so difficult. I learned that there are three categories: black and white, black and white with shades of grey, and shades of grey only. This particular photograph falls in the middle category. I am a nature girl. I love photographing animals but landscapes as well. I love old bridges as I find they can have so much character. The day was just right and the reflection of the bridge in the water gives the photo a soothing feeling. (for me anyway) It seems so tranquil. This particular bridge makes me think of what life was like a century ago.

I did try to use the rule of thirds as well to draw the eye. I think I did a nice job on this photo and hopefully I will continue to improve.

Even though this wasn't papercrafting I hope you enjoyed today's post.

Margaret :)

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

A Wedding..


I remember several years ago when my sister-in-law mailed out her baby announcements, I fell in love with the way she had sponged colour so perfectly around the wording. I told myself that one day I would make something using this technique.


Today's card is made with the retiring To Have and To Hold set from Stampin' Up! I stamped the image with Basic Black ink and coloured the flowers in with my watercolour pencil crayons and a blender pen. I cut out an oval using my Creative Memories templates and placed my cardstock over my couple image to mask them. I then used a sponge to colour my card with Pretty in Pink ink. This left a white 'window' revealing the couple. I then stamped my frame in Basic Black ink and stamped the sentiment in Pretty in Pink ink inside the frame. I cut this out and popped this up at the base of my card.


Thanks for popping in and have a great day.


Margaret

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Cupcake Treat Box



This is sooo adorable.

Last weekend when I was at my friend Sylvie's home, she taught me how to make this adorable cupcake box.

We selected one colour for the base and one colour for the top. Sylvie got the template from Lauren Meaders blog and then made adjustments to the template to allow more room for the top of the cupcake so the icing wouldn't be all over the top inside. She's so clever.. ((grin))

We cut out the template per her specs and folded and taped. We added a dash of patterned paper to the top and ribbon around the box and Voila, the cutest little cupcake/ muffin box EVER! LOL
I hope you enjoyed todays creation.
Margaret :)