Sneak Peek #3

Here we are on to another day and another sneak peek card.

The sentiments are from the upcoming Occasions Mini release, Messages for Mom. I began by stamping Mom in Chocolate Chip ink onto a sweet new little scalloped note card, also from the Occasions Mini. In So Saffron ink I stamped the sentiment "Happy Birthday". I was serious when I said I love just about everything in this new mini. :)

Next I layered "Mom" onto a piece of So Saffron cardstock, which I rounded the corners using my small corner rounder. Then I tied a bow on this layer with Pink Taffeta ribbon.

The card base is Pretty in Pink and once again I used patterned paper from the new Sweet Pea paper pack.

Finally I popped up my main sentiment with pop up dots.

This card actually took me a good half hour if not more. I think I was getting really tired and was having difficulty focusing. It didn't turn out anything like what I thought I might make which is another good sign that I was tired. LOL

Well, I don't know how much more stamping time I will get in over the holidays but I hope to have more to share with you soon.

Thanks for stopping by.

Margaret :)

Sneak Peek #2

Good morning and welcome to the week of Christmas. I can't believe we are 4 days away from Christmas. So much to do, so little time.

I had a crazy weekend but got quite a bit done. I am really really looking forward to the holidays and spending time with Chris and the girls and hopefully some friends too. :)

Today I have another card for you made once again with the Vintage Vogue set that will be released in the Occasions Mini. This "ingredients" are pretty much identical to those of the card from Friday.

So I began by stamping a floral image on Whisper White cardstock with Old Olive Ink and then layered this piece onto a Chocolate Chip cardstock matte. Next I stamped a flower and cut it out with my paper snips. I layered it on a scallop circle of Taken With Teal cardstock. Then I curled up each petal slightly for a more 3-D look, added a small piece of felt to the center of the flower and then attached it to my white and chocolate matte.

I layered that same beautiful Sweet Pea paper I used Friday onto some Old Olive cardstock and attached to my Whisper White card base. I then used this fantastic "frame" image from the Vintage Vogue set to add a touch of class above my layers. The last little thing it needed was a sentiment and the "You raise kindness to an art" was just perfect for this bright and happy card.

This set is so versatile and the papers just incredible that I am sure you will be adding them to your wish list as well.

Tomorrow I will have a sneak peek from another new set coming out in January, so don't forget to check back in.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Margaret :)

Sneak Peek #1

Good morning and happy Friday!!!!

Do you know what this means? Yep, tomorrow I begin my holiday shopping. I am super excited and can hardly wait. It has been a very busy month for me and unfortunately I have had no time to get out sooner to do it.

We are more than halfway through December already and I think this is the first time I have stamped in a few weeks. January is fast approaching and with it comes the new Mini catalogue which means fab new products. Just to whet your appetite I am sharing one of my creations today using some (okay, quite a few) new products from the new Mini. I have to say.... I am SO excited about this one. Everything in it is incredible.

So, for todays card, I used a new set coming out called Vintage Vogue. I began by stamping my image with Rose Red ink onto Whisper White cardstock. I layered my image on some Taken with Teal cardstock to make it pop. I grabbed my Mat Pack and added some "stitching" around the edges (this goes very well with the tiny dots on my patterned paper) Next I grabbed the beautiful new Stitched Felt and selected a flower, a leaf and a center dot for the middle of my flower. I attached them beside my image using glue dots. Oohhhh, so pretty already.

For the base of my card I used Whisper White cardstock and placed a layer of Old Olive cardstock over top. Then I added a layer of... wait for it.... yep, some new Designer paper called Sweet Pea. You have no idea how gorgeous the paper is in this package. I've liked the papers in the past but this WOW and ... there are 48 sheets of paper in this particular pack. It is better than any paper I've seen from competitors in the stores and trust me, I love patterned paper and I am always flipping through paper packs in stores but if only a few tickle my fancy, I won't buy it. This one however has blown me away. I've just begun to make some cards with it and already I'm thinking I may need to buy another pack LOL.

Okay enough drooling on my part over the paper. So I obviously attached this to my card base and I finished the card by popping up my image with pop dots.

I have been so card deprived lately that when I got into my stamping room last night, I whipped this up in about 15 minutes, maybe even less. I was so thrilled to just be able to create that this card flowed from me.

I have so many neat products to show you over the next couple weeks that you may just want to get a paper and pen out and begin writing a with list (no need to call me an enabler, I already know I am - thank you!! :)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I will actually be back Monday with another post for you.

Thanks for stopping by.

Margaret :)

Surgery Day

As I write this, 2 month old baby Jude should be in surgery. The surgery should have begun at 10am this morning if all is on schedule.

It would have been a very snowy drive for Peter and Angela this morning. I know they planned to leave at 4AM to arrive on time and I really hope they did as the drive likely took them a lot longer with the road conditions. Especially considering they are even further north than I am.

I ask once again that you will say a prayer for them, the surgeons and of course baby Jude that all may be well.

This will be a very long day for them as the surgery will take at least 5 hours.

Thank you for your prayers for all of them.

Margaret

Your Prayers Are Needed

Today I am bypassing posting one of my creations. I would like to share with you the story of a close friend of mine who will need lots of prayers come Thursday especially and in the week(s) to follow.

Some of you already know her through my Stampers 10 club but may not be aware of her baby's story.

My dear friend Angela found out about early summer that her unborn baby had only one kidney. As time passed the doctor's felt comfortable enough allowing her to have the baby in the hospital in her hometown rather than making the 2+ hour journey to the hospital in London. Peter and Angela's fourth child, baby Jude, finally made his arrival on October 4th weighing 9lbs 10oz. Although he arrived safely, he was born without a hole in his bum. After 12 short hours in our world baby Jude underwent surgery. I am a bit fuzzy on all the details and facts so I do apologize to Angela and family if I provide some incorrect details. I do believe this surgery was to provide him with the necessary hole.

Over the past two months there have been some hiccups and some complications but Jude has been getting bigger each day.

This week though, on Thursday, Jude will be undergoing a 5 hour surgery with two senior surgeons to correct his issues. Although the surgeons are very confident that all will go well, with Jude being such a young baby for starters and then the fact that he only has one kidney, one of the great concerns is the anesthetic. Babies are so small and it is hard to keep them under anesthetic without doing damage. The other thing is, the kidneys filter the anesthetic and if Jude's one kidney can't handle it, he doesn't have the backup of a second kidney.

Angela and Peter are very humble people and their faith in God is very strong. Normally Angela, even in the most difficult times, will not outright, ask for prayers but rather ask how things are with you and then keep you in her prayers. However, at this time, they have set aside their pride as they understand the great need for prayer to get Jude and them through all this.

All your prayers and well wishes are needed very much for baby Jude and his family. Please remember them each day and pray that God will give the surgeons the knowledge, skill and guidance they need to complete the surgery safely. Please pray that God will provide the family strength. I read Angela's blog and found that she has a list of prayers she would really appreciate people making for them. Please take a moment of your time to do this. I truly believe prayer works and I am very thankful to all of you for praying for them.

Here is Angela's prayer request:

1. Safe travel back and forth to London during the next several weeks.

2. Health for our whole family as we enter this busy season

3. Jude's surgery on Dec.10th from 8am-1pm
Please pray for - good health going into the surgery
- Dr.Butter and Dr. Merrit, who will be performing the surgery.
That they will see everything they need to clearly and that God will
guide them through this difficult procedure.
Update: After speaking with the anesthesiologist, we are praying that
the surgeons will be able to accomplish the entire surgery laparoscopically. This will shorten the length of the surgery (and the time Jude is under anesthetic) and make his recovery much easier on him. If they are unable to do everything laparoscopically, the surgery will be much longer and harder on Jude. Also, the anesthetic itself is more dangerous because Jude only has one kidney to filter it out. Please pray that Jude's body will be able to handle the anesthetic and for the
shortest surgery time possible.
- that God will carry Jude successfully through the whole operation
- that Jude won't have a bad reaction to the anesthetic
- that God will use Jude's life, and our presence in the hospital,
to bring Him glory! Update: We were originally told that I would be able
to stay overnight with Jude in his room. Unfortunately, we found out
yesterday that I might not be able to. If there are no private rooms
available, it's hospital policy that parents (even nursing mothers) cannot
stay overnight in the room. There are visiting lounges where parents can
sleep on the chairs or couches. I'm hoping to stay in the lounge so I can
continue to nurse Jude during the night but if they are full as well I would
have to stay at the Ronald McDonald house. Please pray that I would be able, as much as possible, to stay with Jude and feed him myself. We know that God has a plan - pray that I would rest in it and trust Him.

4. For Gracie Jo, Silas and Levi as they go to our parents while I'm in the hospital with Jude

5. For John & Nancy (Peter's parents) and John & Grace (my parents) as they care for the kids - lots of energy!! :)

6. For Peter, as he continues to work and travel back and forth to the hospital to visit.

So there you have it, folks!! Thank you for hanging in there with us and standing in the gap!

We are thankful beyond measure to know our family is being covered in your prayers.

If you would like to read more on Angela and her family and what a wonderful and strong person she is, click here.

Again, thank you to everyone who is prayer for them.

Margaret :)

A Touch Of Nature

Happy Friday all!!!

I went to my last photography class last night. I can't believe that 8 weeks has blown by just like that. For some reason I thought we still had one more class.

I haven't had a whole lot of time to play in my stamp room lately but last weekend I did manage an hour or two and one of the things I created was this sweet card.

I love uniquely shaped cards and scallop circle cards are one of my fav's. I began by cutting out my base in Chocolate Chip textured cardstock using my Scallop Circle BigZ die. I used my Scallops 2, to create the smaller Barely Banana scallop. I then ran the smaller scallop through my Big Shot again with a texture plate to add some dimension to the scallop. I cut a circle out of whisper white cardstock using the Circle Scissor plus and then stamped my tree image from Thoughts & Prayers. I adhered this to my small scallop circle and then popped this up on my card.

Then I ran my large butterfly BigZ die through the Big Shot and selected the smallest butterfly for the card. I ran it through again with the texture plate to make it stand out more. I stamped my sentiment using the Teeny Tiny Wishes set and punched it out using the small oval punch. This layered nicely over the center of the butterfly and finally I attached this to my card.

Thanks for popping by and have a great weekend.

Margaret :)

Mini Calendar

I am finally sharing my mini calendar with you. I completed this awhile ago. This mini calendar and stand can be found in the current Holiday Mini catalogue that is valid until the first few days of January.

I covered the chipboard stand with some retired designer paper. This is very easy to do. I layed my chipboard on my patterned paper and traced the outline. Next I used my paper snips to cut out the 'template'. I found that my glue stick worked best to adhere the paper to the chipboard.

I wanted to keep the colours clean and simple, so with the calendar lettering being Soft Suede I went with Old Olive to stamp my images. I did my best to select an image that went well with each month. This is perfect for your desk and with the images being a fairly light colour, you can still add notes along the left side. This is great to add birthday reminders or appointment reminders. The best thing is, this calendar takes up very little room.

I always appreciate your comments and thank you for popping in regularly to see what I have to share.

Have a great day!
Margaret :)

Three Little Words

Good morning and I hope everyone's Monday is starting off well. I had another busy weekend but it was good.

Saturday I took Chris and the girls over to my old Christian school for their annual bazaar. I know that they always have some Dutch treats there that I was used to having around Christmas time growing up. Since I haven't had them in several years I wanted to take them there to give them the opportunity to try them out as well. We browsed around and the girls went to a reptile show, I picked up a hand knit shrug style top for a very reasonable price and of course we had some food. I'll be honest... I wasn't expecting to feed them lunch but once we got into the gymnasium and they saw all the good food there, they just had to have lunch. Chris and Aris' boyfriend had chili, Aris and Taygan played it safe with hotdogs and I was torn between Boerenkol and Nasi but I settled on Nasi (a rice dish) Pretty much everyone had a taste of my Nasi and loved it. Aris kept asking for more so I knew she really liked it. Then for some more Dutch flavor, I ordered each of us one olliebolle, mmm mmm good. Not everyone was crazy for those but I love them. :) Last but not least was Croquettes and only Blake and Chris tried those. I don't think they were too keen on them as I finished them off. LOL - Can't always win. At least the total cost for lunch and treats for 5 of us only came to $19.00 - were else can you get a good decent meal for 5 people at that price.

Okay, so enough about the good Dutch foods and on to my card. Although these are very much Christmasy colours, this card is not intended to be a Christmas card. I think its simply that we are at the time of year where the hands want to automatically grab the traditional green and red colours.

The card is 5.25" square, made from textured Kiwi Kiss cardstock. I finally pulled out my Manhattan Flower embossing folder and embossed the image on a piece of Vellum cardstock. I layered this onto a piece of Real Red textured cardstock and tied a bit of Real Red grosgrain ribbon and silver elastic cord around the top of these layers. I popped this up on my card front with my dimensionals and then I used my Three Little Words stamp set to stamp my sentiment along the side.

It was a simple card but I was really just looking for something to make quickly with the embossing folder.

I hope you all have a great day and I hope to have you back here again soon.

Cheers,

Margaret :)

Holiday Greetings

Happy Wednesday everyone!

It has been a crazy week, but good. Next weeks schedule looks a bit quieter so I think I will start cracking on my Christmas cards and get those in the mail. I have a few to start but I need lots more. We always drop off a Christmas card to our closest neighbours in 3 different directions, so there goes a good 20 cards. Then my customers, friends and my immediate family. Don't even ask me to do aunts, uncles, cousins etc. That in itself for my family (not including Chris' family) would be probably 200 some odd people. Put it this way, I don't know all my cousins. Heck I barely can remember all my aunts and uncles. Dutch people - Need I say more. LOL

Anyway today I have a Christmas card that I whipped up a few weeks ago. Very simple and clean. I stamped my Lovely as a Tree image in Versamark ink on Night of Navy cardstock, covered with White embossing powder and heat set. I layered this on Bordering Blue cardstock and used a miniscule amount of the loads of Whisper White grosgrain ribbon that I have. Yes, some of you may remember that ordering boo boo I made a year ago. I think I still have about 7 or 8 out of the 9 spools that I bought. Sigh. I think I may be set for life in that colour. I know I have the option of dying it but that just seems so messy to me.

Next I layered my matte to my card front and I stamped my Holiday Greetings from the Sincere Salutations set in Bordering Blue ink.

Thanks so much for popping by and sharing in my day to day.

Margaret :)

Serene Sunflower

Another little find in my stash of old card fronts. This card was nixed from whatever swap it was that I designed it for. If I mass produced it, I would have remembered LOL.

I do love this set though. It is a retired set called Serene Sunflower. I decided to step out of the traditional colours of a sunflower and instead I went with Pretty in Pink, Barely Banana and Mellow Moss to stamp the flower and leaves. I also used Pretty in Pink to add distressing to my image via a sponge.

The card base is Pretty in Pink with a layer of Mellow Moss laid over half of it. I stamped the Mellow Moss cardstock with my retired Print Pattern background stamp. I used Mellow Moss ink to stamp this pattern.

I punched out a strip of Mellow Moss cardstock with the Word Window Punch and distressed it using the direct to paper technique. I folded the strip in half and tucked under my main image.

I hope to be back tomorrow with more goodies to share with you.

Have a great day.

Margaret :)

My First Easel Card

You may be wondering where I disappeared to. One day I'm here and all is good and then poof, you don't hear from me for almost a week. That's because I ended up in emerg last week Tuesday and back to the hospital Wednesday for tests and home the rest of the week working on getting better. Let me tell you that was the worst birthday gift ever. It really bites when you are going through triage and they ask your date of birth and then say "oh, happy birthday" Yeah, not really cause if it was happy and good I wouldn't be there. Though, I've now returned and feel almost back to my old self.

Two weeks ago I made my very first easel card and have been super excited to share with you all.

This card was so much easier to do than I expected. I created it by using a 4" x 12" piece of Chocolate Chip textured cardstock as my base. I followed the instructions on Andrea Hayes blog for creating the easel part.

Next I used my Real Red textured cardstock for my first matte and layered Merry Moments Designer paper over this. This was repeated on both the front of the card as well as the inside of the card.

I inked two chipboard snowflakes with Red and White Craft ink and while they were still wet I added Iridescent ice embossing powder and quickly heat set. In the center of the white snowflake I added a Red Rhinestone brad and used my large glue dot to adhere to the red snowflake. I also used a large glue dot to adhere the red snowflake to the front of my card. Next I used Chocolate Chip ink to stamp my sentiment from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set and punched it out with the Modern label punch. I popped my sentiment up using dimensionals and finally I added a red button with some linen thread to the inside (base) of my card to hold up my 'easel'.

Thanks for popping in and have a great day.

Margaret :)

Christmas Card Stamp-A-Stack

I've been promising to share the 5 designs I have made for this week Saturdays Christmas Card Stamp-A-Stack and here they finally are.

Two of these five designs I got from Splitcoaststampers. The Joy card I CASE'd from user cmfwells on Splitcoast and the card showcasing two ornaments from the Tree Trimmings set I CASE'd from user maryloves2stamp on Splitcoast. The only thing I did different on this card is that I added a strip of Old Olive Cardstock and used my Scallop Border punch on the one edge.

After having CASE'd these two cards, my creative juices began to flow once again and I managed to come up with 3 designs of my own.

I really like showing people different folds for their cards so it was time to incorporate an old favorite. The pop up stand card (that's what I call it LOL)

I used some non-traditional colours for this card for an extra bit of different flavor, although you cannot see the Brocade Blue very well.

I also created a 6 x 3 card that stands tall rather than standing 3" high. A simple bit of designer paper, some gold cord (hoping my elastic cord arrives on time for the class- grimace) and the cute Mr.Snowman from the fabulous Punch Pals set and this card is finito.

My last design is one of my favorites and I will actually have my customers cut them out with less of a flat at the top, so that they end up with a fuller, more rounded card. I stamped the leaf image from A Cardinal Christmas, added the uber gorgeous desinger paper from the Christmas Cocoa DP (Holiday Mini), a sentiment and the sweet little bird from the Sizzix Birds & Blooms set, cut out from Real Red cardstock.

I am super excited for the class to arrive and make these great cards. I know they will all love them.

Tomorrow I'll be back with my very first easel card. Woo hoo!

Margaret