Serenity with Olivia

The last of the series of 5 Serenity Prayer Cards.
The Olivia paper needs little embellishment ...

so I kept these simple.

Four Great Floral Cards

I went to Marian Dunn's card class last night with good friend Jen R and new friend Julie S.

We enjoyed passing the baskets with all the pre-trimmed materials for cards inside and working at our own speed.

Most instructional card for me was the one with the 3 ribbon flowers.

I would not likely have attempted to do this at home.

We stitched along one length of the ribbon with a darning needle, gathered the ribbon,

tied tightly and voila! I have so many ribbon scraps this technique will be used on.

Serenity with Perfect Day

I used a vertical layout from Originals called First Impression for the fourth Serenity Prayer Card. Papers are Perfect Day by Close to my Heart (sorbet, juniper, tulip) It has a very dainty feel to it.

Have been busy pricing and packing for the Scrapbook Sale at Lambton College.

Hope to see lots of folks , tomorrow night .

We will be rolling in paper roses!!

Serenity with Miracle

Third in a series of five.
Another versatile paper kit that works great with the Serenity Prayer, because it is sweet and humble. I will be giving away a Miracle Kit at the Lambton College Foundation trade show on Sept 28!
also by ctmh: ricrac ribbon, sparkles
Originals Card Pattern: Overview

Serenity with Felicity

Second in a series of 5. The colours in this Felicity paper kit are soft, delicate and prayerful.

This was a Mojo Monday archived sketch.

Today was a day of celebration for Al Anon Sarnia . We attended the anniversary celebration and my good friends mother, Bev T gave her wonderful AA talk. I have the honour of making all these cards for Bev T, who has helped so many people recover, in her work as executive director at Westover, and at St Stephens hospice in London. Its inspiring to hear how others cope with challenges beyond anything I ever had to deal with. I am praying for the right attitude, and the willingness to surrender my willpower . It has gotten me into some tight spots, you see.

Live Inspired ... Dream

Here is my Mojo Monday entry for September 20, Mojo 157 as pictured in the sketch.

here is the link to the rest of the cards :

http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/2010/09/mojo-monday-157.html

Live Inspired:

I think thats an important message, for those of us who work outside the home and get caught up in kids, responsibilities, housework, and the rest...

Life is a gift and we can show our gratitude by living with love and zest.

papers: Olivia by Close to my Heart

Acrylic Stamp: Live Inspired

waxy flax, craft buttons, ribbon, twill adhesive fabric

Paper Rose Tag

This is the tag I will do as a make and take demo at the Lambton College Marketplace Sept 28.

I will show the ladies how to roll a paper rose from a 2 inch square in 60 seconds... time me! lol

There is a secret shortcut...

papers are Olivia by CTMH

Thank you with Felicity

First day of Fall and I have 8000 visitors. Nice~!

The Felicity kit came with 4 large 12 inch die cut doilies with a lovely floral design.
I discovered that they fit nicely on card fronts when cut into quarters.

I think these diecuts make beautiful cards!!

Papers: Felicity (January Heart of Winter 2010)

Acrylic Stamps: Felicity, Gracious Greetings

Chocolate organza ribbon, buttons

God give me the Serenity

...to accept the things I cannot change;

The courage to change the things I can;

And the wisdom to know the difference.

This is first in a series of 4 different cards made as a gift for Bev T, who helps people in recovery.

And since I am in recovery from surgery, I have time to make her a couple dozen in 5 different designs.

Papers: Veranda (Close to my Heart)

Magnifigue is Clearly Elegant

This card was made for the wonderful staff of Hillcrest school to thank them for a lovely floral bouquet. It brightened my world!

Tracey Mason can take credit for showing us that clear cards can be put through the cuttlebug and embossed. I discovered a lacey beauty of the clear embossed card , and I like layering the items on and under the front cover for effect. The inside of the card has a tag from Tender Tags acrylics and the thank you is from Gracious Greetings.

I totally LOVE the papers from Magnifique, and the gorgeous swirling peacock stamp from Circle of Love acrylix. I stamped the peacock in multi tones of purple, green, and blue using a sponging directly from the ink pad to the acrylic stamp. I then adhered it behind the clear card front.

Finally I poked holes in the side of the card and wound chocolate ribbon in and out , and added some large rhinestones. So satisfying.

Pinky

This card is the exact complement to Baby Blue! So Pinky is her name... (just like that pair of old fashioned paintings, Pinky and Blue Boy!)

Same pattern, techniques used as in previous card.

I know this way I will be covered, whether the upcoming recipient of this card is a boy or a girl, we are ready one way or the other!

Baby Blue

Using the Originals pattern, Right Spotlight, I scored the Heavenly Blue cardstock for this card with a vertical line and sanded lightly to let the white core show through. The background papers are from Miracle. The baby feet are Baby Impressions acrylix, and the tag is from Tender tags. I sponged differnt shades of blue and green and blush onto the tag and cut it out after stamping. I added a few of silver stickers for extra embellishment.

All materials except silver stickers are Close to My Heart.

Best Wishes cards

These cards were made with the Miracle paper kit and chipboard irrestistables embellishments.

I used the pattern from Originals once again...Lucky Three! it seems to be working for me lately.

Embossed clear cards with Veranda

I saw a few clear cards embossed so decided to put a few throught my Cuttlebug embosser using a few different folders.

The results are super elegant.

The inside of the card features 2 layers of Veranda paper, and a Thank You from Gracious Greetings.

The front of the card is simply Organza ribbon wrapped around, fastened with 3 layers of paper flowers.

All products are Close to my Heart except paper flowers (basic grey).

Celebrate!

A good way to use chipboard and scrapbook stickease .... decorating special cards.

I blended ocean , hollyhock, and sweet leaf markers onto the Irresistables chipboard. See how the stitching and the white flower remain white? That's because the irresistables chipboard are printed with white designs that resist ink so you can custom colour them to match anything!

The inspiration for this card is on page 96 of the Autumn Winter Idea Book.

You can also find directions for it in Originals: Handcrafted Cards Made Easy, page 59.

In fact, the same card is featured on the cover of Originals, using Alfresco, blush, hollyhock, and olive.

http://www.closetomyheart.com/en/Products/Online_Idea_Book.aspx

Papers are from Close to my Heart Miracle Kit.

Ms Holiday Cheer

Yes she's back!

Ms Holiday Cheer is back with a sugary sweet look on Jingle Papers.

Colours are tulip, juniper, blush and olive.

This time she is adorned with liquid glass, prisma glitter, and stickles. She is flanked by teeny buttons and surrounded by new bitty red, pink and purple sparkles.

Look how proudly she is strutting by!

Deck the Halls

I used the snowflake paper and stickease ornaments from a vintage Deck the Halls paper pack to create 3 cards . The inspiration for the circles on the background comes from page 88 of the 2010 autumn/winter idea book fromo Close to my Heart where it is shown using Mistletoe creative basics .

The branch under the left ornament is actually a swirl stamp from one of my brand new acrylix, Circle of Love (the peacock one) and the sentiment is from Ms Holiday Cheer .

I found a plastic stencil to use for the circles which just made my day . I think this design is quite versatile and a good way to showcase co-ordinating papers.

Thanks a Latte

I can't take credit for the phrase, but it's an awful cute way to say thanks , and Lattes are my personal favorite in the specialty coffee world. I dont like to spend $4 on a coffee so they are definately in the category of Occasional Treat to Myself.

I would love a latte machine... one day.

I used vintage Just Chillin' papers and stickease from CTMH, dew drops, stickles, and chocolate organza ribbon.

Christmas in September

This week, I made several 5 x 6 1/2" cards using lots of different papers from Close To my Heart's Winter paper packs from the last 5 years, and some odds and ends . Julia H. gave me a lot of matching Stickease that I incorporated as well. The papers aren't really interesting to me as scrapbook pages any longer, but are fabulous on card fronts! And, I have a list of cards to make for our school Social Committee.

Here is the first: Just Chillin is the featured paper pack, from the 2007 CTMH idea book!

Colours are Breeze, Desert Sand, Ocean and Vine Berry.

funky, and surprisingly, timeless!

Live Inspired

I really really Love this bird from the Live Inspired acrylix (I pictured the set of 10 ) This is the second 6x6 card that I have worked up using this stamp as the focal point. It is an elegant image and very versatile. I made 2 birthday, 2 sympathy, and 2 congratulations cards using it yesterday.

The paper pack is from a Heart of Winter special and is no longer available. It came from Julia H's stash . It has an olive background of intertwining leaves, and a floral pattern with smoky plums. Since these are large, special occasion cards, I lavished layers and layers of paper on the front. I think there are 7 layers.

This time, I took a hint from the Triple Play techniques and used a 3 colour approach to inking the bird. First I darkened the bottom of the tail and the tips of the wing with pansy purple by pressing just that area of the stamp directly onto the ink pad. Then I inked the rest of the stamp overall with Desert Sand, which almost has a green tinge to it. Its actually close to khaki. Then I finally sponged a small touch of Twilight, which is a teal blue , onto the upper part of the bird.

For the background of the 3x3 square , I swiped the edges in pansy purple first , then I stippled a metallic gold ink onto the sides, focusing on the upper left and lower right corners.