Saturday, December 6, 2008

Spring flowers in Winter

I had wanted to get this post up much sooner, but I was having some internet issues, so it is a late entry into the Saturday Sketch challenge.

I decided to use Lauren's sketch challenge, and Kristina's colour challenge for this card.



Here is the sketch:



And the colour challenge:



If you get a chance, I would love to see what you come up with for these challenges. Be sure to link back here with your card. And check out the rest of the FABULOUS sketch team.

Lauren Meader http://laurenm.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com Alicia Weimen http://happystamp.blogspot.com/

sketch #14 from Lauren M

I will be back in a couple of hours with my card for the sketch challenge. check back then!

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Quick Card, Quick Post

This was a super quick card, and will be a really quick post as I am out the door for meetings all day.

Here is the sketch that Lauren gave us.



She also gave a few instructions. The flowers are meant to be any flourish, and the vertical piece is hanging ribbon or cardstock.

Here is the card that I came up with.



I am in Christmas mode trying to get all of my Christmas cards ready to put in the mail within the next week. This card came together REALLY quickly. Under 15 minutes. That must be some sort of record for me. DH even commented when I showed him the completed card "wow, that was fast".

I love making holiday cards that don't use traditional colours, and I wanted to use some of that luscious Chocolate Chip satin ribbon. The snowflake is a plastic ornament that came in a package of 25 for a dollar at Dollarama. What a bargain!



As always, please check out the rest of the sketch challenge team. And we would love to have you play along.

Keep in mind the sketch is just inspiration to get you going, you don't have to follow it exactly.

Lauren Meader http://laurenm.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com Alicia Weimen http://happystamp.blogspot.com/

Friday, November 28, 2008

Fantastic alterable chadelier/mobile

Do you want a chance to win this?



What is it you ask? It is sneak peak a SUPER CUTE Do it Yourself chandelier that you can buy here, or win here. This is absolutely perfect for all of us paper crafters because the options are endless. Sure, it comes with pink glitter, but you don't have to use that if you don't want to.

Take a look at how Kristina decorated a similar mobile for her soon to be niece.

If that's not enough, she is also giving away one set of pdf downloads for the pillow boxes and the calendar here.

Go, NOW to enter to win, and to look for yourself at the great options available for you on Etsy.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Stocking Stuffer

This week Lauren challenged us to use her Stocking Stuffer Template from the PTI My Timeless Templates collection. This is a FREE download, so there is no excuse not to try this and join in.

I downloaded Lauren's template as soon as it was available, but this is the first time I have actually used it. I guess sometimes it takes a challenge to get my butt in gear.



This is the gift package I made with the template. I decided to use more traditional colours so I pulled out my retired Cranberry Crisp and Truely Thyme and got to work. I printed the template out on each colour, so now I can go back and make another stocking that is the same, but with the opposite colours for the body, and the toe, heel, and top.



The top "cuff" is fuzzy because I used my two way glue pen, and added some fun flock. I love how you can still kind of see the red coming through the fun flock.

I also used my scor-pal to create the faux quilting so that it would have a more traditional feel to the stocking.

I adhered my "box" between the stockings right at the top, so that the goodies could be well seen. Unfortunately, that caused the gift to be top heavy, and it kept trying to fall over. I solved that by creating two braces out of some of the excess paper.



Now my stocking is super secure.

I knew I wanted to sew the toe and heel pieces on to my stocking,

but I also wanted the stitching to be evenly spaced, and I didn't want it to be impossible to sew through two layers of card stock.

So I first pierced the paper using this great plastic canvas piercing guide that Alli sent me when I bought some of her old stamps. Thanks Alli!



I made this all up last night while I was watching TV, so these templates are really easy to use. Please take a look at what the others on the sketch team have done, then download your own template, and share your creation with us!

Lauren Meader http://laurenm.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com Alicia Weimen http://happystamp.blogspot.com/

Monday, November 10, 2008

High Hopes

I am in the process of placing my *first* ever order for High Hopes stamps. Their images are ADORABLE, and look like so much fun to colour. Every week there is a designer blog hop, with one designer having blog candy to give away. This week, you can find it here, but you should really check out all of the designers because their creations are AWESOME!! I will be back with some High Hopes cards once my new stamps arrive!

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Thanks Sew Much

I missed out on Lauren's sketch challenge last week because I was in Quebec at national meetings. There were some amazing people that were really kind to me, and I wanted to send them some thank you cards, so I used this week's sketch to start those cards.





I used PTI's Quilter's Sampler, and it wasn't until I went to add the sentiment that I realized there wasn't a "thanks sew much" sentiment, so I had to write it in.

I am going to mass produce these for all of the super helpful people I met at the national meetings, but I don't know if I will colour in the other ones, or just use the stamped images. It was really easy since the quilt blocks fit perfectly within a 3/4 inch punch.

The background is stamped with the scissors and thread from the same set in versamark.

Make sure you check out all of the other participants in Lauren's sketch challenge, and we would love to have you join us!

Lauren Meader http://laurenmblogs.splitcoaststampers.com Alicia Weimen http://happystamp.blogspot.com/

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Blog Hop!



It's Blog Hop Time!!!

I completely forgot that today was the 25th, until this morning. The theme today was Polka Dots, and although I don't have Polka Dot Basics, I do have Shapes by Design.

I was at a conference all day, so I knew I had to do something quick!

I instantly thought of Claire's Three Kings pattern. Claire is in love with PTI, and she is an AMAZING inspiration. I think that Claire and Lauren Meader are two of my favourite blogs to visit!

I was in such a rush today that I stamped the wrong side of the printed pattern.



I decided that instead of re-stamping the entire sheet, I would somehow cover up the lines.

This is what I came up with.



I went around all of the horizontal lines, and the points with Liquid Appliqué, then puffed it up. I wish I would have had more time to make a matching card, or add some embellishments, but over all, I am pleased with how this turned out.



I love the dimension of the LA on the tag that is also popped up on a pop dot.

Do yourself a favour, and visit Claire's blog to gain some amazing inspiration, and to try your own Three Kings gift box.

Pink challenge *3

WOW!! I have been so busy with work and all of my volunteer activities, and it seems like FOREVER that I have had the time to stamp. So, in order to get my mojo flowing again, I used some challenges so that most of the thinking was done for me.

This card actually fulfills *three* separate challenges! First, Lauren's Saturday Sketch, second, Kristina's Colour challenge, and third, the Limited Supply Challenge on SCS.




Here is the sketch:



here are the colours:



And the SCS Limited supply challenge was to use a leaf stamp or punch, and include pink somewhere on your card.

I think my card fulfilled all of these challenges!



The card base is made with Purely Pomegranate paper (SU, retired). The first layer of "paper" is a paper towel dyed with some diluted ink, and crumpled to add a distressed look. The leaves are stamped in Pixie Pink, Rose Red, and Pink Passion using the maple leaf from Autumn Fest (SU, retired) It's hard to tell, but the leaves are stamped on pink designer paper from SU.

I chose the sentiment because all of the leaves are maple leaves, and being canadian, that is a source of pride for me. The sentiment comes from The Great Canadian Stamp Set from CHF.



I wanted to keep the distressed feeling that often comes with falling leaves and autumn, so I distressed all of the edges of the punched pieces. I even dragged the sentiment block over my Purely Pomegranate ink pad.

I hope you will play along with the challenges, particularily Lauren's sketch challenge! You can find even more inspiration for Lauren's Saturday Sketch by visiting the rest of the sketch team.


Lauren Meader http://laurenmblogs.splitcoaststampers.com Alicia Weimen http://happystamp.blogspot.com/

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Sketch-tastic!

Here we go again!

I am really sorry for my absence, but I started a new job 2 weeks ago, and it has thrown my whole routine out of whack. For the past 10 months I have not been working outside of the home, so I had LOTS of time to stamp, clean, cook and all those other things that need to be done, but now that I am working I am scrambling to fit everything in, and unfortunately, it is the stamping that is suffering the most.

Anyways, I am back this week with Lauren's sketch challenge, and I think I am settling into a routine somewhat.



For my card I used the crayon resist technique. Gina K did a few GREAT cards using this technique a few days ago, and I loved her cards, so this has been in my brain for a while.


The stamps are from CHF, the punch is retired from SU and I hand wrote the greeting.

As always, please visit the rest of the sketch team, and play along yourself and share a link so that we can all see what you have made.

Lauren Meader http://laurenmblogs.splitcoaststampers.com Alicia Weimen http://happystamp.blogspot.com/

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Back on track with Lauren's Sketch Challenge

Last week I missed out on Lauren's sketch challenge because I had so much going on. This week though, I needed a thank you card for a friend that hosted a party at her house on Friday night, so I used Lauren's sketch as the inspiration. It's kind of hard to see, but this is a regular sized card, with a white background in the sketch.



I actually had some troubles with this sketch because I wanted to tie all the pieces together, but I didn't want to stamp too much because I was in a bit of a hurry. The paper from Stampin' Up! was the perfect solution. The colours all go together, and the only stamping is the "thank you" from Kim Hughes' set U R a Hoot.




I am realizing more and more that I *love* Purely Pomegranate paper, and I wish I would have ordered more before it was retired.

Please check out the great creations of all of the other members of the sketch team, and if you upload to SCS or any other online galleries, use the keyword mytimess05.

Lauren Meader http://laurenmblogs.splitcoaststampers.com Alicia Weimen http://happystamp.blogspot.com/

Friday, September 12, 2008

Have a Hoot!

I love Beate's sketches, and I am glad that I had the time to get one in today. A friend of mine is having a birthday party tonight, and he is a bird watcher, so I pulled out my Out on a Limb and Wise Owl stamps from PTI to create a birthday card.

Here is Beate's sketch,


but in order to use the branch more effectively, I turned the sketch 90 degrees so that it looks like this.


I stamped the branch in chocolate chip, then the owl, also in chocolate chip on kraft cardstock. I masked the owl, then stamped the leaves in Really Rust. I pulled the colours from the paper, and think that they work really well for a masculin card.



If you play along, be sure to include the keyword WSC57 so that it can be easily found in any online galleries.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Cherry sketch

This will be a really quick post. as I am trying to clean my craft room today.

Here is Lauren's sketch for this week.



And here is my card.



Again, if you want to play along, please leave a comment here, or on Lauren's blog. Or, if you upload to an online gallery, use the KEYWORD mytimess03 .

And, be sure to check out all of the other talented ladies that have made cards for Lauren's sketch.

Lauren Meader http://laurenmblogs.splitcoaststampers.com Alicia Weimen http://happystamp.blogspot.com/

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Birthday Blues

Once again it's time for Lauren's sketch challenge. This time, I had to make a gift for a friend of mine who is just starting out as a teacher. I made the gift first, and then the card, so that is how I will show them here :)

Lauren is a big believer in gift sets, so she was part of my inspiration for this gift. I wanted something fairly quick to make, and not too "girlie" since the recipient isn't into bows or glitter so I focussed on using graphic elements and only one colour.



I took 10 sheets of regular printer paper and cut it in half to have 20 sheets of 5.5 * 8.5. I then stamped the circles from Shapes by Design in Brilliant blue along the long side. This is one of my favourite "go to" sets when I want a graphic element and not an image. I stamped the same image on the left side of 10 envelopes to coordinate them.

The pen is one I bought at the dollar store that fit well with the colour scheme. I also added some stamps and some envelope seals.



I wanted to use some small metal tins with clear covers, but the only ones I had were the wrong size, and there isn't a Lee Valley in Regina, so I went on a search at the dollar store to see if I could find a container that would work. I took my tape measure and it didn't matter what was in the container, as long as it was the right size. I ended up getting coloured staples in these containers.



There were five different colours for $1.00, so I got five containers, and used 4 of them. Two have regular domestic stamps, one has international stamps, and the fourth has non-traditional envelope seals in it.

The seals (see photo above) are cut to 1 * 1.75 from a printable sticky label that is a full sheet size, and stamped with the initials of the recipient, LF. To finish them off, I sponged them with Brilliant Blue Ink.

After making this gift, I wanted the card to also have some graphic elements and not be too busy so that it would coordinate.



This is Lauren's sketch, and here is my card.



The paper is from the Azure paper pack from Stampin' Up!, and the sentiment is stamped using Just Right stamps in Brilliant Blue onto Very Vanilla cardstock. I had originally tried the sentiment with white paper, but it was too stark on the card, and the vanilla blended in much better. The buttons were a last minute addition because the card looked too plain without them. As much as I wanted the card to be somewhat basic, and not too busy, I didn't want it to be boring ;)

All in all I think the card and gift set look good together and I am quite pleased with them.




Please check out other cards made by the other members of the sketch team.

Lauren Meader http://laurenmblogs.splitcoaststampers.com Alicia Weimen http://happystamp.blogspot.com/

Also, if you want to participate, we would love to see your card! Add a link in the comment section, and if you want to upload to SCS, visit Lauren's blog for the keyword so that we can find your great creations.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Thoughts of you

Beate is one of the all time superstars in the papercrafting industry, and after a summer hiatus she is back with a weekly sketch challenge. I combined Beate's sketch with Kristina's colour challenge to come up with this card.



Unfortunately the photo isn't very good because it is raining and overcast here so I couldn't get a good natural light shot.

Here is the sketch I worked with.



And here is Kristina's colour inspiration.



She said we could use any colour of our choice as the accent, but I took the stool as my cue and used Purely Pomegranate. I may have used too much colour, but I tried and tried to stamp a rose in grey and black but it didn't turn out.



I still think that the black and grey are the focus, but the Pomegranate rose and ribbon add a nice pop. The rose is stamped using Maria's fabulous multi-step Kitchen Sink Stamps. I have no idea how she gets them to look so realistic, but they are GREAT!

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Better late than never...

I had all intentions of getting this post up on time, particularly since Lauren sent out this sketch with LOTS of time. But, as sometimes is the case, life got in the way.

My sister left for England on Thursday, and the week leading up to her departure was full of packing and organizing since she is going to be gone for a whole year.

The other factor in my late posting is that I forgot that white craft ink takes FOREVER to dry.

Here is the sketch we had to work with.



I just recently received my Father Knows Best stamps from PaperTrey, and I wanted to show them some ink. Also, I thought this sketch would be a perfect time to finally use some square buttons that I have had for months.



In addition to the tree from Father Knows Best, I also used the circles and sentiment from Shapes by Design.

The tree was stamped on Kraft cardstock with white craft ink, and then cut out with my coluzzle. The edges were inked as well, and that is what was taking soooo long to dry. The circles from Shapes by Design were stamped in VersaMark on the Kraft base, and covered with velum paper. I was able to hide the velum adhesive under the Chocolate Chip ribbon, the two buttons, and then I only needed small dabs of adhesive under the corners.




In this close up you can see that I stamped some of the extra circles and cut them out to add some depth and dimension. The paper is adhered to the back of the buttons with Crystal Effects, and the twine helps tie in with the Kraft paper.

Make sure you check out all of the other members of Lauren's sketch team.

Lauren Meader http://laurenmblogs.splitcoaststampers.com
Alicia Weimen http://happystamp.blogspot.com/

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Lauren's Saturday sketch

Sorry it's been a week since my last post went up. I was at the lake for a week from last Wednesday to just a few days ago. I had programmed the sketch challenge to go up on Saturday, and I am glad it all worked out. Now I am on my way out to a wedding out of town, so I won't spend too much time describing this card, but I may come back and edit it when we get back on Sunday.




Here is Lauren's sketch, and I used it to make a wedding card that I needed for today.



A close up of the embossed LOVE sentiment.



The same theme of ribbon, velum, and stamped daisies carried through to the inside of the card.




Make sure you also check out the blogs of all of the other sketch team members. (also linked to in my sidebar)

Alicia Weimen http://happystamp.blogspot.com/

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Saturday Sketch

As I mentioned last week, the fabulous Lauren Meader does a sketch challenge every Saturday, and I have not been as active in participating as I should have been. From now on though, you will definately see a card I have made using Lauren's sketch every Saturday because I am one of the bloggers that will be providing you with a sample using her sketch.

Check out all of the creations from the sketch Challenge Team to get their take on the sketch. (they are also all listed on my side bar)

Alicia Weimen
Maria Levine
Dawn Easton
Kirsten Dubosque
Kristy Vernon
Kim Gasper
Mackenzie Bruckler


Hopefully by having more samples she (and we) can get more people participating in the challenge.

Here is the sketch from this week.



When I first saw it I thought of the lines as frames, and not colour blocks. It also made me think of a favourite painting I have in my house.



So I used the colours from the painting, and the sketch from Lauren to come up with this card.



The card base is Barely Banana with frames in Rose Red, Old Olive, Ballet Blue, and Chocolate Chip. The stamp was also inspired by the painting, and was from the $1.00 bin at Michael's. The highlighted martini is coloured with my Spica Glitter Pens and it gives it such a nice shine.

Please play along with this challenge, and if you do, be sure to link back in the comments here, and on Lauren's blog.