Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Thanks to the Postman

A week or so ago it was really cold in Saskatchewan. So cold that Amy and Julie spent some time talking about it on their blogs.

I decided that I should make a thank you card for my Canada Post letter carrier to show my appreciation for the work they do even when it's -40 or colder.




This card is inspired by the sample in the current SU catalogue using the A Little Bit of Happiness hostess set.

The card base is my favourite colour from the 'in colour' series. River Rock. It is a great neutral and goes with everything.

The background is stamped with Autumn Fest (retired). I love the way these two sets work together.

The strips are Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa, both with distressed edges and then sponged with Chocolate Chip ink.

The main image was stamped on Water colour paper, and water coloured using ink pads in a variety of fall colours. This was my very first attempt at water colouring, and I am pleased with the result.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

All that Glitters

I love participating in swaps on SCS. I find that it forces me to create things on a timeline, and that I get some fantastic samples back from all of the other participants too. In the past I have swapped with stampers from the US, and it has been somewhat stressful because it takes so long for mail to arrive that I was always worried about the deadlines. These two cards were created for a swap based out of Alberta, which is awesome, because I can send them express post, and they get there the next day!!




This card uses Amy R's weekend sketch, and a great colour combo of Certainly Celery, Elegant Eggplant, and Apricot Appeal.

It's hard to see, but the background is stamped with VersaMark using the Whimsy wheel, then embossed with Iridescent Ice embossing powder. It's very glittery in real life.



The sentiment wish is stamped in Apricot Appeal ink, and adds to the whimsical feel of the card. The circles within the butterfly wings are filled with Stickles to add some more glitter to the card.


The second card base is sprayed with glimmer mist from Tattered Angels. I LOVE the look this creates, but it curled the edges of the card somewhat. The photo makes it look like silver spots, but again, IRL it's actually glittery.



I really like the look of black and white with a pop of colour, and I think the red frame really makes the image stand out. The paper is from a package I got at Joann's when I was in Minot last summer. The ribbon is from the dollar store (I think).



I didn't colour the Bella because I like the monochromatic look. I did use stickles to add bling to the diamond and the tiara.

I can't wait for the swaps to come back so that I can see all of the other fabulous creations that use glitter!

Monday, February 4, 2008

Valentine's Gifts

I am sorry for the short gap in my posts. I was feeling 'blah' over the past few days. You know, where you don't have energy, your creativity is nil, and you don't really have anything to say. Well, that was me for a few days. But after a very productive and crafty weekend I am back with some projects.

I have no idea why these are called sour cream containers, but they are soooo easy, and absolutely adorable. I used Beate's tutorial on SCS as my starting point, but these ones are smaller than the sample.



These are made with Cerise (retired), Holiday Harmony (retired), and Berry Bliss designer paper from SU.

The paper was cut to 3x4 to make these 'treat sized' containers. I made 50 of these this morning, 27 went to my sister to handout to her students on Valentine's day, and the other 23 are in the empty cinnamon hearts container in the photo above. It took 2 containers of cinnamon hearts to make 50 treats.

These are so easy, I did all of the cutting, taping and filling of all 50 in under 2 hours. It was only a couple of minutes each.



The second gift was inspired by Melanie's gift box. Melanie is an absolutely FANTASTIC stamper and designer. She not only designs great projects for her blog, but she also designs stamp sets that are available in Gina's Store.



This box is actually the plastic box that Papertrey stamps come in when they are mailed out. The stamp used is from the Time Well Spent hostess set that all of us SU demos got for free a few month ago. This is actually the first time I have used this set.

The ribbon is Real Red grosgrain, and the other three sides of the box are covered with Cerise paper (retired). The flowers are coloured with the Red Atyou glitter pen. The jellybeans and cinnamon hearts are from an assorted package that I got at Shopper's Drug Mart for $2.oo. This is such a cute way to give candy. Thanks Melanie!