Embellish with Butterflies!

LOVE it that Embellish's new challenge calls for the use of butterflies--those of you who follow my blog know I can't get enough of my Hero Arts Winged Friends digital stamp.  The colour are also fab as always!

I'm taking a stand against Copics!! . . . I know, I know, many of you LOVE them [sorry], but I can't justify spending the money on them, especially when I'm happy with the results I can achieve with much cheaper artist markers and pencil crayons.  I'm frugal about everything I buy, and I get a thrill out of finding the cheaper alternative (especially if I can "make" the alternative).  I love how my limey green coloured butterfly is so vibrant and "summer"y.  I feel like making myself a lime-flavoured drink right now . . . it's a holiday here in Canada today, it's gorgeous outside, and it's lunch time, so I may just go do that!

Thanks 4 your time!

Around the World Challenge #4--London

After making my blue sky for the birthday card I posted about here, I knew I wanted to use some of the scraps I had.  So when I saw the new Around the World Challenge, which featured some blue sky in the inspiration photo, I had to play along.

I loved the colour here!! I had some Maya Road clock rub-ons, so I also played with the "Big Ben" clock tower inspiration.  Here's my card:

IRL the blue on the card looks a lot more like the actual sky in the background.  I don't know why it turned so "aqua"-like in the photo. 

Thanks 4 your time!

Back at it!

So I've been back to work for a week now, and I was right in my assumption that I wouldn't have time to post or visit my blog friends much during the week.  By the time I get home from work and picking up the kids, get through dinner, get the boys to bed, and finish up any homework, I'm way too exhausted to craft or blog--gosh, I'm exhausted just typing all that!!   My classes are okay--I have two grade 10 classes that are rather rambunctious, so I've had to reel them in a bit.  They require A LOT of one-on-one attention, but that's always a challenge when there are 24 of them and only one of me!

Any way . . . hopefully I'll have some time each weekend to squeeze in a bit of crafting and a trip into blogland.  I made the following cards last weekend, but just haven't had the chance to upload the photos.  They both follow the current EBTKS sketch  and the first card is also for Color Cue Challenge {4}, for which I used WPlus9's Woodgrain Silhouette's woodgrain stamp to create my stripes. 

I did add some silver glitter to this card (hope it still counts for the color challenge!)

I used some MS ribbon tape I've had forever but had never used for this next card.  I've also had that metal accent forever too, so it was nice to give some old things a purpose!

Also, I have to show you this card I whipped up last night for my son's friend's 4th Birthday (party was today).  I applied some Colorbox Frost White pigment ink onto some textured sky blue cardstock using a small sponge, and I LOVE how my sky turned out!!  I popped up the banner to add the feel that it was actually flying across the sky.  This is the first child's birthday card I've made, so I was pleased with how it turned out!! (hmm, besides my penmanship on the banner--got to work on that)

Here's a closer look:

Thanks 4 your time!  I think I'll spend the evening making some cards  :)

Blog Candy Winner!!

Tomorrow is the big day--I go back to work!  I met my students last week, which makes it a bit easier to go back tomorrow.  I'll have a busy 6 weeks, but then I'll be off again for summer holidays!!

Thank you all for the best wishes and birthday wishes for my son! 

So without further ado the lucky winner is comment #5--NC who said, "Going back to work is always a tough transition. Hopefully you'll be able to find some time to continue once you're back into the groove of things. Thanks for the terrific giveaway!"

NC, I have no way of contacting you (no email or blog), so please contact me in the next 48 hours.  If I don't hear from you, I'll have to draw for another winner.

Hoping to posting some cards I made yesterday for the current EBTKS sketch challenge--so stay tuned.

Embellish Color Challenge

Told you that first Embellish Color Challenge submission {here} wouldn't be my last.  I think this color combo is my favourite from all the Embellish color challenges I've participated in.  I like this card better than the first one I sumbitted (more my style, I guess).  I'm loving the Glossy Accents I just picked up this week--what took me so long to buy that stuff?!?!

The butterfly is popped up to fill in the "Dimension" component of the challenge.  Although, I think the Glossy Accents help give the butterflies dimension too!

Oh Yeah! - - - DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT ON MY BLOG CANDY POST (SEE TOP OF MY BLOG). I DRAW FOR A WINNER NEXT SUNDAY (THE 16TH)!!

Okay, that's my third post for the day--I'm done!!  Going to try to get some time at my craft table right now while all the boys (including the hubby) are napping!

Thanks 4 your time!

Around the World challenge #2

Next stop in the Around the World challenge is Holland!  I was inspired by the colours in the inspiration photo more than anything.  The reds and pale yellow of the tulips made me swoon! 

Here's my card:

I used my favourite digital stamp from Hero Arts (Winged Friends).  Using Word, I over-lapped a few butterflies and added the sentiment.  I coloured in the butterflies with some watercolor pencils (which I'm still trying to figure out), then added some Glossy Accents to the wings.  This was also the first time I tried the ruffled ribbon technique--I love it!!  Thanks to the tutorial on Ashley Cannon Newell's blog here.

DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT ON MY BLOG CANDY POST (SEE TOP OF MY BLOG). I DRAW FOR A WINNER NEXT SUNDAY (THE 16TH)!!

Thanks 4 your time!

Happy Mother's Day

It's a dreary morning here.  We just went out to some garage sales (our 3 year old LOVES going to them--it a treasure hunt for toys!)  We ended up getting him a big hockey net--hubby is putting it together right now, so before I start lunch, I thought I'd post a couple of Mother's Day cards I made yesterday.  One is for the current Embellish Mag. challenge:

I got the idea for this Flower pot card from my blog buddy Lynn here.  I really loved this colour combo (then again, I always love Embellish's colour combos . . . and this will likely not be the only card I submit for the challenge). I popped up the flowers with various levels of foam tape.

The flower come up to reveal the inside of the card:

Here's another card I made using some FAB ribbon I found for 50 cents in the clearance bin.  I'm normally not a vintage-type girl, but I really fell for this ribbon.  If you look closely, I also added a pearl pin with some clear beads:

DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT ON MY BLOG CANDY POST (SEE TOP OF MY BLOG).  I DRAW FOR A WINNER NEXT SUNDAY (THE 16TH)!!

Happy Mother's Day to all you crafty moms out there!!

Thanks 4 your time!

Around the World Challenge #1 (2nd card)

Okay, so I'm submitting a second card for the first Around the World challenge.  You can read all about it here in my post for the first card I submitted.

Again, here's the inspiration photo:

And here's my card:

Little boats . . . the Mediteranean . . . blues . . . white . . . it works, right?

Thanks 4 your time!

 

Around the World Challenge #1

Just found a great new challenge via my friend Virginia's blog.  She had a link to the Clip-n-Cuts blog--I had visited it before a few times, but now, blog owner Vicky is hosting a fun weekly challenge called Around the World--Yay!!  It's a great inpiration challenge.  Here's the scoop from her post:

•Each Thursday Vicky will post a photo from some place around the world.

•You make a card/scrapbook page/paper craft inspired by the photo. No restrictions! Just get inspired by the colors on the photo, or by the shapes you see, or even by the general feeling or the culture of that place! It’s up to you.

•Post your project on your blog/gallery and then submit it to the appropriate Clip-n-Cuts post.

•The submissions will last for 5 days (there is a countdown just next to the submit button so no matter your timezone you know how much time you have left).

•When submissions are over all the projects will be available for voting. A little star will be shown just above each submission.

•All you’ll have to do is click on the star of your favorite project . (Inlinkz voting totally rocks). Now readers pick the winner not the blog owner! Isn’t that cool?!

•You can vote just one card (not your own) but you can tell all your blog-friends to vote as well

•The voting will last for 2 days. You will be notified by email when the voting is starting!

•The top 3 winners will be featured on my blog and the 1st winner wins a $25 gift certificate from twopeasinabucket! 
 
Isin't that GREAT?!  Here's this week's inpiration photo:
 

Here's my card:
 

 
I love the crisp white and blue in the photo, so I tried to resemble that crispness with the blue flowers on white background.  When I think of Greece I think of the sea, flowers and olives [my love for Greek salad I guess :) ], so I had to add "olive" green in there too.
 
I just found this challenge last night, and quickly made up a card.  I had a field trip with my son today, so I'm getting this in just before the deadline I think.  I hope any of you reading this and learning about this challenge can join in next week for the fun!!
 
 

Thanks 4 your time!!

Crocus Flowers

I'm still really loving the Woodgrain Silhouettes Stamp set I won from WPlus9 Design Studio!  I LOVED the woodgrain background stamp the moment I saw it on Dawn's blog when she previewed the set, but what I have really have fallen in love with is the crocus flower stamp.  I've made several cards with it and my favourite technique is to create varigated petal colours.  I got the idea from my blog buddy Karen Baker when she posted this card using the same stamp.

Here are just a few of the cards I made with the Crocus flower (all similar layouts; just swapped out the colours).

Varigated PINK: I'm loving the Ripe Avacado with the hot pink ribbon.  The patterned paper is from a K&Company Chrismas paper pad!

 

Varigated VIOLET (oo--there's some alliteration for ya!):  I don't own PTI's Polka Dot Basics (yet--teehee), but I do own PTI's Beautiful Blooms--which has an individual dot stamp.  I painstakingly stamped each dot with Versamark to create my background here.

EDIT:  I've submitted the above cards for this week's CARDS blog challenge about Mother's Day cards.

Varigated BLUE: I added the script stamp (Hampton Art) last minute because I ended up getting some small ink smudges on the white panel while I was distressing the edges.  No need to throw away a mistake when you can cover it up, right?!  Some more patterned paper from my K&Company Christmas pad too. 

Very simple layouts on each of these cards, but they've turned out to be some of my favs!

Thanks 4 your time!