I am really excited about this months Techniques class called Pretty Paper Flowers! I will demonstrate many ways to create and give life to paper flowers and you will come away with three 'Pretty Projects'! This class has been expanded to 2 sessions and I still have room for more students on Thursday May 29 at 7pm. The cost of this class is $15 ($10 for VIP members). If you would like to join me for this class, please contact me. Also, remember, if you can't make the scheduled class, I am always willing to offer this or any other class for you and a few friends at a better time for you! Take a peek bellow at some of the projects we will make...
This beautiful square card was made using the Fabulous Flowers stamp set and a colour combo that I've fallen in love with: Perfect Plum, Old Olive and Soft Sky.
Because May is International Scrapbooking month (yes, there is such a thing!) Idecided to include a scapbook page among the projects. This cute and simple page incorporates a few different flower techniques. I thought the cheerfulness of this layout went well with a picture of my daughter and her first birthday cake.(It's about time I scrapped some of those photos, we will be celebrating her 2nd birthday this week end!!)
This final project is the one I am most proud of. I saw some lovely pictures of paper roses on the internet and I searched and searched to find out how to make them....but no luck! So, I sat down with some supplies and figured out how to make my own, now I can teach you! These flowers are time consuming but, well worth the effort. Each student will make a rose in the colour of their choice then we will attach them to a sweet little gift box.I hope you can join us on the 29th!
Well, this was supposed to get posted yesterday but,the day got away on me! So here we go a day late. Today I have a couple of really fun projects to show you. These projects will be featured at my Father's Day Class on June 12th (more info to follow)
This first picture is of a family name frame, this is what the original class project was going to be. I really liked working with the All in the Family stamp set, you can easily create caricatures of you family using the various stick body parts though, a Stamp-a-ma-jig is a must for this set! I found it pretty easy to customize each character to represent my family the only thing I think they need to add is a bald head and a beard/goatee. I sort of drew a beard on my husband and I actually gave the dog longer legs because our pooch is a giant! I did not have a current family picture to place in the frame so I created a little insert with a 'T' and the definition for 'Together" on it. I used the Summer Picnic DSP to accent my frame but you could really pick any paper to match your family or home decor. I really like this project and I thought anyone would enjoy making one. Even if you are grown up, moved out but, yet to start a family , I thought it might be a fun gift for your parents featuring you and your siblings. But, alas...only my friends with their own children have shown interest....so....Thanks to our recent Extravaganza I had another idea. I`ve decided that, if you do not want to make a Family Name Frame, to invite you to decorate a shadowbox frame to match your home decor!
This is the frame I decorated, I absolutely love the Ginger Blossom Paper and so I decided to feature it. Once again I could not find a suitable photo so I created a complimentary insert instead. I am quite please with how it turned out and I can`t wait to create more of these!!In case you are interested, the class information is as follows:Date: Thursday June 12th, 7 pmLocation: My HomeCost: $30 ($25 for VIP members)Details: Payment of class fee is required to reserve your spot. Please mention if you would prefer a black or cream coloured frame. Everything you need to make one frame will be provided but, please do bring your own dry double-sided adhesive. If you wish an additional frame can be made for $15 (you must indicate this at time of registration)I hope you can join us on the 12th!
This month, Stampin' Up! is offering %25 percent off chipboard products with any $40 order! I love chip board but, I find people are generally in 2 camps: either they can't get enough of the stuff or they have no idea how they would/could use it. I thought I would give some tips on how you can use chip board, and show you a few of my recent chipboard projects.
The project just above this text is a frame I made using the Ginormous Pieces chipboard pack. This is a really fun collection because it has oversized pieces that can stand alone as in the project above or be used on scrapbook pages for a major impact plus it also includes some smaller accent pieces that would fit nicely on cards.I covered the frame with DSP and punched the holes with my crop-a-dile (love that tool!) The rest of the recipe is as follows:
Stamps: Tart & Tangy
Inks: Real red (craft & classic), Old Olive, Whisper White Craft ink, bashful blue marker Papers: real red textured cardstock, summer picnic dsp (from occasions mini Caty) Tools & Accessories: Ginormous pieces chipboard, Crop-a-dile, real red 5/8 inch grosgrain ribbon, black gingham ribbon, silk flower from Pretties kit, scallop circle punch, 1-3/8 circle punch, Crystal Effects, Eastern Elegance Rub-ons, Tombow adhesive, glue dots.
20 ways to use Chipboard:
- Colour it with markers
- Colour it with classic ink by pressing it directly into the ink pad or use your brayer (best for darker colours)
- Colour it with craft ink by pressing it directly into ink pad or apply with a sponge (any colour)
- Coat with craft ink or Versamark and emboss with clear or coloured EP.
- Cover with designer series paper by gluing chipboard to paper, cutting it out roughly then sanding edges smooth with a sanding block.
- Distress by sanding, sponging or stipling.
- Cover in glitter or microbeads
- Stamp on it
- Emboss designs on it
- Doodle on it
- Pierce holes and set eyelets in it
- Apply rub-ons
- Layer it
- Create flowers, creatures and object with various pieces (like punch art)
- Cut it using a craft knife
- Wrap it with ribbon or twine
- Place shape under a piece of cardstock and use a stylus to dry emboss the shape
- Use both shapes and their negatives as stencils to create new pieces.
- Use larger pieces to create frames, 3-d projects or album covers
- Experiment and try your favourite paper craft technique on a new surface!
Here are a couple more projects to inspire you: 
the first project is a mini album using the Loonies for littles kit available this month as a fund raiser for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Canada. This lovely album was so easy to complete using the decorative papers, self-Adhesive die cuts and unique stamps that came with the kit. In fact I think the most consuming part of this project was choosing the photos to use inside!! Stampin' Up! carries 2 sizes of these mini spiral albums or journals as well as a number of other items that are just perfect for creating your own books.
The last project I will share with you today is made with one of our ChipBoard Clipboards and pieces from a Simply Scrappin' Kit. The clipboards come in 3 very different
sizes and offer a really unique way to display special photos or notes. I can't believe how quickly and easily this project came together using the elements from the Simply Scrappin' 
kit! I think I will definitely have to take a closer look at the other kits! Well, that's it for today take a peak back tomorrow for another fun project featuring Chipboard! Also if you have any neat chipboard projects you would like to share send me a picture!
Hi Daniel, You're 3 today, Happy Birthday!!! This is a picture of the birthday card that I made you but was too silly to put it in the mail on time...It's filled with lot's of love and happy birthday wishes from Will, Gabby and I. I hope you have a great day today and a yummy Bday meal with mom and dad and your brothers.-
For anyone else who is interested, here is the recipe for this card:
Stamps: Bugs and Kisses
Paper: whisper white, blue bayou, pumpkin pie, soft sky.
Ink: same as ink + old olive
Tools & Acc.: Spiral punch, circle punches, pumkin pie marker, number sticker from retired simply scrappin kit.
Ack!! I almost forgot to mention that I will be having an open house Saturday April 26th between 2-5pm. Anyone in the region is welcome to join me. We will be making a mother's day card and a mini scrap book page, plus there will be special offers, door prizes and light refreshments. If you can pop by, even for a moment I would love to see you. Come and see what Stampin' Up! and I have to offer you this spring! for additional info, e-mail me at nlt@shaw.ca.
Almost every month the team of demonstrators I belong to gets together for a fun evening of visiting, sharing and of course stamping! Here are a couple make and take we made at the last meeting, I thought I'd better share them while they were still fresh.
This first card I think is just gorgeous. I would have never thought up this colour combo but, it has definitely got to be one of my new faves. I believe the combo is Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, River Rock and Ruby Red (it's this last colour I'm not positive on). Isn't it striking? This card uses one of my favourite background stamps Tres Chic and the Stitched Exotics bundle available as part of the current Free Wheelin' Promo .
I was supposed to put a beautiful red rhinestone brad in the centre of the flower but I lost mine on the way home so I used a Build-a-Brad instead. Not quite as spanky but, it will do.
This next card is so fun and cheerful, if I look at it long enough I can almost delude myself that there isn't two feet of snow outside! The stamp set is Tart and Tangy and the DSP is Summer Picnic, both are from the current mini caty. Now, as cute as this card is there is more to it. This is a 'Scratch and Sniff" card! We used craft ink to stamp the strawberry and then embossed it using a mixture of clear embossing powder and strawberry flavoured sugar free drink mix. It worked really well I was quite impressed, and this is just the perfect stamp set to use with this technique.
That's all I have from this meeting, I wish I had my camera with me as people shared some wonderful projects. Next month I should have much more to share with you since it will be our quarterly Extravaganza...Too much fun!!
Yay, I'm proud of me, posting two days in a row!! I have to celebrate the little victories...Now, today i decided I would share with you the fantastic make and takes we made in Montreal. They were all quite simple but, really inspiring! The free stamp set we received at the regionals was called 'So Much' (we got the French one, which is why all the pics say 'merci' instead of 'thank you'). This was a stamp set that really didn't fizz with me when I first saw it in the catalogue but, after playing with it a little at regionals...I'm in love!! The other stamp set that was featured at the conference was 'Live Your Dreams' from the mini catalogue. This one too didn't do anything for me...sigh...the dangers of playing with stamp sets...now, I love this one too!
This simple but elegant card showed me how much fun the different elements in this stamp set are. Don't you just love that little bird? I really like how they coloured the one flower and added a rhinestone brad to the centre it makes it stand out.
This is a sweet little 6x6 scrapbook page we made using the same stamp set and my favourite design from the Afternoon Tea DSP pack. Stampin' Up! has been using some truly beautiful quotes in their newest stamp sets, this one is particularly inspiring.
Here is a neat and very simple card. All we did to make the outer portion was take a regular kraft envelope, seal it and cut off the top inch. It makes a perfect little sleeve for the card with no gluing and fussing! On this card I used the French quote, I was act
Once again they came up with another fun, simple and yet really unique card. I just love this one, it's so whimsical. Mixing the textured CS with the flat CS and particularly the kraft CS adds great interest to this piece.
This is another super cute card, I won't go into to many details for it now though because I have a little tutorial to share with you soon. You won't believe how simple is is to make.
Here is the final project we made. This is a 12x12 scrap book page which I am just itching to fill with black and white photos of my little one. It was this project that really made me appreciate the circles found in the So Much stamp set. I love how easy it was to make a subtle yet fun background with these stamps and a little bit of VersaMark. At the conference, they did not have an alphabet set available to us so I filled in the green bar myself at home. The title simply says "I love you" and "So Much". I stamped the letters using the Jumbo Outline Alphabet, then coloured them in using my VersaMarker (just to make them stand out a little more), then I added some doodles with my Signo white gel pen, and finally I made the cute little apostrophe with a punched flower and a black brad.
I hope you find the projects as fun and inspiring as I did. I will be back tomorrow to share some swaps and other items!
Well, I've been waiting for a sunny day to take pictures of some of my latest projects but, this (on the left) is what it looks like outside my studio window today...you can't tell in the photo but, the snow is really coming down, and the forecast is calling for more!! Anyhow, the project I am going to show you today is what we will be making on May the 8th at our Mother's Day class. I had to break down and set up a few fluorescent lamps so I could actually get the pics taken!
This is my version of JanTink's Carousel Notes purse. She has a wonderful tutorial that you can find on her blog here. When I saw this project I knew imediately that this would make the perfect Mother's Day gift and so the perfect Mother's Day Workshop Project. I had a wonderful time making this purse, it fairly easy to make but the results are really impressive. I actually was not fond of this DSP when I saw it in the mini catalogue, I also thought the carousel notes were kind of usless (I know, I know, I can be kind of negative sometimes) but the moment I saw this project I knew I was sold on the whole lot!!
The wonderful thing about this purse is that the real treasures are inside. There are great mats for photos and spots for journaling, and because it is actually built out of the carousel note envelopes, there are two great pockets to hold the actual decorated note cards. I have not added pics to mine yet but, I thought that black and white photos of a few generations of mother's and daughters would be perfect for it!
If you would like to take this class I need registrations by Saturday April 26th so that I can order the materials. The cost of this class will be $30 and will include a full pack of the Afternoon Tea DSP ($12.95) aswell as a full package of the carousel notes (14.95). You will complete a purse in class and take home complete instructions and more than enough paper to make at least 2 more purses! If you have any questions or would like to take part in this class please contact me.
My SIL who is an avid blog reader gave me a poke this afternoon and pointed out that it had been ages since I've posted. I was actually shocked how long it had been, have I really been back home for a whole two weeks now? I guess so! Anyways I will blame it all on being exhausted after a cross-country trip alone with my toddler (Yes, I know I was crazy!). An almost 2 year old, multiple buss trips, a five hour flight and far too much luggage is really a recipe for being frazzled, don't you think?
OK, now back to the matter at hand, I have soooo much to share with you, here are some more samples from the Montreal regional conference I just returned from:
this was a cute little tag made by one of the Quebec based presenters. ( I really need to remember to take down names next time!!) I thought it was really sweet and so simple too. All it took to make this one inked up fingers and a black Stampin' Write marker.
This next card was also made by a Quebec demo at the conference. She used the spray and smash technique, shown here, on glossy paper before stamping and cutting out the flowers from Bloomin' With Happiness. I think the effect is really gorgeous, don't you? The other neat thing is is that this is a z fold card and the floral medallion tucks under the greeting to stay closed.
I'm a big fan of daisies so I really liked these two cards. The yellow one on the right is made using the Pick-A-Petal set. I love the one on the left, it's so cheerful and they did a great job of using DSP (check out the grass!)
Isn't this a fun card? I really like the retro feel of it. The colour combo is really sharp but, not one I would have thought of with this stamp set. This is why I love seeing other peoples projects, I can really get stuck in a rut using the same colours and styles etc. but all it takes is to see one fresh idea and I'm off on a new creative tangent!
Well I think I will leave things there for tonight, I have tons more to show you though! If I manage to keep on top of things, I hope to post a few new pics from the conference everyday for the next while. So come back, ya hear?
My daughter loves frogs, and I couldn't be happier, because I'm a total frog nut too! Gabby will be turning 2 in May and I thought, a froggy birthday party would hit the mark. This card is my current invitation prototype. I had soooo much fun making this card I tried out the "No Copics No Problem" tutorial on Julie's blog.
If you have the SU! markers, or if you have ever considered getting them, you have to check this out. the only tip I can give, that is not mentioned in the tutorial, is that you should really plan the order you apply your colours to your project. Not only do you absolutely want to go from lightest to darkest, you also want to make sure that anything containing red (purples, browns...) is also done very near the end because, they bleed everywhere if you not careful!! Can you tell I learnt this from experience? (the red toadstool on this card is a good example ). The base of this card is the Wild Wasabi textured card stock that is on special this month. It was a bit of an oddball size but turned out to be just perfect for this kind of pocket card. Now I don't think all the invites will be this elaborate ( I don't have that much time on my hands!) but, I will use this card as my point of inspiration.
Recipe:
-Stamps: Unfrogettable
-Papers: Wild Wasabi textured CS, watercolour paper, Cutie Pie DSP, Rose Red
-Inks: Stazon Black, Wild Wasabi, Rose Red, So Saffron,
-Tools & Accessories: Wild Wasabi double stitched ribbon, corner rounder, markers, aquapainter.
This is a simple watercolour card we made at some of my recent workshops, if it looks familiar it's because it's a direct CASE from the Occasions Mini Caty. I really rarely do that kind of thing but I was soooo in love with the card I knew it would make it into my repertoire! I did change it up a bit, I did not have the pretties kit at the time so I went for a more rustic hemp to tie on the image, and I added some bling down below by embossing the word 'bloom' in silver EP bellow. For some reason I cannot recall, I didn't use the spiral punch on my sample piece but my students did and it looks great. Another thing I added was to stamp the bee from this set tone on tone on the blue paper, it just adds a touch more whimsy! I really think Stampin' Up! did a great job at putting together this stamp set besides simply being gorgeous it has all the elements you might want to make cards. For the two main images, one is long and narrow while the other one is square so there is sure to be an image to fit your lay out. The definition and the script-like word "Bloom" work really well together and then you have a bonus bee to through in for an added touch. This set is a real joy to work with!
Recipe:
Stamps: Bloomin' Beautiful
Papers: kraft, bashful blue, watercolour paper
Inks: Stazon black, bashful blue, Sahara sand, creamy caramel, VersaMark
Tools & Accessories: Rich regal and earth element Watercolour Wonder Crayons, aquapainter, hemp, Silver EP, Spiral Punch
I've been wanting to share these cards for ages! My techniques class last month was an introduction to watercolouring using Watercolor Wonder Crayons and Aquapainters or Blender pens. I had so much interest in this class that I had to split it into 2 separate classes. One class was in march and the next one will be on Thursday April 17th at 7pm. There is still a little space if you are interested. The class costs $15 or $10 for Stampin' VIP members and you can RSVP to me by e-mail or phone. 
This is the first card we did to get used to moving around the colours. We created a sunset background using the colour wash technique Then we embossed the wild flowers and butterfly from The Essence of Love set with black EP so that it really popped! I pushed myself out of my colour comfort zone with this card, did you know that before making this card I had never even touched my Bravo Burgundy? I'm still not in love with this colour but I see that it has its uses ;^>.
Recipe:
Stamps: The essence of Love
Paper: not quite navy, bravo burgundy, so saffron, watercolour paper, Spring break DSP
Inks: Versamark
Tools & Accessories: Rich Regal Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Aquapainter, spray bottle, black EP, needle tool.
This is the second card we made. I always struggle a little with masculine cards so I was thrilled to see the set 'For Father', this image with the puppy was the one that really sold me. I really enjoyed putting this card together. I tried to echo the boot laces with the jumbo eyelets on the right what do you think? One of the really cool things about this image is that you an easily change the dog breed based on how you colour it. I've seen black, chocolate and yellow labs but I also saw the puppy turned into a beagle. You can turn it into pretty much any kind of short haired hound, hmm... my brother is trying to become a fire fighter, this could be a great image to congratulate him using black boots and a dalmatian.... I'll let you know how that goes!
Recipe
Stamps: For Father
Papers: watercolour, bordering blue, always artichoke, chocolate chip
Inks: Stazon black, creamy caramel, basic grey
Tools & Accessories: Earth Elements Watercolour Wonder Crayons, Aquapainter, Crop-A-Dile, jumbo eyelets, hemp, piercing tool
This was the last card we made at the 'Watercolour I Wonder..' class. I think it's my favourite. The colour combo and basic layout was inspired by someone at SCS . If you love to colour you can't get much better than the Bloomin' Beautiful set from the Occasions Mini Catalogue . I created a weathered look on this card by tapping the edge of a creamy caramel ink pad in a random fashion, while this looks OK I prefer the look achieved by my students with the actual Weathered BG stamp talk about instant vintage...yet another stamp I now must order for myself!!
Recipe:
Stamps: Bloomin' Beautiful, French Script, Weathered
Papers: Watercolour paper, ruby red, old olive, whisper white
Inks: same as paper + creamy caramel & Stazon Black
Tools & Accessories: corner rounder punch, Earth Elements Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Aquapainter, old olive polytwill ribbon, styled silver hodgepogde ribbon slide, circle punches, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, 2-way glue pen.
Remember if you can't attend a scheduled class contact me and see about hosting a class for you and a few friends when it's convenient for you!
I am really excited about this months Techniques class called Pretty Paper Flowers! I will demonstrate many ways to create and give life to paper flowers and you will come away with three 'Pretty Projects'! This class has been expanded to 2 sessions and I still have room for more students on Thursday May 29 at 7pm. The cost of this class is $15 ($10 for VIP members). If you would like to join me for this class, please contact me. Also, remember, if you can't make the scheduled class, I am always willing to offer this or any other class for you and a few friends at a better time for you! Take a peek bellow at some of the projects we will make...
