Celebrate in Style

I am not a fan of putting numbers on a card, unless specifically asked of course. This card is for a 50th birthday celebration.

My husband asked for this card, his description went a little like this.. girly but not girly, some sparkle but not really, glittery but not a lot and some more along the same lines, contradictory.. not so much :).

I just happened to find this little 6 x 6 paper pad gem on a random stop to the local craft store yesterday. Wine and Celebrate called to me. The card may not hold a ton of girly but I like the hints of sparkle and glittery at the edges.

I matted each layer with gold paper, not the foil style but a muted shine. I added the sentiment just one more candle to the base then popped up the Happy Birthday with foam tape. I added some thin pretty red cord to finish.

Supplies: Cream and gold card stock, Designer Paper - Wild Rose Studio. Simon
Says -Big Birthday Wishes. cord.

Thanks for visiting,
Nina

Gelatos for Christmas

A little elf gifted me with an amazing set of Gelatos for Christmas.  I have not played with them much before this, I received a yellow one in a kit from Simon Says this past year but that and the Gesso had been put off to the side for play time at a later date.

The later date turned out to be a couple of days just after Christmas. Mixed Media is not something I would put in the same sentence as instant gratification by any means. I know I have watched the videos of people using heat tools to speed the process along but I figure I would let it all play out naturally.

I cut out a number of white panels and covered them in Gesso and put them aside. When one was dry this is what I did with it. I used a script font and heat embossed on to the panel with white embossing powder. I then used a mix of 4 colours of Gelatos and blended them with my fingers.

I held the panel at an angle and did a single spritz with black fireworks. I heat embossed the sentiment then used Gelatos and a little water to add some matching colour. I popped up the panel and finished with some metallic coloured sequins.

Supplies: White card stock, Inkadinkado - Thank you words, Stampendous - Faded Text Background, Faber Castell - Gelatos, Fireworks - Tuxedo Black, sequins.

Thanks for stopping by,
Nina

Merry Christmas with love

A quick post this morning, I have been spending more time organizing in my craft space than creating this last week.

This is the card that I put together for my husband, CAS in design but to the point. I die cut the buck, and popped him up with foam tape. The sentiment is heat embossed and also popped up. I layered the background.

Supplies: Cream and brown card stock, Designer Paper - Stampin' Up!, Clearly Besotted - Merry Christmas, American Crafts  - Open Book,

Thank for visiting,
Nina

Tuesday Morning Sketches #332

We have a new Tuesday Morning Sketches for you this morning, this is the last challenge of the year and we don't have a sketch for this week is it an Anything goes. Our sponsor this week is our very own Melissa.

 

This is my last TMS challenge as a member of the Design Team :), you can bet that I will play along as often as I can. This was such a great group of ladies to create with and I can't wait to see your future creations and wonderful inspiration. Thank you for having me for this past year and half.

I had such a great time creating this masculine card, I pulled out a stamp set that has been neglected. Inked it up with some Versamark and heat embossed the image in black. I then masked off the edges and used Distress ink to create the background. The panel is popped up with foam tape.

The SS stitched die cuts added a nice touch, I used a wood grain paper for the background panel and the chevrons are the back side that same paper. I finished with the sentiment and some very cool gems.

Supplies: Cream and brown card stock, Designer Paper - Authentique, Inkadinkado - The Great Outdoors, Clearly Besotted - Sentimental Type, SS Stitched die cuts, gems.

Take a look at the TMS Design team, they have lots of inspiration to share with you. We would love for you to play along with us.

Thanks for visiting,

Nina

 

Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge #185

We are on the final stretch of road before the big day. We have our last Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge of 2015 for you today, it is a good time to get those last few cards done.. you know the ones, the ones you forgot you needed :).

I am the hostess for this weeks challenge, I have made it easy for you. Everyone wears boots at Christmas, Santa, Elves, Nutcracker's or even a little girl on a vintage style piece of designer paper.

I have tons of stamps that feature boots, but I will admit I could not choose one. I of course went with my fall back, make the paper work for you so I chose this designer paper and created a little vintage style collage. For each section I added a small read border and I popped up the snowflake. The sentiment(s) are on the panels.

Supplies: Cream and red card stock, Designer Paper - Echo Park.

The Merry Makers have some fantastic inspiration, play along with us.


Thanks for visiting,
Nina

Happy Hanukkah

Good morning all, I hope you are having a wonderful week. I have a quick card to share this morning.

I don't recall ever having created a Hanukkah card before but a lady at work requested one. So here I am. Look close and you will see some sparkle.

I printed off a Menorah clipart and a sentiment then added lots of layers. The the image is coloured with Zip markers and Wink of Stella.

Supplies: White, silver and blue card stock, Designer Paper - LittlePandaDigitals, Menorah - clipart, gems, twine.

Thanks for visiting.
Nina

Tuesday Morning Sketches #331

We have a new Tuesday Morning Sketches for you this morning. Our sponsor this week is DRS Designs.

I think this is a great sketch for scraps so that is what I did, one of my 6x6 paper pad was full of them. I printed off the image and popped it up with foam tape then coloured it with my Zig markers. I gave each panel a small border and finished with some twine and sequins. I even added a Wink of Stella here and there.

 

The design team has some fabulous creations to share, visit the TMS blog to take a look.

Supplies:White and red card stock, Designer Paper - Echo Park. DRS - Merry Christmas, twine, sequins.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Nina

Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge #184

It is time for a new Merry Monday, Lori is our hostess this week and her challenge is to Make a card with a baking theme.

For my card I cased Lesley's cards from a card set she created in Oct. I used some kraft cardstock and randomly stamped gingerbread people, broken feet and buttons and heat embossed them.

I also added some popped up layers to provide that 3D looks, I finished with some gems as buttons, the sentiment and twine.

Supplies: Cream, red and kraft card stock, Designer Paper - Echo Park, Lawn Fawn Oh Snap, The Alley Way Stamps - No Peeking, twine, gems.

The Design Team as always has some excellent creations to share, play along and show us what you can create.

Thanks for visiting,

Nina

Baa Humbug and some Warmish Wishes

I am going to share a little of my crazy with everyone, try not to laugh too hard. I had most of my Christmas cards in the mail the first week in December as my husband and I did a little holiday trip down to Vegas for the National Finals Rodeo.

I will admit that most of the sentiments inside my cards are similar or at least start that way then I add personnel touches.

So when I have a number of cards to write in all at once I type out a cheat sheet before I start. I was about 5 cards in, the ones that were finished were sealed in envelopes and stamps applied.  As I was writing I was saying to myself this sound odd but kept on going.

By card 6 I figured it out, I was writing Warmish Wishes rather that Warmest... Wow, so for those of you that may read this and have a little liquid paper here and there inside your card.. you now know why. My husband and I had a good chuckle about that at the dinner table that night.

Anyhoo, I did have a card to share. I made a shaker card of sorts. I started with this adorable little sheep, I added Glossy Accents then covered it with white Flower Soft.

I then created a background panel with all the little stamps from the Lawn Fawn - Baa Humbug set. I used my Zig marker to colour then added some nice details with Wink of Stella. I then created a shaker well and added some flower soft but static has it sitting nicely in behind the plastic making it look snowy.

I finished with the sentiment and the twine.

Supplies: White and Red card stock, Designer Paper - Echo Park, Lawn Fawn - Baaa Humbug, twine, Flower Soft.

Thanks for stopping by,
Nina

Sleigh Hair

I probably won't ever have to worry about Sleigh Hair here in Victoria but my hair is a little crazy most days so it pretty much applies... always. 

This is a card I created for my hair stylist, but now that I think about it this maybe might say I don't care if my hair is styled or not.. may not the best. Ahh well maybe the gift card for Everything Wine will help :).

I used my Silhouette to cut out the script and sleigh, I added a small strip of DP to the sleigh as well as a little texture. Wink of Stella is all over the place, tops and bottoms of letter and the sleigh rails. I finished with some gems.

Supplies:White and red card stock, Designer Paper - Echo Park, Silhoette - Sleigh Hair, gems, SS stitched rectangles.

Thanks for visiting,
Nina

CAS Snowflake Christmas

It is rare for me to mass produce a card, however usually around Christmas there is a need for it. I only choose one layout and I make it easy to mail so it does not cost a small fortune.

I used white cardstock for the whole card, I stamped the snowflakes in blue and grey then added the sentiment. I finished with some Stickles.  The center panel is popped up, I did something a little different though I used fun foam (a tip I saw on one of the video's my Jennifer McGuire).

I found that glue did not work so well with the foam and I need to use Scoretape to make it stick.

Supplies: White card stock, Verve -Winter Wonder Remixed, Stickles,

Thanks for visiting,
Nina

You've Got Mail

This is the last card I added to the raffle basket,  I took me forever to make it but it was fun. My husband thought was a little on the crazy side as I watched the movie while making it. Also why it probably took me so long.

I started with the little envelope, I had about 6 different ones on my desk as a starting point. I then layered the background image, adding a thin brown border. I then die cut the accent panel and the hi.

The You've got mail sentiment is computer generated, it came out of the printer crooked and off center but amazingly not smudged. Perfect, I made it work.

I finished by putting some foam tape under the envelope flaps and adding some sequins.

Supplies: Cream and brown card stock, Designer Paper - My Mind's Eye, misc die cuts, sequins.

Thanks for stopping by,

Nina

Tuesday Morning Sketches #330

We have a new Tuesday Morning Sketches for you this morning. Our sponsor this week is Kris.

I used a brown background card stock then lined up the panels so there was a small border around them. I die cut the buck and popped it up with foam tape. The oval is also popped up. I added the sentiment and some twine to finish.



Supplies: Cream and brown card stock, Designer Paper - Authentique, Clearly Besotted - A Little Sentiment, American Crafts - Open Book, twine.

The design team has some lovely creations to share, visit the TMS blog to take a look.

Thanks for stopping by,

Nina

Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge #183

It is time for a new Merry Monday, Kristie is our hostess and her challenge is to Make a card with Candy Cane(s) on it.

I created a simple card, my DP is covered in holiday treats including candy canes. I added a small purple border and used the same cardstock for the sentiment - which is heat embossed in white. I finished with some twine.

Supplies: Cream and purple card stock, Designer paper - Graphic 45, My Favorite Things - Hand Lettered Holiday, Lawn Fawn die cuts, twine.

The Design Team as always has some wonderful creations to share, play along and show us what you can create.

Thanks for visiting,

Nina

Butterfly Notes

I used a nice an simple layout for this card,  I added a thin brown layer for a small border. I did the same with the  center panel. I am sure you can see the stitching around the border... I keep waiting to get bored of that technique but I haven't yet.. although you probably have :) or at lease of me telling you how much I like it.

I added the sentiment and finished with a 7 layered butterfly, 3 layers of DP, 3 of vellum then the body. I also added some gems on there too. I used my Wink of Stella to add shimmer to every layer too.

Supplies: White and blue card stock, Designer Paper - Simple Stories, Sugar Pea Designs - Note, Memory Box - Leaven Worth Butterfly Trio, SS Stitched die cuts.

Thanks for visiting,
Nina

Congrats -Baby Boy

Good Morning and Happy Friday, I am posting the little boy version of yesterday's card. I used the same layout but in a puppy dog tails version.

I know I keep saying it but I really do love how easy the stitched rectangle die cuts make it to create cards. I did not want to draw the attention away from the adorable littler baby carriage. So I used a simple single layer background with the charming critters. I added time to the making of this card by fussy cutting all the stroller pieces.

I used Silver dots for the wheels but I would have changes that if I could, darn sticky dots. The sentiment is stamps simply as well and I finished with some pearls below the sentiment. To add a little dimensions, the center panel is popped up with foam tape, the stroller also has some foam tape between the layers.

Supplies: White card stock, Designer Papers - Echo Park, Lawn Fawn - Plus One, SS Stitched Rectangle, gems.

Thank you for visiting,

Nina

Congrats - Baby Girl

My goal in the next few months is to adjust a few things in my craft room.

First is to get some new lighting, the room is not overly large but there are lots of shadows. The ceiling fixture is small and only takes 2 x 40 watt bulbs and it is horrible to work by and take photos. I have a couple of Ott lights but they just don’t cover enough. So a trip to the lighting store might being in my near future.

 

The second thing is I have two bookshelves that are way too old, way too ugly and they are brown. Ikea has these cabinets that are white with frosted style glass that I think would not only look good in the room but also brighten it up a bit. I had a few of the Alex style storage drawer sets and I think they would all look good together.

 

With all that said, I actually have a card to share today. The reason I mentioned the above is because a few or most of my cards has this light haze around the white areas (drives me crazy).  Most days this time of year the daylight is too dull for good pictures so I am stuck in my little room with my so so light tent.

Again with the babble.. the card.

I needed a baby card, in pink for the raffle basket. I created a CAS card, the background is a single layer cut out with a stitched die cut, the center panel is popped up with foam tape . I stamped and fussy cut the little stroller three time, with different papers. The sentiment is simple stamped and I finished with gems below the sentiment and on the  wheels.

Supplies: White Cardstock, Designer Papers - Echo Park, Lawn Fawn - Plus One, SS Stitched Rectangle, gems.

Thanks for stopping by,
Nina



The Challenge - #53

I have had so much crafty time over the past week and I am loving it. I am playing along with the current The Challenge which is to Make a non-traditional Christmas Card.

This cute DP with it's purple and blue colours does not seem overly traditional to me and it makes a darn fun card.

I used a small purple border, then used both sides of DP. I added twine to hide the seam. I used circle dies for the sentiment element and added gems.

Supplies: White and purple card stock, Designer Paper - Echo Park, Simon Says - Holiday Circle Sayings, twine, gems.

Thanks for stopping by,
Nina

Tuesday Morning Sketches #329

Good Morning and Happy December 1st, we have a new Tuesday Morning Sketches challenge for you this morning.

Our sponsor this week is Bugaboo Stamps.

I printed off this image twice so I could fussy cut the largest rose and double it up with foam tape between the layers.

I used my watercolour pencils to colour, I also layered the circle and popped it up with foam tape. I finished with some punched leaves and branches and some gems.

Supplies: White and red card stock, Bugaboo - Rose Tag, misc die cuts and punches, gems.

Stop by the TMS blog, the DT has created some great cards to share.

Thanks for visiting,

Nina

Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge #182

Some may not agree but I think it is pretty safe to say we are getting suspiciously close to the crunch time for Christmas cards. We (Merry Makers) would like to help you along with that. 

There is a brand new Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge posted, Kathy is our hostess this week and her challenge is to Make a Christmas card with any kind of bird on it. Easy Peasy!

I thought I was being pretty crafty (pun intended) when I used this tiny little row of snowmen with itty birds on them. Alas, I figured most of you don't want to sit with a magnifying glass as you play a 'Where's Waldo" style game with my card. I fixed that little conundrum with this cute little cardinal.

Let's get some details shall we - truth be told I was on a mission this past weekend, I had close to 20 cards on my little too do list. So this card needed to be somewhat simple.

I pulled out the rectangle die cuts - with stitching (of course), I cut out the background and the snowmen. I heat embossed the sentiment in white and then popped the snowmen up with foam tape. I coloured up the cardinal with my new Zig markers (LOVE THEM!) and then fussy cut around the edges and popped it up with foam tape and added Wink of Stella. Then I finished with some silver dots. 

Supplies: White card stock, Designer Paper - Fancy Pants, My Favorite Things - Hand Lettered Holiday, Lawn Fawn - Joy in the Woods, SS Stitched die cuts, dots.

There Merry Monday DT has created some wonderful cards, take a peek and play along.

Thanks for visiting,

Nina

Twins you say

AH, I had this half drafted yesterday then just walk away to do something else. So I  am back today to finish the job, and I have a CAS card for you.

Friends of ours had twins and we need a quick card so I put this little one together. I did a stitched panel and threaded some twine through. These stickers are popped up with foam tape. I added a simple sentiment then used some pick and blue gems.

I need a couple more baby cards for the raffle basket so I might be back again today.

Supplies: White card stock, Daisy Hill stickers, Lawn Fawn - Plus One, twine gems.

Thanks for visiting,

Nina

Faux Textured Metal - Trial #2

I showed you the first card I made using the Faux Textured Metal technique yesterday, this is the second go around. Being as I made them at the same time I think they both had the same downfall.

With this one I used a number of brown distress inks then added a gold brown Pearl Ex for the metallic look. The Pearl Ex worked nicely with the distress inks. I wish the picture showed a little more shimmer.

Supplies: White and brown card stock, Sizzix Thinlets, Memory Box - Mini Gears, distress Inks, Pearl Ex, embossing folder.

Thanks for stopping by,

Nina

Faux Textured Metal - Trial #1

I have been spending some time on YouTube looking at different techniques, I found this Faux Textured Metal one by Jennifer McGuire. I love this look but not sure I pulled it off with my two trial runs.

For this one, I used a number of different green distress inks. I had forgotten how much I like blending with these inks and in this case it was no different. I did not have a Perfect Pearls that would work so I decided to try some Pearl Ex I have had forever.

It worked great, where I think my cards went a little side ways is the sentiments.

Supplies: White and green card stock, Sizzix Thinlets, Memory Box - Stars, distress inks, Pearl Ex, embossing folder.

Thanks for visiting,
Nina

Big Trucks, Simple card

I started on a organizational adventure in my craft room this evening, I expect it to take me awhile but I am looking forward to seeing how it ends up especially after the mess I just made.. :)

In the meantime, the ladies and I had the chance for a second evening to craft together via Google Chat. We are playing along to a challenge that is new to me Wednesday challenge at Simon Says.

I did a card similar to this in the summer but I needed a card for a little man in the raffle basket and this DP was perfect.

I used a simple layout, added some twine and popped up the sentiment I finished with some faux metal sequins that come with adhesive on the backs.

Supplies: White and black card stock, Designer Paper - Echo Park, Papertrey Ink - Birthday Bash, twine, sequins.

So by the ladies blogs, Barb and Judy to see what they have created.

Thanks for stopping by,
Nina

Score! A little hockey.

Blogger is driving me crazy, it keeps messing with my formatting....

Still building on the raffle basket, sports in general will be a bonus I think. I heard today that each department had to build a basket for the raffle so my cards would be added to that.. Being IT our basket is going to hold a MacBook Air and some accessories. We need to go with a movie theme so The "You've Got Mail" still works.

I used a simple layout for the card, a hocky theme DP for the background, I added a embossed panel along the side then finished with some hockey stickers and pucks. The sentiment is printed off from MS Word.

Supplies: White and grey card stock, Designer Paper - Karen Foster Designs, Little B Stickers, embossing folder.

Thanks for stopping by,

Nina

Stitched - Family Challenge

This year has simply flown by, Judy has sent out the first family challenge for 2015.

 

The challenge is to use stitching on our project. I will admit to being relieved at such a simple technique, after all I am not all that talented with the more intricate styles and techniques. So I cheated and used stitched die cuts.

I am continuing to add to the basket I mentioned yesterday. I used a pretty simple layout, I used stitched die cuts for the main panel and the frame. I popped the frame up with foam tape and then added gems to the flowers behind. I had originally heat embossed the sentiment on the back panel but it did not turn out nicely so I used the patch method to cover it up.

Supplies: White and brown card stock, Designer Paper - My Mind's Eye, Hot off the Press - Heartfelt Greetings, SS Stitched die cuts, Gems,

Stop by the following blogs to see what the ladies created, Judy, Barb and Sam.

Thanks for visiting,

Nina

Sunday Stamps #114

What is going on, three posts in one day.. I love it.

I had some wonderful crafty time with my family tonight. So we decided to play along with a challenge that is new to me Sunday Stamps.

I did take a few liberties with this sketch. I added just a little space at the top, then used a scribble die cut in place of the circle.

I stamped and used die cuts for the cupcake holder and the cupcake. I think added some Liquid Pearls and some glitter to the top of the cupcake. I finished with a sentiment along the bottom.

Supplies: White and pink card stock, Designer Paper – Echo Park, Lawn Fawn – You are all I knead, Sizzix die cuts, glitter, Liquid pearls.

Take a look and Barb and Judy’s blogs to see what they created.

Thanks for visiting,

Nina

Fore you

I am going to take a leap, we have a raffle for charity every year a work. I have though about putting a small basket of cards in every year but have never been able to get it together enough to make it happen.

This year though I think I am on my way, I have until Dec 4 to build my little basket and it just might happen. Well it will happen, I committed yesterday when I confirm I would have something to add to the raffle. Yikes!

We have a bunch of golf enthusiasts so I need to but together at least one card with that theme. I found this digital image by Imagine That!, I printed out the golf ball three times, the tee two and layered them all up with foam tape. The golf ball is covered in glossy accents. I finished with some twine. 

Supplies: White and black card stock, Designer Paper - Simple Stories, Imagine That! Digis by Kris - Golf Set, twine.

So glad you stopped by,
Nina

Tuesday Morning Sketches #328

We have a new Tuesday Morning Sketches for you this morning. Our sponsor this week is Sami Stamps.

I need to adjust the sketch layers to make it work with my image but I like how it turned out. I coloured and paper pieced the image and finished with some Wink of Stella, gems and twine.

White card stock, Designer Paper - Echo Park, Sami Stamps - Cozy Cocoa, Taylored Expressions - Create, gems, twine.

The design team has some wonderful creations to share, visit the TMS blog to take a look.

Thanks for stopping by,

Nina

The Challenge #52

I'm back, a second round this Monday. This time I am playing along with The Challenge. I chose a CAS style card. Thank you ladies for choosing my card last week as a Top Pick!

The Challenge is to make a Christmas Card. I die cut the two separate pieces of DP then used ribbon to hide the seam. I two additional pieces of ribbon for the bow. I finished with some green gems to match the thin border.

I was watching a card video the other day and the crafter mentioned she has purged all her ribbon. I found that interesting because to be truthful, I rarely use my copious amounts of ribbon. Ribbon collecting was almost like an obsession, now I have tons, and it is just collecting dust.. and I have moved on to twine :), simple easy and Nina proof.

Do you still use ribbon?

Supplies: White and green card stock, Designer Paper - Echo Park, ribbon, gems, SS Stitched die cuts.

Thanks for visiting,

Nina

Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge #181

Welcome to a new Monday, we have a new Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge to share. Who wants to get crafty, this close to the holiday season there is nothing holding back that creativity. You can even put on some holiday tunes and hum along. Tempting isn't it!!

The challenge this week is hosted by Lesley, Make a Christmas card in blue & white with texture!

 



My card is a bit of a crafty Frankenstein card, I had bits and parts left over on my table from other cards and they all just seemed to come together. I had used embossing paste, a stencil and fabulous glitter for the snowflake on a square cut out with a stitched die cut.

So then I went with that theme for the back ground designer paper, I added a simple white panel under my sentiment that is embossed using a snowy texture design. I added a leftover sentiment on vellum over top.

Supplies: White and blue card stock, Designer Paper -Echo Park , Papertray Ink - Signature Christmas, misc die cuts.

Make sure to visit the Merry Monday blog, the design team has created some wonderful cards. Play along with us, you know you want too.

Thanks for visiting,

Nina