What is it about Old Olive?

Hi!

I have another scrapbook spread for you today from my scrapping bonanza weekend with the girlies. I don't know what it is about pages that use Old Olive, but I'm always so pleased with how they turn out. Freaky.

Anyrate, without further ado, I give you my latest project:

Isn't it cute? (O.K. maybe I'm just a weensy bit biased.)

The photos were taken during a hike while we were camping with friends at Balsam Lake Provincial Park.

I used Old Olive 12x12 textured cardstock as the base. The rest of the papers are from a kit I bought at the M store called...hmm... I think it was "Great Outdoors"? Lots of maps, stars, camping stickers, that sort of thing. The embellishments are partly from the kit, partly from a set of felt embellishments I picked up in the clearance aisle at the M store, and partly of my own making. The bear, raccoon, compass, and skeeters are all from the stamp set Under the Stars. I coloured them with my watercolour crayons and blended them with an aqua painter brush. I'm really pleased with the results.


Thanks for checking it out. Don't forget, you can click on any of the photos I posted to view the images up close.

-C

Scrappin' kits make life easy

Howdy,

I've got a 2-page spread to share with you today. For the first time, I used one of the Simply Scrappin' kits from Stampin' Up!. This one was a hostess set available in the 2008 catalog called "Creative License".


I got a lot of scrappin' done this weekend, getting together both Friday night and Saturday to scrap. Saturday was Hockey Day in Canada, and the men-folk watched the games while we cut paper into little bits.

We had a big birthday barbecue in June 2008 to celebrate multiple birthdays (including my own) and this layout celebrates that bash. The scrappin' kit made this so easy! I didn't have to think about what papers to co-ordinate, what embellishments to use, it was dead simple. It even came with layout suggestions that I promptly ignored. I cram too many photos on my pages to be able to use 1- or 2-photo layouts.

I stamped the title using Pumpkin Pie ink with the retired alphabet set, Well-Worn Alphabet. I bought it thinking it would make nice titles, and I was right! I initially intended to cut out the letters, but I guess I grew lazy. The journaling was printed on Acetate using my laser printer, but it looks blurry in the photo. It's actually clearer than you see here.

Thanks again for dropping by.
C

Pretty Happy

Greetings card lovers!

I've been busily preparing for workshops, and one of the items on my To-Do list is "make hostess gift". Since one of my hostesses is a repeat offender (I think this is her 3rd or 4th workshop?) The usual hostess-gift fodder won't suffice. I've made her a set of cards and matching envelopes that use up some of my retired papers (River Rock - I miss you!).


I was totally jazzed by a card I saw that Betsy Veldman made. I don't have her colour courage, but she makes gorgeous stuff. I unabashedly CASEd her card with goodies I had on hand. The flourish stamp set is recently retired (Kind Thoughts). It's the first time I've used it though, and I love, love, love it. [much gnashing of teeth].

It's torture being unable to create Workshop projects with retired stuff, but I understand the logic behind the requirement.

Paper: River Rock (ret.), Groovy Guava (ret.), Cameo Coral, and Ginger Blossom double-sided paper (ret.).
Stamps: Kind Thoughts (ret.), Happy Everything,
Accessories: Scallop circle punch, 1-3/8" circle punch, 1-1/4" circle punch, contraband Michael's flower punch (Marvy), corner-rounder punch, button from my stash, Groovy Guava double-stitched ribbon (ret.), Versamark, white and black embossing powders

Thanks for visiting. Let me know you're here! Leave a comment, let me know what you like/don't like/would change/would buy/want to see more.

C

Pretty in Pink

Here's a birthday card I made for a terrific friend's birthday:

If it looks familiar, you've got a keen memory! I CASE'd my own card to make it. Colours are: Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Pink Pirouette, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, and Whisper white.

The stamp set used is primarily Bud Basics (ret.), but the sentiment is from It's Your Birthday (also ret.). The stamped flowers were cut out by hand, but the smaller flowers have been punched with a variety of EK Success, Martha, and dollarbin punches. The centres of the flowers have little half-pearl stickers added. The oval sentiment was cut using scalloped Nestabilities, and the background pink was embossed using a Cuttlebug embossing folder.

Speaking of the background, this is actually the second iteration of this card. On the first attempt, the wee birds in the background were pining for the fjords... ex-birdies...deceased. I had stupidly attached all the cut paper to the pink background when it was UPSIDE DOWN. So all the birdies were hanging upside down from the branches. [face palm]

Learn from me, ladies. Learn.

Yet another Valentiney

I think this is the last Valentine's Day card I have to share. This one was for my dear hubby.

While excavating my craft room last weekend (excavating) I decided to mount some of my long-neglected, unmounted stamps, one of which was an old hostess set from 2 cattys ago called A Little Bit of Happiness. And yes, I'm that far behind in my stamp mounting. What of it!?

The heart stamp of this set caught my eye, and set me scheming about a nice Valentine's Day card. Here's what I came up with:

I coloured the hearts with my Prismacolour pencils and used some mineral spirits to blend and soften the colours (which, incidentally, are Pacific Point, and Tangerine Tango). I stamped the largest heart a second time, coloured it identically to the first, and cut it out. I applied some Crystal Effects to make it shiny and let it sit overnight to dry. It's layered over top of the first heart and raised with some pop dots. Shiny....


The bottom half of the card is some Pacific Point double-sided designer series paper. I heat embossed the sentiment from Best Yet (last catty's hostess stamps) on it in white.

It's hard to make a lovey valentine-y card for a man that isn't all gushy flowery ribbony bowy. You know what I mean? I think even the polka dots might be a bit too froo-froo.

Thanks for visiting!
C

Another Valentiney

Not long ago I showed you the Valentine's Day cards my kids were making. On Thursday at school they handed them out - what fun!

Of course, Wednesday night at bedtime my son realized he had no special card for his teacher and begged me to make him one. So, I took his design and made it a bit bigger, to a full 4.25x5.5" card:

The stamps are mostly from the Michael's cheapie bin (Hockey Lover, big maple leaf). The sentiment is from Holidays and Wishes, which I always confuse with Hugs and Wishes, because I bought them at the same time, they contain the same number of stamps, are the same price, and have a near identical name. But, I digress.

Paper is Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy and Whisper White. The three leaves are punched out of the NQN with an EK Success punch (not SU!). The ribbon is some retired double-stitched Soft Sky ribbon from last season's In Colours.

A quick and simple card, but I think his teacher will appreciate it all the same.

Itty Bitty Buds surprise

Hi! Another card today - and I kinda like this one! I stole the layout/colours (well, 90% of it, at least) from a card design that I think I got from Wendy Fee. Or possibly not. The mind, she's not what she used to be.

I love the bold colours on this one, the Basic Black, Real Red, and hint of Old Olive. The only thing I'm waffling a bit about is the floral stamp on the red background. I think the card might look cleaner without it. *waffle* I'm also toying with embossing the sentiment in black to jazz it up a bit. *ponder* *muse*

Stamp sets used are Itty Bitty Buds (lvl 2 hostess) and Heard from the Heart.
Thanks for dropping in,
C

It has promise

Today, for your viewing entertainment, I bring you another workshop wannabe card. This one has a little bit of promise though. I might dissect and retool it a bit (primarily the colours: a green and brown butterfly? Hello?!), but I don't completely hate it.

I used Flight of the Butterfly for the stamp set (I completely forgot I owned it! *blush* Time to cut back on the stamp purchases) and the sentiment is from Hugs and Wishes. Colours are Pretty in Pink, Close to Cocoa, and Mellow Moss. I haven't completely decided how I'll rejig the colours, but I'll post the update when/if I get around to it. Maybe Almost Amethyst instead of the Mellow Moss.... *ponder ponder* or some Bashful Blue.....

Themes and Variations

As promised, I went back to the drawing board with the plum dud, and tried a few modifications to see if I could improve it.

Here's the first kick at the can which embodies Karen's comment on the last iteration.
I'll apologize now, I usually take my photos in the sun so they're bright and crisp, but it's been overcast for DAYS:

So, same duddy card with two exceptions (ok, three, but let's not quibble): 1) the flourish from Baroque Motifs in Perfect Plum on the card base. 2) Embossed the sentiment in black. And yes, technically I changed the sentiment stamp, but that's splitting hairs in the overall design change.

It's definitely better.

And here's the gawdy evolution of that card (again, another photo with indoor lighting. Sorry):
All the same stamps, all the same paper, but reversed. There are more layers, and there's more embossing. In retrospect, I should've stamped the flourish more up-and-down, rather than on an angle. Thoughts? Preferences?

C

Everyone has an off day

I have a few workshops coming up, and the planning for them is sapping my card-making mojo. I can't seem to come up with any card designs good enough to be presented to paying customers. *sulk*

Here's the first aborted design:

It started out well enough. I wanted to showcase some heat embossing because that always packs a punch in a workshop. I decided to use Beautiful Borders and emboss gold on gold. Next, I needed a colour that complemented the gold. I don't know about you, but I find gold and purple - or in this case, Perfect Plum - a really rich colour combination. Maybe it's the "regal purple" connection? I added a bit of a black mat to showcase the gold, then added a sentiment (Sincere Salutations) in black and tied some gold cord on the fold to befriend the gold embossing and...... FLOP. It's a dud!

I tried a second version with the big Baroque background stamp in perfect plum on the card front, but there's something amiss with my stamp. No matter how, where, or how much pressure I apply to the stamp, the centre of the stamped image is always void. Maddening! And clearly, I can't have new stampers swearing at a background stamp in a workshop.

Back to the drawing board. Stay tuned for more trials and tribulations.

C

Fair Play

I think this is my penultimate spread in my 2007 8x8 scrapbook album; I have one more set of photos to scrap.
These pictures were taken at the Brooklin Spring fair (well, except one that's from Ontario Place in August, but Rowan wore that shirt a lot that summer so it looks like they're all from the same day. Haha! My secret is out: I'm a revisionist historian.)

The paper is all from an 8x8 birthday slab I picked up at Michael's. Originally Rowan was supposed to be on the right and Adina on the left (and the mid-page swoops lined up in the centre), but a late decision to rearrange the pages meant things went a bit woopsy.

The letters are punched out of Pacific Point SU! paper using my cuttlebug alphabet. Red Tag sale I think it's called? Anywho. A simple spread, but I like the happy colours. I'll be glad when the wee album is done. Tiny pages are hard!

Thanks for checking in (as always!)

C

Tulips for the groundhog

I've been scrapping again. I'm a scrappin' machine! This page is rather pale, so you might want to click on the photo to see it in more detail.


I struggled with this one. I won't kid you. I knew I wanted the photos to be square, and with rounded corners, and I was drawing the palette from the pictures, but then I hit a brick wall. I think this is the fourth layout I tried. Good thing I didn't stick any of it down!

The background is some Designer Series paper in Bashful Blue. The light pink is Pink Pirouette, which has been sponged lightly on the edges and stitched so as not to be so boring. The striped strip is from a Michael's slab I've had forever. The chipboard letters, surprisingly are from the dollarama. I was surprised a) how well they coordinated and b) there was more than one of each letter. Often with Dollarama alpha's you get A-Z and that's it. The green "friend" and matching flowers were free (yay!) and are from last year's Sale-A-Bration rub-ons (Sale-A-Bration is on now!). Buttons are Soft Subtles SU! buttons. And... I think that's it!

Thanks for checking. Happy Groundhog Day!
-C

When you've got no time

I have a bad (bad) habit of leaving cards to the very last minute. I found myself running around this morning trying to make a quickquickquick card for a boy's birthday. I'm not overjoyed with the results, but my son was pleased. He's big into cammo these days.

It's not the sort of card I'd typically post, but in the absence of other blog fodder, I hope you'll accept it! The cammo was open stock 12x12 paper from Michael's, but the rest is all SU. (creamy caramel, chocolate chip, very vanilla, and wild wasabi). Stamps are from SU!'s "Happy Everything" and the chipboard tag (also SU) is stamped with some $1.50 alphabet stamps from the M store.

-C