Clean and Simple

Happy Saturday! :) I FINALLY got to play with my Gypsy. Oh my, I love her already. I mean, I REALLY love her. I can't tell you how much easier it is to design a card with her. And she is PORTABLE! I was designing in the van yesterday on the way to the lawyer's office to sign the paperwork for our new house! How convenient is that?

Speaking of our new house, we have one week left until we take possession! Woo hoo! I have a TON of packing to do before then, and then we have about a week's worth of work to put into the house before we actually move all the way in. It needs new carpets (the current carpets are old and dirty, and with my family's allergies, it's just a necessity), new baseboards, and LOADS of painting. The people we bought it from favored a dark orange/dark green/dark brown colour scheme (seriously, they put these colours on the walls - sometimes even all at the same time in the same room), and we're more of a light & bright kind of family.  :)

Anyway, I have only a few days left before I say goodbye to crafting for a little while and focus on making our new house our own. I have way too many cards in my head, and simply not enough time to bring them all into being. But I'm sure gonna try!

Here's one.

I will admit, this one was tough for me. Not tough to design, but tough to LEAVE IT ALONE after it was finished. The CAS-ual Fridays challenge this week is to make a 9 x 4 card. "Embrace the white space" so to speak. I just kept looking at this card and thinking, "I should add something more." But I didn't  - will power prevailed!

I knew I wanted to use this sentiment from my MPS Fruit and Veggie Punnies stamps. I read it out to my Abigail and she CRACKED UP. I love that she appreciates the pun as much as I do. :D

However, I didn't have a single grape cut on any of my cartridges. Not one. So, I pulled out my Gypsy (who still doesn't have a name! I'm working on it!) and created one using several little 1/2" circles from Plantin Schoolbook. The stem is the strawberry stem from Simply Charmed, cut at Real Dial Size 1 3/4". I cut the circles, pieced them together on a triangle-shaped piece of purple paper, added the stem and VOILA! A bunch of grapes. I thought they needed a little personality, so naturally, I added some sassy PKS faces. I dug some twine out of my leftover ribbon box to hang the grapes from to finish the card off.

And it IS finished. I will not add a thing. I WILL embrace the white space (which is harder than you think). :)

I will, however, enter this into a couple more challenges: FCCB (use a fruit),  LFIF (use a PKS face & a pun), and Frosted Designs (use circles).

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful summery Saturday! :)

Birthday Kisses

Yesterday my wonderful husband turned a year older. Birthdays are big deal in our house. I always go overboard with the kids' parties, and as a result, they feel that Birthdays should be a national holiday. :)

So for my husband's big day, we each made him a special card, we cooked one of his favorite meals (BBQ Pulled Pork), we baked him a cake, and we bought him an electric guitar (which he had been asking for for awhile, and which I'm probably going to regret at some point.) My son thought his Dad should have the day off work too: "What do you mean Dad has to work on his Birthday?"

Here's my card:

My husband is NOT a romantic guy. He never has been. But for some reason, when we go on vacation, especially on a beach vacation, he gets all relaxed and mushy. And THEN his romantic side shows through. You can imagine that I push for a lot of beach vacations. Lol! :)   I tried to capture that with this card. I used the Card Patterns Sketch #125 as my base, and the colours were inspired by the Birthday Sundaes photo inspiration challenge this week. The bunnies are a digi stamp from Amber Ink, and the umbrella is from EveryDay Paper Dolls. I created the sentiment on my computer. I love when cards you make for special occasions coincide with fun challenges. I'm also entering this one in Cooking With Cricut (use a bunny) & Paper Cutz (anything goes).

The Birthday Boy received 2 other handmade cards on his special day.

Here's Abi's card:

And here's Luke's card:

These were their own handiwork. Do I not have creative kids? :)

Dad also was treated to a delicious Chocolate Chip Coffee cake. If you've never been to see my sweet and crafty friend Karen over at Kaleidoscopic Sparkles, then you have been missing out. Along with showcasing her beautiful cards & projects, Karen also celebrates Sweet Saturday, on which she shares marvelous recipes. This coffee cake is one such sweet delight.

Here's a photo. It tastes even better than it looks. Hard to believe, I know. :)

Thank you Karen! My sweet hubby says to pass on his supreme gratitude to you for sharing this heavenly cake. "Thumbs Up". :)

And thank you all for stopping by. Have a wonderful day! :)

She's Here!

Well, today I'm ashamed of myself. All my whining yesterday about needing a Gypsy was sad and pathetic. Shame on me. I've gotten along this far without one just fine. What a baby I am.

But all that shame did not stop me from doing a happy dance when I got the mail today! She's arrived!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!! Oh, I am so excited!  *insert big giant smiley face here*

So here's the whole package. It was a GREAT deal at Scrappers Must Haves (I highly recommend!), and despite all my complaining, She was definately worth the wait. :) 

Notice I keep calling her "She"? My family thinks I should name her. My husband has suggested Lucille - he wants to name everything Lucille. What a weirdo. I haven't chosen a name yet, but I think I'd better do it soon...before Lucille sticks. Any suggestions? ;)

It's my husband's birthday today, and I've been cooking and baking up a storm, so no time to play with my new toy yet. But soon. Very, very soon. :)

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Well, I spent the day crafting when I should have been packing. It's my husband's birthday tomorrow, so there was a lot of Cricut Kids stuff going on (more on that tomorrow), and then I was working on a card for the Jingle Belles challenge this week. I like the whole make Christmas cards early idea. Just makes for a more relaxing December.

So this one stumped me. The theme over at Jingle Belles is "Oh Holey Night", and the idea is to put a window in your card. Sounds easy enough, but it wasn't (for me, anyway, but I AM still a novice!). I think a Gypsy would have helped, but mine is STILL lost in the mail system somewhere. The good news is that the wonderful folks over at Scrappers Must Haves have determined that I have been waiting far too long, and they've shipped me another one (hooray!). The second Gypsy is sitting in Canada Customs right now, so very soon I should have her in my very own hands. :) ANYWAY, I found the whole window thing kind of hard. I ended up using an exacto knife, and I had to modify my original idea (about 6 or 7 times! ha!), but this is how it came out.

The penguins are from Simply Charmed, and the sentiments are both MPS. The glittery striped paper is from the DCWV Glitter Stack, and I embossed the presents with the Cuttlebug Snowflakes folder (again, I have no idea what it's really called) and the Swiss Dots folder. I wish I could tell you where the penguin's Santa hat came from, but I have no idea - I found it in my stash of unused Circut cuts.

Because I used penguins (I have a family member who LOVES penguins, so this card was designed specifically with her in mind), I'm also entering this one in the BBTB2 use a penguin challenge.

Still not sure if I'm happy with this one. Sometimes I think I'm Christmas card-challenged. :D  But practise makes perfect, right?

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful day! :)

Beating the Heat

Well, we've been enjoying some beautiful summer weather here in Calgary (mixed in with some not so summer weather, but I try to pretend those days don't happen), and spent much of the day outside. We took a walk, went for a bike ride, played in the backyard, BBQ'd and ate our dinner on the deck. And, of course, we treated ourselves to something cold and refreshing. :)

Which brings me to my new card (which I will admit looked better in my head, but my husband thinks it's great, so what can I say?). The challenge over at FCCB this week is to create a project using a cool treat. For my children, this means ice cream, popsicles, and their favorite, Slurpees. For ME, it means this:

This was my treat this afternoon. A Mocha Coconut Frappucino. Oh, how I love the iced coffees and frapps! So naturally, I included one in my card.

I used the PKS Sketch #56 as my base, and the iced coffee is from Love You a Latte. The paper with the sparkly squares is from the DCWV Glitter Stack, and the orange paper is from DCWV Baby Girl Stack (it is amazing how much I use this stack, but never for a baby girl).

The sentiment was printed on my computer. Some of you may be saying "Frap Birthday? What the heck is she talking about?" I realize that many people do pronouce it "frap". But, in Canada at least, many people (including myself) pronounce it "Frap-ay". So Frappe Birthday is "Frap-ay Birthday". I do so love puns. :) 

Now that I've explained it, you're probably all saying "why is she explaining this? I KNEW it was frap-ay". :D

Thank you all for looking and have a wonderful night. :)

Sweet Birthday Wishes.

Happy Saturday! We have been a busy bunch over the past couple of days. Luke, my 5-year-old, earned his yellow belt in Karate last night. Abigail, my 8-year-old, competed in Kata Forms this morning and won a gold medal in her division! My two Karate kids - I couldn't be more proud! :)

That, on top of packing and preparing to move to our new house, AND having company for the past week, has meant very little time for crafting. BUT, I stayed up way too late last night watching "Say Yes to the Dress" (yes, I watch this show and I LOVE it!) and created a sweet birthday card at the same time.

The Whimsical Wednesday challenge this week is to use your scraps. This wasn't difficult for me, because I usually try to use my scraps before I break out the new paper. I confess, I am a pretty paper HOARDER. I find it so hard to cut into that brand new sheet of beautiful paper. I'm working on it, and fortunately for me, I have a crafty daughter who is forever digging into the new pretty paper. "Mom, why are you saving this? That's silly! Let's USE it!"

Here is a portion of my scrap pile (the scraps I used for this project are in the pile beside the box):

And here is my card:

I used the Sassy Lil Card Sketches July 21 sketch as my base, and I wanted to include lollipops so I could play along with the Cooking With Cricut challenge this week. The candies are all cut from Sweet Shop, and the sentiment is from Scrappy Moms Sweet Somethings. I'm also entering this into the Birthday Sundaes anything goes challenge this week.

WAIT A MINUTE! Did I just say I used something other than MPS???!!!! *GASP* Yes, I did! Don't get me wrong. I am still a My Pink Stamper maniac. I love those stamps and I use them every chance I get. But I recently ordered a couple of fabulous stamp sets from Scrappy Moms. And they contain loads of food puns. You all know how I love puns. Be on the look-out for some super funny food cards coming up in the future. :)

Thank you all for looking, and have a super day!

Beaver Feature

Well, I can admit when I'm wrong. And I was wrong about my cute little beaver on my Canadian Christmas card. He was featured on Jingle Belles this week! Woo hoo! My Abigail was THRILLED. I believe her exact words were (said with a smug little grin): "Told you so mom!" :)

Thanks so much to the Jingle Belles gals for featuring my critter card! I am delighted! :)

My Pink Stamper Design Team Call

I am so last minute with this one, which is very unlike me. But with the move and our vacation, I almost missed the post that announced the My Pink Stamper DT call! Thank goodness for my bloggy friends!

For those of you who've been following me for awhile, you know how much I love My Pink Stamper stamps. Watching Robyn's Cricut videos was my introduction to the Cricut-world. I was completely hooked after I saw how simply and beautifully Robyn could make a card. And then I started collecting her stamp sets (and Cricut carts, and paper, etc, etc, etc). Suddenly, a craft addiction was born. ;)

So, when I heard Robyn was having a DT call, I HAD to enter something. Given the enormous amount of talent she has following her, I'm not holding my breath. But hey, you can't win if you don't try, right?

The requirement is to make a project using the colours orange, green, brown, turquoise, and one other optional colour (I chose cream)

Recipe:
-5 x 5 easel card (you can find instructions for that here)
-base is brown Kraft paper
-green/orange striped paper on card front: 4 7/8" square, DCWV Baby Girl stack
-butterflies (1" & 1 1/4"): Create a Critter, scraps
-potted flowers: PKS Cottage Cutz dies, scraps
-pearls that make up the butterfly trail are from Michaels
-inside cream paper: 4 7/8" square from scraps
-layers on bottom: kraft paper (4 5/8" x 2"), green/orange stripe (4 1/2" x 1 7/8"), orange checkers (4" x 1 1/2") from scraps, cream (2 1/2" x 1") from scraps
-sentiment: MPS Buggy Punnies.

The most detailed card recipe I have ever provided. :D

Wish me luck!

"Canadian" Christmas Card

Good Morning! And a Happy 14th Anniversary to me & my wonderful husband! :)

Just a quick post today for a few challenges.

This is one of those cards that I completed and then said "blah". It wasn't my favorite, and I almost shouted "do-over!" and started it all over again. And then my daughter saw it. And she said "Oh MOM! I love this! That little beaver is SOOOOO cute! Don't change a thing!" She is my biggest cheerleader. And the card stays as is.

Beaver - Winter Frolic, 3"

Holly - Winter Woodlands, 1"

Striped paper - Me & My Big Ideas

White paper - DCWV Shimmer stack, embossed with my Cuttlebug snowflakes folder (I have no idea what the actual name is)

Sentiment - MPS Winter Punnies

I'm entering this into 3 challenges: Jingle Belles (use a Christmas critter), My Craft Spot (Christmas in July), and GAB (use a product you've never used before).

Would you believe that this is the FIRST time I've used this MPS set? I know, I know, I'm as shocked as you are. Usually I tear open the package and use the stamps as soon as I get them! It's also the first time I've used my Winter Woodlands cartridge - it actually still had the little sticker on the bottom. It's also the first time I've tried doodling with my white Gel pen, which is totally obvious. I'm not very good at it. In my defense, I have tendonitis in my hands, which makes writing difficult at times. Still, there is definately room for improvement - I just need to practise. A LOT. :)

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful Tuesday!

A New Card and A Confession

Well, I have a confession to make. I was on vacation all last week. *sheepish grin* I spent the week in Saskatchewan visiting family. I just didn't feel comfortable posting on my Blog, for all the world to see, that my house was empty for an entire week (especially with all my belongings packed neatly in boxes due to our upcoming move!). I did have a couple of pre-drafted posts ready (which I managed to get posted), but my children and my niece and nephews kept me hopping. I only see my family a couple of times a year, so my time was spent having fun with them. :) So if I didn't comment on all your wonderful creations, it was definately NOT because I didn't think they were wonderful.

My vacation was delightful. My mom lives in a small town in central Saskatchewan, right next door to a farmer's field. My children and their cousins had a BLAST. Adventures with a baby spider's nest (EEEWWWW!!! Thank goodness my husband found that one before I had to see it!), a wasp's nest (again, my husband came to the rescue, but not before my nephews suffered a couple of stings- poor little guys), AND a garden snake that made it's home in my mom's flower bed. My daughter named the snake Checkers and asked if she could keep it. :) Such fun!

One of the things that most delighted my children were the dragonflies in Saskatchewan. They were EVERYWHERE (so were the mosquitos that the draogonflies feast on, but that's another story). Abi and Luke were delighted with their beauty, and tried to capture them on more than one occasion. And here lies the inspiration for my card.

The dragonfly was cut from Doodlecharms (3") and all the paper is from The Pile (of scraps). The sentiment is MPS Everyday Occasions, and the ribbon is from Michaels.

Turns out that the Paper Cutz Challenge this week is to use anything you might find in the sky. Since dragonflies are all over the skies in Saskatchewan, I'm entering this card. :)

Thank you all for looking, and have a wonderful day!

Another Blog Award!

I have to start by saying that I have "met" some fantastic Blog buddies over the past few months. It is amazing what a warm and accepting community the crafty blog-world is. :)

Amy, the Red-Headed Crafter, has given me another Blog award. Isn't she sweet? And talented? If you haven't been to see her Blog, you really, REALLY need to check it out. She is amazing!

In accepting this award I have to tell you all a little something about myself, and then pass it on to at least 5 friends.

So, something about me. Hmmmm, I've already shared so many things, but here's a little something that's new, and perhaps a little strange. ;) I collect Muppet stuff. I have Muppet finger puppets, a Muppet Chess set, an old Muppet board game from the late 1970's, even plastic Muppet cutlery (and much more). If I can find it, and it's in good shape, AND I can get a deal on it, I will buy it. I've been a Muppets fan since I was a wee lass and I doubt it'll ever change. :)

I'm passing this wonderful award on to:

Karen http://kaleidoscopicsparkles.blogspot.com/
Jessica http://cricutafterdark.blogspot.com/
Sherry http://upordowntheyrebeautiful.blogspot.com/
Lisa http://indymermaid.blogspot.com/
Amy http://redheadedcrafter.blogspot.com/ (right back at you!)

It is seriously hard to pick just 5. Honestly I could have listed 50 of you that always support and encourage me. :)

Thanks again to Amy for this fabulous award! Happy Wednesday! :)

Cards for Marley

Have you all been to visit Madison at Funky Cards? If you haven't then you are missing out! This girl is super talented, super creative, and super sweet. AND, she has created something spectacular called the "I Feel the Love" Project. She selects a family with a need, and asks all those in Blogland to create a card of encouragement to send to the chosen family. This month the project's cards will go to a beautiful little girl named Marley, who has been dealing with a brain tumor. You can read all about her at Madison's blog.

Anyone who knows me can testify to my weepiness when it comes to hurting children. When I hear about a child in need I cry. Just like that. I no longer watch the news because I spend too much of it in tears. I avoid certain movies and books because the images of children hurting stay with me for days. I have joyfully passed this trait onto my children, by the way, and I hope they never lose that heart for the hurting.

Anyway, Marley's story really touched my heart and I knew I HAD to take part. I thought about how my family would feel in this situation, and I realized that if it was one of my children wearing Marley's shoes, the other child would be hurting unbearably. So, not only did I want to send something to encourage Marley herself, but also her sister. I enlisted the help of my 8-year-old daughter, Abigail. While I was making my card for Marley, Abigail was making a card for Marley's sister, Mia.

Here's what I came up with for Marley.

I followed the Sassy L'il Card Sketches July 7 sketch, and everything was cut from Create a Critter. The sentiment is MPS Buggy Punnies.

Here's what Abi came up with for Mia.

All from her own imagination. I have a talented, big-hearted daughter. :)

My thoughts and prayers go out to Marley's family. Wouldn't it be wonderful to flood their mailbox with well-wishes? Be sure to check out Madison's Blog and join her I Feel the Love project this month!

Birthday Goodness (With a Cherry on Top)

Before I even get started here, I want to apologize in advance for my photo quality. The sun went away and I'm having to rely on the lighting in our house, which is poor. Very poor. Even with my fancy-pants camera, I am fighting to get a decent shot. Every picture has this eerie yellow hue. Ah well, you'll just have to take my word for it that my cards look much better in person! ;)

So when the nice Fed-Ex man brought me my Love You a Latte cartridge the other day, he also brought me the brand new Cricut Lite Sweet Shop cartridge. Oh YUM. I finally made something with it today because I simply HAD to. There are so many delicious cut on this cartridge!

I used the Tuesday Morning Sketch #101 as my base, and modified it a little. The ice cream sundae was cut from Sweet Shop at 3.5", and the little cherries are from From My Kitchen (I can't remember what size, so sorry, probably I should start writing this stuff down as I go), and the sentiment is from MPS Sweetest Cupcakes. The ice cream cone paper is Echo Park Summer Days, and everything else is from "The Pile".

I'm entering this one in a few challenges: Birthday Sundaes (anything goes), Cooking With Cricut (anything goes), and Paper Cutz Challenge (use a frozen treat).

Stinkin' Cute Blog Award

Hello everyone! Amy over at Red Headed Crafter just gave me another Blog Award! Thanks so much Amy! It couldn't have come at a better time! I was having one of those "why am I doing this Blog thing? I don't have nearly enough talent and I feel so inferior" kind of days. And along comes Amy with an award to make me smile. :)  If you've never visited Amy's blog, you are missing out on some amazing craftiness!

There are no rules with this award - you just have to pass it along. So in no particular order:

Jessica http://cricutafterdark.blogspot.com/
Karen http://kaleidoscopicsparkles.blogspot.com/
Sherry http://upordowntheyrebeautiful.blogspot.com/
Priscilla http://priscrafteeescape.blogspot.com/
Julie http://designs-by-julie.blogspot.com/
Kaitlin http://cupcakesandcards.blogspot.com/

Pop on over and visit these amazing ladies when you get a chance. You won't regret it!

Thanks again Amy! You really made my day! :)

Belated Graduation Card

I realize that, for most people, Graduation is long past, but I'm a little behind. Sort of. My cousin's daughter graduated from high school this year, but due to the Canada Post labour issues, I couldn't mail her anything. So I focused on other projects that could be hand-delivered instead. Now that the issues have been resolved, and mail is moving again (albeit very slowly), I was finally able to get to work on her Grad card. Hooray!

The Crazy 4 Challenges challenge this week is to make a centre step card, so I thought I'd give it a try. It was suprisingly simple, and I really like the look of it. I made it an A2 size, so it fits perfectly into an envelope. The inside sentiment (not pictured) just says Happy Graduation.

Zebra - Paisley, cut at 2 3/4"
Pink polka dot paper - Me & My Big Ideas
Sentiment - my computer
Embellishing with mini pearls

It's very sparkly and girly, I know, but it IS for a girl. And she and her friends painted a beat-up old van pink for grad, so I think I'm good. :)

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful day!

You Still Give Me Butterflies

Happy Summer! It is super warm here (well, warm for Calgary at least), and in between packing and other move preparations, we have been enjoying the great outdoors.

I did manage to find time to make an anniversary card for my husband (I HAD to - my crafty stuff will soon be packed!), even though our anniversary is still a couple of weeks away.

I recently discovered Amber Inks through another blogger, and I decided to give digital stamps a whirl. Did you know you can colour them in using Photoshop? I had no idea! I'm still learning, but it sure beats using my kids' coloured pencils!

I used Sassy L'il Card Sketches June 21 sketch as inspiration and here's what I came up with.

The paper is Me & My Big Ideas, and the butterfly on the front and the sentiment on the inside are from Amber Inks. I tried to keep it simple - my husband is an Engineer and likes things clean and simple. Straight lines all the way. :)

And just FYI, for those of you who were wondering if a new house means an actual craft room for me, sadly, the answer is no. We WILL have a den for the piano, guitars, & violin, as well as for the computer & it's accessories. And there is large bonus room (with a window seat!) over the garage that we'll be using as a play/school room. The children have said that they'd like me to share this space with them (there is more than enough room for me to take a corner for my crafting), because they like me around them when they're playing. Who can say no to a request like that? :)

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful day!

The House Hunt is Over!

Whew! Well, we did it. It took a few weeks and a lot of viewings (some of them leaving me feeling like a needed a shower. Ew.), but we found a house! It needs a little work (thanks goodness my husband is handy!), but it'll give us a lot more space. And the best part is that it's only a couple of blocks away from our current house! So we don't have to leave our neighborhood and friends behind. God is good. :)

So, on top of the house hunt (thank heavens it's over!), I have been working on a couple of projects for my family. One of them is for my sister's good friend. Now, for those of you who've been following for awhile, you may remember a cupcake stationary set I made for my sister a couple of months ago. You can see it here, here, and here. The day she receieved it in the mail, I got a very excited phone call. She was so delighted with the set that she asked me to make another set for her friend who is getting married this summer.

The wedding colours are black, white, and pink, and the bride is fond of a damask pattern. Using only this information, here is what I came up with.

First up are the cupcake cards and matching envelopes.

I also made matching tags.

And a box to store them in.

Finally, I made a memo pad and a post-it note holder.

I used the Sweet Treats cartridge for the cards (cut at 3") and tags (3 1/2"), and the sentiments are all MPS. I used my Bind-it-All for the memo pad and post-it note holder. The patterned paper is all Me & My Big Ideas. I'm really hoping the bride is happy with it!

Now, onto the next family project. I can't wait to show it to you. :)

Thanks for looking and have a GREAT day!

I love coffee

So let's talk about me and coffee. Not that long ago, I didn't drink coffee. At all. I just didn't like the taste, and honestly, I still don't like the bitterness of plain old coffee. There was a brief spell during my Grad School years where I choked it down by necessity (it's amazing what a nasty Statistics course will force you to do), but other than that, I avoided it completely. Then I discovered *Starbucks* (cue heavenly choir), and a caffeine addiction was born. In fact, right now, as I'm typing this, I'm thinking about what kind of frappucino I'm going to order later.

So, when PC came out with the Cricut Lite Love You a Latte cartridge, I had to have it. HAD to.  Even my husband said, "You have to have that." And so I ordered it. And then the nice Fedex man brought it to my door, and then I HAD to use it.

I saw that the Crafty Creations challenge this week is to make a thank-you card, and I thought "what better way to say thank-you than with coffee?" So using the Sassy L'il Card Sketches June 14 sketch, I came up with this.

Simple, but perfect for a coffee lover. Honestly, I may just give it to myself as a thank-you for treating me to a frapp later. :)

I used Kraft paper and I kept it pretty masculine I think (my husband has just confirmed this, so I think I'm okay), so I'm going to enter this card into the CAS-ual Fridays challenge this week as well.

I hope you enjoyed your stop at my Blog. Thanks a latte for looking! :)