Tic-Tac-Toe with Cupcakes

Today’s the day—you can purchase the Taylored Expressions stamp sets and other bundles and treats revealed this week. I’m thrilled with how the card I created with my For the Love of Cupcakes set (one of the sets in the Whimsical Wishes line I design) turned out. Dawn’s color challenge was just the perfect thing for a cupcake card—bright pink, cream, chocolate and kraft. Sounds just like a cupcake fresh from the bakery to me! While blogging recently I discovered Heather Pulvirenti’s creations-WOW! Heather’s got talent...and this one caught my eye. I thought this layout combined with cupcakes would make a great tic-tac-toe card. I also got a little braver with sewing card layers this time and stitched the game board and borders and even the inside!! But the greatest little find was the QuikKutz magnetic sheets I bought at a local scrapbooking store. I can’t believe that four 4”x12” sheets were just 5.99 CDN! Don’t you think that’s a deal? I punched magnets with my SU ½” circle punch for the backs of the cupcakes, which are coloured with copics and paper-pieced with retired SU designer paper Loves Me, and larger circles using the ¾” punch for the playing zone. It's hard to see the cream patterned polka dot paper used for the cupcake liners on the chocolate frosted cupcakes. I made a home for the spare cupcake on the inside of the card using the same oval nesties I used for the sentiment on the front of the card.

I hope this gives you a little inspiration today and that you head right on over to the Taylored Expressions store and load up with cupcakes and other ‘beary special’ stamps!

~Nancy

A 'beary special' day

Thanks for visiting today. There’s lots going on over at Taylored Expressions this week and I’m especially excited about the sneak peeks today. Two ‘Beary Special’ Whimsical Wishes sets are coming your way on June 5th and Taylored Expressions will donate generously for each set sold. So why Sick Kids up in Canada?

As many of you know, my son Henri was diagnosed just under two years ago with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), an immune disease he was born with. I’ve often thought that we were so fortunate in this case not to know earlier because Henri was allowed to do everything that kids love to do and that he saw his older brother and sister do—he splashed in puddles, played at parks, picked up frogs, plucked flowers, climbed trees and jumped in lakes. All of these things are on the DO NOT DO list when you have CGD because the beautiful world around us naturally has fungus and mould just doing it’s job and not visible to the eye. A persistent and odd infection on Henri’s wrist (probably from getting stuck by a thorn on a bush), which travelled up his arm to his lymph nodes, brought us to emergency and very quickly to Sick Kids. A young, ‘very with-it’ doctor led us from his diagnosis to the immunology team for testing. We didn’t think we would ever need to go for a risky bone marrow transplant, the one possible cure, but within a year that’s where we were.

I originally thought about creating a scrapbook page to give a glimpse of Henri’s experience since August 2007 at Sick Kids, but I thought just two pictures would tell you quite a bit...

Here Henri is three and desperately wanting to water ski like his older siblings. He’s trying out his moves on the dock at the cottage. He looks healthy and we believe he is—we have no idea that he has an immune disease or that an aspergillus infection is spreading from the tiny mark on his left wrist to his lymph nodes, his lungs and his spleen. This was about two months before we were given the devastating news. I think this picture should be the poster for CGD. Look at his life vest, which says 'endurance' on the badge. Endurance is something he’s needed and fortunately has plenty of!

The second picture tells just as much. Here Henri is just outside of 8B (the isolated bone marrow transplant ward) visiting with his twin siblings, Morgana and Aidan. Henri has started his chemo but still feels well enough to venture out of his little room, which will eventually be more strictly isolated and he won’t leave for about 20 days after his transplant. Look at his face and then his sister who will give her bone marrow blood to save her brother in about 10 days. Neither look uncomfortable or frightened (well actually, I guess Morgana looks a little nervous)—Sick Kids has been Henri’s home on and off throughout the year; the public areas are open, welcoming and often where you might see a favourite doctor, nurse or clown; Henri thinks his central line is cool and certainly better than a line in his arm; he knows that everyone is looking out for him and that even though the chemo and pre-meds are awful that he wouldn’t be going through this if we didn’t believe in his cure.

I’m working on a simple collection of cards to take to Sick Kids when we go for Henri’s bloodwork and follow-up on Friday.

I haven't coloured them yet but I may leave them as is and wrap up the collection with pencils--kids in hospital beds like to colour too. If you have a children’s hospital (or any hospital) near you, think about taking in some cards—some children live for long periods of time in the hospital and celebrate birthdays and other important holidays while they’re there. From Feb. 2 to May 29 last year Henri lived at Sick Kids and celebrated Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day and his own birthday before he got out—did I miss any there? Some kids don’t get cards unless the hospital has a great child life program in place. Please give it some thought...

But here's my card for today's sneak peek. Yes, a tangerine monkey inspired by one of the twin's first stuffies. I flipped Taylor's Cupcake Challenge sketch this week and used papers from K&Company (Carolyn Gavin Greenhouse collection) and We R Memory Keepers (Nonsense). The flower is cut from a slice from the Greenhouse collection--I couldn't believe how well it went with the flower image in this set! I used four of my favourite images from the two sets to create this little scene and coloured with copics, but I desperately need someone to teach me how to master them. Karen??? Anyway, 'thanks for your kindness' visiting today...

Enjoy the sneak peeks this week!!

~Nancy

If you are interested in knowing more about CGD, Henri’s journey and how Sick Kids has made a huge difference in our lives, please visit the blog we kept to keep family and friends informed: http://henri.typepad.com (username=henri; password=hair).

Pages for Stampin' Out Alzheimer's

I managed to get a few cards and pages done for the Stampin' Out Alzheimer's challenges this week. What an incredible place of inspiration and community...Jen Tapler and her friends worked hard to get people on board, offer really exciting prizes and bring people and their stories together. If you weren't involved, look for it next year!

My brother-in-law passed away in November 2007 after a decade struggling with early-onset Alzheimer's. Michael and Anne have three children, and although we still have many memories from these last years, his decline and the effect on everyone who loved him was heartbreaking. I still can't listen to My Immortal by Evanescence without tearing up.

Anyway, here they are...

Both pages use digi papers by Mindy Terasawa from her Moss Scape kit at http://www.designerdigitals.com/. I love the colours and the subtle designs. I also used Ali Edward's layered template (AELayoutTemplateNo3) and wonderful font on the Remembering Michael page. The tissue paper letters are by Anna Aspnes (also http://www.designerdigitals.com/).

And here's one more digital page:

The picture isn't a new one--but the title is something I need to commit to. Digital paper and embellishments are from Mindy Terasawa's Allure kit, http://www.designerdigitals.com/.

Henri turns 5 today

Here's a quick page I created in Photoshop today using Ali Edward's Four Corners Layered Template and papers from Lynn Grieveson's Percentage Wise digital kit (both from Designer Digitals).

I wanted to show a picture from each of Henri's five years and thought this template was perfect. I see myself getting back into digital scrapbooking big time--what great stuff out there!!

Sailing in circles

I'm trying to play along with as many challenges on the Stampin Out Alzheimer's community blog as possible, but today is Henri's birthday, this week is Morgana's big dance performance week and Aidan is playing soccer and more soccer--so I'm always on the run. Anyway, here's my card for this week's Mojo Monday Sketch #88. Love this sketch! I used stamps for PaperTrey's Men of Life set and it came together quickly.

Curtain call in pink and brown

This time I'm playing along with Jodi and Karen's Two by Two challenge over at Stampin Out Alzheimer's. It's also Taylor's Cupcake Challenge #69 this week. More later...

A Swinging Happy Birthday

Again I'll tell more later...just wanted to get a few projects uploaded tonight...

This one is for Taylor's sketch challenge at Stampin Out Alzheimer's.

Bluebirds

I'll give more detail about this card later tonight--I just wanted to get some cards uploaded to Stamp Out Alzheimer's and to Kristina Werner's challenge before I'm too late.

Dazzling Kenya for a girl's birthday

I managed to get a challenge done and a birthday card done a day in advance (or at least one sleep) and it’s only just past midnight!!! This week Stamping Bella is the sponsor over at Card Positioning System for sketch CPS116. Love this sketch!

I picked up quite a few things on my recent first visit to Bella land and Kenya KETTO was on the list. I stamped her in Memento Tuxedo Black on Gina K pure luxury 120lb cardstock and coloured her with copics, then cut her with my rectangular nesties and layered her on a rose red scalloped panel and then again on basic black. I pulled out some Marigold Morning from my stash (I love this colour and wish it would come back) and embossed the top part of the bottom panel with my Cuttlebug snowflake folder—yes, snowflakes. I thought the part that I’m showing on the card looked like Kenya’s sparkles. To create something a little different for the bottom border, I stamped a row of small circle shadows in soft sky on soft sky cardstock and then stamped Kenya’s small sparkle in Momento Tuxedo black. I added Kaiser scrapbook pearls in plum to the centres. The patterned panel is basic grey lime rickey liquid candy. What a great name! I used the lighter, layered cardstock that just arrived from Gina K for the actual card. Finally, I applied sakura quickie glue and decoart glamour dust to give Kenya the dazzle she deserves.

Thanks for looking...
~Nancy

W.O.W. on Unity!

Hey, I'm listed on Unity as a W.O.W. --that's for Watch Out Wednesday. Exciting!! The blog hop last week was lots of fun...

Fire it up, Babe!

I made two cards using Karen's sketch SSSC18 posted on her blog, the sweetest thing, but I like the sentiment I used on the manly BBQ card--Fire it up, Babe! Hope you're liking the Boys Will Be Boys set at Taylored Expressions. I'm having as much fun using it as I did designing the images.

I'm finding I'm very 'copic-challenged'--I seriously need some tips from my friend Karen! But surprisingly I don't think the photos reveal my flaws too much. I'm using Gina K pure luxury cardstock, so I know I have the right tools. On my 'fire it up...' card I embossed just the right side of the cream panel with the sentiment to repeat the flame pattern. This was after I created the sentiments in Illustrator and printed on cardstock. I was thrilled to find the screw brads in my stash from heavy-scrapbooking days. Somehow I smudged copic grey in the corner of my image panel, so I ran the marker along the edge allowing it to seep into the cardstock then used my SU distressor tool to rough up the edges and make it even more manly!

I was inspired by the SU designer paper Good Morning Sunshine for my second card and gave my little squirrel a pear from the Branching Out Coordinates set instead of a nut. I created the "don't be afraid to try something different" sentiment in Illustrator. Because my squirrel was so dull looking after I over-coloured him with copics, I gave him some 'smooch' on his tail and belly and highlighted the pears with yellow atyou marker. I smooched the flame on the BBQ too.

Waiting for summer

Thought I'd go back to my scrapbooking roots for Kristina Werner's colour challenge #52 this week...so that's why my card looks like a scrapbook page. Not sure where, but I recently found a great sheet of patterned paper (Sparkle Celebration Bubbles Cinnamon Stick by Cloud9Design) with exactly the colours required for this challenge: Baja/Aqua, Saffron, Mustard, Sand and White. No adding, which means no black or chocolate. Coincidently Ali Edward's digital templates use a similar scheme and so this was an easy one!

I used the Ali Edwards Layered Template No. 05, designed by Ali Edwards, which I purchased at designerdigitals.com. Hope I credited that one right! Whew... Although I spent too much time playing around in Photoshop and Illustrator today while creating this card, boy, did I learn a lot. I gave the original photo an antique hue then changed it to a blue hue close to blue bayou before importing the altered photo into the template in Photoshop.

Here's the original:

Basically, this is what the layout looked like before I printed on Xerox 110lb cardstock and embellished with SU so saffron, blue bayou, more mustard and textured sahara sand cardstock, circles cut from the patterned paper, and a Basic Grey brad:

Just in case you're wondering, the fonts I used are Candara and Marydale. It's hybrid scrapbooking that I really love. Hope you like what I've shared...

~Nancy

Believe, Be Strong

I created this angel image months ago and for some reason Dawn McVey's color challenge this week made me think of her.

Today I was chatting with a friend who is going through a lot and so I was also thinking of her, hoping she's strong and that she continues to 'believe' that things happen for a reason. I tried to keep the card simple with some elegant embellishments--I hope I've achieved this.

I printed my angel and sentiment on Gina K 120lb luxury cardstock and the angel again on translucent vellum, then coloured her with copics and highlighted the swirls with my atyou spica in turquoise--sorry, I know the blue is not supposed to be turquoise but I thought it worked. I embossed the top border with the flowers from the Cuttlebug Border Set Frills, paper pierced the swirl and edges of the card and curled the vellum wings for some interest and dimension. The recessed areas in the flowers and the swirls called for the gems I just received in a May Release VIP collection from My Favourite Things.

Thanks for looking...

~Nancy

Unity Kit of the Month Blog Hop!

You should be joining me from Christine’s blog. If not, you’ll want to start at the beginning so you don’t miss out on the Unity Kit of the Month Blog Hop today. I was so excited about playing along that I couldn’t just stop at one card! Here’s my first inspiration:

I thought the pretty packaging that one of the earlier kits came in was perfect for this project so I used both the organza bag for the curtains and the ribbon for the tie backs and other embellishing. After embossing the pink panel, which happened to have a pink core, I went with it and sanded for a little distressed effect.

The colours and awning actually remind me of my friend Cathy's old storefront at The Ink Spot. If you're out there, Cathy, sending you happy thoughts...

Stamps: window and sentiment from March KOTM; Unity handmade stamp from September KOTM

Ink: Adirondack dye ink in espresso

Paper: Gina K 120lb Pure Luxury cardstock; SU chocolate chip; American Crafts metropolitan paper; Colormates (worldwinpapers) in Deep Pretty Pink 65lb cardstock
Other: ribbon and organza fabric from UNITY kit packaging; square and labels nestabilities; EK Success Dotted Wave border punch; Cuttlebug Swiss Dots and Spots/Dots embossing folders; SU felt flowers, dimensionals and chocolate chip marker; sanding block; mini-brads (unknown)

And here's a quick peak at the other cards I created when I was still deciding which one to feature today ...

I used these amazing Unity kits!

Since these are cards I created for sketch challenges, I'll give more detail in a separate post so you can get on your way!

~Nancy

NEXT LINK HERE! NEXT LINK HERE!
Now hop on over to see what
Jodi C.
has created for today at
http://jodisjazzylifeart.blogspot.com/

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If you get STUCK or LOST at anytime during the blog hop you’ll find a list of all the participants HERE.

Go to the list. Find your spot. Begin Again!

Live all the days of your life!

Quick post...here's my card for Taylor's Cupcake Challenge #67:

I'll give more details later but wanted to get this uploaded before the deadline is up. This card was in the works as I was brainstorming for today's Unity Kit of the Month blog hop.

Thanks for looking!

~Nancy

Catching up

Before the weekend, I created several cards--yes, I feel like I'm stamping again!--but I didn't get a chance to post them here or link to the challenges. We celebrated my aunt and uncle's 50th anniversary, and of course, Mother's Day with my mom and my sisters. May 9th was also my sister's wedding anniversary. Her husband Michael passed away in 2007, but this day still is very special to her and I hope she had time to treasure some happy memories. So here are the cards...

Happy 50th Anniversary

I wanted to use touches of gold without being too traditional or going overboard. I found the sentiment on the internet and tweaked the words and layout in Adobe Illustrator.

I'm having trouble uploading multiple pictures in blogger without the post looking all jumbled, so my mother's and my sister's cards are separate posts.

Thanks for looking!

~Nancy

Wishing my sister happy memories

No complicated sketch here. I wanted this card to be simple and pretty, sensitive but not overly sentimental and teary. The image is from the April UNITY Kit of the Month-Fresh Beginnings. Thought this was perfect for a day that is both filled with smiles and pain. I created the sentiment and border in Illustrator, stamped the tree, coloured with copics and popped the image up. Easy...

Happy Mother's Day to my mom

I followed the Mojo Monday Week 85 sketch but missed the deadline. Hopefully you'll recognize the flowers and vase from the set I designed, Fresh Flowers at Taylored Expressions. I created the sentiment for this card in Illustrator. Love the KaiserCraft pewter pearls!

Delightful Deer

So here's my submission for Unity's FIRST stamp challenge on Splitcoast and Taylor’s Cupcake Challenge #66. Since I only started my Unity obsession with my first order on March 23, 2009, this seems funny to ‘use and rediscover’ my oldest stamp. But this cute little fawn and ‘delightful’ sentiment are from the first set (the November KOTM “enjoy YOUR STORY...laugh”) on my first invoice. The fence and hills image is from Jolly Winter, which I actually received as a free bonus on one of my subsequent orders. I begun thinking I was going to create a simple one-layered card inspired by Krystie Hersch, who I just discovered recently. I love her use of sponging within a frame and white, clean cards. Simple is tougher than it looks!

I had another image in mind for Taylor's challenge, but since the two deadlines are quickly approaching, I combined them here. The scene and fawn are stamped in SU chocolate chip craft and clear embossed. I sponged the grass and sky using finger daubers and SU certainly celery, bashful blue and soft sky classic ink. I coloured the fawn with copics. The buttons are from Taylor’s Special Lady Bundle - What's the Deal? bundle. I trimmed around the frosted flowers in the patterned paper (from the me & my BIG ideas Fashion District paper collection) and overlapped the bottom two layers of Taylor’s sketch.

Thanks for looking...
~Nancy

Fresh Flowers for Nanny

I'm the worst at actually sending cards, but our Mother's Day card is on its way today to my mother-in-law, aka Nanny Mae! I followed the Mojo Monday Week 84 sketch even though I missed the deadline--it's a great layout.

Nanny is a bright, fun personality so I picked a bold patterned paper from the me & my BIG ideas Fashion District paper collection and coloured my image from Fresh Flowers at Taylored Expressions (did you know this set is on sale and isn't just for Mother's Day) with coordinating copics to match. I created the sentiment in Illustrator. I'm not sure if you can see the table cloth clearly in the picture, but I played with Nicole Heady's technique, removing colour from the pink solid to create polka dots to match the small panel of pink patterned paper below. Now looking at my take on the sketch, I see I missed the three circular embellishments on the left. Oh well, it's already gone! Instead I die-cut and cropped the focal image and placed it near the edge. My new Copic Atyous arrived yesterday from Scrappin' Great Deals, so I highlighted the flowers and water with my clear pen.

Thanks for looking...
~Nancy

Pink Blundstones!

I know the new set in the Whimsical Wishes line at Taylored Expressions is for 'real men' but don't overlook the possibilities for the blundstones. When Taylor asked for work boots, I couldn't resist--I've worn blunnies for close to 12 years, introduced them to my husband and even my kids have their own. Don't you think they look irresistible in fuchsia suede?! I created the "You've come a long way, Baby!' sentiment in Illustrator and printed on Gina K 120 lb. luxury cardstock before adding the boot and "kick back..." sentiment from the Boys Will Be Boys set.

I followed this week's Splitcoast sketch challenge and used my circle/scallop nestabilities, paper piercer, copics and layers of paper. I added the fuchsia pearls on every other scallop for a feminine touch. The designer paper is from the We R Memory Keepers Nonsense scrapbook pad.

Thanks for looking! Now go on out and get yourself a pair of Blunnies, or at least the stamp!! ; )

~Nancy

My One Layered Birthday Card

This Unity challenge just seemed to be what I needed--a one layered birthday card! One layer means only a card base with no extra paper layers but embellished any way I wanted. Since I couldn't add layers, I thought I would take them away! I seem to be into frames and windows right now. So here's my card:

Simply, I stamped the dress form from the April kit of the month in Adirondack espresso and used a combination of oval nestabilities to remove the stamped image and Cuttlebug embossing folders and borders to add texture to my white card. The form is suspended with SU silver elastic cord and dressed with scraps of organdy and satin ribbon I had in my stash. I added bling with Stamping Bella cotton candy bonbons and Glamour Dust to the pearls that were lightly coloured with copics.

I'm thrilled with how this turned out and plan to give it to the lovely Annie who is busy right now sewing my daughter's (and about 40 other daughters') dance costumes.

More fun with Unity stamps

I've tried to keep up with some of the anniversary challenges Unity is posting on Splitcoast to celebrate their anniversary. For this one I needed to work with the acronym FIRST for Unity's first birthday.

F is for Flowers

I is for Insect

R is for Ribbon (which I almost forgot)

S is for Scallops

T is for Turquoise or Teal

What fun! This pushed me to add a few more flowers than I normally would. The butterfly image is from the April kit of the month. I coloured the butterflies and stems with SU markers, then huffed and puffed...it needed a little more so I added some detail with my SU chocolate chip marker and some 'glamour dust.' Insects and turquoise covered. The frame, which has built in scallops, is also from the April kit of the month. I just trimmed out the inner frame with fine-point scissors. I die-cut both this and the chocolate chip scalloped mat with rectangular nestabilities. The fabulous patterned paper also counts for scallops and colour, I think. I picked up the Primas at Stamping Bella recently and also pulled out some SU felt flowers and crystal brads.

Loving this little Unity window

I had to play along with the first Unity anniversary challenge--hopefully I'll get to the other ones too. When I saw that the colour challenge was a combination of Kraft, Baja Breeze, Ruby Red and So Saffron, I immediately thought of the fabulous packaging they use at Unity and wanted to incorporate the window in my card.

Lots of 'nestabilities' frames and windows in this creation. The layout itself if pretty simple. I don't have 'ruby red' so I used some retired Riding Hood Red. I stamped the sentiment and balloon image from the Love in the Air set in Adirondack espresso ink and coloured with copics. I dusted the swirls and dots with the glitter from Stamping Bella and Nicky's favourite Sankura Quickie Glue Pen. I thought the Making Memories (Chloe's Closet) flower brads in the corners of the front panel were fairly close to Blue Bayou.

Thanks for looking!

~Nancy