Nature Ketto

Here's my card for this week's (or last week's) Bellarific Friday asking for ANYTHING with Nature and also for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #102.



I thought the embossing folder from the cuttlebug cut/emboss combo 'friends forever' set went perfectly with kenya KETTO and her sparkles. To tie the orange and pink together, I sponged Brilliance Rocket Red Gold ink on the embossed panel and the edges of the cream focal image, cut with nesties. My Peony nestie gave the dark chocolate layer just the funkiness required. Inside I've repeated the patterned paper from the Basic Grey Indian Summer collection and kenya KETTO's sparkles.



Thanks for stopping by!

~Nancy

Who's at the door?!

Don't you just love when your project turns out just how you imagined it?! Sometime within the last year I saw an adorable card at a bookstore that had a monster peaking out a top window. I didn't buy the card but tucked away the idea hoping to create my own version. Here it is. The Mojo Monday sketch #109 this week got me thinking together with this recent Halloween decorating idea from Parents.com that landed in my Inbox this week--a feather boa wreath with googly eyes.

I created my monster in the window in Adobe Illustrator, printed on Gina K pure luxury cardstock and coloured with copics after cutting the image piece with my largest Large Labels nestie. I created a wreath form with black cardstock and circle nesties and wrapped these two fibres I've been hoarding around the form. The googly eyes are adhered to the wreath with Aleene's Jewel-It embellishing glue.

To include the Dry Embossing challenge (TSG25) over at There She Goes as well, I embossed the bottom purple panel using my cuttlebug Forest Branches folder. As with most of my cards these days, I finished it all off with stitching.

~Thanks for looking. Let me know that you did!

Enjoy Your Day

I'm playing along again with Unity's BRO Challenge Week 5. This time we've been asked to bring it home--use something from our HOME that we typically would not use in a papercrafting project and use Unity stamps. I've recently seen some fabulous flowers made with zippers so I thought...hmmm, I've never used a zipper on one of my projects.

The most attractive ones use vintage coloured zippers, which I didn't have...so I used two white zippers (one complete 40cm and one half of a 45cm zipper) I had and coloured the twill with copics in the colours I planned to use on the card. My daughter Morgana thinks it's pretty cool but I can't imagine mass-producing these. My fingers actually hurt from handling the teeth and sewing through the thick layers!! Because the flower is so heavy and is meant to be a brooch, I fastened it to the card with two small silver library clips.




The card itself is simple--I stamped the leafy swirl from April KOTM-fresh beginnings and "enjoy your day!" sentiment from May KOTM-another sweet day; cut the scalloped edge with my EK Success Cutterpede (I'm still searching for the perfect trimmer!); trimmed around the flowers in the Me & My Big Ideas Fashion District paper pad; and zig-zag stitched around the card.





I think the card is pretty enough on its own, but the flower makes a unique little gift. Obviously other people think so too--you can buy a Kate Cusack zipper flower for $85!!! Halvorsons on ETSY are $28. Hmmmm.....


Why not try making one yourself. New York based Annie Mistak has provided the Zipper Flower How-to on Martha Stewart.com.


~Thanks for looking.

Here are my other BRO Challenge entries if you're interested:

Challenge #1-Date night
Challenge #2-skipped it
Challenge #3-Polka dots and plaid
Challenge #4-Sex in a Pan recipe

each day brings beauty...

I used the image I created earlier today but resized it and added a smaller bloom, circular border and the sentiment "each day brings beauty and something to fill your heart with thanks" given it's Thanksgiving here and I truly believe this. I coloured my image with copics--I found a better slice of cardstock--and wow, what a difference. This time if the colouring isn't perfect, I can't blame the paper.

I've also faced something I always suspected...I love square cards! Can't resist making a card square.

Other details: light pink textured cardstock, Bazzill; Indian Summer paper, Basic Grey; dark chocolate pure luxury cardstock, Gina K; grosgrain ribbon and rustic twine, Papertrey Ink; button from an assorted collection...

Big Bloom

Just playing around in Illustrator today and this is what I created. I printed the large bloom on white cardstock--unfortunately I'm out of the good stuff--and coloured with copics then trimmed around the images. To add some sheen to the kraft frame, bloom and cream piece, I sponged with Brillance in Rocket Red Gold. The green patterned paper is from the K&Company Black & Ivory Fushion paper pad (love this collection!). All other cardstock and ribbon is from Papertrey.

~Thanks for looking (please tell me that you did)...

Sex in a Pan

Okay, now that I have your attention...this is my entry this week for the Unity Bachelor Bro Challenge (UBBRO4). We were asked to make a recipe card and include Unity stamps. Bro seems to like his cards hot, so I thought a little sizzle might work.

"The stuff you need" is printed on cardstock and framed in an image from the Simple Life, March Kit of the Month. The 'love foodie in a pan' image next to how "To get it on..." and 'sweet heart' image are both from the Remember Happiness, August Kit of the Month. I chose the American Crafts paper from the Metropolitan collection because of the similar swirly pattern and fun with circles. Lots of stitching and a few Kaiser pearls. What do you think, Bro?

The recipe comes from allrecipes.com. The title font is Holiday Home.

Birthday Bunions

Happy Thanksgiving! Today we're visiting with my sister and her kids. It's also her birthday. Enough reasons to make her a card, but there's one more. On Thursday she had a bunion removed and she's confined to bedrest/home for 4 weeks.

I thought this MFT Who's That Girl pedi image was perfect. My sister has a regular mani/pedi and always wears her signature red. I'm sure a glass of wine or two will also be part of her recovery and birthday celebration.

I used Beate's Weekend Sketch #101 (WSC101) and rotated it. The image is coloured with a combination of copics and paper piecing for the chair. Seems I've caught the same bug as Jodi and can't let a card go without some stitching.

Making eyes goggle!

Today I can honestly say I love this card!!



First I loved creating this image for Taylored Expressions. You'll find this flirty, witchy skirt in the Punchy Potions set, part of the Whimsical Wishes line. But really the stamped image on the card came after I started playing around with my new Impressabilities Circles. I embossed using my Cuttlebug on white cardstock and then smeared black ink all over the embossed image. Because I had a Halloween card in mind, the distressed look was perfect. I imagined googly eyes when I was 'eyeing up' this template at the store. Hope you can see them! Some stitching; wonderful mesh ribbon that was included in the Spooky Expressions Bundle from Taylored Expressions; PTI plum pudding and SU kiwi kiss and black cardstock; and a strip of paper from Recollections Halloween 8"x8" paper pad (I think this is a Michael's brand). Finally, I'm also happy with how my copic colouring turned out. This is a fun and easy image to colour (and cut out with Spellbinders ovals).

I should confess that this was supposed to be a purple card but I sewed it shut! "Scary eek scary eek..." Luckily I still had 12"x12" textured kiwi kiss cardstock in my stash.

Thanks for looking...please let me know that you have. ;)

Off-beat circles freebie

Taheerah at fill your paper with the breathings of your heart asked me to post the digi image for my off-beat circles, so here it is in both black and white and in colour (close to the new SU dusty durango).

If you click on the small image, it should go to the larger version, which you can right-click on and save. You could print it and use as is or punch out circles and pop them up. Have some fun...I'd love to see if you've used it so please leave a comment and link back to your stuff. Thanks!

Spooky Night

I'm trying hard to create something every day and post more regularly. So, I took the Splitcoast Sketch Challenge 249 (10/07/09) today and this is what I came up with...



I wanted to use Debbie Olson's 'stitched paper landscape' technique (for example) together with the tree from the TE Whimsical Wishes set I designed, Spooky Expressions. I used my BoBunny knife to cut around the base of the tree so that I could include a slope behind and in front of the tree. I highlighted the spider web, spider back design and stars in the sky with white gel pen.

Other details: Doris Castle Designs Little Boo Collection and We R Memory Keepers Black Out double-sided patterned paper; PTI black and summer sun and SU pumpkin pie cardstock; Martha Stewart edge punch; SU whisper white craft ink and clear embossing powder (for a more subtle, finer embossed image)

From above

Love this 'perched bird' image by Blackleaf Design at mygraphic.com. I downloaded it for free, then coloured the leaves in Illustrator to match the paper I planned to use before printing on PTI rustic cream cardstock. I followed the sketch for this week's Monday Mojo Madness 107 fairly closely.



The focal image is cut with nesties and sponged with PTI chamomile. The aqua mist, kraft and black cardstock; black vintage buttons; and slice of grosgrain ribbon are also all from Papertrey. The black dotted sheer ribbon is May Arts from Flourishes.

Catch you when you've got the time

I’m going to sneak in another Papertrey WCMD challenge card before the deadline at 7am tomorrow.

Inspired by the signature traits of Australian Aborigines, our project either had to incorporate dotted outlines or masking. I love masking, but not this time…I chose to do dotted outlines and created my own image in Illustrator based on this art. Cool, eh? It reminded me of wheels and time, so I added the sentiment “Catch you when you’ve got the time” on a curve. I used my white gel pen to make dots around the circles after printing the black image on SU cardstock (Looking closely at my photo, I see I have some more dots to fill in and clean up—oops). All other cardstock—rustic cream, kraft and black—are PTI. To add texture I embossed the cream panel and a scrap of black before punching out the circles for the eyelets and rustic thread. I thought the wavy border added another dotted element.
~Thanks for looking…

Please leave me a comment. If you want me to post my 'dotted connected circles' image as a freebie let me know...

Day of the Dead

With the extra time for the Papertrey World Card Making Day challenges, I was able to make one today for WCMD Challenge #2: Mexico. We were asked to get inspired by either the colours, designs or even themes that are prominent in the Mexican culture. I just happened to be jumping around design blogs today and found this free Day of the Dead brush set at mygraphico.com. How perfect!




I went for lots of colour here and mixed more than I usually would in keeping with the vibrancy of Mexican art. After resizing the image in Illustrator and printing on cardstock, I used a blender pen and Polished Pigments (like Pearl Ex) to colour the decorative skull (I still need to use something to fix the colours so excuse any smudging--Henri got to the card before I did with my camera). Because I don't have orange Polished Pigments, I printed a second skull image on SU Pumpkin Pie and paper pieced the feathers. My Impression Obsession order arrived today so I inked up my new Cover-a-Card Tapestry background stamp and stamped on PTI Summer Sunrise. I also layered up with SU Taken with Teal and Pacific Point.

Now I just have to find the right person to give this to!

Sometimes there are no words

Although I wanted to play along with more of the fabulous challenges posted yesterday on Splitcoast, I've run out of time! Here is my simple card for the WCMD09E -Verve Stamps challenge asking us to pick a flag and make a card using the colors of that flag.

Just a few hours ago, I learned that a friend of my husband's boss (and someone my husband knows well) died suddenly yesterday. I intentionally picked Botswana, which gave me blue, white and black-the colours I wanted for this sympathy card. I used retired SU soft sky cardstock and ribbon and PTI black and rustic white cardstock.



I embossed the soft sky panel with the leafy (name?) Cuttlebug folder, which I actually cut at the top seam so I could place the image where I wanted. To highlight the embossed image, I gently sponged with soft sky classic ink and stitched with black thread around the panel. Sorry that this card doesn't photograph better--it's very soft and understated. The message on the front (done on the computer and printed) says Sometimes there are no words and inside says Our sympathy and understanding is with you. in very light, small print.

You are my polka-dotted and plaid sunshine!

This weeks' Unity Bachelor Challenge (UBBRO3) is all about polka dots and plaid. Eeks...I don't have any plaid background stamps or paper so I made my own in Illustrator and coordinated the stripes to match the SU Pumpkin Pie, Cosmo Cricket paper (looks like SU Wild Wasabi) and chocolate cardstock and papers I used.

The images (pocket, polka-dotted cloud, sentiment and sun) are all from Unity's July KOTM-A pocket full of... and are a combination of paper piecing and colouring with copics. To add more polka dots, I embossed a portion of my image block with a Cuttlebug border template. Wendy, you're right...it just didn't look complete without the stitching.

My colour combo seems to work for Gina K. Designs' World Card Making Day Color Challenge (WCMD09J) since I used SU Pumpkin Pie, SU Very Vanilla and Gina K's Pure Luxury chocolate (so scrumptious!).

Thanks for looking...and because you did, how about a freebie? I'm not sure if this will work, but let's try...

Click on the plaid swatch below to view a larger format. Right-click on the full-size plaid image, choose Save Picture As... and save the .png file where you would normally save your files.

Print your plaid in colour on a neutral cardstock and have some fun!!

Gotta love a gorgeous bag!

...even if it's a lunch bag. This card is for the Inspiration Challenge 200 ~ Kir DeVries on Splitcoast (IC200). We were asked to check out the wonderful things online at Kir DeVries and find inspiration. I found enough inspiration to keep me stamping for months so I'll let you know when I post another Kir DeVries-inspired project (where did that name come from anyway?). Today it's the Hadaki Lunch Pod in Liquorice that had me. The colour scheme--black, cream and a bronze-brownish colour--texture and simplicity.



I stamped the background (it's not SU's Linen background stamp but something similar) in Antique Linen ink on PTI rustic white cardstock, then stamped my SU pretty petals background in black. The sentiment was done on the computer and then edged in Brillance Coffee Bean and stitched in black thread. Instead of using black cardstock to mat the main panel, I sewed black piping to the edges. I turned the card into a pocket and created the 'purse handle' with oval nestabilities and stitching.




Thanks for looking!

Finding JOY today

Technically since I finished this card after midnight, I made it on World Card Making Day! I'm also playing along with Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #17 using red, aqua, cream, chocolate and kraft...just the colours I see in the Cosmo Cricket Jolly By Golly papers. And why not do this Friday's TE Sketch Challenge (TESC85) while I'm at it?!

Inspired by Jodi and her sewing sensations, I tried sewing the accent ribbon in the funky way I've seen on so many cards. A little squashed but I'm not disappointed--I'll just have to practise. I wanted to keep the JOY image simple and clean. This is just one of many images from the new Whimsical Wishes set, Wings of Joy, at Taylored Expressions. Although I illustrated this image as part of the set, the design concept is Jami Sibley's. Jami, I hope you're tickled by what you've seen from the TE Design Team...I certainly am!

Details: PTI red poppy, aqua mist, dark chocolate, kraft and vintage cream cardstock; patterned paper, Cosmo Cricket Jolly By Golly; PTI aqua mist grosgrain, Rustic Cream Button Twine and button; Cuttlebug embossing folders; Spellbinders frame die; copics; sewing machine

On Wings of Joy

Hopefully you've seen what the TE design team has for you today...their sneak peeks of the newest Whimsical Wishes set are beyond incredible! I had so much fun illustrating this set and am thrilled to see what can be done with it. I wanted to play along too so I have this simple little card to share:




Inspired by Belinda's card, I wanted to include lots of white space and have the image travel beyond the edge. I picked up the scallops from this little strip of Cosmo Cricket Jolly By Golly paper and used my rectangular scallop nestie to create an embossed scallop edge on just one edge of the sentiment tag mat. A little PTI grosgrain in Aqua Mist and Rustic Cream Button Twine and a few Kaiser pearls to finish it off. Easy! Sometimes it's good to go simple, isn't it???

Hey, Coach

My 10-year-old son Aidan has had a fantastic year playing rep soccer and it's time to thank his coaches.

We worked on the sentiment together making it a little easier for him to write what he wanted to say. The flame image from Unity is one of our favourites--he uses it for birthday cards and just when he wants to stamp something--stamped with SU summer sun, PTI summer sunrise and SU real red with a little rock 'n roll technique. The soccer ball is Microsoft clipart (SL00218_.wmf), which I manipulated in Adobe Illustrator before printing on cardstock.

Other details: PTI red cardstock; Spellbinders Labels 2; Cuttlebug embossing folders; pop dots...

Admiring simplicity and a birthday wish

Today's card is heavily inspired by two out there by Dawn McVey for Papertrey and Jennifer Buck for Unity. Each one uses a simple image, three buttons and basic layout. Love it! So...today I created something similar in Illustrator but with my own spin on it and sent a digi image to Michelle for a late B-day gift. I couldn't resist using it myself, so consider this your birthday card, Miche!!




Recipe: SU pretty petals background stamped with Versamark on berry sorbet PTI paper; Martha Stewart border punch; Spellbinders nestabilities; Cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder; PaperTrey coloured cardstock, buttons and ribbon; Gina K pure luxury 120lb cardstock run through laser printer; hemp twine.

Playing along with Unity

Henri is off for his first full day of senior kindergarten today, so...I finally had time to create a card and couldn't resist the first Unity Bachelor challenge. This week, we've been asked to make an invitation for a DATE with the GUY YOU LOVE using the colours black, red and green and Unity stamps. Hmmm...a date...wouldn't that be nice? We're raising our kids to be active, but it's been some time since we've had a bike ride or even much 'alone' time together. My card uses the bike and sentiment from the August KOTM-Following my Heart. The road to my heart image is one I created in Illustrator and printed on Gina K ivory cardstock. I used Dawn's favourite technique paper tole for the bike since I didn't get the time to play along during the TE Birthday Party earlier this month. To shine up my bike, I added Glossy Accents and love the effect! Here's a better photo than the one I posted earlier from my iPhone:



I printed this on the inside...




Other details: copics; cuttlebug embossing folder; Papertrey cardstock and fabulous K&Company Black & Ivory Fusion paper on sale at Michael's; Ali Edwards font (which you can download for personal use) for inside sentiment; brads, stickles....

Happy Birthday, Taylored Expressions!

Just in case I don't get another opportunity to post tomorrow, I thought I'd put up something just before midnight. I'm thrilled to be involved with Taylored Expressions and the Whimsical Wishes line. If you haven't already seen the newest release, it has to be my favourite (except maybe what's in the works for Christmas!). As an English teacher before my five-year-old Henri came along, The Places You'll Go set and its place in Taylor's Giving Tree Series is very special to me. And I love how the Spooky Halloween sets came together.

Oh, the places you'll go, Taylored Expressions, in the years to come with your generosity, talent and vision...Happy Birthday!!



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So where have I been? Well, aside from having a kid-filled summer, I've been designing stamps! Sorry for leaving any followers hanging (lol-I still can't believe I have followers). The kids are back in school on Tuesday and little Henri is starting senior kindergarten, which is a huge deal considering he had a bone marrow transplant just a year ago and was in isolation and then severely immune suppressed until early spring. I'll soon have some time for myself and for creativity and hope to get a chance to play with my Whimsical Wishes stamps!!! Since we have until Wednesday, maybe I'll have a chance to play along in the Taylored Expressions Birthday Bash!

Thoughtful Frog

I love this little frog from the SU set A Flower for All Seasons. I finally mounted this set last night and inked it up for Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch # 24.


Nothing too complicated here...the patterned paper is from the same DCWV Latte Mat Stackpaper I used for the teacher cards paired with SU certainly celery and orchid opulence and Gina K Pure Luxury heavy base weight- chocolate kiss.

I don't think I've ever used orchid opulence, but what a great colour and it goes so well with Papertrey's satin ribbon! Because I ran the ribbon straight across the card instead of following the sketch exactly, I moved the sentiment strip (from the SU Trendy Trees set, which I also finally mounted last night) up a little. The froggy image is stamped in Adirondack espresso and coloured with copics.


Thanks for looking!
~Nancy

Teacher Cards

So these are the cards I was working on the night before the Bella Birthday Blog Hop--teacher cards! I totally CASEd Dawn's 'Thanks a bunch' card for my daughter's two teachers:

I created the flowers with my Sizzix BIGZ Flower & Leaf die using an assortment of DCWV Latte Mat Stackpaper. I stitched around the edge of slices of Papertrey plum pudding cardstock from my generous friend Charlene mounted on Gina K's Pure Luxury heavy base weight- chocolate kiss (I don't think any dark brown cardstock really compares with this) and added assorted buttons to tie in the colour scheme. Quick and fairly easy.

The next one was for my son's teacher who gave him lots of support; engaging projects; and encouragement and energy this year.

I spotted the sentiment on Lisa Johnson's blog and thought it was perfect for Aidan's teacher. Since I don't own this Papertrey Ink stamp set, I created my own in Illustrator and printed it on Gina K 120lb pure luxury cardstock.

The tree and swing are from Taylored Expressions Branching Out and Branching Out Accessories, the first sets I designed for Taylor. Love this tree!!! The colour choices were inspired by the sweet schoolyard paper from the Basic Grey Mellow 6x6 paper pad and the funky orange is from K&Company 's Carolyn Gavin Greenhouse paper pad. Overall, I was thrilled with my stitching and how this card turned out.

Thanks for looking...

~Nancy

Happy Birthday, Emily-Life is a Party!!

Welcome to the Birthday Blog Skip, Hop & Dance sponsored by Stamping Bella where you can start at the beginning if you've just happened upon my blog.

Here's my card to celebrate Emily's birthday who's only turning 37 today! I wanted to create something bright and cheery and this American Crafts metropolitan paper is just that (I think). I followed this week's Mojo Monday #92 sketch and managed to whip this party card up in 30 minutes because I forgot today was the blog hop and just discovered that I was part of it before my morning rush with the kids!

I used nestabilities, embossed a piece of Papertrey raspberry fizz (more on my new Papertrey paper that came in a care-package from Charlene later today) with my cuttlebug, trimmed the scallops from the AC paper and wrapped it with SU ribbon, floss and love! The image is coloured with copics.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Now it's time to hop on over to Megan's blog...

~Nancy

'a happy hello' in a row

I wanted to play along with Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge this week, gave the sketch a turn and thought the little squares would make perfect windows for this sweet stack of birds from Remember Happiness, Unity's August 2008 Kit of the Month. Although I love this Basic Grey patterned paper, I think it's a little busy for this card--I tried to tie it together with my wavy border and SU ribbon and buttons. The birds are coloured with copics. And since Emily asked, I used my smaller square nestabilities to punch out the squares--they made it easy (although maybe a little time-consuming) because I just had to line up the next square with the subtle embossed lines from the previous one.

Thanks for looking!

~Nancy

Happy Birthday, Taylor!!

Taylor, it's your birthday today, so here's a card (actually two) to wish you a very wonderful day filled with what makes you happiest, which I expect includes cupcakes!! You're a wonderful inspiration. I couldn't decide on bright and bursting with love or paper-pieced, adorable monkey cakes for your 'beary special' day...

~Nancy

Details to follow later today...I had to run with Henri to Sick Kids (don't worry...just a scheduled appointment) before I could finish this post and set up the links.