Happy Birthday to Sweet Zu-Zu!

Even though I am quite tired, today is going to be a good day. I have a fresh new haircut, it's nearing the end of the work week, and I get to see my hubby! It's been a long week and I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend!

Today is also a very special day! It's my adorable neice, Zulea's 3rd birthday! My brother & sister-in-law adopted Zulea from Uganda in June 2010. She is a funny, out-going, adorable little girl and I'm so proud to be her aunt! I wish I could be there to give her the biggest hug and kiss! Here's a few pictures of sweet Zu-Zu:

 

For Zulea's birthday, I made her a 6" x 6" mini accordion album and filled it with pictures of her and her Auntie Charissa and Uncle Kevin... something for her to remember us by while she lives so far away. Here's what it looks like:

 

 

To make the base of this album, you need 3 pieces of 6" x 12" cardstock, score them each at 6" and simply glue together, remembering to not put glue at the top of the album in order to create pockets. And then decorate! This is the fun part. The letters on the front were cut using my cricut machine. I then added designer paper, stamped images and embellishments. The pictures filled most of the album. I created a diagonal pocket on the last panel and slid a tag in the pocket with a written message on it. It folds like an accordion to a 6" x 6" square. I love these albums - so simple to make and fun to display!

 

Thanks for visiting! Make sure to stop by for tomorrow's new KCRR challenge!

A Perfect Sketch and a Fabulous Colour Combo

The past few nights have been quite cold in PG, making it take a little longer to warm up during the day. It doesn't feel like Spring is on it's way... I guess, technically, the first day of Spring isn't until March 20th. But, now is the time of year I get cabin fever and really want the seasons to change. I look forward to the snow melting, flowers blooming, opening windows to let the smell of fresh spring air fill the apartment, warmer nights for going on walks... ahh I can't wait!

Today's card combines a perfect sketch challenge from Deconstructed Jen and a fantastic colour combo from Colour Q.

 

I just LOVE this colour combo. I think the colours coordinate so well together. And the sketch is a perfect example of a combination of clean and simple with layers. Here's what I came up with:

 

I love how clean and simple this card is. I added detail by using different patterned designer paper and embossed cardstock. I wanted to deviate away from creating another birthday card, so I chose a fun sentiment from the Stampin Up 'Word Play' stamp set. I simply stamped it in Cherry Cobbler ink, punched it out with the Extra Large Oval punch and sponged the edges. I added rhinestones to complete the card.

 

 



Thanks for stopping by!

 

Card Ingredients:

 

Stamps: Word Play

Paper: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, 2011-2013 In-Colour DSP, Regals DSP, Floral District DSP

Ink: Cherry Cobbler

Tools: Extra Large Oval punch, Square Lattice Embossing Folder

Accessories: Rhinestones (Michael's)

Mojo 283 {Madison Avenue}

One day down... Here's hoping this week flies by! I can't wait to see my hubby this weekend. I think Keta misses him too!

For today's card I'm playing along with a great sketch from Mojo Monday and an inspiration photo from The Pink Elephant.

I found this to be one of Mojo's simpler sketches, but I still love it. When I saw the inspiration photo from The Pink Elephant challenge this week, the stamp set "Madison Avenue" immediately came to my mind. The flowers and leaves on the duvet cover is almost identical to the stamps in this set. I love the colour combination of grey and yellow. So, this photo inspired me in more ways than one.

I chose designer paper from the Howlstooth and Scaringbone DSP collection for the main piece on the card front.. Even though that DSP collection is meant for Halloween, I find it quite versatile! I found a square piece of polka dot So Saffron DSP in my scraps bin (love it when I can use up my scraps!). I picked out the colours for the flowers/leaves from the photo and incorporated that into my card. The center of the flower is popped up and a rhinestone embellishes it. To add a bit more detail to this simple card, I embossed the bottom with a stitched and scalloped design and tied grey and white striped bakers twine around the white card front. The sentiment "best wishes" completes the card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Card Ingredients:

Stamps: Madison Avenue, Short & Sweet (ret.)

Paper: Basic Gray, So Saffron, Whisper White, Howlstooth & Scaringbone DSP, Subtles DSP

Ink: Basic Gray, So Saffron

Tools: Circles Nestabilities, Scallop Circles Nestabilities, Word Window punch, Needlepoint Border Embossing Folder

Accessories: Grey Wool bakers twine (CTMH), Rhinestones (Michael's)



Cute As a Bug!

What a beautiful Sunday it was! In the afternoon, Karly and I took our dogs for a walk. The sun was shining, we had a good chat and the dogs enjoyed a good run! Afterward, we played a couple games of cribbage. The rest of my day consisted of catching up on Grey's and papercrafting.

For today's card I played along with three card challenges: Dynamic Duos, Sweet Sunday Sketch, and Heart 2 Heart Challenges.

This colour combo is great for Spring, and it fits perfectly with the theme from H2H -- Spring Forward! This sketch is also a good one this week - I just love the layout!

This is the first time I'm participating in the Heart 2 Heart challenge, as well as the Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge. I discovered Sweet Sunday Sketch blog a little while ago and just love the sketches! I came across the Heart 2 Heart Challenge blog just yesterday and while I just started my Close to My Heart products collection, I hope to play along with more challenges in the future! 



While I was crafting last night, I wanted to try out one of the new stamp sets that I got from Close to My Heart. The one I used for this card is called "Bugs and Hugs" (even the name is cute!) I thought it would be perfect for a Spring card! Garden Green is generally not a colour I tend to turn to, but I happen to have the ink and designer paper for this colour - fancy that!  Here's what I came up with:

 

 

Everything came together so nicely in this card! As you can see, I spent time fussy-cutting the grass and the bees. This has to be one of my favourite 'techniques'. I love how fussy cutting adds more detail to a card. I added polka dot designer paper from Stampin Up's Brights and Regals DSP collections for the background and striped DSP for the 'flagged' pieces. The bees and sentiment are popped up to give it some dimension. I added a button with linen thread to embellish the card.

 

 

 

 

Doesn't this make an adorable Spring card?!

 

Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to leave a comment :)

 

Card Ingredients:

 

Stamps: Bugs & Hugs (CTMH)

Paper: Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Garden Green, Brights DSP, Regals DSP

Ink: Garden Green, Basic Black, YoYo Yellow marker

Tools: Circles Nestabilities, Scallop Circles Nestabilities, 1" square punch

Accessories: Daffodil Delight button, Linen Thread







Freshly Made Sketches #75

Yesterday was PJ day for me :) Stayed in my PJ's till about 3:30PM, believe it or not! In all that time I did some laundry, house cleaning, skype calling, papercraft organizing and more trip planning. I pretty much completed our road trip itinerary. Still need to do some tweeking, but managed to include most of the top sites we want to see! A few things I'm super excited about -- swimming with dolphins, snorkeling at La Jolla Cove and sun bathing on the California beaches!

One of the highlights to my day was receiving an email from my hubby! He's safe and sound on the boat in QCI! It was so good to hear from him. I miss him so much!

Another highlight -- a fun skype call with my Mom and sister, Esther. Wish I could be there to hang out with them...

Today's card was based on the Freshly Made Sketches challenge this week:

 

At first glance, I thought this was too clean and simple for my taste. But then I brainstormed what I could use for the big open space. I was inspired by Jennifer Brum's card and thought of the poppies paper from the Floral District collection. I added some pleated ribbon and the sentiment "happy mother's day" and this is how it turned out:

 



While Mother's Day is still a couple months away, I thought I'd get a good head start on some cards for my Etsy Shop. I added dimension to some of the flowers by punching out circles from the same paper and popping them up with dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Card Ingredients:

 

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes

Paper: Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Floral District DSP

Ink: Tangerine Tango

Tools: 1-3/8" Circle punch

Accessories: Pleated Lucky Limeade Ribbon

Inspired By... a Delicious Cocktail and Sending out Birthday Wishes!

SO glad this work week is over! It was a long week full with ups and downs... I'm ready to lay low this weekend. Looking forward to a girls night tonight!  

One thing that did make my day today -- my order from Close to My Heart arrived! While I do order most of my supplies from Stampin Up, I occasionally like to see what other stamping companies have to offer. Here's a pic of my new goodies:

Can't wait to start stampin tomorrow! Tonight I got caught up on some laundry and did some more trip planning. I didn't realize how much time it would take to plan this trip! Because we only have 2 weeks to travel roughly 7,500 km (wow!), we have to make sure it is mapped out perfectly so we can see all the things we want to see!

Today is my childhood friend's birthday - Lori Reid! We have been friends since 1st grade. We were inseparable all throughout grade school, had a blast in high school and were roomies for our first year of university. While today we may not be as close as we used to be, we still keep in touch. I miss her and hope we can have a closer friendship again someday! Here's a  couple photos I found of the two of us from back in the day:

Today's card is the birthday card I sent to Lori. Hope it arrived there on time!

IB #7

 

This week's photo was chosen by Karly. It's a picture of a delicious Raspberry Kiwi Crush beverage from Moxie's. Mmmmm... so tasty!

 

I thought of the "Happy Hour" stamp set when I saw this photo. At first I wasn't quite sure how to incorporate this into a card.. but I looked at the colours and thought of Primrose Petals and Daffodil Delight and this is what I came up with:

 



I love the end result! It's such a cheery card! I used markers to colour half of the cocktail stamp in Daffodil Delight and half in Rose Red. I thought this resembeled the Raspberry Kiwi Crush quite well! While it may not look too much like kiwi, I think it's still looks delicious!  I added a fun swirl from the "Priceless" retired stamp set and a few large rhinestones to embellish the card. The argyle print designer paper is from the Patio Party DSP collection and I added an eyelet border in Daffodil Delight.

 

Thanks for visiting! Make sure to stop by Karly's Creations to see how this photo inspired her!

 

Card Ingredients:

 

Stamps: Happy Hour, Priceless (ret.)

Paper: Primrose Petals, Daffodil Delight

Ink: Rose Red, Daffodil Delight marker, Rose Red marker

Tools: 1-3/8" Circle punch, Scallop Circle punch, Eyelet Border punch, Corner Rounder punch (Creative Memories)

Accessories: Rhinestones (Michael's)

KCRR #7 {Elements of Style and...}

Am I ever glad it's Friday! Yesterday was one of those days...By the end of the day I was happy to go home to my puppy who always has a way of cheering me up! Here's hoping today is much better!

I have to get used to a quiet house again! Makes a difference when my hubby isn't home. The last I heard from him was a text as he was boarding the plane from Vancouver to QCI. He will be on a boat all week which means no cell reception.. :( I made a long to-do list for myself, so that should hopefully make the week go by quickly!

Now for today's KCRR Challenge...

The two elements that were randomly chosen are:

Elements of Style Stamp Set

French Filigree Stamp Set

 

At first, I thought 'two stamp sets? how is that going to work?' But, these actually coordinate quite well together! French Filigree makes a great background stamp. I don't use it often enough! Elements of Style has that same type of elegance. Here's what I came up with:

 

KCRR #7

 

French Filigree was stamped in Crumb Cake for the background. I kept the flowers and humming bird as the central focus of the card. They are stamped in Early Espresso. The flowers and leaves are coloured using a blender pen. I love how this 'technique' makes it look like it was painted in watercolour! The humming bird is popped up to give some dimension. I added Early Espresso taffeta ribbon and the sentiment "happy Birthday wishes" with pearls to complete the card.

 

 

 

Make sure to hop over to Karly's Creations to see how she creatively incorporated these two elements in her card!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Card Ingredients:

Stamps: French Filigree (ret), Elements of Style, Petite Pairs

Paper: Early Espresso, Very Vanilla

Ink: Early Espresso, Rose Red, Old Olive, So Saffron marker

Tools: Scallop Circles nestabilities, Circles nestabilities, 1" Circle punch

Accessories: 1/8" Early Espresso taffeta ribbon, Pearls (Michael's)