Molly Blooms

Well here is the first card I made with my new Molly Bloom stamps. I just loved the bed, and it really is a very large stamps. My card measures 51/2 x 51/2 so you can see it takes up a lot of space on the card. To include Molly with the hot water bottle I decided to make a step card so it wouldn't look too busy. The stocking on the bed post is also a separate stamp. Many of the sitting Mollys could also work with with the bed. I thought the sentiment "Warm Wishes" worked with the hot water bottle.

I have been cocooning the last two days working with my copics and new stamps and yesterday it poured rain all day so I had an excuse to stay in and play. Today I really have to get back to doing chores and errands and working on cards for October classes at the store. My grandson is coming for the weekend so I will not have time to play with stamps until Monday. Instead I will be playing trains and going swimming. Have a great weekend everyone and I hope it brings happiness and joy with friends and family.

Penny Black Halloween

I have a confession to make. I am a very mature (AKA old) woman but I just love Halloween. I always have. When my sons were young I looked forward to making costumes, decorating the house and baking goodies. Then when my great nieces came along they were little girls who wanted to be fairies, princesses and even fairy monkeys. The joy of it all to be making pink, frothy costumes and of course a cute brown monkey with beautiful pink wings for Katie who is unique and delightful in her idiosyncrasies. So of course when I discovered card making I just had to have Halloween stamps. I started with just a few. Afterall how many Halloween cards can you send? I promised myself I would buy no more Halloween stamps BUT this summer at CHA I saw this appealing little witch at the Penny Black booth and just had to have it!!! Really I have will power I just choose not to use it.

So I stamped her up yesterday for the first time and all the other Halloween stamps were envious of her cuteness. They also wanted to be stamped so I will be doing some more cards soon. She is coloured with copic markers and the paper is from last year's Basic Grey collection. Look for some Magnolias is the next few weeks as I prepare for the most wonderful time of the year--apple picking, pumpkins, lovely landscapes and Halloween!!

I'm Back!!!

I know I have not posted for some time but the summer was filled with CHA, child care responsibilities, classes at the store, and getting ready for our trip to Europe. I've returned and done all the unpacking and washing and now I am so excited to reconnect with all my rubber stamps. I had a great time on my Mediterranean cruise and visits with friends in Wales and England.While I was away I had a visit to Sir Stampalot in England and found some Molly Bloom stamps I just had to have. As luck would have it Clare, the artist ,was in the store doing demos and her cards are so darn adorable. Visit her blog and see for yourself. I will be doing some of these in the coming week and sharing these cute images with all.

Today's sample is from Impression Obsession. It is such a simple image and so easy for beginners to colour. I used copics and the colours were RV0000, RV00, RV10. Some stampendous stickers were used for the domes on the sleeper. So simple yet makes a cute card for a new arrival. I think this image could be easily made into a small favour for a baby shower, or an invitation.

Check in tomorrow for a cute Halloween card! Hugs to all.

Tilda's Ready for Trick or Treating

I know it is hard to believe but I have started playing with my Halloween stamps. I pulled out this Tilda from last year and coloured her with my copic markers. You can not see in the picture but I pop dotted the pumpkin to give it some dimension and used the Magnolia spider peeking out from inside the card. My local scrapbook store, The Memory Keeper, just got in some new Studio G cards and of course I bought a few (honest just a couple of different ones) and put together this cute Halloween greeting. I still haven't received my order for some additional Halloween Edwins and I'm getting mighty anxious for them to join my collection. By the time the new Halloween Maggies get released and we get them into our local stores or by post it is almost too late for me to make my cards so I am usually one year behind with my Halloween images. As I said before, it is one of my favourite "holidays" and I love to decorate and send spooking greetings to all the little goblins I know. A few big goblins too!

I am off this evening to teach a class using distress inks to create backgrounds and I know everyone is going to do a great job experimenting with the different colours from the Tim Holtz line. Next week I'm off to CHA and I am excited to see what some of my favourite stamp companies have in store for the next season and of course Christmas. I hope to do some blogging from Chicago and send some pictures of all the gals going. Road Trip!!!

Happy Stamping and hugs to all.

Love Those Distress Ink Backgrounds

I'm still having fun playing with my distress inks and I think they are de-stressing me! I love to play with the colours. I usually choose the image I want to stamp and then decide which colours would look good for that stamp. This stamp is from Impression Obsessions and I just love the look of it. I used the Ranger Distress Inks in Faded Jeans, Weather Wood, Brushed Corduroy, and Fired Brick. I stamped the image in Walnut Stain. The patterned paper is by Basic Grey and I embossed it using two different Cuttlebug Embossing folders and matted all with a copper metallic paper. I think it is a versatile card and could be used for so many different occasions. A very simple card to make but I think it has some impact.

OK I know it is early but I am excited about Halloween. That's right Halloween. I have to confess one of my favourite "holidays" and I really think everyone should be sending spooky wishes to family and friends. My local scrapbook store The Memory Keeper in Hamilton just got in some Studio G stamps and cards with a Halloween theme. I only bought a FEW! Really I was very good. I have some Magnolia Halloween stamps on order and I am waiting for them to arrive along with some new Cornish Heritage Farm stamps. Every time I see the mail carrier go by without leaving a package I am so disappointed. Maybe I will have to lure him to my mail box. How I will do this I do not know because believe me I lost the knack to attract men years ago and I don't like to cook or bake. I'll just have to be patient.

Look for some Halloween soon Have a stamping great week. Cheers

I'm Up for the Challenge

Well I am getting back into the stamping mode after a short break. I was really in a funk but it has passed (I hope) and I have spent the day with my stamps and a happy heart. I came across the great blog of Angie Hunt and she is sponsoring a blog challenge and some great blog candy. When I saw the picture of the distress inks I was reminded that I love to experiment with these inks and would love to win this great prize. I decided to play along since the challenge involved the colours red and brown which I happen to like a lot. I used a Stamping Bella Mo Manning image and a sentiment that reads "A Happy Birthday is Always in Fashion." Some stripes, some dots, and kraft paper and Voila an easel card for the challenge.

Also through the Magnolious group I found a tutorial for a four drawer attachment to an easel card and so I decided to combine them both. I have completed the card and now I am going to attempt the box attachment but I need to get some paper. I should really whisper that because my DH would probably have a stroke if he heard that. Really do we really need more paper? NO! but we WANT more paper!!! I am convinced that every scrap booker and card maker is just a collector and probably collects something else like oil lamps, antique crocks or teddy bears. I know you are nodding your heads yes!. Well off to find paper to complete my projects.

Photo cards

Well I've been unable to post for some time but finally today I am ready to put up a few new cards. I have been experimenting with some new card designs using photographs in sepia tones to get that vintage look. The one I posted here is for David. The outside of the card reads "A picture is worth a thousand words" and the inside sentiment says"In this case none of them good!" The picture I used is from 1955 and features him dressed like a cowboy. I know he will appreciate this uniquely designed card for his 60th birthday. Luckily I was able to crop myself out of the picture since I am dressed like Elmer Fudd. What were we thinking?

I have used Bo Bunny paper and a small camera charm. I layered several papers and using a craft knife slit some of the designer paper so I could slip the picture under it like a photo corner. It was fun to design and of course made with tons of love for a special guy. Happy Birthday David!

Tomorrow I will post for a challenge using red and brown. Love that combination of colours so I am very excited to get out some new stamps and my copics and go to it. It's been so long since I coloured I am looking forward to it! Hope your week is great. Hugs to all.