I'm Back!!!

I know it has been a long time since I posted but things are crazy in this household. Hubby is going in on Monday for a quadruple by pass and we have been going to doctor's appointments and getting things in order. In addition I did a class at the Memory Keeper on Thursday night and I was designing and preparing for a beginner's copic class at the store and a Christmas card class at my house. Yesterday I finally decided I needed to relax and get my mind off of things so I sat down and played for a few hours. Heavenly!!! I can not believe how colouring with my copics gets me into another world. I made a get well card for our niece who also underwent surgery on Wednesday. Annie is doing fine and will be home today. Annie is an amazing artist so I wanted to make a card for someone who is so card-worthy. I used a new Molly Blooms stamp from Sir Stampalot and then decided to try my hand at adding a lot of flowers. At the card class on Thursday Amanda and I were discussing how I just do not seem to add a lot of flowers to my cards. She gave me some great advice. I'm going to share it with all of you. She said "Just go for it. Do not do a lot of planning. Start with your largest flower and go out from there. Glue them down and play as you go." Thanks Amanda. This was my first attempt at this type of grouping and I am feeling OK about it but will want to play some more to work on the technique. The picture does not seem to show how vibrant the colours are so I think I need to check the settings on the camera.

Well I am off to clean the house. I am having a birthday party for my hubby tomorrow. His birthday is Wednesday but I am sure he will not feel up to celebrating then so all the kids are coming and some family members so I really have to get cleaning and cooking.

Hope to post some new Christmas cards for the October class at my home. Really I don't know how I worked before and I am sure my husband must wonder if I ever do anything around the house when he's a work.

New Art Impressions

I'm showing two cards today because I am making Christmas cards and preparing for a class so I thought I would share both with you. While I was in England I made a visit to Sir Stampalot and found those adorable Molly Bloom stamps and I also picked up one new Art Impressions stamps from a new line they have for Christmas. It's called Jingle Tots and they were all adorable but I only bought one. See I am getting a handle on my addiction. Today I didn't even look at the new Christmas stamps at the Memory Keeper so I really think I'm making progress.

This card uses the new Bo Bunny Christmas line which I think is very modern using lime green, purple, and turquoise. I think I will send some of these to friends so I am keeping it simple with just the image and a few small embellishments. I am going to play around with cutting out a few of the jingle tots and using them inside the card along with my sentiment.

At the store tonight I am doing "All things Tim" using his dies, and inks. I am also showing how to make your own homemade grunge board which is so much cheaper than buying Tim's. I love to save money on stuff like that so I have more money for stamps!!!!

I will try to post again later in the week but my husband is going into the hospital for a heart procedure on Thursday and depending on the outcome I could be busy playing nurse. This is a role I do not play well especially if I end up with a whiny patient. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the week and if the weather is good in your neighbour enjoy these last few glorious days of summer.

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