Almost a year later...

.. I can't remember what the inspiration was, but I can definetly say a lot of the stamps and card stock were from the previous catalog. These were birthday cards that were for my brother and sister in law.

First card - for my sweet sister in law in CA!! I couldn't imagine adding a sweeter person to the large family of siblings I am part of either by blood or by marriage.

Only because I spent so much time with the Give A Lift stamp set and La Belle Vie is my favorite paper pack of all time is why I still know the name of the set! I used a plain paintbrush (dollar stores or your local craft stores will carry these) and a bunch of CTMH water based ink pads. Coloring with the pigment inks gives you a deeper color and it's easier to paint with.

Whoops, looks like I never quite took this photo in the correct orientation! I brought a strip of the same patterned cardstock inside and added some floral flourishes.

Second Card - for my little bro in CA. With the deep freeze that shows up from time to time, he was the smarter one and moved down to where it was warmer!

Another set that I spent a lot of time with for my Spring 2014 workshop - Robot Family with Timber Level 2 Paper Pack! I love these little robots and what's even better; husband loves robots, so I will be using this set over and over again :) and even better - the gears are from the Artiste CTMH Cricut cartridge! I can't get enough of how much I love CTMH and how it's held up so well over the years.

Gears are from the same stamp set - they're super cool! And how cheesy is the sentiment? I just had to use it - my little brother is an engineer so totally relevant. And P.S - the red gears were left over from the cuts I did originally for his wedding banquet invites. Waste not, want not.

Are you gearing up for Xmas yet? I certainly am!

A musician's birthday...

... a friend of mine also happens to play off and on at Cafe Koi, and on occasion when he shows up with his instrument I keep wondering what really is in that body-sized instrument case. Thankfully he's a good guy or I'd really wonder.

It is about 3 weeks late, but as always I do need to include a vacation photo - we got back from sunny Cancun and miss the sun and warmth already.

One of the pools in the tranquil morning before the liquor and games hit.

So, I saw the Delightful Ditty set in the catalog and just had to pick it up for his birthday card. The inspiration is here: http://heartshugsandflowers.blogspot.ca/2014/09/a-new-challenge.html by Sending Hugs.

I was fiddling with a technique that's actually published in the catalogue - by using any acrylix block, inks, sponge daubers and one of their spray pens / water, I got a really cool distressed look for the violin. I suppose I could pretend they're bass instruments...

Then on the inside, I decided I'd continue the use of the same sponge daubers (12 pack is really worth it!) and got a cool multi-colored violin and sentiment. There is a lot more control over the inks and where they are on the stamp with the daubers, but you do have to work fast.

Other:
* Solid Cardstock
* Embossing Ink

CTMH:
* Delightful Ditty set
* Give A Lift set *retired
* Joyful Birthday set
* Autumn Terracotta Ink
* Ponderosa Pine Ink
* Outdoor Denim Ink
* Sponge Daubers
* Spray Pens
* Blue and Green Adhesive Sparkles *retired
* Metallic Sentiment *retired

And just like that, November is nearly over. I can't wait for the workshop coming up tomorrow!

Summer workshop!!

Wow, what a crazy life so far between work, gardening, and trying to get all my ducks in a row for a summer workshop that was requested by my ladies :) The running theme for these cards were all layouts from Sketchbook Saturday Challenges! What can I say, I'm a huge fan of Chupa's work and her layouts were fantastic.

This time, I also wanted to showcase some of the beautiful paper packs that CTMH has in their catalog. The three paper packs featured are Ivy Lane (girl birthday cards), Timberline (boy birthday cards), and Skylark (baby congratulation cards)

Card #1 - Girl Birthday
Inspiration: Sketchbook Saturday Challenge #80

 

 Inks used: Smoothie, Cotton Candy, Gypsy

Stamp: Inspiration Flourishes, Dreamer

Card #2 - Girl Birthday

Inspiration: Sketchbook Saturday Challenge #67 

 

Inks used: Gypsy, Cocoa

Stamp Set: Quick Cards - Island Greeting, Banner Wishes

Card #3 - Boy Birthday

Inspiration: Sketchbook Saturday Challenge #92

Inks Used: Twilight, Cocoa, Ponderosa Pine

Stamp Set: Robot Family

 

Card #4 : Boy Birthday

Inspiration: Sketchbook Saturday Challenge #59

 

Inks Used: Outdoor Denim

Stamp Set:  Country-Born

 

Card #5: Baby Congratulations #1

Inspiration: Sketchbook Saturday Challenge #76

Inks Used: Goldrush, Autumn Teracotta, Ponderosa Pine,Cocoa

Stamp Set: Give a Lift, Banner Wishes

Card #6: Baby Congratulations

Inspiration: Sketchbook Saturday Challenge #67

 

Inks Used: Ruby, Cocoa, Whimsy Pigment Ink Set, Basic Pigment Ink Set

Stamp Set: Buggy Love, Give a Lift

My go-to accessory is foam tape above everything else. What`s your go-to accessory for card making or scrapbooking? 

The workshop dates are 

• Sunday, June 29th 
• Saturday, July 26th. 

Cards are priced at $2.00 each and come with envelopes. As well, I can also create card kits with pre-stamped pieces for the same price per card. Finally, cards assembled from previous workshops are also available for sale at the Summer 2014 workshop for $3.00 each.

Hope you are enjoying the sunshine!