Gifts and Friendship Bouquet

I was lucky to find two ladies who were able to do the workshop with me next weekend, I have another one who's going to reschedule, and at least two other interested ladies. I'm stoked - that's a lot for me since I don't know a lot of people who were going to do this with me.

Card tutorial here: http://stamped-by-hand.blogspot.ca/2012/04/all-designs-are-complete.html

I really appreciate them coming by next week and wanted to express this with a little gift box that happened when I was trying to cut a container for cookies. (The cookies ended up being gifted in a bagalope - tutorial courtesy of Splitcoast Stampers)

I can't seem to find the usual photobox that I normally use to take photos in, but my windowsill seemed to be a great substitute. Cats? Did you steal it? Anyway. It's amazing how all I had to do was cut the box out on Florentine patterned paper with the Art Philosophy cartridge and dress it up with a little scalloped circle element punched out of Dreamin' (retired).

I love how you can mix and match all the different paper packs that CTMH has and it'll all match up effortlessly! It's also the same thickness as cardstock, so it holds up for things like these.

Also I wanted to show you May's Stamp of the Month - Friendship Bouquet! It's a beautiful set of flowers that are perfect for painting and using on ... Mom's Mother's Day card.

This can be yours for only $5.00 with a $50.00 purchase! I can think of a few ways to use this one already. Check out the awesome artwork that the CTMH design team came up with:

Looking forward to the workshop and catching up with a few friends!

A Birthday Present...

... and two weeks with a glue gun resulted in a present that rocked my BFF's world.

(The link to the card workshop is right here: http://stamped-by-hand.blogspot.ca/2012/04/all-designs-are-complete.html)

I originally found the cupcake tutorial at Fabulously Artsy. She's an amazing crafter and will take her glue gun to just about anything to come out with amazing results. And I'm telling you this thing was not easy to make; I think it took me four tries to get the base right alone and I won't talk about how many tries it took for the rest of this thing to look decent.

I couldn't totally hide the little metal "handles" that clip on to the Lululemon gift card that was hidden inside the cupcake, but if I did I don't think she would have realized there was more to this than just a cupcake. You see, she loves cupcakes, and she's an amazing cook/baker. So I saw this and just had to make it.

The only alterations I would make to the instructions was to cut the strip for the paper "frosting" 1/2" x 1", get it wet, and then first accordion fold, then pinch and manipulate. 1" was too large and looked silly, and 1/4" was too short. But the tip regarding the "glue" strings was fantastic, and I added the blue bowtie for emphasis.

Just in case anyone wanted to see how the whole thing looks, here's a second photo. I'm trying to get the mojo up to make a second one but I think I'll need a long break from my glue gun first.

Michaels, etc:
* Patterned cardstock for cup - Costco
* Foam ball, Reflections blue flowers, blue ribbon and red wooden bead - Michaels

CTMH:
* Cranberry Ink
* Spray Pens
* Pearl Paint
* Silver glitter

Hope you all had a great weekend!

All designs are complete!!

It took me a while but I can now unveil the eight designs I have to offer for the card workshop.

Again, to recap each card costs $1.50 and you can make as many of any design as you like - bring your own scissors and adhesive. As well I can take this card workshop on the road to you or create card workshop packages that you can put together on your own time. Please let me know by April 30th what cards strike your fancy and how many; each will come with it's own envelope.

The blog featured in all of these inspirations is Case Study Challenge Blog! It is spearheaded by Chupa of Random Acts of Creativity (who also posts a few Case Studies on her page) and there's a lot of beautiful creations there. Each card also has a matching inside background.

Card #1 is inspired by Teneale Williams' take on  Case Study #67 and features Childhood Portrait.

Card #2 is inspired by Teneale Williams' take on Case Study #80 and features My Peeps.

Card #3 is inspired by Chupa's take on Challenge #84, featuring Fashionista

Card #4 is inspired by one of Chupa's submissions to a magazine that got rejected! But it's still gorgeous. It features Delight.

Card #5 is inspired by the layouts from Challenge #62 featuring Superhero

Card #6 is inspired by Debby Hughes' take on Challenge #76, featuring Enjoy Life. Does the layout look familiar?

Card #7 is inspired by Cristina Kowalczyk's take on Challenge #60, featuring March's Stamp of the Month, Potential.

Card #8 is inspired by a combination of Andrea Ewen and Clare Buswell's take on Challenge #50, featuring Delight and Rosy Regards.

I love them all and I already have recipients in mind for each of them (even though I set out to design cards for a workshop, not make cards for friends and family). Please let me know by April 30th what you would like to do and how many.

Look forward to cardmaking with you!

Busy weekend!!

Between cleaning, Spring cleaning (who knew I had that many shoes??), baking, card making, and several other things, I am almost done designing for the card workshop. There will be a total of 8 cards to choose from.

The unique thing about them all is that none of them are dependent on using patterned cardstock. I've got some pretty backgrounds coming in the mail, from Dreamin to Stella. In the meantime I wanted to make sure I used mostly CTMH products so I left my usual stash alone. However, I didn't realize how much patterned cardstock can really snazz up a project until I ended up doing a card for a friend who's getting married out in Lethbridge.

Today's inspiration: Debby Hughes' take on CASE Study #76.

(psst... this inspiration shows up in yet another card workshop card yet to be debuted!)

The four little squares are from Bliss Workshop To Go (retired), and as I realized quickly - I also hijacked the suggested colors from the same WOTG, Smoothie and Chocolate. Yet another awesome thing about the WOTG's. Not only are they a quick set of layouts in a bag with all the things you'll need (sans inkpads) but sometimes the color combination sticks with you. The butterfly is cut with the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.

There is nothing like an uncooperative shadow :( on a beautiful sunny day. The stamp set is Bliss from the Workshop and this is the first time I've used such a minimal style in both colors and cardstock backgrounds.

I've got one more card in the works and then I'll post the entire workshop soon!

Off to a sunny Monday,

Underwear Affair - 5K/10K run for Alberta Cancer Society

As you know, the Alberta Cancer Society is one of the nearest and dearest foundations to my heart. I did lose all four grandparents to this disease. Last year I shared card posts with you regarding my uncle, who was 10 years cancer-free only to have it return in full force.

I also did not mention that last year my favorite and closest Aunt also developed colon cancer. After a year of watching her be brave, strong, and face this with amazing positivity, she actually beat the dang thing. And so, that inspired me to run the Underwear Affair hosted in Calgary, AB this year.

 

Not only is it my first 10K in 7 years, but it will be fun as my husband is also joining me. It promises to have a lot of crazy costumes, underwear (well, of course!!) and lots of laughter. 

My goal is to raise $500 but I'd love to go past that! If you even have a dime to spare, I'd be grateful - donate here at http://cl12.uncoverthecure.org/goto/sandraandersen

I'll try to get a few photos if I can - and figure out what to wear! 

Sneak a peek - Card Workshop!

I will be hosting a card workshop coming up shortly... but in the meantime this means I'm busy designing like crazy!! I also limited myself to the current sets that are offered in the Spring/Summer 2012 catalogue, in case anyone is inspired to buy which made this an interesting challenge for me.

The blog featured in all of these inspirations is Case Study Challenge Blog! It is spearheaded by Chupa of Random Acts of Creativity (who also posts a few Case Studies on her page) and there's a lot of beautiful creations there.

From Challenge #84:

featuring the stamp set "Fashionista" and the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge

From Challenge #80:

featuring the stamp set "My Peeps"

From Challenge #67:

featuring the stamp set "Childhood Portrait" and "Delight"

and finally, from Chupa's own March submissions for the Cardmaking And Stamping Magazine:

featuring the stamp set "Delight". I love them all, but this last one is my favorite!

There will be a total of 6-8 designs to choose from and each card measures 5" 1/4 x 4" 1/4. Each card to make will cost $1.50 and comes with envelopes. Bring yourself, your scissors, and adhesive (available from Michaels' Arts & Crafts).

Next week I will have a few more designs for sneak a peek - contact me if you're interested or have questions.

Now, if only the snow would stay permanently away...

With Spring comes babies!!

Or wait, maybe I've used that caption before. Anyhow, there's no shortage of babies being expected to show up this year, and my manager is no exception. He's expecting his fourth child!! I'm always amazed at those Moms who seem to juggle life, more than one kid, and business expertly.

To ensure there's enough room for the Web Dev and the Report and Software Dev teams under him to sign a card I think I'm going to need to make a second one... but you'll just have to wait to see what it looks like. Today's inspiration is Mojo Monday: MOJO235 with Scrappin' My Heart Out's take on it.

You can't see in this photo too well, but I cut out two dragonflies with my Art Expression cartridge in my E2 to create a 3-D dragonfly. The first one is glued onto the cardstock flat, and the second one I glued only the middle down, and popped the wings up with foam tape. As well, I couldn't resist painting the little butterfly blue. As you notice the color scheme is neutral, given the fact that I don't know the sex of the baby.

I didn't go too fancy on the inside this time, because there's going to be a lot of signatures on this card. I used a sentiment ('My Baby') from a set purchased at Scrapbooker's Paradise to go all around the edge. This card was a tough one because what you see is round 2! I didn't like the original look which was a stamp on the yellow circle conveniently covered up by the red circle.

Michaels, etc:
* Oh Baby acrylix stamp set - Scrapbooker's Paradise
* Solid color cardstock - Michaels
* Heart and yellow patterned cardstock - Costco

CTMH:
* Baby Love (retired)
* Pair a Phrase (old promo)
* Hope for Japan (old promo)
* Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge
* Topiary Ink
* Chocolate Ink
* Cranberry Ink

I'm off to munch on Easter chocolate!