Happy Birthday!

This is one of those cards that I played and played with - it needed something - so I added this, then that and then a little something else...... I am pleased that I finally used my CTMH hatpins on a project and I think they look okay, but I'm not as sure about the little pearls I added around the circle. Oh well, I think it is cute overall.


I have really been enjoying my new punch from SU - well it isn't new - it has been available for some time now I believe, but I just acquired it before Christmas, so it's new to me. It is the perfect size for a small sentiment. Which is great as I often design my card without thinking about my sentiment and have to add it at the last minute when there is very little space left!

I am going to enter my card in the challenge over at Stamptacular Sunday - "anything goes" as long as you stamp on your project - which I found via Laurel.

Hope you have a great Monday! I have decided that it is going to be a good day even though it is Monday because a) it is a PA day and I don't have to pack lunches and b) I have cancelled my three day out-of-town work trip this week and get to stay home - well I do have to go to work, but locally! Hooray!

C ya later,

Shanna :)

"So Mom, what is the "A" word anyhow?"

These are the cards we made for our "olde" famer friend, Keith. He has a farm close to where my parents live in Southern Ontario.

The boys love checking out all his animals. He raises turkeys in addition to keeping several work horses, a pony, and a couple of donkeys - which brings me to my story..... I've been saving this one for awhile - had to collect the right photos to go with it........first off, here is the baby and mama - Jack & Jenny photos taken during our summer visit.....

At their age, Chester and Pickle Pants are more than a little interested in "naughty" words. The story went a little something like this:

The boys are sitting around the table one day late last spring - the boys waiting for lunch to be served - when Chester pipes up and asks "So Mom, what is the "A" word anyhow?" Urgh, quick, what do I say?....I have only a split second to decide - hubby is never around when these things happen - never mind, he may have made it worse! So, I decide "honesty" is the best policy and say "Well, the "A" word is actually one of the proper names for a donkey. The trouble is that most people use it incorrectly and inappropriately. It can be used to refer to a donkey, but only for this - it is not to be used to refer to a person!" Chester says - "Oh, so we can say ass if we see a donkey, like at Keither's farm." "Yes," I say, "that would be okay, but you are only to use it if, infact, there is a donkey in front of your eyes, and really it is better to just say donkey." (Thought process - we very rarely see donkeys, this should be okay) not so good..... I proceed to serve lunch.....this is what we were having........

Yeah, you know what happens next...."Hey look Mom, I see an ass, there's another one....tee hee, haw, haw"....on and on and on....mixed in with hysterical laughter from them and me of course, I couldn't help it! Yes indeed, Shrek's friend is a donkey....We went on to discuss, of course, that this was not to leave our kitchen!

So, back in July when Donna and I escaped across the border for a few days of shopping and scrappin, we had a long drive to chat - I shared this story with her then. The very next day while shopping at Target - look what she found me.....

I just had to bring it home for hubby! Later in the fall, when we got to shop at a LSS outside of London, ON, I find this fantastic donkey stamp that you now see Pickle Pants coloring in a psychadelic-like camo style....

So, Keither gets two cards this year since I forgot about the "donkey" stamp when I made his card a couple of weeks ago with Farmer Riley. Pickle Pants decided it would be perfect, of course, and went to work. Another great use for old stickers! :) In this instance, right or wrong, I allowed the use of the "A" word....

Hope you have a great Sunday! Stay tuned for news of the "hot date" night a la Wal-mart..........
or not.

Cheers,

Shanna :)

Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge #8

The challenge at Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenges this week is "no coloring." Well, stickers are not much my thing though I have lots of them, so I pulled out the stickers and put together this super quick card. The hardest part was finding ribbon the right color, but I think it looks okay for a quickie and I used up some stickers that I may never have done.

Hope you are all having a great weekend so far! Chester update - we thought we had to wait until Feb. 7th for his test, but I called back and pushed a little (well, I asked for my requisition back so I could go elsewhere) and we now have an ultrasound scheduled for Monday at 9 am!!! Never hurts to try eh? Now to get an apt at the paedeatrician's office....will work on that one Monday. Meantime, the poor guy is in good spirits.

We were meant to have house guests this weekend but that didn't pan out so our weekend is looking pretty low-key - can't complain considering the circumstances. And, we managed to get a babysitter for tonight so we can have a "date night" - we almost always go for dinner and then Walmart or the grocery store - so very romantic.!The last couple of times, we have challenged ourselves to avoid Walmart - even the babystitter gives us a hard time about going there! So help us out girls, help us avoid Walmart - where do you go when you get a night out with hubby?

Cheers,

Shanna :)

Supplies:

CTMH except ribbon which is SU

Butterfly Thank You

Happy Friday! Whew, I can't tell you how glad I am that it is Friday! Had Chester to see the doc again yesterday and we got a referral to a Paedeatrician - hooray! And another test ordered. I am still hoping that whatever it is is just viral and it will simply go away before we even see the paedeatrician, but at least I feel as though I've "turned all the stones" I could have up to this point. :) Today I have a quick and simple card for you. The sketch for the type of card originally came from Ann over at Creative Antics eons ago. I love this sketch so much that I often come backn ton it to whip up a few quckie cards for the stash - it works with so much different stamps and greetings. I love making a baby card version of this sketch just to have on hand when the occassion arises.

Hope you have a great Friday! Piano lesson for me this morning, then hoping a quiet day at home to get some paperwork done for hubby and a maybe a bit of crafting.....fingers crossed...I have had at least one sick child at home every Friday since before Christmas. I am hoping the Chester can make it through the day without falling asleep!

Have a fab Friday!
Shanna :)

What I used:

stamps: CTMH
ink: Pansy Purple CTMH
ribbon: Bo Bunny

Recycled/Reused Holiday Ornament

Happy Wednesday!
Check out the fun ornament I ended up with when I was trying to make a card....The skates fell off of a gift bag at Christmas - you know I just couldn't throw them out - I knew I could use them somewhere! I pulled them out and started fiddling - then came across the blue and eyelet circle layers on my scrapdesk - they were part of a tag that Danderella used for her daughter's Birthday goodie bags....I added a new brown layer and embossed with snowflakes, then sanded just a bit to let the white core show thru. Hot glue secured the skates in place (they are a bit heavy) then I simply punched a hole and threaded some organdy ribbon thru.


Pretty good considering that the only new thing I used was a tiny piece of brown cardstock and a piece of ribbon eh? Now I wish I had more of those skates so I could make a couple more of these. Both of Danderella's girls are figure skaters and they would look perfect on next year's Christmas gifts! Hmmm, maybe I'll have to go check out the clearance gift bag section at the dollar store.....

Hope you are having a great week! Mine has been so so - Chester has not been feeling great for the past three weeks and we've had a pickle of a time figuring out what's up - several tests and doctors appointments/walk-in clinics later.....Docs seem to think it is a virus that is simply hanging on, but he seems to be perking up now - fingers crossed!

Cheers,
Shanna :)

Using some scraps...

Here is a super simple card I came up with the other night when I had a chance to play a bit. I was poking through some scraps etc and found this stamped image. Since I already had out the brown and blue papers, this came together super quick! I may make a few just like it so I can get the rest of the post-Christmas thank you's sent out. We don't send them for every gift received, but I like the boys to learn about writing thank you notes, especially to people who they actually weren't able to thank in person.

I hope you are having a great week so far - you all know how much I LOVE Mondays.....all things considered, mine wasn't too bad. I had a very busy day at work - which means I saw lots of children/families but didn't do much paperwork - double-edged sword - I would MUCH rather be seeing my kiddos than doing my reporting, but then if I don't balance well I get behind in my reporting. Whatcha gonna do? I had a quiet evening since hubby took the boys out for a couple hours so that was nice. Here's to a great week!
Shanna :)

What I used:

stamps: SU, sentiment CTMH D1361 Thank You

paper: from the scrap bin, woo hoo!

Cake, candles and gifties.....

The challenge this week at Wee Memories is "Anything Goes" and there is a copic prize pack up for grabs! Since the mojo has been in my favor the last little bit, I was able to come up with a birthday card for the challenge.


Once again, I used those yummy imaginisce papers and colors with a few fun embellishlments. I've been wanting to put some birthday candles on a card for some time now, and finally got around to trying it. The most difficult part was adhering them - I ended up using generous amounts of liquid glass and they seem to be holding. It is a fairly bulky card, so obviously it will be a hand-delivered card rather than a "snail mail" card, but that's okay.

It has also been a long time since I colored a Magnolia image, so I thought this little guy would fit in perfectly with the boyish color theme here.

Have a great Sunday - the boys and I are hanging out today, took care of groceries yesterday so we get to hide inside - a good thing too since it's a balmy -29 c today!

Shanna :)

Happy New Year!

Okay, I have switched gears a little, a different color combo and theme....

The challenge this week at Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge (#7 ) is a fantastic sketch and this is my rather loose interpretation of it. This is my first official holiday card for the year 2011 and I am so happy to get started. In an ideal world, I would like to play along with Sparkle's challenge every week, we'll see how it goes. Last year, I made many one-of-a-kind cards which was fun, but time consuming. Since I built a big perennial garden and a veggie garden last spring/summer, I will be wanting to more time out there once spring rolls around - seems like a looong way off right now - so I want to be a little more practical about my Christmas cards while still planning to get as many as possible done early. As for this one, I think it will be a good one to duplicate a few times when I get together to scrap with my girls and that will help me reach more goal of 100 cards faster!

Oh and I finally cracked open my Polar White Flowersoft - I love this stuff! I love the little bit extra this gives to my otherwise simple card!

There are still three spots available if you want to play Pay it Forward with me, just scroll down to my last post for the details.

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Shanna :)

What I used:
copics: B01, BG02, B0000, E31, E47, YR07
stamps: CTMH A Little Everything D1420, Elzybells (I think)
papers: CTMH crystal blue, chocolate
emb: Polar White Flowersoft

My turn to Pay it forward

Good morning Bloggy friends! It's Friday and Fridays make me happy! EDIT - trying to stay postivie - when I took Pickle Pants to the bus (Chester is sick) I realized that the temperature is -32 celcius, but get this, it is -42 with the wind chill!!! Can you say BRRRRRRRRR.....Anyhow, I had some fun in my crafty space yesterday evening and managed to get 2.5 cards completed - woohoo! The third I'll finish later today and then I'll be able to shoot some photos - in the meantime, I have something fun for you this morning......

I found this yesterday on Loopy Lindsey's blog - one of my fave places to go for inspiration and comic relief - she also is surrounded by the male species and shares the funniest stories - well, sometimes I'm sure they were NOT funny when they were happening, but she is always able to somehow find the humor - and after all, "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain!"

So, this is the scoop - I promise to send something handmade to the first FIVE people who comment on this post. There is one conditon - if you are one of the first five to comment, you must then post this and promise to send some homemade to FIVE other people - see, lots of homemade goodness being shared around! I truly love this idea, because even though I send a lot of cards in the snail mail, I receive mostly bills in my mailbox - anything personal and/homemade is always treasured dearly!

To sum up, the rules state that it must be something handmade or homemade by YOU and you must send to FIVE people within 2011. I promise I won't wait until Decmeber to send it though....this just allows for some time to cut, color, glue and stick and pop things in the mail!

Hope you have a Fabby Friday! I am off to my piano lesson, then hope to finish my card and shoot some photos so that I can share one of them later on today!

Have a good one,

Shanna :)

You look like a monkey, and you act like one too!

Admit it, you all sing the line at the end of the "alternate" version of Happy Birthday.....
Well, here we have another Birthday card using those fab Imaginisce papers - I know, you all are very bored of them I'm sure, but hey, sticking to the same colors/papers for a few cards in a row is good for the productivity - I don't often do this since I get bored, but it can make things a little faster.

For today's card, I used the sketch from The Sweet Stop - I had a bit of trouble with the vertical line at first, but I think it came together okay. I do still love these colors, especially for Birthday cards! I even used my new nestabilities and some much neglected Bella Bling!

I managed to get a couple more cards done this evening, so I should have lots to share this week!
Happy Friday Night! And yes, it is still very cold here....
Nighty night,

Shanna :)

p.s. If anyone would like to play "Play it Forward" with me, see this post - I will send you a homemade/handmade goodie if you choose to play along.

Doggie Birthday Greetings

Like I said, I just kept going with those yummy Imaginisce papers....here is another version of Sunday's card - this time with an image instead of the sentiment, and one of the papers is flipped to reveal the fun swirlies. This image is one of those ones from my "stamped images" box that I've had for a long time and can't remember where it came from - High Hopes maybe? Anyhow, he's a cutie and was fun to color!

The sketch was from Friday Sketchers, it was defintely an easy one to play with. Another Birthday card for the stash - err, well, it probably won't be there long now that I look at the birthday list for the end of this month which, incredibly, is almost here!

Hubby came to bed just after 4 AM and started sawing logs and since I couldn't sleep I decided to stop trying and get up and take care of a few things. If I am asleep when he comes to bed and starts in on the snoring, it is not usually a problem - if I am awake when he comes to bed, it's a different story! So, now it's 5:30 - I'm heading back in there to try to go back to sleep otherwise I'm going to be a zombie by noon, and I have a busy day at work tomorrow. I really should have left him on the couch! Do you have snorers in your family?

Here's to another hour of sleep,
Cheers,
Shanna :)

Best Wishes Riley

Well, this card is a funny one - while thumbing through some things recently on a search for something else, I came across this adorable Riley image that I colored way back when copics were first introduced to me by Danderella! For what reason he did not make it onto a card, I cannot tell, but here here is. The next day, I then found this green card base with the patterned paper already glued on - hmmm, they sorta match - maybe I did this on purpose?!?


Well, needless to say, this simple little card came together quickly which is great since my stash has been depleted and I need more "at the ready" for when life gets busy. Mostly, I like to design the card specifically for the person, but sometimes life gets away from me and it doesn't work out that way! How about you? Do you pull from your stash or do you custom desgin?

Have a Happy Day!
Shanna :)

Skater Ian

Happy Monday!?! Or not - we received about 15 centimetres of snow here since sometime last night and I just came in from shovelling!!! I can always find a reason NOT to like Mondays! Oh well, at least it doesn't snow everyday and it does look quite pretty....not so pretty when there is so much you cannot drive into the driveway...

I do realize though, that you did not stop by to listen to me whine, so I will share my card. You will notice that I used the same paper line for this one as for the last card I posted. I had so much fun working with these papers and colors that I decided to keep going.

Also, I wanted to play along with a couple of challenges. The challenge over at Raise the Bar is "Oh to be a Kid again" - they want to see us use child images. I believe that my card also fits the color combo at Curtain Call this week - Curtain Call 65.
I decided that I can always use some more boy Birthday cards in the stash, what with me being outnumbered by boys in this house! I dream of one day claiming one of our two bathrooms to myself - how nice it would be if I didn't have to put the seat back down every time I go pee! Maybe once they're a little older, if I decorate it all girly and add a little bling here and there, maybe I can scare them offf......Oh, here I am dreaming and complaining again. I guess it must be time to sign off and usher Chester and Pickle Pants into bed. (Shhhh, they are watching a couple of episodes Pink Panter - the one I watched as a kid - while I shovelled the driveway and snuck in a few minutes to write my post...)

Cheers,
Shanna :)

p.s. sorry for the off color photo - I had to take it without daylight as I really wanted to get a post up tonight. :)

Happy 85th Papa!

Thanks to Danderella, I was able to get in my craft room this afternoon. Her girls invited Chester and Pickle Pants over for a movie and now they are getting some fresh air together in her backyard! Perfect - I get some crafty time and the kiddos get some play time in the freshly fallen snow - what would I do without my girlfriends!?!?!

This card is overdue as my Papa's Bday was at the beginning of the month, so I wanted to get something done quickly. I cannot believe he is 85! To me he doesn't look a day older than he did when I was a little girl! I am printing some photos from Christmas to send with this. This year was the first in years that we have gone home to Southern Ontario for, so I thought I'd be nice to send some fun photos too.

Before settling down to make this card, I checked out a few challenges and luckily found this great sketch over at Friday Sketchers! It worked pefectly for these papers. I am also going to enter my card in the challenge at Paper Sundaes - cirlces and at Wee Memories - ribbon - that's an easy one for me, I love me my riboon! What made this card so fun was that it came together super quick simply using the papers and some embellishments - I think I'll make another just to have in my stash. I have such a hard time with masucline cards....

Hope you are all having a great weekend!

Cheers,

Shanna :)

What I used:

papers: Bday Bash - Imaginisce

Toasting some marshmallows!

Yeah, I finally found a tiny bit of time to hang out in my scrap space....and this is what I made. Initially I was lacking both the energy and the mojo to get in there, but all I had to do was go and visit some of my bloggy friends to get inspired! (The round of antibiotics the doc gave really kicked the sinus infection and helped in the energy department :))

I used this week's sketch from Get Sketchy (#69) - I love this sketch - and also incorporated some twine for the challenge at Wee Memories Scrappy Saturday Challenge - the challenge is to use baker's twine and I'm not exactly sure what that is, so forgive me if my entry does not qualify.

It felt so good to color after so long - I'll bet I haven't colored anything in at least six weeks, probably a lot more, can you believe it!?!? And it has been eons since I've entered a challenge or even made anything in my scrap space, so it was so nice to make something! Unfortunately, I am heading out of town on a four day work trip, so I won't be crafting this week :( Oh well, at least I was able to play a little bit - sigh...

Have a great week!
Cheers,
Shanna :)

What I used:
stamps: Riley, SU
papers: Bo Bunny, CTMH moonstruck
embellishments: CTMH brads, twine, stitching

A musical theme

Hello and Happy New Year! Although I have not been crafting, I do have some photos to share of a project I worked on before Christmas. I enjoy altering clipboards and turning them into gifts. This one is the one I did up for our piano teacher.

I found the pen, which matched perfectly, at a music store. Please excuse the not so great photos as I took them just before running out the door to our recital.

I had seen this quote on something in a gift store and looked it up on the internet. The thing I find the hardest about clipboards is trying to make them fun and interesting without adding too many layers or 3D embellishments - the front at the least needs to be flat for a proper writing surface.

And here is Chester on the day of his Recital. Though you cannot see it, he looked very spiffy in his shirt and tie! He played "O Come all Ye Faithful" and "The First Noel" and played beautifully!

After a little break over the holidays, our lessons started up again today - I was thrilled to see that our teacher is already using her clipboard and she made a point of showing me, so she must like it. That's what I love about homemade gifts.... :)

Hope you are having a great year so far. I'll be back soon, I hope, with some photos from our holiday adventures and hopefully some crafty stuff before too long.

Cheers,

Shanna :)