Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge Week #43 - Tags

Happy Sunday! Thanks for stopping by!

Today's challenge at Sparkle's Christmas Card Challelnge is to use tags.

I have had this SU layered tag punch set for quite some time and reach for it frequently. It was the perfect way to add my sentiment to this card. In this case, the sentiment is a rub-on from a sheet I've had forever, purchased to match this paper which is actually from my scrap bin! Hooray for using up some scraps!

I may have gotten a little carried away with the bling, but hey, it was fun! I love Bella bling - so many different colors and styles!!! I also used my snowflake embossing folder, I really should pull those out more often, I love the how it adds texture to my cards!

So, have you started those Christmas yet???? Hope you can join us this week! I look forward to seeing your creations!


What I used:

stamps: Magnolia snowman, CTMH sentiment inside
papers: scraps from stash, CTMH CS
copics: V91, V93, V95, C00, R0000, BV04, BV02

A scary Halloween to you...

Happy Hump Day!
By the time you read this, I will be at a staff conference in the Muskokas (Lake Joseph) hopefully enjoying myself. Do I sound doubtful? Well we are staying in a dorm type situation and I've never been there, so have no idea what it is like. I've made up my mind that it will be fun despite my hesitation as I've no choice in the manner, it's a "command performance." Hopefully when I return, I'll be able to report that the showers were warm, the beds comfortable, the food tasty and that I learned a great deal.......hoping to spend my evenings reading a good book or two - fingers crossed!

So, I thought I'd share this basic but fun Halloween card I put together using CTMH's September stamp of the month - Thriller and some new Halloween paper by Echo Park which I picked up at DAT'S. I've been getting happy with my Tattered Angel's Glimmer Mist and used it on this card too! I thought it made the sentiment look a little "scarier". That little pewter embellie has been in my stash forever and finally found a home. :)

Cheers for now, I'll be around to visit as soon as I can,

Shanna :)

Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge Week #42 - Distressing

This week's challenge at Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge Blog is Distressing. Here is one of the samples I made up for our Charity Stamping Pyjama Party last weekend.

I had been wanting to play with these fun "see thru" cards for awhile now, so I ordered some up from CTMH with my last order and played a bit. I do like the effect, but you do have to really do some planning in order to cover your work. I distressed around the edges a bit to help the white circle pop a little. I like the look of the layers circles better, in retrospect, I probably should have done the same on the front, but it was too late, oh well!

I also played with some CTMH glitter rub-ons I've had for awhile.

And here is the back.

Hope you are able to join us this week! Can't wait to see what you have to share!

Sorry to say that I will not be lurking around blog land much (if at all) this week as I am heading to the Muskokas for a conference and then to London, ON for the weekend to attend Kraftin Kimmie Day! I will have lots of catching up to do when I'm back! I'm looking forward to it, but I NEVER enjoy the packing/unpacking part and this time I am packing for work and play - how on earth will I fit it all in one suitcase?!? I hope you all have a lovely week!

Cheers,

Shanna :)

What I used:

stamps: I Believe (C1427) and Father Christmas

ink: Twilight

embellishments: ribbon, glitter rub-ons & kaiser rhinestones

You're Invited!

Happy Friday! Good grief, I haven't made a post since Sunday, what is this world coming to??? Actually, we had a lovely, fun but busy weekend and I was on a high of sorts, but then it all caught up to me and I was just plain tired. I'm also trying my darndest to fight off some cold bug that had me retiring for the night just after Chester and Pickle Pants all week long! I really was in a bit of a funk, but I think I've managed to snap out of it, hooray for that!

Anywhoo - last post I mentioned that Sunday was the day of the Charity Stamping Pyjama Party! It was a great deal of fun and we managed to raise over $900 for the Chemotherapy division of the Northern Cancer Fun! Woo hoo! Way to go team! For photos and more details, visit Donna's blog here.

The bingo cards above are one of the samples created for the party. We like to try to have lots of cards/projects to share for inspiration at the party. Donna had created a similar version for our friend Stephanie's Bridal shower (using a new SU set), we then created a Christmas version for the Charity event. Whilst we were making these, I decided it would be fun to do a Halloween version, so Donna and I set to it late one night and came up with these. Pickle Pants' birthday is in November and I'm always trying to come up with something different as we can't usually go outside, I run out of ideas quickly. A couple years back, we had a Halloween party that was a great deal of fun, but made for a lot of work considering I had to have another party 3 weeks later to celebrate Pickle Pants' birthday (hubby's happens to be the same day!) So, this year, I decided Pickle Pants gets to celebrate early with a Halloween theme! He thought it a great idea, and so these are the invites. When the new Bo Bunny paper came it over at DAT'S, I was trying to resist the Halloween paper as I don't tend to do too many Halloween projects, but Donna showed me this paper called "Whoo-ligans Monsters" and said "Hey wouldn't these make the easiest invites ever?" I was like, "Oooh, perfect, quick, easy and still handmade!" I'll take it!

I simply cut them apart - 16 to a sheet, all a little different - and added some dimension with google eyes - easy peasy! (and finished EARLY! woo hoooo!)

I apologize for the crumby photos - my editing program keeps cutting them in half rather than cropping proper like, I've never figured out why it does that sometimes..... oh well, I'm sure you'll forgive me! lol

Don't these cuties just make you want to have a Halloween party?!?!?

Here is the back, I simply stamped the "tag" and wrote in the info!

If you're still with me, thanks for visiting! I hope you are having a great day! I'll be around for a visit in the morning!

Cheers,

Shanna :)

Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge Week #41 - Trees

This week's challenge is to use Trees on your card. First I pulled out some tree stamps, but then remembered I'd been wanting to try building my "own" tree using some paper scraps....


Remember though, the theme each week is just for inspiration - you can enter any new Christmas/Winter holiday themed card in the challenge - can't wait to see what you've been stamping! The best part was "decorating" my tree with some Bella bling! It was so fun, I may just have turn on some Christmas tunes and do that again! lol Sure hope you can join us this week - how are those Christmas cards coming along?

Today is the day of the Charity Stamping Pyjama Party!!!! The proceeds of this years event are going to a cause that is close to our hearts - the Chemotherapy division of the Northern Cancer Fund in honour of our good friend and stamping buddy who is fighting lymphoma right now. We hope to have a fun and successful event in her honour!

Hoping you are able to find some crafty time this weekend and join us in our challenge! Wishing you a wonderful Sunday!

Hugs,

Shanna :)

He that loves reading.....

Hooray for Friday! It has been a busy week, but a good one! Chester and Pickle Pants are back to school and both are pleased with their teachers. Chester was set on having a particular teacher for Grade Three, Mr. Price. When I picked him up the first day and asked how it went, his response was "Mom I got text books and everything!" There's my scholar - wonder how many weeks - hmm, days this will last.... When I asked who his teacher was, he says "Ms. Furlotte - she's nice and does cool activities!" I'm thinking, whew - he was so set on that particular teacher I was worried he would be upset to get anyone else - then the funniest thing... "Mom," Chester says, "Mr. Price got FIRED!!!" Actually, Mr. Price simply changed schools, but apparently the grade threes who had only noticed that he disappeared, assumed he'd been fired and started a rumour!! I mean, where else would a teacher disappear to?? lol


So, last week I got my hands on Bo Bunny's new Learning Curve set - yummy - and just had to play! What better time to play with these fun papers than back to school week!

Since the clipboards I made in June for the teacher gifts were so well rec'd, I thought I go ahead and make another while I was in the mood to play. This is the result.

I just love the quote. I had some fun with my new border punch that I picked up at DAT'S as well.

I would like to enter this in the challenge at EBTKS - to use hair accessories - if I'm not too late. I figure all that ribbon has to count!

You'll notice the teacher's name, Mrs. Warden - this would be Pickle Pants' teacher - hubby cracked up when he heard her name! I mean, you all have heard some of the antics that Pickle Pants gets up to - a "Warden" may just be appropriate!

We are on the verge of a very busy weekend - trampoline class starts at the gym tonight for both boys, Pickle Pants starts Tae Kwon Do Saturday morning, then sign up for Cubs for Chester. Finally, Sunday is our Annual Charity Stamping Pyjama Party - I look forward to seeing all you local gals there - it is always a blast!

Here's hoping Back to School is treating you well!

Cheers,

Shanna :)

What I used:

stamps: CTMH - Childhood Portrait

papers: Bo Bunny - Learning Curve - available at DAT'S

embellishments: assorted ribbon, twine, Rebecca Sower stickers I've had for years

The Best and most beautiful things....

Hello! Thanks for stopping by. I just have a couple of "bucket cards" to share today. The first one, I made at camp back in August - ha, can you believe it is September already?!?! As I've said before, I brought very little by way of supplies, but my sis had her DCWV Glitter stack and was willing to share, so voila! I love having cards like these on hand as they are a bit generic and can be used for a variety of purposes. Love the glitter on this one, and I think I actually managed to capture it with my camera, can't always manage it.

This second card was another of "Grandma" Joan's creations. I believe this was for her grandson's bday. I had only a handful of copics with me, but Mom and Grandma Joan were doing some painting and Mom happened to have watercolor pencils in her kit, just what we needed!
I was fun to see how much Grandma enjoyed herself playing with paper and ink!

Well, tomorrow means BACK TO SCHOOL! Hooray for routine - but not for lunches.... I'm packing sandwiches on hamburger buns (they think that is cool since it's a little out of the ordinary!), homemade mini banana muffins, yogurt (frozen - they also think this is cool, Pickle Pants calls it ice cream!), sliced cucumbers from the garden and watermelon chunks. I can be pretty creative, but they seem to get bored quickly, or is it me that gets bored!?! It is always nice once things at school get up and running because then pizza day happens once a week which means no sandwiches once a week!

Ciao for now,
Shanna :)

Sparkle's Challenge Week 40 - NOEL

Happy Sunday! Thanks for stopping by today. This week's challenge at Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge is CAS - one layer only! Hmmm, this one was a little difficult for me, especially since I was trying to play with a few specific Christmas sets that are in the new CTMH Autumn/Winter catalogue. I played around a lot, and this is what I came up with in the end.....


You can't tell from the photo - we've had icky rainy weather here for a couple days now (not complaining, perfect for sneaking in a bit of crafty time!) - but there are stickles on the Holly berries. That little bit of bling really does something for the card. I also used Irredescent Gold Glimmer Mist from Tattered Angels on this one and did some sponge ink distressing around the edges. What do you think?

Have a great rest of the weekend! Where I am, Monday is the labour day holiday and then the kiddos are back to school - woohoo!!! We have had a fabulous summer, but Chester and Pickle Pants have spent a great deal of time together and I think it is high time they spend at least part of their day apart - hoping it will reduce all the bickering.......

Cheers,
Shanna :)

p.s. Don't forget to stop by and see what the rest of the DT created, CAS can be so fun!

What I used:
stamps: Vintage Christmas (D1166) and Father Christmas (D1449)
inks: Garnet, Ponderosa Pine, Cocoa - second generation
embellishments: Stickles, stitching, Glimmer Mist

Wishing you Joy

Hello! Sorry that I haven't had much besides photos to show the last bit.... I do have a couple of cards ready to go, but just haven't found the time to post them!

I really wanted to post a card tonight, so decided to just make it quick. Here is the card I made for my friend Stephanie's Bridal shower last weekend. She loves purple, so I wanted to incorporate that into the card. Also, it has been awhile since I pulled out the sewing machine (since before my holidays) so it felt good to do some stitching too! I was so happy to finally use "Izzy has a Brelly" which I just had to have as soon as she made her debut, but it took me all this time to ink her up! Thanks Steph for giving me a reason to use her!

And here is the inside.

Cheers,

Shanna :)