Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Less is More sketch challenge

There is a super CAS sketch this week at Less is More.

Here is my take on it. I actually  made one more card, but forgot to photograph it. I think this layout would be great if you need to mass produce.




Keeping it brief today. I'm looped up on cold meds!

Shanna :)

stamp sets used:
CTMH C1468 Winter Joy, D1244 Snow Friends, D1243 Peace on Earth
the Peace-Love-Joy sentiment is not CTMH, I think it is Hero Arts

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Hoot Valentines

Here is my project for the current challenge at Inspired By...



These were quick and fun to make which is a good thing since I need about 25 of them!!! A week or two ago, Doodlepants (my youngest son) asked me if I could make Valentines for his class. Neither of the boys has ever actually asked me to do this which is probably why I usually get the cheap store-bought kind since I know they end up in the garbage or recycle. So, when he asked at first I thought "Oh no" - but the fact that he asked in the first place really melted my heart and I told him I would see what I could do.



So, when Donna was over this weekend, I pulled out all my Valentines related stamp sets and played around. The goal, of course, was to come up with something that was a bit cute, a bit cool and quick but still "passable" in my eyes. I came up with three different versions and let him choose.I should say that these are designed flat like a traditional children's Valentine and he will write the back. I was in favour of the owl with the flower eyes, but Donna really liked the first with the wide-open eyes and thought that he somehow resembled Doodlepants. Well, guess which he picked, yep the first one! 

I got about six done the first go round and I still have a little bit of time to play with - my goal is to NOT be stamping on Feb.13th! I kept telling myself that when I thought about adding this or that and managed to stop myself from making them more involved, cuz you know, it would be fun to add a little glitter, or texture....



And here is the inspiration photo at Inspired By this week:



I would also like to share at:
Shopping our Stash - love, Valentines, hearts ( so far all of my cranberry CS has been from my scrap bin! and the You're a hoot set has been in my stash for years!)
Brown Sugar - Valentines

Thanks for your visit!
Shanna :)

What I used:
CTMH You're a Hoot and Whoo's your Valentine
cranberry CS
Nestabilities

Monday, January 28, 2013

I (Heart) You

There was a fantastic sketch this week at Freshly Made sketches. Here is my interpretation and I'm just getting it in on time...
I had so much fun playing with these yummy papers from Bo Bunny!


 A peek at the inside:



I have been saving the sleeves from my Starbuck's treats for awhile now because I knew I would eventually find something crafty to re-purpose them for - well, they can easily be turned into to corrugated hearts! Easy peasy! That oughta use up a few! 

I would also like to share my card at the following:
Crafty Ribbons - love/romance
Brown Sugar - Valentines

Thanks so much for visiting!
Shanna :)

What I used:
papers: Bo Bunny Love Letters Collection
stamps: CTMH D1548 Whoo's your Valentine & D1420 A Little Everything
Starbuck's sleeves
Maya Road trinket pins

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Let's go fly a kite

I spent the last couple of evenings nursing my head cold and working on this card. It was very therapeutic actually! Donna was over scrappin' with me last night - thanks for the advice to add stitching to my "fanned out" papers, I think it was just exactly what it needed! 


This card is for the current challenge at Saturated Canary - inspired by a movie. My movie is "Mary Poppins," one of my childhood favourites! If you have seen the movie, you may recall the song "Let's go fly a kite" hence the tie in.

My card is also for the challenge at Inky Chicks where they are having a BINGO challenge. I have managed to incorporate the items on every square except two! I included: image, sentiment, ribbon, bow, pins, pearls, flowers and die cuts.


I even managed to use a Brand New CTMH stamp set (C1539 - Scrapbook sentiments - Poets) on the inside - I love this quote! Here is a peek at the inside...


 Hope you have a fantastic Sunday! A big shout out to "Mr. Bananastamper," as one of you called him, as he has taken the boys ice fishing for the afternoon so that I can relax and kick this cold in the butt! Bliss!!!

Thanks so much for visiting!

Shanna :)

What I used:
image: Saturated Canary "Windy Day" digi- found here in Krista's shop
papers: Cosmo Cricket "Togetherness" mini deck
ribbon: SU
quote: CTMH C1539
sentiments - CTMH and Hero Arts

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Be Mine

Good morning and Happy Saturday!

Ever since I made these cards awhile ago, I've been wanting to play around a bit more with brackets - here is what I came up with.



I would like to share at:
City Crafter - hearts - they are tiny, but they are up there in the top right corner, love these little blingy embellies!
Papercraft Star - buttons - there is only one and it is partially hidden, but I love it on there because it is vintage from the tin of buttons my Mom and lil' sis picked up for me from the Thrift Store - so many treasures in there!

I just realized that I forgot to photograph the inside - oh well!

Have a great Saturday!

Shanna :)

What I used:
CTMH Cricut Artiste Cartridge for brackets and sentiment- I think the brackets were cut at 3"
vintage seam binding and button
stamps: CTMH D1477 Universal Backgrounds, D1523 Sweet Music, D1528 Jardin (love this one!)
inks: Hollyhock (second generation) and blush
heart embellies - Prima Say it in Crystals
papers - misc from my small stash of Valentine's papers

Friday, January 25, 2013

Joy

Today's card is for Papercraft Star where the challenge is buttons! 
Well, I definitely used buttons, but I am not in love with  my card. For one thing, I did not realize until I photographed it how far off my colour match was between the polkadots and the background paper. I go back and forth, one minute I look at it and think "epic fail" and the next I convince myself it isn't so bad. I almost didn't post it, but what the heck, you can't love 'em all right?!?

And just for laughs, here is hubby modelling a miniature Santa hat whilst goofing around in my scraproom. He wandered in a one day while I was working and started goofing off to get my attention. He has quite the sense of humour this one!

Oh, and since this is another Christmas card for the stash, I'd like to share over at Christmas Card Challenges.

Wherever you are, whatever you're up to, Happy Friday!
Shanna :)

p.s. the temp finally seems to be a bit on the rise, we are now sitting at a balmy -9c which registers as -13c with the wind chill. Much better!

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Dude!

Still pretty cold here (-28 c with the wind chill), but much warmer than it was on Sunday and Monday! Thank goodness for that! Kristi asked if we were freezing our eyeballs at that temperature, lol (comic relief is good at this temp!)...we usually manage to protect them as long as you walk to and from the car etc quickly (goggles are helpful if skiing!) but if you have anything in your nose...


Ok enough of that!
Today's card is for the current challenge at The Paper Players which is a sketch. I made a similar card back in the fall, but liked it enough I decided to make a few more with slight variations for the stash. I actually like how this one turned out better - the oval shape for the sentiment works better than what I used previously. I cut this one with my Cricut Artiste cartridge from CTMH (Thanks Donna for the suggestion!) The sentiment is from "Rugged Dude" B1405.

Here is the inside - simple but fun.
The image is from Powder Heaven (CTMH) and the inside sentiment is from D1475 Card Chatter Birthday.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I haven't been able to visit much this week. It's been super busy at work and I'm finding between that and the extreme cold, I'm drained. I've been going to bed early which leaves little time for blogging.

Ciao!
Shanna :)

Sunday, January 20, 2013

You're a hoot!

 Today when Danderella had my boys over to hang out with her girls for a couple of hours, I decided to give the sketch over at Sweet Sunday a try. Here are the results. See Danielle, I finally made a Valentine's card!

My card is also for the current challenge at There She Goes Clear Stamps - Love is in the air. I just realized that this challenge closes in like an hour, so I had better get this posted!


A little peek at the simple inside:


Thanks for visiting! Time for bedtime stories!
Shanna :)

p.s. We did not go skiing today - the temp ended up being like -39 degrees with the windchill - brrrrr!

What I used:
stamp: CTMH C1362 You're a Hoot
paper from my scrap bin! oh yeah!


Let it Snow - Graham's January layout

Dear Krista,
I finally got Graham's January page done for his album. Because we are not exactly sure when we will see each other, I thought I'd post it here for you to see. That way at least you can plan your photos, lol! This one was so fun to make! I can't seem to make the photo any bigger, you should be able to have a better look by clicking on it.
Love, Big Sis a.k.a. Auntie Shanna 
xoxoxo


Those of you who have been following for awhile will likely know what this is about. For those who are new around here, I should explain. It is sort of tradition that if one of the gals in my close group of scrappin' frirends has a baby, we all get together and make an album. We each choose a month and include a "blank" calendar for the Mom to record special moments and firsts. We also create a title and end page as well as a second calendar layout for the birthday month so that the baby's first birthday can be easily documented. As Mom's ourselves, we all know how difficult it can be to carve out time to scrap in that first year!
 So, when I became an Auntie this past summer, I just had to make an album for my nephew Graham. I have already posted his title page and layouts for August through November. His December layout is complete but I cannot for the life of me locate the photograph. I am behind and have just now completed January. February is up next! 

If you are interested in seeing the rest of Graham's Baby Album, just type "Graham's baby album" into the search gadget - you may even find a few photos of my adorable nephew. 







I would like to share my layout over at City Crafter Challenge blog where the challenge is "Winter Blues" - projects must include the colour blue.


Thanks so much for visiting!
Shanna :)

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Monsters for Shopping our stash

Today's cards are for Shopping our Stash - use two things that start with "T" - I've used "thinking of you/thank you", teddy bear and teal (is that teal? hmm). A couple more for the stash! These images were grabbed from the pre-coloured pile and made for quick cards. They do not; however, reflect my improved colouring technique. Oh well, I still love these cute images!

Papers are from one of my all time favourite Basic Grey paper pads - Oliver! The white rub-ons I have had in my stash forever! Glad to get a few used up!


A big shout out to those of you who were doing the "snow dance" for me! It has been snowing for about 36 hours now and us skiers are HAPPY! My sincerest apologies to those who are currently cursing me and my snow dance - sorry but it is winter after all and what is winter without the fluffy white stuff?!?
We hit the slopes today on FRESH and fluffy powder! Awesome, but can you say burn? Skiing in powder is an awesome workout for the legs!

We plan to head out again tomorrow morning to meet Danderella's girls at the hill, but it's gonna be a cold one (-35 with windchill), so it might be a short day of skiing!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Shanna :)

Friday, January 18, 2013

Sweet as you

Hooray, Friday is here!!!
Today's card is for Inspired By. I have incorporated the colour yellow, texture of the background wall in the photo, the polkadots and the bling.







I used Unscripted Sketches #191 once again. It really is a fab sketch! I have had this fab SU pom pom ribbon forever and finally used it! And I have another bday card for the stash, happy day!

I just have to share - when I stopped by Saturated Canary challenge blog last night, I found out that I was selected for Top 6 from the last challenge for this card. I am so thrilled and I get to choose one of Kirsta's fabulous digis from her shop! How lucky am I? Can't wait to play along with the next challenge which is "Inspired by a Movie."

Thanks for stopping by! Time to hit the treadmill!
Shanna :)

What I used:
papers: Echo Park Summer Days
bling: MME 12 days of Christmas line
Bo Bunny ribbon
SU pom pom ribbon

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Happy Holidays!

Good morning!

Hooray, I\ve made another Christmas card!!! This one is for a couple of challenges:
Simon Says Stamp - use washi tape
and 
the Make your own background paper in the Moxie Fab world




A note about the washi tape background - I saw Lauren of "All the good blog names were taken" do something super fun like this quite awhile back and it helped me open up my eyes to the fabulous possibilities that washi tape holds. I simply stuck washi tape down randomly all over my background cardstock and then adhered it to another layer. Really quick and soooo fun! Thanks Lauren for the inspiration to play with my washi tape (and to buy MORE!) lol

I would also like to share at Christmas card Challenges.

Gotta be quick this morning, time to get ready for work.

Shanna :)

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

One layer cards

 A quick post for today. The current challenge over at Less is More is One layer cards with a theme of sports or exercise. I find one layer cards very difficult. However, I had been wanting to play again with this fun winters sports stamp set from CTMH called Powder Heaven and this seemed like a good reason to get it out. 



















I made several versions with a variety of sentiments. I think I like the Happy Birthday snowboarder version (above) best simply because the snowboarder seems to show up better against the background as it is a more solid stamp than the skier. No matter what though, I now have a few cards in the stash appropriate for quick boy birthdays or a quick winter thank you note.

 


Thanks for your visit!
Shanna :)

Monday, January 14, 2013

Detour clipboard


 
Happy Monday! Hmmf - well Monday anyhow. Monday is never my favorite day though I really shouldn't complain.
Hubby, who is the owner/operator of a driving school, asked me a long time ago a while back to make him a new clipboard. Years ago I had made him up a fun clipboard to use while teaching. He loved it, but it was getting pretty worn and sad looking. I have had this fab Basic Grey paper in my stash for awhile just waiting to be used on a new clipboard. Well, I finally got around to it!
 
 
Now usually, I really like to add bits of a variety of matching ribbons tied to the clip part as well as a pencil or pen tied on and a few fun embellishments - ya know that's the fun pary - but hubby warned me to keep it simple and I'm quite certain he would have removed any excess that was not approved so |I restrained myself and kept everything as flat as possible!
 
These are also fun to make for teachers and I usually personalize them. I love giving teachers something they can actually use.
 
I would like to share my project at Cupcake Craft Challenges as this week's challenge is Anything but a card.
 
Thanks so much for all your lovely comments the last couple of days!
 
Cheers,
Shanna :)

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Let it SNOW pretty please!



Really, I mean it - we have had  so much rain over the last couple of days that we've lost almost all of our snow! That is fine if it's mid-March, but I'm afraid to have a look at our local ski hill for fear there is nothing left. We had only just begun the ski season with almost exclusively man-made snow (we've had two decent snowfalls since mid-Nov. followed rather closely by warm temps and RAIN) and only two runs open so far, but we were OK with that all things considered. We would also LOVE to use the snowshoes we got for Christmas - so please Mother Nature, send some white stuff our way!!! It is January in Thunder Bay after all, there is meant to be snow and LOTS of it! (Sincerest of apologies to those who happen to be happy about this turn of events, but here in our house we are very sad indeed.)

That fabulous sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches was exactly what I needed - this little number came together right quick.





So, since I had this new paper pack that I, ahem, gifted to myself, I decided that maybe making a "Let it snow" card would be a bit like doing a "snow dance" whatever that may entail.

My card is for:
Jingle Belles - uses something Santa brought - new paper pack and MFT buttons!
Freshly Made - fabulous sketch!
Cute Card Thursday - beat the blues - we need SNOW to beat the blue so we can SKI :)

And the tally - that is number FIVE for the 2013 Christmas Card stash - hooray for mojo!

Thanks so much for your visit!

Happy Sunday!

Shanna :)

What I used:
Recollections - Festiva
MFT buttons
misc ribbon

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Celebrate the season

Yep, I'm doing it again - two posts in a day. But you see, because I've been playing in my craft room and making a few things for challenges, I'm trying not to miss the deadlines!



It is difficult to see, but the clear snowflakes (lucky $ store find) are covered in stickles so they are really nice and glittery IRL!

Today's card is for:
CASology - winter theme
Little Red Wagon - Bring on the bling!
Christmas at Sweet Stampin' - Cold & Frosty
Christmas Card Challenges

Thanks again for stopping by! Oh, and I must remember next time to tell you about Slug Soup!

Shanna :)

p.s. I am super thrilled to report that this card and the one on the last post represents numbers 3 and 4 of my Christmas Card stash for 2013! Woo hoo!

Sharing the magic




Here is my attempt at the current colour challenge for Merry Monday at Always playing with Paper:
I had a difficult time photographing this one - the colour of the sentiment is light, but not quite as light as it appears in the photo. The addition of the bling in the top corner is meant to match with Island indigo but again it is coming up lighter in my photo.

I would also like to share at:
Christmas Card Challenges

Thanks for stopping by! The weather here has been rather depressing. The temp was well above zero for two days straight and we had hours and hours (like a day and a half) of rain - not good when you are into winter sports! I had a ski event planned for yesterday - I was taking a group of ten children who are blind and visually impaired skiing for the first time (with lots of helpers of course!) but had to cancel because of the weather. I am totally bummed out! I don't see any skiing for us here in the near future as all that remains of the little snow we had is in small patches on the grass! The temperature has now dropped so it should be interesting to see what happens - crazy weather! On the upside, spending less time at the ski hill has meant a little extra time spent in my craft space! :)

Take care and Happy Saturday!
Shanna :)

Friday, January 11, 2013

Sweet Boy

Hello and thanks for your visit!

I made this card when I pulled out this totally cute, but rather old paper pack to work on something and came across a page of cute die cuts. I decided it wouldn't hurt to have another baby card in the stash.

I would like to share my card at the following challenges:
Crafty Ribbons - new beginnings
A Gem of a challenge - new beginnings
Inky Chicks - anything goes - this is a new challenge blog - congrats!

Have a happy day!

Shanna :)

Thursday, January 10, 2013

The party starts NOW!



More CAS cards today.

A couple of quickie cards made with some scraps - I made "eat cake" first and then decided I might like it better matted on a black card base.

I made these with the current challenge at Simon Says Stamp in mind. The challenge is to use black and white plus one other colour.

I would also like to share at Little Red Wagon where they are looking for bling.




Thanks for visiting!
Shanna :)

stamps sets: CTMH Happy Day and the one used on the first card is unlabelled - it was from a promo set

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Imagine

I know I already posted today, but I just couldn't wait to share this card once it was finished.

My card is for the current challenge at Saturated Canary. The theme is "Inspired by a song" and this is my first time playing along. I adore Krista's beautiful and detailed images and they are SO much fun to colour!

When I looked through my images, "Hipster" was the second one I came to and I immediately thought of "Imagine" by John Lennon. I love this song!



Just trying to show some dimension. I crumpled and curled the edges of the die cute flower just slightly. I didn't end up adding a sentiment to this one since it seemed like too much work to incorporate it into the design I had going. Sometimes it's just nice to have a couple to add sentiments to later so I'm okay with it.



I would also like to share at the following challenges:
Our Creative Corner - pink + aqua + a flower - I may be pushing it here as there is lots of brown and another shade of blue, not sure...
Crazy 4 Challenges - use a BOW - I hope it's okay I've entered more than once, I use lots of bows!
Cute Card Thursday - something NEW - I used a new crocheted flower and  new papers

Have a great night! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Shanna :)

What I used:
image: Hipster - Saturated Canary digi available Here
papers: I cracked my Basic Grey Hopscotch 6x6 pad
vintage seam binding from Vintage Pixie - my fave local store
brad from MM|E
copics:
hair - E25, 29, 31
skin - E11, 00, 000 - a BIG thanks goes out to Danderella who saved me when my E000 went dry!
boots - E35, 53 and a bit of YR23
leaves - G20, 21
eyes - B52
blues - BG53, B01, B000
pinks - R22, 21, 20, 00
yellows - Y02, 00, 0000

Sweet Music


I made a couple more cards for the current challenge at Less is More - to use black + white + plus a little bit of one other colour. I designed them to be more of a notecard than a greeting card, thinking I may make a bunch more and tie them up together in a set for our piano teacher.



I would also like to share at Crazy 4 Challenges where they are looking for bows.




I have had this music set from CTMH in the stash for awhile but had yet to ink it up.

Hope you are having a great day!
Shanna :)

What I used:
stamps: CTMH D1523 Sweet Music
ink: black, outdoor denim, Pansy Purple