Sunday, December 9, 2012

December already ...

It's been so crazy at work ... I didn't see November go by ... and suddenly we're now December!!  It's also been a bit busy on the crafting side ... hopefully, I'll have the energy soon to sit down and post some stuff.

Went to my mom's this weekend ... she's went to San Francisco to visit my aunts and had a great time!  She came back with a little box from my Aunt T for hubbie and I ... I started laughing when I saw what it was.  Well, we have our first Christmas tree ... I put it together in 4 easy steps :)

So, what do you think?  THANK YOU Aunt T for our lovely Christmas tree ... I just need to find a blue blanket for it :)


Thursday, November 15, 2012

October birthdays ...

In addition to my friend's birthday on October 22, there were 2 other birthdays in October ... 2 of my colleagues ... October 21 and 23. I needed some quick cards, so I used scrapbook paper.  I embossed the sentiment on both cards and added stickles to one of the cards to give it some glitter.


I really love the look of a sentiment being embossed ... I find it gives it that extra something :)

 
 

Here are pictures of the cards with a matching box, which I filled with Lindt chocolate.



Yup, October was a busy month this year ... November's going to be busy too ... I have to make 2 cards for colleagues who will be leaving.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Birthday Card ...

During our trip to Nova Scotia, I really wanted to find a stamp of boats or lighthouses ... something we've seen.  I wanted to make a birthday card for a friend using the stamp.  I found a stamp set "Inspired by Lighthouses" by My Favorite Things (www.mftstamps.com), which I knew was perfect ... I didn't know what I was going to do yet, but I liked the images of the lighthouses.



After playing with the technique of stamping on glossy paper and applying dye inks with an applicator, here's the end result of the card I made.


Here's a close up of the card ... I stamped the clouds in a bright blue so that it would blend better and added some stars with a white gel pen ... at least I hope they look like stars.


I added some grass and rocks at the bottom of the picture hoping it gives you the impression that you're standing on a cliff or something and looking at the lighthouse.  We came across that during our road trip.


Nothing special with this ... just wanted the inside of the card to carry the lighthouse theme ... I stamped Happy Birthday ... it seemed like it belong there :)


I picked up the Bluenose ornament and stand from Amos Pewter in Mahone Bay ... good thing we went on the trip ... made it easier to figure out a gift for his birthday!  You could hang the ornament on your Christmas tree, but I thought the stand was a good idea ... let's you have it out all year round.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Snow Globe Make n Take ...

After much thought and a busy craft year with the weddings, I wanted to get back into coming up with ideas for classes or make n takes.  However, I wanted it to be fun ... as it was when I 1st decide to do make n takes and give classes.  The stamping store where I got all my papers for the weddings last year moved closer to our place :)  BTW, it is also the place where I was introduced to stamping with embossing powder, which is of course what started the whole stamping adventure!  Initially, I thought I could just come up with ideas ... be behind the scenes ... however, I ended up doing the make n take and having a lot of fun!  One of my favourite parts is talking to fellow stampers and exchanging ideas and tips ... it's amazing how chatty I am given the appropriate topic ;)  Oh and I got to see some familiar faces ... very cool!

Well, here's what I did as a make n take ... a snow globe card with Stampscapes stamps.  The 2 images below were what we used, but we didn't colour the image ... just used a white gel pen to add snow.


I did a few additional samples to show some other Stampscapes images that can be used and that a snow globe doesn't have to be for winer scenes.


I also made a tag and card with the smaller snow glow die to show it's versatility.


Here's a close up of the snow globe on the card ...

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Road trip ...

Sorry for going MIA for a while ... hubbie and I went on a road trip to Nova Scotia!  We started our adventure on September 23 for 2 weeks.  It was a great trip, but as they say ... there's no place like home :)  When we got back, I was busy preparing for a "make n take" that I was giving on Saturday.  Here's a little summary of our road trip ... just a warning ... this post is rather long!

We were quite lucky during our trip ... good weather except for a couple of days (only one day had an impact, but it all worked out in the end ... we rested at the hotel), had the Cliffside B&B all to ourselves (you see below why this was great),  happen to be there the day they launched Bluenose II in Lunenburg and the scarecrow festival in Mahone Bay.  We were going to go to Cape Breton Island for a few days but decided not to since it was difficult to find accommodations (due to the Celtic Colours International Festival), and we realize there was way too much to see.  We figure it would be best to plan for another trip.

We drove (correction ... hubbie drove) to Edmundston and then to Saint John (New Brunswick), where we took the ferry to Digby (Nova Scotia).  We stayed at the Cliffside B&B ... this was a great find and the best place we stayed at during our whole trip.  They opened in August so not too many people knew about the place.  When I saw the pictures of the view and the place, I thought it was too good to be true ... see for yourself ... www.cliffside.ca.  Here are a few pics I took of the place.

 

Nope, it was real ... the view was amazing and the place was very clean and roomy.  It started to feel a bit like a home away from home since we made dinner a couple of nights and even did laundry :)  Diane, who is taking care of the place, is great with her wonderful breakfast and great conversations ... definitely a great way to start the morning!  The first morning I came down, the dining room table was set for 2 facing the water ... it was quite fancy for us simple folk :)  At my request, the last morning we had breakfast in the kitchen still facing the great view but able to chat with Diane as she made us breakfast (something else were were not use to).

We didn't do everything we planned but then again nothing was set in stone ... we just did what we felt like that day.  Since it was too windy, we didn't go whale watching.  However, hubbie tried scallops for the first time since Digby is known for their scallops.  We both like them ... can't get any fresher than what we had :)  We planned to go to Brier Island but ended up at Sandy Cove because we wanted to find the waterfall nearby ... instead we found a beach and took some pictures of the waves. 



We ended up at the lightstation in Yarthmouth ... we took a few pictures ... my favourite thing there was the really big yellow beach chair.  Hubbie and I each took a turn in getting on the chair and took a few pictures.

We were sad to leave Digby as we knew no other place would measure up.  However, it was a great start to our vacation, and we have some good memories.  So off we went to Bridgewater, which is not too far from Lunenburg and Mahone Bay ... we made a pit stop at Mr. Fish in Shelbourne and tried the fish and chips ... I read about it in one of the travel books and wanted to try it.


We decided not to try to get there for the actual launch of Bluenose II in Lunenburg as it was happening at 8:00 a.m. and would probably be very crowded.  Oh and of course there was a stamping store in Lunenburg that I wanted to go to ;)  That's one of the things I decided to do ... wherever we go on vacation, go to their local stamping store to get stamps ... you'd usually find stamps more specific to the region and that would be one of my souvenirs :)


The next day, we went to Mahone Bay ... it was a rainy day.  We started by going to Amos Pewter to pick up some souvenirs for family and a friend.  We learned about how they made the items ... it was pretty cool to see.  I would have loved to give it a try :)  We stop by JoAnn's Deli a few times for lunch and snacks :)  That's the place below with all the pumpkins.  Initially, I didn't notice that the pumpkins were carved ... and each one had a different image!



Next stop Halifax ... and the cool thing is there are 2 stamping stores to check out there ... yup, I have a one track mind ;)  Let me tell you I got quite a few stamps ... we even went back to one of the stores a 2nd time, so I could get 2 stamp sets that I did not pick up the 1st time ... I was trying to be good.  In the end, I picked up another 5 stamp sets ... however, the really nice lady at the store gave me a 15% discount this time around :)  Ok enough about stamping!

We visited the famous Peggy's Cove, which is not too far from Halifax ... the view was amazing and there was someone playing the bagpipes, which added to the visit ... wonderful sights and sounds.  Hubbie and I had fun as we waited for people to clear away, so we could take a picture of the lighthouse.  It was hilarious ... there was always just this one person that would remain there :)  However, in the end, we did get the opportunity!  After we got our shot, we decided to head closer to the lighthouse and ruin someone else's picture ... LOL ... no, we made sure we were not there for too long.


In Halifax, we walked along the port and went to the farmers market; however, there wasn't all that much since not all the vendors were there during the week.  We went for a walk at Point Pleasant Park the day before leaving ... which was a good thing ... it tired us out so we could somewhat enjoy just sitting in the car for the long drive home.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Just a quick note ...

Just wanted to post a quick message to a friend today.  CHG, I meant to post this earlier but been busy working on some cards ...

Happy Birthday CHG!!

Hope you're having a wonderful day and getting spoiled!!

P.S.  I'll be back soon with another post!

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Card for Ana ...

Here's a card I made for my colleague who returned home (to Mexico).  She came to Montreal in March from Australia and decided to go back to Mexico to be with her family since she completed her mandate.


I thought it would be a nice memento if I wrote the sentiment in French ... of course, I included the translation :)


Initially, the ink smugged slightly when I scored it.  Although, it wasn't noticeable unless you really looked carefully and closely, I decided to reprint it and put embossing powder on it.  It turned out pretty well :)  I don't know if you could see it in the close up.  Then I added the butterfly (Memory Box Kaleidoscope Butterfly die) to give the inside of the card some colour.  I love the Memory Box dies ... they're so delicate ... just love the look of them.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Hubbie's birthday card ...

After being awake for 24 hours and then sleeping for 4 hours, I spent about 2.5 hours in The Paper Room making a birthday card for hubbie a couple of weeks ago ... the morning of his birthday.  Thankfully, I finished his card before he woke up ... well, just barely ... 10 minutes before he woke up :)  I ended up using quite a few dies ... the first 3 are from Memory Box (Blank Ticket, Crisp Bows, Cherish Border) and the last from Quickutz (Slide).

982139819798282QuicKutz Die, Metal, Slide, Frame, Great for Scrapbooking or Cards

I used the Memory Box ticket die to make the card, so that it was in the shape of a ticket and the Quickutz Slide die to create a rectangular frame around the heart.


I trimmed the bow, so it would not be too long and look more like a bow on a gift.  As you can see the pieces were small and the bow is quite delicate.


I typed up the text for the coupon in Microsoft Word and printed it.  I folded the cardstock and die cut it with the ticket die.  The middle piece is where I wrote my message to hubbie.


I used the Cherish border on the back of the coupon and actually decided to use one of the hearts in the front of the card, which match better than the inital one I had.


It's been a while since I "played" like this in The Paper Room.  I actually had no idea what I wanted to do and then things just fell into place ... I love it when that happens!  It actually felt quite good ... I guess with how busy things have been at work; this was just what I needed and it served a purpose :)

BTW, Happy Belated Birthday Aunt T from hubbie and me.  Hope you had a great day.