Say cheese!

I was so impressed with the creations the ladies in my class came up with last week that I had them pose for photos!!!! Of course I was paying more attention to the cards than their creators, so the photo composition leaves a lot to be desired..(sorry for lopping off the top of your head Judy)! One of the ladies escaped before I could get my camera out...(I'll get you next time Ann!) and another was camera shy so I took pics of her cards without her. The pictures don't come close to capturing how fabulous these cards look in real life, but I'm sure you'll agree that they turned out beautifully. These ladies are one of the many reasons I LOVE my job so much and why Thursday has become my favourite day of the week!
There are some gorgeous entries in our May card contest, so be sure to stop in and vote for your favourite. Votes will be counted on May 31st and the winner will be announced on June 1st along with the theme for June's contest.

New Talent

Class nights are always so much fun but when everyone has left for the evening, I always wish I had remembered to take photos of the cards that were made. Marci is a relative newcomer to our group of stampers and when she heard that I wished I had taken photos she sent me pics of a couple of the cards she has made in class recently. Thanks for sharing Marci..... you're a fast learner! Aren't they great????? Please feel free to share your creative talents here....we can all use a little inspiration from time to time! Lots of new goodies arriving tomorrow but I probably won't get them put away until Friday as I have a group in the store tomorrow afternoon and class in the evening. I'm looking forward to a fun evening with the ladies as always and pleeeeeeaase let there be some sunshine tomorrow!

Happy Mother's Day

Just a quick post to wish everyone a very Happy Mother's Day and to give you a peek at the canvas we'll be making with Lisa Costa on Monday May 31st. there is only one space left so I'm sure we'll be repeating the class. Be sure to phone or e-mail ASAP if you are interested. The card is one of the results of my "messing around" with distress inks (messing is the key word here...I had orange fingers for quite a while!)The girls in class last week saw it and decided they'd like to get "messy" too, so we'll be doing "variations on a theme"...
(thanks for the suggestion Judy)
I'll be spending most of tomorrow in the car travelling to and from Toronto to visit my in-laws....sounds like a good opportunity for a long nap (NO! I AM NOT DOING THE DRIVING..... LOL!) Have a wonderful day everyone:)

May flowers

May is here, and although it's a rainy morning it certainly feels like spring is here at last. When I got home last night my hubby had cut the grass and everything looked so lush and green now that the dandelions have been beheaded again LOL! Everyone knows the saying April showers bring May flowers and I guess May showers do too. Here are the 3 cards we'll make in class next Thursday. The first is a 4 x 4 square card using the chalkboard or "black magic" technique. We'll make an envelope for this one too! Next is the pastel punched flowers card. Only the pail is stamped on this card. Finally we are going to use the Faux Cloisonne technique for the black and white oval frame card. I stamped and embossed the flowers and butterfly on a scrap of old Christmas wrapping paper, then cut them out and glued them to the card. I'm sure everyone's card will look quite different, as they can choose which paper to stamp on (bring your wrapping paper, old store bought cards, magazines etc!) and which flower stamp they use. The flowers could also be arranged differently on the card. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with! Last Thursday's class was so full and busy that I didn't get a chance to photograph any of the cards. If any of you ladies care to leave a comment with an uploaded photo of your card(s), I'm sure we'd all enjoy Ooohing and Aaahing over them. It's almost time to open the store, so I will wish you all a wonderful weekend.

Sooooooo close!

The votes are counted and it was so close this time...but once again Lynn takes first prize with her fabulous little cork bird card. Second and third place were each one vote apart and ALL the cards were so creative I honestly wouldn't have been able to choose one as a favourite. Each one has one or more recycled or repurposed items on it and customers really enjoyed hearing about the "Ingredients" of each card. Congratulations Lynn... and because it was such a close one, I am going to award a free crop session to June who came second with her fabulous paper rolled card with the little twig and bird and also to Kathy who did such a great job punching squares out of a grocery flyer and matting them together on a top note die for her "baby" card. Those are the first 3 photos and the remainder of the cards are in no particular order (did that sound like results night on Dancing with the stars? LOL)Thanks to everyone for taking the challenge and to everyone who voted. The new contest begins tomorrow and I will also have next week's class samples up...yes! I'm early for once.....!

Inky fingers all round....

Last night's class was lots of messy fun. I think we all went home with rainbow fingers, but as you can see from the photos, the results were worth it. Everyone kindly allowed me to photograph their creations and although the light isn't the best in the evening, you can see the variety of fabulous colour combinations that everyone came up with. Thanks to everyone for their patience while I cut out things I'd forgotten (oops!) and for sharing and helping each other so well (you must have all had awesome kindergarten teachers LOL!)I especially enjoyed everyone changing things up from the original sample. I didn't post pics of the ones that used the same colours and stamps as my sample, but they were all so well done. Next week is our Christmas card class using the Iris folding technique. Marie Palmer will be teaching that class and she will also be here tomorrow (Saturday April 24th) between 1 and 3 pm to teach basic iris folding. Anyone can drop in tomorrow and make a card for $5 and $2 will be donated to the "Wonderbroads to support their breast cancer awareness campaign. Hope to see some of you there. Have a great weekend.

A weekend away and some sad news....

I was excited to have last weekend off so I could attend Scrapfest in Kitchener and visit with my kids and my in-laws. It was a very busy weekend but it felt great to be out shopping on a Saturday again (it's been a while...LOL ) Scrapfest was awesome and I totally ran out of time because there was so much to see and I was on a pretty tight schedule. I discovered a few new Canadian stamp companies that I hope to do business with in the near future, and I treated myself to a new stamp set that will no doubt make it's debut in an upcoming class very soon. Many thanks to Jennifer for holding down the fort on Saturday...what would I do without you??????
Sadly when we got home we received the news I've been dreading. My cousin Caron's little grandson Joe, who has been fighting a rare form of brain tumour since he was two years old, lost the battle on Sunday, less than two months after his seventh birthday. Affectionately known as Superhero Joe to those who knew and loved him, Joe was bright, funny and incredibly brave. Although I didn't get the chance to know him personally (he and his family live in England), I felt a real connection with both Joe and his wonderful family through the journal updates his Mom Yvonne wrote regularly on the CaringBridge website. My heart goes out to Joe's family and I'll continue to pray for them as they learn to cope without him, but I know in my heart that Joe is pain free and happily making friends in his new home with the Lord. Rest in Peace Joe
On a lighter note, I finally had a minute to upload two of the cards we'll be making in this week's class. The butterfly card is not finished as I've been searching for the right sentiment, but it was made using the baby wipe inking technique and the new Tim Holtz Sizzix die. Everyone's cards will look a little different this week as each person can choose their own ink colours for both the butterfly and the emboss resist card. I used Tattered Rose and Bundled Sage distress inks for mine. There will also be a choice of images for the oval panel so I may ask the ladies if I can photograph their cards this week to show what everyone came up with :)
This month's contest cards are on display in the store and the creativity that went into these is just amazing. I'll upload pictures later this week.
Sorry it's such a long post and I hope the sun is shining on you today wherever you are.