Reach for the sky

Here's the third class sample. The hot air balloon stamp is a mini clear stamp set which includes  the sentiment: "May your travels lead you to some amazing places" I had a graduation card in mind when I made this so I used "Reach for the Sky" instead. This sentiment is a portion of another mini stamp set which includes a beautiful butterfly and the sentiment "Take Wing, reach for the sky" Both these stamps are just $2.50 each and are available at the store. I decided that I would use this sentiment more often, and so I carefully trimmed the "Take Wing" portion away and I'll still be able to use them together if I want to. I stamped the balloon in Sepia archival ink on neutral cardstock, then stamped just the upper portion onto a the same colour paper as the upper background of the card. I inked this part of the image with Versamark and sprinkled clear embossing powder onto it, then heated it for a glossy look. After punching out the circle, I popped it up with foam dimensionals. If you look very closely you can see that I accidentally glued the punched border on the wrong side of the paper...Oh well...now everyone knows how NOT to do it..LOL! This is a fun card to make and with some bright colours and a different sentiment would make a great birthday card for a child. I was rushing to get this done (hence the goof up!) and now I can see a few possibilities for embellishment. We'll see how much time there is in class after doing the other two cards and maybe we can step it up a notch. Thanks for taking a peek and comments are always welcome:)

April cards

Here is card number one for this week and next week's classes. Love this layout which I snagged from the latest issue of "Cardmaps" magazine. I used one of the new papers from Kaisercraft's Fine and Sunny collection.

As always, the real deal is much more impressive than the photograph, so be sure to stop in and see this sample. It took me a while to figure out what to do with this awesome new stamp from Inkadinkado, but once I started playing, I got a little carried away. I heat embossed the peacock image in black, then coloured in all those beautiful feathers with the glitter gel pens. I always have trouble using black embossing powder and this time was no exception, so I decided to carefully trim around the image to get rid of all those pesky little black spots that I didn't see before I used the heat gun (Grrrr!) Then I searched the entire store for a background paper to complement the colours I had used, but nothing was working for me, so I decided to break out the alcohol inks and make my own background. Other than making a mess and stinking the place up with fumes from the ink it was fun and the result is gorgeous...if I do say so myself LOL!  I finished it off with some gold foil and black metallic cardstock. The biggest issue I had was that the image wouldn't fit on a standard size card, so I had to improvise and hopefully no one will mind that the envelopes are a bit bigger than the card (sorry.) I haven't done the third card yet, but it will be a fairly simple one because the peacock one will take a while to complete. I'll upload the last sample by Monday night. Please bring your own gel pens to class if you have them or be prepared to buy them. I used a gold gel pen plus a green star and blue star glitter gel pen.

Get your free magazine today!

The brand new issue of Scrapbook & Cards Today Magazine is here! Hurry and pick up your copy. It's FREE with a purchase of $20 or more and it's full of fabulous inspiration for scrapbookers and card-makers.

Another easle card

Here's the third card for class this week. I think I'm hooked on these easel cards and this patterned paper is perfect for a spring card. The inside reads: "May your day bloom with happiness" but as always you can choose your own sentiment or leave it blank.

Spring fever

Here are the two cards I have ready for next week's classes. With the beautiful weather we've been having, and Easter coming up fast, I didn't have a problem coming up with a theme. The second card is an easel card. I don't know why I've never made one of these before. They are quite simple and so much fun. They fold flat for mailing and I think it would make anyone's day to receive such a different kind of card in the mail...don't you? I haven't done the third sample yet, but I may just do another easel card in a standard size rather than the 4 1/4 square that this one measures. While I was in England I visited a garden centre where everything was in full bloom. I was so glad that the weather was good when I got back, and even though it's too early to start planting flowers here, I think I can manage a flowery card for my third sample. Happy St. Patrick's day and have a wonderful weekend!

I "borrowed" this from a friend's blog. It describes me perfectly and yes you guessed it...I might be a tad late posting my samples....sorry:(

I'm back!

Hi everyone. I'm back from my visit with my sister. It was bitter-sweet but I'm very grateful to have spent those days with her. Thanks to Danielle for holding the fort and to everyone who sent messages of support. It may take a few days for me to get caught up, but I hope to have next week's class samples up on here and on Facebook by Friday. I will definitely be placing an order (or two) this week so contact me ASAP if there is anything you need me to add. Enjoy the sunshine!