Happy Halloween!!

This is my Halloween printers tray! Just a cool decoration! It was a kit from Stampin Up but I have also bought extra trays (made of wood with divisions that would have held metal letters for a printer and a metal carry handle at the top) so I can make some for Christmas, too. 

Of course, no one uses these trays and metal letters to do any printing anymore but that is what my paternal grandfather did for his whole life for a career. When I was a young girl, my Grandpa took me to his work to show me what he did. It was amazing how they printed newspapers, flyers, and corporate advertising almost 50 years ago...one letter placed at a time to make the words! Now we just hit "Print"!!

I will have to think up my own design for a Christmas tray so you won't see that for a few weeks! (Maybe one of my friends will do a Christmas one that I can just copy, with their permission obviously!)

I hope that the weather where you are is good for the kids and for those answering their door!

Have a fun evening, and I will be back on Friday,
Chrissie
 

Stamp Sale ONLY TODAY!!

Just a quick reminder of the 15% off all stamp sets...just for one day. Send me an email if you want to order your favourites.

I am in London and will be back with a card on Wednesday!
Chrissie

Be back Next Week

Just a quick FYI...

My 85 yr old MIL is critically ill and we are going to see her for what is likely the last time. I will try to be back for Monday.

Thanks for understanding,
Chrissie

It's Friday of Our Big Stamping Event...Yeah!!

Although I am concentrating on Christmas crafting now, we still need the every day cards for our family and friends! So here is a fun birthday card that I made recently.

The card is on Calypso Coral (one of the In Colours that we will lose next May 31st...if you love this colour, get your paper, ribbon, and ink pad re-inker soon so you don't miss out!). I layered it with Wild Wasabi and the Daffodil Delight from the Polka Dot Parade DSP. There is another layer of Wild Wasabi about 1/3 the way from the bottom which I ran through the Big Shot with the Stripes Folder. Then I added a layer of Calypso Coral Ribbon and tied a bow. Next is another set of papers with the flowers on. The flowers are cut using the 2 biggest shapes on the Floral Fusion Sizzlet and the smallest is using the similar shape from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack (pg 183). The top layer is Whisper White and so is the greeting, which is stamped with Calypso Coral with the stamp from Itty Bitty Banners and cut using the Bitty Banners Framelits (say that 3 times fast!!). I added 3 medium pearls for the flower centers and was really pleased with the result!

Hope it inspires you with your everyday card making!

Chrissie

This week is going too fast!!

Here is a really cute card I made for a young girl's Halloween birthday. Isn't it the cutest?!

All of the card uses Stampin Up products except for the adorable little witch on a broom. There are a number of free or very inexpensive digital stamps out there on the web. I have bought a few like this that have such adorable faces. Once they are on my computer, I then open them in the My Digital Studio2 program from Stampin Up. I can then change the size to fit what I want to do with it and print it out to use on my card. I coloured this one by hand with markers but the MDS2 program now has a paintbrush tool so I am going to try to colour it on the computer next time!

The card is made from Tangerine Tango with Basic Gray dotted paper from Howlstooth and Scaringbone Designer Series Paper, and the flag pieces under the sign are from the same DSP. There is a small piece of Basic Black cardstock behind the witch which I embossed with the Spider Web folder and brushed lightly with a sponge and Whisper White ink. I used various markers to colour the witch including Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Tangerine Tango, Pretty in Pink, Cajun Craze, and for her skin, the Blush Blossom marker that is sold on page 157 of the Annual Catalogue.

I did the greeting on my computer and printed it on Very Vanilla card stock, added some Tangerine Tango ribbon flipped over (has white polka dots on the other side), a Basic Gray button with some retired Very Vanilla 1/8" ribbon threaded in it.

So I love how it turned out and I now have that stamp on my computer for use again in years to come! So fun!

Be back soon,
Chrissie

 

Merry Monday!!

So the weather has really cooled down since a week ago or so. I'm loving it but is anyone else? My cold is much improved and I am hoping that I will feel even better with every coming day. I have to get, and stay, well at least until next Sunday, Oct. 21st for our big Christmas Stamping Event. (There are still a couple of spaces open if you want sign up this week...email me if you want to come and have some fun!)

Once the weather cools, I really think I have to get to my Christmas crafting well underway! I love this card for its simplicity and water colour look, and it is also very traditional.

I used a Real Red card with a Lucky Limeade layer on the front. On top of that I layered a piece of Very Vanilla (3 3/4" x 5") but covered the bottom part with the stripe pattern from the Candlelight Christmas Specialty Designer paper. Simple but beautiful colours.

For stamps, I used the single stamp "Heart of Christmas" and the holly branch with berries outline stamp from "Watercolour Winter". I only used Real Red and Lucky Limeade inks, along with a blender pen to lightly colour the holly leaves and the berries. Add a small piece of Lucky Limeade ribbon and a couple of pearls, and it is a lovely card to give to anyone!

Enjoy,
Chrissie

More Halloween!

I saw this card on someone's blog (sorry I forget who...oops) but had to copy it! Isn't she sweet? (There are some little glints that showed up in the photo from extra glue but I can't see in IRL!)

My Mother-in-law is 85 and very advanced into Altzheimers so is very child-like. I make cards to send to her for each occasion as she lives in Collingwood and we don't go there very often. I hope she will get some joy from seeing this cute witchy-poo...or at least as much joy as I had piecing her all together. Every punch I used (and there were lots!!) is current in our catalogues but the paper I used for her skin was an old colour, Blush Blossom, that I just happened to find a few sheets of in my stash. (We still have the Blush Blossom marker so maybe Stampin Up will bring back the paper sometime, too.)

Have lots of things to do yet for our Christmas Stamping Event on the 21st so I have a busy weekend ahead of me! Enjoy yours!

"Talk" soon,
Chrissie

Have a Halloween Project for you today!

Aren't these the cutest Halloween treat containers?!! They are all made using the Petite Purse Big Shot Die and lots of added details! I just adore these and hope to make a few before Halloween.

Sorry I missed Monday and yesterday. I got sick with a cold on Sunday and didn't get to go anywhere on the weekend. Lewis had a cold at the beginning of last week and it was inevitable that I would get it too! My head is still really stuffy but (touch wood) it hasn't moved into my lungs and made me much sicker! I feel like I am improving but with my comprised health and my age(!), I do take longer than the average person to get over a cold!

Plus I don't know about you but I don't adjust to quick temperature changes...in the spring and fall primarily. The Thursday before Thanksgiving was 22C with a Humidex of 25C and two days later it was about 10C with a wind chill factor. Now that is an abrupt change!! 
 
Anyway, that's it for today...have to make a few cards today for my friend. Stay tuned for more Halloween cards/projects!

Be back soon,
Chris

It's the Beginning of the Thanksgiving Long Weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!! Our adult niece, Rebecca, took these beautiful photos and posted them on Facebook. I just love the awesome fall colours.

We may have to take a drive a little north of London this weekend so we can enjoy the colours in person. Sometimes we have gone up around New Hamburg (between Stratford and Waterloo) and the trees are so gorgeous. There is a gorgeous white church steeple just above the trees around New Hamburg and it is just a stunning sight.

May you all count all your blessings this weekend. I will be...I have so much to be thankful for, and I will be thinking of as much as I can remember!

With thanks for all of you who look forward to my blog posts,
Chrissie

Two Posts in One Day!! This is a Very Special Pilot project from SU!!

Hey there...sorry no extra card on this post, just some exciting Stampin Up news!

These three stamp sets...Word Play, Perfectly Penned, and Seasonal Sayings are now being offered as single stamps. That means that you can just purchase the stamp(s) that you want from these sets without having to buy the whole set!! Awesome, isn't it?!!

I am attaching links to the flyers for these 3 stamp sets so you know how much each stamp costs by itself. These stamps come in a small clear bag and are the clear mount stamps only (no clear or wood blocks are provided...the clear block that works with the stamp is listed beside the price but is NOT included!)

Please make sure you are looking in the second column for the Canadian price! Each flyer has pictures of the full stamp set for you to choose from (keep track of how many stamps from a set you are going to purchase as it could end up being less expensive just to buy the whole set!) This offer is good until Jan. 2, 2013 and is a pilot project so let's all make this work!!

Word Play Flyer

Perfectly Penned Flyer 

Seasonal Sayings Flyer 

Thanks for looking at the flyers and possibly purchasing your favourite stamps,
Chrissie

Wednesday Already...Do you have plans for this Weekend?

We are planning a quiet weekend for the long weekend. Sean and Brenda and the kids will be heading to Waterloo to celebrate with Brenda's family on the weekend, and maybe enjoy the Oktoberfest parade in Kitchener-Waterloo! 

We will make a turkey meal for ourselves as we love the leftovers! My friend, Aimee, is coming over on Monday so we can work on cutting her supplies for our upcoming Christmas event on Oct. 21st. I have a great paper cutter that cuts many sheets accurately very quickly. Aimee is prepping the four piece tag cards and there is a lot of cutting to be done! I am so looking forward to spending time with Aimee and helping her get some of her prep done, quickly and easily!

So in September for every $50 we spent in our orders, we got a free roll of ribbon in one of the newest 5 In Colours for this year. I got a lot of ribbon!! So you will see it on cards like the card on this post! 

I used the Summer Starfruit ribbon and the four ink colours of Summer Starfruit, Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum, and Baja Breeze. I used a great stamp set that I love "Circle Circus". It is all mounted on Elegant Eggplant and stamped on Whisper White. Also added a Summer Starfruit dahlia in the center of the circle! Really love the dahlias!!

I will be back on Friday with some lovely autumn photos our niece took up by Ottawa.

"Talk" to you soon,
Chrissie 

Wow, it's October 1st! And Merry Monday!

This is another one of the triple layer cards and similar colours to the Thank You card I showed you in September (I think!).

This time I used snowflakes from "Snowflake Soiree" and Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, and Midnight Muse. I think this would be a great card to send to people who don't celebrate Christmas. I may be making a few of these for my holiday cards.

I have been really busy making lots of cards for Fall/Thanksgiving, and more Christmas projects. Ragweed is still at 2 out of 10 (they changed the scale on the Weather Network!) so I am still spending a lot of time inside!

I will have more for you all on Wednesday...have a great start to your week!

Bye for now,
Chrissie