Shaping Paper - Religious Christmas Card

I woke up to a gorgeous view of a blanket of freshly fallen snow out my front window. The snowfall is calling for me to bundle up, throw my boots on, and go for a winter walk.  I wish! Gotta get the boys off to school and head to work. Reality check :(
But first, a post:

Pick a shape - any shape! What a fun challenge that The Paper Players has this week! And what a wonderfully talented group of designers. Their 'shapely' cards are amazing!  When I saw the challenge for this week, I didn't think I would bother playing along, only because I rarely use anything but a rectangle (maybe a circle once or twice??). But I was so inspired by the design team that I gave it some thought and changed my mind. I'm so glad I did. I was anxious to use the beautiful Mary and Babe stamp from CTMH that I recently acquired and thought a good shape to use as its base/background would be a manger. I searched for a template, to no avail, so started drawing one. During my failing attempt, the thought of using a star instead came to my mind. I ended up printing off different types of star shapes in a couple of sizes on cardstock, cut them out, and used them as templates. I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured it with Copics. I then fussy cut it out, glued it to some gold cardstock, and again fussy cut it out to create the gold border. I layered the different coloured stars, added some strips of gold paper, 3-d foam-taped the image, added the sentiment, and finished it off with a glitter-threaded bow.

I am also entering this card into The Addicted to Stamps and More HOLIDAY challenge this week, where you can choose ANY holiday and make your creation with its theme :)))

Thanks for looking - Have a great day :)

Supplies Used:
Paper: Recollections Silver, Gold (both foiled & glittered); CTMH White Daisy
Stamps: CTMH Mary and Babe
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; CTMH Chocolate
Other: Copics; 3-d foam tape; glittered thread

Freshly Made Sketches #113

I thought the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches would work well with the Tiddly Inks digistamp that I had.  What I love about it is that you can personalize it by writing whatever you'd like on the 'notes' that the little chicks are holding up.  I simply made it into a thank you card by using a marker to write the word 'THANKS' on it, but I can easily change it to reflect a greeting for any occasion.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Tiddly Inks Digistamp

Paper:  Recollections Autumn; CTMH White Daisy

Other:  CTMH Hemp, Liquid Glass; Copics; GooseBumpz Embossing Folder; Cuttlebug; Buttons from my stash

Freshly Made Sketches #112

It's Jen Brum's turn to design the sketch for Freshly Made Sketches this week, and I decided to join in on the fun:

I couldn't wait to use my new Season's Tweetings stamp set from CTMH.  I thought the sentiment was adorable and so had fun with its theme and stamped the two 'love birds' Christmas kissing - only problem was the smaller bird was too short - so the solution was either an ornament or a present as a makeshift stepping stool, as they were the only two Christmas-themed stamps I had that were suitable in size. As you can see in the photo, I went with the present :)

I added some glitter to the wreath, present, and mistletoe, 

and complimented that with a silvery-glittered background.

Thanks for stopping by!
Have a wonderful day :)

Supplies Used:
Paper: CTMH White Daisy, black; Recollections Silver Foil
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Stamps: CTMH Season's Tweetings, Holiday Trinkets
Other:  Copics; Stickles Xmas Red & Crystal; 3d foam tape

'Going Ape' Over The Paper Players 168

I was curious to see what The Paper Players had in mind for this week's challenge, and when I saw that it was a CAS challenge (with a masculine birthday theme), I was quickly discouraged because CAS cards don't come easily for me!  But....I took on the challenge anyway and glad I did :o)  

I don't have many masculine stamps to choose from, but I did have 'Camilla the Gorilla' (and for the purpose of this challenge, let's pretend that she's a he) that I thought would be fun to use. Here's my card:

I coloured the gorilla in using Copics, fussy cut him out, and glued him onto a pile of leaves that I cut out with my Lorelai Leaf die using various green papers and then layered.  I then stamped and coloured a banana image, cut around it leaving only the skin so that it looks half eaten, and glued it onto the pile as well.  For the tree, I simply cut out the trunk from a piece of patterned paper.  The grass was cut out free-hand and touched up with a Copic marker. The branch is also cut from the same die that I used for the leaves, and the vine is made with a strip of kraft paper that I twirled using my quilling tool. Speaking of vines, excuse my ignorance, but I just wasn't sure if gorillas actually swung on them!? My son insisted that they don't and so I should remove it.  Well, there was no way I was going to get rid of it - after all, it's my favourite part of the card! - so of course I Googled it, and lo and behold, they do! Well, mostly the little ones.  
And so, the vine stays (yay) and please do consider the gorilla a baby :o)

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful day!

Supplies Used:

Paper: CTMH Kraft, Colonial White, Black; Graphic 45; Recollection Autumn Designer Paper & Green Faux Canvas

Stamps: High Hopes 'Camilla Gorilla', 'Go Bananas'

Ink: Memento Black

Other: Poppystamps Lorelai Leaf die; Cuttlebug; Copics; Quilling tool; 3-d foam tape

Happy Fall Birthday

Mojo Monday has a fabulous sketch by Julee this week:

I needed a birthday card for a friend who'll be visiting from Europe next week and resorted to Mojo Monday for some inspiration. I also came across another challenge blog-Addicted to Stamps and More- where the theme this week is to colour in your project, and thought that I'd play along for the first time :)

 I decided to incorporate some fall colours as well as use this adorable digistamp from Tiddly Inks because it reminds me of her (blonde, cute, and sweet) :)  

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Verve 'Birthday Surprise'; Tiddly Inks digistamp

Inks: CTMH Black

Paper: Recollections; Basic Grey patterned paper

Other: Copics; Cuttlebug embossing folder; Spellbinders Big Scalloped Rectangles; Cuttlebug; 3d foam tape; Stickles; ribbon from my stash

Fall Fresh - Freshly Made Sketches #108

Freshly Made Sketches has a fun sketch this week provided by Narelle:

I was eager to use my new 'Poster Tidings' stamp set, and so put it to use with the sketch:

I struggled with the masking technique in order to get four colours on the poster sentiment, so I had no choice but to stamp it separately four different times and then paper piece so that I could achieve the look that I was after.  I also used the paper piercing technique for the first time :) to border the sentiment. For the banners, I used two different chevron embossing folders (a small one for the middle banner, and a larger one for the bottom ones).  I finished it off with some enamel yellow adhesive dots from My Mind's Eye. 

I just love this gorgeous fall weather we're having, and couldn't help but be inspired to create this fall-themed card! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Enjoy your day :)

Supplies Used:

Paper: Recollections Autumn Designer Paper

Stamps: CTMH Poster Tidings

Inks: CTMH Sunflower, Smokey Plum, Autumn Terracotta, Chocolate

Embellishments: My Mind's Eye 'Wicked Enamel Dots'

Other:  Goose Bumpz embossing folders; Cuttlebug

Quilled Pointsettia - Freshly Made Sketches 107

Phew! I didn't think I'd be able to make a card in time to qualify for this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge - but in between preparing some Thanksgiving dishes to bring over to my parents' today, I actually accomplished just that! When I saw the sketch that Jennifer created, I KNEW I wanted to play along:

I had been wanting to make a quilled pointsettia for the last little while, and thought that this sketch would work well with what I had in mind.  Here's my card:

Here's a photo with the sun on a different angle:

I used stamp sets from Verve for the sentiment (Ornamental Christmas) as well as CTMH for the border (Simple Memories), which I heat embossed using CTMH gold embossing powder.  The gold pearls in the centre of the pointsettia and the gold glitter accents in the corners are from Recollections, as is the paper. 

Thanks for visiting and...

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Spooky Fun for a Little One- The Paper Players #166

The theme this week for The Paper Players is to come up with a Halloween card or treat holder:

Well, I decided to combine the two and came up with this interactive (see below) Halloween card:

The skull acts as the treat holder, and the treats? Well, that's where the fun comes in for my little nephew: He gets to pick the 'mommy' spider or the 'daddy' spider and depending on which he chooses...

(Daddy spider)

(Mommy spider)

[In case it's not obvious, the baker's twine was my attempt at imitating their webs :o)]

...he gets a trick or a treat:

I tried this 'game' with my own little boys, who aren't so little anymore, and they couldn't help but smile - so I hope my nephew enjoys it when I give it to him on Halloween, which also happens to be his birthday!

The skull and spiders are My Grafico digistamps, on which I used black glitter as well as Liquid Glass and Liquid Pearls for dimension and fun.  The stamped sentiments are all from CTMH and were heat embossed.  

The patterned cardstock is from K & Co.

Thanks for visiting!

First Time For Everything

Today I'm sharing a card that I made for my niece's birthday, with a digistamp coloured with Copics - my first attempt at colouring an image that I wasn't half embarrassed to display (to the world, I might add!):

Hope you have a great day :)

Supplies Used:

Paper: CTMH Kraft, Colonial White; Recollections pink & 'patterned' purple

Ink: CTMH Black

Stamps: Digistamp from Tiddly Inks; Verve 'Birthday Surprise'

Other: Copics; Spellbinders Classic Scallopped Circles; Cuttlebug; Stickles; Black Sharpie

A Grand Card for a Grand Father - The Paper Players #165

It's time to play Tic-Tac-Toe over at The Paper Players this week:

I went with a vertical line:  Birthday/Patterned Paper/Ribbon.

I've never made a card this large before, but considering it's my father's birthday and he has 4 children and 8 grandchildren, it offers lots of space for everyone to sign :o) AND he's much deserving of its grandeur.

I purchased the Circle of Love CTMH stamp set a long while back and find it hard to believe I've never used it until now because I think it's just gorgeous.  After stamping the image on watercolour paper, I used my Blending Pen with various inks to add colour to the feathers. I then added sparkles to certain areas using glitter sprinkled onto Liquid Glass (to give it demension). A few rhinestones and dotted Liquid Pearls finished off the peacock. 

I then heat embossed the sentiment as well as the blue background paper with the feather image offered in the set (I just realized I made another 'line' in the game!)  I assembled the card with a few layers of cs and added some ribbon using Glue Dots to make it wavy.  

I'm sure my dad will love it :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Paper: Canson watercolour paper; CTMH Magnigique paper packet

Stamps: CTMH Circle of Love & For Every Occasion

Inks: CTMH Pear, Garnett, Lagoon, Moonstruck; Versamark

Embellishments: Liquid Pearls; brown ribbon and rhinestones from my stash

Other: Stampendous Translucent & Blue Tinsel embossing powders; Martha Stewart glitters (Charoite/Aquamarine Crystal/Peridot/Lapis); CTMH Liquid Glass, Blending Pen; Heat tool; Glue Dots

The Paper Players #164

When I saw the great sketch that Sandy created for The Paper Players challenge this week, I instantly knew that I wanted to use my new Memory Box wreath die for the circle in the sketch:

Here's my take on the sketch:

I was excited to use this die for the first time, and thought this would be a great opportunity to finally make a Christmas card (I liked how turned out so much that I know I'll be using it over and over again for different occasions). I cut out the die five times using two different colours: CTMH's Kraft and Cocoa. I then added some red and white berries using Liquid Pearls and Stickles.  

I had some retired CTMH Christmas patterned paper as well as 'kraft borders' that I thought would compliment the wreath. Along with some distressing and sponging, I finished off the card with ribbon and gems from my stash.

Thanks for taking a look!

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Verve 'Ornamental Christmas'

Ink: CTMH New England Ivy

Paper: CTMH

Embellishments: gems and ribbon from my stash; Christmas Red Stickles; White Liquid Pearls; CTMH 'Color Ready Kraft Borders'

Other: Cuttlebug; Memory Box Bramble Circle die

Bling! - Dynamic Duos #71

I'm excited to be joining in with The Dynamic Duos colour challenge this week.

Here's the week's colour combo and dessert option (wet embossing):

I decided to go with a simple, elegant card.  I never would've imagined using kraft on an elegant card, but I think with the addition of all the clear gems (I just couldn't stop!) and shiny black embossing, the dazzle factor outweighed the kraft's plain factor (don't get me wrong, I love kraft!).  Nevertheless, I think the combination of the two balances out quite nicely.

Thanks for taking a look!

Supplies Used:
Paper: CTMH Kraft, White Daisy; Recollections Black
Stamps: Verve "Artful Elegance"
Other: Versamark; Stampendous black embossing powder; Heat tool; Gems from my stash

September Diva Dare

When I came across this card by Jennifer Shults, I was instantly inspired to participate in Verve's Diva Dare Contest!  The "Dare" is to come up with a card that is somehow inspired by the game of Tic-Tac-Toe.  Taking inspiration from Jen's card, I also went with a 'hugs and kisses' them.  

I love to quill, so when the contest guidelines suggested a grid as a possible tic-tac-toe element to use, I immediately knew I wanted to use the weaving technique that many quillers use, and weaved a grid-like background for my card.

(I think I'll hang on to this one til next Valentine's Day and give it to my hubby!)

Thanks for stopping by!


Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Verve 'Making A Statement'
Ink: CTMH Black
Paper: Recollections, CTMH Kraft
Other: CTMH Baker's Twine, glitter; clothespin & pearls from my stash; Sharpie fine tip marker (to draw game pieces)

Quilled Scaredy Cat - Freshly Made Sketches #103

I'm quickly getting addicted to playing along with Freshly Made Sketches :)  

Here's the sketch to follow, which I turned on its side:

It's Friday the 13th, so I thought it would be fun to post a Halloween card :o)  I decided to quill a black cat to use as the main focus.   Before I started, my plan was to step away from the traditional black and orange Halloween shades, but I gave up after going through piles of scraps of paper, looking for an alternate colour plan...to no avail. So, I resorted to a brand new pack of 6x6 Graphic 45 paper that I was anxious to finally use, and came up with this traditional-colour-themed card:

Thanks for looking!

Supplies Used:
Paper: Black, yellow, purple quilling strips; Graphic 45 Steampunk Spells
Stamps: Inkadinkado
Embellishments: CTMH Haunted Assorted
Other:  Quilling tools; Quilling Book: "Thrilling Quilling" by E. Moad; Versamark; Stampendous black embossing powder; Black thin point sharpie marker (to draw stitches)

Freshly Made Sketches 102

I'm excited to be participating in my first Freshly Made Sketches card challenge since starting up this new blog!  

Here's my take on the sketch:

Whenever I've made Halloween cards in the past, I've always gravitated towards a scarier, busier-looking card, but for this 'fresh' challenge, I aimed for a cleaner, cuter look.  

The banner and web were cut from glittered, patterned paper by K & Company.  And no, that web was not cut with a die -I painstakingly cut it out with my trusty Cutter Bee.  I thought it would add more interest by allowing the background to show through. It still looked a little plain, so I used baker's twine to extend the web further.  I finished it off with a cute little spider button and sentiment, which I just may end up changing to reflect my nephew's birthday, which happens to be on Halloween day :o)

Thanks for looking!

Supplies Used:
Paper:  K & Company
Stamps: CTMH 'Thriller'
Embellishments:  CTMH baker's twine; Versamark; Stampendous black embossing powder; spider button & ribbon from my stash
Other: Cutter Bee; 3-D foam tape

Mojo Monday 309 & The Paper Players 161

I had so much fun participating in last week's Mojo Monday sketch challenge, here I am again with another entry!  This week's sketch:

My card also qualifies for this week's fall-themed challenge at The Paper Players:

With the kids back in school, I'm considering summer officially over and I'm beginning to set my mind into 'fall' mode.  I figured, what better way to do this than to have some fun creating a fall-themed card:

When I was going through my stamp sets, Verve's circular Christmas ornament stamp ironically stood out as an obvious choice to use as a backdrop for the sentiment.  I started out with the intention of a creating a clean and simple card, but I quickly realized that I couldn't resist the urge to distress, especially with the idea in my mind of 'crinkled' autumn-coloured fallen leaves.  Speaking of which, to achieve a similar effect, I stamped and cut out various leaves in different colours, curled the ends, layered/scattered them on one of the panels, and then framed it with burlap ribbon.  I eventually managed to tie in some clean lines with the chevron patterned paper and circular sentiment. I finished it off with some felt pumpkin ribbon and some copper leaves to add a rustic feel.

Thanks for taking a look!

Supplies Used:
Paper: scraps; CTMH Colonial White, Cocoa, Bamboo; Recollections patterned
Stamps: Verve "Amazing Wishes" & "Ornamental Christmas"; CTMH "Summer's Wave"
Inks: CTMH Autumn Terracotta, Cocoa, Chocolate
Embellishments: Recollections pumpkin ribbon; CTMH burlap ribbon, copper leaves
Other:  Fiskars Circle Cutter

Mojo Monday 308

I thought it would be nice to make a card for my niece's 20th birthday and debut it as my first card challenge entry:) on my new blog! I headed over to the Mojo Monday blog to gather some inspiration for this 'simple quilled flower card'. This week's sketch:
  
Although it may be difficult to see in the photos, I added a sprinkling of glitter to the flower as well as some liquid pearls on and around the sentiment in order to add a touch of elegance:

Supplies Used:
Paper: CTMH Colonial White, Cocoa, Garden Green; Bazzill pink
Stamps:  Verve "Making a Statement" & "Birthday Surprise"
Dies: Verve "Rounded Scallop Frame"
Inks: CTMH Cocoa
Embellishments: Liquid Pearls; CTMH pearls, glitter; Michael's ribbon
Other: MS punch, 3-d foam tape; Cuttlebug embossing folder

Thanks for stopping by!

Quilled Cross

My most intricate quilled creation thus far.  It took about 3 days to complete (in between working, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the kids, of course!) The pattern I used was taken from Malinda Johnston's "The Book of Paper Quilling". Although it didn't need it, I thought the addition of some pearls would be the perfect finishing touch:

Fun In the Sun!

Here goes my first post!  What to post:  card or sandsculpture?  I decided on the latter-I just had to share some of the fun we had last weekend!  With the beginning of a new school year just around the corner, we decided to squeeze in one last beach day (Wasaga Beach, Ontario). Anyone who knows us knows that we don't go to the beach to relax, but rather to play - or I should say, work! - while building sand sculptures.  Being the artistic guy that he is, my husband, Jim Wagner, built this 'monsterous' sculpture (with the help of LOTS of family members) which is one of my favourites of his so far, considering it turned out to be fun and interactive: he built a chair in the monster's grips in order to take some silly, fun photos with it  :o)

Thanks for stopping by!  Next post: card!