Things are happening in 3's!

Hello!

And the crazy card making extravaganza continues!  Got another three made yesterday.  Really though, I attribute this creative binge on ALL the new goodies I have received.  I'm just so excited to try out everything and thrilled that this results in so many new cards in my stash!

Card #1:

On this one, I actually started with the bird cage (Jane's Doodles), then added the little bird (TAWS), and then went on the hunt for a complimentary piece of patterned paper.  When I spotted this grey polka dotted little number I knew it was what I wanted to use.  Unfortunately though, my original design plan was a little different, so I sliced it up to work with that design.  Which I didn't end up liking.  Which was even more disappointing because that little 6x6 piece of patterned paper was the only one I had!  Dang it - I no longer had enough to cover the card front.  So after stressing, I decided to do some surgery!  I *tried* to mend two pieces back together!  Fortunately the pattern is a little wonky, so it made it a little easier to do this, but I can still totally tell :(  See if you can tell (it won't be hard to spot!!).

Card #2:

I wanted to try out my new triangle stencil with my HA mint julep ink.  Really love how the stenciling turned out, even though it is quite loud!  I'm not sure if the images I used were enough to tone it down a bit, but that's okay, I think it's kind of fun!

Card #3:

I've said before that I'm not big on pink, and I have no idea what led to all the pinkness on this card!  I hadn't planned on it.  I actually started with the sheep image, and then decided to frame him with the pink frame to pick up on the colours I used on her nose.  I tried to find some patterned paper to work with this and while I was searching for it, I switched gears and decided to use my other stencil with embossing paste.  I tinted the paste with pink.  I only picked it because I was experimenting with tinting and it happened to be the colour right in front of me.  So I went for it.  Then I thought it needed something else, so I used the same pink to highlight the edges of the card.  And voila, a very pink card!  I did add a bit of water to the edges to "water stain" the card just for a little extra something something.  I really wanted to use "ewe" in the sentiment, so made it a thank ewe card by white embossing on vellum with a PS banner and using the Lawn Fawn Milo's ABCs set to customize.

Well, that was a lot of yacking!!  A much longer post than I'd intended, but hope you liked it!  Really hoping to make more cards today...after I get a few chores done (they are in desperate need of doing! - cards have trumped cleaning hands down this week!).

Have a good day!
Shannon

A Trio

Hello!

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!  We had a relatively quiet, but nice one.  My husband and I don't have kids, so traditionally we, along with my parents, meet at my sister's home to watch her three kids tear open the packages, followed by a family breakfast.  But we did break tradition for Christmas dinner.  In the past, we'd always spent it with my Mom's side of the family, but not this year.  We switched it up for the first time in 40 years and ended up spending it with my Dad's side of the family.  It was nice seeing and celebrating with them! 

Which brings me to my first card - a thank you to my cousin for having an extra nine people at her dinner table!  Here it is:

I used my HA chevron stencil with some lime green dylusions spray for the background, and just added that sweet little TAWS reindeer with a PS sentiment.  Easy peasy.

My second card is for a very good friend of mine who is a New Year's baby.  Here it is:

I spent forever trying to "arrange" these flowers, but finally got them just how I wanted them.  Not only did the arrangement take forever, so did cutting out each and every one of them (I still don't have a die cutting machine - but I have my name down for one now - so I'm *this* close to having one in my hot little hands!)!  But it was all worth it.  I really like how this one turned out.  All WPlus9.

And my third card:

I think I can honestly say this is one of my favourite cards I've ever made!  It just makes me happy!  It's a mish mash of all different products - any questions, just let me know!  Hope you like it as much as I do :)

Okay, I've kept you long enough!  Thank you so much for stopping by - I always love and appreciate it!!
Shannon

And...another two

Hello!

I don't know what's gotten into me, but whatever it is, I love it!  I've been crafting like crazy!  And having so much fun.  Here's are a few more cards for you to see  :)

Card #1:

I actually made this one a few weeks ago but forgot to post it.  I stamped it with my Momento Luxe inks - seriously, I love that ink - and also some new Savvy stamps I got in my last order.  I honestly thought my wood block / rubber stamp days were pretty much over.  I'm definitely a clear stamp kind of girl.  But when I saw these stamps, I couldn't resist - just thought they were so pretty, and so versatile!  The sentiment is PS, and I added a little Studio Calico wood veneer heart under the bow.

Card # 2:

I made this for the Case This Sketch Challenge #58.  Here's the sketch it was based on:

I promised myself that I would start playing along with challenges again in the new year, but I'm happy to say that I've jumped the gun a bit.  I've already done some for this week's PS Sparks challenge (it's an Anything Goes!), and now CTS!  I used in image from my new Mama Elephant baby-themed set for this one.  Love that little teddy!  I dressed her up with a little Lawn Fawn heart, and a little bow on her head from PS Woofers and Tweeters.  The sentiment is also PS from Sentiment Sampler.

Hoping to spend even more time playing this week.  All of my Christmas shopping is pretty much done and aside from some baking and cooking (oh, and cleaning too :( ) that needs to be done, I should have a little extra time to sneak into my card room :)

Until next time, thank you for coming by!
Shannon

Another Two!

Hello!

Eeek!  SO close to Christmas now!!  And just in time for Christmas, we got our first snowfall yesterday.  A perfect excuse to stay inside and make cards!  I had so much fun making these.

I managed to get two done.  Here's the first:

I was totally and completely inspired by this card by Joni nina Andaya from Papell with Love.  Have you seen her work?  If not, you MUST!  One word: stunning.  I think you'll agree.  Please go have a peek!  Her distress inking and blending is divine.  So is everything else she does, but it was the inking that inspired me on this one.  I used WPlus9, Lawn Fawn and PS stamps, mixing pretty with whimsical.  A bit different for me, but I enjoyed experimenting!  What I didn't enjoy, was when I trimmed the left side of the card, when I meant to trim the right, and my sweet little flower that *was* in the corner, shifted off centre!!  oh well...!!!

And here's the second card:

I'm entering this into the Paper Smooches SPARKS Anything Goes Challenge.  And this one did challenge me.  I tried so many different things, but in the end, I was pleased with the results!  That little guy is still one of my fave images!

That's it for me today.  Hope to be back again before Christmas!!
Shannon

Three Quickies

Hello!

Just popping in to share three cards that I made quite quickly over the past few days.  As I frantically tried to finish up my last few Christmas cards, I also had to make cards for three other occasions this week: my parents' anniversary, my mother-in-law's birthday and my brother-in-law's birthday!  Got them all whipped up just in the nick of time!  Here they are:

My parents' card:

Nothing new here - I know this look has been "done" many times before, but I just wanted to try it out with my new Wplus9 stamps, Hero Arts inks, stencil and those liquid emamel.  LOVE all of these supplies!

My mother-in-law's card:

My husband made a special request for the bird stamp!  The background is new from Hero Arts, and the green ink is new as well - Momento Luxe.  Love that ink!!!

My brother-in-law's card:

Again, nothing new, it's been done before.  But I wanted to try out the technique of popping up a portion of the sentiment.  And I can now breath a sigh of relief that the guy card is done.  I get so worked up trying to think of ideas for these!!

Thank you so much for stopping by!
Shannon

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CAROL!!!

Hi everyone!  It's a very special day today...

To my dear sweet Carol, Happy Birthday!!!  Oh Carol, where do I even begin?!!  I don't know what I ever did to have this caring, thoughtful, incredible woman come into my life.  It's been almost a year to the day now since we "met".  I started my blog on January 1, 2013 and Carol was one of the very first to leave me a sweet, supportive, encouraging comment like only Carol can!  She just has a way.  A way of making you feel like a million bucks and of making you smile with every comment she leaves and every post she writes.  Funny, endearing, warm, and a heart the size of Texas (or in our Canadian equivalent, Quebec!).  Not only has she become a blog friend, she has become a true friend.  My bestie!  She has been there with me through the good time and the bad, has laughed with me through the good and lifted me up during the not so good.  I honestly don't know what I would do without her.  And guess what, I have never even met her (hopefully that will change one day SOON)!   What an amazing gift blogging has been to make this friendship possible, and what an amazing gift she is.  HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CAROL!!!  YOU are the BEST and SWEETEST friend ever!!!

I got to play with my Lawn Fawn Into the Woods set - I have been looking forward to getting this set in my hot little hands ever since I saw it!  It just arrived last week, and what a treat to use it for the first time on Carol's card!!  The frame is from WPlus9, another new set for me (I am really falling in love with their images too!).  The little heart and the sentiments are also Lawn Fawn - I used Milo's ABCs to create the customized part of the sentiment and am loving the versatility of that set.  You get multiples of each letter so you can easily put together your own message.  The "friend" is PS, stamped in one of my new Hero Arts inks - Pool.  (yup, I did a lot of Black Friday shopping!).  Oh, and that paper behind the frame - it's from Ellen Hutson - she sent it to me - for free!!!  Let me tell you how impressed (and giddy!) I was when I opened my Black Friday order from her (it was like Christmas had come early!) and I found not one, not two, but THREE little surprises inside from Ellen thanking me for my order.  A 6x6 paper pack (which is where this paper came from), a bottle of Tim Holtz distress paint and some rock candy glitter.  I will definitely order from her again!

So those are the details on this card for a VERY special friend!  Love ya, Carol!  In the words of Kelly Marie Alvarez, I hope you have an AMAZING day!!!

Shannon

Two Cards and a lot of Babbling!

Hi everyone!

Hope you are maintaining your sanity in this crazy hustle and bustle of the season!!  I'm not sure I had any sanity to begin with, so can't say I'm maintaining any of my own - ha!  It has been very busy though, as it is for everyone at this time of the year.  Each year though, I try more and more to really acquaint myself with what's important, and "let go" of the rest.  I want to give myself a chance to enjoy the season.  Not an easy task, but I continuously remind myself that it only comes once a year, and it seems to come and go so quickly.  I try to slow it down just a little bit, and take it all in.  Of course there are blips in this "journey" to slow down and enjoy - like the other day when I realized that I needed oh, about double the amount of Christmas cards I had made!  Slowing it down went out the window, and was replaced by chaos as I madly made the rest of the cards that I needed!  Only two to go now, and I have a bit of time this afternoon, so I should be able to easily get those done, and shift back into "slow it down" mode!  And that will include my annual viewing of my favourite movie of all time  - nope, it's not one of the great classics - nope!  It's The Holiday!!  Iris just reminds me SO much of myself and I fall in love with the movie more and more every year!

Okay, I've babbled on for long enough (I haven't posted for a while - I think I'm making up for lost time!)!  Time to share some cards!

This is one of the Christmas cards I made in the "oh no, I don't have enough cards frenzy":

This was the only new design - all the rest were just copies of ones I had previously made - no time to come up with something new!

And this is a card I made for a friend.  She was telling me about another friend of hers who has cancer (can we just rid the world of that???  Please.) who is going out of country for surgery next week.  Her friend loves my friend's dog, named Lexie and it's become a bit of a running theme through her treatment that Lexie is there for her.  When she leaves next week for her surgery, my friend wanted to have a little care package waiting for her when she arrives.  I asked her if I could make a card to accompany the care package and I was so thrilled that she said yes!  Here it is:

I'm going to link both of these up to the PS Anything Goes Challenge!  I haven't played along with a challenge for WAY too long!

Thank you for stopping by and enduring my ramblings!  Have an awesome day!
Shannon