Thursday, March 29, 2012

Stampin Fun & Friends Mom's and Dad's

Are you ready?  Stampin Fun and Friends is getting ready for a special addition of Mothers and Fathers.

This is just in time for their special days!  There will be 15 projects exclusive to Stampin Fun and Friends in 15 days, along with challenges, chats and lots of fun.  It's never a dull moment when the girls get chatting.

Early bird registration is going on now until April 15th.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Nancy

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

TST #59 Cute as a Button!


The days are going by so fast.  I can hardly believe that a week has gone by and it's time for Try Stampin on Tuesday again.

This week I decided to take the sketch and turn it into a landscape card.  Once I saw all the circles all I could think of was buttons!  So that is what I decided to run with.  Plus the fact that my daughter needed a shower card for a baby shower she was attending this past weekend.
I started off my using the MDS program to print the front and inside sentiment.  You could also use your regular computer and a word processing program to do the same thing,  I just happened to have my MDS running at the time.  Then I ran the 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" cardstock through the Cuttlebug with the Spellbinders Border Die.  This gave the scalloped edge on the bottom of the card. I was then able to fold the card in half. Using the Bigz Fun Flowers die I die cut one of the flowers and sponged the edges and curled them up.  The rest of the card was a matter of arranging buttons in various shapes and sizes around the card. 

We knew that the baby was going to be a girl and that is why I chose to use the flower and the lavender colours.  I'm sure if it had of been a boy we would have been able to easily change the flower to something that was a little more masculine.

So now it's your turn.  Let's see what you can come up with.  Don't forget to post your picture on the Try Stampin on Tuesday site.

Hope you enjoy!

Nancy

I love to hear what you think, so please leave a comment.


Monday, March 26, 2012

Masculine Monday 26/03/2012

I was checking out some of our other designers over at Try Stampin on Tuesday and found another sketch callenge site on Jen Picards blog, so I decided to check it out.  The site is called Stampin Royalty and this week I thought I would use it for my Masculine Monday card.  

I have the MDS program from Stampin Up but have not used it to create digital scrapbooking pages.  Just to scared to mess it up, don't know why, but I do use it to get my DSP and some images that I don't have the stamp sets for.  This card is just that.  I do not have Extreme Elements nor do I have the motorcycle stamp but I do have it on my MDS so I have modified both the colour and size to fit this card.

Hope you enjoy!

Nancy

I like to hear what you think, so don't forget to leave a comment.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Techostamper Monday Lunchtime Sketch Go Confidently...

Well I am back from a great 7 week vacation in Florida and ready to take on some new challenges.

I saw this challenge over at Technostamper for their Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge and thought I would give it a try

I used my MDS to print out the cardstock for this card. That is one of the great advantages of using MDS.  Once I had the paper printed out I distressed the edges with my Tim Holtz distressing tool and stamped the remaining images.  After it was all layered I added the string for a little something extra.

Hope you enjoy!

Nancy

I like to know what you think so please leave me a comment.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

TST #58

The sketches over at Try Stampin on Tuesday are getting very interesting.

I needed a simple card, if you could call this simple, and I wanted light springy colours, so this was what I came up with.  I know I want spring but yet I used an oak leaf from French Foliage which most would think would be a fall stamp set.


Just by changing the colour of the leaves it changes the character of the stamp.

I originally made this card using 4 1/4" x 11" cardstock, which is shown in landscape form.  Then when I looked at the card I thought, hmmm, switch the bow and you have a completely different look.  Either way I was pleased with my Fall/Spring card. So which way do you prefer the card..landscape? or portrait?

Once again when I saw this one I thought that it was a little different from what we normally have.  A little more intricate...just a little!  But I know that you can do it so come on give it a try.

Hope you enjoy!

Nancy

I love to hear what you think, so don't forget to leave a comment.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Masculine Monday 19/3/2012

 This card was actually inspired by one that I had seen on line by Mary Brown.  I decided to take it and make a masculine twist to it.

The colours are grey with white and the cogs and gears have been punched from the grey and brushed with black.  So Please Do Not adjust the colour settings on your computer.

Once I got it finished I think it would have looked better without the four squares, but I had already glued them on so no going back.



The cogs and gears were built up using dimensionals, then the sentiment on the inside was framed with the largest of the gears from the Tim Holtz die.

Hope you enjoy!

Nancy

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

TST #57

When I saw this weeks Try Stampin on Tuesday sketch I knew right away I would be using Lovely as a Tree.

It could be used as a masculine card, but I needed a Thank You for friends who had us over for a sprimp boil while we were in Florida.  I thought it would be just the thing with me being from up north and them from Florida.  No palm trees up north.

I stamped the tree by first loading up the stamp with Daffodil Delight ink and then lightly brushed over the yellow with the Old Olive.  By using the Daffodil Delight first you don't dirty up the pad with the Old Olive.  Always start with your lightest colour when loading up a stamp.

Once I had the card completed I thought it needed just a little bit more so I spritzed it using Chocolate Chip.

Your turn now.  Let's see what you can do!

Hope you enjoy!

Nancy

I love to hear what you think, so please leave me a comment.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Masculine Monday 12/3/2012

Go Confidently...

I have chosen this a a masculine card, but I guess it could be used for a female as well.

It is a rather clean and simple style of card. I was quite pleased with the way the knot turned out for the centre square.

For the inside of the card I used the diamond border punch on each of the three colours and layered them.  This covered the ends of the ribbon, but also gave interest to the inside of the card.

Hope you enjoy!

Nancy

Friday, March 9, 2012

My Friend - CCMC 192 Sketch Challenge












I saw this sketch challenge over at Create with Connie & Mary and thought I would give it a try. 

I have often seen cards were the embossing folder has been masked off with shims so that only a small portion is exposed when it goes through the Big Shot.  So I made a series of round shims and then placed them on the outside of the embossing folder before running it through the machine.  Presto! It worked!

Then I stamped the flower image twice and cut both of them out.  I set the top one just slightly off the bottom one to make the flower look a little fuller.  The stamen is made up of a single small circle that I cut and fringed and then ran it over the stamp pad to colour it the same colour as the stamped image.  Placed a pearl in the center and then pulled the stamen up and ruffled it.

Hope you enjoy!

Nancy

I love to hear from you so let me know what you think.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Butterfly Thank You

My daughter needed a card for her other family (one that she has babysat for years and looks just like the girls in that family).  They were picking her up at the airport after her rainy and chilly week with us during her Spring Break.

The family is very much into nature so I figured butterflies would be a great touch.

The card was cut on a diagonal and then trifolded.  Each of the butterflies were die cut twice.  One shows on the front the other on the back.  Then the spaces in between were filled in with the smaller butterflies from the Beautiful Wings Sizzlet.

Hope you enjoy!

Nancy

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

New Look...what do you think?

Recently I heard a radio announcer talk about visual advertizing and what stimulates the brain to encourage people to continue looking at the ad. 

Turns out, according to him that Blue is a very calming colour and will encourage others to pursue the article or ad that they are looking at.  So I have gone with his advice. 

Remember I am new at this blogging thing and when I started I saw so many that I absolutely loved, but just couldn't figure out how they achieved them.  Mine is simple and only goes with what is available through Blogger.com.

Please tell me what you think of my new look?

Love to hear from you.

Nancy

Mojo Monday Challenge 231- Butterfly Wishes


I often see great sketches over at Mojo Monday  Sketch Challenge and this week I thought I would give it a try.

I recently picked up some great patterned paper while on vacation and wanted to use some of it for this challenge.

My half circle was first punched from the Petal Cone die.  This gave the scalloped edge.  Then I used the MS Circle Cutter to cut out two half circles and layered them on the Cone Petal cut out.  The rest of the card was straight forward.  Cutting a rectangle for the greeting and rounding the corners.  Then adding the embellishments.

I was very pleased with the colours once everything was put together.  They were very soft in appearance.

Hope you enjoy!

Nancy


Tuesday, March 6, 2012

TST #56

This week was really a challenge over at Try Stampin on Tuesday .  Yes this one was difficult for me to come up with a card.  I actually was considering not doing it this week.  You ask why?  Because I am not used to making cards that are in this shape.  I see lots of other cards done this way and really like them, but just haven't tried this style.  So with that being said I hope that you enjoy what I have come up with. 

Using a Spellbinder I cut out the largest of the shapes and the small portion that I cut off from the top I adhered under the bottom of the larger portion .  The scalloped edge punch I punched one side then flipped it and punched the opposite side.  "Thanks A Million" was stamped using the Stamp-a-ma-jig to make it fit inside the lace.

The flower is a combination of six layers from the Fun Flowers die.  Three of the second largest and three of the smallest size.  They were adhered together with a brad in the flat state and then I spritzed each layer with water and scrunched each layer, one layer at a time.  Once the flower dried it was as hard as a rock and I will certainly use this method again as it makes the flower really keep its shape.

Even though this card was difficult for me to produce I pushed through it and was happy with my end result. Now get on over and try it for yourself.

Hope you enjoy!

Nancy

Monday, March 5, 2012

Masculine Monday 5/3/2012

Ahoy Mates.  This week on Masculine Monday  The Open Sea is used to create a card that can be used for any masculine occasion.


Starting with a plain cardstock piece measuring 6" x 6", I stamped the cardstock using the anchor and compass to create the background.  Then cut it into three (3)  1 1/8" strips and one strip measuring 1 1/2" for the middle cross piece.  Then the ship was placed over that.


Any sentiment could be used on this card but the emphasis is on the masculinity of it.


Hope you enjoy!


Nancy

Thursday, March 1, 2012

We BELIEVE in you!

My daughter is visiting us for her Spring Break Reading Week from College.  Although she is a Licensed Stylist and Esthetician she has returned to school to pursue Dental Hygiene.  She is now in her second semester and is one of those people that if it she does not achieve 90% or better is very hard on herself.  She is doing quite well but needs a little encouragement right now. 

Some Spring Break!  When you see most kids out playing and partying, her week with us has been spent working on assignments and studying for exams when she returns.  So I have put together this card for her to take back home with her so that whenever she looks at it she can remember that we love her and Believe in her.  Plus I'm sure that she will learn to believe in herself! 

I started with my MDS and printed out the Believe and the sentiment and then once that was printed out I added in the remainder of the embellishments.

We love you Ash!

Hope you enjoy!

Nancy (MOM)