Warm wishes

Here we are the last day of August already! Where did the summer go? With less than 4 months till Christmas I thought I better get at it, as I only a few done. 

My card today features everything from The Greetery - dies and sentiments.

The pine one die cuts several pieces and they all interlock together. Very cleaver idea! Pine ones were cut from Kraft c/s, and the pine boughs and leaves were cut from white c/s and the everything was sponged used distress oxide inks.

The bow is cut from gold mirror c/s .I sponged some evergreen bough distress ink every so lightly on the white layer for a bit of colour before I adhered the pine cone and boughs down.

I then added some chunky glitter for sparkle as well as some tiny gold balls.

Paper is from Studio Light, and I used Kraft c/s for the base.

Dies I used from the Greetery are: Nordic Frames, Inside & out berry branch & Bontanicuts Pine Bough dies.

I appreciate you visit today.  Have a great day!

Pauline

Dear Friend

Well here we are at the end of another week! It's hard to believe next week is September. It's a raining day here to day, been raining most of the night. 

For my card today I'm using a stamp from  Penny Black  - At Grace.

I started by putting my stamp in my Misti, adding distress oxide inks directly to the rubber using a finger dauber, this way you get into those time spots.  I stamped it and didn't like it, so I inked it up again, and this time I stamped it off lightly onto a piece of copy paper, then added a new piece of white c/s back into my Misti and stamped, and it was perfect.  the first time it was too dark, but second impression just perfect.  I then added details but using fabre castell polychromos pencils. Love it!

I stamped the Dear Friend using black versafine.  This is from Ink to Paper (Papertrey Ink) Framing Floral set.  Love the big font and the two different scrips.

Trimmed the image to be a bit narrower, then  added a thin layer of black cardstock down the right and thin added some designer paper along the edge.  

Finished up with some twine and some pearls from Studio Katia . I added a bit of glitter to the flowers as well.

Well that's it for me folks.  Thank you for stopping by today, and have yourself a fantastic weekend! Hugs to all,

Pauline

HO HO HO

Hi everyone!  I figured I better start on my Christmas cards, as last year I left it too late, and well you know how that goes, burning the midnight oil trying to get them done.  When I saw that Lily of the Valley had 60% off sale last week, I hopped over the their Etsy store and grabbed a couple of images.

This was one of them. HO HO HO! So simple and I love it.  

I used copics for colouring and no shading, just plain ole colouring, quick and simple.  I cut the image out with a MFT stitched rectangle die, then layered a piece of  black c/s behind 2 of the corners.  I also used Memory Box  Snowflake Breeze die, cut from white c/s, and layered behind the image.  The red layer is cut from The Greetery Postal Frame die.  

For finishing touches, I added lots of glitter.

A sweet Christmas card which I will make several of.

I appreciate you stopping by today.  Keep well....hugs,

Pauline

Bontanical Notes

 I'm back today to share a card I did a few weeks ago.  I'm using Penny Black's Bontancial Notes. I've had this stamp for a while I think it's 3-4 yrs old, maybe older. I found this already stamped off in my basket waiting to be coloured.

I used copic markers to colour, then cut it out using Spellbinders Square die. I then sponged some distress ink around the edges.  I looks really green in the photo but in real it's not that vibrant.  Layered this onto some star dream yellow/gold paper (love the shimmer of this star dream c/s).  I then layered it onto some dark purple star dream c/s, then on to my card base.

For finishing touches I added some shimmer to the butterfly using my Nuvo clear glitter pen, and then I added some Prills to the center of the flower.

That's it for me for today.  Thanks for stopping, have a wonderful day!

Pauline

Sunflower Daisy day!

Can you believe it is  Friday already, boy does time fly! Good thing for me as I'm off for a nice 4 day weekend.

Today's card is using Altenew Sunflower Daisy stamp set and matching die. This is one of those multiple step stamping sets which I love.

I started by stenciling a background using Simon Says Stamps Square Dance stencil and Frayed Leaf Altenew ink.. I used MFT stitched rounded corner rectangle die to cut this out. I splattered the background by using my SU platter tool along with a Tombow marker.  Sentiment is from PTI and  was stamped using black versafine.

All the stamping of flowers and leaves were done using a variety of Altenew Inks, then everything was die cut.

I added a couple of strips of washi tape in behind my top layer, popped the top layer up with some craft foam, added the flowers and leafs,  some dollar store glittery rhinestones, and some Art Institute glitter for the centers of the daisy's. 

I appreciate you stopping by today, have yourself a wonderful weekend.  Hugs,

Pauline

Brilliant Butterfly

Hello! I'm finally back, last week has been  busy but I did manage to work on some cards. I finally got around to taking pictures of them yesterday.

My card today is one of my favourites.  I'm using MFT Dandelion Greenery and Brilliant Butterlies, I'm in love with both sets.  Love the whimsical feeling to the butterflies, and there are a variety of shapes and sizes, and for the greenery, I"m just a sucker for such things, so basically anything nature related I love.

I started off by stamping the greenery using PTI  spring moss, simply chartreuse and a bit of hawaiian shores, then stamped a few times and filled in where needed.  I used the tiny floral stamp and stamped using first and second generation stamping here and there.

For the butterfly, I used my distress inks - I actually only used the ink that was on the daubers, so not quite sure of the exact colours, but if guessing I would think worn lipstick pick raspberry and mustard seed.  I then over stamped it with the black wing overlay. So pretty isn't it? Can you see that bit of script in the background?.  I used a Magenta Company script stamped, add some spring moss very lightly to the stamp then took a rag and removed some of the ink in places then stamped very lightly, I just wanted a very loosely stamped script for a bit of interest.

The sentiment I from Simon Says Stamps - Tiny words, stamped in black versafine (using my misti). To finish off I added some tiny bubblegum pearls and iridescent butterflies, both from Studio Katia. Also added some clear glitter using my Nuvo clear glitter pen to the coloured portion of the butterfly.

MFT stitched rectangle to cut out the image, and background paper is from Memory Box.

So glad you stopped by today.  I"m off today as this is Canada's Civic Holiday, I"m hoping to get a bit more stamping done.

Have yourself a fabulous day! 💗

Pauline

Hello

A few weeks ago we took a drive to London (ON) and I stopped at my favourite stamp store - Stamp Art. If you live in the area and looking for a great stamp store, this is it.  Nancy carries a wide variety of many companies and will be glad to order something for you if you don't see it in her store.  I literally could spend a couple of hours in her store, just so much to see and she is always very helpful at showing you 'what's new'.

So with the 'what's new', one of the many things  I came home with was this beautiful die from Studio Light. I went through some of my backgrounds I made and came across this vibrant one. 

I think I used distress oxide sprays onto some watercolour paper.  I cut it using an MFT scallop die, cut out the floral from white c/s twice and glued together.  I also cut a 'hello' from black c/s twice and layered.  The hello die is from creative expressions.

To finish off I added some sequins and pearls and used my Nuvo clear glitter pen for sparkle on the flowers.

I love that dies make the card making process much quicker.  What did we ever do before dies were available??

Thanks for stopping in today.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Pauline

From the archives

Hello everyone, hope you had an enjoyable weekend!  Yesterday we got some much need rain (thunder showers) to give some relief from this terrible heat wave we've been having. It will still be in the mid 90's for most of this coming week, and then back up to about 110 on Saturday!

After reading Leslie Miller's post a few weeks back about UFO (unfinished objects), I decided to take a look in my basket to see what I had and if there was anything I could salvage.  Low and behold I came across this embossed Thistle.  You will never guess how long I have had this? Are you ready? I'm going to say at least 10 yrs! Back in 2009 or 2010 our local stamp store had Fred B Mullet come teach us a class.  We did fish, leaves, flowers just to name a few.  Looks like I had embossed this with a couple of different embossing powders but that was as far as I got with it.

So pulled out some papers and put it all together.

I dusted the edges around the thistles with some antique linen just to soften the white down somewhat.The card base and the frame around the thistles is a deep purple/gold metallic cardstock. It is a very rich colour.  Designer paper is from Memory Box. 

To finish I added some coloured pearls.

I appreciate you stopping by today.  Have a wonderful day!

Pauline

Watercoloured Hydrangea

Don't you find this summer is flying by, I mean here we are already in the middle of July! Maybe it's  because I'm super busy with a new job I started at work end of June.  Lots of long days, so much to learn, but I love it. Change is always good! Still working from home which I really don't mind, I just miss seeing everyone, although we can still chat through Skype and Microsoft Team - technology is a wonderful thing!

Any way, lets get on with my card.  I had this coloured almost a month now, so thought  I best share it with you.

This is a Paint-a-flower from Altenew, it's a monthly club stamp set.  Price is great and you can opt out of a month if it something you really don't want which is always nice.

To start I white embossed the hydrangea onto  some Canson 140lb water colour paper.  I then pulled out my Altenew Brush Markers - spring garden set and watercoloured away. I covered the hydrangea once done and splattered some blue and purple inks.

I kind of visioned another layout but in the end this is what I ended up with!  I used some Papertrey Ink paper for the bottom part, added some silk ribbon  and some tiny colour pearls to finish this off.  Also added Nuvo clear glitter pen to the hydrangea for some shimmer.

Thanks for stopping by, have a fabulous day!

Pauline

Sunrise

Well it's going to be another scorcher of a day.  It's been hot and dry here you would think we were living in the desert! This past week temperatures felt like 40C (104F), with no end over the next couple of weeks, other than Monday it's suppose to drop down to 32C (90) but that's it. 

June was a busy month for the need of masculine birthday cards.  Today I have one to share with you.

I'm using a stamp from Magenta.  There is no name on the package, sorry.  I stamped this onto some water colour canson 140lb  paper using black ink.  I then sponged on some distress oxide inks.

Trimmed the image down slightly to fit behind my black frame cut from MFT stitched square frames.  The blades of grass are from Impression Obsession, cut from green c/s, then sponged a bit of green ink.

Paper is from MME - dilly dally.   Added a sentiment and a couple of enamel dots.

An after thought, I think next time I would use white c/s rather than water colour.  It was hard to get a really good impression of the crane as the paper has a bit of texture to it.

Well that's it for me today.  Have a wonderful weekend.  Keep well, stay cool!

Hugs,
Pauline

Colourful pinwheels

Hello everyone and Happy Monday! Hope you had a good weekend.  It has been so hot here in SW Ontario, ( as a matter of fact for most of Ontario)  and looks like it will continue into next week.  As much as I love to be outdoors, the heat is just unbearable with the humidex making it feel over 100F.  So what better place to be but in my craft room!

For my card today, I'm using stamps, stencils and dies from The Greetery, The Pinwheel Party Stencils, Pinwheels Party Die, and Birthday Blooms stamps set.

I started with the stencils.  There are 4 stencils to this set, Set A - has 2 stencils and Set B has two stencils along with three individual single stencils varying in size from large, med, and small.

I used distress oxide inks, and I didn't keep track, just too many inks and I just played and had fun.  I created a couple of backgrounds and then I die cut several of each size and used the stencils to colour.  I have lots of extras for future cards.

Once I created my pinwheels using both Set A & B stencils, Betsy has also created a stencil to cover your pinwheels so you can add some ink blending below the stenciled pinwheels - you can see where I added the blue ink. 

I die cut the background shadow fro white c/s  for the "YOU", and then I stamped the "YOU using black versafine ink.  I lined up very carefully the 'let's celebrate' and also stamped with black versafine. 

I cut the streamers and ink blended using oxide inks. I also stamped some little stars here and there using oxide fossilized amber.

I then put all the layers together, popping up two of the single pinwheels for dimension. 

Then the fun part, I added bling and lots of it, I mean how could you not, it's a celebration! I also added some wink of stella for some shimmer.

This was a lot of fun making this.  Just love those pinwheels.  I can't wait to try a Christmas card using some holiday colours!

I am also entering this into the Inspired by Challenge

So glad you stopped by today.  Have a wonderful day!

Pauline

Birding #3, 2020

I have a couple of cards completed, but I have not gotten around to take pictures of them yet, so decided to share some more of my birding photography with you.

These are all taken in the month of May during spring migration.

The first 5,  were taken in my backyard.

 The Cape May hung around in the yard for about 15 minutes, I just happened to look out the window and saw something fluttering, grabbed my camera and out I went.  I've never seen one in our backyard before, then again unusual times and working from home.

 The Carolina Wren pops in every now and again, hear him calling early in the morning.

The Brown Thrasher - every year we see one in our yard  in the tree tops, calling, but then takes off and never see him again. This year he was in our yard for just over 2 weeks, along with another one.  I'm pretty sure it was another male as this guy did not like the other being around in his territory! Have you ever heard one call before? If not you should go to All About Birds website and have a listen.

Another unusual sighting in our yard this year was a Veery.  These guys are very skittish, and likes to hide underneath the cedars, but would pop out with ease to check things out.  I saw him from my craft window just after dinner one evening and then he ran underneath the trees.  So out I went sat on the deck and waited for him to show himself and he did! Cute little guy!

And then we have the Baltimore Oriole.  Last week of April we get the sugar water made and out in the feeder waiting for them to come.  This spring we had 3 pairs, but they are now nesting, so will probably see them again towards the end of July. Such a beautiful bird the male is.

Out and about birding up north near Tobermory, ON - 4 hr drive each way, a long day but worth what we saw.  I have many more pictures to share from up there, just haven't had time to work on them.  Here are a few of what we saw.

I hope you enjoyed these as much as I love taking the.  I have a few thousand pictures to go through, just haven't had much time with working, house and yard duties and trying to fit in a card now and then. 

I appreciate your stopping by.  Keep well my friends!

Pauline

May you find Peace

I have a couple more Sympathy cards that I made last month for the card order I completed.  I know you're probably tired of seeing these types of cards, but I promise this is the last of them.

The first one is using The Greetery  Fresh Floral stamp and stencils.  The main part of the stamp consists of all the greenery, (plus individual flowers and greenery) which I placed in my misty to make sure I got a good imprint.  All the flowers are stamped individually.   I then used a couple of the dies from  Creative Expression die - Portuguese Collection - Lisbon. I stamped the sentiment onto some which c/s then layered this together. 

To finish this off I added some pink seam binding ribbon, small flower from Wild Orchid crafts and some greenery from the Memory Box Leafy Sprig die.

For my second card, I sponged some  inks onto some white 100 lb card stock using distress oxide worn lipstick and scattered  straw. I made sure the inks were good a dry before stamping the floral image with versamark and heat setting with gold embossing powder.  The floral set is from WPlus9 - Kind Soul stamps.

I used Creative Expressions Greek Island Collection - Santorini for the sentiment piece.  Sentiment is from Papertrey Ink - Willow, embossed in gold.

A few pearls were added around the edge of the sentiment to finish off.

I'm so glad you were able to stop by today.  Have a great day!

Pauline

Bontanical beauty

Hello and Happy Monday! 

Today I have a couple of cards to share with you, both of them the same, just changed up the colours and sentiment.

I'm using The Stamp Market Botanical Beauty leaf die,

I cut this one from TH metallic papers -and for the strips of paper, I just selected green/blue tones from my scrap bin..  I cut the strips approx 1/4" then glued them to the front layer.  Used my corner rounder for the top edges, then added some fun foam behind for dimension. Sentiment stamped in green ink.

For my second card, basically the same as the first just changed up the colours and used TH metallic papers in copper.  Happy birthday is from SSS.

A couple of CAS cards for my stash, one can never have too many!

Thank you for visiting today, have a great day!

Pauline

50th Wedding Anniversary

Hello! Just popping in for a really quick post today.  I was asked by a friend to make a 50th Wedding Anniversary card.  Of course I jumped at the chance, as I love making these types of cards.

There isn't a lot of explaining on this, so I'll just leave you with the details below of what I used.

Paper - Basic Grey, Penny Black, cougar white
Dies - Sue Wilson Creative Expressions - Scandinavian Collection - Stockholm, Quick Kutz for the '50'
Misc - lots of flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts, bling, pearls, Nuvo shimmer pen

I'm glad you stopped by today, have a happy day!

Pauline