#101!

Happy Monday all. Hope you had a fabulous weekend! I sure had a lovely but busy one. As per my last post I attended my 100^th birth as a doula and then just hours later baby #101 wanted to come into the world. She was SOOOOOO eager to get here that the doula made it to the hospital but she did not. She was born in the safety of her parent’s bedroom with the kind assistance of paramedics. Both mom and baby were just fine and arrived shortly after to be all checked out. And add to that a super fun family bbq, a birthday party and my stampers club! What a weekend J

Yesterday we attended Ethan’s best friend Charlie’s 3^rd birthday party. It was a blast. Loads of kids and they all had a great time. I wanted to make a special card for Charlie so here it is!

I combined the Try Stampin’ on a Tuesday sketch with The Colour Throwdown swatch.

My Challenge(s):

My Card:

This is the first time I have used the zig zag border from this big shot die and I love it!!!

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#100!!!

Good Afternoon J I meant to make this blog post yesterday but was a wee bit too tired at the end of the day so here it is! And kind of appropriate that I waited until today to post this birthday card because today (or tomorrow) I will be attending my 100^th birth as a doula!!! A sweet baby girl has decided it is go time and I am just waiting to be called into action J I am so blessed to be able to have the two best jobs in the world, being a mother and a doula J

For this card I used the colour challenge from ColourQ and the sketch from Freshly Made. I am always a little at odds of what to do when I have a mishmash of colours that I cannot really match up with a stamp set and that is when these little ones come in handy! I used the Packed for Birthday stamp for this card and I believe it fits the bill.

My Challenge(s):

My Card:

Every girl likes a little birthday bling!

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Snow Buddies!

Boy oh boy am I happy that I found this blog!!! I am having such a blast with the Merry Monday Challenge J Making Christmas cards in April is soooooooo much fun!!! The pressure is off and the fun creativity can come out to play.

I was SUPER happy that this stamp set will be coming back in the New Stampin’ UP! catalogue being launched on June 1^st. I ended up buying it a little late in the season last year so I am thrilled that I will be able to use it again this Holiday season.

My Challenge:

My Card:

Glitter, glitter who doesn’t love glitter? J

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Just Add Cake!

Yahoo! Our son slept in today 1 ½ hours later than usual and we didn’t wake up to snow. It has been a fabulous start to the day. It is still rainy and cold this morning so that means a movie morning for us. After we had some yummy sweet potato pancakes & banana for breakfast I set him up in my craft room with his movie and a snack and I got to work on my Paper Players Challenge for the week.

We were given a fabulous sketch and I thought it would be a great opportunity to highlight one of my favourite designer series paper with the Herringbone technique. It has been quite a while since I used this technique but it is such a fabulous way to display many sheets of dsp on the same project.

My Challenge:

My Card:

Herringbone Technique Tutorial over at Split Coast Stampers!!!

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/herringbone

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Breaking Out My Girly Side!

So we are back to rain but I am okay with just rain as long a we have seen the end fo the white stuff! I felt our baby move for the first time this afternoon so that has me in a baby card making mood again. We are not going to find out what we are having as we didn’t with our son either. We love a good surprise but I have a small feeling there may be a little sister in there. So that is what inspired this card.

As much as I claim that I am not a girly person, I do have a soft spot for certain cute girly things... I saw another crafter who had used the owl punch to make baby clothes and so I thought I would make little dresses and add some ribbon to give them a little more of a finished look.

My Challenge:

My Card:

I am sad to say this is the very first time I have used these mini clothes pins. I just could not find a use for them in the past but I am hoping they do not make the “retiring list” on April 25^th!!!

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Snow? In April!

After the poor nights sleep I had and waking up to SNOW this morning I really needed something bright and cheery to change my mood so here it is!

With the month of May getting closer we are about to say goodbye to some fabulous products and I am continuing my trend of making the most of them while I can. Here are two more items that will be hitting the chopping block! The Cheerful Treat dsp and Array of Sunshine stamp set. I love this colour combo so the rest was easy.

My Challenge:

My Card:

Pearls, pearls, pearls, with so many sizes the options are endless!!!

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Some Things Have to be Seen to be Believed!

Rainy day here in Ottawa but that’s okay J The sun is shining in my craft room! Or setting as it would appear on this card hehehe

I was so excited when I saw the challenge picture at Paper Lovin’ Gals this week. The colour palate is so me and then when I saw the “ghosting” technique challenge (and sketch!) at The Friday Mashup it was a match made in crafting heaven!!!

Embossing with black powder can be such a mess but I just had to risk it with this card. I did not think that just plain black ink would give the effect that I wanted. When I decided to add in the sponging it helped to hide any little blimps along the way.

My Challenge(s):

My Card:

I had never tried the “ghosting” technique before aka versamark resist technique but I will totally use it again. Love the way it can create a simple yet stunning background piece.

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One of a Kind

TGFI!!! It is looking like it will be a rainy weekend here in O town but this mama is not all that sad J In vast contrast to last weekend we have a very low key weekend planned which I love. So I believe this mama will be spending some serious time in her craft room YAHOOOOOOOO... I have sooo many fun projects on the go I just don’t know where to start lol

For this card I used the sketch from Try Stampin’ on a Tuesday and the colour challenge from ColourQ. I was not sure at first where to go with these colours but then I came up with the perfect plan! Luckily I had a few small scraps of Dusty Durango left (which was lucky!!!) so I was able to use each colour in the challenge.

My Challenge(s):

My Card:

I love the sentiment, just like each of these buttons you all are “one of a kind” J

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Butterflies Bring Happiness

Another beautiful day here in Ottawa folks J A little chilly this morning so we stayed in and crafted. Ethan is really enjoying crating punch art with all of mommy’s “super cool” punches and then with my help he glues them on a sheet of pretty paper for daddy when he gets home. I think Mark is going to have to build a higher display board in his office!!! We are looking forward to some bubble blowing this afternoon after nap.

I used this week’s Mojo Monday sketch and this week’s Colour Throwdown swatch to create this spring inspired card. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sad to be saying goodbye to flight of the butterfly and butterfly prints... Does this mean they are coming out with NEW butterflies or are we also saying goodbye to the butterfly punch??? Guess we will find out on April 25^th if it has made the retired tools list... EEEKKK I can’t look J

My Challenge(s):

My Card:

I was feeling very bright, sparkly, and HAPPY today so there you go!

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A little bit of old with a little bit of NEW!

Good evening all, just a quick post before bed J It was a long but fabulous day! We had a visit with our midwife this afternoon and heard our baby’s heartbeat again. Nice and strong just like we know he or she will be!!!

Here if my Freshly Made card for the week. I decided to mix a little old with new. I have continued to say goodbye to some retiring stamp sets here but mixed in two NEW products we will be able to enjoy for the coming year, Summer Smooch dsp and the Daffodil Delight seam binding ribbon.

My Challenge:

My Card:

Now who else agrees with me, this is a whole lotta colour!!!

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"E T H A N"

Good afternoon everyone, almost middle of the week we are getting there 3 days until the weekend lol Can you tell we live for the weekends around here!

I was SUPER excited about this week’s Paper Lovin’ Gals challenge. It was to make a project inspired by a banner. I have been slowly working away on little projects for our son’s room and this was next on my list so how perfect that I could make it this week and enter it in the challenge.

In keeping with the theme of his nautical room I broke out my retired Nautical Expedition dsp and went to town. The banner spells out “Ethan” in nautical flags. Now little did I know that Canada has a version and the US has a version so sadly found that out a little too late so these are the US letters... BUT the only difference is the orientation the colours are still the same J

My Challenge:

My Project:

One project off of my list of many for our little man!

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Bye, bye Dasher

Mostly sunny and +27 J I know where Ethan and I will be going when he wakes from his nap, outside to blow bubbles and draw with sidewalk chalk!!!

For this week’s Merry Monday challenge I decided to break out one of my absolute favourite Christmas stamps which will sadly be retiring as of May 31^st! I wonder what they are going to bring out to replace Dasher? It is so hard to say goodbye to the stamps you grow to love but thinking about all of the lovely new sets they will be releasing helps to ease the pain lol

My Challenge:

My Card:

3 Holiday cards made for 2012 and counting... J

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A Little Jim Henson Fun!

Happy Monday to you all! Hope it is going to be a great week for each and every one of you out there. It is going to be another busy one for this mama but that means the weekend will come faster, right? J

When I saw this week’s Friday Mashup Challenge I was beyond excited to get started. My family are HUGE muppet fans and so this was right up my alley. SO many fabulously talented crafters out there, I found the design for Kermit and Miss Piggy online but then wanted to add a few more characters to the card so I came up with Fozzie Bear and Animal all by myself! And for my background colour I used Gonzo’s hue. Where would I be without my punches?

My Challenge:

My Card:

Don’t you just LOVE Miss Piggy’s pearls J

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Water Colouring Player

What an absolutely wonderful day! Started out with a sleep in, then a trip to the grocery store with my boys to pick up a few items for our Easter Family dinner this evening, then off to the park for the rest of the morning, then home for lunch, nap for my little man while mommy played Easter Bunny and daddy got supper started, THEN made this card which I am over the moon thrilled with, then our son had his egg hunt and our family came over for supper and that brings me to present time, writing a blog while my husband settles our son for bed J BUSY but fabulous day!

So for this card I used the Retrosketches Sketch and the Watercolour Challenge from The Paper Players. I had honestly forgotten how much I LOVE water colouring! I have a feeling I will be doing much much more of this in the near future. The water colour paper, StazOn ink and aqua writers make it SOOOOOOOOOOOOO easy and fun J

My Challenge(s):

My Card:

The retiring stamp set list was released this morning from Stampin’ UP! and I was SHOCKED at the number of sets we are letting go but that just means that many more BRAND NEW ones to be had in June!!! So for the next couple of months I will be focusing on retiring stamp sets as one final goodbye.

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A Circus of Circles

What does this mama plan to do this weekend (besides spend time with her lovely family!) you might ask??? STAMP her little heart out!!!

I combined the Freshly Made Sketch and The Colour Throwdown colour combo for this card. I did not have Lovely Lilac as it is retired but I did have Wisteria Wonder so gave that a go instead. I believe it worked J

My Challenge(s):

My Card:

I LOVE Circle Circus and I am totally embarrassed to say this is the first time I have taken it out of the box and now I am REALLY crossing my fingers that is does not make TOMORROW’s retiring list because I have sooooo many cool ideas for how I will use it next!!!

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