Happy Friday!

Hello!

As promised, here is a picture of a Christmas card. This one was created for my piano teacher. She loves the colour red, so I used that as the main colour of the card. The ribbon ties on the right side of the card to keep it closed, and it is a gate opening card. You can't really tell from this picture but I sprayed the red cardstock with Pearl Ex powder (remember that stuff?) in some cheap hairspray. It gave the paper a nice golden sparkle. You know me-I'm all about the sparkle! LOL

Anyway, I should go-gotta go to school!

Have a great weekend!

Donna

More Mini Album

Hello!

Well, I am happy to say that I survived exam week! Woo hoo! I think I actually did alright on my exams, but I won't know for sure for three weeks! I don't know how I am going to be able to wait that long...

This past weekend, since I didn't have any homework, I thought I would get a whole lot accomplished for Christmas. Yeah, not so much! I spent Friday lugging a very heavy tree up the stairs (in two parts and it still felt like I was lugging an elephant up the stairs!). Once I got it upstairs, I looked for the stand...and looked, and looked. I finally gave up and started pulling out other Christmas decorations to set up...and I eventually found it in the storage room behind some Christmas totes. So then I set up the stand, and now the two elephants I lugged up the stairs, and I now have to stand them upright and connect them...more struggling! I finally got it put together, and thought I'd plug it in and use the remote to turn on the lights...then I couldn't find the remote! Longer story short-the only thing I accomplished this weekend was the tree! Geesh.

Today I am posting two more pages of the mini album. I have some Christmas card pictures to post, and I should be able to put them up this week, so stay tuned!

These two pages mark the start of my own creativity-I no longer had instructions to work from, so I had to think these up all by myself. Hope you like them!

Have a great day!

Donna

Mini Album Part Two

Hello!

As promised, here are some more pictures of the mini album that I worked on this summer. This album was a part of a kit I bought from SU a couple of years ago. They were selling these kits to raise money for Big Brothers and Big Sisters. They had instructions on how to put together the cover and these pages, but the rest I had to design myself. The kit itself came with a number of die-cut adhesives as well as designer paper and matching textured paper. My goal was to complete the album, and use up as much of everything as I could, to see if there was enough fixin's for an entire album.

Guess what? It worked! I finished the entire album with what they had in the kit. I don't think there was too much left over. So I am posting these four pages today. The next post starts the pages I designed myself. Some are simple, some are a little more involved.

Hope you like it! See you soon!

Donna

Christmas Shopping

Hello!

This past weekend my hubby, girls, and in-laws travelled to Birch Run-Frankenmuth for our annual shopping trip. Usually I manage to get a fair bit of Christmas shopping done on this trip. Last year, as we were driving home, I realized, in a panic, that I hadn't bought a single gift for Christmas, and I would have to do all of my shopping at home! This year, however, I was a woman on a mission-I had to cross more names off the Christmas shopping list than last year! LOL Anyway, I accomplished my mission at the Cracker Barrel where we had lunch on our way to Frankenmuth.

Then we went on to Bronner's Christmas World that night-have you ever been there? It is awesome! If you like Christmas, you'll love Bronner's! It has everything. It's a great way to kick off the Christmas shopping-just walking around the store puts you in the mood for Christmas.

On Saturday we went to the outlet mall at Birch Run, only to realize it was Deer Widow's Weekend. We made the mistake of going to Birch Run on Deer Widow's Weekend about 5 years ago. Oh my gosh...there are women everywhere! You see, the weekend is the same weekend as the start of deer hunting weekend, so all kinds of women are shopping in droves, and it is busy! It usually takes about 7-10 minutes to get to a parking space from our hotel, and this year it took at least a 1/2 hour!

However, being on a mission, I managed to cross off even more names from my list. This weekend was a success! I'm not done, but I have a good start. I'm good with that!

Ok, so speaking of Christmas gifts...

I made this mini album, thinking at some point it might come in handy to give someone as a gift. I didn't finish it for a couple of years, but pulled it out this summer when I was visiting my friend Kim. I am posting it in the hopes it can work as a jump-off point for anyone out there who is considering a mini-album, and who may be like me, and has a hard time trying to figure out page layouts.

Hope you like it!

Donna

Thank You!

Hello and Happy Friday!

Before this September, because I stayed at home, Fridays didn't mean too much out of the ordinary, usually. I just tried to tidy the house so we could have a clean house for the weekend. Now that I'm back in school, Fridays have taken on a whole new meaning, and I am extremely grateful when they come around! It means a little break from school, I get to sleep in, and hopefully I have more time to work on my homework. Hopefully. ;)

So today's card is appropriate not just because I'm thankful for Fridays, but also because I'm thankful to those of you who are hanging in there and still reading my blog, even if I forget to post at the beginning of the week. It means a lot to me that there are those of you who still check in to see what's new with me or my stamping. So with all my heart I say Thank you!

On to the card for today...

To make this card, I dug into (aka dusted off! LOL) some old designer paper, and a technique I hadn't tried in a while! The card (dsp part) started off as a circle, and then I scalloped it by removing the paper guide from the corner rounder (remember that technique?). I carefully tried to line up the scallops, or rounded corners to create a (somewhat) even scallop all around. It's pretty easy, and I like that it's different from my usual quarter-fold card. I made sure to cut the circle to a size that would fit into the usual envelope, just so I wouldn't go crazy trying to find the right-sized envelope in my mountain of unused envelopes. It's best to stay away from there....you know, in case of "avalanche"! LOL

Well that's it for today-have a great weekend! We are going as a family to see Megamind-I'm not sure who's more excited about it, the adults or the girls!

I will be back next week with a mini-scrapbook series!

Bye for now!

Donna

All You Need is....Amour!

Hello!

Just a quick post today before I head upstairs to get ready for school (there's a phrase I never thought I'd be using again!). This week was supposed to be pretty stressful, originally I had 4 things due (2 presentations and 2 tests, all worth huge marks!) but the one presentation was moved to next Tuesday, the other to Monday, which leaves me with two tests. One is on Friday, and the other was yesterday morning-what a great way to start the week! My entire weekend was spent fighting a cold, taking care of my girls (DH was away until Sunday, so I was flying solo for most of it) and trying to study for a test that covered so much material there was no way I could cram it all into my noggin' in a weekend. So yesterday morning I was a little nervous about how I was going to do. I think, in the end, that I did ok. We'll have to wait and see for the mark, but I felt ok coming out of it. Let's hope I do as well (or better!) with Friday's test!

But about the card for today...

This card was a straight case. Of course, I made it so long ago, I can't tell you whose it was. ( If you know, or if it's yours, drop a comment) I liked that this was a different way to use this stamp-most of the time you see it horizontally. I always like to see how people use stamps in a way that most of us don't think to use it (ok, that I don't think to use it! LOL) and this was one of those times. It used some of the new dsp (blueberry crisp? or am I just hungry?) which I was itching to use, and of course, you throw in a little bling, and I'm all over it! LOL

Ok, now I really have to go, have a great day!

Donna

Because I Care...

Hello!

Here is another one of those cards that I liked so much in one colour that I made it in another colour. Mostly because I started using the new In Colour called Pear Pizzazz, and because I bought the In Colour kit, I only had a few sheets of it in the sampler paper pack. So I made a few of these, then switched over to Pacific Point for a more monochromatic look. The dsp on the Pacific Point card is new as well (and of course I can't remember what it's called!). Oh look! I happen to have a catalogue here-let me see...oh there it is, and it's called Blueberry Crisp-so not what I thought it was called, good thing I didn't guess! LOL

Don't these two colours look great together? I think this new Pear Pizzazz goes with everything!

As you know, I've been in school for about a month now. It hasn't been too bad so far, but the homework/test stress vs housework stress can drive a woman to drink! LOL I've been doing ok, but this is only the first term-I've heard that the second term is "tough". And I'm pretty sure it keeps getting harder until the day I finish. August 21st. Yikes. I guess I should just soak up all this "easy" that's happening right now, and enjoy it while it lasts!

Fortunately for me, and a select few, it's that time of year! That's right! Jactopia is right around the corner! Oooh I can hardly wait! In just 13 more sleeps, I'll be headed to Jacqui's house and stampin' to my heart's content, and I am one excited girl! The week leading up to Jactopia is going to be stressful, so it's nice that I have the weekend to look forward to, and to keep me going. I can hardly wait, I seriously miss stamping. I have to get crackin' on my Christmas things, or I won't have any time to get it done. Jactopia is timed perfectly for getting started!

Well, I'm off. I think I hear my girls squabbling downstairs, and I have to get ready for this weekend. It's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, so to all my Canadian friends, Happy Turkey Day!

Donna

Hello and Happy Monday!

Hello! Just a quick post tonight as my eyes are starting to burn-I need some sleep!

This card of one of several that I made using this non-SU paper. I have pictures of cards made with the flip side of it, too. I'll have to post one for you soon. I liked this paper a lot! And who doesn't need a card that 's good for men and women? I know I do!

The candles were made with paper that I believe was about 3/4" thick. Then I ran them through the crimper on an angle. The flames were made from the punch with the bird and the branch. I can't remember the name of it-I'm too tired! LOL I then covered the wing/flame with two-way glue and stuck them into Dazzling Diamonds, one half at a time. I raised the flames on Stampin Dimensionals, as well as the Happy Birthday.

Neat idea for the bird's wing, don't you think? I didn't think this up myself (I'll bet you knew that was coming! LOL). I had told my friend Kim about how I'd seen the wing used as a flame, she came up with the card, and I cased it. And now you can case me-isn't it fun how it works? ;)

Ok, I have to go. I am one pooped little girl. Have a great night, and I'll try to come back soon!

Have a great week!

Donna

Hello Stranger!

First of all, I'd just like to apologize for being out of commission so long-I'm sorry! But I think I have a decent excuse. Are ya ready to hear it? I, being a glutton for punishment, have decided to go back to school. (I know it's crazy, and there are 25 other people in my course who are just as "crazy" as I am-LOL No, seriously, they're all very nice peeps!) I am taking paralegal studies, because I find law interesting. Going into it, I find that although I knew I didn't have the best knowledge of law, in all reality, I had no clue compared to what I'll know by the time I'm finished with the course (knock wood). Wow, there's a lot of stuff! LOL And today I have a presentation and my first quiz, so they will be a good indication as to how my ol' brain is doing, jamming all that information into it! Let's hope I don't crack! LOL

In keeping with my news, I thought it only appropriate to post this card, given the sentiment on it seems to apply to me today. My dream for today is to not only survive another day at school, but to do well in both my presentation as well as my quiz. Wish me luck!

The flowers on this card are pretty simple to make. For the larger flower, I used the new large (or is it extra large?) punch flower. I believe I punched out five of them. Then you (or more specifically, I) have to clear a space on your stamping table, lay them out and spray them with water. You'll want to use a fine mist sprayer (did you know they sell those specifically for stamping?). Once they're damp enough to become pliable, then you crumple them up, smooth them out, punch a hole in the center, put a brad in the hole, and then work them by crumpling and/or un-crumpling (is that a word?) until you get the look you want.

These are a slight variation on the flowers I made for my Matchbox Drawers (see here) but there are more flower layers here, and the center is paper, not corduroy brad. The smaller flowers can be made with a smaller punch (ie scallop circle) or one of the dies that SU offers (I think mine is called flower fusion?). One word of note: if you use designer paper to make your flowers (so pretty!) you don't need to spray with water. See how easy that is?

Well, I'm off to study. (gulp!) I will be back again with another card soon. And hopefully the news that I did ok on my quiz and presentation! Bye for now!

Donna

Happy Friday!

Hello and Happy Friday!
For today's post, I had to dig into the archives, as I haven't found the time yet to take pictures of new stuff. I'll be away next week, and I still haven't had any success post dating an entry, so hopefully I can tap into the internet while I'm away. When I get back, I will be meeting with my stampin girls, so I will definitely have a lot of new things to show you!
Last year at about this time, we had Jenntopia. If you forgt what that is, just click here and here for a little reminder. Jenn had flown in from out west, and we met at her mom's house and took it over for the weekend. We stamped until the wee hours of the morning and had a blast. This year, we'll be at our friend Kim's, and I can hardly wait! So I guess I'd better hurry up and show you the "old" projects before the new ones!
Anyway, this picture is of a box that opens from the top-the part with the ribbon and scalloped edge lifts up- and inside are two compartments for cards. I only have time to show you the outside right now, but I will show you more when I can.
In the meantime, have a great weekend!
Donna

Candy Bouquet

Hi there! I was looking through my picture files yesterday when I came across a couple of projects that I hadn't shown you yet, which is great news for me since I need to take pictures of what I have been creating lately. I'm a bit behind in my photography, but I'll work on it soon, honest!

I first saw the idea for this bouquet on a blog called "Create with Jane" last year. Hers was much bigger and it was gorgeous, I knew at some point I would be trying it. I ended up making it for the secretaries at my girls' school and for my youngest girl's teacher for the end-of-the-year gifts. I used up a lot of scrap paper making these daisies in different bright colours-it was awesome! The pipe cleaners I used for the stems were found at the local dollar store, and I twisted two colours together to make them stronger and more colourful. Of course, me being me, I had to match at least one pipe cleaner colour to one flower colour, and then tried to choose the candy that would match those colours best. No, I don't have issues, why do you ask? LOL

To put them together, I put together the daisies first. The daisies die from Stampin Up creates a hole in the centre of the flowers, so I would put the pipe cleaner through the hole from the back of the flower and then fold over about half an inch of the pipe cleaner, then tape/stick it in place. Then I stuck the kisses to both the pipe cleaner and what was left of the center of the flower. I learned the hard way that if you use the caramel kisses, don't push too hard on it to stick it down, because it'll leak!

The Lindt chocolates and the Werther's, because they had the extra wrap on the ends, were held in place by twisting one end into the pipe cleaner and then putting it through the hole, and then glueing it in place so it wouldn't droop.

The ribbon was the final touch. I just lightly curled it and tossed it over the top of the bouquet, working some of it through the flowers so it wouldn't fall off.

It was pretty simple, but if you want to make this, you have to start in advance. The flowers take a while to put together, you definitely shouldn't wait until the night before!

All in all, it makes a really bright and cheerful gift!

Have a great day!

Donna

A+ Bookworm

This past year, I volunteered at my girls' school with the reading program. I spent Friday mornings reading with 5 students (the same ones every week), and over the course of the year, I got to know them. I was very fortunate to have great kids who were sweet, and I was sad to say goodbye to them at the end of the year. I gave them each a book to read over the summer, and this card to go with it. I loved the idea of giving them a card that said "bookworm" on it, and I explained what it meant, and that they could each consider themselves a bookworm, since each of them had advanced their reading by several levels. It was great to see their faces light up when I explained the bookworm idea to them. Isn't it great that a little card like this could bring so much happiness? Making cards seems so worthwhile when they have a happy ending like that, doesn't it?

Have a great day!

Little Birdie on My Easel

Something wonky is going on with my Blogger. Instead of pictures, all I see is a bunch of computer "talk", and I can't choose my font. I can spell check though, which I don't really use. (watch, now I'll make spelling mistakes everywhere, just because I said that! LOL) Hmmm...I sure hope this is temporary.
Anyhoo, I wanted to post this picture of my little birdie easel card. I used the Friends 24-7 set for the bird and the background. If you look at the band across the bottom of the picture, it looks like a piece of paper that is folded accordian-style. But look closely:



Isn't that neat?! It's actually little mini tiles, that I painstakingly sorted out by colour and then put one grey, one black, etc until I reached the other side. Neat effect, eh?
I love the colour combo for this card. I think black looks great with most colours, and when you use Olive, which is a bit darker, using white as well just makes it pop! I left the bottom empty so I can use the card for whatever occasion I may need it for. I will probably find a sentiment that will fit in an oval punch and then mat it with the scalloped oval and center it on the bottom piece.
Are you watching The Bachelorette? I can hardly wait to see what Frank tells her in Tahiti (or is it Fiji? Somewhere dreamy and warm, anyway) next week. And how disappointed am I in the Canadian guys they had on the show this year? Geesh, talk about bad representation! The first one was a bully with a I'm-a-hot-guy complex, and the second guy was on the show to advance his career. Jeepers, are these the best Canadian men they can find? I could find them better, if they're interested! LOL
Have a great week! I'll be back with some more stuff later this week!
Donna

Happy Birthday Season

When I was young and still living at home with my parents, the birthdays we celebrated were concentrated in the spring and summer. We started with Mother's Day, and then we had almost all the family birthdays (both grandmothers, aunt, cousins, uncles etc) and come September 4th, my sister's birthday marked, for the most part, the end of the birthday celebrations. Now, my sister, cousins and I have children and I have my husband's family to add to our birthday collection. My birthdays start in February and don't end until the end of the year! If I'd have been a stamper as a child, I would have only needed birthday cards for 4 months! But now, I have to make sure that I constantly have plenty of cards all the time! Yikes! There has been more than once, where I've had to dive into my stash to pull out a birthday card on a moment's notice (ok, some of that is mommy brain where I forget to make one in advance!) and been grateful to have a choice of cards from which to choose!

So, when I make a birthday card I like, I will often make more than one and in different colours, just in case family members are comparing! LOL This card, was no exception!

I loved the olive with black, and was fortunate to have some black bling to throw on the flowers:

Here it is in Pretty in Pink and Olive:



The dsp is Cottage Wall, in case you didn't recognize it. The polka dot was definitely not the side I saw first because there were so many pretty, fancy sides in the collection. The Happy Birthday sentiment is from a Sale-a-bration set that I am now kicking myself for not having ordered it when I had the chance! I love the swirly-fancy part, and the simple part that offsets it. It's perfect for a semi-fancy card!
Have a great day!
Donna

Birthday Hugs

Hello! Happy Friday! I thought I would give the lunchbox love notes a break, and show you a regular birthday card today. This one uses the Parisian Breeze dsp, the same dsp I used on one of my lunchbox lovenotes in an earlier post. My friend Tami and I saw this card somewhere and decided to case it. It uses Baja Breeze and Pacific Point paper, which were once In Colours, but as of yesterday, are a part of the regular colour collection! I am pretty happy about it, because as you can see, these two colours look great together! Not bad, considering this card is covered with hearts, that the main colours are blue and brown!
This picture shows the pretty bling at the bottom of the card...the jewels are all the same colour, but it's neat how they each look a different colour in this picture.

This picture is supposed to show you how some of the hearts are popped up for more interest.

The card itself was simple enough to make, but cutting out the hearts was a bit of work, I'm not much of a cutter...unlike some people (Hi Jacqui! yes I mean you! LOL)...

Well, I'm outta here! DH and I are going out to a restaurant to celebrate our anniversary, and then we are going to watch Eclipse! Ooooh, I can hardly wait! Whatever you are doing this weekend, I hope you have fun too! Come back soon!

Donna

Kimmie's Purse

My friend Kim has to be one of the most talented stampers/scrapbookers I know. The best part is that she is always trying something new, which often gives me the nudge I need to try it too. Sometimes, like in the case of this purse, she makes one for me to keep! I don't return the favour as often as I should...but I am truly grateful to have such an inspiration as a dear friend.

Kim made this gorgeous purse from 1 sheet of 12" x 12" dsp. One sheet! Some smart cookie figured out how to fold and glue together one 12"x12" piece of paper to make the cutest little purse. Of course with Kim's flair and style she can turn "cute" into "stunning" and "have-to-try". Isn't this adorable?? If you want more info, click here to head over to Kim's blog to get the deets. And while you're there, you're sure to see other projects to capture your imagination.

I'll be back soon! Have a great day!

Donna

Lunchbox Love notes part three

Hello and Happy Monday!

Here is my third lunchbox love note. I used the same heart from the I {Heart} Hearts set, and then used a second heart from the same set to use as a dotted outline. I stamped it and matted it in Melon Mambo, and used just a bit of Razzleberry Lemonade dsp. Of course, I had to add some sparkle, so I threw down a few gems on the bottom.

Is anyone else out there watching the Bachelorette? I don't know why I like watching it, I guess I'm just a sap at heart. I think because Trista and Ryan made it, so I keep watching, hoping that the latest couple will end up as happy. I believe I saw a blurb that said that Jake and Vienna have broken up...no surprise there. Now Ali is looking for love with the remainder of her bachelors. It's always fun to see who ends up in the final 10 or so, and to try and guess who will make it to the end. It's almost never who I think it will be, and Ali has it narrowed down to some pretty nice guys, so I'm looking forward to seeing who gets to stay and who gets booted next. So far, I think Kirk has some big marks, as does Chris L. Both seem sincere, and have big hearts. Frank is hilarious as he talks about the torture of seeing Ali with other guys. I'm not laughing at his torture, just at the way he describes it as he smiles. Roberto seems like one of those guys who's always gotten what he wants, so maybe he'll end up with Ali? We'll have to see...Craig and Ty both seem like nice guys, but we haven't seen a whole lot of them yet. And then there's Justin, the wrestler from Canada. He looked like a sincere guy, even shedding a few tears when the guys were giving him a hard time. He had me in his corner, but on Monday, it is revealed that one of the guys has a girlfriend, and I think from the footage they showed that it was Justin. Whoever it is, is a stinker. You'd think that after all the negative publicity Wes suffered when it was revealed to Jillian he had a girlfriend back home, and the only reason he was on the show was to forward his music career, that it would serve as a warning to others who wanted to try the same. Apparently not. No matter what happens, Monday's show promises to be juicy!

Ok, enough rambling. I have some work to get to, so I will get to it.

I will try to post again tomorrow, so come back and see what I've got for you! Hint-it's a 3-D project, not a lunchbox love note!

Have a great day!

Donna

Lunchbox Love Notes part deux

Hello!

Don't you just love it when you start on a project, not exactly sure of what you're going to do, and then a little surprise comes your way and it helps you to figure it out and finish it better than you thought it would turn out? That's what happened with this card. You see, I had pulled out Parisian Breeze designer paper, wanting to use it, but I was stumped creatively. Then I happened to catch a glimpse of this heart in the I {Heart} Hearts stamp set. Don't they match nicely? I would have never thought of it on my own, but it fell into place when I needed it.

I love the softness of the Baja Breeze on this card, and I'm glad it's coming back. Blue isn't usually a colour I would use for a heart, but I think this turned out ok in blue. I embossed the heart, then cut it out and matted it onto Baja Breeze. The white square it is matted on is painted with shimmer paint, so in real life, it has some sparkle.

The great thing about this love note is that you could alternatively use it as a gift card for a wedding gift, or bridal shower, or anniversary gift...the soft colour works for any of these occasions.

Well, I still have quite a few lunchbox love notes to show you, so stay tuned!

Donna

Lunchbox Love Notes

Hello and Happy Tuesday!
I hope everyone had a great weekend! I did! My friend Kim came over to stamp on Saturday and stayed overnight too! I wish I could say that I got lots and lots done, but I didn't, partly because I was working on this scrapbook page and it took me forever to get it finished. It was a huge sigh of relief when it was finally done! I'm working on a few more things that I hope to show you soon, but in the meantime, I pulled these cards out of my hat.

A few years ago, I started making 3" x 3" cards for my oldest daughter when she first started school. (I now also make them for the youngest!) I call them lunchbox love notes. I love the idea of giving them a little something in their lunchboxes that lets them know I'm thinking of them, and I love them, and hope they're having a good day. It's like giving them a virtual hug! I just polled the girls and they said they do like receiving them in their lunches. I asked if they liked looking at the outside of the card to see what I did, or reading the inside of the card more. They like both. I gave one to my DH once, and he liked it too, and said it made his whole day!

Making the little cards is also a great way to jumpstart your creativity when you feel a creative block. I like trying different techniques, and often, I will use a stamp set for a little card before graduating to a larger one. These cards were made with leftover butterflies from this card, in case you think they look familiar. The background was stamped with the funky fleur-de-lis stamp from Friends 24-7 onto textured cardstock (Razzleberry and Bermuda Bay). The words came from a Sale-a-bration set that I borrowed. Once I started using this set, I wished I had ordered it... :0(

I also made some other lunchbox love notes that I'll be showing you over the week, so stay tuned!

Have a great day!

Donna

Matchbox Drawers

Hello! I am back with a 3-D project today. I am not sure where I saw this since I first saw this so long ago, but it was one of those things that I knew I would have to try...someday. LOL Of course, mine would have to be made with Rich Razzleberry, as it is my favourite colour....I sure hope you are not sick and tired of Razzleberry...I'll try to use different colours, which will be much easier when the new catalogue comes into effect next month! I can hardly wait to see it!

Okay, so all this project is made of is four matchboxes with covers which are sandwiched between two larger squares of paper. I used the fancy scallop punch on my squares, and Razzleberry Lemonade dsp to decorate the top. I also used the same dsp to create the flowers on the top of the box. The leaves are made from the giant Bird and Branch punch. I used both the branch and the bird's wing to create the two sizes of leaves.

Then I adhered the drawers so that the back of each drawer touched the side of another. This next picture helps to illustrate what I'm saying:


All in all, a very simple project to make. The hardest part is deciding what to put inside the drawers, and who to give it to. What would you put in the drawers?
That's all for now. Enjoy your week, I'll be back!

Button Tree #2

Well hello there! Here, finally, is that picture I promised you! This is the second button tree that I made. Is this how you pictured it when you saw the sneak peek? I have to say, I love the colour of the buttons on this tree. Turquoise is such a gorgeous colour, don't you think?

So last week was the finale for Biggest Loser, and I was so excited! It was great to see everyone return. I was happy to see that the twin brothers, James and John, seemed to be making some progress, but sad that it wasn't more. They were such nice guys, it was such a shame that they left the show so early. I was hoping that they were going to tell the brothers they were coming back, but no such luck. Of course, the one person I wanted to see was Shay, the heaviest-ever woman. She was going to earn $1000 per pound, and then Jared, the Subway guy showed up with a blank cheque (or check, for you Americans ;) ) and told her she had a chance to earn more! And of course, the winners-first was Koli, who won the at-home prize, and then Michael, the heaviest contestant ever, won the grand prize. He was the winner by just a handful of pounds over Ashley. It was a nail-biter to the end! Now to wait for the next season! LOL

Well, I should head to bed, it's getting late. I will be back later this week with another project! Until then, take care!

Donna

Sneak peek

Hello!

Ok, I know I don't usually do sneak peeks, I just show you what I've made, when I've made it. No secrets here! LOL However, the tree project that I wanted to show you didn't photograph well, and I had even taken time to photoshop it, hoping to fix it, and it still looked bad. Not wanting to mislead you into thinking that the project was wonky looking, I decided to ditch the bad picture, and show you this pretty one.

On this second tree, instead of the sparkly buttons, I was lucky enough to mooch some beautiful aqua and sea green buttons from my friend Jacqui (thanks so much, Jacqui!). Then it looked like it needed something else, so to break up the blue/green, I added pink and white jewels. I layered some of them, as you can see in this close-up shot. Overall, it was a nice effect, I thought.

Is anyone else watching "The Biggest Loser"? I have it set to tape so I don't have to worry about trying to remember when it's on. The added bonus is I can fast forward through the commercials (which they always time at suspenseful moments!). Right now it is down to the final four, which means we are two weeks away from the big reveal in the season finale! It's my favourite part of the season because I love to see everyone come back after they've been home for a bit, working hard to look good for the finale. I can hardly wait to see how everyone looks! I root for everyone and hope they all come back looking healthy. Of course, there is always a person or two who you don't recognize because they look so different with the weight off. This season finale will be extra awesome because Shay from last season is supposed to come back. She was the heaviest woman to ever appear on the show. In the beginning, she weighed in at 476 pounds, and left the ranch 172 pounds lighter! She had done well, but still had way to go to reach her goal weight. To keep her motivated (and to help ratings, no doubt!) at last year's finale, they presented her an offer she couldn't refuse: for every pound she lost, she took home $1000!! Every single pound! So naturally, I can hardly wait to see how she's done!

The final four this year are Michael, the heaviest man to ever appear on the show (526 pounds), Koli, who with his cousin Sam, ruled the challenges, Ashley, who is known as the girl who fell off the treadmill the first day only to come back from it only to be the last woman standing, and Darius, the quiet, sweet guy that everyone underestimated. They are all worthy of the final prize, so I am chomping at the bit to see how it goes for them. The four of them are all very competitive, so it will be a tough prize to win. Who do you think will win?

Well, I have to go, busy day ahead of me-my nephew is having his First Communion today! I know he is looking forward to today, as are we! Have a great weekend, and I'll see you Monday!

Donna

Happy Monday!

Hello! I hope that all of you mothers out there had a great Mother's Day yesterday, and that you were spoiled by your kids! I know I was-I didn't have to cook or clean yesterday which was really nice (ok, I'll be honest-it was AWESOME!), and my girls gave me beautiful handmade gifts and cards-what more could a mother ask for? Besides a maid, chef and chauffeur, I mean? ;) It was great to spend the day with our families, it just seems like we don't get together often enough anymore, so it's always nice to have a happy excuse like Mother's Day!

Ok, so on to some stampin' stuff! Today I am showing you yet another project I completed while I attended Victopia this year. My friend Kim and I saw something similar to this when we visited a stamping store in Toronto, and we knew that by the end of Victopia, we were going to have to make one of these! Isn't this a cute idea? The original was created with buttons for the leaves. I don't know about you, but I have a whole bunch of buttons that I have hoarded so they aren't "accidentally" used on clothing instead of cards. LOL What I don't have are a lot of buttons in similar colours, at least not enough for a whole tree. However, I did happen to have these little guys hiding deep, deep, in the bottom of my odds and ends carry-all. I had bought them last year, with the intention of using them on Christmas trees for Christmas cards. Well, Christmas came and went, and guess what? I hadn't even thought to use them, so I thought that this project would be the perfect opportunity to finally pull them out of hiding. Here's what they look like up close:

Aren't they cute? I like the way it turned out, probably because I am dazzled by the sparkles in these little things, more than because I like the colour of them (it's all about the sparkle, baby! LOL). I made a second tree with differently coloured buttons, which I will post later this week, so you can see what I mean about the colour. The sentiment I used I had borrowed from my friend Vicki so unfortunately, it isn't SU. Too bad, I really like this sentiment. And I really like the way this turned out! It was a good thing I had made two, because when I returned home and my girls saw them, they immediately asked me if they could have one in their room! We'll see if mommy feels generous.... ;)

The sun on this one is a ginormous golden button-can you believe it? I can't even begin to picture what that puppy was attached to! LOL Kim had it in her collection, but I don't remember her ever wearing something that would work with this big ol' button...maybe if I ask her nicely, she'll show me what it was on...LOL

Well, I guess I should stop chatting your ears off (or your eyes?) and get to work catching up on the laundry I didn't do yesterday. Have a great day, and I'll be back soon!

Donna

Beautiful Wings

In a recent edition of PaperCrafts magazine, I saw a beautiful card made with a flurry of butterflies. They looked as though they were about to fly off the card, it was so gorgeous! Of course, once I had the Beautiful Wings embosslit in my hot little hands, I knew I had to give it a go. This is my take on the card.

I started off with white butterflies, but soon realized it would be too plain, so I tried to "fancy up" my butterflies. In the winter mini, SU had three kinds of sparkly paints. This one I believe was the Champagne Mist. It gives it a bit of sparkle, and a slight tint. See what I mean?

Here you can see the brush strokes, but the overall effect is very pretty. When I attached the butterflies to the card, I wanted it to look like the butterflies could fly off the paper at a moment's notice, so I attached just the centre of the butterflies (the body part) and folded the wings upward. This is what it looks like from the side:

This is definitely a card that is better to give in person than to have squished in the mail! LOL

I am still considering some kind of sentiment, but haven't decided on anything yet. Then again, maybe this card is meant to be without words...what do you think?

Come back next week for more of my Victopia-made projects!

Have a great weekend!

Donna

My Sunday Morning...

This morning I was in Victoria Park with the girls and my mother-in-law, cheering on my hubby as he ran in his first 1/2 marathon! John did very well, and although he was pretty tired when he was finished, he did say that next to marriage and having children, this was the best thing he'd ever done! LOL (So sweet!)

As you can see, we are all very proud of him! (Aren't they cute!)

I wish I could say that I haven't blogged because I was busy doing something important like training for my first half marathon, but that just is not the case...the only excuse I have is that I was a bad blogger, and have been spending this week trying to catch up on laundry, etc. Today, since we were up early to head out (well, early for us on a Sunday, anyway), we are just relaxing right now, so I've been going through and photoshopping pictures to put on the blog this week. This is the first one:

Here is the first of the many projects I completed at Victopia last weekend. I bought a 1/2 inch square charm because I've been curious about the Simply Adorned collection that Stampin Up is carrying. I got this one because I figured smaller is easier. Wrong! LOL I was almost cross-eyed by the time I finished, it was such a tiny medium! The butterfly in here is the smallest from the butterfly embosslit that SU has in their last mini. Of course, there is both Rich Razzleberry and sparkle in this little thing, because that's what I am all about! LOL I used a tiny piece of Cottage Wall dsp, then stamped one of the Spring Silhouettes (? I think that's what it's called. It's four stamps with different flower silhouettes) and used teeny tiny jewels as flowers. If you can't see it, here's your close-up!

Of course, when I finished, I realized that there is a window in the back, so you could stamp on two sides of a piece of paper. I think I'll dig into my mini alphabet set and put my initials on the back and then clip this onto something of mine...you could use it on a keychain, or as a zipper pull, even as a cute tag/mini gift on a present! The possibilities are endless!

That's all for today, I will be back in a couple of days with another project!

Donna

Hello!

I just wanted to let you know that this weekend I was in Kingston for Victopia, a weekend where I get together with my girls at Vicki's house and stamp, laugh and have a blast. I was hoping to let you know before I left, but I just didn't get the chance. I was busy running amok (I think that work should be spelled amuck because that's how you say it! Just a thought...) and I didn't get online before to let everyone know where I would be, and explain why I didn't post anything last week.

Well, let me tell you! I had a verrrrrry productive weekend and I am so excited to share them with you! Unfortunately tonight I am smack-dab in the middle of my life, and I haven't got time to take pictures before the daylight goes. I will take the pictures tomorrow and start posting tomorrow as well. Wait until you see what we did!!!!!

Ok gotta go put my Olivia to bed. See you tomorrow!

Donna

Hello! Today I am posting two cards, simply because I've shown a few Build-a-Bear cards, so not much new there. This is the second card from the Stamp-a-Stack, so again I used the designer paper from the mini.

This next card, the last one from the Stamp-a-Stack, was a little different from most. I based it on a card that we made at Regionals last year. I liked that it was different from the usual half-page card that I make way too often. On this one, only the red piece opens. Although this makes a great card, it doesn't stand very well for display purposes. So it has beauty but no functionality (is that a word?). Oh well, you can't have it all! LOL

I sure wish I had some interesting story to tell you, but I don't! LOL So I guess I will end this here. Have a great week!
Donna

Buckle Up!

Hello! Remember way back in February when I said I was doing a Stamp-a-Stack with my friends Kim, Jacqui and Laurie? Then I said I would show you the cards I had designed? Then I didn't show you? Wasn't that so mean of me? ;)

Well here is the first one! This is a buckle card I had designed. We were using the Valentine's designer paper in the mini. Can you see the sparkle on the big pink flowers in the buckle? That's the embossed part of the dsp. Isn't that great? SU is starting to dabble in textured dsp, so we thought the stamp-a-stack should feature this awesome paper. The stamp-a-stack was a great day, and I got to meet some very nice ladies who were funny and lots of fun! I still have two more cards to show you, so I'll be back soon to do that!

Have a great weekend!

Donna

Happy Wednesday!

I hope your Wednesday is happy-mine is a bit on the soggy side. It is pouring cats and dogs outside right now. It's the kind of day where I'd like to sit on the couch, watching a good movie, snuggling with my hubby and girls, wearing my jammies...and maybe eating some chocolate too...yes, definitely some chocolate! LOL
BUT I can't do that...for one thing, I have piano lessons tonight, so I have to wear something besides jammies...it's so comfy at the piano teacher's house, it's always warm and cozy, and the couches she has are soooo comfy. While my girls each have their half hour lesson, I just sit and wait for my turn (yes, I'm learning too!). The only problem is that I am too comfy, and I become very, very relaxed. Almost sleepy, in fact. By the time it's my turn, I'm a-yawning, and a-blinking, trying to wake up before I have to play. It's hard to listen to your piano teacher while holding back a yawn! LOL Just thinking about it makes me sleepy and yawn-y! Ok, change of topic!
The card posted here is one that I made with my friend Kim. We wanted to try this fancy cut and fold technique. It looks so neat, doesn't it? The fancy technique I mean. The card isn't half-bad either, if I do say so myself. Of course it uses Rich Razzleberry, my fave!
Well, I should try and make some dinner before we head out for lessons. Have a great Wednesday! I'll see you again Friday!

Hello! It has been way too long since I've blogged...I am very sorry for being such a bad blogger...forgive me? I have been busy with a project that I can't show you yet, but I do happen to have a few others to show you in the meantime.

My sister's youngest son loves dinos, and we were talking about invitations to his birthday. I mentioned that I might be able to come up with something that would work. This guy is made completely with punches! His teeth are made from the My Way punch (the one with the three arrows). I used the largest arrow to make his sharp, scary teeth. I did have to go non-SU for the texture of his skin, but everything else is non-contraband! LOL

Well, my sister loved it, so she came over and we worked on them. We didn't get them done, but it was no problem for her to take them home and complete them because the punches make everything so easy! My nephew liked the invites too, but he did point something out to me that only a true dinosaur expert would notice. He told me, "But dinosaurs don't have eyebrows!" LOL

Kids say the darnedest things, don't they?
Have a great Easter! I will be back soon with more projects!
Donna

Egg-stra Egg-stra! Read all about it!

Bad puns aside, I think this little guy is cute! A year or two ago, The SU magazine that they send out to all of their demos featured a picture of a plate/bowl with 6 or so decorated eggs. They had used a larger flower punch, sparkles and different Easter coloured paper to decorate the eggs. I know now why they used a bigger flower! LOL It took a while to assemble this one.

I used the flower trio punch and Razzleberry Lemonade dsp to make my flowers. Then I curled each one against the end of a pen, put a mini glue dot on the bottom and stuck it to the styrofoam egg. Looks cute, no? The big problem came after I took the picture-the flowers started popping off! There was a scattering around my egg, and at first, I couldn't figure out who punched the extras and placed them around the egg, then I realized my egg was molting! LOL

I would have love to have tried this with pins that have the pearl heads, they would have stayed put much better, I think. However, with this method, my fingers were kept hole-free, which is just how I like 'em! LOL

This Sunday I am getting together with my girls (Jacqui, Kim and Laurie) for a card Stamp-a-stack. I can hardly wait! It is going to be a blast! So on Monday, I will be able to show you the cards I designed for the class.

Until then, have a great weekend!

Donna

Wishing For Spring

About this time of year, I start wishing for spring to hurry up and get here already. As I type this, there are big, fluffy flakes falling outside, and I can no longer see grass, my driveway, nor much of anything, because there is so much snow. Blech! It's hard to believe that just yesterday the sun was shining, squirrels were out, and the girls, my hubby and I were skiing and sweating from the heat! I wasn't even wearing mitts or a hat because it was so hot! And then I woke up today, and it's like yesterday's hint of spring was all a dream....dang!

So as an invitation to spring, birds singing, and the end of another way-too-long Canadian winter, I made this card. This flower pot card doesn't open. Instead, you pull on the flowers, which are attached to what looks like a wide bookmark, which is where you would sign and put your hugs and kisses to Mother Nature, in the hopes that she would be sweet enough to end winter just a tad earlier than she'd originally planned. LOL I love making cards that are not your typical quarter-fold card, so this one is right up my alley. Plus, I was able to use not one, but two of my Big Shot dies (the daisies and the leaves) for this card, plus an embossing folder (ok, not SU, but relevant to the spring theme). The Big Shot can make life (ok, not all of life, just the card-making, and 3-D project-making part of life, which is pretty important, no? ;) ) so much easier, don't you think? Yeah, me too!

I have another 3-D project to show you on Friday, so I hope to see you then! Have a great week!

Donna

Fantastic Friday!

Hello and Happy Friday!

As promised, I am here, showing off my latest 3-D project. As I mentioned, I cannot take complete credit for this little beauty. The original idea came from an e-mail I received from Andrea Walford, in which there was a link to the instructions to make this box. Hers was a Christmas box, and the top incorporated a Christmas card. Mine was adjusted to use non-Christmas stuff, so it would be more applicable to spring. And of course, I had to incorporate my new fave colour, Rich Razzleberry. Plus I had a lot of extra Cottage Wall dsp, so it was very convenient to use the Razzleberry for this project.

I love using transparencies to create butterflies, but on their own they're hard to see. So I used white Staz-On to sponge around the edges, and then some swirly parts from Baroque Motifs to decorate the wings. It reminds me of the new SU embosslits that cuts and embosses 5 (?) butterflies of different sizes at once. The biggest one has a bit of a swirl at the bottom.

Not wanting to over-think things and take too long to put this together, I made the cards inside the box identical to the top of the box. Original, no? LOL Well, at least this way, you'll know exactly what's inside.

I just changed the sentiments on the cards, since the cards are versatile for a variety of occasions. (As you can see above)

This is a peek at the drawer that is inside the box. I think this is so neat, to make a box that contains a drawer!



And this picture proves that I made it so you could close the drawer. Thank goodness for great instructions! LOL
So there you have it! What do you think? Drop me a comment, I'd love to hear from you!
Have a great weekend!
Donna