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