For the men in our lives

I always find it a challenge to create cards for men. I created these cards for Jen's paper crafting store in Ottawa (the Scrap Box) from a wonderful line of papers they carry, called "A Proper Gentleman," from Graphic 45. They're all so beautifully coordinated that the cards almost make themselves. The papers come in 12 by 12, and in smaller designs in an 8" by 8" pad. Jen carries them all! If these papers "need you," Jen's shop is located at 5510 Canotek Road.

I've been in Ottawa for a month this time, spending delightful time with family and old friends, and it's been SUCH a treat to be able to spend time with other paper crafters (and new friends!), doing what we all love to do. Mostly, I enjoy paper crafting alone, but I've had a BALL with a group of friendly and funny Ottawa women during the past few weeks! (Now if I could only convince some of them to move to Nova Scotia...)

Tomorrow I'm flying out to Victoria (on Canada's west coast, in British Columbia) to spend a couple of weeks with more old friends, then I'll be back home mid-March, with just a little time to wait till I start my next addiction for the season...gardening!

So...on to the cards! I enjoy browsing current challenges for inspiration when I have a slew of cards to do. I could use THIS one for all those times I've put my great big foot in my mouth with my better half! I think I'll make a dozen, just to have on hand.(chuckling...)

I did this card and posted it for a challenge over at TwoPeas yesterday. Daria has posted a very easy tutorial for using scraps to create beautiful cards!

This one's for One Powerful Hour (faces) and the Pick Three challenges. I did a birthday card that could be from a group; outlined the trio of images with Krylon gold leafing ink, and I used green and beige together...two colours I don't often use.

I'm not sure if you can see it, but the card above was done with a transparency as a front flap...you might be able to see the Cuttlebug embossing if you look closely (lol) . The inside is a Nesties label that reads (of course...) "Well darling I'm telling you now!"

This nexr card's for the Cute Card Thursday challenge ...ribbons!

This is a generic card, and could easily be used as a "Get Well" card for someone you love, which is the current Creative Card Crew challenge.

Umm, this second view was taken before I used the buttons...

Thanks for stopping by today!

Challenges again...

This week's Created by Hand challenge is Mardi Gras, as is the Mixed Media Monday challenge. The Wednesday Stamper challenge is Carnival. I had such FUN using this Judikins stamp with oodles and oodles of glitter, and Quietfire has it all!

Glitter Ritz Microfine Royal Blue
Glitter Ritz Microfine Chartreuse
Glitter Ritz Microfine Dark Gold
Glitter Ritz Microfine Red
Duo Embellishing Adhesive
Ink: Versafine Pigment Ink, Black
Tsukineko Embossing Powder, Clear
Rubber Stamp Sentiment : The secret of genius

The

Crazy Amigo challenge is stitching. I really enjoy combining hand stitching and beading with stamping, as I did here:

The Creative Card Crew challenge is "Get Well;" here's my first ever Magnolia card...get well flowers for an under-the-weather friend. Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by!

It's been a LONG time...

Well, it's been way too long since I've done any challenges and posted anything here. I've been away from home for several weeks now, and won't be back in town till March 15th. It's a blast spending time with my grandkidlets during the "Winterlude" activities in Ottawa, and I'm really looking forward to spending a couple of weeks in Victoria with my old friend Lesley, but it's been SO hard being away from papercrafting! (lol) So I found a GREAT scrapbooking shop here in Ottawa (The Scrap Box) where Jenn (the very gracious owner) kindly hosts a free crop on Thursday afternoons for old gals. It's been great to meet some kindred spirits/addicts in papercrafting, and it's been so nice using the 'bug and nesties again (lol). So here are some new things for my blog!

This easel card is for the current Saturday Crafters' challenge, which is to use "multifolds." This stamp is one of my old favourites from Paper Bag Studios. In case you can't see the sentiment, it reads "May you love all the days of your life."

"Our Creative Corner" folks want us to use something old that's new, and Theme Thursday's challenge is to use flowers. Like so MANY crafters, I have hundreds of Prima flowers languishing in my Happy Room, so I decided to try to use them! This card uses a stamp from Quietfire Design.


The challenge over at "Finally Friday" is to create a hybrid card. This is a wedding card I did for French friends, with a photo of painting I have, and some computer generated text.

This card will be a "thank you for your friendship" card for a friend of mine. It uses Graphics 45 paper from the Renaissance collection with a stamp from Inkadinkado and a new Martha Stewart border punch. Kerry, over at The Stamping Bug, has a really nice challenge on her blog, and she's offering some freebie stamps for some lucky winners, so toddle on over and join her challenge!

This week's alphabet challenge is "P is for Pink." Here's a summery Happy Birthday card done with some cute DCWV paper from the "Nana's Kids" line and a Hero Arts stamp.

I'd like to end this post with a very special card. The "Lots to do" challenge is "love is in the air;" "One Powerful Hour's" challenge is love; "Cute Card Thursday's" challenge is "In the name of love." This is a "commitment card" for two very dear women friends who are celebrating their recent commitment ceremony with six weeks vacation in Australia and New Zealand. I superimposed the vintage image of the two little kissing girls on one of my own photos of White Point Beach in Nova Scotia, where we've all spent time together during the summer.


Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today. It's been FUN participating in some challenges again!

Some challenges!

The current Impression Obsession challenge is to create a card with anything but a rectangle. I created a card (for a little grandson who loves cupcakes!) with Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Six, (such a unique set, I use them a lot!) and one of my favourite IO stamp sets.

You can enter these challenges with us too . See the I.O. blog for all the details - if you use your Impression Obsession stamps, you could win a $25 gift certificate!! Be sure to check out the rest of the design team's cards for inspiration; the links are here on the left.

The current Created by Hand Challenge is "yearning for spring." I used cheerful spring colours for this card, some gorgeous embossed paper from Quietfire Design, and one of their beautiful new Dreamweaver stencils with white embossing paste.


I'm posting some spring colour cards I've just had just published in Paper Creations too; they meet the current Charisma Cards challenge, which is to use "fruity colours."

Thanks for stopping by today!

Challenges...

It's been so long since I played with challenges! I had such FUN with these!

The current Secret Crafters challenge is to create with a musical theme. I used a Cornish Heritage Farms stamp to create this card:

This week's challenge over at Our Creative Corner is to use the colours blue and green. I created a couple of cards for this one. I'm in such a "waiting-for-spring" mode that I wanted bright, cheerful cards for some friends.This card uses DCWV paper, a Stampabilities stamp, and Ms Martha's loopies border punch.

The one uses the CuttlebugSwiss Dots folder, Nesties Labels Eight, and the Ms. Martha's butterfly punch.

The One Powerful Hour challenge this week is friendship. I used a Paper Bag Studios stamp for this card:

This last card is done to meet the current Alphabet Challenge..."L" is for lilac. I used round plain and scalloped Nesties and a K & Co flower embellishment.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Pocket Card

Today's Cuttlebug challenge is pocket cards! The designers are all using Asian themes, but you can play with whatever theme you like. Have a peek at the blog...see the fabulous new line of romance folders...due to debut at CHA next month...oooohhhh...they NEED me!

For this card, I used some beautiful Chiyogami paper, paired with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder, embossing a Nesties oval. I stamped and gold-embossed my pull-out pocket tag with the ginko leaves from Quietfire Design. For the ribboned pull, I used one of the first Cuttlebug dies I owned...the old favourite tiny tag die. The Happy Birthday stamp is from Stampabilities, and the sentiment inside is from Hero Arts. The embossed floral edge inside was done with this Cuttlebug border embossing set.

You should SEE some of the fabulous eye candy on the challenge blog today...if you need some inspiration, that's the place to go today.

Thanks again for dropping by!

Thanks!

Today's challenge over at Created by Hand is to create "gratitude with a pocket." Here's mine, done with Spellbinders Nesties Labels 8, a Serendipity star stamp punched with the McGill star punch.

For the"Pick Three" challenge this week, I used these three: "Start your card with a sentiment" ( used one of my favourite Quietfire design stamps. These thank you stams come in a set of four, they're so versatile!), "Use a stencil" (Nesties Labels 8), and "Use any colour you might see in the sky" (I used night-time blue).

Over at Our Creative Corner, we're to incorporate something 3-d into our design, which I did by pop-dotting my gold embossed star.

THANKS for all these great challenges ladies, and thanks for stopping by today.