I Love Babies!

Hi again,
My good friend and co-worker had her first baby in April. I love my art hobby so much because it lets me make heartfelt and personalized gifts.

I made the step card while she was still pregnant and didn't know the sex of the baby. General pastel colors always work well on a card for a new mom to be. However, once I colored the teddy bears, they were way too bright for the card, ARGG! Not to worry, after consuming copious amounts of coffee, I remembered the "tone down" technique. I simply cut out the images and pounced alabaster fluid chalk ink all over the colored pieces. Voila! Instant muted color that fit with the background papers. Dollar store trinkets and a chipboard rocking horse complete the card.

Welcome to the world little one.

12 Tags of 2013 - April

Hi there,
I wanted to post my April tag from Tim Holtz's blog. Is it just me? I get excited for the start of a new month and a new tag to create. I finished this one quite a while ago, but I haven't taken any photos until today.

We don't have the metallic distress paints up here yet, so I started with a shiny copper cardstock instead and used the paints over top for the patina. I did add some bronze distress stain to enhance the look after it was dry.

Next challenge, I didn't have CFA, so I improvised and used some packaging. I heated it with the heat tool CAUTIOUSLY so I could bend the wings up. Not too shabby. It worked!

I had the rest of the supplies on hand (my art room is like a mini store) to finish up.

Enjoy the Journey

Hi Everyone:

While I was on holidays, Richele Christensen had this great post using the compass embossing folder and distress paint.  I loved it so much that I wanted to make my own version of it when I got back home. check out her blog link here:
http://www.californiaartgirl.blogspot.ca/2013/02/distress-paints-journey-tag.html

here is my card that I created

I did the same technique with the distress paints (LOVE THEM!) such creamy smooth paint. I added Dark Brown fluid chalk ink to make it look a little "older". I die cut "enjoy the journey" from black card stock and added the stamped image of the airplane on clear acetate. This one is the reverse side so I could have the plane going the other way.  I made a belt with some fabric tape and cut a "buckle" from card stock.  I just love the background.  Thanks Richele for the inspiration. Your color combination was just yummy.

Tattered Floral Challenge

Hi everyone,
By now, most of us paper addicts have seen or heard about the tattered floral challenge that Tim Holtz put up on his website. I got caught up in the frenzy and decided to make a card for this challenge.

I love Frangipani and Hibiscus flowers. They are everywhere in the tropics, so I wanted to take the Tattered Floral die and make my own out of paper. Here's what I created...

Frangipani

Hibiscus

and here's the finished card

I am missing my "Siboya Sister". This card is for you girlfriend.

Birthday Blues

Hello again,
I was really excited to drive down to my local scrapbook store when we got back from our trip. Not much stamping or scrapbooking going on in Southeast Asia. I knew the new releases from winter CHA were arriving here at home, (I would find a WiFi spot and check my mail.)

I "needed" the compass and blueprints embossing folders and the birthday blueprint stamps. I wanted to make a faux blueprint so this is what I came up with...

I debossed the folder on light blue paper, added some faded denim distress inks to the surface to get the two tone blue effect. Next, I stamped the mini blueprint birthday stamps on the background, then stamped them again on specialty stamping paper ( can I rant and rave about how much I adore this paper?) and watercolored them with distress markers. I then cut the images out and mounted them onto the background with foam tape.
Of course, every card needs a sentiment, so "make a wish" was stamped on scraps and trimmed to size.

That's it, pretty simple, but I like it. Now go play with some of your new stuff, you know where I'll be...

Far and Away

Hello again,

Sorry for the lapse in posts, the sweet man and I have been in Southeast Asia for the month of February.  It was a great holiday unfortunately I brought home this nasty asian flu bug that gives you "the exorcist" side effects on a 11 hour flight from Hong Kong to Vancouver. I felt so sorry for the lady who was sitting next to me on the plane. The Westjet staff in Vancouver wouldn't let me on the plane home, but instead called the Paramedics and they transported me to the Richmond hospital. I was fed 2 big fat bags of IV fluid and gravol.  I felt like I had the worst hangover in the world without the fun of drinking to excess the night before.  BLAH!  (A big shout out thank you to Cathay Pacific, Westjet, BC EMS, and the Richmond Hospital for taking such good care of me) Anyway, we managed to get clearance to fly home the next day and I have been recovering since then. I certainly feel better now and can't wait to get back to stamping, inking, scrpabooking, and creating wonderful projects from the last few weeks.

I did bring a few supplies on my trip. My art journal, aqua crayons, and a water brush. Limited options; I kept wishing I had a stamp and some ink pads, but oh well, I didn't want to carry around a mini art room in my backpack Hahahaha. I drew some Frangipani flowers and painted them on the page. My drawing skills aren't that great which is why I use stamps, but it was good to stretch my mind a little and try something different. I will add a little more colour to it now that I'm home.

here's a few pictures of the fabulous views we enjoyed over the last month as well...

Lombok Indonesia at the swank Novotel

Ko Siboya bungalows Krabi province, Thailand

not a bad view for enjoying my morning coffee

Phuket, Thailand

I think this car needs a little work

Kimono card

Hi again! It's time for another birthday card. I have 4 people in my immediate family that have birthdays in January. It's great for the creative process, but not so good for the bank account.

This card is for my youngest. She turns 18 today, so here in Alberta, she can now go to bars and nightclubs...awesome. Actually, I can't complain, she's a great girl and a responsible young lady. Happy Birthday second born.

I love the Bird Song paper collection from Graphic 45. All the papers are just fabulous. I had a asian theme in mind for the card so a kimono whispered in my ear. I went on Pinterest and searched "kimono cards" until I saw a you tube tutorial for one. I watched the video, wrote down the measurements and increased the dimensions so that the finished card is 5 x 7.

I stamped and embossed the outside of the card with gold and ruby EP and the cherry blossom branch from the Graphic 45 Bird Song stamp set after letting the pearlescent mists dry completely. ( I think I used cherry and gold lame from Heidi Swapp)

Then it was just a matter of fussy cutting images and making it look ornate and pretty. Of course, I had to put the number 18 on the top just for memory-sake.

The sweet man and I are heading out to Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand for the month of February. Maybe I will come across some Rogue paper art supplies while we're there, that will add an authentic asian feel to my cards and scrapbook pages.

That's it for today, now go do something creative.