Amy's Sketch #60

Hope everyone had a fabulous Mother's Day! It's always busy around my house in May with lots of birthdays and things going on! Somehow every year, I manage to get through. Madison's birthday is coming up next week, and I always try to make it special for her despite being busy. She is getting so big!

For something different at Prairie Paper and Ink, Amy has a guest sketch artist, Tammy Fielder. Love this sketch! I made a Mother's Day card for my Mom following this sketch. Once again, I love bright colors and it shows with my card!



Supplies: Close to My Heart cardstock, My Acrylix stamp sets Peace Joy Harmony (flower) & Happy Mothers Day, sparkles, black ink and clips; texture by Scrapbook Sally, patterned paper unknown, BIC markers, dragonfly sticker from Michael's.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karine

Billybootabella...

Living in Southern Alberta is so interesting! Strange, strange weather! We were enjoying warm temps and spending time outside in the sun, and the last week it's been COLD with lots of snow! You really need to be resilient to live here! But, it's looking good from here on. Good thing, it's almost May for crying out loud!

Anyway, I just love spring colors, and so I love the challenge this week from The Cat's Pajamas shown above. The glasses are so pretty and I just love their ideas!

I also used inspiration from 2 Red Bananas and their challenge to use stripes! Don't usually think about stripes, but I love the paper I had in my stash from Close to My Heart.

I also enjoy visiting the Cupcake Craft Challenges blog, and their challenge this week was to use five different embellishments on a project. On this card, I used more then five including colored staples, fiber, buttons, flowers, clips and gems. Great fun!

As usual, I also gathered inspiration from Amy's Sketch #58. She is an amazing artist, and I love going to her blog for terrific ideas! They way she colors in images is particularly fantastic, so make sure you check it out!

I just love this stamp from Stamping Bella called Billybootabella. Isn't she sweet? I used Liquid Glass from Close to My Heart to make the umbrella look wet.



Supplies: Close to My Heart My Acrylix stamps 'What a great day' (flowers & sentiment), cardstock & patterned paper, flowers, button and jute, black ink, Liquid Glass, staples; Billybootabella from Stamping Bella; fiber from Scrapbook Sally; BIC markers.

Thanks for visiting and I'd love to hear your comments!
Karine

Two Challenges....

Easter weekend is almost upon us, and I can't wait! Four days of work this week and then I get four days off as our office gets Easter Monday off too! The weather has been lovely and I can't wait to get out and ride bikes with my family!

The card I made yesterday was for two challenges. The first one is for Amy's Sketch #56 seen here. I love using her sketches, and she makes such beautiful cards.


The second challenge is from Chicks With Inkpads Challenge Week #3. Aren't the colors just fantastic? This is only the third challenge these gals have put on their blog, and I'm pleased to participate this time! I have to admit that I'm not totally pleased with the card, but I made an attempt!



I would like to wish everyone a wonderful holiday weekend, no matter if you celebrate Easter or not! Hope it's wonderful for you!

Supplies: Close to My Heart green, blue, black & white cardstock, black & green ink, beads, pop dots, white flower, Liquid Glass; pink felt (unknown); black ribbon (unknown); inkadinkado (bunny and sentiment); BIC markers.

Thanks for visiting!
Karine

Spring, please come....

It's snowing here today, but hopefully we are getting to the last of the strange weather. It's interesting because every day, you never know what you're going to get! I was thinking this morning, I wonder what it's like to live someplace where you get up and the weather is the same all the time. Here in Southern Alberta, weather is always a hot topic because it's never the same and can change so quickly! Anyway, life is never boring!


Last Saturday, I was able to go scrapbooking with my daughter and a few other ladies from our community. It's a great group and I love to see what everyone else creates! I didn't even have to cook that night since my in-laws took us out to celebrate our anniversary that was on March 16th! Love when that happens!

I made a card for Amy's Sketch #55 with inspiration from 2 Red Bananas, shown here. I just love the colors in the picture - they make me feel all warm inside! I suppose the colors don't necessarily make you think about Easter or Spring, but I just love the CC Designs' Cookie Crumbs Cupcake Occasions stamp set! I can always find a way to use these cute stamps!




Supplies: CC Designs Presents Cookie Crumbs Cupcake Occasions (chick & cupcake); Close to My Heart My Acrylix 'Easter Time' (Easter); Provo Craft patterned paper; Cuttlebug; Prima Flowers; Stamping Bella bling; Spackles; CTHH brown ink, yellow & orange cardstock and Liquid Glass; pop dots from EK Success.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karine

Yellow flowers...

March is finally starting to bring warmer temperatures, although we are dealing with lots of wind! As I've said before, Chinooks in Southern Alberta bring a warm wind, so they are both desired and hated. Lots of people suffer from migraines when a Chinook hits, but I'm lucky that I usually don't. I hope that you are enjoying the {almost} start to Spring as much as I am!



Today is my Mother-in-Law's birthday, so I used Amy's Sketch #53 to make her a card. I also followed Cupcake Craft Challenge #29, which was to find inspiration from the photo. Here's my take on the two challenges....

This card was fun to make, although I think it still takes me too long to complete a card like this!
On a good note, the Penicillin finally is working and my tooth pain is gone - for now! I am booked for my FOURTH root canal in a year on April 6th. I will be glad to get it over with and hopefully the last one for a while! Thanks for all the good wishes you have been giving me!


Supplies: Close to My Heart 'In the Garden' My Acrylix stamp set, brown, yellow & green textured cardstock, white cardstock, black ink, prisma glitter, flowers & leaves, brown ribbon; Provo Craft patterned paper; Stamping Bella bling.

Have a great day!
Karine

Long Time No See!

I feel so out of touch since I haven't posted on my blog for so long! However, I have been away, busy and in pain. My family took a weekend away at the end of February (it was great!), but since then, I have either been really busy or just not well enough to post to my blog. I swear, I'm in good health - really! - but I am now working on my fourth root canal in the last year. This time, it's another molar, and I have to say that tooth pain is infinitely worse than any other pain I have ever experienced. This includes childbirth with no drugs, which I can totally attest to! So, please forgive me for not posting here sooner. I haven't been crafting at all, until today. So, I am participating in several challenges with this card. First, Amy's Friday Sketch #52 seen here.

Next, the High Hopes Challenge #21, which was to use zigs and zags on a card, which I have done with sewing! I love sewing on paper, but not too sure how much the sewing machine likes it...

The next challenge, I got from Jen del Muro's blog I {heart} to stamp. It's for TCP Tuesday, which is from The Cat's Pajamas. They have some terrific products, so check it out.

Lastly (I know this is getting to be a little much...), I wanted to do a card for Cupcake Craft Challenges #30, with the theme of spring! Great idea, since I definitely can't wait for it truly to arrive! Here in Alberta, our spring weather is so tricky - warm and windy one day, and really cold and calm the next. It certainly makes life interesting! Anyway, after all that, here's my card!



Supplies: Close to My Heart My Acrylix Stamp Set "Happy Spring", cardstock (white, brown, blue & yellow), black ink, yellow & white flowers; stickers from Michael's; bling from Stamping Bella.
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

Karine

Thinking green....

Amy's sketch this week was a bit of a challenge for me. Not too sure why, since it's great as always! I decided to use my C.C. Designs Presents Cookie Crumbs Cupcake Occasions stamp set. I have seen a lot of great cards made with this set, and just had to have it! With St. Patrick's Day coming up, I was excited to use the shamrock topping!


I have never been one to get too hyped about St. Patrick's Day, except for wearing green! Something about getting pinched if you didn't! St. Patrick's also means that spring is finally coming. We have finally had better weather here in Southern Alberta, and I am so glad! But it's a lot lighter in the sky these days, and that helps make me feel so much better! It's not pitch black by 5:00pm anymore, thank goodness!


Supplies: C.C. Designs Presents Cookie Crumbs Cupcake Occasions stamp set (cupcake); Provo Craft patterned paper; Michael's ribbon; Color Oasis letters (sweet); Stamping Bella bling (on the flowers); Close to My Heart flowers; CTMH green, white and black cardstock; CTMH black and brown inks; CTMH Prisma Glitter; BIC markers; Singer sewing machine.

Have a terrific day!
Karine

From Our House to Yours.....

My very young cousin Erin got married last summer, and now has her own home! I am excited for her, so wanted to congratulate her by making her a cute card. I am really feeling old because she was born 6 months after my husband and I started dating! Yes, we have been together a long time, and I'm only 40 now!

I used Amy's Sketch #47 from her blog Prairie Paper and Ink plus one of the cute sets from All That Scraps called C.C. Designs EZ Mounted Sugarplums Snowy Scene. It's supposed to be more of a Christmas type set {our secret!}, but I thought it was still a good choice for the occasion. The patterned paper is from a new Level 2 paper pack from Close to My Heart called 'Daydream'. I just love it, and there are some other really pretty papers in it as well. Since I started making more cards, I'm always on the lookout for great papers!



Supplies: C.C. Designs EZ Mounted Sugarplums Snowy Scene (house and sentiment), Close to My Heart Daydream Level 2 paper pack (patterned paper), CTMH black ribbon, prisma glitter, CTMH black and white cardstock, CTMH white and green textured cardstock, BIC markers.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karine

Amy's Sketch #46

Another week and another great sketch by Amy at Prairie Paper and Ink. This is her sketch #46. I have had these three sheets of felt for literally YEARS, so when I saw this sketch, I thought it would be a great opportunity to use them! I have always thought felt looks so neat on cards, and it reminds me of being a kid and doing crafts with it. I was in Brownies and Guides, and I know we did a lot with felt!



It was so much fun making it, and I find that using sketches like Amy's gives me so much inspiration!

Supplies: pink cardstock: unknown from my stash; felt; heart stickers: Sandylion; patterned paper: Sweet Life; 'You are always in my heart': Close to My Heart My Acrylix stamps 'In My Heart'; CTMH black ink.

Thanks for visiting!
Karine

Lattebella!

I just love using Amy's sketches to make cards, and this one, #45 is no exception. I have missed being included in her links this week because she changed the time (bummer) but I still really like the way it turned out! This is the first time that I'm using Lattebella from Stamping Bella, and I think she's great!


I did get some inspiration from Nancy's blog, Card Worthy, where she has posted a Color & Texture Challenge #1. I tried with this Lattebella card, but she really only wanted black, white, grey and silver. Hopefully she'll forgive me for going outside the boundaries! I think I got taken with the brown in the image, and decided to use coffee colored paper. It was fun to try, anyway!

Supplies: Lattebella from Stamping Bella; Close to My Heart My Acrylix Stamp Sets: Say it With Style (Hello!) and Serendipity (abstract), patterned paper (Serendipity), textured cardstock (blue & brown), black cardstock, Exclusive Inks in Archival Black, Chocolate, Brown Bag & Outdoor Denim, Liquid Glass; pop dots from EK Success.

Thanks for visiting!
Karine

Amy's Sketch #44

I was excited when Madison came home from school to tell us that her teacher is having a baby! I chose Amy's Sketch #44 to make her a nice, simple card.
It seemed a great choice! The baby is due in July, so hopefully she'll get to finish out the school year. So far she's felt good, just tired. I think all mothers can relate to that!

This was a fun card to make as I used one of my new stamps from Stamping Bella called Pregabella. Isn't she great? I did a little paper piecing for her pants, just to make it fun.
Inside the card, I stamped my favorite saying. I was so glad to find this stamp!

Supplies: Pregabella from Stamping Bella; ribbon from Modern Home; Close to My Heart My Acrylix Spunky Greetings (Congrats); flowers - CTMH Summer Posies; green bling from Stamping Bella; patterned paper by Sweet Life; CTMH white, green & purple textured cardstock; CTMH black & watermelon ink; BIC markers.


So many of the blogs that I read, people are sick or just getting over something. I am happy to say that I finally feel like I'm returning to normal. I haven't missed work, but I sure have been struggling with my health. My husband is trying really hard to get over his sore back. Hopefully he'll be able to return to work soon. The weather is cooperating and it's finally warm! Gotta love those chinooks!

Hope this finds you happy and healthy!
Karine

Amy's Sketch #42

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We have had such a terrific holiday season in our house, and in a few short hours, I will celebrate my 40th! Hard to believe that I'm going to be 40, but I am not freaked out by it or anything. I'm happy with my life and where I'm going, so getting older doesn't bother me.

Here's Amy's Sketch #42, which she has given us two weeks to try!

I had a card completed last week, but I somehow missed getting a picture of it before I gave it away! Here's my new attempt, and I was so excited to use my Cupcake Occasions set I just received from All That Scraps! The stamp sets that Amy has been showcasing on her blog have inspired me, so now I have a couple of my own.




Supplies: Cupcake Occasions from CC Designs (cupcake and You're so Sweet); Close to My Heart My Acrylix Say it in Style (Just Because); Prima flowers; CTMH Just Blooms Summer Posies; Daisy Bucket Designs (patterned paper); CTMH ribbon; pop dots; Liquid Glass; CTMH black and brown ink; CTMH textured cardstock; Stamping Bella bling.

Madison has been sick the last few days, so we missed going anywhere for New Year's. But, it was so nice just to relax at home, play her new Wii (so much fun), and watch movies. We watched The Water Horse and The Spiderwick Chronicles and they were both good. Hope you are staying warm and looking forward to a great 2009!

Thanks for visiting!

Karine

Brrrrrr, it's cold outside....

Okay, just like AMY, we have been experiencing really cold temperatures, although we did get a small reprieve today (high of the day is right now, about -6C). It's supposed to stay cold and snowy. We haven't had a white Christmas in Southern Alberta since I don't know when. Usually it's a brown Christmas! Although it isn't Christmas yet! Living Under the Arch, the Chinook Arch, means that the cold temperatures and snow don't last all that long. The CHINOOK WIND usually blows and keeps the snow away! From the looks of the forecast, we'll be waiting a while for the warm wind to return.

Here's AMY'S SKETCH for this week, and my attempt at it!

I don't have Copic markers like many bloggers do, however I did get some great Bic markers. I'm pretty happy with how they are working. I had alot of fun making this card, and hope that you enjoy it too!

Supplies: Close to My Heart My Acrylix stamp sets - Dear Santa, Santa's Helper and Say it in Style; CTMH black ink, ribbon, brad and textured cardstock; Frances Meyer patterned paper; Prima flowers; cotton balls; liquid glass; BIC markers.

Thanks for visiting and happy holidays!
Karine

Happy Birthday.....

Here's Amy's sketch this week, #40, from her blog Prairie Paper and Ink.
I have been having so much fun participating in these! It really gets the ideas going.



I had a mission to make a card for my husband, who's a firefighter / paramedic, for his birthday this Thursday. I have used my fire fighter stamps alot for him, so I chose to use some Jolee's Boutique stickers that I had on hand. He works so hard to provide for our family, and he prides himself on doing a fantastic job. Almost every day he has an interesting story to tell when he gets home.

This is one small way that I can show him how much I appreciate him and all that he does, because I just don't think I tell him enough.

Supplies: Fire truck & hydrant: Jolee's Boutique; all paper is from scraps, all remainder from Close to My Heart: Ink - Brown Bag and Black; Stamp: Say it in Style; Ribbon.

Thanks for visiting!
Karine

Happy Belated!

Okay, so I can honestly say that with working full-time and having a family, I'm pretty busy, but, that doesn't mean that I can recognize a special friend's birthday. It was actually last Thursday, but we were busy getting to Montana for Black Friday! I am so very lucky to have her for a friend. She is an incredibly thoughtful and kind person. This card is my take on Amy's sketch this week from her blog, Prairie Paper and Ink, found HERE.


This is Amy's Sketch#39, and I found it a little difficult! Not a design that I would ordinarily use, but I think it turned out okay. Just love that little snail!

I used Lynn's paper piecing idea from her blog The Queen's Scene. Just love her great ideas! You should really check it out!


My blogging friend Hilary is a talented scrapbooker and a firefighter / paramedic. Check out her terrific projects as well as read her story about her harrowing and rewarding Thanksgiving. I'm so proud of the work our emergency services workers do every day.

Supplies: Stamp set - Inkadinkado; Patterned paper - Provo Craft; bee punch & gold brads - EK Success; BIC Markers; all others are Close to My Heart (ribbon, flowers, prisma glitter, silver brads, textured cardstock, black ink).

Thanks for stopping by!
Karine

Thank You!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating today! It's not just Americans who are celebrating, since some of us Canadians are going to be enjoying Black Friday tomorrow. Four of us are going today to Montana to partake in this yearly ritual, and I'm excited. I have never been in the USA to take in these great sales, so I hope we have some great finds!

Amy Rysavy on her blog Prairie Paper and Ink found HERE posts a sketch for cards every Friday and invites others to participate. Her Sketch#38 is shown here. Here's my contribution, and I had so much fun making it! Thank you, Amy for doing this! The card was for a great lady who does tons of volunteer work in our community.



I haven't participated in one of these before, but it's so interesting to see how others interpret the sketch. Hope you enjoy mine! Take a look at some of the other cards people have made on her post here.

Supplies: Patterned paper - Sweet Life; Stamps - Close to My Heart Say it in Style (Thank You), Inkadinkado (Thanks a Million); Brads - Making Memories; Pop Dots - EK Success; all remaining products are Close to My Heart - Watercolor Pencils, Liquid Glass, Ribbon Rounds, Prisma Glitter, Black and Olive Ink, Textured Cardstock

Have a great weekend!