I haven’t had much time to spend in my craft room lately as I’ve been working on some other “personal” projects that are a higher priority.  I sometimes feel guilty letting all those craft goodies go to waste while I’m doing other things but I know they’ll be there waiting for me when I do get time for creativity.

Happily, I had to make some cards for events so I had a legitimate excuse to spend a little time in my happy place.

I also got to use a PTI stamp that I bought last year but forgot to order the matching die when I placed my order.  My last order included the die and I got to play with it for the first time today:

I was going for “earthy but happy”…hope I pulled it off!

This card has to be Canada Post friendly so I didn’t pop the trees or the green panel up off the card but made up for it by adding some tiny prima flowers and some pearls.

Must dash!  Miles to go before I sleep.

Yup!  I officially love this layout!  After yesterday’s post I decided to colour another bear image and swap out the colours to see how different a look I get just by switching the colour palette.

I went über-girlie this time – it’s a fantastic layout for using LOTS of patterned paper – which I have.  Too much.  It’s my not-so-secret shame.  Whenever new papers come out in my favourite lines I stalk them until I finally cave and buy them.  I have managed to dial back my Basic Grey purchases though as those papers are more my original  card-making style and they don’t get enough love.  Echo Park and My Mind’s Eye, however, are the current rulers of my craft supply budget.

Anyhoo, enter today’s card – the only difference is the patterned paper and the sentiment placement:

I really love the vibrant colours on this card.  Got to play with the enamel dots again.  Woohoo!

Lots to do this week and we’re having a little dinner party this weekend so craft-time is probably not happening again for a few days.

I finally got to use some MME Enamel dots yesterday.  Every time I went to place an order, the ones I wanted were sold out (or they were in stock but the coordinating paper was sold out).  I ordered from a different supplier this time around as I couldn’t wait any longer to get my hands on those dots!

They ARE fabulous!  A little pricey at $5 per pack but the colours are great and they’re a perfect accent on a card.

Funnily enough, I paired my first dots up with paper from a totally different line from MME.  The dots I used are from “Boy Crazy” and the paper is “Fly a Kite”.

I also dusted off some Whipper Snapper stamps and stamped up a bunch of images to use on my next handful of cards.  The above layout was CASEd from the fabulous Alice Wertz.  A freakin’ genius when it comes to patterned paper accents.  (she actually uses a LOT of washi these days but my supply isn’t that extensive so I just cut some paper on an angle to mimic the look)

The sentiment is Paper Smooches – I was going to go with a Happy Birthday sentiment but I saw this on my desk and couldn’t resist.  I also wanted to use another dot next to the sentiment but I made the card a little top-heavy.  Next time I’ll place the sentiment at the bottom left and stick another dot right there!

…bring May flowers…or in this case, the thought of Spring is causing me to use retina-searing colours on my cards!

I made two more cards for work yesterday – they’re out of my comfort zone colour-wise but they’re certainly cheerful!

Construction is self-evident.

Card 1:

Card 2:

Must…go…find…sunglasses…

As work is getting busier, it’s getting harder to feel energetic and creative enough to pop into my craft room in the evening to see if I can come up with something fun to make.  Other than some 3-D Easter projects and a couple of cards that I NEEDED, I have been spending more time watching TV in the evenings and baking/cooking on the weekends. (lazing around and making food are probably NOT the best activities for the waistline)

Today, I promised myself I’d make something paper crafty before doing anything else and I realized yesterday that I’ve run out of little “way to go” cards at work – I use them when I want to write a special thank you to one of my fabulous team members when they do something above the call of duty.

Enter today’s project – so far I’ve only made two note cards – and am going to make two more but with a different layout – and matching envelopes.  I used some cute Doodlebug paper and Doodlebug pearls as well as a new die that I got this week.  I teamed the supplies with one of my Paper Smooches stamps and came up with this:

I think they turned out pretty cute!  Here they are individually:

(this card is standing on the two envelopes)

…and the second one was a deliberate attempt to use more masculine colours.

I got 4 card bases from one sheet of cardstock – these guys measure 4.25X2.75″ and a sheet of 6X6″ paper is just big enough to make a coordinating envelope.

I am determined to make 2 more cards but have to come up with the concept.  I’m surprised how few smaller images I have that are good for fussy cutting.  Must keep that in mind next time I’m trolling for new images.

Enjoy your Saturday!

A real quick card to share tonight – my dad is leaving in a day or so to visit one of my brothers (and my brother’s wife and their gorgeous daughter) and I have to drop off an anniversary gift for him to take to them.  Also, I’ve done something funky to my little camera and I’m having lighting issues with my pictures (DH will have to take a look tomorrow – it’s late and I’m tired and I will be cranky if he invades my territorial bubble this evening).

Anyway, die cuts and patterned paper to the rescue.  It took about 15 minutes to make this card – I admit the sentiment is not stamped as cleanly as I’d like but I’d already added the bling and it would be such a waste of pearls and rhinestones to pitch this one out.

Quick, simple, cheerful…done!  Now to pop the gift card inside and swing by the old man’s house tomorrow to drop it off.

Enjoy your day off tomorrow for those that get the Good Friday holiday – it’s the first holiday of the year for most Canadians.

I have two important birthdays to make cards for in March – my younger brother’s and his wife’s (a day apart).

So far today, I’ve made my brother’s card and I’ll be working on my SIL’s card later today (plus I have to get a package ready to mail).

I used one of my favourite Whipper Snapper images for this card – it’s just fun to colour and only requires a few different colours so it’s not too overwhelming.

My picture is a little yellow because I had to borrow the item that props my improvised photo booth up so my lights are not as close to the card as they usually are when I take a picture…

I stuck to a fairly simple layout for this card – letting the image take centre stage (or center if you prefer).  A few sequins (thanks again, M, for the samples!) and an “old school” sentiment – a technique I used to use a while ago and have recently adopted again.

I popped the paw claw? holding the gift up for a fun touch and used some Pebbles “Seen and Noted” patterned paper because the colours worked with my image. (Naughty Kelly – I coloured the image before I chose the paper)

Back to the drawing board to see what I can come up with for card number two.

Yesterday was a busy day for me.   I spent the morning baking things that I could individually package and freeze so we’d have something healthy and more filling than store-bought snacks to put in our lunches.   The items that needed to be used up dictated the recipes I chose – strawberry-banana loaf (I made two – one for eating and one for freezing), morning glory muffins (tweaked to be more healthy by using whole wheat flour, egg whites, applesauce instead of oil and nixing the coconut because I’m allergic and the pineapple because I think it’s gross in muffins!), and then, just because we like them so much, I made a pan of chocolate zucchini brownies. (which are “kind of” healthy but not for someone on a diet!)

There was lots of dish-washing and kitchen tidying between batches of baked goods as well as a load of laundry and some towel folding (I don’t think there’s a single bath towel left in my linen tower at the moment).

Once I finished the baking marathon, I took a little break and made a card for our niece’s birthday – it’s going to get there a little late but she’ll have her gift on time so I’m sure we’ll be forgiven.

Here’s the card:

I’m trying to use some of the ZILLIONS of 6X6 patterned papers I own.  I am so addicted to buying it and my card-making style is straying away from using lots of patterned paper so I made a supreme effort to use LOTS of it on this card.  Incidentally, I did notice when cutting the floral paper that I placed the die in the wrong direction so my flowers are sideways.  It took me about half a second to get over it and use it anyway.  Not sure if our niece will see it since there are so many pink rhinestones on the card!

We’re working on making our pantry a little more useable this week (adding an extra shelf and painting the pantry) so my crafty time is going to be limited.  We were supposed to do this project over Christmas but never got to it and my baking marathon today reminded me of how desperately we need to get that closet organized.  Not sure if I’ll share a before and after because I’m too ashamed of the state of the pantry!!!

Hopefully, I’ll be back later this week.

DH and I are going to a little dinner party tonight and I wanted to bring a hostess gift.  The go-to is not very imaginative – I go to the liquor store and ask someone there for a nice, popular red wine (I don’t drink so I have NO idea what to buy).  However, our hosts have just announced that they are expecting a baby so I don’t want to give alcohol as a gift.

We debated getting some sparkling cider etc. but the ones I’ve had just taste like carbonated apple juice so I wasn’t too keen on that idea.  A trip to Bed, Bath, and Beyond last night did little to inspire me so I decided to make some cards and package them up nicely as a gift.

I used MME Miss Caroline papers to create a birthday, baby, thank you and “could be for anything” card.  I decorated the inside but left the inside blank so our hosts can write their own message inside.

Here they are:

BIRTHDAY:

BABY:

THANK YOU:

ANYTHING:

Once I made the cards, I was going to create a cardstock folder to package them up in but decided to slip them into a glassine bag and decorate the front with some hand-dyed seam binding, a doily and some Prima roses that I’ve had for a while…I also quickly decorated a clothespin to use as a fastener.  Handy things those wooden clothespins!

…and here’s a close up of the detail on the packaging:

I was tempted to distress the doily and the tag but the cards are not distressed/shabby so I resisted the urge.

Enjoy the rest of your Saturday – I’m off to visit the beagles at www.beaglepaws.com and donated some dog food, soft treats for the senior beagles and a dog bed in honour of my cousin’s birthday this week.

One last CAS class card and one last (probably) Valentine.

This card was actually really quick to make and I think it’s just right for the little girl that’s getting it.  She doesn’t need layers of ribbon/lace/patterned paper, etc. and I think she’ll enjoy the excessive scattering of rhinestones.

Excuse the clip on top of the card.  It was difficult to keep the card flat enough to take a picture as the image is on the inside of the card.  Here’s the front:

…and here’s the inside:

I like it!