Christmas Cards

Funny, but right after Halloween, it's starts to feel like Christmas is around the corner. I guess that's because it is. It'll come before I know it!

We had another card day in my studio this past week and got some Christmas cards made.

This card base is from Making Memories and the image is from Tuscan Rose vintage image CD. Super easy card and so cute.

This is using up some Basic Grey from last year. Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder and a Fluffles stamp embossed in gold.

The gold paper is from K&Co. and the Poinsettia is from Martha Stewart. Don't know who makes the brown snowflake paper, I've had it for a few years.

Hope your cards are underway, I'm off to make a few more. Thanks for stopping by.

Ivanka

Halloween Sketches

Finally got around to making some Halloween Cards. Don't know why I leave it so late, I really love making them once I get into it. It's hard to believe that Halloween is only a few days away though. It doesn't seem to be as big of a deal as when the girls were little and we were scrambling for costume ideas. Now we worry about Halloween parties. Yikes.

So on to my cards...the first one is for CPS.

The paper is from Bo Bunny and My Mind's Eye. Don't know who makes the sticker. It's been in my stash a few years now. Ribbon is from Martha Stewart.

The next card is for The Cuttlebug Challenge blog. The challenge is to scrap lift one of the designers Halloween Cards. Mine was inspired by Karen Maldonado.

This is also for an image swap on Cuppas and Cards. The image was drawn by Gregory J. Griffin, one on the member's (Connie) husbands. I love the image, and think Connie's husband is very talented! The paper is from Bo-Bunny and Karen Foster, brad is from Queen and Co. and I used the Argyle embossing folder inked with white in for the background.

Any plans for a Halloween party this weekend? We haven't made any yet, but you never know what will come up. I came across these drinks on Martha's blog

They look devilishly good don't they?

Hope you've had a good start to your week.

Ivanka

ETA...thanks Beth for stopping by to tell me about a new (to me) challenge site where the challenge is to share your Halloween image cards. The site is:
Sunflowers and Dragonflies

Check it out...great tutorial section. Ivanka

Hiro and Tomomi's Wedding Card

If anyone still remembers Simply Sentiments magazine, one of the features that I loved the most was 'The Last Card' which appeared on the last page of the magazine and talked about the story behind the cards we create. I love hearing stories, especially stories that inspire us to make the cards we do.

So here's the story behind this wedding card, made for a couple in Japan. Hiro was a foreign student my mom had staying with her a few years ago. He fell in love with Canada during his year here and has been back several times since. He recently got married and in August was bringing his bride to Canada for their honeymoon. Unfortunately, a typhoon made it impossible for them to get out of Japan and they had to cancel the trip. This is their wedding card.

Paper is SEI, Christmas Mint, bird is from Prima and glitter die cut is from Making Memories.

Sad that they didn't get their honeymoon, we're all hoping they come next year so we can meet the bride.

Hope you're having a great weekend,
Ivanka

Almost Friday

Boy it's been another busy and fast week. How do the days slip by so quickly??

The weather has been beautiful here. We've been raking leaves and enjoying all the beautiful fall colours outside. I'm going to have to remember to take my camera with me tomorrow and try and capture some of the gorgeous leaves before they're all gone.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow, coffee with a friend and then we hit a craft show in town. It's just a small church one, but there is always something that amazes me at this show. And there are yummy baked items for sale and I always pick up some homemade jam too.

While delicious pies are dancing in my head, I'll tell you about my card for today. The patterned paper is from Making Memories, Sabrina collections, felt trim is from Queen and Co., flowers are from Bazzill (pink) and Prima (beige with script).

I'm still hoping to do a sketch challenge or two this week, keeping my fingers crossed. But cleaning and laundry await me after the craft show...hmmm.

Anyway, have a great Friday and I'll talk to you soon.

Ivanka

Happy Thanksgiving!

So what are you up to this Thanksgiving weekend? It's been a beautiful couple of days so we'll probably go out for an afternoon walk. I got my groceries yesterday and we're having our big meal tonight. I'm so looking forward to the pumpkin pie.

For my card today, the sentiment is from Melissa Frances, flourish is from Prima, brads are from Imaginisce, flowers are from Paper Studio (large) and Prima (small). The textured paper is actually a wall paper sample from Maya Romanoff, very cool.

Another cool thing I have to share today is that one of my Christmas cards was featured on the Grapic 45 blog!

Hope you're having a great long weekend. Thanks for sharing a bit of your day here with me.

Card Patterns

There’s another fun sketch at Card Patterns this week. I haven’t been able to participate for a while, so I was glad to get some time to play along this week.

The image is from Crafty Secrets, Patterned paper is from Making Memories, dots embossing folder from Cuttlebug, Flowers from Hero Arts and flourish and gems from Prima.

Hope you’re having a great week so far. We’re gearing up for Thanksgiving this weekend. Not sure what we’re up to, but I’m sure it will be yummy! Ivanka

2 Sketches 4 You

Well, World Card Making Day was a lot of fun. I did a lot of blog surfing, but didn't get a chance to do anything creative. Hope you did.

Oh and my movie star daughters? They had a lot of fun but at the end of a long and rainy night, they were tired and glad to be home. They got to see the Jonas Brothers but not meet them as they had been dreaming. I don't think that I have to worry that the bright lights of Tinsel Town will lure them away anytime soon!

Yesterday I got to play along with Laura's sketch 36 on 2S4Y. Another fun sketch.

I used K & Co. Wild Saffron Mat Pad and Die Cut Tags, QuicKutz label die cut, ribbon from Waste Not Paper, Basic Gray and Michaels. Rub on is from Melissa Frances.

Thanks for stopping by...have a great evening. Ivanka

Happy Card Making Day!

Good Morning! I hope this day finds you doing exactly what you want to do. I think that's a wonderful way to spend any day.

It's actually just past midnight here, but I'm up waiting for my daughters to come home so I thought I'd get my post done for today. They've gone to Toronto to be extras in the latest Camp Rock movie. It is supposed to be a concert scene and they needed a ton of screaming fans (no problem there!) for the movie so my girls and 2 of their friends have gone to be in the movies!! I can't wait to hear all about it when they get home. I'm sure there will be excitement about this for many days to come!!

So what are you up to for World Card Making Day? I need to start my recipe page for a swap I'm in and I'm hoping to be able to visit a few of the blogs at the WCMD Blog Tour.

What I worked on this week to share today are Christmas cards made with Graphic 45's Christmas Past papers, frames and tags. Love, love, love this line. The frames and tags are so easy to work with and I love that I can get so many cards made from just a few sheets of paper.

The felt flower is from Hero arts, brad is from Imaginisce.

Rub on is from American Crafts, ribbon is from Martha Stewart.

Metal 'joy' is from Making Memories.

'Believe' is from Deja Views, brads are from Lasting Impressions.

Sentiment is computer generated.

Script paper is from 7 Gypsies, rhinestones are from Kaiser Craft.

Thanks for dropping by today and I hope you enjoy the rest of WCMD! I'll just continue to wait for my movie stars to come home!! See you in the morning. Ivanka

Blue Christmas

The Christmas cards continue here. It’s been fun since I got my push to start making them last week.

This time I used SEI's Winter Song line for the background paper and Graphic 45 Christmas Past for the images.

For this card I used Cuttlebug's Snowflake embossing folder and Stickels. Trim is from Making Memories, ribbon is from May Arts.

Here I used the script embossing folder, the sentiment is from American Crafts.

Crystals are from Prima and the sentiment is Deja Views.
Thanks for stopping by...if you have time...check out Moxy Fab World Today Cath is featuring blogs from Canada. There are a lot of very creative ladies here in the 'True North Strong and Free'!

Oh What Fun...

Ok, so this really was fun! I got to play along with 2 Sketches 4 You again this week. Love the inspiration I get from the sketches and the design team, so much fun wrapped up in one little blog!

This is for Kazan’s sketch # 36. I used Cosmo Cricket’s Jolly by Golly line, Tiny Bubbles Cuttlebug folder, trim was sent to me by my friend Barb, stick pin and metal sign are from Making Memories, ribbon is from Waste Not Paper.

Thanks so much for dropping in…Ivanka

Cards from our Card Day

So I thought I'd share the cards that we made at our card day. It's been a while since we had gotten together for a card day. I made some cards ahead of time to help them get back into it. Teacher I am not, but it was fun to share a few techniques that they hadn't seen before. The Cuttlebug embossing folders seemed to be a favorite.

So here is the first card. This image is courtesy of Hallmark. I bought some boxed cards on sale after Christmas, we cut out the image, heat embossed the edges and added Stickles. Fun and easy card.

We made the next 2 cards using SEI's Winter Song collection. Sentiment is from Hero Arts (thanks to my personal shopper, Barb!)

Here the super cute girl image is from My Mind's Eye, Colorful Christmas collection.

It was such a fun day and it is so great to have friends to share this hobby with!

Till next time...Ivanka

World Card Making Day

Now here is a holiday I can really get into!! World Card Making Day is Oct 3rd, only a few days away. What are you doing to celebrate this wonderful hobby of ours??

Cath, over at Moxy Fab World started off a week of celebration by featuring amazing cards from talented ladies from all around the world. Paper Craft Connection blog has fun things planned all this week. And the Blog Tour on the WCMD website is definitely worth checking out! You'll find amazing inspiration from PC designers as well links to fabulous blogs from all around the world.

Here in my little studio...I'm celebrating WCMD by sharing what I love to do with two of my friends. We spent a day making cards, sharing ideas and just having fun being together.

Here are a few pictures of Card Making Day in my studio...forgot that my camera was on macro...but here they are...

The door into my studio...

Getting ready to create with some fab Graphic 45 paper.

We used SEI's Winter Song to make 3 Christmas cards.

Here's Misty loving her new tape runner...

...and Janet adding Stickles to her card...

...good friends and great times...what better way to celebrate the holiday?!

Hope you find some time this week and especially on Saturday to make a card and share some good times with friends.

Ivanka

Another 2S4Y card...

I'm sneaking in this quick post before I head off to bed. I used this weeks 2S4Y sketch to make this card. This was one of the cards we made in a card day I had at my house on Friday. More on that and pictures tomorrow...

Sorry for the indoor picture. It was dull and rainy today and then I just ran out of time. I used sei's Winter Song line for the patterned paper and die cut shape. The sentiment is Hero Arts heat embossed, QuicKutz label one die cut as well as the Fiskars treading water punch.

Hope you're having a great weekend, more tomorrow...Ivanka

It's Monday...time to get back into it!

Well, I think it's about time I got back into making some cards! It's been a wonderful and busy summer. And I don't know about where you live, but our September has been just gorgeous so far. Except today...it's raining and that's ok...because I got to spend some time in my craft room...crafting!
Since it's been so long since I've done anything productive, I wanted to start off slowly with this week's 2 Sketches 4 You by Laura.

I made this card for a coworker who is leaving us. The paper, journaling square, and sticker are from the Poppy line from sei. The rub ons are from One Heart, One Mind, flower is from The paper Studio and the gems are from Prima.

Thought I'd share this little gem my daughter made recently. She's 17 and she dabbles at making cards when the mood (or need) strikes! Usually it's a last minute card for a friend so I don't get to photograph it. I nabbed this one before it went out the door this weekend! The paper is from Fancy Pants Delight line and the rub on is Melissa Frances.

Thanks for stopping by today...Ivanka

Cards for a Cure

One of my coworkers was recently diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Yep, out of the blue. Really makes you realize how fragile life truly is.

At work, Barb is such a treasure, friendly and helpful to the end. After collecting for a group gift, visiting and keeping in touch through email , I felt that I wanted to do more to support her in this battle. I've supported causes and charities in the past, but this one was so close to home, I knew I had to get involved.

So I'm starting off by doing a 5k walk in support of Breast Cancer research. Since I find asking for donations not such an easy task, especially after just having done the MS walk in the spring, I needed to come up with a different way to raise money. Hence the Cards for a Cure idea. I spent a couple of days going through scraps and leftover projects and making a bunch of fairly quick cards. All the proceeds are going toward Breast Cancer research.

Here are some of the cards....

Thanks for stopping by...it's been a busy summer and I haven't been here much. Hope to rectify that in the next few weeks. It felt so good to get back to my 'happy room' and just make cards. And the fact that they're helping me to support a friend, well it's even better.

Ivanka

GCD Studios Go Bold and Simple Contest

I don't know...sometimes I'm a little behind the times. I guess it's just that there aren't any great LSS stores around me (maybe that's a good thing!!) but I seem to be a little slow to find new things. GCD Studios paper is one of my latest great finds. Have you seen it? It's double sided and the Small Dots from the Chianti Collection that I bought has got a wonderful sheen to it that just makes any project a bit more special. So when I found their Go Bold and Simple contest on their blog it got me thinking...and creating.

The frame is from Michaels $ bin, the wreath is from Sandylion Sticker Designs.
I used Spellbinders Die, Nestabilities Labels One.

I love how this one turned out. After Christmas last year, I hit a great sale at Shopper's Drug Mart. I think I got this pack of cards for about $2. The best thing is...the envelopes match (I love that!!). The GCD paper was a perfect match to 'enhance' this card! Makes for an economical way to get through my Christmas card list this year. The rub on sentiment is from Imaginisce.

Thanks for popping in...hope you've had a great weekend...I get to do something exciting tomorrow...we're going to see Beyonce!! Woohooo...I'll try and get some descent pictures to share.

Ivanka

Email Posting...

Am I the last one to find out that you can email posts to your blog? You can even text them (not that I can text with any speed or accuracy!!!)! But wow, emailing a post in is so simple...and fast. This is going to make blogging so much easier and faster for me!! Yay!

Here’s my first emailed post…and since I’ve not created much lately, I’m sharing a card I made for a coworker who was leaving a little while ago. The image is from Luna Girl, rub on is Basic Grey, Rhinestones are from Little Yellow Bicycle. Flower is from Prima.

So anyone want to chime in...did you know you could email a post to your blog??

Summertime...

So...how's your summer going so far?? I love summer, love the warm weather, the green grass and the beautiful flowers. I love having BBQ's on the deck and drinks with friends. I love walks with Pepper and whom ever wants to join us, and I love wearing shorts and sandals. The only bad thing about summer is that I don't have time for much more than a quick visit to my scrap room.

It's been a fun but busy few weeks for our family so far. We've done a couple of boating/camping trips and have done tons of work around the house. I think Steve was a little relieved to go back to work today to get a rest from all the painting, digging, cutting and rearranging he's had to do around here!

Here's a few pictures from our trips...

Catching up with the paper on the boat...cool weather but gorgeous scenery.

Meghan, Julia, Alex and Dana keeping each other company and giggling a ton!

Canada Day BBQ on the boat. It warmed up just enough for the girls to have a swim.

So, now we're home, the laundry is well underway and I've finally had a chance to make a card. I came across this challenge on the new Core'dinations blog to use everything but the kitchen sink to create a project. I love challenges like this, they really get me thinking and on the lookout for things I can use.

I found some washers in the garage and I ran them through my Sizzix BIGkick for this effect. I used a cutting pad on the multipurpose platform and then placed the washers right on the cutting pad. The Core'dinations paper went on next, followed by a silicone rubber pad and the impressions pad. I sanded a bit and added Prima studs to the centers of the washer impressions. The rub ons are from American Crafts.

There's still lots of summer left...hope you're having a good one.

Ivanka

A nice surprise...

My Father's Day nautical card collaboration with DH (we'll call him Steve....) won a prize on Moxy Fab World yesterday! What a nice surprise. Hope he doesn't get a swelled head over this...or worse...want to split the prize package!!

If you haven't checked out Moxy Fab World, it's a great place with lots of inspiration and great challenges. Cath Edvalston from Paper Crafts Magazine finds the neatest trends to share and gives tons of inspiration on incorporating those trends into paper crafting cards/projects.

Today's card was sent to me by my ultra-talented friend Wendi for my birthday. She always amazes me with her creativity and her talent. That's why it's so hard to make a card for her birthday just a few short weeks after mine! I gotta get my thinking cap on!! Thank you Wendi.

It's cold and rainy here today...hope it's a bit nicer where you are...

Thanks for visiting,
Ivanka

Nautical Father's Day Card

So I have to admit that husbands can come in handy for cardmaking ideas at times!! I was stuck on ideas for FIL's card this year, so I asked the big guy if he had any ideas...and he did! The idea to use an old nautical chart for FIL card was perfect. He's an avid sailor and I think will really like the card.

The stamp is from Anna Griffin, charm is from Frost Creek Charms, Cuttlebug embossing folder.

I may have to ask for 'creative input' more often!

Thanks for poppin in,
Ivanka