Monday, May 25, 2009

Christmas in May

Strange but true...it has happened right here at my house. I made Christmas cards in May!

I recently came across this blog: Christmas Cards All Year 'Round, and it just happened. Once I got all the Christmas paper and embellishments out, it was actually fun! One of the problems when making Christmas cards is that I always leave it to the last minute. But doing them now, with no deadline looming, was very refreshing. The challenge for this month is to use flowers on your cards. This seemed hard at first, but when I started digging through my stash, it turns out I had quite a few flowers I could use on Chrismas cards.

The first card is based on sketch # 16 at Card Patterns. Love this sketch and may have to make another card with it this week.



The paper is from Anna Griffin, sticker is from K&Co., flowers are from Prima, rub on is from Making Memories and rhinestones are from Creative Imaginations.


The rub on her is from Imaginsce, trim, flower and tree are from Making Memories, glittery flower is from Prima.

The gorgeous paper here is from Kaiser Craft, tag and trim are from Making Memories, felt poinsettia is from Hero Arts.

I don't think I have any more of this paper, but I think it's from Flair Designs (??), sticker image is from Penny Black, ribbon is from May Arts.


Sticker here is from Violette Stickers, flower and metal sentiment are from Making Memories.


***Please Note*** No 12 x 12 sheets of paper were harmed in the creating of these cards...all paper came from my scrap box!!

Thanks for dropping in today. Hope you have a wonderful week.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

LSS garage sales...

Do any of the stores around you have garage sales? The Memory Keeper in Hamilton has one twice a year. I love them, they're a great way to get rid of supplies that I haven't used and will probably never use. The spring one is this weekend and I dropped 3 boxes of 'stuff' off earlier in the week.

I usually don't go shopping at them, don't want to be tempted. Except for yesterday...in I went and...boy was it a lot of fun!!! The saying 'one girls junk is another's treasure' is so true! I got some amazing deals. Lots of gorgeous ribbon, some great stamps (never used) and some other great little embellishments. I hope most of my stuff sells then I can use my store credit on new 'stuff'!

Today's card is simple, using some more old supplies. I'd almost forgotten how much I love this DaisyD's paper. It is simply gorgeous. Did I hear that they're no longer around?
The trim is from Making Memories, large flower is from the $ store, small one and bling is from Prima.
Hope you're enjoying the weekend.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Paint Crazy!

I'm not sure how it happened. I guess it started with the background paper, the chipboard flower was next...then the button got it!! Nothing was safe from my paintbrush today!!

I made this for Kazan's sketch #26 on 2S4Y and I had a ball making this. I should get the paints out more often and just play!!
The paper is from Junkitz, chipboard is from Magistical Memories and stickers are from Scenic Route.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a Fabulous Friday.
Ivanka
ps...try painting something this weekend...and I don't mean walls...

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Old meets new...take 2

I'm really enjoying the trip back through the 'vintage' papers in my stash this week. I'd forgotten how much I like those colors and patterns.

I made this card for the sketch challenge on Our Creative Corner. Check out their designer samples if you have a chance. They are soooo talented over there.

The stamp is from Hero Arts...definitely the 'old' in this card. I heat embossed the image and even though I haven't used it in a really long time, I still like it a lot. The paper is from The Paper Loft (brown), Sandylion (script) and Graphic 45 (Paris). Hardware is from Stampin' Up!, ribbon is from Making Memories.

Thanks for dropping by.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Bright and Cheery Birthday

Hello everyone...I hope all the mom's out there had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday. It's nice to be spoiled once in a while, isn't it?! I had a great day, got some nice gift certificates, great coupons for help with housework and a wonderful dinner cooked by dh. It was a very relaxing day.

My bright and cheery birthday card today is for the challenge on Card Positioning Systems, sketch #115. It was a very easy and fun sketch to work with. The paper I used is from We R Memory Keepers, the top is embossed with Cuttlebug embossing folder, the trim is from the $ store, die cut flowers are from Sizzlits, sentiment is from Studio G and letter stickers are from Making Memories.

Thanks for dropping by. Hope you're having a good start to your week.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Sharing an umbrella...

It's been the weirdest day weather-wise today. It stared out rainy, then it was sunny, then we had several thunderstorms pass through, then tons of wind and now it's darned cold. All that weather has made it nice to stay in and create.

I made this card for a challenge on Moxy Fab World. The challenge is to make an encouragement card using something rainy day related. I came across this sentiment a long time ago, but never had the opportunity to use it. When I saw this challenge and found the 3D jelly sticker (at the $store!) I knew it would be the perfect time to use the sentiment. And it's a perfect card for our neighbours, the husband is in the hospital and not doing very well.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you're haveing nicer werather than we are...Ivanka

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Design Elements...

I have a box that I keep in the cupboard full of 'design elements'. In there I keep all kinds of 'things' that I've tried on previous cards/projects but for one reason or another it just wasn't working. So they become 'design elements'. Really they're just 'leftovers' but labelling them 'design elements' sounds so much more appealing, don't you think?? And every once in a while, I dig through the box and pull some little gem out and suddenly the stars align and that design element ends up becoming part of a new creation. I've used a few of these 'gems' in my cards today.
Love the Cosmo Cricket paper, it's so soft and pretty. The sticker is from PSX on Creative Imaginations script paper. Ribbon is from Offray.
Have I told you of my love for PSX stickers? I think they're so pretty on cards, but since PSX isn't around any longer, the stickers are getting harder to find. So sad.
This Penny Black sticker has been in the box for a while, I never knew what to do with it. I'm glad to finally be able to use it on a card.

The 'grandma' has been in the box for a while too, but here I think it is so pretty with the Crate Paper and Martha Stewart ribbon.

Nothing from the box here, just using up some older Crate Paper.
And another great thing about these 'design elements' is that when I package them up and sell them at the LSS garage sale, they go like hot cakes!!
Do you keep any leftovers to try and use again?

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Baby Boy time...

I needed a few baby boy cards so I sat down and made a bunch to have on hand. It turned out to be a good time to dig into my stash and use up some older supplies.

Here the felt embellishments are from Martha Stewart (they're actually new), paper is from My Minds Eye-Bohemia, sentiment is from the $ store, painted white.

Here the paper is from Crate Paper, image is a sticker from Melissa Frances, button is also from Melissa Frances and the scallop die cut is from QuicKutz.

The paper here is from Making Memories, Circle scallop punch is from Marvy, dimensional paint is from Tulip, sticker is from Melissa Frances, sentiment is from $ store.

This paper is from Daisy Bucket, and metal embellishment is from Making Memories.
It felt really good to use some of my stash on these cards. I wish I could keep going and keep using old supplies...but the new papers are calling out to me...and I need to use them before they get to be 'old supplies', right??!!
Thanks for stopping by.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Scrap-y Monday

Mondays sure come around often don't they?? How does that happen?? At least it was a beautiful day today. We just came in from a walk, the dog loved running around in the park and they had just cut the grass today so it really felt (and smelled!) like almost summer. It seemed like the whole neighborhood was out tonight. It's so nice to see the neighbors after a winter of hibernation.

The reason it's a scrap-y Monday is because this mini card was made from the scraps sitting on my table. The paper is from We R Memory Keepers, flower is from Prima, stem is from Sizzix, flower middle is a sticker from K&Co., the stamp is from Maya Road, rub ons are from Karen Foster and Deja Views.

I actually love making mini cards...I should remember to make more of them. It's a great way to use up scraps.

Hope you're having a nice evening.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Saturday...

So not much happening around here. It's National Scrapbook Day and I've seen a lot of activity on line but had no time to participate. But at least I can say that the neglected house is now clean, the pile of laundry is done and I even got a few minutes to create. Not a bad day after all. Now if I can talk 'you know who' into taking me out for dinner, it'll be a perfect day.

For my 'Mom' card, I used some gorgeous satin ribbon I recently got at a great little store called Write Impressions. As well as beautiful ribbon, the store is filled with beautiful cards, wrapping paper and unique gifts. I get inspired as soon as I step through the door. The patterned paper is from We R Memory Keepers and American Crafts. I cut the flourish (Sizzix) from Tim Holtz grunge board and painted it white. The flowers are from Prima.

Thanks for dropping by. Hope you've had an inspirational kind of day.