Post Christmas...

Hello...Are you happy to be on the other side of Christmas? I kind of am, it's been hectic, but it's also been a wonderful time of family and friends and fun gifts and lots of good food. I'm totally enjoying today...relaxing, watching old videos and making a card. A pretty perfect day, I think.

Today's card is based on sketch 197 at CPS. This week they are doing the year in review where you can choose any sketch from the past year. It's also based on the daily challenge at 365 Cards Plentiful Patterns - Use at least 3 of the following patterns on your card - plaid, paisley, gingham, hounds tooth, toile. I chose argyle, gingham and toile. The flower is from Prima, brad is from Making Memories and the sticker is from SRM stickers. It's also Oldie Moldie Monday where I dig into my forgotten papers and give them a new purpose in life. The argyle paper is from Dream Street and the toile is from Adorn It, Carloee's Creations.

I made a set of Luminaria's for a friend this Christmas. I found a fabulous video tutorial here.

These were so easy and so much fun to make. And using a battery operated votive makes these safe to use with paper and safe to have in my studio.

I used a Martha Stewart snowflake punch and Prism metallic paper. The metallic paper was perfect for this project because it is a heavier weight than card stock and the metallic shine is so pretty with the light reflecting off of it.

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you're having a great Monday.

Challenges x 3!

Christmas card season has hit my house. So it was good to come across 3 sketch/challenge sites that seemed to work well to get me going. And since it's Oldie Moldie Monday, it's time to dig into my stash and find some long forgotten papers and embellishments to use.

The first challenge was the Sketch Sunday challenge on 365 Cards.


The papers and tag are from K&Co (Christmas Cheer), embossing folder is Victoria from Cuttlebug.

Here's another card with the same supplies. The ribbon is from Martha Stewart.

The second sketch challenge is from Clean and Simple Stamping....although there is no stamping on this card.

The paper was a gift from my friend Barb last year and has a wonderful shimmery look to it. The snowflakes are foam from a Michael's and the sentiment is really old from Making Memories.

The third challenge sketch is from Card Patterns.

The paper is again from K&Co., the glittered snowflakes are from Toner Crafts (Michael's post Christmas sale last year), sentiment is from SRM stickers.

Here are 2 more cards with the K&Co. paper and embellishments.

So that's it, that is the end of the K&Co Christmas Cheer Mat pad. I used it all up!!!!

Just 3 million pieces of paper left to use up!!

Happy Monday,
Ivanka

365 Cards-Super Sketchy Sunday

Sunday is almost over but I thought I'd sneak in this card for the sketch challenge at 365 Cards
It's been a while since I've had a chance to do one of their challenges.

The flowers are die cut from tissue paper, the buttons are from my stash, the papers are older 7 Gypsies and the stamp is from Papertrey Ink.

It was a rainy day today which was ok, the rain was much needed by our new lawn. We did manage to get out and pull some weeds and do some yard work this evening when the rain stopped. I know...I lead an exciting life, don't I??!!

Hope you've had a great weekend.

365 Cards, Courage and Strength

The challenge for today at 365 Cards blog is to make a card with the courage and strength theme. This couldn't have come at a better time. I've been needing an inspirational card for a while now, just needed the push to sit down and make it.

The pattered paper is from Bo Bunny and Basic Grey, sentiment is from the Internet, flowers are from Prima and punched from a dictionary page.

Thanks for stopping in today. Hope you have a wonderful weekend, especially those of you in the US-enjoy your extra long weekend.

Seeing Red....

I usually tend to stay away from red and white cards. That's because no matter what I try, those colours always remind me of the Canadian flag. But I recently got some Lush paper from My Mind's Eye and it was so pretty, I gave it a try. It turned out ok, but a little bit of O Canada is sneaking into my mind......


This is for today's challenge on 365 cards to use some criss cross on your card. All paper is from MME, ribbon is Offray, gem is from Prima, script embossing folder from Cuttlebug.

Thanks for dropping by,
Ivanka

Oldie Moldie Monday and a Winner!

I'm always amazed at how fast Monday's come around. Amazingly it's time for OMM and time to announce a winner from last week's OMM and Operation Write Home challenge.

Thanks to all of you who entered and played along with us. We saw some wonderful cards using up some of your long lost supplies. It was great to see. Check out our Flickr gallery to see all the wonderful cards.

The winner of my prize package is.....WindRyder Dreams! Congratulations! Please email me your mailing address to cardstudio@cogeco.ca and I'll get your goodies out to you this week.

To see Barb's winner, check here.

On to today's Oldie Moldie card...this one is for 365 card challenge blog. The challenge today is to create a card inspired by the 1920's.

My flapper stamp is from Hero Arts circa 2002, the paper is from a pad of Vintage Papers from Hot off the Press, also a few years old. Sentiment stamp is from Papertrey Ink.

Hope you join Barb and I again sometime in our Oldie Moldie Monday challenge. It's a great way to use up those long forgotten papers and supplies.

Hope you have a great day.

Ps...I do have a Canadian contact to send cards to the Canadian troops. Let me know if you'd like to have it.

Stormy Friday Night

It is rainin' and thunderin' and blowin' out there tonight. Perfect night to hide in my studio and play with paper.

Tonight's card is for the 365 Card challenge blog. The challenge is to use 3 C's on a card, circle, cross stitch and cream color.

I think the patterned paper is from Stemma, but it was in my scrap pile, so I may never know. I punched out a scalloped circle and dry embossed it with a Cuttlebugs textile texture embossing folder. The flowers are from Prima, brad is from Recollections. Rub on is from Melissa Frances, self adhesive ribbon is from Martha Stewart and the embroidery floss is from DMC.

Don't forget to check out my post on Monday for a fun sketch challenge we're doing with Operation Write Home. You have till Sunday night to make a card to be eligible for a fun prize from me and Barb.

Happy Sunday

Hope you're all having a great day. We did some work outside, it's actually quite humid here today. I was glad escape to my studio in the basement when all the work was done.

Today's card is for the sketch challenge on 365 Cards blog. It took me a minute to figure out the elements for the sketch, but when it came together, I quite like the result.


The paper was a gift, so I don't know the manuf. of it. White and sheer flowers are from Prima, purple is a die cut from Sizzix. The flourish is from QuicKutz, bling is from the $ store and the sentiment stamp is from Papertrey Ink. For the strip at the bottom, I used the tiny bubbles embossing folder and then I inked it with a white stamp pad.

Don't forget to come back tomorrow to play with Barb and I as we dig into our Oldie Moldie stash (it doesn't have to be too moldie!!) and give our long forgotten supplies new life.

There will be a sketch...and there will be prizes...and it's all for a good cause!! Here's my prize offering...


Hope to see you tomorrow.

Ivanka

It's Been a While...

Hard to believe it's been 2 weeks since I made a card. Between painting and redoing Julia's room, my mom coming for a visit and Julia's Confirmation, there was no time for me to sneak off to my happy room.

But things are somewhat back to normal and it was fun to get back to it this morning. Today's card is for several challenges.

First is the sketch challenge at Clean and Simple Stamping Blog FTL86. I was happy to see that their sketch fit perfectly with the monthly challenge over at the SRM blog. The challenge is to make a card using circles and stickers. Last, it's for today's challenge at 365 Cards Blog to create a card with a decorated front, back and everything in between.

Cardstock: DCWV
Patterned Paper: Basic Grey (Eva) and Making Memories (Sabrina)
Stickers: SRM Press (Quick Cards-Girls and Sticker Sentiments-Baby)
Stamps: Kolette Hall (Congratulations) and K&Co. (Hand made with love)
Scalloped Border: Colorbok

Great challenges and so much fun to get back into it. Thanks for dropping by. I'll try not to be such a stranger around here.

365 Cards

I should be painting. But there were a couple of challenges that were calling me....so here I am quickly, then I have to go make it look like I've been painting all day!!

These two cards are for challenges on 365 Cards Blog. This one is for Day #40, Friday 5. The challenge is to use 5 of 5 things on your card. I think I accomplished it all, there are lots of 5 on this card anyway!

The flowers are from Prima, stamped stems are from Skipping Stone Designs, buttons are from magic Scraps, paper is from Basic Grey (Sugar Rush), scalloped border is from Colorbok, twine is from May Arts, sentiment is computer generated.

This card is also for the 365 Cards blog, challenge #39 to use only rub on transfers on your card. I loved this challenge, it made me go through my huge collection of rub ons. They have been drying out and transferring onto the backings, so it was high time to use some. I don't know who makes the pear rub on, the sentiment is from K&Co.

I had a nice chat with my friend Kelly (Hi Kelly!) this morning. Yup...trying to avoid the painting! Anyway, Kelly makes gorgeous cards and I was encouraging her to set up a blog so we could all admire them. I think I'll have to keep working on her.

Happy Friday.

Ivanka

2 New Challenges

What I love about the blog world is that you never know where you'll end up with each click. I had some time earlier today and found all kinds of beautiful blogs to save to my faves.

One of the blogs I ran across today was a familiar face. I had met Linda years ago on a card message board and it was nice to come across her blog today. And through her blog, I found a couple of new challenge sites and was inspired to play along.

The first card is for a color challenge on Die Cuts R Us. The color choices come from the prize pack of My Mind's Eye products. I chose pink and off white.

The stamp is from Serendipity stamps, colored with chalk. The background is a Bazzill Journalling note and the sentiment is a sticker from SRM.

This card is for today's sketch challenge 21 on 365 Cards. The chipboard shapes are from Recollections, bling is from Prima and the sentiment is from K&Co. I used the tiny dots embossing folder, glued some crepe paper to the back and folded the rest over the front. It's neat to find a new use for my stash of crepe paper.

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It's been so nice to run across an old friend and to also find some new ones today.

Thanks for dropping by. Hope you have a great evening.

Ivanka