Musings+

Of Cats, Mice, Tea, and Harlequins

2011-08-07T14:33:00.000-04:00

The Harlequin Games card is one I've been planning for some time, finally made last week. The bg stamp is SU Print Pattern, the Harlequin is a bonus pattern from the February/March 2007 issue of Stampers' Sampler magazine, and the "inchies" are CS Designs digital stamps, "Harlequin Images", and "Solitaire". The teapot was done for a challenge by the group, ATC Artists, "Tea with Royalty", in

Nature's Chef

2011-06-20T09:43:00.000-04:00

The summer solstice is fast approaching, and yet the season has just begun here. The golden days of summer slip through our fingers faster than our youth. Fripon, on the chaise longue, and Rascal, sunbathing, take advantage of every moment of these lazy days. I follow their example and spend as much time as possible outdoors. Breakfast on my balcony is a special treat in summer. There's a

Butterflies and Helicopters

2011-06-17T13:01:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, from my balcony, I witnessed the takeoff of hundreds of little "helicopters"; the winged seeds of the maple trees that flank my balcony. Every time a gust of wind shook the trees, whirling, dancing seeds took off to find welcoming earth to settle into. I had recently watched a documentary on Monarch Butterflies, who winter in Mexico, and migrate in groups of thousands, making a journey

Asian Squares and Oriental Darlings

2011-06-15T08:34:00.001-04:00

It's 64F this morning, and another sunny, near-windless day is announcing itself. Cliché or not, mornings, especially beautiful ones, always make me feel as if anything is possible. What I failed at, or failed to do yesterday can be a triumph today. A sparrow just alighted on my window tree and chirped at me! Possibilities, possibilities! If I could bottle mornings to inhale in moments of

Craft Stamper Designer's Choice 2

2011-06-14T08:42:00.000-04:00

It's a glorious morning here, and I'm taking a mid-morning coffee break with a friend in a couple of hours, so this day is beginning very well, indeed! Yesterday, I posted a card with colors based on the "Designer's Palette" in the May issue of Craft Stamper magazine. Before you ask, no, I don't get a commission, free stamps or anything else from the magazine for mentioning it; I just like to

Each day, a little beauty...

2011-06-13T15:06:00.000-04:00

The French sentiment on this card, translated, is; "Each day, life offers a little beauty." Sometimes, we have to look hard to find that beauty, and this rainy, windy, and cool spring and summer do challenge me to look hard! The idea for this card came from the May 2011 issue of the British publication, Craft Stamper. There's always a small, free clear stamp attached to the cover, and inside,

"I Know why the caged bird sings"

2011-06-12T16:28:00.001-04:00

This card uses the Technique Junkies Telescoping Card technique. The base cs--dark blue here--is supposed to be scalloped, but I don't have a scalloped-edge or other large circle die, so I used a Fiskars Circle template. The stamps are from the SU set Nature Walk. The sentiment is computer-generated. I took the quote from a Maya Angelou poem. The cage and bird suggested the quote. My bird has

3D Embellishment

2011-06-11T13:12:00.002-04:00

This card is a response to the 3D117 challenge on Papercraft Planet here: http://papercraftplanet.net/2011/06/07/3d117-challenge-creating-3d-stamped-embellishments/ The cs is SU Regal Rose, the embossing envelope is SU Manhattan Flower and the butterfly is the same one used on the Solitaire Mysterious Butterfly card in a previous post. It's made by Stamps Happen. I colored it with Sparkling H2Os

Mystery and Illusion

2011-06-09T14:38:00.003-04:00

I made this ATC for the CS Designs challenge, Mystery of Imagination, on Papercraft Planet, here: http://www.cs-designs.blogspot.com/ The butterfly stamp is a favorite, and the masked face beneath it is a CSDesigns digi stamp, Solitaire, Mysterious Butterfly. The sentiment is also a CSD digi stamp. Solitaire is colored with Sparkling H2Os.

Balloons, Balloons!

2011-06-09T14:30:00.000-04:00

The stamp and cs on this card are from the Gina K Stamp TV set, Vintage Chic. I used Gina K's card--video how-to here: http://stamptv.ning.com/ to inspire my version. The ink is SU Lovely Lilac. The designer bg was originally white and black; I used the direct to paper technique with SU Lovely Lilac to color it. I didn't have the Sakura Stardust pens Gina sparkled her image with, so I used glue

Two Challenges with One Card

2011-06-08T10:52:00.001-04:00

This card answers the CST Weekly Challenge #4 to use these colors or an aproximation of them: Regal Rose, Wild Wasabi, Tempting Turquoise, Early Espresso, and white. It also fits the "Make a summer card" challenge on the Creative Cuttlebuggers site. To me, a lake, the St. Lawrence River or the sea are perfect places for a summer vacation. The stamp is House Mouse Catchin' the Rays.

Acrylic Emboss

2011-06-07T13:09:00.002-04:00

These cards were made with the Acrylic Emboss technique, from Technique Junkies' "Emboss or Die CD", which can be purchased here: http://www.techniquejunkies.com/

More Faux Tiles

2011-06-05T17:00:00.000-04:00

I just had to do another Faux Tiles card! The background image is the companion to the FT1 stamp from QuikArt. Foreground image is Small Face Frame by Hampton Art Stamps. Ink use: SU Pacific Point and Lovely Lilac.

Faux Tiles

2011-06-02T21:44:00.004-04:00

This card, uses the Faux Tiles technique from the Technique Junkies Newsletter.The card base is SU Marigold Morning, the cs for image and background layer are SU Whisper White. The bg stamp is QuikArt #9858, which is a collage stamp. The ink is SU River Rock and Marigold Morning.

Sea-ing

2011-05-30T11:08:00.000-04:00

The sea is one of my favorite themes, and I've used it on these two cards. On the first, "Under the Sea", the background is done with the Cuttlebug embossing folder, "D'vine Swirls". The little mermaids asleep in a seashell are stamped (Stamp Happy, and the one at top is from the CS Designs digital "Babushka" collection. Her name is Anastasia, which means I have another card to enter in this

Nature Girl Babushka

2011-05-28T23:13:00.000-04:00

Another ATC in answer to a challenge on the CSD Challenge Blog site. This one was a color challenge, to use any shade of brown, yellow or green; Nature Challenge. I used Pasha, one of CSD's digistamps I recently got. To see what others have done with the challenge, and for instructions on how to participate, go to http://www.doodleartifacts.blogspot.com/

CS Designs Challenge

2011-05-28T17:47:00.000-04:00

This ATC was inspired by the Alphabet Challenge at CS Designs Challenge Blog http://doodleartifacts.blogspot.com/2011/05/cs-designs-surprise-weekly-challenge.html My "A" is for Asian. The two smaller images are from a digital stamp set from CS Designs, "Asian Dominoes 1". I've had it for some time but, like a lot of things in my stash, haven't used. The geisha is from the SU set, Dream Gardens.

Three Things from My Stash

2011-05-17T14:20:00.000-04:00

This card is inspired by the Stamping in Paradise challenge make a card using three neglected things from one's stash. One of my three things is invisible; The text is a sticker (Thing 1) I put on a round piece of chipboard (Thing 2), thus making the chipboard disappear. Thing 3 is the cat stamp, which I haven't used in a long time. You can see the great cards inspired by this challenge here:

Golden Geisha

2011-05-16T18:23:00.001-04:00

I recently discovered the great papercraft site, Gingersnap Creations, and made this card for their Red and Gold challenge. Card details cardstock: SU Real Red and Basic Black; Stamps: SU Dream Gardens; Technique: VersaMark, gold ep; border done with gold pen, SU rhinestone brads. Take a look at the great Gingersnap Creations red and gold art here: http://gingersnapcreations.blogspot.com/2011/04

Spring Has Sprung?

2011-05-16T14:52:00.002-04:00

The question mark in the title is due to the uncertainty of our Québec spring; for every warm day, there seems to be five cold, rainy and windy ones! A Yahoo! group I belong to, CST (Canadian Stamp Talk) issued a challenge to use ribbon on a card. It was a challenge for me, indeed, since I hardly ever think of using ribbon! Background paper from Cornish Heritage Farms, stamped with SU Linen,

You Only Live Once!

2011-05-15T22:29:00.001-04:00

This card was made for the StampTV Free for all Friday DIY background challenge. The challenge was to make your own stamped background for a card.Stamps: SU Fine Lace, Stampabilities That Look, SU Fifth Avenue Floral; Ink: SU Lavendar Lace; CS: SU Lavendar Lace, Very Vanilla. The black line is not part of the card. This is my first time participating in a StampTV challenge. To see the other

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T17:14:00.001-05:00

HHere's one last Valentine. Stamps are SU, cs also.

Valentines Redux

2011-02-02T20:48:00.000-05:00

I'm on a roll...at least where making Valentines are concerned. Here are the latest: I found the technique for the paper rose on the card above on someone's blog but forgot to "favorite" the web address. Two pieces of cs in coordinating colors are circle-punched together, spiral-cut, rolled tightly and glued on the card.

Valentines!

2011-02-01T17:33:00.007-05:00

Inkstainers challenge to make non-red Valentines inspired me. I used Cuttlebug and SU embossing folders, plus a little stamping.

Not dead--yet!

2011-01-26T16:45:00.000-05:00

I suppose I've lost everyone who ever followed (?) this blog and have been checking in vain to see if I've posted anything in 2010. I'm still getting my stamping/library/computer room fixed up and put in order, and my stamping stuff is mostly unreachable. That's my excuse, and I stand by it. For my older granddaughter's February birthday, I valiantly dug out enough CS, a Cuttlebug folder,

21 September 2009--Last (official) Day of Summer

2009-09-21T16:53:00.005-04:00