I Love Snow Days!

Last night there was a heavy snow fall warning on all the weather stations, and their warnings were accurate! Wohoo! And it happened to be the first dump of snow this year too, the kids woke up at 8 and panicked because they slept in (I snuck in to shut their alarm off) and you'd think they would have settled down again but nope. At 8am they went straight for the snow suits, grabbed the dog and out they went. Without breakfast even, lol. My son said he prayed for a huge dump of snow and this morning I overheard them talking about what else they should ask God for, lol.

So it's only fitting that I post another Christmas card with our winter wonderland outside! I bought this stamp set last year and never used it, the shame! I stamped the ornament with versamark and then gold embossing powder. I used the matching Nestabilities Dies to cut out the ornament twice, once for the stamped image and another with some coordinating dsp. The sentiment was also cut out with a circle die, I spritzed it with gold shimmer paint from Stampin' Up!. You can barely see it in the photo but I cut a strip of lace in half and adhered to both edges of the embossed cardstock. The ribbon was sprayed to make it wet and than scrunched.

Stamps: Merry & Bright (Just Rite Stampers)
Paper: Soft Suede, Vanilla, DSP- My Mind's Eye 6x6 pad
Ink: Soft Suede (for the sponging), Early Espresso
Other: Seam Binding, Lace, Rhinestones

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!
Tina

Bright Season

What a gorgeous Fall day today! The sun is shining and the air is crisp, just cool enough to warrant a sweater. But looking ahead we're supposed to get some snow/rain which is my favourite kind of day, perfect for stamping or anything else that involves staying warm inside!

I finally got around to using some of my Christmas stamps that I bought last year and never had a chance to use. This one is from Stampin' Up! and it's a complete case from someone at SCS. It's a very basic card, I switched up the colours to suite me a little more. I add dazzling diamonds to the berries to give it some great shimmer!

Stamps: Beautiful Season
Paper: Kraft, Bravo Burgundy, Vanilla
Ink: Bravo Burgundy
Other, Burgundy ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds

Thanks for stopping by!
Tina

Something a Little Different...

Hi everyone, fall has hit our corner of the world and it's just beautiful! Fall is not my favourite season but it is the most beautiful, agree?

I have something a little different to show you today, it still involves scrapbook paper so I thought it was ok to post here, lol. I've been trying to find ways to decorate my front entrance table for cheap and I think I managed the cheap part. Everything on it only cost me a grand total of under $20, that's a good deal!

I frequently do a walk through in our local thrift store looking for great finds that I can either paint or use in some way in the home. Frames is always big on my list and I found two of these for $3 each. I still haven't painted them because I can't decide on a colour, maybe you have a opinion?

But on to the project! I grabbed an old hymn book and ripped out 5 songs that felt were within the theme of being thankful, I then tore the edges and inked them with Crumb Cake ink, I wasn't careful with this step. Just play with it! I used a little glue and first glued on the back songs and then glued the top song, making sure no background was visible.

The banner was made with the cricut and a pennant SVG file (Oh how I love SVG files!). I also cut the letters out with my cricut and glued them to the circles. To hang them, I punched little holes on each side of the pennant and weaved the linen thread through. I used glue dots to mount them to the frame and covered the glue dots with antique brads (I removed the prongs).


And that's all there's to it, now I just have to decide on a paint colour. I was thinking maybe a mustard colour or a very muted yellow? If you're wondering how I got this for under $20: The window shutter was $1 at the thrift store, the ceramic vase with filler was $1.75, the candle holder has been in our home forever, and the lantern was roughly $12. The pumpkins were free thanks to my Father in Law! I plan on getting a few mini pumpkins for the table top and possible some berries to go in the vase.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!
Tina

My current obsession...

Pinterest. Yup, I admit, I'm addicted. Which is taking serious time away from my craft room. Since building our home I have become obsessed with decorating our home, on the cheap! So that's meant lots of DIY projects and some furniture refinishing. I'm hoping to get caught up soon.

So far I've painted a set of antique coffee tables, an old hutch (lime green, that was fun!), a large U-shaped office desk for my craft room, a shelving unit for my craft room,

I've also made; drapes for my daughter's room, a message centre for the mud room, chevron wall art for the living room, and some vinyl wall word projects for the kitchen and laundry room.

On my to do list; paint two student desks for the kid's rooms, paint the boys' dresser, paint my daughter's bedroom set, paint my entrance table, make a headboard for my daughter's bedroom, reupholster our headboard, paint more fun art projects for the kids toy area and all around the house, and I bought another set of vintage coffee tables that I'll need to paint (they were only $5!). And when I'm feeling really ambitious, paint a huge piano that I got for freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

So that gives you a bit of an idea of what I've been up to lately. My poor husband cringes when he opens our garage, lol. But he also knows that it's saving him money... did I mention that we bought a puppy in May? Yup, that's been fun. The kids love her and are really good about taking her out, but who gets to take care of her while they're in school? You guessed it, me. :)

But I did get into my craft room today and made another card using my current favourite colour combination! The butterflies are from Stampin' Up! as is the sentiment with matching die. The paper is from My Mind's Eye (I think). Sorry for the bad picture, I still haven't found the best spot to take pictures.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tina

You Make me Smile

Most people love summer and for years I thought I did too. But as you get older you start to learn more about yourself and a few years ago I came to the realization that summer is really not my favourite season. In fact, it's Spring. Why? Because everything feels so fresh, the snow melts, the leaves bloom and the grass turns it's lovely shade of green again. Plus an added benefit, NO BUGS. Summer on the other hand, is just hot, hot, hot. And don't forget the massive blood suckers that come out and the flies that seem to find there way into your house no matter how obsessed you are about keeping the door closed. So yes, I have to say that Summer is one of my least favourite seasons.

On to something productive, lol. I found this image already colored and ready to go and figured today was a good day to just forget about my 'to do' list for a while and just stamp.  I used one of my 6"x6" paper pads and chose a color combination that is one of my favourites these days. I used a paper piercer and black marker to create the faux stitching.

Thanks for stopping by, hope you're having a great summer!
Tina

A Little Rusty...

Ok, maybe VERY rusty, lol. My room is set up, not done yet, but set up!! It's so nice to have a space again. I've been painting a big U-shaped desk and shelving unit like a mad woman and finally the hard work is paying off. Now I just have to find the time to build wall units for all my ribbon, buttons, and punches. When that's done, I'll post pictures!

I hope I'm not the only one experiences "crafters block" after a long break of crafting. It's almost like your brain forgets what goes together and what doesn't. So with that in mind I went for a case. I'm not sure who to give the credit to as I saw a few of this style in the Splitcoaststampers gallery but it's definitely not my original creation.

I embossed the flower with white embossing powder, although it looks more like ivory in the image. Then I used my sponges and swirled Perfect Plum on top, the embossed area resists the colour leaving you with a beautiful image!

Stamps: Blooming with Kindness
Paper: Kraft, Whisper White, DSP-Sweet Surrender by Tina Higgins
Ink: Black, Perfect Plum
Other: Pearls, White Satin Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by!
Tina

Hi everyone, I'm so happy that I have a card to share today! Life just seems to get in the way sometimes, doesn't it! I made this card right before we finished building but couldn't find my pearls to finish it off so it just kind of sat there, but I was able to find them hidden in my stash. Although I left the sentiment off just because I'm not sure what I want to use this card for and this way it's ready to go for the next time I need a card.

I'm also happy to report that I'm making an exciting trip to Ikea this weekend which means I'll be ready to completely set up my stamp room, YAY!!!! I guess you could say I was being stubborn but I really didn't want to make things work with plastic tables and improper storage so I left everything in boxes, but that is about to change. Now I'll just have to see how soon my DH can build me my ribbon/button/punch racks and my room will be ready to use.

Sorry, no info on materials.

Hope you're having a great day!
Tina

S.T.R.E.S.S.

Stress, I think I have given new definition to that word! We moved back to Alberta at the beginning of the summer and wanted to build a home instead of buying. It's been an interesting journey, one that I wouldn't want to take too often. We waited 2 months for our blueprints to be done, and then the building process began. We wanted to save where we could, so I volunteered to paint the walls. I think I've mentioned in the past that painting is like child birth, you forget just how bad it is, until you're going through it again, lol.

We spent the first few months in our camper, and while it's a large(ish) one, it's still never big enough for a family of five! From there we moved into a small 2 bedroom home, again not big enough for a family of five. I had all my stamp stash in our bedroom with great plans to continue stamping, but I finally threw my hands in the air and decided to just wait until I could have my space again.

Well I have a space, a whole room to be exact (wohoo!) and it should be up and functional in about 1-2 weeks, from there I should be back to posting again. I am so excited!! Once my room is done I'll post some images so you can see my hard work, ok maybe more like my husband's hard work. :)

So all of this, just to say: stay tuned. I'll be back soon! And thanks for not giving up on my blog!

Thanks for stopping by!
Tina

First one Down...

Only 50 more to go... Christmas cards that is. It snowed a little last night, and it's really cold out, Brrr! I finally took all my stamp stuff out yesterday and stamped by the kitchen table, it was so nice to do again. My 7 year old daughter must have felt the same way because she made 3 cards while I made one, she'll be passing me soon with her creativity!

I bought this stamp set from Just Rite Stampers a while ago with the coordinating dies, love this set! Plus I finally go to use this designer paper from My Mind's Eye. I enjoy bright fun colours for Christmas but my eye is always drawn to colours that bring out the warmth and glow of Christmas so I almost squealed when I saw the warm colours in the DSP.

I saw this card layout on SCS a few days ago but know who it was made by, this is a case off of that card. The cardstock is all from Stampin' Up! and designer paper is MME. I stamped the ornaments in Cherry Cobbler and softened them with Soft Suede and a sponge. Before I adhered them to the card I sprayed them with some champagne shimmer mist (the best stuff ever created!). The sentiment isn't very visible but I hope it'll be ok.



Thanks for stopping by, hope you're having a great start to your weekend!
Tina

Have you Missed Me?

You don't have to answer that, I might not like the answer, hehe. I look forward to the day when our house is done and my stamp room is all set up and all my woes will be gone. Sounds pretty dramatic doesn't it! Well in July after I said I would start posting again my camera died on me, I'm seriously not even making that up, lol. And to repair my DSLR is supposed to cost almost as much as just buying a new camera body. So for now I just purchased a cheap point and shoot that takes horrible indoor photos. I finally just threw my arms up in the air and said I'm taking a break.

We're in a rental right now until our home is finished but at least I have all my stamp stuff (but not set up) and I have high speed webbing again. I feel like I need to shout this from the roof top. Not kidding. I love my phone but after 3 months of using that tiny tiny (did I mention tiny) little screen I feel like I've moved into a super sized world with my laptop.

For those of you that are wondering, the building is coming along slowly, it took forever for us to get our blueprints. And it's such a hassle to get building permits for the area we're building. But things should start to pick up soon, and if all goes well we should be in our new home by the beginning of next year. I'm most excited about having a finished stamp room. I have it all mapped out, my finger is on the trigger ready to put it all together. I think this will require at least two trips to Ikea...

But enough of my blabbing, you'd think I had been in solitary confinement or something...
This card was made in July so I really don't remember enough details to tell you anything other than ta-da! I think it's time to start making Christmas cards and bombard you with those!


Sorry about the poor quality picture but it's better than nothing!

Thanks for stopping by!
Tina

Summer Days

Good morning everyone! How I LOVE quiet mornings, the kids are outside relaxing (AKA horsing around) in the hammock and I have nothing on the agenda today. My parents have an abundance of strawberry plants in their garden so one day this week I plan on making a few batches of jam, but today might be a ‘nothing’ kind of day!

Here’s another card made over the weekend. It’s totally inspired by Amy Scheffer and came somewhat short of what I had envisioned. I used SU!’s postage punch and punched out some designer paper. The sentiment is from a Flourishes stamp set and the rose trim was white but I used a Copic marker to colour it, love how easy it is to change the colours to what I need!


Thanks for stopping by, hope you're having great summer day!
Tina

Let's Try That Again!

So some of you might have noticed I never came back to post over the weekend like I said I would, I’m hoping to get my internet woes sorted out soon!

Gosh we had a warm day today, and with no breeze so it made it feel even warmer. I love summer but not the hot days, I love the days that are just warm enough to feel like summer but not hot enough to make you long for winter!

I’m posting a project today that I did with my club ladies a while back, the tutorial for it can be found at Splitcoaststampers in the resources section. It’s actually quite easy, I did revise it slightly so that I could use regular 8.5x11 cardstock. I also didn’t have the chipboard coasters so I used the cardboard that comes with SU!’s designer paper. I recommend using your corner rounder punch on the cardboard before you glue your paper together, otherwise the layers are a little too thick for your punch.

I also didn’t use ribbon to tie the book together like the original tutorial, I find that the recipients of these sorts of things prefer the Velcro closure over the ribbon. I simply glued the flap between the cardboard and cardstock and than add the Velcro.









Thanks for stopping by!
Tina

Yay! I'm back!!

Yay, it’s nice to be somewhat back to the world again! Our move was successful, we’re having a blast camping right now and our home building plans are slowly coming along. I know it’ll be a while before it’s finished but I’m so excited to pick all our colours and fill it with new furniture!

My internet connection is a bit of a pain right now but I have been stamping in my free time and plan on posting regularly from this point. That’s what I say now, you can hold me to it, lol.

I have one card to share today using a stamp from the Pure Innocence line, so cute! I coloured her with my copics and paper pieced her shirt and purse. Faux stitching around the edges and the rest is easy peasy!



Thanks for stopping by, check back again tomorrow for another project!
Tina

Blue Lenten

So we're two weeks away from moving, TWO weeks. And yesterday I did what any sane stamper would do, I hopped over to the LSS and bought some goodies, lol. I don't really have a lot of time to stamp these days, but that doesn't stop the buying! Last night our boys were at a Birthday party which left me and my daughter to spend time together in my stamp room. I had recently ordered the Lenten Rose stamp set from Flourishes and was excited to colour it in, although I don't know if they come in blue. I guess that's the beauty of colouring, you get to use your imagination. The center of the flowers have pearls which were coloured with copics.



Stamps: Lenten Rose (Flourishes)
Paper: Early Espresso (SU), Pool Party (SU), Lemon Party (PTI), White (GK), DSP- Prima
Ink: Black, Copics
Other: Pearls (SU), Lace Crochet, Satin Ribbon (Dollar Store)
Inspired by: Yvonne Anabelle

Thanks for stopping by!
Tina

Memories of Summer

We had such a gorgeous day here today, perfect temperatures and a light breeze. Which means you HAVE to go for a bike ride followed by ice-cream, no counting calories! I love walking/biking to the local store during the summer months and sitting down for a nice treat, now if only our kids liked the cheap ice-cream, but alas the apples don't fall far from the tree, lol.

Today's card is completely cased from Teresa Mombers, what that woman can do with ink and a sponge is amazing!



Thanks for stopping by!
Tina