2012 365 #194 - priceless

This week's challenge at the Opus Gluei is a free for all challenge - do anything, just play along!  I love these kind of challenges...the pressure is off and I can make whatever I fancy!  I got this new stamp set just before Christmas and have been itching to use it...so much fun...of course Christmas and then the stomach flu for my girls (had to cancel my oldest's 13th birthday party an hour before it was to start - or it would have been a barfday party) got in the way of my creativity, but everyone seems sort of back on track today so I got it done at last! Hope everyone had some wonderful holiday time and to a fabulous new year on the way!

2012 365 #192 - tag you're it!

This week's challenge at Anything but a Card is anything goes (as long as it is not a card) or your favorite project from 2012 - I almost forgot to do this project this week with all the Christmas craziness going on...whipped these little tags up in about 2 minutes as we were wrapping gifts and ran out...not too fancy or anything...just practical! merry Christmas to all of you! hope your holiday time is fabulous and you have a wonderful new year!

2012 365 #193 - quick Christmas cards

I whipped up some last minute (14 cards done in 25 minutes...really mean it when I say whipped!!!) Christmas cards using the Sketch from Artful Delight....what a fun and quick sketch to whip up some bulk cards quickly!  Love playing along with them!!!

2012 365 #190 - up yours :)

This week's challenge at Shopping our Stash is to use a winter theme, but not a "holiday" one...I chose Stella cuz she is so much fun!
This is the last of the cards from the Death of a Paper line project...I love this stamp and had to use it at least once this season...she is one of my most favorite sarcastic ones....hope you join in this week!  It is an extra long challenge so you can get some holiday fun in too!

2012 365 #191 snowman poop

I totally stole this awesome idea from Karen (she entered it in our Anything but a Card Challenge last time round)...my girls and their friends are so into tic tac candies and everyone has a package in their school bag....so when I saw this idea, I knew it had to be the project of the year for the "token" kids gifts that they hand out to their friends...I always try to keep those gifts under $2 cuz they always have tons of people they want to give to, so off to Costco I went and 24 packages of tic tacs later, the girls are beaming....thanks for the awesome idea Karen!

2012 365 #189 - Joy to the World!

The challenge at the Opus Gluei this week is to use a Christmas Carol to inspire your project.  I went for the "Joy to the World" aspect with some frolicking reindeer to lighten the Christmas mood....my dad bought this stamp and die set for Christmas this year and I get to use it before Christmas! Wahoozle! Hope Santa is good to all of you this year!

2012 365 #188 keep calm and shop on

This week's challenge at Shopping our Stash is to use a sentiment as a focal point on your project and not images....I was rummaging through my stamp sets and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to break this one in (first dip in the ink pad for this stamp) and another card from the death of the paper line leftovers (they are almost used up...maybe enough for 6 more cards and then it is completely kaput!  wahoozle!


not many shopping days left till christmas...not done yet...what a busy year...cards aren't made (kids don't even go for christmas pictures until december 18th, so they will be late anyway)...still have presents to buy, the tree is not up, baking is not done....crrraaaazzzzyy! not our usual holiday standard, but no one is sick and we are busy with fun stuff, so I guess that is a good sacrifice to have to be made....just thought this phrase would be appropriate in our house this week! Hope all your holiday plans are going well!

2012 365 #187 - star light star bright

The challenge at Anything But a Card this week is celebrating the light or holiday projects....I decorated my wall at work (shhh don't tell anyone) with these stars cut out with the bigshot die from Sizzix...I made about 50 of them...over half are 3-d and the other half are one sided...I thought they could add some neutral festive flair in a really boring office environment without offending any religions or beliefs of any sort...hope it worked!

2012 365 #166 - death of a paper line

Not sure why this didnt post when it was supposed to, but better late than never, I suppose!  It showed up in my blog roll and then reverted back to a draft??? what's up with that?

This week's challenge at Shopping our Stash is to do holiday/winter cards or projects using up your stash....okay, so I have been slacking it lately on using my old stash...things here are crazy and I have had no spare time to speak of....so I decided I would cut myself out two hours on Sunday morning of crafty time before Lauren had to go to her tap exam practice...well I guess the busy-ness has taken a toll on all of us because we slept in until 11:10 (which has not happened since Emily was born in 2001 - she is always up by 8:00 or as soon as it gets light out...even the puppy was still sleeping when Emily woke it up...) - needless to say our day changed in a dramatically different way (Lauren's dance class starts at 11:00) - so glad it was not next week for her exam...so once lunch was done I made up my mind to do an hour "paper line kill"...not sure if you have ever done that or not, it's kind of fun....grab an old paper line and off with it's head! I gave my self one hour on the timer (or the washing machine load - as it happens to be at my house), picked the line and away I went....I got to card number 14 (at the 43 minute mark) when the girls yelled to me "MOM....MOM...THE DOG JUST ATE A HOLE IN THE LIVING ROOM CARPET!!!! MOM!!! COME QUICK!!!" (I thought they had the puppy with them watching a movie in the basement...she isn't usually left unsupervised in the house) needless to say the end of my crafting hour was now at 43 minutes! So now we are going to be spending the next little while trying to figure out what to do with the carpet in the living room...poohey...I like my carpet and it looked good...not the Christmas present I was hoping for this year....humbug! But I did cruise through 14 Christmas cards and most of a paper line (most of the pages were already cut into and the sticker sheets etc were already robbed from...this was just the residue of Christmas card making from 2 years ago) that I am quite tired of looking at!

2012 365 #185 - monkey see, monkey do

This was my week to set the challenge over at the Opus Gluei, and I chose monkeys!  I love these coffee cozies that my mom made for my birthday and they totally inspired me into making a card for them!  I love this stamp and sentiment....they are definitely in my most adored pile...so stop monkeying around and get swinging on a monkey project for all to see!

2012 365 #184 - odds and ends

This week's challenge at Shopping our Stash is odds and ends - I love these kind of challenges to use up the bits and pieces left over from all my other projects...everything on this card is odds and ends...I have one paperclip, one tag to stamp, the flowers are leftovers from my father's day project, the last of this baker's twine, I got the record keeping tag at a crop and only one pin and these last two buttons...phew - even the paper is scrap and the last card base in the box!

2012 365 #183 - just beachy

phew, I didn't think I was going to be able to get a project done for this week's challenge at Anything But A Card, but here it is...things have been so crazy and when I went in to check out what the challenge was, the beach theme just floored me...then I remembered I had these coasters lying around (that were supposed to be used for Christmas last year) - and I love this stamp set so it was a perfect match!

Tried out my new spectrum noir markers on this project...still not sure if I like them as much as my copics, but the colours are way more intense, which gives it all a different kind of look...don't like that they re-activate the memento ink and make it spread...anyone have any suggestions on base ink to use for this type of marker? I don't have that problem with the copic markers??? I thought they were the same kind of ink, but I guess not??

2012 365 #182 - partridge in a pear tree

This weeks challenge at Shopping our Stash is called leaf it to me - use some leaves on your project - easy, right?  The only thing better than old stash using is free stash using...my friend gave me this piece of partridge paper (only one - which totally breaks all my rules of always buying 2 of each) and I wanted to hoard it because I love the colours, but instead, I cut it up and made a card - go me! I used the lattice spellbinders (for the first time) for the leaves on my tree and my birch tree memory box die that I just had to have and have never used...the back of the paper was this green leaf pattern (background of this card - such pretty combo) - and I finally broke open my little package of birdies too...coloured them with my Tim Holtz markers and put a little smooch on top...play along, won't you?

2012 365 #181 - oh Christmas tree

This week the Opus Gluei girls challenged us to make a 3-d project.  It has been sooooooooo busy in our house this week, that I ran out of time for an original idea (I did have something planned, but there just was no time to complete) so I pulled out our latest stamp club project and decided to use that instead...not my idea - it is actually in the catalogue as a project idea, but it is made by me and super cute!  I will have to do some more of these because I am in love with the pop up aspect of this kind of card...***the reason that we were so busy is that my sister had her much awaited baby on Saturday morning and I had to visit (welcome to the world Sawyer)...oh and the hubby was awarded with a pretty fancy medal from the province for all the great work that he does on Friday night at a dinner...those great things that happen take away a bit from the crafting time - but are well worth it!
Come on out and play with us a while, won't you?

2012 365 #180 - so grateful

This weeks challenge at Shopping our Stash is a Thanksgiving or Thank you card...Thank goodness for our stamp club...it is like she knows what our challenges are going to be and sets up my cards perfectly :) - especially as this colorado low coming through has grounded me with a huge low pressure headache and it is making everything torture this weekend....oh well, can feel the system letting up on my brain a bit this morning, but until then, I will use another stamp club card....this one is along the style of what I would have done anyway, so it is a bonus that she gave us the idea!  Now out to shovel...maybe fresh air will help the headache out! 

2012 365 #179 - Penny

This week's challenge at Anything But A Card is to use time or stitching on your project.  I chose to do fake stitching to try out my sew easy stamper...not overly impressed with the look of the outcome of the stamper, but it was fun to play with anyway...my time aspect for this challenge is how time flies...It seems like just yesterday that we picked her up from her little farm and now she is such a big part of the family...she is still a cutie and a pretty smart pooch too!  Let's see how you can conquer this challenge!

2012 365 #172 - happy hexagon

This week's challenge at Shopping our Stash is to use products that you considered "The best deal ever"....of course, I say that about pretty much everything that I buy for scrapbook supplies, so the decision of what to use was a hard one for me this week...I love these corrugated cards...made lots of things with them over this past week...The hexagon dies are also a "best thing ever" deal as I spent one whole weekend cutting out hexi's for a different project with a template and it was a nightmare...then lo and behold, I found these nestabilities and now I am in heaven...so let's see what your best deal ever is!

2012 365 #171 - make a wish

This week's challenge at the Opus Gluei is a silhouette or a number...I chose the first because I have the perfect, hardly used stamps for this challenge and just had to pull them out of hiding and let them see the light....

Let's see what you can come up with for this challenge!

2012 365 #173 - Start of the Christmas card season

Whipped up a few Christmas cards at a crop last weekend - loving these corrugated cards (sorry mom, but I like them even though you said they look like a chopped up box)...what do you guys think??

2012 365 #177 - birdie christmas

I tried an experiment with dyeing this ribbon by just rubbing it through the ink pad...it turned out okay, but I think it could have been covered a little more (and maybe I should have used white ribbon and not cream???  only had the cream with me at the time though)...just a simple card but I love the stamp and had to try it out...

2012 365 #175 - magical Christmas

This card was made with only scraps left over from a few other projects at a crop on the weekend...the colour combination is kind of growing on me.....

2012 365 #178 - be a deer

this pattern was copied from a paper crafts magazine...I thought the idea was cute and I was experimenting with my new deer dies that I bought a little while back...one of the cards looks like deer going to target practice in my opinion...maybe we will have to give that card to a hunter friend of ours for Christmas...he might find it humourous???

2012 365 # 176 - memory box card

we made this card in a memory box class...it took up about 5 minutes to make and it turned out kind of cute...i think i would tweak it a bit, but the idea is neat...

2012 365 #174 - hedgehog christmas

I thought this stamp was super cute and I happened to have the sentiment left over from a piece of paper that I had already chopped up and thought it worked out perfectly...I am entering this card in the Penny Black cute Christmas challenge.

2012 365 #170 - paint chip poinsettias

This week's challenge at Shopping our Stash is 3-d flowers...I made these flowers from paint samples stolen from the Home Depot sample section...well, not really stolen...free samples can't be stolen....but I took a few of the colour cherry pie and that is the one I fell for....punched and stamped (turns out the ink doesn't seem to dry on paint samples too well).....let's see what fancy flowers you can make!

2012 365 #169 - little black box

This week's challenge at Anything but a Card is to incorporate black into your project...We made this little black box in our stamp club and it was so cute and sparkly...totally doing these again...the rosette is hand done and there is a button under the boo tag that is a little hard to see...what kind of project can you come up with this week?

2012 365 #168 - out of the jar

This weeks challenge at Shopping our Stash is "Out of the Jar"  either literally or figuratively...it can be a projects with jars on it or one that your supplies came out of a jar...or even decorate a jar itself..

I took the jar a little bit more literally and used up some extra stickers and pieces from a paper pack I bought and used most of already...now just using up the dregs of the leftovers....I don't know why it is so hard to part with these pieces...I bought the stickers because they are awesome, but when it comes to using them up, I have a difficult time doing it...I am getting past that and just diving in and using everything up..some sets I liked so much that I have more than one set of stickers and still can't bring myself to use....so hard for me to do...let's see what you can find in your stash this week!

2012 365 #167 - leaf it up to you

This week's challenge at the Opus Gluei is a leaf challenge called "leaf it up to you"...it is open to interpretation as all of their challenges are, but of course, I am more of a literal challenge type and I did a card with a tree on it...but it is a sparkly tree that was calling out to be put to use...so a paper sunburst around it and voila!  It was used up....what can you come up with this week?

2012 365 #166 - Boo!

This week's challenge at Shopping our Stash is Trick or Treat - or anything halloween, candy or treat related...lots of options out there for you to play along.  We learned to make these cute little boo cards at our last stamp club and I thought it was just too cute not to share!  I love that the little boo opens up to show the little guys underneath!  let's see what fabulous creations you can come up with this week!

2012 365 #165 - trick or treat

This week's challenge at Anything But A Card is fall colours or a Halloween project...I am doing a craft sale with my mom this week and I know that candy should sell...everyone likes candy - so I whipped up a few of these (21 in fact) to thow in the sale....I thought they were really cute in the end and all the paper is scrap from other projects and the halloween orange stuff I got free at a crop about 5 years ago and am still trying to use it up....let's see what you come up with this week!

2012 365 #163 - sunflower card

Happy Turkey Day!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends and family and all the other Canadians out there!!!  Experimenting a little with a bacon wrapped turkey this year....looks and smells delish and it is ready to eat!!!

I wonder if this might be how turkey bacon may have been invented????  So ready to eat that it's legs are falling off!  Hope you all have something delicious in your life today!

2012 365 #162 - turquoise, red, black and white

This week's challenge at the Opus Gluei is a colour challenge...and I am all for a colour challenge...Gini set it and chose the following colours: turquoise, red, black and white....quite the combo! ...I was pumped to see this colour combo posted by Gini the same day that my new box of scrapbooking stuff came in the mail - I just happened to order a paper pack in those colours without knowing that this challenge was coming up - the challenge gods were watching out over me ;) I made 8 cards - all birthday - some girl and some boy....to celebrate world cardmaking day yesterday!  Hope to see some fabulous creations from all of you this week!