I'm back ... I hope!!

Been a while, I know! Again, life got in the way ...
Hopefully I'll be able to post more often, at least I'll try to.
Until I get my bearings again, here's a little bit of what I've been up to lately ...

Swaps

I was a swapping fiend for a while, but gradually slowed down to the point where I hadn't swapped in a year or two.
This fall I joined up again for a couple. Below is the card I made for an organized swap that I joined.
Next one was for general swapping.

Lovely Ladies

For our last class, we made cards for children and women. I really love making very simple cards, but sometimes I like to "fuss" a bit.

All 3 of these cards are CASE'D, but I'm a very bad blogger and didn't not take note of who they were from. I'm really sorry, if they are yours, please let me know so I can give you credit. I promise to try harder and give credit where credit is due.

I love the ease of stamping this one and the quick way of adding a touch of elegance with a half-back pearl from the Pretties Kit.

I was so happy to find a use for the ornament punch other then for Christmas cards.

The Sweet Pea Felt has to be my favorite embellishment right now!

I will be back later with some pics of how I spent Family Day (February 15th here in Ontario)and perhaps a sneak peak of an upcoming class.

Happy Sunday!

The sun is shining, what little snow we have is melting and (I hope) spring is slowly showing her lovely face!
Here are a couple of the cards that we made in class a couple of weekends ago. I CASE'D them from the SU website. They were originally made by Tamara Bertram. We only made two of her designs and there are still two more we could make.

I'll be back in a couple of days with a few more that we made.

An update...

to let you know what I'm up to.
Unfortunately, it's not much. I'm having a bit of a time trying to absorb and process everything that has happened in the past 6 or 7 months. In the past two weeks, I've also learned that I may be out of a job. Our company had to submit a bid proposal for the bus routes we still have, but was not successful. There will be lots of shuffling of personnel between the 4 bases that are now open, with the possibility of closing one of them. I've been told that by the end of February I will know whether I will be continuing with the company or if I will have to look for another job.
I do have one card from Christmas time that I have not shared. Sorry for the poor picture.

A Learning Curve ...

One of the steps to being MDS Certified was designing a card and having it printed. I decided that I would have two printed ... one that was 100% digital and the second I would make hybrid. I omitted the ribbon on the second and sent it off to be printed. Below are the cards that were sent off to be printed and following them is the card after I added the physical ribbon.

Wedding Bells are ringing ...

or at least will be ringing for my friend, Les and her luv, Geoff. I was extremely flattered when she came over right away and asked me to help her design and make their invitations and everything else needed for the wedding! She and her luv were so easy to work with ... and in no time at all we had the design decided on. I cut all of the paper for them and then Les got her children to work!! They did an awesome job!!

Les and her kiddies have already cut, scored, stamped and pre-taped the favour boxes ... they just need some tweaking which I'll do a little later.

I've got a little something planned to add to all of this, but can't show you until after the wedding so that it will be a surprise for Les and her luv.

To some special people ...

I owe a huge Thank You!
It's been a difficult time and a couple of very special people stepped up without asking a single question and made things much easier for our family.
On Thursday morning my father and dh went out to the golf course to try to de-stress ... their way, while I came up here to my stamp room to de-stress ... my way. I needed to make some special thank you cards and found these by Jill Hilliard. The premise worked! I found myself so totally engrossed in making them, that by the time I was done ... Dad and dh were walking in the door!

I have to tell you a story about the following card ... dh saw the cards sitting on my workspace, saw the border punch sitting on my workspace and felt compelled to "play". This is his card and I know the perfect person to send it to.

More Cards for Mom

Here are the cards that I had started and planned on finishing with mom. I was hoping to have her input for the greetings, but had to figure things out for myself.

I got the idea from another demo ... Kelly Ramey had submitted this class idea to Stampin' Up! and it was posted on the demo side of their website. It is so versatile!

Trying to keep busy

My mom asked me to make a card for my grandson's upcoming Baptism ... this is what I made on behalf of my parents, CASED from Lori .

Sorry for the blurry picture ... I was up north with very basic supplies, not expecting to be taking pics of any cards ... remembered to take this picture at the very last minute.

I had taken some partially completed cards to work on with my mom, but had to complete them myself. I ended up going up north a day earlier then planned when my mom was admitted to the hospital unexpectedly. I've come home for a few days to restock and will be heading back up (likely as you are reading this) for a few more days.

I've got a few posts set up with the cards I had completed the first trip up north. I've taken up another project or two (gotta keep busy) that I've been meaning to do, so I will hopefully be able to remember to take pictures and perhaps post some more.

Found a Picture ...

on my phone, of all places, that I had forgotten I had taken. It's of the card I made for our granddaughter's 2nd birthday. This is the card that gave me my inspiration ... Thank You so much!!
Here is my version of the same card.

The background behind "Big Bird" and "Elmo's" face really are Real Red ... The lighting is just bad.

Children's Card Class

I recently held another class ... this one we made cards for children. I totally CASED a card from Andrea Walford and I LOVE it!! It really was fairly easy and I know just the perfect occassion in which to use it!!

Mom's Birthday

My Mom's birthday was April 21st and she and Dad came to stay with us for a few days. They arrived on the 22nd and stayed until the 27th. I had been working on her gift for a few days before they arrived but didn't get it finished until the day before they left! I know, I know ... almost seemed like I left it to the last minute, but it really took much longer then I thought it would to complete!

My Mom is an amazing woman ... 78 years old (sorry Mom! LOL), having some serious health issues, but still on the go ... inactivity is not in this woman's vocabulary! When my children were much younger (teenagers and the oldest of all of the grandchildren) we had a particular restaurant we (my sisters, their families and our parents) loved to go to ... mostly for birthdays or Mother's Day. We went for their Sunday Brunch because it was the best place to fill the boys' tummies up. Man, could those boys eat when they were in their middle teens! LOL It's been a lot of years since we all went there, so we went on the Sunday of their visit with my son, his wife and their two little ones. It brought back a lot of memories.

The following are pics of the gift I gave my mother for her birthday. I bought the tutorial from Becky Roberts and need to make more!

Mom mentioned that she had a bunch of cards without sentiments inside. Personally, I'm liking the blank cards I have, but Mom likes to have something inside. Rather then take a bunch of stamps and ink up to their home with me the next time we visit ... I stamped a bunch of sentiments and cut them out with punches, put dimensionals on the back and packaged them up for her. Something to put into one of the pockets of the Tote.

The inside of the Tote

The Hardest Cards ...

to make have to be Sympathy cards. You want them to be heartfelt but not gaudy. I won't settle for anything but near perfection when I make Sympathy cards. They mean far too much in my eyes. That's just how I feel.
Last week I needed two of these at the same time. Shouldn't be a problem ... just go to my stash since I had made a few not long ago. Unfortunately ... the stash was depleted. Which means that it was a very long, sad winter this year!
I remembered a card on Sharon Johnson's blog that was exactly what I wanted. I loved the two-toned embossing ... very elegant. Below is my version.

Supplies:

Stamps - Lovely as a Tree, Brighter Tomorrow

Paper - Whisper White CS, Brushed Copper CS, Basic Black CS, dimensionals

Ink - Versamark

Accessories - Copper EP, Silver EP

Boy Oh Boy!

What a BEAUTIFUL weekend!!! The snow is gone ... the wind has diminished ... the sun is warm! Dare I say it??? Spring has Sprung!

Dh has been emailing back and forth with some of our "trailer neighbours" and everyone is just itching to get to the park and open up! We are the closest to the park, so everyone is wondering what the weather is like "up there". LOL Sounds like we are all so very far away from each other ... they all live in Toronto, Mississauga and Hamilton area! (like only 70 miles or so away)

They also have hard walls in their trailers ... ours ... not so much! We have a tent trailer, so unless it gets REALLY warm for the Victoria Day Weekend (May 16, 17 & 18th), I'm not planning on staying up there till later in June! LOL YES ... I'm a "fair weather camper".

I'm busy this weekend finishing up a lot of this and that, planning a class featuring children's cards and working out my next club projects.

Here are some samples from my last class ... Boy Oh Boy! featuring masculine cards.

Have a great Easter Weekend!!

Supplies:

Card #1

Stamps - Cheers to You

Paper - Very Vanilla CS, Basic Black CS, So Saffron CS, Jackpot DP

Ink - Basic Black Classic Ink

Accessories - dimensionals, liquid applique

Card #2

Stamps - Wonderful Favorites

Paper - Very Vanilla CS, Pacific Point CS, Kiwi Kiss CS, Muirfield DP (retired)

Ink - Basic Black Classic Ink

Accessories - dimensionals, Mini Library Clips

Card #3

Stamps - It's Your Birthday (retired)

Paper - Very Vanilla CS, Pacific Point CS, Kiwi Kiss CS, Muirfield DP (retired)

The last one ...

from my Lovely Ladies Class. Honest! I promise!! LOL
This card was CASE'D from Patty Bennett and was actually quite easy to do.

Supplies:

Stamps - Totally Tabs, Heard from the Heart

Paper - Pink Pirouette CS, Ballet Blue CS, So Saffron CS, Whisper White CS, Basic Black CS

Ink - Basic Black Classic Ink

Accessories - Round Tab punch, Word Window punch, Small Oval punch, Large Oval punch, smallish square punch, Soft Subtles brads, dimensionals.

More Feminine Cards

Edited to add : I've had a number of questions on how to adhere the window sheets to the CS. On this particular card, I put a mini glue dot on the back of the window sheet in the middle of each of the flowers and then hid it with the half back pearls. There are also two more mini glue dots behind the the ribbon and sentiment.
Here are two more of the cards that we did at my Lovely Lady class ...




This card was so easy ... a little bit of DP at the bottom, scalloped edge, Flower Fusion and a Rhinestone Brad .... taaadaaa!!

Here is another easy-peasy card! A bit of the new Printed Window Sheets, a punch or two, a bit of gingham ribbon and a couple of 1/2 back pearls from the Pretties Kit.
Neither of these cards took more then 15 minutes to make from start to finish and the possibilities with colour combos are endless!

Card #1
Stamps - Sweet Little Sentiments Level 1 Hostess
Ink - Old Olive classic, Basic Black classic
Paper - Whisper White CS, Hand Drawn DSP from the Level 3 Hostess
Accessories - Flower Fusion, Circle Fire Rhinestone Brad, Scallop Edge Punch, piercing tool.
Card #2
Stamps - Oval All
Ink - Basic Black classic
Paper - Tangerine Tango CS, Whisper White CS, Basic Black CS
Accessories - Scallop Oval punch, Printed Window Sheets, Pretties Kit, Black Gingham Ribbon, dimensionals, mini glue dots

Something a Little Different

I recently held a class where we made 4 cards for the women in our lives. My friend, Pat, is a seasoned stamper and accomplished paper crafter, so I always feel that I need to "step it up" a notch when we get together. The following type of card was showcased in the SU Demonstrator magazine "Stampin' Success" that we, as demos, receive each month. I found it quite unique and interesting, so I created one for Pat and I to make.



Supplies:
Stamps - Heartfelt Thanks, Elegant Cheer
Ink - Not Quite Navy Classic ink, Baja Breeze Classic ink
Paper - Kraft CS, Whisper White CS, Bella Bleu DP, Parisian Breeze Specialty DP (LOVE THIS!)
Accessories - Whisper White Organza Ribbon, Kraft Medium Envelopes, paper crimper, Wide Oval punch, Scallop Edge punch, Eyelet Border punch, Mat Pack, piercing tool, Earth Elements Brads