A colourful Sunday

Hello and happy Sunday morning.

We were supposed to go apple picking today, but it's raining and cold :( So, we're having a lazy morning so far.

A couple weekends ago we went to the Richmond Fair. For today's Sunday Stamps colour challenge, I made a digital page.

Here are the colours for this week - what a great opportunity to make a manly card :)

Hope to see you playing along at Sunday Stamps this week!

-Tara
xox

Christmas Stamp-A-Stack cards!

I've been really bad at sharing my monthly card class cards and my Christmas classes on my blog...

Here are the ones from my second Christmas card class, which was today. What a fun time. I love hanging out with these ladies! They are good people.

 

Stamp: Watercolour Winter

Paper: Always Artichoke CS, Very Vanilla CS, Snow Festival DSP

Tools: 1-3/4" Circle Punch

Stamp: Bootiful Occasions

Colours: Cherry Cobbler, Bashful Blue, Whisper White

Embellishments: Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding

Tools: Northern Flurry Embossing Folder, Big Shot

 Stamp:  Snow Swirled

Paper: Candlelight Christmas DSP, Early Espresso CS, Lucky Limeade DSP

Embellishment: Very Vanilla 1/8" Tafetta Ribbon

Tools: Decorative Label punch, 2-1/2" Circle Punch

Two more days left for the "Back to Spool" promotion! Make sure you don't miss out! Place an order of $50 (CAD) and receive a FREE roll of Stitched Satin ribbon in one of the 5 new In Colours! 

Visit my website to place an order today!

-Tara

xox

Twine and Leaves!

Good morning everyone,

Time for another fun challenge at The Friday Mashup!

I used the negative from the Autumn Accents Bigz Die to stencil the maple leaf directly onto the cardbase. I sponged it on with Cajun Craze and More Mustard. Then I used my stylus from the Simply Scored tool and the foam pad from the paper-piercing set and scored some veins in the leaf. I then coloured the veins with a blender pen.

I pierced the holes along the bottom and did a simple running stitch with the Linen Thread.


Our challenge this week comes from the lovely Lisa, who has got us using fall leaves and twine:

1. Make a "Fall Leaves" themed project.
2. Or Make a project with "Twine".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Fall Leaves Themed project using Twine".

Can't wait to see what you create this week!

-Tara
xox

List of Supplies:
Stamps: Blooming with Kindness
Colours: Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Very Vanilla
Embellishment: Linen Thread
Tools: Autumn Accents Bigz Die

Having some quiet time

There's not tons you can do when you have pneumonia... Even walking upstairs to use the bathroom is exhausting! So, I decided to plant myself in my craft room and go nuts. If I can't move, at least I'm some place happy! Next stop is the couch with some tea and Legally Blonde (that's right, Legally Blonde!)

I  made two cards today - One for one of my favourite challenges and another for a challenge that is no doubt going to be one of my favourites... ith the always-awesome RetroSketches thrown in for some flavour!

The Play Date Cafe had some fabulous colours this week - I made a baby card (which I always seem to do with this set). This is for a friend who will be having a fall baby. Don't know if it's a girl or a boy yet, so I've got plans to make another one with blue if a boy pops out.

Here are the colours for this week (I interpreted them as Melon Mambo, More Mustard and Early Espresso):

And this one is for Fab Friday - a new challenge with a stellar design team that brings endless amounts of inspiration. Also for RetroSketches - one that I seem not to get to play along with as much as I want to!

It's hard to tell with this card, but the second stamp on the Stippled Blossom is actually Illuminate ink. I was playing around with this set the other day and thought it would be cool to use a colour and illuminate rather than two colours.

Here are the colours for this week. As many of you know, Sahara Sand is my all-time favourite neutral. What a great colour combo this is!:

And here's the sketch from RetroSketches:

Wow... that was a lot for one post. I'm pooped!

Thanks for stopping by today!

-Tara
xox

Blog Candy Winner!

Hello everyone,

I'm sorry this post is so late. Turns out I have pneumonia, and I've been spending the majority of my time in bed - but I wanted to announce the winner of the blog candy for a free subscription to Craft Project Central for the month of September!

The winner is.... 

Comment #5

Kimberly Simmons-Salvati

Congratulations Kimberly!! Please email me at tarabourgoin@yahoo.ca so that I can get the necessary info to set you up! :)

-Tara

xox

Spooky Sunday!

Hello!

A quick check-in this morning to show you the new Sunday Stamps challenge... then back to laying down! It's 'that' time of year... the time when everyone is sick and seems to stay that way for months. 

I'm your hostess this week and bring you a sketch to play with! The shapes may seem specific in the sketch image, but please feel free to change them up - just look at the Design Team! We've all interpreted it differently :)

Happy Halloween

*See end of this post for a list of supplies*

To create the 'mist' around the stamped image, I had to work very quickly. I sponged the image with sponge daubers and then went over that spot again with the lightest colour to make it moist, then quickly stamped the image in VersaMark and covered in black embossing powder. The black embossing powder sticks to the background that was sponged. 

Here's the sketch: 

Thanks for stopping by! Check out what the rest of the design team has as inspiration for this sketch, then link up your creation!

-Tara

xox

List of Supplies: 

Stamp: Toxic Treats, Teeny Tiny Wishes, En Francais

Papers: More Mustard CS, Tangering Tango CS, Basic Black CS, Howlstooth & Scaringbone DSP

Embellishments: Striped Satin Ribbon, Rhinestones

Tools: Elegant Lines EF, Framelits, Decorative Label Punch, Word Window punch

Indian Summer... If only!

Oh, happy Friday to you all! So happy that Friday is finally here :)

Today at The Friday Mashup, Heidi has a great challenge for us! With a chill in the air, Heidi's encouraging us to grasp on to the last few breaths of warm wind and thinking about Indian Summers (warm days in the typically chilly fall). 

Here, it's pretty chilly. Mind you, if we had these exact temperatures in spring we'd all be out in shorts and flip flops, but because it's fall we're bundled up in our sweaters and thinking about mittens :P

**See end of this post for list of supplies**

When I think of "Indian Summer" I think of the word "enjoy". Enjoy it while you can, because soon enough we're going to be shoulder deep in snow (sorry Lisa, I know you love it! haha), wet boots, icicles on our eyelashes and scraping our cars off in the morning praying that we don't pop off a windshield wiper in the process. So... ENJOY!!

Here's our challenge this week:

1. Make a "Indian Summer" themed project.
2. Or Make a project with any three colors from "Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Raspberry Ripple, Lucky Limeade & Early Espresso".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Indian Summer Themed project with the color combo". 

Come play along with Heidi's great challenge this week! Can't wait to see what you create :)

-Tara

xox

List of Supplies:
Stamps: Wonderfall, Notable Alphabet
Paper: Early Espresso CS, Naturals Ivory
Embellishment: Early Espresso 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon 

A little 'spring' cleaning!

So, I've decided that I'm going to do a bit of 'spring' cleaning on my blog! More specifically, the Labels section. I generally only label stamp sets, tools, challenges and tehcniques, but I sometimes find it hard to look through them later.

So, I'm going to go back through all my posts (this is where the insanity starts) and adjust my labels so they look like this: "Stamps - Greetings of the Season, Challenge - Sunday Stamps, Technique - Fancy Flower punch", etc...

Hope you guys like the change! Would love some feedback :)

• Do you guys use the labels to locate specific stamp sets, challenges or tehcniques?
• Do you think this new approach will be useful?

Wish me luck! In the meantime, here's a something to look at! Afterall, what's a post without a project pic? :)

MDS2 projects for my little boys' rooms:



My September Project at Craft Project Central - Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is, by far, my favourite holiday. The cool air and cozy sweaters, the walks in the woods and hot chocolate, the family and friends... And yes, the Pumpkin Spice Latte's from Starbucks ;)

My project this month will help you get set for your family get together by providing instructions on a warm and inviting holiday table setting, including; a centerpiece, place cards, favors for your guests, a ‘grateful’ box for your guests to write what they are grateful for, and so much more!  Just add the food, the family and friends, and you’re ready to go!

Project designed by Tara (Murphy) Bourgoin

As always, there's...

BLOG CANDY

Would you like step-by-step instructions on how to make this project AND all the other projects featured in September?! Leave me a comment here on my project by Saturday, September 22nd and your name will be entered to win a FREE subscription for September to Craft Project Central! 

I will select the winner using random.org and will post on Sunday, September 23rd at 5pm EST.

 **If you do not have a blogger or google account you can still leave an "anonymous" comment, just 

make sure I have a way to get a hold of you if you are the winner!**

Thanks for stopping by :)

-Tara

xox

Craft Project Central

Hello! Check out some of the new projects for September at Craft Project Central:

Project designed by Julie

Project designed by Monika

Project designed by Kim

If you love these projects as much as I do, you'll want to get the instructions on how to make them! Be sure to subscribe to September at Craft Project Central for only $10 to receive beautiful tutorials on how to make all 10 projects featured this month.

See you tomorrow for my September project! :)

-Tara
xox

Sunday Stamps & A little trick!

Good morning, friends!

It's time for another Sunday Stamps challenge. It was so great seeing new faces last week... Maybe you'll join us this week?

Yesterday we went to the Richmond fair and it was so much fun. I finally conquered my fear of the ferris wheel, and my little man went on a ride all by himself. Jacks even got in on the action and took his first ride on the merry-go-round. It was a wonderful day after the week we've had!

I guess I've been in a Christmas mood lately, because here's another one with the absolutely fabulous colours from Holly this week at Sunday Stamps. No, not your typical Christmas colours, but I love them! And I love this stamp set.

 **See the end of this post for a list of supplies**

The girl was punched out using the 2-1/2" Circle Punch and then the frame around her is actually the Fancy Flower punch. I punched it out twice from Melon Mambo and cut each flower twice so I was left with two heart-shaped pieces and a single piece. They miraculously fit around the 2-1/2" circle perfectly, leaving only the single piece left over. Looks cute, eh?

I went around the outline of the snow angel and her hood with a 2-Way Gluepen and sprinkled with Dazzling Diamonds... I added a few sparkly snowflakes to the background too.

Not inspired yet? Have a look at Holly's challenge and what the other designers have come up with and then come on over to Sunday Stamps and link up your card! Can't wait to see it.

-Tara
xox

List of Supplies:
Stamps: Wonderful Winterland, Greetings of the Season
Papers: Black CS, Whisper White CS, Melon Mambo CS, Comfort Cafe DSP
Embellishments: Dazzling Diamonds glitter
Tools: 2-1/2" Circle punch, Fancy Flower punch

Sunburst at The Friday Mashup!

Good morning!

Today we're doing a fun technique at The Friday Mashup! Rita has got us going on a great challenge that is perfect for showing off DSP, which is exactly what I did :)

I absolutely love the Fan Fair DSP... it's one of the first packs in the new catalogue that caught my eye... but then I didn't use it for the longest time. I whipped it out for my monthly class the other night, and then again for this challenge. What do you think?

**See a list of supplies at the end of this post**

The sentiment on this one is stamped onto a piece of Naturals Ivory (I know, I've been addicted to this lately!) that I cut to measure 1-1/2". After I stamped, I punched it out with the 2-1/2" Circle punch to give it some nice rounded corners. I fancied up the slat edges with a decorative label punch that was cut in half.

Check out the challenge this week. We'd love to see you playing along!

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge:

1. Make a project with the sketch.
2. Or Make a project with "Starburst technique".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project using the "sketch and starburst technique". 

Thanks for stopping by today!

-Tara

xox

List of Supplies:

Stamps: Word Play

Paper: Fan Fair DSP

Colours: Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Naturals Ivory, Early Espresso, Soft Suede

Embellishments: Pink Pirouette Taffeta Ribbon

Tools: Decorative Label punch, 2-1/2" Circle punch

Jacks turns one!

I knew someday I would write these words... it just doesn't feel like I should be writing them now. Not yet...! Our baby boy, Jackson, is 1 today.


Happy birthday to my sweet baby Jacks. We are so grateful to have you in our lives - you're a hoot.

List of supplies:Stamps: Owl Occasions
Paper: Early Espresso Core'dinations
Colours: Early Espresso, Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie
Tools: 2-1/2" Circle punch, 1-3/8" Circle punch, 1-3/4" Scallop Circle punch, Sanding Blocks, Woodgrain embossing folder, Big Shot

 

Photo: Becka Yates (http://www.miaouphotography.com)

Edit to add:
In the excitement of my baby's birthday, I forgot to enter this card into the Freshly Made Sketches challenge! The lovely ladies over at FMS are celebrating 1 year!! I'm so excited to play along with them this week. I credit Freshly Made Sketches with helping me to develop a more 'clean' style. I tended to make more vintage and 'worn' looking cards in the past, and FMS challenged me to put down the sponges and find beautiful in the 'clean'. "Step away from the sponges!".

I chose to use sketch number 44. I played along with that challenge when it was going on, and I wasn't 100% happy with the results, so I wanted to give it another go. Here's the sketch:

Be sure to visit tomorrow for a really fun new Friday Mashup challenge!

-Tara
xox

2 for 1 - Sunday Stamps & Play Date Cafe!

Good Sunday morning!!

I've got two (very different!) cards to share with you this morning for two separate challenges :) First up, Monica is hosting at Sunday Stamps this week and she has a great sketch for us!

I used the lovely Open Sleigh stamp set for this card and some Dazzling Details. The paper is from the Candlelight Christmas specialty paper and I finished it off with a Cherry Cobbler seam binding bow.

And here's the fabulous sketch from Monica. It's such a versatile sketch, keep it handy!

Also, because I was in my craft room and was ready to leave, I made a card for the Play Date Cafe as well - I just LOVED the colours this week. In fact, I want to make another one!

I kept the theme of the storyboard throughout my card with the feathers/brads. The "stone" colour in my card is in the antique brad. The feathers are stamped in Midnight Muse and coloured lightly with Calypso Coral. I then added a layer of Vellum cardstock overtop and stamped the sentiment. I held it together with the antique brad - I intentionally left the top part unattached so that when the card was standing up, the vellum would turn down a bit.

Because it was a square card, I made a scrapling with the 1-1/4" piece that was left once I cut the card down to 4-1/4" x 4-1/4". Love those little things :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

-Tara
xox

Craft Project Central - Projects #2 & #3

Here are the latest projects over at Craft Project Central!

Project designed by Carrie of Carrie Stamps!

 

Project designed by Leena of A la Cards!

To get instructions on these projects and 8 more, be sure to subscribe to Craft Project Central for the month of September for only $10. You'll receive beautifully written step-by-step instructions for each project that is featured this month!

-Tara
xox

Falling for Dynamic Duos!

Hello!

Again, it's been too long since I played along with Dynamic Duos. I loved the earthy colours this week and knew I wanted to use the Autumn Accents Bigz Die, and everything sort of evolved from there.

**See supplies at end of post**

I put the 'veins' in the leaves by folding the leaves in half and then running it through the Woodgrain embossing folder. The background is the En Francais stmp inked in Always Artichoke, and lightly stamped off. I use the Naturals Ivory paper... just love the 'flecks' in this paper!! I finished it off with the Thank You sentiment from Blooming with Kindness and a big cotton bow :)

Here's this week's awesome challenge at Dynamic Duos:

Thanks for stopping by today! See you tomorrow for a new Sunday Stamps challenge!

-Tara

xox

List of Supplies:

Stamps: En Francais, Blooming with Kindness

Colours: Always Artichoke, Cajun Craze, Naturals Ivory

Embellishments: 7/8" Cotton Ribbon,

Tools: Autumn Accents Bigz Die, Sponges, Woodgrain embossing folder

Sewing back to school!

It's time for another Friday Mashup! And with all this 'going back to school' business going on, Holly has a great challenge for us to sew back to school :)

I made a digital card for my son's first day of school (to tuck into his lunch bag).

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge:

1. Make a "Back to School" themed project.
2. Or Make a project with "Sewing".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Back to School project with Sewing". 

What a fun challenge this week. If I had not done this digitally, I definitely would have whipped out my sewing machine for this one! It's been a long time since I used my sewing machine in card-making!

Yesterday was my son's first day of Jr. Kindergarten. It was terrifying, emotional, exciting, heartwarming, inspirational and joyous all at the same time. What a big day for him! He loved it :)

Can't wait to see your sewn/back to school projects!

-Tara
xox

Digital Tuesday!

Hello and happy MDS day ;) Never fails, as soon as I see the new downloads each Tuesday, I have to open MDS2 right away and start playing.

Before I get to my page, let me tell you some very exciting news! Stampin' Up! has extended the 31% off digital content sale! WOOHOO! You have until September 16th now to place an order for selected digital downloads for 31% off, as well as all print material! Get your pages, photobooks and projects ready and take advantage of high-quality, professional printing from SU.

I'll give you a minute to settle down after all that excitement. Go ahead, I'll wait here :)

Ready? Here goes!

Used in this project:
- Keep in Touch Designer Series Paper 
- Limited Edition labels
- It's All Me stamp
- Medium Heart punch
- Border Banter stamp brush set


Today's featured digital download is Border Banter stamp brush set - yup, that fab border set from the Holiday Catalogue. You'll see sprinkles of this set throughout my page. What a fun way to add some cute accents to a scrapbook page!

Border Banter Stamp Brush Set

Here's a list of the other downloads available this week:
(click here to go see for yourself)

• Best Day 2013 Easel Calendar template
• Festival Blooms 
• Give Thanks Framable Set
• Monster Munchies Ensemble
• Seasonal Sayings stamp brush set
• Wherever You Go stamp brush set

Don't forget to download your free trial of MDS2 if you haven't already! If you already have it, leave me a comment telling me how much you love it! :)

-Tara
xox

It's Craft Project Central time again!

As you may remember, I have been asked to join the design team for Craft Project Central. I will be contributing a project every other month. I've got something special coming up to show you later this month, but in the meantime, I'm going to share some of the other fabulous projects that are featured in September!

Project designed by Christy of Create with Christy!

Lovely monogrammed card set, isn't it?!

Please hop over to Craft Project Central and leave Christy a comment on her fabulous project! If you want the instructions for making this set, subscribe to Craft Project Central for the month of September for only $10 and receive beautifully written tutorials for this project and 9 others!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Tara
xox

Cheers!

A quick post today!

I fell in love with this week's challenge colours at ColourQ, and just found the time today to play along! It felt like it had been awhile since I used the "Happy Hour" set, so I pulled it off my shelf today and got crackin'. I'm not a huge drinker, but I love this set.

Here's this week's ColourQ challenge (as a side note; can we talk about how awesome that duvet set is?!)

See you soon - thanks for stopping by!

-Tara
xox

Hosting Sunday Stamps!

Hello and happy Sunday!

It's my turn this week to host at Sunday Stamps - and this week we've got a colour challenge! Let me start by saying that I love Sahara Sand. It's one of my very favourite 'colours', and definitely my favourite Neutral - though Crumb Cake runs a very close second ;)

So, that being said, here's my card for this week:

**See the end of this post for a list of supplies used to make this card**

And the challenge colours... Sahara Sand, Wisteria Wonder and Lucky Limeade!

 

I recently discovered, through the awesomeness that is blogland, that you can use just the top of the cupcake from the cupcake punch to create virtually perfect clouds! Colour me excited. And, what are 'storm clouds' without a bit of rain? That's right... not storm clouds ;) I added 'rain' on the Wisteria Wonder panel by spritzing Wister Wonder ink with the Colour Spritzer Tool.

That fabulous DSP is actually Christmas paper from Candlelight Christmas specialty DSP - Available in the Holiday Catalogue. I thought the patterns looked like little suns, which fit the sentiment perfectly.

The boot was coloured with Blender Pens... never leave home without them.

I've used the fab sketch from Freshly Made Sketches as a jumping off point this week. I was totally having 'sketch'-block, so I headed over to my safety net of FMS. Never disappointed by their sketches!

That's it for me today. Please check out what the other fabulous ladies on the Sunday Stamps design team have come up with this week and then link up your own creation. Can't wait to see it!

-Tara
xox

List of Supplies:
Stamps: Bootiful Occasions
Paper: Sahara Sand CS, Wisteria Wonder CS, Lucky Limeade CS, Candlelight Christmas DSP
Embellishments: Very Vanilla 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon
Tools: Colour Spritzer Tool, Cupcake punch, Blender Pens