Occasions Catalogue Sneak Peek Week!!

Well, it's that time of year again! Time for a week-long sneak peek into the new Occasions catalogue, which you will be able to order from starting January 3rd!

Every day for the next week I will share with you some of the fun new products. I have a little bit of almost everything, but be sure to check out the catty on January 3rd to see all the fab products that I don't have and haven't featured this week. 

Let's go!

The first card isn't overrun with new stuff. I wanted to focus on this absolutely fantastic new paper for this one. I adore this paper and can see myself using it a lot in the coming months :) 

Check out a closeup:

For the gramophone, this is from the regular catalogue set Timeless Talk. I stamped and cut out a few levels to give a 3D look.

I'm entering this card into Retro Sketches. Here is their sketch this week. 

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check back tomorrow for another peek into the catty!

-Tara

xox

A Retro Sunday Stamps Sneak Peek!

Yes, I've covered a lot of ground with this next card!

Firstly, it's for the new challenge over at Sunday Stamps this week where Joan has some fabulous colours for us to work with - Sahara Sand? Yes please. Always!

I also used the sketch from Retro Sketches. It's been quite a long time since I've played along with them and I really missed it!

And last but not least, this is Project #3 from my Spring Catalogue Sneak Peek Week! Believe it or not, there's a lot going on in this simple little square card.

Here's the lowdown on this one: I have been dying for an old-fashioned bicycle stamp from Stampin' Up! and I was tickled pink to see the Penny-Farthing available in the new Sale-a-Bration brochure!

You'll also notice a teeny tiny little crown stamp. This is from the oh-so-cute Itty Bitty's set and has a small image for any occasion you can think of. The crown is snug inside a Soda Pop Top (such a fun embellishment!). The DSP on the left is from the Print Poetry Paper Stack.

So, here's the colour challenge at Sunday Stamps:

And here's the sketch from Retro Sketches:

Thanks for stoping by! See you back here tomorrow with a new challenge for MDS Monday and another Spring Catalogue Sneak Peek Project :)

-Tara
xox

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

Baby bird

A quick hello for tonight!

I made this card for the RetroSketches challenge. Loved the sketch this week!

Hello, Baby

 Stamps: Flock Together, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Paper: Birds of a Feather

Colours: Summer Starfruit, Island Indigo, Whisper White

Embellishments: Summer Starfruit Stitched Satin ribbon, Dahlia

The bird in the cage is cut out from the DSP (which, if I haven't mentioned before, I LOVE), and the stitching around the DSP panel is done with Island Indigo marker... I could have brought out my sewing machine, but 1) that's a lot of work, and 2) I don't have Island Indigo thread ;)

Here's the sketch this week:

Thanks for stopping by today! Tomorrow is August 1st, and there's a lot of exciting things happening... Will be back with that later ;)

-Tara
xox

A quick card

Hello!

I'm sneaking in quickly before we head out on this beautiful day/ I've made a card for two challenges today - Dynamic Duos and RetroSketches. I just can't get enough of the Bitty Banners framelits from the new catalogue!

Thank You

The colours from Dynamic Duos

The sketch from Retrosketches

We're off for some park/picnic fun, and then who knows after that!

-Tara
xox


Edit to add: So excited that this little banner card got a "RockStar" nod from RetroSketches!! Thank you :)

A little Sneak Peek!

Shhh, this is for my sister-in-law's birthday tomorrow and I'm hoping if I don't write a lot, she won't notice ;)

Happy, Happy Birthday

 (**the sneak peek part is the oh-so-fun little cake from the 2012-2013 Annual Catalogue!)

I've used the super fab colours from this week's ColourQ challenge, and the equally wicked sketch from RetroSketches.  

Crystal, if you're seeing this before I've given it to you: Happy birthday, lovely! Hope you enjoy it! xox

{love}

It's getting down to the wire on this one! I just checked the RetroSketches challenge and I only had 3 hours and 11 minutes left to get my card in! I'm glad I didn't miss it altogether this week though :)

{ love }

Here's the wicked sketch from RetroSetches. Fun, eh?!

Thanks for stopping by! :)

-Tara

xox

I dig you, baby!

Just stopping in quickly today with a little card I made for the ColourQ and RetroSketches challenges. Kind of fitting that the colours from the challenge are so retro :)

I enjoy the 70s. As much as someone born in the 80s can, at least! Great music, great colours, great art... So I had a bit of fun with this card.

I dig you

 The sentiment on this card is actually from the "I Dig You" set, which is heavy machinery. But I thought it rather appropriate for this groovy card. I took a cue from the inspirational photo and hung some circles (the circle is from the new "Bright Blossoms" set which is available in the upcoming catalogue, AND for the month of April!!). The mushrooms are from "Funky Four" - I cut them apart when I first got them, assuming I would get more use out of them as individual mushrooms.

The sketch came courtesy of RetroSketches:

and the colours are from ColourQ this week:

I'm getting ready for a private stamping party tonight - it's bound to be a fun evening! :)

Hope you all have a splendid day!

-Tara

A neautral day

This is my card today for two challenges: A "splash of colour" from Play Day Cafe and a fun, clean sketch from RetroSketches! 

Hello

The sketch from RetroSketches:

The colour challenge from Play Date Cafe (how awesome is this inspirational photo?!)

Short one today, gotta get doing some stuff... I've been procrastinating all morning! :)

-Tara

xox

Fun in the Sun!

It has been remarkable here the last two days. The weather has been amazing (summer-like), and all the 'blues' of the winter seem to have lifted completely! It's so glorious :)

To celebrate, my entry into this week's RetroSketches is a little "Fun in the Sun" brag book. This is to keep all my favourite pictures from this upcoming spring/summer! I'm trying to make a point of actually printing some of the digital photos we take, so I wanted to make something fun to keep them in.

Fun in the Sun brag book

Here's the sketch. I kept the layout of the sketch the same, but I turned my project.

These little brag books are SO easy to make, and are awesome for gifts, or even just to keep in your purse to show off your favourite pictures (or even cards!). I have a few of them on hand :)

Yesterday we went and had some park fun. Jack took his first ride in the swing and loved it! Hunter, well... he's a seasoned pro ;)

-Tara
xox

Shake it!

Shaker cards are so much fun! Especially when they're filled with love :)

Played along with RestroSketches (#2!) today, and came up with this bright, simple card. I needed something clean and fresh looking, just for my own sanity! So looking forward to the summer.

Love

 

The inside of the shaker is filled with the tiniest heart from the Fashionable Hearts embosslit die from the current mini catalogue, as well as some confetti - all cut from Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise and Old Olive. 

Sketch

Materials used in this card:

Cardstock: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive

Paper: Tempting Turquoise DSP

Stamps: Outlined Occasions (SAB)

Inks: Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Basic Black

Embellishments: Brights designer button, Old Olive grosgrain ribbon, White baker's twine, Mini Brads

Tools: Decorative Label punch, Big Shot, Polka Dot embossing folder, Fashionable Hearts embosslits die, corner rounder

So excited about this new challenge blog!

-Tara

xox

Baby Fever

Hello!


There are a lot of new babies being baked these days, and I find that I'm always in need of a baby card. But this baby card is extra special! It was made for a brand new challenge, Retro Sketches! The design team goes back into their archive and picks a card from yesteryear and posts the sketch for us all to play along. How cool is that?!

Put the word "retro" in any sentence and I'm on board ;)

Welcome Baby

This is the sketch!

Materials used in this card:

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Whisper White

Paper: Twitterpated

Stamps: Short & Sweet, Gnome Sweet Gnome

Inks: Whisper White Craft

Embellishments: White Satin Ribbon

Tools: 1 3/8" Circle punch (for rounded corners), Heat Tool, Clear embossing powder, gel pen

In other news, we took our little lad to see his first movie on the weekend. It was SO much fun! 

The best parts:

1. His shock and awe as the "wall" turned into a TV! We don't own a TV, so the extent of his 'movie watching' is on our little laptop screen ;)

2. The movie theatre seat basically folding him in half because he's too light to make it stay flat (haha, I know, I'm a horrible mother). We ended up getting him a booster seat.

3. The wicked older couple behind us who loved being a part of his first movie experience.

4. After the movie was over, he declares "I want to watch Toy Story in here!" :)

Happy Tuesday, everyone (on this side of the world, anyways... Happy Wednesday to the rest!)  ;)

-Tara

xox