Two days!!

Only two days until the Fall Stamp Release Party at My Craft Spot!!! We'll be showcasing projects created with the new stamps and dies all week - and ending with a blog hop next Saturday!! Here are a few sneak peeks made with the NEW products. Be sure to visit My Craft Spot next week for the full reveal. PLUS Kimberly will have prizes up for grabs all week long!!

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Have a Fabulous Birthday!

It's Thursday! Just one more day until the long weekend! On Saturday, we'll be heading to Guelph to cheer on my husband as he competes in his last triathlon on the season. We're hoping for good weather - and for Sunday and Monday too! We plan to make use of some of our local walking trails and to hang out by the pool before the busyness of the school season begins.

My daughter celebrated her birthday on Monday and this is one of the cards I made for her. We had a busy summer so I did not always have access to my craft room - but was able to spend time with my laptop. As a result, I created a number of digital cards. This card is a combination card!

I began with the "Shopping Chica" (#16675) image from the Silhouette store. Using the Silhouette software, I "built" her and added colour. I even used some Miss Kates Cuttables flourishes to dress up the shopping bags. Once the image was together, I used the offset feature to create the white shadow. I then layered all the images on a photo I found online.

I used a similar process for the sentiment doily. Knowing that I wanted to use Stampin' Up's Cherry Cobbler ink for my sentiment, I did a colour match (RBG) for the doily and shopping bags too!

Once everything was ready, I printed off the card. I also printed off the bags separately in order to cut them out (with my Silhouette!) and affix them for a bit of dimension. I then stamped a sentiment with My Craft Spot's Birthday Wishes stamp set.

Thanks for visiting! Enjoy the long weekend!

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You're a Hoot!

Happy Monday! We had an incredibly busy weekend - but one that was full of fun too! My youngest guy turned 12 on Saturday so we had a great time celebrating with him. On Sunday, we took part in a "dog transport" and helped deliver a rescue dog to an agency that has a new home lined up for him. It was a joy to help - especially as that same agency had a dog for us!! We adopted a sweet little 2-year old cockapoo. He's already found his way into our hearts. He needs some training which we've started already and he's a fast learner. It must be the poodle in him! (His tag says Kobi, but we've renamed him Guilder. Guilder will be getting a new tag later this week.) And today is my daughter's 20th birthday! Happy birthday, Erin!!

I returned to work last Monday and have been busy getting ready for the students' return next Tuesday.  This week's challenge at My Craft Spot is all about "Back to School" and I've made a little card to give to my youngest on his first day. He starts a new school next week. Usually, I tuck cards into his lunch but I'm thinking

The owl is a file (#64830) from the Silhouette store. Using the offset feature and a rectangle, I created a card base. I used some notebook pattern paper and gave it even more of a notebook feel with the use of one of My Craft Spot's Fancy Edges metal dies. I then used a sentiment from Tiny Tags 3 to stamp "You're a Hoot!" in the bottom corner.

Please head over to My Craft Spot to see what the rest of the design team has created - and to link up your own "Back to School" project!

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Happy B-day!

Hello fellow crafting friends! I'm glad it's Friday! I returned to work on Monday and we've had a busy week with orientation for our new students. It's been super fun too! This weekend will be a busy one as we'll be celebrating my youngest son's birthday on Saturday and then driving to the Ottawa area to adopt a rescue pup on Sunday. We're all quite excited about it!

Today, I am sharing this project over at My Craft Spot and am sharing it here on my blog too.

My middle guy turned 17 a couple of weeks ago and I made this card for him.  I used a video buttons cut file for my background and then layered a fun little guy from Car Decals on top. (I used my Silhouette to cut the Cricut file. Click HERE to see the video if you missed it when I first posted.) As I used my Silhouette, I was able to use the text feature to choose a font to make the "17" for the front of the t-shirt.

I then dressed things up a bit more using some wonderful products from My Craft Spot. I cut two layers from the Ribbon Banners - Wavy metal dies set and stamped the white layer with a fun sentiment from the Robots stamp set. It seemed appropriate for a teenage boy. I finished things off with a blue enamel dot which, quite honestly, was added due to my inability to center my stamp!! That said, I quite like the addition.

Thanks so much for popping by today! Have a great weekend!!

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T-Shirt for my Daughter

Hello friends! Today is a bit of a bittersweet day for us as we'll be taking our daughter back to uni for the year. Here in Canada, the midwifery program is a highly competitive one and quite difficult to get into. However, Erin was offered admission to the program (and accepted!) so we are overjoyed for her! She has to be back to school a bit early as she's been hired as a Community Advisor, working with first year students in residence. It's been such a treat to have her home this summer and I'll really miss her when she's gone. 

Erin's birthday is on Monday so we celebrated early with a special dinner and gifts last night. One of her gifts was this t-shirt I made her using vinyl and my Silhouette. I got the idea online and it was so quick and easy to put together. Erin LOVES it! And, as I used left-over heat transfer vinyl and purchased the t-shirt with a coupon at Michaels, this fun project cost only $4 to make!!

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Enjoy Your Special Day

Hello friends! We had a beautiful weekend here in Central Ontario. The weather was gorgeous and just perfect for sitting out by the pool - and swimming too! Yesterday, my husband and I took our youngest son to camp for the week so I do hope that the nice weather continues for him. Later this week, my husband plans to ride his bicycle to Ottawa and back. That's 277km (172miles) EACH way!!

This week at My Craft Spot, we are challenging you to create a project with 3D flowers. As this is birthday month at my house, I made a birthday card! I followed a sketch I found at Right at Home through a Google search. 

Starting with a 5x5 base, I layered some pretty pattern paper. The focal point flower on my card was created with the NEW Flowers - Daisy metal dies (with a pearl in the centre!) and placed atop a doily cut using Tiny Doilies metal dies.  The little banner was created using two sizes of dies from the Tiny Banners and Toppers set. 

I finished things off with a sweet sentiment from the Big Sentiments stamp set and some black jute string. I love the elegant way this card turned out. Plus, it did not take too long using a sketch and metal dies!

Please head over to My Craft Spot to see the projects created by the rest of the design team - and to link up your 3D flower project for a chance to win this week's prize. 

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Getting to Know Me Blog Hop

Hello crafting friends! I was so incredibly honoured a few weeks ago when my dear friend, Karen of Kaleidoscopic Sparkles, asked me to join in a blog hop of a different kind. In this hop, we are sharing about ourselves and our creative processes in order to get to know one another a bit more. Karen shared last week and you can read her post HERE. I am delighted to work with Karen on the My Craft Spot creative design team and even more delighted to consider Karen a true friend. Her positive outlook on life and uplifting words of encouragement continually make my heart dance. Her timing is always perfect and her special notes come at just the right time. Plus, she's shared some deliciously inspiring recipes which have been a hit with my family when I've prepared them for my loved ones.

I first began paper crafting back in 2005 but did not start my blog until 2010. I had been quite involved with ATC (Artist Trading Cards) swaps and started my blog to share some of my work. I quickly learned that there was so much to learn through crafting blogs and jumped in with both feet! It wasn’t long before I became part of the Fantabulous Cricut design team and then the My Craft Spot design team. I am so thankful to Robin and Kimberly for the opportunities they've extended to me and feel so blessed to continue to craft and share with My Craft Spot.

One of my earlier creations, but a favourite!

My first published card!! (Cricut Ideas Magazine)

Now for the hop questions, interspersed with some of my previous projects.

A set of cards when my youngest went off to camp - one for each day!

What am I working on right now? August is birthday month at our house, with all three of my precious children celebrating birthdays. As such, I’m working on a variety of cards! Plus, we moved at the end of June and I’m creating a welcome sign for our front entrance. It’s all designed now and I just need to distress the frame but am still somewhat undecided on exactly what to do. Finally, I’ve got regular My Craft Spot commitments so I’m always thinking ahead and planning for those!

Birthday card collage

How does my work differ from others of its genre? I’m not sure that it really does! I get my inspiration from all over and so my projects contain a variety of elements - depending on the project itself and my mood. 

One of the few cards I've made with no real purpose in mind!

Why do I create? I am an incredibly driven and busy person and much of my life is spent focused on research and education related to my passion and excitement for all that technology can do to make learning accessible to all. I do have a creative side and NEED to take time to exercise that part of my brain too. Taking time to create gives me time for myself but it also helps me think outside the box in other areas of my life - so a bit of a professional bonus too. Plus, it just makes me happy - especially when I'm creating for my favourite people!! 

The card I tucked in my daughter's bag when we dropped her off at university her first year - with a quote from Bon Jovi

How does your creative process work? I tend to be detail-oriented so see the parts of my projects before the big picture. This means I work from the small to the whole. I begin with a single element and work out from there. 

For my dear Mum when her sweet little cat, Trinity, passed away

A Valentine created especially for the man I love most in this world

Thank you so much for visiting and taking the time to learn more about me. It's a joy to be on this blogging journey with you! (I'm the end of this leg of the hop. Please email me if you'd like to play along too and I'd be happy to introduce you here on my blog and send friends your way!)

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My Craft Spot Mini-Release: Speech Bubbles Metal Dies!

Hello crafting friends! Welcome to Day 2 of the My Craft Spot Mini-Release!! I'm still camping but return home today. It's bittersweet as I have only two weeks left of my summer holidays before I return to work. We've been so busy this summer that the time has flown by. I can't believe it's August already!!

Today, we are showcasing projects created with the NEW Speech Bubbles metal dies. These dies are just the right size for the My Craft Spot Banner Sentiments as well as a number of other sentiments too!! How perfect!! Last week, Miss Kate Cuttables had a free crab file available and I couldn't resist using him to create my card. Although you can't tell from the photos, I used Glossy Accents on the sunglasses. So fun!

To create the background, I cut three layers of the brown paper using one of the Fancy Edges metal dies. The speech bubble was created with the larger of the NEW Speech Bubbles metal dies and I stamped a fun sentiment from Cute Critters. Perfect fit! I decided the scene needed a little something more and so cut a cute little camera using Scrapping Life Cards metal dies.

BOTH NEW metal die sets are available for purchase at the My Craft Spot Shop!. PLUS, if you head over to the My Craft Spot blog to see what Kimberly and the other design team members have created, be sure to leave a comment for Kimberly for your chance to win a $15US gift certificate to the My Craft Spot Shop!!
 

Day 1 - Flowers - Daisy

 

Day 2 - Speech Bubbles

*The speech bubble die set is just the right size for all of the banner sentiments plus sentiments from a lot of the other stamp sets. How fun!

Day 1 prize:

Day 2 prize:

Also, Kimberly will pick a winner from customer orders for a $20.00 gift certificate. WOW!

Thanks so much for visiting!! Have a fabulous weekend!

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