Hello

Brenda is asking us to "Put it in neutral" this week at Little Red Wagon. Simply put, she'd like to see neutral colours, tones and shades taking centre stage on our projects.

I used off-white and black cardstock to make my card. No stamping, just die cuts. Simple and neutral! 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see how the rest of the Girlfriends put things in neutral. We'd love for you to join in the challenge too! 

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Kind-Hearted People Like You

Janice is hosting this week's Little Red Wagon challenge and she's been practicing her "So cute!" comments for your entries. Janice is looking for cute creations of all kinds.

I'd actually thought the challenge was "cute critters" so knew I wanted to use an image from Reverse Confetti. In fact, I was hoping to use a little bunny from their Easter set but I must have misfiled the stamp set as it was not where it should have been. Either that or somebody broke into the house and stole that particular stamp set, leaving the cash, electronics and jewellery behind. Anyway, this little mouse is super cute and I decided she would be perfect on a card for one of my aunties who always sends me little notes and readings through the post. The sentiment, clouds and little hearts are from a My Favorite Things set. The dies are from a generic set that I had admired on my wonderfully talented friend Shani's blog so bought a set of my own! 

Head over to Little Red Wagon to see the rest of the "so cute!" creations - and then link up one of your own! 

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Happy Easter

It's the wonderful Brenda's turn hosting our latest Little Red Wagon challenge and she's calling out to us to "Use a Stencil". 

I have a number of stencils in my stash although I'm not sure whether or not I've ever used this Simon Says Stamp "Oval of Flowers" before. As I've been feeling rather under the weather with headaches over the past number of days, I decided to create something fairly simple. In addition to the stencil, I used a bunny and sentiment from Reverse Confetti and a frame from My Favorite Things.

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see how the rest of the Girlfriends used stencils on their projects. We'd love for you to join us too! 

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Sprinkled with Happiness

Happy Wednesday! It's Brenda's turn to host at Little Red Wagon and she must be hungry as she's selected "Let's Eat!" as our theme for the week. 

My little niece is having a birthday soon so I decided to make a card for her with a yummy cupcake as the highlight. The sentiment, frame (die) and cupcake are from My Favorite Things and the sweet little mice from Reverse Confetti. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see the rest of the delicious "Let's Eat!" projects - and then join in on the fun by linking up a creation of your own! 

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Hello - All Die Cuts

Happy Wednesday! We're in for another doozy of a storm here in Ontario, Canada. Things are supposed to get really bad through the night so I'm relieved that I'll be working from home tomorrow. I'm crossing my fingers and praying hard that things will be clear by Friday as I'm heading to southern Ontario for the weekend to cheer on my youngest in an ice hockey tournament. It looks as though things should be cleared up by then. 

Chrissy is our ever-so-creative hostess at Little Red Wagon this week and she's chosen the theme "Die Cuts". With the exception of my card base which I cut with my paper trimmer, all other elements were created from an assortment of dies from an assortment of different crafting companies - My Craft Spot, Reverse Confetti, Flora and Fauna, Gemini. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see the many ways die cuts have been used by the Girlfriends - and then create a paper projects with a die cut or two to join the fun! 

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Grande Birthday Wishes

Happy February and greetings from a chilly Ontario, Canada! We've had some cold days here and we're heading toward some frigid temperatures this weekend. It's perfect for staying inside while enjoying hot beverages. Speaking of hot beverages, the wonderful Brenda is hosting at Little Red Wagon this week and she's chosen the theme "Feature Warm Drinks". 

I pulled out an oldie but goodie stamp set from Reverse Confetti and paired the stamps with some die cuts and a stencil from MFT stamps. I did get this general card layout idea from Reverse Confetti.

Please grab a warm drink to sip and enjoy while browsing through the Girlfriends' projects at Little Red Wagon - and then create and link up your own hot beverage creation! 

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You Make Me Happy

I'm hosting this week's challenge over at Little Red Wagon and continue to use Beatles' hits as my inspiration this year. This week, the theme is "Here Comes the Sun" which seems quite fitting given all the sun and HEAT we've been having. I think that last week's camping trip was the hottest time I've ever had camping. Even just sitting in the shade worked up a sweat!

I used a variety of projects from different companies to put my card together. I think I went through about four different background ideas before I finally decided this one was somewhat blog worthy. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see what the rest of the Girlfriends have created - and then link up your own sunny projects!

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Hello Beautiful

It's the incredible Jan's turn to host at Little Red Wagon this week and she wants us to "Emboss Everything!" Fortunately, she did clarify that we don't actually have to emboss everything. 

I remember when I purchased my first (and only, actually) Cuttlebug. It sat unopened and unused on my desk for about six months before I decided to give it a go. And, once I started, I couldn't stop and pretty much did emboss everything! My kids were much younger then and they also enjoyed embossing. I remember one particular day when there were a group of kids over who spent hours embossing scraps of paper which they then took home for their own crafting projects. 

About a year ago, I finally purchased a new die cutting/embossing machine as my Cuttlebug really had seen better days. These days, I tend to do more die cutting than embossing but always do enjoy pulling out my old embossing folders. After doing some distress ink blending on my panel, I ran it through my Vagabond using an old Cuttlebug embossing folder. I then layered a die-cut (Simon Says Stamp) and frame (Mama Elephant) on top. I thought about adding a heat-embossed sentiment as well but decided to stick with a "hello" die cut (Reverse Confetti). I added a few gems to finish things off. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see what the rest of the Girlfriends have embossed! And then decide if you'd like to dry or heat emboss - or both! - and join the fun.

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Happy Birdie Wishes

I'm hosting at Little Red Wagon this week and I'm continuing my theme of 80's hits, this time with Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". Basically, I'm looking for girl-themed projects of all kinds. I'm fine if you reject the gender binary too! 

My daughter loves frills and jewels, pinks and purples - as well as hummingbirds! I made this card for her back in the summer. It's one of a few cards I made well in advance for our Little Red Wagon challenges. Not because I was super organized but because I misread the challenge themes and ended up working way ahead! It all works out though as this has been a particularly busy start of term as our students transition back to in-person learning. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see the rest of the Girlfriends' creations (which I'm sure they had fun making!). Then link up your own paper projects so I'll know to pop by your blogs to see what you've created. 

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Dogs Leave Paw Prints on Your Heart

Happy Wednesday - I think!! For some reason (likely being home again and again from one day to the next!), I've been completely muddled on the days this week. I'm also mixed up with the weeks. I attend a virtual book club the last Tuesday of each month and planned my evening yesterday around book club, only to learn that next Tuesday is the last Tuesday of the month. Oh dear!

Chrissy is our hostess at Little Red Wagon this week and she's looking for "A heart or two... or three". Include at least one heart on your project and you're good to join us!

My colleague recently had to say goodbye to his dog so I made this card for him and his family. Our team also made a donation to our local animal shelter in honour of Eudora. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see what the rest of the Girlfriends have created - and then add a heart or two (or three or more!) to your next project in order to join our challenge too!

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I am Really Missing You

It's time for a new challenge at Little Red Wagon and Imke is our talented hostess this week. Imke is challenging us to create one layered cards. This was a challenge for me as I usually have at least two layers so was wondering what I could do beyond simply stamping a sentiment on a piece of cardstock. However, I decided to use a stencil, some ink splatters and a heat embossed sentiment for the illusion of depth while keeping things to one layer. This card was fairly quick and easy to put together and I might have to create more one-layered cards in the future!

The stencil I used is from Reverse Confetti and the sentiment from My Favorite Things. The wonky die is Lil Inker Designs. After cutting my front panel, I kept the die on the cardstock in order to create a frame when stencilling. I made this card to send to a dearly loved friend who is going through a tough time right now. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see what the rest of the Girlfriends have created - and then try your hand at a one-layered card to join the fun!

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Merry Christmoose

Brenda is our hostess at Little Red Wagon this week and she's looking for non-traditional Christmas colours. Basically, if your Christmas creation is not red or green, we want to see it!

I based my card on a stuffed moose and ceramic tree that I recently saw in a shop and decided to go pink! The background does have a tiny bit of green so I'm hoping that all the pink detracts from that. I had fun creating the background by using the snowflake stamps that came with the Reverse Confetti Merry Christmoose set and heat embossing them with a glittery embossing powder before inking over with pink. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see what the rest of the Girlfriends have created - and then link up your own non-traditional Christmas colour project. 

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Welcome Little One

Jan is our hostess at Little Red Wagon this week and she's saying, "Just KIDding". She's looking for creations for kids or teens (no joke!). 

I needed to make two cards to celebrate the birth of babies - the smallest of kids. I suppose that, technically, these cards are for the parents of the babies. One card (the mouse) is for our pup's groomer who recently had a baby boy. The other card is for my daughter's co-worker who is expecting a baby boy next month. She's already finished the room with a moose theme so my daughter is thrilled that she's now got a moose baby card to give!

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see what the rest of the Girlfriends have created - and then pull out your crafting supplies and make something for a child/teen in your life!!

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Dogs Leave Paw Prints

I can't believe it's Wednesday again already! These days are flying by. I feel that I'm constantly on the go - even though I haven't been leaving the house! The weather has been glorious here and there have been several times that I've moved part of my workstation outdoors to work on the deck. Basically, this just means that I take the laptop outside to work but it sounds a bit more professional to call it my workstation! Typically, I work with two large monitors. However, I'm willing to sacrifice screen size in order to enjoy the sun!

Jan is our hostess at Little Red Wagon this week and she's looking for "Animal Antics". If your project has an animal of any kind, shape or size, it can be a contender in our challenge!

I created a little sympathy card for my son's girlfriend's co-worker who lost her beloved pup. I used stamps from Reverse Confetti and a Simon Says die (which I cut and used as a stencil) for the background. And if you look very closely, you'll see there's a little paw print in one of the hearts above the dog house on the right-hand side.

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see the rest of the Girlfriends' creations - and then link up your own Animal Antics projects!

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Amazing, Marvelous You

Brenda is this week's hostess at Little Red Wagon and she's calling out, "Etc., etc., etc."! Basically, she's looking for three of anything on our projects - from three sentiments to three images to three embellishments to three patterned papers. If it's a triplet of some sort, we want to see it!

I was especially excited about this challenge as three is my favourite number. I used my never-before used love script die and cut it three times for my card. (The cuts stand out a bit better in real life.) I have three words in my sentiment and finished things off with three droplet gems. Three sets of three!

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see the rest of the Girlfriends' projects and then join this week's fun by creating something with a "three" theme!

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Faith, Family, Friends

It's Imke's turn to host at Little Red Wagon this week and she's chosen the theme "Fall It!" This means that Imke would like to see fall-themed projects - from fall leaves to pumpkins to bushels of apples to acorns and beyond. If it's got something to do with fall, it's good to link up at LRW!

I pulled out some autumn-coloured distress inks to create a background and then layered a sentiment and leaves created with supplies from My Craft Spot. The embossed sentiment is a bit tricky to read in the photo. It says, "Faith, Family, Friends - for these we give thanks".

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see what the rest of the Girlfriends have created - and then link up your own fall-themed creations!

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Birthday Tweetings

Doni is this week's hostess at Little Red Wagon and she's saying "Happy Bird-day". This is Doni's way of asking us to create birthday projects with birds!

I pulled out a stamp set from Reverse Confetti to create my bright card. And, after success with last week's sketch, I went online to find a sketch to use which sped things up during the creation process.

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see the rest of the bird-day projects - and then create and link up one of your own!

I'm entering my card in Simon Says Stamp's Stitches challenge. 

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Make Mudpies

It's time for the latest Little Red Wagon challenge and I'm delighted to let you all know that our new Girlfriend, Doni, is hosting this week! She's chosen the theme April Showers and would like to see anything to do with water or rain. This could be the theme of your creation or it could involve water as part of the technique you've used.

I chose to use a Hero Arts rain/spring stamp that I won in a Simon Says Stamp grab bag ages ago and never used. The rain cloud paper was from my stash from years ago and I also added some raindrop gems that I've never used before! The stamps are from a Reverse Confetti set. I'd actually ordered some little duckling stamps for the challenge but they seem to be having fun with border customs so I don't yet have them!

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to "meet" Doni - and then link up your own April Showers creation!

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Happy Easter Treat Bags

I'm thrilled to be hosting at Little Red Wagon this week. I've chosen the theme "Hop to it!" and am looking for anything that hops.

For my project, I created a couple of Easter treat bags with bunny toppers. I'll have to make another though as I have three kids.

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to check out what the rest of the Girlfriends have created and then link up your own "Hop to it!" project.

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Hello (Toucan)

It's good to be back home! My son and I had a fabulous time exploring some of Scotland's Castles and lochs - and also enjoyed our time with family in England. Our days were full of activities, laughter and love!

I have to admit that it was difficult to get this week's card together - not because of crafting itself but that I was enjoying the amazing summer-like weather that we had over the long weekend! I got lots of gardening done but also had time for a family breakfast out and an amazing walk on one of our local trails.

Heather is this week's hostess at Little Red Wagon and she's picked a fitting theme: Under the Sun (use a sun on your project). I pulled out a few supplies from Reverse Confetti (sun die, hello die and toucan stamp and die) to create my card. Please be sure to head over to Little Red Wagon to see what the rest of the Girlfriends have created!

Here are a just a few photos from my holiday with Jack.

Inverary Castle

Rest and Be Thankful

Afternoon Tea at National Museum of Scotland

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