One thing I love to do to transform plain cardstock is embossing. There are two main ways that I emboss, one is using my Big Shot with an embossing folder and the other is with embossing powder that melts when heat is applied to it. As part of the What Will You Stamp? Challenge Design Team I thought it would be fun to use both methods to create a gift tag using this week's featured stamp set WWYS169 - Bubble Over. The tag base is a 2" x 4" piece of Pool Party Card embossed with the ... VIEW POST
Doubly useful
Yuk, yuk, yuk. This morning as the sun rose (well I presume it did, because I couldn't see it), it was grey and very wet, and someone had stolen the view. Normally I can look out over the Cobequid Bay to the shore on the other side, work out whether the tide is on its way in or out depending on the colour of the water, and watch the clouds roll by. Today, nothing. I could see as far as the trees at the end of the property and after that it was all a solid mass of dreary grey. It looks like ... VIEW POST
If an octopus had thumbs
I can't believe that we're this far into my sneak peeks from the Stampin' Up! 2018/2019 Annual Catalogue and I've only just got around to sharing the new Sea of Textures Stamp Set and coordinating Under The Sea Framelits Dies! Although I wasn't sure how much use I'd have for an octopus image, I could see a lots of possibilities in the rest of the bundle, and I have to say since getting the them I've not been disappointed. So my first project is a card and although there is a gorgeous pack of ... VIEW POST
I can’t leaf it alone
Sorry for the awful pun but I am simply in love with the new Rooted in Nature Stamp Set from the Stampin' Up! 2018/2019 Annual Catalogue. I must say right now that I didn't want to like this set, I thought that it was a little too like others that I have, most notably Lovely As A Tree, and what's with that huge slice of tree trunk? Well, while I didn't want to like the set, it was one of the ones we were given to play with at a Stampin' Up! event I attended in Connecticut last month, and I ... VIEW POST
Spots and dots
While I love spending hours designing and creating cards and other items using Stampin Up! products I'm aware that not everyone has the time to spare, or the variety of tools and materials that I've been able to amass since joining Stampin' Up! So today I have a quick and easy card that has no punching, no die-cutting, no embossing and not even any stamping. In fact, leave off the Grapefruit Grove mat underneath the centre piece and you don't even need a trimmer to make this card! So using ... VIEW POST
Bright and early
The past few mornings have dawned bright and clear. I know this because I have acquired my own resident alarm clock in the form of a brightly coloured male pheasant who has chosen to perch on the top of a large rock in one of our flower beds and crow for all he's worth. Some people might not be impressed with these less-than-musical wake-up calls, but when I look out the window and see the early morning sun shining on his beautifully coloured feathers I can't help but be impressed. His ... VIEW POST
A new day
Yesterday was both sad and uplifting, we marked our late son's birthday and ate chocolate fudge cake. In the UK my daughter and granddaughter released balloons in his memory. We were all grateful for the many words of comfort given in person and via social media, and I think the day wasn't quite as bad as we were dreading. Like every day since we lost our son, the sun set and has risen again. It's a new day and the future is unwritten, we move forward knowing that it's exactly what he ... VIEW POST
Orchids and angels
Today our son would have been 32 had he not died unexpectedly last summer, so I wasn't sure whether I'd feel up to creating something in my craft studio for today's blog. I had considered a scrapbook page, but to be honest that's still a hard task. So in many ways having his birthday fall on a Monday when I usually show you a project I've created for the What Will You Stamp? Challenge Design Team, made that decision a little easier. The challenge this week is WWYS168 - Climbing Orchid and I ... VIEW POST
Enjoy life
It's Mother's Day here in Canada and I'm looking forward to chatting with our daughter and granddaughter later today. It's also a sad time since I won't be able to talk with our son who passed away suddenly last year. So for today's simple Sunday project I decided to create a bookmark with a sentiment that really spoke to my heart when I saw it. It's from the new Enjoy Life Stamp Set from the Stampin' Up! 2018/2019 Annual Catalogue, and rather than explain what I did, I decided to film the ... VIEW POST
Spoilt for choice
Yesterday was another exciting day as I took delivery of some more new products from the Stampin' Up! 2018/2019 Annual Catalogue. It wasn't a huge order but it did contain some special mixed packs containing card in the new and returning colours, and a pack containing all the new and returning colours of Stampin' Write Markers. Now, even though I don't yet have all the new colour ink pads, I have the option to use the markers directly on the surface of the stamp, or to scribble onto an acrylic ... VIEW POST
