With all the focus on retiring lists and new catalogues it’s been ages since I’ve joined a design challenge. I like challenges as they often make me think outside the box or encourage me to try new things. This morning I noticed the Just Us Girls Challenge #639. It’s word week, and the word was "mammals". That gave me just the excuse I needed to pull out the Elephant Parade Stamp Set and start colouring. But as I looked for an interesting background, things became a great deal more ... VIEW POST
Tropical Layers Spawned Ric-Rac Trim
One of the fun things about cutting dies and embossing folders is finding new ways to use them. Sometimes I’ll be inspired by something I’ve seen elsewhere. Sometimes it’s noticing interesting shapes formed by pieces discarded on the desk. Today’s project idea came about while I was designing some new cards as part of an article I was writing for Canadian Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators. The project involved the Artfully Layered Stamp Set and coordinating Tropical Layers Dies. ... VIEW POST
Dressed To Impress With A Lipstick Or Two
Today's project was one of those happy accidents that happen from time to time. I was sorting through through some of my older but still available stamp sets and came across Dressed To Impress. This is such a fun set including a shoe, perfume bottle and flower images. But my favourite image is the lipstick. This set hasn't seen ink in a long time, so I decided to take a break from organising and make a quick project instead. COLOURFUL LIPSTICK I began with a 2" x 5-1/2" strip of ... VIEW POST
Using Meadow Dies For A White Silhouette
Ok so I don't really know whether a 'white silhouette' is actually a thing. But if not I've just invented it. One of the things I love about die cut pieces is the variety of ways that they can be used. While the Meadow Dies are available as part of a discounted bundle with the Quiet Meadow Stamp Set, they're not designed to cut out the images. I think of them more as complementary products rather than coordinating. That said, I did end up using both parts of the bundle to make today's ... VIEW POST
Another tropical escape
Like many of you I've been glued to the news about the 12 boys and their soccer coach trapped deep inside a flooded cave system in Thailand. Over the past two days 8 boys have been rescued, and as I write this post the process of getting the remaining 5 people out is already underway. This drama has captured the attention of the world and there are hundreds of people involved in helping to ensure that this story has a happy ending. Some have travelled from across the globe to assist the ... 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