According to my blog stats, I get a lot of views thanks to this embossed vellum card which is wildly popular on Pinterest. Everytime I check this page my heart does a little song and dance.

I was planning a few little pins for our Paperie Pinterest board and I couldn’t find these cards I made a few years back on either this blog or The Paperie blog. Time to rectify that! These two cards are oldies but goodies using some older Hero Arts floral stamps.

Both of these cards feature two of my favourite things, VersaMark Pen and the White Uni-Ball Pen. For the card above, I stamped the same floral image in two sizes on the kraft card base using Rich Cocoa Memento Ink. I also stamped the larger flower on a scrap of white cardstock and a scrap of pink cardstock, and cut out the two layers popping them up on the card with foam tape. I used a VersaMark Pen to outline the brown flowers on the kraft cardstock and shade the centers to make them pop a little. The white border was cut from an AccuCut album borders set.

The second card is a longer card which fits in a business size envelope. This might just be the only card I made in this size, but I liked it so maybe I’ll try again someday. Again I repeated another Hero Arts floral stamp in Rich Cocoa Memento Ink on Kraft cardstock and shaded the centers and outlines with VersaMark Pen, accenting with my fave White Uni-Ball Pen. The focal flower was stamped three times on pink, blue and orange cardstock and cut out the three layers of each stamp to create a multi-color flower.

Love these notecards that Amber made on the Damask Love Blog with the VersaMark Pen - check them out!

This weekend I’m hoping to participate in The Hero Arts Challenge, I borrowed the sketch for The Paperie’s Mojo Monday challenge to motivate customers and tomorrow we’ll feature a colorful card submitted by Denise Tilley. Here’s the sketch, from Heroarts.com…

You should play along too if you have a chance. Hey! Just noticed that my first card vaguely resembles this sketch. I’m planning a little Spring Florals card class for May at The Paperie, perhaps I’ll use this sketch as inspiration for the first card. Stay tuned!

I wish I was capable of taking a decent photograph – my apologies.

This card was all about favoritism. I used my favorite stamp set, Jingle All The Way by Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday, along with my favorite product (and colors) Twinkling H2O’s shimmery paint, and bling! Love bling. Gotta have it. One favorite thing I did not use was foam tape… this one layer wonder did not need it. I actually enhanced this card slightly for the people who received it this year by adding the white panel to a green card base but I like it either way.  

Anyhow, hope you have a wonderful holiday!

I love these sentiments so much, the mixture of fonts is perfection and the verses work for both the inside and outside of cards. Here are three of the seven cards I made for my class, plus a tag I made for a fun Paperie tutorial.

The first card was created simply with some patterned paper and three circle punches to create a snowman window.

The blue panel is popped up on the white card base, and a line of glitter was added to the shimmery white snowbank.

Julie Ebersole would call this card a 5MQ (five minute quickie). She can get away with saying that ‘cos she’s so darn cute. The branch is a die-cut from Impression Obsession, and the sentiment was stamped below and connected to the branch with a line. I even used a ruler.

I drew a “bulb topper” for the “O” to make it into an ornament and applied glossy accents for that dimensional look.

This red and white card features the Hero Arts Peace Ornament and the Technique Tuesday sentiment embossed in white on a red panel, which was mounted flat to a white panel. I overcame my obsession with dimensional foam tape for this quick two-layer card.

Here’s a tag I made for The Paperie Blog, inspired by an amazing faux chalkboard card tutorial by Betsy Veldman.

This tag features sentiments by Hero Arts & Technique Tuesday, the flourishes stamps are from Technique Tuesday’s “Joy to The World” stamp set. I used a white pencil to outline all the sentiments (embossed in white), and a sponge dauber with white chalk ink to create the look of an erased chalkboard.

That’s all for now, just wanted to check in and let everyone know I was still alive and crafting, even if it is sporadic.

Doe posted an adorable wooden letter covered in washi tape, and posed the challenge for her followers to cover a letter too. Here is my take on the challenge:

I made this “E” shaped shelf in ninth grade woodworking class. When I drew up the plan, my teacher said that this shelf couldn’t work. I wouldn’t accept that, so I made it anyway – now 18 years later I still have a sturdy little shelf. And lookie there – the edges are all the perfect size for washi tape! I used the Aqua Airmail tape from Freckled Fawn all around to dress it up. I was tempted to wrap the entire shelf in washi tape… but… I’m still at the hoarding stage. Miiine. My precious.

My kitty milo popped in during the photoshoot to sniff around. He loves to play with washi tape, so I keep it safely stowed in a clear cracker container.

Do you like my silver ampersand? I have a green one too… I was going to keep one at work and one on my desk at work, but Sara suggested that I start collecting them. Oooh! I must buy a wooden one and cover it in Washi Tape!

I have the weekend off, and am planning to hit up some more antique stores. I’m on a quest for old aqua Ball Mason jars. What are your plans for the weekend?

Milo might be a boy cat but he sure knows how to turn it on for the camera. I was sitting across from him one day as he snoozed on the chair next to my television. He matched the chair so well and looked so sweet, I had to reach for my camera which lead to this impromptu photo shoot. My handsome kitty started posing and these pictures are too cute not to share…

Such a comical little kitty I have. I’m working on Milo’s first scrapbook page now, maybe I’ll post it next week if it turns out okay

Here’s the Moxie Fab inspiration photo:

Moxie Fab World Blog

And here’s my card:

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The combination of apricot and robins egg blue was what drew me to the inspiration photo, so I used the same colour scheme for my card. I love that Hero Arts flower, which I coloured on the back with my Copic Markers. I’ve been looking at all of the other entries and am even more inspired now. I will definitely try this colour scheme again in the future.

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I found this gorgeous SEI paper in my stash, it has to be at least three years old. The image and lines are all a dark teal foil, and it’s stunning in real life. I simply cut a square of the patterned paper, coloured one of the flowers with my Copic markers. This was one of the easiest cards I’ve ever made, the sentiment is the only stamped part.

Perhaps I’ll sit down at my desk and see if I can come up with anything for the Tuesday Trigger challenge, I just loved the inspiration photo this week.

My aim is to play along with more challenges in 2012, we’ll see how that goes

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I have the weekend off so I’m planning to hunker down and actually play along with some challenges, as that’s always a good way to get the creative juices going. I think I’ll start with the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger and maybe then the Hero Arts monthly challenge and who knows what else. One of my resolutions this year is to spend more time crafting and less time watching tv. Failing that, as I watch TV now as I type. I have a weakness for Vampire Diaries, no thanks to my earlier obsession with Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Here is my card, which was inpired by a card by Julie Ebersole, AND the Winter Blossoms Tuesday Trigger that Cath posted. I made this at the shop to go with The Paperie’s new feature “One little stamp” – this week we’re featuring the Hero Arts Dandelion and I’ve pinned some other awesome ideas on our Pinterest Board. (I spy my all-time favourite Virginia Lu card on that board).

Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger

I pictured white embossing on kraft, florals and lace, etc. Of course I could not find my white embossing powder, so I went in a different direction tonight when I saw that the deadline had been extended. The soft colours of kraft, pink and yellow inspired my card…

Although this isn’t the idea I originally had in my mind, I like how it turned out. Here’s a close-up of that wooden button which was not easy to part with, I’m not going to lie. Love those KaiserCrafts wooden flowers too (both were parts of the December Paperie Club Kit). The shimmery Seashell paper is from Envelopments and it is my all-time favourite cardstock.

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I had to put a hold on my Awareness card collection due to an amazing turn of events. In late September there was talk on Facebook about a possible fundraiser for my friend Tiffany, maybe a gig or a cabaret. A week went by and nothing had been organized, so I emailed a couple of local bands and asked if they would be willing to play a Benefit for Tiff.

Lizband was my first choice, as Tiffany and I have been fans since 1993. Of course Liz said yes, so my next email was to Jody Richardson, lead singer/guitarist of The Pathological Lovers (another local band). In my email, I told Jody what was going on and mentioned that I was still looking for a third band with a personal connection to Tiff. Jody replied and said “Lovers are all in. All proceeds go to the cause. Just wait on the third band for a sec will ya’?”

So the next morning Jody emails me and tells me “The third band is Fur Packed Action. We have all agreed. ALL money goes to the cause.” I cried from joy, I could hardly believe such a selfless act. You see, Fur Packed Action, aside from being my *favourite* local band of ALL time, have been broken up since 2001. TEN YEARS. They have played only ONE reunion show since that time, five years ago in 2006. There was always something so special about an FPA show.

I can’t even begin to tell you how many friendships I’ve forged through mutal love of this band. My best friend Jenni and I spent every other weekend at FPA shows. I met my other best friend Peggy at an FPA show. I instantly adored an old co-worker named Susy because she loved FPA – she is still my friend today. When I met my friend Heidi, we bonded over a mutual love of FPA. Deebs (Darryl) and I met at FPA shows and became fast friends, and he introduced me to other great pals who love FPA. Jody, the singer of FPA has become like a brother but better – he’s been there for me through every tough time in my adult life with just the right amount of perspective.

Anyhow. Needless to say, I love that band a lot. Jody asked another old fave, Persona, to play the show as well and they all agreed. We announced the Benefit on Facebook on a Wednesday, the tickets were available the following Friday at 5pm and they were *totally* sold out by Saturday evening. Over 250 tickets sold in 24 hours. It became apparent we’d need to announce a second show, so that’s what we did and it looks as though that show is almost sold out too (tickets available at Fred’s Records until they sell out!).

Talk about overwhelmed. I am so excited to see FPA again, but that excitement is matched by feelings of shock and joy, knowing that… I put this in motion. I didn’t ask FPA to play, I never would’ve been so presumptious, I just wanted to raise $1000 for a friend in need. As it happens, we have currently raised almost $10,000 for Tiffany so far. The bands are not just giving up their time for two nights, there will be countless hours of rehearsal for them all to relearn songs they haven’t played in 5 years. I just cannot begin to thank them enough.

In other news, I decided to book a trip to Toronto on a whim, so I spent a week on the mainland visiting some friends and see a Canadian band called C’MON play their last two shows. October was certainly a whirlwind, and November is shaping up to be even crazier. Exciting times!

To keep this post relevant to the usual content, here’s a few pictures of the Star Book I made after the last FPA reunion in 2006…

Recently Tiffany found out that she has Breast Cancer, which came as a great shock to all of us because she’s only 33 years old. Her story could very easily be your story or mine, and there is no time like the present to remind everyone you know and love to check their breasts. You can read more about Tiffany’s journey and her fantastic outlook on life over on her blog:  http://tiffanyannemartin.wordpress.com

I have been trying to come up with meaningful ways to help out and spread the word, that Breast Cancer can affect any woman, of any age, at any time. I have decided to sell some handmade “Awareness” cards, I will let you know soon where they will be available to purchase.

Here’s an example…

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The cards will be very similar to this one, featuring a Pink awareness ribbon paired with a variety of words of encouragement. Special orders can be made for other coloured ribbons, and a portion of all proceeds will be going to a local breast cancer charity (which is yet to be named).

I know the profit from these cards won’t be huge, but it is one small way that I can help.

What can you do you shed some light on Breast Cancer Awareness this month? Talking about it is the first step.

Here is a picture of Tiffany and I at one of our favourite establishments, The Ship Inn…

I only have three pictures of us, and they are all taken at The Ship

Click to link to Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger

Result:

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O Captain

Actually, at first I thought about saying no. I mean, who wants to make a card for an Art collector who owns his own gallery? But I’d like to think Ally’s dad won’t be critiquing my watercolouring technique. Especially since I carelessly scribbled watercolor pencil strokes all over the map stamp and added water to blend. I copied Lisa with the Vintage Photo distress ink too – thanks for the inspiration, Lisa!

Map Stamp: Impression Obsession, Sentiment: computer generated

Here’s the winning card again… I’ll take a photo of my goodies when they arrive!

Click picture to go to Hero Arts Blog Post