Ornamental Cheer abounds

As you can see I'm back on this pattern. In fact, I have a few cards of this pattern and group of stamp sets. I also have a few cards with the tree grouping I posted yesterday.

I have found another favourite product to add to my arsenal....that is Close To My Heart's NEW pigment inks in all 40 colours! It makes jazzing any artwork up with coordinating ink that is brighter than our dye ink, plus you can emboss it with clear for more shine.

I started with Pacifica cardstock on the top, stamped with the script image from Universal Backgrounds. The sentiment is from Christmas Joy and is stamped with Black pigment ink and embossed with clear powder. The ornament is Sky cardstock stamped with Pacific pigment ink and embossed in clear. The image is from new Ornamental Cheer stamp set.

The patterned paper is from retired, Wonderland, paper pack. I added some Silver Shimmer trim and a wee bit of Colonial White grosgrain ribbon.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Stamps: Christmas Joy; Ornamental Cheer; Universal Backgrounds
Paper: Wonderland
Cardstock: Pacifica; Sky; Colonial White
Embellishments: Silver Shimmer Trim; Colonial White grosgrain ribbon; Clear embossing powder
Tools: Artiste Cricut cartridge

My memory has space for more cards!

I have spent the week deleting old posts; resizing and deleting pictures in the hopes that my memory of pictures was no longer full. With cautious joy, I'm posting this card.

I stamped the Twilight cardstock with an image from, Love Life, in Twilight ink. The sentiment is stamped with Black pigment ink and embossed with clear powder. The image is from, Christmas Joy. The gorgeous tree is from, Holiday Wishes, and is stamped on Sweet Leaf cardstock with Topiary pigment ink. I also embossed the tree image with clear embossing powder.I added some Burlap ribbon along with a Twilight button and my card is done.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Stamps: Love Life; Christmas Joy; Holiday Wishes
Cardstock: Twilight; Sweet Leaf; Topiary; Colonial White
Ink: Twilight; Black and Topiary pigment
Embellishments: Burlap ribbon; Twilight button; clear embossing powder
Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Out of Memory.........

Well, after reading what I thought was a crazy thing that happened to Vicki Wizniuk, I was too lazy and chose to NOT heed her advice. I was about to create some new posts for my blog, and while attempting to upload some pictures I got a message saying I was out of memory!

Well, I hope to NEVER be out of memory.....personally......but this is evidence once again, we should all take Vicki's advice and now mine. RESIZE YOUR PICTURES before posting them to your blog.

I use Photoshop in various forms and it is very simple to resize your image. You click on "Image", then in the drop down menu you will see "Image Size". I was told by my webmaster to resize pictures to 400 x 600 pixels....easy to remember as a 4x6 photo. If you are using Photoshop CS5, as you type one number, the proper size for the other side automatically keys in. This is wonderful feature, because when resizing in Photoshop Elements 5, I remember having to guess at the other number. It made me laugh sometimes, because if my guess was really off the picture would go from rectangular to square. I started just subtracting 1200 pixels from each number that appeared when I went into the image size and that seemed to do the trick.

I will now attempt to get into my album to resize or delete some photos. I could not get past the pop up box to create a profile last night, in the Picassa album. I may have to pay for more memory......or I will get my computer genius Son on it to crack the code/system for me! (I never imagined I would ask my 16 year old, or any teenager, to rescue me with a fix in our cyber world!) I will let you know how I make out, if it is something different than suggestions Vicki made.

So, until I resolve this, I guess my artwork will be temporarily unavailable!

Something completely different....

I thought I would interrupt my one design blue cards, to bring you this sweet one created with Pear & Partridge.

I used the stamp set from Pear & Partridge Card Workshop On The Go set. I stamped in Ruby ink, then restamped a portion in Olive ink. The other sentiment is from retired, Christmas Love. That is it......sweet and simple!

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Pear & Partridge WOTG Card kit
Stamp: Christmas Love
Ink: Ruby; Olive
Tools: Artiste Cricut cartridge

Alcohol Markers RULE!

This is the last of 3 designs gals created at my Flakey Friends workshop, a few weeks back.

This must be where my love of this pattern got started. This card is simple with Avonlea paper on the top and Twilight cardstock on the bottom. The Twilight is stamped with the snowflake image from Flakey Friends in Twilight ink. The sentiment is stamped in Black pigment ink, then embossed with clear powder. The sentiment is from Very Merry Christmas, Oct stamp of the month.

The cute snowman is stamped with Black Memento ink then coloured with our Twilight and Crystal Blue Alcohol markers. I added Silver Shimmer Trim and Grey Wool Baker's Twine, also. There is also some puffy snow from some Liquid Applique.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Paper: Avonlea
Stamp: Flakey Friends; Very Merry Chirstmas
Ink: Twilight; Black Pigment
Alcohol Markers: Twilight; Crystal Blue
Embellishments: Silver Shimmer Trim; Grey Wool Baker's Twine; Liquid Applique
Tools: Artiste Cricut cartridge
Other: Black Memento ink

Christmas Cards GALORE!

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm stuck on one card pattern. Here is another version.

 I have to make hundreds of Christmas cards this year. The cards I will need for family; friends and customers. In addition, I have been selling lots of cards at the cafe I work at part-time and will be selling at another cafe opening the beginning of December.

This card used Flakey Friends for the snowflake background on Twilight cardstock. The sentiment is from Pear & Partridge Card WOTG and the bulb is from Oct SOTM, Very Merry Christmas. I stamped both with our new Black and Twilight pigment inks. I then embossed with clear embossing powder.

To finish up, I added some Baker's Twine in Grey Wool and Silver Shimmer Trim.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Paper: Avonlea
Stamps: Flakey Friends; Very Merry Christmas; Pear and Partridge Card WOTG
Ink: Black and Twilight pigment; Twilight
Embellishments: Silver Shimmer Trim; Baker's Twine; clear embossing powder
Tools: Artiste Cricut cartridge

Christmas Challenge at H2H

We are having another Christmas Challenge over at H2H.

Here is one of the cards I created for this challenge.

I am caught up creating cards with a certain layout at the moment. You will see how caught I am as I post more cards.

So, I got out one what I think is the BEST EVER Christmas stamp sets....Holiday Wishes. It came with large, bold images to stamp on coordinating shapes from Art Philosophy. So I cut out some trees and went to town with other great CTMH products.

I inked this stamp with our new pigment inks in Blush. I added clear embossing powder and heated it up for a nice shiny appearance. I stamped the sentiment with our Black pigment ink, then clear embossed it, as well. Then I continued stamping the sentiment all over the Slate cardstock in Whisper ink.

I added a strip of Grey Flannel cardstock punched with our corner/scallop makers. Then some of our scrumptious Silver Shimmer Trim. I finished off the card with a Blush button tied up with Colonial White Waxy Flax.

Now it is your turn to create something with a Christmas theme for the challenge at H2H Challenge Blog.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Stamps: Holiday Wishes; Christmas Joy
Ink: Whisper; Black and Blush pigment
Cardstock: Slate; Grey Flannel; Colonial White
Embellishments: Silver Shimmer Trim; Blush button; Colonial White Waxy Flax; Clear embossing powder
Tools: Corner/scallop maker; Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

The birds of Pear & Partridge

Here are the final two cards of the workshop I held using the Pear & Partridge Workshop On The Go Card Kit.

I have been fascinated by birds since moving to Victoria, BC,  21 years ago. We have so many parks and beaches to see different species, that it often becomes my challenge to see/photograph ones I've never seen before. So, when birds are included in stamp sets......I find I have to use them.

We used a sticky note on the shape, to line up the three images while stamping. We varied the pattern of the border paper and how our ribbon and sparkles were placed. 

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Paper: Pear & Partridge WOTG Card Kit

Ink: Cocoa; Cranberry

Tools: Art Philosophy & Artiste Cricut cartridge

More Pear & Partridge switch up cards

I'm sorry for not posting the past few days. We've been worried about a friend who has been in hospital since last Wednesday. We've been cooking and taking food to his 2 sons, for the past week. He finally woke up today and we can now breathe a wee sigh of relief.

So, here are 2 more variations of cards my class made with the Pear & Partridge Workshop On The Go Card Kit.

The only real difference with these cards is the placement of the ribbon and sentiment shape. I tried making a horizontal version of this card, for variety, but really liked the vertical version better.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Paper: Pear & Partridge WOTG Card Kit

Ink: Cocoa; Cranberry

Tools: Cricut Art Philosophy and Artiste cartridges

Pear & Partridge Workshop On The Go Brilliance

I recently held a workshop featuring the Pear & Partridge Workshop On The Go kit. This is a wonderful workshop and I switched it up a bit by providing shapes to be stamped on, rather than the squares and rectangles that were in the kit pattern.

I wanted to show both the horizontal and vertical variations you could make with supplies. I am also still tickled to have patterned cardstock, that has two wonderful sides to utilize.

We stamped with Cranberry; Olive and Cocoa ink. The gold coloured ribbon and delicious glitter sparkles are included in the kit, along with the exclusive stamp set and cutting pattern.

 I will have the other 2 sets of 2 cards posted in the next few days.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Pear & Partridge Workshop On The Go Kit
Ink: Cranberry; Olive; Cocoa
Tools: Art Philosophy and Artiste Cricut cartridge

Humble Artist's Swap for October

Our guidelines for October's Humble Artist's Swap were a doooooozy! Here is the card I created with the guidelines listed below.

I started with Saddle cardstock as a base. I used a wood pattern paper from Dakota and stamped the spider webs from, All Hallows Eve. The stamped diamond pattern is from the Spellbound WOTG kit. It is stamped on Slate cardstock; patterned papers from Pear & Partridge and Moonlight. I used Slate; Cashmere and Black ink to stamp the diamonds.

Next I added strips of Burlap and Tulle ribbon. Then came a border of Ruby cardstock stamped with the diamond pattern in  Ruby ink. The two shapes are cut from Artiste. They are stamped with images from Spellbound WOTG kit and Magic Potion in Ruby ink.

My cute little Dracula is stamped in black ink on White Daisy cardstock. He is from Creepy Creatures and I added colour with a Ruby alcohol marker.

I added stamped spiders with 3 different embellishments for bodies. I used a clear and Black Sparkle and Round Baubles. I also add a Black Brad and Bitty Opaques to exceed my embellishment requirement.

Here are the guidelines:

-Use at least  1 new ink colour

-Use at least 2 new ribbons

-Use at least 3 new patterned papers

-Use at least 4 new cardstock

-Use at least 5 embellishments (including 2 new ribbons)

-Use at least 6 stamped images

-Use at least a 7 word sentiment

-Use at least 8 layers 

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Stamps: All Hallows Eve; Creepy Creatures; Magic Potion; Spellbound WOTG
Paper: Moonlight;  Pear & Partridge; Dakota
Cardstock: Colonial White; Saddle; Whisper; Slate; White Daisy; Ruby
Ink: Black; Cashmere; Ruby; Ruby Alcohol marker
Embellishments: Burlap & Tulle ribbon; Round, Clear & Black Sparkle; Black Brad; Bitty Opaques
Tools: Artiste Cricut cartridge

Flakey Friends Workshop

Here is the second card created for my Flakey Friends workshop.

I started by stamping all of the cute snowmen with Memento Black ink on Colonial White cardstock. I used both Crystal Blue and Twilight alcohol marker sets to colour  scarves and hats. Twilight ink was sponged on all of the edges and pounced for the snow.

I punched the snowflakes from Whisper cardstock and the snowman borders are Slate and Twiligh cardstock. I added Clear Sparkles to the snowflakes and Stardust Glitz to the stamped snowflake balls above each snowman. The pattern paper is from Avonlea.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Paper: Avonlea
Stamps: Flakey Friends
Cardstock: Whisper; Slate; Twilight; Colonial White
Ink: Twilight
Markers: Crystal Blue & Twilight Alcohol
Embellishments: Clear Sparkles; Stardust Glitz
Tools: Corner/Scallop maker
Other: Snowflake punch

H2H Inspiration photo Challenge

This week's challenge at H2H is a photo inspiration. This photo got me thinking about bringing the outdoors inside. That would not be an advisable thing at our house these days......there seems to be an inordinate number of robins in our trees and 3 of our 4 indoor cats chattering at them every day.

With thoughts of those robins, I got out one of my all time favourite stamps, A Tweet.

I sponged Autumn Terracotta and Cocoa ink on the stamp to make it appear robin like. I cut a tiny piece of Honey cardstock for the beak. The leaf branches were cut with Art Philosophy, from Pear cardstock. I added some red berries just for a pop of colour.

I stamped the wood grain with Desert Sand and Cocoa ink on Colonial White cardstock. I added Burlap ribbon; and a button with Colonial White Waxy Flax.

The sentiment was stamped with Cocoa pigment ink, then embossed with clear embossing powder. (I just LOVE our new pigment stamp pads!)

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Paper: Footloose
Stamps: A Tweet; Weathered Backgrounds
Ink: Cocoa Pigment; Cocoa; Desert Sand; Autumn Terracotta
Cardstock: Colonial White; Cocoa; Pear
Embellishments: Burlap Ribbon; Red Glitz; Cocoa Button; Colonial White Waxy Flax; Bitty Black Brad
Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

A sweet match for the holidays...

I am holding a workshop this coming weekend featuring Avonlea paper and Flakey Friends stamp set. Here is the first card the Gals will make.

I cut a rectangular bracket shape with Artiste, then stamped my Flakey Friend and sentiment, with Memento Black ink. I coloured his hat and scarf with our NEW Alcohol markers in Twilight. I stamped the snowflake border in Twilight ink on some Juniper cardstock, then matted it on Twilight.

The edges all got inked with Twilight, including the patterned paper from Avonlea. The snowflake is punched with a Martha punch from Whisper cardstock. I tied up a Twilight button with Colonial White Waxy Flax, for its centre. Finally, I added Stardust Glitz the buttons and Liquid Applique to the snowflakes.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Stamps: Flakey Friends
Paper: Avonlea
Ink: Twilight
Cardstock: Colonial White; Twilight; Juniper; Whisper
Embellishments: Twilight Button; Colonial White Waxy Flax; Stardust Glitz; Liquid Applique
Tools: Artiste Cricut Cartridge
Other: Martha Stewart snowflake punch; Memento Black ink

Keeping it Neutral with H2H

Yipee for me, I'm actually participating in two challenges this week. I created this card for the "Keeping it Neutral" Challenge over on the H2H Challenge Blogspot.

This card was a fair stretch for me. I love to use neutrals, then add a pop of colour. To just use neutrals made me get my thinking cap out!

I used a technique that Lisa Stenz used last year, to use cardstock left over from cutting shapes from Art Philsophy as a stencil, to stamp with. I was cutting shapes to use with stamp set, Perfect Fit Frames, then used the left over cardstock for my stencil. 

I sponged Whisper ink into the shape. I stamped the script image from Universal Backgrounds, over top of the stencil in Slate ink. I used our amazing Black pigment ink to stamp the sentiment from, Thank You. I embossed that in clear powder, then went looking for other embellishments to use.

I looped up some beautiful, retired Black with Colonial White flower grosgrain ribbon. I added a Colonial White button tied with some Colonial White Waxy Flax.

I mounted my stamped image on Whisper; Slate; then Black cardstock. The entire sandwich was then added to a Colonial White base.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Stamps: Thank You; Universal Backgrounds
Ink: Slate; Whisper; Black Pigment
Embellishments: Black pattern Grosgrain ribbon; Colonial White Button and Waxy Flax; Clear Embossing Powder
Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge