Happy 20th Anniversary to me!

Today, I celebrate my 20th Wedding Anniversary with my amazing husband, Randy.

We met 24 1/2 years ago on a ferry between Victoria and Vancouver. I had gone to the mainland to visit relatives and go to a free Crash Test Dummies concert at the PNE. My Uncle (who gave me away) dropped me off early, to take a bus to the ferry terminal. As I got on the bus, I was met by the brightest blue eyes I had ever seen......Randy was on the bus heading to the ferry, also. It was 6:30am and along with the bus driver, we were the only ones on the bus.

I lost track of Randy at the ferry terminal, but spied him once we were on the ferry. I sat down, but was on a vigilant eye contact path. Clearly he knew I was interested, so close to the end of the 1 1/2 hour ferry ride, he came by where I was sitting and asked if he could join me. We chatted until the ferry docked, then I offered him a ride. I know....probably not a wise thing to do....but he was going to visit his Grandparents after all. How bad of person could he be?

I dropped him off, then had dinner with him and talked on the phone several times before he went back to the mainland. He sent me cards at least twice a week for almost 8 months. He visited me in Victoria several times throughout that time, also, while I attended Camosun College. In March of 1992, my roommate was moving to Japan, so I asked Randy if he would like to move to Victoria and shack up! We married 3 1/2 years later and have 3 wonderful children.

This is the card I made for my husband. I used Gypsy and Whisper, since I wore a purple velvet dress on our wedding day and Whisper was close to our accent colour! 

I embossed with clear embossing powder with our Pigment Black and Gypsy inks. I dry embossed the Whisper cardstock with our Heart Embossing Folder. I used my Shin Han Alcohol Markers to colour the hearts. I tied up the card with Black and Slate Baker's Twine, as well as, Slate Diagonal Ribbon. I also added some Black Shimmer Trim at the top. I cut the "20" with Artiste and stamped the "Happy" and "Anniversary" from, Happy to Be Friends set. The other images are from retired sets.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamp: Happy to Be Friends

Cardstock: White Daisy; Gypsy; Whisper

Ink: Black & Gypsy Pigment; Shin Han Alcohol Markers

Embellishments: Black Shimmer Trim; Black & Slate Baker's Twine; Slate Diagonal Striped Ribbon; Clear Embossing Powder

Tools: Artiste Cricut cartridge

Here are a few pictures from our wedding day. We were married at our friend's house and they stood up for us.

Valentine's Day is just around the corner!

For the past 10 days or so, I have been working on creating several 5 x 7 Valentine cards to sell at my friend's coffee shop. In addition to this, I also had to make generic cards for sale, to go along with them. I delivered all of the cards yesterday, so I'm excited to see how the Valentine cards do. I'm going to show you what they look like over the coming days.

Here is one of the first I created using our January Stamp of the Month, In the Moment, which is available for just a few more days.

I first embossed some Whisper cardstock with our Hearts Embossing folder, then lightly coloured over each embossed heart with a Shin Han Marker. I added some of our gorgeous retired Ruby Chevron Washi Tape to some Lagoon cardstock, for a border.

I stamped the target and "Straight from the heart" sentiment with Ruby ink on White Daisy cardstock. Next I used another wonderful stamp set, You're the Bomb. Each of the bottom words were stamped with Black ink on White Daisy cardstock and matted with Lagoon cardstock. You're the Bomb is available until March 31st and CTMH will donate $3 towards Operation Smile from each purchase of the stamp set.

Finally, I added our Red Enamel Hearts to complete the card. These hearts are great, because they add dimension and I actually coloured them with my Shin Han Markers before applying them.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Paper: Heartstrings
Stamps: Jan SOTM, In the Moment; You're the Bomb
Ink: Black; Ruby; Shin Han Alcohol Markers
Cardstock: Whisper; Lagoon; White Daisy
Embellishments: Red Enamel Hearts; Ruby Chevron Washi Tape

There is still time.....

January's Stamp of the Month, This Moment, is still available for another 10 days. It has so many design elements in it, it really is a great set past Valentine's Day!

I used the gorgeous Heartstrings paper along with some Black Glitter paper and our Heart Embossing Folder. I used a Shin Han Marker to colour over the embossed hearts and Silver Sequins. I stamped with Ruby and Black ink. I added a wee bit of Liquid Glass to the stamped heart, then tied things up with Cranberry Baker's Twine.


All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Paper: Heartstrings
Stamp: This Moment, January SOTM
Ink: Ruby; Black; Shin Han Markers
Cardstock: Whisper; Black; Ruby; White Daisy
Embellishments: Black Glitter Paper; Cranberry Baker's Twine; Liquid Glass; Silver Sequins

Playing Hopscotch

Wow....where has this past week gone.....I'm not really sure on that one. Our weather has been all over the board....one gym morning I wore my fleece; one, I wore my rain jacket; and today I didn't need a jacket at all! This is typical January weather in Victoria. It is February that is always a mystery.......will we get snow or won't we.....that is the question!

So, I'm still loving Hopscotch paper. I could wall paper a room with all of the patterns in this pack. This one is a particular favourite! I paired it with another new awesome stamp set, You're the Bomb.

This was a fairly quick and easy card.....well, the cutting our of "SO" probably took as much time as the rest of the card.......but sometimes that just has to happen. The cardstock is Glacier and I stamped with coordinating ink for the lines around "SO". The sentiment is stamped in Black ink and the "You Are" is stamped in Black ink on Flaxen cardstock. I used my journaling pen to outline the top portion, added some Turquoise Shimmer Trim, then some Epoxy Bubbles.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Paper: Hopscotch
Stamp: You're the Bomb
Ink: Black; Glacier; Black Pigment; Black Journaling Pen
Cardstock: Glacier; Flaxen; White Daisy
Embellishments: Turquoise Shimmer Trim; Clear Embossing Powder

Is it too early for Spring flowers?

I love daffodils. We have farms in Victoria that supply a good portion of Canada with them, too. They are probably the easiest flower to grow and they are one of the first ones to pop up, when the weather starts to improve.

Now, not to brag (well, maybe just a little), daffodils usually start to bloom as early as the beginning of February in Victoria. Na, na, na, na na...........really......often times we have daffodils in bloom when we get our annual 24 hours of snow viewing! I love to call friends from where I grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to help them feel better, when I tell them we got snow here in Victoria. I do like to mention that the snow is weighing heavily on the yellow blooms of my daffodils! Mean.....maybe, but fun every single  year!

When I saw this gorgeous stamp set, A Little Note, in our Seasonal Expressions, it was on my list of first to buy! I coloured stems and flowers with our Shin Han Alcohol Markers, then filled in with my White gelly roll pen.

I used patterned paper from both Hopscotch and Heartstrings along with Glacier and Sunset cardstock. The base and coloured pieces are both on Colonial White cardstock.

 This particular set of cards is 4 x 4 and I made them for a very inspirational friend, for Christmas.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.

Stamp: A Little Note

Paper: Hopscotch; Heartstrings

Cardstock: Colonial White; Sunset; Glaceir

Ink: Black; Shin Han Markers

Other: Sakura Gelly Roll White pen; Memento Black ink

Someone Special

I'm excited to say, I hit a personal goal today.....yipee for me! When I started going to the gym in October, I decided I would set myself some small, attainable and realistic goals. I would set small ones so I could have the satisfaction of reaching goals on a regular basis. They were so small, that I have since reached many.....like getting up at 5:20 to go to the gym no matter what time I went to bed the night before! Check!

Another was, on the days when my gym partner called in sick, I would go on my own. Check!

Over Christmas break, my gym partner took the entire 2 weeks off from going to the gym. Not only did I continue to go by myself, but I actually went to a new gym on my own. Check and Check!

At this different gym, they have a scale in a secluded corner on your way out of the gym. I decided to get on quickly one morning, when no one was around. I had an idea where my weight was and from that check I was getting to my next small goal. That was getting below a certain number! Well, I checked that one off today.....YIPEE for me!

My next small goal is to continue to go to bed before midnight for the rest of the week and not nap during the day. I'm hoping this will lead to a permanent change in my crazy sleep habits.

Okay, so on with the paper crafting show! I am trying to ink all of the new stamps I have, from our NEW Seasonal Expressions. This beauty if from, Someone Special.

I inked it the flowers with Smoothie and Sunset ink. The sentiment is in Black ink. I matted the stamped piece with Black, then Smoothie cardstock. I also edged the piece with Smoothie ink before matting it. I tied up some Cranberry striped twill ribbon around my patterned paper from Hopscotch. I must say, all of the patterns in Hopscotch are FANTASTIC.....I just love this paper pack. I added a black mat and this card was done.

All supplies are Close to My Heart.
Paper: Hopscotch
Stamp: Someone Special
Ink: Sunset; Smoothie; Black
Cardstock: Smoothie; Colonial White; Black
Embellishments: Cranberry Striped Twill Ribbon

A silly start to 2015!

Our family is enjoying the last hours of Christmas Break. Monday will see my daughters returning to middle and high school. My son will return to classes at university and my husband will be back to work after almost a month of vacation. I have loved having them home, but will relish in the wee bit of quiet I get everyday!

Our Seasonal Expressions has some wonderful NEW products, in addition to the already amazing goodies in our Annual Inspirations Idea Book.  I especially LOVE new Hopscotch paper and this very sweet stamp set, Love Ya Silly.

This card makes me smile......the goofy monster is so cute and the sentiments in this set are very fresh! I used  Hopscotch paper on the top along with Flaxen and Lagoon cardstock. I embossed the Flaxen cardstock with our NEW Vine embossing folder, I tor the Lagoon cardstock border, then soaked the torn edge in  Flaxen ink. I stamped this one eyed cutey with Lagoon ink on the Colonial White piece, then again on a scrap piece, then cut him out. I popped the second one up over the first, then covered it with Liquid Glass. I stamped the sentiment with Black ink.

I added some Lagoon Baker's Twine and frayed the edges of the bow; Cranberry Striped Ribbon and Turquoise Dots. I also stamped and cut out the "Way Cute" medallion with Sunset ink and covered it with Liquid Glass, too. It is from a set whose name has escaped me.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Paper: Hopscotch
Stamp: Love Ya Silly
Cardstock: Colonial White; Flaxen; Lagoon; Sunset
Ink: Black; Lagoon; Sunset; Flaxen
Embellishments: Lagoon Baker's Twine; Cranberry Striped Ribbon; Turquoise Dots; Liquid Glass