Thursday, May 31, 2012

CTMH: June Stamp-of-the-Month Blog Hop!

It's time again, another blog hop and this stamp set is SO adorable!  I haven't had a lot of time to play with it yet, but I can't wait to make more cards and other projects with it.  If you came from Shirley's blog, you're on the right track.  If this is your first stop, just keep clicking links and when you find yourself back here, you've seen every bit of inspiration and are ready to create!  Here is the stamp set we're working with:


I told you it was adorable.  ;)

This week has been pretty crazy.  As this post goes up, I'm at a Home Gathering.  On Wednesday we celebrated my daughter's 7th birthday and there are classmate and family parties this weekend!  It was imperative that I work quickly on my project for this Blog Hop.  It didn't exactly work out that way.  The things I tried just would not mesh and I changed my mind so many times!  I'm happy with how it turned out, though.  Here is my card:


I really wanted to use a more boyish-looking paper, so I turned to Superhero.  Even the bird is stamped from that patterned paper.  I stamped the party hat with Moonstruck onto Sky paper and the twill ribbon is also stamped in Moonstruck.  The central image square is popped.

Supplies Used:
Black and Bamboo cardstock
Life is Tweet stamp set
Honey marker
Black and Moonstruck ink
Sparkles
Twill Ribbon (retired)

Now it's time to click on over to Georgia's blog.  Happy Creating!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Flower Challenge from the Ribbon Carousel

As soon as I saw this challenge at the Ribbon Carousel, I knew I had a layout, I just finished that fit perfectly!



Here is my layout:


It is again, a special photo.  The journaling reads: "A graduation flower from Art Smit, given to honour the impact I had on him while at ICS.  Humbling.  Touching.  A very precious gift."

Each year the grade 8 students where I used to teach, as part of their graduation ceremony, give a rose to someone who has had the most impact or has been the most important to them while they were students.  This student gave me their rose.  He was in my class for two years and had a number of different issues.  We struggled through a number of things together.  For that reason, he holds a special place in my heart, and therefore this rose is so very special. (I'm on the verge of tears as I type this!)  I knew I had to give special treatment to this photo.  Now that I'm not teaching any more, I want to remember how special my job was.

I made the flowers with the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, cutting them from Colonial White cardstock, inking them with Sunset ink and my sponge dauber before rolling them up.  Here is a close up.


The above sparkle flourish actually fell on my layout while I was taking it off the carrier sheet.  It didn't land where I had planned, but I was forced to work with it because I couldn't move it.  I do love how it all turned out, despite my oopsie!


This photo shows the ribbon I used as well as my new-found favourite, washi tape!

Products used:
Kraft cardstock
Sparkle Flourishes, from my stash
Ruffled Ribbon, from my stash
Washi Tape, from Michaels

Thanks for looking!  Happy Creating.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Pinterest Inspiration

I had a most enjoyable time at a crop this past Saturday.  It was so nice to do some crafting just for the fun of it, for me.  I decided to spend the time scrapbooking some very special photos.  If you are a fan of my Facebook page,  you've seen this layout already.


This is a photo of my friend, Monica, and I taken at my crop in January.  Monica was my best friend in Grade 3.  She moved away.  We saw each other only a couple of times, once the following year and then at my Grade 8 graduation, and not since.  She came to my crop!  It was a great reunion, with memories and laughs and just catching up.  A very special time.

This layout is made with the Dotty For You paper, just LOVE it!  I've also discovered washi tape.  There are a couple of strips under the photo and ribbon.  So fun.  Here's a close up.


My layout was inspired by this one I pinned on Pinterest, from October Afternoon.  I really loved the banner and buttons below the photo.  Pinterest has become my favourite place to go for inspiration!

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Products Used:
Sweet Leaf Ribbon Round, retired
Flowers from my stash
Washi Tape from Michaels

Stay tuned for more layouts!  Happy Creating.



Tuesday, May 15, 2012

I'm a Top Spool!!!!

Oh my goodness!  I can't believe it!  My first challenge and I'm a Top Spool!  I didn't even know, just happened to be on the Ribbon Carousel Blog for another reason.  Saw some other Top Spools awarded and thought I'd browse back just to see who won when I participated and up pops MY card!!  Wow, I'm over the moon!