Christmas Challenges.

Hi Everybody,

Well, I have finally found a few minutes to blog.  Things are moving along, slowly.  Renos will be done in a couple weeks, hopefully.  I have a fellow in doing the mudding on the gyprock and he should be finished in a week or so.  Then painting, new flooring and then the bathrooms.  OK, maybe it will be more than a couple weeks :-).  I have been taking boxes in to town with me nearly every trip and storing them in the Big Room (my name for the partially finished part of the basement).

The garage sale went well.  Made close to $500 when all was said and done.  Now I am gearing up for the next one.  This one will have fishing gear and tools.  I am also selling on our local Face Book buy and sell.  Some of the bigger ticket items.

Anyway, enough of my life.

 

On to the card I made for a couple Christmas challenges.  This card was so much fun to create and I really like how it turned out.  This is the first shaker card I have ever made.  I go through an amazing amount of double sided tape from the Dollar Store.  And I have been saving the blister packs that it  comes in.  Perfect size for this card.  The image is my all time favorite Christmas stamp from Penny Black.  It was one of the first stamps I ever bought.  The white layer is embossed with a Cuttlebug folder.  I used my fiskars circle cutter to cut the circle, 'cause I did not buy the Spellbinders circle die.  I am still trying to use up all the turquoise ribbon left over from my daughter's wedding so I used turquoise for the base card.  And the bling is from a package that my little granddaughter bought (with her own money) for my birthday because we both love Shiny Stuff.  I used a lot of double sided tape to assemble everything.

BTW, the inside of the card says "Friends make Christmas Special".  It is part of a House Mouse stamp that I only inked up the sentiment.

These are the challenges that I am entering.

Christmas Card Challenge-  use somethin new. 

 I may be stretching it but the new thing I used was the technique.  Oh and the bling.  I have had it for a while but this is the first time I have used any.  My granddaughter on the other hand,  who loves to play in my rubber room and like her grandma, loves anything sparkly, has used quite a bit.  Gotta love it.

Crafty Hazel Nut- use your favorite color.

My absolute favorite color is blue, any shade.

Unique Crafters-use sparkle on the card.

That is a given.

CCAYR-Make a card for a kid.

I think the image on this card is very Kid-worthy.

So that is about it for me today.  Back to cleaning and sorting and packing.

Hope you all have a great week.

Theresa in Kitimat

Christmas cards all year round challenge

Hi everybody,

I have been so MIA and I appologize for that. 

 Couple reasons.  I am selling my home and downsizing.  I will be moving into my little house in the next couple months and am busy purging stuff and slowly moving things I want to keep.

 

Second reason is that as much as I plan on  taking  part in challenges, and posting what I make, I never seem to get the cards done on time and so just do not post them.  Hopefully that will change after I move and have more time to devote to crafting.  That is why I like monthly challenges.  It gives me enough time to get something posted.

Anyway, this is a card for CCAYR challenge which is- to be inspired by a Christmas song.  My song is

"Christmas Star".  It was featured in the movie "Home Alone"

This is such a CAS card and I love it.  I had such fun making the stars.  I cut them out of chip board and then just kept adding shiny stuff with UTEE.  There are micro beedz, glitter, gold leaf, pearl seed beads, and anything else I had that was blingy.
I used pop dots to add this to an embossed panel that I made using a sheet of dimentional star stickers.  I used my tan sheet for this.  I used a retired SU image for the sentiment and embossed that with Gold tinsel ep.  I sponged the edges with gold and glued everything together and I was done.

I was having so much fun making the stars, I did not stop at 5, but made 10 of them, so I now have 10 cards to add to my stash.

Only problem with these cards is that they are too thick to go through the "slot", so they will be for my intown friends.

I hope you like the card I made.  If you have any questions, please email.

Happy day to you all.

Theresa in Kitimat

Finally, CCAYR challenge cards

Hi Everybody,

Well, I have finally finished my cards for the CCAYR challenge.  Since it is Valentines month, the challenge was to use a heart somewhere on the card. 

I started these cards right after the challege was announced and just finished them today.  I used a free digi from Beyond the Fringe Crafts.  I am adding a link to the actual digi here.  If you use digi stamps, you really should check out this site.  Carmen is a Canadian gal and she has a lovely site and the most delightful digis.  Thank you Carmen for all the digis I have downloaded from your site.

The cards I made are really straight forward.  I printed the digis, colored them, cut them out and used a black paper for matting.  I then found matching papers for the base and more matting paper.  Added some bling and/or glitter and I was done.  Oh, and amazingly, I only used one little piece of ribbon.   I do love to use ribbon. 

Not sure why it took nearly three weeks to finish these cards :-).

So, that is my post for today.  I hope you are all having a super weekend.  Mine has been good so far, except it is snowing.   Please, please, no more snow.  I NEED sping to come soon.

Happy Day to you all.

Theresa in Kitimat

CCAYR January challenge

Hi Everybody,

Hope your week is going well.  It is very cold here so I have been staying inside, doing some creating.

These are the cards I made for this months challenge at Christmas Cards All Year Round.  The challenge this month was to make cards using non-traditional colors.

Since all the cards are different, I decided to scan them individually instead of taking a pic of the whole bunch together.

This first card is made using the old label technique.  I started by sponging the labels while they were still on the backing paper.  I used an anti static bag and stamped the tree (retired SU stamp) with versamark.  I then embossed with white ep.  I then carefully transferred the labels to the purple background paper.  After that was done, I used my stamp positioner and overstamped the second layer of the 2-stamp set with versamark and embossed with gold ep.

And it was done.

 The next two cards were pretty much done the same way.  I tore a couple large postit notes and masked the front of the card, leaving the center area showing.  I sponged this area with blue, green and purple.  Then I stamped the larger snowflake with Tempting turquoise and then the smaller snowflake with versamark and embossed with a purple ep.  I removed the masks, stamped the sentiment and used the same purple ep.  I added the ribbon and fibers and mounted on a purple base card.
The intensity of the colors on both cards is about the same.  I am not sure why one scanned lighter than the other one.

 This next card uses up some mistakes, er...leftovers, that I had from the cards I made for the November challenge.  You can see those cards here.  I used a Sizzlets die for the sentiment.

 And the last card is pretty straight forward.  The medallion is from SU.  The small image in the center is a small part of an old lovely stamp made by Stampendous and I do not know who makes the sentiment.

So, these are my cards for today.  Hope you like them.

I hope everybody is keeping warm.

Theresa in Kitimat

Christmas at the Fredricksons

Hi Everybody.  Happy New Year to you all.
Hope your holiday was everything you expected (that is unless you were expecting squabbles and fights and hurt feelings.  You know how families and Christmas can be :-).)  Seriously, we had a wonderful Christmas.  Like I said before, it was very low key with some of the family being away.   We had a lot of fun with our annual brunch and gift opening.  Everything centered around Camryn.  She enjoyed opening gifts from Uncles and Aunties-and Grandma.  Coen is too young to be much involved but just the same, it was wonderful to have a new little person here for Christmas.  And next year, we will have another.  My youngest son and his wife are expecting their first baby.  I am so excited for them and me.

I don't have any cards to show you in this post.  I just wanted to post some pics of the decorations I put up this year.  It is the first time in quite a long time that I really went to town and brought out most of my stuff.
I put up two trees every year.  One family tree that we put the prezzies under and one decorator tree in my foyer.  This is the family tree.  I usually make new decorations for it every year, but didn't this year.  I decided to go retro instead.  I went through my little Christmas room in the basement and found all the old ornaments that I had made in  the early years.  Can you say HOARDER?

 This is a close up of some of those decorations.  String macrame snowflakes, blown and glittered eggs, paper geometric shapes, styrofoam and toothpick glittered ornaments and the stringed styrofoam popcorn package filler.

 This is a picture from 1972.  First year in Kitimat and my first Christmas tree.  It was the first and last spruce tree we ever got.  Always had spruce trees in Alberta, but the needles on BC trees are way sharper than Alberta trees.  All our other trees were pine.  I was so proud of this little tree.  I had made all the ornaments except to the star at the top.  The little guy in the pic is my oldest son.  He is  40+ now.
 This is my foyer tree.  I change it up every year.  Last year it was red and white.   Next year, I have already decided that it will be red and gold.

 This is my Santa display by my front door.  There is a set of mini lights going all through the Santas so it looks cool in the dark.

 This is my Willow Tree Nativity that my daughter started for me a few years ago.  She adds to it every year.  I think it is almost done, except for maybe an angel.

 This is a lovely nativity that I bought quite a few years ago.  It was damaged so I got it for almost nothing (I think about $5.00).  All I had to do was repaint some of the figurines that had lost some paint.  My DH made the stable out of cedar.
 I have one more nativity set up this year.  Forgot to take a pic.  It is a nice one with a music box that I bought at a garage sale for cheap.  I set it up for the little kids.  A few years ago, Camryn was looking at this nativity set up (below) and asked "Can I play with the Jesus house."  I really did not want her to so I told her I would get one that she could play with.   And so I did.  I will remember to take a picture next year.

 Because all of our family was not here this year, we could all fit around my kitchen nook table so I decided to decorate my dining room table.  I made all of the little bird houses and they were the decorations for my family tree last year.  They open up and I have put flameless tealights in them. 

 This is what they look like in the dark.

 This is a picture of my fiber optic village.  Love it.

 Sorry, this picture is blurry, but I wanted to take a picture without the flash so you could see how pretty it is when it is plugged in.

 This is a pic of my other village I have set up in my kitchen.  I have one more smaller scale village with about 18 houses that I did not set up this year.  Could not find the right spot for it.

 And finally, this is a picture of my sweet Camryn.  I have taken a picture of her every year with this Santa since I got him.  When we started, she came up to the bottom of the ribbon.  How they grow.  This is a tradition I will keep with all of my grandkids from now on.

I hope you have enjoyed this visit with me as I have shared some of the Fredrickson traditions.  (The tradition I enjoy most--I do not cook Christmas Dinner.  Stopped doing that about 1995 or 1996 and have never regretted it for one moment)

Happy Day to you all.

Theresa in Kitimat

CST challenge

Hi Everybody,  Hope your week is going well.

Just 10 short days left until Christmas.  I am almost done.  The house is decorated.  The cards are sent. The shopping for grandkids is done.  Only have to get a few gift cards for my kids.

Since we had a Christmas in July, our Christmas this year will be scaled down a bit.  One of my sons and his family are in Switzerland this year so we celebrated before they left during the summer.

I added a couple cards to the CST challenge this week which was to feature snowmen.

This first card is one I sent to an online friend who has supplied me with scads of card fronts to remake and sell to raise money for our local Relay for Life.  Thanks Sue.

The card measures 4 1/4 X 5 1/2.  I started out by stamping the background snowflakes randomly in different shades of blue. Some of these snowflakes are from Stampin up and the rest are from Inkadinkadoo. I put a wide piece of Scor-tape over this and added clear Glitter Ritz glitter and burnished well.  I did the same thing for the little snowman tag and sorry, I don't know who made this stamp.  I then matted everything, added the ribbon and adhered everything together.  And it was done.

The next card is a very simple easel card. 

I put some kraft paper through the Cuttlebug and sponged it with white craft ink from Stampin Up.  I really like the look of this.  The image is one of my all time favorite Christmas stamps.  It is from Penny Black and I have had it forever.

The sentiment was cuttlebugged with a Sizzix embossing folder.  The inside of the card says "Peace" and "Joy".  It is also done in blue and matted with kraft paper.  This card seems a little plain to me, but I was making it for someone who is not the "blingy" type.

I hope you liked my cards today.
Bye for now and have a great weekend.
Theresa in Kitimat

CST challenge and SAS4K

Hi everybody,

This is a card I made for our CST challenge this week (make a round card).  This card was fun to make and is pretty straight forward.  I used Nestabilities to cut the base out of white cs. Cut two, scored one at the top for the back and sealed together so it would open.  I then used my Fiscars circle cutter to cut out 2 yellow circles and sandwiched the ribbon between them.  The ribbon is equal all the way around even if it doesn't show up like that in the photo.  I think it was the angle I took the photo at that makes it look so uneven.  This was then adhered to the card base.

I then cut another smaller Nestabilitie scallop circle and embossed it and added that on top.  All that was left to do was add the little elfin girl image (digi stamp that was colored with prisma colors, sorry I could not find where I got the digi from, I am usually good about noting where I get digis, just not this time, my bad.) and add the sentiment (Inkadinkadoo) using nestabilities, once again.  The image is popped up and I inked the edges of all the white cs with yellow ink.

This card will be added to a bunch I will be sending to "Send a Smile 4 Kids".  This seems like a very worthy cause that donates cards to Sick Kids in Vancouver and Stollery in Edmonton so that families and staff can give cards to children that are in need of care.  If you would like to know more about this cause, here is the link.

I was told about this organization by Gail, a new blogging friend.  Gail has to be one of the busiest people I know.  She gets more done in a day than I do in two weeks.  And she is a great crafter.  You really should check out her blog.  It really is an inspiration.

I know I live in BC and Sick Kids is a wonderful hospital, but I thinkI will send cards to Alberta for Stollery. I have a close connection to that hospital.  . I spent countless hours there a few

years ago when my young niece was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  Right after the diagnosis, I went to Alberta to help anyway I could.  I thought I would be caring for my sister's other children while she and my niece stayed in Edmonton for treatments.
Found out treatments were 15 minute bouts of radiation, 5 days a week.  So we decided to travel back and forth for 6 weeks of treatments.  They live a little over an hour out of Edmonton.  I became the designated driver.  My sis was not comfortable driving in the city, especially with so much on her mind.  Many of the trips included visits to Stollery for checkups and support.

Long story, short...sadly, my niece lost her fight at only 13 years old.  But I remember how much she enjoyed receiving hand crafted cards from some of my online friends.  And I remember how much support and caring she and the family received from Stollery.  I would like to pay some of that back and this is one way I can do that.

So that is about it for today.
I hope everyone is having a great weekend and keeping warm.  It is cold here.

Take care.
Theresa in Kitimat

CCAYR November Challenge

The challenge for November at Christmas Cards all Year Round is to make 5 cards following a sketch.  I finally got mine done this afternoon.  Sorry, the picture is not the best.

This is a pretty straight forward card without a lot of special techniques, except for the emboss resist of the medallion.  I used mainly Stampin Up images, ink and paper except for the sentiment which is one I have had forever made by Penny Black.

There were a lot of steps to go through to make this card.  All of the white edges were lightly inked and then I used a glue pen and added glitter. Gotta have bling, you know :-).

The most finicky part was punching out the snowflakes and snowballs, glittering them and then attaching with teeny weeny pieces of foam tape.  I think it was worth it though, to have them stand out.

I have been trying hard to make cards that don't have a lot of bulky embellishments so that they mail for regular postage.  This is hard for me because I love to use ribbon and paper flowers and charms etc.

These cards work because they go through the dreaded slot.  In Canada, the post office has a plastic template which has an opening that is 5mm (just shy of 1/4").  If your mail fits through the slot (and not too heavy), it can be mailed for regular postage.  I bought one of these templates so that I can be sure how much postage I need to use.

I hope you like my cards today.

I enjoy playing along with these challenges.  It is such a great way to get Christmas cards done early.  Maybe this year I will have them in the mail before December 20. 

Wishing you all great week.

Theresa in Kitimat

Christmas cards all year round challenge

This month I decided to make some Christmas cards and enter them in the Christmas all year 'round challenge blog.  You can find it here. If you follow the blog and make 5 cards a month, you will have 60 cards done by the time Christmas comes around.  Great idea.

For the August challenge we were to use 4 of the 9 items listed.  They were

C chip board

H hand stitching

R ribbon

I inking

S stamping

T textured paper

M metal embellishments

A alphabet stickers

S stripes.

I actually used 5 of the items-ribbon, inking, stamping, metallic embellishments and textured paper.

This is the chipboard shape I made to Cuttlebug the wreath shape. I cut out two layers of chipboard and glued them together. I used Stampin Up Petals a Plenty embossing folder.


I put the white layer in the folder and then carefully lined up the chipboard on top of the folder to emboss exactly where I wanted it.  Only the area under the chipboard embosses, giving the wreath shape.

I then inked the flowers and added Glitter Ritz to the centers in the same color I used for the accent layer and the little sentiment banner.  I also sponged the edges of the white layer.  It does not show up in the scan very well, but the gold on the purple card is Glitter Ritz.  Very nice and sparkly.
I added the ribbon and sentiment banner, adhered everything together and it was done.

I hope you like my cards today and thanks for stopping by.

Happy Day.

Theresa in Kitimat

Your next stamp challenge

OK, now that I have established that I am the world's worst blogger (haven't made a new post forever), I would like to change that. 
I have started to think that I would like to take part in some challenges.  This is a Christmas card I made, and it fits the "create a winter scene" challenge at http://ynschallenges.blogspot.com/ blog.

The stamp and folder are from Stampin Up (stamp is retired). I used a photo mat from the dollar store to create the void in the embossing folder.  I used my stamp positioner to stamp the image with versamark and then used chalks to color the image.  The ribbon is from my stash.  Hope I have not forgot anythinf.  If you have any questions, please email me.
Well, this post has taken forever because I forgot how to add links and had to read the help file but that is ok.
I hope you like the card.
Happy Day to you all.
Theresa in Kitimat