Finally, I'm back

Well, I took a long break from blogging.  Crazy as it is, life does get in the way sometimes.  I was away most of September.  Got home and decided to get a bunch of fall work done.  You know, clean up the yard, put all the gardening tools away, put the wood in for the winter...all that stuff.  Then I was called into work for a few weeks.  I know, I am retired, but my former boss (and friend) had someone quit unexpectedly and was swamped with work so gave me a call.  I was more than happy to help out and enjoyed it immensely.  I really miss the social interaction a person gets when they are working.  But not enough to come out of retirement :-).

Anyway, I was doing some card making over this time.  Just not blogging.  Now I would like to show you some of the stuff I was working on.

This first card is one I made for a sketch challenge on CST.

I had a few people inquire about how I made the frame so I made another card and took a few pics.  This is the next card I made and a mini tutorial on how I made it.

Although it does not show up well, the light layer is a light blue, not white.  I did bleach out the snowman and snowballs.

First, I used my nestabilities to cut out a rectangle from some thin foam rubber that I have.  If you don't have the foam rubber, you could use a thin fiber batting or even layers of paper towels. And if you don't have nestabilities, you can jsut cut the frame with scissors. 

The next size up of nestabilitie does not make an even frame, so I just cut the frame to the size I wanted.  I then laid the foam frame on the beautiful pliable paper from Paper Ya (a wonderful shop on Granville Island in Vancouver that specializes in paper) that I bought several years ago.  I must admit that I have been hoarding this paper for over seven years.  I know this because I bought it before my DH passed away. 

 

NO MORE HOARDING.

I am getting far to old to hoard.  One day I will die and all my beautiful STUFF would  be left, not especially appreciated by my children who would  have to decide what to do with it all.

Sorry about this rant, but I just wanted to give a heads up to everyone that keeps stuff, because it is just to beautiful to use.  What are you keeping it for?

I then used a smaller nestabilitie and cut out the center of the paper.  This step is important bcause you will want the center of the frame to lay flat.

 

I then cut a piece of cs the same size as the foam frame and glued the fame to the cs. I put a layer of double sided tape around the inside layer of the foam frame, but did not take off the top release layer just yet.  I centered the paper over the frame and taped it down on the back, mitering the corners to make sharp corners.

Then I clipped the inside corners of the paper, took off the top layer of the tape and taped the paper down to the cs.

All that was left to do was glue down my image that I stamped, colored and cut with the same nestabitlitie that I used to cut the foam.  I then added that to my base card and finished it off.

Here is another card that I did in the same way.

These cards are a lot of fun to make and really, they are simple to do.  One of the nice things about them is that they add a lot of dimention to a card, but squish down flat and can be mailed for regular postage.

I hope you enjoyed my post today. Please leave a comment or email me if you have any questions.

And now I am off to our local Rememberance Day Ceremony.  Please take a moment to remember.

Take care.

Theresa in Kitiamt

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

CST challenge, tip tuesday

This is a card I made for a challenge at Canadian Stamp Talk.  This week's challenge is to make a sympathy card.  Unfortunately, we all need them from time to time and it is always best to have some on hand.

This card is a standard 4 1/4 X 5 1/2.  The base is a light blue by Stampin up.  Not sure which one.  The next layer is cream cs that I sponged the edges with black. I stamped the sentiment (Stampin Up, Brighter tomorrow) on this layer in black.  Now for the TIP.  Always, always, stamp your sentiment before you assemble your card.  Nothing is worse than getting your card together and then stamping the sentiment, only to find out it is crooked.  Ask me, I know.

 To make the image focal point, I stamped the image (retired Stampin Up- Measure of a Life) on vellum with versamark and embossed with black opal embossing powder.  I colored the wings with pearl-ex on the front and the body with purple marker on the back.  I cut this out, leaving a 1 inch border.  I cut a piece of heavy cs just larger than the image.  I layered the cs with a thin piece of foam rubber, and then yellow tissue paper, wrapping the edges around the back and securing with tape.  I then layered the vellum over this, clipped the corners and taped the overlap to the back.  I do not think it shows up in the picture, but this focal point has a raised, puffy feel to it.  I then added the ribbon, assembled everything, and I was done.

I hope you like the card I made today.  I know, I do.

Hope you are all having a great Tuesday.

Theresa in Kitimat

Step it up

This is another version of the card I posted a couple days ago.  Same idea, only some layering and cuttlebugging added.  I like this version better.  What do you think?

That is all for today.  The weather is fabulous so I am headed outside to work in the yard.  Hope you all are enjoying sunshine, wherever you are.

Happy Day to you.

Theresa in Kitimat

CST challenge

This is a card I added to the Canadian Stamp Talk challenge (favorite coloring medium).  It is actually a thank you card I made for a friend who gave me the most delicious fresh salmon.  The card is pretty cas.  It is 6X6 folded on the side to make a 3X6 card.  There is no white border around it.  This just showed up because of the way I scanned the card.  The images were stamped on watercolor paper and colored with Stampin Up inks, used as water colors.  I used a retired Stampin Up set called Fishy Friends.  Not sure, exactly, what colors I used.  I sponged the edges of the base card with black.  After everything was colored, the only  thing left was to punch everything out and put it together. 

Btw, I prepared the salmon by keeping it whole, except for the head and tail.  I kept the skin on but removed every bone,  stuffed it and then barbequed it. It tasted amazing.  I have been cooking salmon for many, many years so this is a no brainer for me.

Hope you like my card today.

Happy day to you.

Theresa in Kitimat

Baby announcements and a little tip

Hi Everybody,

Here is the first baby announcement I have made.  It is very simple, just coloring and layering.  I will try a few different layouts.  Probably do some sponging and try different color base and background paper.  For this card, I used 28 lb bond paper and made an old fashioned 4-fold card.  All the info is on the inside.  I used the digi that Nikki at MelonHeadz made for me.  Don't you love it?  I printed the words with my computer.

I thought I would add a little tip on how I aligne my brads and gems.  I use magic mesh (or in my case, drywall tape).  The square grid makes it so easy to place your bling exactly where you want it.  I have made this little pic so you can see how I line up the edge of the paper with the grid and then use the spaces to place the bling.  I just used paper punces here to show you what I mean.  The mesh has a slight tack so stays in place until all your gems are placed and secure.  Then you can easily remove the mesh.  Love this stuff.  I hope this tip will be helpful to someone.  Any questions, just email me.

That is about it for today.  Hope your Sunday is going well.

Bye for now and take care.

Theresa in Kitimat

Baby Update

Well, I just have to share some pics of our family's new little person.  Mom and baby came home yesterday.  I was busy travelling back and forth for visits, so did not have time to post until now.  This first pic is of big sister, Camryn and baby, Coen Kenneth.  I was very pleased with the name.  Took a while to warm  to the name Coen.  I had never heard it before.  But I do like it.  And Kenneth was my late husband's name.  Makes it kind of special.

Proud and happy Grandma here.

And had to add a picture of Camryn.  What you see in this picture is what you get.  Just a happy and fun loving little girl.  She will be the best big sister, ever.

I will be making birth announcements and I think I will use this digi stamp from Nikki at Melonheadz.  She made this digi just because I asked for it.  Got to love it.  Nikki has a great website with wonderful, fun digis.  You should check it out.

That is about it for me today.  Weather is good and I have some outside work to do. 

Hope you are all having a great day, like I am.  Who can't be happy when the sun is shining and life is good.

Theresa in Kitimat