Make And Take

In celebration of Scrapbooking Day I headed to Archivers for some retail therapy and of course to play with some of their toys. I got to make not one, not two but three make and takes this time around. I was one happy scrapper.

I got to play with metal and alcohol inks to make a cute thank you card and got some scrapbook inspiration from 2 awesome scrapbook pages. They make it look so easy. Kinda makes me wonder why I keep putting off my scrapbooking. when I got home I found the perfect pictures to put in my pages. What do you think? I think I am gonna mount them on 12 x 12 sheets and make a vow to continue to make more.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Princess Arianna

My friends little girl turned 5 this week and she is a big princess fan. I decided to make her a crown card using my WOJ princess Charlotte. Lots of flowers and diamonds too. perfect for a little princess. I think the DP is from the Spring Stack. Happy Birthday Arianna.

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Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Jake's Thankyou Cards

I have finally gotten around to making these. I think next year I will encourage him to make his own. I used a picture of him actually taken on his birthday at the Rodeo Fairground. He had just won the giant shark in the picture. I used his favorite colors and they went really well with the colors in the picture itself.

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Thanks for looking

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Hugs

Nic

Purple Birthday

I have been using my Top Note scraps again. This time for a birthday card idea. I hope you like it. Stamp sets used were Doodle That and Messages for Mom from Stampin Up.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Easter Leftovers

I made a couple of cards with the leftovers from my kitkat holders. I didn't want to just put them away in a draw and forget about them. I found a nice DP in the Spring Stack from DCWV. Everything else was used in making the kitkat holders. I know I'm too late to send these to anyone this year as Easter is over but they are here and ready in advance for next year.

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I also wanted to show you this awesome Easter card that I got from my dear Friend Joani. This woman is a constant source of inspiration to me and I am gonna have to try and make one of these real soon.

Thanks for looking

Hugs
Nic

Simple Bookmarks

I started this project with a request from my kids for bookmarks. I decided while I was making them to make a few more for some of our friends kids. I got this cute little bookworm from High Hopes a while ago and have been wanting to ink him up so I made Easter gifts with him for the Baer's and the Wilson's. On the back I heat embossed each child's name. The letters are from Inkadinkadoo.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Easter Kit Kats

Hello everyone and a very Happy Easter to you all. I'm just popping in quickly to show you something I made for a few close friends and of course my kids for Easter.

My favorite chocolate is Kit Kats so I got the idea to try and make a little holder for them. I sketched out my own idea and then had a go at making it. I used my favorite little monkey Changito and his pals for my image and my Martha Stewart Fence punch for inside. Finished off with a pretty Easter colored flower.

I think it turned out pretty well for my first attempt. Normally I would follow other peoples' sketches but I couldn't find anything that worked for me. I apologise for there being no Easter cards this year. I ran out of time but I will be more organised hopefully next time.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Quilted Coasters

Firstly I need to apologise for my long absence. Things have most definitely been getting in the way and it isn't over yet. We are currently in the process of having the inside of our house painted. They are doing pretty much everywhere so everything is a little upside down and I have a lot of unwelcome stuff in my craftroom getting in the way of my creativity. Once these guys are finished we are getting a deck put in the garden. At least that is outside so I can get on with putting the inside back together.

In the meantime I thought I would show you something I made last week. I actually made use of my sewing machine (first time this year) to try out making my very own quilted coasters. I got the instructions and template from a sewing calendar I got for Christmas. I enjoyed making them so much I think I might make them for everyone on my Christmas list. The instructions show you how to make a full set of 4 coasters. I used Christmas material, a pretty pattern, a green and a red. I am really happy with how they turned out.

Get Well Mama Baer

I can't believe I almost forgot to show you this. I made this for my dear friend a couple of weeks ago when she wasn't well. Both her daughters were sick too at the time so the kids and I made cards for everybody. No, I didn't spell Baer wrong that's her name silly.

I printed off a couple of Dustin Pike images and gave them to the kids to color in. It is the 3rd image from the owl collection he did for Delia. Another new find for me lately is Karens Doodles. I have put the link under 'inspiration' over on my side bar as I cannot get links to come up in my posts anymore for come reason. She is an awesome artist and her pictures are so very cute, You just must go check her out. You won't be disapointed, promise.

I am kicking myself at the moment cause I had the brilliant idea of giving up my papercraft purchases for lent. Man did that idea come back and bite me in the ass. There have been so many new releases recently that I am going stir-crazy and my wish list for once lent is over is phenominal. Anyway to cut a long story short. Karen also has a group on papercraft planet and was giving away the image I used on my card as a freebie for being one of her followers. I thought the image was perfect for this card - a get well bear for Mama Baer. She has also just started a challenge blog which is really exciting.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Chocolate Wedding

Saturday we went to our friends, Evan and Cheryl's wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony in a beautiful location and the bride and groom looked awesome. I found out from Cheryl that her colors were chocolate and ivory and I thought it would be nice to make the card to match.

I made it a short while ago but have been unable to show you until now. I picked an easel card for the occasion as it looks so elegant and I am really happy with the result. I used the bride and groom in the carriage image from WOJ and my new corner and edge punches from SU.


We wish them many years of happiness ahead.

Thanks for looking


Hugs
Nic

Olympic Christmas

This month for Tracy's challenge she wanted us to use some of the Olympic colors. Well she does live in Canada after all and they are hosting this year. I have been enjoying watching the Olympics so much this year and so have the kids. There hasn't been much else on the TV for them to watch mind as I refuse to change the channel. LOL. This afternoon is very important to us both I think as Canada and USA are facing one another in ice hockey (one of my favorite sports to watch) to see who gets gold. So very exciting.

I am sneaking in last minute for this challenge once again as I have my one made but am rushing to finish my 5 so I can post a picture of them today. I will hopefully have that picture later and this post will be amended to show you. For now however here is my Olympic Christmas card.

*Here are my five cards. I managed to make them during the half times. Wow! what a match. Congratulations to Canada. I almost forgot, cardstock is pacific point, baja breeze and green galore. Stamp set is SU - Big on Christmas.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Tatiana's Valentines

I just wanted to show you what I made for Valentines Day for Megan's best friend Tatiana. I made her and her little sister matching 3 x 3 cards using an image that my friend Renee sent me ages ago. They have been hiding away in a drawer so I wouldn't use them cause they are so cute (LOL). Anyway the little teddy bear with the heart on his mug made me smile so I decided it was time to give him to a good home.

I also made Megan and Tatiana matching 6 x 6 scrapbooks. Each one will have the same pages made for it as their friendship grows. For now I have just made the first page using a picture I took at Christmas. I will add to it as they have more and more fun. Everything used is either Stampin' Up or from Archivers.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Cards for Delia

Wow 2 posts in 2 days, that's a record for me lately... but I just had to pop on and tell you guys about this though. I found it while blog hopping over at the wonderful Dustin Pike's blog. He has a request on behalf of a little 10 year old girl called Delia. Here is the info (taken from his blog entry):

I have a Special Request...
Jennifer from http://just4funcrafts.blogspot.com asked if I could help and ask for card donations..
This is part of the email:
On Friday, December 11th, 2009 my friends daughter Delia was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. She is 10 yrs old and is currently being treated at the Denver Children's Hospital.

She loves art, photography and really loves owls. I was hoping that there would be some wonderful women or men out there that would love to send her a card of encouragement. I thought it would bring a smile to Delia's face to be inundated with cards as a special Valentines Day gift from people around the world. Please find it in your heart to bring hope and love to this beautiful spirited girl. Any card will do..but if you have an owl that would be a bonus. Please pass this information around so we can thrill a little girl in her time of hardship!
She is on her second round of chemo and its been a struggle for her, although she is doing better today.

This touched my heart as she is the same age as my son and I cannot imagine what she must be going through. Her address if you want to send a card is available on Dustin's blog the link is in my inspiration list over on the right side of the page. Dustin is an awesome artist and has drawn these super owl images for you to download and use on your cards. They are so cute I could not resist using 2 of them.

I am a little late for making it in time for valentines day but I figure her fight is not going to end on valentines day and therefore she will need encouragement today and everyday until this nasty illness has been beaten. I used to be a Chemo-Angel and send cards to people just like her and know that everyday is a day that could do with a little extra happiness in it, snail mail for me is the best way I know how. I hope she likes my card.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Valentine Cards

I didn't get around to making many Valentine cards this year. My mojo is still very much in disarray. However I did join a swap on Joani's group (cards made by hand) to try and get the juices flowing. This is my Valentine swap card.

I did one of Joani's challenges while making the card which was to use pink, black and white. I made my own background paper by using 2 stamps from the SU set I {heart} hearts. The main image was from another SU set Whoo's your Valentine?

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Their Own T-Shirts

The kids had fun last weekend making their own T-shirts. I thought you might like to see their creations. Megan had a little help from me with the large heart and the words but after I drew a couple of cats for her she tried it for herself and off she went. Jake's is all about Star Wars and done all by himself. I got the iron out to heat set them (one of the rare occasions it comes out of hiding.LOL). I think they look awesome.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Dropping A Line

I made this card for a sketch challenge on my friend Joani's group (Cards Made By Hand). The long front strip was perfect for this Whipper Snapper image. The cardstock is from Archivers so I am not sure of the color names. The DP was from my scraps box. The little fish charm I won in a blog candy a year or two ago . I have been reluctant to use them but they are perfect for this card and I have way to much stuff to keep them any longer.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Cowboy Christmas

Hello friends

It's time to start making Christmas Cards for this year. What! I hear you cry, LOL. I am going to try and keep up with Tracy's challenges (http://tracyshappyplace.blogspot.com/) again this year to avoid the last minute rush. So far I am on track with that but then again it is only January.

This months challenge was to make 5 easel cards. They could be all the same or different. I stuck with making them all the same. It was easier. I finally got around to using my cowboy snowman from High Hopes. You can't live in Texas and not want this cute fella in your collection.

I used blue bayou and close to cocoa cardstock and Heidi Grace designer papers.The stars on the close to cocoa are from Starstruck and Delightful Decorations. I heat embossed them to standout and shine with clear embossing powder. An SU brad on the inside of the card makes the perfect stopper for the top to lean against. I was pretty chuffed with it once it was finished. Not bad for a first attempt at this style. I may just have to try this again.

An optional extra to the challenges this year is to make a 3D item (Christmas themed) also. I like to make handmade gifts for certain friends and found last year I had no time to make them so I hope to try this part of the challenge also. This month I kind of cheated as I had these glass coasters hanging around just gathering dust. Well Tracy sent me some lovely poinsettia images when I won one of her challenges last year and I have been holding on to them every since because they were so nice I didn't want to use them. Well I gave in and trimmed a few of them down and put them in the coasters. They look real pretty now and will make an awesome gift for someone this year.

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Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Sewing for a Friend

I have just a little something sewing related to show you today. My friend Sandra asked me to make her a little tablecloth. She wanted to match her curtains in her kitchen and had some fabric left over for it. Turns out it was just enough. No fancy stitching involved just straight lines but I wanted to show it to you because when we put it on the table in front of the curtains it looked awesome.

Thanks for Looking

Hugs

Nic

Birthday Cupcake

Here is a card I made for my Mum for her birthday. She was tickled pink with it and envisioned the girl on the cupcake to be her which tickled me.LOL. I have been planning this card for some time. Since before Christmas in fact but alas my beloved mojo went walkabout and it has been sitting on my desk ever since.

Well I sat down and finished it the other day and got it in the mail in time to reach my mum on her birthday yesterday. Cardstock used is Close to Cocoa and Purely Pomegranate. DP is Stampin Up and the cute image is from the breast cancer digi set from Nutcrafters. As it turns out their challenge blog this week has a color challenge of pink and brown (challenge #7) which fits this card perfectly so I am gonna enter it for that.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic