Ever Eden Thank You

 Hello friends! I hope you are all doing well. My goodness has it ever been cold here! I know all of Western Canada is in a deep freeze with record breaking low temperatures. I am ready for it to warm up but unfortunately that will also mean more snow....

Today's card was created special for a friend who did something wonderful for me that I did not expect at all. I have to share a little background first....the Stampin' Up! community is so warm and welcoming. We have teams and as a team leader you are called an up-line and your team is called your down-line. My up-line does not have an up-line of her own and was struggling many years ago. She met Desiree at a Stampin' Up! event and they became friends immediately. Desiree told my up-line that she could be "adopted" on to her team. Once my up-line's team grew, we were all welcomed as "adoptees" on to Desiree's team. Unfortunately Desiree doesn't get any financial benefits from any of us but she is still an amazing team leader and so forthcoming with information, advice and help.

As a member of Desiree's Kaleidoscope Stampers team, I was seeing on Facebook that her team was thanking her for the beautiful Christmas card and scissors charm. I never expected that I would get one as I am technically not a member of her team. Imagine my surprise when I went to the mailbox yesterday and there was a gorgeous card from Desiree and a scissors charm for me! It is even personalized! I am so very thankful that I am speechless!!

Of course, I HAD to make a card to send to Desiree to thank her for this. Here is my card:

I started with a Basic White Thick card base. On top of that, I added a piece of beautiful DSP from the Ever Eden Specialty DSP pack that I matted with a piece of Basic Black cardstock.

I stamped my sentiment (from the Peaceful Moments stamp) using Black Staz On ink on a piece of Basic White cardstock. I find the Staz On ink gives a deeper black image than the other black inks we have. I don't like to use Staz On though unless the stamp is made of red rubber. The photopolymer stamps do not do well with Staz On ink or the special cleaner you need to use with Staz On ink. I punched the sentiment out using the Tailored Tag Punch. I also used the Tailored Tag Punch to punch out a piece of Basic Black cardstock. I cut this in half lengthwise and used this to mat my stamped piece. 

I wrapped some of the gold trim from the Simply Elegant Trim pack in a messy "nest" and attached it to the back of my sentiment piece. I secured it using some scotch tape and then added this piece to my card front using dimensionals. I added two of the smaller gems from the Garden Gems pack just below my sentiment. I felt like there was still something missing from my card so I added some Matte Black Dots to the card to complete it. I think they were just what it needed.

Here is a picture of my scissors charm:

What I used for today's card:

Peaceful Moments Stamp

Basic White Thick Cardstock

Basic Black Cardstock

Basic White Cardstock

Ever Eden Specialty DSP

Tailored Tag Punch

Jet Black Staz On Ink

Matte Black Dots

Garden Gems

Simply Elegant Trim

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed this card. I really hope that Desiree likes it as well. Thank you so much Desiree for thinking about me! It is a wonderful feeling to be included in your team. This is more of a simple card than what I usually do but I think it has some style. It is one that could easily be recreated just by changing the DSP and the sentiment to make it what you need.

Have a Happy New Year! Let's hope that 2022 will bring better things for all of us!!

Stay well and keep creating!

Terry

Tidings of Christmas

 Hello friends! I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! We had a great time at my younger daughter's. I brought all of the food up there to cook as she is 38 weeks pregnant and wasn't up to doing the big meal. Her husband's parents came as well as my mother-in-law. It was quite the feat for the boys to get her into the house in her wheelchair but they did it. She was so happy to be there that she didn't want to go back to her home. She is happy at the home but this was the first time she had been out since moving in there. 

I thought I would share one of my favourite cards that I made for Christmas this year. I love all of the cards I created but there are a couple that just stand out as my favourites.

This first one is kind of a rustic style. I started with a card base of Basic White Thick cardstock. On top of that I added a piece of Evening Evergreen cardstock. On top of that I added two strips of DSP from the Tidings of Christmas DSP pack. In between the strips of DSP I add a strip of Gold Foil Sheet.

I used the Christmas Trimmings Dies to cut out a solid star from some Soft Succulent cardstock. On top of that I added a detailed star that I cut out from a Gold Foil Sheet with an Adhesive Sheet attached to the back of it. That made sticking the star to the solid star so much easier! On top of the detailed star I added a sprig of berries that I cut out of Cherry Cobbler cardstock and a leafy sprig that I cut out of Evening Evergreen cardstock. I then added the star to my card front using dimensionals. I used some Linen Thread to tie a bow and attached that to the top of my star using a glue dot.

I stamped my sentiment from the Christmas to Remember stamp set using Evening Evergreen ink on a strip of Basic White cardstock. I used my scissors to cut a banner cut into both edges of the sentiment strip. I attached this piece to my card front using dimensionals.

What I used for today's card:

Tidings of Christmas DSP

Basic White Thick Cardstock

Evening Evergreen Cardstock

Soft Succulent Cardstock

Cherry Cobbler Cardstock

Basic White Cardstock

Gold Foil Sheets

Adhesive Sheets

Christmas to Remember Stamp

Christmas Trimmings Dies

Linen Thread

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed this card. I think my cards all made it to their destinations on time. I know that many people received them on Christmas Eve. That took almost 3 weeks to go from Kelowna to Kelowna! I know that our mail goes to Richmond to be sorted so they probably hung out their for a couple of weeks. I received a big stack of cards on Christmas Eve as well. They were probably hanging out in Richmond with my stack of cards! 

Stay well and keep creating!

Terry

Ornament

 Hello friends! Today I am sharing a beautiful ornament that my friend Annette made for me as my Christmas card. It is absolutely stunning! I received permission to share this with you as I didn't want to just post it without her allowing it.

I met Annette a few years ago through another friend of mine. First, she asked if she could have the latest Stampin' Up! catalogue from me. Of course, I was happy to give a catalogue to her. Then my friend asked if Annette could come to my classes. I have to say I was very nervous to have her attend my classes. She used to teach card classes I believe at a scrapbook store that doesn't exist any more. I knew that she created amazing cards so I was feeling a little intimidated. That was completely unnecessary. She is a lovely person and as you can see from this beautiful ornament, is an incredible card maker. We have very different styles and have a mutual respect for each others creations.

Annette said that she was inspired by something similar that Jennifer McGuire created. As we often do as card makers, she changed up Jennifer's design and made it her own. She even made a special matching box to store this in so it will be safely stored away so I can bring it out again year after year. Here is a picture of the front of the ornament:

And the back of the ornament:

And the lovely box that I will be able to store it in:

I am not comfortable placing this ornament on my tree this year. This is the first year since Bailey moved in that I have successfully had a Christmas tree up. I tried last year by putting up my little tree but before I could put a single ornament on it, she had knocked it over and was chewing on it. We had to put Bailey on kitty valium this year because her anxiety was getting too out of hand. I decided to try putting up the little tree and she has been leaving it alone. I even put some ornaments on it! She went over to it and checked it out the first day I put it up but since then, she is leaving it alone. Maybe next year I will be able to put up the regular tree!! So back to my beautiful hand made ornament from Annette, I don't want to take a chance that Bailey will decide it is a toy so it will be hanging on the wall unit safe and sound.

I decided to try to make a similar ornament using Stampin' Up! products. Here is what I came up with:

This is the back of my ornament:

I started with a piece of Basic White Thick cardstock. I used the larger label die from the Seasonal Labels Dies set to cut the top of the ornament. I placed only the edge of the cardstock in the die so that the top edge was cut and the remaining piece of cardstock was over top of the die as it went through the die cutting machine. I repeated this with the opposite end of the cardstock so that both ends looked the same. I scored the cardstock so that I could fold it up on itself to create the ornament shape.

On the front piece of the ornament, I used a die from the Tasteful Labels Die set to cut the window in the ornament. I then stamped my sentiment from the Frosted Gingerbread stamp set below the window. I used Versamark ink to stamp it and then added silver embossing powder from the Metallics set. I heated this with my heat tool to melt the embossing powder. 

I used the same large label die from the Seasonal Labels Dies set to cut out a piece of Pearlescent Specialty Paper. I added ink to this paper using my Blending Brushes. I tried to use similar colours as Annette used but of course they are not exactly the same. I used Just Jade and Misty Moonlight to create my background.

I then attached 2 of the larger "little" trees from the Christmas Trees Dies set directly to the coloured background piece. I secured the trunks of the trees by attaching a strip of Basic White cardstock along the bottom of the inside of the ornament.

I attached 3 of the smaller "little" trees from the same die set to the front panel of the ornament. I attached them to the window opening and secured their trunks by attaching another strip of Basic White cardstock along the bottom edge on the inside of the ornament.

I added some Tear n Tape to the top edge of the ornament and stuck the top edges together. I then punched a small hole in the top using my Take Your Pick Tool. I tied a piece of silver trim through the hole to create a loop to hang the ornament. The trim is from the Simply Elegant Trim package.

I wanted to add some silver stars to my ornament but I didn't have any current silver foil paper. I decided to make my own. I used my Versamark ink pad and pressed it onto a piece of Basic White cardstock. I added silver embossing powder and heated it to melt. I repeated this once more right on top of the first layer. I then used the small stars die from the Christmas Trees Die set and cut out the small stars. I added them randomly to the ornament using glue dots.

I stamped my second sentiment onto a piece of Basic White cardstock using Versamark ink. I added silver Embossing powder and heated it to melt it. I then attached this piece of cardstock to the back of my ornament.

My design is very different from the one that Annette made. She used other dies and foil and cardstock that I did not have. I am quite pleased with how mine turned out though.

What I used for my ornament:

Basic White Thick Cardstock

Pearlescent Specialty Paper

Basic White Cardstock

Frosted Gingerbread Stamp

Whimsical Trees Stamp

Misty Moonlight Classic Stampin' Pad

Just Jade Classic Stampin' Pad

Blending Brushes

Versamark Pad

Metallics Embossing Powder

Seasonal Labels Dies

Tasteful Labels Dies

Heat Tool

Simply Elegant Trim

Christmas Trees Dies (No longer available)

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed both of these ornaments. Did it inspire you to give something like this a try? If you do, share a photo with me!

Stay well and keep creating!

Terry

Inspired Thoughts

Hello friends! It is almost Christmas and I should be sharing Christmas cards but I have a different card to share today. This card was made for a friend of mine that fell on the ice a couple weeks ago and broke her wrist. It was a very snowy day and there was ice underneath the snow. I'm so glad that it was just her wrist that she broke! When I was working at the hospital, this is the season where we saw so many broken bones.

For today's card, I  started with a card base of Basic White Thick cardstock. On top of that I added a piece of Rich Razzleberry as it is one of her favourite colours. I added a piece of DSP from the In Good Taste DSP pack. I think it is supposed to be spackle but I am pretending it is snow.

On a piece of Basic White cardstock, I stamped the lady image from the Senior Years stamp set using Black Staz On ink. I used a die from the Hippo & Friends die set to cut out the image. I coloured it using Watercolour Pencils and then blended it using a Blender Pen. I coloured her skirt gray, her shirt Rich Razzleberry and her shoes black. I also added a tiny bit of So Saffron to her hair. (My friend has gorgeous blonde hair.) I stamped the lady image again on a scrap of Balmy Blue cardstock and cut out just her left arm. It is hard to see in the picture but I embossed the arm piece using the Tasteful Textile 3D Embossing Folder and attached it to the left arm of the coloured image. I am hoping this will look like her cast. I attached this image to my card front using dimensionals.

I didn't know what colour cast my friend has on but I went with Balmy Blue. After I made this card, I went to have tea with my friend and her cast is purple. She may need a new cast at her next check up so maybe she will go with blue.

On another piece of Basic White cardstock, I stamped the sentiment from the Inspired Thoughts stamp set using Black Staz On ink. I cut a banner cut into both edges of the cardstock and added it to my card front using dimensionals. 

What I used for today's card:

Inspired Thoughts Stamp

Senior Years Stamp

Basic White Thick Cardstock

Rich Razzleberry Cardstock

Basic White Cardstock

Balmy Blue Cardstock

In Good Taste DSP

Hippo & Friends Dies

Tasteful Textile 3D Embossing Folder

Jet Black Staz On Ink Pad

Watercolour Pencils

Blender Pens

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed this card. As I said above, I went to visit my friend and gave her this card. She liked it and appreciated my strange humor. Hopefully it cheered her up a little while she is healing. 

Stay well and keep creating!

Terry

Quiet Meadow

 Hello friends! Are you all ready for Christmas? I got all of my cards in the mail and I have one parcel to send up to my littles in Prince George. We will be sending it through the courier with my hubby's office so it will definitely be there before Christmas. I wish we were able to be together but that is not an option this year.

Today's card is for a friend and former coworker who just retired. I am so happy for her!

I started with a Soft Succulent card base. On top of that I added a piece of Sahara Sand cardstock at an angle. I then added a piece of DSP from the Harvest Meadow DSP pack at the opposite angle.

On a piece of Basic White cardstock, I stamped the larger flower image from the Quiet Meadow stamp set using Tuxedo Black Memento ink. I used my Stampin' Blends to colour in the flower. I used Soft Succulent for the stem and leaves and Flirty Flamingo and So Saffron for the flowers. After I had coloured my flower image I decided that it looked too plain. I stamped the flower image on a piece of computer paper and cut it out. I laid this over top of my coloured image and stamped over top of it. I stamped the script image in Sahara Sand ink that I stamped off twice and then I stamped the dots using Soft Succulent ink stamped off once.

I added some Stampin' Seal to the back of my stamped image and added some Linen Thread in a messy loop. I secured the Linen Thread on the back using some scotch tape. I then added dimensionals and attached this piece to my card front.

I stamped my sentiment on a strip of Basic White cardstock. The sentiment is from A Grand Kid stamp set. After I stamped my sentiment, I used my paper snips to cut a banner into both edges. I then added the sentiment to my flower piece using dimensionals.

What I used for today's card:

Quiet Meadow Stamp

A Grand Kid Stamp

Soft Succulent Cardstock

Sahara Sand Cardstock

Basic White Cardstock

Harvest Meadow DSP

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

Soft Succulent Classic Stampin' Pad

Sahara Sand Classic Stampin' Pad

Flirty Flamingo Stampin' Blends

Soft Succulent Stampin' Blends

So Saffron Stampin' Blends

Linen Thread

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed this card. I'm sure it will bring joy to my friend. She has been looking forward to retirement for a while. 

Stay well and keep creating!

Terry

Bamboo Beauty

 Hello friends! How are you all doing with your Christmas to do lists? I am actually doing pretty well. The mail is probably going to make things be late due to the backlogs caused by the road closures. I think everyone has pretty much accepted that as how it will be this year.

Unfortunately, it is not happy times for everyone this year. A good friend of mine lost her mother a couple weeks ago. Her Mom was 98 years old and had a fabulous life. Thankfully my friend was there with her when she passed. It is always difficult though.

Today's card is a sympathy card that I made for my friend. I used the Bamboo Beauty stamp set. I wanted something simple yet elegant.

I started by stamping the large bamboo stalk image on a piece of Basic White cardstock using Gray Granite ink. I added the bamboo leaves to the stalk using the same ink. Then I stamped my sentiment in the lower right corner using Tuxedo Memento Black ink. The sentiment is from the Bamboo Beauty stamp set as well. After I was finished stamping, I used one of the dies from the Stitched Rectangle Dies set to cut out the center of my bamboo plant. I matted the piece I die cut out onto a piece of Gray Granite cardstock.

The piece that had the stamped image cut out of it was matted on a piece of Soft Sea Foam cardstock. I wanted a lighter colour to go with the Gray Granite. I wrapped a piece of  Gray Granite Shimmer Ribbon around this entire piece and tied a knot. I attached this directly to a Gray Granite card base.

I then added the die cut piece back to where it was die cut using dimensionals. It gives a bit of a pop to the image. This is a version of the Spotlight Technique except that I didn't colour the image that I cut out.

What I used for today's card:

Bamboo Beauty

Stitched Rectangle Dies

Gray Granite Cardstock

Soft Sea Foam Cardstock

Basic White Cardstock

Gray Granite Shimmer Ribbon

Gray Granite Classic Stampin' Pad

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

Thank you for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed this card. I also hope it brings a bit of joy to my friend and lets her know that I care. It is hard to say goodbye to our loved ones regardless of their age and how long they have been here with us. Sending much love to you my friend!

Stay well and keep creating!

Terry

The Sounds of Christmas

 Hello friends! I am taking part in the final Stamping Inkspirations Blog Hop of this year. The theme for this month is The Sounds of Christmas. There are 18 of us participating in the blog hop this time so enjoy all of the posts.

I immediately thought of the song Hark the Herald Angels sing. This song always makes me think of Christmas. I decided to use the Angels of Peace stamp set for this challenge. I did a stepped up version of a simpler card that I created for my Crafting at the Lakehouse event. 

I started by embossing a piece of Basic White cardstock using the Merry Melody 3D Embossing Folder. I matted this on a piece of Gold Foil Sheets. I wrapped some gold trim around this piece three times. The trim is from the Simply Elegant Trim package. I added this piece to a Basic White Thick card base using dimensionals.

I stamped the larger angel from this stamp set using Versamark ink on a piece of Basic White cardstock. I added gold embossing powder from the Metallics Embossing Powder Set and heated it to melt it. Once it had cooled, I cut it out using a die from the Stitched Rectangles Dies set. I matted this on a piece of Gold Foil Sheets. I added this to my card front using dimensionals.

On another strip of Basic White cardstock, I stamped the sentiment from the Poinsettia Petals Stamp set using Versamark ink. I added gold embossing powder and heated it to melt. I added this below the angel on my card front using dimensionals.

What I used for today's card:

Angels of Peace Stamp

Poinsettia Petals Stamp

Basic White Cardstock

Basic White Thick Cardstock

Gold Foil Sheets

Stitched Rectangle Dies

Metallics Embossing Powders

Versamark Pad

Merry Melody 3D Embossing Folder

Simply Elegant Trim

Heat Tool

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed this card. I love doing a stepped up version of a simpler card. This seemed like the perfect time to recreate this angel card. 

Click on the "Next Blog" Button to head to Susan's post and see what she is sharing with us this month.

Stay well and keep creating!

Terry

 

 

Angie McKenzie  ●  Libby Fens  ●  Leonie Stuart

Mo Rootes  ●  Aurélie Fabre  ●  Gez Carpenter

Rochelle Laird-Smith  ●  Tricia Butts  ●  Elaine de Montmorency

 Jill Chapman ●  Jo Blackman  ●  Jan Musselman  

Annette Ball  ●  Karen Henderson  ●  Teri West 

Danielle Kassing  ●  Terry Hamilton  ●  Susan Simpson

October Paper Pumpkin

 Hello friends! As I shared in my last post, I did a Christmas Paper Pumpkin craft night with my daughter and her friends on Saturday night. It was so much fun! We put together October's Paper Pumpkin kit. It was a kit of Christmas cards - 5 each of 2 different designs. The cards are gorgeous and the girls really had a great time. I made my cards exactly as the instructions stated, mostly because they are beautiful just the way they are. I also wanted to get them done quickly so I could help my daughter's friend.

Here are some pictures of the cards:

As you can see in the third picture, the coordinating envelopes are really pretty as well.

The craft night at my daughter's was a lot of fun. She has such a great group of friends. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures that night. I got my cards made really quickly so I could get some baby time in. One of my daughter's friends brought her baby girl with her. She is almost 3 months old. I volunteered to take the baby so that her Mom could get her cards made as well. It was a win win situation for everyone! Only about another month until my daughter's little one arrives and I will be able to get lots of baby snuggles in.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed these cards.

Stay well and keep creating!

Terry 

November Paper Pumpkin

 Hello friends!

I am sharing another gift packaging set today. This is from November's Paper Pumpkin and it is super cute. Everything I needed was included in the Paper Pumpkin kit (except the treats of course). That is what I especially love about Paper Pumpkin. I have shared before that I love to take them to the lake when we go camping because I don't need to bring anything else and I can still get my crafting in.

I did a craft night with my daughter and her friends on Saturday night and I gave these to the gals that were there. I baked some chocolate chip cookies in the morning and added them to the cello bags. The food safe cello bags even came with the kit so I didn't even need to find them in a store.

Here is a picture of the three treat packages together. There was three each of the three different designs. Aren't they cute? The girls were thrilled with them!

There are a couple leftover treat packages so they will be sent up to my grands in their Christmas parcel. I'll probably put chocolates in theirs rather than cookies as they will travel in the mail better than cookies.

I just love the Paper Pumpkin treat packages. All of the different occasions that they have done treat packages have been amazing! These were the biggest for sure so they can take LOTS of treats in them.

Here is a picture of the three different styles by themselves:

Here is a picture of the cookies in the cello bag:

And here is a picture of the cello bag of cookies in one of the treat packages just to give you an idea of size of everything:

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed these treat packages. I know the girls at the craft night loved them and I'm sure my littles will love them when they get theirs.

Stay well and keep creating!

Terry

Gift Boxes

 Hello friends! I thought that I would share the packaging that I made of the gift boxes for my Secret Santa gift exchange.

As I shared before, my recipient's favourite colour is Mint Macaron. This is how I decided which DSP I was going to use for her card that I shared on Monday's post. I used the same DSP to decorate the box that I made.

If you have never made a homemade gift box before there are tons of tutorials online but it is pretty easy to figure out. You just need to measure the length, width and height of the gift.

I used Mint Macaron cardstock to create my box. I added some more of the Whimsy & Wonder DSP to the top of the lid and along all four sides of the lid.

I stamped my sentiment using Mint Macaron ink on a piece of Basic White cardstock. The sentiment is from the Encircled in Warmth stamp set. I cut this out using a die from the Hippo & Friends Dies set. I also cut out the next size up from some Mint Macaron cardstock so that I could mat my sentiment piece. I added this to my box using dimensionals. To finish it off, I added a bow that I tied using some White Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon. I used my Mint Macaron Stampin' Blends to colour the ribbon so it would match the box better. I added my bow to my sentiment piece using a glue dot.

I made a second, smaller box to hold a pen that is part of the gift. This pen was also on her wishlist. I used Mint Macaron cardstock to create this smaller box and covered all four sides and both ends using the same piece of DSP from the Whimsy & Wonder DSP package.

I stamped my sentiment for this box using Mint Macaron ink on a piece of Basic White cardstock. The sentiment for this one is from the Hydrangea Haven stamp set. I cut it out using the tiny label die from the Hydrangea Dies set. I wrapped some White Baker's twine around the box a couple of times and then tied a bow with the label attached in the bow. The baker's twine is from the Baker's Twine Essentials Pack.

What I used for today's gift boxes:

Encircled in Warmth Stamp

Hydrangea Haven Stamp

Hippo & Friends Dies

Hydrangea Dies

Mint Macaron Cardstock

Basic White Cardstock

Whimsy & Wonder DSP

Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Pad

Mint Macaron Stampin' Blends

White Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon

Baker's Twine Essentials Pack

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed seeing these gift boxes. Maybe it has even inspired you to give it a try. I feel that it adds an extra touch to your gift if it matches the card. Unfortunately the gift card holder does not match but that's because my recipient is on team Tim Horton's so I had to go with reds for that. Have you made gift boxes before? I challenge you to give it a try.

Stay well and keep creating!

Terry