Beautiful Gaspe

Hello all!  I know it has been awhile - the whole work thing just completely interferes with what I really what I want to do.... :-)

Today's post shows how you can make a card that is truly customized for the recipient. 

The picture is a little fuzzy, but you will get the idea.  The recipient is very proud of his hometown, Mont Louis, Quebec, right in the heart of Gaspe, so I decided that I wanted to incorporate that somehow.  I found a picture online of the town and printed it off in photo quality.  I then die cut out a frame from wood veneer (he is also very down to earth and loves natural materials) and attached it with brads over the picture.  I stamped and die cut the sentiments and voila!  A card totally unique and custom designed for the recipient.  He was thrilled and as you can see it sits proudly on the window sill in his office....mission accomplished!  A perfect way to use personal photos on your cards....

Supplies:

Stamps:  Curly Cute (francais) SU!, Fabulous Phrases (SU!)

Dies:  PTI

Other:  Wood veneer (SU!), cardstock (kraft) SU!

Two More Thank You's

Hi all!  Can you feel that spring is in the air?!  I love, love that the winter has been so mild and have my fingers crossed that it just keeps getting better....:-)

I have the last two thank you cards for you from my language training.  These were done for women so they have a much more feminine touch to them.  Again, each one was customized for the recipient and reflected something they had shared.

This first one is very much out of my comfort zone but I wanted to design something that reflected a very sweet story my teacher had told me about a dream she had had about a house with a large tree in front and plants from her native Madagascar.  Here is what I came up with:

I must have nailed it as she actually teared up when she saw it.  I used wood veneer for the fence (using a fence die) and felt for the clouds.  I was actually very pleased with the result!

The next card reflects my other teacher's love of everything pink!  In fact I gave it to her along with a small, pink, ice cream maker as a thank you - she was my one constant through the whole summer and when you spend that much time with someone, you grow very fond of them!  I actually miss her alot!

I started this one off with some SU! patterned paper, and then trimmed out the doily from other patterned paper.  Some ribbons, buttons, embossing powder and bling, and I had a card that was totally her!  I love the monochramatic yet glittery theme to this one.

I hope you have been inspired today!!

Supplies:
Garden Theme Card:
Paper:  White, Pear Pizzazz (SU!)
Ink:  Cherry Cobbler, Dusty Durango, Pear Pizzazz (SU!)
Stamps:  Sentiment, tree, bamboo stalk, grass (PTI)
Other:  fence die, cloud dies, leaf ribbon, felt (PTI), wood veneer, punch, Snail, dimensionals (SU!)

Pink Extravaganza:
Paper:  Melon Mambo, designer series paper (SU!)
Ink:  Melon Mambo
Stamps:  Sentiment (PTI)
Other:  buttons, doily, oval punch, embossing powder, heat gun, Snail, dimensionals (SU!), frame die (PTI), rhinestones (Dollarama)

Merci from La Belle Provence

Wow, I just realized how long it has been since I posted - my apologies!  I promise to rectify that in the future.

Let's start today with another thank you card for another friend from language training.  He is a very, very, VERY proud Quebecer so I knew I wanted to create something that celebrated that.   I came across a fleur de lis embossing folder and some fleur de lis brads in a clearance bin at Michaels and I knew exactly what I was going to do!  Here it is!

It was actually quite simple.  I ran the blue cardstock through the Big Shot with the embossing folder, cut it into four squares and adhered them to each corner.  I actually had to paint the brads white as they were originally gold and silver but hey - it has to be authentic!  I then just stamped the "Merci" on white cardstock and punched it, as well as the blue, out and adhered.  All done and so very much the recipient....:-)

Supplies:

Paper:  Brilliant Blue, Whisper White

Ink:  Brilliant Blue

Other:  Embossing folder (Sizzix), brads (Michaels), sentiment (PTI), rhinestones (Dollarama), Big Shot, punch, adhesive, dimenstionals (SU!)

Merci for Habs Fans

As most of you know, I spent much of the summer last year in French training - a necessary evil - but was lucky enough to go to a great school.  When I left, I made several thank you cards for the wonderful people who helped me succeed.  This week I will share the cards that I made and feel free to CASE away!

I am starting with this one as there happened to be a game on today and I am quite proud of the way this first one turned out.   I made it for a friend who is a huge Habs fan (poor thing...:-)) 

I started out using a linen impression plate on the base as I wanted it to look like the material of a hockey jersey - it is hard to tell in the picture but it looked quite realistic in real life!  Then I just proceeded to layer the colours in accordance with the jersey using a die from PTI.  I added the large black brads on either side to mimic pucks and of course the little signature bling, even though the card was for a guy...:-))

Really simple, but a great impact and a nice masculine card which is always a challenge to design....

Supplies:
Cardstock:  Really Red, Brilliant Blue, Whisper White (SU!)
Stamps:  Thing Big Favourites (PTI)
Ink:  Really Red (SU!)
Other:  Linen impression plate (PTI), Big Shot, brads, Snail (SU!), rhinestone (Dollarama), paper piercer

Birthday Wishes

Today's post is a card that kind of evolved as I tried a couple of things and when they didn't work out, I had to come up with something else to compensate....but I won't tell you what those errors were....:-))

I started with the Simply Sent Elegance set from SU! that already had that beautiful lace detail along the bottom.  I added the new pleated ribbon that I just LOVE from the the Occasions Mini, some baker's twine in red, the silver butterfly ornament and the "friends" tag which is just stamped using Tiny Tags and the jewellry tag punch.  Birthday Wishes was stamped on a separate piece of Very Vanilla paper and the corners were punched using a ticket punch.  Buttons with baker's twine, and of course some bling, round it out! 

Here is the inside which allows you to see the pretty paper through the lace:

Enjoy!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Think Big Favourites (PTI), Tiny Tags (SU!)
Paper:  DSP from SU! (retired)
Ink:  Cherry Cobbler (SU!)
Tools:  jewellry tag punch (SU!), Snail, dimensionals (SU!)
Other:  bakers twine (PTI), buttons (SU!),  butterfly & pearls (Dollarama)

Fall Wedding

So, it has been pointed out to me that if I am going to have a blog dedicated to cards, I really should be posting some....:-))  I was getting to it, I swear!

Here is the first card I will share.  I did this for a friend's wedding a little while ago using some of my favourite colours. 

(I need to work on my picture-taking skills but I never claimed to be a photographer, just a card maker!) As the wedding was in September, I wanted to use typical Fall colours while keeping it simple.  I embossed the cake image using first Versamark and then a rust coloured embossing powder.  I layered it on matching cardstock and then patterned paper.  I added beige grosgrain ribbon and a couple of coloured stick pins.  Easy peasy and a wonderful effect!

Supplies:
Stamps:  For the Bride (SU!)
Paper:  Dusty Durango CS (SU!), Fall Patterened Paper (PTI)
Ribbon:  Unknown
Other:  Stickpins (Dollar Store), Versamark, Embossing Powder (Michaels), Snail, Dimensionals (SU!)

And So It Begins......

Hello all!

Welcome to the very first post of my very first blog!  Funny how I swore I would never do this, but apparently I need to get with the times....:-)

The vast majority of posts here will be regarding my obsession with stamping - specifically cards.  I discovered this hobby almost exactly 3 years ago and I have been completely addicted ever since - all my friends can vouch for that!  I have a full room dedicated to my passion that I now need to purge regulary to ensure that it doesn't start spilling over to other parts of my home.  Craziness.....but it keeps me out of trouble!

My style tends to be clean and simple, but occasionally I will try to push myself out of my comfort zone - not often, but sometimes.  Love, love, love my rhinestones and pearls (or bling in stamping lingo) so you are pretty much guaranteed to find that on all my cards.  You will also discover that I am also OCD (in the nicest possible way, of course) and that will likely be reflected in my cards in terms of alignment, proportion, etc.  I'm no professional, but I still want my cards to look that way....:-) 

I will also be starting classes to get all of you to join in my cult so stay tuned for more information on when and what!

Thanks for stopping by and look forward to getting to know all of my new fellow addicts!

Kym