Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Pink For October - Breast Cancer Awareness Month

I will leave this link at the top for the month of October, so please scroll down for new posts!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. As most families, mine has been touched by breast cancer. My grandmother died sixteen years ago after a long battle. My neighbour was recently diagnosed and underwent chemotherapy. Her prognosis is good, praise the Lord! My sister-in-law also has a close friend who is fighting this horrible disease. It seems to touch everyone in some way.

So I have decided to join the thousands of bloggers who are going Pink for October.

Click here every day to give FREE mammograms to underprivileged women!

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

November Stamp Club Cards

Here are the cards we will be making at November's Stamp Clubs. I wanted to stick with a Christmas theme, but still teach some new techniques and cards and use the designer paper as much as possible (since it's on special in November!), so here's what I came up with.



















The first card has been on my blog before. I just love the effect of the puffy paint to look like snow! It's Tulip puffy paint, which I heat set with my heat tool until it puffed up like popcorn! This card also uses the Wintergreen designer paper with Soft Sky and Mellow Moss cardstock. The tree is from Lovely as a Tree (stamped in Always Artichoke), and the sentiment is from Greetings Galore.

The second card uses Poppin' Pastels technique with the Wondrous Gift set. For my colours, I used Bravo Burgundy, Handsome Hunter, Close to Cocoa and Very Vanilla. I used some gold elastic cord as an embellishment.

The final card is a pocket card that's open on the sides (it's held together with the wide burgundy grosgrain ribbon across the flap, which is tied with some gold elastic cord). I used Wintergreen designer paper with Always Artichoke, Certainly Celery, Bravo Burgundy and Soft Sky cardstock. The stamp set is Season of Joy. I turned the insert into a gift card holder by adhering a strip of cardstock across it with sticky strip. I just marked off where the gift card would fit and put sticky strip from those points to the edges of the insert.

I hope my stamp clubs enjoy these cards! I always agonize so much when I'm planning for clubs! I want them to like the cards they're making, obviously, but I also want to be able to show different techniques and showcase different products and projects. I probably put way too much pressure on myself!

Thanks for reading!

Monday, October 29, 2007

Blog Candy Winner

Wow! Life has been crazy busy lately. I just have a few minutes here, and I thought I'd better get a winner for this blog candy! Thank you all so much for your comments. You've given me some fabulous colour combinations that I can't wait to try out! I appreciate the inspiration! I will visit all of your blogs when I can get a chunk of free time - I promise! I really want to check out everyone's work! Don't you hate it when you don't have time to blog? LOL!

Anyway, I went to Random.org and generated a number between 1 and 47, and the winner is #26!

tyrymom29 (a fellow Canadian!)

Here is her comment: My favorite color is true thyme,cranberry crisp and brown ...Love it !!! Congrats on all the hits WoW !!! Thanks for the chance !

Please email me at shannon.mcgann@gmail.com with your mailing address so I can get this sent off to you!

Thanks to everyone who commented.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Snowflakes Softly Falling

Here's another card I made for the class I did at the Dutch Canadian Association last weekend. I used embossing resist technique for this one. I thought it ended up looking pretty cool - like snow falling with Christmas lights in the background (maybe it's just me, though!).

I stamped the snowflakes and the greeting from Frosty in white craft ink on Whisper White cardstock. I embossed it with clear embossing powder. Then I sponged Real Red, Glorious Green, Brilliant Blue and So Saffron ink all over it.

To finish it off, I knotted some Real Red grosgrain and stuck that on. I then matted the page onto Glorious Green before adhering the whole thing to the Real Red card base.

There you go, quick and simple!

Thanks for reading, and remember to enter my blog candy draw here!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Fifty Cards from a Simply Scrappin' Kit!

About a month ago, Corie sent me a CD in the mail that Teri had made with 50 cards she had designed using the Winter Bright Simply Scrappin' Kit. Well, I finally had time to finish all the cards, and here they are! (Actually, there are 25 here, but I made two of each.) I had to improvise a few since I didn't have the same stamp sets as Teri, but they are basically the same. I just love them! I'm so glad there are creative people out there to borrow ideas from! Thank you so much, Teri and Corie!

I will be offering this as a class in November, so if you're in my area, let me know if you'd like to attend. You will get to make all fifty cards, plus you will have supplies left over to make even more cards if you'd like (or save it for your scrapbooking)! If you receive my monthly email newsletter, the date and cost will be listed on that. If you'd like to receive my email newsletter, just email me at shannon.mcgann@shaw.ca and let me know!

Remember to enter my blog candy draw here.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Christmas Pocket Card

This is a pocket card that I made for a class I did on the weekend for the Dutch Canadian Association. (By the way, what a fun group of ladies they were! There are several ladies who meet each Saturday to make cards and crafts, and I was honoured that they invited me to show them some stamping crafts. They were so nice, and definitely didn't need my help with crafting!)

Anyway, I will likely do this project with my stamp clubs this month as well. I love pocket cards! I'm going to add a variation to the insert so that a gift card can be attached to it (I'll show that when I figure it out!). Perfect for Christmas!

For this one, I used Always Artichoke as the base and decorated the front with Wintergreen designer paper. On the flap, I first stamped "Merry Christmas" from Holidays and Wishes in Bravo Burgundy, then adhered some burgundy grosgrain ribbon over top. I used the poinsettia from the Season of Joy set with Bravo Burgundy ink on Soft Sky and punched it out with the Scallop Circle punch. I also punched a second scallop circle in burgundy to layer underneath. The whole thing is held together and attached to the flap with a gold brad. I glued the flap down after I had decorated it.

The insert is a piece of Certainly Celery, stamped with the flourish from Season of Joy in the same colour of ink. The tab is made using the Round Tab punch with Bravo Burgundy. I stamped the tiny poinsettia from the stamp set in the same colour ink to decorate it. I think for the gift card "holder", I will adhere a band across the front of the insert using sticky strip (leaving an opening wide enough for a gift card through the center).

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy this!

Don't forget to enter my blog candy draw for a Stampin' Up! stamp set here!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Blog Candy for 10 000 Hits!


Yes, I'm offering more blog candy! I feel like that's all I've been doing this month! Oh well, it's lots of fun.

I notice that my counter has passed 10 000 hits! THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you who visit my blog regularly. I so appreciate your support and your kind and encouraging comments.

To win the blog candy, please leave me a comment telling me your favourite colour combination(s). I'm always looking for inspiration for my colour schemes, so I'm interested in hearing what your tried and true combos are!

I'll leave this open until the evening of Sunday, October 28, and post the winner on Monday morning (whom I will select using Random.org). Good luck!

Updated to add: Here's what's in the blog candy: a new, unmounted "The World Over" Stampin' Up! stamp set, ten 6 x 6 sheets of designer paper (most of it is Stampin' Up!, but a few are some I've found in my craft store shopping), some American Craft card embellishments and some Christmas bling. I hope you like it!

Blog Candy Winner!

The winner of the Breast Chek Breast Self-Examination kit, as randomly selected by Random.org, is:

Cheryl (Engineered Expressions)! Here's Cheryl's comment: "This is so cool! I never saw anything like that before! Great!" Cheryl has a fantastic blog, by the way, so you will want to check it out!

Congratulations, Cheryl! Please email me your mailing address so I can get this on its way to you!

It seems a lot of people have never heard of this amazing tool, so if you would like to purchase one, there are a number of online sources for purchase. I Googled "Breast Chek" and came up lots of sites. I don't want to refer any specific one, since I'm not familiar with all of the sites, so I'll let you do your own research! You can also contact my friend, Shelley (Fresh Brewed Faith), through her blog, as she has more information about it and can probably tell you where to get it in Canada.

Monday, October 22, 2007

I'm Still Here!

Wow! I feel like I haven't been blogging for quite a long time! I guess it's only been a few days, but I've been super-busy, and I'm feeling blog deprived! I haven't had a chance to check out any of my favourite bloggers and see what they've been up to! And I only have a few minutes tonight, so I just wanted to check in. (I've also discovered Facebook, which is as addicting as blogging, so I think I'm in trouble. LOL!)

I notice that I'm quickly approaching 10 000 hits! I'm overwhelmed and so flattered that people are checking out my blog! I will definitely be offering some blog candy for that, so please check back - I promise to have it up soon.

I'll be closing the blog candy for the Breast Chek kit tonight, so make sure you enter here if you're interested. I'll post the winner tomorrow (probably in the evening as I'm booked solid all day).

Thanks for checking in with me, and I promise to have some cards posted for you in the next day or so, along with some more blog candy!!!

Friday, October 19, 2007

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #24

My friend, Sherri, and I were making Christmas cards yesterday, and she came up with the idea of using navy and white with this set. I hadn't thought to use navy for a Christmas card, but I really like the look of it with this particular stamp.

I made this card tonight for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #24 (by the way, congratulations on 800 000 hits, Beate!) Can you imagine? Eight hundred thousand visits!!! Her blog is fantastic (obviously!).

Anyway, I hope you can see this card alright - the light wasn't the best for photos. I may replace this image tomorrow!

I used Whisper White as the base and used toilet paper technique with Night of Navy ink. Then I stamped the little poinsettia from Season of Joy all over (after stamping it off so it wouldn't be so dark).

I stamped the main image on Whisper White in Night of Navy as well. Then I matted it on Night of Navy. For the bottom strip, I added some diamond brads from SU!'s old Vintage brads before I adhered it to the card. (I realize the strip is too long - it's not supposed to come out on the right from under the image, but I hope this will still count!) After I adhered the main image to the card, I added some Dazzling Diamonds glitter to the flowers, tree, snowflake and star using my two-way glue pen.

Don't forget to enter my Blog Candy for Breast Cancer Awareness draw here!

Inspired by a Magazine

I saw this page (left) in Focus on the Family Canada magazine, and I thought, "That looks like Baroque and Old Olive! I can make that!"

So here's the card I came up with based on the magazine layout (right). I used very Vanilla as my card base and stamped the flourish from Baroque Motifs in Old Olive. I then stamped the flower from Oh So Lovely in Old Olive on Very Vanilla and coloured it in lightly with blender pens using Bravo Burgundy. I sponged Old Olive ink around the outside of the image and matted it with Old Olive cardstock. The "thanks" is from Everyday Flexible Phrases. I really like how simple this card is.

Make sure you enter my draw for blog candy here!

Blog Candy for Breast Cancer Awareness

My friend, Shelley (Fresh Brewed Faith), donated this Breast Chek Breast Self-Examination Kit for me to offer as blog candy. She actually has a beautiful post on her blog today about her friend who passed away from brain cancer, so you may want to check it out.




















This thing is amazing! I have one, and it really helps you do your monthly breast self-exam. It is a gel-filled pouch (developed by a FEMALE doctor!) that you place over your breast when doing the exam, and it magnifies the way everything feels so it's easier to detect lumps. I saw a demo of it and they placed the pouch on a plate of salt, and the salt felt like boulders under the pouch! (Well, maybe not that big, but it was amazing how much larger it felt!) The kit comes with the Breast Chek Aid, directions for use, personal journal and resealable foil storage pouch.

So all you need to do to win this is leave a comment here. I'll leave this open until the evening of Monday, October 22 and use Random.org to choose a winner after that. Please make sure you leave an email address for me to contact you in case you win!

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Polished Stone Christmas

Here's a Christmas card I was experimenting with. Not sure if I like it or not... I think the card base should be a different colour.

Anyway, I used polished stone technique for the background with Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss, Bravo Burgundy and gold re-inkers. I stamped the tree from Wondrous Gift on it in VersaMark and embossed it with gold ep. I matted this with Always Artichoke and used the ticket corner punch on all the corners.

On the card base, I stamped the snowflake from the Wondrous Gift in VersaMark and embossed them in gold ep.

I added some burgundy ribbon and the "Christmas" from Everyday Flexible Phrases, embossed in gold and punched out with the small oval punch.

I think I'm going to have to keep playing with this one. I like the tree on the polished stone background, but I don't like the rest of the card... Any suggestions? I thought maybe gold paper instead of Artichoke.

Inspired by Arbonne!

Here's a card I made just for fun today (finally!). I was inspired by the Arbonne holiday catalogue, believe it or not! Their catalogue is so beautiful - it has a vellum cover over the front with a design very similar to Baroque Motifs, so how could I resist? Here's the cover:

So for my card, I stamped the Baroque flourish onto vellum paper with VersaMark, then embossed it with gold embossing powder. I cut some Very Vanilla cardstock to the same size and stamped some of the other Baroque stamps on that in Close to Cocoa and Bravo Burgundy. I then layered them and attached the two pieces together with some gold eyelets.

For the card base, I used Close to Cocoa and stamped the French Flair background stamp on it in the same colour of ink. I then attached the vellum piece to it with dimensionals.

Looking at the catalogue cover again, I have another idea for a card. Hopefully I'll get a chance to do more stamping before I forget!

Happy Mail Day!

I won Samantha's (A Scrap Addict's Blog) blog candy awhile ago (it takes a long time to ship to Canada from the States!), and it finally arrived today! I was so excited when I got the mail this morning and saw her envelope there! Here's what she sent:

How awesome is this? It's a great stack of stamped animal images from a few different sets - I recognize Zoofari, Bundle of Joy and an Easter set from last year's Spring Mini (can't remember the name). This is so exciting because I don't have any animal sets, so I can't wait to go make some cards with these!

Thank you so much, Samantha!




Sunday, October 14, 2007

Stamp-a-Stack Cards

Well, I did lots of stamping last night, but most of it was planning for upcoming classes I'm having! Here are the cards I'll be doing at my stamp-a-stacks this month. It's not too late to sign up if you're in my area!

I made the pomegranate Season of Joy card using one of Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenges from awhile back. The blue Wondrous Gift card uses popping pastels technique. The Peaceful Wishes and Big on Christmas cards were based on cards I've seen on other blogs and on Splitcoast Stampers, but I'm afraid I can't find the original designers, so if it's you, thank you for the inspiration, and please let me know who you are so I can give you credit!

Saturday, October 13, 2007

An Accident and Some Retail Therapy

I had a horrible day today! I was delivering an order in Edmonton, and the traffic was awful. (I don't go into the city very often because I hate driving in all that traffic!) There was construction and three lanes had to funnel down to one lane for several blocks. So what should have taken half an hour took almost an hour and a half. So I decided to take a different route home.

Well, on that route, there were two motorcycles right in front of me when the traffic light turned yellow. One of the cyclists stopped, but the other went through the light and was hit by a truck that was turning left. He hit the pavement and his helmet shattered. The truck driver stopped, as did lots of other cars, and people rushed to see him and make sure he was alright. He was lying on the road, not moving and his eyes were closed. Scariest thing I've ever seen. I just gasped and stopped!

Several people called 911 and I knew help was on the way, so I drove off a bit to clear the road, as traffic was completely stopped in all four directions. I found a police officer a few blocks ahead who was dealing with another accident (busy day!). I stopped and explained to him what had happened (several ambulances and rescue vehicles came by as I was talking to him, heading towards the accident). So I filled out an accident report for the officer. He was on his radio as I was doing this, and he told me that the motorcyclist had a broken leg, but otherwise he was going to be alright. Praise the Lord! I got back into my van, and I was just shaking from all the adrenaline. That was the most horrible thing I've ever witnessed. I'm so glad he's going to be alright.

So I called my husband, and he told me to go sit and have a coffee somewhere before I drove home since I was so shaky. Well, I found a scrapbooking store very close by (luckily!), and I went to town! Isn't retail therapy amazing!? Here's a photo of my goodies:

They had a deal on where if you buy 10 scrapbook papers, 2 sticker sheets and a container of embellishments (all American Crafts), you got a $35 gift pack for free that included two spools of ribbon, a container of embellies, a pink marker, a package of rub-ons, buttons and brads*. How could I pass that up? (I'm going to include some of my goodies in my blog candy for 10 000 hits, so stay tuned!) Well, shopping calmed my nerves, so I headed home and hugged my DH!

Tonight I plan to catch up on some card-making when the kids go to bed since that's therapeutic as well! I'll post some new cards tomorrow for you. Thanks for reading, and remember to hug someone you love today. Life is short.

*This was at the Urban Scrapbook in Edmonton, so if you're in the area, you may want to take advantage!

Blog Candy Winner!

Thank you all so much for commenting on the blog candy post. I have been so moved reading your stories about how cancer has touched your lives, whether you yourself have/had the disease or you have loved ones who do. It is so therapeutic to share our pain, and I appreciate you all who shared and those who are still in too much pain to share. I received 44 comments, but I will still donate $50 to the Cross Cancer Institute for breast cancer research. So who won? I used random.org to generate a number.

And the winner is: #38 - Tracy

Here is what Tracy had to say:

What a great blog, and a lovely post. My grandfather died of complications of cancer- a brain tumor. While the medical world has grown substantially in serving patients with cancer, it seems like there is still a long, long way to go.

Thanks so much for your comment, Tracy. I'm so sorry for the loss of your grandfather. Please email me your snail mail address so I can get your goodies to you.

I also notice that I'm approaching 10 000 hits! Thank you so much to all of you who visit! Stay tuned for more blog candy when it hits 10K!

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Last Call for Blog Candy

Just a reminder that I will be drawing for the blog candy tomorrow night and announcing the winner on Saturday morning. Make sure you leave a comment on this post to enter!

Remember that I will donate $1 for every comment (up to $50) to the Cross Cancer Insitute, and I'm only at 33!

Moms Must See This!

I've seen this video on a few blogs now, including Tejal's and Debbie's, and I had to share (by the way, check out their fabulous blogs!). This clip is absolutely hilarious. For all the moms out there, check out this lady's lyrics to the William Tell Overture which encapsulate everything a mom says in a day! Click here to view.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Flower for You Notebook

This is a notebook that I decorated as a practice for a Stationery Stamp Camp I'm holding on Monday (I still have room for a couple more people if anyone's interested!).

I found an awesome tutorial on Nancy's blog (Inkcicles). When I've made notebooks before, I always just coloured the part under the coil with a black sharpie so that the notebook colour wouldn't clash with the designer paper, but it always looked messy and incomplete. Nancy shows how to get the paper to cover the complete front of the notebook by removing the coils before decorating.

I used a spray adhesive to attach the paper to the notebook cover. It takes a lot longer (you have to let it sit for an hour after you spray before you can adhere it), but it is PERMANENTLY on there! Nothing is going to get that sucker off of there!

Anyway, for this particular notebook, I used Flowers for You designer paper, then layered on some Lovely Lilac, Certainly Celery and Whisper White. I stamped with my Simply Said set in Tempting Turquoise, Lovely Lilac and Pixie Pink to match the paper. The "Celebrate" is from Wonderful Words. The flower is a white fabric flower that I dyed in Lovely Lilac ink by rubbing it on the ink pad. I wish I could say it was from the Pretties kit, but that hasn't arrived yet (it's on the way - I'm so excited!). This is just a generic one I have - not sure who made it, sorry. I attached it to the paper with a rose red brad from my Rich Regals brads. After I decorated, I punched holes up the sides with my 1/8-inch circle punch and threaded the coil through again.

Make sure you enter my blog candy draw here. The draw is open until Friday.

Re: Blog Candy

I'm reading the comments people have made in my blog candy post (make sure you enter - I need at least 50 comments so I can donate that much to the Cross Cancer Institute), and am so moved by your stories. It is sobering to read everyone's encounters with cancer. I knew in my head that cancer affected a lot of people, but to read about so many different stories from all over the place just makes it so much more real. We need to find a cure for this disease. It is hurting so many people.

Before I posted the candy, I thought it would be too depressing to have people tell their stories, but I think now that it's therapeutic. It gives some relief to see that common thread we have in our lives and be able to tell people about it. I hope you feel the same way and don't think I'm bringing people down! I love talking about my dad - not because of the disease that killed him, but because of his amazing life and his heroic fight. Let's do all we can to raise money and awareness of cancer.

The blog candy post will be open until Friday, so make sure you enter!

Monday, October 8, 2007

Pink Blog Candy!

I had such a good day today! This morning, I took my summer sheets off the bed and put on my fresh, clean flannel sheets for winter! I love flannel when it's cold out and you can snuggle down in the warm bed! (But you don't care about the bed - get to the candy!! LOL!)

So this afternoon I went shopping with my friend, Heidi, and I found tons of cute pink stuff for blog candy! Here it is:

This is in honour of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I wanted to find pink stuff in keeping with that theme. Here's what you can win: six sheets of 8 x 8 designer paper, stickers, pink-toned bling stickers, pink buttons, pastel-colored brads, a spool with three different ribbons on it, love-themed clear stamps and a clear stamp block. I hope that's worth winning. I always have so much fun at Michael's, and I always spend way too much money!

So how do you win this blog candy, you ask? Well, in keeping with this month's theme, I would like you to leave a comment on this post and tell me how you or your family or someone you know has been affected by cancer. You don't have to go into detail if it's too painful. I just think it's important for people to know how widespread this disease is and how it affects our lives. Maybe by sharing our stories, we can spur people on to raising more funds and awareness. (One comment per person, please, and make sure you include a way for me to contact you if you win).

As for my story, well, I know a few people who have had breast cancer or who have it. My grandmother passed away sixteen years ago from it. But probably the most poignant encounter with cancer I've had is with my father. He had colon cancer. (I know it's breast cancer awareness month, but as my mother-in-law says, "If we can find a cure or treatment for breast cancer, it opens the door to healing all cancers!") My dad was diagnosed when I was in my final year of university in 1996. He went in for surgery to remove what the doctors thought was one large tumor in his colon. My mom and I were waiting for him after the surgery, when the doctor came in and told us that the cancer was literally everywhere throughout his colon, liver, and pretty much everywhere. He gave my dad six months to live. I have never passed out before, but that was the closest I came.

My dad fought brilliantly, confident that he would beat this horrible disease. I watched him go through rounds of chemotherapy, deal with a colostomy bag since his intestines no longer functioned properly and try every alternative medicine he could find.

He walked me down the aisle a year later and gave me away to my husband. He was starting to get better and things looked more hopeful. He fought on for six more months after that, but after a year and a half of fighting, his body didn't have the strength anymore. On November 6, 1997, my dad passed away. That was the worst day of my life. I was fortunate to have the chance to say good-bye and have the extra year with my dad, but this disease is horrible. It is so important to find a cure.

I'm going to copy what some of my blog friends are doing and commit to donating $1 for every comment I receive here to the Alberta Cross Cancer Institute, which is where my dad and many others receive(d) treatment (up to $50). So in addition to possible winning some blog candy, you will be helping contribute to cancer research and patient care.

I'll leave this open until the evening of Friday, October 12, and then I'll use Random.org to choose a winner.

Blue Bayou Pick a Petal

Finally, a card with a different layout! I used Splitcoast's colour challenge again for this card.

The card base is Blue Bayou, stamped in the same colour with the flower from Pick a Petal. I then layered Chocolate Chip and River Rock onto the base. The River Rock has some chocolate grosgrain tied around it, and I stamped the sentiment from Greetings Galore in Chocolate Chip.

For the big flower, I stamped the polka dot petal from Pick a Petal in Blue Bayou on River Rock cardstock eight times, then cut them all out. I stacked them all together, punched a hole in the pointed end and put a blue rhinestone brad through them all. Then I fanned them out to make a flower. I adhered that to the card with a dimensional.

There you have it! Quick and simple as usual. Hope you like it!

By the way, I'm going shopping this afternoon for some pink-themed blog candy in honour of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so check back tonight for your chance to enter!

Sunday, October 7, 2007

One More For Beate's Sketch Challenge!

Okay, this is the last one - I promise! I just love this sketch from Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge!

For this Christmas card, I used the Wintergreen designer paper for the circle and adhered it to a Soft Sky card base.

I stamped the tree from Lovely as a Tree in Always Artichoke on Soft Sky cs. I matted that with Mellow Moss cs. For the snow, I used Tulip brand puffy paint (it's actually a fabric paint). I put a little bit on all the branches (it goes on really nicely because it has a very fine tip). Then I used my heat tool and heated the paint. That's what makes it puff up like popcorn! It's very fun to watch!

I stamped the greeting from Greetings Galore in Always Artichoke.

And now I need to try something that doesn't use this layout! Thanks for reading!

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #22

I just can't stop using this sketch! I LOVE it! Here's another for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge. It also uses Splitcoast's Color Challenge for this week.

When I read on Splitcoast that the challenge was to use River Rock, Blue Bayou and Chocolate Chip, I thought they wouldn't work together. But then I saw a few blogs where people had used the colours, and I thought they looked really great together! So I figured I'd try. I like it!

I used Chocolate Chip as the base, and I cut the circle from my Apple Cider designer paper. I then sponged Chocolate Chip ink around the circle so it would blend better with the base.

I haven't used my Heartfelt Thanks set for ages, so I pulled that out and inked up the bottom stamp with Blue Bayou and River Rock. Then I stamped the outline stamp in Blue Bayou and Chocolate Chip. I sponged Blue Bayou around the edge of the white cardstock and stamped "thanks" from Everyday Flexible Phrases in Blue Bayou. This was matted onto Blue Bayou. I pulled a piece from my pewter Hodgepodge Hardware to add that little extra bit. I tied a piece of Blue Bayou double-stitched ribbon through it. I used a glue dot under the ribbon knot to keep it from flopping down!

I'm loving this sketch! You will probably see a few more cards with this layout!

RAK for the Dunns

Here is my RAK that I will be sending to Andrea for the Dunn family, who has twin baby girls with Neuroblastoma (click here for more information).

I used Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #22 for the layout. I started with the designer paper circle. I love the Almost Amethyst, so I went for that. Then I had to choose some cardstock to complement it. I used Elegant Eggplant for the card base and Rose Red for the matting.

I stamped the flourish from Baroque Motifs in Almost Amethyst on some Whisper White cs. Then I added the sentiment (from Greetings Galore) in Rose Red. I wanted to use one of my flower brads that I won in some blog candy (from Alex), so I put that on the flourish. It still needed a little something, so I stamped some butterflies from Priceless in Elegant Eggplant, cut them out and attached them with dimensionals.

Andrea's Blog Candy for a Cause

PLEASE check out this post at Andrea's (Crafty Engineering) blog. She has friends who have twin baby girls (three months old) who have both been diagnosed with cancer. Andrea is offering blog candy for anyone who sends her a RAK (Random Act of Kindness card) to send to this family (she's hoping to fill a shoebox with cards). My heart and prayers go out to this family. It must be the most difficult thing in the world to watch your babies fight a horrible disease. PLEASE do what you can for this family. I'll be making cards this weekend to send!

Friday, October 5, 2007

Wintergreen Ornament

I was asked to come and teach a craft for the Parkland Head Injury Association. This is a group that provides support for families and people who have sustained brain injuries, so I had to say yes to such a wonderful group!

I am told there will be about 25 people there, so I've been racking my brain trying to come up with a craft that 25 people can do with the supplies I have (it's difficult to share one stamp set with that many people). So after looking around at Splitcoast Stampers and at many, many blogs, I found several of these ornaments and decided this would be a great craft!

I found the clear plastic ornament at Michael's (I was hoping for glass, but they didn't have any in yet). I cut some double-sided designer paper (Wintergreen, of course!) into 6 x 3/4" strips and curled the strips around a pencil. I placed these in the ornament, added some glitter (I think I'll use "snow" for the craft though - it will show up better) and closed it up. Then I tied some silver elastic cord through the hole in the top and some burgundy ribbon around that. Voila! Quick and simple!

Hopefully the group will like this! I thought I would just have some trays with a whole bunch of different paper strips that they can choose from and curl up for their ornaments.