Apple of my eye

My uncle Glenn, artiste extrodinaire, sent me this photo of my parents last week. out of the blue. Since it's rare to get one of them together, i was inspired to make it a keepsake.



Paper is by Bo Bunny. The letters are from a box that spell out Adventure, live out loud and play. I was able to spell out apple with it. I used a d for a p.
Love that it has the same colour palatte as the paper edges. Total fluke. My son drew the white apple tree on the right on acetate. That's why the wooden buttons are there. To cover the glue dots.
The apple on the bottom symbolize my parents 6 grandchildren. So they are the apples of my parents' eyes. it's not an earth shattering layout, but I like it.

yes mom, I will be sending this in the mail to you with other pictures of your grand children. Just don't go checking the mailbox everyday. you know how I am!! LOL

Colouring Jackpot!!!

you know how you meet people, know them for years, know what they do for a living and then you actually get to see parts of their worK? Well, my friend is an interior designer. She has decided to take another path and start an on-line, eco friendly toy store. Go check her out at www.littlefootprintstoys.com Great stuff there. No really, go check it out!

With her shift in focus, she has lent me her colouring utensils!!!!!
Can you say JACKPOT!!!!

Look at all these pencils!!!! My odorless mineral spirits are calling me!!

And as if that isn't enough!!!!

Look at these markers!! More shades of brown than occurs in nature I tell ya! The smell when you open the tin they came in is overwhelming. I just need to get a blender marker now.


And the best toy of all......



How many times have I dreamed of trying one of these babies out. You see them on others blogs and just dream...
So now I can play, play, play.

Thanks Barb for the toys.
Speaking of toys, watcha waitin' for, go to www.littlefootprintstoys.com

thanks for looking,
Amanda

Button your heart

Umm, I don't really know what the title means. Just go with it eh??



This card didn't totally go as intended. The heart is a bit of a different shape. I think that's what is throwing it for me. But i like it.
I painted a chipboard heart white, then added buttons using Crystal effects. When I placed it on my confetti white cardstock, I realized that you couldn't see the edges too well. So I used a red marker and went under the buttons on the edge to bring out the shape a bit. I then drew a grey shadow.


I have a few non valentine projects to do. I had a request today for some of my crochet flowers to put on a baby's hat. So I'm happily crocheting and sewing buttons on. I'll take some pics so you'll have something different to look at. lol I learned how to crochet a leaf also. Way cool.

thanks for looking,
Amanda

Heart tag

Another clean, simple Velentine card. I'm not able to think in designer paper these days. Loving all my quickutz, cuttlebug and nestabilities dies. know what I don't have though? A Happy valentine stamp. Kind of annoying me. The tag is popped up and the Stampin' Up always stamp is embossed in silver.



Thanks for looking,
Amanda

hugs to you

Another Valentine card. Sorry for the overload, but the ideas keep coming to me. I still have a bunch on hand and a few more in my head. So you'll have to put up with it or look away. :}





Don't feel like puttin much details at the moment. I'm sure you can figure it out. :}

thanks for looking,
Amanda

The Queen of Hearts...

She made some tarts, all on a summer's day...
That children's song comes to mind when I look at this card.


See the sparkle on that baby!!???!!


Still stuck on a brown and pink theme for valentines as it is stuff out on my desk right now. And the spahhkly paper. I wish I could get it in red.


I used the negative pieces from the balloon hearts on the previous post. I paper pierced the brown edges and popped it up. The glitter dots are from Stamping Bella.

This idea was an extra (not one of my 5 thought up in the light of dawn). bonus. I think I have another to try later.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Little birdie calls hello

Wow, lame subject header eh?

I had a great day today! Before I even opened my eyes this a.m., I had 5 valentine card ideas. The worst part was trying to remember them before I got to write them down. And I did, at a greasy sppon in my neighbourhood. no kids, just me, my sketch book and a warm breakfast already cooked for me. And no cleaning up. Doesn't that just sound heavenly? once in a blue moon.

here is the 2nd card I made today from that list:


Balloons are from Quickutz, bird from hero arts. pink polkadot paper from Doodlebugs and the lace ribbon I bought at Stamping Bella. didn't even remember I had it till I went ribbon searching. Score! Everything from the White cardstock up is popped up. Click on photo for larger view. I took a close up, angled shot, but the colours were really off, so I'm not going to show it.

Had a lovely afternoon also. The temps were a warm 4 degrees. You could feel the warmth of the sun. So i prepared a picnic lunch, got the kids dressed in snowpants and we headed to the local park to go sledding. Great time, but the best part was having a picnic in the snow and drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows. Only regret was not bringing the camera. Oh well, other outings to come, I'm sure.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

pout much?

Whipped this layout up tonight, This is the photo I wanted to use my crochet flowers on. I've been making all kinds and shapes and sizes. But the other day, I bought this bazzil textured paper and had it on my desk. I also was looking thru my bucket of primas (bought at Stamping Bella) and had them on the paper. BAM! idea came to mind.


I was first thinking of putting different coloured thread in the buttons, but decided to make it monochromatic when I found this slippery cotton in my embroidery floss box. Yes, the picture is yellow. I special effect-ed it that way. Had I known I was going to do this layout, I probably would have antiqued it a bit or washed it out some more. The letters some from a stack, I mean , maybe over 75 pages of letter punchouts I bought at a 2nd hand sale for 2 bucks!! Colours galore!

I shall use this kind of layout again. I'm curious to try it with coloured thread.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Kiss me...

Here is another VD card in a funny vein...


Get it? frog prince?!!?! yes? no?


My daughter chose the frog stamp at our LSS trip yesterday and I knew I had to use it for this card. The metal heart is from the buck store, the crown is a punch and the lips are from Quickutz set. I hand wrote the "Kiss me", but then found a stamp in my stash from a St. Patty's day set. I thought I'd use the acrylic for a little somethin' different.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

I'm tweet on you

yeah,title's too cheesy for this card.



I took the kids to the LSS this afternoon. My son had some birthday money he needed to spend and wanted to make some Valentine cards. So off we went. his first choice was hot pink sparkle paper!!! Think he has a few girlfriends in mind?! He made a bunch when he got home. i'll show you another time.

Anyhow, I finished using the gift certificate my sister in law gave me for Christmas and bought the Quickutz trio of birds die. I don't know what it is called at present. The hummingbird on this card is one of them.

The card base is pomegranate from SU as well as the DP- Bella Rose. The heart shaped eye and heart in the corner is from the dollar store. I dragged my hubby there before our movie date night and bought a bunch of bling! I'm sending him to work with Valentine cards galore. Worked well on Mother's day, why not Valentine's? I fake stitched the Dp using paper piercing and a marker. Oh yes, the flower is from QK. I folded it in that shape to make it 3D.

I have a few more VD cards to show you in the next few days. i have many ideas and cards to case, so stay tuned!

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

He shoots! He SCORES!

Nice to get this one out of my head. It's been there for a week, didn't have the right stamp. Went to Michael's, thinking I had seen one there. Looked and looked and looked. Found this one. only one! Score!


kind of one dimensional. but it's for a guy. So no ribbons here. :} I'm going to put a tab on it so you can pull him instead of moving him with your fingers. I put clear embossing powder on him to make it a little stronger. He is attached to a brad on the back that fits in the slot. The white layer is pooped up on dimensionals.

have a great weekend.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Tulip thanks

Yeah!! I got to my room today. After 2 attempts to get my daughter to nap, she finally fell asleep in my arms on the couch. Problem is, she's still sleeping! It's 6:30pm. I think I'm up for a late night company tonight. :}

i got my son to make 4 thank you cards for his bday presents. It's not his best colouring. he found it a little overwhelming to colour 4 of the same things! Wait till he tries to mass produce 40!



I was inspired by his card, so I made a few of these also. Mine are the mini cards from Stampin' Up! i think they're about 2x3 ish. The sentiment is from the Michael's buck 50 bin, the tulip image is from a 2nd hand sale I went to . Have to check out the company later. And the wooden button came from the buck section at my grocery store. SCORE!!! I coloured with Koh i noor pencils and mineral spirits.





it's very very cold here these days. SO this nice, bright bouquet is a nice break. Hoping to play some more tonight. Will definitely play tomorrow morning. Have the morning to myself and don't have to go out to buy stuff. So I'm home, alone, with ideas, and products, some new toys. All alone, by myself, no one else but me. Oh, did I say that all ready??!!! LOL

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

time out

I wanna go to my room. alone. for a time out. and make all the lovely cards in my head. no one will let me. maybe I'll drink a lot of tea after supper to get a caffeine fix and stay awake to make them. and suffer tomorrow.

Football?

Here is a magnet I did a few years ago. Finally had my camera and the photo at the same time.
the size is about 5x7.


The letters are from the buck store as is the Dp and the mini football. The large football is made by me and I used a versa mark pen to draw the strings and then embossed with seafoam white embossing powder.

man, I can hardly see straight right now. I've been trying to crochet some hearts. I think i may have it. Everything is a learning curve with me lately, but it is nice to be challenged. maybe I'll show you some when I get a few good ones!

And finally, my 1st born turned 5 today. That's one whole hand! He was pretty excited every time the phone rang as it was family and friends for him. Too cute. And I've had enough chocolate cupcakes for a while now.

thanks for looking,
Amanda

Found: mojo??

Here is my brain with no mojo:
(the card someone threw up on) (figuratively, not literally)

It's ok, I guess. The colours weren't working for me. KWIM?

Here is my brain with some rockin' paper and colour coordination:


What a difference a piece of designer paper can make eh? Same layout, different colour scheme. that's why I've been more aware of trendy colours lately. Just stick with them and things will have a flow. try to do something different, well, maybe not so much.

I have a waterfall card I want to make for my son's 5th bday on Monday. and a slider hockey card for my brother in law. Can't wait to try them. I also need to get a whack of crochet flowers done for my daughter's layout.

We bought a Wii for Christmas. great family gatherer. i actually got to do some hoola hooping today and a bit of yoga. yes, it really does work. My husband has taken to playing Mario kart at night with others on the internet. And instead of going to my room to create, i sit in my new chair and crochet flowers. exciting eh?!?!?! lol

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

where?

(sung to the tune of Oh Where, oh where has my little done gone?)

Oh where, oh where is my mojo gone???!!!!!
Oh where, Oh where can it be?
With the shapes too big and the colours all wrong,
Oh where , oh where has it gone?

Who barfed over my latest card??

i think I need to make a few more mistakes to get it out of my system. Or maybe I'll just give up and go sit in my new chair and crochet flowers for the rest of the night.

later......

well hello!

Hi there..
thanks for coming by when I've been missing. Nothing special happening, just getting back into routine and not getting up to my room to stamp at night.

Thought I should show you something and say hello...

What do you get when you put this...


and this......


and this together??


i don't know yet! But I'm hoping to play with it soon. hahaha

This kit was at Winners for 4.99!! I Love the scrapbooking section at Winners. You can get large pads and all kinds of kits for under 12.99. They have so many great themes. i decided to just jump into a kit and see what happens.

I have to make a few birthday cards for this weekend, so I'll have something new to show you soon.

thanks for looking,
Amanda

Happy New Year! and some crochet flowers

HOwdy! Howdy!! Happy New Year! Bon annee!

We're having a lovely time at my sister in law's place in Laval, Quebec. My french is very high school 18 years ago, but I love trying to remember the words. i think I actually made a sentence today. lol

here is the table setting for the New year's party. We had fondue. i've never experienced a Quebec fondue. they had all kinds of game: deer, elk, goose, lamb, bison, shrimp, salmon, beef, chicken. My son stayed up past midnight and tried almost all of the meats. So like his dad, not mama. i stick to pigs, chicken and cows. thank you very much.


This is the yule log a neighbour brought over. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the decoration on top. It's like it hasn't changed since the 60s or 70s. isn't it great>>!!!!


I've been busy here, learning how to make crochet flowers. My sister in law was taught by her late mother. So she brought out all of her mother's supplies and we found some lovely threads. We went to the scrapbook store and found some flowers for sale. 8 flowers for 9.99!!!!! Crazy. So we've been experimenting with different styles. What fun. I love the productivity of it. Sit for a few minutes and you have a flower. And it's very portable. you'll be seeing more of these in future. i have a picture of my daughter that I want to scrap using them.


We're off to brunch with a friend from my Acadia days, then off to Ottawa for a night to see another great Acadia friend. then back to Toronto to the real world. bleck.

Hope you had a great end to your 2008 and look forward to many new things in 2009.

thanks for looking,
Amanda