Bright Idea Card

Hey everyone!

Just popping in with a quick card share using the Bright Idea stamp set from the amazing Teri Anderson and Technique Tuesday.
I love this set and the fun things you can do with it!!

I decided to use the light bulb stamp and make the insides of the bulbs glittery.
I put cool highlight glitter on a piece of cardtock covered with Be Creative tape and then stamped the lightbulb over the top with archival ink from Ranger.
Then I carefully added colour by tapping my copic marker over the glitter, being careful not to touch the stamp ink so it wouldn't bleed and smear.

You Turn Me On (Every Single Day) 

Here is the full card (sorry for the not so great photo)

Supplies:

InLinkz.com


I'll definitely be making more cards with this set so stay tuned for that!

I haven't heard from my winner for the SSS March kit from this post, so I'll draw a new winner tomorrow morning if I haven't heard from her by then. :-)

Be back soon!
Steph ;-)
 

Happy New Year & A Layout

Happy New Year everyone!!
I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday and got to relax a little. We had a really nice holiday break that involved lot's of pyjamas! :-) It was really hard to have to get up and dressed for work today. But I have to admit that getting back onto schedule is always nice.
I love the start of a new year - I am so looking forward to seeing what 2012 has in store!!

I created a layout the other day to hold some of the holiday cards that I received this year from friends and family. Opening the mailbox everyday and receiving those handmade cards is one of my favourite things about the holidays. And a layout with a pocket is the perfect place to store them and keep them safe. I am thinking I might create an album specifically for the holiday cards we receive because the pages end up pretty bulky once you stuff all those cards in the envelope. And I usually need extra space to store them since they don't usually all fit on one layout.

Anyway, here is the finished page for this year:

December 2011 Christmas Cards

I used a KI Memories calendar page and pocket to create the page and then added odds and ends from my Christmas supplies. I cut squares to fit into the calendar part at the top out of My Mind's Eye and Echo Park patterned paper and embellished them with Elle's Studio tags and Jillibean Soup & Echo Park stickers. I also added an Elle's Studio tag to the envelope stamped with Ali Edwards / Technique Tuesday stamps.
The envelope is pretty stuffed with cards so I added some Tim Holtz clips to the sides to help hold it closed.

I hope everyone is enjoying their start to the new year -
Be back soon!

Steph :-)

TT / AE Stamp Winner!!

Hey everyone!
Just wanted to pop in to let you know that the random winner from all five days of comments is:

Lynne said...
Such great cards! I have a hard time with card but I love how you added Ali's stamps on them.
October 28, 2011 5:37 PM


Yay!! Lynne, please check out the Technique Tuesday site here and pick an Ali Edwards stamp set that you'd like and email me your choice as well as your address and I'll get it sent to you!!

Thanks again everyone for joining me this past week. Look for another Inspiration week hopefully in November featuring another great stamp company I love - Hero Arts!!

Happy Sunday!
Steph :-)

Technique Tuesday / Ali Edwards Inspiration Week - Day Five

Hey everyone!!

I can't believe we are already at day five of Technique Tuesday / Ali Edwards Inspiration week! I have had so much fun creating and sharing projects with all of you with a product that I really love! I highly recommend adding some of Ali's stamps to your crafting supplies if you don't already have them.
And I really want to say thank you once again for joining me here all week and leaving such nice comments. Hopefully I have inspired you to get out those stamps and get inky!
And I figured the best way to end the week was to create a card to say thank you to all of you for hanging out with me this week.

Thank You

For this card I used the Favorite Memories and A Million and One stamp sets.
It's hard to see in the photo, but I repeatedly stamped the thank you stamp with aqua ink on the label diecut for a subtle tone on tone effect. I then stamped the same thank you sentiment on beige patterned paper and cut it into a banner.
I diecut two butterflies from sticky back canvas and stamped a definition stamp from the Favorite Memories set with black ink until the entire butterflies were covered. I then added a touch of victorian velvet distress ink and a lot of vintage photo distress ink to the butterflies. I adhered one butterfly directly to the card and added the other one on top with pop dots under the wings for dimension. I glued twine to the butterfly center with glossy accents to create the antennae and added pearls on top. I love using stamps to give simple diecuts a whole new look. And stamping it on the canvas gave the butterflies such great texture.

To end the week I want to send a big thank you to Technique Tuesday and Ali Edwards for joining forces and making a product that I expect I'll use on my creative projects for years to come. I am really looking forward to seeing what new sets will be coming in the future! :-)

And don't forget about the giveaway! (today is the last day to enter)

Simply leave a comment on this post (and every post this week for more chances to win!!) and I'll draw a name after 11:59pm tonight for someone to win a TT/AE stamp set of their choice!! I'll post the winner here tomorrow!

Thanks again!
Steph :-)

Technique Tuesday / Ali Edwards Inspiration Week - Day Four

Hey everyone!!

Well my computer is still not working properly and I got a nice gloomy rainy day yesterday to try and photograph my layout. So the photo has a bit of  a glare on the title letters from having to use the flash. Sorry about that. :-(

Anyways, here we are at day four of Technique Tuesday /Ali Edwards Inspiration week!!
For the second layout this week I decided to focus on the time of year it is and do a fall layout. We just went on our annual family trip to the pumpkin patch last week so I used photos from that for the layout. They had so many cool pumpkins on display so we took a ton of photos of all the different ones.

The Patch

For this layout I used 3 stamp sets: Autumn Afternoons, Give Thanks and  A Date With Ali.
I stamped a leaf like the one from the card yesterday and added it under my tags at the top of the page. I also stamped 'autumn' and the '20ELEVEN' on the tags. I added 'October' to the small label sticker in the top right corner and stamped various fall themed words along the bottom under the journaling. I love how it created a border with just word stamps. I don't know if you can see it in the photo but I also stamped 'Gratitude is a Memory of the Heart' on the red strip right below the title. I used red ink to give it a tone on tone look, which is a favourite thing of mine to do with stamps if I just want a subtle stamped image.

Thanks for stopping by today for day four and make sure to join me for the last day of inspiration week tomorrow with one more card to share. :-)

And don't forget about the giveaway!

Simply leave a comment on this post (and every post this week for more chances to win!!) and I'll draw a name after 11:59pm on Friday for someone to win a TT/AE stamp set of their choice!!

Steph :-)

Technique Tuesday / Ali Edwards Inspiration Week - Day Three

* Note: this morning my computer decided to crash and it is currently in the shop for repair. I had to load the photos of the cards I am sharing today on my kid's computer with no photo editing software, so I apologize in advance for the not so great photos. Hopefully I will it have back in the next day or two. *

Hello everyone and welcome to day three of the Technique Tuesday / Ali Edwards Inspiration week! I want to start by thanking all of you for joining me here on the blog this week and for all the sweet comments left. I really appreciate it and am so glad you are all enjoying this week of inspiration. And the best part is they are so adaptable to every style so even if you have a different way of creating than I do, you can still get  a lot of use out of Ali's stamps. :-)

For today's post I decided to create a couple of holiday themed cards... one for Thanksgiving (which we have already celebrated in Canada, but I know is still to come in the US) and Christmas.

So Very Thankful

For this card I used Autumn Afternoons and Give Thanks.
I created the pumpkin with my Silhouette and then I embellished all around it with stamped leaves and acorns from the Autumn Afternoon set. I just stamped them on Neenah cardstock and cut them out. I added a bit of brown distress ink to the edges and crinkled them up a bit so they had dimension and looked like leaves. The sentiment is from the Give Thanks set (the newest Studio AE release).

Peace On Earth



For this card I used 3 stamps from the Good Cheer set.  

I love love love this set for holiday cards. So many options for sentiments and I love the ones included.

To create this card, I cut two different sized triangles from Neenah cardstock and repeatedly stamped a sentiment across them.  The big tree says 'Joy To The World' and the small one says 'The Most Wonderful Time of The Year'. I stamped them both in different shades of green for contrast and layered them on the card. I then stamped the 'Peace on Earth' sentiment and made it into a banner that I adhered under the silver button.

I hope these cards inspire you to get thinking about what you want to do for your holiday cards this year. It is definitely one of my favourite times of the year to be a cardmaker. :-)

Thanks for stopping by today and make sure to join me tomorrow for another layout.

And don't forget about the giveaway!

Simply leave a comment on this post (and every post this week for more chances to win!!) and I'll draw a name after 11:59pm on Friday for someone to win a TT/AE stamp set of their choice!!

Steph :-)

Technique Tuesday / Ali Edwards Inspiration Week - Day Two

Hey everyone!

Welcome to day two of Technique Tuesday / Ali Edwards Inspiration week. Today I want to share a layout I created using 6 different Ali Edwards stamp sets.

You Are Loved

I used the following stamp sets on this layout: Who What Where, December Daily, Kids Are Cool, Favorite Memories, This One, It's In The Details

I love how easily different sets can be combined to create a scrapbook layout. And the stamps are a great way to add to the story being told. At first glance, this layout just looks like a fun documentation of my son dressed as a cowboy, but there is so much more to the photos than that. This layout is a way for me to document my son's playtime habits that usually involved pens, books and paper at this age. He didn't 'play' like other kids so it was important for me to get this moment down onto a layout. And I love how the simple use of Ali's stamps add to the layout and make it that much more meaningful. :-)

Thanks for stopping by for day two of TT/AE Inspiration week. Join me tomorrow for some holiday themed cards!

And don't forget about the giveaway!
Simply leave a comment on this post (and every post this week for more chances to win!!) and I'll draw a name after 11:59pm on Friday for someone to win a TT/AE stamp set of their choice!!

Steph :-)

Technique Tuesday / Ali Edwards Inspiration Week!

Hey everyone!!

This week I am going to be doing something new on my blog. I thought every few weeks or so I would do an inspiration week featuring a company that I love to create with. Just a great way for me to use product I love, share the projects on my blog and promote companies that I think produce some pretty great products. (and no one is asking me or paying me to feature them...just some companies I really like their product) :-)

So this week I have decided to do an inspiration week with Technique Tuesday and Ali Edwards. More specifically the stamps that thay design together. There is two types of TT/AE stamps. The regular release ones that are sold at retailers and through the TT online store and the Studio AE ones that are part of a monthly subscription. (these can also be purchased at some online retailers and through the TT website but they are at a higher cost without a subscription and once they are sold out they're gone. A subscription ensures that you get your stamp set every month and at a cheaper cost)

I am a subscriber of Studio AE and have also purchased a ton of the regular release sets. I LOVE my TT/AE stamp sets! I am a scrapbooker and a cardmaker and these stamps are so great for both. They offer the perfect addition to layouts and also serve as great sentiments for cards.
So for the first day of inspiration week I have a few cards to share that I created with a mix of regular stamp sets as well as some Studio AE sets.

Hello Sweet Baby

This card features the stamp set Sweet Baby by Ali Edwards. One of my favourite sets she has released! This set works for more than just baby cards and layouts too! :-)

And Many More

This card uses the Studio AE set Cake and Candles. I'm not usually a huge birthday card person (they are my least favourite card to make) but this set made creating a card so easy! Unfortunately this set is no longer available for purchase.

Simple Beauty

This is a front fold card (a card technique learned from Jennifer McGuire) that features 2 stamp sets. Both are Studio AE sets called Get Outside and Real Life. Another great thing I love about the stamps is how easy the sets are to mix and match. And the stamping on the inside of the card leaves enough space at the bottom for the card to be signed.

Thank you so much for joining me for day one of TT/AE Inspiration week. I hope these cards have inspired you to get out those stamps and ink and make some cards! :-)

Oh and I can't forget about the giveaway!

Simply leave a comment on this post (and every post this week for more chances to win!!) and I'll draw a name after 11:59pm on Friday for someone to win a TT/AE stamp set of their choice!!

See you tomorrow for a layout featuring more TT/AE stamps!!

Steph :-)

Elle's Studio October Inspiration Gallery

Today is the 22nd which means the Elle's Studio Inspiration Gallery went live today. Every month the design team and guest designer amaze me with what they create using Elle's tags. And this month's guest is Jennifer McGuire and her cards are so awesome! This months projects include a card, a layout about my niece and a layout about my dad and Ryan:

Welcome Baby

Elle's Studio Product Used: Pieces of Life Note Tags, Forever Grateful Project Kit, Vintage Note Journaling Circle Tags (used to cut out the butterflies)
Other Products Used: Studio Calico 'Mind The Gap' kit


Day At The Beach

Elle's Studio Product Used: Handmade Layers Notes Tags, Handmade Layer Circle Tags, Handmade Layers Tiny Tags
Other Product Used: Studio Calico 'Boardwalk' Kit


Thank You

Elle's Studio Product Used: Lil' Snippets: Thank You, Summer Memories Journaling Circle Tags
Other Product Used: Studio Calico 'Field Guide' Kit

Don't forget to check out the rest of the October Inspiration Gallery here.

We're off to the pumpkin patch today. One of our favourite family activities every year. I love the sites and sounds and of course the pumpkin donuts ;-) ;-) Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

And make sure to join me next week here on the blog for a Technique Tuesday / Ali Edwards Inspiration week. Lot's of projects featuring the awesome stamps that they create together. And of course we'll end the week with a giveaway!!
See you then!

Steph :-)

Welcome Baby

I love the new patterned paper that Technique Tuesday released called 'Perspectives' with patterns by Ali Edwards. The papers paired with AE stamps and Studio AE stamps make layouts and cards come together so easily. As soon as I saw the papers I knew I wanted to use them with a grouping of photos I had printed of my brother-in-law and niece. I created the photo collage using a Kerri Bradford storyboard template. I was a little worried that the papers wouldn't look 'girly' enough, but I love how it ended up turning out.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock - WorldWin Papers

Patterned Paper - Technique Tuesday 'Perspectives' Collection

Stamps - Technique Tuesday AE (Life In Pictures, Favorite Memories / Studio AE (It's In The Details)

Inks - Jenni Bowlin (Chili Powder, Spice Tin), Colorbox (Frost White)

Digital Cutting Tool and Designs - Silhouette America

Veneer Butterflies - Studio Calico

I definitely recommend Technique Tuesday's new patterned papers. They are made of the same great quality that their stamps are and the patterns are awesome! And they are such a great company with amazing people. Makes using their products that much better! :-)

Happy Tuesday!

Steph :-)