Caroline's Creations: February 2014

Thursday, 27 February 2014

Just B-coz...

Hello, is it spring yet?

I felt like hibernating this morning when I awoke to a fresh coat of the white stuff. Enough already!

You might think thoughts of spring were the inspiration for this card, but it was actually a couple of challenges:

The Friday Mashup, which was to use triangles and/or hexagons (I missed the deadline, BTW, so I'll have to try harder next week), and

I don't have any hexagon stencils or embossing folders, so I created some using my scoring board:

flipped it over when finished and sanded to reveal the pattern.

The honeycomb hexies were made using a punch, some patterned paper and the CTMH stamp set Doodle Signs, pictured above. Some were popped up for added dimension.

The sweet little bumble bee is from Paper Smooches' Green Thumb. I thought he looked good in orange! Keyboard alpha stamps also from CTMH.
Turns out its NOT too late for the Happy for Hexagons challenge over at Moxie Fab World.
It runs through March 7th, so get cracking!

Thanks for the head's up, Lyndal!

That's all for today,

Happy crafting,

Caroline

Supplies:

Cardstock: Sunset, Sky, Sweet Leaf, White Daisy, CTMH; DP Rosemary & Thyme, Paper Wishes

Inks: Sunset, Sweet leaf , CTMH; Memento Tuxedo Black

Stamps: Doodle Signs, Keyboard alphabet, CTMH; Green Thumb, Paper Smooches

Scoring Board: Martha Stewart

Hexagon punch: Creative Memories

Copic Markers

Wink of Stella glitter pen

Ribbon: Verve Stamps

Sunday, 23 February 2014

...Around my heart

Another quick post tonight to link up a quilt-inspired card for

The challenge at the Curtain Call is sponsored by Lil' Inker Designs.

Here's my faux-stitched raggedy quilt:

I used the LID stitched square mats to cut out some cute prints, and one solid-colour square to show off the circular element, also from Lil' Inker Designs. The ribbon was coloured with a matching Distress marker. Sentiment is an old quilting themed set from Papertrey Ink.

Good night, all!

You are... FMS #124 and CMCC #8

Just sayin'...

This photo was sent my a friend of mine who "escaped winter" by renting a condo in Florida!

Lots of melting and sunshine in Ontario today. Just a taste of the warm weather to come.

My whole entire family is away this week (except the dog, and he doesn't expect three meals a day), so I've had some time to get caught up on some crafting and challenges.

This card was made to play along with the pretty palette over at Colour Me...!

And the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches:

A couple of new Close to My Heart goodies are involved: the embossed Paper Fundamentals (neutral card stock with a raised design on one side and a pattern on the other) and the cute stamp set "Feathers." The one with the outline was just calling out to be coloured in with Copics!

I used the Stamps of Life set "youare2kind" for my Dynamic Duos card this week, and it was still sitting on my desk. The sentiment seemed perfect for that crazy feather.

This would have been a good card to tuck into my son's suitcase. He is off on a cross-country tour in the US, auditioning for graduate school in classical guitar performance. He IS extraordinary. See/hear him play HERE. Good music to craft by.

Have a happy week,

Caroline

Supplies:

Cardstock in White Daisy and Saddle (Paper Fundamentals-CTMH)

Vellum

Inks: Sweet Leaf, Sky, Saddle, Versamark

Copic Markers

Brown embossing powder, CTMH

Tim Holtz Distressing tool

Sequins, American Crafts

Saturday, 22 February 2014

Life is Sweet! Dynamic Duos #91

Good morning crafty friends! If you're like our family, Olympic-viewing has been dominating your life for the past couple of weeks. Those winter sports are so appealing--go Canada!

However, this week's colour challenge at the Dynamic Duos had me thinking sweet SUMMER!

Even the names of these colours are delicious.

A very simple card this week: I used a cute stamp-n-die set from There She Goes Clear Stamps (sadly no longer in existence), along with a sentiment set from The Stamps of Life.

The ice cream scoops are simply stamped in the challenge colours. I cut the cones from kraft paper, then ran them through my chevron embossing folder, for some realistic texture. Some jute twine in green (I LOVE that hairy stuff!), a few candy dots, and DONE! Now I'm wishing I'd added some mats in the challenge colours as well...

yup, definitely like it better this way!

The design team gals have really knocked it out of the park this week! Go check them out at the Dynamic Duos, then break out your inks and show us your stuff!

Have a great (and crafty) week,

Caroline

Supplies:
Cardstock: White Daisy, Lollydoodle DP, kraft--Close to My Heart
Ink: Pear, Sorbet (how perfect is THAT?), Cotton Candy, Desert Sand
Stamp sets: "Enjoy Life" There She Goes Clear Stamps; "youare2kind" The Stamps of Life
Embossing folder: Lifestyle Crafts
Twine: Michael's
Candy dots: Close to My Heart (Flamingo dots Z1934)

A simple Thank-you

One of the peeps whose blogs I follow is the constantly creative Jen Schults. That girl can colour, crochet, card-make... Plus she has a new sketch to try every week.

One of her recent cards caught my eye, and I had to shamelessly CASE it:

That gorgeous background was hand-doodled {zentangled}. Isn't it fab?

I also liked the vellum sentiment flag and the triangular mat.

I made a quick-and-easy version using some black-and-white patterned paper, and just changed up the flower embellishment a bit.

Take #1

Made a bunch at once! just changing up the sentiment stamp.

Take #2

I think I prefer Take #1--the patterned paper looks more random.

These were whipped up to have some thank-you notes on hand, but I'd like to thank Jen Schults for all her inspiration.

Thank- you, Jen!

Happy Saturday,

Caroline

Supplies:

Cardstock: White Daisy, DP--Close to My Heart; vellum--Michael's; black textured--Wausau Paper.

Ink: Versamark

White Embossing Powder: superfine detail--Paper Wishes

Stamp set: Many Thanks Paper Smooches

Flower dies: Marianne Designs

Hairy twine: Michael's

Glitzy buttons: Close to My Heart

Saturday, 15 February 2014

Freakin' Fantastic--Dynamic Duos #90

Good Saturday morning, crafty friends!

Well the last two weeks have been a whirlwind of work, social get-togethers and musical moments.

All good, but my house is messy, and we have run out of milk, bread and clean underwear, so no crafty time for me today! But I digress...

How's this for a knock-your-socks-off (clean or otherwise!) colour combination?

I LOVE "Black Tie" week at the Dynamic Duos! This sunny yellow is sure to brighten up everyone's week, and the option of a shaped/fun-fold card will spark your creativity.

I've been mentally planning this card for a few weeks now. I wanted to use the unique stamp set "On the Corner" from Neat and Tangled, designed by my super-creative blogging friend, Miriam Prantner. I also HAD to play along with the fun-fold option...

Flip-it-card, side #1

Flip-side of the card, once opened.

I think this sentiment looks AWESOME in bright yellow!

For deets on how I made the flip-it card, see an older post HERE. No special dies required.

Now hop on over to the Dynamic Duos blog to see some more awesome creations in black & yellow.

Can't wait to see your projects!

Happy crafting,

Caroline

Supplies:

Cardstock: black textured cardstock, Wasau Papers; White Daisy and DP, Close to My Heart

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Grey Flannel (CTMH)

Stamp sets: On the Corner, Neat & Tangled; Lifting Spirits, Close to My Heart (clouds)

Dies: Circular nesting dies, Spellbinders

Scoring board: Martha Stewart

Copic Markers

Twine: the Twinery

Candy dots: Basic Grey

Saturday, 8 February 2014

You are my Happy... Dynamic Duos #89

Ooops! Ever have one of those "why didn't I double-check?" moments?

I had one last night as I prepared to link up my DT offering for this week's Dynamic Duos Soft & Subtle challenge. Here's the badge:

Blushing Bride (✔) and Pistachio Pudding...

Maybe it's because I am not a Stampin' Up demonstrator (although I DO have a catalog with all the SU colour listed), maybe it's an old-age-creeping-up thing, maybe its that darned SU alliteration, anyway, I had it lodged in my head that the second colour was Pool Party.

So here's what I made:

Isn't that a cute card?

I felt a little guilty already, as the beautiful DP (one of Close to My Heart's new paper packs, Balloon Ride) did all the work. Then I went to link up with the other DT member's creations, and found the second colour was actually a shade of light green...back to the drawing board.

So here's Take #2:

In the interests of time, I used essentially the same card design, subbing in some old retired CTMH cardstock (Kiwi, I think) and another new DP, Ariana (so pretty!) which has the green as well as the required soft pink. The focal image stamp is from the Ariana Workshop-on-the-Go kit. I just added a little shading with Copic Markers and some Wink of Stella for shine.

Some more juicy sequins from Verve and voilà, epic save!

Another look.

I used Kraft cardstock and Cashmere ink as my neutral. Also some Color-ready seam binding ribbon and Blossom twine from the Twinery. The little heart at the bottom is another new CTMH set, Doodle Signs.

This card will get tucked into my husband's suitcase when he travels to Texas at the end of the month.

So, want to see some beautiful creations in the REAL challenge colours?

Head on over to the Dynamic Duos blog.

Hope to see your creations this week!

Happy crafting,

Caroline

Supplies:

Cardstock: kraft, white daisy, Kiwi, Baby Blue, Blush, (CTMH)

Designer Paper: Ariana, Balloon Ride (CTMH)

Ink: Cashmere, Blush (CTMH)

Stamp sets: (CTMH) Doodle Signs, Ariana WOTG, Give a Lift

Embossing folder: Provocraft

Copic Markers

Baker's Twine: The Twinery. Blossom & Flax

Sequins: Verve pastel mix

Saturday, 1 February 2014

Celebrating Birthdays...

My birthday was last week, and I promised to send THREE little stamps sets to the commenter on THIS post. There were 7 lovely comments and the Random Number Generator chose

Which is Karen M in Northern Ireland. Karen, I've emailed you!

The card above is one I received, made by my brother-in-law. Its a reference to the Matrix, of course but inside was a message giving me a choice between a red and blue Emile Henri bake-ware item (THE BEST pie-plates...).

One of my sons also made a card. He designed it digitally, then printed it out onto a 5.5 x 8.5 card-base.

I made the birthday cake, an awesome chocolate-raspberry-ice-cream confection, from a recipe by my friend Hayley. It was a big hit...hence the reference in the card. Love when my guys get crafty!

Speaking of birthdays, Paper Smooches (maker of the cutest images and punniest sentiment stamps) is having its third anniversary, and Kim Hughes has goodies and give-aways planned for the entire month of February.

Check it out HERE.

Happy crafting,

Caroline

XOXO! Dynamic Duos #88

Good morning, crafty friends.

Well, the count-down to the next-busiest card-giving season of the year is ON!

And the Dynamic Duos challenge has a great colour combo to play with for Valentine's Day cards:

I used a retired red from Close to My Heart, Tulip, along with Lagoon, and lots of white as an accent.

I've been working on Valentine's cards for the up-coming workshop I'll be running with the Recreations Therapists, for the patients at the Rehabilitation Centre where I work. I shamelessly CASEd a card by fellow DT member, Angel Johns, HERE. Loved your card, Angel! The patients will have a great time making her design their own, too.

I love how she attached the doily with some washi tape, and that upgoing pattern of cupid's arrows.

I used several new Valentine's products from Paper Smooches, Lovestruck, Sweet Hearts and the Heart Dies. I also used some papers available in the new Close To My Heart Idea Book.