More Xmas Cards

Inspired by my recent card workshop, I awoke at 6:30AM on a Sunday (who does that???) eager to pull out my card stuff. I haven't seen my stash since August, with my busy work, school, fitness and recently acquired writing schedules so it was nice find time to work on a few new ideas. It does help to have an occasion to focus on as well, so that's one good thing about the season.

 

My accomplishments in the wee hours of the day:

 

 

 

Picture the right one rotated to the left 90 degrees.

 

I especially like the Santa Card!!

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Christmas Card Workshop

Yesterday afternoon, my good friend Sandi hosted a Christmas Card-making Workshop at her house. She is a talented Close To My Heart consultant who graciously took the time to design eight beautiful cards for the attendees to make. In addition to the design, she also spent hours cutting out all the paper and card stock in various sizes to ensure we didn't have to do this step. Many thanks and appreciation goes out to Sandi for taking this on and inviting us into her home.

It was a fun afternoon spent with friends, some of whom I hadn't seen in quite some time. We chatted and told stories, catching up on each others' lives.

I made seven cards in total using four of the designs. I'm proud of my work this time as I made fewer mistakes and the cards all ended up looking quite nice!

 

Two cards, front.

 

And their respective insides...

 

The next two.

 

The inside.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Two Weddings and a Shower

Weddings are such magical times for everyone, but especially for those getting married that day. I love to see the joy and exhilaration of both parties as they vow to be there for each other forever. Trying to create wedding cards that exude some of that amazement and thrill was tough. I hope these are appreciated but I would like to work on more to get things more romantic and wonderful.

 

 

And, of course, when every good girlfriend is anticipating their wedding day, there is a bridal shower thrown in her honor. My good friend Kelsey has anxiously and, at times, not so patiently awaited her wedding day and I know that she and Matt will endure and prosper, growing old together with each loving, passing day. They truly were meant for each other.

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

A Thank You For Great Friends

With our 3 week vacation to Italy, we were very fortunate to have our great friends Dale and Jocelyn volunteer to look after our house and the cats. While it's just a card, I'm hoping that this helps to express just how very thankful we are that they were able to help out. I hope one day we can return the favor for them!

 

Posted with Blogsy

For My Dad

Because we're leaving for Italy on June 7th, I will not be around to mail my Dad Father's Day or birthday cards to reach him closer to the date.  I will be mailing them early so he at least has them, so I had to work last weekend to create something special just for him.  He's the best Dad ever - supportive, calming, and I love how he's so down to earth.  He taught me a lot growing up and always took time out of his busy farming schedule to help me with ball and other things I needed him to.

My Dad's Father's Day card:

And his birthday card:

When You Least Expect It...

Last weekend my friend Sandi (a Close to my Heart independent consultant) hosted my friend and I for an afternoon of card-making in her very first workshop.  She came up with 8 different designs and cut the paper out for us, and we came to assemble these.  My friend proved to be more creative than I did during the workshop as she had the insight to switch up the design's colours or stamps to try something new, all to work out really well.

Listening to Sandi talk about her creations and how she imagines up her designs, I was intrigued by her just going ahead and trying out new stamps and papers.  One of the things I struggle with is what to do with some of the stamps I buy?  I really like them, and I love the idea of what these stamps could be, but I never am quite sure how to use them.  So, I came home from the workshop and decided to just go ahead and not over think the use of my Aspire Stamp from Close To My Heart.

Below is the creation I came up with, and something about this card really got to me - I love it and simply can't stop staring at it now!  I have no idea what to do with it, so maybe this will remain in my own personal collection!  To remind me of what can happen when I least expect it to...

Mother's Day

There were so many different inspiring cards and images available that I spent hours trying to figure out what I wanted to do for Mother's Day cards.  After many different attempts with patterns and colours, and working through my stamps to come up with appropriate sentiments and stamp collaborations, I developed 3 different cards for this day.

My boyfriend chose this one to give to his Mom.

For my Mom, I created this card, which I, personally, really liked.  The ripped paper effect added a nice embellishment to the card, and complimented the background nicely.  I'll have to try this again sometime!

And this one I will save for another year!

For my Mother

My Mom has been there for me for all my life, supporting me, cheering me on, and always giving me the encouragement and freedom to go after any dream or idea that I may seek out.  As tough as it was for her to see me move to Calgary from Manitoba, she has continued to be there to talk about or through all types of topics and I always know that she is there when I need her.  For my Mom, I created this beautiful card to express how much I love her.  I hope it also gave me more points for using orange, her favourite colour!

Birthday Cards To Date

Working from inspirations from a friend's designs and images found in various Google searches, I have been trying to experiment and grow my creative side with birthday cards over the past five months.  


My friend's blog is here: http://stamped-by-hand.blogspot.ca/


Looking through her blog and her creations, I am always inspired by her creativity and the way she looks at different stamps and card stock, not to mention her ingenious ability to add those little touches that add so much - pearls, glitter, a partially hidden stamped design!   


This card was for a good friend, and I went for an earthy yet feminine look for her, as she has an ambitious and active streak that has pushed her to train and enter triathlons, as well join in various different fitness activities.

My nieces have birthdays about 2 weeks apart so each year I try to get together with the girls to spend some time with them and give them their gifts.  For two little girls with such different interests and activities, not to mention who seem to have everything, this year I decided the time spent playing in the park and some hand made cards would be nice gifts for them.  This went over well - the park was a blast and I even managed to help the youngest girl overcome her fear of the slide.  

For my wonderful best friend, I wanted to create something meaningful and express the sentiments I feel towards her, how much I appreciate her and cherish our friendship.  

And a card for my boyfriend's Aunt on her birthday recently.

Christmas Cards

It's been awhile but I have created many new cards since my last post.  Christmas 2011 was an interesting and busy season for making cards for all the people in my life, but I took advantage of the challenge of making over 14 cards in 5 weeks to relax and allow my creativity to bud.  Many cold Saturday nights were spent with my supplies strewn all over the kitchen table and island (much to my loving boyfriend's irritation), figuring out what patterns and colours worked together, along with what was the most appropriate sentiment for each person on my list.  Overall, I was happy with what I came up with, and here is a showcase of those I am most proud of.  Enjoy!