A Colourful Life

There's no Such Thing as a Mistake in Cardmaking!

Yup, you can't make a mistake when making a handmade card.....instead you have creative license to do anything you want!  Read on and see....

I am busy making cards and gift items to sell at my upcoming craft fairs.  When I do this I always make things in quanity, assembly line style. After I design a card, the first thing I do is stamp the images on my cardstock.

 

Then I add in all my colour and I distress the edges if I feel like it.  I did for these images....you can see the ink on the edges.

Then I cut all the other pieces to complete the card.

Then I stamp the greeting on my base card.  And this is where creative license comes into play and the "no such thing as mistakes" in cardmaking comes in.  See below.....the top image I stamped was crooked and I wasn't happy with it.  So I stamped it again below.

Then I simply covered the mistake with patterned paper.  This is how it turned out below.

And this below is how I originally planned it to be.

I simply swapped the final placement of the patterned paper to cover my crooked greeting.  See, no mistakes!  That's why I love making cards so much.....you do what you want.  No errors, no blame.  Just creative playing and FUN!  This card was one I taught in a prior class that was a major favourite, so I am making lots of it to sell at my upcoming craft fairs.  Come and visit me -- I will be at the UBC Holiday and Gift Fair from Nov 22 -26 in the main concourse of the Student Union Building at UBC.  Then I will be at the St. Thomas Moore Holiday Craft Fair on Nov 27 and 28.  Hope to see you there!

Today is Halloween and all the little trick or treaters will be out in full force!  If you will be out driving, watch out for these tiny witches and goblins as they go door to door looking for treats.  I was told that in Ohio, there is a law that if you are over 12 you are not allowed to go trick or treating.  Does anyone know if this is true?  I googled it and couldn't find anything.....no matter, I think that when you reach a certain age, you really shouldn't be trick or treating.....i.e. if you are old enough to drive (16 years old) and you come to my house trick or treating you are getting candy from a separate bowl I reserve strictly for you.  It is full of crappy candy.  Only the little kids get the good candy at my house!!  Hahahaaha..... Before I go, here is the cutest little trick or treater I ever did see.  She is my nephew's daughter, Emma Cate and she is A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E !!

More.

Here are more pics of the projects you will be doing if you register for my November 13th stamping day.  It's gonna be lots of fun!

This cute little thing opens up to hold 2 teabags.

Here's another project:

I love the row of beads added to the scallop border on the front of the card!

When pulled, the ribbon reveals a spiced apple drink inside.

I hope you can join me for this fun day.  Details are in the post directly before this one.

Lastly, wanna see what my daughter and I had for dinner?  It is something we rarely have at home, cause Doug won't eat it and neither will Jordan.  But Doug is in Montreal for business and Jordan is studying late tonight at UBC.  So without the men of the house to get in the way, the women of the house had this.

CALAMARI!!  Gosh, it was good.

Wanna see Pics?

Here are some pics of some of the projects we will be doing in my next all day stamping event.  This is scheduled for Saturday, November 13, 2010 -- more info on the bottom of this post.

This is a lip balm holder -- see the insides below.

And the next pictures below are of a band aid tin that we will decorate and fill with 18 handmade tags.  After you've used your tags, the tin is ready to fill with candy to give to someone else!

First, I want to say that the tin above is my sample and I mistakenly made it with the seam of the red cardstock in the front of the tin.  When we make this in class, it will be in the back!  I know I could have remade this, but what better way to show you what not to do than by showing you the tin done backwards!

Below is a peek at some of the tags we will make -- there will be 18 tags total.

This class is set for Saturday, November 13, 2010 at the Beacon Cove Townhomes.  The morning class, Tin and Tags runs from 10 - 12.  There will be a lunch break and then the afternoon class, Holiday Gifts  runs from 1:30 - 3:30.  This class will include 4 different gift ideas, one of which is the lip balm holder shown above.  Pics of the other 3 projects will follow soon. Each class is $24 on its own, but if you register for both you only pay $45.  The fees include all the supplies including the lip balm and teas that are part of each gift.  Lunch will be available for those that wish.  Email me to book your spot and for more info.  Space is limited, so don't delay!

Monday Morning Blahs and Card Giveaway

Monday Morning.  The time of the week I hate the most.  Today was no different.  I stayed up late last night working on designs and when the alarm went off this morning I wanted to throw it out the window.  I really need to stop staying up so late.  It's hard cause late at night is when I'm most creative.   And to top if off Jordan was not feeling 100% last night.  He was extremely cold for some reason, almost shivering and the temp in the house was normal.  I turned up the heat, made him some soup, gave him some Acetaminophen and sent him to bed early.  I guess that worked cause when I got up this morning at 7 AM, he was already up and ready for school.  Good ol' chicken soup, I tell ya!

Well, its' been awhile since I did this and the last time I did, a lot of you liked the idea of buying supplies and already having an idea of what to do with it.  So here it is agian.  If you buy all the supplies to make this card, I will give you the card for free.  That way, you already know what to do with all your supplies.

Upsy Daisy Stamp Set (set of 6 stamps) #111710    $22.95
Thanks Embosslits Die #115957     $15.95
Pear Pizzazz Classic Pad #119784    $7.25
Pumpkin Pie Marker #105115      $4.50
Early Espresso 5/8 Satin Ribbon (15 yds) #119753    $12.25

If you already have some of the items in the list above, you can substitute it with an item of the same or higher value in the catalogue.

Here is a close up.

You will also need 8 1/2 X 11 cardstock in Early Espresso #119686 ($8.50 for pack of 24), Pear Pizzazz  #119795 ($8.50 for pack of 24) and Whisper White  #100730 ($9.25 for pack of 40).  However the cardstock purchase isn't necessary to get the card for free cause I know a lot of you already have the cardstock!

Another Week!

Another week starts tomorrow.  This week starts a round of stamp club meetings for me.  Having said that, here is a sneek peak at one of the cards my club members will be making.

If you are interested in my stamp clubs or have a group of at least 4 - 6 people that you know would like to start up a monthly club, email me at inkfinity@gmail.com

Stamping Fun!

Today was fun.  All day stamping events are always fun.  Here are some pics of our day.

I had fun today and I hope everyone else did.  I am having another event like this but with different projects on November 13th.  If you live in Metro Vancouver and would like more info, email me at inkfinity@gmail.com

Okay, now I'm gonna rest and relax....oh and have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!

Weekend!

Well, another week over.  It is just past midnight, which means that it actually already is Saturday.  Today  I am teaching all day in central Richmond.  I have 2 back to back classes -- should be a fun day.  See my kits??

I spent the last 2 days kitting and getting things all cut up and ready to go.  Then I finally hauled out some of my old retired stamp sets and have priced them, ready to sell. 

I have way too much stamps.  My craft room is bursting at the seams and it's starting to scare me a little.  If I don't start getting rid of some of my supplies now, you'll be watching an episode of me on "Hoarders" in the next year.  So finally, I am doing what I should have done months ago.  I'm selling some of my retired stamps! 

Yesterday was busy.....doing the final prep for today.  I also drove my mom around to do some errands -- took her to get her hair done and pick up some prescriptions.  My mom is funny to ride with in the car.  Why?  Because she comments on everything that she sees.  I don't laugh out loud in the car, but I find a lot of what she says quite funny.  For example, guaranteed for each and every gas station, she will comment about the price of gas.  "Oh no! Gas is 1.17 a litre?  Why so expensive?  Too much!"  Then about 8 blocks later, another gas station and guess what.  The same comment.  It's hilarious.  When we pass a playground...."Oh, so many kids!"  .....driving past a corn field, "where's the corn?  I think they must have already harvested it."  And she gives me a play by play of what she will do at each store.  Outside the pharmacy, "I'm just going to get my calcium tablets.  They were out of stock the last time, so I got a raincheck.  I'll buy enough so that I don't have to buy any again till next year.  You just wait outside.  No need to come in if you don't want to."  And when we enter any parking lot she always says the same thing, "Park in the handicapped parking.  I have my parking pass."  Actually that is one good thing about driving Mom around -- we get parking right up close to the entrance! 

Well, almost 1 AM now.  I should hit the hay....gotta be up in 6 hours to get ready to teach!  'Night all!

What was I Thinking??? ...and Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Today I started the task of kitting for my Christmas Stamping Event on October 16.  One of the cards was bugging me...it just wasn't looking right.  Here is a close up of it with a bit of the ribbon showing....it was this ribbon that was bugging me.

The ribbon was a light blue and the card itself was Navy.  What was I thinking??  For a person who usually wants everything to match EXACTLY the same, this was just not right.  I couldn't understand why I had designed the first card with the light blue ribbon.....it must have been late at night and I was tired....needless to say, I had to redo it.  This is the card below after I unglued the top layer in preparation for the redo.  I am holding it down again just so I could take a picture of the card before I replaced the ribbon.

And below is the card after I made some changes.

I used Night of Navy grosgrain ribbon, wrapped around Garden Green cardstock to match the actual base card.  Much better, yes??  I think so.

On a side note, I had to laugh today cause my son Jordan who is 19, asked to borrow my car.  He wanted to go to the mall to buy a sweater.  I said yes but told him he had to go to Walmart to get me some Fabri-tac glue first.  If you wonder why I need this....it's simple.  I'm too lazy to hem pants and this works great.  You just add this to the hem, fold and voila!  Instant hemming.  Normally he wouldn't be caught dead in the Walmart craft section, but he did it.  Him and his buddy went to get me my fabric glue.  When they want something from you, they'll do anything you ask. 

Before I go....just wanna wish all my Canadian readers a Happy Thanksgiving!  Take a moment to reflect on the blessings you have received this year and remember, "It's not about having what you want, but wanting what you've got."  Enjoy the turkey with all the trimmings! 

Stamping Fun!

Here are some pics of the fun I had with my stamping buddies this past weekend for World Cardmaking Day.....

This next picture is actually a pic of some of the ladies who are part of my stamp club.

It was a busy weekend, but so much fun!  Who wouldn't have fun stamping and creating all day????  There's nothing better than getting ink all over your hands.

After all that stamping, I was hungry....and thanks to my wonderful daughter who is learning so much in her Foods class at school....I came upstairs to smell these.....

Blueberry Muffins!  She learned to make these from her teacher in Foods class.  We had made them together before and I had tweaked the recipe to use Splenda brown sugar and less oil for a healthier snack.  Alyssa is getting quite adept in the kitchen and Jordan, Doug & I are the happy recipients of treats courtesy of what she is learning at school. Yey, school!

 

 

Happy Saturday!

Today is World Cardmaking Day!  To celebrate I have stamping friends coming all day long to stamp with me in my studio.  It's gonna be fun!  Here's one of the cards we will be making.....

Here's a secret to making your bling and gems match the card you are making exactly the way you want it!  Just buy plain bling and then colour them in any colour you want using Copics.  Voila!!  Instant colour matching for any project!

It's going to be a busy day for me and tomorrow will be no different as I am re-teaching my Flower Power Class.  I had so many people wanting to take it that I added a 4th class. 

Doug is finally home again from his business trip back east.  He is home for a week, then off again to Italy for another business trip.  One more trip after that to Japan, then he's home till after Christmas.  Finally he will be home for awhile.  We are grateful for his job that allows us the lifestyle we have, though it does take him away on a regular basis.  But we are thankful for all the things it affords us.

Last Sunday I promised Alyssa I would take her on the Skytrain for a shopping trip downtown.  She had been looking forward to this trip.  She had some gift cards she had been saving from her birthday in the summer and she wanted to use them!  The Skytrain is very fast and takes you downtown in no time....withouth the parking hassles.  Thanks to the Vancouver Olympics of 2010, Vancouver is the only Canadian city that has rapid transit that will take visitors directly from the airport right to the downtown core.  We love it!   Downtown has never been more accesible than it is now that we have the skytrain.  Here we are goofing around at the Apple Store in Pacific Centre.  We were playing Angry Birds -- this game is extremely addictive!  It involves pigs that steal the bird's eggs....thus the title, Angry Birds.  I resisted buying this game because I knew it would mean days of playing nonstop and ignoring EVERYTHING ELSE....so I opted to NOT buy it.  And I'm glad I didn't.  Willpower!

And here we are taking a pic of ourselves using my Nokia N96 on the Iphone 4.

We ended the day sharing a plate of Thai Food at the Food Court.  It was a nice mom/daughter day out.  Just the girls.