A Colourful Life

Long Weekend in B.C.!

This weekend is a long weekend for us here in beautiful British Columbia.  It is B.C. Day.  Typically, B.C. Day falls on the first Monday in August.   The weather for Saturday and Monday calls for sun and temperatures of about 22 deg C, which is perfect.  Sunday is going to be a bit rainy, I'm afraid....but we have 2 days of good weather to look forward to!  It's going to be a busy weekend for the family....a baptism tomorrow for the newest addition to the clan, baby Sophia Leonor Banting.  Such an angel.

She still sleeps a lot, so it's still hard getting to know her personality, but all in due time.  Soon, she will be awake more when the family gets together and we will be able to interact with her....instead of sit in front of her and watch her sleep, which is all we've been able to do!

The family just returned from our annual summer visit to Whistler.  It was so much fun.  The weather was just right -- colder than last year, but at least no rain.  Here are some pics:

We stopped to take a picture by the bridge overlooking the stream as we walked to the village. We were headed to a place we visit in the village yearly for crepes called Crepe Montagne.  This place serves amazing crepes, meat and cheese fondues and swiss raclette.  It is a family owned restaurant, opened in 1997 by the Gagnons.   This is a place we visit every year and we hope to continue to do so every year!

The skies were clear and it was just warm enough to comfortably walk with just a light jacket, or even without one. 

The mountain views on a clear day are just awesome.  Stopping to look all around me at nature in the midst of all the tourists and traffic, it never ceases to amaze me how pretty this little mountain retreat is and how lucky we are that we live less than 2 hours away from it!

As promised....I always leave you guys with a little handmade card picture.  This is one of the cards I made using my Big Shot and one of Stampin' Up's Embosslits dies.

You can see that the middle butterfly is actually 2 butterflies that I have layered.  A black one, underneath the red one.  I embellished the centres with Stampin' Up's pearls.  So pretty!  I love using the pearls and you will find quite a few of my cards will have them.

 

This is the embosslit die that I used.  It is called Beautiful Wings, item# 118138 for $14.95. 

For this long weekend, until Monday, August 1 if you order this item from me, I will also make the card for you, so you have a sample!  To order, email me at inkfinity@gmail.com

 

Have a good long weekend everyone!

Gift Card Holder

One of the cards in my upcoming Snow Much Fun Class is actually a gift card holder. 

 It's not immediately apparent when you look at the card but the image actually flips up to reveal an envelope just large enough to slide in your gift card.

 

With so many people wanting to give and receive gift cards, I always like to find new ways of creating cards that can hold them and this is a super easy way to do so.  As well, if you'd rather the envelope also just fits coupons or money....whatever you like!

I am off for a week now.....so my uniform for the next few days will be pajamas.  Hahahaa.....I love my pajamas.  We are planning on heading up to Whistler sometime in the next week for some R & R so I guess I'll have to put on some actual clothes when we do.  But Whistler is worth it!

The weather in Vancouver hasn't been entirely "summery" for us lately, but I'd rather have this than the unbearable heat that other parts of the country are having to deal with.  I hope all my friends and family in the East Coast are staying cool somehow!  A few years ago, we made the investment and installed centralized AC in our home so each summer we don't have to worry about heat.  This year of course, our AC has seen minimal action, but it's always good to have.....just in case.   It rained a couple of days ago, which is always good for me because it means I don't have to water the lawn and it's one less thing to do.  Here are some pics of my flowers and the neighbourhood after it rained.

Have a good weekend everyone.   Stay cool if you're back East!  Hope some relief comes soon.

Oh Baby!

I've had so many friends have babies in the last 2 months.  Plus I have a few more who are ready to pop any day now!  So cool and exciting to wait for the news.....is it a girl or boy?  I love babies and am so excited to have so many new ones in my family as well as with my friends.  More opportunities to babysit!  The best thing about babysitting is I can give them back when they poop and cry.  HA!   Seriously though, babies are the best and I love being around them.   I've had a lot of requests for baby cards from so many people and I've been busy making them....(the cards, not the babies....hahaha....)

I made a whole bunch of these cards -- simple and clean, just my style.  I made them in a variety -- girls, boys and even yellow for gifts before baby comes and you still don't know if it's a girl or boy.  The little onesie stamp is a retired stamp and the greeting is from a set called Teeny Tiny Wishes.  I love this set because it pretty well covers all occasions!

There are 24 greetings in this set -- you'll be ready for anything!  The set is 45.95 for the complete set of 24 stamps - that's not even $2 a stamp!  To order this set, email me or you can order directly from my website here.

Scrapbook Wallet

Don't you love a project that moves?  I do.  This simple scrapbook wallet is interactive and fun.  It folds up into a 4 X 6 size, perfect for your purse, ready to pull out to show to friends and family.  It's the perfect brag book!  Once opened it reveals 3 flaps.  The top 2 fan out to reveal flaps that hold photos and journaling.  The bottom flap is a pocket that holds even more pictures or tickets, passes and other memorabilia.

 

I will be teaching this class at the Hamilton Community Centre in Richmond on Sunday, July 31 at 10 AM.  Class fee is $18.   To register, call the centre at 604-718-8055 and register for course # 182251.  If you live in Metro Vancouver, I hope you can join me!

New Colour Spotlight - Island Indigo

With each new catalogue, Stampin' Up introduces 5 new in colors.  This year one of the new colours they've introduced is Island Indigo.  It's a beautiful deep blue, kinda like teal.  Here I've used it and matched it with Very Vanilla and Cherry Cobbler.

To create the vintage look, I divided the card into two sides using these pieces.

The vanilla layer is stamped using the new Hostess set called "Simply Soft" which I love.  Those of you who came to my Open House know of this set as this is what you used for your make n' take.  Isn't it just gorgeous?  I know this set will be a staple in all my cardmaking this year.

Here's a close up:

The scallop trim border punch is used to create the border using Cherry Cobbler cardstock and each little scallop is embellished with a tiny half back pearl.  This card will be one of the ones featured in my upcoming class. To order any of the supplies used to make this card, email me or go to my website by clicking here.

If you would like to be added to my class emails and receive info on classes and class times, email me using the email me link at the bottom of the page.

Have a great week everyone!

 

It's a Wrap!

If you love chocolate like me then you'll be happy to see what Stampin' Up! has come up with now!  Chocolate is so delicious, and tastes even better when shared with a friend, so it was so cool for me to see that we now have stamps (in cling and wood mount) specifically for this purpose!

The new It's A Wrap Occasions stamp set features 7 stamps made specially for creating chocolate nugget wrappers to personalize your own chocolate gift.  The stamps feature get well, thank you, birthday, baby, school and teacher, wedding and shower occasions. That pretty well covers everything!  See it below:

 To create the box, you can use a template that you already own or one of the many dies that Stampin' Up has.  I like to use the matchbox die.

Starting today and ending Friday, July 15, if you order the matchbox die, you can purchase the It's a Wrap stamp set for 25% off. 

It's a Wrap (wood mount)  #123590          $33.95
It's a Wrap (cling mount)   #123590         $24.95
Matchbox Die                   #114890          $52.95

Buying the die is an investment, but if you like to give little gifts like this it will save you money in the long run.   You can purchase metal tins to put these chocolates in, but they cost about $2 -$3 each so owning the die is a no brainer!  To order these and other items, just email me by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page.

Have a good weekend everyone!

 

Canada Day Parade!

Yesterday was Canada Day.  Happy Birthday Canada.  The sun was out and we decided to head downtown to watch the Canada Day Parade.  The Parade runs through Georgia Street in downtown Vancouver and turns onto Burrard as it heads down to Canada Place and the waterfront.  The ride into town on the Skytrain was quick -- the train is one of the Olympic legacies that our city is lucky to enjoy.  It makes traveling downtown so fast and easy! 

Downtown Vancouver was busy!  Lots of people had come out on this gorgeous, beautiful day to enjoy all the Canada Day festivites ..... and there was lots going on.   There were free concerts, games, and many free performances going on simultaneously on 5 different stages.  The street vendors were happy to see so many people and the food selection was varied! 

Alyssa and I sitting down for a quick rest and to soak up the sun outside Pacific Centre Mall on Georgia. 

We were sitting at this vantage point around 6:15, knowing that the parade started at 7 PM, and I was wondering why there weren't more people waiting to see it start.  So I quickly checked the map of the parade on my phone and thankfully I did, because we were a couple blocks out and we wouldn't have seen it at all if we didn't move.  So we made our way quickly to Burrard and still found good spots, right on the parade route and were settled and ready by 6:30.  It soon started to fill all around us....thank goodness we moved when we did!

All ready and waiting for the parade to start!  This is the part Alyssa hates the most.....the waiting!  But soon.....it started....and she was a happy camper.

We had a fun day out celebrating Canada's birthday.  We are lucky to live in such a beautiful country where we enjoy many freedoms.  We are thankful for this.  Happy Birthday Canada!  Our home and native land!