Card Class

Nikki & I along with Donna & Lauralee took a class at another local store. The class was advertised as a Tim Holtz inspired scrapbook page. We admittedly are not scrapbookers but took the class to learn more about the Tim Holtz products this class was offering. Not only did we get the chance to play with Tim Holtz products but Tattered Angels stuff as well. These products although produced by different companies co-ordinate so well.

This first card was made by Nikki. She used a Tattered Angel stamp to produce the mariner's compass, then she used a co-ordinating stencil and Glimmer Mist to highlight the stamp. Our instructor provided the Eiffel tower stamp and I can't remember the company it came from. Nikki used the glimmer mist to colour her flowers which she attached with brads. A few gems around the compass complete the card.

This is the card I created using many of the same products and techniques. I added the Tim Holtz birdcage, a Nestibility Large Label and an unknown sentiment. (I really should make better notes.)

Nikki's second card made full use of the embellishments we were given. All layered over an office supply store tag that she had stamped, sprayed and distressed.

My second cards also features the same tag. As you may have notice I really liked the Tattered Angel music background stamp. A simple card but in reality it took a fair bit of time to complete.

I really enjoyed the time to try these products. I learned a lot, especially about adding colour to my projects. Is this something I would do often? Probably not. The scrapbook page our instructor had made as a reference was beautiful but for my taste very busy when you consider all of the elements we used on our 2 cards were used on one 12x12 scrapbook page.

Sept Challenge

Finally I am getting around to posting our last challenge cards. I am missing Barb's work however. Apparently she was scurrying around to get ready to go to play day and she forgot to pick up her cards. I will post it next week after play day on Sunday.



First is Darlene's card. She really captured the spirit of this challenge. I love the little dragonfly punch she used on the corners of her silver squares. In the next photo you can see that she dry embossed a beautiful flourish for added interest.




Jess reversed the design somewhat for this card. Somehow she managed to punch the nine patch and under the opening added some designer paper to create the base and then she used more paper from my stash to cut Tattered Florals from the Tim Holtz die. A gem in the centre of her layered flower finished her card.

Donna took a slightly different approach to this challenge and used really cute Nestibilities circles for her design. She used the clear Penny Black Beach Day set for all of her stamped images and an EK border punch to create the ocean bottom. Such a fun card!

Lauralee used Scattered Straw and Tumbled Glass Distress inks to create the background of her squares, alternating lines of colour to create a rainbow design. The stamp set is Set of Four from Stampin'Up that she stamped repeatedly altering the position of the stamps as she went across the inked page. The entire page was then embossed with clear. She punched out 1" squares and popped them across the top of the card. She stamped the dots and then punched from the inked background from above and popped a MS butterfly over the dots. Add a black gem and sentiment from Papertrey Ink. One beautiful card.

New Products

There are still shipments coming in almost daily. We just received a huge shipment of Distress inks, Distress re-inkers and a selection of co-ordinating Distress embossing powders. We have Tattered Angels misters and stencils that will go beautifully with the Tim Holtz products. The store is really looking great with all the new colours.

Pop-Cuts Update

The Pop-Cuts are finally ready to go. We apologize for the lengthy delay in having these unique new stamps go into full production. Turns out the details that had to be made off site, were much more involved than we had anticipate. The wait is over and they are done, thank goodness. We have been so excited about these stamps and the delay has been a real frustration. Rose-Marie will have them with her at StampFest in Bancroft next weekend. I'm not exactly sure what Rose-Marie will be doing demos with there but be sure to ask about the Pop-Cuts

May Challenge - Continued.

Jacqui's May card creation is first up today. Jacqui made good use of her Cricuit to make this shades of pink card. She stamped the Rosewood Calla Lillies in a a pale pink to make an all over background on her base card. The shaped elements are all Cricuit and the cute little bunnies are popped into the medallion. NOTE: the "m's" on the bottom of Jacqui's card are part of the frog I used to hold the card and are not part of her design. I do like the look though but not for her card.

For my challenge card, green chose me. I intended to make a blue card but somehow green spoke to me for this challenge. The base card is stamped with an old Magenta stamp. (I just can't get past a plain base card. It just looks naked.) I found some old tags, sponged them green inks to create the medallion. The sentiment is Obsession Impression and Distress Stickles Peeled Paint was added to highlight the oval. I distressed the edge of the designer paper with Memories Soft Leaf. I cut the bracket from Tim Holtz Hanging Sign diecut and trimmed it to fit the card then sprayed the brackets with Smooch Vanilla Shimmer.

And now for our May challenge mistress. Lauralee had two cards in mind with the challenge and sent them both for us to see. Since Lauralee has already posted how she made her cards on her blog. I will send you to her blog to get the instructions.



This is the worst photo of Lauralee's butterflies in flight. White is so hard to really photograph well for an amateur photographer such as myself. I intend to try again this afternoon when the sunshine isn't so bright and hopefully I can get a pic that will do her card justice. The instructions for this card are lengthy but not complicated and again I am sending you to Lauralee's blog

These card challenges are so much fun and really do stretch the creative limits. Cassie has chosen June's Challenge which I will share later.

May Challenge Cards

Our May Challenge was given to us by Lauralee, seen here. The twist with this challenge was to create a tone on tone card.

Barb used her Cricuit to cut the flourishes. She used Cuttlebug Flourished Frame to make her central frame. Her sentiment is stamped and embossed on vellum then centered in the frame. A coordinating ribbon added the finishing touch.



I don't own a Cricuit but Barb, Jacqui & Darlene do. Barb used a Cricuit cartridge to create a spectacular envelope to match her card. Who wouldn't want to receive this set in the mail? Maybe I will have to ask for one for Christmas....hint, hint



Donna really outdid herself with Lauralee's May Challenge. She created this incredibly beautiful card using only black cardstock. She used a flourish folder to mimick the design challenge Lauralee gave us to work with. Layered Nestibility label to create a striking design element.



Darlene used gorgeous blues to create her card. All of the sparkle on Darlene's card comes from Cobalt Tapestry Embossing Powder. She used it on the Spiral Frame that is stamped top and bottom and she used it to edge the ovals. Sorry Darlene didn't identify the makers of the stamps she used.



Cassie made the reds sing in her cards. She used Inkadinkadoo Floral Flourishes embossed with Red Sparkle to create her flourish element. She punched layered ovals and added a Tim Holtz diecut bird from his new set Caged Bird. Not a complicated card but very effective


Tomorrow I will add the rest of the challenge cards, including this month swap mistress' work who is such an overachiever. Kidding Lauralee, just kidding.