Card - Digital Christmas 2013 - O Little Town of Bethlehem

I created this card in order to send Christmas greetings to folks I connect with by email or on-line.

I created this art for a project that fell through so I decided to use it for my digital Christmas card this year.  I started with a 5x7 canvas panel.  I embossed white card stock with the Sizzix Swiss Dots folder then ripped it into strips and glued it to the panel horizontally to create illusion of clouds.  I used the buildings I designed a long time ago, printed them on blue card stock and fuzzy cut them.  I cut out the windows and put yellow paper behind.  These were then glued to the panel.  I painted the whole thing with several shades of blue/purple ink.  You will see that the card stock absorbed ink differently than the canvas which created different values of color.  I glued my Bethlehem down over the strips.  I added silver star which I hand cut and the wavy band was cut with the Creative Memories Wavy cutter and glued down as well.  I dry brushed some silver on the roofs of the buildings and a little around the art piece.

Photos - Nativities two

Here's a few more nativities from the exhibit I visited recently.  This one on the left is composite material and wonderfully colored. 

This one is a painting on paper or canvas.  I love the rich colors in this one. 

This one is cast in an ivory material.  It has a roman feel with the columns. 

Photo - Pumpkin Fair - Girls Day Out!

The ladies in my family had a girls day out yesterday.  We visited the Pumpkin Fair in Smoky Lake AB.  The weather was favorable which was good as many activities were outside.  There was a Show & Shine with great cars and trucks, museums with great finds, a huge garage sale, an art show & sale, a Farmer's Market, crafters selling their wares including the start of Christmas shopping, good food & baking, and of course there was the pumpkin weigh off and at 558 pounds this was not the biggest one.  I believe the heaviest was in the range of 757.  We had a great day!

My New/Old Craft Space

I'm finally back in my dining room - craft space.  I had move all the stuff in the place around last August to have renovations done so it's been a year that I have been crafting on the dining table instead of my craft table.
I've been working very steady on this project for at least 2 weeks but it feels like much longer.  I want to be able to get things back to their home quicker so they will since things are handier.  I have my paper cutter on a wood stand which holds my card stock scraps in white magazine holders. Next to that is my card stock storage in a Ikea shelving unit.  Above that is a leaning tower of pizza boxes.  The Cricut in in the far corner on another wood shelving with drawers for storage below.  I'm very happy with the new blinds I bought last year.  The table is my original chrome set I bought years ago.  I have added Ikea storage boxes on the right of the table.  No sure this will stay this way. They hold my regular supplies like tape runner, DS tape, 3D tape, tools like the Cropadile, etc.  Blue garbage bin on the bottom right hand.  The lamp has a natural light compact bulb which is a great addition.

Here's a picture of the shelf that I placed my new drawers onto that I blogged a while ago. I've had the 12x12 storage drawers for designer paper for a long time.  The small drawer unit holds my regular tools, markers, pens & pencils, and pencil crayons.  The blue bins hold hot glue supplies, punches, and less often used tools.  The new drawers hold envelopes, buttons and beads, silk flowers, Christmas card supplies, All Occasion card supplies, punches, and stamps.  There's just enough room above the drawers for the thin stuff like paper cutters, boxes of little stuff, and small ink pads.

Photo - May Long Weekend

I was out taking pictures on the weekend. I've started getting some shots for my 2014 photo calendars for the gift giving season.  I was out in nature a lot and enjoyed the great weather we had, finally for a long weekend in Alberta.  The seagulls were playing with me and my camera, making sweeping flights very close.  Visited some vintage shoppes. The new pine cones with their great color and perfect symmetry.  I couldn't resist the reflection of the bridge in the water and finally the crab apples trees in bloom!  The background is also one of my shots of a lake with blue sky, dry grass, and trees on the island across from me. I hope you had a great weekend too!

Chinese New Year 2013

I went to the Muttart Conservatory after work today to do a bit of R&R. 
It was Chinese New Year in the feature pavilion which was great! 
Here's a few pics of the Chinese elements within the space amongst the greenery.  Top left is a dragon multi person costume hanging in the atrium, an Asian fan on the right, a water serpent and a stone lion. 
It was good to do something else and relax a bit.

Sale a Bration Book Party - Make & Take

I saw this small envelope in the Sale a Bration brochure - check the photo to right.  I could see it was a die but I did not recognize it.  I checked with my SU! demo who asked.  Thanks Susan! It's the Scallop Envelope Bigz but it has been glued differently.  It opens from the end instead of top!!!  I was stoked because I own that die.
We made these little cards as a make and take at work on our lunch hour today.  The dimensions of the small card are 2 1/8 W x 3 1/8 T inches.  The card is Tango Tangerine with Tempting Turquoise DSP.  We added a strip of card stock punched with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border and trimmed it to the width of the card. We used the Too Terrific Tags stamp set in Tempting Turquoise on Whisper white card stock.  We trimmed around the stamp then glued it to a piece of Tango Tangerine which we trimmed again. We added a piece of TT 1/4" gross grain ribbon to the top of tag held in place with a tiny orange brad.  The tag was adhered to the card with 3D foam dimensionals.   The envelope was cut from 24 lb bond paper.  The scallop flap was glued under the other flap then the bottom flap was brought up and adhered. Very happy with this little card.

Calendar - Vintage Photos

I created a photo calendar for my office.  I decided to make one of vintage photos.  I love to visit all types of museums so I had a good collection of photos of old items. I selected vintage planes, cars, buildings, and pioneer items.  I converted my color pictures to sepia tones.  The color scheme of the calendar is also in the same colors.  I printed it on 8.5 x 11 inch natural parchment card stock.


I placed the workshop of Walter Edward Walker who was a master canoe builder and worked in the mid 1940's. The photo was taken at the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough Ontario.   The photo for September is the Gray Ghost - Goodyear FG-1D CORSAIR which visited the Edmonton Aviation Museum in 2010.

Calendars - Tall & Slim Scriptures

I created these calendars from my 4x11 blank calendars.  For the top one I printed selected scriptures onto Designer Paper and glued them down. For the bottom one, I printed the scriptures on card stock and trimmed them.  I rubbed the edges of the rectangles with a black ink pad. 

Calendar - 2013 Scrapbooking Photo Gift

I had many mothers come to me last year at a craft sale asking if I had a blank calendar where they could add the pictures of their kids for each month which would make great gifts for the grandparents. Here's the calendar I designed for this year's gift giving season. Keep reading for many reasons for making a personalized calendar as a gift for someone special - maybe even for yourself.  Check my Calendars page for prices.
Top left pic: Front cover of the calendar closed - the numbers on the front page are not glued down so you can place them as you choose.  Bottom left pic: Back of the calendar closed which includes the information included here and credits for the calender design. Right pic: Calendar open hanging on the wall. 

Scrapbooking Photo Gift Wall Calendar

 (Just add your photos or artwork)

 This calendar can be used to create:

* Scrapbooking Calendar                                    

* Gift Photo Calendar       

* Memories (Family/School Reunion) Calendar  

* Photo or Art Calendar

* Wedding/Anniversary Calendar                        
* Kid’s Art Calendar

* Personalized Unique Gift (Hobbies)  

* Grandparent's Calendar (Grand-kids)

* Memories (Trip/Vacation) Calendar    

* Baby’s First Year

1. Print your photos or prepare your artwork to maximum of 8x8”.
2. Trim your photos or artwork as desired.
3. Adhere your photos or artwork along with any flat embellishments you selected.
4. Brads are not recommended.
5. Calendar is ready to give!

Supplies needed to complete this calendar: Dry adhesive tape runner or mounting squares

Instructions for Scrapbooking:

Once the year has passed the photo/artwork pages can be trimmed and placed in a 8x8 scrapbook album or left at 8.5x8.5” and placed in a 12x12 album.

You will find a score mark near the binding.  Trim the page on this line to make an 8.5x8.5” scrapbook page.

Calendars - Garden and Nature a peek

I've been working on calendars.  I have a set of 4x6" 2013 photo calendars ready.  I've posted them on my calendar page.  I've put the index pages here for a peek.  These make a great gifts.  I'm getting ready for the summer craft season where I hope to connect with those organized early Christmas shoppers.