Mosaic Monday - ABC

I've been working on my inventory of Alphabet Photos.  It's taken 4 years to get at least one image for each letter.  I have several options for about half the letters.  It's a lot of paying attention to my surroundings and putting on my letter seeing glasses to see them from a different perspective.

I've created a collage of the first 3 letters and the last 3 letters of the alphabet.

Submitting to Mosaic Monday hosted by Judith at Lavender Cottage.

Gift Card Holders - Felt Gifts

I had a good sale on Saturday so it's time to replenish some of my inventory.  I made more gift card holders in a different design this time.














It's still a tri-fold design but this time it features a felt gift on the front.  I selected coordinating 12x12 double sided card stock cut to 5.5" tall.  I used a narrow gold ribbon pulled through 2 holes in the bow to tie it onto the card. The bow repeats the bow on the felt accent.  The card is held closed with a gold metallic paper clip.

The inside features a quarter sheet insert for the giver's sentiments and a small envelope to hold the gift card, coupon or cash.

Gift Card Holders - Trifold

I made some Gift Card Holders for my sale tomorrow.  It's based on the design of this one.  It's a tri-fold made with 5.x5 x12 inch double sided card stock.  They are held closed with ribbon.  They have an envelope to hold the card or coupons or cash.

100th HB Card

One of my friends has an aunt turning 100 near the end of September.  She asked for a special card for this lady.

I started with applying foil to coaster to make chipboard numbers.  Once cut with the Stampin’ Up! Typeset Alphabet Bigz Dies I chalked the edges with a similar color to the card.  I selected a lavender card. I color printed the sentiment onto white card stock then trimmed it down to leave a large border.  I embossed the top of the layer with the Craft Concepts Whisper folder.  It was adhered to the card front then the 100 was added. 

Wow that is a great accomplishment!  I hope she has a great day!

Joy to the World

I started with the chalkboard JOY which was cut from a card with the A2 Matting Nestabilities.  I then cut the red envelope with the next size up rectangle.  I then created the banner and color printed it on white card stock.  Cut the banner ends with the Stampin Up Triple Banner Punch.  Adhered it below the large greeting.  I then printed some red music background onto white card stock and trimmed it to leave a small border.  Once adhered to the front of a black card the greeting layer was adhered as well.

Gentle Peace - Holy Family Vellum

I'm always working on Christmas Cards.  This one is a simple one.

I selected the Stampin Up Gentle Peace set.  I stamped the Holy Family with Versamark ink on vellum and then heat embossed it with gold powder.   I trimmed it close to the border with scissors.  I chose a multicolored designer paper from Karen Foster - Shades of Morning and trimmed it leaving a small border.  I chose a deep purple card but several colors of card would have been possible.  I adhered the designer paper background to the card front then adhered the vellum layer with 3 gold brads.  One star brad at the top and 2 tiny rounds in each of the bottom corners.


Submitting to following challenge.
Sparkles Christmas Card Challenges - Anything Goes.

Mosaic Monday - Happy Feet

I went to the Calgary Zoo on the long weekend.  While I was there I check out the new exhibit of penguins.  I captured 3 species of penguins: Rock Hopper, Humbolt Penguin and King Penguin.  They have a great exhibit where you can see them swimming under water.  I had recently seen Happy Feet so these characters were familiar. It was great and the kids liked it. 

Submitting to Mosaic Monday hosted by Judith at Lavendar Cottage.

25th Wedding Anniversary Card

Here's the card I made for the happy couple celebrating their 25th Wedding Anniversary.

I started with a grey card which supports the silver theme.  I then embossed a white layer with the Cuttlebug DeVine Swirl folder.  Trimmed the piece to leave a small border.  I added a greeting that I used in this class.  It was adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape.  I punched the 2 hearts from silver foil adhesive with the Stampin Up Sweetheart punch.  The numbers 25 was cut with the GoGoBoots sizzlet set.  These were adhered to the card front above the sentiment.

25th Anniversary Wishing Well

I was asked to make a pretty box for a surprise 25th Wedding Anniversary celebration taking place soon. It's designed to hold monetary donations for the blessed couple.

I chose a box which I planned to cover and decorate.  I thought it needed some weight so I created a false bottom into which I added some heavy material.  The false bottom was hot glued into the bottom of the box.  I then wrapped the box with silver gift wrap.  First the bottom then the top.  Where the papers joined I added 2 lengths of brown silver edged ribbon held in place with double sided tape.  I created a large bow with silver ribbon and adhered that to the front of the box.  It is held in place with Zots.  To the hole in the top I added some silver tape to make the edges smooth.  I added a die cut Stampin Up Top Note in Chocolate Chip card stock.  I cut out the shape of the hole with an E-xacto knife then adhered the die cut onto the top of the box.  I added 2 SU Sweetheart punchies from the adhesive tape on both corners.  I will be placing it on a glass platter with a white paper doily to set off the box.  I'm happy with the way it turned out.

Exchange Cards

I made these cards for my card exchange. 

I chose the greeting then found designer paper which coordinated, then card stock that worked with it. I trimmed the designer paper to leave a small border of card color and adhered it in place. I added an embossed strip of vellum across the bottom third of the card. I punched the greeting with the Stampin Up Decorative Label.  I punched a coordinating aqua label and cut it in half crosswise. I adhered them to the back of the greeting offset to the left and right.  I mounted the greeting layer with 3D foam tape.

For the 2nd card, I chose a deep pink card which matched the designer paper. I offset the paper down from the top and up from the bottom.  It was trimmed leaving a small space between the 2 designer paper pieces.  I put a piece of white of seam binding in this bright space.  It was knotted and the ends were trimmed.  I added a color printed greeting.  I added a blue SU decorative label offset like the first one.  Mounted to the card front with 3D foam tape.  They are off to 2 partners in the exchange.

HB Trifold

I made another tri-fold card for a niece who is having a birthday this week.

I chose a deep warm green card.  I scored at 4.25 inches and then flipped it over then just over 3.5 so the center panel is just shy of the front.  Stampin Up Window Frame in the same as card with a square of pink to hilight the flowers.  I printed the SU greeting from Elementary Elegance printed in Regal Rose on Very Vanilla card stock.  Punched with the 1.75" circle punch.  I added a pink ribbon to keep the card closed.

I tucked a bit of something for her to contribute to her thrifty shopping.

Gift Card Holder - DSP 12 inches

I'm working on tri-fold Gift Card Holders.  I started with 12 x 5.5 inch piece of double sided card stock.  I scored at 4.25" then flipped it and scored just shy of 3.5".  This allows the front to be just a bit wider than the second panel.  I chose a pretty paper and added a square of teal, a Stampin Up Window Frame diecut in purple and a greeting from Stampin Up Just Thinking set.  I chose a ribbon that pulled another color from the paper and added the ribbon to match.  The ribbon holds the card closed.  I placed a quarter sheet insert on the center panel for the personal message.  I then added a white envelope on the last smaller panel to hold the gift card.  The variations of this card is limitless!!

Stone Orb

Here's a close up photo of one of the elements from the Zimsculpt show I visited recently.  I am amazed how the sculptors can make such exquisite shapes.  It was smooth and shiny and perfect.  The stone was a different color than the rest of the sculpture and it rested in a pod like structure.  I decided to get as close as possible to just get the wonderful orb. 

Check out the other photo to see the overall image.

These sculptures were wonderful and there were a lot of them.  I believe they were all for sale.  The gift shop had many more.  I would recommend the exhibit if you live in the Edmonton area. 

I'm submitting to:
Macro Monday 2

I Heart Macro

Christmas Card Challenge - Sept - Skate Diecut Banner

Here's my card for this month's Christmas Card challenge.  I challenge myself to make cards all year long so that I will have the ones I need by December 1st.  How is your card making going?  I hope you are on track.  I think I'm a little behind.

The focus of the challenge is to include with skates, die cut and a banner.  I cut the Tim Holtz Bigz Die - Ice Skates from some warm blue card stock.  I cut the skate blade again from blue metallic card stock and trimmed it and adhered over the card stock skate. I laced it with some heavy crochet cotton and finished it with a bow at the top. I added a white snowflake punch to the ankle area. I chose a deep warm blue card.  I embossed a white layer with the large Cuttlebug Snowflake embossing folder.  I added a banner greeting which was stamped with Stampin Up sentiment from the Home for Christmas set with Marina Mist on the same card stock as the skate.  I trimmed it close and use the Triple Banner punch to flag both ends and mounted it onto a piece of dark warm blue card stock.

Mosaic Monday - Zimsculpt Exhibit

This exhibit is on display at our local conservatory.  Zimsculpt is a set of Zimbabwean sculptures.  There were so many wonderful images.  I especially liked the birds.  Isn't the elephant terrific?  The sculptures where we see the 2 different textures are really great.  I spent 2 hours of time in a different space. 

Sharing with Judith at Lavender Cottage - Mosaic Monday.

2016 Ready2Fill Calendar - Soft Serenity DSP

Here's another DIY calendar for someone to create photo calendars from their favorite images.  This one features Soft Serenity Designer Paper cut to 5.5x7.5 inches. It's nice and soft colors. The photo on the left is the front page. I've placed a bit of information in the frame. The inner frame makes it easy to line up your 4x6 photo when adhering your photo. If you are giving the calendar you can select a special photo for the front page and cover the text just leaving the 2016 on the bottom of the page.

The photo on the right are the 4 other colors in the designer series which provides a coordinated look to the overall calendar.  The pages are 8.5x11 inches and are held together with a Zutter metal OWire binding.  I've placed a hole in the top centre to hang it.

2016 Ready2Fill Calendar - Black & White

I worked on a DIY calendar for someone to create photo calendars from their favorite images.  I decided to keep the color scheme neutral and went with black and white.  The photo on the left is the front page. I've placed a bit of information in the frame. The inner frame makes it easy to line up your 4x6 photo when adhering your photo. If you are giving the calendar you can select a special photo for the front page and cover the text just leaving the 2016 on the bottom of the page.

The photo on the right are the 4 other B&W textures I found on free clipart and patterns websites. I chose 2 bold images and 2 line drawing images to provide some interest to the overall calendar.  The pages are 8.5x11 inches and are held together with a Zutter metal OWire binding.  I've placed a hole in the top centre to hang it.

Macro - Sunflower

I took more photos at the Community Garden today.  Things are winding down, vegetables are ready to be picked, pumpkins were orange, peppers were red and leaves and stocks whithered.
Sunflowers are my favorites and there were several.

Submitting to the following sites:
Macro Monday 2 
I Heart Macro

Mosaic Monday - Water & Sculpture

I was feeling like a change of pace this week so I chose not organic subject matter.  The large metal sculpture on the left is at the new structure at the entrance of our zoo.  The top centre is the corner of the wading pools at the Legislative Buildings.  The top right is of the large fountain at the LEG and this is of where the water coming down meets the pool and creates this netherland place.  The bottom right is of a fountain just down from my place which has leaves on it's basin and I caught the drops leaving the edge.  The bottom centre is of a in ground water feature near the LEG which is new this year.  It creates a splash park effect as a series of these water spouts start slowly and increase in height to about 5-6 feet tall.  Each circle has LED lights which are likely lit up at night.  Very Cool!

Submitting to Mosaic Monday host by Judith at Lavender Cottage.

All Occasion Cards Boxed

I made a set of All Occasion cards as a donation for an event being held in September.  It will be used for a prize for a golf tournament.  I used One Sheet Wonder 1 and One Sheet Wonder 2 layouts with 2 different colors to create 12 different cards.

I used a black and white double sided card stock by My Mind`s Eye called Lush Black Floral.  This paper as floral on one side and polka dots on the other. I was able to combine it with almost any color.  I cut the neutral strips from a warm white card stock to .5 inch width. They were adhered over the edge of the DSP in the center of the card. Because the white is a white warm I chose jewel toned card stock in cherry and plum. The flower accent is created with the Stampin Up Blossom Party original die.  I cut the center with a warm white circle.  I chose black for the large flower and the same color as the card for the slimmer one.
I packaged them in my standard 6x6 clear box for a nice presentation.