My baby….

08 Wednesday Aug 2012

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5 years ago today I woke up very early in the morning and thought, “I think I’m in labour.”

5 hours later, my baby girl was here.

She came with a head of black hair when I was expecting blond, and in a flurry of activity since she needed a forceps delivery. And because she came so fast and scared the life out of her father, he gave in and let me have the name I wanted, both first and last! 🙂

Molly Nora was a week early and a little 6lb 13oz bundle that changed our lives. She was perfect.

And though her stubborn streak can be very trying, she still is perfect.

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY, baby girl!

We love you, my baby, all the way to “planet Earth” and back, to “finian” and beyond, forever and ever.

S.

 

Index Card A Day – #50 & #51

07 Tuesday Aug 2012

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#50 – Make a beautiful mess

I recently got some black gesso and decided to use it on an index card. It didn’t turn out as planned! So I took some old paper towel and adhered it with gel medium. Because of the black base, it turned out pretty dark which is why I added Golden Light Molding Paste over the Peony stencil to cover the majority of the card – it lightened it up quite a bit, thank goodness!

I heat set the molding paste, since I like the look when it puffs up, then added the sentiment from some Cosmo Cricket word stickers.

After a bad start, I really like how it turned out! And the detail from the stencil is awesome!

Here’s a bonus for you today – M did one last index card!

Of course, she had to use the “sparkly pots” aka my Twinkling H2O’s and she covered the whole card in gold. She then painted little wood veneer people and when the card was dry, stuck them on. She’s pretty minimalist, so she said that was it!

I love the colours she used!

#51 – Be true…

This is one of my recent faves – I love the bright colours!

I first added molding paste over another new stencil, Zinnia, and then misted with my Dylusions Ink Sprays. I added a couple of stamps but it was still just not quite right.  Then I saw the mask left over from card #48 and since it was covered in a different colour mist, I added it to the mix.

Love how it turned out! I little bit of colouring and some more Cosmo Cricket word stickers and it was done!

That’s all I have ready to show you, but there will be a few more in the next little while – I just need to get the time to complete them! 🙂

S.

G in Salmon Cove

03 Friday Aug 2012

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A few weekends ago my oldest friend and I took our kiddies to the beach. Of course, it rained the whole time so there was no beach and water play, but we managed to have fun and get in one stroll along the sand.

When I went to make the project for the latest Yearlong Class at The Paperie, I knew I had to use a picture of G from the walk.

Instead of a regular LO this past month (we’re a little ahead of the game!) I decided to do a shadowbox project instead. It’s super simple, so easy to replicate for gifts and it looks great!

The large opening is 4×6 and the smaller ones are not quite 2×2. The size and depth of the openings are perfect for things like a vial of sand, which I have (but need to fill the next time we go!), or baby bands from the hospital for a birth present. Loads of options, and these trays come in black or white.

We jazzed up the white ones a little with some tissue tape around the full exterior and the interior of each opening.

I love how it turned out, and the ones from class were amazing! Just changing up the tissue tape made a huge difference to the final look.

I’m hoping to get my hands on a couple more – I’m thinking Christmas gifts already!

S.

Things on Thursday…

02 Thursday Aug 2012

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1. How cute is this little mini album? Love October Afternoon, love minis, and I love the idea of the pockets in this one!

2. How’s this for a fun idea? Now sure I can go that deep into it – a canvas a week is pushing it for me, but I’m sure going to play along a little bit!

3.I really like these art journal pages by Ronda Palazzari and the technique with the embossing plates is going to be tried around here very soon!

4. The technique Jennifer uses for the sun in this card? Genius. And easy. She’s such a smarty pants! 🙂 She does the same thing for waves, love it!

5. And totally off the crafty list, the Olympics! Anyone else loving them as much as me? The male gymnasts? No better athletes in the world, there can’t be… I love these couple of weeks every 4 years and this year, I have an almost 5 year old loving the gymnastics part right along with me! 🙂

S.

Yesterday…

02 Thursday Aug 2012

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…I ate myself silly!

First, we went bathroom shopping which is a long story I won’t get into now, but at the building supply store we got lollipops to start our day!

Then, it was the 194th Royal St. John’s Regatta, the oldest sporting event in North America held in the oldest city in North America!

And all of that means vendors and food – lots of food! I had the best Indian, from the Hindu Temple, and helped myself to blue and pink cotton candy, which I pilfered from my children!

And I also stole some of M’s snowcone!

After all that, some icy cold lemonade, and some bouncy castle/sliding fun, we came home to get ready for a double birthday party!

Next week my baby girl turns 5 (seriously people, how did that happen? I know many of you remember the huge belly I had only yesterday!) and on the same day, D has his birthday too – I think making him a dad on his birthday releases me from any further birthday gifts, wouldn’t you agree? 🙂

So, knowing the weather would be good – the Regatta only goes ahead if the weather is fine – we planned a party.

And all of that means more food!

Hamburgers and hotdogs, potato salad from ym mother-in-law, fresh and smoked salmon pate from my mom, flourless chocolate cake for M’s cake…

See that 5? It’s a sparkler and she loved it!

…and pavlova with whipped cream and strawberries for D’s cake.

M loved her Strawberry Shortcake cake, which I started at 10pm the night before! Big Thanks to Tricia for making the strawberries, letters, and green trim, while I raced through the rest – fighting fondant that wanted to crack and trying to build a fence, plus adding tons of tiny little flowers!

We had presents – she got a Legos, her favourite thing, and lots of tiny Strawberry Shortcake pieces, among other great gifts.

As an aside, I love that Lego now has a Friends line for girls! M loves Lego anyway, but these little dolls are awesome! And see those two girls? The blond one is my god-daughter and the middle one is her sister, one of my flower girls. Sigh. She’s much taller now than she was then…

Anyway, to round out my day I watched the Olympics… while I ate an ice cream sandwich! 🙂

S.

Index Card A Day – #48 & #49

31 Tuesday Jul 2012

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I did these two cards at a crafty night out with some friends. I had new stamps (Dylusions, of course!) and wanted to play!

#48 – upside down

I am not a fan of this card. You know how you have an idea in your head and it just doesn’t work out? Yeah. That’s this card.

First I stamped the body image and masked it. Then I misted with water, then Dylusions, then water again to blend. I went a little overboard with the liquid and had a far amount of seepage under the mask, though that didn’t bother me – I kind  of liked it anyway!

I then stamped the head image, but didn’t like it so I stamped it again and cut it out, colouring before adhering to the card. I stamped and cut out the sentiment and then added it.

If I had my time back I would have left the head out all together and put the body upside down…

Oh, well, it’s only one card out of 61, right? 🙂

#49 – adventures

Now this card was the opposite of the first – it turned out better than expected!

Again I misted and sprayed the background over a stamped body image but then I misted Studio Calico Shine over a stencil to give a little pop to the background.

I stamped and coloured the boots and wings over a gessoed card, which helped me blend and lighten the marker colours. I cut and added them to the card and then thought the sentiment was perfect for the winged boots.

Lots of shine and there’s some good dimension with the wings too (though I didn’t get a good picture of that) – they’re only adhered by the boots so they fly off the card.

I’m still hoping to get vacation pictures up today or tomorrow so keep an eye out for those! And, this is hard to believe, there are only a dozen more index cards left to do – today is actually the official final day but vacation put me behind a bit. Are you sick of them yet? 🙂

S.

Index Card A Day – #46 & #47

30 Monday Jul 2012

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(note: I totally forgot to set this to post yesterday morning – sorry!)

#46 – mandala

If you follow me on Twitter, you already know that this card did not want to be made – it blew into the pool and got soaked twice! Thank goodness for permanent ink!

The ink in the background (Hero Arts Shadow and Mid-tone Inks) did bleed a little but the stamped pattern is still perfectly intact.

I drew the mandala with my black Zig pen from Kuretake and added a few tiny highlights with my white Uniball.

There’s nothing else because, frankly, after drying it out a second time I was simply ready to be done with it! 🙂

#47 – I was cleansed forgiven….

This one was just fun to do. I used my Twinkling H2O’s and randomly painted, adding extra colour here and there, then added in some stencils and punchinella.

I finished by stamping the sentiment on a pre-made background of a contrasting colour, then cut it out and added it.

As always, I love the shine – it makes me happy!

Hoping to be back tomorrow with another couple of cards or maybe vacation photos – I haven’t forgotten about that!

S.

Index Card A Day – #44 & #45

28 Saturday Jul 2012

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Two more index cards for you today and they’re very different from each other!

#44 – one day at a time

I made this one while I was away with very limited supplies. I used a second generation type of inking to get the lighter swirl and text images. Then I used regular inking to stamp the sentiment and butterflies. I coloured them with my Koh-i-noor pencils and smudged with my fingers to blend and give them the halo. Simple, basic….

#45 – celebrating…

This card is special – it was our wedding anniversary and so I made a card to celebrate that – even though I was on vacation away from D!

I used my Twinkling H2O’s, of course, to make the shimmery stripes and paint the wood veneer people, then stamped the sentiment in Jet Black Archival Ink.

The fun part of this is that the sentiment is actually pieces of three different stamps all jumbled together. I simply cut them apart and stamped the bits as I wanted. Have I mentioned before how much I love Ali Edwards and Technique Tuesday?

Oh, right, only a few thousand times! 🙂

I’m pretty sure I’ve also mentioned my love for Twinkling H2O’s…..

See you all next week for more ICAD’s and a vacation recap in pictures!

S.

 

Things on Thursday – CHA-S edition

26 Thursday Jul 2012

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First, a little note: I know I’ve been posting a little less here – summer is busy! If you want to see more, I post pics and life bits on Twitter and Instagram (I’m saracees), follow me there! That’s also where you’ll find sneak peeks of upcoming classes! 😉

So CHA-S (Craft and Hobby Association, Summer 2012) is over and the companies in the crafting industry released their new product, focusing mostly on Halloween and Christmas. Here are some my faves of the new goodies!

1. Dyan Reaveley – Dylusions for Ranger

You know I love Ranger and you know I love the Dylusions line. The new Christmas stuff coming out is no exception. Top of my list is this sentiment stamp set – hilarious!

2. Tim Holtz – Ranger

Finally! Rock Candy Distress Stickles in a big jar with a brush! YAY!!!!

3. Studio Calico

A new collection for SC is Yearbook. And they have polaroid frames. These will be mine!

4. Dyan Reaveley – Dylusions for Ranger

OK, so I know I said the sentiments were top of my list but this is fighting for first place too! 🙂

5. The Crafter’s Workshop

I can’t narrow these down. With new designs from Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, Dina Wakeley, Karen Ellis, and Jaime Echt, there are more stencils than I could hope for. And I want them all! The Bug Doily makes me laugh, and I need the Whimsical Vines, and the Spilled Hearts are awesome!

 

Trust me, these aren’t the only things on my want/need list – but it’s a good start!

Leave a comment letting me know what you love and need from the new releases, I have no problem adding to my list! 🙂

S.

Index Card A Day – #42 & #43

25 Wednesday Jul 2012

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I’m very behind on posting my index cards and am very, very behind on the number of cards I should have – vacation pushed me back and I have a class this weekend to prep for so it will be a bit before I can catch up. I do have a couple of posts for you this week of the ones that are completed.

The two I’m showing you today were made the night before I left on vacation at a crafty night with Tina and Marg. Technically, since my flight was 6am, I should have been in bed, not making index cards! 🙂

#42 – Being happy…

This one has a lot going on. I first rubbed purple ink through a floral stencil and didn’t like how it looked – flowers and purple are not really me! Then I used molding paste through the Zinnia stencil and once it dried, misted and inked through some punchinella stencils, a nice little gift from my friend Marg!

I stamped the sentiment on another pre-made background – that seems to be my favourite thing to do lately – and cut it out before adhering to the card.

I love the mix of colours and texture, even the hints of purple flowers that show through!

#43 – let’s go for a ride

This is a flat one but with enough other interesting things going on that I felt leaving off the dimension was ok – strange for me!

I used my blending tool to cover the background with Distress Ink and then I flicked it with water to get the lighter spots. I used Metallic Paint Dabbers and ink with the punchinella templates, then stamped the bike, sentiment, and leaves with Archival Ink. I used a water brush on the interior of the leaves to lighten the colour and added accents with my Sakura Stardust pen.

I love the little bit of shine the pen and the metallic paint gives the card!

See you tomorrow for some more cards and maybe a sneak peek of this weekend’s Yearlong Album class!

S.