Squeaking in an April post...

Where did April go? I haven't posted since the beginning of March and now it's nearly May.

I'm posting the Easter cards I sent to my niece and nephew back in Ireland.

This was for Jade:


And this one for her brother, Jamie:


As per usual, I've used my Copics to colour the images. I've used some unknown DSP for the background (and some of it was verrrrrrrrrry old), but have also used some retired SU DSP (the red polka-dotted paper). The swirly sentiment stamp is from SU (Well Scripted).

The little girl image is from Sugar Nellie, the jester is from Whiff of Joy.

So again, I *have* been creating, I just haven't been sharing (and I wonder where my 2-year old gets it from, LOL!)

Willow with Umbrella

Well, I'm hoping that by playing with an image showing rain, I can keep the snow away for yet another week. Probably wishful thinking, but what have I got to lose? Last week showed a forecast of snow all week long, but the latest forecast shows we're good until Friday...fingers crossed...



I've used a retired DSP sample pad from SU for the patterned red background - I think SU would make a killing if they'd offer these sample pads as a purchase as opposed to just a hostess benefit.

The image is from Whiff of Joy and is called Willow with Umbrella. The highly talented artist behind her is Elisabeth Bell - she has designed for a number of different stamp companies and her quality never wavers.

The ribbon came from a huge box of assorted ribbon I bought from Costco quite some time ago (I'm still determined to start using some of the supplies I've collected and that are piling up beneath my desk).

So, Mother Nature, if you can hear me, I'd be fine for snow on Christmas Day, but I really won't be disappointed if we have to go the full winter without...

Birthday Cards...

I'm on a bit of a birthday card "phase" at the moment.

After a string of early Saturday morning realizations that I needed a card for a birthday party that afternoon, I made a resolution: I'm making a bucket-load of kids birthday cards and will not be caught short again for a long time.

My last resolutions were to get a craft room up and running (check), start a blog (check), and spend more time creating (check). Now I need to actually take the pictures, upload them (and fix them in PSE...I suppose if I did this more often it would be a cakewalk) and post them. This has always been my downfall - just ask my Aunt Linda who is still waiting for me to send her copies of my wedding pictures (we will celebrate our 14-year anniversary in two weeks!).

So, without further ado, here are a couple of my latest birthday cards:

Can you tell that I love circles? Riveting and Circle of Friendship (both Stampin' Up) are two of my favourite sentiment sets. I love that I can use my circle punches to quickly add a sentiment to a card. I've used bigger circle punches to make the turquoise ring. Here, I've used one of The Greeting Farm's Miss Anya stamps, coloured in with Copic markers and "blinged" with Stickles. The image is cutout and embossed (as is the mat) using the Nestabilities Long Rectangles dies. The DP is from an old DCWV stack cut into strips and sponged around the edges for added depth. The last embellishment are my Dew Drops. Voila...very easy, but one of my faves (and it could do for an older "girl" in a pinch, LOL!

This one is for the boys... I've used the image King's Jester Charlie from Whiff of Joy stamps. He is coloured in (again) using Copic markers and cut out and matted with the circle and scalloped circle Nestabilities. The small circles have also been cut out using the same sets of nested dies. I love having such a versatile tool that takes up such little space! Again, the DSP is from an old DCWV (another resolution I made was to start using up some of my cartloads full of DSP. Once the wheels start breaking off, you *know* there's too much paper stored inside!) and the cardstock is all from Stampin' Up. The juggling balls are "shined up" using Stampin' Up's Crystal Effects.

That's all for today...don't want to overdo it ;)