Friday, April 29, 2016

Created to Create



I’m so excited to show you the new digi Created to Create from Power Poppy!  It just makes me happy!  I completely love how Marcy illustrated it with the beautiful flowers, notebook and the paint palette.   And the sentiment means so much to me!  I so agree with it!  I believe God created me and when I create I feel like I’m honouring Him.  That sense of joy and delight in creating really speaks to me.  

I played with a new medium today!  I bought a small set of Inktense pencils at the art store the other day when I was there with my daughter.  I’ve heard a lot about them and the rich pigment they give, so I thought I’d experiment a little.  Do I ever LOVE them!  Because this is a digi, I printed it out on XPress It Blending cardstock, thinking I would colour with Copics.  But, when I got the Inktense pencils I thought I’d see what would happen.  

Though the paper did warp a little bit, the pencils are so smooth and blend so well that I didn’t have any issues.  You really don’t have to add a whole lot of water to the paper to get a really nice effect, and the depth of the pigment is amazing.  Also, because they are actually INK rather than paint, once it’s dry it’s permanent so you can also add other effects/treatments overtop if you like.  

So...all that to say, I created a simple little frame that can hang above my desk and celebrate why I love to create.  I wanted it to really have that watercolor washy look with lots of vibrant colour.  



I cut the frame a few layers thick and put a backing on to give it some weight, and added some satin ribbon between the layers.  


And here’s what it looks like hung up at my computer at home!  




Here’s the gang playing along today...


Allison Cope
Christine Okken 
(you are here)
Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber
Kathy Jones
Katie Sims

Monday, April 25, 2016

TCP Spring Blog Hop



Well folks, we’ve had lots of fun this week showing off all of the wonderful Sneak Peeks at The Cat’s Pajamas, and today all of the stamps and dies are available and we’ll show off one more round of creations.  You’ve probably come from the fabulous Sandy Allnock’s blog, we’re delighted to have her with us today! 

This also kicks off our next challenge at TCP....Flowers!  We hope you can join us!  



I couldn’t resist creating another card with these Sketchy Flowers!  I wanted to do some loose watercoloring with embossing and also use one of our new word dies.   I embossed the outlines of the petals and stems in white and then washed in some turquoise sky, some green to ground the bottom and then the vibrant orange leaves.  

I also washed in some watercolouring on the paper that I was going to cut the sentiment out of.  On this one I only wanted to use Hello instead of Hello There, so I snipped of the bottom of the paper after it came out of the die.  


A few rhinestones and some washi tape add to that carefree loose feel.  An easy breezy Spring card!





Now to head along the blog hop head on over to our last spot with Alma at the TCP blog, and tell her how awesome this release has been :)

Thanks for joining us for a great week of TCP Fun!  





Strawberry Fields


Oh boy....today you’re in for a treat Power Poppy friends!  (If you’re looking for my The Cat’s Pajamas Sneaky Peek....please scroll down).

Marcy has released not one but TWO fabulous digis today!  Just wait till you see them!  We’re joining the Instant Gardeners at Power Poppy to show them off.



I’m playing with the gorgeous remixed Juicy Strawberries image and it’s amazing!  I love Marcy’s fruit illustrations.  They are some of my favourite stamps EVER.  

I chose to print this digi in a soft green so that it would work for a no-line colouring look.  I’m so happy I did, because I really love how it turned out.  I gave these gorgeous juicy strawberries some zippy colouring with Copics, allowing those berries to shine.  

Marcy illustrated the cutest sentiments for this set.  They are so Marcy, and so perfectly sweet, and one’s you’ll want to have....but as I looked at the design, I just couldn’t figure out how I would add them to the front, so I’ll have to add it inside.  

On the background layer I used some confetti cream paper and smooshed some ink from the ink pad onto the paper (Memento Bamboo Leaves and Summer Sky) and then used my waterbrush quickly to soften it up a bit.  I wanted it to look like the background to a field of strawberries.  



Some piercing and simple blue gingham ribbon finish it off.  




Just take a look!  Isn’t it great?  I love the Squooshy Hug :)  And just wait till you see the second digi today!  It’s amazing, and I’ll be showing it off later this week.  




Here's the Instant Gardeners and the Bloom Brigade playing along, you’ll be so inspired!!  

Jennifer Dove
Broni Holcombe
Cheryl Scrivens
Debbie Olson
Barb Walker

Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Kathy Jones
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker
Dina Kowal 



Sunday, April 24, 2016

Going Postal!

Today is our last fabulous Sneak Peek before the PJ Party tonight , the release of all this good stuff and our Blog Hop tomorrow to celebrate!  

This last peek is with a great new set of dies called Square Stamps.  With this awesome set of dies you can create all sorts of postal themed fun.  



I did a little mixed-media playing with these dies, cardstock, vellum, felt and embossing paste to create this postage themed card.  I cut the inside of the dies with vellum and embossed the sentiment from our Sending You set inside, and added a sweet little felt heart in the center.  I attached that to two strips of cardstock that I had used a Falling Hearts Stencil (Simon Says) and embossing paste.  Then a few lines of felt hearts and a bit of washi tape finish it off.  



All those hearts together are so sweet!  

Here’s a peek at how fun these dies are.  As you can see they all incorporate stitched edges and can be layered together or used separately.  





All you need to do is comment on the Design Team’s Blogs to be entered to win a $10 gift certificate from TCP.  


Tonight is the Pajamas Party at our Facebook Forum...hope you can come by for fun games, and even more new sneak peeks.  


Here’s the Cat Pack with great inspiration ahead!

Brenda Nakandakari
Christine Okken (you are here)
Deborah Anton
Jessica Rone
Nancy Thomas
Wendy McGaffey
and Alma at the TCP Blog!



Saturday, April 23, 2016

Sketchy Flowers

Alright people!  How about a new TCP set that will knock your socks off today?  It’s called Sketchy Flowers and I completely love it!  This set has so many possibilities! My head is filled with different ways you can colour it so I think you’ll see a lot more of this one from me because I’ll be reaching for it a lot.  




Don’t these blossoms just look dreamy?  Today I thought I’d show off a fun way to use it combining straight stamping and prismacolor pencils.  This set combines larger images with outline images and you can combine them or use them separately to your hearts content.




Here’s how I brought this one to life,  I stamped the flower blossoms with a light pink ink (I think this was SU - Pink Pirouette and the leaves with Memento Bamboo Leaves).  Did you know that the top center flower is actually a butterfly image?  I thought it would be a great flower petal too :).  After stamping I came in with my pencils and added veining detail to the petals and then the leaves to give them more life and dimension.



I used one of our other TCP Cut Ups Dies Always, and cut several layers of it in razzleberry and then in white, glued them all together, off-setting the layers so that both the razzleberry and the white would be visable.  What you may be able to catch a hint of is the sparkle.  After colouring I layed a Tim Holtz stencil overtop and spritzed the design with shimmery spray.  I’m never great at photographing sparkle however!  



The XOXO embossed sentiment is from TCP’s Conversation Hearts set.  A few sequins and pearls finish it off.  



Here’s the set....isn't it amazing???!  Like I said....so many possibilities!

Remember, all you have to do to be In It to Win It is to comment on the Cat Pack’s blogs!  Pop on over and see all the great inspiration available to you today!






The Pajama Party is just a couple of days away!  Be sure to put it on your calendar and join us!  


Here’s the Cat Pack providing some gorgeous Sketchy Flowers inspiration!  

Brenda Nakandakari
Christine Okken (you are here)
Deborah Anton
Julie Elak
Nancy Thomas
Wendy McGaffey
Guest Designer Lesley Croghan
and Alma at the TCP Blog!

Friday, April 22, 2016

Sending You



Another day of fabulous fun at The Cat’s Pajamas!  Today we bring you....Sending You.  



Just this year Canada Post has switched our neighbourhood to superbox mail delivery.  It just means I have to walk down the street to get our mail from the superbox.  I kind of miss the mailman walking by the house each day when I’m home, but I also know that if I forget to get the mail, it’s in a locked box too.  So that’s a good thing.   Sometimes I send our youngest down to the box after school to pick up the mail, and he loves to scooter, so this reminds me of him.  SO cute!

I went with a little collage style for this design adding the very cute new Square Stamps dies you’ll see more of tomorrow and also the Small Envie CutUp die with vellum.  A wee bit of embossing paste in the form of arrows to move your eye around the design and some fun stamping with this set bring it to life.  



I added a little felt heart onto the vellum envie so it has a little texture too.  


Here’s a peek at this adorable set and the die (which you’ll see more of in the next couple of days).  I can’t wait to use that little helicopter too!  It’s so cute!  





Remember all you need to do to be in the winning for a $10 TCP Gift card is to comment on the Designers Blogs!  Easy peasy!  



And here’s your invite to the Pajama Party on Monday night!

Enjoy more inspiration with The Cat Pack and friends....

Brenda Nakandakari
Christine Okken (you are here)
Jessica Rone
Julie Elak
Nancy Thomas
Wendy McGaffey
Michele Boyer our Guest Designer
and Alma at the TCP Blog!



Confetti Cake



It’s a two post day friends!  If you’d like to see my TCP Sneaky Peek please scroll down. 



Friday is here!  I’m bringing you some celebratory Friday fun with Power Poppy’s new little digi called Layer Cake.   Isn’t it just delightful?  All those scrumptious layers in a row!  I was perusing through layer cakes on Pinterest and found a FUN one....a confetti cake with blue/green icing.  I thought it would be fun to recreate it in non-calorie form, and maybe someday I’ll try the actual recipe too. 

I added some confetti colours in the cake “batter” to give it that fun-fetti look and then some simple colouring with the rest of the Copics.  Cut into banners with designer paper to match it was pretty simple and straightforward.  


On the card base I added some embossing paste in little dotted patterns to mimic the confetti feel and then simple enamel dots/rhinestones.  




Don’t forget that you can still join in on our 3 Marker Challenge at Power Poppy, there’s still 8 days left in the challenge and there’s been some great entries so far.  How about you join them and have a chance to win some new Power Poppy of your own?

Here’s our little pair of the Bloom Brigade playing along today...

Christine Okken
Julie Koerber



Thursday, April 21, 2016

Hello There...

We’re back for another fabulous day of The Cat’s Pajamas new release Sneaky Peeks!  Alma has some amazing dies coming out this week that I’m quite taken with.  This fabulous little font lovers die is called Hello There.  



Today I paired this wonderful die with another set that you’ll see peeked later this week (I’m just warning you ahead of time....it’s AH-MAY-ZING!), so today is an extra sneaky sneak peek of it in the watercoloured background.  I thought the flowers and the die really paired well together.  I added a wash of water to the watercolour paper, allowed it to soak in a little then stamped the background and used a waterbrush to spread out and soften the colour a little.  

I used the die about 3 or 4 times on watercolour paper that I had added a nice colour wash to, and then layers of cardstock so I could stack it up and have some height for the sentiment.  It’s such a pretty cheerful font :).  

The background is also ink splattered after I watercoloured it, I love the dreamy effect.  



To finish off the design I added some clear sequins and silver cording.  It’s really clean and simple...yet that washy background really gives it such life!  

Here’s a peek at the gorgeous die...



Now don’t forget that there’s an EASY way to win TCP goodies this week!  All you have to do is comment on the designers’ blogs and you’re In It To Win It!  Each day Alma will be giving away a $10 gift certificate to the TCP store, and she’ll announce the winners on the TCP Blog.  






And this is your official invitation to our Pajama Party on Monday April 25... join us in our Facebook Forum for the fun!  

Here’s the Cat Pack showing off this super fabulous die today!

Brenda Nakandakari
Christine Okken (you are here)
Jessica Rone
Julie Elak
Nancy Thomas
Wendy McGaffey
Guest Designer Lesley Croghan 
and Alma at the TCP Blog!



Monday, April 18, 2016

My Hero!



We’ve arrived at our Sneaky Peek Week at The Cat’s Pajamas!  It’s a week full of fun where we showcase all that’s new at TCP!  I’m so excited to show you all the goodies this week.  I think it is one of Alma’s BEST releases EVER!!

Today we kick it all off with My Hero!


Just when you thought the most interesting bunny in the world couldn’t get any cuter, we bring him to you as his superhero alter-ego!  GAH!  Is he not the epitome of SUPER?  He was fun to colour up with Copics to look a little like my favourite Marvel superhero Captain America.  Then I paired him with the awesome dies that are also coming out this week at TCP.  It’s a comic book themed extravaganza.  




Because of how fun and colourful the dies were done, all I needed to complete the card were a few red sequins.  POW!  



I just love him.  


Pop on by and see the other Kitty Cats showing off My Hero today...as well as our Guest Stampers this month!

Brenda Nakandakari
Christine Okken (you are here)
Deborah Anton
Jessica Rone
Nancy Thomas
Wendy McGaffey
Guest Designer Michele Boyer 
Guest Designer Lesley Croghan
and Alma at the TCP Blog!

And last but not least....are you In It to Win It?  Comment on The Cat Pack’s blogs each day and you’re entered to win a TCP Gift Voucher!





Saturday, April 16, 2016

The Gratitude Project - Week 15


\ˈgra-tÉ™-ËŒtĂ¼d, -ËŒtyĂ¼d\

The quality of being thankful:  readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness. 


On Saturday I had the privilege to speak at a seminar to a group of people who serve as caregivers in something called Stephen Ministries, (as well as some other helping professionals).  Stephen Ministries is a really outstanding group of individuals who are extensively trained to come alongside of others in a helping relationship during times of need or crisis, or for instance, grief or difficult life circumstances.  Today we had the chance to do some additional training for them and talk about a number of topics with them, which was really life giving for me.  



I was able to present my part of the seminar along with this gentleman at the front of my picture.  What’s even more special is that he was one of my first mentors in college, where he was a professor and dean of students at the time.  He was the first person who suggested to me that I consider taking my Masters Degree in Counselling, which I eventually did.  He’s had a great influence on my life and I’m so very grateful.  Now he’s a Psychologist in private practise, and is very gifted at what he does.  It was so fun after all this time to actually be able to present some training together.  What a privilege!  

What’s also fun is that he was the person that inspired this gratitude project in the first place!

Enjoy your Sunday friends!