Meadow Flowers with Crafty Meraki

 

Just a couple of weeks ago we were in Victoria, BC on Vancouver Island.  One of my favourite places to travel, especially in the Spring.  They are at least 6 weeks ahead of us in growing season, with their temperate climate.  It was gorgeous seeing all of the flowers blossoming!  Cherry trees, Magnolias, Daffodils, Tulips, Camellias....I could go on and on.  It put me in a very happy place!  Inspired by all of that beauty, today I’ve brought a very vibrant Spring palette with the new Meadow Muse Suite of products from  Crafty Meraki!  For this design I used the Press-Tacular Plates  the coordinating Layering Stencil set, and the coordinating die set.  

After I pressed the design into cardstock and stencilled, I die cut the image, I also pressed a few extra blossoms to be able to pop some up for dimension.  I added a bit of colour with my coloured pencils for definition, and then placed it on a clear cardstock base.  

The sentiment is from the Meadow Muse Stamp Set, and I accented with a few sprigs of die cut Olive Leaf Para-Dies.  

Appreciate you stopping by!  

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Meadow Flowers with Crafty Meraki

Sketches of Spring Bouquet with Power Poppy

I am so excited about Spring flowers this year.  We are a few weeks away from that ....but I can’t wait to see things pop up in the flower garden this year.  Being so in the mood for flowers, I pulled out this beautiful floral arrangement from Power Poppy called Sketches of Spring Vol. 1.  It is a dreamy combination of different daffodils, fritillaria, and a viridiflora tulip, with its varigated colours.  

Colouring is primarily with Copics, with a few smoothing details with coloured pencils.  The beautiful frame is from Pink Fresh Studios called Essentials:  Rounded & Braided Rectangle die, with a little out of the box cutting to make that tulip leap from the page.  

I love that daffodils are such a welcome sign of Spring!  

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Sketches of Spring Bouquet with Power Poppy

The Red Plane with RAM Stamps

 

I have distinct and nostalgic memories of being a little girl, laying on the grass in my backyard, or even at the school playground and looking at the sky and clouds.  Often I’d hear the buzz of a airplane, and see a red prop plane fly over.  For some reason, its a lasting childhood memory that makes me feel sweetly safe.  I’ve come to learn that it is a surveying plane, taking daily runs over our city to monitor the oil pipelines making sure everything is running properly.  

So its with a sweet nod to that childhood memory that I took this adorable little image from Rachelle Anne Miller called Little Pilot and coloured it up with Copics and coloured pencils.  It definitely has a very Canadian feel in the layout too!  

I used a cloud background die to add some texture, as well as some die cut and wood veneer stars to tie the themes together.  The white rivets are added with a white Sharpie pen.  The sentiment is from Concord & 9th and is layered on vellum.  

Created for one of our favourite 3-year old’s birthday!  

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The Red Plane with RAM Stamps

Periwinkle Petals Birthday

 

Hello!  Have you ever pulled out a stamped image and you’re really not sure where it came from?  I have a pile of images I’ve printed or stamped and just never gotten to.  This gorgeous floral is illustrated by Marcella Hawley - that I know for sure.  Her style is unmistakable, I just can’t find if it was from Power Poppy back in the day....or even for Flourishes even farther back in the day.  Regardless, its a beauty - and needed to finally make an appearance on a card.  

The colouring is done with Copics, and finished off with coloured pencils.  I can’t remember the last time I used lace ribbon, but the cream of the cardstock and the pretty petals just lent itself to a old fashioned feel.  To liven it up I also added a strip of periwinkle glitter paper to accent.  The background embossing folder is one from Spellbinders.  Which gives it nice texture.  

The birthday sentiment is stamped from another Power Poppy image, Party Time, at least that I know :) 

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Periwinkle Petals Birthday

Winter In Canmore with Concord & 9th

 

I’ve been blessed in the last year to go to some beautiful countries in Europe, but I have to say that Canmore, Alberta will always have my heart.  If I could pick anywhere to live it would be the mountains, and though we couldn’t afford the real estate....I’d choose Canmore.  I highly recommend it if you ever come to Alberta.  It is a lovely mountain town with proximity to so many outdoor activities that put you right in the middle of the Rocky Mountains.  So, when I saw this set called Alpine Village from Concord & 9th, I was smitten!  

For my first design with the dies and stamps, I created a moonrise night scene with a fun colour palette.  It feels just like I’m looking through a specific mountain pass in Canmore called Ha Ling, that is so peaceful to me!  For the snowy layers I used very sparkly paper, which really takes it over the top in shimmer.  The path is stamped to be cobblestone, and there are stamped lines in the icy pond, and the mountains.  I’ve also added in snow to the roofs and trees with a white pen.  

The sentiment is such a sweet one!  All put together it makes for one magical Winter scene!  

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Winter In Canmore with Concord & 9th

New Near New Team with Crafty Meraki

 

Happy New Year friends!  I always love the start of something fresh and new!  And, I’m excited to say I’ve been asked to join the Crafty Meraki Design team for 2025!  This means I’ll be able to bring you all sorts of fun inspiration in the year ahead.  Today the team is hopping on Instagram with a giveaway, so be sure to check out my post and the hop there.  

I decided to pull out a little floral beauty for this years first post, its called Reason to Smile.  

I’ve coloured the design with Copics and coloured pencils in a fun colour palette, and then added the die cut sentiment (cut 3x) with Meraki Moments Hello Para-Dies.  I’ve kept the design more CAS for a fresh start to a new year!  

A couple of sequins to accent the sentiment and its complete!   Here is a peek at the team below.  Be sure to follow the hop on Instagram for your chance to win!  

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New Near New Team with Crafty Meraki

Scandi Christmas Deer with TCP

Hello Friends!  I’m back today with a pair of delightful deer done in a gorgeous neutral Scandinavian style.  I do love the simplicity and warmth of Scandinavian style, so I went all out with the neutrals and woodgrain textures on this card.  I began with TCP’s Scandi Santa SVG and Digi Stamp combination, for this design, only using the digital stamp of these pretty deer.  

After printing and colouring with Copics and coloured pencil (for the gold scarves), I trimmed them out with my tiny scissors, then arranged them onto a diecut wood cut slice.  To keep the tones in that neutral/white combo, I used kraft white ink on the wood cut to bring out the texture of the grain.  This was placed on a card base with golden snowflakes.  

A gold sparkle paper banner, die cut snowflakes, wood veneer stars and a pretty white embossed sentiment from a retired TCP stamp give interesting textures and shine to the design.  It’s not often I create with neutrals, but I love the elegance and simplicity of this one!  

By now you’ve probably heard the sad news that TCP is closing at the end of the year.  It’s been my absolute delight and privilege to design for Alma for many years.  She is the best.   I will miss The Cat’s Pajamas for all its beautiful and unique style....and I’m also so grateful for all the fun and creativity we’ve had together!  

Thanks for joining me today!

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Scandi Christmas Deer with TCP

Merry Snowman with RAM Stamps

 

I don’t know about you, but it feels to me that November zoomed by and here we are at the beginning of December, with today being the first Sunday of Advent.  My little corner of the world is filled with snow, and I’m delighting in the cozy.  Today’s card uses the cutest image from RAM Stamps called Christmas Merry.  Isn’t that little snowman darling?  

The image is coloured in one of my favourite Christmas combos using coloured pencils, with some white gel pen accent.  I had some fun creating the background with embossing some swirling snow, a misty spritz of colour and some ink blending to really make it feel like a blizzard.  

To accent I’ve added sparkling glitter paper strips, die cut snowflakes and irridescent sequins that really make it sparkle.  Hoping that your season is Merry!  

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Merry Snowman with RAM Stamps

Grateful for Friends Like You with RAM

 

Hello!  Today I’m bringing you one more autumn/gratitude card with these absolute sweeties from RAM Stamps called Autumn Friends.  The sweetness of this illustration had me pulling out my coloured pencils again and bringing a fun fall colour combo to life in the design.  

A stitched die is the perfect border for the design and I added it to a backdrop of die cut leaves from a Concord & 9th die.  Such a great way to tie in all of those colours together. 

I also added in a vellum pennant with some texture which I ink blended some rosy ink onto.  And, ribbon seemed to be the right touch - even though I so rarely use it these days.  

The cutest image for a blustery day!  Full of gratitude and sweetness.  

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Grateful for Friends Like You with RAM

Jeweled Christmas Florals with Power Poppy

 

We are snuggled up inside today because of what the National Weather Services calls “a major snow event”, where a good 8 - 10 inches, or 25 cm fell in the past 24 hours.  I have thoroughly enjoyed it - but I’ll admit, I wasn’t doing the shovelling.   So, tonight I’m in the mood for Christmas!  I pulled out this beautiful image from Power Poppy called Ultimate Poinsettia Digital Stamp set. Marcy always had the most beautiful arrangements of florals for any season, and this one is one of my favourites with the poinsettia and anemone flowers, plus berries and dusty miller greenery.  

The image is coloured with jewel toned Copics, with finishing detailing done with coloured pencils.  I’ve die cut the image out of the box style with the tiny dusty miller greenery in the lower corner peeking out.  The background is foiled in light lilac with a Spellbinders called Glimmer Monoline Stars.  

The sentiment is embossed on vellum with the Power Poppy set,  Joy to the World Bouquet. I ink blended Blueprint Sketch ink on the vellum to coordinate with the purply-blues.  

A few pretty rhinestones give extra shine, and I accented the sentiment and corner with silver die cuts from Spellbinders Christmas Bird Poinsettia Die.   Appreciate you stopping by! 

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Jeweled Christmas Florals with Power Poppy

The Red Christmas Car with TCP

Hi There!  Today I have a really fun design from The Cat’s Pajamas which captures all the delight and retro cool that TCP is known for.  This fun-loving snazzy cat called Sprinkles is zooming down the highways and byways to deliver the Christmas tree and presents.  It’s called ’Tis the Season.  Isn’t it cute?  

I coloured the image with Copics, and added in detailing with coloured pencils.  Having recently been in England and having the delight of being in the famous black cabs - I was a little inspired by this car’s likeness to their style.  So - it had to be red, cause I mean, Christmas!  But, I was thinking of those black cabs as a coloured it up.  The tree almost looks too big for the car!  

After trimming the image out, I placed him on the deep juniper green card base, with a foiled snowflake layer, background trees from a retired TCP die and simple die cut sentiments also from a retired TCP die.   Thanks for stopping by!  

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The Red Christmas Car with TCP

Peachy Poinsettias with Pinkfresh

 Hello!  Today I’m bringing you some fresh poinsettias from Pinkfresh Studios with a suite of products including the Poinsettia Frame stamp , coordinating stencils and dies.  They are the perfect framing element for the Christmas season.  Fair warning - I have a lot of poinsettias ahead this month from different companies to show you.  For some reason, I seem to have them on the brain.  They are the perfect quintisential Christmas flower.  

For this design, I stamped the image in a very light Toffee Crunch Memento Ink, then stenciled and ink blended the colours, finishing up the detailing in the flowers with coloured pencils, die cutting the fram out.  

As a perfect foil for the peach poinsettias, I layered the frame on a Seaglass card base with Pinkfresh’s Twist Pattern die, also using the negative image from the die as the place for the sentiment (a long ago stamp from Stampin’ Up!)

A little glitz and glam is added some iridescent holeless sequins, and another Christmas card is in the books!  Appreciate your visit!  

 

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Peachy Poinsettias with Pinkfresh

The Sweetest Surprise with RAM!

 

Hello!  I’m back after a month away on a combined work mission trip to Romania and a dream trip with my husband through Europe!  It was a truly amazing experience on all levels.  And I’ve come back today with a little surprise!  Before I left for Europe, Rachelle of RAM Stamps (Rachelle Anne Miller) connected to ask if I’d be interested in joining her design team!  With the sweetest storybook style illustrations and the ability to colour them to life on cards, it was an easy decision for me.  So, today we’re kicking things off with the new November Release of images!  This precious cutie is called Santa’s Little Helper.  

I started by colouring her up with Copics, and finishing the details with coloured pencils and a white gel pen.  Isn’t she darling with her little pup reindeer?  After die cutting the image out, I placed her on a striped background of cardstock colours to coordinate.  

With a few die cut snow accents and some sparkly sequins she’s ready for gift giving, and looks adorably festive in the process.  

I’m excited to show you more RAM designs in the future!  Here’s my affililate link if you’d like to go shopping,  I appreciate your support!  

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The Sweetest Surprise with RAM!

The Perfect Sunflower with Power Poppy

I do love the beauty of Sunflowers, and there are so many beautiful illustrations of them in stamping, but I don’t think there is any better one that this design from Marcy’s skilled hand at Power Poppy.  It’s called simply called Sunflower Power.  I haven’t coloured it in so long, and it was just the right season to pull it out.  

I started colouring the design with Copics, and finished up the detail work with Coloured Pencils.  This way you get the saturated colour start, with the fin lines of a sunflower petal and leaves.  After colouring I trimmed it carefully and placed it on some rich rust cardstock using an MFT framed die.  The background is created with a gorgeous pierced plate that I’m so taken with from The Greetery called Pierced Plaid Pierce Plate.  I’ve added deeper ink around the edges for more texture.  

I added in ink splashed die cut leaves from The Greetery using their Big Branches: Ruscus Die.  The sentiment is stamped with the polymer version of this sunflower stamp set, and I’ve splattered some gold paint over the design to make it shine.  

The perfect Sunflower, am I right?  :)   

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The Perfect Sunflower with Power Poppy

An Acorn Spray with The Greetery

Today I thought I’d bring in a little Autumn Acorns with The Greetery!  This pretty die set is called Jumbo Curiosity: Acorns Die, and I’ve paired it with the Herringbone Parquet Die for the background.  I cut all the acorns and leaves on coloured cardstock (supplementing with the larger Oak leaves from Concord & 9th’s Autumn Inlay Die).  I ink-blended the leaves with Distress Ink, and hten added in some detailing with Coloured Pencil.  

The deep blue background is also ink-blended, with splatters of gold paint throughout to add some metallic splash.  

I love this beautiful sentiment for fall - "Every ending is a new beginning”.  It is from the New Day Sentiments Stamp set and is embossed in gold.  A rustic twine tied bow completes the spray.  

Thanks for joining me today!

 

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An Acorn Spray with The Greetery

Hibiscus Mercies with The Greetery

My heart has gone out to the town where The Greetery is located.  All around that Iowa, SD area faced unrelenting rain storms a few weeks ago and its created significant flooding issues.  And while I can’t fix a flood, I can create with some beautiful designs from The Greetery with my hopes and prayers for a full recovery.  

This beautiful set of Botanicuts Hibiscus dies is gorgeous to layer up and feels like summer sun to me!  After I had cut all the flower dies up I added some coloured pencil detailing to them.  It happened that  our daughter was over and she suggested a navy background - and wow was she ever right!  I love the deep drama of the dark colour against the pops of the hibiscus blooms.  

I chose to use a background die from Concord & 9th called Plaid Card Front Thick Die.  This created some strong texture.  I also embossed the whole plaid die cut with clear EP which not only deepened the colour, but added some shine too (but a doozy to photograph!  :) )

The embossed sentiment uses The Greetery’s sentiment set called New Day.  And that scripture passage is a beautiful encouragement.  

Thanks for joining me today - I hope you are enjoying the sweetness of Summer!  

 

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Hibiscus Mercies with The Greetery