Berry Grateful Wreath with The Stamp Market

 

Hello!  We had our first snow that stuck (for a day) this week.  It’s put me in more of a Christmas mood....while still wanting to hold on to Autumn as long as possible.  And while we’ve had Thanksgiving already in Canada, its always good to be full of thanks no matter the circumstances.  So today’s card is a bit of a transitional design between Thanksgiving and Christmas with new goodies from The Stamp Market.  This is the October Kit from The Stamp Market, and it includes a gorgeous oblong wreath for a shaped card design, lots of dies to accent the wreath and a coordinating sentiment set, dies and paper in the kit.  It’s a beauty!  

I went with some cool greens from the kit to design my wreath, and rather than flowers in the wreath, I only used the flower centers to create berries for the greenery.  Perfect to lean it more toward Christmas. Each bit of greenery was ink blended to give the leaves some extra dimension and colour.  

The sentiment is a lovely one, and I embossed it in silver and used the coordinating dies to cut it out and pop it up with foam.  With such great texture and colour, it didn’t need anything else to still be a gorgeous shaped design.  

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Berry Grateful Wreath with The Stamp Market

Mush-room for Gratitude with The Greetery

 

Hello and Happy Tuesday evening!  I don’t know where you are but we are getting a few extra days of Summery weather this Autumn and it’s a delight to enjoy.  However, my creative hands are much more interested in all the Fall colours and textures.  Today I have a card created with The Greetery’s Botanicuts Toadstool Garden dies.   I began by cutting out the toadstools in a variety of warm colours along with some grass with a retired die from The Cat’s Pajamas.  

After assembling the toadstools, I added some Copic marker accets to increase the dimension on the fungi, and placed it all on a Lemongrass background which I ran through The Greetery’s Pierced Plaid Pierce Plate.  My goodness, does that ever give you beautiful texture!  I created an “interior frame” with a stencil and white ink, and also incorporated a cross-stitch frame with The Greetery’s Hoopla Oval Die, outlining some of the woodgrain details in the frame with a Copic marker.  

The sentiment is from The Greetery’s Thankful Heart Stamp and Stencil set.  And just to balance the design I added in a wood veneer butterfly which I added some colour to with ink, Copics and a white gel pen.  It’s definitely feeling Fall!  

Thanks for joining me today! 

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Mush-room for Gratitude with The Greetery

Welcome Autumn Door with Concord & 9th

 

A festive Hi!  I just love a creative products that can go beyond one season!  When I saw this new door set from Concord & 9th, with dies that can be used for multiple occasions and seasons, I knew it would be a great one.  Its called Door Decor Dies, and it’s fabulous!  

First off I played with a colour palette that would work for a cheerful autumn scene that also had a bit of unique colour, and came up with this one with Stardust, Spiced Cider, Creamsickle, Briar Rose, Eucalyptus and Juniper.  Then I cut out all the little pieces to form the door, leave bough, wreath and accents.  I did a litte ink blending on all the elements to give them a bit of depth too.  

Then its just putting the tiny pieces together!  I love Concord & 9th for their attention to details....things like the little door pulls and the tops to the pumpkins.  All done with such care.  

A really fun set to create with, and I look forward to lots of other versions in the future!  

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Welcome Autumn Door with Concord & 9th

Give Thanks with The Greetery

 

A few weeks ago I was the speaker at a ladies retreat, which was a great event to be a part of.  So, I just popped this warm and rustic card into the mail to say thank you to them for having me.  I used The Greetery’s Thankful Heart Stamp and Stencil to create a simple mailable design.  

I used the elements in the set to make a little harvest scene, placing it on a kraft coloured background cut with Concord & 9th’s Stitched Leaves Card Front Die.  A match made in heaven!  

I added a little extra colour to the harvest elements with prismacolour pencils, and stenciled in the colour for the sentiment.  

Sweet and simple, but heartfelt!  Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends!  

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Give Thanks with The Greetery

Fox in Socks and Harvest Mice for WCMD

 

Hello!  I didn’t want to let World Card Making Day go by without creating something fun!  This hobby has given me such joy, a chance to create little canvases of love, connection to some beautiful people across the world that are now friends, and the chance to work for a number of companies that have been a real joy.  With it also being Thanksgiving for us in Canada this weekend, I count it one of my many blessings.  

This little mini slimline design uses a couple of adorable sets from My Favorite Things, both since retired.  Fox and Friends and Harvest Mice.  They’re coloured up with Copics and fussy cut.  

I created this scene with cardstock from Concord & 9th - Peacock and Spiced Cider.  The Slimline dies are from PinkFresh Studio, Essentials: Mini Slimline Dies, the cloud dies are from Concord & 9th - Cloudy Double Card Front Die, and the hill is a retired die from The Cat’s Pajamas.  I also drew in the sweaters and socks on the foxes - otherwise they’d be jealous of those mice.  

Since there was a lot going on on the outside of the card, I added the inked sentiment on the inside, with a few coloured leaves.  

A sweet harvest scene for Thanksgiving!  I hope you’ve had a chance to create today too!  Happy World Cardmaking Day!  

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Fox in Socks and Harvest Mice for WCMD

Floral Cross Stitch Hoops

 

Hello!  I’ve just returned from a work trip to the US, and picked up a few goodies while I was away.  Saves me so much in Duty to have it shipped to where I’m staying, so I have all kinds of good things in store for the next few weeks.  I’m starting with this beautiful product suite from The Greetery from July called The Handiwork Collection.  Since my Mom was a seamstress and our daughter is a cross stitcher...and I dabble in both, it has so many lovely elements that combine for great textile themed cards.  

For this design, I used the Hoopla Oval Die, the Rose Tapestry Stencil (dreamy!) and the Aida Texture Plate with some lovely colours to create this pair of hoops.  I love that all the hardware for a hoop is included, and you can see the woodgrain texture on the hoop.  

I also created a background design to match the colours in the stencil with the Floral Sampler Stamp Set,  adding in a layer of vellum between the layers to soften the colours and patterns.  

The gratitude sentiment is stamped and stenciled with The Greetery’s Thankful Heart Stamp and Stencil, making it perfect for a Thanksgiving design.  All of those florals have such a great vintage feel!

Thanks for joining me today!

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Floral Cross Stitch Hoops

Gratitude Plaid with Power Poppy

 

Oh it’s inevitable isn’t it?  Autumn is coming.  I’m just not ready!  But today we’ve had a rainy day and tomorrow it will be the same and it feels a little bit like fall is not so far away.  This pretty design is a Power Poppy digi called Bittersweet Thanks.  The combination of Sunflowers, Chinese Lanterns and bittersweet is a pretty one, especially with that lovely gratitude banner floating through.  Colouring is with Copics, and then fussy cut out.  

Layered up with pretty rich colours and layers of die cut Plaid Card Front Bundle from Concord & 9th.  It adds such great texture and pairs all the colour together beautifully.  The woodgrain banner uses an old embossing plate from PaperTrey Ink, and the little heart sprig uses PTI’s All You Need is Love.  

So, I’m easing into Autumn a little reluctantly, but also full of gratitude for all the lovely things ahead.  

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Gratitude Plaid with Power Poppy

Giving Thanks This Autumn

Hello The Cat’s Pajamas Fans! Today I’m bringing you some fun from our October Release at TCP!  Just yesterday I found a pile of leaves to crunch under my feet as I walked.  That’s one of the delights of Autumn for me.  And this month we’re showcasing all sorts of fun fall images for you to enjoy.  Today mine center around those gorgeous autumn leaves and Thanksgiving.  

I started it off with this mini-slimline design and this adorable new image called Rise and Shine.  He’s coloured up with festive autumn colours in his brown fur coat and orange rubber boots, and paired with tiny leaves (from the digi set), which are all trimmed out, and then placed on this autumn sky background.  I created the awesome pops of colour with Distress Oxide Ink blending (Fossilized Amber, Abandoned Coral, and Seedless Preserves).  Ink blending also gave colour to the die cut leaves.  Then I added a swirly die cut into the background (retired TCP die) to give you the feeling of the leaves blowing in the wind.

 

I love how vibrant it turned out!  I used a retired TCP sentiment stamp that paired perfectly with the theme.  I can just hear the crunch of the leaves! 

 

Next up its a Thanksgiving Card with the new Gobble it Up Digi Stamp set.  

This little penguin is ready for a feast!  

I’ve arranged the parts of this digi set to fill his table with turkey and pie and a wackly plaid tablecloth for fun.  He’s coloured up with Copics (I also added white prismacolour pencil to the wacky plaid tablecloth) to coordinate with this great sheet of acorn leave paper I found in my stash.  

To coordinate and tie it all together I’ve added some framing die cut pieces and ink blended acorn leaves pulling it all together.  He looks like one happy and grateful penguin!  

I can tell you that after just celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving last weekend, I’m one happy and grateful person too!  Thanks for joining me today!  

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Giving Thanks This Autumn

Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart

 

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving friends!  It’s our day for thankfulness, and I’m happy to share this day with my family and celebrate all that God has given us.  I just returned from travelling for work and am happy to be home again for a few weeks.  While I was away I picked up some new goodies from The Greetery and the Calico Fields release that was so fun!  

These stencils and coordinating stamp sets are so fun to play with.  And I really enjoyed pulling out all my fall colours of Distress Ink for The Greetery’s Stencilscapes Autumn Stencil and  Thankful Heart Stamp and Stencil.  

I’ve added popped up pumpkins and corn stalks to give some dimension, and a greeting from the stamp set.  I used my prismacolour pencils to fill in a few of the white areas to add a little soft colour and really give it that beautiful vibrant fall landscape.  

See you soon!  

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Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart

Rusty Sunflowers

Nothing like the cheerful look of a beautiful sunflower, especially at this time of year.  In keeping with my Autumn-themed cards this month, I pulled out the beautiful image Sunflower Power from Power Poppy.  And, departing a bit from the typical sunny yellow, I decided to do a pretty rust colour for the blooms this time.  It’s so fun to play with different colour palettes.  

I’ve brought it to life with Copic Markers and then added some shadowing and detail work with Prismacolor pencils.  I love the pops of purple that peek out in the petals and how it almost makes the flower glow.  

The lovely sentiment is from Power Poppy’s polymer set Nice Things to Say.  It has a lovely assortment of kind or encouraging thoughts.  You can see that I’ve used an “out of the box” technique with the main sunflower image so that the leaf extends beyond the die.  Simple accents like twine and enamel dots keep it clean.  

For more Friday Fun Inspiration from Power Poppy please pop on by and visit: 

Leslie 

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Rusty Sunflowers

TCP September Blog Hop!

Welcome to the September Blog Hop from The Cat’s Pajamas.  I know you’ve had a great week seeing all of the delightful inspiration for this outstanding Autumn release.  I hope you’ve come from Nancy’s Blog.  And if you get lost along the way be sure to pop by the TCP Blog for the whole list.  

Today I’m finishing up this great week with a very woodsy, whimsical design using the new Simply Blessed Stamp Set.  This cute little toadstool house really made me smile, and I knew it would be a perfect fit for some Prismacolor on Kraft.  I made use of the Simply Blessed Bundle and die cut out the mushroom, and placed it on the already coloured tree background, just popping it up.  

The sentiment is a very sweet one for welcoming someone new to the neighbourhood, or a thank you design, or even for Thanksgiving.  

I kept all the details very Clean and Simple. It would be an easy design to mass produce too.  

Now you’ve seen all of the September Release and you just want it ALL!  We’ve got a deal for you!  You can purchase the Kitty Kat Pack which includes all of the stamps and dies at a discount;  OR the Poochie Pack which includes all of the stamp sets at a discount.  

Want to see more?  Pop on over and visit Wendy’s Blog along the hop!  

Thanks so much for sharing all the fun with me this week!  

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TCP September Blog Hop!

Thankful Harvest Pumpkins

Greetings friends.  Today I’m popping in with a card that moves into Autumn so beautifully.  It’s a great stamp set from Power Poppy called Fortunes of Fall .  You can also get this design in digital version here as Pumpkins and Pears.   In Canada Thanksgiving comes in October, so this is perfect for the upcoming holiday.  And this would be a beautiful centerpiece for a Thanksgiving table wouldn’t it?  

I brought it to life using Copics, finishing off the design with Prismacolour Pencils to give that purple background glow, and give the shadows in the pumpkins a little more depth.  

It’s paired with some fall themed colours in the patterned paper, and accented with this pretty ric rack paper die (MFT) and a few die cut leaves and enamel dots.  A pretty curve along the top of the patterned paper adds interest and mimics the curve of the pumpkins.  

Gratitude is such a gift.  It blesses the recipient, and I think it equally blesses the giver too!  

For more Power Poppy inspiration today be sure to pop by and see:

Nancy

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Thankful Harvest Pumpkins

Harvest Mouse

I mentioned yesterday that I had a number of images coloured up but without a card home.  So, yesterday when I finished up my first card, I had an idea for a second card with another MFT image.  This one is MFT’s Harvest Mouse set.  Who can resist a bundled up little mouse?  Me, as long as it’s not anywhere IN my house.  This little dude was coloured up with Copics, cut out with MFT’s Wonky Stitched Circle DieNamics, and then placed on a burlap and cardstock tag (TCP’s Halloween Tag Duo).  

I’m playing along with MFT’s Color Challenge, just under the wire.  

So precious isn’t he?  Some twine, a wood veneer heart and a banner edge tag are the finishing details.  

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Harvest Mouse

A-Maize-ing

Today being a day of the month that ends in 5 means Marcy’s got a new digi image at Power Poppy!  

Today she’s introducing Maize for Days which is a gorgeous autumn themed image of a bundle of indian corn gathered together with bittersweet and a lovely ribbon.  She’s also added 3 really fun sentiments to make this image work for a number of occasions.  As we bantered back and forth onthe Bloom Brigade, gushing about how much we loved the new digi, Ally Cope said it was a-maize-ing and this little sentiment I used today was born :)  I love that about Marcy, she’s always so upbeat and wants to capture the fun and goodness in the everyday.  

I printed the digi quite large so that it would almost take over this 4 x 5 1/4 inch piece of XPress It Blending card stock.  Then I cut it a bit off-center and added the sentiment on opposite side to balance the design.  I kept the details really simple so that the image would shine.  

I hope that YOU have an A-Maize-ing day today too :)  

Pop on over to see what A-Maize-ing things Cheryl and Stacy have today too!  

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A-Maize-ing

Olive and Oaks

Yay, Day Four of fantastic Happiest Holiday Sneak Peeks at Power Poppy!

There are just some sets that make you OOOOO as soon as you see them.  When Marcy first illustrated this Olive and Oak set as a digital image I just about fell off my chair.  I was SO excited to hear that she was expanding the set and putting it into polymer, It’s called Olive & Oak Expanded!  It is a must have set in my opinion.

I LOVE fall leaves, and one of my favourite pass-times is to crunch them when my husband and I walk most days.  I go out of my way to find the crunchiest ones, and my husband is quite entertained by me.  :)

I still wanted to work with the largest image in the set because I really wanted to take another stab at all this gorgeous colouring in a Thanksgiving themed card.  I found some older papers that had the acorn and leaves theme and put it all together after carefully trimming out the image.  It did take me a while but, it’s so worth it in the end.  

I added the sentiment from the set into a stitched circle, added some simple twine and sewn layers.  Such a beauty that speaks to the colour and abundance of autumn and all we have to be grateful for!  

The selection of Copics I used, and I enjoyed every minute colouring it!  

Christine Okken (you are here)
Julie Koerber
and pop by to see Marcy at the Power Poppy Blog - she’s going to link up some of the other ways the Bloom Brigade has used this set in the past few months.  

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Olive and Oaks