Happy Mail Goodies

Yipee!!! I got happy mail today from Karin's daughters Ruby and Britt. I won their blog candy a couple of weeks ago and look at the beautiful cards these girls made me. They also sent me the beautiful flowers, paper, chipboard, ribbon and stamped images. All wonderful goodies that I can't wait to play with.

Visit Ruby and Britt's blog to see their adorable work. Thank you very much girls for the beautiful cards and the lovely blog candy.

Big Hugs,

Maria

Blog Candy Alert

Nikki's daughter Zoe is celebrating 2000 hits with the above great blog candy. Visit her blog to view her adorable card creations. Congratulations Zoe!!

More Tags

Edited to add: I used Fellowes Laminating Pouches for Luggage Tag with Loop (size 2.5 x 4.25 inches) which I purchased from Wal-Mart.

My daughters are really liking these tags so now I've made one for each of their backpacks and one each for their lunch bags. My youngest's favourite colour is now orange - it used to be pink - so I ended up using colours on her favourite Tilda to the left that I don't usually put together. As for the Tilda on the right, you'll notice some sparkle on her wings - Yipee! I used the Sakura Gelly roll pen - another experiment - and it worked after letting the ink dry for an hour. There is a tiny tiny bit of smudging on the left side but not too bad.

My little angels each picked the Tildas they wanted on their tags and I think they turned out pretty well. The most important thing is that they're happy with them.

Now onto my next project which is to decorate some small notepads with Tildas for them and put them in their backpacks as a surprise. We're still on vacation so I'm working on these projects at night when my little ones are asleep. Of course, I'm also tired and it's taking longer to finish. So I won't have them done for a few days but check back later in the week.

Have a great day,

Maria

School Backpack Tags

I got the idea to make backpack tags for my daughters here from Dawn, a fellow Canadian. Take your time checking out her blog here as there's lots of great work to be seen. I just love her style!

I picked up the Tilda with glasses and the books from the newest Magnolia collection called School, Travel and So Heavenly from Phebe at the Town Scrapper. My oldest wears glasses for reading and since it is so hard to find stamps with kids wearing glasses, I scooped these up as soon as I knew Phebe had them. There are fewer books on the tag than on the stamp as I had to cut the other 2 off so the image would fit in the sleeve of the tag. Doesn't Tilda look studious?!

Well, I call this an experiment because there are a few oopsies. For one, I've learned Stickles don't work well with a laminator - duuuuh! If you zoom in you'll see that the stickles are everywhere except where they were supposed to be on the wings. The heat from the laminator melts the compound and the sparkles spread everywhere. Second, Tilda's shirt and cuffs on her jeans are actually a light mauve but I went overboard with the Copic blender so in the picture it looks like there's no colour. Well, you know what, my daughter loves it! So NO do-overs and besides I'll remember what NOT to do each time I look at her backpack! As for the decorative edge on the tag - another accidental discovery - I took off the black cover on the SU corner rounder and this is what happened. Pretty cool! What do you think?

I was hoping to show you 2 tags but I haven't had a chance to start the other one, maybe tomorrow. My youngest wants her favourite Tilda from the Shabby Chic Collection so I'll have to dig it out from under the mountain of stuff on my dining-room table.

Have a good night,
Maria

Vacation

With only two weeks left before school starts, I'd like to spend as much time as possible with my girls. Sooooo we're on holidays and I won't be posting very much for the next two weeks.

Having said that, I've been wanting to make some cards by following a couple of sketches from the Our Creative Corner Challenge blog so I might post once or twice during our holidays but I'm not promising. Then there's my girls who have entered their 1st challenge yesterday. I have a feeling they'll want to enter again in the next 2 weeks so there may be a post for that as well.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.

Hugs,
Maria

Crafty Monkeys - Isabelle

Here's my 8 year-old Isabelle's submission to the Crafty Monkeys Challenge. She was ultra excited about making this card and submitting it to Hannah and Zoe. I even let her use 2 of my Copics for the skin colour as she was very upset her "baby" markers - Crayolas - as she calls them, did not have anything suitable - lol. Couldn't fault her logic here so she was ooooh so pleased she got to use a few of her mommy's "big girl" markers for colouring.

Isabelle's card captures what she loves to do most over the summer besides swimming and catching butterflies; that is going barefoot and picking flowers. She's my girlie girl who loves everything bling so she added some sparkly glue to Tilda's wings and of course added the sparkly flower charm she found at the bottom of the pool as an embellishment - her treasure.

I'm so very proud of her layout. She came up with it all by herself. Isn't it great! I was awed at her creativity. As a bonus, I let her take the picture with the digital camera. It was worth it to see her big smile and giggles of excitement.

Thanks for visiting.

Crafty Monkeys - Juliette

Here's my daughter Juliette's 1st submission to the Crafty Monkey's Challenge. I think she's a crafty little 6 year-old who definitely knows what she wants. She's loving the swimming pool and going to the beach this year so she used some of my SU stamps to create her scene. For embellishments she's added some shells she's been collecting from our visits to the beach.

Visit the Crafy Monkeys Challenge blog and check out the fabulous samples. If you have little crafty monkeys under the age of 16 like my little ones, inspire them to create. They'll have a blast and so will you.

Secret Message

This is my submission to this week's challenge over at A Spoon Full of Sugar. The challenge this week is to hide a message somewhere in your card. A lucky winner will be randomly chosen to win one of the new release High Hopes stamps "Juggles".

This was a fun card to make and very challenging for me as I have never made one of these before. I followed Claudia's tutorial here and this is what I came up with. I almost didn't submit this card as I used the Memories ink and even after heat setting, the ink bled a bit when I coloured with the Copics. Oh well, every card can't be perfect and this one will serve as a learning experience. So far the Brilliance ink works the best with Copics but I'm going to try the Memento ink next just so I have another option. I'm looking for an alternative to Brilliance only because the graphite black isn't as crisp/sharp as I would like it to be when I stamp an image or a sentiment.

The secret message is from one of Aud's stamps. Checkout Aud's blog for her collection of stamps. She is a very talented lady and a real pleasure to deal with. Take your time and visit a while so you can enjoy viewing her wonderful creations as well as shopping for some great stamps!

I've fallen a bit behind with my blogging lately but will be visiting your blogs today. I can't wait to see what you've been up to.

Big Hugs, Maria

Stamps: Magnolia School Collection from The Town Scrapper & Sentiment by Aud
Papers: SU cardstock & DP Three Bugs in a Rug - Blossom Flowers from Skribbles and Scraps
Accessories: SU Punch & Brad - Offray pink ribbon - Copics.

I Love Your Blog Award

Bernie and Karin really made my day by passing this award on to me. They are really special ladies and they have beautiful blogs that I visit regularly as well, so check them out for some fun inspiration.

There are so many wonderful blogs I love to visit so since I was nominated twice I'm not breaking any rules by nominating 14 right! Some of these fine ladies may have already received this award but I'd like to pass on the award just the same. I visit their blogs regularly as well as Bernie and Karin's and I always find something that puts a smile on my face as and also inspires me to create. Get comfy and get ready to be amazed!

Ila
Jeanette
Carole
Nikki
Rach
Fran
Dawn
Claudia
Katharina
Michelle
Inge
Bev
Camilla
Kimmie

Have a great day! Maria

Birthday & Anniversary & Cute Card Thursday Challenge

Edited to add: I'd like to enter this card into this week's Cute Card Thursday Challenge. This week the theme for the challenge is Soft Furnishings so you can use fabric, ribbon, stitching, buttons etc, anything you can find on the soft furnishings in the home (i.e. curtains, cushions, sofas etc.).

Phew! We have had a busy 2 weeks......My baby girl turned 6 and today's my 14th wedding anniversary. I posted my baby's card earlier this month so the above is the anniversary card I made for my hubbie. I wish I'd spent more time on it as I feel like there's something missing. Oh well, it's done and I say this only because I always feel more pressure when I'm making cards for family members. Anyone else feel that way?

CS layers are SU and the DP is Happy Blooms by Chatter Box. I rarely use these colours but I really liked the DP and I wanted to stay away from pink paper for my DH. Papiliostamps were sent to me by a dear friend - I'm so lucky - and the sentiment is an SU rub-on - really loving these rub-ons. Spellbinder dies - petite scallops and classic circles - were used to frame the stamped images coloured with Copics. Don't know the name of the green lace ribbon but I purchased it and the DP from the Scrapping Bug in Kitchener, Ontario. You can't tell from the pic but the ribbon matches the green background on the DP perfectly. I layered the ribbon over some green SU CS so the ribbon would stand out but the pic doesn't do it justice. I even recently bought an Ott-Lite in the hopes that my pics would look better but I think the problem is with the photographer - lol. I'm sure it would help if I got Photoshop but the trial version so intimidated me. And finally, I added some bling so there's 3 green Bella Baubles as well.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I did something new. I used a Uni-ball Signo 'Popcorn" gel ink rollerball pen to do some extra highlighting in the hair, cheeks and creases of clothing. I think the highlighting turned out ok considering it's my 1st time trying this technique.

Thanks for visiting,
Maria

Pretty Pressings Blog Candy

Claudia has had over 200,000 visitors on her blog, which is no surprise if you visit her here. Look for yourself and you will fall in love with her creations and be inspired to create yourself.

Claudia will draw 5 winners and also make a nice card making kit for each. Wow, how awesome and generous is that! I'm keeping my fingers ~ and toes ~ crossed in the hopes of being 1 of the 5 lucky winners! Checkout Pretty Pressings for your chance to win.

Quick Card

Sorry haven't had much of a chance to post or enter challenges this week. Doing lots of running around as my baby turns 6 this week and next week is my wedding anniversary plus we're having a party this weekend.

Here's a quick card I did up for some lucky ladies. Hope they like it. Short Recipe: Whipper Snapper stamp, Wausau paper, Archival Brilliance Graphite Black ink, Copics, Bella Baubles & Nestabilities - CS from stash.

Wishing all of you a Lovely Day as well!

Whiff of Joy Blog Candy

OMG, OMG, OMG - You gotta be sitting for this one. Katharina is having the bestest blog candy ever to celebrate 100,000 hits!!! Click here for the details on your chance to win the whole Whiff of Joy Guardian Angel Collection by Elisabeth Bell. Here's a pic of 2 out of the 4 stamps.
Are you drooling yet cause I sure am? OK , OK, stop dancing and keep reading cause there's MORE. Katharina will also host a blog candy giveaway on the winner's blog. Winner chooses the terms and Katharina will sponsor the blog candy with another complete set of the Guardian Angels.

Wow! Wow! Wow! OK, resume dancing, twirling and singing! LOL

Katharina will draw the winner with random.org on August 16th, 8pm Central European time. I REALLY REALLY want to be the WINNER but good luck to you too!

Mwah,
Maria

Thanks Camilla

Camilla has given me this award and I am so honoured. Checkout her beautiful creations here to see her inspirational work. As I have been so lucky to receive this award already, I would like to dedicate it to all my visitors who take the time to stop by and for your wonderful comments. They brighten up my day!

Blog Candy Alerts

Carla's celebrating 60,000 hits and the last day of her nursing course with some lovely blog candy. Checkout her site here and enter for a chance to win on August 6th.

Visit Michelle here for a chance to enter her blog candy by noon August 8th.

Blog Candy Winners

Just got back from a few days away to celebrate a family wedding and my girls were ooooh sooooo excited to pick the winners for the blog candy. Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment. I had lots of fun reading your kind words and visiting your blogs.

Drum roll, please............

Winner of 1st Prize: Rakle 'Sitter' stamp, 12 Prima Painterly Petals and a Heidi Swapp edge distresser is Fiorella.

Winner of 2nd Prize: Whipper Snapper 'Field of Daisies' stamp, 10 Queen & Co. 'oh orange' bold round brads and 6 Imaginisce brads from the 'A Shore Thing Collection' is Ghazal Moosavi.

AND since I love nice surprises there's a BONUS thank you. Here's a new/unused Whipper Snapper 'Tuesday Bathing Beauty' stamp and the winner is ......... Heather (Craftling).

Congratulations ladies! Please email your address to cossa@cogeco.ca so that I can mail out your prize.

Well, this was a lot of fun and I've decided to do it again. I have more to celebrate in August so check back for another surprise later this week.

Enjoy your Sunday,
Maria

My Blog Candy Until Midnight

Quick reminder that you have until midnight tonight to enter for a chance to win some blog candy. There's a 1st and 2nd prize so each of my girls can pick a name out of a hat. The candy has been generously provided by Phebe at the Town Scrapper.

1st Prize: Rakle 'Sitter' stamp, 12 Prima Painterly Petals and a Heidi Swapp edge distresser.

2nd Prize: Whipper Snapper 'Field of Daisies' stamp, 10 Queen & Co. 'oh orange' bold round brads and 6 Imaginisce brads from the 'A Shore Thing Collection'.

The chance to win is open to everyone until 12 midnight tonight and I will ship internationally. All you have to do is post a link to this blog candy on your blog and leave a message on THIS post here. If you don't have a blog, email me at cossa@cogeco.ca for a chance to win.

Have a great weekend and good luck, Maria