Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Happy Birthday Yvette!

One of my good friends is having a birthday today unfortunately, one of her dogs went to the Rainbow Bridge yesterday so she probably is not feeling like celebrating as much as she would normally. :( The main image is by Penny Black. I had to use a Penny Black image as Yvette and I both are in LOVE with Penny Black stamps! I colored the image with my Tombow markers on watercolor cardstock. I matted everything as shown (Bazzill cardstock and My Mind's Eye). The sentiment is by Just Rite. The ribbon is by Offray that I bought before I started the store I must have known I would need those exact colors 10 years (or more) later! The final step on the card was to add some Stampendous Fun Flock on the the sheep and cow and some Stickles glitter glue on the gals accessories!
Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, October 14, 2011

Snowy Tree

I am getting my Christmas card mojo going and managed to get another card done over. The tree image was colored with my Tombow markers on watercolor cardstock. I edged the cardstock with Tumbled Glass, Broken China and Walnut Stain Distress inks. I mounted the tree at an angle on a piece of Broken China Coredination cardstock that I embossed with Satine Couture Creations embossing folder I edged this cardstock with Tea Dye Distress ink. I stamped the sentiment on a Spellbinder oval and attached it with some May Arts ribbon. I used a new Sizzix/Hero Arts Stamp and Die Cut set to stamp and cut out some glittery snowflakes for the upper left corner of the card. I sprayed the entire piece with mist made of Pearl Perfect Pearl and water in a Ranger mini mister to give the card a bit of shimmer. I used my Tombow glue pen and added some clear glitter to the snowflakes behind the tree. I finished the card by adding some pearls to the center of each snowflake. Thanks for stopping by!
Card Recipe:
Stamps: Sizzix/Hero Arts stamp and die cut set Joy Snowman, Joy of the Christmas Season & Get Merry clear sets
Ink: Versafine Onyx, Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Tea dye and Walnut Stain Distress inks
Other: Couture Creations Satine Embossing folder, May Arts Ribbon, Pearl Perfect Pearl powder, Hero Arts embellishments, Spellbinder classic oval, Tombow Glue Pen & Glitter Ritz Cool Highlight glitter

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Hero Arts Challenge

Did you know Hero Arts has a monthly challenge? I've been meaning to play along for quite a few months now and finally got inspired and got a card done. This card is based on one of the October sketches. Normally, I find sketches hard to follow but this one really worked for me.
I began the card by stamping the ornaments on a piece of scrap cardstock with red ink then I applied Be Creative double sided tape over top of the ornaments then Glitter Ritz cool hightlight glitter. I cut out the ornaments. I stamped the Hero Arts branch with green ink across the top of the card and used my foam mounting tape to mount the ornaments. I added a strip of green along the left side of the card also stamped with the branch. I stamped the sentiment and added some pearls. I mounted everything as shown. Hope  this provides you with some inspiration!
Card Recipe:
Stamps: Hero Arts Decorate the holidays clear set and Big Pine Bough (wood mounted)
Ink: Adirondack dye Cranberry and Watermelon and Pesto
Paper: Bazzil and Basic Grey
Other: Be Creative tape, Cool Highlight Glitter (Glitter Ritz), Hero Arts Pearls

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Collage Christmas

I must admit I do not often play with collage type images I am never quite sure what to do with them however I bought this Penny Black image (Christmas Text) a month or so back and I have actually used it quite a bit in fact I have not used a couple of the non-collage images I bought at the same time.
I began this card by stamping the image on a piece of off white Bazzill cardstock with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink. I distressed the cardstock with a mix of Antique Linen, Tea Dye and Peeled Paint Distress inks using Cut N Dry foam. I colored the pine bough with my Prismacolor pencils. I stamped the Penny Black sentiment on a piece of fragments vellum also with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink. Versafine ink can sometimes have issues drying on vellum so I embossed the sentiment with Ranger's Frosted Crystal embossing powder. I mounted everything as shown and the card was done! This card is a perfect one for mailing to out of town relatives since it has no bumpy embellishments. Always something to keep in mind when doing your winter cards nothing more annoying than spending lots of time on your cards, take them to the post office only to realize have to be hand sorted and you have to pay extra postage.
Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Jo's Circles

I had a few minutes to play last week and I decided to use some of the newer embossing folders we currently have in stock at the store. I decided to use a Craft Concepts folder called Jo's Circles. I ran the folder through my Cuttlebug with a piece of white cardstock. I used my Prismacolor pencil crayons to color all the raised areas. I love how this techique looks when it is done. I stamped a Hero Arts sentiment with Adirondack Brights Raspberry Dye ink. I cut out 3 Fiskar Framelets hearts and embossed these as well with the same embossing folder. I applied Glossy Accents to the hearts to give them some extra oomph.
Hope everyone is having a great long weekend!

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Happy 10th Anniversary Crafty Capers!

Hard to believe it but Crafty Capers turns 10 years old today! The time has really flown by. About this time 10 years ago my sister Kim (the hairdresser) and I were madly loading up our cars and hauling boxes of stamps up to Rutherford Mall in Nanaimo (now known as Nanaimo's North Town Center). It took us way longer to set up than we figured so we were probably not up and running until 11 am or so. We stayed in the mall until Dec 24. At that time we carried 5 stamp companies:
  • PSX (now out of business, I miss their images!)
  • Hero Arts
  • Peddlers Pack
  • Denami Design
  • House Mouse (House Mouse was made by Stampa Rosa but are now made by Stampabilities)
We travelled the malls on Vancouver Island in the spring of 2002 and moved into our first storefront May 1 2002 with Creative Images Hair Studio (Kim) in Lantzville. In July 2009 we moved to our current location on Bowen Road.
We have had many adventures and made so many friends over the past 10 years. Thank you to everyone who has supported Crafty Capers and here is to 10 more years!
To help celebrate stop by the store this week and enter to win a free class (maximum value $27)! For those of you who are mail order customers send me an email or leave a comment on this blog and we'll do a draw for a little something for you as well. :)
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Tree Trifold

I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who came by the store last Saturday for our World Card Day fundraiser for Nanaimo's Food Bank. It was a very successful day. Thank you.
I managed to get a few minutes to play yesterday and decided to pull out my newer Hero Arts/Sizzix Stamp and Die Cut Reindeer set. Unlike the first time I played with the set I decided to go with a more elegant look and use the trees in the set. I heat embossed the trees a few times then cut them out with the matching die. I ripped my 2 front panels of the card so it would look like snowy hills. I edged the ripped edge with Brillance Sky blue ink. The sentiment is by Hero Arts. Hope this provides you with some inspiration.