Happy Anniversary!

Today is Phil and I's 9th wedding anniversary! Hard to believe! Phil and I actually met in Crafty Capers waaaay back in the "olden days" when Crafty Capers shared a space with Creative Images Hair Studio in Lantzville! A mutual friend brought him down for a haircut so we could meet. I was a bit pissed off with said friend because I had about 10 minutes notice so no time to comb my hair or pick out the perfect outfit (Phil claims I was wearing a horribly unflattering denim skirt. I am sure that skirt was just fine!)

Here is the card I made for Phil. The iris stamp is by Flourishes and I colored it with my Distress markers (broken china, wild honey and shabby shutters) and a waterbrush. I cut out the heart with my Sizzix Framelets hearts (similar to Spellbinder dies. The pattern paper is by Little Yellow Bicycle Hello Spring. The sentiment is from the Flourishes set Tag Lines (love that set!).
The embossing folder is a new one, in stock at Crafty Capers, by Couture Creations called Venus Crest. I embossed on white cardstock then edged it with Tumbled Glass Distress ink. I also edged the heart with a brown ink that was on a Colorbox Stylus Tip I had sitting on the table (was too lazy to get up and find a brown ink.
For fun, thought I would include a couple of wedding photos so you can see how neither of us has changed a bit!! ;) Photo taken by Seaside Studios in Parksville.

My sisters, my neice and I




Phil, his brother and our best man. Bet you can't tell which one is the brother!

 

Garage Sale 2012

Thank you to everyone who brought stuff in for the garage sale last week and thanks to all our shoppers as well! The garage sale was the best attended EVER! Hope everyone is enjoying their new treasures!
Just a reminder if you had items in the sale you need to pick up your store credit and "leftovers" no later than Thursday.

Thank you to all my helpers (in no particular order) -
Kathy, Lolly, Sue, Leslie, Sharron and Gail. An extra thanks goes to Allison for these great photos and for also doing security duty and keeping an eye on the "drunk guy" who decided to wander around the sale.

Happy Birthday!

Well today is my husband and father's birthdays. I posted my Dad's birthday card a few days back and now here is Phil's.

I decided to make an interactive card for Phil and was wracking my brain wondering what to do and what image(s) to use when suddenly the Hero Arts Past Times set popped into my head. Phil loves planes and trains and the set has images of both. I decided to use the airplane image and make him a "spinner card". Spinner cards are fun because the image spins around the track in a fairly random pattern. This plane really does some crazy aerial spins! I think the pilot must be a member of one of those stunt flying groups!
I have not made one of these spinner cards in years but it was fun to bring out this old technique again. I won't go into details on how this was made since I am sure there are videos on youtube for this. I used my Spellbinder circles to cut out the track, Bo Bunny Forever Fall paper, Hero Arts plane and sentiment and finished off the card with my Ranger Inkessential pen for the swirlies.

Hope everyone is having a great sunny weekend!

New card kits!

I have made up some card kits for sale at the store. This card is just one of the cards in the kit.
These kits have everything you need to make 8 cards (cardstock precut, stickers, sentiment stickers, envelopes and embellishments) excluding adhesives. They are available starting today. These kits are available in limited quantities, and traditionally are very popular, so if you are interested please stop by the store and pick one up.

Penny Farthing Bikes

Those of you who shop at the store on Thursdays probably know my Dad, we have lunch together most Thursdays and he is very special to me.
My Dad was in a restaurant recently that had a penny farthing bike on display and he was very impressed with it. When he told me the story I instantly visualized the Graphic 45 Old Curiosity Shoppe bike paper and since my Dad's birthday is May 26 I whipped up this card. I know he will get a kick out of it.
All it involved was cutting out a few squares of bikes out of the paper then matting the cut outs with black cardstock then putting them back on the cardstock I cut the original squares out of. Easy Peasy especially since I own the Spellbinder square dies made the cutting out and matting a breeze! I also edged each of the squares with my Tea Dye Distress ink.
My sentiment is from Hero Arts.
If you happen to see my Dad this week be sure to wish him an early happy birthday! I won't mention his age! LOL
PS it is also Mr Crafty Capers birthday on May 26 as well so I need to get another dreaded "man card" whipped up this week!

Ahh naps!

I made this card for no one in particular but it sure was fun to do. I purchased the new Tim Holtz alarm clock die last week and knew I wanted to make a retirement card with it first thing.
I die cut the clock out of black cardstock then stamped the Impression Obession sentiment in the center and embossed it with Crafty Capers Silver Dollar embossing powder. I mounted the clock onto my main cardstock (Hero Arts) then the fun part came! I had to think of things I wanted to do when I retired. I actually had some help from customers Leslie S and Susan M. I stamped out the retirement activities on white cardstock with a Stampendous clear alphabet using my Versafine Onyx black ink then mounted them onto black. I added some blue pearls to the clock face and the card was done. It was quick to do and fun. Hope everyone is having a great start to the long weekend!
If you are looking for something to do tomorrow morning (10:30 - 12:30) Crafty Capers is having a $2.00 make and take. No need to preregister just drop in with your adhesives, scissors and glue pen (if you own one).

Cottage Roses

I have a friend who will be having surgery tomorrow. I figure she could use a little pick me up when she gets home so I managed to get this card made up in a hurry. I'm not 100% happy with how the photo turned out but the card is headed for the mail tomorrow AM so don't have time to re do the photo.
I started by stamping the new Stampendous Jumbo Cottage Rose stamp on watercolor cardstock and then I embossed the roses with gold embossing powder. I watercolored the image with my Tombow markers and a waterbrush. I then cut out a butterfly out of white vellum paper using a Sizzix die. I stamped a saying by Flourishes over the butterfly for a bit of texture using a Brillance Pearlescent Thyme ink pad. I edged the vellum butterfly with a purple Tombow marker. I used my Tombow vellum adhesive to attach the butterfly to the watercolor paper. I added my sentiment (Hero Arts) and an old star shaped brad I found at the bottom of my embellishments basket. I finished off the card by rounding all the corners and adding 3 punched out butterflies.
Just a reminder that this Saturday 10:30 - 12:30 there will be a $2.00 make and take. We will be making a super cute frog card. Please bring your basic class kit with you to class.
One final reminder - the Crafty Capers garage sale is Thursday May 24 5:30 - 8:00 pm. This weekend is the last weekend before the sale to purge your stash and get it into the sale. We will be accepting priced items up until 5 pm on Wednesday May 23. If you have any questions please contact the store. :)

New kitty!

Sorry just had to post photos of my new addition! His name is Buddy and he about 3 years old and is a rescue, of course. He was found starving and extremely matted last summer in an industrial park.Thanks to Shirley and Cowichan Cat Rescue for helping him out in his time of need as DH said yesterday he has arrived at his final home.
He is still a little scared so is hanging out under the bed quite a bit and has found a HUGE number of dust bunnies for us (thanks!) so is already earning his keep around the house by doing some (overdue) dusting! :) He also let us know we have an "evil" rug but has killed it for us so we are no longer in danger.

If you are thinking about a new kitty in your life please consider adopting an adult cat from a shelter or rescue group I am sure this time of year they are overflowing with great animals just waiting for their forever homes.
If for some reason you cannot keep your pets please do not dump them somewhere and think they will be fine because they will probably not be. One of my sisters is feeding a dumped cat in her townhouse complex and trying to make friends with him so he can get a new home. There are lots of groups out there who will be happy to help you find a new home for your pet. Off the soapbox now...

Thanks everyone for stopping by!

A card for my Mom

I could not post this Mothers Day card until after the day because my Mom reads my blog. Would not want to ruin the surprise!
This card is pretty simple. I used the Tim Holtz die Tattered Florals and used Worn Lipstick and Fired Brick Distress ink pads to color the flower using the wrinkle free distress technique. Love the color the flower turned out!!! I debated using my Distress markers but am glad I decided against it for this project.
I used to embossing folders (Crafts too You and Spellbinder) for the cream background. I stamped my Flourshes sentiments on, you guessed it, Bo Bunny Double dot cardstock! I added some fake pearls using Ranger's Liquid Pearls Petal Pink for the center of the flower and the left side of the Double Dot cardstock.
Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Humming Along Mum

Here is a Mother's day card I made for my MIL. I seem to be going through a BoBunny phase as all the paper I used for this card excluding the watercolor paper is by them! I used a House Mouse image that was in stock last week but sold out in about an hour (more are on order)! I used the new Distress markers to color the image. I colored the hummingbird twice, cut him out and used foam mounting tape to pop him up. I added Stickles to the bird wings and throat as well as the iris. I used my Slice electronic cutter to cut out the word Mum. Happy with how this card turned out and I know my MIL will love it as she is a cutsy gal! Hope all the Mothers out there have a fabulous day tomorrow. I am excited to announce I will be a "mother" again because Phil and I have decided to adopt a new kitty. We pick him up tomorrow! Stay tuned for details! :)

Stamps: House Mouse Bird Watching

Paper: BoBunny Alora and Double Dot & Strathmore Watercolor

Die Shapes: Sizzix Flower & Spellbinder Labels 8

Coloring: Distress markers

Other: Buttons Bo Bunny, Twine May Arts, Yellow and Diamond Stickles, Slice machine, We R Memory Keepers corner chomper

Alora Hello

So happy with how this card turned out and I managed to use up lots of Bo Bunny paper scraps as well so that makes me extra happy!
I cut out 9 squares of Alora BoBunny cardstock left over from the Alora card class I taught a few weeks back. I mounted them onto a larger green square. I used a couple of Memory Box dies to embellish the card. The blue flower at the lower left of the card was made with the Spellbinder Peony die.
I am quite excited for this weekend as I will be enjoying a very rare Saturday off and will be going to a book sale. I am almost as addicted to books as I am stamps! LOL
Card Recipe:
Cardstock: Bo Bunny Double Dot and Alora
Stamps: sentiment by Stampendous
Dies: Memory Box Vivienne and Darla butterflies, Poppy Stamps Ivy Tendrals die, Spellbinder Classic squares, Peony & Lacy squares
Other: Hero Arts gems and gem flowers & Corner Chomper for corner rounding

The word is out

here is the second card I whipped up for my Aunt's birthday. I like that this card is gender neutral so I could tweek it and use it for the many "man cards" I have to make in the next few weeks.
This card was made using my Sizzix Movers and Shapers four window pane die that I bought last fall and had never used! I can see quite a few uses for this die so will have to find more time to play.
I used some Graphic 45 paper for the front of the card and I used a Hero Arts clear set called Wish Big for all the stamping. I used a black Sharpie marker to draw the strings for the balloons. I added Glossy Accents to the balloons on the front of my card as a finishing touch.
Just a reminder, for those on Vancouver Island Thursday May 24 is the Crafty Capers garage sale. All sale details are on the Crafty website.
Thanks everyone for stopping by!

Birthday card marathon

I have a bunch of birthdays in the next couple of weeks plus Mothers Day this weekend so I am under the gun this week to get my cards done. Here is a card I whipped up for my aunt's 70th birthday this weekend. I actually have 2 cards made for her 1 from me and one from my parents.
I'm pretty happy with how this card turned out. It is pretty straightforward. I cut the lacy flower part 3 times out of 3 colors so I could layer everything.
Card Recipe:

Dies: Memory Box Floral Square & Spellbinder Edgeabilities large scallop
Stamps: Hero Arts Yummy Treats clear set
Other: Hero Arts pearls, May Arts twine and ribbon, Tonic corner punch
Ink: Ranger Archival Coffee die

Happy Retirement

The store got in Little Yellow Bicycle's new Hello Spring paper line last week and I could not wait to have a play with it. The colors are so bright and, well, spring like! :) I bought some new Derwent and Prisma pencil crayons last week and used them to color the flower image. I was doing a product test between Derwent and Prisma but could not decide which brand I liked best they were both nice.
The card is pretty straightforward. I used a Spellbinder Grand (larger than regular) Label 23 for the card shape. I should have used my anti static pad for the sentiment because I have stray white embossing powder around the sentiment. I used Yellow Stickles to edge the yellow paper (Little Yellow Bicycle).
Card Recipe:
Stamps: Hero Arts Flowers and Swirls & Impression Obession Happy Retirement
Coloring: Prisma and Derwent pencil crayons
Paper: Bazzil and Little Yellow Bicycle
Spellbinder: Grand Labels 23 & Blossom Tags and Accents
Other: Yellow Stickles & Seafoam White embossing powder

Playin' with Distress Markers

The first batch of Tim Holtz Distress Markers arrived on Tuesday and the store is pretty much sold out. I will be placing another order shortly so if you would like your name put down on the pre-order list please contact the store. I am also expecting the Spring 2012 Distress ink pads (seasonal) late this week so if you don't have your name neeeeeed them might want to contact the store about that too because well over 1/2 the ink pad sets are spoken for and it is unlikely I will be able to get more since these pads are made in a limited batch. Enough housekeeping, onto the card for today! I had a bit of time to play with the new Distress markers last week and to be honest I was not too sure they would be "all that" but after playing with them I really LOVE them and I am not a distress kind of gal! I began this card by applying Distress markers directly onto the bird stamp then used my warm breath to activate the inks and stamped the image onto a square of white cardstock. Turned out so beautiful if I do say so myself! I then took my Niji waterbrush and blended some of the inks on his wings. Love it! I then used a key background stamp and used my Tea Dye Distress ink (pad) to add interest to the white cardstock. I then pulled out my new Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz sayings (virgin rubber and I bought them 2 weeks ago!) and stamped the sentiment with Walnut Stain Distress ink (pad). I matted everything as shown. I had to get a bit creative with the button since it had a shank (I think that is what it is called) so I punched a hole through the first layers of cardstock to recess it a bit. The final step for this card was to add Glossy Accents to the heart on the sentiment.

Hope everyone is having a great day!

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Stampendous Swirly Bird Nest, Hero Arts Fancy Keys, Stampers Anonymous Good Thoughts

Inks: Distress Tea Dye and Walnut Stain

Markers: Distress Markers

Other: Glossy Accents, yarn (from my Grandma's craft room), button (from my button box)