i put my heart and my soul into my work and have lost my mind in the process - vincent van gogh

I'm entering the birthday card below in Sweet Stamps July's Anything Goes Challenge.

 

Have fun, keep crafting and get messy my blogosphere friends.

you can't blame gravity for falling in love - albert einstein

As you can see although there is less media used to create this birthday card (it's pretty much all paper minus some stickles, marvy snow pen and gelly roll pens), the layers are quite typical of everythingshetouches.   

If you're new to the blog you will quickly learn that I have a mad love affair with gorjuss girls.  I can design a card around these little treasures all day long.

I coloured in gorjuss i love you little rabbit with coloured pencils.  I know what you're thinking .. coloured pencils? but it has such an amazing consistent blended texture! how on earth can this be coloured pencils?  Ah, but they are coloured pencils.  I use a blending solution to gain that amazing creamy blended texture.  Yes, this is now at the top of the top five colouring techniques (sorry watercolour; still love you loads but you're now a close second).

Here's a close up of little miss gorjuss i love you little rabbit and rabbit.

I'm entering this birthday card in three challenges:

1.  Craft Stamper Take It Make It Challenge: July Anything Goes!
2.  Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes 
3.  DL. ART July Linky Challenge: Anything Goes
  
 

holiday cards 2015

2015 was a very interesting and challenging year in my personal life and I'm not sorry to see it all end.  Have I been able to learn from the challenges?  Mostly, yes.  I think I've changed a great deal this year; mainly for the better.

I haven't really given 2016 a lot of thought yet, however, I do have some exciting new projects coming up in the first part of the year that I will share and I have decided that crafting needs to be more of  a marathon than a sprint.  Crafting in 2015 came and went in huge bursts of energy and frenzy.  I'm still a member of the stamping club and creating for 40-something members had been a bit of an endeavor with long bouts of rest and breaks from crafting in between.  It has been just like a swimmer coming to the end of the race, for which she was unprepared, and gulping for air until the next race.

Here are the card templates for the 2015 holiday season.  There are two versions of the light garlands; one without any additions and a second with stickles and glossy accents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year fellow blogospere friends.  I wish you and your families and your friends all the very best in 2016.  And have a very crafty new year.

tea and friends: bestest things in the world

I decided to enter this little gorjuss teacup and warm wishes holiday card in The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #19: Silver and Gold challenge and the Sweet Stampin Food and Drink Challenge.

Isn't staying warm with a ginormous pot of tea and enjoying time with someone special the absolute bestest?

winter is a season of recovery and preparation - paul theroux

I designed and crafted this birthday card for my amazing aunt who is very much enamoured with everything winter.  I have to admit, I don't really get it.  Sure snow is pretty when you're inside and you're not expected to travel anywhere and you're in the mountains, however, winter when you're heading out to work and it's minus a bazillion and there's ice and the mush covers the back of the work pants you just washed and ironed is pretty darn crappy.

Regardless, this little gorjuss foxgirl and her adorable companions make my winter-grinch heart warm and happy.

they invented hugs to let people know you love them without saying anything - bil keane

I used santoro gorjuss the runaway stamp set to create two slightly different versions of this Valentine's Day card.

I created a second layer by stamping elements onto tissue paper.  The images were painted using pink, brown, black and grey pearlescent paints and highlighted with glam pink and gold stickles.

I am entering this card into The Mixed Media Challenge #9: Think Pink and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: All Things Bright and Beautiful.

12 favourite 2014 projects over 2 posts part 2

As promised here's post two of two of twelve of my favourite 2014 projects.  Countdown continuing with number five.

5.  never trust people who promise to make you rich in a day. they are generally crazy swindlers ― carlo collodi, pinocchio (May)

4.  you can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf - jon kabat-zinn (May)

3.  it is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness - lucius annaeus seneca (September).  September was my debut to the Gorjuss girls collection.  I fell in love and haven't looked back.  Santoro has produced some of the most stunning stamps and materials I have seen.  And this card hits the top five list for 2014.

2.  inked stamper design team november project: gorjuss presence (November).  Given my feelings about Santoro it's not surprising that this card makes the list.  I have had more amazing comments about this card than for any other project I have made to-date.  It wasn't hard putting it together after I found On Top of the World.  This card also hits the top five list for 2014.

1.  genius without education is like silver in the mine - benjamin franklin (November).  This was my second memory book this past summer and what an incredible experience putting it together for someone who I admired and enjoyed working with tremendously.  It will always have a soft spot in my crafting heart.

Thank you for joining me in 2014 and your continued kind words and support.  All the best to you, my blogosphere and crafting friends, this holiday season and in the new year xx

inked stamper design team november project: gorjuss presence

I am over the moon excited to share with you my first official post as an Inked Stamper Design Team member!  Courteney, our Design Team Coordinator, has prepared some very sweet items to motivate our creativity for our projects this month.  I fell in love with the kaisercraft paper, the pearl berries and gems and was inspired by olive (julie nutting doll), the angel wing and snow marker.  I started off with the idea of a gift-giving angel and after some deliberation it morphed into having my girl perched on top of a pile of finely wrapped presents.  The presents in my mind originally were designed as simply layered paper but when you have an envelope punch why wouldn't you actually build presents?   

And then I found the on top of the world (ototw for short)gorjuss urban stamp set at the Inked Stamper - what a perfect fit!  First off let me just say that I am obsessed with the gorjuss girls line from santoro.  Obsessed.  No, let me rephrase and set the record straight, I am obsessed with santoro.  Designing is a breeze when you have such incredible sweetness at the centre of your project.  Seriously.

Ototw was coloured in using permanent ink markers in black, blue and gold.  The silver bib and stocking lines were painted in using silks and as the name suggests, silks are very easy to apply.  If you have not yet played with silks I suggest you try a bottle.  They are lovely paints with a fabulous little shimmer.  I used 130lb white cardstock for both ototw and the base of the card and she took the silks paint very well.  The face and arms were coloured with coloured pencils and I highlighted the top of the bib and her hair with stickles glitter glue (rose gold and star dust).

I stamped snowflakes on the base of the card using my Versamark and clear embossed them to finish the base and pull the card together.

Each present was punch cut using the envelope punch, folded and affixed to the card base using a heat glue gun.  The main present was given a bit of snow using the snow marker and all were embellished with pull-offs bits and glitter ribbon.  You can decorate your presents with a whole host of odds and ends.  Can you imagine steampunking it up for a birthday version?  The mini tags were cut from the same papers as the presents: kaisercraft (north pole collection), bo bunny (woodland winter), pink paislee (peppermint patty), echo park paper (snowflake furry), gemstones (gem opal) and blue cardstock.

I had an amazing time designing and crafting this 3D card and I am already planning out the next project.  I think it is time to create a layout again.  It has been a really long time, hasn't it?  Stay tuned to see what our December inspiration is and what develops.  And if you are in the greater Edmonton area go on and check out ototw in person.  There are a few left on the shelf.

it is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness - lucius annaeus seneca

New Heights Stamp Set by Simply Gorjuss Urban Stamps was the inspiration for this birthday card for my mother-in-law.  We all know someone in our lives who pushes us to be better versions of ourselves.  My mother-in-law is one of those people, in my life, who pushes me to new heights.

From 130-lb white cardstock I cut out a triangle (math folks look away; it's not really a triangle.  Yes, I know triangles only have three sides.  I took creative liberty) quadrangle (is that really a word?) and layered on strips of washi tape.  I picked out the little ms. heights colours before I started my washi layering and selected my washi tape with those colours in mind, so that the card was pulled together and had continuity.  I also slipped in some tribute washi: music and Paris.  My mother-in-law loves music and traveling.

The little butterfly and sign are both from this seven-piece set. Can you believe the level of cuteness?  I know most of you have gasped at the complete disconnect with my usual more intense style (I can be cute.  I own a smiling frog and a fox) but seriously how can you not love the Gorjuss series?  I plan on getting many many more (look away mr. everythingshetouches).  And if you live in the greater Edmonton area you too can find many of these darling stamp sets at The Inked Stamper.  

I embossed the sign with my wood embossing folder and distressed the raised image with vintage photo distress ink.  The butterfly was coloured using coloured pencils and highlighted with bronze stickles.

 

ms. heights was coloured using colour pencils.  I chose coloured pencils as the medium because I wanted to give her a bit of an airy feeling, to keep the card light and bright.  And I added a few pieces of sequence because, quite frankly, who doesn't love a bit of good sequence?

Little ms. heights will be one of my very first Etsy Shoppe posts next month.  She will come in a four card pack in different colours, made to order.  Check it out.