New Baby!

I'll be back to crafting soon, I promise! Elora Dawn was born on May 21st and I've found I have next to no time right now to sit down and relax, never mind craft! But soon... soon. In the meantime I'll start taking photos of some of my nicer scrap booking pages and post a few of those!

Here's a card I made based on a design demonstrated by Colleen Hilchie. I did the same card in blues and greens with the D is for Dog stamp set instead. All Stampin' Up stuff used here. C is for Cat stamp set, Certainly celery, Summer Sun, Barely Banana and Really Rust are the colours.

World of Warcraft - Birthday KeK

And another World of Warcraft card today, I'm on a roll! In the game there are two factions, Horde and Alliance, and the two cannot communicate... if an Alliance player says something it shows up as gibberish to the Horde players and vice versa. In the case of "KeK" if someone on the Horde side types "LoL" (which stands for Laughing Out Loud) it shows up to Alliance as KeK. When Alliance type out LoL it shows up as Bur.

On this card I used paper and embellishments from Close to my Heart, in the form of the paper pack and coordinating stickers called "Bella". The stamps are from Stampin' Up, "Sassy Susie" and"All Holidays". I also used the Stampin' Up punches scallop circle, 1 1/4" circle and slit. The candles and flames were hand cut.

The card itself is from the Splitcoast Stampers resources section, it's called Trifold Card.

World of Warcraft - Gnomes

This is my fourth in a series of World of Warcraft themed cards. I'm using a great deal of innuendo and no actual Blizzard copyrighted images because, well, I don't have permission to! The next few Warcraft cards will take a bit as I wait for materials I've ordered to arrive. *twitch*

Gnomes are one of the races of the Alliance (the so-called "good guys", humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes). I didn't have a lawn gnome image, and the Warcraft gnomes really don't look like that anyway. This is my first time using the Close to my Heart stamp set "Around the Block". I used Basic Gray, Temping Turquoise and Very Vanilla from Stampin' Up along with several other random colours for the house.

I'm not sure how I feel about this card... and I think the stamp set is better suited to something larger, like a scrap book page instead of a card!

It's your birthday!

Waiting for an order is like waiting for your birthday to arrive when you're little. You count the days and fret. Here's a few more of my older cards. This first one was demonstrated by Colleen Hilchie at a Stampin' Up party. I love the colour combination though I didn't think I would! The patterned paper is actually just whisper white with the three colours stamped in various stamps.

Here's one I actually made from an old Creative Memories "page completion kit". I used the creative memories wave cutter and floral punch along with Real Red paper and Not Quite Navy ink from Stampin' Up.

Punchy about punches!

I'm a tool freak. I love punches and have a TON (not as many as my demonstrators, but I'm getting there). Today I just ordered this one from Stampin' Up which will allow me to complete the next in my series of WoW related cards. The cog symbol appears in the game over items you can interact with. If it's gold it means you're close enough and can "right click" to interact with the item. I plan on doing a plain card with the cog on the front with the text "Right Click to Open". I've already had several people put in requests for this card... even though it's just a blank notecard!

In the meantime, while I frantically wait for my order to arrive (hopefully before my baby so I can actually use it right away!) here are some other cards I've made!

This card is once again using a reverse emboss technique. I stamped the image in versa mark and embossed with clear embossing powder, then sponged the colour over top. I used Mellow Moss and Perfect Plum colours from Stampin' Up and the Close to my Heart stamp set called "Treasure Life".

This card I made when my mother first settled in at her new church, St. Andrew's. I used Sahara Sand and Bravo Burgundy from Stampin' Up and a stamp set that I purchased a long time ago (company name is lost to me now). Since the St. Andrew's Cross is a square based image this blank notecard can be used either portrait or landscape. I made matching envelopes with the corner stamp and the Bravo Burgundy.

Still not made anything new, but I did discover that a pint of Marble Slab ice cream as a celebratory dessert for your anniversary does not make for good dreams. Cheesecake flavor with black cherries, soooooo good.

I made this card for my Father-in-law's birthday.
I used Stampin Up paper and inks with the Stampin' Up stamp set called "Season of Friendship". The vellum sentiment came from Creative Memories.

Once again it's a tunnel card! Love the technique, clearly! The stamped sentiment comes from Stampin' Up as well.

Remember kids, good things in moderation, even if you are celebrating and even if the ice cream is really, REALLY, good.

10th Anniversary

I didn't make any new cards yesterday and won't today, because I'm celebrating my 10th anniversary! WOW ten years with one person! I made him a special card, of course.

I stamped the image of the young couple then did clear embossing overtop with another image. I then sponged some of the matching green over the edges of the image to show the heart's filigree (where ever I embossed remained white). I traced the heart and cut out a piece of gold, then green, card stock, sponged the edges of those too and then mounted them. (The gold is pop-dotted). The hearts are done in versamark and the word "love" in gold emboss. Tip, when embossing the front of a card like this, put a piece of paper INSIDE the card to protect from any stray embossing powder you might miss!

The finishing touch was a piece of lighter cardstock inside decorated with the Stampin' Up border punch. I won't tell you what it reads inside... only my husband gets to know!

Stamp sets used: Childhood Portrait (CTMH), Ever After (Stampin' Up), and Wonderful Words (Stampin' Up).

World of Warcraft - I've got the HoTs for you

This is my third Warcraft themed card. In the game there is a type of healing called "Heal over time" which is abbreviated "HoT".

I tried to use some more masculine colours as that's a weak spot for me. I used the stamp set "Season of Friendship" from Stampin' Up. The hearts I did in green because that's the colour of health notification which "ticks" when you're being healed by a HoT. That and pink really would have clashed!

On the inside of the card I considered stamping, "Won't you Tank for me?" but decided to leave it blank instead.

Thank you again to the members of WoW Ladies who have contributed ideas in this post.

World of Warcraft - take two

Seems I'm on a roll today. I'm still working off suggestions from this post on WoW Ladies but I'm keeping the cards simple until I learn more about Blizzard Entertainment's policy on copyrights.



This card is done in Lovely Lilac and Perfect Plum with some sparkle brads. I used dimentional adhesive to "pop" the square off the card. In World of Warcraft one of the best types of "loot" you can get is called "Epic Loot" and the text of the item is written in a glaring purple colour. The inside of the card is blank so it can be used for just about anything!

World of Warcraft - first card

Thanks to some inspiration from this post on the WoW Ladies livejournal community, I've created my first World of Warcraft themed card! It's an extremely simple design, I'm worried about copyrights so I'm avoiding using images from the game itself (like character models and such) and instead focusing on parody.

(Image shows both gold and white emboss)

In the game itself the yellow exclamation mark indicates there is a quest for you to pick up. When you pick up the quest there is a white question mark. When you've completed the quest that question mark turns yellow, letting you know that this is where you turn in the quest.

I used Barely Banana paper (mostly because I have WAY too much of it) and Summer Sun ink to give the gradient look. I tried the sentiment in both white and gold emboss, I think I prefer the white but need to get both an embossing buddy and finer (detail) embossing powder. (Embossing buddy helps keep stray embossing powder from getting stuck in the wrong spots due to static cling.)

Here's the inside of the card with the gold emboss. Overall I'm satisified with it, I'd definately make more of these for WoW friends. The generic Congratulations works with just about any occassion, especially when the WoW folk start getting "punny".

Thanks for the inspiration Ladies (and Gents) of WoW Ladies!

Christmas in... May?

I'm working on a "supr sekret" project right now, so you get to see some more older images. One of the most satisfying card types I've worked on is the acetate card, again from Splitcoast. It takes a bit longer to make because you have to wait for the craft ink to dry (can't tell you how many pieces of acetate I wasted on smudges!) This is a card I got in a card exchange that I thought was hilarious and kept. I don't have the lady's name any longer, unfortunately. Definately a card I'd recreate, cause... well... some of my best friends ARE flakes! Love you guys!

This beautiful card is typical of Leisa Hubley (her site is linked on the side of the page) and uses my favourite Christmas stamp set, same one that I used on the acetate card. Lovely card Leisa, thank you!

Now off to work on that secret project! Check back over the next few days to see what I've come up with!

Bleaching

My project today was to work on my Father-in-Law's birthday card, since I don't want to post that until he's seen it I'm posting some of my older cards! This card was demonstrated by Chris Dumont who use to work for Stampin' Up. Using an outline stamp and black embossing powder you stamp and emboss your image. Then you take a small amount of bleach (bleach pens for your purse don't work here!) and a paint brush and "paint" the bleach in various spots. The embossing keeps the bleach in place and the paper reacts to the chemical. Really neat technique! Thank you Chris!

Here's a card I made inspired by Leisa Hubley (her link is on the side of the page) with Close to my Heart. The stamp set is from Close to my Heart called "Playin' Hard". The brads are from Michaels and are SUPER CUTE. The arm of the digger actually moves thanks to the brads. It's just a matter of stamping the image a couple times and cutting out the pieces, putting them together with brads. It's hard to tell but the screw brads are on textured cardstock. Thanks for the inspiration Leisa!

Canada Day Approaches!

I asked a friend of mine today what kind of card I should make and he, being American, suggested a Fourth of July card. Well, of course, I had to make a Canada Day card instead! I was a bit distracted and made the front of the card portrait while the inside is landscape, but it's still a pretty card! You just have to rotate it once you open it, oops!The technique is called "Tunnel Card" and is something I found on SplitCoast. I used Stampin' Up colours Real Red, Basic Black and Whisper White with just a hint of Close to Cocoa (for sponging edges and for the Moose). The Stamp set is "Glorious & Free" from Stampin' Up.

I'm rather happy with it, I think I might make a few more! The technique was super easy too since I had the Creative Memories oval cutting shapes.

Friends...

I find a great deal of my cards are of the "missing you" or "you're a great friend" variety. I guess I like to say how much I care for no reason other than to say I care! These first two, of the same design, have different amusing sentiments.

I used the Stampin' Up stamp set called "Sassie Susie" along with barely banana, bashful blue and certainly celery stampin' up colors. The image was done with black heat emboss and then watercolor pencils. The sentiments read: "We're such good friends because, surprisingly, you're not intimidated by my beauty!" and "Your friendship is the most uplifting thing in my life without underwire!"

This is a very old card that I made using a scrap of paper. To stamp the words in different colours I used Stampin' Up markers to draw right on the stamp, then stamped. The corners are punched with a Creative Memories floral punch, it's designed to fit over corners too.

I love you!

Today is Mother's Day. My husband and children (who are almost 2 and just over 3) made me breakfast in bed, which the children ate for the most part. It was very adorable to hear all about how the kids helped daddy make the breakfast. It, along with the hormones of pregnancy, made me all mushy and gushy and reminded me of this card.

This was demonstrated by Colleen Hilchie at the Stampin' Up "Stampers 10" party that I hosted a few months ago. I modified her owl to have it's wings spread and add the "^this" to the card. The owl itself is made from various Stampin' Up Punches (of which I need to buy a few more so I can recreate this adorable card!). Trio flower, circle scallop, round tag, hearts and two sizes of circles.

I also love this card, another demonstrated card by Colleen Hilchie. I had to get creative with the photo due to the black on black emobossing in the bottom right corner. The eyes are adhered with dimentionals to "pop" them out a bit. Regal Rose, pretty in pink, whisper white and basic black are the colours. Lots of embossing touch ups.

Children's Birthday

Today was a day of making Children's Birthday cards. I've never been good at the whimsical cards so this is my first go of it.

This frog card is from a stamp set called "Fun Times" by Close to my Heart. I used Stampin' Up paper, Barely Banana and Certainly Celery with a corrosponding patterned paper. I'm very happy with the effect! The inside is stamped with "Happy Birthday" and has another pair of flies.

This lion card is a "scrap lift" from Colleen Hilchie who demonstrated the dragonfly card (found below) at one of our card paries. On the lion card I used a Close to my Heart stamp set again called "In the Wild" and a set of paw prints from a store bought stamp set I have. I used Stampin' Up paper and inks in Close to Cocoa, Really Rust and Summer Sun.

I really liked the unique design of this card. The base is 11x4.25 with score marks at 3 and 5.75. The front "plate" is 5.25x4... careful with the adhesive, you don't want the whole "plate" sticky!!

Recipe "Cards" and matching box

This project was a great deal of fun to complete. I got the stamp set called "From the Kitchen of" from Stampin' Up but found that the space on the recipe stamp wasn't enough for most recipes. After consulting my Stampin' Up demonstrator Colleen Hilchie we came up with a "greeting card" style. The front of the recipe card looks like any other, but it opens like a greeting card for more space to write out your delicious recipes. There's even more space on the back if it's needed.

I then used the tag punch and a cricut to create the dividers for various categories. These recipe cards and dividers are designed to fit in a photo album that holds 4x6 pictures (that are slide into the pockets from the side instead of top). This way you can leave your recipe book in the cupboard and only risk one recipe card at a time among all the various sauces and other stain-dangerous goodies you're working with.

Since this project was a gift for a friend to give her mother for Mother's day I also created a box using the "Heartfelt Thanks" stamp set. The box is big enough for the blank recipe cards.

As an added bonus, the recipe "cards" can also be used as an actual greeting card... sharing your favourite recipes with friends and family.

Tri-Shutter card, first attempt

I like to browse a site called Splitcoast Stampers where they provide a place to showcase your cards and other paper crafts. They also have a section that has tutorials where I learned how to make a tri-shutter card. When you view the resources you can also view the gallery dedicated to that tutorial, that's where I found a modified version of the tri-shutter that shows the full front of the card.

On this card I used the Stampin' Up stamp sets "Wonderful Words" and "Thoughts & Prayers". The paper (and stickers) is a collection from Close to My Heart called, I believe, Precious. To create the flower on the front I used the Stampin' Up scallop punch, cut at every other point for petals and curved the edges with a bone folder. I distressed the paper, added a plain white fabric flower and topped with a pearl accent.

This card was very time consuming! The effect is rather neat but I dislike how little space there is to write a personal sentiment. The stamped sentiment reads, "Thinking of You... please know that I care."

New Baby

What with a baby of my own on the way I'm a bit obsessed about making new baby cards. Here's a recent creation. This one was made using some of Stampin' Up's patterned paper, then cardstock in certainly celery, barely banana and whisper white. The stamp sets used were retired set "I'm here" and a new addition, "Glorious & Free". The sentiment is from "Absolutely Fabulous". I embossed the alphabet letters with sparkle embossing powder

This pink one is one I made last year as thank you cards for the lovely ladies in my stamp group who threw me a little party. The technique involves stamping the word first, then clear embossing a solid image (in this case the hand) and sponging ink over that. Paper is Blush Blossom, Perfect Plum and Whisper White. The stamp set is "I'm Here" a retired set from Stampin' Up. I embossed the letters in the background with clear emoss powder to give it a little texture.

Mother's Day Card

Here's the card I did for Mother's Day. The design is originally Colleen Hilchie's (my Stampin' Up Demonstrator, link to her site is on the side of the page!) though she used a cala lily flower and the background stamp was wood grain. Her selection was much more elegant, but I worked with what I had!

Paper is Stampin' Up, Chocolate Chip, Blush Blossom and Very Vanilla. Stamp sets are Pretty Petals, Heartfelt Thanks and All Holidays. The sentiment was embossed with sparkle emboss powder.

Thank you Colleen for a great card!

Kids can stamp too!

A recent parcel from each Grandma prompted thank you cards, but my children insisted on crafting the cards themselves. I helped to ink stamps they picked out (from a selection mommy thought was appropriate) with colours they chose themselves. I let them place the stamp and only helped to press firmly to make sure the image took. Even the hand print was Koen's idea after he accidently put a fingerprint on one card! My kids are so creative!

Koen's second card, he really likes blue... so much that he used three different shades of it!

The inside of one of his cards, the hand print was his idea... belatedly mommy realized we should have used a lighter colour.


The cover for the above card, Koen had a lot of fun "colouring in" the blue bells with a pink marker.

Kerowyn's card, she used a lot of bright colours for the stamped images but had more fun with the markers.

Stampin' Up ink and markers used (these are non-toxic and perfectly safe for kids to use, even on skin!).

Father's Day

With Father's Day fast approaching I wanted to share a card I did for my husband for his first Father's Day. The vellum is from Creative memories. The paper (patterned and plain) from Stampin' Up.

After selecting my vellum sentiment I used brads to attach it to the photo (vellum adhesive often shows up anyway) and then cut the extra off before mounting on the blue cardstock. It's a simple card with a stunning effect.

All About Stamp Off, Eh!

How did you get your start in paper crafting?

In 2007, while I was pregnant with my first, I was introduced to a scrapbooking company through an online community I was a part of. Eventually I became a consultant for that company. After some time I wasn't as excited about the product and returned to just being a scrapbooker and crafter.

When Koen (my oldest) was about 6 months old I was introduced to card making by my friend Colleen. I continued to scrapbook (improving all the time!) and to make cards and eventually my friend Leisa signed up for Close to My Heart.

It was September of 2010 that I signed up under Leisa as an independant consultant with Close to My Heart.

Why did you name your blog "Stamp Off, Eh!"?

There's two reasons actually and they sort of overlap. There's a technique in the stamping world called "Stamping Off", all you do is stamp your image once on a piece of scrap and then stamp again without reinking. You get a slightly paler version of the image. This technique can be used for a drop shadow on text as well, very effective.

The other reason is... well... I'm a fan of Bob and Doug. Parents out there may remember them for their roles as the Moose (Rutt and Toque) in Brother Bear. If you're not Canadian the Hoosiers are hard to explain... it's best seen. But the brothers are known for several phrases (and noises) but one of the more common is "take off, eh". Every time I heard someone say we should do a stamp off, all I could hear was "take off, eh!"