Hi, how have you been?
Long-time-no-see again! I have really slowed down on my crafting because, if I'm being honest with myself, I've really stepped up my teaching game at school and over the last couple of years I've become the Fine Arts department head, lead teacher of Student Council, and really just committed myself to being a better overall teacher to my kids....
I used to feel a lot of guilt about putting crafting deadlines and projects/classes ahead of my family and work, and it feels good not to have those commitments in my life any more.
I am still designing for Technique Tuesday, but not in a formal design-team sort of way, and I'm very thankful they let me play with their stamps and dies!
This project is a nod to my crafting roots (Copic markers) and new products/trends (Distress Oxide Inks). It's so interesting to watch trends come and go, and the new thing is inking backgrounds instead of patterned paper, I guess. (Not NEW, new, but you KWIM).
I don't know how many cards or projects I'll get done for Christmas, but this was certainly a good step in the right crafting direction....
Another thing that's been happening in my life is: Keto. I actually did Keto 20 years ago when I called it "Atkins" (I never did the high protein thing... just little-to-no-carbs - so essentially Keto) and I lost over 100lbs. What's different now? More resources like Instagram and Pinterest, and also, I just genuinely wanted to lose weight again... it was time... i was feeling it...
I've been on Keto for three months and I'm doing pretty well! I don't weigh myself because my goal is not a number, it's a feeling, but I can tell you that all of my clothes are feeling pretty damn loose, and that's all the inspiration I need to keep on going... If you're on a similar journey you can join me on my Keto Instagram @tobidoesketo
Anyhoo.... That's all for now!
Welcome to fall!!
Welcome back to school!!
Welcome back to China (for me)!!
And welcome back to my blog!!
I've had a little hiatus for the past few months, partly intentional, partly I was travelling around Canada and the US for the summer and just plain didn't have time! I had a fantastic summer and I saved a LOT to my favourites on Instagram, and one of the things I'm LOVING right now is simple, beautiful, stencilled backgrounds with a well-coloured image and sentiment. So that's what I set out to make!
I knew I'd be using an image of a bee from Technique Tuesday's Bugs & Kisses Stamp Set, so I chose three shades of Distress Oxide Ink that would fade nicely into each other.
Instead of blending foam, I decided to use the new-ish Distress Blending Brushes to create this fade. It worked well because by using one brush for all three colours, the inks kind of blended on the brush before applying it to the paper. I love how soft and seamless it turned out...
With a well-balanced and harmonious background, a small image and sentiment don't look out of place - it's actually perfect!
Thanks for stopping by after all this time, and I look forward to hearing from you in the comments!
Hi there!
Have you checked out the new designs from Technique Tuesday lately? SO many cute stamps with clever and punny sentiments, I'm in love!!
Like this set, for instance! It's called "A Little Prickly Stamp Set" and it's just chock-full of clever sayings to go with the cute cacti.
Thanks for stopping by!
Hi there! I had a few minutes to throw together a card for a couple of coworkers who are leaving our school mid-year. They are a couple from Australia so I knew that the set would be perfect for them!
Yes, I know that the masking it’s not great, but like I said I only had about 30 minutes to color and put everything together so there was no time for perfection! And the reality is that non-card makers would never notice the mistakes so I decided to not stress about it... that was a first for me, ha ha.
Thanks for stopping by!
Something you should know about me: I HATE poo. 💩 A phobia of poo, if you will...
this stamp set, though, is kinda funny!
Reminiscent of the famous 💩 (poo emoji) this set is cute, and paired with some punny sentiments it’s a good fit for people with a dirty sense of humour!! I pulled out the ol’ Copics to color the images, and added some brown shading with chalk pencils.
Thanks for checking out my dirty little card!
Whew!!
December is here! I look forward to Christmas (a little too much, probably.... hehehe) and then when December hits it's like BAM: concerts, parties, crafting, shopping, then it's over!
I don't have a lot of card orders this year, so hopefully I'll be less stressed this year, but we'll see!
It's been so long since I've used my Copics that they were dusty. DUSTY!! I'm going through a little bit of a slump and I'm doing more shopping than making, haha.. but anyway. This set is called:
and it's part of our Greenhouse Society collection. Do you like flowers? You'll like Greenhouse!
I coloured the stamp using the "no-line technique" which simply means that I stamped in a very pale shade of beige and coloured in the stamp while disguising the lines. I nearly lost my eyesight trying to see the lines on this one, but I think it turned out pretty nicely...
Thanks for stopping by!
Hi there! Can you believe it's almost August?
Being a teacher, I have the summer off and that means I fly home to Canada and get some much-needed hang-time in with friends and family, but I also get in some craft time. I bring a very small stash with me so I can make a little project here and there.
It's good for my mental health!!
The background is SO simple, so quick, and so cool! (I think....) I just used the round ink applicator (Ranger) to smoosh some circles of Distress oxide ink into kraft cardstock, and done!
Find this set (Lorenzo the Llama) here at Technique Tuesday!
I waited. I stalked. I ordered the minute appeared. I opened it up as soon as it arrived. I got some amazing results!
What am I talking about? The Cloud Stencil from MFT, of course! I could have made something similar out of paper, but I love the stencil material and how easy it is to slip and slide around on it with a sponge....
I added some splatters with water (I used Distress Inks and they're reactive to water) as well as some splatters of glimmer mist.
Thanks for stopping by!
Whoooooo says owls have to be black and brown?
Not me!
No idea why, but I went with kind of an ombre wing on these beauties.
I made a few different designs with the same basic layout:
I don't normally make duplicates (boring), but when I do I like to at least change the papers and background colours a little.
You know what's cool? This set is only USD $2.99!
Hi there! It's time to make a couple of cards for some special students. I love and hate this time of year, I can't wait for summer (and to get back to Canada for a while) but I also don't want to say goodbye to the grads...
Anyway, this is a cute stamp with an AWESOME font and I made it for the current Paper Smooches Challenge: MEN
This cute little elephant and sentiment are from a set called New Beginnings.
I can't wait to use the other stamps in the set - they're all equally adorable.
Elephant was coloured with Copics and I added accents with a pastel chalk pencil.
Hello there! I'm here with some cute gift bags for Easter and/or spring.
We don't celebrate Easter, especially since moving to China, but we usually give little gifts of our favourite candy (mini-eggs) or baked treats to each other! My boys love getting these kind of presents, so I thought I'd make a cute little bag to conceal the contents....
I assembled my supplies and got a colour-scheme going. This is usually the way I jump-start my creativity if I don't have any ideas - which was the case today. Colours are inspiring to me and I can usually work quickly after choosing a scheme.
I coloured an image that will serve as one of the elements on the bag. I made the colours muted intentionally so that the image can be used on top of any bag - regardless of colour.
Here are the bags, one for each of the people in my family!
I kept the design elements the same but just changed the colour of the bag! It's a really easy way to personalize a design without a complete re-design!
Supplies:
Have you seen the new Sizzix 3-D Textured Impressions Embossing Folders?
I was surprised when I got it out of the package that it was much thicker and heavier than your normal embossing folder, and now I know why!
The results are impressive!!
The embossing is quite substantial, with grooves and edges at angles that truly make it 3-D.
I thought it looked lovely in the kraft paper so I set to work making a just because card.
I do anything colour-wise because of the neutral base, but I decided to go with a nice and fresh blue/green palette.
Supplies:
I went on a huuuuuuuuge reorganizing rampage this weekend with my stamps and dies and came out at the other end inspired to create something.
I always check out MFT's Card Challenge blog to get ideas for sketches and color combos, and this week's sketch was nice and clean, so I jumped on it!
These little mice guys were colored with Copic markers and I hand-cut them out. (Too cheap to buy the dies, hahaha) and I mounted them on top of a little circle with the "London Eye."
I wanted the background to have something on it, but I didn't want it to distract the eye, so I stamped some of the images from the stamp set on white paper, then covered it with vellum.
That's all for now!!
Thanks for stopping by.
Supplies:
Stamps: MFT - London Mouse, Label Maker Sentiments
Die cuts: MFT - Die-namics Label Tape, Stitched Scalloped Basic Edges
Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye
Other: Gansai Tambi watercolours, Copic markers (Warm greys, R29/27/24/22, Y27, Y19/15)
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I couldn't wait to play with the new stamps and had to make a quick tag for valentine's day:
It makes me so happy to sit and colour a nice, uncomplicated image like this. Simple papers, simple layout and a simple colour scheme gives this tag POP.
I felt the background was a little too simple, so I added some Nuvo drops on a few hearts on the patterned paper. It elevates the paper from flat to 3-D with a simple step!
Sketch from Fusion Card Challenge:
Thanks for stopping by!!
Hi there. I'm here today with a beautiful and simple friendship card. On November 11th we celebrate Remembrance Day in Canada, so in honour of that day, I used a poppy stamp.
As a Canadian I will always think of a poppy as symbolic of Nov. 11 (Flanders Field etc...) but it is such a beautiful flower on it's own. I added a pale wash of watercolours in the background, and coloured the poppies with Copics using the "no-line" technique. I think it really made the flowers stand out. The black twine was an accent along with the black sentiment and black dots. It "tied" them all together. *wink*
Twine: Charcoal Baker's Twine
Stamp is by retired Annabelle Stamps
As a Canadian I will always think of a poppy as symbolic of Nov. 11 (Flanders Field etc...) but it is such a beautiful flower on it's own. I added a pale wash of watercolours in the background, and coloured the poppies with Copics using the "no-line" technique. I think it really made the flowers stand out. The black twine was an accent along with the black sentiment and black dots. It "tied" them all together. *wink*
Twine: Charcoal Baker's Twine
Stamp is by retired Annabelle Stamps
I have so many great stamps in my stash from companies still alive and well, as well as some who had to close their doors. As a crafter we always want to use the newest and shiniest things and tend to forget our old goodies. I just moved and it was a chance for me to re-evaluate my stash, especially considering I moved it all the way from Canada to China, haha... I made a conscious decision to push the old ones to the front and to use them right away. So.....
Here are my cards:
Here are my cards:
The image is from There She Goes - one of my first design teams and a company where I made a lot of great friends and was able to play with some amazing stamps!
So now that we're all moved in I have just a few last-minute touches to do around the place, and then I'll share some photos of my new craft space! It's small, but I'm happy!
Thanks for stopping by!
I got this set and wanted to have a little fun with it this weekend.
The background was created with watercolors and little trees that are part of the set.
And the little "beastie was nestled in some white glitter paper I made with glue and Distress Stickles "Clear Rock Candy."
For this card, I used the current MFT Sketch:
Thanks for stopping by!!
