For you

Yikes, the garden has taken over my life, lol! I spent more than an hour tonight pulling out an invasive sort of plant that I was fairly certain I had erradicated last week and now it's showing up in entirely different sections of the garden - urgh!

 In light of that, I am posting some cards I made literally eons ago and never got around to posting for some reason. Hope you are having a great week! Mine has been very busy, but very good so far. Can't wait for the massage I have booked for tomorrow - it's gonna help so much after all that gardening!

Shanna :)

CAS Birthday cards

A couple of weeks ago before the mojo started to peek out from under the rocks, I was in dire need of some Birthday cards. I was in need of them in a hurry as well. Thankfully, I had picked up some fabulously fun imported "Kawaii" stickers at an amazing bookstore I found while in Halifax, Nova Scotia at the beginning of the month. The store is called "Woozles" - if you are looking for a good old-fashioned, well-stocked children's bookstore, this one is truly amazing! I could have spent hours (and LOADS of cash) in there. We only had about an hour since they were closing soon, but I still managed to spend a good chunk of change - it was the best shopping experience of all the stores we went to in Halifax! Anyhow, that is where i found these adorable stickers!

Thank goodness for the stickers! When I saw these elephants, I immediately thought of Amy who turned sixteen recently. Even though these are super simple, they were quick to put together and Amy loves elephants! Done and done. 

Puffy stickers =super fun!!! Oh memories of sticker books and pen pal letters...
Oh and do you remember "scratch and sniff" stickers??? They had those too - a few happened to make it into the pile of goodies! tee hee - Hey I do work with children with vision loss - they love them! So they aren't just for me!
Hope your day is fabulous!

Shanna :)

What I used:
stamps: CTMH "Happy Birthday"
and CTMH "Pinwheel" S1305 previous stamp of the month - I used the "stem" of the pinwheel for my "line"

Life

 A quick post to share the envelope I made a few days ago. The card was from my stash - I love the quote on it and it seemed to work for an Anniversary card which is what I needed and was out of time, so I customized the inside and made an envelope to match. Played with a variety of stamps including some from Tim Holtz and CTMH. I wanted to include the bicycle to match it up with the card. In case I didn't already mention it - I am having so much fun playing with my envelope maker from SU!

I love the quote I used on the envelope - in case you can't read it in the picture:

Time is a companion that goes with us on the journey.

It reminds us to cherish each moment because it will never come again.

What we leave behind is not as important as how we lived.

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

Have a great day!
Shanna :)

Merry and Bright all night

Here is another Christmas card for the stash inspired by the current challenge at Jingle Belles which is to use the word peace or create a card that represents peace to you. To me, there is little more peaceful or beautiful that a fresh snowfall, especially when it is the sort of snow that sticks to everything including the trees. 

I would also like to share at Christmas Card Challenges  where the current challenge is Anything goes.

So here is my card. Though it is difficult for me, I am trying to keep as many cards as possible this year flat or flatter for mailing. Which translates to cutting back on embellishments. I think though that too much embellishment would compete with the focal image on this one. What do you think?

Let is snow - ironic really, since it is currently 28 degrees here and feeling like 30! Amazing how much the weather can change in just one week! From winter to summer all at once - I think we skipped spring altogether! My first daffodil appeared just today and the lilacs aren't even close to blooming. My Pasque flower, one of the first to bloom in my garden is only just shooting up now. This is the slowest spring I can remember in my adult life. One week ago today, I wore a hoodie and a vest to soccer, tonight I am wearing shorts and worried about burning in the sun, lol! (2 weeks ago, I was wearing my winter jacket and mittens and sat watching with a blanket wrapped around me!)

Thanks for visiting!
Shanna :)

What I used:
stamp: CTMH A1148 Birght All Night Quick Cards (hostess rewards)
patterned paper: Echol Park "Winter Wishes"
ribbon: Bo Bunny

With gratitude

A quick thank you card

Tired children today following the "awake over". It was an adventure for sure - two puking incidents (over indulgence in pop seemed to be the thing) - but a good time was had by all. Thank goodness we don't do the group sleepover thing often!

Enjoy your Sunday!
Shanna :)

Make a wish

A real quick birthday card for the stash. Had to play with my washi and enjoyed splattering some ink too! The sentiment is a chipboard sticker that has been hanging around in the stash.

I would like to share at Shopping Our Stash where they are celebrating their 3rd anniversary. They are looking for birthday or anniversary card for this challenge.

Keeping it short for now - today is the day of my 12 year old's "Sleepover" otherwise known as an " awake over," lol. His bday was in March, but because of the busy ski season, we waited to have his"friends"party. It will be a busy house (seven guests), but they really don't need me for much except to FEED them and to be around to supervise, so I am thinking it may be a good night to get into my scraproom! Either way, I will be up late to supervise...We'll see how it goes..

Thanks for visiting!
Shanna :)

Merci Beaucoup - May stamp of the month

Good rainy morning! 

Well, the rain held off to make for one of the nicest May long weekends in awhile. The weather was perfect for doing yard work (LOTS of raking, digging and weeding!) and a major bonus was that there were no BUGS!

Well, I did get some time in my scraproom on the weekend and since I had just received my CTMH order on Friday, I had to play with the May stamp of the month! I had the thought to make up a little set of really super quick and simple thank you cards but match them up with fun and funky envelopes. I had some fun making 3x3 envelopes out of my SU Envelope punchboard. Some of the papers I used were pulled from an old craft book that I picked up at a Thrift shop - it was in rough shape so I didn't feel bad turning its pages into envelopes! Wouldn't these make a fun and super quick gift for a teacher?

I just heard that Donna is putting another CTMH order in tomorrow. So you have one more chance to get your hands on this cute set. I also look forward to playing with the other stamps in this set, particularly the one that says "you're the apple of my eye" and "I love you to the moon and back."

I am heading to Dryden this morning for work. See you in a couple of days!

Shanna :)

What I used:

CTMH - May stamp of the month S1405 "You've got a friend"

Holiday Wishes for Jingle Belles & Tis' the Season

On the way to the Farmer's Market yesterday, Hubby spied a  yard sale and suggested we stop. I wasn't really in the mood, but I'm so glad we stopped. I found a number of fun items including old music books, a Saturday Evening post Christmas book full of stories and artwork and these fabulous Christmas playing cards! There are two different prints in the set and they came in a beautiful tin that will be perfect packaging for a set of gift tags. I couldn't wait to get home and try to turn one of the playing cards into a card!
 Tis' the Season and Jingle Belles have a cross over challenge going on - you need to use the sketch (below) and use some bling. This is what I came up with...

Another shot with the envelope I made to match.

You will notice that I rotated the sketch.

Here is the inside:

Thought I would share evidence that the mojo seems to be back if not on it's way. A creative mess is usually a good sign, lol!

Thanks for your visit!

Shanna :)

Here is what I used:

papers: MME All is Bright

ink: ruby and juniper from CTMH

most of the rest of what I used is pictured here

recycled playing cards

You are precious to me

Good afternoon,

 I was fortunate enough to find Patti's blog, Stationary Styles a couple days ago when she left me a comment. Scrolling through her blog helped to get the creative juices flowing again. After laying eyes on this beautiful CAS card, I was inspired to get out my CTMH "Honeycomb" set and play. Essentially, I CASE'd her card - so thanks Patti! I can see so many possibilities with just one stamp set and a few colour changes! This is the first one I made. I will share a few others in a later post. I love how the design is simple yet it has texture because of the variety of patterns in the stamps.

I was also inspired recently by the mail art being shared over at The Letter Writer's Alliance and decided that when time allows, I should put more effort into my envelopes. Scrolling through Donovan's Instagram feed got me really excited about envelopes again - good thing I have my handy Stampin' Up envelope maker! Mine is pretty basic compared with the fun stuff she has been making, but I do like how it turned out. I dare say it is a good way to use up stash!

Last but not least, here is the inside. I decided to make it a Dad's day card.

 Hope you are having a fabulous weekend and a fabulous May long for those who are celebrating! Thanks for visiting!

Shanna :)

What I used:
stamps: CTMH "Honeycomb" C1537
CTMH "Say it in Style" for Happy Father's Day
CTMH "Priceless word puzzle" D1348
CTMH "Vintage Post card" D1207
Tim Holtz "Life's Possibilities" and "The Journey"
Thanks for being there is from Inkadinkado
inks: CTMH: garnet, outdoor denim, slate & black
random patterned paper from stash for envelope

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Hello!

This is one of the few cards I created over the last few months. It is a quick and simple card, but a bit more "springish" than the one in the last post! I sent it to a friend just to say hello and let her know I was thinking about her.

My sister and I came across a couple of packages of pre-folded patterned card bases at Home Sense recently that were on a super clearance. I don't normally use card bases, but the deal was too good to pass up and we bought a couple boxes and shared them. It made for a quick card, especially when there wasn't much mojo to go around.

In my last blog, I posted about some of the books I've read lately, I would love to hear what you've been reading as well as any recommendations!

Thanks for stopping by!
Shanna :)

Let it Snow! lol

Working on the mojo...
this card worked out for the challenge at Shopping our Stash - Sing it to me - use a song to inspire your project.

I know, I have made a major "fauxpas" singing "Let it Snow, let it snow, let it snow" two days before May long, but what can I say, the mojo has not yet returned and there was snow in the forecast for us this weekend until it changed this morning. We are hopeful that it won't snow, but it is not very warm just now, maybe 7c but windy as all get out! Today was the sort of day that I would have liked to put on my sweats or comfy jammies and curl up under a quilt with a pot of chai and a good book! 

Speaking of which - have you read any good books lately? Just finished "Girl with the pearl earring" and really enjoyed it. I have also been doing some pre-reading of pre-teen and young adult books that my boys are planning to read or have already read. Many of them are quick reads and I like to know what they are reading. I did enjoy the" Brian" series by Gary Paulson - there are several and all about survival in the wilderness, perfect for boys. My youngest who is 9 has taken a recent interest in Gordon Korman, so I plan to read or re-read his early books as well. I had not realized that he started writing in the seventh grade and had published several books before graduating from highschool! I am anxiously awaiting "Written in my own heart's blood" by Diana Gabaldon - the 8th book in the series. It will be out in June and I pre-ordered months ago. Can't wait for it to arrive in my mailbox! While waiting, I am about to start reading the Thomas Cromwell Trilogy by Hilary Mantel.  I read some great non-fiction this past winter/spring as well, but maybe I'll share that in another post. Somehow this turned into a post about reading...hmm so wonder my mojo is lacking, I can't focus! In any case, I would love to hear what you've been reading. I am always looking for the next good one - please leave me a comment if you've come across a good read lately!

Sure hope the weather is more spring-like where you are! I hope to be back soon with something more springish!

Thanks so much for stopping by and thanks to those who came by and commented after my very long  and unplanned blogging break!

Shanna :)

papers are Jillibean Soup

Thank you dictionary page

Well hello,
It has once again been a long time. Just planning to post a few random cards that I had made but didn't post yet and maybe that will help me jump back in. Mojo is seriously lacking lately though time has been an challenge as well.

Unfortunately, this photo seems a little fuzzy, but the card is long gone so it is what it is. Yes, I did actually use a real dictionary page for this - from a dictionary I picked up cheap at a yardsale that was in rough shape. I love the effect, but it is a bit challenging to apply adhesive to the page without tearing it. I do recall having to restamp a few times for that very reason.

Hope it is spring where you are - it is trying to be spring here, lol!

Shanna :)