Colour Throwdown #86

This card was made for the current Colour Throwdown Challenge to use Yoyo Yellow, Garden Green and Suede. I subbed in Kraft for Suede. I used my new favourite set and went for a minimalist card in Very Vanilla. I used my Stampin' Write Markers to colour the flower directly on the stamp. The words are stamped in Sahara. The sentiment is stamped in Stazon.

Thanks for stopping by!
Smiles,
Lesley :)

I'm Back!

After report card writing and a horrible cold/sinus thingy...I am happy to be back to stamping. It has been awful not being able to stamp and so, with gusto, I set about stamping...and came up with a few different cards with a similar layout! This first set I used the Animals Stories set that is FREE with a qualifying purchase. Of course Sale-A-Bration ends tomorrow so I was happy to get this stamp set for free while I could! I made a couple of baby cards, which are always handy to have around!

This next card I used the Charming Set which was in the Holiday Mini. It is still available for purchase and so I bought it, because I love vintage looking stamps. It is difficult to see in the photo but the Sage Shadow paper is embossed with my Texture Plates using the Big Shot. I am really pleased with how this card turned out!
This Butterfly card was one of the cards I was going to teach at my "Kissing and Thumping" Class. I had to cancel this class because of my cold, I didn't want to get anyone else sick! I will be offering the class again mid-April.I hope tomorrow to be able to play the Colour Throwdown and some other fun challenges out there!

Thanks for stopping by!
Smiles,
Lesley :)

Chipboard Album

I got out the Big Shot and using the Large Scallop Circle Die, I cut four circles out of chipboard! I had never used the Big Shot for this before and let me tell you! It went through the chipboard like butter! Wow! So I then cut out 8 circles of my Cottage Wall DSP and then fit perfectly over my chipboard scalloped circles!! Tonight I would like to share the cover of my new chipboard album that I made all by myself! All the pages inside are covered with the DSP but I have not completed the inside yet. So I can only share my cover. The stamp set I used on the cover is the "Charming" set from the Holiday Mini Catalogue. Although it is not in any of the current catalogues, it is still available for purchase and so I got it!I am going to work on the inside pages this weekend and hope to share them soon.

Thanks for stopping by!
Smiles,
Lesley :)

Happy St. Patty's Day and Happy Anniversary to Us!

Well it is my Anniversary today! My sweetie and I have been married for 3 years! Whew! Feels longer! LOL! This is one of our engagement photos. It was taken in November 2006 on one of the few days it actually snowed that year! We were freezing! The picture was taken outside! I thought I would share some of the pictures taken that day. Our photographers were Erin and Bianca from Out There Photography.
Here we are getting ready. I was at my parent's home and he was getting ready at the hotel with his groomsmen. Below are my bridesmaids. Left to right: Kate (my cousin, we are like sisters), Jake (my best friend of 27 years) and Christin (my dear friend of 20 years). Corey's groomsmen all flew in from out of town. Left to right: Brett (from Calgary, friend of 20+ years), Davey (from Kelowna (Newfoundland originally, friend of 20+ years) and Carl (Best friend of 27 years) Both Corey and I have best friends from early childhood. It is amazing!
Here is a picture of all the friends and family who attended our special day. We were married at St. Ann's Academy in Victoria, BC. It was the best. Corey and I did the Irish Jig down the aisle after the ceremony! Our cousin played the Irish bagpipes.Thank you for letting me share! Happy Stamping and once again, Happy St. Patty's Day!!
Smiles,
Lesley :)

Sketch Challenge 272 (SCS)

This card was made for the current sketch challenge on Splitcoast Stampers. I decided to use black as my accent colour so the pinks and blues would pop! I used a retired Hostess Set called "Echoes of Kindness". I have added the sketch below, so you can play along too!Thanks for stopping by!

Smiles,

Lesley :)

Playing with Eastern Blooms

I decided to get out one of my favourite sets called "Eastern Blooms"(111626). I bought it originally for the cherry blossom stamp but have realized that I love the other flowers that come with this set too. They stamp so well.

I had some scraps in a bin and pulled out some Really Rust and some Old Olive. The cards just came together. I love the "For You" sentiment from the "All Holidays" set...such pretty scripty writing.Thanks for stopping by!

Smiles,

Lesley ;)

Top Note Purse

I am so excited my first attempt at a Top Note Purse! I found the directions here! Thank you to Becky at Inking Idaho for such wonderful directions. I have only really used the Big Shot for cards and scrapbook pages! I used the Big Shot with my Top Note Die and the Scallop Circle Die. The top circle was cut out using my circle scissors plus. The Designer Paper is called "Cottage Wall" and I used an old retired hostess stamp set called "Best Yet" for the sentiment. If any of the ladies in my group are interested in learning how to make a Top Note Purse, please leave me a comment and let me know!! Or email. :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Lesley ;)

Unscripted Sketches #46

I made this card using the Unscripted Sketches current Sketch Challenge. I used all scraps from my Bella Bleu Designer Paper for this card and the Not Quite Navy card base was even a base I had created for another card but then never used, so it was folded and ready to be made into a card!

The best thing about SU! Designer Paper is that it is 2-sided, which make coordinating cards easy! My sentiment comes from the "All Holidays" set and the flower is from "Bella's Bloom". I love this pretty little flower and used my markers to ink it up. The wide oval punch works well with this flower and I pulled out my "Lots of Tags" die with the Big Shot to created a nice little nest for the Oval Punchout. On the inside of my card, I used an extra strip of DSP I had in the scrapbox. I tried to take a close-up of the flower because it is covered in glitter. I was hoping to enter this card into the Saturday Spotlight challenge, "It's So Slick!" but the glitter is not glimmering as I had hoped. I also added some little rhinetones to the top left hand corner of the card, to add some more glitz.

Thanks for stopping by!
Smiles,
Lesley ;)

A Cool Discovery!

There I was tonight, creating my card for the current Splitcoast Stamper's Sketch and Colour Challenge. I pulled out my favourite set, For All You Do. I love using the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig with this set, so I can line up the flowers with the stems.

Well I decided to stamp my flower...

...and using the Stamp-a-ma-jig again, I stamped another flower on top of the flower I just stamped! Whoa! I am out of control here! LOL! And the effect was very cool...at least...I think it was!

When I stamped the flower in the ink and then stamped the first time, I then did not reink for the second layer to the flower, so it looked kinda wispy...(it does look wispy right?)...anyway, I LOVED the effect and decided to create my whole card using this technique... "The Lesley Overlay"! (Hehehe!)

There are lots of talented ladies out there who probably discovered this way before me...but I was so excited about my discovery, I just had to share!

Thanks for stopping by!

Smiles,

Lesley ;)

Tutorial: Making A Simple Card

This tutorial is for my friend Carol. She asked me to layout the way to make a card and so I did!

Step One:

Cut your 8.5" x11 piece of cardstock at 4 1/4". Then turn that piece in the cutter so that you can score the 11" side at 5 1/2". I chose to use Melon Mambo, but you could use Pretty in Pink.

Step Two:

Take the 4 1/4" x11 piece and fold it along the score line. This will create the "tent" style of card.

Step Three:

Take a piece of paper from the Good Neighbours Paper Pack and cut it to make a 4"x5 1/4" piece. I chose the white paper with little colourful hearts on it.

Step Four: (Excuse my messy desk)

Cut a piece of Melon Mambo to 3"x3". Then a piece of white paper to fit that square. Cut the white to be

2 3/4"x2 3/4".

Step Five:

Your card should look like this now. You have cut all the pieces.

Step Six:

Stamp your images on the 2 3/4"x2 3/4" white square. I stamped the houses in Melon Mambo. Make sure you line up the bottom of the houses, NOT the bottom of the stamps before you stamp! Add some clouds. I stamped them in Taken with Teal.

Step Seven:

Stamp the roof of each house on a separate piece of scrap paper and cut them out carefully.

Step Eight:

Using the little roof you cut out, pick up two glue dots on the back of the roof. Then add the roof to your houses, one at a time. This will pop up your roof...making it look 3D.

Step Nine:

Measure off a piece of Tempting Turquoise ribbon and tape it around the back of the mini heart paper. Then tape the entire designer paper piece to the front of your card. Be sure to centre it carefully.Step Ten:

Add some dimensionals to the back of your 3 x3" square. Make sure you tape the white square onto the 3x3" square first!

Step Eleven:

Tie a faux bow to the front of your card. You are just basically tying a single knot.

And your card is complete. To complete the inside, just cut a piece of 4"x5 1/4" white cardstock and centre it on the inside. The sentiment I used on the front of the card is from Curvy Verses. Hope this was useful Carol! I know you have this paper and stamp set. You can use any designer series paper and then match it to the cardstock and ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by!

Smiles,

Lesley

Scallop Trim Border Punch Tutorial

A friend of mine asked me to put together a quick tutorial on how to use the Scallop Trim Border Punch and the coordinating Corner Punch. I am going to demonstrate one type of shape you can make with these punches. This is the square I usually work with.

Step One:

Cut your cardstock to make a 3 3/4" square. It should measure 3 3/4" on both sides. Then fit your square piece into the corner punch. Look at the arrows I have drawn, the cardstock edges MUST line up with the guide on the back of the corner punch.

Step 2:

Punch all four corners.

Step 3:
Place the piece with all four corners punched into the Scallop Border Punch. Line up the edge of the punched piece with the guide on the Scallop Trim Border Punch. See the bottom left hand corner of the picture, I am lining up the scallop I created with the corner punch with the guide from the scallop trim punch. Do this on all four side of your square, be careful to line up each corner with the guide.


Here is a close-up of the "lining" up place. (Ignore the arrow I have drawn...that was for the last step!!!)

The finished product should look like this:

Step 4: Cut a piece of Whisper White cardstock to layer your square. I cut mine at 3 1/8" squared.

I hope this helped. If you have any questions, please let me know. Another place to find out more about this punches is HERE on the Stampin' 411 Blog. Their blog is a perfect place for learning!

Thanks for stopping by!

Smiles,

Lesley ;)