Flower Daisies #2 & Top note die by Stampin up

I love the deep and rich color of Elegant Eggplant. Combined with the Whisper White Card Stock, it is just so stunning! This gorgeous flower was in my hands in less than a minute. That Big Shot still amazes me. I used the Flower Daisies #2 die from Stampin up. I also used Stampin up 'Top note die' twice. With 2 different colors. Then I cut off a bit of the edge from one of them, glued them together and WOWH.. did that ever give a beautiful effect. Some ribbin to finnish it of. I always try to bring some kind of balance in a card. I punched 2 of the corners with one of the newest corner punches from Stampin up and there is the card!
Colleen had a Stampin up workshop at her home. This is where I made this card. Her creativity inspires me. Love it!

Pedaling Past by Stampin up

It's my dad's birthday soon. He lives in the Netherlands with my mom and I live in Canada. I don't think this card will be in time for his birthday. There are only 4 more days left...Wowh, did my week ever go by fast. I should find a sentiment saying something like 'Happy belated birthday'. Although in The Netherlands people don't say 'Happy Birthday', the say Congratulations with you birthday and they congratulate everyone in the family. You call up the parents of the 'birthday person' and congratulate them as well.. When I immigrated 9 years ago.. it was new for me not to use 'Congratulations on cards when it was someone's birthday.

Well all that to say.. I made him this birthday card! I think he will enjoy it. He loves biking! When I still lived at home, me and my dad would go in the evenings on an hour bikeride. We took turns. He also took my mom, my brother and my sister when she was still alive. It was such a great time to connect to my dad. He has the greatest stories. I miss not being able to come to his birthday. In the last 9 years I was once on his birthday. sigh..

Anyway... I used 'Pedaling Past' from Stampin up. It is in the new Mini Summer Catalogue 2010. I couldn't pick a better set. I love it. I used the Summer Picnic Designer Paper. Love the pattern of this paper. I used some Whisper white cardstock as well as trhe Baja Breeze card stock from Stampin up. 2 'So saffron' eyelets keep the 2 different ribbons (Baja Breeze and Blue sky) nicely together.

I better get going here. I still need to write something in this card. I hope to drop this card off at the Postoffice this evening.

Stampin up Extreme Surfboard

Happy Monday Stampers! yes the week is here again. Don't you love how this card turned out. Here I used the 'Extreme Surfboard' stamp from Stampin up. What a great moment to capture in a stamp. So many of my friends are crazy about this sport. To be honest I never tried it. Last year when we went to California I saw people sufing on those huge waves.. I admire them, but I am not sure if I am ready for such a ride :)

As a base for this card I used the 'Kraft cardstock' I aded some layers with 'Old Olive' and 'Not quite navy' and 'Very vanilla'. I punched out 3 stars with the smal Stampin up star punch. Each got it's own eyelet. I love how the metal of the eyelet matches the silver embossing I did with the stamp image. The 1/2" Old olive Striped Grosgrain ribbon brings some nicetexture to this card on the side.

In the background you see that I used one of 'Vintage Labels' stamps. This set is retired, so happy I got it when I could.

Queue up and Cute by the inch by Stampin up

I am SO excited. This 'Queue up' stampset from Stampin up is just so darn cute. It is a hostess set in Europe. Sadly not available in Canada, I was so thrilled that I was able to buy it from someone in Europe and it arrived the other day. This morning I made my first card with it. What do you think?

I used the Certainly Celery cardstock as a base for this card. I stamped some Soft Suede ink on the 'Woodgrain' background stamp and stamped it on the Soft Suede Carstock. I trimmed it and added it to the card. Mushrooms and woodgrain make a good team right! I colored the stamp with some SU markers (Real red, Pumpkin Pie and Cameo Coral, Old Olive for the grass and Summer sun to make it all a bit brighter)

I used the 'ABC-Hi' stamp from the New 'Cute by the inch' stampset from Stampin up and punched it out with the circle punch from STampin up.
I love how the Soft Suede ribbon brought the 3 colors together in this card. I needed that. And what about that cute little flower brad in 'So saffron', it just adds that little touch!

And tadaah!!!!!!! love it!! I just so love making cards..

Cheep talk & Sunny day from Stampin up

What a gorgeous day here in Calgary. I just opened the windows to hear the songs of the birds in our yard. Now that's music.. Really, who told them to sing so beautifully.. 'God did!!' my 6 year old son answered me. I guess I was thinking out loud.. Okay.. 'God did'! I can live with that answer. God is sure creative, you are right about that Reubs! Each bird has it's own song.. It still blows me away!

A couple of weeks ago I went to a Stampin up meeting at Colleen's home. She showed us how to make this card. It's so happy.. I have something with 'happy'. I like it.

We used the 'Sunny day' Simply scrapping' kit from Stampin up. It is loaded with coordinating die cuts, patterned paper and card stock.

For this card and book mark I used the Tempting Turquoise and the Pink Passion card stock. We used the 'Cheep talk' stampset, also from Stampin up. I colored with the Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie and Tempting Turquoise SU markers on the rubber and quikly stamped it on the whisper white cardstock.. That turned out so well. To add some texture to it we used some Tempting Turquoise 1/4 grosgrain ribbon to it. I love how the bookmark slides so nicely in this sleeve we made..

I punched out the flower shape with the SU scallop circle punch. On top of that I added 2 dimensionals, so the circles I added on top of the flower would be kind of lifted. Which would stop the bookmark from sliding all the way in. How clever! It wasn't that hard..

Now I just need a book to read, so I can use this cute book mark.

Tropical Party by Stampin up

Reuben's last day of school has come to an end. I will pick him up in a couple of minutes. This school (The Calgary Christian School) has been such an amazing place for him to learn, to play, to share and to love God even more. Both his teachers (Kelly and Ann) were so so sweet and caring towards him. They have so much joy and patience and creativity. What a gift that reuben was able to go to their class. He will sure miss them. And I will miss them to. Their smiles in the morning when they greeted us running into the door. Reubs and me had a habbit of coming just 10 seconds late, sometimes more than that.. Traffic.. and kids.. sure don't make it easier.. I have to work on that one.. being 10 seconds early is better than 10 seconds late (smile)

All that to say. I made these cards. One was inspired by my friend Colleen. She rocks.. She is so creative. I learned a lot from her. The other one I put together myself.. I like them..

I used Old Olive cardstock and the Tropical Party stampset from Stampin up.. Oh how I long for the summer.. Palm trees and a coconut drink. Yip! I hope reubs teachers will enjoy their holliday. They so deserve it!

Kindred Spirits by Stampin up

Hi Stampers. I hope your week is cruising along nicely.

A couple of weeks ago I pulled out my 'Kindred Spirits' stamp set from Stampin up. I never really knew what to do with it. So I decided that that 'thought' needed to be changed and I started to play with it.
Before I knew it.. I was hooked to these images and I love how these colors POP!! when you add them to the Whisper White card stock!
In these cards I also used the Tangerine Tango and the Pacific Point card stock. I stamped the image in the Craft Whisper White ink and added some white embossing powder. I heated it up quikly and it all melted together. I so like that glossy look of the image.
I am still in the 'practise stage' of using my embossing heat gun.. If you look closely you will see why. It's so darn tricky. But the cards where still worth posting I thought :)So here they are.

Cheep talk by Stampin up

I love these little birdies. They make me smile, that's for sure. It is a stamp set that is available from Stampin up, It includes 11 different stamps. (item number # 113204 ) I used the 'taken with teal, whisper white and kiwi kiss' card stock. I had so much fun coloring the branch of this stamp set with the chocolate chip and old olive Stampin up markers. It's like therapy to me (smile) I punched out the little flowers with the Stampin up Spring flower punch. I also used the scallop border punch to give it a more 'sweet' look. And yes.. Those cute and happy circles that you see are from 'Summer Picnic" . I know... What a great way to use up some of my scraps of Designer series paper. All that to say.. I'm going to hang on to them for a while before I send them away.. I know.. it's only a card

Build a Roo from Stampin up

honestly counted the days for this stampset to arrive at my home. 'Build a Roo' from Stampin up. Love it to pieces. I can just look at it and be happy. It was so much fun to sit down with my friends and have the chance to work with it.. My creative bubble was jumping all over the place. Here is what I came up with. I used the Tangerine Tango cardstock from Stampin up and some very vanila + the Basic Grey as well. I loved addding the Hodgepodge genuine vanilla brad that finnished it off so easily. It wasn't hard and didn't take long at all to put it all together. I hope you enjoy it. Take care.

Branch out by Stampin up

Here is a card I made with one of the cutest stampsets out there from Stampin up. 'Branch out' I just love it. I have a thing for trees. The way the wind makes them move, the way it is a shelter for birds, the color it brings in spring, the fragrance it gives after a rainy day.. I'm sure you know I can go on and on.. I hope that this afternoon we can go out for a walk as a family.. yip in the forest..
I used the Basic grey, Kiwi Kiss, and Baja Breeze and very vanilla cardstock from Stampin up. The Designer Paper that you are seeing is from Urban oasis. I hope it will last a long time.. because I do use it a lot these days. It just brings that elegant style to my creations. Love it

Cute by the inch - new Hostess set from Stampin up

Can it get any cuter than these 'thank you' cards..

We celebrated our children's birthdays last Sunday afternoon in the park. They are all born within 5 weeks from each other. (and some years in between) We had so much fun. I organised some fun games. These were not alone for the kids to play, but also for the adults to join in. It was hillarious. It really made everyone that came involved in the fun. I forgot how good it is to play games and laugh my pants off. (not sure if that's a saying here in Canada.. otherwise I introduced a new one :)

All that to say.. I made some sweet thank you cards for everyone. This cute stampset 'Cute by the inch' you can get from Stampin up when you host a 'card making-class at your home'. And if after that your friends like to order something out of the new stunning catalogue from Stampin up and you reach $395 in sales.. then this set you get for free from them + $45 to spend from the SU catalogue. Compared to a lot of companies I think that's a pretty generous thing they offer you.. I have been to some of those classes. Love them! I learned so many new techniques and got so many fun ideas to keep the creativity going.. Yip I wouldn't be where I am today.

Again I used the Baja Breeze, Chocolate chip and the Pretty in Pink card stock. I also added some Kiwi Kiss colored accents that I punched out with the curly label punch (# 119851 in the catalogue $23.95) Love how it turned out.

Seaside sketches by Stampin up

About a week ago on one rainy morning, the door bell rang. There stood a soaking wet Mail man with a parcel from Holland. Suddenly it felt like the sun was about to shine in my living room. The kids were dancing around me while I was opening it. We were so excited. It was a pracel from my dear friend Margriet de Koning. She is so amazing. She had send me nassie kruiden (some indian spices) some dutch candie.. 'dropjes' black licorice.. King Peperemunt. And some other sweet goodies! She is so so sweet. A bit of Holland and an overload of of memories came rolling in our home that day. It was hard for me not to think back of Holland that day.. Not that I am not allowed to.. But in a way it hurts so bad. I so miss my family and friends. I miss being able to make memories with them.. to see their faces. Hear their laughs, eat with them, celebrate with them.. bike with them.. It makes me even weary to write this all down.. sigh..

Anyway.. I wanted to make a card for Margriet to thank her. I wanted to give her a smile in her face.

I used a Stampin up set from the 90's. Seaside Sketches. I love how it turned out. The layers, the colors. Very cool. I used the Baja Breeze, Soft Suede an Whisper White and River Rock cardstock from stampin up. I added a Baja Breeze curderoy button at the top, which gave the card a little more balance and depth. I watercolored the 2 girls. I used the round corner punche to cut the corners + a retired Stampin up punch to add that cute corner on the right.

Sock Monkey by Stampin up

Mr Sock Monkey has been part of our household for almost 3 years. His birthday is soon coming up. 3 years ago Alexandra Hotson (slash)/'Martha Steward' a dear friend came to our Mom's group of the Winnipeg Centre Vineyard and helped all of us moms make this all time favorite and super cute monkey friend. That morning I made one for Reuben and that same evening I made one for my daughter. They have been in their beds and hearts since that day.

When Stampin up started selling their Sock Monkey stamp set. I was hooked. I have used it for so many occasions. These ones I turned into a Birthday card. don't you love the Designer Paper that's in the background.. I am so happy I still have a stash of it..

I should send Alexandra a sock monkey card. Just to thanks her for all her work she put in that morning. This woman rocks. She is so creative. She is an amazing dancer!!!! She can cook, paint.. unreal.. and she had the best garagesale ever, when they moved out of Canada. Our kids still play with the Playmobil we bought then. Love you Aexandra! I just need you addres.. :)

Manhattan Flower embossing texture folder

My dear friend Kylie volunteers at the 'Jesus Loves you' evenings. On Mondays and Tuesdays and Wednesdays and now also every other Sunday after church they provide free healthy meals for single moms or dads in Calgary and their children. I've been there. What an amazing group of people that care and love and invest in these families. They also help out in very practical ways. One evening they changed the oil of the moms cars, when school started they provided backpacks with school supplies, with Christmas there was a room full of beautiful gifts for the parents. The children were able to go in there and pick gifts they thought their parents liked.. What a place eh! I am sure all these things Make God smile.

So then Valentines Day came. Kylie came over and she had made 2 cd's for 2 moms in the group and she wanted to make 2 card to go with it. Oh.. I said, you can make a cover for the cd's and write something for these moms in the sleeves of the cover.. How cool. She was so excited and she made these 2 stunning cd sleeves. Aren't they gorgeous? She has talent. And she is so much like me.. It just has to be perfect. We laughed so hard.. We both can get so ticked off when something is just a little bit off. Well.. I have to say.. These covers are just PERFECT!

She used the Manhattan Flower textured impressions embossing folder. within 1 minute you have this incredible texture in your cardstock. She used the 'Real red' and the 'Basic Grey' cardstock. So stunning. Later I heard that the 2 moms, really loved her homemade gift. How cool is that. She rocks! She has a heart of gold that girl. These families are so blessed to have her around!

Two step bird extra large punch by Stampin up

You might think that I have some amazing scissor skills. Maybe I have, but I haven't taken the time to find that out. As a kid I would be in my room cutting away flowers and birds and faces..with very fine details. I would borrow books from the Library and would try to copy the detailed pictures..
Now I am a mom. And sometimes when I take care of our childrens cousins, there are 6 children in this household... Sadly I have no time to further my scissor skills. I think Stampin up had me in mind when they created this overly cute Bird punch. Seriously, in just 4 seconds I have this adorable bird, it's branch and an extra wing for this birdie. (item# 117191 in their catalogue)
What more can I ask for.. Stampin up gives me kinda... 'wings to fly' and create cards that are so stylish and don't take up to much of my time. I love that about them.

Fox and Friends by Stampin up for a cute little baby

Stampin up's - Fox and Friends. What a sweet set of stamps.. My dear friend Caryn got a baby now 3 weeks ago. I was able to see her this evening and her little boy. Is he ever cute.. Just like his mommy! (If you would know her, you would agree with me) I made this card for her when she was still pregnant and I couldn't wait to pass it on to her. She so loved the card. Yeah.. I love bringing a smile on her face. I feel like a little of my heart went into making this card.. I hope she can come over sooner than later to sit down and talk and make some cards. Her 5 year old girl would love to join us as well. That will be fun and probable a bit chaotic too. When I stamp and my almost 4 year old daughter is around to join.. yip.. I probable don't have to say another word. But it's fun. She so enjoys it.. who am I to stop her from making even a bigger mess than me.. :)

I love the Old Olive satin ribbon. It brings that sweetness and softness to this card. The scallop circle punch lends a touch of elegance and the circle within gets its shape from .. yes :) the circle punch. Oh.. so many details in this card.. But not enough time to mention them all. I just hope you enjoy the card and get some inspiration out of this card

Thank you card with Branch out from Stampin up

My husband needed 4 'Thanks you' cards today.. I think I made about 4 different ones for him this morning.. These were the ones he liked.. :) Not to girly, not to sassy, just right.
This is what I came up with.. I used the 'mellow moss' and the 'Not quite navy' cardstock and yes.. welcome back to 'Branch up' from Stampin up. I so love this set. Simple and profound enough for even a man like my hubby

Inspired by Nature - Stampin up - Dasies

I love to take photo's of flowers. I took these 2 photo's 2 years ago of some daisies in the Rocky Mountains. For some odd reason they inspired me to make this card. Maybe it's the rain in Calgary and the snow that everyone is talking about, that might come these days.. sigh.. My dear friend Lisa brought me a week ago some Tulips when she came over to visit. Just Gorgeous.. They bright up the whole room. I am still thinking on what card I could make for her to thank her. She is just so sweet. I will keep you posted with what I came up with, once I am done.
In this card I used the 'Inspired by nature' stampset from Stampin up. (#111656 from the catalogue) I used 'only orange, old olive and chocolate chip and whisper white' for the card stock and a craft white ink pad. That ink leaves such a nice print after I stamped it. I also used the same color old olive and only orange eyelets and some old olive ribbon. The way everything matches.. You can't beat that

Tri shutter Stampin up baby card

Wowh.. I got inspired last night. I brushed the dust off one of my 'old' favorite stampsets. The one with the mom with her little baby.. I am not sure what the name of this stamp set is.. But I just adore that picture. It speaks of so much love and affection for 'life' and how life starts. Fragile, small, perfect and so full of cuteness.

I made this trifold card for my dear friend Michelle who lives in Maui, Hawai. In about 4 weeks she is done being pregnant (although I think she feels pretty done already :) Her mom is going to visit and she is going to bring my gift and this card to her. I feel so blessed knowing Michelle. This woman has so much courage and faith and trust in God.. I just adore her and miss her a lot.

To make this card, I used the Chocolate chip + Pretty in Pink card stock of stampin up. I also worked with the 'sending love Specialty Designer series Paper of Stampin up. Seriously.. I love working with this paper. Please don't remind me that this paper doesn't last forever... I can't stand the thought of that one.. But I am sure Stampin up will provide another super sweet 'one' when that time has come. Sigh..
I also used the 'Little Angel' clear stampset from Stampin up. It was good that I needed a couple of different sentiments for this card, because otherwise I would have had a hard time picking just one of them. They are all so so cute! I added some beautiful Bible verses that SU released many years ago.

Being a mom can be amazing, but at the same time pretty intense.. You know, it's so good to have community and people that care and love you. (like my hubby and all my dear friends and family) Without them and without God, I would have such a hard time being a mom. It's a challenge.. A good one though!
All that to say.. I hope that she will like the card.. I think she will.. ... I think.. :)