Summer Memorabilia Keeper

I haven't been very crafty, but I'm still keeping an eye the blogs. This Summer Memorabilia Keeper looks like something I might need for every trip! I spotted it on the Groovin' with the Go-to Gals blog.

Back to work for me!

Better bows - for your shoes

If you haven't yet learned something today, try this.  It's a TED talk on how to tie your shoes.  Apparently I've been doing it wrong.  My parents are great people, but they let me down on this one.  Thank goodness for the internet!

(Life has been busy and the sun has (finally) started to shine, so I'm not spending as much time at the craft table.  I promise to post more cards soon!)

Tiki

I"m a bad blogger.  Life got busy and the blogging stopped.  Opps!  I also haven't made that many cards in the last month or so.  I will go back and show you what you missed soon, but first, last week's Tiki cards.

My friends Heather and Terry got married last Saturday in Vancouver's one and only Tiki Bar at the Waldorf Hotel.  It was a great night and a really fun locale.  I especially enjoyed seeing Heather and Terry's happiness and spending time with old friends.  (I no longer live in Vancouver, so it's been a long time since I got to hang out that fantastic group of people.)

I let the wedding theme be the inspiration for my card and made a very untypical wedding card - which also fits with the theme of the wedding!  I don't think the card ended up as funky and cool at the bride and groom's style, but I like it.  And I think I hit the Tiki them without going out and buying any new supplies (oh, the restraint!), staying masculine enough for a couple, and in keeping with their graphic/clean and simple style.  What do you think?

Supplies: Stampin' Up solid cardstock in black, white, and I can't remember the name of the pink and the yellow.  DP from the Dollar Giant.  Amuse stamp, borrowed from Glenda. Flower also from Glenda.  Techniques:  Cuttlebug textures that I can't remember the name of...bad Jo!!

As it turned out, the card colours also pretty much match the drinks I enough that night - a yellowish El Diablo, a Pink Lady, and a Blue Hawaiian.  :)

My policy for wedding gifts to to give the couple what they want - so I got them a MEC gift card.  Apparently they are always in need of more bike gear!  (See the restraint - I could have used this as an excuse to buy a great vintage bicycle stamp to match their cruiser style bikes!!)   I made the gift card to match the card.  What do you think? (Front, back, and interior, respectively)

 I really used a lot of different supplies and techniques on the gift card holder.  In addition to those listed for the card (above), I used the Stampin' Up word window and circle punches to make the opening for the card, three additional Amuse stamps including the little pink flower in the middle of the flowers (I now wishing I'd embossed all of the black stamps.  Oh well!), some flowers I was gifted when I bought my Cuttlebug (thanks Melissa), Stampin' Up brads, the card holder pattern from a former class by Glenda, and coloured some areas with pencil crayons and then used the technique I learned from Jessica of There She Goes clear stamps to blend them out.  (It involves odorless mineral spirits.)

Heather's so awesome that she sent out a thank you email before I even got this posted to the blog!  

Thanks for checking in,

Jo

Kayak Yak: Harbour Celebration Sunday April 17

This is a little aside from paper crafting for my local friends.  And if you haven't checked ou the Kayak Yak blog, you're missing out!

Kayak Yak: Harbour Celebration Sunday April 17: "Here's a note forwarded from SISKA -- the South Island Sea Kayaking Association -- about next weekend's Celebration of our Harbour. This eve..."

Simple and white

Last week I seemed focused on very simple cards on a white background.  One of the reasons I was focused on super simple cards this week is because I had a request for a friend for a whole set of cards.  I was super flattered and I hope she'll like some of these.  Next up, much more complicated ones to balance them out.

I made these first two at my friend Glenda's place at our semi-weekly craft night.  I like the balance on these cards.

 I then moved onto using some stickers from my favorite store - The Dollar Giant. 

I made one more, but must have forgotten to take a photo.  They're OK, but nothing to write home about. ;)

I also had a set of really pretty rub-ons from the Dollar Giant that I've been hoarding.  I thought I'd give them a try on a couple of cards.  I haven't used rub-ons before but it was super easy!

Cheers,
Jo

Cityscapes

OK, so I'm a little behind.  These cards were inspired by Paper Crafts Magazine - see the original challenge post and the challenge winners post.  That was only almost a month ago!  Opps!  Obviously the inspiration stuck in my mind - so when I finally sat down to make some cards last week, I got down to it.  For some reason, my mind was stuck on night time cityscapes. 

I started with some DP I found on sale at Micheal's - just after seeing the blog post and thinking it was perfect for it.  I also dug out some scraps of paper for a mixed Japanese scrap pack I've had for ages (read: I've been hoarding). 

I wasn't really happy with this card.  Somehow it didn't come together well.  Still inspired, I moved onto another one with more scraps and a vellum sentiment from the dollar store.  I used my Creative Memories star punch and some gold paper (more from the scrap pack) to finish off the night sky.  What do you think?  I like it much better.  I don't usually like having to cut things out, but drawing and cutting the skyline silhouette was kind of fun.

Today my friend Glenda's blog challenge was to use four of anything on a card. The card above fits (four brads), but I had to make another one just for Glenda.  It didn't seem right to pull out last week's card and recycle it for the 04/04 challenge, but I liked it, so tried again - and even tried my hand at stamping on vellum.  It has four brads and, if you count the gold layer under the stars, four layers.

Cheers,
Jo

Visiting not crafting this weekend

My sister was in town this weekend and I didn't sit down to make any cards.  I did work on some scrapbook pages last week but can't share those - they are a surprise.  My sister and I did a winter visit to Buchart Gardens.

Flowers are just starting to bloom in the Sunken Garden. And we got a nice sunny break to enjoy them in.

The Three Sturgeons were surrounding by flowers.

The boar scarer was going strong in the Japanese Garden.

And the Spring Prelude was glorious.

It's amazing they do all this inside.

Cheers,
Jo