Keeping Cool

linda17 Comments

copyright linda @ snailzpace.wordpress.com and described here for people with disabilities; a christmas card featuring a snowman wearing red and green mittens and scarf with three glittered snowflakes and print paper
whew, such a busy week – it was so nice to be able to sit and create this christmas card that i’m giving to my daughter to add to her stash; besides, during this heat wave, snow sounds good to me. i coloured the snowman with twinkling H2Os and distress inks, added stickled snowflakes and followed the your next stamp july sketch challenge.

i’m also submitting this to these challenges:
sweet stampin’ – christmas in july
christmas at sweet stampin’  – snowman
a little bit crafty – “die-ing for it!”
stamp and create – christmas in july
christmas card challenges – christmas cards with the option of snowflakes

thanks for popping by.

Happy Mail from Ranger Ink

linda7 Comments

an assortment of paper crafting colouring media from ranger ink
this is my second post for today, not because i made another card (i’m too slow for that), but i just received this prize package from ranger ink; i was one of the lucky random winners of the ranger ink seasonal colour palette challenge. i love colouring with my distress inks, but there are some products here that i’ve only heard about so it’ll be fun getting inky with those. you might want to head over to the ranger ink blog to see the sneak peeks of new products being shown at the summer CHA show – i’m really excited about the Tim Holtz® Distress Watercolor Cardstock! thank you to ranger ink and thanks for popping by.

Ahoy!

linda7 Comments

copyright linda @ snailzpace.wordpress.com and described here for people with disabilities; a card with a pirate cat holding a bag of gold on an orange base with blue torn paper strips on the bottom, banners at the top, along with an ahoy sentiment in die cut letters.

this is my july DT card for papercraft cafe; marie, store owner, asked me to make a pirate themed card for the town of kingsville’s annual sidewalk sale this weekend when the tall ships 1812 will be visiting. this penny black halloween cat is the only pirate i have and the sentiment on his bag read ‘mice treats’ so i cut that out and made a mini shaker with gold glitter in its place. i coloured with distress inks, added memory box banners and alphabet dies that i love, and added some torn strips of paper. thanks for popping by.

Penny Black And More July – enjoy!

linda12 Comments

card with two hedgehogs carrying a present, a die cut enjoy sentiment and two die cut pennant borders at the top
it’s the first sunday of the month, so it’s time for a new theme at the penny black and more challenge; we’d like to see dies and punches on your creations. for my DT card i coloured these cute hedgies with distress ink pads and used the memory box lower case alphabet and banner dies, while the little butterfly is a MS punch. there are some fabulous prizes from sponsors Penny Black, Whiff of Joy, Flonz, and Stix2 and remember that you can use any company’s images to play along, just no digis please. check out the challenge blog for some inspiration from my teamies and the rules – hope you’ll play along. thanks for popping by.

ETA: i’m submitting this card to the Birthday Card Challenge in the Moxie Fab World.

Free To Be Me

linda13 Comments

copyright by linda @ snail's space and described here for people with disabilities; a thinking of you card in red and white with a ladybug holding a white daisy
happy canada day to my fellow canadians and independence day to my friends south of the border.

this is my first time playing along with CAS-ology and the cue word is FREE; i learned a new philosophy after the loss of my son so the first thing that comes to my mind is free to be – which includes sad, happy, silly, whatever mood i’m in, i’m free to be in it and i won’t apologize for it. i’m also free to express myself politically, artistically, or however i want because i live in a free country, thanks to the many veterans who fought to keep it this way.

i coloured the image with distress ink pads, added black stickles to the ladybug’s dots and yellow stickles to the flower centre. i’m also submitting this to the simply create too #40 challenge to use the colours of your country’s flag, which are red and white and the addicted to CAS challenge of take flight. thanks for popping by.

My First Digi Christmas Card

linda9 Comments

three inch square christmas card in red and white with four snowmen and a die cut snowflake border across the top
i love to watercolour everything and since my printer just chews up my watercolour paper, i don’t do digis. but the talented gina cunningham is the jingle belles‘ guest star who wants us to make a “hybrid” holiday card which utilizes at least one digital element – yikes. i did win a digistamp boutique gift certificate last year and printed one of the images onto 90 lb. watercolour paper that pills with too much water so i made a tiny 3″ card and carefully coloured with distress ink pads and a tiny brush. i cut away some of the memory box frosty border to fit and added stickles. this is also for my friend sandra’s rudolph day challenge – there are only 5 more rudolph days before you need to send out your holiday cards – just thought i’d mention it. thanks for popping by.

Colours Of Summer

linda10 Comments

card with resting bunny in grass and clover with blue, green and burgundy papers and a sentiment of enjoy a relaxing day
this is my entry for the impression obsession challenge – the colours of summer; i went with blue skies, green grass, the colour of crabapple blossoms and the colour of our backyard bunnies that hide under a shrub. i coloured the D8380-CLING resting rabbit with distress inks and added flower soft to the tail and to create clover and added a sentiment from the CL255 riding pretty set. the sheer blue flower is from my stash and i punched the centre from the matching paper and sponged the edge with distress ink. i couldn’t take a photo of this card yesterday because those other dark gloomy colours of summer appeared, along with a thunderstorm. when i checked my updates last night, i read that impression obsession is having a blog hop with flower soft; honestly, my DH will verify that my card was done yesterday – too funny. anyway, gift certificates will be given out for Impression Obsession and Flower Soft so you might want to check that out.

i’m also submitting this card to a little bit crafty challenge where the theme is something sweet; i know, sweet treats and candy come to mind, but bunnies are the sweetest creatures. thanks for popping by.

Memories Of The Beach

linda7 Comments

card with beach scene and sea shells in burgundy on a beige mesh ribbon with water and sky in the background
before i get to my card, i want to thank those of you who left kind and comforting words on my last post of the card i made in memory of my son. pushing myself to create keeps me going and i appreciate your taking the time to offer your compassion and support.

the ranger ink seasonal colour palette challenge looked so challenging that i just had to play along. my fondest summer memories are going to the beach and cottage when i was much much younger. i coloured the shells with a brush and distress ink pads in aged mahogany and pumice stone, but stamped the starfish with aged mahogany and cut them all out; i popped them on foam tape on a piece of mesh ribbon. i used a paper towel for the water and sky by soaking up adirondack stonewashed and denim blue inks and i used walnut stain and antique linen DI to create the frame, which i brushed and used direct to paper technique. thanks for popping by.

In Loving Memory

linda18 Comments

card with teddy in blue coveralls sitting on the ground with a turtle and a miss you sentiment
i made this card in memory of my son, who passed away four years ago today. being the artist he was, he always encouraged me with my colouring skills when i started card making with stamped images. there are so many memories but this card honours him for his curiosity, love of nature and a scruffy teddy we rescued from a store shelf. i coloured this penny black teddy with distress inks and used my memory box alphabet die.

i’d like to submit my card to these challenges:
twisted tuesday – create a masculine card with clothes ends june 23
creative creations – masculine ends june 22
totally papercrafts – ends june 20

thanks for popping by.

Penny Black And More Mid Month Reminder – CAS

linda11 Comments

card with teddy bear in golf clothes with golf equipment and a you're the best sentiment
this is my mid month card for our CAS theme at penny black and more challenge. i stamped teddy three times: once on watercolor paper, which i coloured with distress inks, once on the white check paper and once on the red to paper piece his sweater. i cut out teddy and his golf bag and attached everything to the check paper. there are some fabulous prizes to be won and you still have time to come and play! you can use any stamp company’s image for the focal point of your creation, just no digis please.

i’m submitting this card to these challenges:
aloha friday challenge – #1 masculine/father’s day ends june 20
pan pastel uk challenge – male theme ends june 22
joanna sheen – father’s day or a male card ends june 26
ready-teddy-go – who’s the daddy? ends june 30

thanks for popping by.

For Dad

linda4 Comments

father's day card with stamped black wildflowers surrounded by orange, pink and red sponged ink
this CAS card is on its way to my dad for father’s day. i stamped and sponged with distress inks and i used my new memory box alphabet dies, which i love; they’re the perfect size for cards. thanks for popping by.

Funny Snowmen

linda12 Comments

christmas card in teal with snowman and season's greetings sentiment with three printed paper banners
i’ve had these basic grey papers for quite some time, but i just couldn’t come up with an idea to use what i call the goofy snowmen. thanks to stephanie’s sketch at the jingle belles, this card came together very quickly and i finally cut into some of my stash of papers. i stamped the penny black snowman, sponged the edge with distress ink and used a sentiment from the same clear set. i think i’ll have to make some more cards with this layout. thanks for popping by.

Bloom Where You’re Planted

linda10 Comments

floral thank you card in pink, green and ivory
i’ve been very busy with volunteering so i haven’t had much time to create lately, but i managed to make this card for the impression obsession challenge to ‘bloom where you are planted.’ i coloured the image from the Spring Medley CL465 set with twinkling H2Os, distress inks and stickles; the sentiment is from the Thanks Sentiments CL41 set. i rounded the corners, added a bow and it’s another thank you card for my stash. thanks for popping by.

Memory Box Baby Card

linda5 Comments

baby card with line of baby clothes, upper case letters spelling baby in browns and blues with animal print on the bottom third and three yellow buttons on the side
this is my june DT card for papercraft cafe and it was fun to use some new memory box dies; i’ve mentioned before how marie, the store owner, keeps a good stock of MB dies, so i couldn’t resist the typewriter upper alphabet and the tiny baby clothes dies. the cute papers are from echo park’s bundle of joy collection and i love that the blue and pink pads coordinate with each other. thanks for popping by.

Penny Black And More – CAS

linda11 Comments

card with sweet wishes sentiment, red trim and a hedgehog balancing a strawberry on his nose
this is my DT card for the penny black and more challenge; this month, we’d like to see your clean and simple cards. i masked the ‘strawberry jam’ image 4254J, coloured with distress inks and cut out the strawberry to pop it on foam tape; the sentiment is from the ‘sweet wishes’ clear set 30-104.

you’ll be inspired by the rest of the design team’s beautiful creations and you can also check out the fabulous prizes from sponsors Penny Black, Crimson Cloud, Stamp Addicts and All that Scraps; just use a stamped image from any company as your focal point, no digis please, and upload by july 3. i hope you play along and have fun with this theme. thanks for popping by.

Happy Birthday

linda12 Comments

birthday card with yellow background, pennants at the top and featuring a circle of hedgehogs dancing around a birthday cake
welcome to some new followers; i appreciate your interest in my blog.

i’m still slowly easing back into creating so it was fun to colour this cute penny black hedgie image; as usual, i used distress inks. i used my new memory box pennant die to cut two and join together and used papers from the bo bunny surprise! collection – i love the bright colours and patterns in this 6×6 pad.

i’m submitting this card to the following challenges:
allsorts challenge – celebrating their 4th birthday
one stop craft challenge – furry friends
613 avenue create – anything goes
red carpet studio – 16 candles
songbird challenges – all creatures great and small

thanks for popping by.

Merry & Bright

linda10 Comments

christmas card in green with dotted tree and jingle all the way sentiment on a blue base
i created this CAS card for the merry and bright jingle belles prompt to use bright colours and the winter wonderland challenge theme of oh christmas tree. the ‘jingle’ was cut out already so i only added the dotted background and the tree sticker; very quick and easy, which is about my speed right now. thanks for popping by.

In The Air

linda14 Comments

card with two chickadees on a branch, a hanging birdhouse and a home is where the heart is wording
i created this card for the Impression Obsession challenge; this week’s theme is in the air. i used the chickadee stamp, C8589, die cut with the matching birds die, DIE003-A, made branches out of the stems of the hydrangea set die, DIE044-Y, and also used the hydrangea set die for the flowers. i stamped the birdhouse from the winter cardinal set CL301, (very cute and half price!) cut it out and popped it on foam squares; everything is coloured with distress inks, twinkling H2Os and watercolour pencils and of course i added green stickles to the flower centres after i sponged the edges of them. the paper sections on the bottom were cut from some DP. thanks for popping by.

The Bee’s Knees

linda13 Comments

inkyanticsbumblebee
i made most of this card on sunday, but i wasn’t able to finish it, take a photo or type until now because of a severe RA flareup that i’m still recuperating from. i’ll probably slow down a little bit, if it’s even possible to go slower, but it’s so difficult not to create; i fell behind in everything again and hope to stop by soon and get caught up on some commenting.

anyway, i’m playing along with the sketch n stash challenge with the option of wings – items from my stash include one and a half year old stamps and papers, four year old punches and brand new memory box precious heart dies. i coloured with distress inks and used plenty of stickles.

i’m also submitting this card to these challenges:
try it on tuesday challenge – feminine and fancy theme
one crazy stamper – flowers
whimsy inspirations challenge – anything goes
natalie and amy’s – things with wings

thanks for popping by.

Dogwood Blossoms

linda17 Comments

card with bird in a blooming dogwood shrub with a birdcage accent and pink ribbon bow
i’ve had this stamp for quite some time, but just inked it up to make another spring card. i coloured with twinkling H2Os, used the memory box bird cage die and a MS punch around the page; of course i added stickles to the flower centres and the edge of the sentiment circle. i’d like to submit this card to these challenges:
make my monday – anything that flies ends may 11
moxie fab world – the wonder of watercolor ends may 13
crazy amigo – birds ends may 13
simon says stamp  – things with wings ends may 14
no matter which – things with wings ends may 30
crafty calendar – blooms and blossoms ends may 31

thanks for popping by.

I’m Thankful For

linda9 Comments

house shaped card in beige, red and turquoise with front door and two windows die cut, a row of flowers at the bottom of the house and a rolled up newspaper at the front door
while i have many things i’m thankful for, i’m focusing on just one for this week’s impression obsession challenge. as i’ve mentioned before, i have severe RA, which makes daily living activities difficult, not to mention how the fatigue slows me down; however, DH is a tremendous help around the house and he always supports my need to create and encourages me along my card making journey. so, even though he has a stash of my cards, i made this shaped card for him. i used two impression obsession dies from my recent IO blog hop win: DIE009-Z the house and hydrangea for the flowers, which i sponged. i also used the door and window die, added a gold pearl for the doorknob and a rolled up piece of text paper for the newspaper. thanks for popping by.

Christmas Joy

linda6 Comments

christmas card in red green and gold with mouse flying through the air with gold bells
a warm welcome and thank you to a new follower.

i made this card for the jingle belles prompt, which is holiday things that fly: angels, doves, cardinals, sparrows, Rudolph pulling Santa’s sleigh… you name it!. i did try to use a bird, several times, but it just wasn’t working, so i switched to this hang gliding mouse which fits the ‘you name it’ category. i coloured the image with twinkling H2Os and i used sketch #63 for the ‘sketchie free for all’ for this week’s papertake weekly. thanks for popping by.

Yummy Cookies

linda5 Comments

card in blue and chocolate brown with jar of heart shaped cookies and hope your day is delicious sentiment
i’m playing along with the Your Next Stamp Tasty Tuesday Challenge, which provided an inspiration photo full of beautifully decorated chocolate/blue/vanilla cookies that look so yummy. i coloured the image with a paintbrush, distress ink pads and tombow marker, added stickles to the chocolate chips and border of the image, and popped it on foam squares. i stamped the sentiment and added a couple of gems to complete this CAS card. thanks for popping by.

Penny Black And More – Sew Special

linda12 Comments

card with girl sitting on ground holding an umbrella with a bird standing on her shoe holding a pink tulip for her with hearts gently falling next to it
it’s the first sunday of the month so it’s time for a new theme at the penny black and more challenge; it’s sew special – create a card or gift for someone special to you with the option of adding sewing, real or faux. sewing was one of my hobbies i gave up because of RA, so i used an image that already had stitching on it, plus i pierced some holes around the edge. i coloured with a paintbrush, distress ink pads and twinkling H2Os and i used marianne design dies to make the rolled flower, leaves and my favourite tag. you’ll want to visit our challenge blog for inspiration and rules, which are pretty simple – use any company’s stamped image for your focal point, just no digis.

i’d like to submit this to the going girly theme this month at marianne’s design divas.

ETA: i’m also adding this to the moxie fab world wonder of watercolor challenge. thanks for popping by.

Best Wishes

linda15 Comments

card in bronze and green with diecut birdcage, bird and flowers with best wishes sentiment

this is my May DT card for papercraft cafe, where owner marie keeps well stocked in memory box dies and i used three on my card: the antique birdcage was coloured with antiqued bronze distress stain to match the bo bunny little miss papers; i used matching paper to die cut one resting bird and the tiny flowers from the floral delights die. of course i added yellow stickles to the flower centres. this was a fun card to make and came together very quickly.

i’d like to submit it to these challenges:

die cuttin divas: anything goes ends may 5
really reasonable ribbon: sparkle, bling and ribbon ends may 12

thanks for popping by.

Rudolph Day April 2013

linda7 Comments

copyright linda @ snail's space and described here for people with disabilities; christmas card with snowman portrait and a red merry christmas sentiment on a white snowflake embossed card base
i haven’t had much time for card making lately so it was fun to create this card for my friend sandra’s rudolph day challenge to work on those christmas cards every 25th of the month. marie, the owner of papercraft cafe, taught me the burnished velvet technique with ritz glitter and this is the first time i used watercolour pencils to colour the glitter. i coloured the silver peel off sentiment with a red permanent marker, embossed the white glitter paper with the snowflake embossing folder and i was done, just in time to meet today’s deadline.

i’m submitting this to the moxie fab world watercolor challenge. thanks for popping by.

Recycled Christmas Cards

linda10 Comments

christmas card in purple and gold with a penguin and jingle bells

another christmas card in purple and gold with a penguin and jingle bells

christmas card in burgundy and gold with a penguin and jingle bells

i’m just making today’s deadline for the jingle belles earth day special to create a card that includes a recycled element.  a family member sent me a very large card last year with three adorable and fuzzy little penguins on it; i die cut all three and created these 4 and 1/4″ square cards with them. i stamped the penny black christmas text in gold, added the memory box die cut jingle bells and added some more glitter to each image. and, just because i have trouble stamping straight sentiments, i used a gold peel off. thanks for popping by to view my 400th post.

Impression Obsession Challenge Card And Prize

linda9 Comments

orange card with two yellow and orange daisies
i created this card for the current impression obsession challenge of ‘flowers for you.’ i heat embossed the double daisies E88925 stamp in white, coloured with distress inks and added the wish you sunshine sentiment B5536 on the side panel.

i was very lucky to have won a prize during the impression obsession blog hop last month so i thought i’d share a photo of my choice of three dies:

photo of three impression obsession dies

of course i had to get the hydrangea stamp set to go with the matching die…

impression obsession hydrangea cling rubber stamp set

and then some bird dies to go with the house…

impression obsession bird die

and some miscellaneous stamps to go with all of the above. thanks for popping by.


Penny Black And More – April Mid Month Post

linda9 Comments

card in lilac and turquoise with flowers as the focal point in lilac
this is my second DT card for penny black and more and you still have plenty of time to play along too with april’s theme of blossoms and bows since it ends May 1.

i started this card by creating the centre panel; i stamped one of the silhouette images from the penny black illumination (30-048) clear stamp set with brilliance purple ink on purple cardstock, over stamped in white and added liquid pearls; i used the same image as my focal point and punched some tiny flowers to attach to the image. you can see more inspiration from the rest of the design team at the challenge blog and i’d love for you to play along – you can use any company’s stamped image for your focal point, just no digis. and, as always, there are some fabulous prizes from sponsors Penny Black, Classy Crafts, Crafty Ribbons plus a chance to be a guest designer. thanks for popping by.

Magnolias

linda20 Comments

this feels like the longest winter and it seems to be taking forever for spring blossoms to appear, so i decided to colour my own flowers while i’m waiting.

card with pink magnolias, green leaves and pink and green paper with two lacy punched borders
i coloured the flourishes magnolia image with twinkling H2Os in my favourite pink/green combo; i also punched some eyelet borders with my favourite ek success punch and added a 1/8″ green ribbon next to it. i’m playing along with the moxie fab world tuesday trigger, which provided an inspiration photo of magnolias. i’m also submitting this to the pretty little ribbon challenge – spring is in the air and the papercraft star challenge to use a stamp.

ETA: i’m also submitting this to the moxie fab world wonder of watercolor challenge. thanks for popping by.

Springtime Fun

linda9 Comments

card with bunny planting carrots and sentiment with oh happy day!
i’m playing along with the ‘springtime fun’ challenge at impression obsession; i thought this gardening bunny having fun in his carrot garden suited the theme – i’m still trying to decide if he’s planting or digging up. i coloured the image, Easter Bunny CL212, with distress ink pads and added a sentiment from Mini Messages MC176. thanks for popping by.