on a personal note

linda6 Comments

the holidays are a stressful time, but for those of us who lost a child, the holidays present extra challenges. every time someone says merry christmas, i think, really? how can it be merry? my response is usually a serious humbug and they laugh. i know my feelings stem from the grief and all that accompanies it, so i don’t try to hide it. sometimes people just don’t know how to act or react – they pretend nothing happened, they say what i perceive to be the wrong thing, or they’re supportive and they understand the effect of the loss. either your children are with you for the rest of your life, or their loss is there for the same amount of time; there is no ‘getting over it.’

at 7 pm this evening, i’ll be joining families and friends around the globe to create a virtual wave of candle light for one hour to honour and remember children who have died at any age from any cause.

and, as always, i’ll keep putting one foot in front of the other and escaping into my card making world. thanks for popping by.

Tagging My Friend, Anne

linda6 Comments

hedgehog carrying green christmas ornament

the splitcoaststampers’ free for all challenge on friday was to make a tag inspired by a cyber friend’s gallery…and call her out to join in the challenge. i tagged anne; i love her elegant CAS cards with her signature beautiful bows, but also her cards that show off her sense of humour, which always make me smile. the image is coloured with distress inks and of course i added stickles. thanks for popping by.

Skating Hedgie

linda9 Comments


i made this clean and simple card for the penny black saturday challenge of christmas + red + embossing, which was very challenging. the image is coloured with distress inks with stickles on his hat and you might be able to see the stickles for snow; it’s so dull this morning and we’re supposed to get some of that white fluffy stuff. thanks for popping by.

Cozy Bunnies

linda12 Comments

 

christmas card featuring two bunnies under an evergreen tree with red bow
my daughter asked me to make some more christmas cards for her, but with bunnies on them this time; so i coloured the buns to look like her two adorable bunnies. i coloured with distress inks and markers and put stickles on the branches and ground, which doesn’t show because it’s another gloomy day. anyway, i followed the freshly made sketches #12 and i’m submitting this to the panpastel challenge 10 – animals and the paper sundaes winter wonderland theme. this counts as november’s rudolph day card; my friend sandra makes a christmas card(s) on the 25th of every month – yes, i’m late, but i made up for that by making a set of these. thanks for popping by.

photo of two bunnies cuddling

i couldn’t match the dark bunny’s fur; she would be a big dark blob. lol.

Round Like A Wreath

linda5 Comments

red circle easel christmas card featuring a red cardinal with glitter and white bow
i created this round easel card yesterday for the flourishes november christmas spirit challenge – round like a wreath; i just couldn’t take a good picture with the gloomy weather. today, i checked out the other flourishes challenges and found that i used the same image and papers as heather used on her beautiful challenge hostess card. i watercoloured with distress inks, added stickles to both of the white circles and the berries. thanks for popping by.

Hedgie Tote

linda12 Comments

red tote bag with hedgie carrying a christmas tree image on the front
i’ve been enjoying creating these quick and easy totes.  the image is watercoloured with distress inks as usual; i added glossy accents to the star and some seed beads to the tree. thanks for popping by.

i’m submitting this to the following challenges:
penny black saturday – green and trees
penny black & more at allsorts – all creatures great and small
winter wonderland – awwwwwwwww what a cutie; use any cute Christmas Image
wags ‘n whiskers –  christmas themed

Chilly Days

linda13 Comments

christmas card nontraditional colours featuring penguin holding garland of stars
it is getting colder, but not quite cold enough for snow. i squeezed in some time to create another christmas card; this was such a fun image to colour, as usual, with distress inks. i used liquid pearls for the snow dots, stickles on the stars and ground, and punched three different snowflakes and then distressed the edges. i’m submitting this to:

the paperlane challenge – snowflakes and sparkle
crimbo crackers – make it sparkle
stamping scrapping challenge central – christmas/holidays challenge; tim holtz distress ink pads can be found here
samuel taylors crafts challenge  – christmas cards; this month’s prize is a Martha Stewart Double Craft Punch “Icelandic Snowflake”

thanks for popping by.

edited: since i use wordpress to blog with, i can’t always link up to challenge blogs that limit participants to those who use blogger; for the same reason, i can’t always ‘follow’ blogs i’d like to or get updates.

Flourishes Jingle Bells

linda6 Comments

christmas card with greenery bough and red bow
i’ve been so busy and, because of my RA, running low on energy, so it felt good to sit down and create this card today for two flourishes challenges; this month’s bring back beautiful theme is ‘the beauty of a technique.’  i coloured with distress inks, which isn’t new to me, but it was recently featured on splitcoaststampers and is my favourite technique. since the christmas spirit challenge is to create something ‘shiny like a piece of candy,’ i used: striped paper with a shiny gold stripe in it; gold mirri for the circle mat; metallic gold pearls on the embossed snowflakes; and covered the ornaments and bells with glossy accents. one more christmas card done. thanks for popping by.

New Home Tag

linda11 Comments

square scalloped card featuring birdhouse hanging from a branch with two blue birds
i created this tag for this month’s paperlane challenge to use glitz and sparkle. the red heart is covered in red stickles and the dots with yellow stickles; everything is watercoloured with distress inks as usual and i cut out and popped the birdhouse and birds. thanks for popping by.

Boo

linda11 Comments

card with scared black cat hanging on to jack o lantern balloon with three bats nearby
i love these penny black critters that float around hanging onto a balloon string. as usual, the images are watercoloured with distress inks with black flower soft added to all the solid parts of the cat, black stickles on the bats and glossy accents on the balloon. the sentiment strip is actually ribbon. thanks for popping by.

i’m submitting this to the following challenges:
allsorts – halloween
flower soft – to use flower soft on cards that feature orange and black
paper sundaes – i chose black and sparkle from the sundae bar
penny black saturday – too cute to spook
ribbon carousel – halloween.

Happy Rudolph Day and Happy Birthday!

linda4 Comments

christmas card with snowman and peace sentiment in bright blue, green, pink and orange
i’m joining sandra again this month to make a christmas card for rudolph day – the 25th of every month. also, today is my daughter’s birthday; i don’t think she’d mind if i shared her age, but then i might feel old(er). let’s just say that a long time ago, she was our two month early christmas present. have a good day, lianne! one of her pet rabbits turns 3 today, so she might get some extra hay for her special day.

in case anyone noticed anything different, i accidentally switched themes of my blog and lost everything on my sidebar and now i’m slowly adding things back on; just one more thing that takes me away from creating. thanks for popping by.

Scarecrow Treats

linda15 Comments

scarecrow holding bags of candy corn with trick or treat sentiment on bags

this sets a new record for the largest card i’ve ever made; it’s 5 3/4 by 6 1/2.” as usual, i watercoloured with distress inks and put stickles in the flower centre. the stampalot challenge this month is food and it doesn’t say the food has to be nutritious, so candy corn it is. i’m also submitting this to the paper sundaes halloween/fall challenge and the cupcake craft challenge to use buttons and bows. thanks for popping by.

Inspiration Challenge Guest Designer Card

linda5 Comments

blue and pink floral bouquet with pink bow and lace trim on bottom of card
i’m excited to be a guest designer for the inspiration challenge at splitcoaststampers this week. i’ve either been away on weekends or too busy to play, but i love the challenge; stephanie is the hostess with the mostest and always finds interesting sites for us to visit. this week we’re browsing the liberty london site, where i found my inspiration in the colours of this fabric.  i watercoloured with distress inks, added stickles to the flower centres, some lace and ribbon and sponging and i was done. thanks for popping by and hope you get a chance to play along.

Penny Black At Allsorts Challenge Changes

linda2 Comments

i don’t have a card to share; i was away on the weekend and have been working on deadlines for volunteer commitments and class cards, which means i don’t always have time to play. but, i wanted to share some big news about the changes to the PB at allsorts challenge. starting in november, the name and entry criteria will change; at penny black and more at allsorts, you will be able to use any stamp on your work, although strictly no digi images. read about additional changes here.  thanks for popping by.

Teddy’s Fall Fun

linda10 Comments

teddy laying on his back playing in fall leaves it’s been a week since i posted, so i’m playing catch up again; i created this card for three challenges: allsorts bear with us; flower soft fall fun and, for the first time, iheart2stamp’s sketch for you to try (posted below). as always, teddy’s watercoloured with distress inks and i added autumn flower soft and punched leaves. it’s so gloomy today that it’s hard to take a brighter photo; maybe i need a new camera. thanks for popping by.

Inspired By Trees

linda5 Comments

green card with blue frame and row of green trees
thank you to my new followers! it’s encouraging to know that people are interested in what i’m creating.

steph, the inspiration challenge hostess at splitcoaststampers finds the most amazing sites and this week i found this beautiful artwork. so, for the first time, i played with gesso – fun. i used tim holtz paper distress collection core’dination for the card base; i love this stuff and can’t resist sanding it to reveal the core. thanks for popping by.

Guest Designer Card

linda14 Comments

i am so excited to be a guest designer for the penny black at allsorts challenge this month! not only do i love penny black stamps and the monthly pace, but then i found out it was for an inspiration challenge, which i also love.

photo of fall trees in a park with a red bench and fallen leaves on the ground
this beautiful inspiration photo captures the start of what is my favourite season – finally, cooler temperatures and those rich colourful landscapes.

teddy sitting under a fall tree with three bluebirds delivering cards to him for his birthday
i watercoloured the image with distress inks, added autumn flower soft to the tree, cut and popped the envelopes and of course i added stickles to the flower centres. so, ink up those penny black stamps and submit them by the 28th for a chance to win some lovely prizes. thanks to the penny black at allsorts team and thanks for popping by.

Halloween Turtle

linda7 Comments

an orange card with black fuzzy ribbon at the top, a turtle carrying a pumpkin on its back and a sentiment that reads it's halloweeni made this in honour of linda, aka morningsun47, who was splitcoaststampers’ featured stamper on september 18. i cased this cute card and, as per the rules, changed at least three things: the occasion, sentiment and colours, plus i added the fuzzy ribbon. the image is watercoloured with distress inks. thanks for popping by.


Thank You, Anne

linda6 Comments

blue card with small pink and yellow flower and thank you sentimenti made this for the keep it simple theme at the allsorts challenge and the splitcoaststampers’ free for all challenge to make a card of gratitude for someone who has done a kindness for you and deliver it to them. this card is going to my friend, anne; it’s not to thank her for my early birthday present of penny black stamps, but to say thanks for all the intangible gifts she gives – compassion, patience and humour. take a browse through anne’s gallery and in between all the elegant creations, her funny cards are there, always bringing a smile. thanks anne! no surprise, it’s watercoloured with distress inks. thanks for popping by.

Have You Met Mr. Snow?

linda8 Comments

snowman gift tag with green ribbon and striped paper framehe’s one of the new molly blooms’ holiday images that i watercoloured with distress inks for the paperlane challenge to create anything but a card.
back of snowman gift tag with a gift for you sentimenti admit that i’m one of those stampers that doesn’t always finish my cards inside, but i had to finish the back of this tag and i did enjoy the sense of accomplishment. :) since i’ve read that christmas is only three months away, i might be ready. thanks for popping by.

Happy Rudolph Day!

linda3 Comments

rudolph on a card with snowflakes in the background and a blue border on the bottom
this is a 5 minute card i made because sandra, at stamping for pleasure, inspired me to create at least one christmas card on rudolph day – the 25th of each month. i usually spend a lot of time watercolouring my images and i’m still catching up on some challenges, so i didn’t think i’d have time to play along today. but, i found this image, trimmed it, added the red nose and some stickles to the snowflakes. thanks for popping by.

Lace Frame

linda10 Comments


this month’s stampalot challenge was very challenging, but i think i got it right; if not, it was fun trying. i created this wall hanging by diagonally cutting the 6 x 6 inch paper down to 4.75 inches, gathered the lace and attached it to the punchout sentiment, which already had its own frame. finally, i added gold cord, bow and green gems.  thanks for popping by.

My Ideas Notebook

linda4 Comments

round notebook spiral bound at the top with ideas sentiment in the middle
i’ve had this clearance bin notebook for a while now; the pages are unlined, so it’s perfect for my ideas, when i get them, lol. this week’s allsorts challenge was the motivation i needed to finally alter it and it only took about 15 minutes because i left the blue in place and just added print paper and alphabet stickers. i have to travel a couple of hours to get to some doctor appointments and wait once i get there, with nothing but outdated magazines to read. so, now i can pass the time by jotting down some sketches or inspiration. thanks for popping by.

Fall Is Here

linda9 Comments

three flowers in yellow, orange and red on black squares with just a little hello sentiment on the bottom of the card
at least the cooler weather that i’ve been waiting for is finally here, but it’s dull today and hard to get a better pic. since the magenta sketch challenge deadline is midnight, i raced against the clock to get this finished; look, i didn’t even have time to add any stickles. lol. i stamped and cut out the flower three times, watercoloured with distress inks, attached them to black glossy paper, and literally followed the sketch. thanks for popping by.