My Creative Retailer Magazine Publication

Hi Everyone:
I have been holding off on sharing this news due to waiting for the magazine to be on store bookshelves. Now that it has been out for a little while I guess it is safe to share. I have a gift set published in a STAEDTLER Ad in the Creative Retailer Magazine by Northridge Publishing. I have had layouts published before but never a card or any other project. So I am so excited!

I was so excited to be asked to take part in this ad and here is the actual layout page.

Here are the actual projects that were used for this page spread.

My Card

Projects were created using Hero Arts Stamps.

 I used Hydrangea # K5376  for the leaves and the flower itself was this stamp below,

 Etched Flowers# CG430.

Old Letter Writing

Product Number: S4878

I changed the leaves due to needing a much thicker leaf base to add dimension & depth to my design. I also used a sentiment from the *Clear Hero Arts Stamps,

Everyday Sayings # CL342 Clear Design

To cover this bag with such a big flower I had to increase the size. So after stamping the flower on white cardstock, I then enlarged it and printed it onto watercolour paper using a photocopying machine. I repeated this step so that I could actually pop some of the layers of the flower. I love how this really gave the flowers so much depth & dimension. This made it really look like a rose and the yellow colour was beautiful. I used the leaves from the Hydrangea flower and enlarged those as well. I wanted to go with a vintage feel for this set, so I used slate blue, walnut brown, and deep yellow for my colour scheme. I cut a piece of Basic Grey Paper the size of the bag. It was distressed around the edges by adding walnut distress ink and then stamped with the old letter writing in blue distress ink. Before adhering it to the brown paper gift bag, wide lace, brown ribbon, pearls and pearl pins were added to the piece to add that touch of elegance. The flower was coloured with STAEDTLER Triplus Colour Fine tip markers,  STAEDTLER Karat Aquarell Watercolour Pencil and the white watercolour crayon was used for highlights on the flowers. A white gel pen was used to add white dots to the center of each flower. The flowers on the card were coloured in the same way as the one on the gift bag and adhered to a stamped background that was distress with storm/blue and walnut/brown distress inks. This was matted on slate blue and drk. brown cardstock which was placed on a kraft cardbase.

I had a lot of fun making this and it really helped me to see that Vintage style is much easier to make than I thought! Well maybe! Lol. I hope that I have inspired and challenged you to look at your stamps in a different light. They might be small in size when you first purchase them, but the sky is the limit when you think of all the sizes that you can use with photocopying an image. I trust that you are all doing well and that this month of celebrating National Scrapbooking is filled with much fun and creativity! Lol. Take Care Hugs Dana

Salisbury Delight

You know in this big world of blogging we get to meet some pretty amazing people. I had such a priviledge a few weeks back. I had the delight to meet Barb from Kinsale Creations and it was just like we always knew each other. With her beautiful smile and laughter, you could not help but feel that you were in great company. Thansk to my son for taking this pic of us! Lol.

Her kindness & support has meant so much to me and I feel bless to know such a person. There have been occassions where I have gotten Happy mail many times from this lady and it always makes me smile. Not because of what she sent but her sweet messages mean so much to me. The best part is she is right here in the Maritimes, which is a plus for me. Her work is outstanding and you can see this in the card that she sent me right here.

This card is totally amazing and here is a close up of the flower itself.

To see the details on how she made this amazing card check out this blog post that she did featuring this card and others.

The cleverness to place such a bold and vibrant flower on a white background, popped with dazzling gems is genious! I am so happy that this is on my work shelf. Thanks sweetie for your kindness and your friendship. It really means a lot to get to know such a great gal. Wishing you much sucess on all your future crafting endevours.

Hugs

Dana

Happy National Scrapbooking Day

Be Sure To Check Out Each Post For Amazing Give-Aways!

Today is National Scrapbooking Day and there are many places that you can hang out today. The team over at the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog are having a major party with loads of challenges and prizes. I will be back a little later to share some of the things I have made today. What are you doing today? Are you making cards, doing layouts that need to be completed, or just hanging out with your scrappy friends shopping? Whatever the cause, whatever the reason, I trust that you are having fun and creating fun & lasting memories.

Hugs
Dana

Scrapbooking Again! Finally!

Seeming that May is National scrapbooking month, I wanted to share with you today, a scrapbook layout that I made a while back. Yes, I haven't done much with scrapbooking and my son is not to please that I still don't have his album completed. Therefore, I am trying to turn over a new leaf and get back into the swing of it again.  His birthday is coming up soon and that will be my surprise to him. I learned from attending a crop this weekend past, that it is best to prepare page kits ahead of time rather than to bring all my stuff and be over whelmed. And if you find that you don't get many pages completed at crops, I would suggest making yourself page kits of those pics that you want to scrapbook and always have them ready for when you get a free moment. Some of the ladies at the retreat this past weekend did just that and the pages they completed were amazing.

I wanted to share this layout because it really is an amazing picture and truly demonstrates how much my guy as grown up. I can actually cry to see that he is no longer my baby, but my teenager. Oh so scary! He still talks about video games, but now the names of girls are added to the list as well. Yikes! Lol.

This layout was completed using many different elements. The one thing that I wanted to do was to include stamping. I love to follow Nichol Magouirk's work and to be challenged by all that she shares.

So I tried stamping on this layout using "We R Memory Keepers Geo-Hectic Stamps, along with matching die cut shapes and paper. Background page was distressed with Ranger Walnut Distress Ink and Gogs& Gears where stamped with Versa Mark and not a ink. This will give you a stamped image that is the same colour as your paper but a little darker. Really cool technique.

All diecuts were added with pop-dots and then outlined with white gel pen to add more definition.

I love to add texture and a masculine feel to my layouts and I acheive this bye distressing the edges of my cardstock by tearing the sides. This is achieved by using my distressing tool.

It was a lot of fun to get back into scrapbooking and I am happy to say that I am feeling the mojo again! Yay! I look forward to seeing you back here again for another day of sharing cards & layouts.

Hope your enjoying your day in your part of this crafting world. Until next time.....

Hugs & Happy Crafting!

Dana

Missing In Action!

If your looking for my give aways, my Blog Give Away is here! and my Staedtler Give Away is here!

I have been missing in action for a while and maybe some of you may have wondered if I was ever coming back! Lol. Sorry about that! But I had to put life here and crafting on hold for a little while.  Well to be honest the past two weeks have been totally crazy for us. Well for those of you who do not know, I have been homeschooling this school year and it is a learning experience for sure. We have had projects to catch up on and test to complete. Then there was our district Heritage Fair. I was on the committee this year and was also helping my son with his project. So those are the things that have kept me busy for the past little while.

All of our family had so much fun at this Homeschooling Event. I am happy to report that my sweet young man placed 3rd. We are so happy about that! He is not one for large groups of people and can be somewhat quiet at times. So to see him come into his own is truly a blessing. To see a once shy kid stand before judges and present his project with so much self confidence and friendliness was totally amazing. (He has always been friendly, but mostly to those he always knew...strangers not so much.) To get feedback from the judges and to see the positive comments about him being a great speaker made this Mama's heart flutter with shear joy!! To see him shake hands with all the judges and introduce himself was so great! Yes, I am so happy for this major change in my sweet guy!! I have lots to thank God for indeed!

We have been studying in our History course about the War of 1812 and he wanted to do his project on important military structures that are still around. Here he is, in his cool hat sharing his project on Martello Tower.  

This picture was taken during the judging process.

Now these pictures were taken after the awards ceremony and we are proud parents.

And yes, this was a blooper picture below. I have no idea what we are laughing about, but were having a great time that is for sure.

So has you can clearly see we have been busy. Also, this weekend I attended a 3 day crop and it was one of the best I have ever attended. I got to sit with some other Newfie Gals and I don't think that I have laugh so hard and so much, as I did this weekend. Thanks Michelle, Lorna, Una, and Diane!!! These ladies really went out of their way to make me feel apart of their group and I am so grateful.

To be honest I haven't been to an event of this nature for a very long time. Sometimes I am scared that I will be myself to much and that someone won't know how to take my sense of humor or my take on life in general. I know I shouldn't care about this, but I do!!

I attended a crop last fall but it was a very small event, but this was a bigger event for me and I haven't been to one like this in over 3 years. Since then I haven't been around a lot of folks in a long time. So knowing how to deal with others sometimes can be difficult for me. I was never shy but, very much a people person, but when I had my operation on my hand and than later hurt my back, I didn't go anywhere or take part in group settings. This is the worst thing that you can do, because when you try to get back into things again it can be so difficult.

So I was somewhat anxious about going to this one really. I was gonna back out but had paid in advance. So I had to go! I was anxious to say the least that I would not fit in because it has been so long for me, but this was not the case. The ladies were all great and though conversations were serious at different times during the day, I think all in all we respected each other and had a great time. I sure hope so anyway. I hope that none of my serious or silly-fun talk didn't offend anyone or turn anyone off. I think sometimes when you are lonely and out of the loop, you can be misunderstood and find it difficult to fit in again and belong.  Sometimes that takes time and other times it is just that love and kindness extended to you that makes all the difference. To know that there are those who have compassion for others and go out of their way to show that kindness, makes other people want to do the same. So all in all, it is a continual circle. Some of the gals there this weekend really made me feel that way and I am so happy that I got the chance to meet such amazing and inspiring ladies.

You should see their layouts! Your mouth would surely drop. I kept telling them that they should submit them for publishing. I just think that when someone's work is amazing that the rest of the world should have the opportunity to see it. That's it! Anyway, it was a great weekend. I hope that we all get together again soon. I will share some of my layouts later.

Okay, on to other things now! I did want to share a card with you that I did resently. This card was one that I started a long time ago but never finished. It was recently completed for a challenge at Stampin' Sisters In Christ challenge blog. It was for a challange that my friend Karen did at our Flickr Group. So it was to make a card using patterned papers. This is my card in a vintage style. To check out Karen's cards go here!

 

I uesed "Lost & Found" paper by My Mind's Eye and one of my go-to stamps from Hero Arts - Hand Drawn Blossom(#CG285), plus this script stamp - Old Letter Writing( #S4878).  

Here is Karen's beautiful card. Didn't she do an amazing job! Wow!

Sorry such a long post, but I had lots to share. Check back this week for layouts, cards, and tutorials. Don't forget that the Month of May is Scrapbooking month and lots of places will be celebrating National Scrapbooking Day which is this coming Saturday. What are you making for that day? Something wonderful I am sure! Until later....

Take Care of Yourselves & Each Other.

Dana