Tangled Christmas

 

 

Happy December Everyone,

It's no secret that I love making cards, but did you know that Christmas cards are my favorite cards to make! Perhaps I love them because of the playful, festive spirit that's so often depicted in Christmas images or maybe it's because Christmas is so ** sparkly** and full of "Bling". Either way, making Christmas cards makes me happy.

Just take a look at this new card I made for today's Thursday's Twist Challenge over at Outlawz Challenges. Seriously, how can you not get a smile on your face when you look at this adorable image from "Stitchy Bears" (our sponsor the month of Dec). I love Christmas lights and I love cute little critters.

If you would like the opportunity to win some lovely digital images from Stitchy Bears, be sure to stop on over at Outlawz and enter our Thursdays Twist challenges during the Month of December.

Craft room reno

Hello Friends,

I'm sure many of you can relate when I say that my stamping addiction has caused me to outgrow my craft space. Unfortunately increasing my floor space isn't presently an option, so "plan B" Renovate!

I needed more place to put " My stuff" A major revamp was a must. Without added floor space, I needed to find a way to create more storage in the space I already had. Thankfully I have a very loving an supportive husband that is so understanding and accommodating when I get these sudden urges to turn the house upside down and renovate (my husband is a carpenter by trade).

So to start with, let me show you what I had and then I will show you what the new room looks like. The first photo below is what used to be my guest work station. Basically a place by the window for someone to work at when they came to card make with me. To the left was a book shelf where I kept all my stamps. I outgrew this and had nowhere to put more stamp sets.

                                                                  The Old Room

 

This next photo is taken with me standing at the entrance into my craft room, guest station to the left. Straight ahead was a 10 foot work counter with storage cabinets above and below. To the immediate right (not very visible) was my work station which you can see more clearly in the next two photos. Notice the two rolling file carts that I use for my paper storage? Previously these carts floated around and got in the way as I had no place to tuck them out of the way.  

 

 

 

 

 

My old work station. Everything was relatively tidy but I had limited work space and I found it frustrating.

 

 

Ok, so here's where I start to renovate!

 

 

Of course no renovation would be complete without a fresh new colour on the walls!

 

Starting to reassemble the cabinet sections in a new configuration.

 

Finally the new improved craft room!!!

Standing at the entrance looking in. My work station is now straight ahead instead of to the immediate right.

 

 

My work station is much larger and notice how one of my file carts fits neatly under the counter so I'm no longer tripping over it. My stamps sets are all now above and in front of me. See the empty space? Which means I can now buy more stamps cause I have a place to put them. Woo Whoo!

 

 

Remember my guest work station and ugly book shelf where my stamps were stored? Well, not any more. Now I have a counter space for my lap top or Cricut when need. I built a new shorter white book shelf where I now keep all my Nestabilty dies, my Christmas stamp sets and extra card stock. Notice how my second file cart fits nicely under this counter. No more carts floating around the room and getting in my way. I also added a wire cart to hold all my loose ribbon, air compressor and misc. embellishments, etc.

 

 

Remember my old work station? Well, now its the big shot station. I added a book shelf at the end of the cabinets to provide more storage. And one of my favorite additions is the wonderful Lazy Susan style tower I designed and my father helped me build. I use it for storing punches, stickles, liquid pearls, water colour crayons, etc. My case of Copic markers fits nicely in the top. Its on wheels so I can roll it near me and give it a spin to find whatever I need.

 

 

Here's a better look at my Lazy Susan as well as another bit of cabinetry where my printer lives.

 

 

I love my storage for my rolls of ribbon.

 

There's still a couple things to finish, like the counter top edges, etc, but over all I'm pretty happy with my new space.

 

Photo below: This was previously just one of those ugly battleship grey storage things from Home Depot that guys usually use to store screws and nails, etc. Well I sprayed mine with white Krylon spray paint and use it to store all my pearls, gems, flowers, etc. and it now it looks pretty!

 

Well, I hope you've all enjoyed touring my craft room and that I've been an encouragement to those of you that are struggling with limited space. With careful planning, even a small space can work. 

 

In my next post, I'm going to give you an even closer look at how I organize and store my stuff.

 

Thanks for stopping by. Hugs!

 

Laurie

 

 

 

Merry Mistletoe

Greatings Friends,

I'm finally back in the game and am able to post to my blog again. On my last post I promised to post some more cards that I made for a magazine card challenge a while ago. For this card I created the picture frame using Nestabilities. The mistletoe is embossed with black and coloured with Copic markers. I used dimensionals to pop the frame up. The image and greeting are from a set called "Christmas Blessings" from Stampin Up.

Here are a few more for you :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you like them!!


Happy stampin'

Laurie

Love you card

Hello Friends,

As promised, I will be uploading some cards I made for the 2013 Stamping Royalty contest in the Paper Crafts magazine. Unfortunately none of my cards won but I had fun making them anyway. This first one is my favorite. I hope you like it too.

Thanks for stopping by. :)
Laurie

Window cards

Hello friends,

Today I have a couple of cards for you. Recently I relieved a lovely card from a dear friend of mine (thanks Penny) It was so pretty I just had to CASE it. I did switch it up slightly because that's just what I do.

Both the birds and flowers are stamped on the inside of the card and are visible through the window. The card I cased (shown below) does not have coloured card stock layered beneath the window cut out. For my cards I decided to add some. I like how it draws the eye to the flowers and birds and makes them the focal point. I hope you like them.

Here's a picture of the card I CASED (made by Penny O'Dell)

Thanks for stampin by,
Laurie

Card with a Tag

Hi Everyone!

Happy Thursday to you! I have another Twisted Thursday's card challenge card for you. This time the twist is to add a tag to your card. Here is what I came up with for the challenge. If you're interested in joining in on the fun, be sure to hop on over to "Outlawz Challenges" They have daily challenges with many great prizes to be won.

Thanks for stampin by,
Laurie

Card with Food

Hello Everyone!
Today's card once again is for the Twisted Thursday card challenge on Outllawz Challenges. As usual the challenge is "Anything Goes" with a "twist". You can make any kind of card you wish and have a chance to win a fabulous prize. If you decide to add the "twist" which in this case is to add some kind of food to your card, you double your chances to win a prize.

This challenge is open for participation from April 11th to the 17th. If you miss out on this challenge, don't worry, there is a new one every week. In fact there are challenges for every day of the week so be sure to hop on over to Outlawz and check it out!

I recently made 10 really nice cards that I'm just dying to show you but I can't just yet. I made them for the Stamping Royalty contest in the "Paper crafts" magazine. I am so hoping I win one the their awesome prizes!!! There will be 15 winners chosen and each winner will win $750.00 worth of stamping products and will also have the opportunity to submit cards for upcoming publications! Woo hoo! Contest rules say the cards submitted for the contest must not have been previously published anywhere which is why I can't show them just yet. Winners will be notified on or before April 19th. Any cards that don't win ca be published after that so stay tuned for more posts, ok.

Blue Butterflies

Hello stamping friends!
So nice of you to stop by. I sure appreciate you visiting my blog and allowing me to share what I've been up to. This card was made for another Twisted Thursday's card challenge on Outlawz. The theme was 'Birds or Butterflies" and was done for the March 24th challenge.

I created this band of butterflies by stamping with a single butterfly stamp and using "mask it" to cover the previously stamped butterfly to create the illusion of 3D.I coloured them with Copic markers and added stickles to pretty them up. I think if I were to do it again, I might try pink instead of yellow under the butterflies.

Thanks for stopping by!
Hugs,
Laurie

Making Music

Hello friends!
So nice to have you drop by. Once again I'm sorry for the long silence on my blog. For those who don't know me, I am battling Lyme Disease and occasionally I go through a really bad spell health wise. When that happens, I try to lay low and reserve my energy for necessary stuff like keeping up with  my DT commitments. I'm back on my feet now and ready to share what I've been creating.

This card was created for an Outlawz card challenge. It was for the Twisted Thursday's April 4th challenge which was to create a card that  had music and/or singing on it. I hope you like what I came up with. 

First signs of Spring

Hi Everyone,
Sorry its been so long since my last post. Today I thought I'd share this bright coloured spring card that I made for the 'Twisted Thursdays" Outlawz challenge. As always the twisted Thursday challenge is an anything goes card. However, if you add the twist, your card will be entered in the challenge twice which gives you a double chance of wining a lovely prize.This week's twist is "First signs of Spring".  Hope you'll get a chance to stop by Outlawzs and maybe even participate in some of their awesome daily challenges. Thanks for visiting my blog. Hugs!

Deepest Sympathy

Deepest Sympathy

Hello Friends,

Another card for you today. This one was made for a card challenge on Stamp TV. The challenge was to CASE another member's card. The idea is to copy someone else's card but to switch it up a bit so it's your own yet still have it look enough like the one you're casing to be recognizable. This is my version of a card made by another Stamp TV member named Kathy Przeniezny.

Thanks for stopping by.
Laurie

Creating Word Circles

Hello Friends,

Today I have something a little different for you. Below are a few cards that I've made which include word circles that I created on my computer. I've also included a video so you can see how it's done. Creating word circles is a great idea for personalizing your cards. Of course because you're creating them yourselves, the greeting options are unlimited. The first two cards shown below were just random ones that I've made where as the third was made for someone in particular. Have some fun and see what you can create.



Sweet Little One

Get Well Soon

Welcome back 

 

To learn how to make your own word circles, check out the video below.

Hello Little Birdie

Hello Little Birdie

Happy Valentine's Day!
I am so excited to bring you today's post which is a card I made for the Twisted Thursday card challenge on the "Outlawz Challenges" website. What makes this card different from other ones you may ask? Well let me tell you. :) I am so excited to announce that I've been asked to join their design team and this is my first card as a DT member of the Twisted Thursdays team.
So fellow card makers, if you would like to join in some fun, hop on over to "Outlawz Challenges" (link is on the right) and enter some of the challenges. There are seven challenges per week and lots of great prizes to be won.
The Twisted Thursday challenge is an anything goes card but if you would double your chances of winning all you have to do is incorperate the twist. For this week, the twist is to have a window on your card. Our design team members have posted some example for you so come on over and join the fun.
Thanks for visiting. happy stampin to you!

Polka Dot Birthday Card

Roses for Penny

Hello friends,
Welcome to another post. Today's card was made for a dear friend for her birthday. This image is from CC Designs and is called "Rosalie with Roses" I added stickles to the roses for a little bling and tiny pearls for buttons on her dress. For card stock I used Stampin' Up colours Basic black, Whispering White, Wisteria Wonder and Elegant Eggplant. I coloured "Rosalie" with Copic markers.

Have a wonderful week and thanks for stopping by.

Tub Time Card

Laurie's Tub Time

This is another great image from "Whipper Snappers" Isn't it just the cutest? Who can resist a wonderful bubble bath? I for one can relate to this. I love making the bubbles look real by using Crystal Effects on them. It makes them look so glossy. Thanks for stopping by :)

Milestone Birthday Card

Happy 50th!

Don't you just love this "Golden Oldies" image? It reminds me of  Far Side cartoons that my father used to read. Also reminds me of a few people I know, lol.  So many humorous captions come to mind when I stamp this image. Outlawz Challenges had another Copic card challenge. This time the challenge was to make a milestone Birthday card. I think this image was a perfect choice!
Thanks for visiting.  :)

Baby card for Jocelyn

Welcome to the World

This card is for a sweet new baby girl (Jocelyn) who was born to a lovely couple in our church. I wanted to make a card for the "Anything Goes" card challenge for Outlawz Challenges and since I needed to make a baby card for Jocelyn's upcoming baby shower I decided to created this card. I just love this sweet Whipper Snapper stamp and thought it would be perfect for sweet Jocelyn. I coloured the image with Copic markers and used Crystal effects to make the bubbles and water glossy.

Happy hello card

Hello Friends,

I had so much fun making this card. I love the little monkeys. The card design was inspired by a sketch challenge on Outlawz Challenges. I coloured the images with Copic markers.

Favorite Things card

Favorite Things

Hi Everyone,
I think this card says it all! I love card making. When a recent card challenge  on "Outlawz Challenge" asked for a card that includes one or more of our favorite things, this image came to mind immediately. I love ribbons and pearls, glitter and bling but making cards is my favorite thing, lol. This cute image was created using a stamp set called "Totally Tess" from Stampin' Up. rather than colour the image with Copics, I paper pieced her hair and clothes with pretty paper.
Thanks for visiting. :)

Dear Dad card

Dear Dad

Welcome friends.
Masculine cards are usually in short supply in my card stash due to the fact that most of my stamp images are more suitable for feminine cards. I do have a small handful of masculine images and this is one of them. I created this card for an "Anything goes" card challenge on Outlawz Challenges. The challenge had a twist, which was for it to be a masculine card. I created the wood look on the background paper by using my scor buddy to create score lines and then swiped the card stock (on the negative side) with various ink pads. You can play around with different ink colour combinations. I used Tim Holtz alcohol ink.
Thanks for visiting. :)

Snowbuddy card

Snowbuddy
Hello Friends,
Since its still winter I thought I should add another winter scene card. Once again its a card I made for a card challenge on "Outlawz Challenges". I used a stamp set called "Snow Much Fun" from Stampin' Up. The images were coloured with Copic markers.

Clean and simple card

Making Music

 Hello friends,

I have another card entry for a card challenge I entered. I made it for Outlawz Challenges (Sunday CAS challenge SC0115131). Besides making a clean and simple card, the challenge entries were to include something to do with music. It could be a musical instrument, a bird, music notes, etc. This is what I came up with. 

The image and greeting are from Stampin' Up and are from the "Music Expressions" set. To create the music notes at the bottom I used a folder called "Allegro" by Cuttlebug. A "Mega Deckle Rectangles" Nestability was used to frame the greeting. The image was coloured with Copic markers.

Thanks for stampin by :-)