Cupcakes can NEVER be too big!

One of my BFF's had her Champagne Birthday (you know where you turn the same age as the day of your birthday) 30 on the 30th of October. She was in love with the fact that she was turning 30 and also Loves Halloween so we had a big birthday for her at a local pub. The other thing about Sarah is that she adores baking so I wanted to make her a super special card. Then I decided that she should have a HUGE card that we could all sign. And so I drew the design onto a scratch piece of paper to use as a template and this is what I came up with.

Now this giant cupcake card measured approximately 8.5 inches tall and 6 something wide! I totally have to make this card again someday, I LOVE it!

With the help of my new score-pal I made the lines for the "cupcake Liner" and also to separate the stamped sprinkles from the sentiment. I also tied my bow through some new bling sliders that I got from Clear Dollar Stamps. LOVE those too.

Peek a Boo! Here is the inside of my card. I used my Hero Arts Cupcake and colored it with my Copic Ciao markers and mounted it on Pure poppy scalloped circle...

I then added the happy Birthday sentiment also from the hero arts set and punched it out with my SU Curly Label punch. Then I inked the edges so it would stand out a little better and viola!

I loved it, She loved, everyone Loved and I hope you Love it too. Have a great day folks.

Blog Hop - A Tribute to my Dad

It's Here! The second, of what I can only hope is many, Papertrey Ink Blog Hop!
You can read all about it HERE.

This month, Nichole provided us with a pdf file of her fabulous "Father Knows Best" Pattern Paper Blocks. We could do whatever we want....with these blocks. Leave in tact, cut them up, whatever.

At first I was a little lost, not really sure what direction I wanted to go. After one great conversation with my BF (Hi Sarah) I had some direction and have now officially adopted her as my Muse. While we were talking I started to combine the thoughts of "Father" paper and stained glass. The ideas started flowing and there I was printing off some great papers, searching for a stained glass pattern and a great Dad poem. I found the pattern and printed it off and went to work.

I really encourage you to click on the picture for enlargement, The tiny blogger photos do not so it justice. Even then the picture does not to justice to it and the GREAT papers that Nichole Designed.

I will try and walk you through what I did to achieve the stained glass technique, but don't shoot me if I don't explain it well....LOL and I warn you it will be a long read. I started by finding the pattern online and printing it off. If you google "free stained glass patterns" you will have a bunch pop up to select from. Some of the images were really incredible.

Normally I would print the pattern on the back of several different pattern papers and then you start cutting. First cut the center piece and fix it to your base paper. NOTE: when cutting you need to cut on the inside of the black lines. This creates the gap in between the patterns. Then you start on the next row until all the way done.


Because these papers are in the form of the small blocks, I started by cutting all the blocks away from the white borders and stacked the like papers together. I cut the center out of Very Vanilla. Then when I started the next round I put a tiny bit of tape runner glue on my grid paper. I took the pattern paper that I wanted to use and stuck it down. Then I layered the pattern over top and started cutting with my craft knife (a tiny bit easier then it sounds) Once I had the first point pieces cut out I just used them as a template holding it over the next piece of paper I just trimmed around them and glued them all down. I also made a couple of the triangles to use as a guide for the layers. See the picture.

This is what it looked like after a few layers around. I also finished the posts as a guide. I was finding that even sometimes I would cut them out perfectly and they were still too big so I would glue it down and then using my craft knife I would trim a tad more off to fit.

Here we are almost done. I still some rounds and filler to do. I wanted to also say...if you try this project know this. My lines are NOT perfect. That is the beauty of stained glass, some of the inconsistencies really make it a beautiful piece of art work. I urge you to do a google image search of stained glass and you will see what I mean. The overall beauty of the art...whose looking at the lines?

This is the completed circle, cut out from the 12 x 12 chocolate chip base that I started on. Now it is time to make it into something even more beautiful.

I wanted to do a Tribute to My Dad, truly my Best Friend. I was always a Daddy's Girl and I am so thankful for all the years of love, friendship, fun and overall GREAT memories that I have with him. Even while he is not here I will always have those. I miss my Buddy, so Dad, this is for you!

This is a close up of my ribbon award. So cute! All I did was stitch through the edge of the ribbon with thread and then pulled it tight to gather it. Then I stamped the award from the “June” month Hero Arts Clear Stamps Set and then cut it out. I attached the ribbon to the center stamped piece and then to the paper with a dimensional sticker. Also in this picture you can see the mini brads that accent each tip of the star.

These are the corner close ups. The sentiments I stamped are from the Papertrey Ink Mixed Messages Set. I appreciated my Dad he was my Father, but so much more. We were “Friends to the end” and I miss him. On a crafty note: Look how well the Making Memories brads match the Summer Sunrise part of color in the paper.

This poem was found by My Muse, Sarah…she was helping me surf through all the great poems out there but this one I really liked. So sweet. My Dad was all of these things.

***Note: I did not write this poem but it suits my Dad perfectly***

"For My Dad"

You've always been the kind of Dad,
Who had a quiet way,
And yet I knew exactly where you stood
I knew that you'd be there for me,
From one day to the next,
And also, that you'd help me if you could
I knew that you'd be honest,
If I asked for some advice,
And offer praise when it was truly due
And if, per chance, it happened,
That I messed things up a bit,.
I also knew that I would hear from you.
Yet I knew you'd be forgiving,
As I stumbled on through life,
And that you'd help me see the good from bad,
And I'm grateful beyond measure for the person that you are,.
And proud as I can be to call you "Dad."

< June 19, 1951 - June 20, 2007

So that is my Blog Hop and tribute to my Dad. I am overjoyed with the outcome 9.5 Hours later..lol Thanks so much to Nichole from Papertrey ink for hosting yet another wonderful challenge. Thank you also for such wonderful paper. The masculinity of it makes it so easy to create beautiful art with a manly feel to it.

Thank you all for reading, Now it’s my turn to get blog hopping!!! See you in the forums.

I have been sewing!

I finally got out my sewing machine again. Ever since I moved my studio upstairs and put both the girls downstairs, I have left a table full of things downstairs. Somewhere under the pile, was my sewing machine.

I made a few cards for the partner site that I belong to. Coming up to Mother's Day and we had almost no Cards for mom to sell. Now we have a few more. Check it out! i Make Art Cards! Anyway, I am not going to go into great detail but I do want to point out one or two things. I picked up some envelopes from a drug store (a friend told me they sell leftover envelopes for dirt cheap, so I grabbed some up) I love it because they sometimes have unique sizes and it makes for some great variety in cards. I made a matching flap on this envelope to cover up an existing pattern and company brand. One neat thing about this card is I applied a rub-on directly to my PTI Saddle Stitch Ribbon...LOVE IT!!!

The one thing I like about this card is the way the ribbon is weaved through. I first used the slot punch and then used the small hole on my cropadile and put in an eyelet. Then I weaved my ribbon through both sides, secured it and stamped on the ribbon. Still need to pick up some stiffy and try it out. I was lucky enough for no bleeding on this card.

The little flowers on this cards I found at Michael's in the bridal section. They are Bridal confetti but you get a cute little pail with TONS of these flowers in it. Did you know that you can also color these flowers? I have not tried it but you can see it on THIS card. Isn't that fabulous? Lauren's cards never fail to blow my mind. So creative.

I have been slacking a little because I am working now, making cards for craft fairs & stores, helping a friend plan her wedding, doing her 100 invitations, table tents, favor tags, and center peices, dealing with my MIL's recent major health issues and working on a VERY SPECIAL POST coming soon for the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop. Be sure to tune in to see my special Tribute to my Dad! So yeah, I have a few things on my plate.

I have three more days of posts ready to go and scheduled in blogger, so come back and visit and don't forget I do have feedburner if you prefer to get them right in your inbox. See you all soon!

What is Spring??

Ok. I know Mother Nature has a mind of her own? But COME ON!!!!! Its APRIL!!! Have I ever mentioned that I detest winter? Well I do. Not because it's cold, because it isn't. I do, however, hate driving in it. SO I have a win/win solution. I just won't go anywhere. It solves two of my issues and adds something nice. '


1. My truck doesn't drive well in this stuff. It is a half ton 2 wheel drive. Who buys a 2 wheel drive truck in Southern Alberta? My husband does!

2. Gas. I filled my truck last week and it cost me $91.00 to fill it from 1/4 tank. I NEED a car, so I am trying to get Curtis to look into getting me my VW Jetta that I have wanted for so long. Cross your fingers for me. In fact the gas price disgusts me so much that I have barely left my house in the last 2 weeks. I normally go somewhere almost everyday to rid myself of stress.



The something Nice? I have been walking. I have a friend that lives a few blocks away, my Mom lives another 7 or 8? blocks away, so I have been getting out, visiting and getting in some walking! I have already lost some pounds even! Hooray! Did I mention it is still snowing? Yuck!

Edited to Add: I had one comment on where I am. Sorry I could not reply to you because it was left anonymously but yes I am a fellow Albertan. I am in Medicine Hat!! I too hope this crummy weather does go away!!


The rest of this post is brought to you by a card that represents spring. If we can't have it for real then at least we can long for it...lol


I started on PTI Stamper's Select cardstock, folded at the top. Then I took Bashful Blue & Always Artichoke and embossed them with my Cuttlebug. I cut them into strips and adhered them to the front of my card.


Next, I got out my Nestabilities and cut the bashful blue scalloped squares. Man am I glad I have these nesties, they rock! Then I stamped the image from the "May" set form Hero Arts Clear Stamps in basic black. After coloring the images, I outlined the image with a hint of grey for the shaded look. I love how it turned out! I have been wavering on whether to buy copics or not and have so far decided that I can still achieve satisfactory results with out another expensive collection. (but I do really, really, really like them!)


I used the slot punch at the bottom right and tied the Martha Ribbon into a bow and finished off this peice with the baubles I found! Not the real deal dew drops, but I am not to picky. I love them and they were cheap too...Char some of these are coming your way (when I get my **** together...LOL) Last I used a small sentiment from SU to stamp at the bottom and stamped "Thanks so much Mom" on the inside.


Have a great Day! And don't forget I have a SEA of posts for you this week. :)


Card Details:
Cardstock: PTI stampers select, SU bashful blue, always artichoke
Ink: bashful blue, always artichoke, basic brown, going grey, basic black, pretty in pink
Stamps: Hero Arts Clear, Stampin' Up!
Ribbon: Martha Stewart Binding
Other: Baubles ??, Cuttlebug, swiss dots & textile emboss folders, dimensionals, square scallop nestabilities

A Great Find!

Monday evening I was not feeling very inspired until I found myself wondering the aisles of Michael's. Since Sarah and I have another baby shower coming up, I was lerking in the baby/wedding section and happened upon one really great find.

These are supposed to be table confetti for weddigs, but as a card maker/scrapbooker my first thought was "who in their right mind would waste these on a table????" LOL so of course this pretty little container of pearl colored paper flowers accompanied me to the check out. I have no idea how many flowers are in here but there is A LOT! Not to mention the cute container that is totally alterable, all for a cheap (Canadian) price of $8.99. They are also on sale this week for 25% off. SO all in all not to bad.

Here is one card I made with them. It is a smaller card, measuring 3.5 x 5 and is just so cute. I am so glad I found a place with new envelope sizes, it really opens the doors of possibilitie. There is nothing owrse then not having a proper fit for your card, IMO.

Supplies: SU kraft, SU Simply Scrappin' Rose Cottage, retired SU ribbon, Stamps from the month of May Hero Arts Clear, basic brown classic ink, and of course my flower find from Michael's.

Have a great Day!!

Jewels