East Coast Stamping with Mary Louise

 The temperature has certainly changed from the last while, it is actually quite nice to be outside now.  It's so hard to believe we are near the end of August and while officially summer doesn't end until middle of September our mindset is once school starts first of September then summer is over.   Fall is my favourite season for so many reasons.  The colours, the temperatures, some of my favourite crops are harvested during this time.  Today's card reflects some of those colours, reds/yellows/oranges.  I used some designer series paper from the Harvest Meadow pack and Cajun Craze as my main focal colour.   This project is created based on a challenge from Inspire.Create.Challenges #098 Supply List: Cardstock: Cajun Craze-cut at 4 ¼”x 8 ½” scored at 5 1/2; 2 pcs 4”x1/2” Basic White-cut at 4” x 5 3/4”; scrap for leaves; 4”x1 ¼” Harvest Meadows dsp-4”x5 ¼” Ink: Cajun Craze; Daffodil Delight; Pumpkin Pie Stamp Sets: Forever Fern; Biggest Wish;...

 Another blistering hot, muggy day in the Annapolis Valley with another heat warning in place.  I am not a lover of this heat, bring on crisp, cool fall days!   My project today is another sketch challenge for hand stamped sentiments sketch challenge #371.  When I first looked at the sketch, all I could see was moon or sunset and not the flower image shown here.  I pulled out my Sailing Home and Very Versailles sets and knew exactly where I wanted to go with it.  One of my coworkers lost her dad yesterday so I made this into a sympathy card so I could give it to her.  I enjoy sketch cards, it takes the guesswork out of layouts and it doesn’t have to be exactly as the image shown.   Supply List:  Gray Granite card base Basic White cardstock for insert  Bloom where you grow dsp Very Versailles, Sailing Home and Many Messages stamp sets  Gray Granite, Cajun Craze and Calypso Coral ink pads  Blending Brushes Messages Dies Layering ...

 Here is yet another Christmas card, this should be the last for awhile, lol.  I was given the gold foil trees from my up line Tara for our team swap which were punched using the Evergreen Border Punch.  I really like the effect of the punch-not only can you punch the shape out to give you an element to use on your project but it also allows you to create a negative cutout along the edge of your card.  I used a piece of dsp from the Tidings of Christmas pack, Evening Evergreen cardstock, Stitched So Sweetly Dies and the sentiment from Peaceful Deer.   

 Hi everyone, another yucky and muggy day here in the Annapolis Valley.  Thanks heavens for fans and air conditioners.  I decided for this sketch to switch things up a bit and make a card that I don’t tend to make many of even though it is my favourite occasion of the year.  Yup, Halloween! 🎃 My oldest daughter was born November 1st and we always seemed to have Halloween themed parties for her birthday every year.  She enjoys Halloween just as much as I do now!  So I paired up the Banner Year stamp set and the Cute Halloween dsp to make this adorable card.   Supply List: Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie cut at 5 ½”x 8 ½” scored at 4 ¼”; 1”x5 ¼”;  scraps for 2 circles Basic White-cut at 4” x 5 1/4” Basic Black-scraps for 2 circles Cute Halloween dsp-4”x5 ¼”; 1”x5 ¼”; 4 images Ink: Memento Stamp Set: Banner Year Dies: Stitched Shapes (circle) Adhesive, mini black dimensionals Paper Trimmer Cut & Emboss Machine Step- By- Step Instruction...

 You'd never know it was 9 degrees this morning when I left for work as it's now a scorcher at 27.  Not sure what the humidex is but I do know it has turned out very warm.   Today's card is yet another mystery piece challenge from teammate Valerie and boy did she have me stumped.  Her pieces were three Poinsettia petals which were cut and embossed in gold foil using the Poisenttia Petals die set as well as a piece of gold foil run through an embossing machine using the Evergreen Forest 3D folder. I knew I needed to do something extra special to compliment the beautiful embossed details in the pieces.  I needed them to pop out and knew it had to be something dark to achieve the look I wanted.  After a quick scan of Pinterest for inspiration, I found exactly what I needed.  Take a look here:  Supply List: Cardstock: Early Expresso-cut at 5 ½”x 8 ½” scored at 4 ¼”; 4”x5 ¼”;scrap for sentiment Basic White-cut at 4”x5 ¼” Gold Foil-2 ¼”x5 ¼”;...

 Another mystery pieces challenge card today, this one from my teammate Andrea.  I forgot to take a photo of the pieces before I started to assemble, but there were 4 pieces-the three assorted sizes of dsp plus the tree.  I love how our dsp coordinates so well, and when put together looks cohesive.  My only regret with how I put this together is, I should have embossed the tree but otherwise it's a nice clean card.  This card would be great for beginner stampers, and also a great use of scraps of our beautiful paper.  The tough part is choosing which side of the dsp to use, it's all so very pretty.  I was so very happy when this was carried over from the last catalogue.   Supply List: Cardstock: Basic White-cut at 4 ¼”x 8 ½” scored at 5 ½” Real Red-cut at 4 x 5 ¼” Mossy Meadow-scrap for tree Heartwarming Hugs dsp-1 1/2”x4”; 1 1/2”x3”; 1 ¾”x2” Punch-Pine Tree Ink: Memento Stamp Sets: Holly Jolly Wishes Matte Decorative Dots Sta...

 Hi folks, Seems like I haven't been here for a couple of days, sorry for that.  We have started staining our deck and that's been a bit time consuming.  I was ever so excited when we decided to enlarge our deck a few years back from just a door step and a veranda to now a deck that wraps around 3/4 of our entire house.  What was I thinking???  The temperature hasn't been ideal for it either, heat warnings all week with high humidity. Then, of course we had our little grandson here for the night so focused on him too. Today's post will be using the pieces from my downline Marnie that were part of our Christmas in July (yup, I'm still playing catch up) swap.  She provided beautiful die cut snowflakes from the Silver Foil and Balmy Blue cardstock.  Here's what I did with them:  Supply List: Cardstock: Basic Black-cut at 4 q/4”x 8 ½” scored at 4 ¼” Balmy Blue- scrap for snowflakes Basic White-4”x5 ¼” Silver Foil-scraps for snowflakes Peacef...

 Today’s post is bittersweet but I am feeling thankful that I can be involved in a small way.  As you have all seen in the news lately across Canada, the discoveries of mass graves of children at residential indigenous schools have been horrifying.  My heart aches for those children and families.  There have been several groups and individuals that have come forward with beautiful offerings for survivors or families of the survivors in many different ways.  I am contributing to two different acts of kindness by offering some of my handmade cards for these groups to use.  One group is in Ontario, they are making and donating quilts to survivors of an Ontario residential school so my cards with accompany some of those quilts along with cards from other local demos.  The second group is more local to me, here in Nova Scotia where a preteen Mi’kmaw boy walked for 6 days to raise awareness about residential school trauma covering 157 kilometres.  I lov...

 How did it become Tuesday again?  This week's sketch came from my fellow demo friend, Barb.  It is a simple and clean sketch which she pulled randomly from Pinterest and to my knowledge not an active challenge.  I stumbled upon a blog challenge which is a tic tac toe so I am combining my #sketchintuesday with the #tictactoechallenge and am submitting this as my project.  Here is the sketch I used, the tic tac toe board and my finished product.  My tic tac toe used yellow, patterned paper and green.   I used the Flowers of Friendship stamp set, the large flower image and the sentiment which were both stamped using Memento ink.  The sentiment on Basic White, and the flower image on a piece of dsp from Bloom Where You Grow.  The third piece of paper, another dsp offering but from Pansy Petals.  I coloured the flower using Blending Pens and Daffodil Delight and Soft Sea Foam ink pads.  These were layered onto a matte of gray granite a...

Here is an awesome sketch to try, this one features leaves which would make a great fall, birthday or even sympathy card. I often find a sketch that I like and work with dsp, dies or even folders to create.  And the best part about sketches is you don't have to do exactly what the sketch shows.  Thanks for dropping by.... Supply List:   Bundle :  Time of Giving   Papers : Very Vanilla Thick- 4 ¼ x 11 score 5 ½ (base) + scrap for sentiment Harvest Meadow DSP 1 ¾  x 5 ½ Early Espresso 2 x 5 ½ Scraps of Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Craze, Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry for leaves   Inks :  Early Espresso   Tools :  Paper Trimmer, Bone Folder, Stitched Rectangle dies, Timeworn 3D Folder, Embossing Machine   Adhesives :   Dimensionals, Tombow, Glue Dots, Stampin’ Seal   1.        Emboss the front of the card base with the Timeworn Type 3D embossing folder 2.    ...

 Hello everyone, today we are celebrating our grandsons 4th birthday.  It’s so hard to believe he is 4 already, he will start pre-k next month.  Then it will seem like minutes and he will graduate high school.  But for now, he still loves everything dinosaurs so I just had to make him a box card with the retired Dinoroar dsp.  I know he will just love it!  I found the idea on Pinterest so can’t take credit for creativity.  

This evening I cohosted a fun catalogue launch with teammate Andrea from Prairie Sky Paper Crafts.  Peaceful Deer bundle was my focus along with the triple point card layout. I have loved this fancy fold since I first laid eyes on it, why wouldn't I?  There was just one problem with the versions I had seen on Pinterest and in blogs and that was the base was made using 12x12" cardstock.  I have never bought that size so I decided to change up the measurements to use something more user friendly.  This card is now using 8 1/2"x 11" cardstock actually being cut at 5"x10".   Supply List: Cardstock: Basic White-cut at 5”x10”scored at 5”; 5”x5”; scrap for sentiment Sahara Sand scrap for deer Peaceful Print dsp-2pieces cut at 4 ¾”x4 ¾” Ink: Soft Suede Stamp Sets: Peaceful Deer Punch Deer Builder Punch Dies Snow Time Embellishments: Simply Elegant Trim; Metallic Pearls Stampin Seal   Dimensionals Paper Trimmer Stampin Cut & Emboss Machine...

Today's post is another mystery piece challenge from team member, Jennifer.  Our theme for July was of course, Christmas in July and this is what she sent me.  I don't know how I missed this gem in the catalogue but I have fallen deeply in love.  Let's take a look at what I did with it. The die is from the So Many Snowflakes die set.    I decided I needed to have more snowflakes on my card and needed to colour some also.  I heat embossed some snowflakes from the Peaceful Deer stamp set from the new mini catalogue and then used my blending brushes to colour the card front, focusing on those snowflakes.  I finished it off with a Coastal Cabana stamped greeting.  Here is the list of supplies as well as how to put it all together.   Supply List: Cardstock: Pool Party 122924-cut at 5 ½”x 8 ½” scored at 4 ¼” Basic White 159276-cut at 4” x 5 ¼” (insert) Ink: Pool Party 147107; Coastal Cabana 147097; Versamark 102283 Stamp Set: Peaceful ...

 What can Sale A Bration do for Paper Pumpkin? Well….. If this looks like something you want to try, follow this link and I would LOVE to be your demonstrator.   https://www.paperpumpkin.com/en-ca/sign-up/?demoid=2143848 Sign up before August 10th for this kit before it’s all gone! 

 Today I am featuring the card I made last evening during my #sketchintuesday facebook live.  I do these every Tuesday night from a sketch that fellow Stampin Up Demo, Barb Stortz provides to me.  She does random searches of Pinterest to find a different sketch each week.  Some I am okay with, others really paralyze my creating abilities.   For this project I wanted to showcase some of the new offerings from both the Mini catalogue and Sale a Bration so I broke open the Peaceful Deer bundle and Peaceful Prints dsp.  I love the crisp, clean images from the stamp set and the variety of beautiful fonts in the greetings.  The dsp is on par with Stampin Up's reputation for over the top colours and designs in their papers.   Here is the sketch and the finished product along with the list of supplies and directions.  I hope you enjoy this sketch.  Supply List: Cardstock: Basic White 159276-cut at 5 ½”x 8 ½” scored at 4 ¼” Basic Bl...

The last of my Christmas in July card class projects. Minimal stamping with this card, dies and punches stole the show this time.   Both of these cards are pretty, but I am only giving supply list for the Cherry Cobbler version.  You can easily swap out the colour combo to fit whichever piece of dsp you are using. Supply List: Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler 119685-cut at 5 ½”x 8 ½” scored at 4 ¼”; scrap for sentiment layer Basic White 159276-cut at 4 x 5 ¼” ; scrap for sentiment DSP: Tidings of Christmas 155718-from one sheet of 6x6, cut one piece 3 1/2"x 5 1/2" and the second piece 2 1/2"x5 1/2".   Ink: Memento 132708 Stamp Sets: I used a retired set, but anything with a small Christmas Greeting will work.   Dies: Basic Border 155558 Punch: Double Oval 154242; Everyday Label 144668 Tear & Tape Adhesive 154031 Embellishments: Metallic Pearls 146282; Simply Elegant Trim 155766  Stampin dimensionals 104430 Paper Trimmer 152392 Stampin Cut ...