Anything Goes Challenge.....

         I am so excited to announce that The Paper Nest Dolls is having their very first challenge on THEIR challenge blog. You can enter by going here..... Come and join us for our first of many challenges...... Check out the prize for this specific challenge.... how great are they?

          Here is the lovely card I chose to do for this challenge.......

          Isn't she adorable? This is "Bathtime for Piggy" and she is available here.....

Supply List:

MME Lost & Found 3: Ruby
MME Lost & Found 3: Ruby Embellishments
Metal Embellishments "Thanks"

MME Miss Caroline Dolled Up "Princess" pearl swirls

Gina K Innocent Pink Card Stock

Gina K Kraft Card Stock
Martha Stewart border punch

Copics

          Hope you have tons of fun with this challenge..... please see the challenge blog for all the rules..... xo

I {Heart} My Little Brother

          These siblings are cute! I was thrilled when I received this digital stamp. Kind of reminds me of me little bro and myself, although my little bro is not so little anymore at 6'4". I would go to the ends of the earth for my little brother and he would probably {I think} do the same for me ;). Although if you asked him he may disagree.... :)

          This card is layered with bright fun colours from BoBunny "Double Dots" & Studio G. Heavily distressed {once again} by Tim Holts distressing tool and Walnut Stain ink. I could not do a card without my trusty Gina K Kraft card stock. This card is 5.5X5.5. I used AmyR sentiments "hugs" and "Bestfriends Forever".

          The Copics used are E000, E00, E11, E25, E27, E29, E41, E42, E43, E74, E77, E79, B24, B28, G17, R20, R37, R39, R89, V25, FV2, BG05, BG07, 110 and 0. I used some teal sparkly ribbon and 2 bright purple buttons. Faux stitching was added as well. "My Little Brother" rubber stamp is available here. The digital stamp is also available.

          Only 3 more days for the 20% off your entire order at The Paper Nest. Just use "I love the Paper Nest" in the notes section to receive your discount. Sale ends March 31, 2013.

Lovely Little Card

          So I inked up this image quite some time ago and today I finally made her into a card. She is Tiddly Inks Wryn Spring Bling and I {heart} her. She is absolutely adorable.....

 
          I inked this little beauty with Copic markers. Her skin was done with E000, E00, E11, and R20.  Her hair was coloured with E31, E53, and E55. Dress, shoes and top were inked with RV63, RV66, YG23, and YG25. The flowers were done with BG02 and BG07. The image was stamped on Gina K's Pure Luxury 120lb white cardstock.

          The card base was done in Gina K Kraft card stock and it measures 5.5"X5.5". I used Gina K Black Onyx card stock to line MME Collectable "Memorable" patterned paper. The sections were sewn together. I added the ribbon and 2 buttons for the pop of colour. I also added the 2 aqua brads to bring out the blue in the flowers. The sentiment is from Stamping Bella and I heat embossed it with white embossing powder. Hope you enjoyed it..... xo

Back on Canadian Soil.....

          SO we hauled butt to get home, left on Friday morning, staying in an EXTREMELY COLD Ely, Nevada {-11} on the Friday night...... left Saturday morning and made it to Ellensburg, Washington. A little warmer but still cold =). WE saw some really nice country. We even drove through Boise, Idaho. I have NEVER been to Idaho. Sunday we arrived to the island at 3 pm. I unpacked the card and immediately made a card..... =). Sure can't take the crafter out of me. I could not wait to get back into it and NOW I have a HUGE mess in there from all the little goodies we bought. My mom and I have to try and figure out a system to organize all this stuff. I promised you a blog haul so I am going to organize some pictures and we will get to that. As for the card, your gonna have to wait..... I still have to colour up the image for it..... but it is for a certain blog challenge....... keep your eyes peeled. xo

One More Day......

          Happy Wednesday Everyone!! Well my time in Phoenix is coming to an end..... Friday is my last day here... Let me tell you my wallet will be grateful! I thought we were done with the shopping but alas we hit up Michaels and found some more goodies.... so pictures will be taken and I will do a MAJOR blog haul. It will probably have to be done in 2-3 posts because we got SO MUCH STUFF....... I had to buy 2 extra bags just to bring all my stuff home...... and that isn't even including the craft stuff we bought, we have a big separate box for all that =)!
          I will be ending my time here by going to see the Canucks play the Coyotes which is always awesome. Originally I was told we weren't going so I am a little bummed that I do not have my Lapierre jersey but to be perfectly honest I didn't have the room anyways. Ashley and I are going to a game in Vancouver on April 8th against who else but the Coyotes? Funny I have been to 3 games in my life and they have all been between the Canucks and the Coyotes....... I'm seeing a pattern there... =)
          One thing I am so happy about is getting home and being creative once again, I have missed it so much and I am so excited about the challenge blog the The Paper Nest Doll's is sponsoring. That will be my first task. I do not have a lot of time but I always work better under pressure.... =)
          Anyways, I am EXHAUSTED...... so I am hitting the hay. xo

Everyone Needs a Little Sweet in Their Life.....

          I am going to be honest, I have a hard time with male cards.... I do not believe I am the first to admit this and I am definitely not going to be the last by any means. IN FACT, I am pretty sure I have mentioned it somewhere in my blog before.... It's not that I am opposed to doing male cards, I just find it easier to make cards girly because of the embellishments that are available......BUT, when I saw Sweet Friend, I was amped to do a boy's card and it was really easy because this stamp made it easy. Check it out.....

          I definitely think he is a keeper! I heavily distressed the layers on this card with Tim Holtz distressing tool and Walnut Stain ink. It is layered on an A2 Gina K Kraft card. Another unknown source for patterned paper.... {I have a few of these, with no cover page}. I embossed the sentiment "Sweet Friend" by Scrappy Moms {which was PERFECT} with white embossing powder.

          The image is inked with Copics..... {of course}! I used E000, E00, E11, E25, E27, E74, E77, E79, G05, G07, G17, RV10 and RV11. The 3 little green buttons brought the card all together. I hope you like it, he is available here.

          Don't forget to use the code "I love The Paper Nest" in the notes section to receive 20% off your entire order at The Paper Nest. This special is only till the end of March!

Loving the Sun....

          So I am really excited about today because my really good friend/coworker Ashley is arriving today to spend the last week here with us...... I just texted her and she is really excited about coming here and leaving the  dreary rainy weather behind her in Vancouver. Apparently they had rainfall warnings which is never good, because we get a lot of rain anyways so the fact they are warning us of heavy rainfalls is never a fabulous thing......
          Goodyear, Phoenix is seeing some record high temperatures for the next week too. We hit 90 yesterday and it is suppose to go up from there over the next few days. We tried to get to the San Francisco/Cincinnati baseball game yesterday...... unfortunately that did not work out because we could not find parking anywhere so I went home and swam in the pool which was as warm as a bathtub {with no heater on}.
          Anyways I will be picking up Ashley in a few hours from the airport so I should run and get some stuff done. I have taken some pictures of all the goodies I bought the last couple of days which I will be posting in a blog haul. It may have to be in 2 or 3 with all the paper pads we bought. Nice thing though is 90% were half off which was an amazing bargain, especially for paper addicts like my mom and myself...
          Anyways, I am off..... xo

Already spending...... =)

So I have been here just 24 hours and I have already been out shopping twice, once last night after dinner and again today. Today was short lived as dad was with us and I hate holding him up {he is not the most patient} BUT I have already planned to go back tomorrow for longer shops, I will also do some haul posts because I've been buying stuff already. It was Joann's today with everything except for 2 of my items being 40% off..... NOW WE'RE TALKING.....
Tomorrow I'm hitting Hobby Lobby and Big Lots as well as my clothing shops =). Well time for a drink and a sit by the pool..... xo

I'm Leaving on a Jetplane....

So I am currently sitting at the gate waiting to board my flight to Phoenix. It is so beautiful and sunny here in Vancouver but it will be nicer in Phoenix =). Apparently after Skyping with the family last night, they had a HUGE thunder/lightening storm there last night. So here's hoping they are done with that and it's sunny blue skies from now on. Anyways I should run..... We are boarding soon..... Bon Voyage!!!

Here is the deal......
          It is really quite simply.....become a follower of The Paper Nest Blog here and add yourself to Christine Paperdolls Facebook page here. Does that not sound like the easiest of giveaways?
          Every Sunday night Christine will be doing a random draw just for the followers of her blog and Facebook page. The prizes will change every week and to make it more interesting, you won't know what the prize is until you have been chosen.
          Christine will have some fabulous prizes ranging from Copic markers, paper pads, gift certificates to the shop, as well as embellishments {Prima flowers, Doodlebug Twine and MUCH MUCH more} This is only to name a few examples of the great prizes you can win!!
          The first giveaway is this Sunday so visit the links above and start following..... She will choose one lucky winner and post the name on her Facebook page.
Good Luck to everyone =)

So I have 3 sleeps left......

          So I am leaving on a jet plane very soon, I will be going over to the mainland on Friday and flying to Phoenix on Saturday morning and I can not wait, although I have crazy allergies or I am getting a cold which unfortunately ALWAYS happens before my vacation........ I have not had holidays since November and I am truly looking forward to getting off this island for  more than a couple of days..... that and I am mentally and physically exhausted and need time away.
          SO unfortunately that means that the blog posts are going to be a little boring for the next couple of weeks as I can not pack my craft room and bring it with me so there won't be a whole lot of creating or card making going on BUTI am going to be shopping. I can not wait to visit Hobby Lobby and Joanne's because we do not have those stores in Canada. So YEAH for shopping. I also plan to sit by the pool at the house rental and CHILL.....
          I had a really cool surprise tonight. I was browsing through the blog subscription updates and noticed that the TGF had there "What did I find on Wednesday?" post and I saw there was a Nikki using Cheeky Geeky, so I decided to take a little peek and OMG, there I am with my card {one of my favourites}. I made it for a friend/coworker and it was actually made a few months ago so that was a really nice surprise.... see the link below, I am the third one listed... =) xo

What did I find Wednesday?

ps.... look for my posts for the The Paper Nest coming soon... =)

Anyone Need a Do??

          I {heart} this stamp! It is so adorable and when I first received it from Christine I was giddy with delight...... I use to be a hairdresser {for 13 years} before I went back to school to get my nursing degree. I could not resist picking this little lovely out to ink up. The Paper Doll Salon is so cute, don't you think?

          Remember if you visit The Paper Nest before March 31st and use the code " I love the Paper Nest" {in the notes section} you can get 20% off your entire order, so it's a perfect time to stock up on all the little cuties that are available.

          This is 5X5 card made from Gina K Kraft card stock {my favourite}! The patterned paper I used is My Mind's Eye "The Sweetest Thing - Honey". I have the most unique embellishment, I have no idea where it came from but I found it in my stash. It is shiny and silver in colour and unfortunately really hard to see in the picture.... but it adds a lot of flare to this card. I used some teal ribbon to add a pop of colour and a felt flower embellishment. The inside says Absolutely FABulous....Thank You!. I'm thinking a perfect card for the hairdresser in your life.... :)

          I used my medium of choice, Copics. Both ladies skin is coloured in E000, E00, E11 and R20. The hairdresser's hair is E51, E53 and E55. Her dress & shoes are inked with Y15 & Y17. Her belt is E41, E42 and E43 {as with the sign}. Her dryer is coloured with T3 & T5. The client is sitting on a chair coloured in RV06, RV09, 100 and 0. Pants & shoes are B24 & B28. Her Top is coloured in RV10 & RV11. Let's not forget her hair in rollers..... E25 & E27 and some pops of colour with BG07 & BG10 with the rollers, hair bow and hair tools.

          I distressed using Tim Holts distressing tool and Walnut Stain ink. I also added some faux stitching around the card with a Uniball Signa white gel pen. Hope you like her, please feel free to comment....

Such a Pretty Image.......

          So I completed another card today but I am not 100% sure what kind of card or who it is going to be for. The inside is not completed yet but I spent a lot of time on the front of it. I am kind of sad because this will be the last card I do before I go on my holidays {where I won't have access to all me creative stuff}. Well, actually I still have the 3 cards for The Paper Nest to post, one that will be posted for later tonight, so keep you eyes peeled..... it is SUPER cute.....
          I decided to make a card using one of the inked images I had laying around. Normally I pick the paper first and then do the image but this time I inked the image first and tried to match paper to the image.... considering all the paper I have this was pretty easy to do and it turned out awesome, even if I say so myself...... the image I used is from LORi Boyd and her name is Ella, she is available here.
          She was too much fun to colour, in fact, I think I coloured her 3 different ways but this is the one I chose to use for now, the others are pending creative drive =)

          Isn't she adorable? I really did enjoy colouring her. I used Copic markers {of course}! Her skin was coloured with E000, E00, E11 and R20. Her hair was coloured with E13, E15 and E17. Her Skirt and tights were coloured with Y13, Y15, Y17, YG03 and YG25. Her boots and top were coloured with RV21, RV23 and RV25.

          Isn't she bright and beautiful? The 5.5X5.5 card is made by Gina K Kraft coloured card stock. I also used Gina K Black Onyx paper to line the Pebbles "Sunnyside" patterned paper. I sewed each section of patterned paper to the black paper. The flower added is a Prima flower. I really like how this one turned out, now to decide who gets it... ;). xo

Love is Such a Beautiful Thing.....

          So this card that I am posting today is for my baby brother and his wife. I was so happy when Jill came into our family..... although I am sure she thought I was a little crazy. But she fit right in with all of us.... they have given me my beautiful niece and handsome nephew and I love them dearly.....
          I first noted this stamp company on Facebook, all these cute little digital stamps kept creeping on my page and they were adorable.... so when I saw this one, I knew exactly who I was going to make a card for with it...... Heidi from 2CuteInk can rock some serious cuteness. This is Panda Love......

          Aren't they absolutely adorable? I fell in love the minute I saw this stamp..... please see below for details....

          As with most of my cards, this one is made on Gina K Kraft card stock in the A2 size. The digital stamp was printed on Gina K Pure Luxury 120lb white card stock. Gina K Black Onyx was used to frame the image. The patterned paper I used was MME "Love Me". One of the many paper packs I got from The Paper Nest {thank you Christine!} Of course I distressed the main layering piece with Tim Holts distressing tool and inked all the layering edges with "Walnut Stain". I also added some faux stitching with the Uniball Signo white gel pen. What I thought was really a nice touch was the little wood mini hearts that I got from Simon Says Stamp from they February Card Kit..... The image was inked in none other than Copic markers. I used R83, R85, Y16, C0, C1, C3, C5, C7, and C9.

          The inside of the card was kept to a minimal with the use of some patterned paper from MME's "Love Me". The sentiment "all because two people fell in love" is from Scrappy Mom's. I really hope you like this as I hope my cousin's will too. xo

Goodies GALORE - The Paper Nest Haul =)

          So as I kill some time waiting for my mani/pedi appointment {YEAH}...... I decided I would blog a bit about all the goodies I received from Christine from The Paper Nest. When I started this gig with The Paper Nest Dolls I was told I would get a nice care package with some product in it. HOLY MOLY..... I was not expecting the stuff I got. I feel like it is Christmas or that I have won a lottery......

          Now seeing as I do not do YouTube videos..... {this is purely by choice} as I can barely find time to blog so why would I add videos to the mix? Maybe in the future when I can quit working my full time job and do this all day long {DrEaMiNg}...... I thought I would do a blog haul.... I do not know if this is the way things area done BUT this is how I am going to do it. I also wanted everyone to know just how generous Christine from The Paper Nest is......

          Now some people would say she went a little overboard {I am one of them} as I think I am still a little overwhelmed by all that I received. I am also very grateful for all this stuff that I can be creative with.... Kind of makes me mad I am going on vacation now because I would love to stay and play with all the goodies I received {ok well maybe a little mad} because let's face it I have not had holidays since November and I am DUE..... =)

          So I am going to add some pictures to show you what I was so lucky to receive!!!