Christmas is around the corner.......

 So I am working feverishly to get my cards done for January and February so I can relax..... Although I am working all of Christmas which is kind of a bummer but I can't complain because I do get paid very well to be working this holiday season. I do get down in the dumps though when I know that I will be going home on Christmas day to sleep in preparation of my night shift Christmas night, instead of spending it with my family. Today I completed a couple of cards for my good friend Ashley. She is a coworker of mine who has become a really amazing friend. I made her 2 cards, one for work so everyone could sign it and of course my own very personal birthday card for her..... which I can not wait to show you...... it is to DIE for adorable..... The first stamp set is Ninja Skillz from There She Goes stamps..... I know I will get a lot of use from this particular stamp set, it is AMAZING..... I actually got this idea from the blog hop, more specifically from the Paper Perfect Designs.

There She Goes "Ninja Skillz"
Gina K Kraft, Black and Lipstick Red cardstock
Gina K Pure Luxury 120lb cardstock
Memento Black Tuxedo
Copics: C3, C5, C7, C9, R39, R89.
Promarkers: Blush, Sunkissed Pink and Baby Pink
Liquid Pearls
Yellow Stickles

The second card I am posting is Ashley's second card from me personally. She loves sock monkeys.... so when I saw this particular stamp I totally thought of her and knew I would be making a card for using this stamp. The stamp I am talking about is Sitting Monkey from Whimsie Doodles.

Whimsie Doodles "Sitting Monkey"
Gina K Kraft cardstock cut out with the Grand Caliber Scalloped Circle.
Patterned Paper: Jilly Bean Soup "Homemade 6 Bean Soup"
Fancy Pant's "Summer Soul"
Tim Holtz Distressing Ink in Walnet Stain
Copics: E74, E77, E79, V17, V25, RV19, BG49, G07, E40, R37, R39

Woke up to more snow...........

So I woke up to a white white world and as I type this I am watching it all be washed away by the rain..... our crazy weather....... you got to love it......
I got all of my cards done for January, including for my coworkers. Thankfully January is not a busy month for birthdays..... so now I can start on February..... in the mean time I will post the final card for the birthdays in January......
This particular card was made for my cousin's wife..... and I really enjoyed making this one, there is something about the red, black and white colour combination. It truly is classic. I chose a really cute stamp called CiCi from Making it Crafty (she is closed for the holiday season so when she opens I will include a link to the stamp)....... she was a dream to colour up, see for yourself......

Sketch Inspiration is from Deconstructed Sketch #52
Making it Crafty "CiCi" Digi
Gina K Black Onyx and Lipstick Red
BoBunny "Enchanted"
Copic Markers: E74, E77, E79 (hair), R37, R39, R89, Y11, Y15, Y17 and 110 (cherry, dress and flower),  YG23, YG25 (eyes), E44, E47 (stem)
Promarkers: Blush, Sunkissed Pink and Baby Pink (skin)
I also covered the flower centre with Glossy Accents...
Spellbinders Circle and Scalloped Circle...

What a Beautiful Day..........

So as with any West Coast day, the snow is almost melted, there is still some on the sides of the roads...... the sun is shining and it is gorgeous outside...... although they are calling for more snow tonight, we will see...... I am having a hard time believing the Christmas is just around the corner literally..... Unfortunately I am working all of Christmas so we will be doing ours on Boxing Day this year...... which is just fine with me, I am just glad that I get to spend it with my family. That is really all that matters to me.......
So the card I am posting today is again for a family member who lives South of the border. I used some really cute paper from a company that is new to me, Pebbles. The patterned paper pack is called "Seen & Noted". Funny I went through the paper packs we have..... a total of 75 packs.... that is just the 6X6 paper packs....... CRAZY..... but I have an addiction to paper... well who am I kidding I have an addiction to supplies in general........ here is the card, I hope you enjoy......

Sketch Inspiration Deconstructed Sketch #80
CC Designs Sweet Pixie Cupcake Brigitta
Gina K Ocean Mist cardtock and green
Pebbles "Seen & Noted"
Copic Markers: E25, E27, E29 (hair), BG01, BG02, BG15, BG23, BG32, BG49 (Dress), E40, E43, R37, R39, R89, V01, V12, Rv21, RV23, Rv32, Rv24 (cupcakes).
Promarkers: Blush, Sunkissed Pink and baby Pink (skin)

The Greeting Farm's Dressy Joyce....

I hope this morning finds you all well.......My last post had mentioned I thought we would get snow and we definitely had our first snowfall. I worked last night and it snowed for most of the night. My walk home this morning was a little wet and sloppy and there was quite a bit of snow on the ground.It is definitely feeling more like Christmas......
My second card I completed for my January birthdays uses The Greeting Farm's Dressy Joyce..... she is adorable and I use her a lot. I used some new paper I bought from our local craft store here in town from My Mind's Eye's called So Sophie. The paper is absolutely gorgeous. I am a HUGE fan of MME paper..... It is also the first time I have dabbled in the shaped cards and I have to say I see myself doing this a lot in the future.....I am also happy to say that I have finally found the PERFECT colour combination for golden brown/brown with Copic markers..... I made for a young family member and I hope she loves it......

It feels like it is going to snow.........

Well I think Winter is officially here. It smells like it is going to snow today but whether it does is another thing. Living on the West Coast always brings you surprises in way of weather, it says it will do one thing and well I would say 75% of the time it does the opposite. I don't mind snow if I do not have to go anywhere. I have a Honda Fit which is not really snow appropriate and here the snow is not your light fluffy stuff, it is the heavy wet gross yucky snow.... and nobody knows how to drive in it.....
I could go on forever about the lack of snow driving skills BUT I want to get to the important stuff....creativity. Now that my Christmas cards are completed I have decided to start on my Birthday/Anniversary cards for the new year. I am going away in March for 3 weeks so I have to make sure all my cards are done until then so everyone gets theres. The one I am posting today is so cute..... I made it for a special girl (my best friend's daughter), although she is not a little girl anymore, she is turning 20. WOW, I remember when she was a baby and we would load her into my car for drives in the middle of the night just to get her asleep because she always feel asleep when we were driving... now she has grown into a beautiful woman.... I seriously love her like she was my own...... Unfortunately I can not remember the name or maker of the stamp I used :( If anybody who sees this remembers please let me know so I can give proper credit...... :) Taylor LOVES purple and what girl doesn't like shoes???? I am not one who uses coloured cardstock for cardbacks but I am trying really hard to venture out of my comfort zone...

I used MOJO Monday's sketch #260 (square) for inspiration.
Copic Markers: BV00, V9, V17 and N9
Diamond Stickles
Purple Cardstock from Stampin Up
Black Polka Dotted Paper - Unkown Source
I also used a white Sigma Uniball gel pen to add dots to the scallop square
Spellbinders: Large square and coordinating scalloped square.

Heavy Hearted.......

I am absolutely beside myself in grief and devastation after learning of the tragic and horrific shootings at the elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. My heart is broken for the families affected by this tragedy. Those poor parents who dropped their children off to what is suppose to be a safe haven only to find out that they will never see their children again. I am not a parent but I am an aunt and I take care of sick children every day so they are very important to me and when I hear of something so senseless I have to be honest it angers me greatly, I don't understand it. I hope that the mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts, uncles and siblings hug each other a little tighter tonight....... I am not a religious person but I do believe there is a God and I hope that time will bring healing and peace to the families who have lost their loved ones today and that God will wrap his arms around each and every one that was affected by this...... and may those beautiful babies and adults who lost their lives RIP.

Who can forget my favourite little people....

So final post of the night is dedicated to my niece and nephew..... the 2 most special people in my life. I had so much fun making these ones for them and was trying to think of a way to add a "treat" to the card..... you will see what I mean..... I also will include a picture of my niece making her gingerbread house. Apparently my nephew must think it is uncool to participate because he would rather watch TV but London, Grandma and I had a blast doing this......

CC All That Scraps Sweet Pixie Santa Birgitta

Pattie's Creations "Holiday Reindeer"

My niece Lo and her fabulous creation :)

My girl's cards............

Wow 2 posts in one day, that is crazy..... so I had to post the pictures of the finished cards I made for all my good friends....... they all have their favourite colours although that was not entirely how I based who would get what card. I used some Tiddly Inks digital stamps which of course our ALWAYS super adorable...... and I always have a great time colouring them...... I also used a stamp from a new artist Pattie, who has an Etsy store, see the link below. So here they are.... enjoy....

Tiddly Inks "Cocoa Wishes"

SillyDillyBeans "Three Penguins"

Tiddly Inks "Minnie's Christmas Lights"

Tiddly Inks "Minnie's Christmas Lights"
I made this card with a few different variations in
colours for different friends. Apparently I did not take pictures of all of them.

Pattie's Creations "Holiday Reindeer"
This one is for my adorable hairdresser Tara who is a miracle worker..... :)
You can't see it but I added Glossy Accents to his nose... SUPER CUTE.

Christmas is almost here........

Our weather on the West Coast has been milder than usual which means we have not had any snow yet so I totally thought it was appropriate to add some falling snow to my page, how cute is that? Well I have been a busy bee...... trying to get all my Christmas cards completed. You saw from my last post the ones I sent my aunts and uncles.... well this post will be the ones I sent to my immediate cousins. I also completed the same ones for the Paediatricians I work with. As I am typing this I just realized I never took a picture of any of the 30 cards I did for my co-workers....DOH!!!. That wasn't very smart of me as they have all been sent out already so I guess I won't be showing those ones...sorry.... :(. I am so happy to be done with the Christmas cards..... I unfortunately did not write the colour Copics I used either.... WOW, where has my head gone? I can however tell you that I used stamps from a great little artist named Megan Suarez from SillyDillyBeans... Check these out they are super cute.... :)

So many cards, so little time....

I just had a quick moment to blog, I have a ton of cards to post just not enough time to post them so here's hoping for some time on the my next set off and then you will have an abundance to look forward to..... It is SUPER windy here and I am concerned the power will be going out soon, although I am on the hospital grid so I am hoping that is not the case. A friend of mine and I are going to see Journey in Victoria tonight so we will be heading out shortly for a little shopping, a little dinner and then the concert. Super looking forward to that. The weather is looking on the up and up so far so we may be able to drive back tonight BUT this is the West Coast and that can change rather quickly..... you don't want to drive THE Malahat on a snowy night.... YUCK.... anyways I am off to get ready.... I will post my cards soon......

Christmas Cards for the Aunties......

So my biggest challenge was trying to get all the cards done that have to go out in the mail. I have been working like a little bee trying to get all of these cards done..... I still have a few to do but all in all I think I have made a good dent. I decided to do a technique using GlitterRitz that I found on YouTube. This technique is amazing and you still get to use your Copic markers and whats even better is they don't damage your markers.... GlitterRitz has  a warm highlighted glitter and cool highlighted glitter. I used Elizabeth Craft Designs peel off stickers. It is a little finicky to do because you can leave "finger print transfers" on the pictures you are doing. So you have to take caution in not touching the surface before your "burnish" the glitter onto the paper. Here are the cards I made for the aunt's and uncles.... tell me what you think......

More cards for my coworkers.......

My schedule has been super crazy the last 2 weeks, I have worked a lot more than I normally due to shift swaps to help out coworkers and then to top it off I have a bazillion cards to make for Christmas and 2 birthdays for my coworkers. I did get about 13 Christmas cards done and both of the birthday cards. I will post the birthday cards now and I will get to the Christmas cards at a later date. I was going to post where I found out about these digital stamps and I can not remember. I know it was a post on one of the many Facebook pages I like. This artist is amazing and I am so jealous of her talent. I have been watching her YouTube videos and she makes it look SO EASY.... so I bought some of her digital stamps and coloured them up for the birthday cards I had to make. Her name is Megan K Suarez of SillyDillyBeans. I fell in love with her stuff. It is very unique and dark (in it's own way). She kind of reminds me of another artist I love, Angelina Wrona. I have 6 or 7 of her pieces in my place. I wish she would make digital stamps..... anyways Megan is very talented and I hope you take the time to check out her blog.......

Digital Stamp is "Framed Hooter"
Paper: Gina K Kraft, Pure Luxury 120lb white, Sundance
Patterned Paper: MME "Indie Chic"
AmyR Sentiments (I will edit this when I get the exact name of the set)
Copics: E74, E77, E79, R83, R85, RV06, YR04, Y21, YG23, YG25.
I paper pieced the wings with the MME paper.
Super cute and super simple.....

Digital Stamp "Angel"
AmyR Sentiments
Paper: Gina K, Apple Green, Kraft, Pure Luxury 120lb white
Patterned Paper: Lime Twist
Tim Holtz  Distressing Ink in "Walnut Stain"
Copics: 110, YG03, YG25, V15, V17, B01, B02, B04
Promarkers: Coral, Sunkissed Pink, Baby Pink and Antique Pink
Diamond Stickles

It's been awhile...... I am sorry....

So it has been awhile since my last post and I apologize greatly for that. I still have my cold, just shy of 4 weeks and although I am feeling much better, I wish it would just go away. I have also been working some crazy hours at work with my regular schedule and helping people out with shift swaps..... today I finally got stuff accomplished with my Christmas cards..... so I feel a little better about where I am at. I also got some really exciting news on November 11, 2012 and I hope its ok that I post it BUT.... I am getting one of my cards published in the Designed To Color magazine.... I am not allowed to post pictures of the card until 60 days after the edition comes out which I am totally cool with but it's kind of hard to contain my excitement about this because it is the first time I have submitted anything for publishing so I am kind of thrilled. Anyways I did complete 2 birthday cards for my coworker's whose birthdays are in December. Thought I would get ahead of the game so I can concentrate on Christmas cards. I have a lot to make this year, kind of freaking myself out. I will post the birthday cards soon, I promise.....

Crocheting Crazy......

 So I am still sick..... ugggg.... funny how when your under the weather you just don't to do anything well not me...... although the cards have slowed down in the last week, the crocheting has picked up like CRAZY..... fall/winter is on it's way and people love their crocheted stuff. I have an obsession with sock monkeys right now, oh and owls..... My cup cozies have been selling like crazy the last couple of weeks, see below.....

How frreakin cute are these anyways? So of course I have to try and make a hat........ and here she is......

So next on my list is an owl hat..... but first I have to fill all the orders that have been coming in..... who knew?

Feeling under the weather.......UGGGG

So yeah I think I am sick..... well I don't think I am sick I AM sick. I was feeling under the weather when I went in for my night shift last night <------- that was not the brightest move because I am pretty sure that is why I feel so awful right now.... I think I am experiencing my first head cold (never had one and quite frankly) not thrilled I have one now...... This weekend is my Thanksgiving where I cook for the entire family so whatever THIS is that I have had better be gone.... SAD thing is, I was trying to be proactive in getting my flu shot at work last week......hmmmmmm... simply put.....I am totally feeling sorry for myself right now and need to put the big girl panties on..... it would be a great time to ink some images but I have 2 things working against me 1. I probably could not concentrate long enough to colour and 2. All my stuff is at my mom's.... BOOOO. So it looks like lots of tea and watching TV and YouTube..... and trying to keep my head from exploding off my shoulders..... talk soon xo

Happy Birthday.........

So my coworker/friend's birthday is this Friday..... now normally because she is a coworker she would get one of my cards anyways but because we hang out outside of work, she gets TWO of my cards. We are going out for dinner and I could not go without a card, now could I? Trying to decide what to do for her was the tricky part...... Shannon is a geek extraordinaire and she is the first person to admit it. She already has 2 degrees and is working on her masters..... So I picked the cutest stamps I could find..... The Greeting Farm's "Cheeky Geeky" along with a sentiment stamp "Geek is Chic"....... I think it turned out well. I was going to enter it into the FFF challenge but then realized I did not put any buttons or bows on it :(. Oh well Shannon will like it I am sure....

Stamp: The Greeting Farm's "Cheeky Geeky"
Sentiments: "Geek is Chic" and "Happy Birthday"
Gina K Kraft, Black and Lipstick Red
Patterned Paper: Unsure
Copic Markers:
Skin: E000, E11, R20
Hair: C3, C5, C7, C9
Shirt: N1, N3. N0
Tie and Glasses: R46, R89
Embellishments: Flowers, buttons and brads.....

Heavy Heart Today.......

I have an extremely heavy heart today........ a co-worker of mine lost her husband today due to a tragic car accident...... he was very young, too young to lose his life to a tragedy....... I am heart-broken for her and I felt sick to my stomach when she called this morning to inform us she would not be in to work today...... she didn't know what had happened at the time of the phone call. He is in Alberta working on the oil rigs..... I don't even have words for her or how sad I feel for their family. They have 3 children. I am hoping this card I made her will bring her a little light in the dark days ahead. In time, she will heal but for now she mourns....... I hope she can feel the love from everyone at work........ RIP Brian!

Stamp: Tiddly Inks Digital Stamp "Grow A Little Love"
Paper: Gina K Kraft and Ocean Mist
My Mind's Eye Patterned Paper
Amy R Sentiment
Copic Markers:
Skin: E00, E11, R20
Hair: E07, E09, E13, E15
Dress and Shoes: Y02, Y04, Y06, Y11, B02, B04
Plant: E31, E33, E37, R46, R89

Operation Smile Kenya......

So a coworker of mine is heading off to Operation Smile in Kenya and needs to raise some money for the trip so she can go.... she asked if I would be willing to donate some of my creative stuff for a silent auction which of course I could not say no to. I am a Paediatric nurse, so if I can help in any way I will...... if I could go myself I would.... Kelly (my coworker) is called a Child Life Expert and she works with the children on our ward to help them cope with all aspects of hospital life. She does art therapy with kids and distraction techniques when we have to do some not so nice stuff to them (like IV starts, blood work and other procedures)  She also prepares children for their procedures, explains it to them and shows them what will happen and what to expect.... she really is a valuable member of our team..... and I was happy to donate some items..... a card, pictured below... a tutu and a Canucks inspired coffee cozy (pictures to come)....... hope you enjoy....