Celebrate Canada Day voting!

Hello All!

Tomorrow is Canada Day here in the Great White North.  Last week I made a Canada Day card and entered it into the Canada Day card contest at Paper Garden.  I may not be the only name you recognize in the contest: fellow Quietfire teamie Yogi is card number one and Quietfire owner Suzanne Cannon is card number three.  (My card is number six- Kathy Jo from daisysanddaffodils.)  Voting is under way and if you have time feel free to hop on over and see the beauties created by all my fellow Canadian crafters.  

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great Tuesday!
Bug Crafty Hugs,
Kathy Jo

PS- Please make sure to stop by my blog tomorrow as I will have a giveaway!

"I dwell in Possibility" Vintage style Hot Air Balloon card

Hello Crafters!

How has your crafty time been lately?  Admittedly, I have been ignoring the weeds in my gardens but tending to the new stamps I received from Quietfire. One of Quietfire's new stamp releases is "I dwell in Possibility". 

As soon as I stamped it I knew I wanted to use the new Marion Smith paper (Junque Gypsy) and Spellbinders Up and Away die set.

I centered the balloon die on the paper, distressed it with Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain inks, applied clear crackle and after drying added the Distress Inks again.

A banner was made using paper from the same pad and the sentiment added.  

I fussy cut flowers and butterflies from the paper and added Stickles.  All of this was mounted on black die cut paper (Spellbinders 5x7 Detailed Scallops).  

It may be difficult to tell in the photos but all the pearls added on the die cut were colored using markers in the same color as the background paper.

 

All of this was mounted on Kraft paper with Distress ink applied along the edges and then mounted on a tent fold black card.  Fun card to make with different textures and finishes!  Inky fingers were a welcome sight afterwards, too.  :)

I do hope you enjoyed the card and the new stamp!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Big Crafty Hugs,

Kathy Jo

This card is entered into the following challenges:

613 Avenue Create, AG

Word Art Wednesday, AG

Cuttlebugmania, AG die cutting machine with Sentiment

Simon Says Stamp Weds, AG

Graphic 45 Artisan Friendship card

Hello Crafters!

It has been a good week in the craft room as I have been able to squeeze in more time to play.  Last night I made a friendship card using one of Quietfire's newly released stamps, "Friendship isn't a big thing":

Suzanne Cannon's talent still blows me away even after all this time of knowing about and using her stamps.  She designs all of her stamps by hand and her calligraphy is beyond words!

For the card I used this week's sketch at MOJO Monday and Graphic 45's beautiful Artisan Style papers. 

The fussy cut butterflies are from Graphic 45's Olde Curiosity Shoppe paper.  

Stickles was applied to the butterflies and flowers on the background paper.

Quietfire has several new stamps released and they are so worth checking out!  She has some specials on right now, too: Buy over $35 worth of product and you get a free "Each of us has a song" stamp.  All decorative papers are 35% off.  Spellbinders are 30% off, too.  Here is a link for all of the details.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a crafty day!
Hugs,
Kathy Jo

This card is entered into the following challenges:
MOJO Monday, Sketch
613 Avenue Create, AG
Word Art Wednesday, AG
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday, AG
TTCRD, AG
Sister Act, AG
Crafty Hazelnut Patterned Paper, AG w/ patterned paper

"Celebrate" Canada Day!

Hello Crafters!

Canada Day (July 1st) is just around the corner and to celebrate the holiday I made a Canada Day card.  I may not be a Canadian yet but perhaps next year at this time I will be making my first Canada Day card as a Canadian citizen...wouldn't that be fabulous?! :)

If you like inky fingers, you will like making this card.  The white tent fold card (4.25" x 5.5") had Distress Ink in Vintage Photo applied along the edges.  Next, white paper had a gratuitous amount of Barn Door Distress ink applied and more Vintage Photo along the edges.  Here comes some more fun: Imagine Crafts Gold Metallic Creative Medium was applied onto Tim Holtz' Flourish stencil. (I am so loving the Imagine Crafts mediums!)  White paper was die cut using Spellbinders' leaf from Orchard Harvest Tags and Accents and then was distressed using the two inks.  Leftover Barn Door ink on my craft mat was applied to white seam binding.  Quietfire's happy stamp "Celebrate" was stamped in black Adirondack ink and die cut using Spellbinders' French Frills.

For more depth I applied the leaf and Celebrate die cut using foam tape.

I do hope you enjoyed the Canada Day card!  To all of my Canadian friends, I wish you all the best holiday!
Big crafty hugs,
Kathy Jo

This card is entered into the following challenges:
Paper Garden, Canada Day
Craftin Desert Divas, Canada Day
613 Avenue Create, AG
Word Art Wednesday, AG

"The moment a child is born..." baby card

Hello Crafters!

A friend of mine and his wife are expecting their first child in a couple of weeks.  They will be the most amazing and wonderful parents!  It seemed fitting to use the stamp set from Quietfire "The moment a child is born".  

The card was made as follows from the base up: pink tent fold, white Cheery Lynn Dutch Scallop, pink Cheery Lynn French Pastry, white Cheery Lynn Two of Hearts (clear Distress Crackle was applied to the heart) and then the heat embossed sentiment cut by hand as shown.  All edges were distressed using Antique Linen and Vintage Photo.  The flowers were from my stash and the pink seam binding was dyed using Distress Stain in Spun Sugar.

Don't the doilies look so sweet stacked on this baby card?  It's funny, I never noticed how well the two bottom dies go together.  You will see this combo again.  :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a great day!
Hugs!
Kathy Jo

This card is entered into the following challenges:
Cheery Lynn, AG
Word Art Wednesday, AG
613 Avenue Create, AG
Cuttlebugmania, Use a Sentiment
Sister Act, AG
TTCRD, AG
Crafting by Design, June Linky

You are Amazing tag

Hello Crafty Peeps!  

Don't you just love trying new techniques?  There are so many absolutely brilliant, creative and inspiring crafters out there to follow and learn from.  I don't know if you all follow Tammy Tutterow but she is definitely one of those crafters.  This week on her blog she showed a technique using a toothbrush and Distress products.  I followed along with her easy instructions and made a tag of my own.  

For the tag I used white paint and Distress Stain in Fossilized Amber.  After sanding the edge of the dried tag I applied Vintage Photo.  Next, I used Quietfire's Mosaic stamp and applied Picket Fence stain and stamped on the tag.

Seam binding and lace were stained using the Fossilized Amber and adhered to the tag.  Washi tape was also added.  Quietfire's You are Amazing was heat embossed on yellow vellum and adhered.  A yellow flower had Vintage Photo and Ice Stickles in Lime Ice applied to the edges.

Green paper was die cut using Spellbinders Foliage Flourish and added under the flower and bow.  More Stickles applied at will.  :)

Hope you enjoyed the little tag.  It is a very cool technique!  Thanks, too, to Tammy for the inspiration!  

Have a good day!
Hugs,
Kathy Jo

PSST!!  You want to see a favorite of my Tammy Techniques?  This one is fabulous!  The butterfly wings are very neat!

Creativity Butterfly card

Hello Crafty Peeps!

Last weekend I played a lot with my Distress Inks and Stains trying out new techniques and color combinations.  One paper evolved into a multi layer technique card.  It is amazing what you can create starting with white paper!  On the white base I applied Distress Stains in Picket Fence, Peacock Feathers, Picked Raspberry and Mowed Lawn.  Faded Text Background Stamp (Stampabilities) was applied using Picket Fence Stain and dried with my heat gun.

Next CM Purple Metallic Paste (Imagine Crafts) was applied on Tim Holtz' Blossom Stencil.  The dried medium is a beautiful iridescent purple...love it!  I used my Distress Ink in Picked Raspberry and Mowed Lawn on some areas to highlight the flowers and leaves.  I used my Distress Marker Spritzer with Picked Raspberry marker randomly on the background.

On the left side of the card and the bottom right corner I used the oh-so-fun hearts from Brett Weldele's Zombie Casanova set with black Archival Ink (Ranger).  The hearts were colored in using Picked Raspberry ink and my water brush (Tim Holtz).  The entire card had Brushed Corduroy applied on the edge.

The butterfly and quote from Sizzix/Tim Holtz Framelits with stamps set (Limitations) was stamped with Archival Ink and colored using Distress Inks and my water color brush.  Enamel accents in white (Ranger) were applied to the butterfly and quote as shown.

The quote was glue dotted into place as an arc.  

Seam binding soaked up all of the remaining ink on my craft sheet.  I really like the result...such bright and happy colors on the seam binding! 

Hope you enjoyed the project!  Thanks so much for stopping by.
Big Hugs,
Kathy Jo

This card is entered into the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday, Favorite technique (die cutting!) or product (Ranger Distress)
Scrapyland, Favorite color combo (Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers, Mowed Lawn, White)
Inky Chicks, Butterflies
Craft Your Passion, AG
Word Art Wednesday, AG
Crafting by Design, June AG
613 Avenue Create, AG
Butterfly Challenge, Butterfly + flowers (flower stencil)
Crafty Sentiments, AG 

Hug Book- A baby is such a beautiful way...

Hello Crafters!

Yes, it has been awhile but things have been crazy on this end!  Between work, ultimate frisbee and home upgrades I have been running low on time.  Alas, I did find time to play in the craft room this weekend...which is good because today I am sharing a project at Quietfire Creations!

The first project I will share this week is so quick, easy and a great gift idea.  Quietfire Design now has 'Hug Books' available in the store.  Just what is a hug book?  First, here is a snapshot:

The description sums it up well:

Hug Books are reusable, expandable and use no harmful glues to hold the pages together. Simply pull back the cover and the spring clamp opens up, insert the pages and it snaps back together. If you make a mistake or want to add a few extra pages, simply reopen the spring clamp and adjust as necessary.

Here is also a blog post providing more info on the book: Hug Book post. 

I like the ease and versatility of the book.  This would be a sweet gift for a grandma, new parents, newlyweds, a friend's birthday, Christmas gift, etc.  It is available in black or tan and can fit in a purse (Helllooooo brag book!).  The pages inserted should be flexible so it probably is best to not stack too high with flowers, bows, etc, if you do want it to be a brag book.  Admittedly, it was strange to not stack a lot on the page but I am happy with the results.  I started with Quietfire's A baby is a beautiful way stamp:

It was stamped in green on ivory Graphic 45 paper.  Next, it was die cut using Spellbinders' Labels 47. Yellow Graphic 45 paper was die cut using Spellbinders' Labels 47 Decorative Elements and Distress ink in Fired Brick applied along the edges.  The dies were mounted on Graphic 45's Secret Garden paper that was cut to  6" wide x 4" high.  It was scored 0.25" from the end for easy flipping in the book:

On the back side I added four corners (Spellbinders Lace Hearts) so that the gift receiver can add a favorite baby photo.

Here is a look at the front again:

A gift book could be made in a reasonably short time with a pad of paper, some sentiments and photo corners.  Gotta love it when a beautiful album or book can be made in reduced time!

Hope you enjoyed the first page of my hug book!  Will share more when I complete them!
Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!
Hugs,
Kathy Jo

Serenity Butterfly card

Hello Crafters!

I started to tidy my craft room and put away stamps I recently used.  The Quietfire butterfly stamp which had been on my desk for a couple of weeks was about to be put away when I decided to make just one more card using it.  :)

Distress Marker in Shaded Lilac was applied directly to the butterfly stamp.  It was stamped on watercolor paper.  After it dried I outlined it in Black Soot Distress Marker.  Quietfire's Serenity was stamped using Ranger's Jet Black Adirondack Ink.  It was die cut using Spellbinders' Labels 40.  Next, Shaded Lilac Distress Cardstock was die cut using Spellbinders Labels 40 Decorative Accents.  The die cuts were mounted on patterned paper from Basic Grey's Little Black Dress.  Finally, it was all mounted on a Shaded Lilac tent fold card base.  I kept the inside simple with watercolor paper cut to size.  

Love the soft colors- it makes me want to use Shaded Lilac more often.  A nondescript card...this will be a good anytime card to send to someone sweet.  :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a great day!
Hugs,
Kathy Jo

"Dandelions are sunny highlights" tag

Hello Crafters!

Today is my day to post at Quietfire Creations and I made a tag that was inspired by a walk I took on Saturday.  It was a lovely day here in Nova Scotia and I went for a walk with my husband and Saint Bernard, Ella.  On the walk we saw many full dandelions soaking up the summer sun.  I looked down on a large grouping of dandelions and saw the plumpest bumble bee happily buzzing from flower to flower.  That moment inspired this tag.  

All of the stamps were from one Quietfire Design set, Garden Delights (set of 8):

Here is another view of the tag:

Here is the list of product used:
Stamps (Quietfire Garden Delights), watercolor paper, Distress Stains (Ranger's Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn), Kraft Tag (Graphic 45), White Distress Crackle (Ranger), Green burlap, seam binding, mini flower punch, Lime Ice Stickles (Ranger), Crafty Love  :)

Feel free to hop on over to the Quietfire Creations blog for more details!  :)
Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week!
Hugs,
Kathy Jo

This tag is entered into the following challenges:
613 Avenue Create, AG
Word Art Wednesday, AG
Simon Says Stamp, AG
Sister Act, AG
TTCRD, AG