No, it's nothing nasty, she is too sweet for that. :-) Michelle Shuman, this wonderful talented lady, has nominated me for a "Blogging Friends Forever" award. My, I feel very important and honoured, Michelle is such a sweet lady and a great talent. Please check her blog.

The Rules:
1. Only 5 people allowed.
2. 4 have to be dedicated followers of your blog
3. one has to be someone new or recently new to your blog and live in another part of the world.
4. you must link back to whoever gave you the award.

OK, now to choose five people from so many I visit and love their work...

1. Monique Hawrelluk, a fellow Canadian, she is in Toronto area... Does that count for living in another part of the world??? :-) No kidding, Monique's blog is well worth visiting, buckets of talent there...
2. Tegan Swift, a very young crafter from Australia... We had a very fun little swap.
3. Amanda Sewell is a design team member for Hanna Stamps. I just love her blog.
4. CathyRose is another very talented lady. I frequent her blog and every time I go there, I learn something new.
5. And last, but not least is Teresa. A lot of good ideas and eye candies on her blog.

I have many more names I will save for next time. Thanks so much Michelle for keeping me up this late :-) Hugs...

OK, off to bed now. Blog you later.

Very quickly... Two cards that I made today. My kids had a friend over most of the day, which means that they left me alone... Two cards and a tutorial later, it is time for me to play with them.





Blog you later.

A while ago, I had these stickers from K & Company. I loved them, beautiful lady bugs, different sizes, colours and shapes. Some with open wings, some not, some with velum, some plain... Then I figured out how to make them, oh joy! One of my cards with lady bugs was posted few posts back and I promised a little tutorial on how to make these. This is my first tutorial ever, I apologize if it is too detailed or not detailed enough... But, as always, leave your comments and I will answer any possible questions, although I think I went into too many details if anything...

Here is what you need:

1. card stock and velum of your choice
2. circle punches (any size you like, I used 1/2" and 1 3/8")
3. some soft wire so you can shape it with your needle nose pliers (I couldn't find them, so I used craft and rubber scissors)
4. needle nose pliers or something else you can bend your wire with
5. adhesive of your choice (I used glue dots, Stampin' Up dimensionals and Tombo Multi)
6. paper scissors



Punch out two circles of bigger size for lady bug's body and one smaller one for a head. Also punch out a bigger size velum circle and one in DP for wings.



Cut velum and DP paper circles in half.



Next, bend a piece (about 1", maybe a bit more) of your wire like in the photo



It is easiest to use your needle nose pliers, but next step is to bend two ends like this



Using a pop-up dimensional and a glue dot (I use both so wire would attach more securely), attach the wire and lady bug's head to one of the circles you got ready for a body. Place an additional pop-up dimensional on the other circle to be used for the body.



And then sandwich them



Adhere velum wings to the body as shown



And then cover them with the card stock wings



Ose the assembled lady bug on a card or anything else that tickles your fancy...



Done.

I have some cards to post later. Until then, I hope you liked this tutorial.

Blog you later.

It was raining all day. It's still raining. And I was actually glad. It meant I can stay at home and stamp... :-) So, I made this card with a flower I saw on Stacey King's blog. So easy to make, and yet so wonderful... Here is my version




I made few more cards, but I will take pictures tomorrow as the light is really bad right now, pictures are turning out funny.

I finally received my pre-order from Stampin' Up. I got my scallop punch, In Color bundle and some other stuff from the old catalogue. I will play with them tomorrow. I will also try to do a little tutorial on how to make those lady bugs that all of you loved so much.

Blog you later.

Well, Tegan received my cards, so I can post the one I kept a secret until she gets it... I used Pink Cat studio stamp. It is a very simple card, but the image itself is so wonderful, it doesn't need a lot more.




The image was coloured with Copics, cut out and popped on dimensionals, and each flower on the hat has a little "gem". A little bit of sewing (I am not very good at that, I have to practice, lol). some piercing and one of my favourite colour combination - pink and brown.

That is it for tonight. Blog you later.

OK, I cleaned up a bit in the office, so I can show you my space as it is right now. As I described it before, my husband built in a big U-shaped desk and I have a half of the room and half of the desk. I am about to take over, so in the next month or so, you will see the "after" pictures. So, here it is...

This is a general picture when you enter through the door...



My papers and inks




My papers, inks, laptop, small parts bins...



My most cherished treasure... My stamps!



Desktop computer, Xyron, Scor-Pal, second small part bin



From here, the desk wraps around the whole room. I usually put my kids to sit by the window and do their stuff.

This is my stuff slowly creeping to the other side, just to make sure he doesn't change his mind, lol...



Blog you later.

I've mentioned a little swap Tegan Swift and I did... You can check her blog on my blogroll. She sent me three cards, and I sent her three cards... I don't think she received hers yet so I won't post them as I want them to be a surprise, but here are the three she sent to me:





Thanks, Tegan!

So, that was a chore number 2 off of my list from previous post. I still owe you pictures of my craft space before, and then after when I manage to get to that. :-)

Blog you later!

I seem not to be able to capture the colours of this card truthfully, pictures don't seem to do the justice to this card, so here is the last attempt to catch it...

So, here is the first part of my chores list - a new card. This is a commissioned card for a 50th Wedding anniversary. SU French Script, SU All Year Cheer III, cuttlebug, designer paper, mix, bake at 250 and here you go. :-) Hope you like it.





I've e-mailed SU demo support asking for a donation to this wonderful place I am volunteering with. For two years now, I am sitting as the chair of the Board of Directors in West Side Family Place, a wonderful resource centre for families with young children. I also designed their website to help us reach out to more possible donors. It is an amazing place, with a long history and amazing results. We run a daily drop-in program, support services for women with postpartum depression, parenting programs, mother goose and such. We're having our annual silent auction in October and are looking for in-kind donations to be auctioned. We are a charity, and are totally dependent on donations, city and province funding, and a huge fundraising effort of our Board. Check our website and if you could help with a donation or know of someone who would like to make some kids' faces light up because of new supplies, toys or money toward services, an in-kind donation for our auction, please let me know.

I will post pictures of Tegan's cards tomorrow. And possibly pictures of my craft space... Brace yourselves... lol...

Blog you later.

Huge news!!! Well, for me that is. :-) For those of you who have never been to my craft room and don't know the situation, I'll try to describe it and later on take some pictures to post. My husband and I share the office right now. It is an OK size room with a really, really big U shaped desk. One side is mine, the other my husband's. Last night he decided that he doesn't spend enough time in the office to justify having a half of it to himself. So, I get to have it all to myself!!!! Yay!!! I do need more room. I am struggling with the organization of my stash which is in my books quite big. I have a lot of designer paper, lots of stamps, lots of SU card stock... I still can't believe it.

So, this is what's coming your way, either today or over next few days:

1. Pictures of my craft space as is now (I'll go and tidy a bit :-))
2. A mini tutorial on how to make those lovely ladybugs seen on my card (I'll try to include pictures so it is easier, although it is soooo easy)
3. A new card
4. Pictures of my craft space once hubby is out of there :-) (this one will take a little longer as we're starting to build a new deck and renovating our kitchen right after that. I doubt anything in this house will be in order before the end of August).
5. Pictures of cards that I received from Tegan Swift in our little, really hilarious swap. I kind of dared her and we did it! I received my cards yesterday. She should have hers in a few days. Thanks Tegan!!!! They are nice.

The above will not necessarily happen in the listed order... I am so excited about having a space of my own, I can't think of anything else, so I'll blog you later!!!!!

:-) :-) :-) :-) Still smiling.

We have three huge oaks on our street, right in front of our house. Do you know what that means? Aphids... Lot of them, and lots of aphids poop. On our car, on our motor home, our front lawn is sticky, maple tree is sticky... Yuck! So, we declared a war on aphids. We bought about 5000 ladybugs. Last night, when it got cool, we went out onto the boulevard and put them in oak trees. Or under them, as they are too tall to actually reach their branches. I went out this morning, and those little bundles that ladybugs came in were empty. Oh, I so hope some of them stay in these trees and don't go away...

Today I made two cards. One of them had, guess what on it? A ladybug :-) It is for a little girl's birthday.




The second card I made was for a friend's birthday. She loves these colours. I hope she likes it.

It is Saturday... It means BBQ, friends are coming over, hubby is home... I better post what I made yesterday, I don't think I will have a chance to make more. So, here they are:











Sorry this is so short - I have so much to do. Blog you later!

P.S. I have to tell you - I've finally ordered Prisma pencils, 132 of them (I know, I know, you're asking if I had to have that many, well, what can I tell you, price was right :-)) I can hardly wait to try them out...

You get the idea... I am sitting in my backyard and watching my kids throw mud balls at each other. Yup, mud balls. They got hold of my garden hose, made a lovely mud pool and are bathing in it. Thanks to whomever invented laundry machines. Here, have a look:





On the cleaner note, I made one card today. Here it is...





Sorry this is so short - I have so much to do. Blog you later!

This is BIG, this is really BIG, you have no idea how BIG this is... Three cards in one day. Not old cards, not someone else's cards, these are my cards and all made today!!!! My kids were house bound, but I made them!

First one was done with "Blossoms Abound" (unfortunately retiring, I love this set) and done in purple and green. I used my Cuttlebug on all of today's cards as well as my Nestabilites.





And then I made two Christmas cards... I have never made Christmas cards in July before, this is exciting.









By the way Rebecca, these are not for you!!!! :-)