Sunflowers & Dragonflies

Favourite Products

I’ll bet you are surrounded by your favourite things.  I am more than surrounded by my favourite things.  Much of what I tell you about sits on my large desk which makes things quite cluttered.  My ink pads are one thing that I have to actually walk too.  Here is a list of non-endorsed “things” I love.

Ink: VersaFine black ink gives crisp and clean lines.  Perfect for detailing.

Ink: Momento black ink for Copics

Ink Pads: Stampin’ Up! ink pads and Adirondack ink pads for their lucious variety of colours.

Paper Cutter: Fiskars new and improved paper cutter.  It has a wire built in so that an exact cut is made.  Pure delight.

Paper:  BasicGrey 6″ x 6″ paper pads.  Did you know that images are scaled down in these pads so you get the whole image.  Isn’t that cool?  For scrapbooking I love K&Co and Bo Bunny.

Die Cuts:  I have loads of Nestabilities Die Cuts.  They are stored in CD cases and sits on the top of my mini drawer set that I bought from my local hardware store.  Their shapes can be used for many products.  Of course I do like the die cuts from My Favorite things as well.

Stamps:  Our Daily Bread Designs, flowers from Stampotique, Stamping Bella and Stampin’ Up! and I Brake for Stamps.  Sorry, I couldn’t limit it to just one or two.

Crystals and pearls from Stampin’ Up! look so real.  The crystal shines beautifully and the pearls look like real pearls.  Both come in a nice variety of sizes.

What are your favourite things are on your desk?

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Fabulous Friday Links

Hi there.  It’s time for another round of links.  For those who are new to my blog, occasionally I post links that I think you will enjoy as much as I do.  You will find a mix of tutorials along with eye candy.

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Kathie McGuire has a great tutorial on decorating cloths pins

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You will find beautiful work on Crafting the Web.  There are lots of enjoyable tutorials.

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Julie of The Write Stuff created a magnificent Father’s Day Card.

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Sandy MacIver is a Stampin’ Up! rep who does wonderful work.  This time she created a show stopping easel card.

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I am on the design team for Creative Inspirations paint.  Their paints remind me of Twinkling H2O’s, except these paints are in a thick liquid form so there is no spraying of the product as you did with the H2O’s.  For inspiration you can visit their blog, where I post one of my projects bi-weekly.

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I am also on the Technique Junkie Newsletter design team where I have been for five years.  This is a subscriber-based newsletter.  Right now Pat has a sale going on where CD1 throught CD 8 are $10 plus shipping and handling.  This is a great value.

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Five Fabulous Friday Links

Happy Easter to everyone.  Once again I have five fabulous Friday links to share with you.

• Julie Write used alcohol ink refills to create beautiful butterflies

• Paris has some wonderful colours, so I thought they would bring inspiration to you.  I love these colour combinations.
• Jerri Kay has such elegant work and I’m one happy subscriber.
• Kim Hutchinson makes beautiful beads.  I linked to a particular post but you should really check out all of her work.
• I Like Markers are for the Copic lover.  Great tips here.

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Five Fabulous Links

Hurrah it’s Friday.  Thank you for dropping by.  Today I have more links to share with you.  For those who are new, you will find the occasional post where I share links of some of my favourite findings.  Here goes this week’s list:

• Linda Cain’s altered tag tutorial
• Linda Heavens colours with Copics and Prismacolor pencil crayon and her work is so real looking.  Here is just one of my favourites.
• Papertrey Ink has loads of tutorials for you
• A specialist on blogging has an article on Launching a Brand New Blog
• Sandy MacIver is a Stampin Up rep with magical work

Enjoy your weekend.  I hear we are expecting snow this weekend.  UghQ

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Pantone Announces 2011 Spring and Fall Colours

Just like a kid in the candy store, I love colour.  Put me in the middle of a material store, and I drool.   Each year I eagerly await Pantone’s colour release.  Want to peak at their collection?  Here is the spring and fall collection. Whether you are a stamper, scrapbooker or beader, this announcement is for you.

For all those Stampin’ Up! fans, I see a lot of colours that transfer over.  Here is my list:

SPRING

• Melon Mambo
• Pumpkin Pie
• Daffodil Delight
• Soft Suede
• Pacific Point
• Tempting Turquoise

FALL

• Delightful Daffodil
• Peach Parfait
• Melon Mambo
• Rich Razzleberry
• Certain Celery
• Soft Suede
• Taken with Teal
• Sahara Sand
• Bashful Blue
• Marina Mist

I’m so happy to see many of these colours in-style, particularly Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise and Rich Razzelberry.  What are your favourites?

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How to Make Paper Flowers

Paper flowers are so popular.  This flower starts out wet but when hardened, takes on a Prima flower appearance.   Previously, I did another flower tutorial which you can view here.  You can also read about making paper flowers from designer paper.

My card is for a couple of challenges:

Crazy 4 Challenges – Pink, Kraft, Turquoise, Brown

Challenge Up Your Life – Flip Flop Card

(Flip Flop card tutorial can be found on the Technique Junkie Newsletter’s  Emboss or Die CD)

This card shape is unique and will showcase your shortest stamp beautifully.  My stamp is a new release from Susana’s Custom Art & Card Design and are coloured with Copic markers.

Supplies: Cutting machine (Big Shot in this photo), flower die cut, brad piercer not in photo), water mister (not in photo), cardstock, Stazon ink is optional.

Use 1 or more dies (here I used two). Cut out each shape three times. If you want to add colour to the tips of your flowers, use a permanent ink such as StazOn.

Evenly stack flower pieces and pierce, then insert a brad

Spritz with water.  Be generous with the water.

Scrunch flower up into a ball.

Gently unfold flower.  Separate all the layers.    This will harden when dry.

21 More Paper Flower Tutorials

• Crumpled Roses by Nic Nac
• Scalloped Hand Stamped Paper Flowers by Solovay
• Handmade Paper Blooms by Melz Stamps
• 10 Step Rose Program by Calamity Kim
• Vintage-y Distressed Flower by Raspberry Suite
• 3-D Paper Flower using the Cricut by Jinky’s Crafts
• Kusudama Flower part I by Folding Trees
• Kusudama Flower part II by Folding Trees
• Paper Flower Tutorial by Made by Nicole
• Paper Flower Tutorial by Such a Pretty Mess
• Twisted Fabric Blo0ms by Such a Pretty Mess
• Spiral Paper Roses by Such a Pretty Mess
• Fan Flower by Scrap a Little
• Paper Bag Flowers by Martha Stewart
• Coffee Filter Roses by Martha Stewart
• Paper Tulips by Cheeky Monkey
• 3-D Magazine Flowers by Pink Paper Peppermints
• Fringed Flowers by Crafts, Kids, Quilling
• Paper Flower Tutorial by Kay’s Kreative Korner
• Paper Flower Tutorial by Whimsical World of Laura Bird
• Paper Flower Tutorial by Craft, Life & Laughs

Tutorials every Tuesday.

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Gaal Creative

Anne, of Gaal Creations asked me to be a guest on her blog.  If you would like to read about my card please visit Anne’s blog.  There is also a short blurb about me.

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Everything You Wanted to Know About the Candy Cane

Have you read my blog post:  Everything You Wanted to Know About the Candy Cane?

My post is full of information on the candy cane, and has a lot of links related to the candy cane.

Enjoy!

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Freebie Friday

It’s been another awesome week of surfing the net.  I’m sure you will enjoy this week’s links:

• Just look at the wreath’s at Passionately Artistic.  There are directions for the wreath at the top so you can make your own wreath for the fall.
• For my readers who are into altered art, there is Sunday Postcard Art, full of delightful postcards.  A must see.
• Are there beaders in the house?  I came upon these gorgeous Christmas beading tutorials.  Delightful.
• Tip Junkie has a long list of links to Christmas links.  Sit back with your coffee, or cup of hot chocolate, as you’ll be in for a treat.

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Embossing Buddy

I had a reader share information on the embossing buddy and this is what she said:

I was taught 15 years ago by the company that made them back then that they contained FULLERS EARTH
I love the stuff, you can get it as your pharmacy or they can order it for you. It has many uses too! I still have my original bottle over half full and you won’t get that dust that is bad to breathe like Corn starch or baby powder.
Just sharing!
Donna

Thank you Donna for sharing this fabulous information with us.

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