A few candids

My dad emailed me a few wedding pictures that were taken while our photographer was at work with us. However, they aren't the best - I never seem to be looking at the camera that is being done as I am looking at the photographer and pausing to look around at my family - but here are a few to keep my readers going until we get our real pictures from our photographer. It was nice to see these as I finally saw what I looked like - I looked in the mirror when I first was ready and then was on the run for the rest of the day so it is nice to see that I did hold together nicely. (The pictures get bigger if you click on them!)

Ian and myself with my Mom, Rita and Stepdad, Gerald

L to R: Stepmom-Ann, Brother-Brent, Ian and me-holding my nephew-Cooper, SIL-Jenna with niece, Katelynn, Dad-Brian

My Mom and me!


First Dance

I'm on a Design Team

Well from the comments that I have read on my last post - you all know that I am on the Design Team for Hanna Stamps. When Kristi Ferro asked me to be on the team in August and showed me the set I was so excited first, to be asked and second, I got asked! Then I saw the rest of the ladies on the design team and I was in awe to be in the company of such greatness. I will be adding the blogs of the others on the Design Team over the next few days on my sidebar. But until then visit the Design Team Announcement to see the others in my company!

I don't have my stamps although everyone else on the DT and in Canada has theirs. I think Canada Post hates me this week. I am hoping that they find their way to me on Tuesday if not, Kristi will be sending me another set so I can get creating. I have a few ideas floating in my head for Ms Hanna.

If you haven't seen the set it is below. You really need to go buy this set as for the month of October there is free shipping and that is to Canada too.


The website is: Hanna Stamps - this first set called 'But I need it' retails for $15.50 and is high quality clear polymer and is 4"x6" with Hanna being 3.5"x4". With the Canadian dollar at par and free shipping that means the set is really $15.50! I love being Canadian right now - anyone up for a shopping splurge south of the border with me - oh wait - I better pay off my wedding first.

Also be sure to read about the incentive that Kristi has added if you are to get published with Hanna Stamps! This gal means business! A $100 cold hard cash for EACH item you get published and that is for everyone not just for the design team.

I have seen a hint of another set to come from Hanna Stamps - your going to love this one as well!

Sneak peek to my stamping secret

A little sneak peek to my stamping secret was posted by Kristi Ferro on her blog tonight. Be sure to stop by and check out what she is up too.

I'm Married

I am officially the new Mrs. Tompkins. Ian and I were married yesterday which turned out to be a clear day in Calgary though it was a bit cool but when your wearing a white wedding gown you don't really feel the cold.

The only hitch of the day involved the limo driver being late to pick myself, my maid of honour and mother up which made me late for my own wedding! However, when your the bride they can't start without you. We were about 3 minutes away from getting in our own vechile and sprinting there. It wouldn't have been so bad but we were ready to go 20 minutes before his arrival time and then he was 15 minutes late - meaning he got their 15 minutes before out wedding was to start and the drive was going to take 20-25 minutes. Oh well - it all worked out. Ian knew I wasn't the run away bride as his best man had talked to me at 1:45 and I said that we were all ready just waiting on the limo.

I don't have a single picture to post right now as everyone with the cameras took off so I am hoping I get one emailed to me today. Then I will post it.

We are leaving to Kelowna tomorrow morning for our honeymoon - we are driving to Radium tomorrow to visit the hot springs and then on to Kelowna the next day. We will be there until Sunday and the best part is that we are going there during the fall wine festival.

When I return I have a ton of pictures now with the wedding projects as well as some big news about me and my stamping.

Signed,
Shannon Tompkins

Wedding Card from Julie

Ian and I received this card in the mail from Julie yesterday. Thanks so much Julie for thinking of Ian and I on our upcoming wedding day (which is just 4 sleeps away). I had the pleasure of meeting Julie when I was in Halifax in May with Ian visiting his parents.

All our parents come in from Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia tomorrow (Wed). So, it will be a busy day around here. We had a bit of excitement on Monday morning when Ian's bestman got a call for back surgery that will take place on Friday not allowing him to be the bestman anymore. He has been waiting on this call for months. They give you 5 days notice, take it or leave it - if he didn't go he would have had another 5 month painful wait and lost his WCB benefits. So, he had to go. We have asked another friends of Ian's to step up and he has agreed. Difficult thing to have to do when you are 5 days from your wedding. We wish Chris all the best in his surgery on Friday and will miss him on Saturday.

Photo from Julie's blog:

I'm stickers!

What scrapbooking item are you?

You are STICKERS!You like brightening things up in life and decorating your living space with your own personal style. You are versatile and able to get things done with a stick-to-it attitude. People love your colorful personality and personal flair! You like exploring new things and are willing to try anything once. But Stickers beware - sometimes you like to stick to someone that you like a little too much and take them into your confidence a little too easily. Your personality tends to make you a steadfast friend, but make sure the friends you choose are worth your efforts!
Take this quiz!








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My blog of tag...

My camera is one week away then I can flood my blog with wedding craft pictures of invites, programs, card box, table numbers etc etc

But until then - Nancy tagged me with the Name Game.... I'm going to play with my almost new name of Shannon Lee Tompkins

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME (first pet + current car): Fluffy Rav4

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME (favourite ice cream flavour + favourite cookie): Chocolate Chocolate Chip

3. YOUR FLY GIRL NAME (first initial of first name + first three letters of your last name): S-Tom

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME (favourite colour + favourite animal): Red Cat

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name + city where you were born): Lee Regina

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME (the first 3 letters of your last name + first 2 letters of your first): Tomsh

7. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME (2nd favourite colour + favourite drink with "the" at the beginning): The Green Coke

8. YOUR NASCAR NAME (the first names of your grandfathers): Joe Jack

9. YOUR STRIPPER NAME (the name of your favourite perfume/cologne + your favourite candy): Jewel Caramilk

10. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME (mother's and father's middle names): Frances Brian

I'm going to tag all the Canadian bloggers out there!

For Allison....

I had to do it...... Image - an engineer that can do grammar if they choose.

You Scored an A

You got 10/10 questions correct. It's pretty obvious that you don't make basic grammatical errors. If anything, you're annoyed when people make simple mistakes on their blogs. As far as people with bad grammar go, you know they're only human. And it's humanity and its current condition that truly disturb you sometimes.

The It's Its There Their They're Quiz

New Cuttlebug folders

Did you see these?????

New Releases from Cuttlebug for A2 folders, dies and a Storage binder!

I love the paisley, allegro, birds&swirls and floral fantasy.

The link above will take you to the ProvoCraft site where you can see them all.

Tagged by Nancy

Nancy tagged me with this new tag. Seeing as I can't take any pictures right now as I remain camera-less until my Mom comes in 9 days for our wedding, I will post this.

Four place I have worked. (I have a huge list here so I'll pick 4 of the best)
1. Jealous & Walker Drugs, in my hometown in Saskatchewan. This was my afterschool and Saturday job. I thought about pharmacy for a bit but didn't really like the biology involved so I went with engineering.
2. Schlumberger, My first job once I had my engineering degree. I was a wireline engineer on drilling rigs. Basically, I ran a crew of 2 operators and myself and we put electronic tools down on a wire cable that made a log of lines that can tell where the oil or gas is in the well. This job had me based out of Grande Prairie but I saw a lot of Northern AB, NE BC, Southern AB and Sask on this job as well I lived in Oklahoma for 6 months one year.
3. Penn West, My first long term job - from Schlumberger I crossed from a service company to an oil and gas operating company. I worked at PW for 4 years and it is the heart of resume. I learned so much here.
4. EnCana, My current job in which I started 2 weeks ago. I'm a production engineer for some gas wells on the Cold Lake air weapons range. This should make for an interesting field visit in October.

(Everyone bored with my work experience now! - You see why I stick to card making on my blog)

Four places I have lived. (I'm going to list them all)
1. Cupar, SK - My home until almost the end of Grade 1.
2. Indian Head, SK - My hometown - I did the rest of Grade 1-12 here.
3. Regina, SK - I got my degree from the university here but, I did workterms in the following places while getting my degree.
4. Kenora, ON - Hinton, AB - Calgary, AB - Lloydminister, AB
5. Grande Prairie, AB - My first eng job location.
6. Duncan, OK - A six month stay.
7. Calgary, AB - I've been here since Dec 31, 2001 - this is home now!

Four places I have been on vacation.
1. Scotland
2. Halifax and Cape Breton
3. Puerto Vallarta
4. Las Vegas

Four of my favorite foods.
1. fresh cut fries
2. salt and pepper chicken wings
3. roasted chicken
4. pizza

Four places I would rather be right now.
1. shoe shopping, its my new obession
2. stamping or stamp shopping
3. on a beach with a strawberry margarita
4. Bed

Four friends most likely to respond. (I'm going to tag these gals)
1. Julie - Mutch to Stamp
2. Natasha - Palm Trees & Pogosticks
3. Nancy G - Inkcicles
4. Crafty in Calgary
5. Kristi - kreationsbykrissy

Best Blog Friends - Thanks Nancy

Nancy honoured me as Best Blog Friends on Sept 3rd. However, I started a new job on the 4th and I'm getting married on the 29th so well.... I haven't posted a reply.

So, here goes my best blog friends - in no particular order!

Nancy would have to be mentioned. She couldn't remember how we met but it was because I found CST (Canadian Stamp Talk) the yahoo list where she is the list mom. On that list, she had invited the Calgary girls to a SU! party that she was having being new to Calgary and stamping I didn't have many friends or stamping friends at that so I jumped at the chance. So, I met Nancy in November 2003 - I remember it was November as I had birthday money from my dad that I used to buy stamps and 2003 was the first year I started stamping and I made xmas cards that year.

Tracy would have to be mentioned next. I have met Tracy as she is Nancy's downline and linked on Nancy's blog. We then went in on SU catalogs this year and had a coffee when they came in. Since then she has saved my bacon when I forgot to order something for a stamp club member at my club at the end of August. Thanks again Tracy!

Allison would have to be next. I've never met Allison but I read her blog several times a day and she is a fab lady. I will meet her on Saturday night as I am stamping with Nancy, Tracy and Allison! Because of Allison, I will be spell checking this entry tonight. Forgive my spelling mistakes, I'm an engineer - spelling is not my thing but I'm pretty good at producing black gold!

And last but not least -
Julie! Julie is from Halifax, NS..... actually she is somewhere towards Cole Harbor but I think closer to Dartmouth. My future hubby is from Dartmouth and when I was in NS in May - I went and stamped with Julie one night. I hope to have many more stamp nights with Julie when I am in NS as it is a great escape for an evening from the in-laws. Thanks for being a blogger friend!

More Engagement Photos

Here are three more of my favorites. We ended up with 45 proofs and 80 pictures on the dvd that our photographer, Virginia Booth sent us. Check out her site at Hot Shoe Photography. She does fabulous work. 31 days until September 29 and our wedding day. We bought a marriage license today so we are officially getting closer!

Nice Matters Award

What is a Nice Matters Award??
This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends; and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. It is also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world.

Thanks so much to Nancy for the nomination!

I think most people I read have been nominated but I'll add the following .... Michelle at the Crafty Cat, Natasha at Palmtrees and Pogosticks, Julie at Mutch to Stamp, Crafty in Calgary and Dale Ann at my creative ramblings.

I actually do have some new project now - only to realize I forgot my camera in Regina - I'm just waiting for it to come back to me via snail post!

I suspected this ....

You Belong in Winter

Quiet, calm, and totally at peace... You're happy to be at home, wrapped in a blanket, completely snowed in Whether you're lighting a fire or having a snowball fight, you always feel best in the winter.

What Season Are You?

Engagement Shoot

We had an engagement shoot with our photographer this past Tuesday night. She sent us three pictures by email as a sneak peek and the rest will be here Monday. There are 80 pictures on the cds and she made 45 prints of the best ones. Virginia Booth is our wedding photographer from Hot Shot Photography. She does all kinds of pictures from weddings, family, pets, kids etc. If your looking for a great photographer - I highly recommend Virginia. Her prices are very reasonable plus you own your pictures after unlike other photographers that make you get all your reprints from them.

Officially Employed!

The official offer with Encana was couriered to my doorstep today.

I am once again employed as a Production Engineer for the largest oil and gas company in Canada.

I start on the Tuesday after the long weekend.

I know have 2 1/2 weeks to get the rest of the wedding things finished.

GO ME!

Lousy Blogger

I've been a lousy blogger but I have good excuses.

1. I am in the interview stages for a new job.

2. I was just in Saskatchewan for 4 days for my wedding shower.

3. All my projects are wedding related.

4. Did I mention I am getting married on September 29, 2007 which is only 45 days away!

I will have some new thank you cards to post very soon. I've taken the Just Delightful SAB scrapbook kit and used the stickers etc to make the 60 cards as posted on SCS. I have about 30 of them made now (2 x 15 styles).

Once the wedding is over I can get back to other crafting.

House Mouse

I found this card that I made a couple years back when I was house mouse crazy. I still love these little guys I just haven't stamped with them in awhile. I really do need to get them out again. I did pick up a new stamp from the Happy Hoppers line. Its the bunny with the shoes on. I look forward to making my niece a birthday card with this one.

Supplies:
Stamps: House Mouse, sentiment by CTMH
Paper: Real Red, Basic Black, Summer Sun, Whisper White
Ink: SU markers for watercoloring, CTMH black
Accessories: n/a

Why Engineers Don't Write Cookbooks

Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe:

1. 532.35 cm3 gluten
2. 4.9 cm3 NaHC03
3. 4.9 cm3 refined halite
4. 236 cm3 partially hydrogenated tallow triglyceride
5. 177.45 cm3 crystalline C12H22011
6. 177.45 cm3 unrefined C12H22011
7. 4.9 cm3 methyl ether of protocatechuic aldehyde
8. Two calcium carbonate-encapsulated avian albumen-coated protein ovoids
9. 473.2 cm3 theobroma cacao
10. 236 cm3 de-encapsulated legume meats (sieve size #10)

To a 2L jacketed round reactor vessel (reactor #1) with an overall heat transfer coefficient of about 100 Btu/F-ft2-hr, add ingredients one, two, and three with constant agitation. In a second 2L reactor vessel with a radial flow impeller operating at 100 rmp, add ingredients four, five, six, and seven until the mixture is homogenous. To reactor #2, add ingredient eight, followed by three equal volumes of the homogenous mixture in the reactor #1. Additionally, add ingredient nine and ten slowly, with constant agitation. Care must be taken at this point in the reaction to control any temperature rise that may be the result of an exothermic reaction. Using a screw extruder attached to a #4 nodulizer, place the mixture piece-meal on a 316SS sheet (300mm x 600mm). Heat in a 460K oven for a period of time that is in agreement with Frank & Johnston's first order rate expression (see JACOS, 21, 55), or until golden brown. Once the reaction is complete, place the sheet on a 25C heat-transfer table, allowing the product to come to equilibrium.

Share this great recipe with all the engineers you know.

Do you want/need a Scor-pal?

This awesome tool called the Scor-Pal was created by Diana Crick who is from British Columbia. She posted the terms of doing a bulk buy on the Stampin'Up Canada demos site.

I would like to organize a CALGARY ONLY bulk buy. I do not want to deal with shipping and packaging these boards up besides the shipping is the free part of the bulk buy.

These are the terms from Diana's email:

"If you have a group of friends together and order 6 or more shipping is free as long as they are going to one address. We also include a free Scor-Tool ($4.95) for each person.

With an order of 12 or more, free shipping, free Scor-Tool ($4.95) and a free roll of 5mm Terrific Tape ($3.50. Scor-Pal is $39.95 CDN."

Therefore, each Scor-Pal will be $39.95 + 6% gst ($2.40)= $42.35

(I do have to confirm this with Diana but my math skills tend to be right on its one of the pluses of being an engineer)

I have 3 people interested so far. I am going to leave this post at the top of my blog until next Saturday, July 21. (I have family in a few days next week) At which time, I can finalize the numbers and get an email out to those interested with payment instruction etc.

If you are interested, please either email me at shannon.grant@shaw.ca or leave a comment on my blog making sure to include your email and where you are in Calgary. To pick up your scor-pal you will have to come by my place at a few set times to pick them up - I live in the community of Kincora in the NW (end of Beddington Trial)

Any questions, please email me.

ETA: Bulk buy is official with 6 participates. I am willing to add to the bulk buy until next Saturday, July 21.

Coffee Trifold

I made a trifold card for Stamp Club in June. This card used a lot of retired items from the Stampin' Up catalogue. The trifold card tutorial can be found here on SCS. The main image was done with poppin' pastels.

Supplies (all supplies SU! unless indicated)
Stamps: Espressoly for you
Paper: Au chocolat, chocolate chip, very vanilla
Ink: chocolate chip, versamark
Accessories: SU pastels, chocolate grosgrain,

What kind of ice cream are you?

You Are A Chocolate Ice Cream Girl

Dramatic. Powerful. Flirty.

What Flavor Ice Cream Girl Are You?

Fishy Friends

I made the Fish card for Stamp Club where I taught them how to do masking as well as reverse masking. Because there were only 2 gals at our last meeting I made the seahorse card that night as well. The card was made using a punch out from a Marvy giga scalloped circle sponging on cool caribbean and having the fish/seahorse masked. I really enjoy using this set for making kid cards and I will definitely be keeping this one even though it is retired.

Supplies: (all supplies Stampin' Up unless indicated)
Stamps: Fishy Friends, Wonderful Words II
Paper: Natural White
Ink: Stazon Black, cool caribbean, Markers for watercolor, taken with teal, summer sun and tempting turquoise
Accessories: masks, giga scalloped circle punch out - negative image to sponge on cool caribbean

Bridal Happiness

My long time girlfriend, Carmen is leaving next week to get married. They are going away themselves to Victoria Island for a private destination wedding. Carmen and I grew up in small town Saskatchewan together meeting the summer between grade 1 and 2. We have been roommates at one time in University and she will be the maid of honour at my wedding in September. She is my oldest friend and I am so glad that we once again leave so close to one another as they reside in Airdrie just 20km north of Calgary.

I have gotten Carmen a 'something blue' brooch that she can pin under her dress or on a garter. I couldn't send her off without something for her wedding day.

This card is 6x6 and I stamped the dress in craft whisper white and embossed it with iridescent ice then I painted the dress with white craft. After I heat set it I put some white stickles along the detailing of the dress for some more sparkle, of course you can't see any of the sparkle from the picture. Carmen is more than worthy of a few hodgepodge accents so I added those as well. You know what I mean - it is hard to use the good stuff when your just making a card but when the card is going to your bestest friend you can pull out all the good stuff.

Supplies: (all supplies Stampin Up unless indicated)
Stamps: Warm Words, Wedding Dress - PSX
Paper: Patterned Paper - Chatterbox, Night of Navy, Bazzill Bling Darkest Blue in the blue package, so saffron
Ink: craft white, night of navy
Accessories: White Bazzill flower, Rhinestone brad from Su! Ice package (new catty), Hodgepodge hardware, White organdy - unknown

Swell Pocket

I made this card for stamp club a couple weeks back. It was our last meeting with the old catalogue so I wanted to feature retired sets.

This is one of my favorite expecting sets. I just found out a friend of mine that I once worked with is expecting so I will be sending this off to her.

Supplies: (all supplies Stampin' Up)
Stamps: Swell News
Paper: almost amethyst designer paper, almost amethyst, barely banana, whisper white
Ink: black stazon, almost amethyst, SU markers for watercoloring close to cocoa, so saffron, creamy caramel and blush blossom
Accessories: white grosgrain (renamed whisper white), 1 3/8 circle punch

One for the road .....

We are leaving to Saskatchewan at noon to go camping with my Mom and Step-dad for the weekend. So I thought I'd post one for the road. I hope everyone has a safe and fun Canada Day long weekend or a great July 4th if you are one of my American readers.



I am in love with the Barquoe sets in the new SU! catalogue. I never thought I'd like them as they aren't my cutesy type style but as soon as I started using them I knew I had to have everything in the 'Tapestry' category!

Supplies (all SU unless indicated)
Stamps: Barquoe Motifs
Paper: certainly celery, purely pomegranate
Ink: purely pomegranate, rose red, Encore champagne, certainly celery
Accessories: spiral from hodgepodge hardware, certainly celery grograin, distressing tool, rose red brads

New Card Post!

This card started out with me wanting to do a tent topper card using this week's SCS color challenge 120 which used cool caribbean, morning marigold and pretty in pink however, I had this patterned paper on my desk so it ended up being morning marigold, DP from the Paisleys paper, regal rose, always artichoke and taken with teal.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up unless indicated)
Stamps: Big Blooms, 'Bloom' by Impression Obession
Paper: morning marigold, DP from the Paisleys paper, always artichoke,taken with teal
Ink: Versafine black onyx, regal rose
Accessories: pink polka dot ribbon - Dots and Dashes from Michael's, Marvy giga scalloped circle and mega circle, paper piercer, Pink rhinestones (though they look purple in the picture) bought at Office Depot



This was the second card I made and this time I was able to stick to CC120 using morning marigold, pretty in pink and cool caribbean.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up unless indicated)
Stamps: Polka Dots and Paisleys
Paper: morning marigold, pretty in pink and DP from Paisley pack
Ink: cool caribbean, versafine black onyx
Accessories: pink flower brad - unknown source just in my stash, blue polka dot ribbon - Michael's Dots and Dashes, Marvy giga scalloped circle and mega circle, paper piercer

My 80's guy

Your 80s Hunk Is

Jason Bateman

Who's Your 80s Hunk?

Two of my Favorite Little People

I've been a bad blogger - I have new projects I just haven't managed to get a picture of them when the light has been good. Maybe on Thursday as I do laundry before we take off for the long weekend. I thought I'd share two photos with you.


These are my brother's kids, Katelynn and Cooper. Katelynn is 21 months and Cooper is almost 10 months. Yes, my brother and sister-in-law have their hands full. Katie will be my flower girl at the wedding and Cooper is going to be one of the 'best boys' along with my other nephew who is almost 1 and my ring bear is his older brother who is 3 1/2 years old. Should be a good kid show that day. Of course, I will post pictures once we are back from our honeymoon. Wedding day is 3 months away - September 29, 2007!

This last picture is a picture a friend of ours took in Vegas of Ian and I at the end of April. Her husband was seriously hurt in a boating accident in May so I just got it from her. The good news is her husband will be fine - just a long, slow, painful physical therapy recovery.

Muddy Boot

This is the last of a 5 card series that I did using a similiar colour scheme and the PaperTrey stamp sets. These 5 cards will be sent to Julie as she is collecting cards for a friend of hers to auction for the Austism Society in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Supplies (all supplies SU unless indicated)
Stamps: Green Thumb - PaperTrey
Paper: Whisper White, Summer Sun, Really Rust, Garden Green
Ink: Summer Sun, Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Ribbon - Dots and Dashes from Michaels, Cuttlebug - Blossoms embossing folder

Flower Butterfly

This is the 4th of a 5 card series that I did using a similiar colour scheme and the PaperTrey stamp sets. These 5 cards will be sent to Julie as she is collecting cards for a friend of hers to auction for the Austism Society in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Supplies (all supplies SU unless indicated)
Stamps: Butteryfly Kisses - PaperTrey, Sentiment 'Butterfly Kisses' - Serendipity
Paper: Whisper White, More Mustard, So Saffron Designer Paper from Pallete of Prints (available in 12x12 in new catty)
Ink: More Mustard, So Saffron, Black Onyx Versafine
Accessories: Ribbon - Costco 30 roll package from Dec'06

Lady in the Garden

This is the 3rd of a 5 card series that I did using a similiar colour scheme and the PaperTrey stamp sets. These 5 cards will be sent to Julie as she is collecting cards for a friend of hers to auction for the Austism Society in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Supplies (all supplies SU unless indicated)
Stamps: Green Thumb and Little Lady - PaperTrey
Paper: Whisper White, More Mustard, Really Rust
Ink: More Mustard, Really Rust, Summer Sun, Garden Green, Black Onyx Versafine
Accessories: 'In the Garden' ribbon from Michaels $1.50 bin, yellow brads on the ribbon

New SU set

I'll give you a break from my series of PaperTrey cards for today.

I finally had a chance to play with my new stamps this weekend. This is my first card using the new Stampin' Up set called 'Pick a Petal'. This set will be in the new catalogue and available on July 1. I love being a demo as I got to purchase this set early. This is my first attempt using this set and I can see I will need to play with a bit before I find that I love the cards I make with it. I distressed the edges of all the cardstock edges using my distressing tool. They eyelet is there as I was going to use one of the new rhinestone circle brads but it didn't look right so then I had a hole in my card so an eyelet was born.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up unless indicated)
Stamps: Pick a Petal, Warm Words
Cardstock: whisper white, purely pomegranate (new 2008 in color), so saffron, rose red designer paper from May promo (will be in new catty as 12x12 pack)
Ink: purely pomegranate, so saffron, Versafine black onyx
Accessories: rose red eyelet

Flower Trio

This is the 2nd of a 5 card series that I did using a similiar colour scheme and the PaperTrey stamp sets. These 5 cards will be sent to Julie as she is collecting cards for a friend of hers to auction for the Austism Society in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Supplies (all supplies SU unless indicated)
Stamps: Green Thumb - PaperTrey
Paper: Whisper White, More Mustard, Really Rust, Garden Green
Ink: More Mustard, Really Rust, Summer Sun, Garden Green, Black Onyx Versafine
Accessories: 'In the Garden' ribbon from Michaels $1.50 bin, yellow eyelets on the ribbon

Paisley Flutter

This is the 1st of a 5 card series that I did using a similiar colour scheme and the PaperTrey stamp sets. These 5 cards (shown over the next 5 days plus 5 xmas cards and 5 cards using Dainty Bella) will be sent to Julie as she is collecting cards for a friend of hers to auction for the Austism Society in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I had the honour of meeting Julie when Ian and I were back in Dartmouth (aka Halifax area) at the end of May. Julie and I stamped one night. I basically colored Bella images and Julie finished off a House Mouse swap. Check out Julie's blog as she has brought in a pile of cards. Julie - These cards will be in the mail to you on Monday!

Supplies (all supplies SU unless indicated)
Stamps: Butterfly Kisses - PaperTrey
Paper: Natural Ivory,More Mustard, So Saffron, So Saffron Paisley DP
Ink: So Saffron, More Mustard, Black Onyx Versafine
Accessories: Cuttlebug Mesh embossing folder, Moss grosgrain ribbon

Disney Alter Ego

I got this from Tracey's blog.

You scored as Peter Pan, Your alter ego is Peter Pan. You are a child at heart. Anything you believe is possible, and you never want to grow up. Peter Pan 88% Ariel 75% Cinderella 69% The Beast 69% Sleeping Beauty 63% Pinocchio 56% Donald Duck 56% Goofy 56% Cruella De Ville 50% Snow White 25% Which Disney Character is your Alter Ego? created with QuizFarm.com

Cats like to Stamp Too

I just put away my pre-order from Stampin' Up - my new stamps on my desk and my paper cutter all ready to finish the inserts on the wedding invites so they can be mailed out later this week.

Apparently, Missie thought she should help too.

Once the wedding invites are out this week - I can play with my new toys. I've gotten Barquoe Motifs and Pick a Petal plus 3 of the new in color inks and a multi pack of the in colors.

Also, on another note, I had an interview at Husky this morning. If things work out I could be back in the engineering work force very soon. I guess 2 months off is enough - but its been fun.

I have 4 new cards using Paper Trey sets - I need a 5th one before I post as I am created a set for Julie at Mutch to Stamp. She is collecting cards for a friend of her, who needs this for an auction for autism. Julie if your reading this - I'll be sending you a xmas set, a bella set and the paper trey set. I'll post them all soon.

Sex in the City

Thanks to Allison for this hot little quiz. Before I did the quiz - this is who I thought I would get.

Which Sex and the City character are you?
You are Miranda! You are laid back & totally still hot. You are relaxed, but when you want to get out, you g e t out. You are fun and in your group of friends you are the anchor, you hold everything together and people look to you for advice.
Take The Quiz Now!	Quizzes by myYearbook.com

Little Ladies

I love Paper Trey and their clear acrylic stamps. This is the newest release called Little Lady. When I saw this release I knew I had to have it so I ordered it with the sentiment set Paper Tray.



Supplies:
Stamps: Little Lady - Paper Trey
Paper: Basic Black, Real Red
Ink: CTHM Black, Real Red, whisper white
Accessories: Marvy giga scalloped circle and mega plain circle, ribbon from Michaels



Supplies:
Stamps: Little Lady and Paper Tray - Paper Trey
Paper: Basic Grey Stella Ruby 6x6, cranberry crisp, old olive, whisper white
Ink: CTHM Black, Cranberry Crisp
Accessories: SU! celery grosgrain

Beate's Sketch

I finally had a chance to do one of Beate's weekend sketch challenges. I actually did this on Sunday night even though I'm uploading it on Monday night. Beate extended this weekends to Tuesday am.

My card is a standard 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 card. I think most people did a square card for this one but I stuck to the standard. The fairy stamps are from Close to My Heart and I'm not even sure if they are current or not anymore. I really like how this one turned out. The inspirations started with using the 6x6 Stella Ruby paper and then I though of fairies and flowers and sure enough I have a flower fairy set. I didn't photograph these until tonight so I had to use my ott lite rather than natural light so the watercoloring on the fairy didn't come out that well.



Supplies
Stamps: Fairy - Flower Fairies (CTMH), Sentiment - Fairy Dust (CTMH), Floral background (SU)
Paper: Barquoe Burgandy (SU - retired color - IMO, a nicer burgandy than bravo), So saffron, 6x6 Basic Grey Stella Ruby, Very Vanilla
Ink: waterproof black, Markers for watercoloring (barquoe burgandy, so saffron, certainly celery, blush blossom, cameo coral)
Accessories: Marvy giga scalloped circle and mega circle, pink eyelets set with cropdile, yellow stickles in the center of pink eyelets

Google Reader

I was using Technorati to view all the blogs I subscribe to but I was finding it doesn't ping out properly or update all the different kind of blogs.

This week Nancy posted that Google Reader allows a next reader and that she can keep hitting next until it takes her to the end of the blogs she reads. I checked it out and tried it with the Canadian blogs I read for the week. I would have done it for everything but I have 95 blogs favorited and Technorati doesn't allow an export of your favorited links just an import. So, I had to copy and paste the url in. Well after a few days of use I could see it was better so tonight I added all the addresses in and I am 100% caught up in my blurfing (great word courtesy of Allison) done. This next button actually makes it easier for me to leave comments to as I just hit next when I am done I don't have to hit the back button to take me to the home page.

I would highly recommend using Google Reader if you aren't already.

May Paper Pretties Box

I know its June 1st and I'm just now posting two May Paper Pretties creations. I received my box the day before we left to Halifax so I haven't had a chance until Tuesday night to play with the paper and stamps. This first card was the card design that came in the May box from Christie. The base is black bazzill and the patterned papers are both Basic Grey one from the Scarlett Letter line and the other from the Stella Ruby line. The red brads are Northern Element over a piece of vellum. The image of course is Diplomabella from Stamping Bella. All elements on this card were in the May box. I colored the image with a blender pen and a black ink pad (didn't come up very black in the picture) and then used real red, old olive, chocolate chip and blush blossom markers and a blender pen for the remainder of the image.



The second image is a similar layout to the first but I put my own spin of it by adding a red ribbon, some prima flowers and distressing the image with a brown antiquing tool. I colored the robe this time with an old olive marker and a blender pen. Everything was again from the card box except for the piece of old olive I used to layer the image, the brown brad on the flower and the Stampendous congratulations stamped on the bottom.

If you haven't signed up yet - these boxes are great. Christie has arranged for shipping with Fedex now so we will get our boxes even faster. If you decide to sign up make sure to tell Christie that Shannon from Calgary sent you. Won't be long now and my June box will ship with Cruisebella in it!