Magnolia

Hi Everyone,

I know it has been awhile since I have posted, but have been really sick with a horrible virus that the Doctor thinks was the H1N1 virus. It came suddenly and hit me really hard in my chest, ears, & sinuses. It is almost 4 weeks and I am still not feeling great, but am starting to feel a bit better. During this time my hubby had surgery and thank goodness is recovering very well, and, if that wasn't enough, the renovations on my house started last week.

I must have my whole main floor of my house totally packed by Monday 'cause they are going to start installing my hardwood floors. That means all of my stamps and stuff will have to be packed and put in the basement. What a job! But I am sure it will all be worth it in the end. I can hardly wait to see the results.

I made the card I am posting awhile ago, and thought that I would share it with you. I stamped the image with Memento black ink and used mineral spirits and Lyra and Prisma colour pencils to colour. I stamped the bow on her head twice and cut one out and popped it up. I also used the Stampin Up slot punch and the oval Nestabillities and the Cuttlebug circle embossing folder. I glittered the Lilacs and used the blue baubles for the embellishment.

Thanks so much for visiting my Blog.

I would love to hear from you.

Hugs,

Nicky

Let's Celebrate

Hi Everyone,

Hope you all had a great week. I told you I would try to post more often, and here I am. I made a few cards, and I wanted to share one of them with you.

Most of you know how much I enjoy collecting stamps of polka dots, circles, & cupcakes. I really liked the cupcake image from this set from Gina K designs called Sweetest Blessings, which is a perfect set for celebrations. The stamps are so deeply etched and very easy to colour.

I coloured the cupcake with Prisma coloured pencils and odorless mineral spirits and used glitter and Glossy Accents on the cherry. I don't know if you will be able to see it on the screen. I also used the circle embossing folder and the Fiskars border punch. The sentiment is from

My Stamp Box.

I am making this post short and sweet as I still have to design a few more cards for my upcoming class then have to cut and package them, it's a lot of work but I love it. I will post another card in a few days so stop by.

Thanks so much for coming to visit

Hugs

Nicky

Friend

Hi Everyone,

It has been such a crazy busy month with lots of babysitting my adorable grand-daughters, visitors from out of town, getting ready for my classes and teaching, and shopping, shopping, shopping, that it left me very little time to post. I apologize for that. I just don't know how you all find the time to post everyday. I am going to try harder to post at least a couple of times a week.

I received my Gina K stamps and I knew that I would love stamping with them. The stamps are so deeply etched and they give a beautiful imprint . I chose this orchid stamp from Asela Hopkins "Botanical Dreams". It is a gorgeous set, I love it. Gina's stamps are open lined and are perfect for colouring.

For this card I used a border punch for the brown layer and Prisma and Lyra pencils with odorless mineral spirits to colour the image. I chalked around the flower and used some glitter. I don't know if the glitter will show on the screen. Hope you like it.

I am sorry I have been MIA and promise to post more often.

Keep in touch , I would love to hear from you.

Hugs

Nicky

Happy Wednesday

Hi Guys,

I can't believe how much time has passed since I last posted, sorry... I hope you are all enjoying the summer weather, relaxing, stamping and having fun.

My daughter the Dr., has moved back to Toronto from Windsor and is living with us (love it) for a few months 'till she can find a place to live. I hope she takes her time and stays with us this year and saves her money, so she can buy a condo or town house. I love having her home again, she is so much fun to be with, and she is a great stamper to boot.

I did my first Demo at Pointers Scrapbooking store and want to thank everyone for coming out and supporting me. It was great to see all of you.

I am so excited that my new Copic Markers came last week and my Flourishes stamps came the same day. I really haven't shopped on line much, as I am a feelie touchie kind of person, but Man oh Man is it ever easy and fun to shop on line with just a push of a button. I am hooked (where have I been).

All of my other purchases should be arriving in the next couple of weeks and then there will be no excuses for not posting a few cards a week. I am slowly getting my mojo back, I think.

I redesigned an old card of mine with a Penny Black flower stamp in black Versafine ink, and Chalked around the flower with a cotton ball using blue chalk. I then edged the card stock with a black marker. I used Stampin'Up patterned paper in Baja Breez, and embossed the white card stock with Sizzix dot embossing folder. I also used EK success scallop border punch on the bottom of the black layer. The sentiment is Stampin'Up.

I am off to Montreal for a few days and will be back on Sunday, and hopefully I will have another card for you on Monday.

Have a great weekend.

Thanks for stopping by, I would love to hear from you.

Nicky

Happy Thursday

Hi Everyone,

I am so sorry that I have not posted lately, but I have been under the weather and I am feeling better now. Thanks so much to all of you that cared and worried about me, you will never know how much it meant to me.

I wanted to share a tip with you that I share with my 101 students. When you cut your card stock and patterned paper, don't just cut for one card, since you have everything out, you might as well cut enough to make a few cards. Then when you need a card, all you have to do is piece it together and change the image and sentiment to suit your occasion. It is so much faster to make the card rather then taking everything out and starting all over. I keep these layers and my original sample in a baggie, and keep the baggie in a plastic shoe box.

Here, I made my first card using the MarchingABellas by Stamping Bella. Since I really liked my layout I cut extra layers. I needed a Birthday card for a friend, and all I had to do was find an image that suited the person, (in this case I used Stella Looves Ribbons from Stamping Bella and the sentiment is from Stampin Up), colour it up and piece the card together, easy peezy. Since the cards go to different people they will never know that you used the same layout.

I used clear glaze pen on Stellas scissors, crown, wand and the spine of the books. (I don't know if this is going to show up ). This gives the image dimension and sparkle. I coloured the images with mineral spirits and Lyra coloured pencils. I also used the Sizzix dot embossing folder on the pink panel.

Thanks for stopping by

Hugs

Nicky

TGIF

Can you believe it's Friday!!!! I just can't believe how fast this week flew by. Well, Friday means it's Bellarific Challenge at Stamping Bella. Once again everyone made amazing cards. Linda Heavens came up with this great sketch, and it is unbelievable to see how everyone interprets it.

I decided to use Stella Digs It, and this image comes with a mini as well. I bought new colouring pencils by Brunzel and I love them. They come sharpened already in such a cute box with 4 drawers. I find them more pigmented, and when used with mineral spirits, they don't spread as much as the Lyra's and Prismacolour pencils. You end up getting rich, more opaque colour. I don't know if you can see it but when Paula came to visit us at the store, she introduced us to the clear glaze pen, and man, do I love it. It gives a glossy clear look just like diamond glaze, but is so easy to use in a pen style. Paula also showed me how to add the grass, I am not that good at it, but I will keep on trying. The Paper is from My Minds Eye .

Well, that's it short and sweet.

Thanks for visiting. I would love to hear from you.

Have a great weekend

Hugs,

Nicky

Happy Monday

What an exciting and a whirlwind of a weekend we had at Stamping Bella store. Paula Tracy, Linda Heavens, Pauline, Mary, and friends came to visit us and we had a blast. Paula and Linda were kind enough to demo some of their techniques, and, they actually let me keep their samples. They are all so talented and creative, and, sooooo nice to boot. We also had my good friends Toni S., Marjorea, Carolyn, Christine and Tanya spend the day with us. It was a great day!

The image on this card is called Atty'tude Cupcake Diva and is a part of the new release at

http://www.stampingbella.com/ . I just love her and loved to colour her. I used odorless mineral spirits, Lyra coloured pencils, Bella card stock and C1 Copic marker for the shadow. I cut the cupcakes from the patterned paper, and used them as embellishments. I also used chalk around the image to soften the white card stock, and then glittered around the white layer to frame it.

Since I didn't have enough ribbon I cheated and put a strip of blue card stock to match the ribbon and then tied the faux bow on top of it.

Thanks so much for stopping by, I would love to hear from you.

Have a great week.

Hugs,

Nicky