Have you ever had to explain your craft-room and hobby to someone who’s never seen anything like it? Today a college friend came over to pick my brain about teaching music and she had a look at my “studio” and asked “So what IS this? WHY do you do this"?”

I was speechless for a second.. Why DO I do it? I was like, ‘Uh… um…”

Then she said, “Is this a business for you? What do you do with all of the cards?”

I said “Well, I work for a few stamp companies that send me stamps and I make cards with them… And I sell my cards at a flower shop, and I teach classes at my LSS…” but the conversation felt unfinished when it ended..

I have to admit that a whole room and thousands of dollars of stuff does seem excessive for a hobby, but that’s what it is.. Is card-making a PASSION of mine? I think so.. Is it crazy that I spend the money/time that I do on it? I don’t think so.. A colleague of mine from school has a very, very expensive hobby that seems really weird to me, he buys expensive sound systems for his house. We’re not talking Bose speakers, we’re talking $50k sound systems from stores that are INVITE ONLY. Do I think it’s excessive, yes, but it’s his hobby and it makes him happy. Anyway.. It was an interesting conversation..
Speaking of being excessive, here are some cards I’ve made over the past couple of days.. I’ve been productive! These are all for the Dare To Get Dirty challenges at SCS…

I made this card for this month’s Sketch For You To Try.. It’s my first one and it was fun! I used an older Kraftin’ Kimmie stamp that I actually had for sale in the garage sale I did and no one picked her up. The papers are the new, drop-dead gorgeous My Mind’s Eye “Lost and Found Two” papers. Pretty, aren’t they? Copics used: BG93, 96, 99; R81, 83, 86, 89; RV63, 66; E13, 15, 18, 31, 51, 53

The set Just my Type from Technique Tuesday is gorgeous on its own… So why not leave it? That’s what I thought, anyway. Doesn’t the typewriter stamp beautifully?

This stamp is new-to-me and I couldn’t wait to colour him up. These papers are more My Mind’s Eye “Lost and Found Two” and this particular line is my favourite. Normally I’m not a fan of gold, but the colour palette is scrumptious. Copics: YR21, 23, 25; E50, 51, 53, 71, 74, 77, 79.

This guy is from a There She Goes set called My Little Friend. I pleated the lilac ribbon, but only on the outer edges.. It’s always tricky to adhere a layer on top of thick ribbon, so I thought I’d leave it flat just in the centre.. I really liked how it worked out and will be doing that again, for sure! Copics: YR18, 63; E40, 41, 50, 51, 11; BG70, 72, 76; YG21, 23, 25; RV63, 66, C3.
Thanks for stopping by!

I’m a sucker for challenges, so I played along with some DTGD challenges at Splitcoast Stampers that will be happening all week – yay! Pardon the brief post, it’s nearly 3am!!

- a gorgeous card with lots of paint and glimmer mists… I have a tutorial in the works for this! I used a fancy new sticker from SRM in the corner.

- a Christmas card with a whole heck of a lot of glitter on it! I will be teaching this card in an upcoming class at Clipper Street. Minimal colouring with maximum effect!

- a challenge to use kraft. I punched the fish image up with some glitter and "deewdrops" (thank you Fran for the email!) that add a lot of dimension and texture.
Thanks for checking in! I hope to complete a bunch more challenges tomorrow/today.. They are all so good!

I got up “early” today so I could get a little bit of housework done and play along with a couple of challenges.. Please note that early for me is before 12:00, haha.. So I got my work done and made a couple of cards… Here’s the first:

I played along with the Featured Stamper challenge and I HAD to play because it was none other than my friend Teri! I picked this super-cute card of hers to case: You’re a Vision. I used a favourite set of mine: Freeze the Moment along with some My Mind’s Eye papers.. I flipped her layout so the kites and clouds in the background would show.
Copics: E25, 27, 29,50, 51, 70, 71, 74; YR14, 18, 20; BG10, 11, 13; R27

This card was made for today’s Technique Challenge. The technique is called “colour blocking” and it’s really simple.. You add ink to a clear block and stamp it onto cardstock. I added a few different colours in rainbow order then sprayed the block with “marshmallow” Tattered Angels Mist to give it a little sparkle, but also to help the colours marry… I love how it turned out. I rooted around in my button stash to find coordinating buttons and sewed them to the cardstock before adhering it to the card. A simple little Echo Park sticker for the sentiment and viola! Clean and simple at its easiest!
Thanks for stopping by!
Ps… I haven’t done a leftover post for a couple weeks because I haven’t had any scraps!! I don’t know what I’ve done differently, but I am consciously leaving scraps hanging around this week, lol..

That’s what I’ll keep telling myself. I also don’t like to tan, so yah.. There’s another good reason… keep telling yourself that, Tobi. Maybe one day you’ll stop wanting a convertible…  

Why am I talking about convertibles? Because I just made the cutest card ever featuring one!

I played along with the Free 4 All challenge at SCS and the challenge was to make a card about a summertime activity. I’ve always been a road-trip kind of person. Growing up my Mom and my siblings would drive to Saskatchewan (two provinces away, or approx. 1050 miles) to visit family. We weren’t wealthy enough to fly, so we drove! The majority of my travels have been by car.. Hell, when I went to college in Iowa I drove there and back like, 5 times (1900 miles each way)!

Two years ago you may remember our epic honeymoon road-trip across Canada/USA.. That was pretty awesome. No plans for anything like that anytime soon, but towards the end of August we will be driving to a lovely city named Oliver that is smack-dab in the middle of wine country. It’s beautiful, remote, and utterly relaxing. Can’t wait!

I used a couple of stamps from two relatively new sets from There She Goes: Vroom, and Freeze the Moment. I made a quick mask of the car and stamped “Leah” into the driver’s seat. I coloured the image with Copics and airbrushed a few clouds in the background and some grey pavement.

That’s all for now! Thanks for looking, see you soon.

Copics: R81, 83, 85, 89; E11, 50, 51, 53, 55, 57, 81, 87; BG10, 11, 13, 32, 34, 78; C3, 5, 9; W3, 4

I showed my husband the following two cards:

Stamps: Mint Motif- Sweet Hearts and What a Card - available at i {heart} papers.

Paper: papertrey ink

Ink: memento

Accessories: sewing machine, corner punch

Stamps: technique tuesday - love, Ali

Paper: SU!

Ink: versamagic (pink and red) Brilliance (black)

Accessories: felt (cut out with Nestabilites), buttons, twine

Today's "Ways to Use it" Challenge at SCS is to use butterflies. I LOVE butterflies (I don't know why or how this love developed, but such is life) and find that I used them often as a focal point in a card, whether it be a stamped image or a die cut. Today it's the latter...

Every few months Splitcoast Stampers has two nights of challenges called Virtual Stamp Night. This time around I was able to finish 6 projects, two of which I shared with you yesterday. Here are the rest:

• There are 3 snowflakes in decreasing sizes layered on top of each other. They were cut with the Slice. 
• The patterned paper is by Lasting Impressions.. I LOVE this colour combo for Christmas... 
• Finished off with the *perfect* SRM sticker. 

• I bought a Crate Paper paper pack yesterday forgetting that I already owned it.. DUH! So I'm on a mission to use it up. I was also reminded that I have a bunch of Christmas sentiments that fit in the SU! Word-window punch, so I put that to use as well!
• That moose is from  Kim Hughes set by the late CHF... 

• I love this stamp and sentiment. I special-ordered the sentiment because it's so perfect for ME, and for this stamp... I gotta use it more this Christmas...
• This is more Crate Paper BTW...

• I also have a bunch of last year's Cosmo Cricket Christmas papers that I need to use up.. This card is a result of me throwing a bunch of scraps on a card and seeing where it goes.... 
• The sentiment is by Hero Arts. 

I was hangin' out with some friends last night when I got a little *beep* on my phone letting me know I had an email. I looked at it and literally went "OH MY GOD" in a high-pitched voice! "I AM TOMORROW'S FEATURED STAMPER!!" After I calmed down and realized no one knew what I was talking about, I explained what it was: It's a weekly challenge on SCS where the hostess picks one stamper per week from the thousands of people who upload to the site, and you have to pick one of their cards to be an inspiration for a new creation! Today that's me!!! My friend Kim was hosting this week and chose me.. Aren't I a lucky girl??? So needless to say, I had to play along...

I finally got my last order of stuff from Jacksonbelle (it's been sitting at the border for well over a month) so I played with my new goodies: the MFT stamp and Capella papers.

Check out the post below for The Cutting Cafe giveaway!! 

So I stole away for a few minutes this evening to make another card. I think I'm pretty much going to make Christmas cards from now on because I have so many places and people that I need to provide cards for. It's a good problem to have, but when you're too busy to sleep, not too much fun.

This layout was quick and easy, especially because I used punches to cut out the squares. After I cut out the squares I laid them on white cardstock, measured an 1/8 of an inch on all sides and cut the white. The finished card is 4x6. I hope you like it! I used Basic Grey patterned paper, and May Arts ribbon.

I thought I would submit a few cards to the Clean and Simple challenge DT call at SCS. You don't "get" anything product-wise out of it, but I think it would be AMAZING to make the cards that inspire hundreds to play along with this great new challenge every week. These are the three cards I made:

Well tonight was a good night. I taught a group of 6 ladies (hello, if you're reading this!) how to get started in scrapbooking and it was a blast. There is so much to share and so much to talk about that I couldn't possibly fit it all into a 2 hour block, so I hope they continue to take classes, read blogs, and read magazines for more support. It's a great hobby, and I love being able to share tips to getting started..

So after teaching this evening I wanted to come home and create something, so I played today's (tomorrow's) Limited Supply Challenge. The challenge was to incorporate 3 things:

1. it has to be a birthday card
2. you need to include at least one butterfly (easy for me as I've been obsessed lately)
3. use chocolate brown

So I pulled out an Elzybells stamp and got to work. How did I do?

Stamps: elzybells

Paper: basic grey, neenah, prism (brown)

Ink: momento, versamagic (jumbo java)

Accessories: amy butler butterfly, button, twine, basic grey rub-ons, copic markers

There was a time in the not-so-distant past that making a card WITHOUT stamps was not a challenge. In fact, I didn't really do stamps.. So now when I am "challenged" with making a card sans stamps I laugh at myself as I try to find a focal point and put a half-decent card together.

My family and I are approaching our final days of our month-long trek across Canada and the US, so these next cards (as well as the few previous) were all made with VERY limited supplies, and time!  All I brought with me was a tote-full of supplies, and most of my card-making was done in a hotel after a 9 or 10 hour drive. FUN!

PLEASE play along and if you upload to SCS or PCP use the keyword: JBE066

• Papers:  Kraft, K&Co.
• Kaiser rub-on, Basic Grey buttons, October Afternoon die-cut tag

• Papers: Kraft, Black and White cardstock; Basic Grey paper pack
• Basic Grey Chipboard shapes, Kaiser Rub-ons, Ribbon from AMuse and My Little Ribbon Shop
• the last card is a CPS sketch!
  

Thanks for stopping by today!   Don’t forget the HUGE Jacksonbelle Dollar Days sale going on!