Some taekwondo layouts

I wanted to share some layouts that I made about the Premier Taekwondo Championships that we competed in this past April.


I'd made a collage in Picasa 3 and had it printed out at Walmart as an 8x12 photo. I used American Crafts cardstock, My Mind's Eye patterned paper and Sassafras letter stickers.


I used American Crafts cardstock & chipboard letters, Lily Bee patterned paper & banner stickers, a Papertrey Ink Half & Half die and Jillibean Soup letter stickers.


I used WRMK cardstock, American Crafts cardstock & chipboard letters, Lily Bee patterned paper & banner stickers, Papertrey Ink Wonderful Words stamps.


I created this layout on the back of the "so proud of you" one. I used WRMK & American Crafts cardstock, Lily Bee patterned paper & letter stickers (teal), a Papertrey Ink Half & Half die and Jillibean Soup letter stickers.

Thanks for looking!

Papertrey Princess Challenge

One of my fellow Papertrey Princesses posted this challenge today. She asked us to post a photo of something that inspires us and a card that we made using this inspiration.

Here's what inspired me today:


New product. :)

I picked up my Papertrey Ink order today and was very inspired as I stamped my new stamps into my stamp book and set them in their folders. So inspired that once I was done, I made this card:


I used Papertrey Ink cardstock (Hawaiian shores, kraft and pure poppy), stamps (Think Big Favourites #7, Modern Wood Mats and Simple Sunflower), twine and die (Doily Details).

Thanks for looking!

Too much on my plate?

So, I don't know if it's the "summertime brain" or what, but I forgot that I'd signed up for a free class at Big Picture Classes earlier this month. I was clicking through different blogs that I like to visit and came upon someone's post that mentionned this class. Since it sounded vaguely familiar, I clicked the link and then remembered: "Hey, I'm suppose to be taking that class!"

*insert rolleyes emoticon here*

So, I checked out the first class (it started August 15th) and upon reading the word, I knew immediately what I wanted to write about and which photo to use (one that I'd taken of Jonah & myself on Canada Day while we waited in line for cotton candy). The layout I made came together amazingly quickly (I love it when that happens!)


The title word "share" was a free download, so I decided to print it out with my journaling right away. After that I matted it, added my photo, patterned paper, a few embellishments and some stitching. Done!

I used Papertrey Ink cardstock (stamper's select white, aqua mist), stamps & die (Postmarks) & Lily Bee patterned paper. I used the crimper again to make the heart, which I'd punched out of a piece of cardstock (cut out from behind the photo ;) ).



Thanks for looking!

Thank you, teacher

I decided to get a jump on my "thank you, teacher" cards for the beginning of the school year (17 days and counting!)

I made this card this afternoon, using the My Mind's Eye Blog Card Sketch Challenge #26.


I used My Mind's Eye patterned paper, Papertrey Ink (Happy Trails) & Studio Calico (library card) stamps and Papertrey Ink cardstock (aqua mist, stamper's select white).

Thanks for looking!

Nine things....

I wanted to share a layout that I made this week. It's titled "Nine things that I love about Jonah" and it features a photo of Jonah that I took on his ninth birthday a couple of weeks ago. I used the My Mind's Eye Blog Challenge #26 to make it.


I used Bazzill (dark grey) & Papertrey Ink cardstock (stamper's select white), My Mind's Eye patterned paper and decorative brad, and Papertrey Ink die (Half & Half) and stamps (Wonderful Words). The alphabet stickers are Sassafras.

I had to get a little creative with making the title. The words "i love" were in the Wonderful Words stamp set as is, but everything else was selectively stamped using different words.... "nine" came from "everything", as did "things" (I added the "s" from "yours"), and "that" was from "thanks."

Here's my list that I put on the layout, in case you're interested:

1. His smile.
2. His sweet nature.
3. His amazing memory.
4. His ability to make me laugh.
5. How quick he is to obey.
6. How he gives me hugs to cheer me up.
7. His desire to share things/experiences with me.
8. How capable and independent he’s becoming.
9. The fact that he’s mine.


I was really inspired by Dawn McVey's post on her blog explaining how to make your own corrugated diecut embellishments. I don't own a crimper, but I remembered that my friend, Darlene, had bought one at one of the SU! parties I'd hosted several years ago, so I asked if I could borrow hers. I used it to make a corrugated heart:


Thanks for looking!

Five for Friday

#1. I love these guys! I'm so thankful that I get to spend the whole summer with them-- it's been really great! Sure, there have been some "not so great" days, but the good far outweighs the bad. I took this photo on our front steps yesterday morning before going to walk dogs for the Humaine Society.

#2. Our favourite dog to walk there is Phantom. Scary name, kind of scary looking dog. But he's a real sweetheart and very gentle with the kids.


#3. Sage took another art class this week at the Pembina Hills Art Centre, where she learned to paint like Van Gogh. She had a great time and came home with two masterpieces.

#4. My wonderful friend, Val, took me out for breakfast for my birthday on Monday and gave me this vase. Isn't it gorgeous? I'm thinking of using it to make something like this for fall/Thanksgiving.


#5. So I decided to use the vase as inspiration to make Val a thank you card:


I used PTI cardstock (aqua mist, stamper's select white), die (Mat Stack #5), twine & stamp (Think Big Favourites #3). The bird stamp is Inkadinkadoo which I coloured with the SU! watercolour pencils that I won at Anne's crop in the Spring with the SU! blending tools-- the effect is that they look like they've been coloured with markers. The buttons are from my stash.

To create the shiny silver effect over the aqua mist cardstock, I dry brushed some silver acrylic paint over top of it. I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Thanks for looking!

Three bookmarks

I wanted to share three projects that I made recenlty with product from the Eyelet Outlet, one of our sponsors this month at Scrapping Everyday Miracles.

I decided to us the Half & Half dies from Papertrey Ink to make some bookmarks for my kids.

Here's Austin's:


I used PTI cardstock (stamper's select white), dies (Half & Half, Limitless Layers) & stamps (Wonderful Words, Turning a New Leaf & Tag it's #2). The patterned paper is Basic Grey, the little Owl is Hero Arts & the glasses brad is from Eyelet Outlet.

This next one is for Sage:


I used PTI cardstock (stamper's select white, hibiscus burts), dies (Half & Half) & stamps (Signature Series: Cupcake). The princess is a stamp that Sage got at Michael's & the glasses brad is from Eyelet Outlet.

And this last one is for Jonah:

I used PTI cardstock (stamper's select white), dies (Half & Half) & stamps (Signature Series: Dress Form & Tag it's #4). The patterned paper is American Crafts & the animal brads are from Eyelet Outlet.

Thanks for looking!

One man's trash....

.... is another man's treasure.

I found this to be true this past weekend. My friend, Marlo, came over to craft on Saturday night and decided to cut some triangles out of felt and stamp on them with the Tranquiltiy Trilogy stamp set. I thought they turned out great, but they weren't drying fast enough for her, so she set them aside and started something else. Well, on Monday, as I was looking for something in the ice cream pails we had on the table for our garbage, I spotted these nicely stamped felt triangles and knew I couldn't let them go to waste.

So I made this card for Marlo:


Other than the PTI felt (vintage cream), stamps set (Tranquiltiy Trilogy) and die (two triangles), I used PTI cardstock (fine linen, aqua mist, stamper's select white) & stamps (text style, wildflower garden (sentiment). The ribbon and buttons were from my stash. The scrap of patterned paper is MME.

Thanks for looking!

Happy {Belated} Birthday, Mandy!

Okay, so it would seem that I'm great about making cards, but terrible about handing them out on time....

Here's the card that I made on Sunday for my friend, Mandy, who's birthday was yesterday. My plan is to drop it off at her house this morning after we walk dogs for the Humaine Society.

At first, I tried stamping in the opening of the Mat Stack #5 die on the kraft background with the swirl image from Wish Big, but I thought it looked like a big spider, so I decided to cut a Mat Stack #1 from red patterned paper and nestled it in the Mat Stack #5. Disaster averted. ;)


I used PTI cardstock (kraft, pure poppy), stamps (Big & Bold Wishes), impression plate (Woodgrain) and dies (Mat Stack #1, Mat Stack #5 and Love Lives Here). The teal cardstock is SU! and I used a Marvy Uchida scalloped punch for the teal circle.

Thanks for looking!

Scrapping Everyday Miracles Challenge #6

I wanted to share my layout that I made for Scrapping Everyday Miracles Challenge #6: Create a page focusing on the blessing of a friendship that has gone the distance.

Scrap Twist: use a layered title and add something thick and something thin on the layout.

Here's my layout, that I made using a photo of my very good friends, Susan, & me at the beach. I also used this week's Make it Monday at Papertrey Ink: Customizing ribbon.


I used The Girl's Paperie patterned paper, PTI stamps (Half & Half, Delightful Doilies, Wonderful Words and Turning a New Leaf), PTI dies (Beautiful Blooms II #1, Half & Half, Wonderful Words and Turning a New Leaf) and Eyelet Outlet brads (one of our August sponsors at SEM).

Here are a few detail shots:





Thanks for looking!

Counting my blessings

I thought that in honour of my 39th birthday, that I would count my blessings today. So here's what I'm thankful for today, all the way to 39...



1. That my Saviour loves me, no matter what.
2. Cameron:


3. Austin:


4. Jonah:


5. Sage:


6. The rest of my family:



7. Great friends.
8. My church family.
9. Grace.
10. Books to read.
11. Chocolate M&Ms.
12. Summertime.
13. The feel of the sun on my skin.
14. My bike.
15. Our home.
16. The flowers that bloom in my yard despite my neglect.
17. My job.
18. The fact that my job allows me two months+ off in the summer.
19. Waterslide parks.
20. Shopping trips.
21. New clothes.
22. A hobby I adore.
23. Birthday greetings from online & real life friends.
24. Safeway birthday cakes.
25. Supper out.
26. Praise songs.
27. Media that connects us to others.
28. Road trips.
29. New scrappy supplies.
30. Notes of appreciation.
31. Fun things to plan.
32. Flavoured popcorn.
33. Diet A&W root beer.
34. Taekwondo training.
35. Our vehicles.
36. Our beach pass.
37. Spending time with friends.
38. Board games.
39. That I'm still in my thirties. ;)

And before I go, I want to share this card that I made using this week's Make it Monday at Papertrey Ink: Customizing ribbon. I made it for my friend, Beth, who is moving away at the end of the month. I wanted to let her know what a blessing our friendship has been to me.


I used Papertrey Ink cardstock (Kraft, Stamper's Select White and red), stamp (Beautiful Blessings), dies (Love Lives Here, Half& Half) and buttons. The twill was from my ribbon box and the teal cardstock is SU!

Thanks for looking!


Here's the second card that I made using this week's Make it Monday at Papertrey Ink: Customizing ribbon.

MIM #27-- attempt #2

Here's the second card that I made using this week's Make it Monday at Papertrey Ink: Customizing ribbon.

I found this little scrap of red ribbon in my stash and added a teal stripe down the middle using my friend, Susan's Teal Copic marker.


I used Papertrey Ink cardstock (kraft), dies (Love Lives Here, Mat Stack #5) and stamp set (Communique Sentiments). The teal cardstock is SU! and the patterned paper is Lily Bee.

Thanks for looking!

Some more cards

I wanted to share the rest of the set of cards that I made to go with this card and this card.

I'm still using this idea by Betsy Veldman, which I'm loving for making a set of cards!

Here's the first card, that I made using this week's Make it Monday at Papertrey Ink: Customizing ribbon. Now, I don't have any Copics or PTI ribbon (I'm not a huge ribbon fan), so I dug through my box of ribbon and found a piece of twill. Using a SU! marker, I drew three lines onto it. This card is a CASE of one of Betsy Veldman's cards.

I used PTI cardstock (vintage cream) & stamps (Turning a New Leaf, Botanical Silhouettes (sentiment)). I also used American Crafts, Fancy Pants, My Mind's Eye, Cosmo Cricket & Crate Paper patterned paper and some buttons from my stash.

I used PTI cardstock (vintage cream), die (Half & Half), twine, button & stamps (Iconic Images, Happy Trails (sentiment)). I also used My Mind's Eye, Fancy Pants, Bo Bunny & Crate Paper patterned paper.

I used PTI cardstock (vintage cream), die (Half & Half), twine, buttons & stamps (Turning a New Leaf, Iconic Images (sentiment)). I also used American Crafts, My Mind's Eye, Fancy Pants & Crate Paper patterned paper.

I used PTI cardstock (vintage cream), dies (Mat Stack #5 & Leaf Prints), twine, button & stamps (Leaf Prints, Botanical Silhouettes (sentiment)). I also used My Mind's Eye, Fancy Pants, Bo Bunny & Crate Paper patterned paper.

I used PTI cardstock (vintage cream), die (Mat Stack #5), twine, buttons & stamps (Turning a New Leaf, Iconic Images, Botanical Silhouettes (sentiment)). I also used American Crafts, My Mind's Eye, Fancy Pants & Cosmo Cricket patterned paper.

I used PTI cardstock (vintage cream), die (Half & Half) & stamps (Turning a New Leaf, Iconic Images, Happy Trails (sentiment)). I also used American Crafts, My Mind's Eye, Fancy Pants, & Crate Paper patterned paper. The little jewels are KI Memories.

For several of these cards, I used Versamark ink and clear embossing powder to heat emboss the stamped images. I liked the subtle look it gave.


Thanks for looking!

For Sale

I've updated what I'm selling from my original post and added quite a few more items (acrylic stamps, rubber stamps, embossing folers, dies and some SU! tools). Again, I posted pictures of each of the sets below, along with the price. Shipping is extra.

Just Cre8, $5:


Autumn Leaves, $3: (pending)


Stampin' Up!, $8:


Stampin' Up!, $8:


Stampin' Up!, $8:


Tim Holtz Embossing folders, $8 for both:


Cuttlebug dies, new in package, $8:


Stampin' Up! Stampin' Scrub, $8:


If you are interested in any of these items, please email me at pennercl@mts.net.
Thanks so much!

A card I made....

... for a Papertrey Paper Dolls challenge.

I've been following the Papertrey Paper Dolls blog for while now, but this is my first time participating in one of their challenges. Challenge #43 was to use newspaper style "paper" (but not text) on a project.

Well, I'd seen this challenge the other day but didn't think about it too much, because I didn't think that I had anything like that in my stash.

Well, I was wrong. (Shocking, I know!) I was digging through my scraps and here was a piece of green patterned Echo Park patterned paper that had newsprint on the back AND the red polka dots.

So, here's the card I made using one single piece of patterned paper:


I also used Papertrey Ink cardstock (stamper's select white), stamps (from my new Iconic Images set) and die (Mat stack #5.)

Thanks for looking!

Chalk drawings

There's something so absolutely "summer" about chalk drawings on the driveway (probably because we can't make them in the winter with all the snowbanks in the way! LOL!)

Here's what Sage and I made this afternoon:




And I also wanted to share the rest of the card set that I made for my pastor (I shared the first half here), using the patterned paper stripped Mat Stack #5 images that I cut out.

For all of the sets, I used Papertrey Ink cardstock (stamper's select white), stamps (leaf prints), twine and dies (mat stack #5 & leaf prints). The patterned paper strips came from my scraps and include: SU!, Basic Grey & Bo Bunny.

On this card, I used a PTI sentiment stamp from Communique Sentiments.

The sentiment here comes from Happy Trails (I selectively inked the "thank you , teacher" stamp) and Text Style I.

The sentiment here comes from Happy Trails and the flourishes are from Fall Elegance.

Here, the little leaves are from Fall Elegance and the sentiment is from Communique Sentiments.

Thanks for looking!