Spring is here....

I drive by this house every day on my way home from work and I have admired and admired her wisteria plant. This year I finally stopped and took some pictures. If I can find this stamp I am ready to Copic it.

I just love how this looks. There is a wisteria tree with yellow flowers on it that I may stop and "snap" one day.

I hope the weather is sunny and warm wherever you are.

Cat

Emily's card...

Can you believe it? To mail a card from Canada to Australia cost $4.10! The post office says because the card didn't fit through their little template slot it had to go a different method. Apparently the bow I put on the card is too thick for their slot.

She asked if I wanted to open the envelope and remove the bow I put on it.... Hello? Are you nuts? No, I do not want to remove the bow. Sheesh. Anyway, it is on it's way to Australia.

I took the second Copic class on Saturday. I came home so energized I went right to my little stamped pieces that I tried to Copic on and fixed them right up. I am so pleased with them. When I am finished I will post a couple of them.

Finally, sunshine today instead of the crappy rain I had driving to work this morning. I hope the sun is shining wherever you are.

Cat

On a sunny day...

Gorgeous weather, nephew and fiance on their way here for the weekend to see the man who is supposed to be his groomsman. He was injured in a MVA and is paralized....not good.

I belong to the Wishblade user group (I own a Silhouette) and a poster by the name of Michelle has a niece Emily who, at 17 is a very active young lady. She has been hospitalized with a serious problem and could be facing major brain surgery. Michelle has asked the other users to send Emily a "get well" card and this is the one I am sending to her:

I got my Bow Easy and it sure was easy to make the bow. Thanks to Kyle Wingfield I managed to get the mouse "Copic'd" and just the way I wanted it to look and I used my Scor-pal to mark the grid-look.

I spotted this card at Be Creative and even though I do not have the pastels that were used I did it anyway. I think this will make a great anniversary card to the "Tweetest" couple I know:

I used Glaze pens for the birds and watered down Marvy Markers for the background. It was a lot of fun and a different technique for me to use.

I sat through Heraldine's demo today on the Big Shot (even though I have the Cuttlebug) and I learned a few things I want to try with my Nestabilities.

Have a great day
Cat

Rats....

I didn't win the Copic contest at The Pen Addict but, congratulations to Yogi from Calgary, Alberta who was the lucky winner.

Maybe next time....

Cat

My Entry Into The Big May Copic Giveaway

I was this close....I am serious! I was this close to throwing out all the Copic markers I have purchased. Man, I was up passed midnight last night struggling with bleeding colors. It didn't matter what paper I used or ink (embossed or archival) my colors still bled. In my head I went over everything I learned in my Copic Lesson and I swear, I was doing what I was supposed to.

I dug out the binder where I have every single Copic Posting (took three printer cartridges) from Marianne Walker (I Like Markers blog) and I read and read. I was doing exactly what she said to do. I was doing exactly what Debi said to do - nope, not even close to the same result.

I quit! I give up! I HATE MARKERS!......I packed up my markers and my little bits of test papers and I marched over to Be Creative to natter at Heraldine. If it didn't matter what paper or ink....then the problem was with me. What was I doing wrong?

Of course, in my hour of need, Heraldine had left the building (so had Elvis but he would have been no help anyway). Iris was there...but even better! Kyle Wingfield, the Copic Guru, was there! Okay, okay. In my best attempt to duplicate what I have learned I was over-saturating the paper. I mean, doesn't Marianne say to "Saturate, saturate, saturate"? I think Debi said the same thing too!

I took what Kyle told me, went home, dug out my paper, markers and digital stamp and started anew. This time I went slowly and carefully and lo and behold I have a picture that only bled a tiny, tiny bit. Not bad for my second attempt.

So, why am I pulling out what little hair I have left out? Why am I stressing myself out so much? Why am I snapping at a poor defenseless DH who has broken his wrist? All because Marianne Walker posted a link on her blog to "The Pen Addict"...and like a puppy I followed the link and got caught!!! Her friend has a blog and I got caught here like a fish on a line!!!

There is a contest to win a Copic package.....all I have to do is to do three things:
1) Prove I will put these Copic markers to good use by showing I have a blog ---can do!
2) Create an original artwork ---yeah right, who is he kidding (see above)?
3) Write a blog post why I want these Copic markers ---again, can do!

Hey, two out of three aren't bad!

This is my blog, here is my artwork:

My reason why I think I should win? After the day I have had I deserve them! AND, if I can do this card using Bics, Sharpies and Copics (because that is all I have and the rest of my Copics have not come in)...think what I could do if the whole picture was done with Copics!!!

The card is a "get well" card for a friend who has ALS (man this disease sucks royally). I did not want a traditional, sappy card. I wanted something simple and tasteful for him and Dustin Pike (see here) came through again for me with a perfect digital stamp. This simply states inside "Hang in there! We are thinking of you".

I hope I win. I hope everyone had a better day than I did. Hey, it can only got up, right?

Cat

Just because...

Sitting here in the quiet waiting for a sick hubby to wake up and thought I would jot down a few thoughts.

I took my birthday money (it was on Wednesday) and shopped for Copic markers and Copic paper. I then printed my colour chart on the Copic paper and started to mark in all my colours. I was really surprised to see I had almost 36 markers!

This is my first Copic/Bic/Sharpie project:

The stamp is "Flower Bear" and is a digital stamp from Dustin Pike and his website is here. I just love his whimsical stamps.

I now have a full sheet of my stamps printed out and I am looking forward to coloring them in!

Hope everyone has a great day.

Cat

You know....

When I started this blog I didn't think anyone would be interested in what I had to say. I am amazed that over 1,500 have read this blog and I am grateful for that.

My old drafting lamp that I have had for over 25 years finally packed it in - man was that investment of $140.00 worth every penny. So....now I need to replace it. The Ott-lite is way overpriced in Canada (as is a lot of other products) and even with the 40% at Michael's, it was out of my price range.

Hubby (who can be very useful at times) suggested I look at the Save-on Foods rewards...I have been eying this lamp for years and I went in on Sunday and ordered it...a whole 39,000 points (which I have a lot of) for the DayLight Table Lamp. When I got home from work there was a message on the answering machine that my lamp was in. Wonderful! I have two cards to make this evening and the new lamp will come in handy. Mind you, the old lamp still worked----just buzzed like an under-oiled saw!!!

I didn't really want a table lamp as I am space-constricted and I wanted a clamp-on like the old one. I sat down on the kitchen floor with a feeling of Christmas/birthday (my birthday is on Wednesday so this was fun) and unpacked the lamp (even came with a magnifying glass attachment). I went to my work station and sadly packed up the old one. As I was placing the new lamp I noticed that it had to be inserted into the base...hmmmm...will it fit in the old lamp clamp? YIPPEE!!! It fits!

Man, it was like going from night to day (no pun intended DayLight). My old lamp was 13 watt and the new one is 18 watt. I sat there working on cards until 1:30 in the morning and my eyes did not hurt. I was not overheated from the lamp...It was wonderful.

So, cards....When I was making the engagement card for my friend's daughter I screwed up one and I hung on to it. I clipped the corners wrong and so when I found out my nephew just became engaged I dug it out> put flowers in each corner with crystal centers and presto...good as new.

We are heading up the the Okanagan as my niece is celebrating her 16th birthday...man it seemed like yesterday that my brother phoned to say she was born! I sure love the card that Sharon did on her blog "No Time To Stamp" and the layout seems to be my favorite at the moment.

Sheesh editing the rotation of photos - I am just now starting to get the hang of it. Just wish I had the option directly in the "composition" area of the blog.....

Anyway, to whoever reads this...have a wonderful weekend.

Cat