Happy Birthday Kitties

Luckily my oldest son doesn't do social media, so I can share his card before he gets it!

 

Obviously I needed a "guy" card.  For this child I should have gone with duct tape, but opted for his kitties and Tim Holtz bugs.  The kitties are a cutting file I created from a photograph I took of our furkids a few years ago. (One kitty has since gone to his great kibblebowl in the sky.) 

I think this card will hit the spot!

 

 

Supplies:

Quietfire A Way With Words Happy Birthday   Quietfire site | Elizabeth Craft Designs site

Quietfire Digital Cutting File Kitties Collection  Quietfire site | Silhouette site

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Wallflower Paper Stash

Core'dinations Nightfall, French Roast and Rustic cardstock

Elizabeth Craft Clear Double Sided Adhesive

Kool Tak Clear Foam Adhesive

twine

Instructions:
Okay, I mailed this before I took any of the measurements!  I think the final size was about 6 x 6"!

Since Core'dinations has a different coloured core, you will see the core colour along the edge of the cuts.  If you don't like that, use a different type of cardstock!

I think you can probably wing this design without me giving you the step by step instructions, right?

Enjoy your creativity time. Thanks for dropping in!
Suzanne

Give Me the Splendid Silent Sun

So this style is a little step back in time for me.  It's been a while since I used gesso and pinned on charms.

I love using the Kraft Tags - they're such a yummy colour!  I stroked gesso onto the tag with a brush, then gave it a smattering of Walnut ink (the real stuff, not the stamping ink!).  Since I knew I was going to be messing with it a bit more, I used StazOn to stamp the quote, as I didn't want it to run.

 

On The Edge Butterflies and the Pediments were diecut from chipboard and then given a little wingtip and edge treatment with Walnut Ink, spritzed with water to make it run and then allowed to dry. 

To get the Composition Leaf on the wings, I just wiped glue stick over the surface and chose bits of leaf that were autumn-like colours.  I pressed them in place with my fingers.

 

I wanted some colour in the stamped tag, so I used the Ink Blending tool to blend Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge, Mustard Seed, Dried Marigold, Fired Brick and Aged Mahogany.  lol, think that was enough?

 

The tag, butterflies and pediment die cuts were assembled as shown using Be Creative double-sided tape and then mounted on the tent card using Pop Dots.  The card had the border drawn freehand (yeah, no kidding!!) using two different tips of Pigma pens.  (Design Team member Sherry Cheever has rubbed off on me with these borders and her fabulous messy bows).

 

The last thing is to use a ribbon to tie on a key and wire pin (really, these are adorable little kilt pins!) and then create a messy bow. Oh, and round the corners of the chipboard card with the Corner Chomper!

A portion of this card can be see on Tammy Tutterow's blog as the Quietfire Design ad.
Thanks for having a look!
Suzanne

The thumbnail links to most of the items used in this card are below.

Into the Unknown - Wheresoever You Go - for Mich

Excuse this digression....
When I left home and went off to school, it was a bus-ferry-bus/5hour trip home.  I came home lots of weekends and every summer till I graduated, and even then was only an hour drive from "home".  I think it was an easy transition for both me and my parents.

Today our youngest left to find work in Alberta.  He's headed for Edmonton, 1200km from here, in his 20 year old Volkswagen Corrado.  All week I've felt like I've been on a rollercoast headed for a cliff.  I rolled off that cliff this morning at 6 a.m.
Almost too late, I thought that maybe I should make him a card.  Of course this quote crossed my mind...

But I thought that might be a little heavy.  He was already nervous!  So I went for this:

Mich (pronounced Meesh - he's Michel Antoine - Daddy is French-Canadian) is a born button-poker and loves anything with wheels, so Tim Holtz came to the rescue for my card creation.  On the inside I wrote "And your TimCard" and gave him a pre-loaded (and re-loadable online by me, thanks Mom!) Tim Horton's gift card.

I haven't had a text or phone call yet (yeah, okay, I know, it's only been 7 hours!).  I guess that's a good sign.  1200km isn't very close.  Thank goodness there are direct flights from here to there.

Halloween 2011 - he's humouring me!

When I left home, I had a concrete set of plans till I finished school.  Although he has been promised a job when he gets there, he really is jumping into the unknown. I would never have done that and I applaud him.  He wants to get a job, make money and be able to put money on my TimCard! 

I celebrate Mich's uniqueness, his humour, his love for his friends, his ability to survive the deep difficulties school threw at him and his drive to succeed in spite of those difficulties.

Who knows?  He might be back in a month. He knows the door is always open.  Although his room may have shrunk considerably, as his brother is tweaking the floor plan for his move into Mich's much larger bedroom....

Mich turns 19 on July 1.  My Canada Day baby. 

Thanks for visiting! And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Card Synthesis
Reagents
Quietfire's Wheresoever you go  I always think this is a wonderful quote for a graduation.
Quietfire's Bon Voyage from 10 Tiny Tag Sentiments
Tim Holtz Old Jalopy die
Tim Holtz embossing folder Rays
Spellbinders Lacey Pennants

I Wouldn't Have Missed Being Your Friend - Card

If you wanted to know more about this card...

This card was originally not going to have any decorated paper on it, then I received this beautiful new paper set (Magnolia Grove) from Kaisercraft and had to use it!  This was my first opportunity to use my Becca Bow Maker and it worked easily (once assembled) and voila! I had a bow!  Next time I'll go for a more complicated bow!



Even though I was really please with my first Becca Bow, I thought it needed something else, so I added this very cool and delicate Memory Box Macarena Corner.

The two colours of stamping ink were blended around the edges of die cut bearing the quote by using the Foam Blending Tool.  The two colours give it so much more depth.  Distress Ink is not my favourite for stamping Quietfire Rubber stamps, although I used it here for colour matching.  I always think pigment inks work better for preserving the crispness of the lettering.  Note to Tim Holtz:  Make me Distress Colours in Pigment Inks!!

This was my first time using Pearl Flourishes and I was pleased that the adhesive strip they are on was firm enough to drap nicely over multiple layers.

A special thanks to Chris Wallace from Walnut Hollow for suggesting this quote.

Here are the ingredients for this card:

I Wouldn't Have Missed Being Your Friend

Magnolia Grove 6.5x6.5" Paper Pad from Kaisercraft

Spellbinders: Splendid Circles, Standard Circles Small

Memory Box: Macarena Corner

Foam Blending Tool

Butterscotch Pigment Ink Pad
Distress Ink: Victorian Velvet

Pearl Double Flourishes

Becca Bow Maker

Thanks for taking a look!  Suzanne



Love Lives Here

Perhaps not what you expected for the first card from the new release?  But I couldn't resist!

This was my first paper flower.  How could I have held out for so long?  I used Tim Holtz Kraft Glassine Stash to make it and with the aid of Embellie Gellie I managed to keep it under control - I wound it around the Embellie Gellie and carefully pulled it off.  Believe me, that Kraft Glassine was pretty limp by the time I finished!

Card Synthesis:
Quietfire Stamp: Love Lives Here
Ranger Archival Ink: Jet Black
Spellbinders: Bauble Blossoms Two, Home Sweet Home
Chipboard
Glitz Papers: French Kiss
Tim Holtz Kraft Glassine Stash (for the flower)
Graphic 45 Staples Brads
Black Cotton Twill, 3/4"
button
2-ply Waxed Linen Thread
Pop Dots, Tape Runner, Double-sided tape

Thanks for visiting!  Suzanne

CHA 2012 - Quietfire Style

I had no plans to make a video from my photos at CHA, but then somehow this just happened....  I think it helped me process the whole thing.  I'm still in recovery mode.

You can watch it here or on YouTube.  I hope you enjoy it!



If you watch it here, this is the little blurb:

Here are my very quick impressions of some things I saw at CHA. I took almost 100 photos on the floor and it wasn't nearly enough! (I didn't plan on making this video when I was there.)

The first part is a little two day vacation at Santa Monica and then on the CHA.

Why such fast music? It mirrors the event! Every time you turned around there was more eye candy. Amazing people, amazing displays, amazing talent.
A huge thanks to everyone who demonstrated their products for me, who put up with me taking their picture and who greeted me like a long lost friend!
See you next year!

P.S. You can stop the video any time if you need to see a photo for longer!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all Canadians!

Card Synthesis

Ecoline Inks: Vermilion, Safron Yellow, Grass Green, Lemon Yellow

Mitchell Roundhand Nib

Brushes

Arches CP 140# watercolour paper

Tim Holtz Sizzlet Strip - Autumn Gatherings

Sookwang Be Creative Double-sided adhesive sheets

Glitter Ritz Microfine Glitter, Autumn Leaves set, Chartreuse, Peridot

Spellbinders Grand Calibur

Spellbinders Grand Nestabilities: Rectangles, Labels 4

Cardstock

Take it easy on the turkey!

Thanks for dropping by!

Grungepaper creations

New to the Quietfire Design shelves is Tim Holtz's Grungepaper. Quietfire Design Team Member Wanda Hentges loves Grungepaper and uses it frequently. She says it embosses beautifully in embossing folders and
"I love that it can be stamped, cut, embossed, die cut, inked, painted, sprayed, sewed and it stays flexible. It can get wet and it doesn't come apart. You can curl/shape it and it will hold it's shape. It's fabulous!!!!"

Here are some of Wanda's beautiful creations combining Quietfire Rubber Stamps and Grungepaper.

Grungepaper comes in a package of 6 6"x12" pieces.

CHA 2011 - the Tim Holtz perspective

Oh, this kills me, I'm such a sucker for a music video.  I'm going to have to visit iTunes AGAIN.... (I'm paying attention even more because it's not U2).
If you're a Tim Holtz fan, then you've probably seen this, but it's worth watching again.  Tim Holtz's booth displays were spectactular.  I could have sat on the floor all day and just looked at them, but then I would have been a squashed puddle. 
It's dangerous to watch this just before I place my pre-orders!
Enjoy!

A Minute of Tim Holtz

Here is a far-too-short minute of Tim Holtz demonstrating at the Ranger booth at the 2011 CHA convention in Los Angeles.  Makes you want more, eh? 

He's charming, witty, informative and able to smoothly multi-task. Not to mention he designs amazing things!