CeeCee's Creations

woof-woof = thank you

hellooooooooooo!

the long weekend's over --the kids have gone back to school and the grown-ups are back at work. summer's over... time for the not-so-grown-ups like me to have fun and play (moah-hah-hah!).

well... not exactly. i had all the intentions in the world to write this post then go back to creating... then i got stuck cleaning my hard drive, transferring stuff on my external one, and then re-organizing and cleaning iPhoto. soooooooooo...... almost 5 hours later and i still haven't posted. as much as i love my MAC, i'm still frustrated with how the pictures are stored and how adobe photoshop gets confused when i save my altered pictures. oh well, that's a story for another time.

i'm really into mixing different pattern papers these days. it's probably a phase i'm going through and will outgrow it soon enough. but i'm riding the wave for now. this is actually a thank you card for someone who took care of a dog while the owners were away. the papers i've used are from bo-bunny from their ad lib collection. it's colorful and fun, fit for a dog!

if the dog image looks weird it's because it's covered with crystal effects. in real life, it's glossy and smooth -- not crackled as it appears here. the stamp is from impression obsession and called bone appetit. before putting down the crystal effects, i added tiny letters from webster's pages to spell the dog's name.

i also embellished the inside of the card with a sentiment from the thank you kindly stamp set from stampin' up! as well as a border that i punched with the fence punch from martha stewart crafts.

woof-woof! CeeCee

 

jennifer mcguire projects - part 5

i've realized that we did a looooooooooooot of card during jennifer mcguire's class. today's color scheme is mostly red and green...

i didn't put a sentiment on the first one because i'm not sure if it's going to a francophone or anglophone! this is a tri-fold card and i love the effect of the stamped background.

the image was stamped on watercolor paper and we were told to color it in with markers and mixture of ink and pearlized mist.

i loooooove this next one. it's so happy! the image was printed by jennifer and i colored it at home with some copic markers. when i cut it out, i cut through 2 layers of white CS and i added adhesive only under the head of the snowman. i scored the 2nd layer just below the head and that's how it opens. i hand-wrote a sentiment and added the ribbon for the scarf.

here's another snowman card. the background was embossed with a folder through a die-cut machine and then we stamped over the whole thing with a background stamp. because of the texture, the background image just stamped on the raised dots... but obviously i stamped the text background image the wrong way. oh well! i still like it :-)

the last one is a thank you card. the flower is like my own ribbon flowers that i made a while back but this time it was made with sticky-back canvas. the canvas was torn into strips and that's what we wrapped around in a circle. then when the flower was done, we inked it up and sprayed it again with the pearlized mist. the background was stamped and embossed in white, then inked with pumice stone distress ink. it gives it a silver-y finish that's quite stunning in real life.

i hope you've enjoyed this batch of cards. i've got 3 more batches coming!!!

have a great weekend! CeeCee

jennifer mcguire projects - part 2

today's going to post is going to be a quick one. i'll let the pictures speak for themselves. here's another batch of cards we did during jennifer mcguire's class.

i forgot all the technical terms for the techniques we learned but this one is basically a masking technique with a background that we first stamped with a pearl paint (like Stampin' Up!'s Frost White Shimmer Paint i would guess) then we let it dry and sponged some distress inks over the image. the effect is quite awesome.

this one is another masking technique with inking over versamark ink. i love how the top element of the card is actually just a flap that opens up to reveal a nice background. the little bird was just stamped with dye-based ink then sponged with more ink.

this is one of my favorites and you'll understand why from the next picture.

can you see all that shimmer!!! this was accomplished by first coloring with markers directly on the stamp and then spritzing very lightly with jennifer's homemade pearlized mist. love it!!!

back tomorrow -- enjoy your day! CeeCee

a rak from jackie - acte de bonté de jackie

no matter what form it takes, a rak (random act of kindness) is always something exciting to get. i got one in the mail today in the form of this cute little card from my friend Jackie Wright from Tennesse.

peu importe la méthode ou le format, un acte de bonté gratuit (r.a.k. en anglais) est toujours quelque chose d'apprécié. j'ai reçu cette mignonne carte par la poste aujourd'hui de mon amie Jackie Wright.

i love the "soothing" effect of this card -- the lace gives it a very feminine touch. she's embossed part of the card. she's even dry-embossed the flap of the envelope!!! there's nothing like getting something in the mail. my hubby thought i'd won a million. when i opened it he said: "oh it's just a card!"... gosh, men don't understand anything!

j'adore les tons tous doux de cette carte et la dentelle -- très féminin. elle a gaufré à sec le fond de la carte et même le rabat de l'enveloppe!!! ça fait donc chaud au coeur de recevoir une carte par la poste. mon mari pensait que je venais de gagner le million. lorsque j'ai ouvert l'enveloppe, il déclara: "mais ce n'est qu'une carte!"... je vous dis, les hommes n'y comprennent vraiment rien!

thank you so much, Jackie, for putting a smile on my face. i love my card :-) . CeeCee

tiny thank you cards for september

boy, am i behind in my schedule. i tell ya, having all the family's birthdays in the same month is NOT a good idea... so much planning! anyways, today i got rid of another item on my to-do list but it was so much fun!

these will be my thank-you cards for the month of september for whoever places an order with me. i issued a challenge to myself -- i wanted to create a non-christmas card using christmas paper and stamps. and i did it!

i took the polka-dot motifs of the Candy Cane DSP and the gifts image from the A Cute Christmas Stamp Set, all from the new Holiday Mini Catalogue from Stampin' Up!

i stamped the image with Jet Black Staz-On and colored the gifts with my Blender Pen and Classic Inks. oh and of course... a little bling from the Rhinestones Jewels. what a way to add glitter without the mess! i love it.

i love doing multiple quantities of the same card. to me it's really relaxing. once your sample is done you just line up all your supplies and go to town with it. and they're so tiny and cute (3" X 3")!

have a great weekend! CeeCee

stamp set: a cute christmas (#121133)

inks: blushing bride (#119786), baja breeze (#111833), garden green (#102272), jet black stazon (#101406)

cardstock: whisper white (#100730), baja breeze textured (#119972), blushing bride (119796) - candy cane specialty dsp (#120809)

punches: 1-1/4" circle large (#119861) and 1-3/8" circle large (#119860)

other: blender pens (#102845), SNAIL adhesive (#104332), stampin' dimensionals (#104430), basic rhinestones jewels (#119246)

my favorite summertime stamp set

someone challenged me today to pick out my favorite stamp set with a summer theme and although there are tons to choose from, Tropical Party (#120081) is my number #1 stamp set hands down.

and how about that coordinated DSP, Island Oasis (#117173)?!

here are just some of the projects i made with these products --

a mini-album of my florida vacation:

and how about those quick and easy thank-you notes to my customers:

(i left the part where i write the thank you/merci at the bottome blank since i have customers in both languages. i just write it by hand with my White Uni-Ball Gel Pen as i need them!)

have you scrapbooked you summer memories yet? why not invest in these coordinated products? this set and other products from the Summer Mini Catalogue is only available until tomorrow, August 31st!

give me a call or email me here to order!

have a happy monday! CeeCee

mini thank you cards

i just wanted to pop in real quickly to show my thank you cards for my customers for the month of august.

 

because of the size of these little cards, i'm able to use up leftover patterned paper and cardstock. here, i'm using Greenhouse Gala DSP over a Crumble Cake card base. i've added a little strip of Baja Breeze border done with the Curvy Label Punch. the sentiment is from the french version of the Thank You Kindly Stamp Set (Tous mes remerciements).

of course, bling has its place. i just added a few Basic Rhinestone Jewels over the butterfly, stamped in Real Red Classic Ink from the Punch Potpourri Hostess Stamp Set (level 1).

that's it! i have a very busy week and i'm hoping to pop in here as often as i can. in the meantime, have a great week! CeeCee

how i made 7 cards with one sheet of patterned paper!

remember these from yesterday? 

well, i flipped the DSP i cut into over and made these two cards...

 

... plus these two cards...

... plus this last one...

 

all of these with just one sheet of 12X12 DSP:

i'm still giddy over it! i love it when i use up all of my stuff!

happy Tuesday, CeeCee 
  
  

simple thanks

Avant de vous présenter ma carte du jour, j'aimerais vous chuchoter tout-doux à l'oreille que...

SALE-A-BRATION COMMENCE DEMAIN !!!

Woohoo, je suis tellement excitée cette année car Stampin' Up! a vraiment mis le paquet. De plus, la meilleure nouvelle -- tenez-vous bien...

TOUS LES JEUX SONT DISPONIBLES EN FRANÇAIS !!!

Mon message de demain aura tous les détails mais vous pouvez (en attendant -- si le coeur vous en dit et que vous crevez d'impatience) cliquer sur l'icône de droite pour voir tous les jeux.

Ah oui, ais-je également mentionné que le minicatalogue occasions commence demain également. Ooops, j'a dû oublier. Hihihihi... les détails demain aussi mais vous pouvez cliquer également sur l'icône de la colonne de droite.

OK, enough excitement for today. My card is really simple and was inspired by this photo from a Simons flyer:

I love this bedspread! I wish I could do modern and funky in my house. Here's my card:

Real simple but fun, dontcha think? I leave you with the recipe and don't forget to come back tomorrow for all the details about the exciting new SU products. Remember, I can ship throughout all of Canada!

Recipe (all supplies by Stampin' Up!) -- stamp sets: Tous mes remerciements/Thank You Kindly; ink: soft suede; cardstock: whisper white, soft suede, basic black, certainly cerlery, bashful blue; ribbon: soft suede polka dot grosgrain; punches: 1" circle, 1 1/4" circle; others: stamp-a-ma-jig, mini glue dots, SNAIL adhesive. 

Be safe, CeeCee

 

défi mojo monday 119 challenge

My first officiel post of the year and I'm all about pink... What's up with that?! I guess I needed to work with colors that were non-holiday-ish. And I had fun. Here's my interpretation of the Mojo Monday Challenge #119:

 

I ended up making 2 cards and used the sketch in a different way. But the inspiration is clearly there. 

I also used up some journal paper that I bought a while back. They were perfect for the mood and sketch. 

I've used a retired stamp set from Stampin' Up! as well as retired ribbon and buttons. But it was fun to use up something from my stash that was bought a long time ago. That's my goal for 2010: Empty out my hoarded goodies.

The silk flowers were first misted with SU's homemade glimmer mist (a combo of rubbing alcohol and shimmer paint), then folded in half. I quite like the effect. 

The stamped accent is glittered with SU's Dazzling Diamonds. I love the shabby chic look to both these cards.

Here's how I glittered my flowers from the Pretties Kit:

 

and here's a close-up -- see how they shine!

 

Well, have yourselves a fantastic Sunday and I'll be back tomorrow. 

Smooches XXX CeeCee

    

  

 

just dance....

 

... it's gonna be ok, doo-oop, doo-oop!

If I keep repeating that mantra, I know it'll get better. I'm a very visual person so the trick is to surround myself with happy things. Look at this cup, filled with Chai Tea:

 

That could very well be me on that cup. Yep well... except for the cat -- not a big cat person. But she does look happy! Add some "nummy" almond biscottis:

 

and some funky Soulwax music and you've got the makings of a happy afternoon spent in the studio. Hmmm, I'm almost there! 

My creativity? Where has it gone? I'm sure the inspiration will come, after I eat all my cookies. In the meantime, let me show you a few handmade cards I've received these past few weeks. So, going in alpha order, the first one from Brandi to thank me for winning my blog candy (sweet girl):

 

the next from Gen:

and from Marie-Pierre:

and from Pauline:

They all make me feel better. I have awesome friends -- the very best!

I might be back tomorrow with my own handmade stuff, who knows! One day at a time :-)

Hugs & Kisses,

CeeCee 
 

reconnaissance

Reconnaissance... it means to be thankful. I certainly am thankful for all the friends I have and who support me and listen when I need to vent or when I panic, without judging me (merci, Gen :-))

Here's a little card I made for the Glitter Sisters Technique Workshop tomorrow night. We won't actually make the card but rather a complete technique book. I just wanted to have a few example ready to show the girls. And to give me a break from all the Christmas cards and projects I've been making. I mean I love Christmas, but I got my limits.

 

This cute little turtle was stamped on Whisper White CS with Jet Black StazOn ink from the Very Thankful stamp set which happens to be part of the Ronald McDonald House Charities program. Everytime Stampin' Up! sells one of those stamp sets, 2$ goes to the charity. Ask me how you can contribute by emailing me or calling me.

The image is colored in with Taken With Teal, Old Olive and Real Red Classic inks and a Blender Pen, highlighted with the Uni-ball White Gel Pen. Then I cut it out using the Circle Scissor Plus (at 2"). I also cut out an extra circle, slightly bigger in Taken With Teal. The ribbons are actually one and the same: one piece of the 5/8" White Satin and another one died with a mix of rubbing alcohol and drops of Taken With Teal Craft Ink from the re-inker bottle. Love it! Dries in no time and you can have any color you want. Very exciting.

Hope your Friday brings you hope of a great weekend. Love Fridays! CeeCee

thank you

As per yesterday's post, here are the English thank you cards I made for my 50th surprise birthday dinner.

That color combination is one of my favorite and the cute patterns are intricate yet not overbearing. Love it! The card base is Stampin' Up!'s Confetti White which was a perfect match for the PP. The middle scallop circle is SU's Kraft CS and the sentiment was stamped with Chocolate Chip Classic Ink.

Ooooh, look at them all! I love making many of the same -- I could just look at them for hours and hours. And using up a whole sheet once I cut into it, as opposed to saving the leftovers for later use (and we all know how that goes... it gets forgotten) leaves me with a great sense of accomplishment. That's my new rule. I try to use up all of my PP or DSP once I cut into a fresh sheet by making repeats of the same card. I slip the extra cards into Clear Envelopes (item #102619) and get filed into a Forget-Me-Not Keeper (item #105525), sorted by category for later use. One day, I might even have the courage to sell them on Etsy!

Hope you're having a fantastic Thursday! CeeCee

merci

For my 50th birthday, my hubby decided to surprise me with a dinner at a restaurant where my family and closest friends were gathered. It was a total shock to me to see all these people and it warms my soul every time I think about it. I want to thank each and everyone who attended from the bottom of my heart.

Below are the French cards I sent out as a thank you note.

 

These were made a long time ago but it took a while to get everyone's mailing addresses. Sign of the times: we're so used to sending electronically that we get stuck when we want to deal with regular mail. Ironically enough, these were made while Stuuph's 18th birthday bash was going on next to my studio. In total, I cranked up 25 of these cards (tomorrow, I'll show you the English ones) while shaking my booty to the heavy bass of their music! I love the layering of the pattern paper. Although most of the supplies are non Stampin' Up!, the sentiment is from Tous mes remerciements (Thank You Kindly) from SU.

Alright, it's freezing out here already. Fall has reared its not-so-pleasant face, but it's warm inside. Tea time!

Have a great day! CeeCee

simply thanks

It's 2 a.m. and I know I should be going to bed but I'm still jet lagged and I just finished this card. It's going out in the mail tomorrow so I thought I'd show it to you before I send it.

 

It's a different style for me but it came together quite easily. I love the vintage-chic look and I think I pulled it off here. Of course, the paper helped. The leaves are die-cut from the backing cardboard from a pack of DSP. Since I'll be mailing this out, I needed dimension without too much thickness. The cardboard is a good substitute to chipboard.  

Have a great day! CeeCee

Here's the list of supplies (all by Stampin' Up!) --  stamp set: simply thanks; ink: not quite navy classic ink and stampin' write marker; cardstock & paper: very vanilla, Bella Bleu DSP; punches: leaves #2 originals die and top note bigz die for sizzix big shot; other: whisper white organza ribbon, linen thread, button latte designer buttons, two-way glue, dazzling diamonds glitter, stampin' dimensionals, SNAIL adhesive, mini glue dots.

to glitter or not to gitter

Holy Moly, what a week! I gotta tell ya, folks... Gen and I are riding high on the success of a our latest Card a la Carte offering and we want to thank each and everyone who have purchased the kit. So this has kept busy beyond our wildest imagination but we had so much fun with it! So you can pretty much guess why this blog has been inactive up until now :-) There are a few more kits left, so come grab 'em while they're available.

OK, so I am in the phase of preparing for my upcoming workshops and while fiddling around a project, I was left with a whole punch of bits and pieces of textured cardstock and patterned paper. So I decided to make a whole bunch of cards. And in the process of doing that I found this awesome way to add glitter to large images without too much fuss or drying time. So I stamped a whole bunch of flower images from the Petal Pizzazz stamp set and here's how I added glitter to them. First, I cut them out:

Then I took out my "forgotten" Xyron 250 Create-a-Sticker machine and fed the image stamped side down:

Remove the backing sheet and you've got a nice even layer of adhesive right over the image...

Dump the image face down in Dazzling Diamonds...

Brush off the excess glitter with a soft brush and voilà! Instant glittering, no drying time, no falling glitter. The piece is ready to add to your project. I love it!!!!

Here are the cards I made with some of these flowers:

And I haven't even made a dent into my leftovers. It's quite amazing what you can accomplish with bits and pieces. I will be showing you more of these cards in the next few days. But here's a scoop for you: These cards will be part of the Grand Prize that I will draw at my Open House on July 11th from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. I will send out more details on that but you can reserve your spot right now by emailing me or calling me. It'll be such a fun event and I can't wait to share with you the colors and the new catalogue!

Talk to you soon!

CeeCee

canvas cuts and rub-ons

Today, I have a little card to show you. When I went to the Stampin' Girls convention in Ottawa last week, I was given a set of the Canvas Cuts and Fashion District rub-ons so I wanted to use those products to make a Thank You card for a special someone (shhh, it's a surprise :-))

The base of my card is a die-cut with the Bigz Top Note. I've aligned the fold of my card under the top of the die and rolled away. I love that shape! As you can see, the scalloped circle accent is one found on the Canvas Cuts sheets (item #113979 - regular $11.25, reduced 50% for $5.63). I love those shapes and you can stamp and write on them as well as use rub-ons, which I've done on this card. I love the effect! The Canvas Cuts are available as a retired product so act quickly if you want to grab them...

The butterfly from the Great Friend stamp set (item #113792 - $23.95) was stamped in Baja Breeze and I've added a half-backed pearl from the Pretties Kit. That set is also available until June 30th. Call me or email me to place your order!

Have a happy Tuesday! CeeCee

color throwdown challenge #26

 

My first time participating to the Color Throwdown Challenge. I had fun with it and just went with my instinct. The colors to use were Kraft, Pink Passion and Black.

 

I love making more than 1 card at a time, so I took a 12X12 Kraft cardstock and cut it into 4 strips of 3" X 12", folded them each in half. The background is the same Polka Dots I used on yesterday's card but this time I embossed in black. The sentiment from Thank You Kindly stamp set was also embossed in black on Pink Passion cardstock then punched with the Wide Oval punch. The ribbon is a 5/8" gros-grain that I had in my stash (source unknown).

It's late -- goodnight! CeeCee

new emblosslits... love 'em!

 

Phew, just when you thought it was gonna be quiet after the holidays... it just got busier and busier! But I am not complaining. Gen and I are busy peparing goodies for Card a la Carte, but I managed to find a few minutes tonight to experiment with the new Embosslits. Sweet Stems is only one of the many groovy die-cuts/emblossables that is featured in Stampin' Up!'s Spring-Summer 2009 Idea Book and Catalogue. I looooooooove this new product. It embosses and cuts at the same time and the impressions are crisp and the cuts are clean. Love it! Here's the card I made with it. The scalloped circle is another die and I've glittered it with Versamark, Heat and Stick powder and Dazzling Diamonds glitter -- instant glittery paper! Love, love, love it!

 

I hope you enjoy it!

Recipe: Pretty Pink and Whisper White cardstocks; Raspberry Tart DSP; Rose Red Classic Ink and Versamark; Rose Red Stampin' Write marker; Heat and Stick Powder; Dazzling Diamonds glitter; Scallop Circles #2 Bigz die; Sweet Stem Embosslits die; Big Shot die-cutting machine; 1/16" Circle punch; Rose Red 1/4" gros-grain ribbon; Stampin' Dimensionals; Snail Adhesive; Mini Glue Dots.

wcmd - last card

 

This is the last of WCMD card -- I  CASED this one from Dawn McVey but used only the Inspired by Nature stamp set. Yes, I have used retired colors, but I still like them!!!

 

I think it's a very classy look! We first embossed flowers with Versamark and clear EP and then stamped the background tall grass with Versamark ink. The sentiments are stamped using the inks corresponding to the cardstock. Very very simple!

Recipe (all supplies by Stampin' Up!) --  Inspired by nature and Pensées en fleur stamp sets (French version of Upsy Daisy); Groovy Guava, Soft Sky, Cranberry Crisp, True Thyme and Very Vanilla cardstock; Groovy Guava, Soft Sky, Cranberry Crisp, True Thyme Classic inks; Versamark; Clear embossing poweder; River rock grosgrain ribbon; Wide Oval punch; Stampin' Dimensionals.

a flowery thank you and a question

 

Happy Friday, everyone! Just because last year's In Colors are retired doesn't mean that I've stopped loving them. And I'll keep on using them! My friend Johanne came over today and  I wanted to give her a card, just because she's my friend. I came up with this:

 

I love this image by Hero Arts. It's so soft and it lends itself well to glitter. Here, I've used River Rock ink to stamp the image on Whisper White and used Diamonds Stickles and Petal Pink Liquid Pearls both by Ranger to accent.

The sentiment is from Sinceres Salutations, partially inked with a Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write marker. I finished this off with a Groovy Guava ribbon around River Rock textured cardstock. I also stamped the same image and glittered and "pearled" it the same way. Easy peasy!

On a different topic, I have a question for those who use the Flip Camcorder with a Windows-based computer. What type of software do you use to edit your video clips? As you know, I was having some quality issues with my 1st video I put out a few weeks ago and someone had recommended Sony's Vegas software. I bought it and asked Stuuph to play around with it. Well, it turns out that the Flip cameras are not supported by Vegas. So, any comments and suggestions are very welcome. I am excited to do another video but would love for people to be able to read the instructions! Talk to you soon, CeeCee

i'm blue

I'm blue because I'm trying to get my next video tutorial together but have not been successful in improving the quality. My dd thought she had found the solution but we've tried it and it failed to upload. But have no fear, I shall find a way!!! In the meantime, since I am a little bummed out, I decided to play with blue inks. I came up with 2 very simple cards...

... and in french...

I hope you are having nicer weather than we do here. I'd love to go out to eat with my dd but it's storming! Nevertheless, I love a good storm... so romantic. Hope you have a great evening and I'll talk to you tomorrow. CeeCee

Recipe (all supplies by Stampin' Up!)-- Stamp set: Wow Flowers; Inks: Baja Breeze, Pacific Point, Versamark; Cardstock: Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Pacific Point; Punches: Corner Rounder, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circles; Ribbon: Theater Ribbon Originals (retired); Others: Irridescent Ice EP, Rhinestone Brads, paper piercer, Mat Pack, Snail Adhesive, Stampin' Dimensionals