Perfect Peacock for an Anniversary!

After an extended absence, I am back full force in the blogging/crafting world. The last month has been spent finding my mojo and organizing my life a little.

What better way to get back into the swing of things than to celebrate Colour Me...! turning 1?

For our anniversary challenge, you can select any of the past 51 challenges. I chose to go with #12 - Pear Pizzazz, Soft Sky and Coastal Cabana.

I started out by stamping the Perfect Peacock in black Stazon ink. Then I laid my oval framelit over the peacock and traced the outline of the oval in pencil - down where the tail feathers are, I traced both the inside and the outside of the oval. Once I remove the framelit, I cut around the feathers up to where the pencil line was. 

When I ran it through the embossing folder, I pulled the feathers out through the top and only cut around the white part. I then popped a Coastal Cabana oval in behind it.

I coloured him up with Stampin' Write markers and added some Wink of Stella to the tail feathers and a bit on the body.

Here's the challenge this week:

Thanks for stopping by today, and be sure to check out all the fabulous projects by the lovely ladies who helped us celebrate this milestone!

-Tara

xox

Secret's Out! - Canadian Conference Project #1

I've been so excited to share this news, and I'm finally able to do so!

I was contacted by Stampin' Up! Canada to design the Make & Take projects for some of the conferences that are happening around Canada from Sep-Nov. Three other fab Canadian designers were contacted to do the same, for other cities (I've linked to their blogs below).

First up was the Kitchener conference, which happened October 3rd/4th. These are the projects I designed for those two days.

Shaker Card and Gift Box

Notecard Set and Holder

It was so much fun to design projects for my fellow Canadian demos to do, and I'm so honoured to have been asked to participate! It was a great experience!

Stay tuned though, later this month I will share the projects I designed for the Regina conference as well.

Check out the three other super-talented ladies who made projects for these conferences as well:

Cathy Caines

Anne Granger

Julie Olivier

Thanks for stopping by today!

-Tara

xox

Green with... Love!

This week at Colour Me...! we are rocking the monochromatic looks using Old Olive. Be sure to check out all the Design Team cards - there is so much variation! While you're there, you can say hi to our Featured Designer for February; Michelle Bala :)

I kept it really simple this week with a one-layer card. I started with a Whisper White card base and masked a large oval. I sponged around the edges with Old Olive and before taking the mask off, I stamped En Francais on the background.

After I remove the mask, I did some paper-piercing around the edge. The heart and the sentiment are both from the Best of Love set. I just adore that heart!

Check out the challenge this week.

Thanks for stopping by today!

-Tara
xox

Supplies:

Stamps: En Francais, Best of Love

Ink: Old Olive, Basic Black

Paper: Whisper White CS

Embellishments: Basic Black Candy Dot

Tools: Paper-Piercing Tool, Oval Framelits, Essential Paper-Piercing Pack

Mailbox happiness!

I finally sat down and made something I've been thinking about for a long time - a little mailbox of happiness for our family! We're suffering from Winter's-almost-over-but-Spring-is-still-too-far-away blues these days, and we needed to start celebrating the small things that make us smile.

With the new Sale-a-Bration stamp set, I couldn't resist! The "You make me happy when skies are gray" stamp from See Ya Later was just perfect!

My oldest son absolutely loved The Bee Movie and there's a part in the movie where Barry B. Benson says that bees can't fly in the rain - Hunter always used to get so upset for the bees... He was devastated that they couldn't go out in the rain. So for awhile, when it was sunny, he used to say "the bees can come out today!". I thought incorporating the bees into the mailbox was a fun idea. Worked perfectly for the Dynamic Duos challenge this week as well :)

Each family member has a different coloured envelope, and when the little 'you've got mail' flag is up (it's hinged on a brad), then you can check the box and see who the warm-fuzzy is for. 

It's a very basic design, starting with a 6" x 3-1/2" base and curving a 6" x 12" piece of cardstock overtop. The sides were reinforced on the inside using Coaster Board to help it stand straight and and not bow. The front of the mailbox was trimmed using the Oval Framelits die and the inside was lined with a piece of Daffodil Delight Polka Dot Parade DSP. 

The bees were made with the small oval punch. Their tail was done with the bottom of the small heart punch and the head was made with the small circle from the itty bitty punch pack. Their wings are punched from vellum with the small heart punch. 

The mailbox is fastened with an Antique Brad and a hair elastic. 

I hope to make a tutorial and have that posted within the coming weeks, so please check back! 

I played along with the Dynamic Duos challenge this week; Basic Black and Daffodil Delight with the added challenge of a shaped card. I didn't do a shaped card, but thought a 3D project would be cool too :)

Thanks for stopping by today! 

-Tara

xox

Supplies:

Stamps: See Ya Later

Inks: Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, Basic Gray, Coastal Cabana

Paper: Polka Dot Parade DSP, Basic Black CS, Daffodil Delight CS, Whisper White CS, Vellum, Coaster Board

Emellishments: Antique Brads, Candy Dots, Brad Base

Tools: Big Shot, Paper Piercing Pack (Essentials), Paper Piercing Tool, Oval Framelits, Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Small Heart Punch, Petite Pennants Punch

New technique for Technique Time Tuesday!

Hello!

Today I'm super thrilled to share with you a new tehcnique I've tried - The Embedded Image technique! I have the pelasure of being a Guest Designer over at Technique Time Tuesday for the month of December - thanks for asking me ladies!

I started with on oval of Naturals Ivory and embossed it three (or was it four? haha) times with clear embossing powder. Then, I stamped the lovely evergreen from Lovely as a Tree in Gumball green and embossed that as well. What a cool technique! It gives the appearance of the tree being embedded into the 'glass' of the clear embossing. I will have to try this again :)

Please be sure to stop by Technique Time Tuesday - all month you can play along by picking your favourite tehcnique that they have featured this year... All with great tutorials to get you going!

Thanks for stopping by today!

-Tara
xox

Pink and Green at Dynamic Duos!

Hello and happy weekend!

This week at the Dynamic Duos we have a soft and subtle combination for you with Blushing Bride and Pistachio Pudding.

I went heavy on the 'neutral' this week. I used the Wildflower Meadow stamp set for the first time - what a sweet stamp!

I also used the Modern Medley DSP for the first time too, and I absolutely love the music paper. I cut out some flowers with the Flower Fusion Sizzlit Die and added some Basic Black and Very Vanilla Candy Dots (how much do you love these awesome embellishments?!)

Check out the challenge this week:

Be sure to check out what the rest of the design team has come up with! We can't wait to see how you use these colours :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

-Tara
xox

Saying Goodbye to Bashful Blue

Ok, it's official - I'm completely out of Bashful Blue. When I heard it was retiring, I used up every last scrap of it. The final piece I had stashed away went into this little love card for Dynamic Duos.

Check out the absolutely lovely monochromatic colour combo this week!

We would love to see what you create with these lovely blues - so swing on over and take a peek at what the rest of the wicked Design Team has whipped up!

Thanks for stopping by today :)

-Tara
xox

A new team at the Dynamic Duos!

Hello friends,

I'm so very excited to share with you that I'm working with a fabulous group of ladies on the Design Team for the Dynamic Duos! I couldn't be more thrilled to be a part of this group. I'm so looking forward to seeing all of your creations and making new friends along the way.

So, let's check out the fabulous challenge this week!

Want to meet the rest of the new Design Team? Stop by and say hi!

Alison Barclay

Anne Marie Hile

Debbie Henderson

Hayley Kew

Janet Bagnall

Janet Zeppa

Lori Turner

Michelle Williams

Susie Wittwer

Tara Bourgoin

Tracey McNeely

Can't wait to see what you create!

Thanks for stopping by today.

-Tara
xox

Here for you

I love the colours at Sunday Stamps this week, and had a lot of fun with this card.

First, I cut out the oval from a piece of scrap paper the same size as my Very Vanilla layer. I laid it over top and started lightly sponging through the oval frame. I went at this very willy-nilly until I got it looking the way I wanted to.

Then, without moving the oval frame/template, I stamped those absolutely fabulous trees from Lovely as a Tree in Basic Gray. When I removed the template, I stamped the sentiment, added the bow and adhered to the card base. Voila! Doesn't get much quicker or easier than that!

Check out the colours this week:

Hope you all have a fabulous Sunday. Hope to see you playing along with us this week :)

Thanks for stopping by!

-Tara
xox

2 out of 3 ain't bad!

It's time for another Friday Mashup, and Holly' got a triple challenge for you this week - The sketch, butterflies and your brayer! 

Unfortunately, I don't own a brayer, so I focused on the sketch and the butterflies. I wanted to add something a little extra to this card since I couldn't do that brayer part.

I layered a piece of Fan Fair DSP on another piece of vellum, which I had (tried to) distress. Just as an FYI , distressing vellum is a lot harder than you might think! Once these pieces were on my card base, I cut out an oval with the new Oval Framelits and then layered a Window Sheet behind it. On the inside of the card, I layered another piece of Vellum and heat embossed the oh-so-awesome flowers from Elements of Style in Pool Party. 

The sentiment is from Apothecary Art, and is Pool Party heat embossing on Vullem. The butterflies are punched out using the Elegant Butterfly punch and then embossed with the Polka Dot embossing folder. They are layered on another sheet of the Fan Fair DSP. 

Check out this week's challenge:

1. Make a project using the "Sketch".

2. Or Make a project using "Butterflies & Your Brayer".

3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project with "your Brayer using the Sketch and add some Butterflies".

Thanks for stopping by today!

-Tara

xox