Father's Day by Cari Locken

Hi there!

Just wanted to share with you a card that I made for Father's Day. I love that we have a day set aside to celebrate & remember our Dads.

I love my Dad so much and he has been my biggest supportive since I was young. He's tender, strong and wise. I play piano and went through all the Royal Conservatory grades. After I finished an exam, then waited for my grade to come back my Dad would take me out on a date. Just the 2 of us! I loved those times so much as it made me feel so special.

Anyways, here's a card that I made for my Dad.

I stamped the sentiment using Black Stazon ink onto a transparency. I used an oval punch at the lower right corner of my card. I then cut it out into a square shape and adhered it to the inside of my card. I then adhered a scalloped oval punch (after punching out the inside) around the oval cut-out edges.

Supplies used: Core'dinations cardstock, Fiskars Border punch, EK Success (oval and scalloped oval punches), ribbon (Making Memories), Stamp (myStampBOX), transparency, StazOn Ink (black)

Happy Father's Day!!

Challenge: Winter/Christmas Theme - by Cari Locken

Wow!! I can't believe that it's already the end of November! Yikes!!

I still have so much christmas shopping to get done and was hoping to get it done this week however this winter weather we're having here in BC is not allowing me to get around in my van too easily (because I don't have winter tires on it yet!) I know, I know. You'd think being an Albertan for 10 years I'd be used to this white stuff ... but I'm not! I really don't like driving in it and would much rather stay at home - all nice & cozy!

Anyways, on to the fun side of snow - at least for my kids! ;) They enjoyed tobogganing today after school as the snow was falling. It was a perfect day for it. I didn't have my picture along with me 'cause I wanted to join in on the fun but I do have some layouts to share with you that involve winter and christmas.

Hope you enjoy them.

"Home Sweet Home"

My children had a blast building a fort from the snow that my husband had piled onto our front lawn.

"Snow Buds"

My son and his cousin enjoying a huge fort that my husband built one night in my folks backyard.

Supplies used: American Crafts (paper) Cuttlebug embossing folder and die-cut (alpha), Core'dinations cardstock, Fancy Pants felt embellishments

"Flakes of Fun"

I did some embossing on this layout.

"A Chilly Day"

A picture of my son last year when we were cutting down our christmas tree. It was cold out but we had a great time hunting for our tree. I tore the cardstock to make the little trees on my layout.

Supplies used: Core'dinations cardstock, Jenni Bowlin (ribbon, alpha stickers), brads (American Crafts), Queen & Co. felt

"Anticipation"

Christmas Eve is always so exciting for the kids. I love how giddy they get!

Supplies used: Imaginisce (stamp -used with Versamark on green cardstock; papers, stickers, ribbons, i-top brad, flowers, i-rock & white glam rocks), Core'dinations cardstock

"Our Tradition"

Growing up we would always cut down our Christmas tree and now that we live in BC we've enjoyed cutting down our own christmas tree.

Supplies used: Imaginisce (papers, flowers, snowflake sticker, rub-on), Core'dinations cardstock, Cuttlebug die-cut & embossing folder (trees), EK Success scalllop circle punch, Basic Grey chipboard alphabet

"The Perfect Tree"

After a quick look around (because it was chilly out) we found the tree that was just right for our family.

Have a great weekend!

Card Challenge - Christmas inspiration by Cari Locken

How many of you have started making your christmas cards? I haven't. :( I taught a class this past Saturday and was surprised at how many ladies are almost finished making theirs (if not done already!) That's wonderful!

However, if you're like me and haven't started yet OR maybe you never thought about making them before and figured you'd try it out this year then I hope that I can share a bit of inspiration with you right now.

Remember, you can keep them as simple as you want and then they're easy to mass produce.

Or you can make them all different if you'd like. You also don't have to make cards using the typical red & green combos. There's so many different colors that are being used to decorate christmas trees these days that you can use that for your inspiration as well.

I'm going to share with you a bunch of cards that I have made.

This 1st collection reveals 7 cards that I'm currently teaching. I've used product from Imaginisce and their new christmas collection called Cottage Christmas.

This second set were cards I made last year using Imaginisce's Polar Expression collection.

And these cards I did a lot of embossing using the Cuttlebug embossing folders and then just added a few pieces of cardstock here & there along with ribbons, buttons and stamped sentiments.

I hope that you're inspired to start creating. ENJOY!

Giving Thanks - by Cari Locken

I just love this time of year. I love the coolness in the air, the changing color of the leaves, hunting for the perfect pumpkin and making yummy comfy foods!

I also enjoy this time of year because we set aside a day to be thankful. (not that we should just do that one day of the year, don't get me wrong) but it is nice to have a day where we can actually sit down together and actually take the time to say what we are thankful for. I'm hoping to do just that this year at our dinner table before we dig in to our delicious turkey dinner meal.

In keeping with this theme of Giving Thanks I'd like to share a few projects with you that I've made.

I just made this layout this past week using one of my all-time favorite collections by Imaginisce, called Apple Cider. I love it. So rich & warm.

Supplies used: Imaginisce (Apple Cider - papers, ribbon, chipboard), I-rock tool (by Imaginisce), Fiskars border punch (leaf design), owl (My Little Bit of Whimsy), Core'dinations Cardstock

This little mini album is accordian style. I taught it last year at a retreat. It's so cute & easy to make.

Supplies used: chipboard, Bazzill Basics kraft colored cardstock, Scenic Route patterned paper, chipboard (Riff Raff Designs), flowers (Prima), stamps (Making Memories and Melissa Frances)

Here's another mini album that I've made. This one housing pictures of people and things that I'm thankful for. I'll be teaching this class again up at The Ultimate Scrapbook Retreat at Loon Lake in a few weeks.

Supplies used: Paper Trunk (papers, letter stickers), ribbon (Offray), punches (EK Success), Fiskars border punches, Bind-it-all machine and o-wires, Making Memories stamps

Have a blessed Thanksgiving everyone!

Card Challenge - "For A Friend" by Cari

I know that there have been many times when my friends have needed a shoulder to lean on, a prayer said on their behalf, a listening ear and just a big comforting hug. However, if you live far apart those things aren't always the easiest to do but sending a hand-made-with-love card especially for them can be the best gift ever!

Here are some that I have created with this theme "For a Friend" in mind.

"Sweetest Friend"

Supplies used: Bazzill Cardstock, patterned papers (Daisy Bucket), stamps (Hero Arts and Stampin'Up), flower (KaiserCraft), ribbon (May Arts), corner rounded punch (EK Success). brads (American Crafts)

"Great Friend"

Supplies used: Bazzill Cardstock, Paper Trunk (patterned papers), Prima flower, twine, EK Success punches, stamp (Hero Arts), ink (Colorbox), button (unknown)

"Sending Sunshine"

Supplies used: Core'dinations Cardstock, October Afternoon patterned paper, American Crafts felt flower, ribbon (May Arts), punches (EK Success), stamps (Hero Arts)

So, I hope you'll try the challenge and create a card for a friend. It just may be the sunshine in their day! ;)

Color Challenge by Cari Locken

Hi there everyone!

Well, after taking the summer off from being around here it's great to be back!! I hope that you've all starting settling into school/work routines again. I've been trying to get used to having all 3 of my kids in school now and I must admit it's been a huge change. I've enjoyed some quiet hours and have had some time to scrapbook as well.

I sometimes find it hard to get back into the groove or find that I lack inspiration. I have found the perfect place to get inspiration is from sketches and color challenges.

This particular picture below was my color challenge.

I decided to use the layout of the photos as part of my actual design. The colors were just so gorgeous that I used those as well.

Supplies used: Imaginisce (Birthday Bash papers & rub-ons), Core'dinations Cardstock, button (My Little Bit of Whimsy), Fiskars border punches

Hope you have a chance to play along with this awesome challenge!

Have a great weekend!

Wedding - by Cari Locken

Well, it seems that we're getting close to that time of year when we'll see more & more weddings happening during the summer months. It's been 12 years since my hubby & I got married and my photos have been in an album shortly after we got married. And to be honest, I have no desire to take them out of those plastic sheets and scrap them. I'm not sure why because they're good photos. I just prefer to scrapbook the "here" & "now" I guess.

Anyways, with all the weddings happening there's always showers & gifts that are to be given so I created a couple of cards to celebrate this blissful time of year. I've used the new "To Love & Cherish" collection from Imaginisce - a wedding collection.

Supplies used: Imaginisce (To Love & Cherish collection of papers, rub-ons, ribbons, flowers) and Core'dinations cardstock, Fiskars border punch, twine, button, rhinestones

These 2 cards are very similiar in design however with a different color added (let's say something that matches the bridesmaid dresses) the black & white combo really changes.

Supplies used: Imaginisce (To Love & Cherish collection of papers, flowers, brads), Core'dinations Impressions Cosmo Cricket Collection (black) and Essentials cardstock (yellow), button, ribbon

I'd love to see what you can create for weddings. There's many ideas out there, like wedding favors, invitations, gift bags, etc. So show us what you've created by posting a link here on the blog.

"All Things Animal" by Cari Locken

Hi there!

Hope you've had a great week. I admit that I'm thankful that it's Friday because I love the weekends. I like all of us being together especially after a busy weekend.

My challenge this month was to create a project about animals. So as I was tidying up the boys' bedroom and making their beds I came across a gazillion stuff animals everywhere and thought that I would document on a layout about just a few of them.

Here's my layout about my youngest child's 1st stuffed animals and how he has become very fond of one in particular. (and believe me, it shows!!!)

Supplies used: October Afternoon papers, Core'dinations Cardstock, Basic Grey chipboard alpha, other chipboard (flowers, large label & heart) by Fancy Pants, buttons (Chatterbox), Fiskars border punch, corner rounded punch (EK Success)

I'd love to see what you come up with using the theme of animals. The possibilities are truly endless so have fun!! And ... have a great long weekend!!!