LunAria Design Studios

If any of you pay attention to the dates of my posts, you can see that I am playing catch up today! Despite the fact that my life has been insanely busy, I have still found time to stamp. I need to get back on top of jewelry design and getting my Etsy shop set up and my shopping cart on here sorted out (hint, hint Tris!). But needing to do and getting done are two very different things. I have given myself permission to chill a bit until Rigoletto is done on March 17. I have a role in Vancouver Opera’s Rigoletto and will be busy with that for the next bit. However, there is always time to stamp!

By the way, the pictures in all of my recent posts have been taken by me! Tris gave me a great new camera for Christmas and it takes great pictures! I loved when he took my pictures too but it’s nice to be able to do it myself. They are not exactly perfect, but, I think they look pretty good for a point and shoot. The camera is a Canon Powershot SD1100. It’s a pretty powder blue and came in a pretty powder blue case. He picked it himself and did very well! Thank you honey!

Here are some pictures of the cards that I have been working on since Christmas.

I made this card for my brother’s birthday. He actually liked it!
Stamps: Season of Friendship, Heard from the Heart
Paper: Autumn Vine DP, CS: Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, Sage Shadow, More Mustard
Accessories: Gold Brads, Big Shot

I sent this card to my Mom for her Birthday
Stamps: Flight of the Butterfly, Heard from the Heart
Paper: CS: Taken with Teal, Pink Passion, Whisper White
Ink: Pink Passion, Only Orange, Taken with Teal, Certainly Celery, Yoyo Yellow
Accessories: Sticky Rhinestones (not SU!), Dazzling Diamonds, White Gel Pen

This was the alternate for my Mom’s Birthday
Stamps: Fresh Cuts
Paper: Urban Garden DP, CS: Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss, Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Whisper White
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Pacific Point, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: HP Hardware, Silver Brads, CC Felt Ribbon, Big Shot

Another Fresh Cuts card
Stamps: Fresh Cuts
Paper: Yoyo Yellow, Basic Black, Vellum
Ink: Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: HP Hardware, Rhinestone Brads, BB Ribbon, other ribbon (not SU!), Brayer

This card was a lot of work! EVERYTHING is clear embossed and cut out!
Stamps: Baroque Motifs
Paper: CS: Elegant Eggplant, Lavendar Lace, Pale Plum, Whisper White
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Pale Plum, Lavendar Lace
Accessories: Silver and Rhinestone brads, clear EP

So, I know Christmas is over but…I didn’t get to use this set before Christmas!
Stamps: Home for the Holidays
Paper: Holiday Treasures DP, CS: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Old Olive
Ink: Basic Black, Choc Chip, Close to Cocoa, Old Olive, Baja Breeze, More Mustard, Riding Hood Red
Accessories: Gold brads, Alpine Originals Ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds

Thanks for checking out the posts today! See you soon and Happy Stamping!!!

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Last night I made an adorable stationary holder with my Love You Much Bundle. I haven’t made all the cards and tags to go in yet but it is so cute!

This is the outside and then it opens into this:

I can’t wait to fill it up with more cards! I put a few in the pockets just to show how it will look. Tags and mini cards go perfectly into the plastic bags. I am already thinking of other designs of this – Christmas, Easter, every day… My Mom loves this sort of thing – guess what she’s getting for Mother’s Day?

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This past Saturday was a meeting of my first stamp club. I will be having a monthly card making class at my home featuring Stampin’ Up! products. Each month will feature seasonal products and at least one card that can be made into an any occasion card.  A new catalogue has been released and there are a ton of fabulous new products available. If you ae interested in the class, to book a class of your own, to host a party, or to get a copy of the new 2009 Spring/Summer Catalogue, contact me.

At the class, we used the Love You Much Bundle that is on sale until January 31 and made a mini pizza box holding 4 mini cards. Isn’t it adorable!

Close up of the box top

Close up of the 3×3 mini card

We also made little pillow boxes holding caramel kisses. The pillow boxes were cut from my new Big Shot pillow box die that I LOVE! I am so excited to play with this. My plan is to use the box for my jewelry sales.

Finally we finished the class with two all occasion cards. One using Flight of the Butterfly and Green Tea Designer paper and the other using Inspired by Nature. The Inspired by Nature set is not listed in the current catalogue but can still be ordered.

Thanks for stopping by! If the mood strikes, come on over to the next Stamp Club!

Stampin’ Up! has a great deal right now until January 31 for Valentine’s Day. The Love You Much Bundle includes the Love you Much Stamp Set, the Heart to Heart Punch, and the Candy Lane Designer Series paper, all items from the new Catalogue for only $50.28, 20% off the retail value. For more information, check out this link: valentines_bundle_1208ca. There are only a few days left on this great deal, so if you want one, please contact me asap! Here are some samples that I made with the bundle.

Stamps: Love You Much
Paper: Candy Lane DP, CS: Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette
Accessories: HP Hardware, Silver brads, Heart to Heart Punch, RHR Taffeta Ribbon

Stamps: Love You Much
Paper: Candy Lane DP, CS: Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette
Accessories: HP Hardware, Silver brads, Heart to Heart Punch, CC Felt Ribbon, Blender Pen

Stamps: Love You Much
Paper: Candy Lane DP, CS: Pink Pirouette, Very Vanilla, Close to Cocoa
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Big Shot, Heart to Heart and Scallop Edge Punch

Stamps: Love You Much
Paper: Candy Lane DP, CS: Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette
Accessories: Rhinestone Brad, Heart to Heart Punch, RHR Taffeta Ribbon, Blender Pen

Stamps: NONE!
Paper: Candy Lane DP, CS: Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: HP Hardware, Silver and Rhinestone brads, Big Shot, Scallop Edge Punch

This past Saturday, November 22 was opening night of Eugene Onegin, the opera that I am performing in right now with Vancouver Opera.  This opera is by Tchaikovsky and we are performing it in the original language in which it was composed….Russian.  It’s been great fun but a lot of work too!  You can check out my singing blog here. Here is a picture of me as a peasant in the show, more pics on my singing blog.

I was asked by the Chorus to make a thank you card for the lady that coached us on the Russian. I based it on a previous design but made it bigger so that the whole chorus could sign it. I made the envelope with my new toy, The Enveloper, that I picked up after a class at Scrapbook Warehouse last weekend.  Raissa’s name on the envelope is stamped with my SU! Lovely Letters Alphabet set (part of my SU! demonstrator starter kit). It is on a different colour because I originally tried to eyeball the letters right on the envelope…big mistake! But, as it turns out, a happy accident! Here are the pics, taken by my sweetie, Tris.

Stamps: SU! Lovely as a Tree
Ink: SU! Basic Black and Whisper White (both Craft), Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy
Paper: SU! Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze

Stamps: SU! Lovely as a Tree and Lovely Letters
Ink: SU! Whisper White (Craft), Not Quite Navy
Paper: SU! Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy

A friend and former classmate from UBC, Rhoslyn Jones, played the leading lady, Tatiana in the opera. Rhoslyn is from Aldergrove, BC (a local girl!) and is embarking on what is proving to be a very successful career. She looked stunning and sang beautifully at every performance. After creating Raissa’s card, I experimented with one for her.  I was clearly influenced, yet again, by Michelle Zindorf, you’ll notice that the first one has the background of the owl card I made and posted about previously. Here are the results of my experimentation:

Stamps: SU! Baroque Motifs, Local King Rubber Stamp Elegant Ladies, Stampendous Marble Texture Cube
Ink: SU! Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy, Riding Hood Red, Basic Black
Markers: COPIC – C3, C5, C7, B000, B00, B02, R27
Paper: SU! Whisper White, Basic Black, Not Quite Navy

Stamps: SU! Baroque Motifs, Local King Rubber Stamp Elegant Ladies
Ink: SU! Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy, Basic Black
Markers: COPIC – R27
Paper: SU! Whisper White, Basic Black, Baja Breeze

I ended up giving her the second one along with a cluster necklace that I made.  Rhoslyn and two other good friends, Melanie and Jeanine, and I all went out for lunch last Wednesday.  Rhoslyn wore the necklace, I guess she liked it! Here are the lovely ladies:

Brava to Rhoslyn for a fabulous run!  I hope that we get to here her again here in Vancouver very soon!

Okay, so this blogging thing is a great idea in theory but when one is working three jobs and performing in an opera, it can be a bit of a time suck.  So, in lieu of a long post, here are some pics. Photos by Sue Farrant.

Stamps: SU! Snow Swirled
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze, and Kiwi Kiss CS, Ski Slope DP
Ink: Riding Hood Red

Stamps: SU! Snow Swirled
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, and Kiwi Kiss CS, Ski Slope DP
Ink: Versamark with white embossing powder

Stamps: SU! Snow Swirled
Paper: Aqua Blue and Navy CS (not SU!), Whisper White CS
Ink: Adirondack Aqua, Denim, Purple Twilight, Versamark with White EP

Stamps: SU! Snow Swirled
Paper: Aqua Blue and Purple CS (not SU!), Whisper White and Baja Beeze CS
Ink: Adirondack Aqua, Denim, Purple Twilight, Versamark with White EP

Stamps: SU! Snow Swirled
Paper: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, and Kiwi Kiss, and Baja Breeze CS, Ski Slope DP
Ink: Riding Hood Red and Kiwi Kiss

Stamps: SU! Snow Swirled
Paper: Whisper White, Baja Breeze, and Riding Hood Red CS, Ski Slope DP
Ink: Versamark with silver EP, used the faux metal technique for the embellishments

Stamps: SU! Lovely as a Tree
Paper: Whisper White, Baja Breeze, and Not Quite Navy CS
Ink etc.: Baja Breeze, Not Quite navy, Night of Navy, Adirondack Butterscotch,
clear and white EP, Uni-ball white gel pen

Stamps: SU! Lovely as a Tree and Snow Swirled
Paper: Whisper White, Baja Breeze, and Basic Black CS
Ink etc.: Baja Breeze, Not Quite navy, Night of Navy, Adirondack Aqua,
clear and white EP, Uni-ball white gel pen

Thanks for looking!  Hope you enjoy the cards!

This past Sunday, November 16 marked my first Stampin’ Up! workshop as a demonstrator. Some good friends came by and we had a lot of fun making these two cards (photo credits to Susan Farrant and Tris Hussey):

Thank you to Sue Farrant (the SU! demonstrator with whom I joined up),  Sue C. (another SU! demonstrator), and Raphael and Melanie (two close friends and opera colleagues) for their support. Everyone made beautiful cards and took some artistic license with their individual creations – way to go girls! Here are some pics of the fun (some photos by me, some by Susan Farrant):

The whole gang L-R: Raphael, Me, Sue C., Melanie (minus Sue F. – taking picture)

Melanie hard at work cutting out a monogram letter

Raphael hard at work – gotta get it straight!

The finished products! (L-R: Melanie, Sue C., Sue F., Raphael)

I somehow only got a picture of Sue F. with her finished version of the second card.  Hmmm….must have been the wine that made me forget! Doesn’t she look pleased though?

All in all, the evening was a success and I hope to do more soon.  You can read Sue Farrant’s version of the evening on her blog by clicking here. Here are the meterials used in the two cards (all materials are SU!, images copyright SU!)):

Stamps: Eastern Blooms, Best Yet, Always, Curly Label Punch Bundle, Lovely Letters
Inks: Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip,
Paper: Pink Pirouette CS, Kiwi Kiss CS, Whisper White CS, Riding Hood Red CS, Chocolate Chip CS, Bella Rose DP, Ski Slope DP
Accessories: Silver Brads, Coluzzle, Designer Brads – flower asst., Curly Lable Punch, 1/16″ circle punch

Thanks for stopping by!

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This past Sunday night I went with Sue Farrant and some other lovely ladies to a technique based COPIC marker class in Pitt Meadows.  The class was offered through “Be Creative!” – a wonderful stamping supply store in Pitt Meadows.  It was taught by Marianne Walker, a graphic designer who works for COPIC. Check out her blog – she is amazing! We played a lot with what the markers can do and I coloured in this stamp:

It was a lot of fun and despite my initial frustration with the markers, I bought this group of markers:

Last night I played with them and created this card (picture courtesy of Tris Hussey):

I totally cased this design from Michelle Zindorf. I fell in love with it when I first visited her site. She uses Prismacolor markers to colour in the owl in her tutorial but I used my COPICs instead. The stamp is from a set called Yoo Hoo! from Firecracker Designs by Pamela. Here is the full recipe for the card:

Stamps: Firecracker Designs by Pamela’s Yoo Hoo!, Stampendous Marble Texture Cube
Inks: SU! Classic – Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy, and Craft – Basic Black
Markers: COPIC – C3, C5, C7, E25, E27, E29, Y17
Paper: SU! Card stock – Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, and textured Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Clear fine detail EP, white gel pen, pewter brads, 1/8″ ribbon

Thanks for checking it out – I will be posting more after I play with them a bit.  Have a great day!

About 2 weeks ago, I attended a stamping party at my friend Brenda’s house. I used to stamp a long time ago in my Lethbridge years and, so, I had my Mom dig out my Tupperware crisper full of rubber stamps and stamping supplies from my parent’s storage space in Calgary and bring it across 2 provinces when they came to visit in August so that I would have it after the party to use if I felt like it. I have to admit that I went to the party thinking, “I won’t buy anything. I really don’t need to get back into another hobby.” Of course, the party was amazing! We made three lovely cards and I got to meet a wonderful lady named Susan Farrant. Sue was the demonstrator for the party, the line is called “Stampin’ Up” and she is one of the original Stampin’ Up demonstrators that introduced the company to Canada 7 years ago. Needless to say, she is amazing and incredibly knowledgeable and I was quickly hooked. Turns out that stamping has changed in amazing ways in the 15 years since I was into it and so, of course, I just had to order a pile of things that night! I went away excited and anxious for my order to come so that I could get back into things.

(I should preface this my saying that when I discover or get back into a crafting hobby, it tends to take over my life in an almost obsessive fashion).

Before the order came, Sue had a workshop at her house using a set called Upsy Daisy. I went and had a great time and made another set of charming cards. At that workshop, I found out that Sue wrote a stamping blog. Hungry for more, I looked up her blog and started reading through, finding links to many other stamper’s blogs (who knew there could be so many?) and felt like a new world had opened up! I poured over Sue’s blog, Split Coast Stamper Galleries, Michelle Zindorf’s blog, Laura Fredrickson’s blog, and many more as I felt the fire of inspiration burning inside. I ordered more stamps online, discovered many lower mainland Scrapbooking shops where supplies could be found, and dived right back into creating. I remembered why I found card making so satisfying as mini works of art came alive by my hand and knew that I had to keep going.

I met with Sue this morning to discuss the possibility of me joining her team of Stampin’ Up Demonstrators. I showed her the work that I had done so far and she said, “Why wouldn’t you do this?”. So, spurred on by the encouragement of a real pro and the comments of friends and colleagues that had seen my cards and agreed to come to parties, I dove in deeper and joined Stampin’ Up as a demonstrator.  As of, 12pm today, I am one of Sue’s Stampanions! For my personal website, click here.

This blog will be dedicated to my creations and will contain Stampin’ Up news, workshop information, and techniques. Stop by anytime to see what I have been up to or to book a party. Creating with friends is always more fun!