Butterfly Challenge along with Happy Easter

Hello there on a delightfully warm & sunny Monday afternoon. Our day has been spent on the telephone (not something I enjoy!) so it was pleasant to sit down to the computer to write up a post. Today's card will be going over to the Butterfly Challenge where the theme is Spring Time at Last. Entries need to have a butterfly and the color yellow. Pretty easy to do.

- image is an old stamp, Hampton Art Butterfly Banner, embossed with Ranger Queen's Gold, then colored with various Chromatix markers. (Coloring over embossing, so didn't want to ruin copic nibs).  Banner section was stamped again, embossed then colored, handcut, popped up on dimensional foam. SU sentiment heat embossed with Queen's Gold.

- lower left butterfly is from a Lost Coast Designs Butterflies Set, also heat embossed with Queen's Gold.

- pale yellow card was embossed with a Darice EF corner butterfly design.

This is another card that looks much better IRL than in the photo. Hope you will enjoy it none-the-less. Since I am in need of Easter cards soon, that's why I chose to add the sentiment on the banner.

Off I go to link up with the Butterfly's Challenge of Yellow & Butterflies. Hope you'll join in too.

Thanks for joining me today and hope that wherever you may be in the world, you have some sunshine in your day too. Hugs

A Cute Christmas Card

Good afternoon, and today over at our Christmas Club the lovely Lorraine chose as our theme for today... Cute Christmas. Well, that assignment is pretty easy, with all the cute snowmen, reindeer, teddy bears and various subjects-- so here is the image I chose to fit this particular theme. Thanks, Lorraine, for giving us an cute assignment!

- Penny Black Skiing Snowman image, colored with copics, spica pens, WofStella, Sakura Silver Star and SU white chalk pen.

- S/Binder Label 25 to die cut, outlined the edge of the cut with a Sharpie blue pen

- Background paper is from waste paper at the airbrush table. Loved the blue mottled background and thought it looked like a snowy day. (Incidentally, this paper is the non-print side of a large desk calendar - sometimes it will be the heavier tissue paper that comes in packaging boxes. Such paper makes great covering protection when spraying or airbrushing, and can yield beautiful design paper)

- MS punch on some of the same paper, with a narrow strip of some green dp to bring out the trees.

- bakers twine wrapped under the raised image, and Elizabeth Craft sentiment...that's it. Can't beat that for easy & cute!

Thanks for joining me, Happy Sunday. We have a lovely sunshine day after several gray days, so the sun is a welcome sight. Hope to get round to visit lots of my visitors this afternoon. In the meanwhile, have a pleasant afternoon, and many Hugs.

Rudolph Day Christmas Challenge

Good evening after another rainy day where the sun played tag with rain drops. Finally managed to finish up 2 cards to submit to the March Rudolph Day Challenge here. One needs must have 2 or more festive cards to submit and it's taken me a while to get mine finished. I missed last month, so really wanted to try to participate this month. Here's my entries:

- circular card made with a Grand S/B Circle nestie & a S/B Celtic die.

- blue snowflake background & red glitter paper are snippets, as is the sentiment tag.

- image salvaged from an old Christmas card from years ago, die cut with S/B oval, further embossed in the center with a smaller oval.

- red velvet mat (a snippet) cut with the smallest Grand S/B Oval.

- Darice EF for the background was brayered with Memento Summer Sky before embossing, and

- Memory Box die for twig at the top. Red rhinestones stand in for the bittersweet berries.

- Elizabeth Craft sentiment cut from the red velvet.

That's it...any questions about how-to, images, supplies used, please do ask. I'll be happy to answer.

Off to submit to Rudolph Day Challenge. Won't you play along and get 2 Christmas cards finished?As of Saturday evening, there are 2 more days before the linky widget expires.

Since I have a lot of snippety bits on each card, I think I'll swoop in for a visit with Little Parsnip over at the Snippets Playground, Week 118. Some lovely Penny Black Stickers are up for prizes.

Happy Saturday evening, and thanks for your visit, as always. Hugs

Nice Crane Vintage Easter Bunny

Hi and welcome on a late Friday afternoon. More Easter Bunnies hopping round on this blog. I recently ordered some pretty digi images from Nice Crane, this Vintage Easter Bunny set being one of them. The image was printed on some nice, smooth Xpress paper and away I go!

-Nice Crane image diecut with an MFT pierced square, that just did fit the image within the die. DI Vintage Photo & Pumice Stone used to distress around the edges. A S/B circle was placed - blade side down, using the thick rubber mat to emboss/deboss the center circle around the main image motif. Not so easily seen in the photo, but IRL it does look quite nice.

- S/B Asian Motifs to die cut the mat beneath the image. Split this into qtrs. to make it fit the card base. Corners are from another S/B set.

- Card background was some of the spray paper waste where the colors were pretty. Embossed with a Darice woodgrain EF.

Added some green rhinestones to emphasize the greenery in the image, used 2 different sizes. There's a sentiment on the image, so didn't add another one. This was a very easy card and went together very fast!

Hope you have a wonderful evening, get ready for a super weekend, and thanks for your visit. Hugs.

Hoppy Easter - Little Sailor

Welcome back for another bunny card. This one is a Nellie Snellen clear Hoppies image, called Little Sailor. This image didn't color quite as easily as the Sweet Stamps Tulip Bunny, but it was operator error I have to confess. Thought I had piece of Xpress snippet as I stamped the image, but once I began to color, I realized it was GP which, for me, does not color well. So I had to be super careful of the pressure on the marker as I colored, and also, this paper will not blend as well for me - as does the Xpress or Neenah. I didn't want to restamp & start over, so kept on coloring. The white showing around the edges is the background for the photo. Card base is the offwhite layer showing, covered with a blue texture c/s from a 6x6 pack.

- Little Sailor image is matted with the MFT Pierced Rectangle Stax die, background colored with copic G0000. Just realized I didn't anchor this little sailor, so will have to go back & color in some grass for him  to stand upon.

- C/Lynn XM-18 Nesting Eggs die for the egg and bunny. Bunny raised on dimensional foam, as was the sentiment.

- S/B A2 Bracket Borders One for the card edges, and the yellow bottom border (a snippet)

- inside trim is cut with a Bracket border (curved shape faces inward), and embossed with a C/Bug EF.

- Impression Obsession sentiment stamped with Memento Bahama Blue, punched with an SU oval punch.

Another Easter card ready for the insert to be added. Ya'll enjoy the evening, and as always, thanks for stopping to visit. Hugs.

Sweet Stamps Easter Bunny - Easel Card

Good evening, and thanks for joining me as I listen to the wind howling round the corners of the house. First, let me apologize to my recent visitors for my slowness in getting back to visit you. I've had blogger issues recently, and today was an away from the house day for  us. I will get back to visit, I promise. Hopefully tomorrow.

Here's my first ever easel card. I can see that I need more practice, but ...well, here we go.

- Sweet Stamps Easter bunny image, colored with copics (very easy coloring too), die cut with S/B deckled oval. Popped up with dimensional foam.

- S/B Lattice die for the mat. (Orange is not a color I think of for Easter, but with the orange-coral tones of the lily, and the fact that there was a Dylusions sprayed piece rejected from Halloween*, well, there you go. Just added some more of a new Dylusion color [Tangerine, diluted with white linen & water]. A little gold glimmer with Tattered angels).

- Memory Box leaf die (green snippet)

- white lace from stash colored with puddles of wet spray left over & made a bow.

- card background was a rectangle of silky fabric texture floral wall paper, in cream/taupe colors. Sprayed with the Tangerine dilution. Let it dry, resprayed. The fabric does not take the ink very well as it beaded up quite a lot. I liked the patterns the ink created so decided to use it for the card background.

- opened fully to reveal the inside layer. A Memory Box stencil was taped to the white base, inked heavily with Versa Mark. Removed stencil. Sprinkled Copper EP and heat embossed. Intended to use some Distress Inks to color this, but liked it as it was, so left it alone. Leaf shape is not adhered yet...still thinking about leaving it or not. Eggs cut from snippets using a S/B D-lite die Wonderful Locket (S2-076) - just the interior portion, which reminded me of an egg shape. Orange lattice backing the sentiment was a smaller shape from the Lattice Die - snippet from the orange paper*. Handcut the white snippet for the SU Teeny Tiny Wishes set - using Lime Green (Colorbox Fluid Chalk ink).

 Two more pics - just so you know it really is an Easel card! Hope to do another attempt so that I'm not just making the same ole same ole.  Hope you like this one. *This orange paper had been sprayed with a pumpkin stencil last Halloween. The additional spraying of the Dylusions ink covered the pattern quite well.

Submitting to Pixie's Snippet Playground Week 117. C'mon, let's go visit with Parsnip & all the Playground folks. It's going to be worth your time, I promise...so many lovely projects to inspire you.  Come again when you have time as it's always so lovely to have visitors pop round. Hugs.

Another Butterfly

Hello & welcome to my world. I'm stuck on Butterfly cards lately, it seems. Several that I've posted in the last few days have been incomplete projects that I just was not in the mood to work on & finish. Today's gelato Stampin Up Butterfly is one of those.

Colored the stamp with Gelatos & spritzed with water. Did several stamped images (?called generations?) some time back. This one was later overstamped with the same image, inked in black, sprayed some tattered angels gold on it, not crazy about how it looked at the time. After playing around with Dylusions sprays for a while, I guess I'm not quite so anal with the spatters & blobs, so had a relook at this guy. Now the card was propped up straight on the candle topper, against the back of the plastic light box I've been using. I don't know why it looks 'tilted'. Was I too close, shooting from an above angle...???What?

- gelato covered Stampin up Butterfly*  spritzed - gives a water color look. See above blah-blah.

- Cut the image into 3 rectangles, using a trimmer. Cut black mats - just eyeballing around the image to get a narrow border (yes, I have the Perfect Rulers, didn't use 'em!). Adhered the cuts to the rectangles, without really paying close attention to the image placement (see the center portion...not matching up as well as could be). This guy really makes a big card if the entire image is used. One pretty butterfly though.

- adhered to a textured sage Bazzill card base. Cut a backing from white c/s, leaving a hinge to glue the green front to, so the card opens. Hinge is inside, and will be covered with insert paper.

- Elizabeth Craft die cut sentiment from black glitter snippet, and 2 sizes of black pearls added. (looks like the center one has slid out of alignment, so that must be fixed before mailing.)

Anyhoo...that's it for the butterflies I think. Needs must get on to bunny cards. Thanks for visiting, lovely as always to have you drop in. Have a great start of the week. Hugs.

More Butterflies

Hiya, Happy Sunday. First, thank you to all who sent comments about the Blogger issue. I've tried to follow some of those suggestions (right now I'm online with Firefox as my browser, still can't sign in to a blog where I'm already a follower, but not seeing myself. I give up! I've already wasted too much time on this frustrating issue).

There's a lovely challenge going on here and since there were a couple of spraying & embossing paste projects in the works, here's another butterfly card. Didn't turn out as envisioned, and hope that the faux piercing done by the die cut won't disqualify this one from the theme of A Stitch in Time. If you squint very hard, the piercing on the die _does_ look stitched! This one also has a few snippety bits too.

- base background (snippet) was smudged as a drying piece as when spraying top focal part; adding some WRMemory Keepers acrylic paint, heavily diluted with water & placed in a spray bottle. Very glimmery. Debossed with a Darice Argyll folder, . This background piece was just an extra white card stock on the table, used to blot the top w/color c/s while wet. Got some nice color, decided to experiment with the embossing folder..

- focal top piece was 140# weight w/color paper - sprayed with Dylusions (think it was Lime Green) diluted with White Linen. Let it dry, then sprayed again with the WRM diluted green - nice shimmer.  THoltz Splat stencil and some Mixed Media ?chalk? (in a pot, got at Michaels on sale...feels more like a chalky substance than ink, but is also 'wetter' than the usual chalky feel). I sponged this blue media using the TH stencil.  TCW flower stencil was used for the Viva Decor Glitter Paste embossing at top left. Let that dry. Used a Memory Box butterfly stencil with the same paste, let that dry. (For anyone just experimenting with these pastes, be sure to have some soapy water handy to clean off stencils & tool quickly. It dries fast, will be hard to remove if not removed at once when you've finished. Also, be sure to close the paste jar quickly.) MFT Die-namics pierced rectangle stax to die cut a portion of the w/c paper project.

Closeup of the butterfly

- Memory Box Darla butterfly cut from the same blue color cardstock used for matting (snippet).
Sponged with DI Tumbled Glass & Stormy Sky, then embossed with a dots EF. Black overlay is the matching MB Vivienne die from a snippet of lightweight black glitter paper.

- pearls for the butterfly body and some green rhinestones to dress him up to go flying over The Pond to visit the Butterfly Challenge and see Parsnip at the Snippet Playground for week 117. C'mon & go along.

Hope all the details didn't put you to sleep. Had fun messin' about with this one. Thanks for visiting & Sunday Hugs!

Blogger Error

Hi, Back again with a copy of an error that I get when I go to some blogs, where I'm not shown as being signed in to Blogger, although I am. I try to join the blog as a follower, get the message I'm already a follower, to please sign in. I know that I'm using the correct sign-in info, but then I get this message.

	The webpage cannot be found
	HTTP 400
	Most likely causes: There might be a typing error in the address. If you clicked on a link, it may be out of date.
	What you can try:
	Retype the address Go back to the previous page Go to and look for the information you want. More information This error (HTTP 400 Bad Request) means that Internet Explorer was able to connect to the web server, but the webpage could not be found because of a problem with the address. For more information about HTTP errors, see Help.
	I've googled and checked different help forums. One suggestion was to clean out the registry on my computer. I don't know a lot about the Registry, but I do know that if you aren't sure of what you're about, this is not the place to experiment!   I've refreshed my browser, I have the latest IE software, but if I use Chrome, I'm getting the same error. This happens when I try to log in at someone's blog where I don't see myself as a follower.   Anyone got any ideas that are not too difficult to try (as in I don't want to screw up my pc real badly to where I have to call in expert help to fix it).  Thanks in advance if you've had this same problem, and have an easy fix! Hugs

Penny Black Rose for the Butterfly Challenge

Hello there, and it's a wonderfully sunny & warm Saturday afternoon in my neighborhood. We're told temps will drop later on, and tomorrow won't be as nice. This afternoon, we filled up the bird feeder - pulled a few weeds underneath where the silly birds waste the seeds. Then sat on the back porch to just enjoy a pretty afternoon for a bit. Then I made myself go downstairs to work on today's card, which had been in progress. Had 2 nights where I just didn't feel inspired to do anything but watch tv & doze (currently I'm on Season 12 of Midsomer Murders on Netflix..hate to see the end of the series come around; I prefer the episodes with John Nettles.)

Here's the card which is going over to Mrs. A's new Butterfly Challenge, where the theme for week 3 is A Stitch in Time. There must be butterflies (of course), but also some stitching, real or faux.

- Penny Black Rose Die (51-023) which I have been seeing on some gorgeous cards. Was longing for this die, which recently arrived from Ellen Hutson when there was a 17% discount. Am pleased to say there was fast shipping. Colored vellum with copics, using shades of red at the top, green at the bottom, blending each color to the previous. If doing this technique, stamping is done on the reverse side of the colored vellum. (wanna know how I remembered this fact?). Since I wasn't stamping on this vellum, I could use either side, and chose to use the brighter, colored side of the vellum. Die cut 2 roses, and glued together with vellum glue. Provides just a tiny bit of a raised effect. Dew drops were added to the leaves because I could detect the 'glue', although I don't think anyone else could. I knew where I had placed the tiny dot of glue. Probably should have just added 1 dewdrop on a leaf.

- previously embossed pink cardstock with a dots folder - edged with DI spun Sugar and Shabby Shutters..

- more vellum colored for the Hero Arts H5426 Artistic Butterfly - stamped on the reverse of the copic shading. Used Spica Black to darken some markings, then added Sakura Silver star for some glimmer; Spica Blue for the dots in the wings, highlighted with a white pen.

- C/Lynn DL112 Exotic Butterfly Small done in vellum.

- edged white card base with DI Spun Sugar and Peeled Paint.

- Elizabeth Craft gold outline sticker sentiment.

I'm off to link up with Mrs. A's Stitch in Time Butterfly Challenge, which I hope you'll check out, and do please enjoy what's left of your Saturday afternoon. Thanks as always for dropping in to visit. So enjoy reading your comments & suggestions. Hugs.

Penny Black - Blooming Garden

Good afternoon - welcome! Today there are several cards to share...so let's get to it.

- image is PBlack Blooming Garden (Transparent stamps). Stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black, die cut with the matching PB die, 51-030 (Field of Dreams). Colored with copics. Flowers on dimensional foam, stems glued down.

- Background is Anna Griffin Poppy EF, sponged with DI Scattered Straw, Shabby Shutters, and Marigold, very lightly - with the TH sponging tool after embossing.

- Impression Obsession grass die DI096-D.

- M.Box lady bug die - using white c/s, colored with copics.

- Natural color twine was colored with a copic green. Didn't like the bow, so put the ladybug on it instead.

While deciding whether I liked the way the flowers had turned out, (also had misplaced the image momentarily)..diecut a 2nd flower. This time did the die cut first, then stamping. Colored with the same copic colors.  Decided I would use the negative and try to sponge, see how that looked.

- small snippet of white cardstock trimmed to form a square base. Used a slightly smaller square piece of packaging acetate to form a center mask. Sponged DI Scattered straw around the edges to form a frame.(used small piece of removable double side tape in the center of the acetate to try to hold it firmly in place).  Then embossed using the Poppy EF. Sponged through the negative flower stencil, using DI Scattered Straw, Marigold and Shabby Shutters. Wasn't sure that I really liked this; then I saw on a PBlack post where someone else had done this same technique using the red family. That one looked good to me, so decided I would keep my yellow effort!!! Some yellow cotton ribbon added for trim.  Popped this piece on dimensional foam, adhered to the framed card base.

This is the cardstock negative used for the stenciling. Did not tape it down, just held it firmly. It's lightweight c/s, so I  had to be gentle with the sponging. Taping down is a good idea. I was just experimenting to see what would result, so wasn't particularly careful- just sponging colors in the spaces to see the effects.

I've been seeing so many pretty watercolor cards done lately. The stamp was still needed  to be cleaned, so I hunted up the THoltz DI watercolor markers. Using the same Distress Ink marker colors as in the sponging effort, I colored directly onto the stamp, spritzed it, and stamped on 140wt watercolor paper.

Not totally delighted with the effect, but decided it was ok (all the folks who have done such pretty w/color cards always advise: "It won't be perfect".) So was trying not to be too obsessive with it.

First time, I spritzed the paper, then the stamp. My spritzing tends to be too heavy, and that experiment was just too runny for me. (It's on the opposite side of this stamping). Flipped the paper over, re-inked the stamp with markers, held it further away to spritz, and stamped on the dry surface of the paper. Liked this effect better. Used a water brush to pull the color around. It's a filled water brush; dried the bristles with a paper towel after wetting the 'non-inked' area in each flower just a bit. Then touching a drier brush into the wet space of the flower, moved towards the inked area and back out. After this dried - went back over some lines with the fine point marker nib. Smoothed those lines again with a barely damp water brush. Background was done by dabbing DI Tumbled Glass onto an acrylic block, wetting that and using the water brush to dab some lines along the flower stems. Wet the non colored background areas (in small segments), and pulled from the white into the color and back out again. Let the paper dry overnight. Die cut with S/B Label 11. (Thanks to Miss Bonnie for her inspiration water color card earlier in the week)

- card front die cut with a smaller size of Label 11 to create the window. Paper was textured Bazzill. MS lacey punch for the trim, scor buddy and some tiny pearls to trim. (There are 2 scored lines at the card bottom, but it doesn't show in the photo.)

That's it - 3 different ways to use this pretty stamp & die. I need a lot more work on the water color front. It's a technique that does not come easy to me at all! Hope you enjoy these cards.

I was very entertained by reading all the comments received on the clothes line post. It was so interesting to read that some of you have specific color clothes pins for specific clothing. And that you group certain items together. We just had plain old wooden pins (and I can remember when the pins were 'pegs' too!), and some things were hung together. Sheets, pillowcases, towels, but I don't think we hung by colors or anything of that sort. I'm so glad the post brought back some happy memories for you. It did for me as well. Come again when you have time to visit. Love to read your thoughts on what I'm posting. Always enjoy suggestions and  ideas for improvement too! In the meantime, have a wonderful afternoon, and Hugs.

St. Patrick's Day

Good afternoon, and Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all. Welcome. I think I posted enough St. Patrick's cards, so didn't have one for today. The poem below came into our email today, and thought I'd share it with you. Some of you may have memories of the clothesline.  I surely do. Miss having one now.  I can remember propping a pole with a slotted end to hold up the clothesline so that it didn't sag with the weight of the clothes. I  also remember the wind blowing the pole down, and you'd have to run outside so the clean clothes didn't drag the ground too!. Enjoy .
**********************************************************

 

THIS IS FUNNY AND QUITE TRUE...WE ARE PROBABLY THE LAST

GENERATION THAT WILL REMEMBER WHAT A CLOTHES LINE WAS.

 

It's the poem at the end that's the best!!!

Remembering Mom's Clothesline

There is one thing that's left out.
We had a long wooden pole (clothes pole) that was used to push the clotheslines up
so that longer items (sheets/pants/etc.) didn't brush the ground and get dirty.

I can hear my mother now...

THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES:

(If you don't even know what clotheslines are, better skip this.)

1. You had to hang the socks by the toes... NOT the top.

2. You hung pants by the BOTTOM/cuffs... NOT the waistbands.
3. You had to WASH the clothesline(s) before hanging any clothes
walk the entire length of each line with a damp cloth around the lines.
4. You had to hang the clothes in a certain order, and always hang "whites" with "whites," and hang them first.
5. You NEVER hung a shirt by the shoulders - always by the tail!
What would the neighbors think?

6. Wash day on a Monday! NEVER hang clothes on the weekend,
or on Sunday, for Heaven's sake!

7. Hang the sheets and towels on the OUTSIDE lines so you could
hide your "unmentionables" in the middle (perverts & busybodies, y'know!)

8. It didn't matter if it was sub-zero weather... clothes would "freeze-dry."

9. ALWAYS gather the clothes pins when taking down dry clothes!
Pins left on the lines were "tacky"!

10. If you were efficient, you would line the clothes up so that each item did not need two clothes pins, but shared one of the clothes pins with the next washed item.
11. Clothes off of the line before dinner time, neatly folded in the clothes basket, and ready to be ironed.
12. IRONED??!! Well, that's a whole OTHER subject!
And now a POEM...

A clothesline was a news forecast, To neighbors passing by, There were no secrets you could keep, When clothes were hung to dry.
It also was a friendly link, For neighbors always knew
If company had stopped on by, To spend a night or two.

For then you'd see the "fancy sheets", And towels upon the line;
You'd see the "company table cloths", With intricate designs.
The line announced a baby's birth, From folks who lived inside,
As brand new infant clothes were hung, So carefully with pride!

The ages of the children could, So readily be known
By watching how the sizes changed, You'd know how much they'd grown!
It also told when illness struck, As extra sheets were hung;
Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe too, Haphazardly were strung.


It also said, "On vacation now", When lines hung limp and bare.
It told, "We're back!" when full lines sagged, With not an inch to spare!
New folks in town were scorned upon, If wash was dingy and gray,
As neighbors carefully raised their brows, And looked the other way.

But clotheslines now are of the past, For dryers make work much less.
Now what goes on inside a home, Is anybody's guess!
I really miss that way of life, It was a friendly sign
When neighbors knew each other best... By what hung on the line

***********************************************

Thanks for joining me - on another gloomy rainy afternoon. Come again soon. Hugs

Pandas and Bamboo

Happy Friday evening and welcome to my world. Been MIA for a couple of days. Wednesday we drove up to Greensboro, North Carolina to meet my blog buddy, Candee. We met at Betty's Scrapbooking Store and our DH's had a good ole chitchat while we shopped & visited. We had a fast lunch of southern style Turkey BBQ. Yummy. The weather was rainy as we left South Carolina and had a couple of slow-downs enroute, so not the best driving conditions. The rain had ceased on the return trip, but the wind was gusting over 40mph. That was not a pleasant drive coming home either. Yesterday we just veg'ed out and today was pretty much the same.

Extending a warm Southern Welcome to Nicky of Stiggy's Crafts who has joined as my latest follower. Thanks, Nicky for jumping in the list; please do pop over to say Hi to Nicky and enjoy her fabulous blog.

Here's a card to share. 

-  PurpleDaisyDesigns image - think I got this at a stamp show. I love Pandas & Koalas - but don't find either easy images to color. Even looking at a picture. Stamped on a white snippet of Xpress paper. Matted with a kraft snippet from a stamping boo-boo which was large enough to mat this image. Used Copic C110 black to outline around the kraft edge & raised on dimensional foam.

- C/Bug Bamboo EF brayered (lightly) with Memento Pear Tart, then Bamboo Leaves. Was trying for a streaky sort of look to the background to allow white embossed bamboo to take center stage. (the white glare up in the top left corner is because I snapped the photo at night with an Ott light and the way the picture had to be positioned, created this glare. There is a lighter coloration up in that area anyway).

- Kraft snippet mat for the Elizabeth Craft sentiment - die cut is also a snippet. C110 black edging around this piece, and popped up with dimensionals. Pretty easy card.

With several snippets, I'm off to see what's doing over at the Snippet Playground where the gates are still open for just a few more hours. I'm hoping Little Parsnip will like these bears, and let me  in. Why not get something done quickly ( I know you have some snippets!) and hop on over the pond to see what the gang is up to? There's sure to be fun and always lovely folks who have shared some awesome cards & projects. Plus a little cuddly white bear to make you welcome! C'mon OVER!

As always - thanks for stopping in, and have a wonderful evening. Hugs.

St Patricks Day - DaJaVu

OK, folks, I hope this will be the last of St. Pat's. Think I've got enough made for those Irish folks who enjoy a little Blarney round this time of year.

- Hat was from a bargain bin at Michael's. Not sure how long ago. Copic colored, WoS* on the tall part of the hat, black hat band, sprigs of shamrocks.

- Classic Square S/B

- S/B Gold Squares one. This just embosses, does not cut. Sometimes I get these mixed up and try to cut with them. Then I get aggravated when it just embosses! They are pretty though.

- Snippet strips from other cards. Green was embossed with the C/B dots EF.

- lace from stash. Thought about coloring the flowers green. Decided not to!

- Cardz TV Irish set sentiment. Colorbox fluid chalk ink stamped & then embossed with Clear EP. Punched with SU oval, then covered with a snippet of vellum. After adhering with some vellum transparent glue, edged the set with the same ink used to stamp.

- glitter shamrock snippet from Impression Obsession die.

- S/B Curved Bracket for the edging. Did another piece to trim inside since the card front is a bit short. Glued the strip section to the card front after diecutting the piece. It was a bit 'short', so decided to leave the white edge so that the stitching lines would show. It doesn't so much in the green paper.
Added the bottom section but first aligned the pieces with the bracket, so I could get a good join & match up the bracket lines. That was a little tricky - for me anyway! If I had planned ahead, all would have been on the card base, and just one cut necessary. Live & learn.

As previously said, I hope I don't remember somebody that I've left off my Irish card list. I'm ready to do Spring & Easter cards! Ya'll have a wonderful afternoon, and as always, loved to have you visit. Hugs.
*Going to try to add a Page to this blog toadd some of the abbreviations I use so if my reader is not familiar with the initials, there will be a glossary to look it up. Some of the delightful bloggers I visit, have come up with some jim-dandy terminologies. I guess it would be 'blog txting'?

Friend Card

Hi Again. This post was meant to be done earlier, but our internet service was down for a few hours. I just love calling the internet provider. (NOT). Anyway, yesterday we received this sweet card from my friend Candee of Card Corner by Candee.

Thought I'd share & let my readers enjoy it with us. (One more day of green, then I hope I have enough completed to mail out where needed.) 

Candee's Card

Isn't it beautiful? I think you will be able to read the sweet Irish verse, and that's a great EF on the background too. Love those tiny shamrocks grouped together, with the green button. We're so blessed to have such talented friends who take time to think of us on holidays.

Hope you will enjoy it as much as we did. Have a wonderful evening. Isn't it terrific to have longer evenings? See ya later, come back when you can. Hugs.

St Patricks Day and Still More Green

Hello - thanks for stopping in this warm & sunny afternoon. Hope it is just as nice in your part of the world as today in Upstate South Carolina. First, let me say warm welcomes to some new followers:

Sarah of Mallows Crafty Bits

Hazel of Hazel's Handmade Crafts 

Natasha of Rose and Thistle Designs

 

Thanks, ladies, for joining as followers here. Always very happy to see new faces, meet & learn  something about life in different parts of the world, and get inspired by seeing the skills of different crafters. Please do take some time and buzz by to check out these delightful blogs, say Hi -  and be ready for some super inspiration.

 

 I'm still working on St. Pat's cards. Think the green is about to wind down here in a few cards! (I do like green though...think it's a happy color. Like green grass? Hmmm...green MONEY?!)

 

 

 

 

- Sweet Stamp image, copic coloring, S/B die cut. WoS to give lots of shine on the pot & gold coins.

 

- S/B Lattice mat - a snippet

 

- Turquoise textured card base ( left from the Butterfly card),. Bottom edge was shaped with a S/B bracket die. I am so loving these dies, so thanks Miz Benzi for showing them to me! Gold-y toned rhinestones.

 

(Love the candle topper holder, but this card just would not sit upright in it.)

 

- Used the same border bracket die to cut a trim piece of the paper used on the lattice die to decorate the inside. Stamped the sentiment with Colorbox Fluid Chalk and then heat embossed with Ranger Clear EP...so it's rather shiny. Thought that would be good on the patterned paper to make it stand out a bit.  This one is  ready to get a nice Irish proverb stamped right on the inside card, it won't need an insert.

 

Didn't list all the supplies, but if any info is needed, let me know & it will be provided.

 

In the meantime, Happy Tuesday. Thanks for the visit, big Hugs!

More Green

Hello there, and welcome. One more green theme card, as I'm whittlin' down those needed for mailing. This one was very easy to do:

- Prickly Pear Lucky Horse Shoe (HH0045) colored with the usual method. Used clear Wink of Stella (WoS) to give some shine to the horseshoe, which is quite nice IRL.

- S/B rounded square to die cut & emboss.

- glittery leaves were snippets, as were the papers used on the card base. MS punch on the darker green paper. The design is reminiscent of Celtic crosses.

- SU stamped sentiment on white snippet. Snippet glitter shamrock (you've seen these on previous cards- it's an Impression Obsession die that I've had for a while).

- pearls to trim. Called it done. Got just a few more of this theme and then make way for Easter cards.

How do you like the Yankee Candle shamrock holder? We found this candle jar topper Friday afternoon at our local YC store - along with a few others. Couldn't decide on which one, as the store didn't have what I really had in mind, but thought this one would be nice for these holiday cards. They were not that pricey - so got a couple of other designs. We found a real cutie with dachshunds on it, to save for DD's birthday. No greyhounds though.

We enjoyed sitting in the sun on the deck with my brother & his shadow (a tiny Schnauser named Sunshine) Saturday afternoon. Got right hot too! Felt like summer had arrived, but we expect to have a few more cold blasts before ole Mr. Winter blows his last.

 Thanks for visitin', and ya'll come again soon. Hugs.

Friends' Cards

Hi Ya, Wanted to pop back in to share a very special St. Patrick's Day card that arrived yesterday afternoon from a good friend (Miss Brenda L.) . Brenda & I have never met 'face-to-face', but she is one of the wonderful bloggers I met early on with this blog business, and we feel like we really know each other. I think she must have been my child - maybe in another life! We're of different generations & backgrounds, but we seem to have so much in common - aside from this card hobby. Anyway, please share with me in enjoying this wonderful card.

Brenda's a whiz with the Cricut, so don't know if many of the elements were made with the Cricut or some other way. Love the colors, the shaped edge, pretty doily...well you get the idea. We both liked the card. So thanks Brenda! Nothing makes one feel so happy as a handmade card done just for you.

Ya'll enjoy what's left of the evening. Hope all you USA folks got your clocks set properly. I wish we'd just go to DST and leave it alone!! Hugs.

Butterfly for 3 B's

Hello and welcome to my world on a beautiful balmy spring-like Sunday afternoon. There is a marvelous new Butterfly Challenge and it's still open for 2 more days. The theme is to have 3B's - Butterflies, Buttons & Bows. I wanted to join in, but still have a few St. Pat's cards to finish up. Took a break from St. Pat's, and broke out the Ranger alcohol inks to have a little play. Some time ago, DH had sliced open some soda cans, after seeing some nifty examples of what can be done with dies & thinner metal at a stamp show. Flattened one of the opened cans as much as possible. Collected some bottles of alcohol inks in greens - blue green shades plus the gold, and started to play, being careful of sharp edges.  Here's what resulted:
 (can you believe I'm still thinking Green?)!

New Butterfly Yankee Candle topper

 

Close up

 

 

- Memory Box Delia Butterfly (base butterfly). Alcohol inks - Meadow, Stream, Oregano, Gold & Lettuce. First drops dots of the ink applied directly to soda can metal (?snippet?) in a small area. Spread this around with the TH tool covered in felt*. Let it dry, then moved to another area, until the surface was covered. Once there was a dried base coating, applied small drops of the same inks onto the felt, sponged, pounced & twisted to get the mottled look. Die cut the dried metal into the butterfly shape. Since the metal underside was not colored, didn't lift the wings, but shaped them so they would stay flat to the card.

 

- MB Finn Butterfly die cut using navy blue textured Bazzill snippet, glued to the metal butterfly using Easy Flow glue, just dabbed in spots. Body also from navy blue.

 

- Ranger Gold stickles applied with a toothpick.

 

- S/B Grand Circle smallest die cut from yellow textured snippet; dimensional foam strips to raise up from the S/B large square of turquoise mat. Both of these shapes were embossed to add some dimension to the pieces.

 

- 6x6 card base covered with some VOS patterned paper. Liked the colors & textures with the butterfly - so that's why it was chosen. Since this butterfly is rather large, it needed a 6x6 base, rather than my usual 5.5 x 4.25 card base.

 

- Elizabeth Craft die sentiment from the tiny bit of the colored metal (does it qualify for a snippet designation? Perhaps). Wanted to use a love die, but was too large for the space, and the leftover metal bit was not big enough.

 

- MS large punch for the buttons, also from a snippet bit of the metal. Took a couple of tries to get the punch positioned to punch the shape properly, so that's why the material was not enough for the love sentiment. :-)

 

- Waxed twine bows were colored with a dark turquoise blue copic, threaded through the holes. Pearl trim added over the bow.

*Cut the felt pieces from craft felt - a heavier weight works better. The ones used on this project were of  thinner weight; didn't like their performance as well. Used a quilting rotary cutter to cut  felt strips to size, then cut the strips to fit applicator made from a dowel and block of wood. Very similar to the THoltz blending tool, but I had a bunch of these made, so I'm  not always having to change sponges & felt pads. Works great.

 

This is quite larger than my usual cards. It is going to be for a VSP (very special person) and though the sentiment says "Believe", I'll take care of the "Love" sentiment that I really wanted to use, by the inside verse. This was quite an experimental card for me, and I had fun making it. So thanks, Mrs. A for coming up with this challenge.

 

Linking to: Butterfly Challenge, 3B's

Pixie's Crafty Workshop Snippet Challenge No. 115

 

Hope you like this one, and that you'll check out these fun challenges.  Promise you'll see lovely work and meet some friendly people who play. Maybe I'll see ya there. So enjoy your afternoon, come again when you have time, and in the meantime, big Hugs.

 

 

 

 



St. Patrick's Day

Whoo Hoo...it's the weekend! A lovely Saturday in our area, sunny, temps going into the 70's. I see an open door & windows in my future...air out the winter stale house.

Let me say a big welcome to the newest follower: Petra S of Cards Creative. In my usual 'monkey see' attitude, I followed a link from Our Darnell's blog. She promised enjoyment & inspiration at Petra's blog, and since Darnell hasn't steered me wrong yet...off I went. Yep, another lovely blog to enjoy some beautiful work, so when you've time, I'm playing the link forward. Petra is located in So. Africa. Isn't it just wonderful that with this blogging thing we can meet people all over the world, and learn about places that we may never get to visit in person? Wow!

Here's the card to share this afternoon:

 

- Art Impressions image, die cut with S/B Noble Rectangles, 2nd largest. I did not have the die on the image straight (guess it slipped in running through the B/S as I had thought it placed properly). One small edge of the left side was not done straight. Also the die didn't cut as well as it should have. So...I used scissors and snipped out the main part, and thus the edge that you see. All tribulations must be accepted by the Operator(me). I still liked the look...kinda whimsical, doncha think? Edged with a green copic marker, added some shiny rhinestones, some of which were colored with copics. Dabbed the hat pompom with Ranger Rock Candy stickles, then applied a bit of MS white flock

 

Darice St. Patrick EF background on green paper. Used Brillance Galaxy Gold to brayer the EF prior to embossing; IRL this gives quite a sparkle look, but not showing well here.

 

- Cardz TV St. Patrick's Day set for the sentiment, punched with an SU punch, popped up for some added dimension.

 

That's it for me this afternoon. Going out on the deck to enjoy some sunshine and visit with my brother & his puppy. Ya'll come back when you can. Hugs

Class Cards - Impression Obsession

Good evening. So happy you had time to pop by. This morning an email arrived, that was once again, just especially appreciated today. Sometimes life just gets aggravating when you deal with people; you can't control what the other may perceive or think about you. After assessing your _own_ actions and not seeing any wrong or bad intent, you try to just let it all go by the wayside. Not let the words or actions of others manipulate or upset you. It's called L.I.F.E. Which is short. Should be happy. I choose to live mine so as much as possible. Therefore, these words were very appropriate to my mood this morning. Maybe they will speak to you as well:

***********************************************************************************

There comes a time in your life, when you walk away from all the drama and people who create it.

You surround yourself with people who make you laugh; things that make you happy.

Forget the bad, focus on the good.

Love the people who treat you right and pray for those who don't.

Life is too short to be anything but happy.

Falling down is a part of life. Getting back up is Living.

*******************************************************************************************************************************

On Tuesday, a friend & I joined some of our old Thursday stamp group ladies (that old refers to the group, _not_ the ladies!). We managed to turn a 2 hour class into an all day affair & it was such fun. As promised, here are the cards we made. Hope you will enjoy them.

#1 card & slider open

 

This was our first slider card ( first ever attempt by Moi at doing a slider card; fingers very clumsy with folds and getting adhesive just so, in order to have the slider work properly). These are some new Impression Obsession dies. Mitra (of Impression Obsession) is doing a series of classes in several different states. She had kits made up for us, so that we could accomplish 3 cards in a 2 hr class. All we had to do, was assemble. The tulips were die cut in white, and we colored - quickly - with markers. See some real opportunities with this die set for some pretty shading. Same with the wheelbarrow (this one cut in a silver c/s.) One tip Mitra gave us: Adhere a strip of adhesive to the wheelbarrow back - slide the tulips & separate stems into the slot. Pre-applied adhesive holds them well. (as opposed to gluing the tiny stems - probably what I would have done!) #2 picture is with the slider raised so the sentiment is visible.

 

 

#2 card

 

This went together a bit easier for me. Some of the elements have been quickly shaded (shells) & birds popped on dimensional foam. Hardest part of this one: planning which die goes down first, then next - to create the layered scene. Thinking ahead is not always my strong suit. Didn't show the slider raised with #2 & #3, as it's the same look & process as #1.

 

#3 card



 



Lightly shaded the roofs with ink pads & tiny makeup sponge applicator. Bitty flowers added to the stems were given marker centers. This one could have some lovely shading on the birds and shadows on the houses. Bet you can't guess which was my favorite!

It was a delightful fun class & all of us had a great time, with a superb teacher. If you ever have the opportunity to be in a class with Mitra, do so. I've had several and each has been so worthwhile. The IO dies are some of my favorites - as are the Memory Box, Elizabeth Craft & recently discovered Tailored Expressions dies. They cut well, not fiddly (usually - if I use them properly) and there is such a wide variety of designs. Love my dies.

Thanks for your visit tonight. Come again when you have time. Always love to have visitors. Hugs.

Another Robin

Good afternoon & thanks for your time in stopping to chat. On Sunday there was a post of some robins - which was the theme of a Christmas Card group. I used a recently purchased image from Nice Crane, which had beautiful vintage birds, but they were a bit on the blue side, more like our area's Eastern Bluebirds. I could have shaded these pretty critters to be more like our local Robins, but I couldn't make myself dim their pretty feathers. Had a lot of interesting comments, one of which that English robins are blue. Did not know that. Hunted up a stamp by Sweet Stamps which looks more like the robins in our yard. Now the stamp says it is a Michigan Robin, but I colored him to look like a South Carolina robin. Think this little critter was a purchase from the Sept 2013 South Carolina Stamp Show.

- Sweet Stamps Michigan Robin (1016F) - colored with Copics on Xpress paper

- S/B Classic Oval die cut, embossed with Gold Ovals One. Viva Décor Inca Gold paste rubbed around the outer edges. S/B Classic Scalloped Ovals for red mat (which is not showing up against the red border, I see now that I'm looking at the photo.)

- Background done with 2 colors of Colorbox Fluid Chalk Inks and a brick patterned Impression Obsession Cover a Card stamp. This has been done for some time, so don't have the specific info just to hand, but can provide if needed.

- CLyn Tropical Flourish (B127) using the same paper as the red floral border - cut apart to fit where needed. This was from Paper and Stone sale order which arrived Monday afternoon after placing the order on Thursday evening. (remember: Not a paid endorsement, just sayin').

- black scallop piece is a snippet of glitter paper waste trimming. Green rhinestones and orange-y toned pearls to trim.

IRL I'm likin' the card, as the mat & border contrast does show a bit better than in the photo. This paper was from a really El Cheapo pack purchased from who knows where? Is very lightweight & a bit chintzy quality, but I liked this particular floral pattern. It reminded me of vintage wallpaper seen in some of the old restored houses we've visited - plus I just thought it was pretty with the brick motif. Never thought about the not-so great contrast with the mat color, which is a textured solid from the same paper pack as the red floral. Live & learn. Do it daily. Sometimes have to relearn 'cause I forget. :-)

Ya'll have a good evening, and come again when you've time. I'll share some of my Impression Obsession class cards later. Had a super time; enjoyed being with some friends. We had a great lunch & companionship. A 2 hour class managed to morph into an entire day with us. Thanks Gloria, old stamp group, Scrapbook Creations & Mitra from Impression Obsessions for giving me a special & very fun day. Hugs.