DeeDee's Digis - Daniel's Tree

Good evening, and I'm back with just one more DeeDee's Digis card to end out the month of July.
This is the last week to participate in the July Digi of the Month challenge. The August set is ready and waiting to send to anyone who participates by the deadline (Sunday, 2 August), so don't miss out!
Edit:   My error: that should have read Sunday, 3 August. Thanks Pippa for catching this boo-boo!

This cute digi can be found right here. The set has a pre-colored image (fast card making, let me tell you & I don't work fast), line art for choosing your own colors and some very nice sentiments too. Remember that all these digi images can be resized to fit whatever size you may need for a particular card motif.

Here's what I did with Daniel's Tree:

 

(1) Inserted the digi image into a Word Document, resized this little goofball duck, along with the sentiments.
(2)Die cut the image with a S/B Label 1. Created a faux mat by cutting the outside edge of the die, using paper from a Colorbok Water Color theme pack (my $5 Walmart find - 12x12 sheets in a paper pad). I've seen Daniel's Tree used by some  of the other DT members and thought he was just the cutest guy, with a rather foolish look about him. Is he lost or what? (I've seen this look on DH's face on some of our trips...usually after we've driven miles out of our way, so maybe that's why this image appealed to me so much!). With those outstretched wings, I imagine that Daniel is saying "Ok, now where do I go with this tree?".
(3)Did a bit of shading with copics, added some spica on the scarf colors, his purple headband and his little boots.  Some Sakura Silver Star on the snow, and some Stickles snow falling. Also used a smaller Label 1 to remove the center portion of the mat.

(4) papers are from 6x6 BoBunny Mistletoe Collection (top panel) and American Crafts Peppermint Express (bottom panel).

(5)S/B In Spades border die from a DCWV 6x6 glitter pack.

(6) Memory Box stocking die - cut 2 shapes from 2 colors-same glitter pack. Clear rhinestones for a bit of bling; used part of one of the sentiments, which was shaded with just a tiny bit of DI Dusty Concord.

Easy Peasy, and the hardest part was selecting papers to make Daniel happy as he finds his way home. Hope you'll enjoy the card, and perhaps join in the fun at DeeDee's July Challenge of the month.

Remember August 2 is the deadline to participate. If you haven't discovered the  Digi of the Month challenges yet, you are missing out! Each month a featured set is offered that is available in the shop for just $1.25 (or FREE with your purchase of $10 or more). Make a project using this featured set and link it up to the challenge post, and you'll get the next month's featured set for FREE! This is a great way to build your digi collection at little to no cost, plus it gives you something fun to look forward to each month. What have you got to lose?

Thanks for popping in this evening, and come again when you have time! Many hugs.

Dashing Through the Snow - with DeeDee's Digis

Hip, Hip Hooray, Monday is over!!! When I worked, that thought used to really brighten my mood, as I always dreaded Monday - and even though I'm retired now, there's still a bit of psychological holdover to those blue Mondays.

Finished up a card last evening using a really cute DeeDee's Digi . It's called Dashing Through the Snow. This is the last week for the July Digi of the Month Challenge, so you still have a few days to download a digi and play along with a card. Remember: the set -- "So Cool"-- used on this card-- is available for just $1.25 this month, or FREE with your order of $10 or more. If you link up what you make with it to our challenge post by 2 August, you'll get next month's set for FREE. It's as easy as that to get this So Cool dude.

I fell in love with these adorable penguins and worked up a pretty fast card - after printing out 2 copies of the digi. Fussy cut one, did a little copic shading, adding some WoS and stickles for a little glamour. Used a stylus on the backside of the cut out to create a bit of shaping, glued it down on #2 image, which had been die cut with a Lil Inkers rectangle die.

Might be slightly prejudiced, but I think this image is just plain ole cute! Don't these little guys look as though they are enjoying the snow & having a terrific time?

-Top trim dies are: Sue Wilson Austrian Collection Salzburg ovals - decorative die on top, plain oval (red) under that. Bottom die is a Cheery Lynn Kaleidescope doily. (The SWilson die was part of a recent Crop Stop order). Each die was cut as needed to fit the area.

All papers from the Carta Bella 6x6 paper pad Winter Fun - (stash). Sentiment is part of the digi set, hand cut from a snippet using a Lil Inker V die to get it straight on the v's. Edged using a finger dauber and Memento Teal Zeal and tiny red rhinestones.

Baker's Twine & a silver Elizabeth Craft snowflake - a snippet too, clear rhinestone in the center, and Bob's ya' Oncle, and tis done.

Do take time to check out DeeDee's Digi of the Month and start building your collection now! It's that simple.

Thanks to all who provided some plant-ant suggestions! I'll let you know what we try and how it works.

I should clarify on the clogged up sprayer....this was not a 'purchased' spray. It was a bottle which had some some thickened acrylic paint dropped in it - then lots of added water. This paint had some gold glimmer in it, and I did not clean the nozzle after I last used it. So it is more Operator Error at fault here than the spray paint. Some of the Dylusions do occasionally have to get the caps removed and rinsed out, but so far (knock on wood) when caps are rinsed, it clears up the clog.

Thanks for the visit, come again when you can...always love to have your comments & thoughts. I have one more committed card to finish, then I'm going to take a little break and do a bunch of blog visits - {sigh - I'm BE-hind uh-gin}. Ya'll be good and lots of hugs. G'nite.

 

Rudolph Day - Christmas in July 2014

Good evening, big surprise as I'm back with a 2nd post today. Have been working on cards hoping to get ready in time to submit to the Rudolph Day Challenge  hosted by Our Miss Sarn over at Stamping for Pleasure.  Rules are pretty simple, and are posted at the top of Sarn's blog. The Challenge is open beginning the 25th of each month and ends the last day of the month. There must be 2 festive cards, but can be duplicates if you like. The Rudolph Day Challenge is a super way to build a stash of Christmas cards too.

Here goes:

- Focal image is from a recycled card received years ago  ...die cut with a pierced square. Snippet of gold glitter paper was die cut with a Lil Inker stitched square (center portion removed).

- Blue background (sort of a snippet from the next card) was embossed with a new Bon Jour Couture Creations folder (bottom portion only) that was seen here. Loved the look and Googled the folder name - found it at Crop Stop * (check bottom of post for a coupon code from Crop Stop)*.  Sponged Gold Delicata ink around the edges & some of the embossing with a finger dauber.

- another tiny snippet of some VOS (very old stuff) was cut in half to fill in the edges of the card base so the white didn't show. I can see that I need to do a little trim at the top left edge. Isn't it so aggravating that you don't notice this kind of thing until you see in the photo when doing the post...but maybe that just happens to ME!

- Oval punched sentiment came from the same card, and was sponged around the edge with Delicata ink.
 Next up:

- Image has been stamped for quite a while, but think it was an Inkadinkadoo stamp done with Memento Danube Blue, heat embossed with clear powder. Since the image is so detailed, chose to keep the card simple. Die cut with a classic circle S/B that fit (for the most part) the shape.

- Blue mat is also the card base, and was die cut with a Lil Inker circle die, with the hinge at the top.(left over bit was used on the card above).

- Elizabeth Craft sentiment from a sliver snippet of silver glitter paper.(can you say silver sliver snippet 3 times, real fast? - this was a very tiny piece that should have been tossed. Came in handy though.)

The hardest part of this card was finding a circle that would cut the image and not cut away too much of the design.

So off we go to link up at Rudolph Day,July 2014 and since there's some snippets on each card, I'm going to play over in the Snippets Playground, Week 135. Ya'll c'mon and let's play!

*Crop Stop has some great embossing folders, but is now beginning to sell the gorgeous Sue Wilson dies. After my last purchase of the Bon Jour EF & some Wilson dies, Miss Haylie Jo visited my blog and happened to see the post on Chuck the dachshund. She is a doxie owner too, and very generously offered my readers a coupon code - CHUCK - for 10% off your orders for the remainder of 2014. There's also free shipping with a minimum order, so check the tab with Shipping & Returns info. Crop Stop does international shipping as well. All my orders have arrived most promptly and if an item is back ordered, I get an email with the information - which I find helpful. Again, just doing my part to enable anyone who needs more enabling! Haylie Jo is the kind person who found the Kars Falling Snow embossing folder for me, when I couldn't find one anywhere else. She just happened to have one left - although it wasn't shown on the site. I emailed the contact info, asking if anybody knew where I could purchase this folder. Haylie sent it to me - bless her sweet heart! That's my kind of customer service. (and no I'm not being paid to say any of this either!!!!)

Christmas Club - Trees

Happy Sunday and thanks for joining me. Today is the bi-monthly Christmas Club Challenge (or as my British friends say fortnightly) and the lovely Sylvie selected the theme of Trees - anywhere on a card. So here's what I chose to create:

- Background is a sprayed piece, actually sort of a left over experimental piece when I was working with some gold sprays and some green sprays that I had made using acrylic paint (a note of warning about that at the end of the post)*. Embossed with the C/B EF Christmas Ribbons.

- WorldWin textured paper die cut with S/B A2 Card Creator Filigree Delight.

- Christmas Tree EF on green paper, fussy cut out the tree shape so that it could be mounted on foam tape for some dimension. Sprayed with a gold spray and then added gold pearls for decorations.

- Star was from glitter paper using a tiny punch.

- Elizabeth Craft sentiment using a snippet of gold paper.

This card did not finish as had been envisioned at the beginning of the process. But I rather liked the end result after all. The Christmas Club members are listed on the blog sidebar, so if time allows, check out their tree creations. I assure you, the time will be well spent.

For all of you who liked the front porch, you're welcome to set a spell anytime, swing or rock as you prefer. Right now, the best time to enjoy the space is late evenings, around dusk. When it cools off, any part of the day is a good time to sit there, read or drink something, visit with a neighbor who comes by, or just watch the world go by. Our neighbors have some lovely trees that the birds really like. (They also love the white bannisters on the porch too. They seem to think it is a bulls-eye target just for their own personal enjoyment!)

Thanks for joining me today, and lots of cyber hugs.''

*The thickened acrylic paint that I had mentioned, that got mixed with some water & put in a spray bottle, can cause some clogging of the nozzle. Especially if not used frequently and the residue stays in the tiny spray opening. And especially if that paint has some glitter product added to the paint for shimmer. Just thought I'd make that report. I'm soaking a cap to try to clear it right now.

Square Pansies

Good evening Friends and welcome. Been a busy day with an early start to shop at Costco for some metal shelving. We've had some ratty old wooden bookcase type shelving that came from various garage sales, and DH decided we should get some metal shelving units that we had seen at Costco. We had bought a couple of these a few months ago to organize some of the garage items that all of us have. So this afternoon has been putting shelves together, moving items off the old ratty shelves so that the unit could be pulled away, the new nice clean shelves put in place, and the storage items replaced. And trying to keep like items together on a shelf - even though they won't stay that way long!

Here's a card finished last night.

The flower squares were salvaged from old greeting cards that I've been sifting through in the cleanup project. Simply cut these out, shaded with copics to make fairly pale flowers a bit more colorful. Lined the edges with a black spica pen. Created the punch out mats with plain ole white Canson #90 paper, using DI colors of Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean and Dusty Concord. Then spritzed the sponged paper with some gold Tattered Angel spray, let that dry, and punched with a square punch that fit with the pansy square shape. The card should have been a bit wider & this would have looked better. White card stock is WorldWin textured paper, partial embossing on top and bottom with the favorite C/B dots folder, leaving a center space for the squares. Used the Scor-buddy to do the embossed lines shown. Easy-Peasy.

Smile sentiment is from Memento dies found at Hobby Lobby, done with a black snippet.

As promised, took some snapshots of the front porch swing I sometimes mention and the opposite end of the porch where we have the requisite rocking chairs so beloved by us Southerners.

- the opposite end of the porch, and yes we do sit in the chairs to rock & watch the world go by.
Seeing these pictures made me realize how much this porch needs a good clean, but that will have to wait for cooler weather.  The geranium by the front door is over 4 years old. It lives in the garage in winter, where it is forgotten for weeks at a time All I do is clip it back drastically when we take it off the porch. Never expect it to survive, but it has.  The angel wing begonia at the far end has managed to last 3 years so far.

- on the back porch - which is a small part of the back deck which is enclosed by screening - there is a pretty white hibiscus that is 2 years old, a gift from our neighbor. Has had some wonderful big blossoms this summer, and still has some buds to bloom. The lovely Easter lily was from Sweetie for Mother's Day last year. When it blooms, the fragrance is blissful. We kept these 2 plants the past winter, again trimmed back aggressively. Not sure we'll try this year, as the dirt is full of ants. Anybody know how to eliminate the ants before storing for the winter? Don't want to infest the garage with them, as they will migrate into the house. We've tried putting some ant traps on top of the dirt, but the ants seem to love it. When watering, you can see the little critters just scrambling up the branches from the dirt.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures; now you can picture where we could sit, drink some good ole cold ice tea, and just swing away! Thanks for your visit, and come again when you can set a spell! Happy Weekend. Hugs & Blessings.

Dylusions Sprays and Another Palm Fern

Hello and welcome. As you'll see from today's card, I've been having fun with some Dylusions sprays and that Hero Arts Palm die. I really like the look of that die and have seen that Penny Black has one similar to the Hero Arts die. I've been trying to keep improving on that embed the die technique and the frond in this card was one from an earlier attempt.

- Hero Arts Palm Die cut from a Dylusions sprayed paper using Postbox red, dilutions with white linen, Tangerine, yellows, then sprayed with bronze spray.

- Green mixed media (Canson #90) paper sprayed with various greens - either full strength or diluted with white linen or just plain water. There's a bit of yellow spray created with an acrylic paint mixed with water added in as well. I just play with colors in the family of choice, until I get a result that pleases me. Sometimes I spray the paper first with a spritz of water, sometimes I don't. I wear some Dollar store latex gloves too ---- if I think of it before starting the play.

-S/B curved bracket border die at the bottom.

- under side of the die cut was created with spraying some reds & bronze over a snippet of white Canson. There's a bin of old tissue dress patterns sitting by the airbrush table (part of the reorganization and finding another place to store these old patterns). A loose piece caught my eye, so took it, crumpled it well & dabbed into the wet sprayed red. Then decided to try spreading the crumpled piece into the wet & let it dry to see what effect it would make. Sprayed it with another coat of the bronze, and left it to dry overnight. Not sure I like it here, but I do plan to try some embossing paste, color that and then apply some of the crumpled tissue into the wet paste to see what happens!

Think this will be another family birthday card, but sentiment will get added later.

Thanks for spending some time here today, and come again when you can. Hugs & Blessings. Have a great afternoon.

Stamp Scape and Pencil coloring

Hi Ya! Welcome and thanks for popping by today. This is another scheduled post...so here goes:

- Stamp Scape image colored with Colorsoft pencils on matte paper. This was a small bit of cardstock that folded to make a 3.5x3.5 square card. Birds drawn with a Copic black multiliner pen, and white gel pen for highlights on trees and rocks.

- card base covered with some Paper Studio DP with center die cut using a square S/B die. The first opening frame didn't look 'just right', so using 2 sizes of the square S/Binders, die cut another frame. Bottom portion of the frame is covering up the reflections & ripples I attempted in the water, but also  hides the ragged edges of the picture on the sides.

A sentiment will be added at a later date.

Been a while since I tried using pencils. Sometimes I get very discouraged trying to blend with pencils! But I try again at another time after I've seen something on a blog that was done with pencils and looks so great. I know it takes practice...

Have a great afternoon, and thanks for your visit. We're still working on the basement reorg project. Hugs

Butterflies are Free - Spots and Stripes

Hey Again. Finally got a chance to join in Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge, and this week's theme is
Spots and Stripes+Butterflies.  Each Butterfly challenge I've wanted to play along, but other things just get in the way. Doing a few scheduled posts freed up a little window where a butterfly card could come together with some new Memory Box dies that arrived a few weeks back. Here's the card:

- sprayed spots & stripes background created from white cardstock, using Dylusions sprays, Tattered Angels sprays and some acrylic paint diluted mixture . (supplies in the pic below). Stamping done with Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink (creamy brown & wisteria) using Impression Obsession Cover a Card Thick & Thin (CC008)- stripes with creamy brown; overstamping with CAC CC003-Dots in wisteria. Cut the piece in 2 sections. Burlap & silk wide ribbon glued to center of a folded cream card. Each section of the spots & stripes glued over this ribbon.

- MB Floating Butterflies Background (98991) diecut from another sprayed white c/s - but this piece was stamped with Hero Arts F5584 Single Starburst using Magenta Maya Arts Gold Paint. A dollop of this rather thick paint was put on the non-stick mat and diluted with water, then the stamp inked & stamped. My first time using this process, so I need to work on getting this diluted texture done better, as it stamped out a bit goopy. Once this dried, the butterfly background was die cut.

- MB Floating Butterflies (98978 - an outline) was die cut from a lavender cardstock. First tried cutting this die with a beautiful shimmer sheetz product. Did not cut well, so will have to be fussy cut and I think it will be an 'entire piece' not just the outline. You'll see it on another project I expect! Applying glue to the skinny outline was the hardest part of this card. The thin outline piece wanted to stretch out of shape as glue was applied, my fingers got sticky and then it was a bear to try to get placed properly over the outline. I am trying to think of how I could have used the Sookwang tape to do this bit, but the lightbulb hasn't gone off yet.

_ Elizabeth Craft die sentiment from same lavender card stock.

So off I go to link with Mrs. A's Spots & Stripes Butterfly Challenge. Won't you join in???
Thanks again for your visit today. Come again when you can. Hugs.

Supplies to create card backgrounds

about 2 tablespoons of the Ivory acrylic paint mixed with water in spray bottle. Added a few drops of the Dylusions Coffee spray that had already been diluted with water in another spray bottle. Tattered Angels sprays were Crème de Cacao and Apricot. sorry...Butternut Squash! These sprays created a lovely café au lait colored background that has a lot of sparkle IRL.

PS: I totally forgot to say Winner #2, Follower 43, Sheila of  lala crafts contacted me yesterday and her little surprise package was mailed off this afternoon. Congratulations, Miss Sheila, and I hope you enjoy the goodies.

Chuck the Dachshund

Hi there and a big welcome for joining me today. This will be a scheduled post, so right to the card we shall go:

- image is Great Impressions stamp that DH bought after DD took custody of her FIL's Dachshund (Charlie) when he had to go into a care facility. We didn't think Charlie (whom we think is more of a 'Chuck' personality) would survive long because of grieving for his master. Surprisingly he is flourishing as DD has 3 greys and is very meticulous with her dogs' care. There's probably lots of children that don't get this kind of loving care! Chuck does have some black spots - which this guy doesn't (yet---  but he may eventually!) and he loves to bark. He thinks he is a youngster now, even though he's pretty old in dog years, and it's so funny to watch him romping with the 2 younger greys. Those stubby little legs really scamper along. DD's vet discovered Chuck had diabetes, which requires shots & special food; most of his teeth had to be extracted by the vet due to the diabetes going undiscovered & untreated for a long time. He loves to sneak over and snarf up anything the greys leave in their bowls, so he has to be fed, then put in his kennel at food times. Really cute to watch him.

- S/Binders die cut of the image placed atop a snippet of a Sue Wilson die used on this card. Card base background is from a 6x6 WeR Memory Keepers Anthologie, and the tracks piece was made using a Kaiser craft clear texture stamp. Inked the stamp with a Fluid Chalk blue, stamped a row, then reinked with a green shade, inked again, overlaying one row of the blue, ending with a 2nd row of blue. I liked this stamp for the ease of seeing the placement of the stamp. What I didn't care for, with the Fluid Chalk ink, is that the ink got on the clear plastic base of the stamp and had to be carefully wiped away prior to stamping. Another type of ink might not have done this so badly.

- tiny strip of the Anthology paper left from trimming to fit the card front was adhered in the curve of the Kaiser Craft piece, which was trimmed with a S/B border die.

A sentiment will be added at a later date. Expect this will be a card for DD.

Hope you enjoyed saying Hi to Chuck. Come again when you can set a spell, have some good iced tea and we'll just swing a while on the front porch. Hugs & Blessings.

Dreamweaver Brass Stencil Cameo Head Hello

Good afternoon and welcome. Firstly, warm welcomes to a new follower, Diane H. of  Nellies Nest. Thanks so very much for becoming a new follower.

Secondly, Follower #89 (this post) did not contact me in the specified amount of time, so Mr. RG came back on the job, and selected another follower for a little surprise. Follower #43, Sheila of lalacrafts was RG's choice this time around. So hopefully Sheila will contact me by July 22 (48 hrs from today) to give me her mailing info and I can send her a little surprise.

OK, on with today's card. I've seen brass stencils used for embossing for quite a while, but just never got around to trying this. All the videos I've seen show using a plumber's red rubber mat 'thing-y' to emboss with, and we've never bought this plumber's kit that is shown. Decided why not just try the tan embossing mat I use with everything, so I did. Took me a couple of tries to get the sandwich right (cause I'd forget the stacking order I'd see in the videos by the time I actually got around to trying this!)*

- Embossed a white piece, trimmed out the cameo head section. Very fussy cutting too. Embossed a black textured paper for the background, as I love black & white cameos. I've always thought they were such a genteel, old fashioned look.  Trimmed the oval embossing with tiny pearls - which keep coming off even though they are supposed to be adhesive! Also kept thinking the head looks 'crooked' until I looked at the stencil again. I knew I had the piece straight going through the Big Shot!

-matted on a textured silver snippet and then on a Heartfelt Decorative Window Die because I thought the cameo needed some frills around the plain mat.

- Background created with a white index card (which just happened to be handy and it worked fine). Used Dylusions Slate gray diluted with water then diluted with white linen. The pink spray was made using some acrylic paint which had thickened so much as to be unusable, but a few blobs in the bottle - adding some water, makes a fine spray - just shake it well first. Added some irResistible Silver spray - again shake well. The pink added just a touch of color and the irResistible created some nice blotches. Embossed this piece after it dried with C/B Anna Griffin Piroutte EF. Used a sponge to dab over some Fluid Chalk Charcoal Gray just to bring up the embossing a bit.

- S/B curved border to shape the edge of the card and another border cut some black to go on the inside edge.

*Here's the order embossing was done: Stencil on the cutting plate - face up, covered by card stock. Tan rubber mat, 2nd cutting plate. Used the Big Shot Multipurpose Platform, with all tabs lifted out of the way. I tested the sandwich with one tab down as a shim, the machine didn't want to push it through, so lifted that tab out of the way, and then the sandwich went through more easily. It felt 'tight' but crankable without damaging the machine. Suggest if you try this, test your own cutting machine carefully, and if the sandwich seems too 'thick', try it without any tabs down & use shims if you need to. I've seen videos where the stencils were used with Cuttlebugs too.

Have a wonderful Sunday afternoon and I'm off to get some scheduled posts ready. We really need to get back to the basement project and get some more organizing done. It's a slow process! Thanks for joining me this afternoon. Hugs & Blessings.

Fern Birthday with Snippets

Good afternoon. Remember this card? Had to scrap #1 effort but I salvaged the fern die cut from the sprayed background. There was a cut out snippet from removing the center part of another sprayed background and finally had a chance to put the two pieces together. So this one is really made up of snippets!

- Hero Arts Palm die, from Dylusions sprayed background. (Yes I think it could be called a snippet - well a leftover anyway)

- S/B Adorning Labels 25 (I think!) from another Dylusions created background. (snippet)

- back ground was cut from the same 6x6 pack as this card - so not really a snippet. Used DI Wild Honey & Spiced Marmalade to sponge over the dp, to change the brightness to work better with the tones of the fern and green piece -  then embossed with a leafy fern EF.

- sentiment stamped from a small white snippet, in Wild Honey, punched with an SU oval punch.

Once I found all the elements - this one came together fast. Another August birthday card done, except for the inside. May decide to add some rhinestones or pearls below the stamped sentiment.

Have a grand evening, and as always thanks so much for stopping in to visit, hope you liked the card, and come again when you can 'set a spell'. Hugs

PM Edit: Since this was a scheduled post for 7-17 afternoon, and since the Snippet Playground for Week 133 is still open, and since I can submit 3 cards and I _have_ done a lot of visiting to 'play nicely' - I'm going to jump over the pond and say Hey to Parsnip with this snippety card! There's some nice prizes and you can submit up to 3 cards for a chance to win. So you still have time to hunt up those snippets and play along. Not to mention seeing some very inspirational cards too.

As a chuckle to those of you who said you showed the In Process craft project to your hubbies: I'm lucky that DH doesn't say too much - only when I get after him about his 'schtuff'. I've been very blessed with every hobby I've tried, that he's been encouraging - not to mention enabling too.For anyone who wants to come play, you will certainly be most welcome, and I would absolutely LOVE it. It's exciting to meet someone you've known in Blogland. It's happened to me a couple of times and it was just grand. So come ahead. Our Upstate city has a very nice airport, so far still small enough to get around easily, but {sigh} it is being enlarged.  I expect it won't be quite so convenient once all that gets done...we're told the project will take at least 5 years.

Organizing Space

WARNING: Picture heavy!

Hi - back again, with the promised pictures of what is currently in progress in one of our basement rooms. But before I share the pictures, let me share that today is the birthday of one of our wonderful Bloggers, known to so many of us: Bonnie of Stamping with Klass. If you have a few minutes, do go over and enjoy some stunning cards by Miss Bonnie, and leave her some birthday love.

Now for the pics (don't laff too hard, it's still quite a mess.) This all started when I asked if DH could fix a table that is high enough for me to sit comfortably and have my Genesis cutter in a more comfortable location for me. Where it lives currently is just fine for an occasional trim, but there's stacks of 12x12 that need to be trimmed to fit in folders that will hang in a new filing cabinet that you'll see. I can't stand that long without my back getting angry with me - good excuse for procrastination, no? Anyway, there was a table top being used in the garage and he decided to buy some metal legs which would make the table high enough for a stool to enable me to sit. Methinks it may have been cheaper in the long run to just 'go buy something', but this occupied him with many trips to our local home improvement center, working with his drill, etc. And I got something workable from his idea. Here we go:

 

 

The metal legs made the table as high as the airbrush table to the left. The leg underneath the table will be added at the back to add more stability - which I don't think is necessary...but I'm not arguing with him. As you can see, there's still mess on the top and underneath. I'm thinking I'll set the sewing machine I occasionally use for card stitching on this table - as well as the Genesis cutter. There's precut holes in this thick top for electrical cords too. The white file cabinet to the right is one found at a thrift store, painted white, put on rollers so I can move it about easily. To the right of the cabinet is a bookcase which was already in the room, but lots of the books have been donated, and some seasonal MS punches are on the shelves.

 



Airbrush area to the right of new table -  with sprays, pan pastels, compressors, copic refills and the stool that can move from the air brush table to the cutting table as needed. Holding up this table top  are 2 very old bookcases scrounged from an estate sale up in New England. The top was another salvaged item.  Bookcases are handy for storing SU cases of stamps, some craft books, and other items which desperately need a sort through. The stacked pizza boxes are meant to contain overspray but usually I don't bother.

When I mention the small windows in our basement, here is one of them in this room. These are set in the walls at ground level, so don't allow much light into the room. The basement was constructed of 3 walls of thick solid pour concrete in molds, delivered on flatbed trucks and placed into a prepared trench with a large crane. Coming as we did from Florida, basements were unknown to us, but we've been pleased with this one. DH & a brother finished off the inside and made 2 big rooms, with a full bathroom too.

This view shows the door going into the 'tv room' and the light from the other basement window is reflected up at the top. There's a plastic hanging shoe bag on the door - stores fiskar punches, empty spray bottles and various other supplies that fit in the pockets. On the side walls are Recollection shelves from Michael's that were being discontinued, so got at sale prices. The same type of  Recollection file cabinet shown has some of DH's airbrush stuff, that needs going through and moved. More sprays and paints are kept in these wall shelves.

 

another view of the bookcase with punches, and the table where a lightbox lives (thanks to Cornelia for this super idea, which works great). The table was an island that initially resided in our kitchen upstairs. Got replaced as a kitchen item and found employment in the basement.

 





Better view showing the ott lights for the light box, and all the 'schtuff' on the island shelves. To the right is the very nice file cabinet we discovered when on a recent trip to the local Goodwill store. DH put castors on the bottom so that it can be moved easily. These drawers are going to house the paper supplies, once I can get them trimmed to folder size, assorted by color. Presently the stacks I had piled everywhere are placed inside some of the drawers, so that we didn't have to keep moving piles of paper as we changed things about.

 

 

Better view of the cabinet. The end table was for a bed that was previously here;  has a drawer in it. The tool box was a birthday gift years ago - just for me - and houses cutting plates, extra cutting platforms, etc. On top of the tool box is a dusty Cricut and the stickles holder. Next to this is a very rickety storage shelving unit - purchased for $10 years ago. Now I see them for $69 in places...totally overpriced. It is not sturdy at all, and needs to be propped between something else so that it doesn't tip. I'm glad we only paid $10 for it.  Stamp Scape stamps live in the drawers. An old crock & wicker basket hold rolls of Christmas paper that I had ideas for, which have not come to fruition yet. Also DH's hat rack is still on the wall. In the far corner not shown, is a cubby where he has ballcaps stored.

 

 

Going clockwise around the room from the last view, this is a short wall which is to the left of the basement bathroom.(didn't think that would be of any interest - but you can just see the door molding!)  Another nightstand with some drawers - and another Michaels Recollection shelf sale item. We got 5 of these - going to 3 different stores - when we found the sale. To the right of this view, is the entrance to our basement coming in from the garage, and all the magnets on the metal doors were collected on our travels. The small shelving rack was brought in from the garage and cleaned, will make excellent storage. Same with the white shelving in the foreground. This was another old bookcase from an estate sale, which had been in the garage. Now has large punches, flat EK punches.

 

The white bookcase was placed under a pegboard which had been put up to hold punches..something I saw on a blog. I wish DH had gotten the white pegboard, but he didn't, and I didn't ask him to take it back either!! We used curtain rods for the bars instead of the Ikea racks that I've seen used elsewhere. Works fine, and cheaper too. The hutch and shelving unit were purchased some years ago from a local stamp store that was closing...I think we paid $50 for the set. All the cd's that are in the top shelves are going to be loaded to flash drives - eventually! - and the cd's will be going by-bye..so more storage. The wall behind this area is the stairwell to our main floor.

To the right of the hutch, is another double unit similar to the rickety one...but this one is more sturdy. Has embossing powders, glitters, and the top has whatever didn't get put away. With the vacuum as a wonderful decoration to it all!!! Just haven't put it away yet, as we keep needing it each time we work on this project.

Hope I didn't bore you to death, but at least now when I talk about my basement stamp area, you know what part of it looks like. There's another same size room on the other side of the stairwell, that has our tv room - which has now become my stamp room, and it's in even a worse shape than this area! But one of these days...hopefully...

That's it. Hope you liked the tour and didn't fall asleep. If you've got any good suggestions, feel free to tell me! Hugs and Happy evening. Come again when you can. I'm off to do some visiting of some lovely bloggers.

 

 

 







DeeDee's Digis - So Cool Penguin

Hello and back to share a cute, cool DeeDee's Digi card. It's week 3 over at DeeDee's July Digi of the Month Challenge. Birthday cards are just one of the many ways you could use this month's featured set. Remember, the set -- "So Cool" -- is available for just $1.25 this month, or FREE with your order of $10 or more, and if you link up what you make with it to our challenge post by 2 August, you'll get next month's set for FREE. It's as easy as that to get this cool dude.

Here's how I chose to use chillin' Mr. P - who comes pre-colored, line art if you want to choose your own colors, and various sentiments.

 

 

- Digi printed twice on Neenah paper; one image die cut with S/B Label 5, edged with DI Broken China. Shading on tub and penguin with copics. Cut out the flippers and beak of #2 print, shaped with a medium stylus and reglued for some dimension. Diamond Stickles added to ice cubes to add a chill feel.

 

- background paper from Colorbok Bright Splash water color pack (Note: this is not water color paper, that's just what it was called. This was a $5 12x12 pack found in local Walmart and the colors grabbed my eye). Embossed with Sizzix Swirly Vine - just 'cause it reminded me of wave ripples. Did some DI sponging on the edges and corners with DI Tumbled Glass.

 

- sentiment is from the So Cool set, sponged with the Tumbled Glass, dabbed some Diamond Stickles around.

 

- Bakers Twine glued under the sentiment. Fiskars wave punch from the tiny strip of perforated edge of the DP - where it is fastened into the pack. Was just the right size to fit the punch, and then dabbed on some Diamond Stickles. This was one easy card once I decided where I was going with it. This will be for one of our August family birthdays.

 

Please check out DeeDee's Digi of the Month and start building your collection now! It's that simple.

 

On another note: Remember there was going to be a surprise when the followers list reached 250? Mr. RG selected #89 in the database where I list the names (and the blog link if I can find one) of each 'face' that shows up in the list at the top of the blog. #89 corresponded to Christine H. of  Christine's Cards and Crafts. So Christine, please contact me with your mailing info by July 18 so that I can mail some goodies to you, as a thank you for being such a loyal follower. Comment moderation is on, so if you choose to leave this info as a comment, no one but myself will see your data. If Christine does not respond by July 18, then RG will have another go.

 

 

Now I'm off to do another post with the promised pictures of what we're doing in the basement room for my stamping organization. That will be scheduled later this evening. So big Hugs and have a wonderful Wednesday. God Bless. 

Happy Birthday Flowers

Good evening. Quick post tonight to share a card (not the one I meant to have ready tonight, but at least a post ). Quiet day round our house, not much was accomplished, except a lot of lazy.

I'd like to extend a warm welcome to 2 new followers and thanks so much for becoming followers:

 Terry of A Vintage Journey

Patti of Stationery Styles

Patti was my 250th follower - which is a lovely milestone I never expected to achieve. There will be a little surprise here for someone that Mr. RG selects from that list of followers....(RG=Random Generator). I am so thankful for each follower who chooses to spend some time looking at what is posted here.

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The background was made with a large corner Stacy stamp purchased some years ago. The focal flower is another stamp in the set. Background was stamped on design paper using Memento Gray Flannel; some randomly placed copic coloring with BV0000, BV000 on this background stamping. The dimensional flowers were colored using R20, BV0000, BV000, and darker BV shades for a little contrast. Leaves were done in YG colors. WoStella was used on some of the blossoms.

Butterflies are from a Memory Box die Kensington Branch, and the butterflies were separated as needed. Die cut using white snippet  and colored with copic BV darker colors, then overlaid with Wink of Stella. The tiny flowers and stems in the grass were from the same die cut, and flowers were colored with purple Wink of Luna.

Grass is an Impression Obsession die(snippet), and sentiment is Elizabeth Craft, colored with copics. Easy card to make and I liked the effect of stamping on the yellow patterned paper (also a snippet - albeit a larger size - from a piece of Colorbok Water Color 12x12 theme pack).

When I trimmed out the focal image, I didn't want to try to use an exacto knife in the little bits, so colored those with yellow copics so it would not stand out white against the yellow background.

I did take a couple of photos of the re-organizing project in the basement area this afternoon. Hopefully if it's quiet tomorrow, I can get the pictures off the camera and share them. The area is still a bit chaotic, but I think it's going to work better for me.

Have a great evening and come again when you can. Hugs & Blessings to each of you.

I see that the gates of the Snippets Playground Week 133 are still open, and since there are several snippety bits on this card, I'm dashing over to see Parsnip. Who - if you don't know him - is THE cutest little cuddly bear. You really ought to dig out some snippets, make a card, and come meet Little Parsnip. You'll also get to enjoy some beautiful cards & projects done by some super lovely & talented people.

Christmas Teddy

Good evening and thanks so very much for all the wonderful thoughts & wishes for our anniversary yesterday. It was a quiet day, but pleasant. DH did some moving around in the garage yesterday - cleaned out some bookcase type affairs. This afternoon, we dusted those out, and moved some into my stamp area. I had other things I wanted to do today, but hey, I don't turn down help when it is offered. I've been wanting a higher table for my Genesis cutter, as standing for long periods of time makes my back unhappy. DH used a heavy counter-top that had covered some cabinets, added some metal legs to the height that I need for comfort..and soon my cutter will have a new home. All of my punches can rest in the new bookcases - where I'm trying to arrange these by season. The table is high enough I can store plastic boxes of 'stuff' under it, and still leave a space for a sit stool. The table is next to the air brush table, which has a high stool, so that can serve both places.  I'll try to take some pictures of the re-arranged area and share. It's not 'pretty', but I think it's going to work better for me. (nothing matches and I'm not the greatest decorator/room arranger either).

SIL took us out to dinner last night (DD is in Fla, but called later in the evening). We had come home for dessert and the fellas watched Gravity - which is not my kind of movie. Today we spent moving things around in what used to be a basement bedroom. Gave away that bed and now it's MY room. I was gradually encroaching on the room anyway, but it's great to not have to pile stuff on the bed.

Today's theme for our bi-monthly Christmas Card Club was chosen by our sweet Miss Sue P. and she selected Teddies. Ok by me, as I knew exactly the Ted I wanted to use. (oh yes, Miss Sue had a birthday yesterday too - so Happy Birthday Sue.)

Here goes:

- PBlack Give Us a Kiss image, colored with copics and WoS. Hat fur is Sparkle n Sprinkle Twinkling Clouds - which works great for snow. Also added to the snow where Ted is standing. Ted looks a little moth-eaten in the photo, but I used the image on the stamp as a guide for coloring.

- Cottage Cutz holly flourish, from green glitter paper, shaded just a bit with dark green copic, berries colored with a red Smooch. (it looks dark in the photo, but is a ruby red color IRL; the holly shading is not that dark either).

- IO snowflake die from silver glitter paper.

- holly paper from a 6x6 BoBunny Rejoice Collection from stash. Opening die cut with S/B Label 4.

- red & white dot paper from 6x6 Pebbles Welcome Christmas paper. Opening die cut with S/B Gold Label 4. Edged with gold WofLuna, 2 coats. Dried, then edged with a Pentel fine tip gold pen.

- SU punch for the sentiment, then used the same punch on the holly paper, cut in half, to add to each end for a matting look.

You can find the links to the other members of this Christmas Card Club in the sidebar, so do please give them a visit for some great Christmas inspiration. As always, thanks for spending some time with me this evening. Have a great week, and many hugs.

Happy Anniversary

Good Morning and thanks for stopping in for a visit on a Saturday morning. We've have a pleasant few days...lunch out with old high school friends, lunch out with some relatives. Naps in the heat of the afternoon.

Yesterday we took a drive to a little town about 60 miles away to a vacuum dealer to order a replacement part for one of our canister vacuums. There's an Amish restaurant about 15 miles further away, so we drove there for a late lunch. (does it sound as though we do lots of lunches? We do, and then have a very light supper - or depending on how late, we may just skip dinner. Love those days! I don't have to think of what to prepare). Late last night, sat out on the front porch swing in the quiet, looking at the beautiful moon. With a glass of something cold. Today is a milestone for us, as it's our 51st wedding anniversary.

Edit: in answer to several comments, we were 19 yrs old (much too young & immature). The fact that we stayed together this long, is due to a Higher Power than our own efforts!!! Had good times AND bad times. Looking back, the good outweighed all the bad stuff, and we have a beautiful daughter. We've been richly blessed in our lives together as a family. And I'm truly thankful.

So here's the card I made for DH:

 

 

- PBlack slapstick Entwined stamp, with Memento Tuxedo Black on Xpress snippet, colored with 

copics and WoStella, fussy cut.

- Sue Wilson Creative Expressions California die, Basic Frame used to cut out the sprayed background (picture of background piece below).

- previously created Dylusions background (?snippet?) which was just large enough to frame the 2 previous layers. Punched with an MS hearts corner punch, and leftover heart bits glued to the corners. {since it's an anniversary card :-) }.

- card base paper was purchased at a Hobby Lobby found on our rambles yesterday and our vehicle seldom passes a Hobby Lobby, Michaels or A C Moore in a new area without automatically turning in for a visit. There was a Michaels in the little town too, but it was getting late. This happened to be a very nice H/Lobby store too, better than the one in our little town.

- sentiment from an Elizabeth Craft die (Happy Birthday) and a Joanna Sheen die (Anniversary). Used snippet from the created background to die cut this part. The dies seemed to be a compatible size to work ok together.

Here's what the background looked like before cutting:

 

 

 

- the paper was a heavier weight rather glossy finish paper. It was just a piece found on the air brush table, so since I was experimenting with the colors, I used it. First dabbed swirls of the metallic green acrylic paint with a sponge, spraying another shade of diluted green paint over the sponging. This particular green had a very shimmery turquoise appearance when it was diluted...which surprised me. Then sprayed some of the pink spray- more acrylic dilution. We have bottles of acrylic paint that have thickened, and just decided to mix in some water to see what would result. A tiny bit of paint with a lot of water has rendered these sprays useable again. Then sprayed some Tattered Angels in silver (which created the dark splotches because I didn't shake it up enough at first), then some Verdegris.  Went back over the piece after it dried with more of the pink.  Also used the Iridescent shimmer molding paste with a Penny Black flower stencil to create a pattern, and this effort didn't turn out too well. As I lifted the stencil, some of the flowers smudged. All was not wasted though, since none of the smudges showed in the die cut. Used the section with the iridescent paste in the sentiment, and that's the silvery effect visible in the letters. Let me add, I use light latex gloves when I'm playing with these inks, since I dislike getting my hands all dirty!!!

 

Hope you enjoyed seeing the process, and that you enjoy the card. I think DH liked it. Usually if he doesn't care for a card, his comment will be "It doesn't look like you". Hmmmm....makes me wonder what he thinks I look like, huh? Ya'll have a grand weekend, and tomorrow is Christmas Card club! Hugs. 



 

2nd Edit:  Since Week 133 at the Snippets Playground just opened the doors, and since this was posted this morning...I'm linking over at Pixie's Snippet Playground week 133. Won't you join in the fun? I'm sure you have snippets that could be used in a project, and that's the passport that gets you into the Playground.

 



Please Help - Thinking of You

Hello, dear blogging friends.
I copied & pasted a post from  Designing Keepsakes by a fellow Design Team Member, Donna H. I'm doing my part to pass this message along.  If you feel you can participate in this request, please contact the email link below to get the mailing address.
Thank you in advance! Hugs
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One of our blogging-paper-crafting-friends, Sue Drees, recently shared some sad news.

 

Her sister, Edith, fell on June 22, and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. On June 25, the tumor was successfully removed. However, the biopsy brought back devastating news - a fast growing Brain Cancer. Sue's sister is determined to fight this all the way. She began physical rehabilitation on

July 4.

Sue and Edith both live in the North East (USA). Sue and her husband transport Edith's husband to the hospital each day and check up on changes and quality of care.

While Sue did not ask for help, others kept in touch with her and asked if Edith would enjoy receiving cards of encouragement and support.

Sue was so grateful that the on-line community might help in this way - it was something she had not considered.

Edith enjoys quilting and LOVES flowers! Edith's beloved fur baby is a little pug and they miss each other very much.

Will you please consider sending a note, tag, or card (or two or three?) offering encouragement? Edith valiantly fights other illnesses in addition to this new challenge. She is a very courageous soul.

Cards can be sent addressed to Edith c/o Sue Drees and she will take them daily to the hospital.

To obtain the mailing address, please write:

thinkingofyou@tampabay.rr.com

Thank you for making a difference in one person's life, by bringing in a little sunshine.

If you'd like to post this information on your own blog, feel free to copy and paste it into a post.  The more people we reach, the more cards will be there to encourage Edith in her fight.  And if you believe in the power of prayer, add Edith to your daily prayers.  I'm keeping her in mine.  :-D

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Our cable provider was down for phones, internet AND television most of today, so this post is a bit late. Here's my card for Edith:

 

 

- image is an oldie Art Impressions (M2608), copic coloring on an Xpress snippet, MFT pierced circle die, and over painted with Liquid Pearl paint diluted just a bit with a water brush. It has a nice shimmer IRL.  

 

- card front is Colorbok Watercolor theme paper (snippet), embossed with a new Life Style textured EF.

 

- corrugated paper from DCWV Spring & Summer Corrugate Stack.

 

- sentiment stamped on a yellow snippet from the same Watercolor pack, using Fluid Chalk Prussian Blue, as was the stitched scalloped border. Flowers were punched from the same snippet with small punches. All came from different portions of a small mottled yellow snippet left from another project. I'm not the greatest with making flowers, but keep trying now & again.

 

Off to Snippet Playlground Week 132 to see what that group of talented folks are up to. Won't you come along and join in the fun? Have a wonderful evening, and blessings & hugs! Thanks for the visit.

July 4th - Happy Birthday America

Hey again, and thanks for visiting today on my 2nd post. I expect you're getting sick of the 4th of July cards, but heck, that's what I was working on, so that's what I have to share just at the moment. This will be a scheduled post, as I hope by the time it goes live, I will be sitting out in the front porch swing, with a cool glass of something nice, watching the start of the local fireworks. Usually we have a nice display to enjoy from our porch and don't have to fight traffic to go anywhere.

Here's the next up card:

- image is House Mouse, pretty old, as it was purchased when we still had a local stamp store. Stamped with Memento Tuxedo black, colored with copics, spica pens, a bit of WoS;  used a gold Koh-I-Noor pencil over the ends of the brushes (is that called the ferrule?) - then a yellow spica for shine, came back with clear WoS for _more_ shine.

- Lil Inker stitched die for the main image.

- Lil Inker Cover up die Stitches & Stripes on the red background. Did not use a lot of pressure with this die to get more of an embossed design rather than have it 'cut through'.

- Lil Inker stitched banner die traced & extended to fit the computer generated sentiment, so it's minus the stitching.

Edit: a sweet blogger just let me know that the House Mouse card was eligible over at the House Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge Anything Goes #HMFMC173, so this card will be linked there.
Thanks Gail for letting me know about this challenge.

Here's one more 4th of July card:

This one has another  DeeDee's Stitchy Stars along with some patriotic themed papers from a BoBunny 6x6 pack - (NBUS from last year?). Gold Krylon on the star edges,  Glossy Accents on the heart trim, tiny button on the quilt square - popped it up on foam.

- Border edges from an MS border punch, with some red checked ribbon from stash.

- filigree shape at the bottom and under the star is a new Creative Expressions by Sue Wilson, Valencia from the Spanish Collection (CED1204)- Die #2. The shape is quite large; snipped it in half, put half over the red stripe at the bottom. Have been seeing a lot of the international bloggers using these gorgeous dies, but just now finding them available here in the USA. (That could just be where I'm looking!)

Ellen Hutson is having a 20% sale for the 4th of July - starting today, and has some of the Sue Wilson dies in stock (and some coming soon). Betcha can't guess what I ordered, can ya, can ya???! I was BADDDD!

 

 

Had to go back to check that this card was not previously shared.

 

- Image is Art Gone Wild, copic coloring. White gel pen on the stars, then WoS for shine. Edges sponged with DI Antique Linen, again lightly with Tea Dye.

 

- star shaped buttons from stash (ha! remembered I had these - then had to find them).

 

- Lil Inker stitched die banner traced and extended to fit the computer generated sentiment. Same DI colors to tone down the white.

 

- Red textured Bazzill card front - corners from a Sue Wilson Die, either Valencia or Cordoba.

 

Whew, I think that's the last of the 4th of July cards. Now I can start working on birthday cards, and give a thought to autumn and Halloween!

 

Thanks for your visit, and have a great evening. See ya soon. Blessings & Hugs.

 



Happy Birthday, Our Darnell

Good morning...Happy 4th of July to those who celebrate this USA holiday, and also a BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY to someone who is very special to all of us in Blogland...Miss Darnell. Darnell celebrated a birthday on July 2, but I didn't have a card ready in time for that day. There's a big card party going on over at MASKerade where you can send a Cyber card to Our Darnell. So I got busy with a new die. I've been seeing a technique all over the internet - and liking - embedding a positive die shape into a negative die shape.  Decided to try this new die, and probably was over ambitious. Took me a couple of tries to get it right. Here's the card, then I'll tell you about my adventures in achieving the final result...

- Die is by Hero Arts, Palm. As you can see, the little fronds are a bit fiddly. The new die cut like a charm...but it was what I attempted that caused me problems.

Sprayed #90 Canson Mixed Media paper with Dylusions greens, yellows and some gold - let it dry. Did the same with another piece using Dylusions reds, tangerine, yellow, gold and then a rich copper. Was so pleased with the dried results...fantastic marbling. Die cut both pieces. Here's where the fun began. I had been reminded of a UTEE technique when I saw this tutorial over at Always with a Heart. Decided to try this technique with the Palm die cut...embossed it 3 times and got a lovely sheen to the piece. Also managed to drop the die face down on the floor with the embossing powder on the 2nd try. Didn't hurt the die cut, but I got the gritty embossing powder all over the floor. OK, it was looking good, and I was just feeling so pleased. Then..comes inserting the die piece into the negative, and no way would it fit! Evidently the embossing, heating, etc. altered the shape just slightly enough that it would not fit into the negative space - which had some sticky tape behind it so that the die would adhere. ERGH! You will remember I've told you that I worked many years at a nuclear power plant, with retired navy guys, right? Well, some of my old vocabulary was revisited when I saw what I had done. I will try the technique again, but methinks it will work better with a 'bulkier' die piece, not one with lots of little fiddly bits to try to fit down.

OK, back to the drawing board, where I sprayed another green background - then a red one. Let those dry naturally to get some nice marbling. Of course my 2nd efforts were not nearly as pretty as the first time. But...I soldiered on. This time no heat embossing, and the die cut fit into the negative piece just like it was supposed to! I had seen this die used in a card on one of the Hero Arts designer's blogs, but I can't remember which blog, so I can credit the designer (of course it was not MY original idea!).

- Sentiment die is a snippet from piece #1 mess up, and the S/B diecut that is behind is from messed up green #1. On a brighter note, the palm diecut from Red #1 is still good, so you'll see that on another card, along with some more of green #1 in the space that was not die cut.  If you look carefully at the colors on the sentiment, you'll perhaps see the differences in the colors from #1 effort & what #2 looked like. Ah, the creative process....

So I'm off to link up at MASKerade and then over to the Snippets Playground, since I do have couple of snippety bits on here.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY - Darnell and America!!

 

 

Ya'll have a great day, and come again when ya can. Blessings.