Worn Shoes Birthday

Cheerio on a sunny Thursday afternoon and welcome to 2 lovely new followers:
Nadine of My Scrap'n'Stuff and Nancy of What's on My Kitchen Counter.  Please take a visit & tell these talented bloggers that I sent you to say Hi, and just enjoy a good browse around their blogs. It will be a fun visit I can assure you.

Before I share today's card, let me say that I enjoyed the free workshop by a Silhouette rep sponsored by our local Scrapbook Creations. I'm not very advanced with my usage of the Silhouette Cameo that lives here, but one exciting thing I learned that I want to pass along. Silhouette has a new kind of mat (PixScan) that allows the user to place a 12x12 cardstock on the mat - stamp an image, photo the image either with a digital camera or your smartphone, upload to the silhouette software, and then have the Cameo cut it out. No more fussy cutting. I want to learn to do this! Here's a picture of the mat & I hope I'm not violating any copyright laws with sharing this picture! This mat differs from the regular cutting mat because it has registry markings on it. (I hope I've relayed this information correctly, but I'm sure the Silhouette website has better information on this mat. It's not very expensive either to save a lot of fussy cutting!). I saw the rep do the stamping - then upload and cut out the stamped image, so now just gotta learn myself.

Today's card was done with the Polychromos pencils that I'm trying to learn how to use. I think the pencils worked better for me on this one, but the image was so detailed, I kept to just a neutral palette of colors (beiges, tans & some greens). I tried to go very lightly with the pencil strokes and get the intensity by repeated layers, and not going too hard with the pencil strokes.

- Impression Obsession Worn Shoes, by Gary Robertson, one of my favorite IO artists. Stamped with Versafine Sepia ink, since it was such a detailed stamp. Thought the Sepia would work better with the theme of the image, rather than a harder look with black Versafine.

- colored with Polychromos pencils, distressed with DI Frayed Burlap around the edges after taking the distressing tool around the edges of the trimmed out image.

- mats are snippets of black, gold and green from the snippets box. All underlying areas were removed with a deckled S/B rectangle. The cardbase is kraft.

- Cheery Lynn sentiment die was cut 3 times from a snippet of natural c/s that was the back piece of an old recycled card. Colored with Copics to pick up the tones in the card, then glued together for dimension, and some Glossy Accents added. I'm on the hunt for some less fancy family word dies. This script is not particularly appropriate with the subject matter of the image, but it's the only one I have. As my friend told me yesterday, I _could_ cut out this type of thing on my Silhouette, if I but would!

Woo-Hoo..Just did a quick check and Lil Parsnip is still waiting by the Snippets Playground to let in any latecomers. Since he's a cute little bear-type of fella, I want to go give him a big ole hug, & as there's some snippety bits on this one, I think he'll let me in. C'mon along, if you have time. I KNOW you must have some snippets to use on a card & play with the Snippeteers for Week 139.

Now I must be away to visit some Rudolph Day cards and then back to see some lovely Snippets Playground cards...so off I go. Thanks for stopping in to say Hi. Big Hugs.

Rudolph Day August 2014

Good Evening. I'm not sure just what I've accomplished today, but I know I've been busy all day (and no nap either!). Thanks for joining me, and please help me welcome 2 new followers:

Diana L. of DLART and Kate of I Love Socks and Cards!. Thank you, ladies, for joining here as new followers. I'm so happy to have you along on this journey with me. I hope my readers will pay a visit to both these great blogs and settle in for some wonderful inspiration.

Here's my cards for Rudolph Day, 2014. I got a couple of the card size Die'Sire dies from Crop Stop recently, because I had seen some beautiful cards on some of the UK blogs using these fabulous dies. I used Die'sire Create-A-Card Christmas Dies - Christmas Eve - Veille De Noel. I think I have a learning curve with these dies. This one cut quite well, but didn't emboss as I expected. I suspect it's Operator Error, so I want to see if I can find some video demo's showing exactly how to use these dies properly.

 

 

The Die'sire die cut the silvery-blue glitter paper, but the red background piece was also cut with the same die. The center portion was separated from the red piece, and popped up with mounting tape onto the silver die cut. It's not showing the embossing effect well at all, and I did this the way I usually do. Some Metallic WoLunas were used on the deer, and some red smooch (looks like nail polish).  Another piece of the same red paper was used to cover the white card base, which had to be hinged, as I used an 8.5 x 11" sheet of paper to cut the base. This card is approx. 6x6.

 

- MBox poinsettia- cut twice to add fullness, Impression Obsession holly die, Cheery Lynn holly flourish, red rhinestones for the berries, and Elizabeth Craft sentiment. All these pieces were cut from snippets.

 

This card does NOT do the die justice, but I liked the card.

 





 

Pale green sheet music paper covers the base of this card, with the other red die cut used over the top of music dp. I didn't try to emboss this one.

 

- Wreath & bow were cut from snippets of glitter papers as was the Elizabeth Craft sentiment. The wreath is green glitter paper, but looks a bit minty in the photo.

 

So these 2 cards are off to join the August Rudolph Day Challenge.

 

Tomorrow I'm going with a friend to a Silhouette demonstration (or workshop..not sure what it's properly called.) The Silhouette rep will be at our local stamp store which is about 45 minutes north of where we live.  I don't think we'll be doing any 'work' - but just listening, asking questions, watching. Should be fun. I hope to get caught up with comments on Thursday! Until then, thanks for popping in. Big Hugs. Also many thanks for the support of my 4 TCBH taggees on the 25th. I learned a lot about each one of them, and each had a lovely post I thought. I appreciated them allowing me to tag them for participating in the Hop.

 



Cottage Cutz Scrap Paper Love Birds

Hiya! Thanks for joining me this afternoon, and let me extend a warm welcome to a new follower, Dr. Sonia of Cards, Crafts, Kids Projects. Not only does Sonia have some delicious projects to enjoy, but her young, very talented daughter, also has some lovely things to share as well. Do visit these sweet ladies for a big craft treat.

Also a reminder that today my 3 TCBH taggees will be sharing a biographical post with you, so do please find time to visit Brenda, Veerle  and Irish Cherokee's The Creative Blog Hop. I think you'll love getting to know more about each of these crafters, just as I have done.

EDIT:  I didn't realize that Irish Cherokee's DW (Miss Jill of Ribbon Challenged) was going to do a TCBH post as well. I'm sure IC told me, but sometimes my brain doesn't click in when it should! I just read Irish Cherokee's fabulous post, and then visited Ribbon Challenged too. Don't - please don't - miss reading these 4 extremely wonderful posts of The Creative Blog Hop today. I promise, you will find them very inspiring to read & worthwhile getting to know these talented & passionate crafters!

Here's today's card:

- Cottage Cutz Love Birds die using some of the Dylusions scrap paper - which is a heavier sort of tissue paper that is wrapped around breakable items or sometimes used for stuffing in shipments of craft orders. Not exactly sure what it's called, but I save it to line the table or box, when I'm working with  Dylusions or other sprays. Sometimes the colors left on the paper are so pretty that I just hate to toss in the trash. These birds have been floating around on the desk for months. After die cutting, used Ranger Black enamel to make the eyes (these were just holes and looked rather odd). It took several layers of the enamel to build up enough to look like 'eyes'. After assembling the parts to make each bird, used Glossy Accents on different sections, allowing that section to dry well before proceeding. Birds (could these be rightly called snippets since it was waste paper?) were mounted on another snippet of sponged, embossed white cardstock.

- Cut blue glitter mat to fit the embossed piece, then adhered this to a mustard dot 6x6 paper which covers the card base.

- sticker heart (since it's love birds) and snippet die cut bird house (IO die) from another project.

- lace trim is also a snippet of white lace that had been sprayed for another project. Didn't like the way the colors turned out, so used something else. It was handy, and sort of hides an uneven edge at the bottom of the blue glitter paper! (At least I hope it hides the boo-boo!).

An appropriate inside verse will determine the use for this card. I think it's kinda cute! First time I've  not smeared or smudged something while working with GA.  The die is nice, but the thin paper made it a bit fiddly when trying to adhere and not tear pieces while assembling the birds. The hardened GA made the piece more sturdy when mounting to the background, thankfully.

Thanks for your visit this afternoon. Have a wonderful Monday, and come again when you can. Hugs/

Christmas Card Club -

Good afternoon, and it's my turn to select the theme for our Christmas Club group challenge. Don't think it's a surprise that the cardinal is my favorite bird; they're also very Christmas-y. Any bird could be selected for the theme though and here's what I created for the challenge.

Before I get started, let me say we've been experiencing intermittent internet problems. Our internet & telephone service was down pretty much all day yesterday, & has been fussy today too, so I'm behind in my visiting. I WILL catch up as soon as possible. So don't give up on me!

- Our Daily Bread Designs cardinal stamp, colored with copics, WoS pens for some glimmer, which of course the photo doesn't show. The pens are very nice to use for tiny spaces and easier to control than the brushes are.

-  Sizzix Regal Label die (559202) for the image. Faux mat cut with the same size die from red glitter paper.

- Design paper from MME 'Tis the Season 6x6 pack. Border from S/B Brackets 2 die - the positive shape on the lower edge. Flipped the leftover piece and used that at the top edge. Old lace and some gold trim cover the join. This paper is the back design of the same paper used on the card front.

- card base is Recollection red from a sales pack (5 for $10) at Michael's. The 5.5 x 5.5 card size fit the die cut of the card design without making it look too crowded as would have my usual 4.25 x 5.5 size.

- Sentiment is BoBunny Noel Clearly Stamps (SN683). Used Delicata gold to ink, then heat embossed with Ranger clear fine detail EP. I'm not real happy with the way this turned out. I wanted to emphasize the gold trim. Think clear embossing, heat embossing with Ranger's Queen Gold would have shown up better. Oh well.

Please do check out the other Christmas Club members inspiring cards. Their links are in the side bar.

Also, please don't forget to visit Brenda, Veerle  and Irish Cherokee's The Creative Blog Hop posts tomorrow. I think you'll find that it's lots of fun getting to know more about these 3 extremely talented card makers.

Thanks for visiting this afternoon. Have a Blessed day! Hugs

Sparkle n Sprinkle Kit of the Month - Sunflowers

Happy Saturday! Today's card was sent to a VIP and has been received, so I can share it with you. The card was made with a kit from Sparkle n Sprinkle - the August technique of the month club to which I subscribe. There's a nice video showcasing this month's set.

 

- image stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa and colored with Faber Castel Polychromos pencils. All the cardstock and card base were part of the kit, as was some embossing power and glitter - which I did not use on this card. I added the ribbons, sentiment and the ladybug (a MB die- more about that further on).

Here's what was in the kit.

 

 

 

This is what the 60 pencil set looks like. Dick Blick has the individual pencils available, so if I develop some proficiency with this particular brand, which did blend a bit more smoothly for me, then I may add to the set over time. The colors are very rich and vibrant. Also the nib did not seem to 'wear down' as much as some of the other brands I have. I'm told by folks who have been using them, that the lead doesn't break as easily when they are sharpened. I'll let you know how it works for me.

 

The sunflower colored quite easily and I felt that the shading was ok. Decided to use a light blue to color the background. I didn't get the strokes blended as nicely as I'd wished, so hunted up the Dove blender pen - which was rather dry. I didn't know how to open the end of it to add more blending solution. Had to find a video first! LOL. The cardstock base on which the image had been stamped began to pill up just a bit with the blender pen. I stopped when I saw this happening. The MB lady bug was stamped with a white snippet, colored with copics, added some glossy accents, and I think it covered up the little problem area quite nicely.  If I practice, I think I'm going to like these pencils a bit better than the other brands I've tried to use. My next effort will be using some mixed media or watercolor paper, as I want to see how the Dove blender handles the color on the right kind of cardstock. (that's one of the things in progress - but not ready to share just yet).

 

This will be a scheduled post as I'm trying to catch up on some things: housework and finishing up some commitment cards. And hopefully a little more gelli play. So happy Saturday. Thanks for your visit and Big Hugs.

 



First Gelli Plate Print

Good afternoon Friends and it's been a busy week for us. Lots of medical appointments (for DH), go early, sit & wait. This morning was an 8am appointment to get some results of an earlier test, and guess what? We had the schedule card, but the computer did not list DH's appointment. Sooo...he had to be worked in 3+ hours later. Rather than sit around in a germy office, we left, had breakfast, came home and then returned at the new scheduled work-in time. The results were happily received, and thanks to all who were saying prayers for DH. I know those prayers were heard.

Before I go any further, let me say a big warm Welcome to 2 new followers:

Jacee of Simply Paper and Bea L. from Fall Foods. I hope that Bea's link will work for you, as I had a bit of trouble with this link. Bea is on Google Circles and I'm not able to access her blog that way. I appreciate both of you taking the time to become followers, and sorry I was so slow in introducing you here! Please do take time to visit these fabulous artists.

Also I would like to thank all who left comments on The Creative Blog Hop post. I got some very sweet comments and did those ever make me feel so good. I had 2 bloggers that I tagged, Brenda (Friends Craftin' with Friends) and Veerle(Veerle Her Little Card Corner). Let me add my 3rd taggee, Irish Cherokee (Love the Details). At first Cherokee didn't know if he would have the time to participate, but after my post was published, I got a nice email telling me that circumstances had changed enough that he could play along in TCBH. So here's just a little bit about Irish Cherokee (in his own words). Just FYI, his wife ALSO has a blog.

I have been married for 51 years on the last day of this month. I made an alter call early in my teen years and fully entered as a born again Christian in 1971. I have been devoted to the Lord ever since. I held most jobs in the building trades over the years including licensed plumber, maintenance man in a local bakery, various jobs in stores and temp services. I spent nearly 20 years in the telephone industry. I was a truck driver, lineman and installer until the breakup of this particular telephone company. At that point I transferred to another communications company as a systems installer and later was promoted to a managers job as a technical customer support specialist (essentially a systems trainer & trouble shooter). I was forced to retire due to pending company layoffs.  My final job with a major corporation was checking for errors, fraud and the overall correctness of incoming and outgoing monies. From there is mostly a hodge podge of jobs including 2+ years with various home improvement & department stores. At this point I had enough of the corporate world and just went on full retirement. Several years ago I started coloring for my DW Jill. In the last week of December of 2013, I started my blog Love the Details.

 All 3 of these wonderful bloggers will have a more detailed post on Monday, August 25, and you can find out more about how each of them started to develop their creativity, and what their lives are like. This has been such fun, and I thank each of these busy bloggers for graciously saying yes to being tagged. Ditto to the ones in line ahead of me, who passed along the fun.
 

I've had several things in the works, and here's one of them. My first Gelli print. I've been inspired lately by Pat(Colourful Card Creations) and Elizabeth (The Silverscrapper's Craft Space). Of course there are some other blogs on which I've enjoyed seeing Gelli plate work, but these 2 names are in my most recent access memory.  I had a little play the other afternoon after we had returned home from errands on a very hot day. Here's the resulting card:

 

 

 

- Background was made using the gelli; the leaf was made with alcohol inks and the silver side of a soda can which was die cut with a maple leaf. The leaf has been floating around on my desk for a bit, and when I was adhering it to the white background, realized a tiny tip had broken off. Hence the blue butterfly - which was a Dollar Store find. (A bunch of blue & pink plastic party favor type of thing). A dark blue copic changed the intensity of the blue, and dark gray colored the insect's body. The sentiment is a sticker & think this shall be a birthday card after I add the appropriate inside verse.

 

Here's some of the process pictures.

 

Paints used on the gelli plate



2 prints pulled. The white print was #2



This is all the supplies used. Underneath the prints is the stencil that was laid on the gelli plate before pulling the 2 prints. I could have done some more prints, but stopped here.  This is my very first play with the 6x6 gelli. It was fun, and I plan to do some more experimenting with this fun technique. I need to have some quiet time, however, when I am not feeling rushed or having to concentrate on other matters.




Hope you've all had a good week, and are looking forward to the weekend. I should have a couple more posts soon, as I've got some things finished ready to share. Just needed a quiet time to sit down and write up a post! Thanks for visiting, and apologies for a long post once again. I promise the next one will be short! Hugs & Blessings. 

 

The Creative Blog Hop

It's the start  of  a brand new week, so grab a cup or glass of something tasty, and get ready to settle in for a long post. It's my turn to join in with The Creative Blog Hop, which is held each Monday. Quick explanation, TCBH is the brain child of a blogger, whose identity seems to have disappeared along the way as the hop progressed. The hop includes all kinds of artists: watercolour, paint, mixed media, and cards, as well as writers, photographers, and all sorts of needlework artists.

The idea is for us, as Bloggers, to get to know each other better - some describe this as a game of 'Tag, You're It'. Each Blogger answers four questions about themselves and afterwards they "tag" three more Bloggers and so on - and then on it goes with the next 3 bloggers.

The hop is only held on Mondays. 

(Just FYI, there are knock-off hops going around called "Getting to Know Me" and "Blog Hop With a Difference", which is fine. They are structured similarly, but some have different questions, so there might be some confusion as all these hops are hopping around all over Blogland. It's all good as we get to know each other a bit better).

So how did I come to join in? Come and meet my 'Tagger'.

The sweet and lovely Miss Diane of the Pixie's Crafty Workshop (aka The Snippets Playground.) I met Diane at the beginning of my blogging adventure, when another blogger visited a very early blog post. In her comment, this blogger suggested that I submit that card over at the Snippets Playground (??say what??) I had never done any linking, but I tried; made a total mess of the linking process. Diane -- {Miss Pixie as I call her - or just Miss} -- is our Playground monitor who keeps all Snippeteers on the straight & narrow. It can sometimes get rowdy over there. We have a little mascot named Parsnip - who guards the Playhouse gate. Diane was so patient in fixing my mess-ups, explaining (and then re-explaining several times!) how to do this link business. All the time she was being very encouraging, friendly and just so generous with her expertise. Finally the light blinked on, and I got the process done properly. Over the time I’ve blogged, Diane has helped me with so many things as I stumbled along. In the process of doing some Snippets Playground challenges, I've had the pleasure of meeting lots of other lovely bloggers. That’s why you will see the italicized word snippets on my blog, even if I don’t submit that particular card at the Playground. There’s times in my life (just as in yours too) that I have other demands on my time, and I can’t go visit other entrants, so I’ll miss that week. When I do have time to 'play fair', the Snippets Playground is my favorite place to submit a card. I occasionally enter other challenges, but Diane and the Snippets Playground have a warm place in my heart!

Diane was  interested in crafts right from early childhood and has enjoyed  dressmaking, patchwork, embroidery, knitting, playing with fabrics - and of course paper! She made her own clothes for many years, which I think is quite amazing.  After a holiday accident left her rather incapacitated for a time, she needed to find a new interest to occupy her and sent for some card making catalogues via a craft magazine. Thus was born an addiction and the rest is history, to our great good fortune. You can learn more about who Diane is here and enjoy her work. 

Now about me:

I have dabbled in various hobbies over the years, but also held down a full time job all my working life. The last 25 years of my career was sometimes 12-14 hour days, 6-7 days a week for long periods of time. I worked at an nuclear power plant for a South Florida electric utility and it was a stressful, challenging position. It was rewarding financially, as well as teaching me a lot about many different technologies. Hubby(DH) &  I had a small daughter (DD) & a home to care for, with all the responsibility that involves. I frequently took night classes at our local college, to improve my career opportunities, so that didn’t leave a lot of hobby time.  My Mom was an avid seamstress - but couldn’t teach me (my fault – not hers). I occasionally took sewing classes, then quilting classes & always had a love for color & fabric. As a family, the 3 of us also dabbled in ceramics for a time, as it was something DH & I could do with DD in free time.

Fast forward to retirement for DH and me after our daughter finished college and moved on into her own life. We relocated to Upstate South Carolina. Belongings were stored for over a year while our house was being built. It took another year to get the place situated as we wanted. The house, which was meant to be downsized when planned, ended up with a basement & big attic- but these were unfinished at construction's end. With some family help, DH finished off the attic as a sewing room for me. The basement was finished off as a big tv room for DH – and the other room was kitted up as an extra bedroom. There's also a drive-in garage in half of the space, which is very convenient in the winter.

Then came time for us to make new friends, since we only knew the local relatives. Occasionaly I visited a local stamp store, and saw other customers at work in the classroom. I was too intimidated to try anything they were doing. The store owner kept urging me to try a class, so one day I did. In this classroom I met some super talented card makers who were so generous in showing me techniques, along with providing information about local places to find nifty supplies; this hobby (umm.. addiction?) began to take hold. Eventually my supplies have taken over the basement tv room. We recently eliminated that area's bedroom environment and now that’s part of my craft area. (Pictures of the reclaimed basement bedroom are posted here, if you care to see). In March 2012, I took the plunge and started a blog. That's been the most enjoyable part of this hobby to-date, since I've met so many generous, talented & wonderfully creative people who have shared this unexpected journey through Blogland with me.

On to my interview questions:

1. What am I working on now? Not really anything specific other than keeping up with family birthdays or other occasions for which I may need a card. I watch Youtube videos and see techniques that I want to try. I’m more confident with copic markers, and I try pencils, watercolors, etc.  but  always return to copics. If I don’t feel like doing anything else, I stamp some images -  so there’s always something to color when I’m in the mood or ready to take along when we travel. Usually I watch tv as I work, but since our basement has very poor natural light, there’s Ott lamps for  craft lighting. Stamps & copics are my favorite tools, followed by dies, embossing folders and a Genesis paper cutter. This cutter has been one of my best investments, as it cuts straight & smoothly. I wasted a lot of paper trying to get a straight cut with the plastic cutters.  

2. How does my work differ from others in my genre?  I’m an admitted copier and not an original designer, so don’t think that my work differs in any specific way. If I see a card or technique that intrigues me, off I go to try it.  I'm careful to credit any of my inspirations in the blog post.  I’ve always heard that copying is the most sincere form of flattery, as you are admiring the originator’s good taste.  If my card ever inspires someone else, that pleases me. I don’t do lots of layers – although I like that look. I love clean and simple cards, vintage cards, almost any style of card. I seldom do ‘grunge’ (ala the Tim Holtz look) but I enjoy seeing it done by others. That look requires lots of imagination to select appropriate elements, and then skill to combine them cohesively to create an awesome project. One of my card craft goals is to learn new card folds.  At this stage of my life, I don’t need more objects to display, so I prefer creating just cards. Cards express something that I am feeling at the time & will be for a particular purpose.  Therefore I seldom do tags or other more dimensional projects. I do enjoy reading the descriptions of the process used by the creator's work, however. Frequently I’ll read something that sparks an idea for a card.  

3. Why do I create what I do? That’s easy - it gives me pleasure to create something pretty. I’m happy when it turns out as I envisioned in my thoughts. I’m also honest in saying when this falls short. I realize that may sound like false modesty at times, or perhaps that I’m fishing for compliments, but truly, that’s not the case. When I read that my guru experts have had frustration with something they’ve done, I learn a great deal by their explanation of how they saved a problem card. I hope that by honestly sharing my card frustrations with blog readers, it might benefit another who struggles the same way I do. We all need encouragement & we’re all learning new things. When I started this blog, I made a promise, that even if I thought what I had done was awful, I'd share it, and be honest in my evaluation of what was wrong with it or where I went astray.  

4. How does my creative process work? Hmmm… since I’m kind of a seat of the pants card maker, I usually start with a stamp that strikes my fancy at the time. Normally decision #1 is  coloring method. If I will be using copic markers, for instance, Xpress or Neenah paper will be selected for stamping. I prefer the Copic Xpress paper as I like the way it blends copic markers better than any paper that I’ve used. If the plan is sponging with Distress Inks or coloring with pencils – then likely a cheaper quality paper, (Georgia Pacific, etc)  will be used. Sprays or gelatos will need watercolor or mixed media paper. Recently I’ve discovered Dylusions sprays and some other spray brands;  these _usually_ work better on mixed media paper. I didn't achieve good results with earlier spray attempts. I’m not sure what clicked with the Dylusions, but once I got started making backgrounds, I liked that look.  I'm  still struggling to master sprayed stenciling and embossing pastes. It's best to use cheap gloves as the sprays can make a mess of your hands! Once  an image is colored, next I hunt for a good die to showcase the image; then some nice background papers & embellishments. If I can’t find papers I like, then I’ll find the sprays to create my own papers. It's rewarding to take time & just play with various spray colors to see how they blend together. It's good to allow time for air drying  rather than heat drying. Air drying yields some lovely color marbling, while blotting with paper towels or other materials can result in a textured finish; the heat tool yields a different, still pretty result also. This background will either be used as is or embossed with a folder, depending on how it will finish the card.

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Now if I haven’t totally put you to sleep with all the blah-blah above, let me introduce you to 2 bloggers that have become friends. One I’ve known for  quite a while, and one I’ve just recently met and am so looking forward to getting to know better.

 

Brenda of Friends Crafting with Friends. Here’s a bit of what Brenda will be sharing with you on August 25^th, when she participates in the The Creative Blog Hop.

Hello, my name is Brenda. I am mother to 6 boys -all grown- with my "baby" in his first year of college. I am grandmother to 6 girls and 1 boy; a wife to a die-hard farmer. I have some health issues as does my hubby but we are blessed so much. I love to spend time with our grandchildren and family, cook, bake, read, hang out by the pool or hot tub, go 4-wheeling and of course paper crafting! I have been crafting since I was a young child. The first craft that I did was from a book chosen from my school library when I was in 4th grade. I didn't have a good home life and crafting took me away from that life. That little book opened the door to the world of crafting to me and I just kept going. I went on to cross stitching, making animal pillows, plastic canvas, etc...Then when our boys were little, they would always complain we never did anything and that is when I decided to get into scrapbooking. The idea was to show them we did a lot, perhaps nothing that cost much money, but that we were always doing things together. Now my guys love going through the scrapbooks and realize that we did do a lot of things together. Then I went to work at our elementary school and didn't have time or energy to scrapbook. So my scrapbooking took a back seat. I finally had to leave my job and come back home because of health reasons. I got into design teams and started making cards as well as scrapbooking. I still do many types of crafts but mainly stick with paper crafting. I hope that one day my grandchildren will get interested in making cards with me. I love riding the 4-wheeler around the farm to see the crops growing with my hubby. Farming is his passion and I love seeing his hard work growing. We have a lot of nature to look at, I guess I am just a country crafting bumpkin!

Next up is Veerle of Veerle Her Little Card Corner. I’ve just recently become Veerle’s follower after meeting her at Darnell’s blog. We’ve been emailing and getting to know a bit about each other’s lives. Here’s Veerle’s biography – and you will be learning more about her on August 25^th, when she does her post for the The Creative Blog Hop. Veerle lives in Belgium. While she uses her native language on her blog, she also has a translation for those of us who only speak English.

 My name is Veerle, 47 years young ;-) Ever since I was a child I was busy being creative with words, with costumes, with crayons, what ever.

For instance, when I was playing with my cousins there had to always be told a real story while we were playing. Then I would say things like "alright guys, we will take our horses (bicycles) and ride towards the sunset (the pond)"  etc. I was an extremely detailed child in everything; also a daydreamer. That was a way for my creativity to burst out since my head was always full of lots of things.  Here in Blogland I am a baby and I started this way of card making just over two years ago. I had always made my cards on a different level from what we see here in Blogland. I love being among so many talented people and learn from them although it makes me feel even smaller. But hey, what did Jim Rohn say "Why scratch with the chickens if you can fly with the eagles?" That's exactly what I am doing here my sweet friends, I am flying with the eagles. And it gives me wings.

 

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Okay-  that's my post for TCBH. Please do pop over to visit with my co-Taggees Elizabeth & Hettie, to learn about what goes on in their lives...personal as well as creative! 

hope you're still awake & have enjoyed getting to know me, and meet my tagged friends. I should have had 3 taggees, but unfortunately, many of my blogger friends have things going on in their lives that didn't leave time for playing in the hop. But I'm very grateful to the 2 talented bloggers who did choose to play along. So please check their links and visit each of them on August 25th, to learn more about their lives. I think knowing a bit about each blogger makes it so much more enjoyable when you're visiting their posts. If someone 'tags' you, I hope you'll join in the fun, and let Blogland know more about who you are.

Thanks for hanging in there for a Uber long post! Come again & I'll try to not be so long-winded next time!! Big Hugs, and I hope you now feel like you know me much better than before!

Happy Birthday to #2 Brother

Happy Saturday! Finishing up some housework around here, taking a little break. DH took the recycle off, so it's easier to do chores when he's not here. Not sure why that is, except perhaps that I see him kicked back in the recliner and it's not very motivating. Plus I can't run the vacuum or suchlike if he's resting. To keep this statement in perspective, do remember that for all of our working lives, we primarily worked different shifts - so retirement & constant togetherness takes a lot of adjustment- still!

Last week the Dick Blick order of Polychromos pencils arrived. I had called Blick, got one of their art tech reps and asked him "what makes these different from the Prismas, Derwents, etc. that I already have?" According to him, these are oil based pencils and will blend easier. I have blending issues. Tried them out the other night, and I think I am going to like these better. Prisma is fine, but I have a hard time blending if I don't use gamsol.

Anyhoo...#2 brother will be 84 on August 20th. He was born 30 minutes before our Dad's 23rd birthday...some birthday present, yes? As he's aging, he is beginning to look so much like Dad, even though he's blond, blue eyed. Dad was dark brown hair - dark brown eyes...like the other 5 of us. Our Granddad had blue eyes, dark hair and a red mustache, or so I've heard. I've also always heard that 2 brown eyed parents won't have a blue eyed child. Wrong. (and we know there was no MILKMAN either!). It's interesting to me to see that out of 6 siblings, 3 look very strongly like Dad, and 3 of us look like our Mom or people on her side of the family.

Here's the card I made for him.

- Hero Arts Palm die started off cut from the same white card stock it's been embedded back into. The leaf was sprayed with some of the new Lindy's Starburst sprays. I love these sprays, but they spray out in bursts of color, which I don't find easily controlled. You just have to go with the flow - not a bad thing for somebody like me. I do think the results look pretty...very sparkly although you can't really see that in the photo.  This die is tricky to place back properly in the negative space..there is double stick tape (Sookwang) behind it so the positive image will re-adhere.

- green mat is another sprayed piece. This one had combined Lindy's, some acrylic paint mixed with water and some tattered angels. Remember mention of a clogged nozzle from using the acrylic paint mixtures? I've found that removing the nozzle apparatus when the color spraying is done, plunging it into a bottle of plain water, and spraying until the spray is clear, seems to be helping with the clogging problem. Just FYI..if you want to try this with mixing your acrylic paints to make a spray.

- White card base scored and then die cut Elizabeth Craft sentiment from a snippet of the green mat.
Just need to do an insert, and this one's done & ready for Wednesday.

Tomorrow I will be working on my post for The Creative Blog Hop which will be posted on Monday. I do hope you'll find time to look in, maybe learn something about who I am (that you didn't already know!) and meet some bloggers that I admire and have tagged. Looking forward to seeing you then.

Have a wonderful weekend. God Bless.

DeeDee's Digis - Fall Hayride

Hello again-Happy Friday! I'm back with another fast card (relatively speaking) from DeeDee's Digis. The month of August is an anniversary for DeeDee's and you can read all about the Twist Challenge right here. Yesterday's was a long, long post detailing what's going on at DeeDee's for the month of August, so I won't put all that in today's post. Just check out the links provided, and see if you have time to join in the fun. There's also a freebie digi available.

Today's card is another of the super cute new August releases and since I love Fall, I thought these were adorable. This card is made with Hayride, which had some pretty digi papers included in the set

- Printed out the digi image, along with the background papers. (you can just see the pretty gingham check peeking out at the bottom.). Shaded the printed image with  a tiny bit with copics, used some WoS on the wagon wheels and a few other places to get a little gleam. Die cut with S/B Label 5, sponged while still in die with Memento Desert Sand.

- trimmed the paper to fit my card shape, and then sliced that in a large triangle shape. Used one triange of the leaf paper. Then trimmed the gingham again trying to replicate a layout design I had seen somewhere - where you have 2 small side triangles opposite the larger triangle - with the 3 triangles forming the card front. When I did the landscape placement of the focal image, it obscured this nifty little idea! This gingham is so pretty & very rustic, country looking. You'll see it used on more cards.

- Sentiment is part of the Harvest Hello set used yesterday, and was die cut with a S/B rectangular label and sponged at the edges. It covered up a lot more of the card than I liked - so just hand trimmed it to fit. Tiny green buttons added.

- Grass is a green snippet that was from last week's Silhouette class; punched a couple pieces with an MS grass punch, to see if I liked it as a bottom trim. Decided that I did, so toned down the brighter color of green with some copics, and glued down 2 layers for some fullness. 

That's it folks! Other than the 'creative paper cutting' for the background layout, this was another fast & easy card. I just love this little Raggedy Girl and her wagon.

I'm off to the salt mines. Need to clean some floors and finish a birthday card. I'll catch up with all your sweet comments later this evening. In the meantime, thanks for your visit, and BIG HUGS!

DeeDee's Digis - Hello Fall

Good evening, and I'm back this evening with an image from DeeDee's Digis. However, first I must make a correction to a link I provided for Veerle, who is a new follower. I didn't get the proper translation of her blog title, so let me get that fixed right away! It's Veerle Her Little Card Corner. Apologies for my boo-boo -- but whatever it's called, it's a beautiful blog to explore! So please check it out!

Have your beverage of choice handy, this will be a rather long post!

Now it's August, and besides being time to start the newest Digi of the Month challenge, it also happens to be the one-year anniversary of DeeDee being back in business! Woo-hoo! To celebrate,  a couple of fun TWISTS have been added to this month's challenge. But first, the basics:

 This is a monthly progressive freebie challenge. You can purchase this month's featured set  -- "Monkey Business" -- for just $1.25 in the shop, or get it for FREE with any $10 purchase of Deedee's Digis products. NOTE: Deedee will email this set to you after payment clearance of your qualifying purchase. Create and share any wholesome project made with this set by the challenge deadline, and we will send you next month's featured set for FREE. Keep playing, and keep collecting freebies -- it's as easy as that! :-)  

Twist #1 -- FREE-FOR-ALL!
This month is a FREE-FOR-ALL challenge! As you can see, the featured set is "Monkey Business," and while last month's players received the whole set, DeeDee is offering this image from the set to anyone else who would like to join in. When you make and link up a project using the featured Digi of the Month, you get the next month's featured set for free! This is a great chance to join in and start collecting new, FREE digis each month!

To download this digi, first click on it to access the full-size image at DeeDee's site. Then right-click on the image and select Save As... or Save Image As... to save the digi to your computer. Please note that, while currently offered as a "freebie," this image remains copyrighted to Deedee's Digis, and is subject to our Terms of Use and Angel Policy. 

   

Twist #2 -- PRIZES!

Each Monday throughout this challenge, one winner will be selected by random draw from all challenge participants to-date. The winner of each weekly draw will receive their choice of any one digi set from the shop. (Limit: one weekly win per challenge participant. All participants up to the date of each drawing will be included, unless they have already won.) Then, at the end of the month,  one Grand Prize winner will be chosen - who will receive their choice of any five digi sets from the  shop. All participants from throughout the month, including the weekly winners, will be entered for the Grand Prize draw. You can enter more than once, but each entry must be a separate share on your blog or gallery, please.

 

So you see, there are lots of reasons to play along this month!!!

There are some really fun inspiration cards to enjoy at DeeDee's with "Monkey Business" to inspire you. 

Whew! After that, here's a card using a set from the wonderful new August release.  You're going to be seeing lots of these sweet fall images in use around here.

- Precolored DeeDee's Hello Fall diecut with S/B label, sponged while in the die. Copic shading around parts of the image. Fussy cut a 2nd image for the punkin, leaf and grapes. More copic shading, some shaping with a stylus, then applied some glossy accents. When that was dry, used a bit more of the GA to adhere to the image. (The set has color images, line drawings, sentiments - and some of the sets include digi papers as well).

- background is made from gelatos being scribbled over 98# Canson Media paper, then wet a brush and just spread & blended the colors. Used 2 twiggy, leafy stamps to add a little more interest inking with Memento Espresso (I think!) and Hero Arts Shadow ink in a soft olive. The Espresso was stamped off once before stamping onto the piece.

_ sentiment is part of the set* - placed on the side because I didn't want to cover up at the bottom. This was another pretty easy card to get finished. Hardest part of this card was waiting to be sure the Glossy Accents had dried enough to handle!

This was a long post, but thanks for sticking with me until the end. Please do visit DeeDee's to join in the challenge fun, and check out these cute August images. Until the next time, big hugs and thanks for your visit.

*Edit: Just realized this sentiment is from DeeDee's Hayride digi set. My Bad!

Stippled Blossoms I Believe in Miracles

Good evening...and our week is half over. Let's start our visit with warm welcomes to 2 new followers:

Veerle of Ferns Maps Corner and Jennifer J. of Jennifer's Crafting Rainbow. Both these bloggers have some fine cards for you to enjoy - with some fascinating techniques to share, so please go over and say that I sent you to say hello to each of them.

Today's card idea was born when I saw this lovely card by Miss Bonnie K.  Immediately seeing Bonnie's beautiful creation, was the thought "AHA! I have that set!" - a NBUS. Darnell  and Mt. NBUS will be proud of me I think. LOL. Thanks Bonnie for the inspiration.

- Floral stamps by Stampin up, (Stippled Blossoms). Inked the solid stamp flower with Memento Dandelion. The outline overlay was Morocco and I liked the colors together. Leaves were done with
New Sprout & Bamboo Leaves. Extra blossoms and leaves were stamped and cut out - shaped, edged with the appropriate colors and mounted over the images for some dimension. I notice that the photo makes it appear there is a wrinkle, but IRL it just looks  shaped. (I even had DH check it too!).

- masked the stamped flowers first, then inked Impression Obsession Cover a Card Music stamp with Memento Sand, wiped it off just slightly with a paper towel for a lighter image, and stamped the music background.

- Stamp Oasis unmounted red rubber stamp used for the sentiment. This is VOS - I've had this unmounted set since I first got into this rubber stamping hobby.

- green mat is a snippet from the Silhouette class last week. Cut to fit main image, sprayed with some green & orange-y tones of diluted Dylusions sprays. The center portion was removed with a die so that there is now a piece for another project, and the layers are lighter for mailing. I am pretty certain to whom this card will be mailed.

- card base was sprayed with diluted greens & orange-y tones Dylusions, and added sparkle with some new spray received this week. It's called Lindy's Stamp Gang Two-Toned Starburst, and the color was A Bit o' Bubbly. Saw a video showing this stuff being demonstrated, placed my order and had it within 2 days. Great shipping from Joggles. What was very interesting is that the bottles ship with the dry mica powders. Barbara explains in the video the proper way to rehydrate these powders, and this was my 1st use of the few bottles I've mixed. I was very pleased with the gleam & shimmer. Not much of it shows in this photo, but it's really pretty. I hope I get some quiet time to just play with these, because the colors are awesome I think. Here's the video link if you care to check it out.

I mentioned that at the Fish Camp we had okra, and I would try to explain okra for anyone who didn't know what it is. It's rather hard to describe Okra, so I googled the word and found these pictures:

the plant pod is just a bit 'prickly' with some kind of fuzz that is on the pod (doesn't stick you, just not a smooth surface). The way I prefer it prepared is remove the stem and end bit; slice into medallions crosswise; place pieces into a bowl with beaten egg, then roll in cornmeal; fry very quickly in hot oil. Of course, drain on towels. Eaten while it's hot, should not be heavy or greasy. Okra can be used in soups - usually with tomatoes (I use this combo in jambalaya)...it can be pickled in a vinegar-sugar type solution. Then it's rather like a sweet gherkin to eat. From my experiences with folks outside the South, this is usually an acquired taste, or something that you grow up eating. Much like Grits!

Hope you had a grand day. I just finished some late evening weeding & trimming in the yard, so I'm ready for a nice clean shower. So thanks for visiting, and ya'll come again soon. Hugs.

 

 

Impression Obsession Watercan

Hello friends & thanks for visiting this afternoon. Have you ever colored an image, thought it looked ok, then begin to turn it into a card, and one thing after another just doesn't 'look right'? And each additional thing you try, doesn't work any better? Well today's card is just one of those for me. Here it is:

- Impression Obsession cling red rubber, which stamped out crisply, colored up easily. I was happy up to this point.

- die cut & dry embossed with S/B Labels 38, (still happy!) ----- then it went downhill from that point, when I decided to add a little vintage touch with DI tea dye & pumice sponging. The image was still in the die; thought it was placed properly & got one edge done ok. Then the die must have slipped without my notice as I kept going around the edges with the sponge applicator. When I lifted the die, to reveal the white 'frame' that should show around the edges, some of that frame obviously wasn't even. So how to fix it? Well, sponge the whole thing to the very edge, right? That didn't look appealing, so then out comes this distress tool thing-y, which I scrape around the edges. Then comes decisions as to mat & card base colors. Should it be cream mat with kraft base card, or vice versa?You can see what I chose, and I didn't like this combination either way I tried it. Other color combos didn't look any better to my very discouraged eyes.

- Elizabeth Craft Hello sentiment die, done from 3 layers of a snippet of Dylusions sprayed paper that had been cluttering up the desk. I was ok with that. The thought of burlap occurred to me, so went rummaging around the ribbon box, dragged out this open weave pattern. Not all that great, but better than some other pieces I tried. Off to the button box, and found 3 old buttons. After the buttons, I called it quits! Not sure if this one will ever get mailed, but dang it, I had worked hard on that coloring, and I was pure disgusted with this wart!!!

So thanks for stopping by, letting me vent a little bit, and I hope you can laugh along with all my mistakes on this one. I trust I'm not the only one this ever happens to! Many hugs. Come again soon.

Edit: Some sweet blogger just reminded me this has a butterfly and can fly over to Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge. So it's jumping over the pond to join in with the Summertime Butterfly Theme. Thank you sweet person, who knows who you are!!!

Recycled Birds

Howdy, and welcome. Remember I mentioned Rose Night and a tv show in a previous blog? Well here's some of the paper roses I'm trying to learn to make..on this recycled card. Which, by the way, was a computer generated card from a card program. Found this one when going through bunches of old cards as we've been decluttering. Liked the bluebirds and hmmmm....

- S/B Classic Square die for a portion of this card, which was made by a SIL for my birthday, many years ago. On the right corner dogwood motif, another section was fussy cut, so that a 2nd layer could be shaped and adhered over the base flowers.

- top fold base card was embossed with Couture Creations Fresh & Fun Collection, Petal Pleasures, then scored at the bottom edge.

- Impression Obsession sentiment stamp inked with Memento Wedding Dress Deluxe (white pigment) and heat embossed with Ranger Fine Detail Clear EP, diecut with a S/B label die. This is another card to have available for whatever occasion is warranted. The inside sentiment will determine what it's used for.

- roses from d/p 5 petal punch - 5 layers of punches. Stamens and leaves were from a snippet of previously sprayed paper using shades of Dylusions greens & yellow. The stamen punch was McGill spiky starburst type of punch. I get discouraged when trying to make these flowers - as I see so many lovely ones on blogs that I vist. Mine never turn out so pretty, but I keep trying to get them to look better. Maybe one of these days!

Thanks for joining me this afternoon. Big Hugs & hope you're having a lovely afternoon where you are.

Edit: Since this is a scheduled post and I'm trying to catch up on some other things, I'll just say that the Fish Camp was a fun experience. Seven couples from our subdivision drove down. My #2 Bro & SIL who live down the street from us - in the same community and know all the other couples much better than we do - rode along with us. It was a pleasant drive down the interstate and then on a little state country road. The restaurant was a huge tin-like building, quite rustic, picnic type table setting. Very clean & considering it was a Saturday evening, not crowded. But lots of patrons. Everything I tried from the buffet table was most delicious. And some excellent ice tea. I think all but DH - who is trying to lose some weight per his cardiologist - waddled out. He ate heartily, but not heavily - as did the rest of us. Yep, it was fried food! But not greasy or heavy tasting, and the batters were very light on the several varieties of fish, shrimp, oysters (which I don't eat) and oh yes, fried okra. Now anyone who doesn't know what okra is, ask & I'll try to explain another Southern staple. Best fried!

Spellbinder Delicate Doily Die

Happy Saturday and welcome. Anybody watching the Outlander Series on Starz? I loved the books - all of them. Just finished reading the latest one (Written in My Own Heart's Blood - or MOBY) by Diana Gabaldon. If you enjoy historical fiction, with accurate research and a good love story, these books are fabulous. I read the 2nd one in the series first, then hunted up the 1st book as I knew there had to be a 'beginning'. This lady is a fantastic storyteller, writes very believeable dialogue - not silly like you see in so many love stories, and her research is incredible too. Lots of history - and she takes a rather dubious premise of time travel and MAKES YOU BELIEVE IT! Anyway, I watched the 1st episode which our cable provider showed last week, but the official start is tonight. I was so pleased that the move is following the book fairly well. If you're a fan, I'd love to know what your thoughts are.

OK, here is today's card:

- a snippet of dp from the Colorbok Water Color theme 12x12 pack, die cut with the S/B Delicate Doily. Scored on the edges. Then embossed. Had it taped in 2 places as it was embossed, and the paper still shifted just a tiny mite. So aggravating, and I have the magnetic platform too, but didn't bother to use it, as thought the tape would keep it stable. Bright orange paper behind the openings. Tried different colors, liked the orange best. Happy colors I think.

-Impression Obsession cling stamp sentiment using Memento Rich Cocoa Deluxe (pigment) and heat embossed with Ranger Clear Fine Detail EP. This card is slightly smaller than I usually make, but this was the size of the snippet, so therefore..... It can be used for general purposes depending on what sentiment goes on the inside.

Thanks for joining me this afternoon. Hope you're having a terrific day. We're going to a Fish Camp with some neighbors this evening..about an hour away from where we live. Hope the food is good. If you don't know what a Fish Camp is, that's a southern term for a place where one gets fish (usually fried but can be fixed in other ways too), hush puppies (made from corn meal for those who don't know that term - again southern fried food)..and other side veggies. We'll get our cholesterol fix for the year. Big Hugs, and come again when you can.

Digi Vellum Rose

Hi Ya. Happy Friday. It's gently raining and rumbling thunder here at our house this afternoon. Moi has a haircut appointment here in a bit, but wanted to share a quick card first.

Let me also welcome Cara of My Creative Chaos who became my newest follower. Do pop over and say Hello to Cara and enjoy some wonderful inspiration. Cara is a guest designer over at Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge - so that's quite an honor.

Here's the card:

- the free digi came from The Graphics Fairy - quite a long time ago. Tested the new Canon printer when it was first installed, using a piece of vellum, just to see how the printer liked vellum (Epson won't print it). It printed beautifully, and has been floating around on my desk for a while. At least it had time to dry well. Die cut with a S/B deckled oval.

- Card front is w/color paper, spritzed to dampen, then used gelatos in yellow, pink & green. Dabbed a smidgeon onto an old cd (makes a great palette), then using a small slightly wet brush, spread some of the various colors across the w/c paper. When I didn't get as good coverage in places as I liked, I took the gelato - lightly daubed the color directly from the tube in different spots. Used the damp brush to spread it out before it had time to 'harden'. I liked the look and texture that the w/color paper created. Used a smaller oval deckle die to cut the aperture and emboss the edges of the opening. This piece is mounted on dimensional tape and placed on the off-white card base.

- Sentiment is a recent Elizabeth Craft die (purchased the day of the Silhouette class - store had gotten in a new shipment of some of the newer dies). There's 3 layers cut from design paper, glued together, with Glossy Accents applied over the top. (saw that done here & liked the dimensional, shiny effect). Have seen this on several blogs, but saw Diane's card while working on this one. Monkey see, and all that...

- Leaves punched from white c/stock snippet, colored with copics. Tried to create similar shading as the vellum leaves. Finally gave up that idea as none of the various greens, grays & toner colors replicated that shade. Went with the color you see, adding some white gel veins. Green twine added after adhering the rose & leaves.

- Rose was punched from the same dp as the sentiment. Punch is 5 petal flower, and there's 5 layers in this rose. I'm still working on making flowers-- {sigh}. You'll see a few more on other cards from my 'rose night' - did this while watching 'Sex in the Wild' on PBS. (No, it's NOT pornographic either! But it's very interesting to learn about these different animals - makes me very glad to be a human). Loved the show about the elephants.

So that's it for today. The next few posts will be scheduled posts, as we are having our kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors replaced. (another big Sigh...and a wish that I might not have decided to do this. The cabinet door replacements are looking good, but oh, so many stumbling blocks. This was supposed to have been started and finished early in June).

Thanks for popping in and Big Hugs. See ya soon.