Rudolph Day #4 - with Brusho-s

Good morning and thanks for zipping by. Also thank you to everyone for being so kind about the cards yesterday...your comments made me feel better about them, as I really was quite discouraged with my efforts. I was feeling pretty much the same way about today's card, and after it was put together, I did one little change, and surprisingly - that made me like it more.

I had watched the Eileen Godwin youtube videos where she is using the Ranger Spritzer tool to blow the Brusho puddles around, and my first attempts looked nothing like hers. So watched them once again, and saw immediately what I'd done wrong. I have been better satisfied with my later attempts, but still have a way to go. However, I decided to use the last efforts, combine with Misti stamping, and that resulted in today's card. I did want to participate in Rudolph Day for April 2015.

- Brusho colors of Scarlet, Yellow and Sea Green. Dabble a regular brush in water, put puddles along the edge of the card stock, sprinkle the crystals - spritz with the Ranger Spritzer tool. You could use a straw too, but the tool gives finer lines - per Eileen. It was lots of fun, once I remembered what one is supposed to do. (I was just wetting the paper, sprinkling, and trying to spritz). I did several pieces and it's quite fun to do. Next, how to use it, since I don't have the pretty Lavinia stamps used by Eileen

- A Hero Arts set of patterned Christmas trees from years ago, along with a sentiment from the same set. Got out Misti, placed stamps on the dried art work, and Voila, Misti placed exactly.

- Die cut with a S/B Label 46, and then thought "This doesn't really look very Christmas-y". Faux cut the mat, and looked at the piece for several days.

Zipped into our local (and not very good) Tuesday Morning store last week while running errands. I don't go in this store often, as I don't find much that appeals to me. I do check in occasionally, and sometimes will find stamping/scrapbooking supplies, usually nothing that I have the imagination to use. Found a very nice large McGill punch that has 4 Halloween motifs ($7.99 - think these are usually at least $15 and up), and a Grand S/B Grand Decorative Circles for $19.99. Best price I've ever gotten on the Grands has been in the $30-s. So the smallest S/B shaped  the base card from some gold poster board found some time ago on sale. It cut very nicely, after running through the BS several times. Made this into a hinged card, with a white back, which is peeking through in the photo. This is not that noticeable IRL.  Still not crazy about the card as yet.

Had dropped a couple of sequins on the floor from another project, and while picking up some mess off the desk, noticed the red sequin. Placed against the card and "Hmm, maybe that would help". Tried a few more, and decided I liked the look, so Voila, the card is done! To my eyes, this was the spark that finished off the card.

So off to play at Rudy Day. Do please join in the fun with our very own ScrappyMoi.  You have until the end of April to submit a Christmas Card - anything with a Christmas theme.

Thanks for the visit. Big Hugs & blessings.

Christmas Card Club - Stars

Good afternoon, and apologies to my Christmas Card Club teamies for being so late with my card today. It was Mrs. A's turn to select our challenge theme and Valerie wanted to see Stars. A great choice, should be easy right? Yes, definitely -- as I have lots of Christmas themed stamps with stars on them. This is one of those cards that I just should not have attempted, as nothing I did, turned out as planned! Valerie, I didn't want to miss your challenge, so I'll share the 2 best of what I attempted, and I'm not really pleased with either one of 'em - disappointed a great deal because the stamp is one I  like. (Oh yeah, I used Misti too...and the problem was not placement...It was just plain ole MoJo and Me). You ever have one of those kinda days? Here goes:

- PBlack Transparent Silent Night stamp, inked with Versamark, embossed with Ranger Queen's Gold. Very simple, and it _does_ have a few stars! This was the last attempt at making the challenge card.

 

 

- Versamarked the stamp, Queen's Gold embossing over a navy c/s snippet which was to be the focal point of a card. However, it didn't look 'right'...so cut out the elements, applied to some old stars on blue dp. Used an Avery Elle curved die for snow hills, applied Stickles and then some Sparkle n Sprinkle Twinkling Clouds for the snow. Stickles applied to the angel and large star. Again, not happy with the look.

 

There were a few other attempts, with the ones I've shared being the best of the lot. I think I'll leave off trying to make any cards for a few days (oh well, I do have one started for Rudolph Day that needs to be finished), and just do some cleaning. You can't mess up too much if you're just cleaning stamps, putting schtuff away, right????

 

Anyway, thanks for all the encouraging words about DH. Right now it's good days & bad days..sometimes some of both in the same day. He sees the gastrologist tomorrow afternoon, but since the doctor is tied up in surgery all week, we will be seeing the Physician's Assistant. We've seen him before, and like him - but this time I'd be happier if we saw the doctor. However, it can't be helped, so we'll take the one who's available just now.

 

Do please check out all the inspiring cards that my Christmas Club teammates have shared for Mrs. A's Stars Challenge. Their links are shown in the side bar, and I KNOW you will see some fantastic cards! Thanks for popping by. Big Hugs. 

Brusho background, Spellbinder Oval & Memory Box Too

Hello again and welcome. Today's card has lots of fun stuff on it, and has been done - pretty much - for a while. Just getting around to photo & posting, and that was delayed due to Life!

Here goes:

- Brusho background using just the Black pot. Didn't it yield magnificent color? Tried to do the technique Eileen Godwin did with the Ranger Spritz tool, but haven't mastered that well yet. Plan to keep trying to get the look however. Even though I didn't get the results desired, thought it still looked nice, so stamped a PBlack Flower Sparks transparent set using a Blackberry Colorbox Fluid chalk ink. Had never used this ink pad; looked black in the container, but was a dark purple. Did a 2nd generation stamping after the 1st two blooms, but the MB die cut (?small Chloe stem?) sort of obscures it.

-Die cut the motif using largest of the Oval Regalia S/B set.. Considering adding a few pearls around the lacy part, but need to look at it a bit yet.

- Lavendar/purple card base from Bazzil texture cardstock, and IRL the color looks darker than in this photo. S/B corner dies cut from white snippet. Copic BV markers changed these from white corners. Liked it better with purple tones, then drew a skinny line using a WoS purple pen. That may not have been my best idea, because one of the corners has a pretty shaky line (bottom left). Again, we'll say this is my Amish touch! Decided to go with it as is, and hope the recipient will like it anyway. The sentiment will go inside when the card is ready to mail.

Hope you like this one. Thanks for visiting, it's getting time to sit in the porch swing & enjoy something to drink. Ya'll come back when you can...and Big hugs.

DeeDee's Digis - Chance of Showers

Hiya and happy Wednesday. It's sunny in our area, but awfully windy. I just got caught up on returning visits/comments. We've had Mr's tummy problem rear its ugly head again, and then Tuesday night-early Wed morning, thought he was having a kidney stone attack. Ergo, off to the Emergency Room we go, after a lot of cajoling on my part. He was in a great deal of pain, and I wasn't sure he would manage getting down the stairs. Never thought of that kind of thing when we built this house, as we'd never lived in a house with more than one floor. Had a CT scan, no stones showed, so what the heck caused this? He got a shot of morphine to ease the pain, during the long wait to see a doctor, prior to the scan. Then another shot of 'something' before he was sent home, and prescriptions for pain & nausea. He's allergic to codeine, and any codeine derivative - makes him deathly sick. I always explain this to the folks, and they still insist that some of this stuff is NOT codeine. Yeah, but it's in a codeine base. Anyway, we managed, he slept most of yesterday - and so far he didn't get sick; I'm scare of jinxing him, but he seems to be feeling better today. Since my poor nursing skills aren't needed now, sat me down to spend some enjoyable time looking at all the lovely cards & projects by my sweet visitors.

Had a couple cards finished, but didn't want to post again until I got caught up.

One other bit of business before sharing today's card. When I showed the MISTI on the last post, I got a very interesting email from Darnell. She brought up a very pertinent concern about the use of the magnets for anyone having a pacemaker or other electronic health device. Since the stamper would be quite close to the magnetic energy (or forcefield, what-cha-ma-call-it) using this tool, it's important to be aware of this. I'm sharing her concern with her permission, so please read & if you know someone who might encounter this situation, advise them:

"You might have seen me mention this over on Jill's blog ... I also ordered the MISTI, but then I read some warning on Splitcoast Stampers about using the strong magnets if you have a pacemaker/defibrillator. (Of course, I also ordered four of them, ha!) I checked with Iliana if it would be a problem using the magnets, but she said she honestly didn't know. She gave me the name of the magnet company and I emailed them. They told me (underlined) DO NOT use the magnets less than 12" from my device! Well, shoot. You know you lean over to work and get way closer than 12" away from the magnets! Hoping they were being overly cautious, I then contacted Boston Scientific who makes my ICD, and they sadly confirmed that I am not to use the MISTI with the magnets less than a foot away.

I'm going to play with mine anyway using tape or cling sheets someone told me about and see if it works without the magnets. I really like the idea of it so I hope I can make it work.

I'll be doing a paragraph about it in a future post, but feel free to share this caveat with your readers when you talk about it if you want. It's not worth having one's device go haywire and having to go and have it reprogrammed! I advised Iliana that she might want to put a caveat on her site. I didn't see it in the FAQs. It's hard to believe I'm the first person with a device to order a MISTI!"

Ok, here's the card with a DeeDee's Digi that is just so darn cute. Remember the monthly challenge is still open until April 26, so check it out, and get a free digi next month. Can't miss on this deal.

- DeeDee's Chance of Showers, which has lots of cute images, some good sentiments, as well as some pretty papers in the set.

- Printed 2 precolored umbrellas, fussy cut one; die cut one & used S/B deckled oval to cut the base shape out. Sponged a bit of DI around the edges. Added Glossy Accents to #2 fussy cut, and shaped it a bit after it dried well. Adhered the GAccents 'brolly to the base 'brolly. Used Black Viva Décor pearls to add the little bits at the scalloped edges (and nearly messed up the first one, but decided it was ok. We'll just say that was my Amish touch: you know - where they always make a little deliberate boo-boo on quilts so that it is not quite perfect? I like that idea!)

- Sentiment is from the set. The one printed on c/s didn't print as nicely as I preferred, so used my test one done on copy paper; die cut with a MFT set of stitched fishtails. Added a stabilizing cut of c/s behind it, distressed with a similar DI as the one on the oval.

- tiny rhinestone butterfly was colored with a sharpie metallic green and plopped on to hide the edge cut with scissors - where it didn't have the stitching.

- Don't you just love that flourish background? This is a new PTI die (saw Miss Bonnie use it) & thought it was lovely, reminding me of a quilting pattern. Of course PTI was OOStock, so I have been waiting & drooling to get it. Used the debossed side & inked it lightly with DI Tea Dye, hoping to emphasize the stitching pattern. It didn't show as well on the green paper on the embossed side.

Card base is a sort of coral pink color - Bazzil. That's it. Pretty easy card & fun to make. Hope you'll like it.

Do be sure to check out all the new releases over at DeeDee's Digis and if you have time, jump in on that challenge. Thanks for popping by. Hope all is well at your home. Come again when you have time. Blessings & Big hugs

Thinking of You - Heartfelt Vase of Flowers

Good afternoon on a quiet Saturday afternoon. Hope that your weekend is off to a good start so far.

Has anyone else noticed their following list drop followers? I've noticed the following numbers at the top drop from 311 to 310, then to 309 but I'm not able to find missing names. So don't know if I've lost 2 followers or Blogger is messing with my mind! I hope it's just Blogger acting up.

The image used on today's card was colored a while back, from a previously stamped Heartfelt image.  Glossy Accents (or the similar Stampin Up product) applied to the vase and the flower centers, but alas, it does not show in the photo. I really like the this look to add a bit of shine on such objects - also makes it look quite dimensional.

- Heartfelt image colored with copics, die cut with a S/B matting basic rectangle.

- Brusho background (Cobalt Blue, Emerald Green & some orange) was die cut with a Sue Wilson background die. The Brusho orange bits were in the center of the background, and as usual, that part cut out & saved for a later project. This piece was placed over a not-quite navy/not-quite teal piece of textured c/s and then placed on a white card base.

- Elizabeth Craft die cut sentiment from a snippet of white c/s, colored with YR to try to match the orange/peach blossoms. Looks quite orange-y in the photo.

This is a  nice image to color...lots of opportunities for some good shading & highlights. I think the most difficult was coloring the wood background to try to make it look patina'd. Started with a base layer of Copic W0, W1, then experimented with some of the gray-green shades, adding as the last layer, some BG0000.

Here is  Misti - I ordered 4 of the super magnets and the other supplies recommended by Iliana - who conceived the idea and designed the product. There is a clear cling cover sheet to place on the cover grid plate but I didn't realize this, until watching a video showing how to properly apply it. Looked, and this item wasn't in my package. Fortunately, the shipping box was still in our recycle boxes, so double checked that it had not been left in the box. Nope; that evening emailed Iliana, who responded very promptly and said she would ship one next day. She did and it's been received. Now how great is that for good & fast customer service! Also advised all my Misti owner buddies that my protective cover sheet was missing, so they could check that they had it. (yeah, they all did!). The top cover of Misti is shown open in the photos here.

 

Additional graph paper pack, the soap cleaner recommended to clean the surfaces, and 4 super magnets. Shipping was very speedy which was a very pleasant surprise.

If you are interested in this product - which is great if you are doing assembly line images - do check out My Sweet Petunia for the FAQ, international shipping, etc. I've been watching some Youtube videos, & reading high praise of Misti on many blogs too. . Haven't had a chance to play with mine yet, but I'll let you know how I like it. I'm thinking I will like it - LOTS! And no, I don't work for the company either!! LOL.

Thanks for joining me this afternoon. Things are quiet around our house, as it's looking like some rain could come in. Hope your afternoon is going just great. God Bless, big Hugs.

DeeDee's Digis - Forget Me Not

Hiya! Back with another pretty DeeDee's Digi image (from 2 different sets, in fact). Let's get started.

Background is from a Brusho playday (I think...it was on the desk so I inked & used it. Inked up an Impression Obsession CAC Script stamp with Colorbox Fluid Chalk Moss Green ink, after placing an oval mask in the center of the background.

- Oval floral shape is from DeeDee's Blooming Blessings April Digi of the month. Printed & cut out the central image portion. Did a tiny bit of shading on the pretty flowers, added some gold ink to the centers and a dab of Glossy Accents. Raised up with foam bits all around the oval.

- Vases of Forget Me Not is DeeDee's Digis Forget Me Not set which has lots of nice sentiments & papers. Fussy cut these shapes, added a little shading and gold centers, with Glossy Accents. After these were popped up on foam, used some Glossy Accents to make the vases look like ceramic. Not showing in the photo, but quite nice IRL.

- Butterfly die cut from thin aluminum that seals the top of a can of peanuts..with an Ellentina butterfly die - 2 layers of thin metal which fused together when die cut. Used some metallic colors of stamp ink on the surface, but it's not showing in the photo.

- Taylored Expressions sentiment that came as a freebie in an order, cut from 2 layers of white snippet and colored with the new Ranger Abandoned Coral pen. Tried for a color that would compliment the flowers on the the oval, and think this looked fairly close.

To join in this month's challenge at DeeDee's, please make any wholesome project using this set, and then link directly to your project using the linking gadget.....by 11:55 pm Pacific Time on Sunday, 26 April 2015. If you are inspired to make more than one project  there is no limit on times you can enter! You must make at least one project and link it up HERE to get next month's featured set emailed to you. So join in the fun if you possibly can, and there's already some wonderful inspiration cards posted by the Design Team.

***Please Note: This challenge ends on April 26th because it is the last Sunday of the month.***

If you are new to the "Digi of the Month" challenges, it's not too late to join in the fun! This is a monthly progressive freebie challenge. You can purchase this month's featured set 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 $10 qualifying purchase. Create and share any wholesome project made with this set by the challenge deadline, and you will be sent next month's featured set for FREE. Keep playing, and keep collecting freebies -- it's as easy as that! 

So do join in if possible, as these digis are super easy & lovely to work with...there's precolored images, line art, and certainly the price is so reasonable. It's also fun to take elements from different sets to make a card too, as I've done with this one. And aside from the fussy cutting, this one was a fast make. As you know, I'm not a fast card maker so these images save me quite frequently.

 

Thanks for popping by for a visit. Always love to hear what you think, and I've some other photos to share in my next post. Hugs.

Christmas Card Club - Vintage

Good Morning. Finally made it back to Blogland after being MIA for a week, just in time for our bi-monthly Christmas Card Club Challenge. Our sweet Miss Rachel (Fisher's Cards and Crafts) selected today's theme: Vintage.   The image I chose was Fireside (Stampendous-R211). This wooden stamp was found at a Florida Michaels on a 50% Christmas sale. Since it was still not put away properly, easy to ink up for this challenge! Here goes:

- Stamped on cream colored c/s with Versafine Vintage Sepia rather than Memento Rich Cocoa, due to the fine detailing in the image. Used a stamp press since the block is rather largish.  I had intended to keep this card solely in sepia & cream tones. After looking at the image, decided to do very minimal coloring with the polychromos pencils, to attempt a Normal Rockwell look, and keep it matte. Pretty easy to color, very little shading done & no embellishments. I think the scene is pretty enough without adding other trimmings.

- 6x6 Christmas pack from the stash; then die cut the aperture with a S/B Card matting die. The DP is raised up with foam tape - which was the hardest part of this card....trying to get the opening straight.

- Elizabeth Craft die cut sentiment from a white snippet - 2 layers adhered - colored with a Wink of Luna green pen. It does have a nice glimmer IRL.

That's it for this one, folks. If you have time, please visit my fellow clubmembers, whose links are on the sidebar. It will be a pleasant way to spend your Sunday afternoon.

Thanks for joining me today, and tomorrow should see a new post as well. We came home to some lovely Easter cards, created by some wonderfully talented blogger friends, and I will be sharing those. Also a new purchase that just arrived (the Mysti stamping tool). If you don't know about Mysti, you're missing out. Bye and big hugs.

Hello from Sunny Florida

Hiya, just popping by this afternoon to say a big hello and share a few piccies that have been taken. I've tried to work on coloring some images, but sad to say, have only completed 3. Just can't get me in the mood. After Mr. loaded my big craft bag filled with Copics, I had to be seen doing 'something' however...so several afternoons I've managed to stamp up an image and work on it. Hard to color well if you're just not in the mood though. At least for me!

Did dash into a local Target with the DD and while she was looking for her 'wants', I checked the school supply aisle. Found the Staedtler marker set that I had discovered while here at Christmas. The set is $24.99 (still cheaper than buying the Copic multi-liner pens one by one, plus copic doesn't have all these colors either). The tips are quite fine, so it's nice to do stems or lines with one of these. I've not seen these markers at home, and actually this particular Target is the only one where I've found them in Florida. Since I really like them, and don't know how long the ink will last, I purchased 2 sets. Have learned the hard way, if I like something - when I find it, buy at least 2 of it. And hope the ink doesn't dry out before using!!

 

 

Here's what we saw out on the pool deck one morning:

 

We think this is a Blue Heron (don't know our cranes). On the other Fla coast where we lived for so many years, we had sand cranes that walked down the streets of our community.They looked like a group of gabbling ladies who were out for a walk through the neighborhood. They were very noisy, also very messy. I used to throw bread crumbs out on the driveway for them, until someone told me this was a big No-No. Stopped that real fast!

Dogs started to bark at our visitor & he took flight. I wasn't really trying to capture him in flight, but I was happy to see the result of the snap. He moved so rapidly to look like such a clumsy creature on land.

Had to share a picture of some of the dogs.

Yesterday we went for a drive to Sarasota (had to cross that Skyway Bridge that I hate!). Visited some friends who winter here from their home in Maine and then had a lovely lunch at an Amish restaurant. Then on the way home, DH & friend agreed to stop at Sparkle n Sprinkle Stamps in Ruskin. Wasn't too far out of our way, and I stocked up on some embossing powders and pretty glitters.

 

Today we visited a quaint little Florida beach town called Gulfport. Walked around the square, lots of tiny boutiques and restaurants. The main street is cobbled, very atmospheric, but bumpy to ride across. We stopped at a small restaurant and enjoyed a Cuban sandwich & black bean soup (DD & I, the guys had something else). Came home, started some laundry. Had thought to head home Friday, but since DD has the day off for Good Friday, we'll plan to leave Saturday, since she will be working.
Hope to persuade Mr. to take me to St. Petersburg & Whim So Doodle Stamps tomorrow, but he wants to clean the truck, so that trip may not happen.

For some reason I was not thinking Easter is this coming weekend, but the following. Guess who won't be having any Easter cards ready to mail out??? Oh well, it's relaxing to be here with nothing much to do, except watch Netflix & Acorn & read Doc Martin fan fiction while everyone else is 'doing their thing'. Hope you are all set for the Easter weekend, and hopefully can spend it with those that you love. Just wanted to check in & say "Hey". Big Hugs & God Bless.



 

Almost forgot this one...such a gorgeous golden sunset.