August Rudolph Day - Stampendous Cling Cardinal

Hiya, and thanks for joining me this afternoon. Been quite a busy day, as our concrete team arrived this morning. It had been scheduled for Monday, but the owner of the business called us Sunday night to ask if he could start Thursday. We were appreciative that he called, and didn't just leave us waiting for someone to show up. Unfortunately, that happens a lot in today's world. So bright & early this morning, a cast of thousands (just a slight exaggeration!) arrived at the house. Here's a few pictures:

It was fascinating to see how large chunks of concrete were broken & lifted and then placed in a huge dumpster, that was filled and hauled away. This debris will be recycled into other projects, so glad it's not going into the landfill. Picture 1 shows the first section nearly removed. The section next to this one, and 2 sections nearest the house were removed. The concrete had pitted badly, was all crumbly. Not a good first impression for any future buyers of this place, so better to get it fixed now, while we have someone whose work has been highly regarded by our neighbors.

This is what the area just outside the garage doors looks like at the moment. And if it starts to rain, would be one big, red muddy mess! Where the guys are digging in the grass, will an enlarged pullout - Mr. has been parking his trailer in the area closest to the house. That bothers me when I back out my car, as I can't swing out into that area, but have to just back straight to the street. Yes, I can do it, but I don't like it!!!

 

Thank goodness this morning was fresh & cool for the guys doing this dirty work. After taking some pictures, I had my coffee on the porch swing, read my kindle and watched the neighbors go by, peering in to see what's going on. The crew should be back early tomorrow to form up the area where the addition to the pullout will be & then pour concrete. We're hoping no sneaky rain shows up to mess up the surface.

Now here's August's Rudy Day card:

- image is Stampendous Cling Cardinal Elements. Stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa; die cut with S/B Marvelous Squares; airbrushed the background with Copics E41, E42 to create an aged look. Colored the cardinal with copics and still debating on whether to add some glossy accents to the wing poinsettia. Used a metallic gel pin to accent the leaves the cardinal perches upon. Used a colorless blender to remove some color and highlight that area. This started with touching up a tiny red berry smear...thought the effect looked nice, so did the entire motif. Looks quite nice IRL.

- design papers from various 6x6 Christmas packs. S/B Victorian Medallion Three cut the mat just behind the cardinal. This die only cuts the design, so had to trim out to fit the red layer underneath. Because this medallion is quite large, this became a 5.5x5.5 square card.

- Gold mirror card covers the white card base.

- sentiment is from the new release of HLS Mixed Christmas Sentiments, which is going to be a quite versatile set for me. I loved the calligraphy font used on this card, but there's many styles in the set. Here's a link explaining shipping charges, etc. and Kylie ships internationally. These stamps are very high quality and the image was crisp and clear. Used a Memento Luxe Love Letter to ink, embossed with Ranger clear detail EP. Die cut with a S/B tag and edged along the die with Copic E41, 42, to tie in the colors of the background.

Now, I'm off to join in with August Rudolph Day. Why don't you join in the fun? There's a great Memory Box die as this month's prize! c'mon! Thanks for popping in & big hugs. Let's have coffee on the swing, ok????