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9/29/2016

Santa Sleigh with Deer & Trees for Rudolph Day

Good afternoon. Tried very hard this month to get something ready in time for September's Rudy Day, since I missed last month. What is Rudy Day, you ask? Well, it's a challenge more properly called Rudolph Day, that is open from the 25th to the end of each month, and hosted by our sweet Scrappymoi, (Maureen). I happen to like the name "Rudy Day", and it's faster to type!

Did ya'll notice the Seasonal change-over to Fall on the Blog look? Isn't that a fabulous Fall banner with that gorgeous Cardinal? Thanks Loll!  Loll and Bonnie are starting a new challenge ( CAS Watercolour Card Challenge.) You might want to check this link out.

Even though today's card was started earlier this month (with bits & pieces) - still was finishing it up last night. Just too many things going on lately. DH had his 2 navy friends visiting, and then we were gone for a few days. Went to Charleston, SC, so we could tour the USS Yorktown. I'm very happy that these 3 Vets got to be together one more time. Next day, we toured the city of Charleston, very nice to see the old houses. (Hot & humid though, so we were all tuckered at the end of the day. Even though part of the tour was on an a/conditioned bus, we still did a lot of walking). Next day, 5 hour drive to Atlanta to see the Georgia Aquarium (2 hours south of where WE live, and we'd never been!) Worthwhile visit, saw an amazing dolphin show. Back home, and then some local running around. One fella left yesterday to fly home, the other drives back to Massachusetts tomorrow. (Usually he's here at least annually).

OK - on to the card:


- Leaping deer & trees were cut from a piece of corrugated paper (torn from a packing box - so big time snippet!). This paper had caught a lot of overspray and has been on the airbrush/spray table, for a long time! I didn't add any more colors to the crinkles - just found dies and cut the shapes. The glitter trees in the background - also from a snippet piece, think this was a Memory Box border die. Don't remember what companies for the trees and the deer.

- base was started for This card - with sponging on the background, and I got it way too dark for the first card. Thought it could work ok for this one. Added a bit of 'snow' to the horizon line where the glitter trees are placed. Then added the smaller corrugated tree shapes, the leaping deer, then the largest tree. There is shadowing with the tall tree and the deer, but not showing in the photo.

- Decided to add a circle punch glitter moon (snippet), behind an Impression Obsession die of Santa & 8 reindeer. (cut off some of the front deer to fit this card). This black piece was another salvaged snippet.  During the recent closet cleaning efforts, found 3 pretty velvet type boxes, which had held Christmas ornaments. Have no idea why I kept these, but planned to pitch the boxes. The inside had partitions, black velvet textured material (like you find in a box that has held jewelry). Hmmm...could I take this out and use it? So I did. The die was cut to use the velvet side showing on this card. When it went through the Big Shot (and I used the nifty special metal shim so it cut pretty well), the die left 'impressions' on the velvet stuff, so I used the backside of the material...which is a bit glossy.

- Sentiment is from VOS sheet of sticker sentiments, and sponged a bit of DI Broken China on the edges. Pretty easy card to do, should not have taken as long as it did! Lotsa interruptions!!!

I'm skating in at the last minute to enter this card at Rudy Day, so I hope Maureen will still let me sneak in! Please take a look at all the fab cards that have been entered, and you still have til tomorrow night to get something linked up!

Hopefully next week all things will be back to normal. My cleaning efforts are still going on, been working in the stamp area a little bit. Slowly, slowly. Thanks for joining me this afternoon...and big hugs!

9/22/2016

Sunflowers

Good evening, and welcome. Navy buddies have both arrived safely (although the luggage didn't arrive on the same plane with the fella who flew). We finally collected his carryon - which ended up in the cargo area, as there was no room in the overhead bins - tonight about 11pm. Exciting day and we had a nice dinner at the local Olive Garden (where I always get the Zuppa de Tosca and salad). Everyone but Moi has gone beddy-by.

Recently did a couple cards that needed to be mailed this week. Thought I'd snapped some pics, but when I unloaded the camera card, hmmm....only one was there. Guess I was dreamin'.


This is another image colored some time ago, and no clue as to stamp company. All I did to charge up the previously done coloring, was to add some gold WoS at the base of the sunflower petals, and some clear WoS on other parts. The leaves could probably have used a bit more dark shading now that I see the photo.

- Die cut with a xstitch rectangle die, (maybe Mbox die - largest in that set). Used a stitched die - a bit larger - to cut some paper that looks handmade (but wasn't) for a mat.

- Gold lightweight c/stock was embossed with an EF that had been inked with Memento Toffee Crunch, which toned down the bright gold quite nicely. Since the c/s used for this card base was of a lighter weight, used another c/s that was a bit heavier for the insert. No sentiment was added to this one.

Last bit was to add a trio of gold sequins. Thass' It Folks!

This evening was absolutely lovely. Sat out on the porch swing, with the evening sun filtering through the neighborhood trees, a cooling breeze making it feel so pleasant to be outside, and hummingbirds keeping me company. The neighborhood was very quiet, and our visitors came out to enjoy the peace. (neither of them are porch people, but I think they enjoyed it ...for a few minutes anyway.) I told them, This is what you do in the South!

Have a great Thursday, and thanks for stopping in! Hugs & Blessings.

9/18/2016

Christmas Card Club - Hats & Mittens

Good afternoon, Happy Sunday. Today it's time for another Christmas Club card, and our challenge theme of Woolie Hats & Gloves was chosen by our Kate. Hunted through my supplies, and while I could find a die for mittens, not a stamp or die with winter type hats! Remembered a delightful gift received recently...LOTV precolored images sent by a very sweet Sylvie. Sylvie is another CCC member who makes the most gorgeous cards with LOTV products. So off I go to work on this challenge. Sylvie, thanks so much for sending the wonderful LOTV package, which saved the day for me on  _this_ challenge. Hope you will approve of how I used your kind gift.


 
 
- LOTV image, enhanced with some WoS silver on the skates, Spectrum Noir sparkle blue on the mittens, hair ribbons, glossy accents on the ice puddles, and some rhinestones on the falling snow.
 
- die cut the image with a pierced rectangle die, used the next size rectangle for the snippet blue mat and just cut the silver mat to be a skinny one behind the other two pieces. The silver was backing from an old Christmas card that I've saved just the front of it. (part of my cleaning effort to get rid of a lot of house clutter! Saw that the back was shiny and enough space to use for 'something'. So...another snippet).
 
- Could not find an appropriate blue for the card front, so took a precut white c/s, sponged DI blues over it, until it looked like a suitable snowy background for the skaters, then embossed it with the C/Bug Dots folder.
 
- MBox mittens die from a snippet of red, to add some more mittens for embellishment. This looked too plain and flat, so used an EF that was in the pile, then a piece of strip Washi tape, cut to fit the cuffs to add a little zing.(used red to bring out the scarf colors- looking at the finished card, thinking perhaps should have used blue). The corner bow is part of this die, but the 'string' on one mitten tore removing from the die. Decided to remove the strings, just use the bow, added a rhinestone, Voila.
 
- Sentiment is from a very old page of stickers. That's it!!! Thanks to Kate for a fun challenge, and many thanks to Sylvie for her generosity, which meant I was able to meet the challenge this week!!! Hugs to both of you.
 
Please be sure to check what the other club members have shared - you'll find the links to their blogs on the side bar.
 
Also check the Cards by Friends page, where some new cards have been added. As always, thanks for stopping in. And have a wonderful afternoon. Blessings & Hugs.

9/13/2016

Just Buzzin' In Get Well

Good afternoon, and welcome. No, I've not fallen off the face of the earth. Just still in the chillin' mode, and doing some small tidy up house chores. I've been released by the surgeon, so can drive again, and do the normal routine once again. Thanks to all who sent emails & cards and lots of good thoughts! Much appreciated.

Haven't really been in the creative mood, but the fella who takes care of our computers had surgery yesterday. Been going through boxes of UFO's, and found this card (VOS)...no idea how long ago this was made. Thought it might bring a grin to his face when he sees it. He was here Friday to replace one of desktop monitors. It was less expensive to buy a larger thin tv screen than to buy a monitor, can you believe it? It's wall mounted, so I have to get used to looking straight ahead, rather than down at a desk monitor. (should be good for my neck, anyway, and much nicer when watching videos too).

Here's the card:


- added the M/Box bee hive, bees. The hive was cut from a piece of rather glossy cardboard packaging, and shaded with the copic warm grays. Bees cut from white snippet, colored with copics, added WoS.

-MFT fishtail cut the computer generated sentiment, which was an outline font, colored in with WoS.
Some glitter glue had been added to the bees on the paper background. Looks ok IRL, not so great in the photo.

Easy peasy to finish up a UFO. For this guy, thought simple was best.

We've had a couple of days that were pleasant to enjoy the porch swing; mid-day - it's still quite warm. We're having DH's navy buddies next week, so hope it will be pleasant for the guys to enjoy doing some guy things. That's another reason the tidy-up mode is upon me!!! (Don't worry, it doesn't last long!!!).

Thanks for coming by, and I'll do my best to get back into card making and blogging - it's been lovely to have a little break though! Big Hugs & there's room in the swing!!


9/08/2016

Birthday Star Lily

Hi, and welcome. This is another scheduled post. Had a few minutes to write up a few posts from cards that had been done using things from the snippets bins. This is another one, but a little touch up was done on the copic shading, then hunted up a good S/Binder die to cut the image nicely.


-Stampendous wood block stamp (VOS)- The block says Star Lily. Used pink, pale oranges, and light yellow greens to color the petals, added some green spica coloring on the stamens and petal striations, also WoS.

- Cheery Lynn butterfly die cut from craft copper that had been heated (see Loll's heated copper video). The butterfly had lots of dimensional embossing until I ran it back through the Big Shot to ensure there were no sharp edges to present any danger. I encourage you to watch Loll's video, as it's a very pretty look (mine never turn out so well as Loll's, but I keep trying!!! )

- S/B Label die.

- background paper from a huge 12x12 pack (again, VOS). narrow strip of gold texture (a snippet) on the side trim, and then used Allison's Ribbons Die Plate to cut the hem stitched border on the right side (from another piece of paper in the same old 12x12 pack).

- PB sentiment cut from 3 layers, colored with copics.

That's all! Did 2 cards like this, but in different colors. Will share the 2nd one at a later time.

We're doing some porch sitting since the evenings are becoming more pleasant. The humidity is not so high, so even if the temps are not all that cool, it's refreshing to sit outside, watch the hummingbirds at the front feeders. They surely are feisty. Soon they'll be winging their way to South America, where I'm told they spend the winters.

I'm trying to get back into card making and posting. We're expecting some old navy buddies of DH to come in later this month, so trying to get things ready for that. Still in the Lazy Mode, sad to say. But it's been lovely to just chill. Big hugs, come again when you can. Ya'll have a grand afternoon.

9/06/2016

Thank You Poppies

Good afternoon. I hope that all my USA friends had a wonderful Labor Day weekend, with pleasant weather, relaxation and all good things to help celebrate a holiday.

Found some bits & pieces of a pre-started card (VOS) when I needed to make a Thank You card for the wonderfully caring folks who took care of me on my recent surgery. Basically to get this ready, all I did was add a die cut Poppy Flower from black glitter paper, a bold sentiment die, and a couple of butterflies. Nothing fancy.



- MBox flower die (or was it Penny Black? I can check if anyone wants to know fer sure).

- MStewart punched butterflies - snippets.. Put the silver one on, decided it needed some color, so a snippet of red glitter paper, Voila, another butterfly. Then I thought "hmm, maybe should have left off the red one". Too late, it's stuck down! This MS punch is one that the piece doesn't just pop out...it's a bit fiddly. Think it might be meant to stamp partially and lift wings out of the background to create dimension.

- Avery Elle Thank you die (I think!) from a snippet of white water color paper that was handy.

some black & white Pretty Posh sequins.

- the design papers are VOS, and the card front had already been made...probably years ago. The black paper has a lot of texture.

Like I said, nothing fancy.....I expect the nursing staff doesn't get a lot of appreciation from patients, but I bet they get plenty of complaints. So I thought a thank you card was in order.

Ya'll have a great day. Big hugs & Thanks for stopping in.

9/04/2016

Let's See Some Wings

Hello and welcome to the Sunday Christmas Card posting where our theme "Let's See Some Wings" was chosen by Christine over at Christine's Cards and Crafts.  Our choice was angels, fairies, birds...I chose birds.

Here's card #1 using a white wash on kraft technique seen in a video by Melanie Muenchinger.

 
 
- PBlack Holly Concert image, stamped in Versamark, heat embossed with Ranger Seafoam White. Mement greens in 2 shades for the leaves, blues for the birds and reds for the berries. Used a water brush to dab directly into the pad, making sure the brush was not too wet, then brushed onto the kraft. As Melanie suggests, left more uncolored space at first. Because of the smaller areas, this was not what I wanted. After looking at the results, went back and w/colored in the remaining areas. Tried spattering some white over the craft (falling snow!) & this easy technique is not as easy as it looks! Smudged some green around the edge of die cut.
 
- S/B Gold Label 4 for the image die cut. S/B Grand Label 4 used for the mat.
 
- Light blue cardbase embossed with the Taylored Expressions Holly cutting plate using a thick tan rubber mat so that the metal would not cut, but just emboss. Smudged this with DI Sage, which was also added to the mat & main image.
 
- SU sentiment stamped with SU Real Red on vellum, heat embossed with clear EP. Impression Obsession holly leaves die - Christmas Red stickles added to the berries. Punched with an SU oval punch.
 
- Memory Box Poinsettia die cut twice from vellum to get multiple layers of the flower, which were colored with copics. Shaped, and glued at the centers.
 
Card #2
 
Recently found a new to me product called Embossable Acetate, which can be colored and embossed. I've used packaging acetate for alcohol inks and embossing before...this product is thicker.
 
- Nellie Snellen Snow birds EF . White snow done with an SU white chalk marker coloring on reverse side. Used gel pens for the birds & sun.
 
- Blue background was also embossed with the same EF, and just slightly offset. This looks quite nice IRL, but did not photo well, as the acetate is a bit 'bowed'. The blue flower corners cover the vellum glue - which is not supposed to show..but  does when you know it's there!
 
Closing today with a wish that you have a wonderful Sunday afternoon, and visit again when you have time. Many Hugs.


Christmas Card Club - Winter Scene

Happy Sunday! I expect you think I've departed for parts unknown..I'm still here!!! Just been taking things easy, and feeling better each day. And honestly, haven't been in the mood to make cards or blog. I've been reading, doing minimal house chores, taking naps, visited with a couple of neighbors, sitting on the porch when the days have been pleasant ....just totally chilling out. It's been lovely.

Today it's time for Sept 4's Christmas Card Club Challenge (can you _believe_ it's already September? We've had a few cooler, much welcome days, but then it got hot again). Our sweet Rachel chose our theme today, of a Winter Scene. I started 2 cards and about halfway through, decided each time - this isn't what I want. Then I saw a simple Penny Black card shared on Facebook.
Then I knew what I wanted to create. Hope you like it.


 
 
- Sponged Memento Summer Sky as lightly as I could to create the background. Die cut a Taylored Expressions Cutting Plate birch tree die. Used copics for a bit of shading over the white c/s.
 
- Impression Obsessions deer trio were cut from a piece of silvery DCWV mercury paper.
 
- Various tree dies were cut from green glitter paper, and placed around 2 stitched dies that created snow hills. Put dimensional foam behind a couple trees to bring them more into the foreground.
 
Before placing the deer on the card, tore a piece of gesso'd paper to place behind them, and then used foam bits to pop their bodies up, using liquid glue to keep their legs in place. Lastly added some Stickles Star Dust for shimmer. The camera picked up the opaqueness of the stickles on their legs, but the eye doesn't see it! We'll just say this is snow from where they walked to the front of the card!!!
 
Well, you know I had to add a red bird...which came from a white previously cut bird that was in the Impression Obsession small bird die (154_A)  envelope. (There's no crest on this fella, such as a cardinal would have, but again, we can take creative liberty. This was a last minute addition!!
 
Please do check out my fellow team members' inspiration on this fun challenge. Once I had the final idea, it was fun to envision this scene!!!
 
Hugs & have a wonderful afternoon. Thanks too, for the good wishes so many have sent to me. I'll try to be more proactive with blogging - but it's been relaxing to have some time just for me!