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10/31/2013

Halloween

Good evening, and I'm back to share 2 lovely Halloween cards we received. Our Trick or Treaters are beginning to wind down, I think, and soon we'll turn off the porch light. We are still getting an occasional visitor. Some have been so cute, some look like they need to be out earning money to buy their own candy! Oh well, we do it for the little ones. At least this year everyone has been polite.

We got these 2 beauties and I wanted to share with you, along with a picture of our maple tree that I took today. We were expecting rain tonight, and I wanted to get a snap before the leaves fall off.

Gloria's Card

Inside of Gloria's card
My friend Gloria says she is learning to use copics. I think she has passed the learning curve as this very intricate design has been colored to perfection. The bat is elevated as is the spider medallion. So striking. And the inside is just as awesome. Not sure if you can pick up on all the elevated pretties, but the 31, witch, skull bottle and the poison circle are all raised features. This is so impressive. And I especially loved the orange burlap fabric behind the stamped focal image. Yep, I think she is way past the learning stage, don't you?!

Next is from my friend Candee (http://cardcornerbycandee.blogspot.com/).

Candee's Card

The 'border area' is a sort of envelope that the sentiment part of the card is stored inside. I raised up this part for display. I'm not sure what this is properly called, but it is so really pretty. Both these cards are on display on our hearth. Thanks Candee & Gloria for thinking of us with these lovely & well done cards. We have thoroughly enjoyed each one, and are thankful for such talented friends.


This is our 10 yr old maple tree that is in our front yard. It is not growing very rapidly but each year we get a blaze of color from this tree. I should have taken the picture earlier, as you can see by the ground underneath. We had rain predicted tonight, and I figured the rain would demolish a lot of these leaves. I try to snap a picture every fall. We have another newer tree in our back yard, that is called an October Glory Maple. It is supposed to be a flame red color, and so far, all we've gotten is yellow - pretty - that's true, but not the red I wanted. This tree is growing three times as fast as the one shown here, and we're beginning to think we planted it too close to the house! (been there, done that before). 

Also wanted to let some of the blog followers know that one of our Playground Friends, Redanne ( http://bollyanne.blogspot.com/) has suffered a fall; so if you're one of her following, might want to visit & leave some good wishes. Another blogger let me know of Anne's accident. Anne does fabulous takes on Tim Holtz tags, vintage altered wonders, etc, and has always been so supportive to me personally with this blog. It's a joy each time I visit to see the marvelous art she's produced. So here's hoping she recovers quickly and will soon be home, able to craft & blog again.

Goodnight, and I hope your Halloween was all you wanted it to be. Hugs

Christmas Angels

Happy Halloween to all who observe the day. Also big welcome to Donna of Designing Keepsakes. Delighted that you have joined in here, and please do check out Donna's lovely blog when you have a moment.

I submit cards over at Pixie's Crafty Workshop when I have used snippets (scraps as we Yanks would call 'em, but the UK term snippets sounds much nicer). I learned about Lili of the Valley (LOTV) products at the Snippets Playground. I love these toppers/images. Some time ago, when LOTV had a sale AND free international shipping, I placed an order. (A UK blogger gave me the heads up on the free shipping promo). Today's card was inspired by this cutie, because when I saw it, I was reminded that I have some Christmas motifs from that LOTV order. I needed something 'fast' that didn't need coloring, in order to have a card to share today. Here 'tis:


- LOTV Angelic Christmas pre-colored image, sponged around the edges with a sponge that had red ink on it. Had just enough remaining ink to achieve the effect I wanted at the edges.

- Scalloped S/B square just peeking at the edges was a thick shiny green paper with silver threads running through it. This size S/Binder was just a tad too small but the next size was way too large. So... added the Cheery Lynn Italian Flourish doily. This die cut very smoothly since I was just using a red paper, rather than card stock.

10/29/2013

Christmas

Hello and Welcome to Mary Anne, http://lakesidestamping.blogspot.com/, a new follower. I think there are a few more as I saw the Followers number increase, but I've not been able to find out just who it is. Usually a new follower 'face' will appear in that section as a new addition, and I add the name to my database (for blog candy consideration, you know!); but I'm going to have to compare one by one, the follower's section with my database so that I know who everyone is. There's a difference in my spreadsheet numbers and what I see here. But I'll get that done before blog candy is offered again. So please do take time to surf by to check Lakeside Stamping for some swell inspiration.

Here's the card for today:


- image is Wildlife by Sweet Stamps, colored with copics on Xpress paper, die cut with S/B Opulent Ovals, smudged at the edges with DI Evergreen Bough while still in the die. Pearl trim was white, colored with R56. This was an easy fun image to color . When Sweet Stamps debuted this image and a couple of other pretty bird images, I got an email from the company, but I also got several emails from stamp friends who know I love birds telling me about a cardinal stamp. Yep, I bought 'em all (4)! This stamped image went along with me on our Florida trip, so I had to hunt up the stamp to give the specs.

10/28/2013

Rudolph Day

Good afternoon and I hope that none of my blog buddies in the UK have had any damage from the storm I just read about on the MSN home page. I know that several of you wrote that you were preparing for some gale force winds.

For those who don't know, each month over at Stamping for Pleasure that starts each month on the 25th. Rules are simple and it's lots of fun, so today's card will be submitted to October's Rudolph Day. There is a lovely Memory Box corner die for some lucky entrant. Here is my card:


- Image is Santa Mouse CM 714P by Artful Stamps, colored with Copics, die cut with a S/Binder Petite Large Oval. I added some Polar White Flowersoft on the fur & hat pompom. I have a heck of a time with the Flowersoft glue, and this effort was no exception. The glue was clogged at the tip - and yes I store it tip down in a cup as instructed in a class! Using a paper piercer to try to unclog it, I jabbed the needle end into my finger, didn't realize it until I saw a red blob on the little mouse's chest. Wet a towel to get it off ASAP, but still saw a little residue from a stain. Used some more of the copic pinks to try to cover the boo-boo. Grrrr!

10/26/2013

Pear Zentangle Stamp

Good Morning, and brrrr...it is quite cool & breezy around our community today, even though the sun is shining. We had some plants freeze over night, so we'll have to go pull them up later this afternoon.
(we did know this would happen, which is why we didn't cover them last night. I'm not spending the winter, out each night to cover up plants! These were coleus by the front steps and we knew they'd have to come out pretty soon).

I have been working on this card for several nights...and finally finished it. The card was placed on a black ground to photograph. Actual card is the background described below.


- The stamp was purchased at the September Stamp Convention. I stamped using Tuxedo Black Memento, then using 2 different Kaleidescope pads (sorry, don't remember the names of the K pads..I was just experimenting to see the effects). The gray pear was adhered with dimensional tape, so it is a bit elevated from the 2 flat pears.

In another stamping trial, I used Memento Cottage Ivy, coloring in with some Tombow Irotjen pencils. These pencils are very hard, hold a point great, but I'm finding them too waxy when laying down the color. Could be I just need more practice, but my first effort with the Derwent Colortense pencils seemed to yield a better result. I'll be back with the pencil colored stamp later.

10/25/2013

A Halloween Friday Fun Day Challenge

Hi, and welcome to another Friday Fun Day challenge over at Jo's Scrap Shack. Today the challenge is Anything  but a Card, with a Halloween theme, and our sponsor is Bugaboo Digi Stamps.  Now I don't scrapbook, am not into making baskets/boxes/treat bags or the like - yes I know I am rather set in my ways! But there you have it...a truth about my character. So what to make? Here's what I came up with, using this really spooky digi, printing it out on plain whiteWalmart GP Brand cardstock.


10/23/2013

Believe

Happy Wednesday and it's a sunny but coolish one in our area. Today's card looks much better IRL than it appears in the photo. It has several different techniques used on it.


First let me explain that the card base is a navy blue, but it doesn't look very navy in the photo! The image is unmounted red rubber - and was purchased at the  September Stamp Convention and has no name on it. I think it was purchased from QKR Stampede but not positive. I bought quite a few of the unmounted stamps from this vendor because they had a lot that looked like Zentangles, of which this was one.

10/22/2013

I'm Dreaming of a Pink Christmas

Hello again, and I'm back with another card to submit to Jingle Bells I'm Dreaming of a Pink Chrismas (and a Cure) challenge. Please do visit this site, read the rules, and perhaps you will be inspired to make a card featuring pink and play along. Here's my card:


- Pink cardbase was from a 6x6 pack of DCWV Shine paper acquired on my recent travels, and embossed with a Darice Angel EF, another recent acquisition. Thought this EF would be appropriate for the challenge subject. Used a sanding block very lightly along the raised surface of the emboss.

- MS border punched from a snippet remaining from the card base used in the 1st card I submitted in the previous post for the Jingle Bells challenge. Silver holly stickers from the sheet  that had the sentiment sticker.

- Rhinestone snowflake.

- Filigree stickers on the corner.

This was a quick & easy card to make. I hope I can find time to make a few more, as so many people I know, have had to deal with the dreadful disease. I hope you'll be able to find time to make a card & join in.

Since I have a small snippet on this card, I'm going over to the Snippet Playground for week #95, and let Parsnip check out this card to get his opinion on it. Miss is still off on her training trip, & Parsnip may need a little cuddle. C'mon along, and let's check out what is going on! As always, thanks for your visit & any comment you may feel like leaving. Hugs


I'm Dreaming of a Pink Christmas

Good Morning, and welcome to 2 new followers: Kimbo of Kimbo's Cards & Cats and Christine of Christine's Cards and Crafts. I urge you to visit both these blogs because you are going to see some beautiful cards that will inspire you. In my travels around different blogs, I am always so amazed at the artistry & talent that I get to enjoy. Also delighted to find some new followers! (Hmm...could be some more candy in the future...!)

Over at Jingle Bells, there is a fantastic challenge going on, (where you can find the Linky tool) and when I saw the theme, I knew I had to try to participate. Please do check it out, as it is very worthwhile. There are some goodies available, but the biggest prize is the chance to do something to help other people. The title of the Challenge is I'm Dreaming of a Pink Christmas(and a Cure) (where you can read about the challenge).  The rules are pretty simple...make a card featuring Pink. For each card, $2 is donated to the Susan K. Komen Foundation - up to $4, but you can enter as many cards as you wish.

Here's mine.

- Elizabeth Craft Ornament #2 die made from Dylusions sprayed background with colors Bubblegum Pink, Cherry Pie and Funky Fuschia. Some of the colors had the white linen dilution, some were full strength. Pink rhinestones added for some bling. Silver rickrack hangers.

- Ruby Red Shimmer Sheetz embossed with a Darice Snowflake EF, then sanded.

- card base background was a cream & gold 6x6 paper that got DI Victorian Velvet, Spun Sugar and Raspberry Pink sponged all over it.

- added the rhinestone snowflakes and a sticker sentiment, which is silver on glossy card stock.

Hope you like it, and that it inspires you to join in the Jingle Bells Pink Christmas Challenge. Thanks for joining me this morning, and have an absolutely wonderful day. Hugs

10/21/2013

Spellbinders 3D-Mbossibililty

Good Morning...pull up a chair, get your morning beverage of choice, and welcome to my Monday. I saw this card recently and thought it was just so beautiful. I had to smile as I enjoyed it, because I had the very embossing folder that Benzi used. I had tried it out on a background experiment, then colored in the wreath elements with some pan pastels. Didn't like the look of it at all (operator error, not the folder's fault). Everything I experimented with, just seemed to make it look worse. Well, when I saw Benzi's white card, it took my breath away, and I decided to try the folder again. I didn't want to just blatantly copy what Benzi had done, so hmmm, what can I try? Remembered I had a snippet of some Coordinations White Washed paper - 12x12 pack purchased years back. So off I go to find it, and here's the result. Thanks Benzi for some wonderful inspiration.


- S/Binders 3D Mbossibility Rustic Wreath* using Coordinations White Washed paper snippet. Sanded the wreath, then used shades of green pan pastels to just touch the holly leaves of the wreath. Used some Smooch (the kind that came in small bottles that looked like fingernail polish) to color the berries. Had a little blob accident on one of them, so covered with tiny red rhinestones.

- Elizabeth Craft outline stickers in the center.

- corners punched with an MS Holly Leaf corner punch, also colored with pan pastels, added the tiny star from the same outline sticker sheet.

- navy blue mat, navy blue card base...edged the base with Versamark, sprinkled Ranger Queen's Gold, heat embossed. (saw this technique on a Gina K video).

* when using these Mbossibility folders, be sure to check the how-to's. I broke one of the older Cuttlebug machines using an Mbossibility folder because I didn't read the instructions as carefully as I should have. The 3D-Mbossibility folders are even thicker than the regular ones. There are some good Youtubes showing how to sandwich these folders (check Scrap Made Simple #82). A great video and some good techniques with the metallic pan pastels too.

Since my Coordinations Cardstock was a snippet, this card is zipping over to join our Parsnip in the Playground. Parsnip is a cute little white bear who is keeping all of us in line while Miss is frolicking far away. This is week #95 at the Playground, so if you are making a card/project with anything leftover, link it with the Mr. Linky tool and join us for all the fun & a nice prize too! See ya there, and thanks so much for taking time to visit today. Hugs

10/20/2013

Dylusions and Memory Box

Happy Sunday afternoon, and Welcome! It's really a beautiful Fall day here in our Upstate South Carolina community today...very pleasant after the gloomy drizzles yesterday.  Here's a card I made some weeks ago, while playing with Dylusions sprays, creating backgrounds. I used the same Memory Box stamp to make the fall card on this post.



- Memory Box image stamped in Memento Cottage Ivy against a Dylusions sprayed background. Intended to use a S/B D-lite die cut tree over the stamping, decided to use the sentiment square instead.

- sentiment is from a 6-pk set of small stamps purchased long ago..probably Hero Arts. SU Scallop punch for the black matting (both were snippets). DI Scattered Straw smudged over the white square after stamping with DI Stormy Sky. Yellow smudging makes the sentiment look green, doesn't it?

- Black pearls finished off this very easy-to-make card. It's wonderful to have these backgrounds handy to stamp. I know exactly where this one will get mailed.

Thanks for joining me this afaternoon. I'm off to try to visit some lovely blogs, and enjoy some wonderful inspiration. Also need to update a data base with some purchases made in recent weeks, and who knows, I may even get around to straightening up my very messy craft room. Whatever you may do this afternoon, I hope it's pleasant and something that fills you with joy. Hugs

10/19/2013

Sunset

Good evening, and I'm back to share the lovely sunset we had this evening. I grabbed my camera to try to capture what I was seeing, using different settings on the camera. Here's what I finally settled on:



Both pictures were taken at the same time..no light changing. The top pic with a sunset setting, #2 with a dusk setting. These are different parts of the sky, but just changing camera settings. I like the first one best, as it looks more nearly like what my eye was seeing.

Our day was gloomy & drizzly off & on all day. Just before dusk, the sun peeked out from behind the trees. The rays coming down the trees were just so gleaming, but no way could I capture that with the camera...just enjoyed it as I sat & entered my new dies in the spread sheet (hopefully helping me avoid duplication! Found I've already got 2 of several). Then I got up to fix some dinner, close the blinds and saw this lovely sky. Just had to try to preserve it. Hope you'll enjoy it too. God Bless & thanks for checking in.

Penny Black Sticker

Good afternoon & welcome. It's dreary, rain & drizzly around Upstate South Carolina today. Cooler as well. Broke out a lightweight pair of  'longies' this morning, and they are feeling quite cozy.

Recently I bought some Penny Black sticker sheets, and decided to make a card with one of them. The longest part of making the card was finding the proper Spellbinder die to cut it out (would have been faster to fussy cut it ). I had seen a video on Jill Foster where she explained that she always backs her stickers on card stock, then cuts them out. (tried to find the video to link, but after searching back 2 years, I gave up). So I tried that & works pretty well. Did not do any edging as Jill frequently does, because the sticker looked antiqued to me anyway. (Now I see in the photo, I should have used a dark marker around the outside to hide the white backing c/s. Didn't notice it IRL).


- Sticker from Penny Black Scented Garden 2013 sheet, die cut with S/Binder Label 20.

- background created using DI Festive Berries, Worn Lipstick, Salty Ocean & Evergreen Bough over the Salty Ocean to dull up the brightness. Spritzed with water & dried. Stamped with Impression Obsession CC058 - Wispy - using Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink (Blue Lagoon); stamped again with CC050 - Script - with Fluid Chalk Dark Peony. One of the tips given in the Impression Obsession card classes I was fortunate to attend, suggested using the lighter ink color first, then darker ink. In this instance, both inks were darkish, but I thought the red script would show better against the blue DI. It still is visible in the red DI colors.

- Used S/Binder Shapeabilities Lattice Motif  to cut the burgundy mat, splitting the die cut in half to make it fit for a mat.

- Background was just a hair too short for the card base, so I added a MS lacey punch in the same burgundy paper.

- Elizabeth Craft sentiment from a white snippet sponged with DI Salty Ocean and Evergreen bow.

- threaded an organdy ribbon in shades of blue & lavender through the holes of the lattice mat, added a little bow, and that's it! Hope you like this one.

Have a wonderful afternoon, enjoy the rest of your weekend, and as always, Thanks for visiting. Hugs

I was reminded that since I have a tiny snippet on this card, it's eligible for the Playground, so I came back to do a little edit and add a link. Isn't it lovely that all these Playground buddies watch out for me? They'll do the same for you too, so if you're making a card using your snippets please do think about linking your card. Some lovely prizes, but also lots of fun in meeting some new people and - oh yes - nifty prizes given by a sweet little Parsnip of a cutie bear!

OH YES, several comments were made re: backing the sticker with cardstock...The idea came from Jill Foster's videos using stickers as mentioned above!!!!

10/18/2013

Friday Fun Day Challenge at Jo's Scrap Shack

Good Morning, and welcome to another Friday Fun Day challenge #22 over at Jo's Scrap Shack. Today the sponsor for Team A is Bugaboo Digi Stamps. I've chosen the very easy to color, Autumn Sign. Our challenge was "Anything Goes", and I thought I'd read somewhere "anything but a card". Decided I'd try using this cute little digi on a tag, experiment with some of the molding paste that I've gotten in my recent travels. Here is the tag:

 



- Manilla tag sprayed with Dylusions Orange Zest, Postbox Red, Melted Chocolate - which had been diluted with water & White Linen which made the sprays more opaque. The Chocolate was water with some Tattered Angels Gold, which doesn't show in the photo, but created a pretty bronze glimmer to the painted surface.
 

10/16/2013

Halloween

Welcome, and here I am with one more Halloween card. It didn't start out with the idea to make it a Halloween card, but as I worked on it, began to seem as though it _should be_ a Halloween theme.


- Memory Box Lamp Post Frame die cut using plain black paper, embossed with a Darice wood grain EF. I ran the EF part way through the Big Shot, just to emboss the tree trunk area.  I didn't want black grass, so fussy cut a green snippet to cover the ground. In retrospect, I should have used a grass punch at the top, ..oh well. Also hand cut the card base to fit the die shape as I wanted to take advantage of the shaping. I'm going to try die cutting the card base next time, and shimming over the tree & post, to see if I can just get the frame shape. As I said, this one sort of evolved as I worked on it.

10/15/2013

Gothic Iron Work

Good afternoon & welcome on a gloomy overcast day. Looking like it could rain, our barometer shows rain, but nothing yet. I finished a card last night, and have a picture of some of the dies I purchased on my Saturday spree.

Some new die stash
 
Now for a card created with one of the new dies:

- Memory Box Gothic Ironworks window, die cut with plain black paper. (I'm trying to decide if I want to add a few jewels at some of the intersecting lines).

10/13/2013

Leaves

Good afternoon, and welcome on a lovely Sunday afternoon. The road trip yesterday was loads of fun. Long day though. We drove to Betty's Scrapbook Room in Greensboro, NC, and by wonderful chance, Betty had decided to run a sale that day. Oh Ho! Spent a delightful few hours there, left with many bags of goodies. Yes, DH was able to enjoy his turkey BBQ sandwich. Betty was kind enough to provide us the address of The Enchanted Cottage, in Lewisville, NC, about 30 minutes away from her store. Since we had never visited there, and it was still early afternoon, off we go. Our caravanning friends had decided they didn't want BBQ, so they stopped at a Wendy's along the way, and we met up with them later at the Enchanted Cottage. More shopping was done. Oh my goodness, I can't do that again soon!!!

Here's a card I had been working on, got finished last evening. Hope you will like it.


- Image was Impression Obsession CC067, Maple Leaves. Stamped on a previously created background with Versamark, used a Copper EP then heat embossed.

- background had been created using diluted Dylusions sprays in green, with a silk maple leaf as a mask. Decided to take some Distress Inks in Spiced Marmalade, Ripe Persimmon & Wild Honey to sponge around  because I wanted the copper leaves to show really well. Didn't know how the copper would look against the yellow greens of the Dylusions sprays. You can still see just a glow from the green sprays in a few places. The orange colors look very rich against the copper leaves IRL.

10/12/2013

Florals

Hello & welcome, thanks for stopping to visit. This is going to be a scheduled post, as I hope to be off on a little junket with some stamp buddies up to Betty's Scrapbook Room in Greensboro, NC - which is about 3 hours north of our home. Some of the few remaining stamp stores in the Carolina areas are having a store hop...so my stamp buddies have planned a caravan. At first, keeping in mind my recent Florida shopping, I was trying to exercise a bit of restraint and declined a sweet invitation. Mentioned the girls' trip to Mr. DH, and he said "Why don't we go along? And get some BBQ". There's restaurant in the same plaza as Betty's store that specializes in turkey bbq. So at the present moment as I type this post, the trip is still a "Go". (but as you know, Life can change your plans...). So here's my card to share today, which was inspired by this card done by Darlene Devries.

- Hero Arts image - Butterfly Flowers - stamped on black cardstock using Memento Wedding White Luxe ink. Colored with Derwent Colorsoft Pencils purchased from Dick Blick when there was a sale featured, and I got free shipping also. I tried coloring using the techniques Darlene shows in her video, then used a Dove Blender to blend the colors (Yep, I need  more practice!) Die cut the image with a Sizzix scallop shape, and used a stylus to emboss around the edges.

10/11/2013

Irobot Floor washer update

Good evening. Thought I'd come back with an update post on the cleaning gadget that we bought at Bed, Bath & Beyond. It's an IRobot product, the model we purchased is called a Braava (some model number or other). DH unboxed it, put in batteries, hooked to the charger, etc. Let it charge for about 24 hrs (mainly cause we forgot about it). Decided I would run the little tadpole on the kitchen vinyl this morning. When we saw the display in the store, we each talked to several different sales people & none of them knew much about it. I had seen this gadget on the internet some years ago, watched some 'product videos', but because I never saw it 'in person' - as it were - I didn't want to order online, then have to pay to ship back. OK...so when I decided I'd chance it, if I could return if it didn't perform as I expected, I asked the last sales person about buying some additional cleaning pads, what kind of solution did it need for cleaning, etc. Bought some extra mop pads (it also will clean first, but I did that manually with the regular vacuum, cause I thought it would be faster). He sold me some cleaning solution that's supposed to be added in the reservoir, but the price sticker sort of obscured a name on the bottle. This morning after reading the instruction book, getting all the furniture out that I could remove, I was about ready to dump a capful of the solution in the tank, but I couldn't find anything that specified if I was to dilute the stuff or use it full strength. Hmmmm...there's a customer service number staring me in the face, and for some odd reason, I thought "I'll just call IRobot & ask them for some tips, and find out if this stuff is to be diluted". Good thing I did. Very helpful technician had me remove the sticker from this bottle, so I could read her the entire label. Wrong stuff! It is for an older model called the Scooba. She said "Do NOT use that in the Braava. It can damage the machine". Wow was I glad I had the hunch to call the company. Also got a lot of helpful tips on other products I _can_ use in the little gadget that will clean the floors. This morning it just got plain distilled water, and when it stopped running, the mop pad was pretty dirty. So I guess  it worked ok.

Friday Fun Day at Jo's Scrap Shack

Good Morning, and if it's Friday, it must be Fun Day at Jo's Scrap Shack. Today - for Friday Fun Day Challenge #21 - our challenge theme is being hosted by Amanda, and she chose the theme "pick your favorite technique". Of course mine was going to be something with copic coloring and if I could throw in some Dylusions sprays, then all the more fun. I picked a cute image from one of our sponsors Limited Runs Digi Stamps, the very cute Scarecrow Girl, who was such fun to color. Here she is:

 

- Image printed on Copic Xpress paper, colored with copics, diecut with S/binders Deckled Oval and then edged with DI Vintage Photo & Rusty Hinge. I used copic G0000 to shade the background, then replaced image in the die for sponging the Distress Ink.

- Traced outside of S/Binder die & handcut the faux mat- using a previously created Dylusions background of various shades of dark blues & purple-y colors.

10/10/2013

Floral

Good afternoon, and we have an absolutely perfect Fall day in my area today. It's sunny, but quite cool and Hurrah! I turned off the air conditioner, opened some doors to air out the house. Was going to do that last evening, but someone in the neighborhood was burning - so a/c hadda stay on. The sky is such an intense shade of blue - no clouds can I see. Some of the trees have just a hint of color. I think we're going to have a splendid show of color here in the Upstate South Carolina area this autumn. Although we're seeing lots of brown leaves on the ground.

Here's a card using an image I took to color while I was in Florida.


- Heartfelt image, stamped on Xpress paper, colored with copics. Vase has Glossy Accents added for shine.

- die cut with S/Binders Decorative Labels 8. (I remembered to use wax paper, and it came out of the die beautifully. Because I've had difficulty in releasing intricate dies, I made 2 forward & backward passes in the Big Shot. Should have just done 1, as the scroll work tore in 2 places. When I adhered to the card base, though, it hid the tears.)

- Card base is from a DCWV handmade paper stack found in JoAnn's (thanks to my friend Gloria, who bought it first & showed me! She also had the Heartfelt stamp, ordered from JoAnn's online. I have the loveliest, most enabling friends on the planet!)

- added some green rhinestones around the scrollwork for a little bling.

- Elizabeth Craft die cut sentiment from a snippet of green.

10/07/2013

Home again

DD on the back deck
Hello and thanks for stopping to visit.

I just downloaded the pictures I took while in Florida. There's a couple of pretty sunset pictures, and a few others I thought I would share. I won't bore you to bits with all of 'em, & I didn't resize the pixels with photoshop, so I've made some small, some medium. Here goes:
Late afternoon sky

Evening sunset drawing in

Crane on the dock post

Where I had my morning coffee

2 granddogs-Dallas & Reilly-Ossie was inside
 Hope you enjoy these. When I got into my computer room, my USB cord that will connect the camera to the PC USB port was right on the desk. When I'm at home with my regular pc, I have a card slot that allows me to just insert the memory card, so I seldom use the USB cord. However, the laptop doesn't have that kind of slot, so the USB cord is necessary.

We had an uneventful trip home. We did see an SUV towing an RV type of camping trailer...and evidently the driver was either having difficulties or as my DH said "Didn't know how to tow", because the vehicle was wobbling all over the road - driving in the center lane. DH watched carefully, and when the vehicle seemed to be stable for a few moments, punched the accelerator and got us around that accident waiting to happen, as fast as he could. Whew! We did see a couple fender benders, but thankfully, we didn't have any problems. Missing the daughter, but glad to be home, back in our own bed tonight!

See ya later. Hugs

10/05/2013

Quiet Day

Good Morning, and welcome. We're still in South Florida, and I was just outside for a bit, while I enjoyed a cup of coffee. It's nice & peaceful, quiet too, except for when a noisy boat passes. It's interesting seeing the sailboats float past. Complete silence, except for the conversation we can hear from the boaters as they pass or the chink of the sail lashings if the wind rattles them. Sometimes the boaters will wave...sometimes we do too! The sparkle of the sun on the water got just a bit too bright for my eyes, even with the sunglasses on, so I came back inside, and the air conditioning felt very pleasant.

Promised the DD I would clean her floors today - only in the living areas. Her dogs make a mess with treat crumbs and dog slobber. (Dog slobber doesn't bother her, but it does me) DH ran the vacuum for me yesterday evening, and I was going to do the mopping afterwards. My spirit was willing to get started, but my body was saying "No, No, sit down & read". I'll let you guess which one won the battle. Also will clean the bathrooms. I remember when I worked, it was a real downer to have to come home and clean house. At least I'll be able to do something to help out. DD is much neater than her parents, as she keeps things tidy ( I tell myself, it's Mama's training! That's probably not so, but I tell myself that anyway...LOL)

DH is out washing the pickup and will probably pack it this afternoon. We aren't taking as much back home as we brought south - despite all the crafting shopping. I was just out in the garage and put all the stash into 2 plastic bins. I was a bit aggravated, as we had bought some Graphic 45 papers, and instead of that being bagged separately - it was in with other supplies. Good thing I discovered it, as those nice papers would have been all crumpled and wrinkled when I got home. I put the loose sheets inside a bag with some large paper packs, and it's on the bottom of one of the bins. Should be safe. That is something that annoys me when I buy loose papers...most places will package the loose papers in a flat bag & keep them separate. Oh well, can't have everything.

Thanks for visiting, and come again soon. Tomorrow we shall be traveling so the laptop will get packed tonight, and maybe I can post some pictures Monday evening. I'll try. Have a Blessed day
and enjoy whatever you may be doing this weekend. Hugs

10/03/2013

Shopping (or even more Miscellaneous!)

Good evening from So. Florida! Hope your day was good. We had a wonderfully huge breakfast at a local place called The Frogpond. Their omelets are so large, we each brought over half of ours home. I had a Western Omelet and it was positively delicious. Great coffee too.

After taking the granddogs outside for a little break, we went to my all-time favorite JoAnn's Store. It's about an hour away from where DD lives now - but close to where she used to live. It's probably one of the biggest, nicest & well stocked of any JoAnn Store I've ever been in. Did we take coupons? Of _course_ we did. Three of them! Then while I wandered, DH & DD went off to another store. He came back to see if I had finished, so I was able to give him a nice deep edge MS punch that I don't have. He used one coupon. Lots of the DCWV paper packs were on sale 40% off, and of course I need more paper (NOT). But hey, one can't pass up a sale. I also found some things I liked in the art department. Last night I watched a Youtube showing how THoltz uses reinker & also the distress paints to fill his palette plates, lets the medium dry, then rehydrates it. It keeps like this forever, he said.  Well, his palettes are not too cheap. I found two $5.99 covered palettes (36 wells in each) that hold cake water colors. Decided I can prise out the cakes if I don't want 'em, use the palettes for the reinker/paint techniques. You know I'm always trying to get better with the water coloring effort. I used a coupon on a large MS deep edge punch, but there was one more that I found. The very nice salesclerk let me use 2 coupons, but rang them up as a separate order. I guess she felt sorry for me when she found out I was a traveler and we don't have such a nice store in my area! Some checkout people would not have been so nice, but my thought is: the store is still making $$$, so why not???But I know rules are rules so I don't argue with the sales staff about such.

When we were here at Christmas I couldn't find any 'local' stamp places. This morning while waiting to leave for the day, I googled scrapbook/stamp stores near our area. A couple turned up, and one was about half hour away. DD suggested that we best call to be sure it was still open...so she did that. Yes, they were. We hit JoAnn's first, as it was the longest distance from home, and the stamp store was open until 8pm tonight. Very carefully wrote down the address & phone number. Later this afternoon, we're on our way to the stamp store, and I can't find the address (nor do I remember it!). Fortunately DD had used her cell to call earlier, so the number was still available, and she called to find out the address. There's no 'free parking', and I only had 2 quarters on me..so that got us 30 minute parking time. Once I got inside, and saw the lovely goodness, I had to ask one of the staff to change some bills, cause I _knew_ I'd be there more than 30 minutes.

The store is called Whimso Doodle, in St. Petersburg and it was very well stocked, organized, and the 2 lady staffers were most helpful. They didn't have a great variety of stamps (no Memory Box dies either, which you know I love!), but lots of Tim Holtz stamps/products, Dian Reavely stamps/products, Stampendous/Deep Red/Hero Arts, etc.  and I was able to find some new stencils for using with Dylusions. (along with a bunch of other stuff!). Also found some neat embossing effects supplies, Acrylic Silks - which are new to me, and .., _more paper packs_. I am trying to confine myself to getting 6x6 packs because I can work with them easier. I'm not so adept with the larger designs. Of course I only scratched the surface of what the store stocked, so if you are in the St. Petersburg area, by all means, plan a visit. You won't be disappointed. I think it is probably more of a scrappers' store than a stampers' store, BUT - there's plenty for a cardmaker!

Thanks for joining me today. I just tried to pay some reciprocal visits, and now I think I'll go out to sit and enjoy some good breezes. Ya'll come back when you can. Hugs

10/02/2013

And More Miscellaneous

Good evening, and welcome to 2 new followers, Joann of http://craftynanasblog.blogspot.com/ and
Ann van Dijk of http://anncreatief.blogspot.nl/. Ladies I thank you very much for joining me here, and I urge all of you to check out these 2 fabulous blogs. You're in for a real enjoyable visit to some lovely art work.

Today we visited a huge Ikea store. Some years ago, DH & I had been to a small store up in Massachusetts for our first experience with Ikea. We walked around this store for hours and still didn't even begin to make a dint in seeing everything. I'm not sure I'd like a house furnished in the Ikea style, but it is very clean & modern looking. The 'rooms' were so uncluttered. I told DH, this is very pretty, but we'd have it all messed up with our clutter in 10 minutes. He just gave me a funny look. He is more of a hoarder of 'stuff' than even I am & it's a struggle to get him to put things back where they belong. I call him my little Packrat! I used to go through his wallet from time to time, just cleaning out bits of paper & stuff he'd squirreled away. (with his permission of course! That's one thing we have never done in 50 yrs, is muddle around in each other's wallets. After all, one _must_ have a little privacy!).  When our DD was at home, she knew to ask permission to get in my purse. There's nothing to hide in it, by any means, but hey, it's Mine!

Again the day was very hot...almost stifling. We managed to visit yet another Michael's store, as DH had seen some Halloween paper packs he liked yesterday. Mike's has a sneaky trick that I dislike very much: They have this 50% sign, which you notice the 50% immediately and think the items are half off. When you pay attention, what it really says is "50% off the 2nd item, when you buy one at full price". I've learned to watch the sales signs. Because he liked these packs, we went ahead & got 2, and of course, couldn't use coupons on them either. We had seen some nice Christmas stamps at the store we visited yesterday (in another part of town), but the store today had not gotten those in. Everything I was remotely interested in was on some kind of sale, (but not really!) so no coupons could be used. Sneaky.

This area has no Hobby Lobby nor A C Moore stores...at least any that we know about. But lots of Michael's. Haven't found any stamp stores either. Just as well. I'd only get in trouble, and I'm in enough after the stamp convention a few weeks back. The Piper will have to be Paid on that escapade when we get back home, and the Visa bill comes in!

We came home, sat out on the pool deck for a while. Even though it was still quite hot, there is a lovely cool breeze off the water, so it was most pleasant to sit outside & watch the boat traffic. I did see the dolphins playing today. There are 3 of them that play up and down the waterway just off DD's house. We can see Dolphin Boats go by where people cruise the waterway to see them. They played this afternoon for quite a while, then swam off.

Thanks for joining me this evening. Sorry I can't post any pictures. I can charge the cameras, but no cord to USB into my laptop. Ya'll have a lovely night, and a happy Thursday. Hugs.

10/01/2013

Miscellaneous 2

Hello again. I'm back to tell you two bits of info: (1) I figured out what my blogger problem was (DUH). When I created this blog & signed onto blogger, I used a Hotmail account. (which is how my pc at home is evidently signed in!). When I created the gmail account I had been using this laptop, so apparently I was still signed in to the gmail account with accessing the blog on the laptop. I have a little book where I write all my passwords, user id-s, etc and that book goes into my laptop bag when we travel. I had scoured the book looking for the gmail info, even wrote to blogger, reset that password. I'm not sure exactly what made the bulb go off to remind me of the Hotmail account at blog creation. But when it did, my goodness -  was that an Uh_OH moment! I logged out of the gmail, logged into the Hotmail account, & boom, I can get back to all the options I needed to be able to publish some comments, delete a blog candy widget...oh happy day.  Perhaps the above will help some other struggling blogger.

Once I got this problem sorted, I went back and was able to post the draft that should have been scheduled to show up on Sunday. I'm sure when I double checked this post that I saw it as Scheduled not as a draft, but with all my goofies lately, maybe I'm just dreaming!!! So that post is below the 2 Miscellaneous posts in case you're interested!!!

(2)Then I started looking in the camera bag for the cord to connect the camera to the laptop.  I have 2 cell phone cords to keep the things charged,  a kindle cord to keep that device charged  & a connection for our old Nikon, (that DH will use at a car show cause he doesn't like the new camera). I thought for sure I had put in the cord that connects the Nikon I use to a USB port. Nope, ain't in there. It's just more of the Sunday morning leaving phenomenon I reckon.

So I will have to share some pictures when I get back home. We are having a pretty sunset sky out over the water & I snapped some shots of it.

So anyway, part of my operation is back in business. Do you ever do silly things like I've been doing lately? Guess it just shows I need to stay home where all my gadgets are, huh?

I hope your day was grand. It's very pleasant outside right now, with a lovely breeze. As soon as our lunch settles down, I think we're going to take a glass of wine out on the deck, watch the boats float by & have a glass of chilled vino.  (still didn't see the dolphins playing this morning, but DH & DD said they did - they get up much earlier than I do!) :-) Hugs

Miscellaneous

Good evening, and we've had a lovely day. It was pretty hot though as we were out & about. Today was DD's birthday, so we took her out shopping. It's very difficult to know what to buy an adult daughter, as we can't fit her with regard to clothing, plus what _we_ think she'd like is probably not at all what _she_ would like. She doesn't need dust collectors either. So we try to take her shopping, she can pick what she'd like and we pick up the tab. We also had a delicious late lunch of some wonderful Cuban dishes at a little restaurant called Pipo's. We don't have that kind of ethnic food in South Carolina! When I worked I used to love to enjoy the Latino foods down in Miami.

Well, I need some blog help. I've been signed in on the laptop showing that I'm logged on as a gmail user and I can't find a way to reset it. When I log on, I only have the Post & Sign out (or in) options in the top header. If I sign out, sign back in, I'm signing in with the gmail account (And I hope when I get home on my pc, this won't be happening with it as well!). Some lovely comments are coming into my email, but when I try to publish - I'm getting a message that I must sign in as another user, but I can't figure out how/where/etc! Normally I see a Design option at the top right on the bar, and I can go to that, and find the publish comments feature. So anybody who has any advice...I could surely use it!

I've looked at my profile (which I can access via settings, but that doesn't show me much either!) and it is showing the gmail as my primary account, and if I'm understanding what I read, the only way I can remove that is to delete the blog. Ooh, I don't want to do that, and have to start all over! I would lose all my lovely followers. Which I would hate to do!

I have taken some pictures which I need to download to the laptop, then I remembered that I don't have photoshop on this pc. I can edit with Ipiccy, but I don't think I can reset the size of the photo with that program. With Photoshop, I can make sure the pictures are 600pixels, so I'm not using up a lot of the blogger free allowable space. Oh my, once I get home, I have a lot of cleanup to do!

Again, thanks for joining me this afternoon, and I hope somebody reading this blog can give me some good instructions on how to fix what I messed up, trying to be more efficient. Hugs & have a wonderful evening. Happy October 1!