Thinking of you Birds

Good afternoon and welcome. Been a busy day as I had a breathing rehab visit scheduled for today. Put through some paces, and I did better than I expected. Found out that Medicare only allows a lifetime of 36 visits that will be covered (and if Medicare doesn't cover, neither will our supplemental policy). Some years back, I was sent for some respiratory rehab...and showed improvement for the first period of visits. The drs authorized another set of sessions (which had I known about the lifetime restriction I could have done as self-directed, and saved those visits!) And it did help with my breathing problems. With one thing and another, we stopped going to this rehab/fitness center, but we had joined as lifetime members. So after a couple discussions with the therapist, I'm going to just go as a fitness member (it's $31 a month for as many times as I can go...but it's also a 18 mile drive one way!) rather than call it 'rehab therapy' and have to pay over $50 per visit, going twice weekly. The therapist showed me what to do this morning, and it's not that different from what I did years ago, so I think I can manage doing it this way.

One other blogger aggravation (Uh-gin). I'm getting email notices when someone comments (think I'm getting all of them)...but when I publish, I don't get the reminder email as previously. If I'm busy, I let those reminders stay in my mailbox, so that when I get a few minutes, I can return some visits. Now I'm going out to the blog, opening up comments and trying to be sure I don't miss returning a visit to all of you. Is anyone else having this experience? I'm wondering if I should unscribe and rescribe again (per Darnell's instructions?). I'm sort of afraid to rock the boat...as this is still workable.

Now, here's a card done earlier. Perhaps later this week,  I can share the cards made in Bonnie's class last Saturday.

PBlack Layered Scene Die - cut from w/color weight paper. Did the first layer with zigs..not happy with the effort. Layered another atop this one, and tried again. I think I finished by shading with copics. (got my die at Simon Says Stamps, but can't find it in stock now, so added the Amazon link). 

- Sizzix 3D wood grain EF. Inked the EF and then embossed, so there's a slight hint of blue in the background. 

Don't remember which company did the Hello. It was one that has the skinny inside words & 'balloon' outside part; used the 'balloon part'  as it made more of an impact IMHO. I had placed the 'inner part' die on the card, and it didn't look right, so I used this part instead to cut 2 layers.

Hope your week is off to a great start. It was a little cooler here this morning, but warmed up fast enough :-)

Thanks for joining me, and sending big Hugs. Come again when you have time.

Sympathy Thinking of You

Welcome, and sorry to have been away for a bit. Been busy; also took a little road trip...more on that later. First the card:

Some friends up north lost their 28 yr old daughter very unexpectedly due to a brain aneurisym. She had gone to the beach with some of her cousins, and just suddenly died. A beautiful lady, who had survived many surgeries during her young life, so bravely, without complaint. She was born with one leg bone too short. As she reached certain periods of growth, the doctors would operate, do some complex reconstructive surgery to lengthen that bone. Sounded horrendous when it was described to us. When she got to be about 16, she decided "no more" and had an amputation. Went ahead with her life, to an Ivy League school, where she excelled with her grades, and at sports. So what a tragic loss. Anyway, I wanted to send a card letting them know we care.

Now, for the road trip: Bonnie K and I had talked for a while about our making a drive up to take a class with her. She lives about 4-5 hours north of our area. Things finally gelled so that she was having a class, and it worked out that we'd be able to get away. I held my breath that something would come up, and made our hotel reservations at the very last minute.

What a splendid time we had. Wonderful folks in Bonnie's class, who all made me feel welcome. Bonnie & her husband were so gracious and welcomed us to their lovely home. I had hoped to get some much-needed water color training (we ran out of time!) but we did manage to do some faux enamel and encrusted technique. W/Color was next, but since we had some traffic slowdown on the way north, Mr. wanted to leave earlier than what I'd planned as a departure time. So hopefully, sometime in the future, we can do this again. Her DH is just the nicest guy, and took my DH to a flea market on Sat, so he was not just sitting 'waiting' for me to get finished :-). And Bonnie has The Most Organized Studio!

The class! I didn't ask permission to post this, so hope I'm not offending anyone. The lady in the checked shirt is another blog friend, Candee, and we didn't know until just beforehand - that either of us would be in this class. I'll share the cards we made - Bonnie had kits made up, and it was such fun! 

Some of our North Carolina cousins are planning to come to South Carolina for a day visit tomorrow. Looking forward to that, as last visit was for a funeral. Much better to have the visit at a happy time. 

Thanks for joining me, and big hugs to any who may need a hug today. God Bless. 

Caring Thoughts

Good evening, and here we are in a new month, ready for a weekend. We've had some nice rain over the past few days, and cooler temps. Thankfully in the community where we live, there's been no flooding issues but there are in some areas. We're grateful to have the rain, as for the most part, it's been the kind that soaks into the ground.

One of our neighbors is having some serious health issues, and has been hospitalized at Emory Hospital in Atlanta. I have been working on a card for her, trying to watercolor again, after seeing a video at Jennifer McGuire's blog, with a guest Lisa Tilson. Inspired me to try my hand....Uh-GIN! I tried to use a simple stamp, and here's the result. After I finished it, I wasn't brave enough to try the spatters!

 

 

Heat embossed with a white EP (Sorry, don't remember the brand, but it was not a pearl powder. It sort of looks like it though). Then used the  zigs with a water brush as Lisa did in her video, to blend the zig ink. There's a couple layers in the green leaves.  Then decided to try to do the 'shadow' effect as she did, using a gray blue with a very pale pink. Decided I didn't like the pink, so went back over it, so that the entire area would be in the gray blue, and liked it better.

 

The water color cardstock was cut some time back, and since it was already squared, just used a stitched die to add a little detail. Then tried to use some mats that would complement the colors of the main image. It's amazing what the camera shows --these mats looked perfectly straight when I was putting each one down, and the card looked pretty good until I saw the photo!!! But I don't think my neighbor will nitpick it.

 

Hope you're ready for a pleasant weekend where you might be. We should be pretty relaxed; hope to have a new recliner delivered for my tv room tomorrow.  I probably should have just had the old chair reupholstered, but I didn't. You only go around once. There's a pretty new card on the Cards by Friends page, which I hope you'll take time to enjoy.

 

Thanks for visiting this evening. I have a few more cards I've been working on, just can't seem to get in a 'finishing' mode. Hugs & Blessings.

 



Nuvo Shimmer Powders Thinking of You

Good afternoon. Here's the card made with the Embedded Brusho technique (examples shown here in the last post)

- Nuvo Violet Brocade, Cherry Bomb Shimmer powders. Sprinkled onto watercolor c/s while in a WR Memory Keepers EF. Embossed in the Big Shot. Spritzed after embossing. This created a very vivid piece, so after it dried a bit, sprayed with a pearlized mica spray, which softened it somewhat. I liked the softer look much better.

S/B Label 25 to cut out the focal piece; same die shape to cut a faux mat from some paper that looks like mulberry paper with the fibers in it, but it's thicker than mulberry . VOS.

- Hero Arts Papel Picado Confetti (D1500) cover die for the lilac layer, then placed over a hot pink layer. The Picado is a pretty cover die, but most of it is covered up here.

Don't usually put flowers on cards as my arrangements never seem to look 'right' to me (I see so many beautiful bouquets, but mine just never look that nice!). This card will be mailed in a larger envelope with some other items, so thought I'd try to decorate the card a bit. Flowers from stash.
MS punch cut the leaves from white snippets. Colored with several shades of green copics.

Sentiment from a Gina K set, die cut with a S/B label die. While inking the edge got a smudge, so added the little lilac flower.

A friend is having a rough patch of late, so I hope it will cheer her to know she's in my prayers.

Now, here's some more of the embedded Brusho play:

first impression

 

2nd & 3rd impressions

4th impressions - there was enough color on the folder, that by using a brayer was able to get 2 more pulls

the last efforts. The  'smooshed' look was just by dabbing this c/s around on wet pieces of c/s and to get the very last bit off the E/F. The colors used were Brusho turquoise and Lime Green. It seems that the darker colors yield more pulls. Maybe the Nuvo shimmer powder might have gotten more impressions, but the color combination didn't strike my fancy, so I didn't bother.

Thanks for joining me this afternoon. Ya'll come back when you can, and God Bless - lots of hugs too.

 

Gina K. Stencil FLowers

Hiya, First, apologies for being slow in returning visits. I have to remember to go check the Awaiting Comments (as I'm sure a lot of you are having to do as well) to publish. I have a backlog of visiting to do, and I promise I'll catch up. We've been having some rainy days most of this week, with intermittent thunderstorms. Even though the computer has a good surge protector, I still power it down when the thunder starts.

Anyway, enough with the excuses. Recently I got 2 pretty stencils from Gina K. I decided to try using a dauber and some pigment ink over a dark cardstock to see how it would look. Here's the result:

Used a pale & darker yellow (don't remember what brand, but it was pigment ink) and then Hero Arts Unicorn white - daubed with a finger dauber, trying to do a little shading. A light green was used on the leaves and probably should have been a darker green to show up better. The cardstock was a navy blue, no texture. After finishing all the inks, went back using versamark on a finger dauber, covered all the stencil design. Then sprinkled some clear embossing powder. It has quite a nice shine IRL.

Did the same with the simple sentiment. Inked with the Unicorn white, used a WOW pearlized EP over it. Decided the bottom corner needed a little 'something', and these little embellies were in my line of sight. So there you go. I always need a card of this type, so I'm trying to build a little stash of such. Gina K had done a video using this stencil with a beautiful Gold ink & white card stock, and I hope to try that one of these days.

Recently read a post by my blog pal Loll  with a technique she calls Embedded Brusho technique (and she has a link to a good video, so check her post for the vid). Now I had seen another Youtube on this technique, tried it, and it didn't turn out well at all. (Trash offering). After reading Loll's instructions, I tried again, with much better results. (I did check out the video link first though).

Here's a couple of the results:

This used some Nuvo Shimmer Powder, Violet Brocade & Cherry Bomb and a WR Memory Box EF.

 

 

#1 was the first impression. (Shimmer Powder is rather similar to Ken Oliver Color Burst - powder rather than crystals.) Sprinkled it on the watercolor paper, then embossed & spritzed the w/c after this came out of the Big shot, but still in the folder. The folder had picked up some of the powder as it embedded into the w/c paper).

 

#2 (bottom example)  - 2nd pull after spritzing the product that got on the folder and it's much lighter.

 

#3 (top example)- 3rd pull, as there was still some color droplets left on the folder, so spritzed it again, got the color on the w/c paper; used a brayer to try to get most of the droplets off, but also since #1 was still quite wet, I pressed this piece into some of that color.(hope this makes sense).  #1 was quite vivid. Decided it was brighter than I wanted it, (a bit garish actually!) so I sprayed some pearlized mica spray over it, and that softened up the colors. I've made a card, which I'll share later.

 

This set was actually my first try with the EF, and used Brusho Turquoise and a Ken Oliver Color Burst in one of the newer orange colors that just came out. Didn't like this color effect too much. I tried swiping an old colorbox cats eye pad in a popcorn white over it (as the lady does in the video to tone down the colors). I couldn't really see much effect - but I didn't want to perhaps ruin one of my good white inks. Decided to spray the iridescent pearl over it, and I'm liking it better. Now what to do with it? The 2nd piece is just from dabbing (or smooshing - if you will!) this w/c piece over the wet on #1 before I put the spray on it.

I used another folder with some turquoise and Lime Green Brusho- and got about 5 pulls off it. Will show that in another post. This is a great technique when it works right LOL!

I had fun! My problem is I don't always know what to do with my results? You ever have that problem?

Will be trying to catch up visiting in the new few days. Don't give up on me. Thanks for joining me this afternoon, and Big hugs to anybody who might need one today.



 

Thinking of You

Hello again, back with a couple of the snow pictures and a card that had to be mailed today. I'd done the apples to put on a Thanksgiving card, but decided the image would work well on this mica background. Just learned that one of my cousins has a brain aneurysm, and fortunately she got medical attention when the symptomatic headache started. I'm reading more & more - or hearing about folks - who develop intense headaches. These are people who seldom have headaches...then get a very severe one, that doesn't go away with aspirin or Over the Counter stuff like we all use. Then if the blood pressure is checked,  it's elevated. This cousin knew what had happened with SIL, so got a fast appointment to learn there's a problem. She will be getting it repaired next week. I know she's frightened, so thought perhaps a card might cheer her, to know prayers are being said. One of my brothers said "We're all falling apart". True!!!

- The background was made using Saffron Mineral Burst as a wash on 98# mixed media c/s. Then sprinkled some of the red brusho crystals over it. I was careful, as I didn't want to lose the lovely golden color of the mineral burst. I tend to get a bit carried away when I'm sprinkling the crystals, as it's such fun to watch the colors bloom.

Used a pretty EF with a pattern at top and bottom, just for a little dimension. The apples have some WoS on some. This image was a boo-boo. Had colored an image, die cut it, and was trying to sponge an antique looking edge around the diecut. Well, that just made a big mess. Cut out that basket, but stamped another one and colored, die cut. Used the messed up one behind the re-done one, and used a stylus on both images to create a little lift to some apples. IRL it looks nice. Doesn't show in the photo.

- Stitched fish tail banner with the sentiment, remembered to tie a ribbon before adhering to the cardbase, and it's done, mailed today.


Here's some Snow pictures of our surprise today.

Thanks for the feedback on the font size change. I do appreciate all who took time to let me know their thoughts.

Added a pretty card to the Cards by Friends page, which I hope you will take time to enjoy.

Hugs & have a great weekend. Thanks for visiting. I'll try to catch up visiting over the weekend.

Blue Vase of Sunflowers

Happy Monday evening. I hope none of my UK pals are going to have any problems with the storms that I've read are going to affect your shores. We had a textbook beautiful fall day to start the week. Overcast this morning, cool, but then the sun came out. Our temp hovered around 70F for most of the day. Had Bro #2 down the street for some leftover rotessarie chicken. After finishing the last baseboard cleaning yesterday, got presentable to visit the store. Too tired to cook so a lovely cooked chicken from our local Sam's Wholesale fit the bill for us. This is a good value for the money, as we usually get a couple meals from the chicken, and it's under $5.00 for one. Our local groceries have one about 3/4 the size Sam's or Costco sells, and for nearly $7.00. Got a couple of frozen side dishes to heat, and that was dinner. One of his grandkids had come by, so they handled the meal for him last evening. Kitchen now cleaned, comments caught up, so here goes a post.

A friend is having a bit of "Life" strike just at the moment, so thought this card I had done while MIA might cheer up a bit.

The image is an oldie, wooden block, but it's always fun to color. The vase has some glossy accents on it, and of course, the usual WoS for some sparkle. Couple layers on the die cut sentiment. Butterfly was handy to add a little trim. This looked cheerful to me...

When moving 'stuff' in the pc room so that I could even get to the baseboards, I found a box of very old cards done when I first started trying to learn how to watercolor. I have to say, don't think I've had much improvement in the intervening years. But hey, I'll share anyway! These are not cards that will ever get mailed (unless I get desperate!)-- I've got a pretty good stash of most occasion cards, except for sympathy ones. Should do some of that type when not needed specifically, as it's pretty hard to do when you actually need one to send.

Now for the oldie water colors. I think just the old pancake type of color was used for these cards. These were done when we still had a local stamp store, and I think are circa 2005 perhaps.

2nd one has extra petals added over layer 1 for a bit of dimension. I think this was a Penny Black shop stamp -

Used some versa mark stamping, gold embossing on this one, then water coloring.

Probably versa mark again, with a black embossing, then water coloring. The edging around the image was done with a ruler and water coloring as I recall. Anyway, you can laugh if you want. I did when I opened the box and found these. Didn't know I still had them.

Today was a real good rest day. Read a book, had a nap...and leftovers to heat up for supper, so an easy day. Before I get back into my lazy bad habits, I've made a list of some other chores that I've needed to tackle for a while...like cleaning out bookcases, and tossing away a lot of junk...dust collectors. It's a good feeling when you get finished, even if you are tired!!

Ya'll have a good evening, and come back when you can. Big hugs, and thanks for looking in! I missed you guys while I was gone! God Bless.

 

Thinking of You Birds

Welcome to a scheduled post. Hope that you had a good day. It was lovely to see sunshine again today, as much as we did need the rain of the past 2 days. Our dogwood trees had developed the most beautiful red leaves, and I _meant_ to take some pictures. However yesterday's rain and wind stripped most of the leaves off the branches, and the 3 trees look quite sad today - so there will be no photos I guess!

Found this colored image in the UFO box, decided to do a little touch-up on the birds and turn it into a card:

-  remember this is a wooden stamp, don't remember who made it. Colored with copics, but after finding it in the UFO box, die cut with a rounded S/B square, then used some WoS on the birds, then added in some more shading with the Kaisercraft gel pens. I'm not fond of the neon ones, guess I've just not had a chance to use them on something appropriate yet. I do like the jewel colors tho', and the blue brightened up the colors of on the birds, also did some leaf veining.

- S/B Asian motif die to cut the created background done with sponging over white c/s with DI Clover and Stormy Skies. Burnished with Perfect Pearls Biscotti to get a nice sheen. Use the bottom of this piece to cut the sentiment.

- embossed the card front using a Tuesday Morning find of a Sizzix EF, $3.99. Inked the folder with a blue shade of Hero Arts Ombre pigment ink, and this is the 2nd generation - first embossing was too dark to go nicely with the mat color.

Thanks for stopping for a visit this evening. I'm trying to keep up with commenting and returning visits, so be patient with me if I've not stopped by to say hello.

Cyber Hugs to all and Prayers for those who are in need of being uplifted just at the moment.

Northwoods Pots of Flowers - Thinking of You

Welcome, and this post shares another image from the past. Think this was a borrowed stamp, but liked it so much, may have purchased it - must check the Northwoods collection. I love these stamps, but they are wood base, so take up quite a bit of storage room. Additionally, the images are usually large enough, it makes a card front without any extra additions. These stamps are very high quality, so detailed, and I've yet to have one not stamp well. Also fun to color.

- added more contrast to the previously done copic coloring...put in some grounding, and die cut with a stitched rectangle die. The image was so large, trimmed down after die cutting, and edged with DI Walnut Stain. This card is still a bit larger than my usual 5.5x4.25, so will require a custom envie.

- SU border scallop from some textured dull gold added at the base to balance out the card front.

- WoS added to the flowers, edged with DI Antique Linen while in the die. Mounted on Bazzill textured c/s. The LSS used to put discontinued Bazzill colors on sale at good prices, so would buy neutral colors when possible.

- Hand cut sentiment, stamped with Memento Elderberry, stamped off once, to get less vivid color. Edged with the Walnut Stain. Thought about adding some sequins, decided to leave as is.

Hope you like this one. Thanks for stopping in, come again when you have time. Hugs & Blessings.

Thinking of You - with Flowers

Good evening. Happy to report that DH is safely back in the house again, after a nice time away. Said it was very productive, with lots of projects started & finished, and some fun times going to big flea markets, estate sales, eating some yummy New England foods. Not great news to report on the bathroom project: what little that had been done, had to come out. (floor pan had been installed - then the greenboard drywall, and marble folks had shown up to replace the walls). I noticed something that I questioned. Contractor said "can work with this". Repeated what he said to the marble fellas who were to install the walls, and they started shaking their heads "No you can't do it that way". So after a conversation with all concerned parties...decision was made to remove what had been done, do the floor in that area first - so things will fit. Not happy at all, BUT glad that it was caught before walls had to be removed again..

DH asked me to do a card for a family bereavement for the folks in New England, so here's today's card.

 

 

- Hero Arts You're So Lovely clear stamp set - inked with HA ombre inks, and Memento inks. Stamped foliage using the Mini Misti. Flowers cut out, applied with dimensional tape. (didn't want to bother with masking, so that's why the flowers were just hand cut).

 

- upper corner was an old Stampscape branch inked with Memento greens.

 

- HLS Thinking of You stamped with Memento Northern Pine ink, using the Mini Misti 

 

- purchased card base stamped with IO Cover a Card Diagonal Lines, inked with Memento green.

 

Card is in the mail...pretty easy to stamp and assemble. I LIKE easy.

 

Thanks for joining me this afternoon. Hope your weekend has been great. Quiet around here, but nice to have things somewhat back to normal. Hugs & Blessings.

 

Thinking of you - With Snippets

Good evening, and hope that you had a wonderful Easter Sunday. We had some overcast skies with a damp chilly feel all day, but then had a nice supper with the family. A little drizzly rain as we left the restaurant. Today has been sunshine, which always makes me feel happier. The pretty white blossom tree behind us, is shedding blooms when the wind blows, and it looks like we're having a snowfall.

Recently a friend lost his Mom, and we needed a card. Since I've been trying to shift the Crapalanche, used some bits & pieces (AKA snippets) for today's card.

 

 

- Card front is recycled from an advertising card sent to us by Hallmark. The back side of the card had this design, so saved it for future use. The front side of the Hallmark card was a birthday card for DH. Used the scorpal to add double score lines at the bottom edge and along the border, but the side score lines don't show in the photo.(does this qualify as a snippet? Perhaps)

 

- Butterfly was embossed with a old brass stencil, sponged, colored (?don't remember how!), then glossy accents added. Fussy cut and the piece has been in the 'pile' for a long time. (definitely a snippet!)

 

- Stitched circle cut from a past play day background using sprays & paints. (Oh yeah, snippet)

 

- flowers & sentiment done on watercolor paper, using Zig markers, while on one of our trips to Florida. (um...s'pose it could be a snippet? Yeah?)

 

Put it all together, asked DH if it was fit to send to our friend, and he said "Send it".

 

Here's the inside:

 

- Impression Obsession die (Thanks Lis for using this die in your pretty card to us). It was cut from a snippet of previously created background and just enough left to use this die. I did discover that using the Sizzix Precision Metal plate would be a good idea with this die! (ask me how I know this? but it still cut ok with regular cutting plates, just had to do a little scissors snip-snip in a couple places).

With dies like this, I think it will be easier for me to go ahead, finish the card when I make it.....

Ahem, since I hear there has been some excitement over at the Snippets Playground, & since Parsnip & I exchanged some sweet chockie kisses on my last trip (since I'd been MIA for so long, and Sweet little Bear still let me sneak in!), I'm off to check out things. I heard Parsnip got some chocolate on his white fur, and I want to see what THAT is all about! C'mon, let's go have some fun at Snippets Week 222.

Lots of blog commenting in my future, folks! Thanks for popping by.



Grace and Butterflies

Hi, pull up a chair for a little chat! Happy to have you visit.

Today's card is made from bits and pieces of 'schtuff' that has been floating around the desk for a while.

- think the EF is a Couture Creations, but done so long ago, I forget! (it was part of the Crapalanche pile - see Bloginitions tab for that explanation!!!) Thanks to Hettie for that description- and it fits my situation perfectly! Also gave me a big smile when I read it at her Rudy Day post.

- the dimensional stickers were also part of the crapalanche pile, and were part of a sweet RAK from Our Darnell  -- way back in May when Darnell, Bonnie & I met up in Waxhaw, NC. So maybe that sort of gives an idea of the crapalanche pile & how long it's been around!!!

The little bit exposed at the edge of the card is a chipboard butterfly, that has script over the white, and then was inked with blue ink to complement the verse inking color. Didn't get it tucked in far enough, but too late to try to pull it up & reposition. Ah well, it fits in the envelope ok :-}.

Very simple, quick & easy to put together, once the bits & pieces were excavated!!! Oh yes, the pearl white sequins were added ...the white card picked up a tiny spot of yellow from somewhere, only saw it in the first photo..so thought the sequins could come to the rescue. They were in the pile too!!!

Hope your week has been good. Big hugs.

DeeDee's Classic Truck - Thinking of You

Good evening, and I'm back with a Thinking of You card for one of our neighbors who just had some serious back surgery. Mr. and he are car/truck enthusiasts, so my mission was to have a truck on it. Had a cute classic car set from DeeDee's, so that was my first thought.  Then it took me a while to think of just how to present it...can't just plop a picture of a truck on a card! I knew it couldn't be 'frilly' - so should I do sponged hills with a highway, some trees? What? So had to wait for inspiration to strike.

Before sharing the card, though, let me introduce some new followers that I think you would enjoy meeting too. Their blogs are wonderful!

Shirl of Creations by Shirl and Sharyn of My Crafty Place

 

Ladies, thanks for becoming new followers. Hope you'll have time to pop in to see their beautiful cards, and tell them I sent you! It's such a great feeling when I visit a blog, to see other friends there as well, plus get to scroll through some inspiring cards.

 

Now, on to the Classic Truck. 

 

 

 

- Sized and printed the truck, added coloring with red copics to the pre-colored red truck. Some white gel pen on the highlights, silver spica pen on the tires, Sakura silver star pen on  hubcaps and running board. Glossy Accents on windows and other trims like the mirror, handle, gas cap and bumper.

 

- pierced shape behind the truck was a snippet leftover from another project. The white spots showing along the piercing are not visible IRL, guess it's picking up the silver background, as I didn't notice until I saw the photo. :-)

 

- Butterfly tree had been done weeks ago with a white snippet, and decided to leave it off that project...so it's just been traveling around in the desk debris. Think I used WoS pens to color the butterflies and trees, but don't honestly remember now. The truck needed something more on the card, and I thought this would work.

 

- The 'road' was also a leftover snippet from a previous card, that had been sprayed, embossed with a brass stencil,then stenciled with color, and had some other stuff done to it. Didn't use the whole piece, so thought 'hmm...would that work for a road to ground the truck?'. Yep, it would. Then found the black shape and decided to place it behind the truck...why? I dunno. Seemed to work there to my eyes! :-)

 

- Ditto for the filigree corner. The sentiment (which I just noticed needs the 'eye' back over the 'i') was 3 layers from a black snippet. This was Bazzill, a bit thicker than the usual GP I layer 3 deep for some dimension. I think it is just a mite too thick to look as crisp as it should, but too late this time. Will try to remember that for next time. Used clear WoS, then added some glossy accents.

 

- What I really like with the truck, is the silvery embossed background, from an old C/Bug EF. When I was trying to pull all of this together, I remembered having this folder. It's always reminded me of the heavy embossed metal design on a truck's toolbox or in the bed of some trucks. The silver is a textured snippet and used some Hero Arts Wet Cement ink over the folder before running through the B.Shot.

 

Thought the Mr. might disapprove of the butterfly tree & the corner bit, but he just said "It looks good. He'll like it". So I'm home free. I find I do not work well with a specific request to accomplish..particularly for a guy. I do better with feminine things.

 

Since I have so many snippets on this one, I wonder if Parsnip of Pixie's Snippets Playground would approve? It's Week 191 and there's some FAN-tastic cards already on display, and a marvelous couple of dies for prizes. So c'mon and let's play!

 

Thanks for joining me this evening. Hope to be back tomorrow with August's Rudolph Day Card.

Big Hugs.

 



Cardinal Thinking of You

Good afternoon on a gloriously beautiful Saturday afternoon. There's a lovely breeze coming through the house - along with plenty of yellow pollen. It's just so wonderful to air out the house. Prayers that all my friends who were in the path of the Midwestern tornados last week had no danger from those awful storms. Also, thanks for all the good wishes for DH - he's had a decent week; and thanks for your positive thoughts for our Sweet Brenda. Bloggers are such compassionate & supportive people...I'm so thankful that I've come to 'know' so many of you wonderful folks.

Today's card has been received by a very special person, so can share with you now. Hope your day is just as pretty where you may live, as it is here in Upstate South Carolina.

- WPlus9 Flora & Fauna clear Cardinal stamp (Miss Bonnie was the sweet enabler on this one!). She mentioned that she had ordered another Flora & Fauna set, so of course I had to go look. You know I was lost when I saw this cardinal! It was such fun to color with copics.

- S/B deckled oval

- Cheery Lynn Italian Flourish doily (DL103), cut in half to form the trim

- S/B A2 Scallop Borders One formed the edge of the card. The same bracket die was used to cut the black edge on the interior of the card.

- PTI Basic Bookmark 3 die was used on the inside to stamp the verse. (another item that Miss Bonnie had used & I loved the look)

- paper from a 6x6 pack in the stash. Flowers punched from a McGill punch using a pink snippet and tried my hand at flower making once again. Ho Hummm...

- Dee's Distinctively die cut sentiment, black snippet - 2 layers for dimension, and some WoS applied. (Forget which manufacturer the die came from, but if you are interested, I can provide the info :-)

I'll be back tomorrow with the Christmas Card Club post, and hope to get some scheduled posts done for next week as we'll be away for a few days.  Sending an early Happy Mother's Day wish to all my USA friends.

Thanks for joining me. Now we can go sit on the front porch swing, have some nice Southern sweet ice tea, enjoy the birds & breeze while we watch the world go by. Mr. is cleaning the pickup - get it ready to take a little ride. Ya'll enjoy the day. God Bless & many 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.

Brusho Memory Box Peony - Thinking of You

Good evening and thanks for popping in for a little visit. First, a big welcome to Shelly S .of My Creative Rumblings. Thanks so much for choosing to spend a little time here with me, and do please pay a visit to Shelly to enjoy some of her fabulous work.

I expect you may be getting a little tired of the Brusho backgrounds, but I am having such fun playing with this stuff. Made quite a few pieces as it's not worth the bother to just make one background, and then waste all the excess color. Our SIL lost his Dad last week, and we needed a card. Looked through the dies - decided to use a Memory Box Peony die and here's the resulting card:

Sorry for the glare on the photo. Started with a card base of World Win white paper. This is a good weight for a card base, and has a fine texture...a bit finer than the Bazzill cardstock I use frequently.
Cut the MB peony die out of the card base where the flower was to be. Saved the outline and all the little bits. Then cut the same die out of a pink Brusho piece, that had a final pearlized spritz before drying; which is why the colors look less intense than what you've been seeing here. You'll see the other die cuts used at later date. Used the blue outline from a blue & green brusho piece.

Inlaid  outline & all the little bits in the appropriate places. Used Sookwang tape (double side tape) behind the opening.Must say, this has been the easiest effort yet doing this technique.

- Sizzix border folder to emboss.

- Elizabeth Craft sentiment on a snippet of Dylusions background. Used 2 layers to build this up, and probably won't do that again, using water color paper. Oops, see that I forgot the little pearl that needs to dot the i. Will add that prior to mailing. Thought about using some copics to darken the green in the sentiment, decided to leave well enough alone. I have a problem with that!!!

Thanks again for visiting this evening. Hope you had a lovely Wednesday, and are getting ready for a wonderful end of the week. Hugs.

Gelatos and Brusho-s Thinking of You

Hello and thanks for popping in for a visit. Hope today finds everyone feeling fit, staying warm, and having something pleasant happening in their lives just at the moment.

Winner 257 did not contact me in the required amount of time (1-25-2015 by 6pm), so RG was polled again. This time the winner is #61, who is Shirley R, of Card Art, Etc.).  Shirley will have until 1-27-2015, 6pm EST to contact me with her info. Sure don't like having a sweet follower miss out on the candy, but must be fair to everyone. All the other winners have provided their information.

Today's card was a play session with Gelatos and Brusho-s. It was inspired by Brenda of inkspired to stamp (Jan 15 2015 post) when seeing a NBUS card that she made, using a Jennifer McGuire technique.

 - Gelato background was inspired by Alexandra at art scrap & more (Jan 17, 2015 post). Scribbled some pastel pink, peach, orange gelatos + gold metallic on acrylic block, spritzed very well with water. Scribbled the same gelato colors across a Mixed Media 98# weight cardstock.  Brushed across the  c/s scribbles with a damp brush to spread the colors, then smooshed the paper onto the wet acrylic block. At first it muddied with disappointing results. Rescribbled the pastels on the acrylic block, leaving out the gold, didn't wet the block quite so much, smooshed again. I was better pleased with the 2nd smooshing :-D.  This piece was dried, then embossed with a S/B 3D EF Oval Accent folder (and making the sandwich was a testing procedure. Previously broke a Cuttlebug using a 3D S/B emboss folder. The sandwich for this one was the multipurpose platform, no clear B bottom plate, the 3D E/F,  clear B top plate...very gently testing as it started through the B/Shot to be sure it was not too thick.) Used a S/B Classic oval to cut the opening.

- Canson #98 Mixed Media Paper spritzed with water, sprinkled Brusho Osto Red over and let the magic happen. Spritzed the partially dried gelato & Brusho pieces with a gold Tattered Angel spray and let each finish drying before using.

- MBox Delicate Butterfly Arch die cut, MB Leafy Branch die cut. Experimented with placing the Butterfly die under the oval, using bits of scor-tape to anchor. Trimmed off some bits. Snipped Leafy Branch and placed sprigs to fill where the Butterfly die left spaces. Added some tiny pearls to the blossoms.

- MB Lydon butterfly added for trim, and Elizabeth Craft sentiment finished off this card.
Hope you like it!

Come again when you have time and have a marvelous day. Warm hugs.

Please Help - Thinking of You

Hello, dear blogging friends.
I copied & pasted a post from  Designing Keepsakes by a fellow Design Team Member, Donna H. I'm doing my part to pass this message along.  If you feel you can participate in this request, please contact the email link below to get the mailing address.
Thank you in advance! Hugs
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One of our blogging-paper-crafting-friends, Sue Drees, recently shared some sad news.

 

Her sister, Edith, fell on June 22, and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. On June 25, the tumor was successfully removed. However, the biopsy brought back devastating news - a fast growing Brain Cancer. Sue's sister is determined to fight this all the way. She began physical rehabilitation on

July 4.

Sue and Edith both live in the North East (USA). Sue and her husband transport Edith's husband to the hospital each day and check up on changes and quality of care.

While Sue did not ask for help, others kept in touch with her and asked if Edith would enjoy receiving cards of encouragement and support.

Sue was so grateful that the on-line community might help in this way - it was something she had not considered.

Edith enjoys quilting and LOVES flowers! Edith's beloved fur baby is a little pug and they miss each other very much.

Will you please consider sending a note, tag, or card (or two or three?) offering encouragement? Edith valiantly fights other illnesses in addition to this new challenge. She is a very courageous soul.

Cards can be sent addressed to Edith c/o Sue Drees and she will take them daily to the hospital.

To obtain the mailing address, please write:

thinkingofyou@tampabay.rr.com

Thank you for making a difference in one person's life, by bringing in a little sunshine.

If you'd like to post this information on your own blog, feel free to copy and paste it into a post.  The more people we reach, the more cards will be there to encourage Edith in her fight.  And if you believe in the power of prayer, add Edith to your daily prayers.  I'm keeping her in mine.  :-D

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Our cable provider was down for phones, internet AND television most of today, so this post is a bit late. Here's my card for Edith:

 

 

- image is an oldie Art Impressions (M2608), copic coloring on an Xpress snippet, MFT pierced circle die, and over painted with Liquid Pearl paint diluted just a bit with a water brush. It has a nice shimmer IRL.  

 

- card front is Colorbok Watercolor theme paper (snippet), embossed with a new Life Style textured EF.

 

- corrugated paper from DCWV Spring & Summer Corrugate Stack.

 

- sentiment stamped on a yellow snippet from the same Watercolor pack, using Fluid Chalk Prussian Blue, as was the stitched scalloped border. Flowers were punched from the same snippet with small punches. All came from different portions of a small mottled yellow snippet left from another project. I'm not the greatest with making flowers, but keep trying now & again.

 

Off to Snippet Playlground Week 132 to see what that group of talented folks are up to. Won't you come along and join in the fun? Have a wonderful evening, and blessings & hugs! Thanks for the visit.