TSSC86 -- unfinished OR Mom, I need a sentiment!

Mary Jo has posted another sketch challenge; you can find it here.  I feel like this card is unfinished -- it needs a sentiment, but I haven't figured out what to use.  So for now, I'm posting it as is.

I masked the flower image before I over-stamped the grass.  But the mask (cut from card stock) was too thick and so I didn't get as good coverage with the grass as I had hoped for.  I'm also not totally happy with the ink coverage on the stamps.  My first time playing with new stamp pads; we'll see if performance improves with experience.

Materials:  ink (dusty durango, soft suede); cardstock (crushed curry, dusty durango, soft suede, whisper white); stamp (Inspired by Nature) -- all Stampin' Up; adhesives/pop-dots -- non-Stampin' Up.

Thanks for looking.

O Holy Night - TSSC 85

I love MaryJo's sketch challenge and participate almost every week (except for those weeks when she posts aprons??? and other things that are too hard for this simple stamper!!!)

Since I'm on this Christmas/using items from my stash personal challenge, I considered what I wanted to do with this design.  This card came together for me very quickly last night; then I got too tired to post it.

Materials: card stock (white - Bazzill; silver - stash); designer paper (Basic Grey); stamp (Inkadinkadoo); ink (Colorbox); embossing powder (Stamp 'n' Stuff); embossing folder (Swiss Dots - Cuttlebug); brads (Making Memories); sheer ribbon (stash); adhesive (Pioneer mounting tape).

Thanks for looking.

Amazing blog candy

Happened upon this blog by chance.  She's giving away AMAZING blog candy. 

She'll be picking a winner from her comments at 3 pm EST Monday, August 31.  Run; don't Walk!!!  :)

Clean & simple (improved) -- A clean & graphic challenge

I'm liking the improved version more.  I like the circle as an anchor for the turkey image.  I'm liking the rounded corners on the card.  This card I'll submit.

Thanks for looking, again.

Too clean & simple? -- A clean & graphic challenge

I wanted to make another card for the Moxie Fab World card challenges from this last week.  I thought that I would try my hand at:  Stretch Your Holiday Style: A Clean & Graphic Challenge!

But in looking at the completed card, it looks TOO simple with the elements just hanging there. I had fun paper-piecing the turkey, but.....I'm thinking that the elements look "un-grounded".  I'm posting this as a work in progress.  I'm going to think on it and see if I can improve the design before I upload a finished card to the card challenge site.

Materials: card stock (Bazzill); designer paper (The Fall Stack - Die Cuts with a View); stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms); ink (walnut stain distress ink - Ranger); ribbon (Michaels); adhesives (Mono-Multi & mini pop-dots). 

Thanks for looking.

Seasons Greetings -- Shabby Chic Challenge

At the Moxie Fab World blog this week there are a number of card-making challenges; I thought that I'd enter this card for the Stretch Your Holiday Style: A Vintage & Shabby Chic Challenge!

This is another made from stash card -- simple, frugal!!  The list of relevant materials follows. As I did in last weekend's WSC card, I tinted white card stock beige for the sentiment oval, with Ranger ink.  I used the same ink to stamp the sentiment and edged both the designer paper and the oval with that ink to "age" 'em a little.

My one design question on this card: does the pine tree need Stickles like the Christmas tree in my last post???  I can't tell if it's just supposed to be a plain pine or a Charley Brown scraggley Christmas tree.  

Materials: card stock (brown-Bazzill; white-Stampin' Up); designer paper (Flair Designs); stamp (Cornish Heritage Farms); ink (antique linen distress ink - Ranger); ribbon (Michaels); pine tree (Jolee's); die cut machine (Cuttlebug); dies (Nestabilities); adhesive (Pioneer mounting tape & mini pop-dots).

As always, thanks for looking.

Jingle Bells - clean and simple version

Another card from the paper stash -- and look, Mom, no stamping!!  I loved this designer paper when I saw it in the scrapbook store and knew that I wanted to use it to make a card for Christmas.  I tore the paper with my Plaid paper tearing ruler and inked the edges with distress ink to both age it and to cover over the white paper core.

 

The tree embellishment was silver-toned and I knew that that wouldn't do with the color scheme for this card.  So I heat embossed it and decorated it with Stickles.  I tied the tree to the ribbon with brown jute thread.

Materials: cardstock base (Bazzill); designer paper (Flair Designs); tree embellishment (Making Memories); clear embossing ink (Ranger); antique linen distress ink (Ranger); evergreen embossing powder (Ranger); Xmas Red Stickles (Ranger); sheer ribbon & brown jute (stash); adhesive (Pioneer mounting tape).

Thanks for looking.

Weekend Sketch Challenge #94

More Christmas paper  and embellishments used; another card challenge attempted.

This time it's Beate's WSC.  I have some miscellaneous Christmas papers that don't necessarily "go" together.  Since I'm wanting to reduce the amount of accumulated "stuff" that I have, since I'm also trying to be more frugal and since this is a challenge, I'm trying to find ways to "put stuff together".

I have some lovely Basic Grey paper pretty close in color to the beige in these two designer papers, but with most of my crafting papers still packed up, I have NO idea where those BG papers are right now.  So I "made" a paper close to what I wanted by stamping the flourish image on white Stampin' Up cardstock and then sponging Antique Linen distress ink all over the white cardstock to make a beige.  When I found that I liked the result on the flourish element, I did the same for the sentiment panel.  A complete list of materials used can be found below the photo.

Materials: green cardstock base & red cardstock (Bazzill), white cardstock (Stampin' Up); designer papers: green (Paper Pizazz), red (SandyLion); stamps (Autumn leaves); ink: Versafine Sepia (Tsukineko), Antique Linen distress (Ranger); (poinsettia (Making Memories); adhesives: Pioneer mounting tape & mini-popdots.

As always, thanks for looking.

TSSC #84

I've decided that I'd like to get a head start on Christmas cards, plus I'll probably be moving between now and the end of September and have been wanting to use up some of the paper and other supplies in my stash.  I always enjoy MaryJo's TechnoStamper Sketch Challenge and wanted to make a card using this week's sketch.

The card base is Bazzill cardstock, the designer paper is some old SEI Christmas paper that I bought a couple of years ago.  The ribbon is also stash.  The scalloped circle behind the stamped image is the reverse of the striped paper.  

Materials: Bazzill cardstock, SEI Christmas paper, white cardstock (Stampin' UP); stamp (Christmas Seals from Autumn Leaves); embossing ink (Ranger); embossing powder (evergreen - Ranger); grosgrain ribbon (stash).

I like this sketch & will probably use it again, like, tomorrow.  There's more Christmas paper to play with.

Thanks for looking.

Sympathy card. redux

When I cut the paper for this card, I originally had planned on making another card using the Weekend Sketch Challenge design used on Sunday.  I was going to make another square card but I messed up on the fold and ended up with 1 side about 1/4 inch shorter than the other. Okay..... so how do you fix that mistake?  Add a scalloped edge..... hmmm, so a scalloped edge didn't exactly work with the WSC design, so...... what do I do with a square card with a scalloped edge???

I really like the Thoughts and Prayers stamp set from Stampin' Up and thought I'd use this set to make a sympathy card.  Luckily I don't need a sympathy card at this time, but it never hurts to have one or two set aside.  

The images were colored with Marvy LePlume pens and were stamped on watercolor paper.

Materials used: kraft cardstock (stash), black cardstock (Bazzill), watercolor paper (Strathmore); pens (18 dark brown, 72 pine green -- Marvy Uchida); die punch (EK Success); dies (oval & scalloped oval -- Spellbinders); die cut machine (Cuttlebug); ribbon (stash); adhesive (Pioneer mounting tape, pop-dots -- mini & regular).

no stamping swap card

I belong to a couple of online stamping groups; one of them does monthly card swaps.  I've taken part now for 2 months and this is one of the cards that I did for July.  Ironically though it's a stamping group, this particular swap called for: NO stamping!!!  I enjoyed the challenge (not that I haven't made no stamping cards before).

The card base is white cardstock to which a piece of red Bazzill was attached; the green panel is pre-embossed Christmas Bazzill.  The sentiment/ribbon and the poinsettia flower are from Making Memories; the thin white ribbon is from the stash.

The card design might have been for an online challenge, but at this point since August has been so crazy at work, I can't remember for sure.  (Crazy, huh?)

Thanks for looking.

thinking of you - WSC 93

After a couple of crazy busy weeks at work I have the time and inclination to make and post some cards.  Beate's Weekend Sketch challenge seems like a good place to start.

I'm beginning to understand why kraft cardstock can be a fun card making base.  

This card starts with a 5 1/2 inch square of kraft cardstock and some scraps of Bazzill and Graphic 45 designer paper.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts stamped with black Colorbox ink; black soot distress ink was used to ink the designer paper scrap.  I struggled for about a minute trying to find a round image/idea to follow the original design, then decided to opt for a piece of medium copper ArtEmboss metal cut & embossed with my favorite Cuttlebug butterfly die cut/embossing folder.  Adhesives used: Pioneer mounting tape along with mini & regular pop-dots.

Fast, easy, fun.  Great way to edge back into crafting.  Thanks, Beate, for a fun sketch.  Thanks to all who come to take a look.

Hero Arts monochromatic color challenge, again.....

One thing I liked about TeleTubbies was when they would say, "Again, again, again!"  I know any number of people who found that particular part of the show to be particularly obnoxious, but not me.  It was probably my most favorite part.  (My apologies, if any of you dear readers hear that now for the rest of the day.)

I really enjoyed looking through the Flickr group postings for the Hero Arts monochromatic color challenge.  I got lots of inspiration and decided to make another card for the challenge.  When I sent the link for the card to my adult daughter, her only response was, "It's very yellow; I hate yellow."  And so you find my post.  Very yellow.  (It's called monochromatic for a reason, Kris!!)

When I first stamped the butterfly & the background stamp, I didn't emboss the ink.  It looked extremely faint on the white background.  So I flipped the cardstock over, restamped, then clear embossed with much, much brighter results.

Putting the rest of the card together was pretty straight forward, so I won't bore you with the details.  As Deb Neerman would say, right click on the photo for the ginormous vision.  And a complete list of materials follows.

Materials: cardstock: both yellows (stash), white (Stampin Up whisper white); stamps (F5158 Heart Winged Butterfly, S1832 Italian Poetry Bkgd, CL140 Thinking of you messages --Hero Arts); ink: black (Colorbox), canary (Versacolor); embossing powder (Stampendous); ribbon (Michaels); adhesive (Pioneer mounting tape & pop-dots).

As always, thanks for looking.

Weekend Sketch Challenge #90

I haven't participated in the Weekend Sketch Challenge for a couple of months.  This card design looked like one I might like to try my hand at.  I'm also trying to do some stamping techniques which are new to me.  The "shadow stamping" on the main image is something that I've not done before.

As I've done before, I apologize for the quality of the photograph.  This card is black, white and silver.  (The monochromatics have gotten under my skin; see previous post for THAT inspiration!)  The original digital image was very grey, so I up-ed the brightness and increased the contrast.  I'm not sure that it does the card justice, but.... there ya go!!

Materials: cardstock (background: Bazzill; main image: Stampin' Up Whisper White; silver: stash); inks (black on silver: Staz-On; black on main image: Colorbox; slate on main image: Ranger); stamps: flowers (Unity March 2009 KOTM), for you (Unity May 2009 KOTM); ribbon: stash; adhesives (Pioneer mounting tape & pop-dots); tools: stamp positioner, Nestabilities, Cuttlebug.

Hero Arts monochromatic color challenge

This week at the Hero Arts blog they had lots of fun examples of monochromatic cards.  Since I've done several monochromatic cards in the past, making a card for this challenge was actually more of a challenge than I'd thought it would be.  What Hero Arts stamp(s) do I use??  What color scheme do I use?

While at the scrapbook store I found this paper by Graphic 45.  This paper was there, too.  So I picked up a piece of brown Bazzill and knew that I had found my color scheme.

The flower is a piece of Grungepaper from Ranger (edited: it's by Tim Holtz from Advantus).  I colored the background with Antique Linen distress ink, then stamped the Hero Arts flower in black ink and cut it out for the embellishment.  The other details are included below.

Materials: cardstock (Bazzill); designer paper (Graphic 45); grungepaper (Advantus); stamps (Hero Arts); ink: black (Colorbox), antique linen  & brushed corduroy distress inks (Ranger); brads: larger (Making Memories), smaller (Bazzill); ribbon (stash); adhesive: tape (Pioneer), pop-dots.

Thanks for looking.

Happy Birthday, Cupcake

So the thing is..... I like making birthday cards; I really do.  I've just never gotten on the whole cupcake bandwagon thing.  I don't own any cupcake image stamps.  It's NOT that I don't like cupcakes.  I'm not sure there's a form of cake that I don't like, but.......  I've just not had any inclination to make any cards with cupcakes.  

But as you might be able to tell, there's a first time for everything.  I found these stamps.  Too cute.  And I needed to make a birthday card for my one male co-worker.  (Public health nutrition is pretty much a women's ghetto, with a few cheerful exceptions.)  So...... I went searching at Splitcoast and found this.  Glitter gal made such a cute card and even uploaded the template that she made, so....... there's a first time for everything.

I stamped the candles from Hero Arts twice; once in black ink on colored cardstock and once in black Staz-on on transparency film.  In the first photo below you can almost see the two layers of the candles; the flames are the same, except they were stamped with Versamark, then clear embossed.

In the second photo you can see the shadow of the little tiny bit of clear transparency film that connects each candle to its flame.  The embossing on the green candle really caught the light from the camera flash; it looks a LOT better above.

The body of the card was cut from metallic cardstock that I've had in my stash for more than 6 or 7 years. The lines in the bottom of the cupcake were embossed using my Scor-Pal.  The top was cut from Stampin' Up white cardstock.  I had thought that I was going to stamp and clear emboss on the cupcake top, but ended up just running it through the Cuttlebug.  I stamped the happy birthday sentiment from the Hero Arts stamp set on the inside of the card and I think for a guy, I'm done!  Of course now there's the dilemna of: the envelope!

Materials: metallic & colored cardstocks (stash, sources unknown), white cardstock (Stampin' Up), transparency film (Hewlett-Packard); stamps (Hero Arts); ink: black (Colorbox), black (Staz-On), clear (Versamark); embossing powder (Stampendous); marker (Marvy Uchida); tools (Scor-Pal & Cuttlebug D'vine Swirls folder); adhesive (pop-dots & Pioneer mounting tape).

Thanks as always for taking a look at my work.

Hero Arts -- big week & a card

It's a big week at Hero Arts with a redesign of their website debuting on Wednesday.  This week's creative challenge is to make something that is inspired by some project which is posted at the main website.

My card above was inspired by this card by Shari Carroll. I really enjoyed making this card. I've  gotten inspiration at the Hero Arts site before, but this time was different.

Materials: card base cardstock (Bazzill), kraft & green cardstock (stash); designer paper (Die Cuts With a View); stamps: Italian Poetry background & Three Designer Leaves (Hero Arts); ink: green (Ranger), VersaMark (Tsukineko); clear embossing powder (Stampendous); ribbon (stash); adhesive: Pioneer mounting tape, pop dots.

Thanks for looking.

Unity HHH - my first post

My first post for a Unity Hip Hop Hangover.  I hope that I'm "playing" right.......

I actually started this card with Jen Buck's sketch challenge in mind, but dilly-dallied and didn't get the card posted before the deadline.  But that doesn't mean I can't share, right?

I used the "bird sings" stamp from the May KOM and the butterfly from the March KOM.  Further details follow.  For some of the items used I don't know the sources.  I'm trying to use up some of my stash -- trying to be more frugal & decrease my stash (Kristine Werner's "scrap crap").  I'm hoping to get moved out of this apartment into a house before winter and less stuff to move is good, no?

Materials: cardstock: base (Bazzill), kraft (stash--unknown); ink: brown, dune (Colorbox chalk inks), brushed corduroy used on edges (Ranger); ribbon: satin (stash -- Michaels??), multi-colored & threaded thru buttons (EK Success); buttons: (stash -- maybe, Making Memories???); adhesive: (Pioneer mounting tape) & (Mono-multi).

Thanks for taking a look today.

One Nation under God

I love the 4th of July. I love the United States of America. I'm grateful for the freedom which we enjoy. I do believe that our country is blessed because of our religious freedom and the stamp used on this card is among my most favorite.

Materials: stamp: One Nation (Ann-ticipations); cardstock: colored (Bazzill), base (Georgia Pacific); ink: cranberry (Colorbox); buttons: stars (Dress It Up); adhesive: Xyron & Mono-multi.

A simple card, but I love the sentiment. Happy 4th of July. Thanks for looking.

MLSC #75 --Japanese doll

Once again it's Monday and Mary Jo has posted her Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge.  It's number 75 this week and she even has blog candy as a part of this week's challenge.  What greater incentive does a girl need to make a card?!?

This is the sketch which she provided..........

And here's my card........

I've had this Hero Arts stamp set for a couple of weeks and knew that I wanted to make a card with at least 1 or more of the stamps.

Materials: cardstock: (Bazzill, Georgia Pacific); designer paper & brad: (Creative Imaginations); ink: (colorbox); embossing powder: (Stampendous); die cut: (Nestabilities);  black cord: (Joanns); markers: (Marvy); adhesive: (Pioneer).  

Thanks, as always, for looking.

Recent favorite photo -- my year of change

Ali Edwards give-away this weekend asks readers to tell about their most recent favorite photo.  And link to it, if it's available online.  Well, we all know HOW easy it is to put stuff up online......

In January I moved to Arizona to take a new job.  My marriage of 29 years had fallen apart and I needed to get out of Florida.  

I snapped this photo at the AZ-New Mexico border as I crossed into the state.  I haven't left the state since.  (But that's less out of any great love for my new home state and more related to being on probation at work and NOT having any vacation time!!!)  I found the Tim Holtz stamp at a local store in the spring and saw the vision of this composite image.

The photo was manipulated in PhotoShop Elements to a more watercolor texture and the stamp was stamped with distress ink (black soot); the ink was also used on the photo's edges.  I then scanned the finished photo for future use (as well as having the original with which to craft).

It's not a  plain snapshot, but it's my favorite photo so far this year.  My year of change.

Butterflies for the Hero Arts Challenge

The challenge at the Hero Arts blog this week was a project with a die cut.  And of course some Hero Arts stamping.  That seemed like a challenge that I could complete.

The background paper is Basic Grey, which was also used for the right-hand butterfly.  The background stamp is Hero Arts Italian Poetry background.  The Eiffel Tower and the harlequin stamps are Tim Holtz' Stamper's Anonymous.  

Materials: cardstock (Georgia Pacific); designer paper (Basic Grey); metal (ArtEmboss); ink: (Ranger distress inks -- Old Paper, Antique Linen, Aged Mahogany); adhesive (Pioneer mounting tape, Tombow Mono Multi; die cut: Cuttlebug butterfly die/embossing folders.

Thanks for looking.

MLSC #73 - dream

I've been looking at MaryJo's sketch all week........  what to do, what to do, what to do.........  I knew that I had the already stamped & embossed tree image and I knew that it worked well die cut into a round medallion.  I just didn't really have the crafting mojo going to know HOW to finish the design.

But luckily inspiration came through as it often does for me on the weekends and I now have this "dream" card.

The main medallion is the same stamp used in this post.  When I first purchased the stamp, I stamped and embossed it on both black and white cardstock.  (I had wanted to see how well the image embossed on the different background colors.)  I stamped "dream" on medium pewter ArtEmboss metal with Staz-on ink.  When I cut the circle with the nesties die, the metal got sorta wrinkled.  I kinda like it.  I layered it to a black piece of metallic ArtEmboss; the black scallop is a little darker black than the cardstock.  I like the contrast.

Materials: cardstock: black (Bazzill), metallic silver (stash--source unknown); pewter & black metal (ArtEmboss); stamps: Fantasy (Penny Black), Dream (Unity Stamp Co.); inks: black (Staz-On), distress embossing (Ranger); embossing powder: liquid platinum (Ranger); metallic star eyelets (Making Memories); dry embossing folder (Cuttlebug/ProvoCraft); circle & scallop dies (Nestabilities/Spellbinder); adhesives (Pioneer mounting tape, pop-dots).

Thanks for looking. 

SFYTT challenge -- June 13, 2009

I really liked the SFYTT sketch posted by Jen del Muro today.  I think that I've got another card inside my head that could use this design as well, but we'll see if it escapes in the next day or two.

I love to travel.  I got to go to Europe last year for the first time and I'm currently saving up my vacation time for a visit to Japan (and maybe even my Navy son-in-law, my daughter and her family, who are living there currently).  I have several different stamp sets which can be used for a travel theme and I thought that I'd pull some of them out for this card.

My apologies for the poor quality of the photo.  My little point and shoot camera doesn't seem to be taking as good photos this week as it has in the past.

The background stamp is from Inkadinkadoo; the postage image is from Tim Holtz/Stamper's Anonymous.  The rub on (World Traveler) is from making memories.

Materials used: miscellaneous kraft, cream, black cardstock; black ink (Colorbox); black embossing powder (Stamp'n'Stuff); stamps and rub-on as noted above.

Thanks for looking.

Another card published

I was lucky enough to get another card published.  I had submitted a card made with inchies for a design challenge in Stamper's Sampler sometime in 2008.  When the magazine issue came out, my card wasn't published.  

I have to confess that I was disappointed at the time, but that's the nature of submissions like that.   You never really know what's going to be accepted.

Then last week I was at Michael's and started looking through this catch up issue and lo and behold!!!  My card made it in.  I was very happy.  Now I'm just wondering where MY copy of the magazine is.  

The formatting gremlins seemed to have hi-jacked my post, so I'm ending now.  I should ask Allison what happened, but I hate to seem that iggerant.

Thanks for looking.

SFYTT challenge

My first time to try one of Jen del Muro's Sketch For You To Try designs.  I thought that this looked fairly simple and straight forward.  I've gotten a couple of Kit of the Month sets from Unity Stamp Co and have wanted to get them inky; so I used some of those stamps today.

Materials: designer paper/cardstock: Basic Grey Granola; stamps: Unity Stamp Co.; ink: Walnut Stain Distress Ink (Ranger); flowers: Prima; brad: making memories; adhesive: Pioneer mounting tape; die cuts: Nestabilities.

Thanks for looking.

Weekend Sketch Challenge #82

It's been awhile since I've done a Weekend Sketch Challenge.  This one was fun and relatively fast for me, since I'd already stamped and matted the main image.

I had found the main stamp at Hobby Lobby 2 weeks ago and was enchanted with it.  It's named Fantasy from Penny Black; how could one be anything be enchanted???  As soon as I got it I started playing around embossing it on cardstock; first white, then black.  Both came out very nice.  But what to do with the embossed images?  

The sentiment is straight out of Lord of the Rings; it's the second line of the poem: The Riddle of Strider, written by Bilbo Baggins about Aragorn.  I printed it on photo paper and attached the star eyelet to match the sketch design.

Materials: white cardstock (Georgia Pacific), silver (Bazzill Bling); stamps: fantasy (Penny Black), swirl (Stampin' Up); ink: Tim Holtz distress embossing ink, eggplant (Colorbox); embossing powder: clear (Stamp-n Stuff), liquid platinum (Ranger); die cuts: Nestabilities; ribbon: Joanns; star eyelet (Making Memories); adhesive: Xyron, Pioneer mounting tape, mini pop-dots; corner rounder.

Thanks for looking.

Double shot: MLSC #70 & SSnotime88

This is a late post for Mary Jo's Sketch Challenge #70.  And I combined it with the color choices from this week's Stamp Simply challenge.  I've been thinking about this design for most of the week.  Then going through the Cards for Heros blog hop this week helped me to mentally finalize how I wanted to use the sketch design.

Materials: July 4th stamp (Inkadinkadoo); ink: cranberry (Colorbox); acrylic paint; mini elements Grungeboard (Advantus); cardstock: white (Georgia Pacific), silver (Bazzill); designer paper: Stardust Royal Blue (MakingMemories); adhesive: Xyron, pop-dots; ribbon: Michaels; die-cuts: Nestabilities (oval and round scallops).

Thanks for looking.

Sympathy card

I made this sympathy card for my co-worker.  It's really a pretty simple card. Sorry that the picture has so much reflection; I had a choice of over- or under-exposed.  I chose the over!

Materials: tree branch (Artful Legacy), flourish (Stampin' Up), sympathy (Delta); ink: Ranger embossing ink, Versamark; embossing powder: liquid platinum (Ranger), clear (Stamp-n Stuff); cardstock: Bazzill; adhesive: Xyron; ribbon: Michaels.

Thanks for looking.

Cherish frame

The Stampin' Up Blog tour this weekend was a totally inspirational activity for me. I've been "blurfing" on and off for the past couple of months (see last post in March), but........ the initiative needed to get something made just wasn't there.

Well, Heather Wright-Porto posted some projects using the Baroque Motifs stamp set from Stampin' Up, which just happens to be the ONLY SU stamp set that I own.  And when I saw her frame project, I knew that was a project that I had to case.

One of my co-workers lost her mother last week and the memorial service will be tomorrow.  I thought that the frame might be a lovely way for the family to preserve a copy of the memorial (with photo of her mom).  So.........  here is my take on Heather's frame project.

I first white-washed the wooden frame with some thinned-out white acrylic paint, then lightly stamped on different Tim Holtz' Distress Inks to mute the white color further.  A combination of both ColorBox and Distress Inks were used along with a couple of background stamps.

Many thanks to Heather for a wonderful project.  I'm hoping that my co-worker will like it.

Materials: wooden frame (Michaels); white acrylic paint; inks: dune, stucco, brown & merlot (ColorBox), antique linen, broken china, old paper, weathered wood (Ranger); stamps: Baroque Motifs (swirl, flower & cherish), harlequin (Inkadinkadoo), Italian poetry background (Hero Arts); paper: Bazzill Basics.

Thanks for looking.

The Creativity Project

So, I spent a quiet Sunday putting together pictures for a Shutterfly photo book.

I have SO many photos of birds (ALL my own) that I thought that it would be fun to gather them all together in one place.

I also did a little blurfing (blog-surfing) and realized that I hadn't been to Stacy Julian's blog since I'd moved, so.......

I found this post with a challenge to do something creative for 31 days in March.  Since this is also my birthday month, I'm feeling a challenge need, so.......

March 1: worked on Shutterfly project

March 2: watched the CREATE video (that Stacy posted about) here 

I've decided NOT to post the photos from the Buckeye birding field trip here; they're at Facebook & Flickr.  If someone who reads this blog would like to see them, just follow the link.

New life in the new year

I haven't abandoned this blog. I've just had a challenging couple of months.

No gory details here, just to say that I have moved to Arizona to take a new job.

I am unpacking my crafting tools and getting ready to take part in challenges, etc again.

I am posting the cover of the latest Take Ten magazine. One of the highlights of the month of February for me was getting my copy in the mail and slowly realizing that one of my challenge cards had been published!!! Woo hoo!! Go me!!

Next post will be some photos that I took today while on a hike with a local nature hikes/birding group.

More card posts this coming week. I promise.