Simple Things Sunday - redux

Simple note of gratitude: Cathy H, you're a genius!!! It may not be pretty (the way I got here) but it's done & SIMPLE!!

Simple Things Sunday

So, this last week I found Rebecca Cooper's blog; guess I've been living in a closet too long?? And when I read the tweet this morning about {Simple Things Sunday}, I thought: I can do that. For many years of my life, one of my mantras has been: simple pleasures for simple minds!!

So, I looked at my photos for the week; chose one that gives ME pleasure (though perhaps not so esthetically pleasing for the viewer). Found a Katie Pertiet frame that I liked for it and have posted it below.

I like this photo because it's part of my "one bucket at a time" mode right now. I have a lovely mesquite tree in my front yard. In the late spring/early summer it drops these "pea pod" things in the front yard; ALL OVER the front yard. Because my house sits on a piece of pie shaped lot and the front yard is tiny, my mesquite tree shares its pea pods with my next door neighbor.

I've not been able to pick all the pods up at once; my poor arthritic joints allow me 1 or 2 buckets at a time. So, I LOVE this photo because it shows: another bucket done AND I'm finally getting the yard done; there's probably only 2 or 3 buckets more to be picked up!!!

This, now, however, is where the SIMPLE part of this post ends. I cannot for the life of me figure out HOW to link the Simple Things badge from Rebecca's blog INTO this blog post. I know HOW to put a badge link on the side bar of this blog. But the steps to take to insert it in the blogpost are eluding me.

So gentle reader, if you know what I'm NOT doing and care to enlighten my mind today, I would be very grateful. Otherwise, if you're Rebecca and you're wondering why the badge ISN'T here on the blog post, you're now enlightened. That badge thingie is past simple for me today.

But, the photo makes me happy and with that, I'm satisfied!! Thanks for looking......

Happy Halloween -- Grungy Monday #19 & SSS&S

This week Studio L3's Grungy Monday challenge was taken from Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas 2010, Day 10. At the Simon Says Stamp blog their challenge was to use any Tim Holtz technique. So, this card is a two-fer!! Sweet!! The details on HOW to make this card can be found at Tim Holtz' blog.

Before I list the materials used for this card, I have to share a laugh. The background paper for the tag is some old Basic Grey cardstock from their Black Tie collection. (I love this stuff; I've had some of this paper for years!!!) The actual cardstock is called: Basic Grey. It can be seen in the photo both in the tag and in the background paper behind the tag. Everytime I use this paper and have to explain the name, I'm seriously amused. Basic Grey from Basic Grey!!

This tag let me use "stash" which is ALWAYS nice on the budget; old paper, ribbon, brads. And the die cut jack o'lantern was one of a set cut several years ago for Halloween cards. I used a half-dozen and put the rest away for future use. The little guy "as is" was very bright, but he grunged up nicely with some distress inks and (I think) added some fall flavor to the tag.

Materials: cardstock (Basic Grey); stamps (Happy Halloween, pharmacy label & raven -- Tim Holtz, Stampers Anonymous; also there's some very fine cross-hatching stamped as a background -- Studio G); inks (Ranger distress inks: Pumice Stone, Black Soot, Bundled Sage, Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, embossing ink); embossing powder (Stamp n Stuff midnight black); Sizzix die cut jack o'lantern; Cuttlebug embossing folder (spiderweb); black sheer ribbon (stash); Bazzill Basics (5 mm black mini brads; plastic (left over packaging material from the new surge suppressor); tools (Vagabond, ink blending tool & non-stick craft sheet, japanese screw punch).

I'll add one more comment on making this card. My first piece of plastic was older & thicker; better quality? (Can one judge packaging plastic?) However when it was embossed it got this GHOSTLY white all around the spiderweb embossing pattern. It was so dark as to obscure the stamping and even the embossed raven on the tag. Luckily I had purchased a new surge suppressor yesterday with newer, thinner packing material and when embossed, there was none of the white effect. I'm keeping the other embossed plastic tag; never know what you could put under it to make it work!!

Thanks for looking at my crafting today; fun challenges which my muse enjoyed.

Making Art! Challenge #18

I've admired Wendy Vecchi's stamps and art work for several years. Like a lurker..... from afar.....

Then I joined the EverythingWendyVecchi Yahoo group and this last week won a set of Wendy's stamps!! Then bought some more stamps..... And from there this tale runs..... not into a wall, but a card.....

This challenge asked for: 1) striped paper, 2) rectangle frame, 3) Wendy stamp. I had fun pulling paper out of the old stash: Bazzill cardstock, Die Cuts with a View striped paper, Basic Grey Black Tie (green) & Basics (Ledger-lined).

Wendy's HOMEMADE ART stamp was inked up with Ranger's Walnut Stain distress ink; this was also used to ink the edges of the striped & green papers.

Since my daughter and son-in-law have just made an offer on their first home, I'll put this card in the "stash" with the hopes that it can be mailed for their first house-warming!!!

Thanks for looking.

Grungy Monday #15

After another significant period of neglect, I return to the world of crafting and my blog.

I actually posted a piece for Grungy Monday #14 last weekend, but I used Flickr to post. I just wasn't quite ready to "face" my neglected blog.

I've been wanting to jump into the Grungy Monday challenges for several weeks and am really enjoying the challenge of the different Tim Holtz-inspired techniques.

This week's challenge went back to December, 2007 when Tim gave us this technique:

12 Tags of Christmas 2007, Day 7

I had some natural light through the window in my craft area; I'm not so sure that I'm liking the way this tag photographed.

I used Ranger's Bundled Sage as the background ink and after embossing it with clear emboss powder, I used Forest Moss over the background. The photo seems to have more of a blue cast.

The maple leaf was also given a glossy finish; I painted it with clear rock candy distress paint; then inked the edges with Walnut Stain distress ink. Autumn at the bottom of the tag was also stamped in Walnut Stain ink. I had JUST yesterday received some new Tim Holtz stamps from Simon Says Stamps. Talk about just in time delivery!!!

I can see using this technique again. It was a lot of fun and I LOVED the way the background on this tag looks (though again I don't think the photo does it justice).

Thanks for looking.

testing a picture post

I was trying to do something with a photo in my Flickr stream; it wasn't working. So I'm posting the same photo at the blog to see if I have the same problem.

CSNY (Crosby, Still, Nash & Young for those too young to know the abbreviation) had a lovely little song in 1970, Our House. Those lyrics have been running through my head as I post this.

I have some card photos to post; I've just been tied up with life lately. My apologies to those who get a feedblitz message and expected to see a card/craft posting. I'll get back to blogging real soon (I hope)!!

"retired to Arizona am I" -13/365

So, for the past couple of years I've started out with a 365 project, only to lose momentum by the end of the first week.

What do I shoot?

Did I remember to take a photo?

Why am I doing this to myself?

This year has been less stressful for me; there've been a couple of "last minute" photos. My black lab, Vader, has starred in a couple of those so far.

This photo arrived in my lap on the way to work on Thursday, January 13. As I'm driving to work, I come up behind a Dodge Durango with this license plate. And this just amuses me no end.

The rest of the way down Thunderbird road in Glendale, AZ I hear Yoda's voice saying over and over: "retired to Arizona am I".

Who knew???

2011 - one little word

It's been TOO long since my blog has had any attention; poor blog!! I've been crafting, but just haven't had: time or energy or simple inclination to post. The fall and early winter were challenging for me; my 84-year old mother moved in with me & my health has had moments as well.

But 2011 is a new year and I've come to appreciate how much I enjoy being a part of the online community of crafters/scrapbookers. So, I'm resolving to post at least once a week. (And thanks for not pointing out that I've missed the first week of the year!!)

I've followed Ali Edwards' lead for several years and have chosen one little word (OLW) to be my guide. I've decided that one of the things that I've missed most in my crafting is: scrapbooking. So, my first post for 2011 is my OLW resolution.

Materials: digital template (Cathy Zielske's The Monthly, template CZ_4)

I've really come to accept that I'm a simple scrapbooker. I admire those who can embellish a page (either digitally or hybrid or paper) to within an inch of its life, but I don't have those skills. So, I'm grateful for designers (yeah, that's you Cathy & Ali) who design simple linear templates that focus on the words and photos. All the colors on this digital page come from the photos; maybe toned down a wee bit, but in keeping with a simple design.

So, here's to being active in 2011. As always, thanks for looking.

Best Wishes, Veronica

On of my co-workers has taken a new job and will be leaving us this Friday. I made this card for her as a farewell. I'm hoping that she doesn't read my blog; I don't think she does.......

The flower was made for the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge, but I didn't get it photographed and uploaded in time to link it for that challenge.

The flower was cut using the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Sizzix die; the largest flower is a page from a old book, glued to grungepaper. The black background piece is Amaco metal which was first embossed using the D'vine swirls Cuttlebug embossing folder, then was die cut using the Tim Holtz Ornamental Sizzix die. The swirl flourishes are grungeboard from Advanatus/Cropper Hopper. The oval was die cut using one of the Nestabilities oval dies. Lots of Ranger product was used as well, including distress ink and Perfect Pearls.

Materials: card (stash); black metal sheet (Amaco); black and kraft cardstock (Bazzill); grungepaper (Advantus/Cropper Hopper) music paper (the Paper Company); ink (Ranger, vintage photo); gold glitter (Ranger Perfect Pearls - both direct to paper and made into a mist applied using Mini Mister); adhesives (Xyron, Pioneer double sided mounting tape, mono-multi, pop-dots); embossing & dies (Sizzix Tattered Florals, Sizzix Ornamentals, Cuttlebug D'vine swirls, Spellbinders Nestabilities); die cut machine (Cuttlebug).

As always, thanks for looking.

CCC #5 - distress powder

My first time to complete a challenge for the Compendium of Curiosities challenge. The details for #5 can be found here.

I was surprised to find that in my supplies of stamping materials that I only had 2 colors of distress embossing powder -- black soot and antique linen. I might have to do something about that!

I initially embossed only the birds with black soot, but added black soot to the spider as well.

I'm not entirely happy with the bottom right corner of the tag; I had used dried marigold for the orange color in the left hand corner and brushed corduroy in the right hand corner. I over stamped Trick or Treat with the dried marigold again and clear embossed it.

I might have to try a variation of this tag again and see if I can make that sentiment pop more. Linda Ledbetter the sponsor of the CCC blog posted this week that folks either love distress powder or they don't. I have to confess that prior to this tag, I hadn't felt like I knew how to really use distress powder to its best. I'm thinking now that maybe this is something that I can play with and really ENJOY more.

Materials: ink (Ranger distress black soot, clear embossing ink, distress antique linen, distress brushed corduroy, distress dried marigold); embossing powder (Ranger distress black soot; Stamp 'n' Stuff clear); stamps (birds -- Tim Holtz; others -- Inkadinkadoo); adhesives (Pioneer double-sided mounting tape; pop-dots); tools (Inkssentials blending tool with foam pads; Making Memories edge distresser); shipping tag; black sheer ribbon; black cardstock (Bazzill); corrugated card (stash -- maybe Paperbilities???)

As always, thanks for looking.

Happy 4th

Our Creative Corner posted a fun sketch challenge this week here. Hero Arts posted a red, white & blue challenge at Facebook.

I've had the designer paper for several years and knew that I wanted to use it for a 4th of July card. And here is the result of all this inspiration.......

Materials: cardstock (Stampin Up); designer paper (red--ScrapEase) (blue--BoBunny Press); ink (red--Colorbox cranberry) (blue--Ranger broken china) (light blue--Colorbox French blue chalk ink); stamp (Hero Arts CL054 Clear Design July); die cuts (Grungeboard shapes); adhesives (Xyron; All Night Media pop-dots; Scotch pop-up foam squares).

Thanks for looking.

Happy Birthday, Cindy

This card was made in late April for the April birthday of my co-worker, Cindy. She only received the card a few days ago. Can you say timely? NOT!!!

The card was inspired by this card sketch. I really liked this sketch and will probably use it again. In keeping with my goal of reducing the amount of stuff that I have in the stash, all of the materials are from the stash. I liked using the matstack because it made "matching the papers" easy; all the spring colors were "related".

Materials used: paper (Die Cuts With a View spring matstack); cardstock (DCWV Spring cardstock matstack & SU white c/s); ink (Colorbox); stamp (Hero Arts); adhesives (pop-dots on ALL the squares and Pioneer double-sided mounting tape for other layers). Tools used: Cuttlebug machine, Nestabilities (square die).

Thanks for looking.

Happy Birthday, Rubi

I've been wanting to purchase the Tim Holtz Birdcage die for quite some time and finally found it this weekend at one of the LSS.

My co-worker, Rubi, likes birds almost as much as I do, so I thought that it would be nice to use the die cuts for her card.

Since I'm still trying to "use it up" with old materials that I have on hand, the die was the only thing new purchased for this card. I'm going to be a little depressed when I finally use up my supply of Amaco Art Emboss metal (which supply I bought with coupons at Michaels in Florida). I think Mike's has discontinued carrying the product and I'm not sure which will be harder: living without the Art Emboss or paying full price at the stamping store.

The bird cage was die cut from Art Emboss. The bird and wing from scrapbook paper. The background paper is an ancient piece of scrapbook paper that had very faint images of postage stamps on it. With the embossing and distressing done to it, you can barely make out the already faint images. The cage was distressed with Tim Holtz alcohol inks; the bird and wing were distressed with Tim Holtz distress inks. All the details are below.

Materials used: card/envelope (Canson All Purpose Greeting cards); cardstock (white, SU; brown, Bazzill); paper (background - stash & Provo Craft - bird); metal (Art Emboss medium pewter); inks: alcohol (slate, meadow), stamping inks (TH antique linen, walnut stain & Colorbox black); flowers (primas); brads & tag (Making Memories); ribbon (1/8-inch black satin from stash); stamp (Hero Arts); adhesives (Diamond Glaze & Pioneer double sided mounting tape & pop-dots under the wing). Tools used: Cuttlebug machine & Script texture folder, Tim holtz inking handles, Making Memories Tag Maker.

Thanks for looking.

Kamakura 2010

I guess it's time for me to come out of lurk mode. I've been back from my adventure to Japan for more than 6 weeks. I've just stayed busy with some health issues and haven't really done much/any cardmaking -- so nothing to show on the blog.

I did start a digital scrapbooking class online and thought I'd start showing off some of my photos from Japan.

For my cardmaking friends I'll start posting again. soon. I hope.......

Thanks for looking.

February birthday card

One of my co-workers LOVES everything Japanese (especially Geishas). Using the Kanji symbols from the Cricut cartridge, Pagoda seemed like a no-brainer for this February birthday card.

The red and black card stocks are Bazzill; the gold beneath the Kanji symbol is some old stash from the 90's. The pink floral paper was sent as part of a set of lovely Japanese papers. My daughter (who gifted me the paper at Christmas) knows the name of the paper, but it escapes me now. I used my favorite Pioneer double-sided mounting tape to adhere the various layers together. The flowers are primas with a gold brad (maybe Making Memories?) to hold it together.

I'm going to Japan later in the year and I think I should be able to make more good use of the Cricut Pagoda cartridge.

Thanks for looking.

Happy Birthday cards, complete

I finally finished the last of the three needed birthday cards and got better photos of all the cards together. My DSLR was being wonky with the pop-up flash and the photos of the previous cards were taken with my point and shoot. Not so good.

The third card is another variation using the same ole Pebbles in my Pocket card stock from decades ago. :)

It also has some die cuts from the Cricut, Old West cartridge. The marks on the die cuts were highlighted with a Marvy Uchida pen and the edges on the cacti were darkened to make them stand out. The same Hero Arts Happy Birthday greeting was stamped with the same Sepia Archival ink. Same adhesives. Same, but different!

I'm looking forward to playing with this Cricut cartridge more in the future. Living in Arizona will hopefully make it a useful purchase.

Thanks as always for taking the time to visit at my blog.

Happy Birthday parade continues

Card Patterns Sketch 56 caught my fancy when I was blurfing and I thought that I'd like to use this sketch for one of the March coworker birthday cards.

I didn't use the square design (because I wanted to keep all 3 cards that I'm making the same size for all 3 coworkers), but I think the design translated well enough to the 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 format.

Pretty much the same materials as last night's posting: old Pebbles in my Pocket cardstock, Hero Arts stamp with Ranger Sepia ink. Same Nestabilities dies (just bigger circles); same Cricut Old West coyote but this time with a cactus. Once again I used Marvy Uchida pens to accent the die cuts to give them a little contrast from the background paper.

It's been awhile since I'd posted any card, so I forgot last night to mention the adhesives used. My favorite Pioneer double-sided tape and some pop-dots.

2 cards down, now just 1 to go. Thanks as always for taking the time to visit.

birthday cards on parade

After a rather long hiatus from this blog (and I'm sorry to say mostly from crafting as well), I'm in need of birthday cards and so old habits are being awakened.

March has 4 birthdays at work (including my own) and all 3 of the other March birthdays are big southwestern fans. So today's card was made with the design inspiration from Our Creative Corner's current sketch challenge.

I was intrigued with the designs that Provo Craft included on their new Cricut cartridge, Old West, so I chose that cartridge for the die cuts. A Marvy Uchida pen was used to highlight the marks cut into the die cuts as well as to highlight the edges. The greeting is from Hero Arts, CL139, stamped with Ranger's Sepia archival ink. The circles were die cut with Nestabilities circles. All the card stock is from my stash; it's an ancient collection that I purchased sometime in the late 90's?? Maybe?? From the Pebbles in my Pocket store that was in Las Vegas.

One down; 2 to go. Plus in the next couple of days I'll upload the birthday card that was made for February. Thanks for looking.

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.