It's the little things

I had a lot of time to play today so I got out some of my new Spellbinders. I was hesitant to buy this Basic Lattice but thought it would be very versatile. After I cut it out, I wasn't sure how I was going to use it as a full sheet. I thought about cutting in half but wanted to see what I could do with it full size. It is actually SU Regal Rose but I can see that I didn't have the settings right on my camera. The blue is actually a bit lighter ( SU Bashful Blue) also than what you see in the picture.

I used the Scalloped Edge embossing folder from Cuttlebug on the main part of the card. You can just see the edges peeking out along the edge of the lattice. I shifted the lattice slightly to the left because I wanted to add rhinestones along the right side. I wanted to put the rhinestones only on the right side to balance the leaves and nest that are on the left side of the card. I used Spellbinders Label 8 and then ran it through the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dot folder. It didn't click with me that this would take out the embossed edge on the label, but it still worked.

 



 

 

I used a sentiment from the SU set called You're a Gem. I love the small saying for these little places. I punched it out with a 3/4" punch and then layered it on two die cuts from Spellbinders Asian Motifs. The circle part is layered over the other so it is hard to tell there are two of them. The leaves are from Sizzix called Branches w/Leaves. I use this quite a bit and it can be cut down for smaller sprigs. The nest is from Prima and have you ever seen such tiny eggs. The card looked like it was missing something so I added the ribbon punch next to the nest. It is Floral Band edge punch from the Martha Stewart collection

 

 

 

It was busy a week at work, so it was nice to have a weekend with nothing on the agenda. I need those mental health weekends so I can rejuvenate myself for the upcoming week. I learned long ago that I need to take a break or I will burn out in the end. I must say it is much easier and less guilty to accomplish this now that all of the kids are gone. I have long given up the guilt of putting chores on hold. My sanity is much more important than getting rid of any dust bunny.

~Have fun and enjoy!

Journey

Life is a Journey

I wanted to share with you a new technique we did in our stamp club last week. It is called Faux Patina. You can find the tutorial here. This was my second try. On the first one, I was a little heavy on the Versa Mark and the result was too much embossing powder. The key is to keep it light so there is just a bit of embossing powder here and there. Most of the samples show a floral or tapestry pattern but I chose to use Tim Holtz's clocks embossing folder.  Go to the tutorial and then come back so you will understand where I was using the inks. I used SU River Rock on the embossing folder. Then I randomly sponged  Ragner Distress inks Peacock and Shabby Shutters over the embossed image. On top of that I used SU Soft Sued as my darkest color. After I swiped my Versa Mark pad across the top of the image I used copper embossing powder and hit it with the heat gun. It gave it a real vintage look. I used different settings on my camera for the pictures below so you could see the embossing powder yet still see the embellishments.

The card stock is a retired color from SU called Blue Bayou. It more of gray teal color and isn't as bright as it shows in the pictures. I layered SU Certainly Celery on a piece of Copper card stock and then the embossed layer. The 3D flourish along the left side of the card is a sticker from Jolee's called Steampunk Flourish. It comes as two 12" pieces in a package. The pattern allows it to very easily be trimmed down to fit a card. The Journey sticker is from K & Company called Engraved Garden. I don't recall who make the copper flowers, but I remember I got them at Michael's. I used a punch for the clock hands and put a line of pearls around the lower clock.

 

When I finished the embossing I thought this was going to make a great card for a man, but leave it to me to start adding the bling. Before I knew it, there wasn't a man in my life who was going to look at this card and say thanks for the "girly" card. Oh well, there are plenty of my girlfriends who would love this card.

Since everything that has happened in my family, I find myself feeling so grateful for the little things. Today it was sitting out on the deck with the warm sun shinning on my face, the sound of the wind in the trees, the smell of fresh baked pumpkin muffins, seeing a cottontail bunny dart across the yard and talking to my best friend. I am still enjoying the simple things in the Journey of Life.

 

~Have fun and enjoy!

Happiness

Happy Tuesday. No reason why, except that it isn't Monday. I am going gaga crazy over all the new Spellbinders. It is pure torture when you have to choose only one because you can only use one coupon. I'm not complaining about store policy, I certainly understand. I am only saying it has been very hard for me to choose just one. Just when I think I have the one I want in my hand, I see another one. It is like a kid in a candy store with only 25 cents ( ok so back in the 60's and 70's you could buy quite a bit with a quarter).

This was actually a very quick card to make. I ran the designer paper through my Cuttle Bug with the Kassie Brocade  5x7 embossing folder. The DS paper is from DCWV that I got at Jo Ann's. You can click on the picture below to see the texture of the embossing folder. I like to do this with printed paper for an added effect yet it is very subtle. Remember how I am always saying certain things give the card depth. That is what this texture is doing without jumping out at you. The flower in the lower right is a new punch from Martha Stewart. At least I think it is new as I didn't have it and I had not see it before this weekend. Jo Ann's has several 50% off coupons right now. I was happy that the MS products were not included in the sale flyer so I could use a coupon. Never thought we would be happy about something not being on sale. This punch is called Embroidery and I used a page from an old book to punch it out. There is actually another hole in the center but I put a gem for some bling. I used Decorative Labels Eight for the sentiment. It is a bit tough to get it out of the die, but with some patience and a pin it will come out. It's funny that I only have patience when it comes to stamping. I am not sure who manufactures the sentiment. I got it used and there is no label on the wooden block.

 

 

 

I have some wonderful news to share with all of you. I hesitated to say something sooner because I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out. My son finished radiation last month and the tumor hadn't shrunk much at all, but again it didn't spread to his lungs or get larger. He had surgery two weeks ago. The tumor was the size of a orange but they removed the size of a grapefruit to make sure they got clean margins and they did. The surgery was a success and he has 95% use of his arm which is a miracle in and of itself. I have to thank all of you who said prayers for him and myself. The doctor's at U of M are my heroes. Life couldn't be better.

 

 

~Have fun and enjoy!

 



Creative Elements

 

 I have quite of few cards that are entirely Stampin' Up products and I though I would share another one with all of you. This card is bright and cheerful. I used Island Indigo, Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz and Whisper White card stock and ink. The stamp set is Creative Elements. I love a stamp set that has all the elements for a card. The tag and sentiment are what completes this set. I stamped the tag, flower and butterfly on a separate piece of white card stock and then cut them out. I did not initially stamp them on the background. I stamped the flower twice and made it 3D by adding the extra center layer. It may be hard to see in the images. I probably should have taken a picture from the side so you could see it better. Had I just stamped these images on the background it would certainly not have been as beautiful. The depth of the images are what make this card on a very simple background. The seam binding is Pear Pizzazz and the Ticket Corner punch was used on the corners of the white layer.

 

 

 

I have to tell you a little story that is a bit embarrassing. I have been looking at some small TVs the past few weeks to replace the one in my studio. I have an 15"old style bulky one with a built in VCR on the bottom. It was taking up too much valuable space on my counter top. Yesterday morning I was again on-line looking at 19" TVs. I wanted to make sure I could mount it on the wall, so it had to go between two of the brackets that hold up the long shelf that runs the entire side of one wall. If you look at the pictures of my studio (New Stamp Studio- posted 1/22/12) it is the shelf that is holding my punches. I want to put the TV in the same area of the old one. So I went up to my studio and measured between the brackets and from the back splash up to the shelf. Mind you I measured the area directly behind my TV, so I even had to move it out a bit to reach the back splash. I figured out I could even handle a 22" in that space. Through all of this my husband is commenting on all the ones I am looking at. He disappeared and called me from up in my studio. When I got up there he was sitting at my desk and he said "what is wrong with the TV you already have"? I started to say that it was too big, when I noticed that my TV wasn't there but instead there was a different one. I stared at it in shock and ask him if he had taken the TV from bathroom and put it there. I realized this wasn't even the one from the bathroom and there was a good size burgundy bow on it with a tag that said Happy early Birthday (stamped with one of my Birthday stamps). My husband had gone out the day before and bought it and had it all hooked up that night. I am embarrassed to say that I had actually moved that new TV out of the way to measure the wall behind it and I didn't even realize it was a new TV. Now there is a world of difference between the new one and the old one. They weren't similar in any way, shape or form. I can't believe I didn't notice it- and I thought I was an observant person. So much for that.

 

All day I could not stop laughing at myself. Remember the saying "if it was a snake it would have bit me" well let me tell you I would have teeth marks on my face it that had been the case. Oh and I have to tell you that the tag my husband made, was stamped in burgundy ink to match the bow. After I had seen the tag, he asked my what I use to clean the stamps. Now that is observant. It is very humbling when we can sit back and laugh at ourselves.


~have fun and enjoy!

So Grateful

 

 So many things to be so grateful for and they usually are the little things. This weekend I am grateful for a long weekend of beautiful summer weather- no rain as they were predicting from the remnants of Isac. It is as if summer is letting fall know it is not going out without a fight and I love it. Last night we sat out in our backyard with a roaring bonfire under a full moon. I actually like it better when the fire dies down to a softer glow. It just seems more relaxing to me. Not to mention it is much better for smores.

Today's card is using some of the new dies from Stampin' Up called Labels Collection Framelits. I used River Rock as the base of the card and then layered it with cream. The Wisteria Wonder was run through my Big Shot using SU Square Lattice embossing folder.  I think the texture of the embossing folder really makes this card pop. The flowers are a hostess set from last year called Posey Punch and works with the current Fancy Flower punch. I punched them out using River Rock and Pear Pizzazz card stock and stamped them in Pear Pizzazz ink. The framelits were used with the Apothecary Art set and it also contains the sentiment which I punched out with the Word Window punch and the Modern Label punch and stamped with Wisteria Wonder ink. Both of those punches are also from SU. I turned the label so it was up and down rather than sideways and put my sentiment on a separate tag running the other way. I am sure the stamped label is meant to go sideways so you can put the sentiment in the banner. Try to look at things from a different direction- it may just surprise you.

 

 









I found a green tree frog up under the glass of our outside table the other day. It scared the wits out of me when I was wiping off the table. Boy those little things can sure make some noise. Speaking of noise, I often sit quietly when I am outside and just listen. It amazing what you hear. I love the sound of a hummingbird's wings, the croaking of the evening frogs, the crackle of a fire, the breeze through the trees and the distant sound of a train whistle. Those are just a few of my favorite sounds that bring me joy and make me grateful that I am able to hear them.

~Have fun and enjoy!