Joy to the World, The Lord is Come!

I was inspired to use my Stampendous nativity stamp & an Elizabeth Craft Designs oval die because of a beautiful card made by Claudia.  I black embossed the image & blended DO fossilized amber, vintage photo, faded jeans, prize ribbon & wilted violet.  The halo was colored with a gold glitter gel pen & covered with glaze.  The white sections on the robe & blanket were colored with a gray fineliner pen.  I carefully drew over the big star with a black glaze pen.  The little PB stars were stamped in Delicata Silvery Shimmer.  I stamped the HA sentiment in Versafine Clair Nocturne onto the PTI Rustic Cream card.  The edges were inked with DI old paper & antique linen.  Finished by tying on kraft colored hemp.

Almost forgot, I'm entering Christmas Kickstart. 

Wishing all of my dear blog friends a blessed Christmas and wonderful 2023.  Thank you so much for your continued friendship & support.

 

Goodby 60s, Hello 70s

Lots of February birthdays in my family, including mine!  On Friday I turned 70 with a nice quiet day at home.  I relocated this first professional family photo.  Yep--I was born with a lot of dark, wavy hair.

I received lots of wonderful cards from friends & family.  I display them on the shelves where I keep my music box collection.  That way I see them when I'm in my recliner.

We missed the worst of the storms, but there was enough ice to bring down a lot of branches.  Lots of people lost power, but ours was only out a few hours.  Hope you had a nice Valentine's Day.  

Here are a couple cards I shared on IG.  I was inspired by the tutorial on SCS.  Instead of drawing, I stamped an ancient, unlabeled wood mounted lined heart image.  

Then I used the wet to wet watercolor technique with DI salty ocean & mowed lawn.  The word die cut from silver glitter tape & the sentiment are W&W. 

Next is a Valentine for next year made with the Spellbinders January Small Die of the Month kit.  I used a piece of light pink metallic cardstock I recycled from a store bought card.  

Hard to capture the beautiful soft color which I combined with gold & ivory.  

The dies are so pretty I almost didn't add a sentiment, but I do like this one from W&W gold embossed on a strip of heavy vellum.  I'm entering The Snippets Playground.

I don't know why I left the embossing folder that came with my Gemini Jr in the box rather than putting it with my other folders.  It's absolutely gorgeous & here's the first card I made with it. 

I inked one side with DI speckled egg before running it through the machine.  I colored the edges of the card & the PFS Dainty Blossoms die cuts with the same ink.  Love this old Spellbinders label die & need to use it more often.  I stamped the HA sentiment on it with the same ink--a big advantage to using the oxides, I think.

Last is the card I made for the current ITP PTI BD challenge.  I used the PTI Large Scallop Stackers die cut that a friend gave me & stamped Friendship Jar Flowers on it in Prairie Grass & Simply Chartreuse.  

The big blooms were stamped in Winter Wisteria & Versamark to clear emboss.  Then I brushed on Lavender Moon, stacked them 2 high & added clear gems.  The little flowers were stamped in Lavender Moon & the centers were filled with Wedding Dress Pico Embellisher.  I stamped the sentiment from Take 3 Summer in Cocoa Bean & used Winter Wisteria cardstock for the mat--remembering to cut out a rectangle from the center & replace it with white cardstock.  I added 4 additional rectangles to give just a bit of dimension.  Gotta say--love how this turned out!

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Christmas & Valentine

I so appreciate everyone's sympathy & caring as we grieve the loss of my little brother.  Hard to believe he's gone.  It is comforting to look at pictures & remember him when he wasn't sick.  Here's one I found that Mom must have taken when my Dad's mother came to help with the new baby.  

I'm on Dad's lap & my sister is behind Grandmother.  My parents were sure the baby would be another girl, so they hadn't even picked out boy names.  Took about a week to decide on Lance.   
I used SSS Snowflake Block die to make a simple Christmas card.  The die cut was spritzed heavily with glitter spray & put back into place in the white panel which I backed with silver cardstock.  

The sentiment from W&W Snowy Holiday was stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne & I added some matte silver sequins.  Edited to add: almost forgot to enter Rudolph Days.

I made a pink Valentine using Stamplorations Heart Tumbled stencil.  

I started by blending Distress Oxide spun sugar & worn lipstick onto a white panel.  Then I inked through the stencil using picked raspberry & stamped the old MFT sentiment in Versafine Clair Nocturne.  I inked the AJVD die cut hearts using the same inks.  I'm entering Stamplorations January stencil challenge, The Snippets Playground & WAW.  

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

 

Another Scrape Painting

I made quite a few scrape painting panels the day I saw Karen's tutorial on SCS.  It's very simple & doesn't make a big mess, so I just made one to use for my Impression Obsession Birthday Wishes entry.  This time I used 2 colors of DecoArt acrylic paint: Turquoise & Citrus Green. 

For the first time I used the Dina Kowal designed leaf (D13816) which I stamped in Versafine Clair Morning Mist.  Interestingly, Dina also has a scrape painting video on SCS where she made stripes instead of a circle.  I tried that, too, but will show you the card another day.  The sentiment stamp (D14779) was in my last IO order & has quickly become a favorite.  I stamped it in Versafine Clair Nocturne.  Finished off with a black mat & black Zig splatters.  Could add embellishments if I use it for a gal, but I'm thinking it may go to a guy.  I have a million ink pads, but this technique has got me shopping for more acrylic paint--haha!  Of course, that shopping is on-line or curbside pick up as Covid cases are on the rise in my state & many people are not wearing masks.  I support reopening the economy.  As one doctor said--unemployment & poverty are public health crises, too.  Not taking precautions to decrease cases & deaths is so selfish.  I get very discouraged hearing people say masks are tyranny & infringe on their rights.  Are you kidding me?!  

It's Father's Day & I'm missing my dad more than ever.  We didn't agree on everything, but I always knew he loved me.  He had strong convictions, but he wasn't arrogant.  When I was a teenager, he told me that he disagreed with one of the Oregon politicians on a particular issue.  However, he knew the man personally & that he had integrity.  Dad said that is more important & he would vote for him.  He also said "My view may be wrong."  

I'm also entering NBUS.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

I've Missed You!

Wow--I must be old!  Can't seem to get back into the swing of things since my trip.  I haven't been away from home 12 days since I was in college--haha!  Hadn't been to Indiana in 3 years, so it was wonderful to catch up with my cousin & his family.  It was also a first for me, as the trip began with a crafty friends retreat.  We had a wonderful time getting to know each other & some people even got cards made! 

Front Row: Brenda, Darnell, Sharon (Brenda's SIL)

Back Row: Linda, Greta, Kara, Maria, Colleen

Such a treat to meet my good friend, Maria, in person.

On The Circle in downtown Indy.  The church behind me is where my folks were married.

I made a Halloween card before my trip that didn't get posted.  It works for the current DRU challenge as I die cut 3 MFT pumpkins from orange felt.

The star background image & sentiment are also from MFT Primitive Pumpkins.  I added some brown splatters & tied green twine around the pumpkin stems.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday, DCD & The Male Room.
Edited to add: Also entering Virginia's Show & Share.


Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment,
I will visit you.  Please be patient as I work on getting caught up.

Hello There

We had a few days away at the Oregon coast with hubby's daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter & great grandson.  The weather was sunny & not too much wind, so that made it extra nice.  We hadn't been to the aquarium in about 20 years.  Here's a photo taken at the end of a fun day.

Still have chores to finish, but decided today it was more important to get my card done for ITP LFF Summer Flowers.  I know you understand--haha!  Roses are my favorite summer flower, so it was a no brainer to pull out one of my oldest PTI sets:  Rosie Posie.  I also used the Step 2 set & Scripted.

The inks are Berry Sorbet, Sweet Blush, New Leaf & Green Parakeet.  After I finished stamping, I sprayed & splattered with HS white Color Shine.  I also splattered with Berry Sorbet & New Leaf inks.  The sentiment was stacked 3 high & brushed with the Color Shine.  The little word was done with stickers, the dots are white Pico Embellisher & the mat is Berry Sorbet cardstock.  I'm also entering Inkspirational (3 words, 5 dots), SSS Monday, SSS Wednesday & Die Cut Divas.
Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  I'll be catching up with you as soon as I can.

Birthday Cards

            I keep adding items to my sale pages, so you might want to take a look.

For some reason I'm having a terrible time getting good pictures of my cards.  Hopefully you can still get an idea of what they look like.
I made this card for my Time Out Challenges GD reminder post.  After about 50 tries to get a picture that didn't look blurry, I gave up & made a new card using the rest of my smooshed DO glossy panel.  The original card looked fine in person & it's now made it to the recipient.  Decided I may as well post it to enter some challenges.  The DO colors are squeezed lemonade, cracked pistachio, candied apple, picked raspberry & broken china.

This was my first time to use the Distress Glaze to wipe off some of the milky look of the oxides.  SSS Painted Happy Birthday die was stacked several high & the top layer was covered with Art Institute Banana Glitter which is so sparkly & pretty in person.  I used a textured yellow cardstock scrap for the mat & added yellow sequins.  I'm entering SSS Flickr 124, SSS Wednesday & The Snippets Playground.

I had an idea for a second card to enter the Altenew May Inspiration Challenge & finally last night I got it made.  This one is for my cousin who is turning 70.  We're just 2 years apart & are close in spite of living across the country from each other most of our lives.  I was born in Indianapolis where he still lives.  Recently I came across one of my favorite family pictures--my grandfather, cousin & me.

We were the first 2 grandchildren of my dad's parents.  Just wish there was a similar picture with my grandmother, but I've never seen one.  My card uses a Magenta brick stencil I'd never opened along with Altenew Layered Laurel & Painted Greetings.

I used a brush with DI pumice stone for the lightly stenciled background & stamped the laurels in Altenew Forest Glades & Frayed Leaf.  By stamping each color once for an image & twice for another image, I got 4 shades from the 2 ink pads.  I'd already cut apart the sentiment words & they're stamped in Versafine Clair Acorn.  I found a very old piece of patterned paper that was just what I needed to finish it off.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday & WAW.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.