Red Bee Balm

Enough clean and simple for a while; it's time to play around because 1)  I love to color,  2)  I love to play with design composition, and 3)  I'd like to use my designer paper before it goes the way of the dinosaur.

I've spent a fair amount of creative energy over the years figuring on how to make an easy-to-mail-one-postage-stamp card that still lets me do all of the above.  Die cuts have helped with that.  Layers made of designer paper.  Sequins, but not the cupped kind.  That sort of thing.  If any of you have ever received a be-sequined card from me that lost its sequins along the way, please let me know.  I once received a card whose sequins had mostly fallen loose in the envelope.  I use Aleene's Tacky Glue for sequins because it's tidy and strong, but since I've never mailed a card to myself... well, who knows?

The stamp set for this card is Power Poppy's Vibrant Thanks from their latest release.  I stamped the Bee Balm three times, masking the first image on the left.  Coloring was done with Copics on X-Press It Blending Card.

The designer paper is old My Mind's Eye "Rosy" from my vast collection.  I'll list the dies:

• Spellbinders Grand Ovals
• Cheery Lynn Dutch Daisy Boutique Stacker A2 Frame
• Dee's Distinctively Sm Pair of Leaves
• Paper Smooches Hearts

I'm linking up today to the following challenges:

 "Anything Goes" challenge at The Sisterhood of Crafters
Tic Tac Toe Challenge #012  I chose the "die cut, sentiment, and floral" row.

Hope you're all looking forward to a nice summer weekend.  Enjoy it while you can!  See you again soon.

Ultra-Simple Sympathy and Get Well

A person sure can make a lot of cards quickly when you keep it ultra-clean and simple.  I recently made six or eight sympathy cards... I don't know... I've lost track.  One of them wound up in the garbage and I didn't photograph all of them.  I was in a hurry to finish up a batch I was giving to a friend.  There were two of these.

My friend likes crafty cards and there's not a lot of crafting in this design, but I think she'll like the butterflies.  I layered two of the Memory Box Waltzing Butterflies and glued onto a Neenah 110 lb card base.  The Power Poppy Soothing Sympathy sentiment was stamped in SU's Taken With Teal.

The second card has a touch more going on, but still very simple seeing as how I pulled out some leftover card parts for it -- an uninspiring brayered ink panel and three white "get well" sentiments.

Let's see if I can make it sound as easy as it really was:

• Cut white panel 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"
• Position Memory Box Florina Corner and Impression Obsession Get Well Soon dies on panel.  Run through die cutting machine.
• Glue negative die cut panel to brayered background.
• Glue positive die cuts into negative space.  Layer two more Get Well Soon sentiments.
• Glue assembled panel onto A2 card front.

I added two little butterflies from the Impression Obsession Butterfly Set and sparkled them up with Stickles Stardust glitter glue.  All done!

I don't know how much of the eclipse you saw in your area, but here the sun got down to a little sliver.  It's amazing how much light that little sliver puts out.  It was an unusual sort of light, not at all the same as the sun going behind a cloud.  Imagine how scary it must have been for folks in earlier days.  The sky darkens, the temperature drops, the breeze goes still.  It's pretty amazing when you think how the moon revolves around the earth, the earth rotates and revolves around the sun, and even with all that action going on everything still lines up for an eclipse.  Wow.

Wishing you all good health and happiness.  Have a wonderful day!

Get Well Dog Two Ways

Hi there!  Eclipse day is here at last and soon all the craziness in Oregon will settle down.  Have you seen the traffic on the news?  Sure glad I'm not out there!  We've got our glasses and will walk a few steps to a break in the trees to watch it.  We're just a little bit south of the direct line, so it should still be pretty impressive.

Today's stamping is with a not yet used Whipper Snapper stamp called Get Well Dog.  I've had this one for a while, but just never got around to making a get well card with it.  One day I was looking through my birthday sentiments and saw this quote -- Fiskars Make a Wish Quotes -- and, well, you can see where I went with that:

Giggle!  It's for a guy friend's September birthday.  Watercolored with Gansai Tambi paints on 140 lb hot press watercolor paper.

Since it was a first time use and really such a cute image I went ahead and made a second card with the sentiment that comes with the set.  I watercolored again, but this time put spots on the dog using the picture on the stamp package as a guide.

Way too much fun!  I'll list all ingredients in the recipe below.  Thanks for looking!  Stay safe and happy!

Stamps:  Whipper Snapper Gel Well Dog, Fiskars Make a Wish Quotes (card #2)  Paper:  Fluid 100 140 lb hot press watercolor, white card base, SU brilliant Blue (#1) and So Saffron (#2), Bo Bunny Very Vintage Double Dot designer paper (#1) and Lawn Fawn Perfectly Plaid designer paper (#2)  Ink:  Palette Noir  Coloring medium:  Gansai Tambi watercolor paints  Accessories:  Signo Uni-ball white gel pen (dots on bandage, both cards),  SU Candy Dots (#1), Memory Box Banner Parade (#1), Memory Box Cross Stitched Frame Borders (#2), Paper Smooches Dog Icons (#2), Scotch brand foam mounting tape (#2)

Nature Under Glass

I've said it before -- Power Poppy is my weakness... and that's how I wound up with the entire new release.  I know!  I wasn't going to treat myself to any new stamps until I've caught up with all the not yet used stamps, and I haven't... since (ahem) the last Power Poppy release, but I've been making good progress.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

So... I started in right away with the Under Glass set.  It's a unique concept with five different images, a bell jar, and three sentiments.  You can use the images with or without the bell jar and vice versa.  I'll share the vice versa later.  As of this writing I've made three cards with this set, just going with the inspiration.

The birthday sentiment is from an entirely different set -- Dynamic Duos: Peonies and Tulips.  Initially I was going to leave this sentiment free for options on future use, but then I thought of a few September birthdays and realized I'd best be prepared.

The nature arrangement was stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa and the bell jar in Memento Toffee Crunch, then colored with Copic markers.  After I put the whole card together with the image panel popped up I coated the bell jar with Glossy Accents.  Since I needed to cover a sizable area with the Glossy Accents I squeezed a pool of it into a jar lid and used an inexpensive paint brush to paint it on the jar.  If the glass looks wavy or has tiny bubbles we can imagine it's very, very old (or cheap) glass.

Love that pretty lattice die cut?  It's another one Sherri sent in a very generous and fabulous package of die cuts.  It's Joy Crafts Square 6002/0147.  Everything will be summed up in the recipe below.  I wish you all a very happy day!

Stamps:  Power Poppy Under Glass, Dynamic Duos: Peonies and Tulips (sentiment)  Paper:  White, SU Garden Green, Prima Romantique designer paper  Ink:  Memento Rich Cocoa and Toffee Crunch, SU Garden Green, Copic markers for coloring  Accessories:  Inkssentials Glossy Accents, SU Candy Dots, Scotch brand foam mounting tape, Joy Crafts Square 6002/0147, Memory Box Stitched Scalloped Circle

All White Double D Challenge

It's Double D Challenge time again and for this go around we're asking to see All White.  I love all white cards, but I'll admit this was a true challenge for me as I was determined to not let a speck of color touch my card.

I figured if I was going to do a white on white sentiment I'd better make it a layered die cut so it would show up.  I also wanted some texture, but not so much that it would interfere with the sentiment.  Hence, the plain panel in the center.  That panel is actually scored every half inch, but for the life of me I could not arrange the lighting to make those score lines show properly.  The lower edge of the card is scored horizontally.

Have a look at the gorgeous inspiration board:

And a cute prize for a lucky random winner:

I added sequins and ribbon for yet more texture.  I'm thinking I'll change the ribbon, however.  That bow knot makes such a hard lump and takes away the ease of mailing.  I know... the ribbon police will be after me, but don't worry, only the bow will go.  I'll figure something out.

My card may be a bit much for sympathy.  Not sure about that.  I think it depends upon the person you send it to.  I suppose it could be used for get well or hard times or just because.  At any rate it will find a home eventually.

If you haven't done so yet, you just have to see the DT gals' cards.  They really know their way around white on white!  I think there's going to be some very pretty entries for this one and I can't wait to see yours.

Supplies are listed below.  Enjoy your day!

Stamps:  None  Paper:  Neenah 110 lb white  Ink:  None  Accessories:  Offray ribbon, Doodlebug sequins, Sizzix embossing folder (sold by Stampin' Up at one time, name forgotten), Sue Wilson Thinking of You die

Tulip Block

Hello again!  I'm back with some sparkly watercoloring today.  First time to watercolor a Bugaboo digi (ordinarily use Copics), but I'm loving those Spectrum Noir sparkle watercolor pens just a little too much to put them down.  The image is called 4 Block Tulip Square.

I certainly could have cut out those blocks and popped them up, but decided to leave it whole because I so often go to way more trouble than necessary and, hey, it's summer so the beautiful days are calling to me.

In the rather glaring photo below you can see the sparkle from the watercolor pens (much prettier IRL), plus the glossy sentiment (Paper Smooches Hello Words) and the glossy dots throughout the image.  The sentiment was cut from a small scrap of black mirrored card stock -- my last little scrap.  It's incredibly glossy, isn't it?  That's what gave me the idea to carry the gloss through to the image, so I touched the dots with a black Sakura glaze pen.  Easy and quick.

I popped up the whole panel on a textured white card base.  No matting.  Sometimes I just like it very clean.

Today I'd like to thank my friend, Donna, for this and one other Bugaboo that she emailed to me with Bugaboo Jodie's blessing.  I tell you, I do get by with a little help from my friends.  When I think about some of the things I've received...  I'm a lucky girl.

Playing along with the following challenges today:

• Cards in Envy challenge:  Bug Me!  Card must feature a bug and fit nicely in an envelope for easy mailing.
• Little Red Wagon challenge:  Bugs and Slugs.  I'll take ladybugs over slugs any day!
• The Paper Players challenge:  The Great Outdoors.  Flowers were specifically mentioned as a qualifying possibility.

It's fun to join some challenges.  I need to do that more often.

That's it for today!  Have yourself a sunshiny, but not too hot, happy day!

Row of Houses in Two Seasons

Hi there!  Today is an example of how I get by with a little help from my friends.  I know... another Christmas card in the middle of summer, but I couldn't help it.  This row of houses just begged to be on a Christmas card.  And then Santa came along with the perfect sentiment... I just had to do it.

So how did my friends help me with this?  Well, my friend Sherri sent me the most wonderful package of die cuts.  You wouldn't believe how many and they're all fabulous!  I immediately set to work with this row of houses die cut.

Santa is Power Poppy's Action Santa.  The stamp set has Santa on a moped, too, which is more appropriate with the "zoomin'" sentiment, but I won't worry about that.  He's cute and I love him with the houses and it was such a simple card to make.

Next up is a sunny day in the neighborhood with my first step card which I never would have made if it wasn't for my friend, Lynette, who sent me several pre-cut and scored step card bases.  I had another plan entirely for my first step card, but when I saw this row of houses my plan changed.

It's another simple card, seeing as how Lynette and Sherri did some of the work for me.  I added the Poppystamps Stitched Landscapes and Evergreen Trees and a sentiment on a Die-namics Mix and Match Banner.  The heart is punched.  I made this card for my realtor girlfriend to send to one of her clients.

So, Sherri and Lynette, thank you so much!  You girls are the best and I couldn't have done it without you.  Happy day to everyone!

His and Hers Art Impressions Birthdays

Hi, there, stamping friends!  I have two birthday cards today which I made in early July (maybe late June?).  I can't believe that much time went by before I'm posting them.  But then, I can't believe how we're nearing the end of summer and it's almost time for fall cards.  I won't give up summer that easily, though.  We're just getting started!

Both cards are Art Impressions colored with Copics.  The first is Gordon Golfer for a golfing guy friend who did get a hole in one at the country club and has a plaque to prove it.  He'll tell you a humble story about how it was a stroke of luck, but he's actually a very good golfer.

Where are Gordon's eyes?  I forgot to leave whites for the eyes, so Gordon has little beady eyes.  I don't know how he sees to golf with those tiny peepers.  When I was a kid I wondered if people with tiny eyes could see as well as people with large eyes.

Gordon Golfer uses some Bo Bunny Camp-a-Lot designer paper and the following dies:

• Poppystamps Stitched Landscapes
• Sizzix Primitive Stars
• Sue Wilson Pierced Flags

The next card is an AI stamp set called "Fire Out".  Made it for a girlfriend who said she laughed all day over it.  That's a good thing.

This one is very simple.  I hand cut the speech bubble.  The presents are part of a full-card-length Die-namites die called "Presents Border".  I didn't need the whole border, but it's a very cute not-yet-used die which I've been wanting to use, so with a little a lot of snipping I finally used it.  There are more presents decorating the inside of the card.

I hope you're all having a good summer.  A lot of places are too hot to be outside.  I couldn't bear it.  Our temps have been in the mid to upper 70s and 80s this week.  A warm air current is bringing in smoke from wildfires all the way up in Washington state and the mountains east of us.  No fires near us, just a smoky haze.  All these fires every year... I wonder how we have any forest left.  It's so distressing.  Take care, and I hope you're able to stay cool where you are.