Just a Note About Life Happenings

Hello, friends.  I just want to share a word to let you know why my posts are sparse and I haven't been around to visit.  I haven't crafted in the month of July at all, but I've had some scheduled posts and I appreciate everyone who has stopped by to comment.

My Rich spent some time in the hospital with pneumonia.  I probably don't have to tell you how scary that was in an older guy whose lungs are already failing from another serious condition.  Miraculously, he recovered from the pneumonia (we think), and is now home, but not in good shape.  The pneumonia took its toll, and he's having a rough time.  Some days are better than others, but never great.  I won't go into all of it, but I know you can imagine my hands are full, my heart is heavy, and my nerves are stretched.  I won't even get started on the quality of healthcare since our regular physician retired.  Crafting would be good therapy if there was time for it.

I miss crafting and blogging and the sisterhood that goes along with it.  I have piles and basketsful of not yet used stamps, dies, and embossing folders.  My desktop is strewn with supplies for the partially finished set of Christmas cards I was making before Rich went to the hospital.  You might look in here and think I was abducted by aliens with everything left exactly as it was at the moment of abduction.  It will all return to normal eventually.  The very fact that I'm sitting here right now is a good sign.

I'll leave you with a card I made and photographed sometime in June.  It was a birthday card for a friend, using the Memory Box Elegant Anemone die and an embossed panel that came in a card from a friend.  I left it simple for easy international mailing.

Sentiment is a combination of older supplies.  Distress Oxide ink was brushed on with a sponge-tipped applicator... or maybe a small brush.  Sorry I don't remember at this point.  I sanded the Memory Box cardstock because I wanted to soften the color.

Again, my apologies for lack of visiting.  I'm really hoping for some spare time to come my way soonish.  Sending love and hugs to all!

Stamps:  Poppystamps Sending Scribbles sentiment  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White 110 lb, Memory Box Meadow  Ink:  Distress Oxide Picked Raspberry, Shabby Shutters, Pine Needles, SU Garden Green for sentiment  Other:  Memory Box Elegant Anemone, Frantic Stamper Sending Love/Hugs die, misc rectangle dies, embossing folder unknown (received in a card from a friend)

Double D Challenge: Basket Full of Posies

Hello, and welcome to another Double D Challenge.  Darlene's theme today is "Basket Full of Posies" -- basket, posies, or both!  See her pretty inspiration board:

 

In addition to our creative winners we have a prize for a random winner:

I love the idea of flowers in a basket, so I'm imagining my posies in a fancy little basket, although I believe it's supposed to be a pot.  No matter, I love it either way.  It's very simple and fun, loose coloring, bright papers, embellished with stamped flowers and punched hearts, loaded with cheer.

I cut a top fold card and embossed the front with a Basketweave folder.  The embossing is deeper than the photo represents.  See the straight stitch along the top of the image panel, and the cross stitch along the lower edge -- I used two different rectangle dies for that.  I miss doing real stitching on my cards, but I love the extra room on my desk top since I put the sewing machine in the closet.

All supplies for this card were pulled from the vault, and they're as much fun now as ever.  The scalloped border was made with the old Stampin' Up slit punch.  We go way back.  It cuts a slit for inserting a tab, but I've always used it for the scallops.

Do pop over to Double D and see the team's pretty posies.  We'd love to see yours, too.  Have a happy day!

Stamps:  Pink Petticoat Pretty Potties, Hampton Art Celebrate Life sentiment  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White 80 & 110 lb, scraps designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black  Coloring:  Copics  Other:  Darice Basketweave embossing folder, SU slit punch for scallops, 3 in 1 heart punch, Memory Box Cross Stitched Frame Borders, Taylored Expressions Stitched Rectangle Stacklets

Double D Challenge: Nautical

Hi everyone!  A new Double D challenge starts today.  Here's Diane's fabulous board and a prize.  I love it all to pieces!

I was inspired to make something relatively clean and simple with a mix of dies and stamps.  No coloring, just colored cardstock.  It was rather nice for a change!

Penny Black Immense Enjoyment die and Enjoy Builder stamp set.  Two layers.
Impression Obsession Sailboats.
Frantic Stamper Making Waves.  I cut right across the card front, then separated the pieces, backed with the same blue as the big "enjoy".  Smaller wave dies from the set were used inside the immense "O".

I borrowed a banner die from a Poppystamps sentiment set, and those little black stars popped out of a background I cut for a Christmas card a while back.

That's the gist of it.

Come see the team's inspired samples at Double D.  Play for fun and maybe you'll win a prize or become a top favorite in the process.  Enjoy!

Guesting with Christmas Kickstart Challenge

Hello friends!  It was the nicest surprise when Jo invited me to be her Guest Elf at Christmas Kickstart Challenge #88!  A kickstart is exactly what I need this time of year when it comes to Christmas cards, and then once I get started I have all kinds of fun.  Thank you, Jo!

For the month of July we're doing Festive Frames.
I do love to dress up a frame!

In this case I made a wide frame by nesting some unrelated pinpoint dies.  I backed the frame with thin foam mounting tape and adhered it to the card.  When I was sure of where all the decorative elements would go, I stamped the sentiment panel and recessed it within the frame.

Then the fun part...  I Copic-colored one of my beloved Penny Black critters and cut her out.  Added a ric rac border for her to sit on, and pine bough corners overhead.  When I reached for my pine bough dies I found these in the envelope, already cut and stippled with white acrylic paint -- oh, happy day!  I added Diamond Glaze to the string of lights(?), and scattered homemade resin dots for extra fun and frivolity.  The sentiment, by the way, is from an Impression Obsession set.

Remember, those homemade resin dots are my new favorite thing -- punch circles of whatever size, then coat with glossy glaze.  It dries hard, sticks securely, and adds almost no dimension to interfere with mailing.  Love!

I hope you'll come join us at Christmas Kickstart Challenge #88 with your festive framed Christmas card.

Have a happy day!

Stamps:  Penny Black Christmas Fun, Impression Obsession Dear Santa  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 80# & 110#, CTMH Ponderosa Pine, red & green scraps for resin dots, scrap designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black  Coloring:  Copics  Dies:  Spellbinders Scored and Pierced Rectangles, Memory Box Pinpoint Double Frame, Poppystamps Wispy Pine Needle Corners, Taylored Expressions Ric Rac Borders  Other:  SU Subtle 3D embossing folder, 1/4" & 1/8" punches, JudiKins Diamond Glaze, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

Feelin' Sketchy

Hello again!  After two-in-a-row Christmas posts (and another coming soon), I thought I'd better do some flowers lest I forget what season we're in.  I kept it quick and clean and simple because I was short on time, but it was as much fun and infinitely more liberating than a fancied up complex card.

I combined my never-before-used, bought-on-sale Pinkfresh Floral Envelope set (sans envelope) with the current Sunday Stamps Challenge -- Feelin' Sketchy.

With minimal layers I followed the sketch to the letter.  Copic colored and cut with the matching dies, I popped up the flowers, but glued the stem and bow knot flat.  I'm loving my Nuvo drops a lot lately and had the perfect color to match.  I like to give the bigger drops a solid thwack on the backside of the card to flatten them, but the teensy drops stay more pearl-shaped.  Cute!

Linking up here: 

Sunday Stamps Challenge 338 -- Feelin' Sketchy
NBUS Challenge #63 -- My never before used schtuffs are the Pinkfresh Floral Envelope and matching dies.

 

That was fun!  Have a lovely weekend!

Stamps:  Pinkfresh Floral Envelope with matching dies  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White 80 & 110 lb, ancient My Mind's Eye designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black  Coloring:  Copics  Other:  Nuvo Neptune Crystal Drops, Scotch brand foam mounting tape, SU retired Subtle embossing folder (on card base, probably not showing in photo), Memory Box Stitched Scalloped Circles, Taylored Expressions Stitched Rectangle Stacklets, Poppystamps banner die (from a sentiment set)

Christmas Fun

Hi there!  Just for fun today I'm playing along with the Christmas Kickstart Challenge #87 where the prompt this month is "It's a Gift".  I sure do have a LOT of stamps I could have used for this, but I chose one of my not yet used Penny Black critters because I think it's just so darn cute.  It worked out nicely for a clean and simple card with only the stitched border to frame it.

The critters were stamped on watercolor paper and colored with Tombow markers and blender.  I added a sprinkling of my new favorite thing -- homemade resin dots.  Per usual I punched 1/4" and 1/8" circles, glued in place, and coated with Diamond Glaze.  In the close up you may be able to see that I used patterned paper for the dots.  The sentiment is retired Power Poppy.  "Oh, what fun" is exactly what I was thinking while making this card!

I'll link up with the two challenges I'm playing in today:

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #87 -- It's a Gift
NUBS Challenge #63 -- Never before used Penny Black Christmas Fun stamp

 

I'm so glad you could stop by today.  I do love visitors!

Stamps:  Penny Black Christmas Fun, Power Poppy sentiment (retired)  Paper:  Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 lb hot pressed watercolor, scraps designer paper  Ink:  Palette Noir  Coloring:  Tombow markers and blender  Other:  Lil' Inker Silly Stitched Die Set (out of business), 1/4" & 18" punches, Judikins Diamond Glaze

Double D Challenge: Reach for the Stars

It's Double D Challenge time again, friends, and Darlene is asking us to reach for the stars!

I'm sure the board she prepared will have you inspired to make something starry.  There is a very cool celestial stencil up for a random prize winner.  The team votes for creative favorites as well.

 

I was especially inspired by the gold and black starry panel in the inspiration board.  However, you know how it goes... inspiration doesn't mean an exact match, but I came close with white stars rather than gold.  I'm sure you can see how much fun I had making this card.  The reindeer crew is having a rest while Santa rumbles off into the night sky to make his rounds.  Ho ho ho!

I do love my Cottage Cutz dies, especially for Christmas.  Time consuming perhaps, but that's why it's good to start early.  I cut on watercolor paper and colored with Tombow markers.  The sentiment is an older but new-to-me Sue Wilson die that was probably part of a steampunk collection.  I imagined I'd be covering the gear with small Christmas icons or stamps, but it worked out perfectly as is for Santa and his jalopy.

Come see the team samples at Double D and then show us your starry creation.  In the meantime, enjoy your crafting and have a wonderful day!

Stamps:  None, except inside sentiment not shown  Paper:  Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 lb hot press watercolor for die cuts, black, red, Neenah white  Coloring:  Tombow markers  Dies & Other:  Cottage Cutz Ho Ho Ho Car, Sue Wilson Here Comes Santa, Taylored Expressions Starry Night Cutting Pad, Stickles Stardust glitter glue

Anemones and More

Hi and welcome!  Today's post is definitely one for my "mostly dies" category.  I played with my Memory Box Graceful Anemone and Anemone Bud Duo.  My goal was to keep it relatively clean, if not simple, and to use up some old designer paper.  I have a hard time getting past the "waste not, want not" philosophy and so I keep plugging away at it.  I ended up with rather a monotone-ish card.  Sometimes things just sort of happen on their own.

I cut in white and colored with Tombows, and punched gold mirror cardstock circles for embellishment.  The sentiment is The Ton Easy Expressions stamp set with matching die set.

The following cards were mean to be bonus cards, simply an effort to use the designer paper.  However, I put more time and effort into them than planned and I love them a lot.  The first is with Memory Box Sylvan Sprig, cut in PTI Ocean Tide, then coated with Versamark and clear embossed.  The wave is a Memory Box die, cut twice and layered with the underneath piece upside down.  More of the gold punched circles on this one.

Lots of wavy lines today.  You could get seasick, but I hope you don't.  Bonus card #2, below, has gold paint on the sprig and Diamond Glaze on the punched circles.  I added tiny gold dots with Nuvo Pale Gold Crystal Drops.  Older Spellbinders curved borders on this one.

The next card is fun with lots of homemade resin dots -- punched from the designer paper and coated with Diamond Glaze.  Memory Box Frieda Curve on this one, with a Cottage Cutz sentiment.  The sentiment is clear embossed.

Finally, Memory Box Freida Leaf with Spellbinders curve and Sue Wilson Creative Expressions sentiment.  More homemade resin dots and Nuvo drops.  The sentiment and leaf are both cut from PTI Ocean Tide cardstock, but the sentiment was coated with Versamark and clear embossed.  It's interesting how much it darkens when embossed.

I'll be sending my never-before-used anemones over to Darnell's NBUS Challenge #63.

Thanks for wading through this long post with me.  Brand new toys are fun, but it feels so comfortable to sit down and create with the oldies, too.  I love it all.  Have a wonderful day!

Sophie's Good Times

Hi!  It feels like a Sophie kind of day on the blog.  She's growing up fast, as all kids do -- ten months old in a couple of days.  Our adventures are a lot more frequent and enjoyable now that it's not raining as much, although these days it's mostly just me and Sophie tramping the trails.  It's a different experience, just the two of us, but I'm adjusting to the change, giving her a good life, and sharing her joy.

The first three pictures were taken around the backside of a beautiful little lake nestled at the foot of the sand dunes.  Sophie went swimming, but she loved the sand the best.  Just like a little kid.

I lost track of how many times she ran up and down this sand dune.

Bottoms up!

She stopped long enough for me to capture a pic of her happy puppy face.

Next up is a place we go frequently.  It's always best at low tide because there's so much room to run on the clean gravely beach.  She loves to swim here as well, but I keep her close to shore when the tide is changing.

Running on the bay shore.

Pictured below is a favorite place where we can walk (run) for miles.

There is endless fun to be had on the backside of the bay.

Hanging around home is not so bad, either.  Yesterday Sophie played in her backyard pool and helped me plant flower pots.  She's learning her boundaries and is now able to spend more time in the much larger unfenced property as well.   She ran here and there, visiting neighbors and charming all the passersby.  Of course, it was all under my supervision.  It took a long time to plant three flower pots, but as Sophie matures I'll appreciate the time I invested in her puppyhood.

The littlest things can be the most fun.

Playtime on the lawn with neighborhood friend, Lynus.

I'm glad you could stop by for a visit with me and Sophie.  Crafty stuff will resume shortly.  Have a happy day!