Barb's Birthday!

When I first joined HA Flickr Barb was one of the first people that I "met".  Mind you even though it was just a "virtual meet" Barb's personality came through as she helped me with flickr issues, card making and helped on a few personal issues too.  In short Barb became a "friend" before I ever had the opportunity to meet her face to face.  But finally we did meet....in fact just as recent as this past September when traveled to Scrapfest and spent of few days, a few classes, a few meals and a few lines with Barb!  And now she is having a birthday and Virginia has been kind enough to organize a card hop for Barb. So of course I wanted to take part!
I recently went a little nuts and bought several new Spellbinder dies.  I love Spellbinders.....they were the first dies I ever got and I just think that there quality and versatility rock.  And, I have found a place that often sells them for as little as $16.99 so that makes me happy.  So, I finally broke down and purchased a couple of the dies that I have been coveting  and thought that I would make Barb's card with one of my new sets.  And a quick tip for any time you use a very delicate or complicated die...put a piece of wax paper on the die and then layer your paper over that.  After you cut out your die the wax paper will allow your die cut to just pop out!  Any ways, I also want to enter this card into Mojo Mondays Challenge # 265....Square or Round. I went with square.....I always love a square card!

I also am entering this into the Simon Says Stamp and Show: Just Add Pearls.  I used both pearl bling and also pearlized chalk to color the background around the sentiment.  And, it is hard to tell but the deep pink cardstock is also pearlized.  Here is my card!  I hope that Barb likes it!

I also will be linking this card to Virginia Lu's blog.....she was the sweet person that got this birthday ball rolling.  And finally, I want to give a curtsy to Jenny Gropp of One Krafty Kat blog....I love her card designs and really loved THIS particular one and basically followed her example when trying this particular die for the very first time!

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you are having a good night.....and if you are on the east coast please stay safe!

Be well,

Sheila

My very first....

Christmas card of the season.  Yea, yea I know....I am quite a bit behind but I always have a pretty difficult time making Christmas cards in the warmer months...But yesterday was quite cold and I had some time before my walk.  And this little card came together actually really quickly.  I used a Northwoods Rubber Stamp company stamp and then colored it with TomBow markers.  I stamped on watercolor paper, embossed and then used the Tombow Blending pen to blend and shade the colors.  It goes really fast and lately I haven't been able to find the time to really sit and copic to my my heart's content so the Tombow's and the Faber Castell big brush markers are a great coloring alternative for me.  I love this patterned paper and I broke habit and first picked out the paper and then colored the image to match. I know that is the sensible way to make a card but I usually do lot of coloring of images ahead of time and so I tend to retro fit to paper!  Anyways, I really enjoyed getting out some Christmas colors and images and putting them together.
Today my husband and I are heading over to a town in our state to watch my friend's daughter run in the state meet for x-country.  It is about a 2 1/2 hour drive one way but the way will be scenic and we hope to still catch some of the Fall colors on the route.  There is also a MASSIVE scrapping store in this town and that will be fun to go through too!  Tomorrow my hubs leaves for France and India and I plan to be at the crafting table about 5 mins after he leaves!  Barb over at the Hero Arts flickr site has an interesting challenge going on and I hope to take some time and participate!  Check it out!
So....here is my card.  I found these adorable gingham ribbons at JoAnn's fabric.  They come in several different colors and widths and I scooped up a few as I always love the look of gingham with Autumn and Christmas images.  I have been using my little "Bow Easy" for making my bows and I seriously love that little tool....I think it was all of $2 or $3 but I use it almost for every card!  I think it is so much easier especially when trying to double bow ribbons.  And, of course, you can see that I stickled....I love to touch up the images with a bit of glitter....

Thank you for stopping by today....I hope that you have a GREAT weekend.....I know I plan too :-D

Be well,
Sheila

Two days....

and two posts.  Whoa....I better be careful or this will become a habit!  Yesterday was absolutely miserable here in Plymouth.  Just awful weather and so I wasn't able to get my long walk in.  I kept hanging about hoping for a 2 hour window in the weather but it never happened sooooo what's a housebound (crafty) gal to do but make good use of her time in the now clean and organized craft space.  And that is exactly what I did.  I needed to make a birthday card and I find that when I need cards of that sort I tend to go for cards that are more "in season" and then put a birthday greeting in side them more so than reaching for a true, blue birthday image.  Actually, I have kinda few birthday stamps as a result.  But if a birthday falls in Autumn....beware!  You are going to get a card with pumpkins, apples or cornstalks from me!  It is always a way for me to use some of my most favorite color combinations more often!  And I am going to enter this into a challenge.  Over at the Simon Says Stamp Blog this weeks challenge is to use Autumn Leaves.

I have never entered any of their challenges but who can pass up a challenge to use colorful leaves right?  And this Heartfelt Creations background stamp seemed just the stamp to take center stage!
I love this particular leaf stamp and it is actually quite a bit bigger than I have shown.  That is a great detail about large background stamps....they can be stamped and trimmed to fit your project and are often stars in their own right!  I don't think that I have actually ever used this particular stamp as a background!  And, again I used Faber Castell Big Brush markers...they really are so fast and quick for coloring.  I still love my copics and pencils but this color job took me about 15 mins with the Big Brushes and sometimes a card just needs to be quick!

Also, lately I have begun to try and dress up some of my cards on the inside.  So, here is the inside of that card.

Today it is sunny and, wait for it.....nearly 40 degrees colder than it was for the last two days.  Yikes.  But it is the sun that I am happy for and so I will be able to get out for a long walk....TIP ALERT!  For those of us who live in areas where it does get cold and nasty put a thin layer of Aquaphor on your face before long walks, runs etc in order to protect it from windburn and the cold!  My daughter taught me that.  She is almost 23 and she also puts a very thin amount on her teeth before she drinks wine or coffee so her teeth do not discolor over time.   'Course I never remember this tip until I already have two glasses of red in me!  Oh well - ;-D  Take care and enjoy your weekend!

Be well,
Sheila

So...

I've been absent.  For quite awhile.  And although I would like to say that in my absence from blogging I have been filling my time with crafting.  But that would be a lie.  I haven't been in my craft area except to pass through it to the laundry room.  Which I have been filling my time with.  Laundry. And lots of it.  And other activities of course.  Not all laundry.  Some activities have been very fun...lot's of time spent outdoors in this amazing and fabulous Fall that Wisconsin has experienced.  Lots of time here and there visiting kids.  My kids....I haven't been out and about just visiting random kids ;-D  and lots of time reading lately.  I have been on a reading tear for some reason and it has been wonderful.  I also have visited my brother and in the process was gifted from him my grandmother's old china cabinet that he has had in his barn for....well, forever I think.  So, I have cleaned that up and filled that up with crafting supplies.  Which led to a complete overhaul of my crafting room, supplies....any and everything that has to do with my crafting.  This took me a looooong time.  Too long in fact.  It pointed out to me that I have a lot- A LOT of crafting supplies.  And, so I have been paring away, giving away and reorganizing my supplies in a way that I will be able to use more of what I love more often.  I have learned that I hate to have stuff on my desks.....in fact any of my flat working surfaces.  Hate it.  Hate the clutter that builds up.  This has taken me way too long to figure out.  I really must be slow in that respect.  But, when I have on my desk....and I have a huge desk that can certainly accommodate this arrangement btw....when I have my pens, markers, inks and pencils neatly stored on my desk it is a baaaaaad thing for me creatively.  I don't know why, but it seems that what ever tools I am using never  really get put away because, well, they are on my desk so what is the difference between laying them on the desk or gathering them up and putting them upright into their container.  And, of course, if I just leave them lying about I will be able to come back to them when I have my next craft project to do.  Except, maybe for my next project I want to use pencils or inks instead of markers.....and so I do, and then I also have those on my desk as well as bits of paper and bits of ribbon and just, well BITS!  And before I know it my table looks like he#* and I am overwhelmed with the mess and then shy away from my crafting table.  I am very immature that way.  Pathetic really.  But now I have everything put away and when I have a card or project I pull out exactly what I need and and put it on my table.  And if I need something more I GET UP AND GET IT!  Shocking I know.  But, when I am done, I have a very distinct place to put everything away.  And, if I am interrupted before I am finished then all that my eyes see  on my table is the very tools I am currently working with.  Which, somehow, makes it easier for me to come back to my table. I know that most people want to have what they use most right in front of them at all times so it is in easy reach but for me that became much to clutter to my eye.  So now just pulling out when I am using is working much better.  And, since clutter translates to stress  and inactivity for me.....the lack of clutter translate to peace, enjoyment and more crafting.  So, I am happy.....and only feeling slightly ridiculous for taking sooooo long to find this out about myself.  Here is a card I just made.  I love Fall images....they are another thing that makes me happy ;-D This is a Northwoods Rubber Stamp Co. image....one of my most favorite company's ever to color!  And I colored this image in with Faber Castell Big Brush markers on watercolor paper.  It's fast, easy and I really like the resulting intensity of color!  I also cut the Spellbinder twice...and offset the colored cut over a white cut create a bit more dimension.  I think I like this.

And, when straightening my craft area I found this bit of ribbon.....so bonus!
Take care and thanks for stopping by.

Be well,
Sheila

Whaa-Hoo-ey!

Finally some crafting time.  It has been a loooong while since I have been able to sit down and play a bit. But while I haven't been crafting my time has been filled with other fun things.  Today, however, I had some time to finish an image that I have colored with three different mediums.  I took the same Northwoods Rubber Stamp Co. image and colored it with Faber Castell Pitt BigBrush markers, watercolor pencils and finally with Copics.  Each time I challenged myself to find a different way to mount the same image...not easy for me.  I much prefer coloring to the actual assemblage of  cards!  Any ways, with this being a Fall image I couldn't take myself away from the pairing of turquoise and orange.  That color combo seems to be my "go to" fall color preference.  Each card also shows how versatile some stamps are which is really important to me.  I need to be able to keep using a stamp (cuz these things are expensive you know!) and so I like stamps that can be cut away, pared down, etc....

The first card is colored using the Big Brush markers and this card shows you what the whole stamp looks like.  Other that trimming the sides a bit this is the full stamp.  I colored and blended on water color paper with the markers, trimmed out and matted the image and then stickled with yellow stickles to "highlight" the yellow areas on the card.  Im my mind this is the "sunlight" hitting the objects on a fall day.

 The second card is colored with watercolor pencils. And this method is so easy and fast to do!  I basically colored everything but the cornicopia, fence and basket yellow and then added appropriate blending colors from there.  Once all colors added I pulled out a brush and cup of water and blended away.  This method is nice as if you make a mistake you can use the water to "push" the color back or simply wait till the image is dry and then add more pencil again.  On this card I cut out the fence and leaves....mounted them first and then added the pumpkin/cornicopia  section of the card on pop up dots.  I also cut out several leaves that I had left over from the third card and popped them up on dots also.  I added the brass sentiment that says "capture life's moments", stickled with yellow again and that card was done!

Finally, the third card uses copics and again the process was pretty straightforward.  The coloring here took substantially longer to color than either method listed above!  I hand colored the ribbon with a Tim Holtz distress ink and now my fingers are impossibly turquoise.  I never understand why that ink doesn't rinse off as it is water reactive......And besides stickling again I added a little brass tag that says "wander" as that is what I like to do in the Fall.  Wander about in our state's glorious, colorful  parks.

Thanks for stopping by today!  It was great to get back to the crafting table and I hope to be back with more cards this weekend.  I hope you all are well and enjoying this lovely Fall as much as I am!  It is soooo hard to be indoors now when I know that winter is coming, too soon, and the weather outside now is just fabulous!

Be well,

Sheila