Hi!

I thought I would be sooooo smart and make a quick, simple card by combining the scraps from my mom's Mother's Day card with a stamped image found during one of my recent cleaning sessions.  Yeah, not so much.  Several hours later (I did take a break or two), I finally had a card that was neither quick nor simple.  But just like life, art is a journey.  And I love a good road trip!

The first bump in the road occurred when I decided that my stamped image wasn't large enough.  I dug through my stash and chose this Tim Holtz image instead, then ended up cutting it down anyway so I could double-mat it.  And of course it just had to be colored with Prismacolor pencils.

So now I found myself down a back road where those bright patterned papers by My Mind's Eye didn't fit in, so I took a detour and antiqued those papers with acrylic paint and distress inks.  I got back on track by cutting and adhering the background papers.  A quick right turn to diecut and doctor up the sentiment got me headed toward home.  Before pulling into the garage, I used a tinted charcoal pencil to add some quick shading.  Whew!  I finally reached my destination after an unexpected but enjoyable journey.

Have a great weekend, and take a detour!  You may enjoy it more than your usual route.

Supplies:
Green cardstock by Bazzill; whisper white cardstock from Stampin' Up; patterned papers by My Mind's Eye; Tim Holtz image; Ranger Archival jet black ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; titanium white acrylic paint; frayed burlap and broken twigs distress ink; crackle background stamp from Stampin' Up; splatter background stamp by All Night Media; Derwent peat tinted charcoal pencil; punchinella; label Nestabilities and border die by Spellbinders; sentiment diecut by Little Yellow Bicycle; pop-dots.

Happy Mother's Day

Hello and Happy Mother's Day !  Today I'm going all girly-girl on you with the card I made for my mom.  Thanks to some pretty patterned papers, I was able to create a very sweet card in colors that evoke these lovely days of spring.  And since this card doesn't have to be mailed, I can go all out with texture and embellishments.  (And size!  This card is a whopping 6x8 inches.)

I used several dies by Spellbinders.  The flower petals are from the peony set.  I used my hands and ordinary objects, like the rounded end of a paintbrush handle, to shape the petals.  (Hint:  if you want to sponge any ink around the edges, it's easier if you do that before you shape the petals.)  Each petal was glued to the one below it using Glossy Accents, and a dew drop was added to the middle.  The green leaves and ivory foliage are also Spellbinders dies, as is the green border near the bottom of the card.

The patterned papers are all from a collection by My Mind's Eye.  I selected the papers for the flowers first, then chose the papers for the background.  I just love how the little bird in the top right corner and the bird cage on the left work with my design.  The sentiment was stamped on a paper from the same MME collection and die-cut with a Spellbinders banner.  It was adhered using foam tape.  The flowers and leaves were adhered with Glossy Accents, so they're not going anywhere. 

Thanks for popping in!  Whether you're celebrating your mom or being celebrated yourself, I hope you're having a glorious day.

Supplies:
Dark pink cardstock from Stampin' Up (I think; if not it's Bazzill); ivory cardstock by Bazzill; patterned papers by My Mind's Eye; Nestabilities by Spellbinders: peony, leaves, foliage, border, banner; antique linen distress ink; sentiment from Stampin' Up; watering can Ranger Archival ink; border punch by EK Success; Dew Drops; Glossy Accents; Scotch foam tape.

A Sympathy Card and a Public Service Announcement

It is with a heavy heart that I share this card with you.  Regular readers of my blog may remember that just last week, I created this card to send to my great uncle, who had had a fall at home and was rehabbing a broken leg at a local health care facility.  I mailed that card immediately and last Thursday evening my mom and I had a wonderful visit with him for more than two hours.  He was doing so well and was even talking about the new flooring he planned to install in the bathroom once he was healed.  So imagine our shock when we received a call that he was taken to the hospital Monday night and passed away Tuesday morning!  I'm just heartsick for my cousins who were not expecting anything like this.  Although their mother is still living, she has advanced Alzheimer's and is in a memory care unit in a nearby town.  They certainly have their hands full.

For this sympathy card I stamped the robin from Artistic Outpost on a patterned paper by K and Company, then colored the image with Prismacolor pencils.  I sponged scattered straw distress ink around all the edges and stenciled frayed burlap through a piece of punchinella.

Now, for the public service announcement.  My uncle's cause of death was not a broken leg.  It was kidney failure (and an infection?) due to dehydration.  It's important for all of us to stay hydrated and the best way to do that is to drink adequate amounts of water every day.  It's especially critical for the elderly, who tend to take more medications.  So please, please, please, if you have an older person in your life, make sure they are drinking plenty of water (or other good liquids).  Ask them how much they've had to drink today.  Provide them with water even if they say they're not thirsty.  Nag them if you have to (like we have to do with my dad sometimes).  Don't take any excuses.  Their life may depend on it.

Thanks for dropping by.  Have a wonderful day and...drink some water!

Supplies:
Green and cream cardstock from Stampin' Up; patterned papers by K and Company; bird from Artistic Outpost; Ranger Archival jet black ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; scattered straw and frayed burlap distress ink; oval and lacy oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders; corner rounder punch; punchinella; Scotch foam tape.

Honor Flight Mini Accordion Book

Hi there!  As promised yesterday, I am sharing with you the mini accordion book I made for my dad.  As I explained in my previous post, he will receive this book and its accompanying card during "mail call" on the way home from the Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., later this month. 

The basic instructions for the book can be found on Robin Messenheimer's website here (blogpost with link) or here (pdf document).  I modified my project a little by adding a spine to it.  This modification was not a complete success, I have to say, in that it caused the first and last pages to not open as I would like.  But I couldn't start over so as the saying goes, "it is what it is."   I am not a professional book maker and this book was made with love, if not to perfection.  When I have time, I'll fiddle around making another one and if I come up with a solution (or find someone else's), I'll share it with you.

I used papers from the Tim Holtz collection called Correspondence and, following Robin Messenheimer's instructions, made the basic folded album.  This is so simple, it took just a couple of minutes.  The most time-consuming aspect of this project was selecting the photographs (seven total) from my dad's army albums, scanning them into the computer, and figuring out what size to print them so they could be diecut to fit on the album pages.

I determined what order I wanted the photos to be in, then diecut them to size and matted each one.  I printed the captions on my computer and adhered them to each page along with some diecut stars.

For the covers, I again followed Robin's instructions.  I cut the covers out of an empty cracker box and covered them with Tim Holtz papers.  I then adhered the covers to each end of my accordion piece.  It looked fine, but because I wasn't planning to use anything for a closure, I didn't like the way it just kind of flopped around.  That's why I decided to add the spine, which took away some of the "accordion" aspect of it but made it a sturdy little book.

In spite of the snafu with the spine, I am super happy with how this project turned out.  I know that my dad will love it and that he will enjoy sharing the pictures with everyone and telling stories to go along with them.  For me, that's the most important thing.

Thanks for dropping by!  Have a great day.

Supplies:
Tim Holtz patterned papers; red, blue and white cardstock by Bazzill; frayed burlap distress ink; various Nestabilities by Spellbinders; chipboard; adhesive; computer-generated photos and captions.

Thank You For Your Service

As I mentioned a month ago in the post here, my dad and I are going to Washington, D.C., later this month on an Honor Flight.  One aspect of the trip that I am really excited about is the "mail call."  On the return flight, each veteran will receive cards and letters addressed to him, just as if he were still in the service and away from home.  I know that a few friends and relatives answered my call for mail and have sent something for my dad.  Now it's my turn to share with you what I sent.  In this post I'll show you the card I made; in another post I'll show you the small accordion book that coordinates with it.

The papers are from a Tim Holtz collection called Correspondence.  The muted blue and red tones were perfect for the vintage patriotic look I was going for.  The paper with the blue stars reminded me that I have a set of star-shaped Nestabilities.  The stars were layered with cardstock and more papers from the same Tim Holtz collection.  The sentiment was stamped and then cut with a Spellbinders banner.

For the focal image, I used a photo of my dad that I had printed but not used for my accordion book because it was too small.  However, it was the perfect size for a dogtag die that I have.  The photo paper was kind of wimpy so I adhered the photo to a piece of white cardstock before cutting it.  The result was a sturdier image with a wonderful embossed edge reminiscent of the rolled edge on my dad's actual dogtag.  The blue star and the dogtag were both adhered with pop-dots to allow room for the chain (a Tim Holtz product; I just cut the length I needed).

This card is 5x7 so I had plenty of room inside to write a special message to my dad.  My guess is that it will bring tears to his eyes, because I was tearing up as I wrote it.  I have many things to thank him for in addition to his service to our country.

Thank you for stopping by my blog!

Supplies:
Dark blue cardstock from Stampin' Up; light blue and red cardstock by Bazzill; patterned papers by Tim Holtz; frayed burlap distress ink; sentiment by Recollections (Michaels); Ranger Archival jet black ink; Martha Stewart border punch; star Nestabilities and banner diecut by Spellbinders; dogtag diecut by Elizabeth Craft Designs; ballchain by Tim Holtz; pop-dots.