THINGS ON SUNDAY

Clicking on the photos should make them larger.

Thought I had better put up a post before we lose September completely!  We have been having some good rains and cooler weather-love it! 

Some of the trees are beginning to show some color.  The buckeye tree in the backyard was here when me came here in 1979.  It is the first to show changes in leaf color and lose its leaves (not counting black walnuts who lose them all year round it seems.)  I took this photo when the early morning sun was shining on the leaves. In the background is our old milk barn, shop with the double and garage door and holding pen shed is on the left end.

 The Sweet Autumn Clematis' have really done well this fall-just covered with their star-like blooms and have a sweet smell.  These cover two ends of the arbor. 

 The holstein heifers are having their mustard by-product fix-they like it and go to the water tank next.

Below is DH watching the heifers. He had cut a small bush and threw if over the fence and they had to come and investigate.  In the background you can see some eating hay at a round bale feeder.  We keep hay out for them year round.

 Here is a card I made today for the Featured Stamper Challenge over at Splitcoaststampers.  The card I cased used this flower and pitcher image from one of my favorite stamp sets-SU Long Time Friend. 

I did the Blackboard Technique where you stamp the image in white ink on a dark background.  You let the ink dry and then color in with colored pencils.  I added some yellow Stickles to the yellow flowers and cut the image out using Spellbinders Labels One die cut.  I also cut and embossed the green mat with a Labels One die and then adhered it to magenta Bazzill cardstock.  The sentiment says "Thinking of You".

POTATO VINE GONE WILD!

Been having some really nice weather.  Almost 8" of rain for the month and cooler temps-88 degrees today- but the clincher is-little humidity!  I can take the hot temps a lot better when the humidity is low.  Ragweed pollen count must be really high. My throat feels sore and scratchy after being outside!  A good excuse to stay inside and piddle.  :>)

While out I watered some flowers.  That is one potato vine in the pot along with rubrum grass.  The vine covered up some other plants I had in there-I guess all that hot weather is to his liking!! Sun Coleous is in the other two pots-one to each pot.

 While out I also picked some small, scrappy tomatoes.  Still have some blooms and a few green ones left.

 Made cards for two challenges this week-been awhile since I had played in the challenges.  When I first joined Splitcoaststampers I did several each week and really enjoyed them-learned several techniques and tips as well. 

 This card was for the TLC339 challenge.  We were asked to look for the first card we put in our Favorites Folder on Splitcoaststampers and do a similiar card.  Mine was from 2005, a favorite card by Sharon Harnist.  Where I used the floral designer paper Once Upon A Springtime by Graphic 45, Sharon had stamped toile flowers.  She also did the faux linen technique and I used the Stampin' Up Linen background stamp and stamped on my card.  I still like Sharon's card and was happy with mine as I like the coral colors! 

This card was for the MMTPT160 challenge to use birds on our card.  We are to send our cards to a lady who is having health problems if we want to.  Mine will be in the mail Monday. 

CRAZY4CHALLENGES 76

The C4C76 (Crazy 4 Challenges 76) Challenge was to use flowers on our cards.  Not hard to do for me as I love flowers and most of my cards will have a few. 

I layered some denim look paper on SU Barely Banana cardstock. My flowers are some a friend crocheted for me.  I think they are really pretty and she did a wonderful job-Thank you, Arlene.  I added yellow mini brads to the middle of the flowers.  The wavy strip along the bottom is a Paper Studio Stickability.  The butterflies were made with a Martha Stewart punch and the flower leaf branches are part of the SU Bird and Leaf Punch.  To finish I added some yellow and white buttons tied with white thread.  

FROM THE PAST

Happy Valentine's Day

I didn't make any valentines this year but here are some I made back before I had a blog.  I notice a theme with these cards-pinks instead of red!

 This quilted card was a featured stamper card, FS48 on SplitCoastStampers.  This was made before I developed lymphedema in my left arm and could do more tedious work.

 This card was also a SCS featured stamper card, FS48.

This heart pocket card was for a SCS challenge TLC151.  I liked the design but have not made another one.  I still have the pattern, I think, so would be nice to make one with falling Spring flowers.

We have been having such nice weather the last few days and supposed to be good all week.  All our ice, sleet and snow have just about all melted and gone!  We live on a long, winding hill so my van has just been sitting as we needed 4-wheel drive, so when I needed to get out (not often-too cold) I went with my husband.  I need to run a few errands and I think we plan to go out to eat tonight. 

STICKLED SUNFLOWER

The Technique Lovers Challenge 306, was to paint with Stickles on our card. Neat challenge! I stamped my sunflower with Stazon Saddle Brown on GP White. I used Yellow and Orange Stickles on the flower and colored the leaves using a Prismacolor green pencil and Turpenoid.


Instead of making an elegant Christmas card like the one I cased, I made a general occasion card. I used a sunflower image (new stamp for me) instead of the poinsettia and used bakers twine instead of ribbon.

My brother and his wife took us out to eat last night for my birthday (which is today the 5th). While eating I looked out and it was snowing to beat the band. We had another 2" on top of what we already had. Pretty this morning but not what I wanted for my birthday!!


While taking pictures, our border collie Lady, was watching me as if to say 'Hurry up".

FALL IS IN THE AIR

The two cards below are made using the same Stampin' Up stamp set Happy Blessings (retired) but using different images from the set.  They both use the same sentiment stamp which is hard to read, it says:


happy thanksgiving,
happy fall,
happy blessings
to one and all.
                   

The card above  is for the WT293 Challenge to use fabric on our card and F4A35 to make a flap card.

I have had this fabric by my sewing machine just waiting for the right time to use (have several pieces like that) on a card. I ironed a piece to Heat 'n Bond, cut out with pinking shears and ironed to a piece of More Mustard cardstock. Since I was making a flap card I just used a single piece of Really rust for the base so my card wouldn't be so thick and heavy. I stamped Happy Blessings on watecolor paper using Stazon Saddle Brown ink and watercolored with ink pads using an aquapainter. Distressed all edges and used More Mustard around the image panel edges. The sentiment inside the flap 'cardlet' was cut out using the round and scallop punches. Added some orange buttons after discarding ribbon ideas.  The image panel raises up to show the sentiment like a flap.

This card is for SCS Sketch Challenge 303  shown above. 

 

My oval punches didn't work for my image so I changed to rectangles for my image panel. Stamped Happy Blessings image on Canson watercolor paper using Stazon Saddle Brown ink. Used Faber-Castell watercolor pencils and a aquabrush to color. Used scissors to distress the panels.  The base card is SU More Mustard cardstock and the checked and striped paper is from K-ology.

                             

                                                                               

ONE-LAYER WEDNESDAY 22

The challenge for the OLW 22 (one-layer-Wednesday) Challenge is to make a one layer card and keep embellishments to a minimim.  You can check out the details HERE.  We were to make a card expressing gratitude to any mother.  I made mine in memory of my mom who loved flowers and nature. 

My card uses Stampin' Up Night of Navy cardstock  and I stamped the Stampendous Agapanthus stamp using SU Whisper White ink. I added two stick on pearls and the sentiment is a stamp from SU Small Script set.  I lined the inside with white cardstock to write my message on.

HEART to HEART CARD DRIVE

Cammie (Carolyn King) is having a card drive on her blog in honor of caregivers of Alzheimer's patients.  There is a gigantic blog candy give-a-way as well.  You can read all the details HERE.

The card above I made to send to the facility listed on Cammie's Blog.  My base is SU Cameo Coral layered with some K-ology Hannah designer paper with a Michaels taupe ribbon dividing the two.  The mats were cut from Old Olive and Very Vanilla using the deckle edged Nesties.  The flowers are Cuttlebug die cuts and the leaf is a SU die cut.  Added some gold metallic stick-ons and a SU Sentiment stamped in ColorBox Blackbird ink.

The next card was made for MotherMarks Tuesday Tea Party challenge.  This card will also go to a alzheimer' facility that was listed on the challenge post.  MMTPT113 Challenge has a pretty teapot with flowers. We are to bring flowers with lots of bling and accessories to the tea party.

I used Su Polka Dots backgrounder stamp for my background using ColorBox Warm Red and SU Bliss Blue ink on GP White cardstock. I used a red and white checked ribbon to separate them. My image mats were cut using deckle edge nesties. The flowers and butterfly are Martha Stewart punches and the leaf die is from SU. Added yellow Stickles on the flowers and butterfly.

Both cards use the same design just in different colors of cardstock and designer papers.

ONE-LAYER-WEDNESDAY 21

On Susan Raihala's Blog Simplicity she has a challenge to make one-layer-cards.  Wednesday's challenge was to make a card using the theme- Inspired by Nature.

I love this stamp by Stampabilities-Floral Silhouette 2.  I stamped it on Stampin' Up Apricot Appeal cardstock using Stazon Saddle Brown ink.  It was hard to get the color right-it looks too gold in the photo. I like the color of Apricot Appeal and was sorry when they discontinued it from their line of colors.  The Thank You sentiment is from  Stampin' Up's Warmest Regards set. 

I am sending this card to my cousin who hosted our family reunion this weekend-lots of work and much appreciated!

HAPPY EVERYTHING

This card is for the Inspiration Challenge 247 at Splitcoaststampers. Enjoyed looking through the modcloth.com site especially the vintage section-bathing caps no less!

I took my colors from a cape I found on the site-it doesn't want to link to the site for some reason.


We have friends who celebrate their birthdays and anniversary all in the same week. This card will go to them. I tried to make it gender neutral and was happy with the outcome.

I stamped the 'happy' sentiment on GP white and matted it with a brown cs then put it on the Basic Grey sugared stripe panel. I took a small notecard and stamped 'everything' on it and will glue it to the inside of the card, then write my note on the inside of the notecard.

Thanks for looking and I appreciate the comments you leave!

ROOSTERS

I shared a rooster card in green some time back.  Here are two new cards using the rooster image, one in red and one in blue.  A blue rooster??  Yes, in my world there is-I like them all colors!!

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This card was made for Splitcoaststampers Sketch Challenge 239.  I used the rooster from an old Stampin' Up set, Provencal. Stamped with ColorBox Ruby ink on Very vanilla cardstock and then clear heat embossed. I used a 1 34" square punch to punch out the roosters and then matted them using Ruby Red cardstock. I also embossed the sentiment which was stamped in Ruby ink on dp then matted with Ruby Red cardstock. I used scissors to distress the edges and added a red raffia ribbon.

I used the same rooster image on this card.  Stamped in SU Bliss Blue ink on White Georgia Pacific cardstock from Wal-Mart and cut out with Marvy round scalloped punches.  The blue base card is embossed using the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, one of my favorites. 

CARD TIME

Been busy with the flowers and have been showing mostly garden related photos on my posts so today will show some cards I have made.  These are cards I have had for awhile.  Now that my hibernation months (hot July and August) are here I plan to do some more crafting.  Have a "old" paper pieced quilting project I want to finish but will probably have to get my instructions out and have a refresher course in paper piecing. 

This card was made for a Color challenge using Melon Mambo, Soft Suede and a neutral, Very Vanilla and also a Spotlight challenge. I punched out one of the roses from the designer paper, colored  and then added it as my spotlight image.

The next three cards were Featured Stamper cards where you pick a card from a featured card gallery and copy it changing at least two things.  I always enjoy the Featured Stamper Challenges.

This card was for an Inspiration Challenge.  You are to select an image from a selected site and use it as an inspiration for a card.  I used a platter of decorated chocolate cookies as the inspiration for this card.  (Okay, use your imagination I am not going to explain it!)

Will take some photos and show you the started paper pieced quilting project in a later post.

BEARS AND CARDS

The Free For All Challenge on Splitcoaststampers was to make a card about something you collect. Through the years I have had varied collections. I have always loved teddy bears and have a Boyd Bears collection along with Bearington and Kensington.

My base card is Bashful Blue embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder. The bear is a die cut my SU demo gave me with an order. The bear and panel are popped up and the sentiment is temporary as I was undecided what I want to use the card for-baby or birthday.

This a Bearington bear, Alice Acorn.  She is holding an acorn in her hand along with the above card before I decided to put a sentiment on it.

One of my daughter's got me this Violet Bloomin' Beary bear by Boyd for Mother's Day. My other daughter gave me money for punches for my crafting hobby. The bear is holding a green felt watering can, has a cloth embroidered seed packet in her pocket and on her dress is embroidered " A Beautiful Garden is a Work of Heart" and there is a heart embroidered on the middle pocket.

EMBOSSED DAISIES

This card is for 1. Splitcoaststampers Color Challenge-CC268 to use Old Olive, Ballet Blue and Barely Banana on our card.  2. MotherMark's Tuesday Teapot Challenge to use daisies and 3. My niece's birthday. My embossing and daisies are embossing folders by Cuttlebug. The punched ribbon and  double butterflies are punches by Martha Stewart. I used diamond stickers on the daisies.

WELCOME BABY

My husband's great-nephew and wife had a new baby boy.  He was in Springfield Cox Hospital ICU for about a week due to lung problems but is home now and growing like a weed.  Had supper last night with the grand and great grandparents and they all think he is special-naturally. 

Here is a card I made for him-need to get a gift card from Wal-Mart and get it in the mail.

The base card is Georgia Pacific White cardstock layered with Stampin' Up So Saffron.  The designer paper is some I picked up at Michaels.  Used a star punch and square punches for the sentiment.  Also cut out one of the little ducks and glued on the panel.  Added saffron colored thread to the purple ribbon to keep it from being too "girly".