playing with ink

I have probably said this

before, but I'm not too good at

shading and blending inks.

I made the mistake of putting this

on a textured piece of cardstock

which I wish I hadn't done.  But other

than that I think it turned out

pretty good.

Every time I go outside I 

despair that it will never be warm

again.  But they are predicting

warmer weather this weekend!

While the jury remains out on

this (I'm from the show-me state)

I am hopeful.  Meanwhile, unless

I have to go out-which I have to

do later-I remain in a hibernated state.

I know.  I complain about the

cold weather.  I should have

been born in a warm part of the country.

The older I get the harder it

gets to cope with this weather.

It could have been worse, though.

I'm very grateful I'm not in DC, NC

or any other the other places that

got dumped on last week!    :)

I guess I just don't have anything

else of interest to talk about!!

Nebulas in a jar!

 

My  granddaughter, Bri, spent

the weekend with me and we

decided to play with some nebulas!

I'm not sure what I think about them,

they sure didn't turn out like the pictures

I saw, but every nebula is different, right?

The point is that we had a blast.  Now

she wants to do another project.

I told her she had to find the next

one to try!

 

I found out something interesting, though.

These "mason jars" were the invention of 

James Landis Mason.  . 

Among other common names for them are  

Ball jars, after Ball Corporation, 

an early and prolific manufacturer of the jar.

Here's the most interesting thing I

found out last night from a friend of

mine.  "Ball state university"

here in Indiana was named for

the Ball corporation.

So that's your trivia for the day.

 

Sorry I haven't posted lately, I have

been very tired due to an old dog

who apparently doesn't know day

from night...He gets me up at 430

in the morning pretty much every

day no  matter how much I limit his water

and how late I take him out before bed.

He has also taken to not wanting

to go to sleep at night.  

Needless to say, I haven't been

feeling very creative.

 

 

White on white

I love making white on

white cards.   I think they

look so elegant.  This one has

just a touch of brown.

 

Again, not my design, but I did

add a little of my own twist.

I think if I made it again I would

emboss the butterfly in the

Swiss dots as well.  That would

make it look prettier, I think, and stand

out a little more.

My poor sister in NC got slammed

in winter storm Jonas.  I haven't talked

to her today, but last night they had 8" 

of snow, covering ice and it was still

coming down.  Wind, too.  They can

keep it.  I heard we are going to have

39 degrees Monday.  I hope that's true.

Then probably some snow again.  

I hate winter.

Red Hat ladies

I made a set of these for my

friend, Karen, last summer.

When I started my Etsy shop,

my friend, Kelly, said I should

include them.  

 

I'm really not into the red hat

stuff, but I'll  make whatever anyone

wants.  If you're happy, I'm happy!

My sister, Robin, in NC, is under

a state of emergency-since yesterday

before the storm hit.  She just texted and 

said they won't be going anywhere

for a couple of days.  They have ice,

four inches of snow, and

it's still snowing!  My son, Andy,

and family are also going to get

 a piece of the storm. Daughter in

law,  Heather, said

yesterday anywhere from 1-5

inches.  They usually don't

get a lot of snow, so even a few

inches will make the kids happy,

I'm sure!  Keep them in your

thoughts!

Dry embossing

I think dry embossing is one of

my favourite techniques.

You can do it one of two

ways: with a template, a light

box and dry embossing tool

(a pain in the neck and arm) or

with an embossing folder and machine. 

 My preferred method.

 

Sorry the pictures aren't more clear.

I didn't realize it until I uploaded them

to the computer and was too lazy

to do it again!  But you get the

idea.

So...here is a card I almost completely

blatantly copied from pinterest! 

 

They had a sentiment, so I left that

out and added a vellum butterfly

instead.  I'm learning to

just make card fronts without

obsessing over having to have

a sentiment on the front.  I'm getting

better at it!

It's supposed to be warming up again

but for how long?  For however

long it is, I will enjoy it.  Of course,

I'd rather have summer, but I'll

take a little higher temps than we've

been having.  

 

What a friend

I've got my Etsy shop set up.

https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/KymsKreations2/tools/listings?ref=seller_platform_hdr  

Hopefully that link will go

to the shop....   I think it
will have to be copied
and pasted though.
I'm really  hoping

that it will generate some interest.

I made this card this morning.

I love  how it turned out.  I really

like the way black and white looks

just by itself.  I considered

colouring in the "friend" and

"Jesus" but I like it just in black

and white.  I made the embossed

panel a long time ago and for

some reason it didn't work with whatever

card I was working on at the time

and I've had it ever since.  I think

it looks great on this card, though!  

That just goes to show that I need

to keep things that don't necessarily

work on a card, because it might

on another.  I have a bad habit of

throwing everything away and then

I think of something to use

it for and it's gone!  When I was

 a kid I was a packrat and as I got

older I started throwing away

all the stuff that I had

accumulated as a teen.  Lots of

notes that were passed in class, things

like that.  Ever since then I've thrown

things away almost immediately.  Things

I wish I'd kept, like letters from my

grandma, yearbooks, and other

things I should really have held onto.

But it's gone now and there's nothing

I can do about that.  Lesson learned.

I try to hold on to things that might

mean something to me some day.  

 I have used the word "things" 5

times in the last couple of sentences!

You would think with a vocabulary like

mine that I could think of something else.

I love words.  I sent my 5 year old

to school one day and he told the

teacher the classroom had a

nice ambiance.   That

was his word for the day!

Etsy shop

I'm getting ready to start

setting up an Etsy shop.  I don't

know how it works exactly,

so a friend will be by later

today to help me get it going.

Hopefully it will catch on, but

I'm not holding my breath, lol.

Here are two of the

things I have made so far.

I've also made card sets, 

scroll boxes, and I'm going

to be working on some stitched

bookmarks as well.

 

I really love how they turned out!

I have several more started

that aren't put together yet,

but I understand that it's a good

thing to add things to the shop

daily or weekly to keep

interest up.   I have

a lot to learn about it, but

hopefully Kelly can guide me

through all the ins and outs!

Have a purrrfect day!

Maybe it won't be a purrrrfect

day, but hopefully a little better than

yesterday.  I think the cold

is getting to me and

making my mood gloomy.

It won't be long until Spring.

I hope.

Meanwhile, I am going

to get out of the house and go

to lunch with my daughter in law,

Pam.  We haven't done that

in a while.  We're going to

the Chinese Buffet.  I love

that place.  

 

I think this card turned

out pretty cute.  It might

have been a little better with a 

ribbon in the middle.  I debated

that, but I think it would

detract from the score lines

down the right side of the

card.  I haven't used these

stamps in a long time.  I tend

to use the same ones over and

over again.

So, have a purrrfect day!

Missing muse

Apparently my muse has

deserted me for warmer temperatures.

Shes probably lounging on some

beach in Hawaii.  Where did

El Nino go anyway?

So, since I have no muse

I just threw together a smiple

negative space card. 

Maybe she'll be back next week.

Church is in a little while and

if I didn't have a video to

return, I think I'd skip it.  

I rarely feel like I don't want

to go to church, but today is

one of those days.  I didn't go

last week because of the weather.

This week I just don't feel like

it.  I will probably feel more

like worshiping when I get 

there.  At least I hope so.

I don't like feeling like I don't

want to go worship God.  Now,

I realize that you don't have to go

to church to worship, but the

Bible does say that we should

meet with like-minded people.

It gives you a sense of belonging

and strength from others when

you aren't feeling too strong yourself.

So I'm trusting that God will bring

that peace today when I get there

and begin singing and listening

to the preacher.  He's really

a great preacher and brings the Word

to life.  I'm sure my gloomy

mood will improve.  I hope.

I'd rather be on the beach in Hawaii 

with my muse.

Guilded gate design

I had to go get another die

cutting machine because my

other one just refused

to cut out intricate dies.  

And since I have a lot of them.....

Anyway, I saw this card on,

guess where?  Pinterest!

I love how it turned out.  

It looks so dainty!

Heat wave!

Happy Thursday!  Today is

the first day of sign language class

for second level.  I'm looking

forward to it. 

It's 13 degrees
out today right now!  It
feels like a real heat wave.  Why
is it that 40 degrees in winter seems
warmer than 40 degrees in spring?
We are supposed to be getting rain
by tomorrow, so I'm hoping it
will get rid of all the white stuff.

Update on the snowblower:

apparently I flooded it.  I went

out yesterday to see if it would start

and I had no problem-once I

remembered about the choke.

In my defense I only use

it once a year and then

only a handful of times.

Of course, now it's not going

to snow again.  From my mouth

to God's ear!!

I had to go looking on

pinterest for some inspiration

for this card, but I'm pretty happy 

with how it turned out.  Hopefully

the person who ordered

it will be pleased as well!

My son, Andy, has been having 

migraines for a while now.  They are

doing an MRI. today.  I hope

all goes well.  I am

praying he will find God

through all of this and that

it won't take a serious problem

to wake him up.  God is waiting

for you, Andy.  Take His hand!!

Just cold!

No more snow!  However, since

my lawnmower didn't

work last summer, it shouldn't

be a surprise that my snowblower 

wouldn't start in the winter.  So I 

had to shovel.  I will

have to ask my brother in law

to see if he can figure out

why.  And, yes, I put gas in it!!

I saw something similar to this

on pinterest and decided to give it

a go.  Ordinarily I like fidly

little things, but this was kind

of a pain.  Not sure I  like what

it looks like, either, but it's something

different anyway.  I'm trying

to use up all my funky colors like this

purple and some weird blues.  I get

paper packs and there are certain

colours I use more than others.

Then I'm left with all the junk.  Or 

at least what I consider junk.  I wonder

if I can donate it to Good Will or

something.  There are certain colours

that I  just hate.  Orange being one

of those.  This purple isn't too

bad..but it's not super pretty either.

I just feel guilty throwing it out

even if I don't like it. 

If it's too good to be true.....

Unfortunately I don't think it's

over just yet.  We are supposed 

to get bands of lake effect

snow later today.  Which 

I don't quite understand since

we are not even near any

significant body of water,

but that's what the news says.

So I plan to hunker down

and stay warm.  If I were

an animal I would be

in hibernation right  now.  

I made this yesterday but

never got around to posting. 

I thought I had the pieces matched

up, but when I went to put

the pearls on, realized they

weren't even close!  I never

claimed to do things straight,

in fact, just the opposite.  So it is

what it is and I like it!  I'm

trying to use more ribbon

since I have a lot of it.  I think

maybe I should have used a different

colour  so it would show up better,

but that colour is OK, too. 

Guy card

I'm not great at making guy

cards, but I think this one turned out 

okay.  For a friend of my

daughter in law's who is going

through a rough time.

I knew it was too good to 

be true!  Getting snow today.  

That in and of itself isn't

so bad, (it's not good either)

but it rained yesterday so I 

don't know if there's ice underneath

the snow or not.  I hate missing 

church, but I think it's a good

idea just to hunker down and

stay off the roads.

Mica!

I've had these two pieces

of mica sitting around forever

and kept thinking I'd use

them eventually.  Today

is that day.  I LOVE how these 

cards came out!

I also found out that

if I mess up the stamp

which I did on the "this is

the day" card, goo-gone 

takes it off !  No smearing

when re-stamping.  You have
to use a permanent ink such as

staz-on on slippery

things like mica, glass,

etc. so I didn't think I'd get it

off, but thought I'd give it

a try anyway.  I'm glad

I did!!

Scroll boxes

A friend of my daughter  in law's

is going through a hard

time so I thought I would make

him a scroll box.  Well, once

I get started it's kind of

hard for me to stop...

And as it turns out, for

some reason she never received

the one I sent her a couple

months ago!  So one of

the blue ones is for her

and the other is for my friend's

daughter.  I love how they

turned out.  Even though I'm not

good at "guy things"

I think it turned out pretty well!

Black magic

Black magic technique that is.

I wish they would have named

it something else!  Anyway,

so simple and so pretty.

the image is inked with

white ink and then coloured

chalk is dabbed over the image

wherever  you want it

to be. As you can see, I

changed colours in different

places.  I'm not sure I care

for the "halo" that is left

around the image, but that's

what  it's supposed to look like.

Chalk is a great medium to work

with, and easily changed if you

mess up, by simply erasing.

I used it quite a bit in my

Bible journaling.

This card is destined for

my friend Dianne. It's kind of

"our" verse, and we use

it in texting sometimes, while

wishing  each other a good day. 

Warmth!  It's supposed to be 

in the 40's today and tomorrow

with rain.  It is by  no

means a heat wave, unless you

remember that this is the 

beginning of January!!    

Everything that has breath

In case anyone is wondering,

I was trying to change the look

of the blog, but I noticed today

that the purple blacked out

the name of the blog.  They don't

have much to choose from that 

appeals to me and if you can

download from somewhere else

I don't know how.  Not that

I've looked into it that much...

One single layer.   Very simple.

The gems make it a little bulky, 

I suppose, but it will go 

through the mail just fine.

 I made a second card

but it's not dry yet.  It uses

white ink and for some

reason that takes forever to dry.

so that will be for tomorrow.

Sign classes start up again next

Thursday and I am looking forward

to that!

Brrr!

It is a cold morning today!

I guess it's to be expected in

January, but I was getting

used to having fairly mild

temps.  It even snowed a little

yesterday.  Or more accurately it

tried to snow.  The grass was

dusted when I got up and

every so often I would see

big fat flakes drifting in the sky,

but no real snow to speak of. 

Bring it on, El Nino!!

I made a square card which

I don't ordinarily do.  For

some reason they cost more

to send so this would be

a hand delivered card.  

Unless you want to pay more....

This punch design lends itself

to a square card, and I wanted

to try it.  Don't look closely,

I didn't get it even.  I can't

get something even with a ruler.

It's true.

But I figure it's handmade, so

as long as it's close that's

all that counts!

I'm looking forward to going to

dinner with a friend of mine, Dianne,

tonight.  We usually try to meet

once a week to catch up,

but with the holidays it's hard

to get that time in.

Bullet journaling

I've been reading so much about

bullet journaling on pinterest.

Since I am a huge list maker

and always have been, I've decided to

try it out.  I was wondering

how to separate different areas,

such as card ideas, from daily

tasks, appointments, things

like that.  I hit upon using paper

clips (which I have tons of

for some reason), and color 

coded ribbons which will be

recorded in the legend in the

front of the journal.  Now

all I have to do is collect

all those little pieces of paper

that are all over the house and

put them into the journal.

I am usually a messy writer 

(I envy my friend Sam who has

beautiful handwriting) so

I am going to do my best to

write slowly and carefully

so it's more readable.  It's pretty sad

when you write something and

can't figure out what you've written!

It doesn't make much sense to

 have a journal of things

you want to get accomplished,

remembered, etc., if you can't 

even read it!

The legend goes first,

I just got the pages out of order in 

the picture.  I'm not sure what

the other sections will

be yet, but I'm excited about this.

No more (hopefully) little

pieces of paper lying

all over the place.

What will I do with all those

post it notebooks I have?

I thought about getting a

journal that I could decorate 

the front of but was too lazy!

Flourishes galore

Happy Sunday!  I always look

forward to church to watch Sam

sign and also to try to sign 

some of the songs.  I  may have

gotten myself into something....

I told her that the next time

we sing "Happy day" that

I will stand next to her and

sign, since I know most of it.

They just sang it about 2 weeks

ago, so I figure I'm relatively

safe.  But since I opened my

big mouth, you  never know.

God has such a strange

sense of humour sometimes!!

I love this flourish stamp!  This 

technique is called triple

time stamping.  It ends up

to be really beautiful in

my opinion, but you have to be

careful to use a stamp that can

be easily lined up.  This is not

necessarily one of those, but

it came together pretty well.  I

think it looks so complicated, but

is so easy to do.  It's a kind of

card, in my opinion, that is said

to have a "wow!" factor.  So

easy, yet looks so hard to do.

I also love to blend

 distress inks.  It is so pretty.

I think if I make a card like

 this again, I might make 

the front smaller and add a

second mat behind it.  I think 

it would stand out more that way.

But it's OK the way it is, too.

Today would have been
John's 69th birthday.  I wish
he were here to celebrate with
us, but I know he's celebrating
with Jesus and all the Angels
in Heaven.  What a
birthday party that must be!

Happy New year!

New year's eve I get ready to

go to the store and the car won't

start!  It needed a new battery.  I got

roadside assistance to come jump

it and then some friends met me at

Walmart to take me  home while

I waited.  On the way home we

stopped at the local winery and

did some wine tasting so they

could get a late Christmas gift.

I've never done that before and

it was fun!  I'm not much of a wine

person but I did enjoy the blueberry

wine.  And I don't even like blueberries!!

No internet all day yesterday.  That was

annoying, but I need to keep these

things in perspective.  It came on

around 4 am.  How do I know

this?  Because my dog got me

up at 4 am....This is getting

very old.

But as I've said before, my muse

is active early in the morning (although

four in the morning is early even 

for her) so I got a chance to make

a couple cards I've had floating

in my  head.  This one is pretty much

blatantly copied.  Just a bit of

tweaking here and there, but the idea

is the same as hers.  You have

to get your ideas somewhere!

I love how this turned out.  I wish

I could have used the entire flourish

but it was just too big for the

card and would have covered the

"just because".  I need to use

kraft paper more often.  I like how

it looks, especially paired with black.

I hope everyone had a great new year's

eve and let's expect good things 

in 2016!  It's got to get better, doesn't it?!

You have to look for the good even

when it's hard to find....

Also, I've noticed that the blog is
posting at very early morning hours.
Apparently that's the server time
because I'm certainly not posting at 2
or 3 am, LOL!