Artist trading cards

Artist trading cards, or ATC's are how

I got started making cards.  Sorry if

I have already written about this, I 

don't remember if I did or not.

Anyway, they are 2 1/2 x 3 1/2, the

size of baseball cards and as the

name suggests, they are traded.

The group that I belong to does

lots of different kinds of trades

and  one of them is a continuous

round robin.  The one that

I'm participating in is for three

people to work on.  So I've started

3 sets of cards:

which I will send to three different

people.  They will then work on them and

send them to another player.  That player will

work on it, keep one and send the other

two to me and I will send one to player

one.  It's a lot of fun because you never

know what another artist will come 

up with.  I haven't done any trading

in quite a while and my mailbox is

so empty it echoes.  Except when bills 

arrive, but who wants those??

So hopefully I can get back into this

and have some "happy mail" to look

forward to!

I went and did blood work today

for my cholesterol.  I fasted about 7 hrs.

then noticed on the paperwork that

you are supposed to fast 10-12 hrs.

Oh, well.  It will just come back

as high again, probably, which

it probably still is anyway.  Next

time I will know.  Learn to read

the small print!!!

Early is better

My friend, Dianne's birthday is

tomorrow.  However, for some

reason I thought it was the 20th, so

I gave her her gift (the nugget cake)

WAY early.  Well, I can't let her REAL 

birthday go unacknowledged, can I?

I think she will get a kick out of it.

I am going to go to Fort Wayne

in a little while and get some bird food

and toys.  I need to get out of the house

 and away from the saddness.

The mornings are the hardest because

when I uncover the birds I only have

two to uncover.  I think soon it will

be only one because I am looking for

a good home for Luna.  I love her, but

she was John's bird and she needs lots

of interaction which I just can't

give her.  He let her climb all over him

all the time-he said she comforted him.

So she expects that.  I don't let birds

crawl all over me and especially not on

my shoulder.  That's just asking for

trouble especially when you wear earrings

and a nose stud.  She needs to be with

someone who will give her lots and lots

of time.  She's a very sweet bird and will

make a wonderful companion for someone

who has that type of personality.

I may have to make a stop at JoAnn's while

I'm there.  It's just around the corner in the

same center.  What do they say about

shopping therapy?  I may not buy anything,

but it's fun to look.  And if I do buy something

I'm not telling you, Karen!!!!!

More birthdays

I forgot my granddaughter, Sam,

and grandson, Anthony's

birthdays are early next month.  

They always sneak up on me, especially

Anthony's which is the 3rd.  So since

I couldn't sleep (again) I got busy

making the cards and I'm

pretty pleased with how they 

came out.   Anthony's:

Inside it naturally says happy birthday.

Sam's:

And again, happy birthday on the

inside.  

It's supposed to be a little cooler today

and that's OK with me, but I've been

clear with God that I am not complaining

about the heat.  I do complain about

the cold, but I hope He understands.

I have told Him time and again that

he put me in the wrong part of the

country.  He probably laughs at me.

God doesn't make mistakes.

After losing John and my birds and

dog, sometimes I wonder, but I 

know He has a plan.  I don't know

what it is, but I guess that doesn't matter.

He knows what it is and it will unfold

in His good time.  That doesn't

make it any easier.

Sad day yesterday

I lost my Sadie green girl yesterday.

I called her green girl because when

I first got her Cody kept asking me what

"that green bird's name " was.  Then

she laid an egg when she was about 4, I knew

she was a girl.  So it just evolved.  I'm going

to miss her so much.  Saturday she chirped

all day.  I haven't heard her chirp like

that in quite a while.  So I thought she

was finally starting to recover.  My friend

said she saw Heaven and was singing praises.

I'm sure she has found John and even though

they weren't close when he was alive,

(he called her the evil bird, lol) everything

in Heaven is perfect and I know they are

together with all the others.

She was with me since she was 6 weeks old

and would have been 22 this October.  I am going

to miss her greatly.

I made this card yesterday to show, but

never got it posted.  It's really black and

green but the lighting is off.

Playing with vellum

This didn't come out so well,

but it's pretty from a distance, so I

thought I'd include it.  Behind the

vellum is a panel that has distress

ink blended on it.

Sorry about the background.  It's early 

and I didn't want to turn on lights to put

it where I usually photograph them.

I die cut these flowers twice, then

cut the flowers off and added

them to the greenery.  I hate orange

but it looked good for this

card.  The butterfly  hides a little oops!

Finally....

My brother in law, Larry, on the floor

playing with B'Elanna.  He's feeding her

bits of food but she'd rather he chase her so

she can bark at him!  He gets down on

the floor with her and chases her

around and she absolutely loves it.

Sometimes I have to put her in the

bedroom while we are playing cards

because she won't stop barking at him

to get him to play with her.  She doesn't

understand she's not the only one

who likes to play games!!

Paper flowers

Wasn't there a song like that?

Paper roses, I think, by

Marie Osmond.  Wow, am I

dating myself!  No card

today.  I had trouble sleeping

last night so at 2 am I took

something to help and didn't

wake up until almost 9 am!  That

is unheard of for me.  But I do

have a couple of components

to show.  I'm not sure what I

will do with them yet.

Ideally this would be done on

double sided paper.  I don't

have any and can't find any around,

even hobby lobby, believe it or not!

I should order some, but I don't really

use it all that much, so I hate to order

a whole pack of it and having it

sitting around forever.  (like I don't

have other craft items that don't

get used often.  shhh.)

I think it would look better without

having two pieces put together, though,

and probably would stay closed a

 little better.  It's not supposed to be completely

closed, but I don't think it's supposed

to stick out that much either.

Aren't these pretty?  They are 4 separate

flower die cuts that I inked then

sprayed with water to get it ink

to move around which it didn't do to

my satisfaction.  Oh, well.  and then

you scrunch them all up.  When they

dry they're practically indestructible.  They

feel kind of like china.  It;s very cool.

I'm not sure what I'm going to use them for,

yet, but I'm thinking of making a box

and putting them on it, maybe with

some silk leaves.  To be continued...

I did go ahead and mow the lawn yesterday

so all I have to do is the trimming around

the house.  Maybe it will rain again!  I

can hope.  I hate that.  I don't mind the

mowing but I hate trimming.  I suck at

the weed whip so I just went back to

the old fashioned clippers.  I don't

hate them as much.

Framed

For some reason I've been in the mood

to try frames.  I don't like them a lot, but

they're OK.  As I've said before, I

can't arrange flowers very well.  I've

seen these cards with gorgeous

flower arrangements and when I

try to duplicate it, well, let's just

say I'm not good at it.  It's kind of like

the straight line with a ruler thing.

I think instead of trying to make

a window, I should have just gone

with my window die, but it is long, not

wide like this one.

We had amazing storms last night!  It

started thundering about 7 pm, then a

hard rainfall for a few minutes.

Then it thundered until about 11 pm

and finally a huge rainstorm.  We 

need it, too.  Too wet to mow

the lawn today, though.  Darn!

Wonderful Wednesday

According to the news we are 

in for severe thunderstorms!

I could do without the severe

part, but the thunderstorm part

I like!  Now, I'm not saying I

believe this because I have

trouble believing what they say

since we seem to live in the "Goldilocks"

area and it always seems to skirt

around us.  But the map showed

plenty of yellow and red, so maybe...

I'm happy to report that Sadie finally

seems to be responding to the

medicine.  She's been perkier, is

eating more and is fighting the med.

It is difficult to towel a bird and feed

them medicine from a syringe anyway

since they don't particularly want to

take it, plus, they don't like being

toweled (I wouldn't either).  But

when  they are turning their head

back and forth it's a real challenge!

But she's been with me for almost

22 years, so I have to do my best

to keep her healthy for as long

as God allows me to have her.  She's

my longest relationship other than 

my family!

I wasn't sure how these would

turn out, but I like them, especially

the pink one.  I was playing around

with stencils again.  I probably should have

brought the flowers down to the bottom of

the page, but they're mounted on wood

so it's hard to see where they're at.

I like the clear stamps better.  But

overall, I like them!

Thunderstorms!

The first round missed us yesterday

and I didn't think there was

supposed to be any more.  Then

I kept hearing what I thought

was thunder, so I turned down

the TV and sure enough, it

was.  That went on for quite

a while and I thought we wouldn't

actually get any rain.  Then it

started pouring!  We really need it.

I think they need it more in the 

West, though.  My in laws' son

and family are in NM close enough

to smell the smoke.  Unfortunately I didn't 

get to see the full moon, first one on

summer solstice since 1948,

ten years before I was born.

Whenever there is any activity

in the heavens we always miss

it.  I'm not sure why that is,

but it is a fact.

Yesterday I met with a woman

who walked me through the beginning

process of medicare.  I really, really

don't want to do this, but I don't

have a choice.  I have to have

all this in place by the first of

September, so no time to waste.

On to the cards.

I love this card.  I'm not sure

how it ended up this way, but 

I'm glad it did!  I have no clue

what I'm going to do with it yet

since all the birthdays are done 

until August.  Oh, duh, my other
birthday twin.  She lives right
next door!  How crazy is that?!

This next one is for my Mom and Dad's 

anniversary which is August 11.

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned

out, too, except I think I could have

put the flower in the left hand

corner a little higher.  I made a 

smudge on the silver cardstock

which shows EVERYTHING

so I was trying to cover it up!

Officially Summer!

Yesterday it became officially summer!
Correction, wrong calendar. Today
is the first day of summer.

I am so glad.  The problem is that it

goes by in the blink of an eye

and the cold and snow is back.

It seems like the winter lasts

far longer than it used to.

I know we had quite warm

weather at the start of last winter

but it didn't last long enough

for me.  It never does.

So in honour of summer, here

are two flip flop cards.

Ordinarily I don't make shaped cards,

but these were too cute to pass

up.  They will be way small for

a regular envelope, but so what?

Maybe I'll even decorate the

envelope for summer.  They are cards

that don't open.  The pattern called

for a stand on the back if you

wanted to make that but I thought

it looked rather dorky.  You can

write a little note on the back

for the recipient.

Church was awesome yesterday.

It's amazing with a little practice

will do for my courage.  Pam and

Coleen both tried to get me to face the 

congregation but I am far from 

ready for that!  I was just happy

to be able to sign fairly well from

my seat.  I made a bunch of mistakes

but no one could see me really, and

even if they do, they don't know 

the signs!

I'm worried about Sadie.  She doesn't

seem to be responding to the meds

and I worry that she might be

in pain.  She does perch though,

and doesn't seem to be having

breathing problems.

The Doctor thinks it might

be a crop infection, but without

blood tests she can't be sure.

They are expensive, so we are

adopting a "hope it works"

approach with antibiotics.  She's

not crazy about being toweled and

taking the med, but she does

pretty well considering. So a prayer

or two for her would be appreciated.

Birthday twins

I decided while I was on a 

roll making birthday cards,

I may as well make the cards

for my birthday twins.  I will be

sending cards to 2 twins, but I

actually met another one, a doctor

I used to see.  How unusual is it

to find that many birthday twins all

in the same area? I always wanted

a twin.  This isn't exactly what

I had in mind, but it's going

to have to do!

I'm pretty happy with how this

turned out.  I am not good at flower

arrangement be it real flowers

or paper ones.  But I think

it turned out pretty well.

On the inside it says "Happy

Birthday to you" and two small

flowers to cover the tiny ink

smudges that somehow got 

on it.  The flowers are on vellum

which I then adhered to the pink card

inside.  To keep it all together

I added a ribbon through both pieces.

Ordinarily I would leave the

vellum not adhered (is that

proper English?) but I had glue

on the back of the flowers and it

would have shown through

too much.  There is no good

way to adhere something to vellum

without covering it somehow behind

the adhesive.  Brads work, I guess, 

or eyelets, but I don't use

 those too often.

Today is my grandson's grad/

going away party as he is moving

to Colorado.  I know

his sisters, brothers and

mom are going to miss him very 

much and I wish Jake all the

luck with his new life!

Botanical builder framelits

I got some new dies yesterday.  

They were expensive, but I love

them, so I think it was well worth

the money.  And Karen and I

have decided we aren't going to

enable each other in buying craft things

for a while.  Wonder how long that

will last???

This die set has 14 dies and

you can make unlimited combinations

with them so you will certainly be

seeing more cards using them.

This first one is for my sister, Robin, and

BIL, Steve, who have an anniversary

next month on the 8th.  They got married

one year and 6 days after we were

married, so this will  be their 16th

anniversary.  We would have been

married 17 years next month.

I met with two friends at the

Cupbearer Cafe in  Auburn yesterday.

This is a Christian coffee house and

they have speakers, singers, etc.

come in, as well as books, and community

dinners.  They also have coffee and

fellowship, of course!!  They  met

with me and we went over the songs

for church on Sunday.  I wish I had

asked them earlier as they were thrilled

to go over them with me.  I need to

start at least trying to sign the songs

even though I don't know them.  I

am so afraid of messing up, so I

don't even try!  Well, Sunday I will.

Especially  "Revelation Song" which

I do actually know.  I have heard 

tons and tons of Christian songs

and most of the songs they sing I've

never even heard!!  On Saturday they

go to church and practice signing while

the worship team practices, which I

didn't know, so I'm going to go to

that as well.  I've got to get over

this fear.  I mean, it's not like I'm up

in front of the whole church, I'm only 

at my seat.  Dianne says I'm too hard

on myself when I mess up and I guess

that's true.

Koko the gorilla

 

Koko is a female Western

lowland gorilla that signs.

Some people say

she only mimics to get a

treat but I've seen her and

I don't believe that.  Even

if true, she knows over

a thousand signs and

that's impressive in and of

itself!  Koko also loves

kittens so this card is

for her.   It's called

a water fall card and has

kitties on it for Koko!

As you pull the ribbon the

card cascades down which

is how it got the name waterfall

card.  I think next time I will

put it on an actual card

though, rather than just a card

base.  I think it will look

a little more finished.  It's

been a while since I've

made a card like this.

We got a HUGE thunderstorm

last night!  What a light show.  

We really needed the rain, too,

so I'm sure everyone was

as happy as I was even if

they don't like thunderstorms.

But who doesn't like thunderstorms?!

More birthday cards

Apparently many parents were

cuddling up keeping warm during

the cooler weather and lots

of summer babies were conceived...

Lots of birthdays in July and August.

This is for a cousin, using some of the

feather die cuts that my friend, Karen,

sent me.  I think it turned out pretty well. 
I hope she likes red!!

A gate fold card with a neat

closure.  A lot of the time I will

put a "belly band" on a gate

fold which is a band that goes

around the middle of the card

to keep it closed.  They tend to 

want to pop open otherwise.

I need to use up this barnwood

paper as I'm getting VERY tired of

it and I need to buy more.  But

I have so much paper already

that I can't justify it until I 

get rid of some of the other.

Besides, Karen and I are supporting

one another in not buying anymore

craft items- for a little while  anyway.

Right after I ordered another die

set....I had to have something to

tide me over, right?!

I heard thunder this morning!

It didn't last long and we aren't

really getting a lot of rain, but right

now we will take anything we can

get.  The grass is turning brown.

I love summer for all the green

trees, grass, etc. and now it's tuning

brown.  Time for a good rain. From

my lips to God's ears.

Childhood toys

Who played with an etch a 

sketch when they were kids?

I did and it was incredibly

frustrating.  Not only can I

not draw a straight line with

a ruler, but it's nearly impossible

to do it on an etch a sketch

even if I could...But

thanks to the incredible talent

of other card makers, I 

can make an etch a sketch

card!  I think it turned out 

pretty well.  It's a birthday 

card for my grandson, 

Bradley, who's birthday

is August 11, same day

as my parents' anniversary!

It almost looks real, doesn't it?

It looks like it might rain today.  We

need it so badly.  The grass is brown.

That hasn't stopped my cherry tree, 

though.  It's bowed down with

cherries!  I've had two people

picking and still tons more.  I'm 

going to have to recruit my neighbors

to help.  My dad went to eat

one the other day and found a

worm, lol.  I've probably

eaten one or two because I

didn't look, but hey, in other

countries they eat worms, 

bugs, all kinds of critters and

don't think a thing of it.  His

is the only complaint I've had...

Blackboard technique

Before I get to the cards, I want

to pay a tribute.  I "met" a wonderful

lady in England, Lynne.  We talked

on the phone a couple of times and

exchanged atc's (artist trading cards)

envelopes for them and other things.

She died from complications of

brittle diabetes among other health

issues.  She was a beautiful

person and an amazing artist

in many different types of art.

She will be missed.

I don't think I have quite gotten

this technique down, but here are

the attempts I've made, lol.

The birthday card says on the inside,

"you're only young once.  You can be

immature for a lifetime"!  Love it!

Playing with the northern lights technique

again.  I like it except I brought the

"stars" down too far.  I should have put

the mask up a little higher.  Oh, well.  I

think it looks pretty realistic-

from a distance!!  I showed one

to my dad once.  He lived in Alaska

for a number of years at Elmendorf

Air Force base and he said it didn't

look anything like the northern lights.

I told him it was artistic license!  Besides,

what do men know anyway?  John

was at the same base, different time,

of course, and said it looked pretty

great.  When he died I lost my

biggest supporter.

I'm going to lunch with my friend,

LuAnn today.  She is my DIL's

mom.  The kids say they have

an arranged marriage.  We used to

work together and would joke that

it would be cool if they would get

married someday.  Well, this August 

will be their 7th anniversary!

And no babies......

I don't think they ever plan to have kids.

Back to the beginning.

When I began this journey of art

I began with ATC's which are

Artist Trading Cards.  I belong to

a very large group which, sadly

I am not very active in, but for

a long time I traded extensively.

After a while it led to scrapbooking

and finally card making which is what

I enjoy the most.

So my friend, Karen, and I

decided we would swap atc's.

My muse flew the coop and

I couldn't come up with anything

for the past two days.  So then 

I wake up at about 2 am (not sleeping

well these days, again.) and there

she is!  Crazy broad.  Anyway,

I was able to come up with 

3 that I absolutely love and

hopefully she will too.

I think I should have put the palm trees

down further but it took me three

tries to get the sunset right

and when I messed up the stamping

I was frustrated.  So hopefully she 

doesn't mind too much. 

Your special day

I said i was going to be making

a lot of birthday cards this

month, so here's another.  I'm

not thrilled with it because I

didn't think about the fact that

the markers would bleed through.

It doesn't look horrible, I guess.

Next time I'm going to do it on

a separate piece and then mount

it on the card.  I also think I'm going

to try to do it the way the tutorial 

was shown, with a clear stamp to I can 

outline emboss it on the front of the

vellum, but it's my first time so oh, well!

It's an OK card, but I don't know

if I will send it or re-do it.

Sadie is enjoying the kleenex box the

vet suggested I add.  She is on 

antibiotics right now.  We aren't

sure if she has an infection in her

crop or not and blood tests are

really expensive, so we're giving

this a try first.  She's lost weight and

is more subdued than usual. She's

not acting sick exactly, just quiet.  But

she still comes out of her cage and

sits on top, things like that.  Maybe

it's just because she's OLD!!!  She

will be 22 in October!

Lili loves suckers-or anything else

sweet for that matter, so sometimes

I will give her a little bit of the 

sucker when I've finished it.  She

will hold her foot open to take the

stick and then starts eating it.

I wish to state here, my

animals are NOT spoiled!

Decorative corner

Is this not the coolest card

ever?!  It's called a decorative

corner card.  I may have to make

more of these!  I think I'm going

to send this one to my aunt for

her birthday.

Closed.

Open.  The whole circle pops up 

from  the page!

And the back panel.  I thought at

first the decorative paper would be

overwhelming; on a 12x12 

sheet it looks that way, but once

I cut it into panels I think it looks

great.  And I still have another

piece to make an envelope with!

How hilarious are these?  I have no clue

what I will do with them but the whole

set was only 5.00 so I just couldn't

resist!  I love the sunglasses and hearts

for the plain circle.  I don't know that

I would use the teardrops, but who knows?

It looks like it's going to be a beautiful

day which means I should probably do

the lawn....but maybe not.  

Double zed card

I didn't name it!  Obviously it's British,

although I try to adopt all things

British because I identify with

my family's country.  I love the

words that add the "u" like "colour".

What can I say?!

3 views of the card.  Isn't it the coolest

fold?  I love it and may make more.  I have

several birthday cards in the next 2 months

so you'll be seeing a lot of those.

The other card I made is using the

distress inks which I love.  I have been up

since 230 this morning.  I was tired last  night

and went to bed about 945.  Watched TV

until about 1030.  Do the math, that's about

4 hours sleep.  :(  My sleep patterns

have never been good.  However, as I

have said before, my muse is up bright and

early in the morning so I can usually

come up with a good card or two.

I'm pretty pleased with this card

although the jury is still out on the

butterfly.  It needed something at the

bottom, but I'm not sure that was it.  But

it's done now.  It's 530 am now.  I'm thinking

I will get dressed and go to the store before

I have to wait for the a/c guy.  He will be

here between 8-10 am.  Remember when stores

weren't open all night long?  The sidewalks 

rolled up at 5 pm.  6 pm if you were lucky.  

Forget about Sundays.  You'd better make sure

you have what you need before that.  Holidays?

Those were for families.  Life was simpler

back then.  I sound so old!  I feel old.  I

just realized yesterday that I'm going to

be 58 soon!  I don't know how or when

that happened, but my mind is still at 16.  I

don't ever want to act old.  My psych

professor told us something which I've

never forgotten (hopefully I've never

mentioned this).  The only time you act

like an adult is when you have to, like

going to work, things like that.  At any

other point you act childlike.  It is a good

thing to keep in mind, I think.  Adults are 

so wrapped up in being adults that they

forget what it was like to just enjoy life

like children do.