Joseph's coat technique

This isn't actually a card because

I'm not sure what to do with

it yet, but eventually it will be.

Isn't that pretty?  It really works well with

the peacock feathers!  I'm not sure what kind

of card I could make with it but maybe

I will use the technique with a different

card.  I have done this before but not for a 

long time.  You put all different kinds of

ink down on the cardstock, then emboss 

a stamp in clear.  After that you cover

the entire thing with black (you get very inky

fingers, but I could have used a brayer I guess),

then use a paper towel to take the ink

off the stamp.  You never know what you

are going to get until you are all done.

It's really fun!

My hershey nugget cake.  It came out pretty well

for the first, and probably only, time.  The rose

is built from a die set that I've had forever and

never used for the rose itself.  I bought it years

ago on a really good sale.  I've used the little

flowers and they're cute, but I thought it

was about time I used it for what it was

meant for!

Caitee and Heath taken this month.  Isn't

he adorable?!  He looks just like

his daddy and granddaddy.  Tyler is 

an absolute clone of his father.  I've

never in my life seen a child look so

much like a parent.  If you put a

picture of the two of them together at

a similar age, no one would be able

to tell the difference.  I know, because

I tried it before with people who know

both of them, like Cody, for example!

Finally, Wyatt, who just turned 6,

showing off his card and money from

grandma.  Does $5.00 go as far

these days as it used to?  I hear a

lost tooth fetches $20.!!  We were

thrilled with a quarter or 50 cents.

Oh well, grandma isn't that rich.  Wyatt

is Andy's youngest.  He has red

hair like his momma.  All three of

her children are flaming redheads! 

Blue mood

Well, not like you think!   I made a 

beautiful blue card for my friend,

Dianne, whose birthday is later

this month and also another

project which isn't completely

done yet.  When it is I will post

it because I think.....it's going to

turn out to be awesome even though

I've never done anything like this 

before.  So here is the card:

I'm pretty pleased with it.  Another 

similar card for another friend whose birthday

I missed as it is today!

This card almost looks grey but it's

actually a funky colour of violet.  I'm not

sure I like the shade, but not everyone 

dislikes the same colours as me. For 

instance, I hate the colour orange, but I

understand some people actually like it!

The biggest dilemma is that I have to

use these colours or I have tons of

card stock left over!

I have one more birthday to go this

month but I'm bored with that style

card even in a different shade.  So I

need to find something else.  Like there

aren't millions of cards I've pinned on

pinterest.  Actually, last I looked I had

pinned 1,000 cards and that's just one

board.  I have boards for wedding cards,

sympathy, etc. so I can find something

easily without having to wade through

6,000 cards.  Of course, most of

them I've not even tried nor will I

but I don't let that stop me!  People are

so creative and I want to try all their

ideas.  So many ideas, so little time!

Happy Sunday

Sorry, couldn't think of a better

title, lol.  It's a nice day out today,

but a bit on the cool side.  I'm

sure it will warm up later.  But it's

fine with me as long as it's not in

the teens and snow on the ground!

We got a gentle rain most of the day 

yesterday and I enjoyed that (except

when I had to run to the store in it)

and it's been good for the plants.

My vinca looks happy and the cherries

are turning red!  Well, dark pinkish

anyway.  It's looking like I might get

a crop of cherries this year!

I'm not crazy about this card.  It would

have looked better with a red rose, I 

think, but sadly I had to throw away a lot

of the roses that were sent to me because

most of them weren't cut out completely.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has 

that problem!  I would have liked to 

colour inside the lines but I tried that

on another one and it got all over the die

cut.  Otherwise, it would have been 

fine, I think.  I don't know if it shows,

but the card opens along the rose cutout.

Does that even make sense?  It's cut along

the rose die cut.  I think that is cool and have

wanted to do that for a while but never had

anything that really worked for that

technique.  This absolutely does.

So, I think it could have been improved in 

a couple of ways, but I still like it.

Note to your younger self

I saw something the other day, I can't

even remember where, that said if

you could send a note back to 

your younger self what would you

tell her?  Where to begin, lol!

I think I would tell my younger self

to slow down, stop making stupid

choices and go to college.  As it

was I did finally go to college in

my 30's but the pressure of being

a single mom of 3 boys was more

than I could handle.  I did manage

to get all but I think it was 12 credits

to make my associate's degree.  My 

first semester I missed the dean's

list by 1 point and got a nice letter

from them.  I enjoyed it and I'm glad

I went but I wish I'd have gone as a

younger person and done something

with my  life.  I was planning to be

a criminal profiler.

I have also been thinking about going

to the zoo.  John and I went every year

and since he got sick I haven't been 

once.  We also went to aquariums 

together, TN, GA and MD being

some of them.  One of the most awesome

trips was to Columbus.  We knew Jack

Hanna would be there, so we planned

our trip around that.  He was such

a nice guy!!

I have a better picture of the three of us

but I can't find it.  

I made another pop out card but I don't

like it nearly as much as the butterfly

one I did a few days ago.  But my friend loves

hummingbirds.  I put some glitter glue

on the inside one, but I think it's hard

to see even in person.

A set of grunge cards.  I love these stamps!!

Finally a pink card.  What can I say?

SMILE!!!

More bokeh

Obviously I can't read a calendar

because  yesterday was 2nd June

not first... I woke up with a 

pretty bad headache today.  I hope

it goes away soon.  More whining, 

my a/c isn't

working right.  It runs and runs

but doesn't really pump out any

cool air so I have someone looking

at it on Wed.  Meanwhile, instead

of running up the electric bill for

no good reason, I've resorted

to old fashioned air conditioning-

opening the windows.  Before I

married John I didn't have central

air, and the window units were 

really pretty much useless in 

my opinion.  so I opened the windows.

John hated having

the windows open so I've gotten

out of the habit and besides, the air

is much better than the hot breezes

of summer.  But for the time being

open windows will have to do.

I put this on facebook and my friend 

Karen said she would give it a 

good home if it didn't have one, so

off it went to Cleveland.  I am in love

with the card and with the bokeh 

technique in general!

This is another flap card and is

for my ex's grandfather.  Such a sweet

man.  I haven't seen him in quite a while

because he lives in Norwalk, OH. which is

right by Cleveland.  He's in a nursing home

now, but doing well last I heard.  He

fell and broke something, a leg,

hip, I can't remember, and couldn't

stay alone any more, but I think at that

point he was in his 80's!!!

And finally crazy friends!  I saw

this card some time ago on pinterest.  

Yesterday I was in the mood to play

with the owl punch builder.  There are

many talented people out there

who take that punch that builds a simple

owl and make some amazing things.

I saw the other day someone had come up

with little tiny dresses they made with

the punch!  They've come up with 

super heroes, the star wars characters

I made with the card for my 

grandson, just all kinds

of neat things.  It's kind of a pain because 

it's hard to get the paper in if you only

need one tiny part.  The punch punches

out the entire thing, body, eyes, etc.  These

chicks use a scalloped half circle for

the wings.  The little thing at the

top of the head and also the beak are

made from the tiny heart which is

part of the punch as well.  It's

very hard to glue tiny things like

that, and I'm afraid I didn't

do a spectacular job.  I think next

time I'm going to use tweezers.  It

may be easier.

 

 

Hello there!

Hello first June!  I certainly hope

that the warm weather continues.

Although, a little rain would be

good too.  The grass is turning 

a bit brown although I don't want

my cherries drowned like last year,

they do need a drink to continue to

ripen!  Last year we had too much

rain and they literally rotted on the

branches!  This year I  hope to have

a good crop.  The tree is loaded and

the branches sagging.  I wanted to cherry

tree that I could pick and eat.  The person

we bought this tree from assured me

it was the closest to bing.  They just aren't 

very sweet in my opinion.  But my next

door neighbor took some 2 years 

ago and brought me a piece of pie and

a jar of jelly she made from them and was

so thrilled to be able to pick them. This

year Dianne will get first pick with my

neighbor (who is my birthday twin!) 

getting second.  Maybe I will

get another piece of pie!

I am quite into monochromatic right

now as you can see.  I still am enjoying

the bokeh technique too, but thought

it would be too boring all the time!

I like how these turned out.  They aren't

exactly monochromatic, but close enough.

I didn't have the right colours-again-

and had already started.  Don't you think

I'd check these things before hand?  Actually

not, as I just go with an idea and by the

time I realize I don't have what I want

I don't want to scrap the idea.  Also, I

pretty much have a craft store in my

craft room, so it's astounding to realize

I DON'T have what I need/want!  I

mean, how can that happen???

 

I got some awesome new stamps 

yesterday in the  mail and can't wait

to show off a card made with them.

I'm sure there will be more...

Front and inside of the card.  Isn't

it just so cool?  It's called glorious grunge

and the front of the card is actually

three different stamps!  I think

the stamp set is soooo cool!

I've been seeing it a lot on pinterest

and finally decided I just had to 

have it.  Ordinarily I don't buy

"Stampin up!" things because they

are expensive, but this set was

quite reasonable.

 

 

Sleepless in Seattle

Oops, I mean sleepless in Fremont.

I hate not being able to sleep.

But laying there really drives

me crazy too, so I end up just

getting up and doing something.

I got Neelix's ashes back yesterday

and look what they gave me.

Sorry it's dark, but it's 430 am and I
didn't want to turn on a bunch of
lights.  I was so touched.  I got back
in the car and just cried.  I miss him.
Everyone says I did the right thing, but
I still have a lot of feelings of guilt.
All part of the grieving process I
have learned.

The one advantage of getting
up early is that my muse works better.
She's been on point the last few
days anyway, so I have lots of
cards to share when I have a dry spell!

I don't like this card particularly but

I do like the closure.  It doesn't open

traditionally, obviously.  I love trying

anything that opens differently.

I'm going to make another today for

my ex's grandfather in the same style so

you'll get to see a better card.

I have had this panel sitting around for

quite a while.  I made it but then didn't know

what to do with it!  I came across it

while going through some other things and

finally had some inspiration.  The enamel

dots actually were the inspiration, believe

it or not.  For some reason they just

put the card together in my mind.  I 

love the verse and as I was putting

it on the card it reminded me of a

situation I've been going through the

past few months.  Thankfully it is

now resolved.  Sometimes you just

have to look back, smile, toss that

match and walk away.  I saw that on

pinterest and it just summed up my

situation perfectly.  I should put that 

on a card!!!