A Last Gift, part two

Time and again,

our hearts get broken,

and still we going on living...

and loving.

When Dad passed away we received flowers and cards from family and friends, new and old.  Mark's wife, Loretta, sent over two homemade suppers.  Bless her heart!  Then after Dad's graveside service down in Fredonia in late September, there were more people Mother and I both wanted to write.

So I needed another easy-to-duplicate design.

I turned to my new stamps delivered from Altenew.  I recently discovered these stamps and dies.  Mother and I looked through their site together and placed an order.  Not only that, but I came across the October 2018 Inspiration Challenge.  Perfect timing.

 Immediately I knew the Cosmos stamp set done up with deep oranges would look autumn-ish and abundantly thankful, which was how I often felt as I was writing.

I used the Tim Hotz stamping platform Mother gave me last Christmas, lined up these flowers--sometimes on plain ivory cardstock, sometimes on patterned scraps--and stamped the various layers in deepening shades of orange, green and brown.  I then trimmed the paper to leave a clean border.  (For 5 x 7 cards, I left a good half-inch border all around; for 4 x 5 1/2-inch cards, I made a much smaller border.)  I inked around the stamped piece before gluing to the front of a card.

I made a few different versions of these, some using thank-you stamps from Altenew, others using my own calligraphy.  I think this one with the watercolor background was one of my favorites.  

Making these, I could almost feel a morning breeze whispering through dewy flowers.

Cardstock:  ivory, Watercolor Splash stack (Momenta)

Stamps:  Stunning Cosmos set (Altenew) Thanks Around the World set (Altenew)

Dye inks:  orange, green, brown (Imagine Crafts)

Chalk ink: orange (Clearsnap)

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Embossed Iris

Like many newspapers, I'm sure, our local rag doesn't publish much of a society page any more.  They'e even shifted the obituaries to the back of an insert!

I take it these new editors have never watched The Andy Griffith Show.  They don't know (or maybe don't really care) what sections of the paper we head to first.  Maybe they've never heard of sitting down with the paper at breakfast, rather than scanning it in the car on a tablet.

But anyway...

...this one 50th anniversary picture on the back of the paper happened to be someone I know.  Immediately, I had an idea in mind, and I thought it would fit in with the latest

 Penny Black Saturday Challenge.  

I love, love, LOVE this Penny Black iris.  Usually, I stamp it with watercolor pencils.  Here, I thought I'd do that on a leftover scrap of watercolor paper and then add a vellum overlay, which has an embossed iris.  I sometimes worry about vellum overheating and curling up when I use embossing powders, but it's never happened yet.  I stamp with watermark ink, sprinkle on the gold embossing powder and heat carefully, making sure not to stay in one spot too long.  

Isn't this pad of watercolor cardstock from Momenta absolutely scrumptious?  I cut a square of the green hue and attached the stamped layers with gold brads.  

The sentiment was stamped and embossed on another scrap of watercolor paper (I guess there are some benefits from making mistakes on my calligraphy!).  I attached that to the card with adhesive foam squares.

I'm so pleased, I think I'll make a few more as birthday cards...and maybe a get-well.

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Happy New Year....again!

Happy 2017!

Christmas has come and gone.  We took the tree down yesterday, carefully packed away the ornaments and shifted the furniture back where it belongs.

Somehow nothing seemed very Christmasy this year.   That last month simply found me totally unprepared.  (And I'd started out the year so well!)  On Christmas Day it was 68 degrees right here in Kansas, with chances of thunderstorms and even a possible tornado.  It didn't snow.  It rained.  

We got our snow this past Wednesday, and yes it did get good and cold, too.  I went out to shovel before it was completely light outside, enjoying every breath of it.

A gift to myself this new year:  I want to get back to cardmaking and entering challenges.

Yesterday morning, I made this simple card...

I used a pre-folded white card.  First, I created a bit of background, using a sponge dauber and Summer Sky Tsukineko and Cornflower Hero Arts dye inks.

I stamped the tree Inkadinkado and the message in black and then added

......it's a bit hard to see here.......

dots of white snow with a white gelly roll pen Sakura

I scored around the edges of the card just to add a little detail.  

Done!  And I love it.

This is my very first time to enter the CASology challenge.

Their first cue card of the year, for week 230 is:  Cold.

I was happily dreaming of cold, snowy days with mugs of chai as I made it.

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By the Sea, By the Sea

It's Saturday afternoon.

The day started out relatively cool for August in Kansas,...particularly since it was 102 degrees here just two days ago.  With all the windows thrown open, there was a nice breeze travelling all through the house.  After lunch, my mother and sister and I drove around town, looking for garage and estate sales.  Now it's quiet--only the rhythmic hum of the ceiling fan and the tap of the keyboard.

These sets from Stampin Up have been retired for some time (yeah, I know I'm behind the times), but I just discovered them and purchased a couple of unused sets (yea!) early this year.  I fell in love at first sight. 

Sketches and Seaside Sketches 

I've made quite a few cards with them already.

For some, I stamped the image in brown chalk ink and colored very loosely--really just adding a few lines of color here and there, as I did on this birthday card for my niece

Then I decided to see if these word work with spritzing and coloring the stamp with watercolor pencils, as I love to do.  This was the result.

What do you think?

It was just what I wanted...and more.

I created these three cards with that technique.

For these next cards, I just used a bit of simple masking and sponging to create a relaxing shore scene.

I can tell these stamp sets are going to get a lot of use!

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for a Sister

It's been just over a year since I first discovered Flonz stamps.  I had to have them right away!  I particularly love this little girl.

I stamped her on a scrap of stone-colored paper from an unknown pad.  (The cover was torn off when I found it on mark down at the store!)  I layered this over a printed piece of olive green from the Vintage Charm stack from My Mind's Eye.  Tied the two with a piece of gold organza ribbon before gluing to the card base.  Then I decided to add three pink gemstones--one as a flower center; the other two are kind of randomly placed.  

I'm applying for the Design Team at the Vintage Stamping Challenge.  Wish me luck!

Vintage Stamping Challenge from flonzcraft.com

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One of Those Days

Yesterday was one of those days.  Apart from finishing a dolly dress first thing in the morning, everything else I touched seemed to turn into garbage.  So I settled for a little experimenting with a new stamp I got from Hero Arts.

Windflower Stamp

...done with chalks...

...dye inks...

...fluid chalk inks...

...watercolor pencils...

...simply re-stamping with same watercolor pencils, without retouching or misting.

Which one do you like best?  

Do you have a great method of using this stamp?  I'd love to hear it!

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