Simplify

I'm learning that you can make a pretty card without all the papers and "stuff". Not that I won't ever make loaded cards again, because I still like them, but it is fun to make something simple now and then.

Go Ahead Wish

I can never figure out what is the best way, photographing or scanning, so I did both. I was inspired for this card by Asha01 on the 2Peas message board. The stamps are from my new Unity Stamps club membership. This is my favorite of the set. Ink distressed with Tim Holtz distressing inks. Dandelion is stamped with ctmh white daisy pigment ink. Little buttons I've had forever.

ATC

A little ATC that I did just for fun. Background stamp is part of a Club Scrap stamp. Then I did the crackle paint on the side and ink distressed the rest. The grungeboard element is painted with Aged Mahogany Crackle pain. Image is cut from a vintage book. I just thought he was kind of funny.

Old book pages

I can't post what my main project has been this week, as it is a challenge for 2Peas Stampoberfest and want to save the surprise. Hint: it involves glass Christmas balls and alcohol inks.

So I found an old book that I bought at a yard sale and am going to use the pages for different projects. I really liked this rose. It was black and white but I chaled the rose to give it definition, then ink distressed the edges.

ATC: Background masked and ink distressed.

Second ATC is also masked and ink distressed.

New Flower Bed

I had planned to fill this whole area with flower bed with a brick trail down the middle, but guess what? The rest comes next spring. Still have some planting to do and it looks like everything is scrunched up on the end, because that was the part I did last fall and has a chance to grow.

But I'm pretty happy with it. Went to Carpinito's and Home Depot today and got some bulbs for spring. Most of what I bought will go in the entrance, but going to put a few in here too. I got some pretty dark purple tulips and a whitish tulip with pink edge that will be going in here for sure! Tomorrow they will all get planted. Then we will be going over to Auburn Park to get some more perennials to put in here.

And the most amazing thing.... for the first time in 35 years, Dave helped me with it. Now is that amazing or what?! The most I ever got out of him for gardening was the year that I re landscaped the front of Plantation Park and he manned the tiller. So yeah, I'm a happy gardener today.

One more card tonight from the bases I did this weekend. I heat embossed the brads with clear ep and Martha Stewart glitter mixed. I don't think it can be seen here but they really turned out pretty. I've had this ribbon since last year and it goes quite well with the cuddlebug snowflakes.

Goodbye 3 Day weekend

It was a fun weekend. Several thunderstorms with torential rains. The water was coming so quickly that it looked like there was a river going through the community. But now it's quiet, the stamping is done for the weekend and I'm settling down to read the third Beverly Lewis book in the last couple weeks. This is the last thing that I completed today. It is sponged with distress inks then embossed with Cuddlebug. "Ornaments" are inked and heat embossed. Looks much better IRL. Tomorrow it's back to work, but at least it will only be 4 days.

Stamping weekend

Here's a few more ATC's from my own little stampfest weekend. This one is alcohol ink background. The tutorials will tell you to use the blender tool with felt and put a few drops of AI and a drop or two of blender fluid. I did that a few times but I don't like the results as much. I put a few drops of blender fluid right on the glossy cardstock, then put ink in it and either use canned air to blow it, as in this one or just roll it around quickly before it dries. Actually this one has both methods. Rolling for the yellows and blowing with the juniper. I sponged the grundgboard element with orange and it looks like cork in real life. The background for this one is distressing ink lightly stamped, not smeared like I normally do. I'm actually using some of my old supplies and stamps with these atc's.

Background sponged distress ink with a portion of a Club Scrap stamp. The grungeboard hinge was inked with a brown ink and it looks like leather IRL.

Another AI background with the rolling technique. The tree is Michael's $1.49 acrylic stamps.

AI with heat embossed bird and grungeboard element.

ATC's Just for Fun

Lovely rainy 3 day weekend has given me an excuse to do nothing but stamp. No office, no landscaping/gardening, nothing but just creating for the sake of creating. Not doing Christmas cards or cards for Relay, but just for FUN. We did manage to get some shopping in yesterday. Dave wanted to go to Campers World. The $50 card that we got for buying the generator was burning a whole plumb through his pocket! So, for the sake of his pockets, we spent a while browsing the giant camping store and ended up with a new folding table for the camp stove. Of course, you can never spend "just" what the card has, there has to be a few dollars more. Well, maybe more than a few, we could have used another card. Then it was Radio Shack, and you know what's next to Radio Shack? By golly, it's a Michaels. So, I started with the dollar stamps. I love those little guys. I actually like the rubber ones better than the acrylic, they seem to have more of a variety of subjects. Then on to the $1.49 acrylic babies. Oh yeah, got a couple cuties there. Then just had to check out the Tim Holtz line and i'll be darned if they haven't expanded his line. Well, you know what that means! A couple more distress inks, and just had to have the Stampers Anonymous stamps that I used in these atc's. By the time I was done, my little stash had grown in my basket, and let's jus say... Michael's beat Campers World.

The first has Stampers Anonymous stamps, butterfly is heat embossed with Claret Tapestry that I don't think I've ever used and then sponged with distress ink and mounted with dimensional glue dots. The little square stamp is ctmh and brad is Bo Bunny. The background is misted with reinkers then I applied versamark all over and lightly applied clear ep and heat embossed. Not my technique, but one I learned here from another stampea. I did a whole sheet some time ago, and use pieces of it ever so often and each one is actually different. I think I am going to stamp an image and maybe a sentiment and then do the clear ep method and see how that turns out. The second atc background is sponged distress inks and tamped with Stampers Anonymous and Hero Arts.

A Work In Progress

We got the first layer of mulch on the entire entrance today. I had figured 2" deep and there are two areas 75' x 10' and then added another 4 yards for my project in the yard. But as you can see there is still a huge pile left. There are still a few areas that are not done and I was probably a little skimpy to begin with, so will go back and add more tomorrow.

Front with edging. I don't really like this kind of edging, but it was free since I scrounged it from a recently vacated lot. But now I want to have it all edged. We worked on the mulch all afternoon.

In the morning before the mulch arrived and yesterday, I worked on my project. I'm taking out all the grass on this side of the house and putting in flower beds with a path through the middle. Dave is not real happy about this because he thinks that I am going to take up the room for his Christmas displays. I think they can sit on the path just fine.

It kind of looks like I will be spending my weekend out here though, or I will never get it done.

ATC's

When we were visiting Dave and Lydia Jensen she showed me some of her artwork and craft projects that she's been doing lately. She has always done something, like myself, and one of her projects now is felting. She uses that a lot in her atc's, and I was fascinated that she doesn't use a drop of ink or a single stamp on them. I wish I had some pics of her work. But it inspired me to do a few myself to send her to show her how fun inking can be. The first is a ink distressed masked background with Tim Holtz products. The picture is my great grandparents, scanned and printed on cardstock, then misted with reinker and water. The same distressed background without the mask.

Stamped on canvas.

There were a couple more with some cool background techniques. At least it got me doing something somewhat productive.