A really red adventure

 I struggled a bit with the newest prompt at Jingle Belles - "primarily feature the color red."  I'm not sure why, but nothing inspired me until I watched someone sponge two colors onto a piece of foiled designer series paper.  I used one color, a different piece of paper, and a brayer instead of a sponge, but it was definitely the inspiration I needed:

stamp set - Brightest Glow; ink - Really Red, Versamark; Stampin' Emboss powder - Gold; designer series paper - Most Adored (Sale-A-Bration); card stock - Real Red; Stampin' Cut dies: Thoughtful Expressions

I can't decide whether I wish I'd worked harder to get the background color more even, or if I like the variegated look better - I stopped with a variegated look, so let's say that's my preferred look.  Either way, I really enjoyed the process with the newest Stampin' brayer!  I have both the softer rubber brayer and the sponge brayers we used to offer, but this one was much easier to work with.

New Year, new adventures

 Just a quick note to say that reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.  Oh, wait, that was Mark Twain.  But unlike several of my all-time favorite authors, Mark Twain included, I'm still having adventures in the current realm.  

When I retired, I vowed to make more things and read more books.  In 2023 I made 316 cards; the only year I made more was 2020.  So far this year, I'm on track for 366 cards in 366 days, but it may be a bit early to have my hopes up.   Here's my first, using a a template from JessCrafts.com:

stamp set - Heartfelt Hexagon; ink - Highland Heather; card stock - Bubble Bath, Fresh Freesia; designer series paper - Flight & Airy (Sale-A-Bration); Stampin' Cut dies - Deckled Circles

I have consistently read more books each year since I retired, but for 2024 I'm  simply hoping to match my 2023 record of 60 books and 20,000 pages.  

In 2022 (which you may have noticed is the last time I posted here), I was gifted a Nintendo Switch Lite and Animal Crossing New Horizons - that became a daily habit!  Towards the end of last year, I realized that "play more games" should have been one of my retirement goals as well, but I don't think I'm going to quantify that one.

Watch this space for new updates - I'm hoping to blog a bit more actively this year.  That won't be a difficult goal to achieve, based on my 2023 activity!