adventures that were more work than expected

I've been working on custom thank you cards for a friend who organizes and flies in kite events.  I was really excited when I received this stamp set for attending OnStage Local last year - it's perfect! The request was to include a beach scene, if possible, and Amanda did all the thinking for me with her card.  My watercoloring skills, even with an Aquapainter, are not strong, so I decided on sponging.  That meant masking, including the little kite flier.  That was a bit more work, but much better results for my skill level.

I didn't want a square card, since those require extra postage, so I borrowed Peg's framed layout.  I planned to emboss the frame, but couldn't decide where to put a sentiment, so instead used several stamp sets.  That was a bit more work, too, but I think it was worth it:

stamp sets - Happy Home, Another Thank You, An Open Heart, Crazy About You, Petite Pairs, So Very Happy (retired); ink - Sahara Sand, Soft Sky, Marina Mist; Stampin' Write markers - Soft Suede, Summer Starfruit (retired), Gumball Green (retired); card stock - Naturals White (retired), Gumball Green (retired); Big Shot with Ovals Collection framelits

Since kite-theme thank you cards took most of my crafting time this week, I'd like to submit these at the Watercooler, where Anything Goes this week.

When I finished six sets of four kite cards, I had an evening left to work on a card for Jingle Belles' Washi Wonderland.  Some time ago I learned that washi tapes fit the wider stripe of our Stylish Stripes embossing folder, so I decided to try that.  Since I hadn't put away the Circle Card Thinlit that a friend borrowed and recently returned, I decided to try that, too.  One of my favorite bloggers used to say that she "stamped without a net" and that's exactly what was going on here. Narrow washi tapes fit that stripe, but one of my two Christmas design tapes is wide, so I needed to do a bit more work.  I put strips of the tape on an empty Stampin' Dimensionals backing sheet and trimmed it.  Then I applied it to the card and trimmed the edges.  Trimming the edges on a straight piece isn't difficult, but I hadn't really thought through the process of trimming the edges inside a curve in the middle of the card - that turned out to be a bit more work.  To match the stamp to the washi tapes, I decided the stamp needed to be multi-colored, and therefore done with markers.  Yes, a bit more work, but again, worth it.  After all that was done, I didn't like the plain white right side, so I found a coordinating piece of paper.  It needed to be retro fit around that cut curve in the middle of the card, so, I'm sure you've guessed, I needed to to bit more work.  (whew)  At least, I found places for the trimmed-off narrow strips of washi tape, and you almost can't see the seam:

stamp set - Wishing You (retired); ink - Cucumber Crush; Stampin' Write markers - Cucumber Crush, Real Red, Garden Green; card stock - Whisper White thick; specialty designer series paper - In Color envelope; Big Shot with Circle Card thinlits die and Stylish Stripes embossing folder; washi tape - unknown

avoidance adventure

I mailed my last two sympathy cards today, after mailing one last week, and one the week before. I try to have one or two made ahead, since those can be the most difficult to make as needed, so this evening I made a thank you card:

stamp sets - Send Me Soaring (retired), Another Thank You; ink - Midnight Muse (retired); card stock - Marina Mist, Very Vanilla, Gumball Green (retired); designer series paper - Print Poetry (retired); punch - 3/4"x15/16" oval (retired)

Well, that's not quite the whole story. I was looking through challenge blogs for inspiration for sympathy cards. I did find some ideas, but this Retro Rubber sketch challenge closes Friday, and it really needed kites.  I really needed kites, too, for a custom job of kite-related thank-you notes.  Stampin' Up!® doesn't date their stamp sets any more (I miss that) but I've had Send Me Soaring at least 3 years.  It was a must-have when it was released and will be a must-keep, because we have many kite-flying friends.  More than half of the flyers are men, and Little Red Wagon is looking for masculine cards. The kites are easy to paper piece, too, so Cardz for Guyz played right into my excuse for avoiding sympathy cards.

We took a long weekend to visit our grandson in Dallas (and his parents), then our grandson from Denver brought his mother to visit us here the following weekend.  Meanwhile I finally got the *big* annual report done at work, and there are just a few smaller ones due before the end of March (then I can start the quarterly reports).  I squeezed in a Card Buffet, and now I've finally caught up reading (ok, skimming) blog posts and recording challenges. whew. I'd like to spend some time playing along with some of those challenges, and I really need some sympathy cards, so hopefully you'll be hearing from me again soon. 

color & texture adventures

Looking for my Wacky Watercooler Holiday Blog Hop post - please scroll down or click here.

Tom was wondering about "beefing up" his stored bubble soap and emailed the man who got him started with bubble machines.  The discussion also included a source for new wands, and Felix sent a package full of wands from his collection, so Tom wanted to send a gift card as a thank you.  The colors in ColourQ #206 seemed like just the right bright combination for a kite*-themed card based on Jackie Topa's design (and awesome video tutorial!):

stamp set - A Fitting Occasion; Send Me Soaring (retired); ink - Basic Gray, Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, Primrose Petals, Rich Razzleberry; card stock - Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White; punch - 1" circle; baker's twine - Whisper White; Sycamore Street button - Rich Razzleberry (retired); tools - Envelope Punch Board, Big Shot with Deco Labels framaelits and Cloudy Day embossing folder (retired), glue dots, Stampin' Dimensionals 

*Tom met Felix at an AKA National Kite Convention and we travel with Tom's machine to kite festivals.

Of course, I also made another Christmas card, since they're one of my favorite types of project and because Lesley posted a great prompt for Merry Monday - Green and White with woodgrain:

stamp sets - More Merry Messages, Woodgrain; ink - Gumball Green, Pear Pizzazz; card stock - Gumball Green, Naturals White, Pear Pizzazz; designer series paper - In Colors stack (retired), Print Poetry (retired); punches - Full Heart, Pennant Builder; tools - Big Shot with Ovals Collection framelits and Fancy Fan embossing folder, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stampin' sponge

Just in case you're interested, here's the same card before, when I remembered the prompt as green and white with texture:

[same as above, without Woodgrain stamp set]

I think the inked woodgrain ties the card together better, so I'm glad I reread Lesley's post before I finished this one!  The Fancy Fan embossed frame will find another home, and I'll never stop being grateful for the person who taught me that you can "un-glue" with a heat gun {smile}.

Edited to add:  I forgot to mention that this card was CASEd from Donna Schafer's card, which I found on Pinterest!

Occasions Blog Hop adventure

The Llamas are hopping again, and we're so happy you've joined us. You may have arrived here from Birds of a Heather (isn't that the cutest name?) or you may be looking for my ColourQ challenge card (it's the second one).  Either way, if you have time to hop through, you'll find links at the bottom of this post to take you forward to Kath's All That Scrap or back to the Llama Hop home page, and I think you'll find it worth your time.

My husband and I enjoy kite-flying, and many of our friends are kite flyers, so when I saw the preview of Send Me Soaring, I knew that I would have to have it, and announced early that I'd use it for this hop.  Wouldn't you know, when it arrived, I was completely blank for ideas.  I finally started earlier this week by opening my Occasions mini catalog to page 37 and using the Stampin' Up!® sample for inspiration.  I struggled with this card, but when I looked at it the next day, I loved it, and it's my favorite of the three:

stamp set - Send Me Soaring; ink - Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride, Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze, Whisper White craft; card stock - Blushing Bride, Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz, Island Indigo; designer series paper - Twitterpated; Big Shot with Adorning Accents embossing folder; stamping sponge, Stampin' Dimensionals

The next card is something different.  I don't know why I thought of using the Paper Doily as a background element for kites, but I think it works.  I knew I wanted each kite a different color, so ColourQ challenge #118 gave me a palette to work with.  My favorite element is the Netting background stamp - it adds texture without overwhelming the other elements.  I don't think this stamp is getting enough ink & paper exposure yet.  I think I probably should have made the vertical strip a little longer so the kites could have tails:

stamp sets - Send Me Soaring, Netting; ink - Cherry Cobbler, Pear Pizzazz, Calypso Coral; card stock - Pool Party, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Pear Pizzazz, Calypso Coral; punch - Curly Label; Big Shot with Paper Doily Sizzlit; Whisper White baker's twine, stamping sponge, Stampin' Dimensionals

Years ago, my parents and some of their friends owned a hot-air balloon; my father had his pilot's license, and we spent many fun-filled hours chasing it around the countryside.  The Up, Up, and Away stamp set from the current Idea Book & Catalog was another of those sets I knew immediately I would have to have.  When I saw Send Me Soaring, I was just sure the two sets would work together so that was my inspiration for this card:

stamp sets - Send Me Soaring and Up, Up, and Away; ink - Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White craft; card stock - Naturals White, Tempting Turquoise, Rich Razzleberry; specialty designer series paper - Flirtatious; stamping sponge, Stampin' Dimensionals

The colors look a little faded or "off" from my unfortunate choice of background.  I'll try to remember to stick with the lighter-colored backgrounds in the future. :)  When I showed all the cards to Tom, this one was his favorite.

I hope you've been inspired to do some soaring of your own.  Please click below to hop on to Kath's blog.

If you'd like to start at the beginning, or would like to make sure you've seen all the wonderful llama blogs, check in at the home page.

bubble adventures

Several years ago, at an AKA National Convention, my husband became fascinated by a bubble-blowing machine and befriended the creator, who sent him the plans for the machine.  He has been building his own versions since then, and we both enjoy watching children of all ages frolic in the bubbles.  We were in Milwaukee at the Frank Mots International Kite Festival this past weekend and this was the view from my lawn chair in the shade of a SportBrella Sunday afternoon:

At the same festival in 2010, the monarch migration went through Veteran's Park on Saturday and the dragonfly migration went through on Sunday - incredible!  So I had butterflies on my mind this evening when I started thinking about the Birds, Bugs, and Beasts challenge at Shopping Our Stash, and this is what I created:

You'll recognize the Flirtatious designer series paper, the color combination (Wisteria Wonder, Concord Crush, Whisper White) and the Wisteria Wonder ruffled ribbon from the altered notebook in my last post.  The stamp set is Floral Fillers, stamped in Wisteria Wonder on vellum cardstock and embossed with sparkly Iridescent Ice, because it reminds me of soap bubbles. 

Floral Fillers is one of those "must-have" sets from the 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog, since most of the stamps match punches, which is a huge weakness for me.  I've been known to buy a stamp set I didn't think I liked, just because it matched a punch (but I digress).  The punch on this card is Butterfly. 

adventures in catching up

I seem to be *behind* on everything, and have been since at least Friday, when I rushed home to finish the laundry so I could pack for our long weekend in Chicago and Milwaukee.  I needed to check on the bees before we could leave, too; they seemed to be doing well.  We had a lovely time over the weekend - Andrew and Heather got their custom-made (engagement gift) kite up for the first time with help from Donna Schenk who created it:

We stopped at the new and expanded Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha and they actually had samples available - mmm!  Usually we stop just before closing and the samples are gone, but it was rainy and windy at Family Kite Festival Sunday so we left early.

While I was unloading the car Monday, the screen door shut on my bare foot and caused massive bruising.  I've been limping along and accomplishing little ever since. I did complete my demonstrator preorder for new Stampin' Up! merchandise yesterday evening - YAY - there will be new stamps, ink, paper, and punches in the house, hopefully next week!

I missed TWO card-making challenges in the past week - aargh - one at Jingle Belles and one at Shopping Our Stash.  I made ONE card this evening that covers the current challenges at both sites, though - maybe I can be caught up before the end of this weekend.  Here's my dual-challenge card:

 At Shopping Our Stash we were challenged this week to use our oldest stamp; at Jingle Belles we were challenged to "Let it sew, let it sew, let it sew".  Lauren & Stef are just so clever with their blog titles!

The first stamp set I remember purchasing is Sincere Salutations; it's still available and I still use it regularly, so it's not really the neglected or untouched set the SOS team were looking for.  Of the stamp sets I own, there's a circa 1999 set called Star Santa that I tracked down on eBay because I fell in love with it, but I've only owned it about a year and I've used it for two or three Jingle Belles challenges already.  Then I remembered that at that first Stampin' Up!® workshop, I purchased a Stampin' Around wheel called Candy Cane Christmas which I never used.  Ever.  And it's a Christmas stamp, so therefore it's automatically a Jingle Belles card, too!  So I opened the Real Red cartridge that I've also never used, clicked it into the handle (I have used that) and made a background.  Staying with "oldest" as a theme, I did use the Star Santa for a focal piece.  I had already decided that I could continue to avoid putting card stock in my sewing machine by cross-stitching Baker's Twine through a Dotted Scallop Ribbon punch.  Some day I really will put some card stock in my sewing machine, but it wasn't this evening.

When I went to file this card I discovered five other Jingle Belles Christmas cards that needed insides and envelopes, so I finished them up.

We'll be home most of this weekend, so there's some chance I may be caught up by Sunday.  Or not.  That reminds me, I'll need a graduation card.  And a gift.  And I need to send Stampin' Up!® newsletters.  And there's still a Less is More challenge for this week...