September Anniversary

This card was inspired by Shelly Long, but I'm sorry, I don't have a link to it.  I just loved the way she used the embossed background and these images from the hostess set.  She had a bit more detail to her card, but I kept it a little simple and somewhat flat to mail it in one of those clear envelopes.

My cousin and her husband celebrated their anniversary earlier this month and though this card was not on time, it did go to them to wish them a happy anniversary. 

I've been so behind this September with school starting and this darn tooth and then a cold that I didn't even get to make HWNSNBP a card for our anniversary last week.  (Unfortunately I did share my cold with him - sorry dear!)

Here's a close up.  I hope you can see where I rock and rolled the edges of the heart.  Don't you just love that embossed background and I have to tell you that Pear Pizzazz is a wonderful green to work with. 

It's been warm and muggy for this time of year and I've been desiring to spend more time in the stamp cave.  Hopefully this weekend will bring some cooler, stampable weather!

Teapot Tuesday 113

Yikes, something changed on Blogger and I'm having such problems posting these pictures tonight.  Let's see if I can get through it.  

This is our teapot for this week's challenge and it has a wonderful story to go with it, but more to the point, the destination station this week is to honor those people that are caregivers to Alzheimers patients.   Be it professional or lay people, the amount of dedication that it takes to give the needed attention to those afflicted with this disease is daunting.  Certainly they deserve a word of encouragement and much needed thanks for the job that they are doing. 

In conjunction with this Teapot Challenge, there is a card drive hosted by Carolyn King (aka Cammie) on her blog in honor of her grandmother who had this disease and passed away not all that long ago.  Please visit her blog and you will see the wonderful giveaway that she is having and all the wonderful companies and stampers who have contributed to it.  You can also enter the giveaway yourself just by following the rules in her post.

My card also uses the sketch in the CAS challenge this week.  I used the hostess set Fast and Fabulous and stamped the flower in Basic Gray on Whisper White cs.  I then took my aquapainter and my ink pad and quickly swiped the Rose Red ink onto the flower image since Whisper White doesn't take to water too well.  It's not going to matter if there are noticeable lines in the coloring because when the ink dried I ran the image through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice embossing folder.  I think this makes the image look like it's part of a needlepoint.  To add even a little more interest, I snipped some So Saffron cs up to use for filler for the flower center.

I backed my flower image with a scalloped square of Old Olive that I got from the Big Scallop Square Duo die.  I had to make the large scallop one scallop smaller on two sides to get my frame right.  The top of the card was polka-dotted with Rose Red ink and a dauber using a stencil I made by punching the 3/8" circle punch into a small piece of scrap cs.  The bottom piece of Marina Mist has polka-dots of Whisper White punched circles glued to it.  I added the Rose Red stitched wide grosgrain ribbon (retired) with a strip of White taffeta over it and made my bow out of white organza with a button in the middle tied on with white cotton string.  With the exception of the cotton string, this card uses all SU product.

So who will get this card?  I am debating whether to send it to one of the destinations that Cindy or Cammie have posted or someone that I work with who has a family member that has been affected by Alzheimer's. 

I know there are cardmakers out there who visit, but even if you aren't a cardmaker, perhaps you would like to perform a little Random Act of Kindness for someone this week and send a message of thanks or encouragement to someone who could use it. 

Autumn Box

I've got all this new product and finally I got a chance last night to sit down and play with some of it.  I took the Bigz Scallop Squares Duo die and some Crumb Cake cs and cut 6 of the larger scalloped squares out.

Then I scored them using the scallops as my guide - one scallop in on each side of four of them.  One square was not scored and the last was scored on one side only.   After I folded in the score lines on the four, I snipped to the score line only one scallop down from the top and the bottom.  Using Tombow Multi adhesive I glued the sides together and then glued that piece to the unscored square to make the base of the box.

You have to overlap the corners and the die is not and exact match on each side so you might have a little overlap show.  Bend down the top scores and do the same thing with the corners.  Then you can choose a side to glue on the lid with the one score. 

I cut four 2 1/4" squares of Early Espresso for the side panels.  The leaves and the pumpkins were stamped on Very Vanilla cs using the Paisley Prints stamp set and the leaf and acorns are from Day of Gratitude.  I used Pumpkin Pie and Riding Hood Red ink for the leaf and pumpkin - rock and rolling them and adding some Old Olive and Chocolate Chip marker to the pumpkin vine and stem, and scribbling a little More Mustard onto the center of the leaf.  I used Chocolate Chip ink for the acorns.  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes and is stamped in Early Espresso.

Only the front side panel was embellished with Early Espresso 1/8" ribbon and a button with some linen thread through it.  I popped up one of the acorns with a dimensional. 

Tomorrow is my mother's birthday and I have a little gift to put into this for her. 

Teapot Tuesday 112

I saw this teapot this week and immediately thought of my bowling ball cats.  I'll have to do some digging to find some decent pictures, but here is one I took early in the summer this year when I was repairing the ear of this one.....



This is, or was, one of my hobbies - to repurpose bowling balls.  I painted them, mosaiced them, glued things to them and used them to decorate the yard.  I like to think it was to add color to the yard since the deer regularly ate anything we planted, but it was also to add some interest to the landscape.  I even did a couple of bowling balls on commission for $.  And just like my rubber stamps, I have an accumulation of bowling balls in the basement just waiting to be repurposed.  But that's got nothing to do with the teapot challenge so let me move along.

If you check the Teapot post you'll get the full story and when you look at the gallery, you'll be wow'd I'm sure.  

The colors of the teapot reminded me of autumn, which it will be in a few days, so I got out my new French Foliage set and an old PSX cat stamp and this time buried the cats in the leaves.  

The cat faces are stamped in Basic Gray ink and the eyes highlighted with a Taken With Teal marker.  The script and leaves were stamped off once and then stamped with Basic Gray, More Mustard, Really Rust, Close to Cocoa, and Pumpkin Pie.  I added the lower corner motif to resemble the lid of the teapot.   The Taken With Teal strips were "roughed up" to get them some texture.

Our cards this week are destined for a fellow stamper in California who has just moved, along with her two cats, to that state.  I hope she likes this.

Lighthouse Thank You

I searched and searched and finally found a source for stamps of some of the lighthouses in New Jersey.  This is affectionately known as Old Barney and can be found in Barnegat Light on Long Beach Island.  We have been there many times and I've posted many pictures of the actual lighthouse.  This lighthouse is visible across the bay from where we stay in Barnegat.  I know, it's a bit confusing.  Barnegat is on the mainland and Barnegat Light is on the island. 

Anyway, this is a thank you card for some of our friends who did something especially nice for us.  The shells were stamped in Marina Mist on Marina Mist cardstock.  The lighthouse was watercolored with Ruby Red and Going Grey Ink, with some sponged Marina Mist water and Bashful Blue Sky.  I've used my MS sand dollar/starfish punch as the accent in Sahara Sand.

I got a couple of the other lighthouse stamps (Hereford Inlet, Tuckerton, and the Twin Towers of Atlantic Highlands) and I just might have to add to my collection.  The Lighthouse Challenge is coming up in October and we are hoping to take part again.  It's a wonderful way to spend a fall weekend.

Oh, by the way, the place where I got the stamp - Another Stamp Company.

Finches at the Feeder

The Finch family has been having a party at our feeder for the past couple of weeks.  They are a noisy bunch, but the noise is not unlike that of a large family gathering at the holidays.  The chatter and whistles and peeps just make you smile.

I took these pictures while I was cleaning out my car.  The vacuum didn't seem to bother them, but as soon as I walked around to the side closest to the feeder with my camera, they scattered.  So to get closer, I opened the windows and sat patiently in the car until they came back. 

Teapot Tuesday 111

I almost decided to pass on today's teapot challenge.  I've been very busy with the start of school - there's so much paperwork to take care of - and I've been having a problem with a tooth.  I had my regular dental checkup just a couple of weeks ago and all was good, that is until the next night when a tooth I had a root canal in 5 years ago started acting up. 

This isn't the first time that I've had a problem with this root canal tooth so on top of being in a bit of pain and being on antibiotics that are causing other problems, I am a little ticked off about it. 

The other reason is because it's a dog teapot.  I am not a dog person - having been bitten twice and having a son who is deathly allergic have contributed to that.  But after I went upstairs to see if I actually had any dog stamps besides D is for Dog, I got a little inspiration so here goes.

You can check out the story that goes along with this teapot here.  It's another cute one and the gallery is full of wonderful creations.

What I found was the Loads of Love Accessories set which has the three little dogs ready for the back of the pick-up truck, but I decided to make them into a decorative strip with my Stamp-a-ma-jig.

I colored them with my SU markers.  The background paper is full of trees (check out the link for the story above!!!) and it's from the special dsp prints pack offered earlier this year.  I've got a base of Pacific Point, some Old Olive and then the trees.  The decorative strip is mounted on Summer Sun which is on Pumpkin Pie cs.  The sentiment comes from Teeny Tiny Wishes in Pacific Point and punched with a 1" circle punch.  That is layered on another circle of Pacific Point.  The leaves were punched in Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, and Old Olive. You can see I added the leaf veins with my marker. 

So, as we have been doing for the last little while, this card has a destination station of a lady who has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. 

All A Flutter

While I was on vacation a couple of weeks ago I tossed some supplies together quickly to bring along and played around with some of the new colors.  I used the single All A Flutter stamp and the masking technique to stamp these butterflies.  The colors are Daffodil Delight and Poppy Parade, Blushing Bride and Pear Pizzazz, Marina Mist and Concord Crush, and Peach Parfait and Cajun Craze.   

This card was stamped with Pear Pizzazz and Blushing Bride.  A little surprise was added with the new Petal Punch in Blushing Bride.

Inside is a little message from the hostess set Cute by the Inch.

I didn't add any sentiments to these cards.  I'll be keeping them in my desk at work for any quick ocassion.

The Right Place

When I woke up this morning and came downstairs at the condo (we are down the shore) the news was on the TV and I was reminded of the significance of day.  In fact, the sky was clear and the air was cool, much like it was 9 years ago. 

I decided to take a walk down to the bay beach and back so I donned my sneakers, threw on a sweatshirt, grabbed my camera and sunglasses and headed out.

There's a stretch of the road between here and there that involves an s-curve and I found myself on the opposite side of the road near the marsh.  As I walked on, my attention was caught by a butterfly that I almost ran into.  Remembering that I had my camera in the pouch of my sweatshirt, I thought I would try to get a picture of the butterfly when it lit. 

I stopped walking, turned the camera on, and followed the butterfly with my eyes.  When he lit this is what I saw...........

Anyone driving by might have thought those were just the leaves turning orange, but there were scads of monarch butterflies adorning the branches, drying off in the morning sunlight.  These are only two of the many pictures that I stood there taking.  I'm sure that people passing by in their cars were questioning why I was taking pictures of that tree.  If they only had slowed down, I would have shared this wonderful sight with them.  I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.  I was uplifted by this gift of chance.

When I returned home, the TV news was still on and the reality of the day set in again.  And as we listened periodically throughout the morning to the reading of the names of those who were lost on 9-11-01 I thought again about chance and how those souls had all been in the right place, doing what they were supposed to be doing, but it was the wrong time. 

We usually light candles at the end of our driveway on this day.  Tonight instead we'll be watching the fireworks across the dock.  May each spark be as a prayer for those we lost nine years ago today.  We'll never forget. 

Teapot Tuesday 110

I love this week's teapot.  Actually, I found this teapot on the internet and sent the link to Cindy some time ago.  She filed it away to be used when we needed a butterfly at the tea party.   Well, as you can see, this week we needed a butterfly.  There is a great, cute story that goes with this - click here.  

There are two butterflies on my card that go with the story.  They're dressed in camouflage and they have a reconnassaince mission this week, thus the map.  They're Top Gun Wannabe's and they need to differentiate their target.  Points will be given for the one who lands on a yellow flower. 

Oh, oh, can you tell?  Is this worthy of a point.  Ha!  Only the recipient and I will know for sure!!!

I used the Hostess Punch Potpourri stamp set for both the butterflies and the flowers.  The butterflies were stamped with Pacific Point ink stamped off once.  The flowers were stamped in Basic Black on Daffodil Delight and Real Rose cs.  Then I used markers of the same color to add some dimension to the flowers.  The centers were colored black with a marker and then I dabbed Crystal Effects on them.  The leaves were left over from last week and are in Certainly Celery cs.  The map comes from SU's Newsprint DSP.  I took a q-tip and rubbed some pastels on the map (Bashful Blue on the water and one of the greens for the land).  Some of the flowers were popped up on dimensionals.

This card has a destination station of a lady who has been diagnosed with Breast Cancer. 

I'm glad this stamp set matches up with the punches so well.  It made it come together very quickly.  School starts tomorrow - the staff comes back - and I've got to get going to be ready for the big day.