Jingle Belles - More Glitter

I'm glad I squeezed some time in to move forward with this idea for the Jingle Belles Glitter/Metallic challenge.  I used a Lil'Inker stamp - Tis the Season.  Stamped it in VersaMark on Crumb Cake paper and embossed with gold EP.  Then I got out my Gansi Tambi Starry Colors metallic watercolors and painted away.  Yep, I stamped it three times.

I used an oval die to cut out one of the  images and trimmed down the other two into slightly smaller rectangles. 

The oval piece I added to a gold foil card back from a package of such that I picked up last year at an after Christmas sale.  They are very shiny and hard to photograph.  They are also very warped right now which made it even harder to take a decent picture of it. 

I layered some brushed gold paper on a Crumb Cake card base for this one.

And on this one added those two layers to another gold foil card base.

I really like the way these came out.  I have another stamp that I think I might try with this method and will certainly share it if I do.

Heading on over to the Jingle Belles blog to see all the other glittery goodness.  You can join me by clicking here.

Jingle Belles - All That Glitters

This fortnight the Jingle Belles have challenged us to make glittery/metallic creations.  I've got a little of both here, though you might not see the entire sparkle of it.  The outside frame is some silver metallic paper that looks like it's been hammered.  Onto that I added a frame of royal blue glitter paper (which doesn't shed too much glitter thank goodness - don't you just hate when that happens!).  The bells are die cut from silver metallic paper and I laid them over a piece of watercolor paper that I had been experimenting with Colorburst powders on.  IRL it has a real 3-D kind of effect of the sky beyond those bells.  

I'm still mulling over whether to add a sentiment to the front, and if I did, what would it be?  

I don't know if I'll get to a second card before the challenge runs out, but I will try.  I have several ideas that I'm going to write down in case time becomes a factor because I'm sure I will forget if I don't.  

You should check out the other glittery creations over at Jingle Belles - just click the highlighted link.

Scribble Picnic - Hearts

These pictures are sooooooooo bad.  It's snowing here and I can't get a good picture of either of these, but I'm going ahead with the post for Scribble Picnic's Heart theme.   I've missed the last couple of themes due to other projects that I was involved in but I got a little bit of mojo going the other night to try some tangling.  This tangle is called Hearty Way Bop - I'm sure there's a story behind it but I haven't found it.  I've included the step-out below that I found on the Zentangle Blog.  This is one of their official tangles.

I made my variation of it on a 3"x3" tile and added some watercolor pencil.

Here's an older piece that I did back in 2017 in colored pencil. I'm pretty sure it was posted here before but I'm sharing it again for the picnickers.

It currently looks like there isn't much picnicking going on over at Dotty Hill, but I'll be heading over there just to say hello to whoever braved the weather today.  You can check out the other "hearts" by clicking here.

Happy BIrthday

It's our son's birthday today.  I liked the truck image from Unity and colored it then cut around it.  I duplicated the grass and the fencing on the card base with stamps from Stampin' Up.  He doesn't have a truck like this, but I think he will like it.  We had a chance to stop by for a visit on Sunday and he is so patient with the little guy who is definitely asserting himself at almost 3.  Like father, like son!

They were loading the picnic/sand table into the back of our truck so Papa could bring it home to make a small repair.  The little one had to be right on top of what was going on.  

Snow Day BIrding

Pictures from the kitchen window from last Tuesday's snow day.  

Carolina Warblers

Woodpecker

Female cardinal amongst the juncos

Another woodpecker and junco

Male cardinal

Junco and Red-bellied woodpecker

Junco and whitebreasted nuthatch

Whitebreasted nuthatch - very few of these around this year.  Read something recently stating they are on the decline due to West Nile Virus being spread.  Also noting no titmice at all.

Happy Valentine's Day

A little felt sticker mandala for Valentine's Day. 

My card for HWNSNBP is below.  I fell in love with those pink and red birds on that scrapbook paper.  The other elements are pieces from other heart-related papers in my stash.

He gave me this beautiful Love-Pop card!  As a cardmaker I totally appreciate this.  Store bought cards can be very expensive, unless you're getting them at the dollar store which is totally okay with me.  But he doesn't usually card shop at the dollar store.  And he does usually buy me beautiful cards which I love.  But when I saw these Love-Pop cards being advertised, I told him that I liked them and they were only slightly more than what he'd been spending and that they could be saved and used as decorations from year to year.  He got the drift. 

He also showed up to school today with a little surprise - these beautiful flowers that I put on my counter next to the sign for today.

I want to add this quote here that I saw on Magpie's Mumblings blog:

"I've realized that although Valentine's Day can be a cheesy money-making stint to most people, it's a day of expressing love across the world.  It doesn't have to only be between lovers, but by telling a friend that you care, or even an old person that they are still appreciated." - Reeva Steenkamp

There are too many people these days who want to "yuck my yum" - justify their negative feelings by putting down the positive feelings of others.   I usually try to ignore them but after today I've decided not to anymore.   My husband likes buying me flowers.  He doesn't have to - not on Valentine's Day, my birthday, anniversary, or any day.  He wants to.  He doesn't do it because he wants something in return.  He does it because he likes to make me happy and flowers make me happy.  And I love him for it every day, not just Valentine's Day, my birthday, or anniversary.  That's my yum - that's my love.

Jingle Belles - Shaping Up for the New Year

Okay, this may look like a rectangular card but it is not.  The card is a triangle that I did some tangling on with a Christmas tree that I water colored and then also tangled.  I'm not 100% sold on the background that I did, but the tree came out okay.  

I was cleaning up my work space after completing all those baby shower invites and had this scrap piece of watercolor paper ready to put in the scrap box when I remembered that I hadn't been able to get to the JB challenge yet.  I took the cheap set of watercolors out and quickly painted some rainbow stripes onto it.  When it dried I drew the tree shape and cut it out.  I measured out and created a template for the card base in this triangular shape making it big enough to show a decent frame after the tree would be glued.  The longest part of this whole project was creating the background for the tree.  Once I got this all together I liked it a lot more.  

We're expecting snow to begin sometime late tonight and I already have a delayed opening called so I will have a bit of time in the morning to visit all the other shapely creations.  Won't you join me by clicking here to take a look..  

Baby Shower Invites

I've been up to my eyeballs in baby blue animals for the past week or so.  And I definitely should have stuck with the KISS method on these, but once I get an idea stuck in my head it's hard to let go, especially if you stock up on all the things that you think you're going to need for that idea to come to fruition.  In this case, stamps and dies from Lawn Fawn and Mama Elephant, saved Bashful Blue paper from Stampin' Up as well as the blue ink and watercolor pencil for stamping and coloring.  I've forgotten the source of the sea mist (gray) paper, but was very glad to find it in my stash.  

I stamped, die cut, and colored all the animals first.

And used them on this wiper card.

Did I mention there are two showers?  Yes, one small one here in our home in NJ and another bigger one in Delaware where they live.  Something new to me - a Coed Shower, with a display table for the gifts as opposed to wrapping, and a Diaper Raffle. 

The Diaper Raffle ticket is on the back of the card insert on this one.  Guests have a choice whether to participate or not by bringing a package of diapers of any size with their ticket and there will be a prize for the name that's pulled on the shower day. 

I have a handful of each of the animals leftover and if I don't need some last-minute invites for additional guests, I'm toying with the idea of using them on Thank You notes - very KISS thank you notes!

Soup-er Bowl with Salad Party

It was kind of a spur of the moment idea when one of our 4th grade teachers came to me with a thought about something to do for baseball season's opening day and we hadn't gotten past the Super Bowl yet.  So our conversation morphed into having some kind of staff event for the Super Bowl first.  He got some information from his wife about her school pulled something like this off and we adapted it to our school.

It would be a Soup-er Bowl party of a different kind with homemade soups, salads, breads, and desserts.  He set up a sign-up sheet and I sent it to all the staff and they embraced it by signing up and adding to it.  This all took place about a week before the actual event which was to be held on the Friday before the actual Super Bowl game.  

We had four different soups - split pea, vegetable, chicken noodle, and potato leek which we kept warm all morning in crock pots in the office so as not to trip a breaker in the faculty room.  The set-up committee did a wonderful job getting everything out and ready for the first lunch.

I brought in the bottom of my underbed wrapping paper bin which we put ice in to keep the cold things cold.  It was a build your own salad bar with several different kinds of greens, chicken, ham, olives, cukes, tomatoes, cheeses, croutons, carrots, peppers, chick peas, bacon bits, and several different kinds of dressings.  

The bread and desserts were scattered down the middle of the two long tables where they eat.

As a very last minute idea, I set up a raffle for those that participated to take part in.  They got a ticket they could place in the cup of the team they thought would be the winner of the game on Sunday.

Here's my counter sign for the day.  A quote by Michael Jordan.

I half-heartedly watched the game not having a real interest in either team just the commercials and the half-time show.  It was pretty disappointing all around.  The Patriots beat the Rams 13-3, as you've probably heard by now.  Monday morning I picked from the Pats cup and our winner got a Dunkin Donuts gift card.