Time, Animals, and Using Up Scraps

My April mail art desk calendar.  The catalogs are piling in now as we near the end of the school year and approaching, at least for us, the time to put together orders for the next year.  Yeah, there's cows in there - we don't order cows, but we do order cow eyes, believe it or not!  The 5th grade science curriculum includes dissecting a cow eye.  Most of the other squares are from art supply cattys.

Below - On our latest excursion to IKEA I picked up a couple of these  3-1/2" square 99 cent battery operated clocks.  Then I tangled the front of this one and placed it on my counter at work where the students and visitors sign in.  There is a clock on the wall behind me, but most people can't seem to find it (or are too lazy to look) and ask what time it is.  I was also glad it wasn't digital, so the students can still hone their skills at telling time.  This was pretty easy to do with a fine point Sharpie marker but I refrained from adding any pencil shading at this time.  I might go back and do that and then seal it with a spray sealer.  

Speaking of IKEA.  I had to snap a picture of this logo on the back of a truck as we were waiting to make the turn into the IKEA complex in Elizabeth.  Just for fun. 

And I forgot to post a picture of this dove that we saw at one of the houses along our garage sale route last weekend.  The owners of the house had it sitting in a large plastic container in their driveway and told us that they had found it injured in their backyard this past fall and nursed it back to health, and although it could no longer fly, it got around pretty well in their house.  Poor thing must have been attacked by something and had wing damage in addition to the loss of one toe.

Cleaning up some projects and using up some scraps the last week in April I came across this frame and paper flowers I had recently purchased at Michael's and 

threw them together for a little giftie.

And then used the leftover flowers as a starting point for this card. I stuck them to part of a Panera to-go cup holder.  (Theirs are quilted not corrugated like most other's I've seen.) And I used a couple of new (old) flower dies and the wooden laser cut bird also.  I think this might be a Mother's Day card.

There were some of these die cuts that kept jumping into my work space screaming "use me! use me!" (falling off the pile is more like it) so I decided to punish them and glue them to some scrap book paper and make them into a card.  This one will go into the card box for use in the future. 

It was my goal this April to reuse and recycle what I could in most of my projects and I think I did pretty well with that.  Of course, I'll continue to do that throughout the year.  Now if I could just use it up as fast as it collects.................

Recycling - Have I Gone a Bit Too Far?

This card is made of a few things I had in my recycling stash.  The background papers are both wrapping paper from recent birthday gifts as is the blue seam binding ribbon.  The stamped flower was in a pile of stamped images that never made it onto it's original card and the blue flower - well, this is where I ask if I've gone too far - the blue flower was made from ..... a hairnet/covering that I wore on Monday during a medical procedure.  The nurse gave me the strangest look when I said that I wanted to keep it to make something out of it.  She offered me a new one, but I told her that I wanted to repurpose the one that I had used since we celebrate Earth Day this month.  Too far?

March Calendar and Tangle Wrap-Up

How serendipitous it was that something actually came in the mail with a flying pig on it just before March arrived.  You'd be amazed at the number of catalogs that we receive.  And from the most bizarre places sometimes.  I put a catalog in the Aftercare Program mailbox and didn't even realize, until the girl who runs the program told me, that it was a catalog for bongs and pipes....to a school address.  We also get liquor catalogs but those are usually only around the holidays.  

I realized after transferring these pictures of my tangle journal that I have not yet done the pencil shading on just about all of them.  Truth be told, I fell a little behind on this due to some neck and shoulder issues I'm having right now.  Seems I've been overcompensating for my lower back and hurting my upper back.  I have to rearrange my work space at work more ergonomically and an injection will be taking place in the next week or so for the inflammation.  Oh, and I've started PT again.  It's a good thing that I like the people there because it certainly puts a large dent in my creative time having to go.

On with the tangles....

March 1 - Envy (molussus)

March 2 - Sevaw (Emily Chen)

March 3 - Wisdom Knot (Sandra Strait)

March 4 - Vano (Hanneke Sieben)

March 5 - Unbatz (Sandy Hunter)

March 6 - Teenas (Adele Bruno)

March 7 - Pendrills (Ellen Wolters)

March 8 - Chebucto (Ellen Wolters)

March 9 - Whirlee (Ellen Wolters video)

March 10 - Pin Bowl (Davide Hunter)

March 11 - Myko (Maria Mason)

March 12 - Weave (Helen Williams)

March 13 - B'twined (Pegi Shargel)

March 14 - Rysa (Linda Farmer)

March 15 - Spoolies (Hanny Waldburges)

March 16 - Garlic Cloves (Jacquelien Bredencord)

March 17 - Sh-Rock (Diane Lechance)

March 18 - Tizzy (Hanny Waldburges)

March 19 - Window Grilles (Mei Hua Teng - DAMY)

March 20 - Goltago (Lianne Woods)

March 21 - Diamond Drops (Janice Sherlock)

March 22 - Dream Dancer (Christine Reyas)

March 23 - Ish (Anya Lothrop)

March 24 - Moonlite (Anne Marks)

March 25 - Omen (Gael Shepherd)

March 26 - Keystone (Dennie York)

March 27 - Balo (Hsin-Ya Hsu)

March 28 - Flux (Maria Thomas' version) official Zentangle

March 29 - Flux (Rick Robert's version) official Zentangle

March 30 - Lacee (Susan Hodel)

March 31 - Looplopp (Ksenija Tojisarljeric)(and I think that's the way I felt when I did this because it's so NOT RIGHT)

Note to self:  When you're eyelids are drooping it's time to put the pen down!

I've included the names of the tangles along with their creator's names (or those that had the step outs).  If you google their names (the tangle or the artist) I'm sure you can find more information.

Bridal Shower

Yes, I haven't posted anything for a while because of some things going on here but hope to make up for that a little now.

My son is getting married in October and on the 16th of this month they had their Bridal Shower.  Michelle is his bride-to-be and her sister Julie and her mom put together a wonderful shower that was held at a local winery.  I'm still trying to figure out how to edit the pictures on my new camera which I used that day so they will be forthcoming.  But I do have pictures of the card I made and the gift.

My only regret here was not using a darker ink for the sentiment.  This is a 5 x 7 card with a Pool Party base.  The dsp came from various sources.  I first stamped the back image with VersaMark ink and then added the banners in the assorted papers.   Some of them had additional embellishment with punched edgings.  The oval with the sentiment was popped up and around it and down the banner I added punched flowers and starfish embellished with sticky pearls.  Two little punched hearts were also added to the sentiment oval.

The gift I made them is the Newlywed Survival Kit which begins with an empty paint can, some scrapbook paper and ribbon.   (I always go overboard buying ribbon, can you tell!)

Once you add the paper, ribbon and some paper flowers you have this...........

A few close ups of the flowers.............

They are made with a combination of punches.  The largest punch is out of dsp and all I did to that layer was to curl the petals slightly and set it aside.  The inside of the flower was made with two shades of solid cardstock and two different punches.  I first punched a hole in the center of each punched shape and before I fastened them together I spritzed them with water in a cake pan and smooshed them around in it before I wadded them up.  I unwadded them and then put them together with a brad and then shaped the petals.  Then I put them back in the cake pan and you could leave them overnight to dry or you could happen to be baking cookies or cupcakes (like we were) and you could set the cake pan on the stove top to use the heat of the oven to dry them.  (You can also stick them directly in the oven after you've turned the oven off while it's cooling down, just keep an eye on them so they don't get crispy - know what I mean!)  Then I took the dried centers and hot glued them to the bigger punched flower.  You could used dimensionals or glue dots for this, but since I was hot gluing them to the lid I just went with it.

Once you open the can, here are the contents all attached to the lid via a long strand of ribbon.  Each item is in a little zip plastic bag with a tag tied on with a bow...........

(sorry, the first picture is a little blurry - if you click on the pictures you should be able to read the tags)

I like to alternate the edible packages with those you can't eat and spread the weight around also.  Some of the things are heavier than you think and will pull off.  

The end of the ribbon holds an envelope with the real gift - a gift card, gift certificate, cash, etc.  I did not attach a tag to this one this time, but you could have a tag that says "A GIFT CARD for you to use for something you did not receive at your shower" .  You can make it as personal as you would like.  

I had another gift for them that I will share a little later. 

PT Thanks

I recently finished up with my physical therapy.  I've graduated to the Wellness section which allows me to continue with my exercise routine without the benefit of the physical therapist (PT) but under the supervision of an exercise physiologist.  My PT helped me to learn how to stretch correctly and rebuild the strength in my hip with her hands on care.  She gave me an exercise routine for both the gym and at home that I continue to do.  The rest of the staff scheduled appointments, helped set up machines, got me equipment, made sure I was staying on the right track while I was completing my routine at the center.  The Wellness will help me to build on that and continue to strengthen my core to help with the pain that I still have from my spinal stenosis.  

I wanted to thank the staff for all the wonderful attention that they gave me during my pt so I made a card for the PT and a box of pizzelles for them all to share.  

I covered an envelope box I had brought home from work with wrapping paper and made some rolled roses out of the scraps and punched some flowers out of the brown packing paper that Stampin Up ships with.  They were just scrunched up and set in between the roses with a hot glue gun.  The tissue was actually  leftover from some that I had put through the shredder at work to make basket filler for some other project. I just stacked the cookies in plastic bags and added a bow to the twist ties.  The one on the right also has a tag with the ingredients listed and a little note from me.  

I am going to try to make a wreath out of those punched flowers - some time in the near future.