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Showing posts from September, 2009

Black Eyed Susans

With the slow decay of the Black Eyed Susans near our front door and the quickly fading evening light, I'm starting to really notice a change coming to our season. Pretty soon (and probably too soon) there will be a chill and biting wind that will send me running for a blanket and warm cup of tea. But...in the meantime and until that actually occurs, I'm going to keep Mr. Winter at bay with cards like this. I think all the stamp sets are now retired, but I still love them and can't help pulling them out for just the occasion when I'd like to cheer a friend or celebrate a birthday.

Friendship Bounty

Well, while I'd like to say that this card was a snap...it wasn't. I made 6 of these, and even though the design was easy (determining the colors and stamp set to use), the cutting for all the little sections, and layering took a long time. I love this tri-fold design. I think it's just lovely...but should only be shared with those dear friends that you know appreciate hand made cards! Happy Monday!

Bag It...Tag It...Give It

Whipped up a few of these, taking advantage of the red gift bags (leftover from XMAS last year) and some earthy paper that I just love. It's a matching set including a bag, card, and tag....all it needs is that perfect gift.

Joan

My daughter's grandmother, Joan, died last night peacefully at home with her family close by. She had been fighting a vicious battle with cancer for the passed three years. Candace and I visited with her just last month. During that same visit, she decided to forgo any further chemo, because it was extremely harsh AND it wasn't producing very good results. I had hoped that she would have had a little better quality of life for at least a few more months. She was a great woman, mother, grandmother. Everyone is going to miss her. Noone is going to feel her absence more than Jim, her husband, will. I feel such sadness for him. They've known each other ALL their lives. Married over 53 years, I think. I cannot imagine the strength it will take for him to pick himself up again each morning and carry on without her there.

Naked Mail

Above is the package I put together last night and this morning for a Naked Swap I'm participating in. Naked? Yes, the point for the swap was to mail your swaps in a non-traditional package...usually clear, I just couldn't help but instead use this large penny bank that I got many moons ago at Hershey park. And my swapper's favorite color is red....so, I'm sure she'll be delighted. All the stuff I made fit! I was a bit afraid that I wouldn't be able to fit the candle in, but it went inside with only a little coaxing.

Festive Fall

Too fancy for Chinese? I think not! Some friends of mine are entertaining and ask me to help them make the party decor to die for. We're going with fall colors, but throwing in some rich purple to give it warmth and atmoshphere. This napkin ring features stamps from Unity's September Store Kit of the Month. A simple design using 5 stamps from the set. Here's a closeup! So, it's Friday and I'm definitely ready for the weekend. It's supposed to be nice...and this weekend I might be able to spend more time with Dave. Last weekend he worked almost the entire weekend, but he may get some reprieve! Jolly outdoors fun is what we're after!

Spooky Secret

I have to admit that I didn't feel much like stamping last night, but I did feel inspired to put together the package for my secret sister. I had way too much fun decorating the outside of the package...and Mr. USPS - it tickled his funny "bone" (I know, silly pun). Inside are spooky treats for her to create her own festive Halloween stuff.

Genuine Mess

Of all the cards I created for the Sore Bottom Challenge (that's what I'm calling this past weekend's experience), I really like this one the best. I love grunge and you know I'm a sponging freak, and this card and the Medallion card I posted a few days ago are representative of the work that I most enjoy producing. Today, I still have dark stains on almost all my fingers because not even the scrubbing pad could scour away all the sponging I did yesterday! Did I say yet how happy I am to be moving onto the next project? I felt such accomplishment as the box containing over 190 cards went into the hands of Mr. USPS. If only he knew how many hours went into the contents of that box...

Sparkly Bright Pinkness

I saw a challenge somewhere about creating holiday cards using non-traditional colors, so I thought I'd give it a go!

You Rock

Boy inspired card excellence? Now, if only I could find that Nirvana and Bon Jovi music I was looking for... While bold colors and crisp lines are a challenge for me, I think this turned out okay.

Bonus Images, Featured Guest Designer, and Rain

I have something exciting to share! Today, I'm a guest designer for Digital Two for Tuesday! Go grab your free images and take a look at the project I created for Cora-- HERE ! In the meantime, I'm getting drenched over here! The skies were teasing us all week with rain, but it never happened. Finally, last night, the clouds collapsed under the pressure and haven't let up since! All this rain reminded me of a video clip my friend, Jim, sent me recently. It's the coolest....

One Gazillion Cards

That's what it feels like anyway. I've never attempted to complete almost 200 cards (6 designs at least 32 each) in a very short time frame, but that's what I'm doing. I'll be 4.25 x 5.5 fatigued and sore bottomed come Monday, I'm sure! This is one of them: Stamp, Cut, Repeat, repeat, repeat!

Spanish Tapas

No, I didn't have tapas for dinner, but wouldn't that have been nice? For some reason, this new medallion stamp from Stamp Up! reminds me of Spanish or Italian design. Today has been a very long day, even though for most folks on the East Coast, everyone is fast asleep. But for me and two other colleagues of mine, we've been up since midnight and will remain so, leaving when others are venturing into work. I'm feeling pretty brain dead right now, and right after an imaging scan (I have a doctor's appointment later this morning), I'm going home to hopefully get some sleep. Because I have to repeat my midnight adventures one more time this week! Adios!

What's Going On?

There's a 4 Way stop on my way home that is usually pretty busy in the evening. For some reason, this groundhog found the traffic extremely interesting. I usually have to wait several minutes so I was able to observe his behavior the entire time. He stood up deep in the field, looking over at the 4 way, then ran, making his way closer. When he was near it, he stopped and stood up, and just watched. For several minutes. Enough time for me to pull out my camera and snap a shot.

Boo!

The card above was inspired by a creature that has been living outside our sliding glass doors since about the time I went away to visit my daughter in Washington. It's an extremely busy spider, because as soon as the web comes down (due to rain), it's back up again in no time! And the web is pretty large. I've wanted to watch it so Dave has been nice enough to NOT kill it or tear down the web...he keeps reminding me how much he detests them. It's got quite the nest going too and it's amazing how many critters it's caught and stowed away! I foresee a family in the future (psst...let's not tell Dave right away, eh?) It is a beautiful round brown spider with intricate markings on it's underside. Next time it comes out in decent lighting, I'll have to take a picture. Makes me want to pull out my old copy of Charlotte's Web. Can you see a general trend with my Halloween cards yet? I am using the same colors in all my cards so far to focus on a...

Stylin' Treats

I made this for a demonstrator swap I'm participating in. I'm calling it - Bones Bag....because what stylish gal wouldn't die for a little bag like this...and ready with chocolate to boot! Here one is a little closer: Now I'm off to jog (it's really beautiful but warm here today) and then I'm collapsing in front of the TV with my husband! I was up pretty late last night finishing up the treat bags so they could be posted as well as preparing for a class I had today teaching Bronze Clay to the group of demonstrators here. I love these women. They are so much fun...We do workshops together and they saw a jewelry piece I made last year ( HERE ) and wanted to get the basics on making it. I guess before I collapse, I'll have to stoke up the kiln and get the goods cooking first, tho... I have to smile when thinking about how the class went (in the beginning just after we started)...something about so many confused (but laughing and having fun anyway) women toge...

Blog Candy Winner

Drum Roll Please SMK is the winner of my blog candy! [please send me your info so that I can get these goods in the mail to you!] Not to worry. There will be more candy soon! I want to thank everyone for taking a look at DAC's ETSY shop and providing some very good feedback. It's very appreciated it and we are planning to make many of the changes suggested. Following is a summary of what we heard and plan to incorporate: - Add handmade items. - Add cooperative member items. - Add handmade items created with the supplies sold. - Add information regarding placing special requests. - Add handmade items (particularly jewelry) that are moderately priced. - Double check the photos of the jewelry. On a dark background, the items are hard for some to see. - Background on the DAC artists is provided on the shop under DAC’s profile, but adding some more information regarding the function of a COOPERATIVE would be beneficial.