Color

I made these cards quite awhile back, and I don't know if I showed them to you or not. Thought I would post them today (or repost them today) just to break up the week's posts.

The top card uses Flourishes Rubber stamps and some Copic markers to color the flowers.What I like about Copics is you can get close but varying shades. There's just way too many colors to pick from though!

 These 2 cards used the same set of Chocolate Baroque stamps embossed with black embossing powder. I also used some other stamp to make the background on this card right above. All my coloring on these 2 cards was using Silks paints. I have a bought a few and I love how they come out-bright and sparkly. I am such a sucker for color.

I stamped and embossed this butterfly (another Chocolate Baroque set). I love how this is a solid butterfly and that I could then cut it out, even the antennae worked out when I cut them!

I like to play with different types of media. But what I really like is bright colors. Seems to me that if you are going to spend money on some form of  media you might as well get what you pay for-the colors you like. Plus then you can combine  all those forms of media and come up with some great textures, looks and styles. When I was younger I prefered pastel choices, but as I get older, I like the more deep and bold colors.

Guess we are entitled to grow and change.

Enough of my chatting today. Off for my last day of the 2013-2014 school year.

Enjoy yours.

Blue Cards

 Just a couple of cards today. They share the same blue background and the fact I used embossing folders to make the backgrounds.

This one got a bit wrinkled when I put it down and I found when I went to fix it it was only making a bigger mess, so I left it.

On both of these I also used some dark blue midnight ink and rubbed it over the embossed folder, just to give it a bit more depth.

They are both have such a different feel. One a bit more formal and one a little lighter and fun.

Not sure which one I like better, since they are so different.

My daughter scoffed up these and used them for thank you notes for some graduation gifts she got.

Lucky her to have such a nice mom!

Ha-ha

Have a great day.

Sunflowers

I love sunflowers. They make me happy.

I have been rather glum lately. We lost our doggie at the end of last week. He lived a long and healthy life- right up to the last few days- and he was 14 years, and he was a big dog.

Still hurts a lot though.

I will get beyond this at some point.

So until then,

I will show you flowers since they cheer me and besides that, they are awfully pretty.

Thanks for visiting.

Cards for My Mother

Flourishes Rubber Stamps is up for sale and I think most likely, going out of business.

So sad, they have some gorgeous flower images.

I pulled out my little Flourishes stash the other afternoon and made a couple of cards for my mother.

Mom likes very traditional cards with very traditional images.

Sometimes its lots of fun to make something pretty and traditional and things that aren't always my usual style.

Mom is 84 and I send her cards on occasion, but I think I should start sending her some more. 

It would be a nice connection between us and give her something exciting in the mail- besides bills and as she complains- requests for charity. Maybe it will make me play more with this traditional styling,  a little more formal than I would make for the college aged daughter.

After all I had so much fun making these!

update-

According to Flourishes Blog on 2/20- they have a buyer and so most likely will not be going out of business!!! That's exciting news!

Just for You

I really like this card. Simple, bright, complete. Makes me happy.

I had picked up this retiring stamp set from Flourishes Rubber Stamps back before Christmas.

So I dedicate this to you, all you readers who stop by my blog today.

Happy Tuesday.

Feeling Tropical Here

Humid weekend here in New Hampshire- feeling summery though luckily its not super hot. Quiet on my front, a low key weekend which I will fill you in about later.

Today, a couple of cards.

Stamps on the yellow card are from Cornish Heritage Farms. I like how the ukulele guy on the right, seems to be dreaming and looking back at the Hawaiian lady waving in the scene. Is he in love with her and thinking about her as he strums his instrument? 

I'm kind of romantic about all that and think he is.

I want him to be dreaming about some vacation love affair.

Not sure if I want him to go back and find her (that would be very Hollywood) or if I want him to just move on with his life but remember her fondly (that's very real life.)

And when its steamy, what more could someone want than some ice cream.

Stamps are from Flourishes.

Not sure if the party lanterns really fir with the rest of the card but I love them. So they are there, working with it or not.

That's all here for today.

Have a great Sunday.

Blogger's Challenge

This week- to die for. Using die cuts.

Here's my addition.

I used my embossing and die cuts to create this sew stylish (ha-ha) card.

I really like the thread spool- die cuts are all from Sizzix.

Saying is from Flourishes.

Thanks for stopping by for a better view.

Blooms, Blooms and Blooms

There are flowers popping out everywhere right now.
After the brown and white and grey of winter, it is so fantastic to see so much color.

As I mentioned the other day, I am especially excited because the lilacs are blooming.

And I love lilacs.

If only I could blog their smell!

These are just a little bit behind- spreads the color out a little bit longer!

Pretty soon my orange azalea will be bright with color- the buds are so big you can see the orange petals behind their thin leafy covering. They are  plump and about burst. And I'll have purple iris too since their buds look just about the same.

And then it will be lupine and perennial geranium too.

Never mind the rest of my garden blooms.

My gardens will be bright with color

and buzzing with bees!

Can't wait to show you when that happens!!!!

A couple of weeks ago I was in a card making mood. All these buds and blooms and greening up plants filling in the gardens inspired me, so  I pulled out my box of flower stamps and played.

I made the two cards above and  this one.

Products I used were the lilac stamp from Impression Obsession, the flower rectangle from Hero Arts, the 3 blooms right above us from Autumn Leaves. I also used sayings from Hero Arts, Flourishes Rubber Stamps and Penny Black. A little paper layering, a bit of die cutting and some embossing rounds off the techniques I used. In the middle card I used some color combinations that I don't usually play with.

I also like the white on white in this last card. Who'd think white on white could work so well- and it makes the colored flowers really pop.

Thanks for stopping by!

Fiesta Time

Can't say I am going to any parties but tonight Dave and I are going to dinner with our friends Bob and Vicky. Not sure if we'll drink margaritas, but seemed like a good reason to show you this card that I made.

Really like how the drink and glass came out- looks almost like a real margarita.

I also like the shape of this card. It is a card die from Sizzix.

I outlined the edges with that margarita green. The glass is a also a Sizzix die cut, and I colored it green and then added a lot of Glossy Accents. Once that dried, I add a bit more of Glossy Accents on the rim of the glass and added some clear glass glitter to look like the salt.

The limes are from the lemon tree set of clear stamps by Flourishes. Not sure who made the margarita word stamp nor the little cheers stamp.

Of course it is the last work day of my vacation-boo hoo- but I still have today and the weekend ahead. And of course, vacations always end. Sad as that might be.

Still doing the chores, making some studio time, am looking forward to this day, with no major plans except for something fun this evening.

Have a great Friday.

A Photo, a Card and some Gabbing

Look at this! Can you believe this what I saw when I got home last Friday- April 12th? I thought it was spring- but last Friday was raw and cold! What I love about this photo is that it is a view I have missed in the 24 years we have lived in our house. Can imagine missing this view in 24 years? I actually really like it. I love the fact that there are still surprises in the same old place even after a lot of years. It is one of those things that makes life exciting.

So it was a nice afternoon last Friday to come home and take a 2 hour nap-

that I really needed- and get charged for the weekend.

So to contradict that winter view, here's a cute little spring card for you.

I started by die cutting out the oval center on the base of the card and then adding this little strawberry view to that place. The image is from Flourishes rubber stamps and I colored it with Copics. The bee is from this great die from Cheery Lynn Designs that has lots of little bees and birds. I used  a Spellbinder's die to make the word tag, I quite like that tag. Then I added some scribbly ink dots with a black Sharpie and a white Uniball pen.

So did everyone have a nice weekend?

I am sitting here at 8 pm last night and off to the west it is dusk. Love these longer days. So my weekend recap-

We went truck shopping for my husband Saturday since he recently totalled his truck. No purchase yet, and I image next weekend we'll be doing some more truck shopping. Saturday night was the very last hockey game of the season as far as college hockey goes- it was the national championship game- not Maine- unfortunately for us, but Yale played Quinnipiac and it was a good game. Dave's sister and her husband came for dinner and to watch the game which made it fun. Yesterday we had to do our taxes-YUK!!!! but Katie and I went out to breakfast first and then I needed to de-stress from the taxes so I went and did some journalling and then some reading. I told you last week I am now reading this book

which I am loving. Not a fast paced book but I love how reflective this woman is, and here adventure is so rich and wonderful. She was in her 50's when she wrote this, and as a woman in that same age group, I can really relate.

And today it is the last day of the quarter at school for me.

Tomorrow the last quarter of the school year starts- never remember it being so late in the school year.

But only these 5 days and then I get a week's vacation- can't wait for that!

So what did you do this weekend?

Thanks for stopping by.

Hope I didn't bore you too much today.

Gelli Prints

Last Saturday I told you (and showed you) my new Gelli plate. 

A new toy is always so much fun.

 http://fat-emma.blogspot.com/2013/03/new-toys.html  

I spent that afternoon making some fun new Gelli prints. Here's a few of the prints I made that day.

Then I used some of my Gelli prints and made some cards.

Here's one. The background is from a piece of the very top photo.

The pink flowers really make the gelli print colors pop more too.

I die cut part of a Gelli print with a Spellbinder's deckle edged die. Then I stamped and watercolor painted these cool flowers from Technique Tuesday. (They are stamped and added twice. The first time a flat set is glued down and then I embossed a second image, cut those out and added them at different heights to give the branch a more 3D realistic look.) Inside the center of the flowers I add some white and silver pen highlights and some clear Viva paint-pen.

I also cut apart some green Prima flowers-those basic ones they made ages ago-which I then used a leaves to really enhance the bouquet.

I embossed the thank you on the card-word by Flourishes Rubber Stamps, and then finally I added a few little Prima metal embellishments on the corners.

Hope you have something planned for today.

See you again soon.

Jan 31

Wow- we are 1/12 of the way through this new year already.

Holy cow!
Busy Busy day for me.
Work, half the kids in 2 of my new classes are already off on an AP English field trip to Boston, an iPad workshop after school and then tonight the talent show that the group I advise at school is putting on.
Should be home by maybe 9 p.m.-
hopefully I can grab some dinner before the talent show and I don't have to munch on the snacks we are selling.

Plus I have ANOTHER head cold-third since Christmas weekend-
Holy cow!
Sick of head colds.
And this morning-
it is 55 degrees.
55!!!!!!
Major heat wave-
and the wave is blowing like crazy.
Glad I squeezed my shower in in case the power blips off.

Thankfully tomorrow is Friday.

Just a card for today-the colors aren't quite perfect-a little greenish-suppose to be white-winter light tends to do that.

How we're all starting to feel right now.

Images are from Flourishes.

Leaf die cut is from Memory Box.

Cream dots by Viva (their Paint Pens)

Not going to write too much-

too much else on my brain today!

Simple and Sweet

Not a big post today- just this simple sweet card. Still using a lot of flowers in my art lately- missing my gardens I guess. How could you not at this time of year-we're in the brown and mud with this past weekend's thaw. Frozen mud this morning. Snow coming down although it is only suppose to be a few inches.

So to make this card I started with this simple little flower image from Flourishes. Here's the set- Botanical Bookplate I.

I stamped on white and embossed in white. I love the details that brings out. I  colored in open spaces with Copics- then trimmed the image. I die cut the oval on the polka dot paper that matched my card stock base, attached it and outline it with a white Uni-ball pen. Finally, I stamped the saying-another Flourishes set- this time Botanical Bookplates II. Then I added the light green Viva paint-pen dots.

That's it today.

Not too much to say except

Thanks for visiting.

Need some color?

I do.  It has been super cold lately-down around 0 (Fahrenheit) at night with about a foot of crusty snow on the ground. The days have been pretty nippy too-that cold Canadian wind, and the ocean humidity...Brrrr.

Oh yes, I knew this would happen eventually. We were lucky last year with hardly any snow but old man winter does show up eventually.

It was nice having a short week back to work after the holiday break but since I am still trying to get over my holiday ear/sinus infections, I am glad to have a weekend down to finish re-cooping.

The little bit of art I have been doing lately involves bright colors.

These flowers particularly cheer me up.

Images are from Flourishes Clear Stamps-BLOOMIN' AUSSIE FLORALS.

. I colored with Sharpies and then cut them out, did some layering on the bottom flower and then added a bit of Stickles to the centers.

Here's a slightly crooked view of the whole card. I used a Quickutz embossing folder on brown paper bag paper to make the center piece and the just because came out pretty cool with a slightly 3D effect. This is also from a Flourishes stamp set-Inside and Out Just Because.

(Fun set- this phrase is large and then there is lots of choices to complete the idea.)

To make this I started by stamping and embossing the words in pink embossing powder. Then I used my finger and rubbed some light brown ink over it, then some dark pink ink to color the whole area to give it some extra depth. Then I took a white pen and outlined the words.

Finally, I stamped little matching pink ink dots on the background card stock and added a bit of contrasting ribbon and some Viva white paint pen dots.

So any big Saturday or weekend plans? Not me. Still in take it slow mode-but think today I need to run errands.

So exciting, eh?

Have a fabulous day and thanks for stopping by.

Ground Hog Day!!!

Yes, and it we'll find out later if he sees his shadow. Not that I remember what happens if he does or doesn't see his shadow.

And since we never knew our puppy's birthday (as he was a stray we adopted from the Humane Society), but we know he was born around February because of his approximate age when we adopted him, we picked GroundHog Day as his day- and so today Harley turns 12.

Where did the years go to?

I know I posted this photo just the other day but here he is last weekend having a tail wagging romping run on the beach in York, Maine. He's such a good boy.

And tonight  we have our National Honor Society Talent show at 6...I'm hoping it will be a FANTASTIC success and we'll make hordes of cash to put towards scholarships and other NHS activities. Plus the week is wrapping up and it didn't go quite as slow as I suspected it would, which is good. Katie is coming home this weekend too!!!!

So today's creation is a card I made using Flourishes Italian Garden set. I really like this set. It comes with lots of fun stamps including the 5 I used to make this card. I started by die cutting 2 of the nested designs which make the centerpiece of the card. The top one is from some light green checkered paper. I first used some green ink to darked the edge of this diecut, and then I stamped the oil,garlic, tomato image. I colored with with various Copics...I think my coloring is improving. I also used a Sakura gelly roll pen to color the oil jars to look a bit more like glass. Then I distressed this panel with mango colored ink and stamped the 2 different word sayings.

Here's a close up of the middle image.

The bottom shaped die cut is on printed paper and I layered these 2 on the card. Then I took a black fine line Sharpie and scribbled it along the bottom die cut to give a a little definition to this piece. I also outlined both shapes. Then on white paper I stamped the basil plant, cut it out, colored it and went over it with more jelly roll pens before attaching. I distressed the background with more mango colored ink and stamped the saying on the card. Finally, I put some red Viva paint pen dots around the edge of the bottom die cut just to frame it in a bit.

That is my show and tell for today.

Ciao!