Workshop Card-Chalkboard Technique

Wow-where does time go? So much has gone on since I last posted. Tara has given up her creative blog for focusing on her health-Kudo's to you Tara! My Father-In-Law had a carotid artery cleaned out-the surgery went great and he is doing well. My Grandma continues to go through ups and downs that 92 years of life brings on. She has yet to recoup enough to leave the nursing home and return to her assisted living apartment. My Mom, Aunt and Uncle are with her a lot helping with her health care and that is draining for them, although they never complain. My new job is a delight, but not with out demands. Constant checking and rechecking, proofing and reproofing. Hard to sit at a desk all week, I'm use to being on the road. Of all things, I've taken refuge in reading (my one time passion). I read through the Twilight series, then on to the newer Lee Child novel and just finished up a Kathy Reichs novel that I missed somewhere along the way.
My BFF's are on my mind always. Kimmie just had a birthday (she's now a year older than I am) and just can't seem to find time to see Toni. Her husband (and my Dr.) invited me out for homemade cherry wine. Jeff's pretty sure it will cure most of my symptoms...LOL! More likely it's that I won't give a hoot anymore. My friend Michele continues to support me through her wonderful emails! Thanks Michele, you made this last week bearable ;)
So...last night was Stampin' Up! stamp club, new catalog and all. I made this beautiful card. Tammie always puts on a great stamp club! The card is a chalkboard technique done on black paper with white craft ink. Using Tammie's craft ink finally allowed me to admit my own SU White Craft Ink is bad! For over a year I thought it was operator error. Mine's real goop-y and never dries! I guess I thought that's the way it was suppose to be. But alas, Tammie's ink made a great impression and dried quick enough to be able to color in the flowers with a Versamark pen then add Pastels over the Versamark. Isn't the effect beautiful!

Wedding ATC Swap-Maybe?

This may or may not be a swap card. I can't decide. There's a ATC wedding swap coming up and an extra swap card will actually go to a July bride. I thought that was a very fun idea. I messed around this weekend and this was what I came up with. I'll probably spend this week looking at it before I make a decision to make more. The DP is My Minds Eye and it's very glittery. I have DP with same colors, but in stripes and I'm thinking that would look better. The card stock is Bazzill, though I can't tell you the color names. It matches the DP so well (makes Miss MatchyMatchy happy).
The ATC swapping has been great! I've been getting some really cool cards in the mail! Remember the Alphabet Technique Swap? If you click on this link you can see all the swaps posted by Lorian on a PictureTrail Gallery. Lorian is the swap coordinator for the Yahoo group MidwestStampers(which isn't just for the midwest). She does a great job coordinating swaps of all kinds for the group. I'm glad she posts on a public domain where you can see everything. My other swap group is Rubber Stamping Trading Cards (RSTC). This is also a Yahoo group and these ladies make some wonderful cards also! Both have been fun and a learning experience.

Scrapbook Page Share

I actually managed to get a little creating done this past weekend. This 6x6 page is based on the sketch from Tara's Sketch Whimsy #2 (yes, I'm behind!). There's no journal on the page, but the story would go something like this:
Jeff (he's one of my Doctors, and my bff Toni's husband) has insisted since day one that I mega dose on supplements. My nutrition habits weren't the best. The vitamins and minerals are self explanatory. The Bromelain, Tumeric, and Ginger Root are all anti-inflammatories. I take them in hope that they keep the inflammation down in my brain, which is the cause of MS flare-ups. Truthfully, I'm sure these supplements have done more for my well being than any of the yucky MS drugs on the market. And I eat better (most of the time).

As with the other page, this was created using the SU Simply Scrappin Kit Sunny Days. The alpha stamp set is one I picked up along the way using one of those great 40% off coupons.

One more share - This link will take you to Kelly Purkey's blog. KP lives in NYC and man do I love seeing the pictures she posts and reading about all she does! If you scroll down a bit you can see a shot of the stage for the play Wicked. I saw that show on Broadway in June of 2004 and it was terrific! And this link will take you to a post for a great mini album she made. It's so cool!!!!!

Bling Kitty

Wow, it's been so long since I've posted! That baby jay from the previous post is near fully grown and about to leave the nest.

This Bling Kitty is my ATC swap card for June. The themes were glitter and/or seashells. I don't have any seashell stamps, so she'll be receiving glitter! This fun cat stamp is from Inkadinkadoo. The swirls, dots and first background layer are cut out of metal sheets. I received 5 different color 8 1/2 x 11 metal sheets from Monica Weaver at Add A Little Dazzle in trade for some Stampin' Up! stuff she needed. Great Trade! They are just a little thinner than card stock so when I tried to cut the swirls with my Sizzlits die and Big Shot, I had to shim up the die a bit to get it to cut through. Otherwise they are just like using card stock. You'll have to check out Monica's blog to see all the great things she creates with these fun metal sheets!

Baby Jay

Much like Where's Waldo, find the Baby Blue Jay in this picture! He (She?) is there. I took several pictures of my maple tree only to find that I didn't have him in the view finder of the camera. I got one close up of him before he flew away to another part of the tree. Because my house is a split level, his nest is actually right outside my kitchen window. I watched his parents sit in the nest and then this weekend realized that he had arrived. He's so round and fuzzy and cute with his little topknot. Looks a lot like his mom and dad :)
Nothing creative to share today. Several projects in the works. More ATC swap cards I want to make. Need to do a little stamp shopping before I can start them (any reason to shop is a good one!). Tara has a new Sketch Whimsy challenge at Fireflies and Flutterbyes. I've started a layout for it. Last week I had the Monday holiday to get it completed. This weeks been kinda wild with my new job and all. So much to learn...it's all good.

Watercolor ATC Swap

First off let me point out the debut of my NEW watermark, also created by Michelle Laycock. It's so cool! If you click on the Laycock Designs badge on the left, you can see many different blog designs as she turns them out for her customers.
This trading card was done for a watercolor technique swap. Because I never mastered the art of watercoloring (shading and all), I chose to use my SU Blender Pen with ink puddles. The flower stamp is from an old SU set called Itty Bitty Borders (dated 2002). I masked off the flowers and used a background stamp from another retired set called Shades of Nature. Again, with the Blender Pen and a puddle of Summer Sun ink, I dotted yellow around the *sky*. The butterfly is one of the 5 that is die cut from the SU Beautiful Wings Embosslit.

A Quick Story- Watercolor reminds me of my high school art teacher, Miss Mercer. She was (and still is!) a great artist. When I graduated she gave me a beautiful framed watercolor colleague of fall motifs including an image of me picking dried wildflowers. She and I would go driving the country roads in the fall to pick dried flowers and grasses. She would arrange these and have the students draw them. On the lighter side, I was able to copy her signature exactly and sign myself out of study halls. When she found out I was doing this, she made me spend a couple hours (was it days?) signing her name to the end of the year art certificates that she handed out to all the grade school students. :) Life lesson learned!

Father's Day Card and More New Beginnings...

I got one Father's Day card finished. This one is for my Father-in-Law. He does so much for our family that's why it says *thank you*. I often joke that my in-laws are the best part of my marriage! HA! They are super-great people and I've been very blessed.
The card is all Stampin' Up! products. The colors are Chocolate Chip, Basic Black and More Mustard. I have got to get a better camera (or better lighting or something!) because I'm tired of my cards not looking like they really do!
More New Beginnings (click here if you missed the first post)-
I swear I'm about ready to burst with gratefulness for all the things that are coming into my life! I was at work for 2 hours on Tuesday and was offered a promotion! It's an *in the office* job vs my current *on the road for hours-do physical labor* job. And, yes, this is great not only because it's a job that I know I'm going to enjoy (very detail oriented), but because my MS has really put the screws to my ability to do much physical labor. I love the company I work for and am so blessed that they have been so understanding! Can you stand more-
I had to give up my company van...but never fear...a car came into my life yesterday by way of my Mom and her very kind friend, Jerry, and all is well! Ain't it great. Once again, thanks for letting me celebrate all my blessings with you!