Going Grey...and Spicy Red

Continuing on my grey theme, here's a card I made for our outgoing pastor's family. Of course it would make a whole lot more sense to you if I had snapped a photo of the inside where I put the sentiment taken from Isaiah 42:10, "Sing a new song unto the Lord". But by the time I thought of it, I'd already written in the card. Ugh. Oh, well.

Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.
Isaiah 42:10

I finally cracked into my retired Ever After 12x12 collection kit by Cosmo Cricket. I picked it up some months ago on sale/clearance not so much because of the wedding theme, but because (yep, you guessed it) I loved the glorious greys! Like all my new loves/obsessions, I rabidly and rapidly collect and compile, and then hesitate to use. I think it's crafter's performance anxiety. So silly!

The yummy wide, striped ribbon is from Stampin' Up, and the image is from the Ippity set "Sing A New Song". I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, accented it with Copics (W00, W0, W3, W5, W7 and W9), trimmed it out and popped it up on foam tape.



I'm entering this into the CAS-aul Friday Challenge #40, which calls for us to use ribbon.

And the Ippity Linking Party and the Ippity Challenge to go CAS!

Thanks for stopping by. Stay tuned for more in my Going Grey... series (with a return to the grey + yellow combo) and some long overdue BLOG CANDY!

(((Hugs))) & Blessings!

Unity Friday: Friends With Flair

TGIF! I think this has been the busiest stamping week of my life. I've totally loved it, but I'm also totally sleep deprived! :) For today's card, I thought I'd give my Copics a rest and try something a little different. I'll let you tell me what you think.

I just couldn't resist last month's Unity Scrapbooking Kit, and these stamps are from it. I masked the definition text to incorporate it with the journaling block, pullling my colors from the soft and serene pattern paper. (I hope you can tell the card base is a dark eggplant that coordinates with the ink and PP.) This was also a great exercise in using stashed items - all the cardstock came from the scrap box, and I've been hoarding the Magenta metal bird charm for at least 5 years! Eesh!

This card is going to my gal Carol (momcgw) who was a wonderful Secret Santa to me. (Love ya, Carol!)
Thanks for hopping along for FWF today, and be sure to visit all the blogs to find the hidden blinkie! You can find the list on the Unity Blog.

Happy Friday!


Image(s): Unity Stamp Co.
Ink(s): VersaMagic
Pattern Papers: Basic Grey
Cardstock: local source
Embellishments: Magenta metal charm; PTI twine

Feathers from Emily

As some of you know, my dad was recently diagnosed with cancer. Fortunately, it is a very slow progressing form of leukemia, and he is under the care of one of the foremost experts in the country at Ohio State, which is only 2 hours away. His prognosis is extremely good, but in the beginning, I'm sure you can understand that I was scared and a little freaked out (although I hid it very well). Since reading my first Emily Dickinson poem as a college freshman, I have loved her. Her distinctive use of punctuation, her word selection, her great ability to immediately set a mood and draw a scene, have always drawn me to her. As corny as it sounds, I think Emily and I would have been great friends if we had lived in the same times. Sadly, I haven't read her lately, and so it surprised me that her words came so instantly to me during my saddest and most frightened times after first learning of my father's condition. This stanza is now my mantra whenever I get scared or worried about my dad:

"Hope is the thing with feathers,
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all."




So, that's the inspiration behind this card. The main image is from Birds Galore by Inkadinkado, first stamped with clear embossing ink and Powder Keg's Black Sparkle EP, then repeatedly heated and layered with regular detail black EP, to build up the image. I like that it isn't a perfect image and that it has depth (more visible in person). The poetry is printed onto CTMH self-adhesive vellum, and heat set (learned that from trial and error), and then adhered to a scrap of cardstock matching the card base. The pattern paper is from My Mind's Eye Magnolia collection (a huge 12x12 stack), which I picked up on special during National Scrapbooking Day from Archivers. Photo corners are punched from black cardstock using the SU! punch (these are the larger size ones), and the brads are SU! Hodgepodge Hardware in Pewter. "Hope" is stamped using a clear alphabet from Impression Obsession. I was really happy with the fuzzy effect. I think hope is like that - similar to faith - sometimes stronger than others, but always there, even if you can't see it clearly or grasp it firmly.

Fly, fly, fly

Anyone else seeing a trend? I know, I'm stuck on my feathered friends. And I have bad news, I don't see it ending any time soon. Some of you more experienced or prolific stampers may have gone through this before, but it's new for me. I've never been so set on a theme before! You know how sometimes you do something over and over again, so much that you get bored with yourself? Well normally that's how I am, but not this time. I'm totally hooked! Maybe my blog header should be updated to read, "I have an addiction to birds, and the stamps to prove it."

This one could not have been simpler, but I love it nonetheless. I used My Mind's Eye Magnolia paper to cover a white card base. [The paper for this collection is gorgeous, but if you like and want it, better get it now as I see their website says it is no longer available. I found mine at Archivers. To see another example using this set, visit Maria's blog.] I edged it with SU! Real Red. The bird is from Inkadinkado's Birds Galore, stamped in Marvy Brown dye ink, and then (and this is another reason I love clear stamps) stamped again with clear embossing ink. I repeatedly applied clear embossing powder and heated to build up a nice and thick glossy image. I resorted to this because I didn't have the right shade of brown in pigment ink, and don't have any brown EP. I used the same technique for the sentiment, which is from a new bird set I picked up at Adventures in Stamping a few weekends ago, from Invoke Arts Whimsy Birds Set- consider yourselves warned! ;) The green rickrack ribbon is from my stash (I believe from the clearance bin at JoAnn's), and the turquoise ribbon is from a lovely slew of ribbon that Michelle had sent me during our Secret Sister Swap. The finishing touch was a bright pink bling gem in the center of the flower.

Thanks for looking!

Friday Feathers

I hesitated to post this, since it's going to a friend that I think peaks in here from time to time. But, here goes anyhow! I'm putting a new digital camera on my shopping list this weekend - these cell pics really suck!

This little birdie and his branch are from the Autumn Leaves Nature Set by Rhonna Farrer. He's stamped in brown and clear embossed. I found the pattern paper in the clearance bin at Archivers and loved the edge detail and colors. The sentiment is Hero Arts from a few years back. (I need to work on my brad spacing.)

Happy Scrapbooking Day and have a great weekend!

The Anti-Bye-Bye Blackbird

Get it - because this little birdie is saying "Hello." Yep, I had caffeine today!
I love this bird. He's the reason I bought the set - Autumn Leaves Nature Set by Rhonna Farrer. I stamped him in Palette Black, and then went over him with JudiKins Diamond Glaze (again, not that you can tell from my crappy cell cam - ugh!). Letters are from an Inque Boutique/SeeDs set. I got the striped paper (your seeing front and back) on clearance, and the green & white floral paper is Basic Grey. The ribbon was from the oodles that Michelle sent with one of the Secret Sister cards - how awesome is that! I adhered using vellum tape - we'll see how it holds up. I punched the flowers with a retired SU! punch I bought from Alana, and the centers are black gems I recently picked up from Archivers.

Blue Bird of Joy

I am seriously on my bird kick now. Stamped 3 cards this weekend, all birds.

Here's the first. I picked him to share today because of his vibrant colors - it's a little cool and dreary here in NE Ohio today, so this little guy cheers me up.

He is partially recycled, as the base of the card and the strip of patterned paper were made in an SU! class. But I goofed the flower that was originally in the birds place, so I tore it off and made my little friend here. He's stamped in Palette Black, heat set, and colored with SU! Wonder Color Crayons and blender pen in Tempting Turquoise and Mellow Moss (I think, could have been Old Olive). Then I used JudiKins Diamond Glaze, and trimmed him out once it dried. I mounted him on a scrap of dark olive textured paper, punched the corners with SU! Ticket Corner Punch, edge in more Palette Black to make it "pop" and then finished assembling. I think it's a little crooked, but I used the green Mono glue for the first time, and once it was on, there was no budging it!Pretty quick and easy. I love the way the Diamond Glaze gives glossy shine and dimension - not that you can tell from the photo :(

Note: Sorry for the low-fi image - still using cell phone cam.

Guess Who!

It shouldn't be, really, but the fact that I stamped again this weekend is an accomplishment. (So sad...)

Any-hoot! (sorry, couldn't resist!) This is my reveal card for the SBS2 Secret Sister Swap. I had sketched the layout ahead of time, but the sentiment didn't come until the end - I love it when you only have a vague notion of what you're doing and then it turns out good!

I used Basic Grey (my fave!) Infuse paper, and the owl is from Inkadinkadoo's Birds Galore. After much practice, I finally mastered the scalloped edge using the SU! corner rounder punch (sans guard).

I wonder "who" will be receiving this card? (Well, actually, of course, I know, but you don't! Heehee!)

TFL!

PS- Sorry about the glare - I likes me embossing!

Let's Fly Away!

Another creation from my 3-day weekend. This is a card of many firsts:

1. The first time using my Copics!!!!

2. The first time using my Inkadinkadoo Birds Galore set!!!

3. The first time using my Autumn Leaves Nature set!!!

I started with the polka dot paper - provided by Alana in the PIF (pay it forward) package she sent me, which was loaded with cool stuff (thanks, Alana!), and stamped the flowers from the Nature set in Brocade Blue. Then I colored them with some of my brand new Copics (Cardinal, Putty and Cool Shadow). On a piece of vellum paper, with Black StazOn, I stamped the bird on branch from the Birds Galore set. I then used the same Copics to color the bird and branch from the opposite side. I stamped Print Pattern (SU!) in VersaMark on the card itself. Then I tore the vellum, and set 2 silver eyelets, threading SU! twine through them, securing with triple knots, and wrapped them behind the DP. I distressed the edges of the DP and a piece of red cardstock (very close in color to Purely Pomegranate), and inked the edges of the DP with Brocade Blue. Then I just assembled all of my layers, and stamped the sentiment in India Ink.

Let me know what you think!