Cuttlebug Folder Swap

Hey there! Thanks for stoppin' by!

Today, I'd like to share my submission for my friend Roxane's (2cutecats) Cuttlebug Folder Swap. This was a great swap because it got me to use a folder AND a Nesties set that I hadn't used yet. And it lead me to re-discover some super yummy DP that I forgot I had. I decided to use it sparingly, in the hopes of letting the CB'd CS stand out. The sentiment came at the last, and I chose "miss you" because I am totally missing Kelly while she is on a month long European vacay with her wonderful DH and 4 fantastic kiddos! (Happy for her, but missing her tons!)

TFL and hope you have a great holiday weekend! God Bless America!

Hugs,

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.