Poultry Fetish

I love chickens and roosters. I have them all over my home, both inside and out. My kitchen has everything from salt and pepper shakers to teapots and soup tureens and my stamp collection is beginning to catch up. I also love to make Faux Designer Paper. It is one of my favorite techniques from Technique Junkies. So it shouldn't come as any surprise that I have combined these 2 loves into one project. I began by stamping the words in Versamark and embossing with clear EP. For the capital letters I used SU's Wild West Alphabet and for the remainder of the letters I used Brayton Uppercase from Just Rite Stamps. I then sponged on several colors of Distress inks, wiping the ink off of the letters. While the sponges were inked up I used them on a small piece of cardstock to stamp the rooster from SU on. Using the same colors, I stamped feathers, sunflowers and an ornamental design here and there. The whole thing was overstamped with SU's chicken wire background stamp in pale gray. One more cleaning of the letters and the piece was ready to be cut up and used in Sketch Challenge #225 from Splitcoast Stampers. The rooster piece looked a bit plain so I added the red buttons tied with hemp cord. For those who share my need for all things poultry - the rooster and chicken stamps on the left are Lockhart stamps I purchased from Ellen Hutson and the one on the right is a Stampabilities I picked up at Hobby Lobby.

One Only Swap

I belong to Technique Junkies. If you've never heard of it or don't belong, you really need to check it out. Every month there is a One Only Swap where you and a partner swap a single card using any technique you choose from any newsletter. In May I was partnered with Vicki Romaine who chose to use Colored Reversed Grid from the August 2006 Newsletter. Stamps are from StampinUp. Thank you Vicki.

I chose a technique called Bingo Blast from the April/May 2009 Newsletter and it really is a blast! Stamps, inks and paper are all StampinUp. The colors used are Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, black and Mellow Moss. And the inverted scalloped circle was a die from Spellbinders.

Wedding in Black and White

May's Card Club Challenge was to make a wedding card. That's pretty easy so I decided to challenge myself by using a color scheme that I have never used – black and white. I cannot believe how difficult it was for me to use these 2 basic colors. After several failed attempts, I finally accepted this one.

I stamped French Script in Soft Silver Shadow Ink on white cardstock, punched one short side with Fiskars All a Fleur Embossing Border Punch then sponged the punched edge with more Soft Silver Shadow Ink. I stamped the heart from StampinUp's Ever After set in black in the upper left corner and the Lilies of the Valley along the right punched edge. I wrapped a piece of white satin ribbon 2 ¼ inches in from the left side. Stamped sentiment from Very Versatile in black on a scrap of white and punched out with large oval punch then inked edges with Soft Silver. Mounted oval to label that was cut from the Matchbox Bigz XL Die then embossed with Textile Cuttlebug folder. Added white satin ribbon tails to each side of label and mounted over lower center. I mounted the whole piece to black cardstock. I felt it was still missing something so after much deliberation I finally added some pearls to the stamped heart and called it good.

May Stamp Camp

I had planned on showing the projects I made at a Stamp Camp held on May 2nd long before this but somehow an entire month slipped right past me. So much has happened since then that I can’t even remember it all. Any who way.... we began by making a Stationery box with little pockets and dividers for holding greeting cards, gift cards and gift tags. We were given a selection of color schemes to choose from and, although not usually a “pink person”, the gray and pink combination appealed to me.

By the time I finished making the box I was feeling miserable with a fever and chills so thought it best I pack up and head home. I made sure that all the individual kits contained all the necessary supplies and completed them on my own once I was feeling better. Of course, since I was in my own stamping room, I strayed a bit from the original designs and used different punches etc. We made 4 greeting cards, 4 gift cards and 4 gift tags. All in all, it was a fun project.

Serenity Garden

I have been AWOL for nearly 2 weeks but I have a good excuse... a very sick husband! During that time, I managed to go to a stamp camp on National Scrapbook Day but started running a fever, headache, chills etc. and thought it best I get myself home. Fortunately I had all the stamps and inks needed to complete the projects so I just took all of the supplies home. Little by little I have gotten everything done and will be posting all my goodies later. And the best part of all was the fact that I managed to fight off whatever I was coming down with.

I have spent the last 4 days getting my yard and gardens cleaned and weeded. I am really glad to have a hot tub because I doubt if I would be moving much without it. Every spring I get all Gung Ho and over do it and then spend days suffering. But I think it has been worth it especially with how beautiful my little Serenity Garden looks right now. I was able to spend some time there Sunday afternoon. The sun felt so wonderful after a winter that seemed to go on forever.

I have decided to plant all of my herbs and a lot of my vegetables in pots this year to see if I can get a higher yield while using less water and fertilizer. I still have to put down the mulch but I got most of the hard work done. Weeds must be able to grow underneath the snow because I KNOW I had that area cleared last fall.

My tomatoes, peppers and eggplants are still in the cold frame because it is just too soon to plant them when you live at 5000 feet above sea level. Last night it was down in the low 40's - high 30's and it is in the 50's right now. After 70's and 80's I am freezing to death!!! Think I'll make some tea and give these old bones a rest.

Wet Stenciling

One of the techniques in the latest Technique Junkies Newsletter is Wet Stencil and I am hooked! I dug through my stash of supplies and found all my old stencils that haven't seen the light of day in almost 10 years. This little garden scene is by Plaid but it looks like they don't make it any more. After doing the wet stenciling and letting it dry completely, I stamped the sentiment (by StampinUp) and then used the stencil as a guide to add highlights to the chair with a clear Spica Glitter Pen (marker?) I then trimmed the piece and mounted it to a piece of Teal cardstock. I cut the scrolled corner with a Sizzlits die and mounted it to the top corner. Using a gold Gelly Roll Stardust pen, I outlined the scrolled corner and the entire stenciled piece. I really loved doing this card and I could kick myself for not buying more of this type of stencil when they were available.