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.

Slice Masks

When I've had the time to play these last 6 or 7 days, I have been working with my Slice. I was not very happy with this product when I first took it out of the box. The blade pressure was very finicky and so many of the cuts did not have the detail that the example showed. In fact, some of the designs were strangely distorted. I was rather disappointed but after spending so much money, I was determined to get this thing to work.

Last Monday I received an updated Basics 1 Design Card and on it was a Calibration Program. After running this program I put my Slice to the test. I cut random letters and shapes in small, medium and large sizes and compared them to what I had cut previously and with the samples in the design guide. What a difference! So now that my Slice was running more to my liking I was ready to try something that has been on my mind for a while.

I enjoy making my own backgrounds and I really enjoy doing the more artsy style even though I have gotten away from it. With this in mind I decided to cut my own masks using the Slice and Masking Magic by Therm O Web. I removed the backing from the Masking Magic and smoothed the masking material onto my clean cutting glass. There is no need to have low tack adhesive on the cutting glass since the Masking Magic is already self stick and low tack. I chose a few designs from the Basics 3 design card, cut them out and then applied them to some ivory cardstock.

Using my ink applicator and Distress Ink, I applied ink all over the cardstock then removed the 2 smallest masks and stamped the piece with French Script background in Soft Gold Shadow Ink. Once that was dry I removed the remaining masks then stamped in dark shades of the 2 main colors with assorted stamps that went well with the masks. Finally, I ruined it by stamping with a Frame and Sentiment stamp that wasn't bold enough to stand out from the background.

Oh well - Live and Learn. But of course I'm not one to give up so I went back, sponged some white craft ink around the sentiment and frame then restamped it.

My second background was done basically the same but I stamped a Harlequin pattern over all then removed all the masks before stamping the French Script.

Since doing this project I discovered that I can't find any more Masking Magic at my usual haunts so I am going to pick up some Eclipse Tape by Judikins and see if it works the same.

April Card Club

At this months card club meeting we got to play with the new goodies in StampinUp's Occasions Mini Catalog. We made a Mother's Day card using the outline stamps in Soft Summer, with the dogwood(?) branch as the focal point and the fluffy weed thing (?!?!) for the background on the card base. The colors were supposed to be Almost Amethyst, Certainly Celery and Apricot Appeal but the Apricot just wasn't doing it for me so I was able to switch it to Barely Banana. We watercolored the Dogwood by coloring with the crayons directly onto the paper and then spreading and shading with the blender pen. I then showed how I can get a softer effect when inking the edges by using the foam applicator and the non-stick sheet. Kim, our fearless leader and SU Demo, then tried the same technique with a makeup sponge and the image sheet from the Stamp-a-ma-jig. Well Poop!!! Why didn't I think of that BEFORE spending the money on the applicator and craft sheet?!?!? Live and learn. Anyway, the card is based on Sketch Challenge 224.
We also played with the matchbox die and the coordinating stamp set. Needless to say I had to have it ALL!! And I ate far more malted milk eggs than what went into the matchbox.

Sketch Challenges 222 & 223

There is something about this card that I really love. I think it's the way the watercolored tree came out. I first stamped it in black on a scrap piece of paper so I could see the detail and then colored the rubber with my watercolor crayons. This allowed me to see where I needed to add brown for the trunk and branches. The stamp is from SU's Lovely as a Tree. The paper is from My Mind's Eye, dark green cardstock from Bazzill and Close to Cocoa from SU. The plain and scalloped rectangles are from Spellbinders and the ribbon was a piece of satin left over from the Baby Layette I crocheted.

For April's Card Club Swap we had to do a Sympathy Card. They are always the hardest to do so I was surprised to discover how much I enjoyed making this card. I guess the trick is to make several of them on a bright cheerful day and just put them aside until needed so there isn't a lot of sad emotion tied to it.
I started by embossing the Mellow Moss base with one of SU's Texture Plates. I stamped the Very Vanilla panel with a leaf background stamp from All Night Media in Memories Soft Wheat ink then punched the long sides with one of the new EK Success border punches. The sentiment was from the Sentiments II set from Impression Obsession and stamped in Elegant Eggplant. The rose from SU's Dear Friend was stamped in Archival Black, colored with SU markers then cut and embossed with Spellbinder's Labels 1. The edge was inked with Always Artichoke using my nifty new ink applicator from Ranger. The Pale Plum mat was cut and embossed with Labels 1, stamped with French Script and the edges inked with Pale Plum ink. It was then mounted on a square of Perfect Plum.

Sketch Challenges 220 & 221

Here are the next 2 cards using the Sketch Challenges from Splitcoast Stampers. This first one looks rather plain without a sentiment even after adding the pearls. I should have used Chocolate Chip around the edges of the raised border in the center or something. My pearls just blended into the background so I colored them with alcohol ink Prismacolor Markers. Printed paper is from My Minds Eye with SU cardstock in Close to Cocoa, Soft Sky and River Rock. Stamp is from SU's Friends 24-7 and the 2 Soft Sky panels were embossed with a Cuttlebug border folder. Center was cut and embossed with Spellbinders' Labels 4

I am not crazy about this next one so why am I posting it? Beats me but here it is. I tried to climb out of my box but I think I'll just go right back in for a while because this just isn't me! I do like the new border punch I used from EK Success and those buttons have been in my stash forever so it's nice to finally have a use for them.
The stamps are from SU's True Friend which I colored with SU markers, Direct to Rubber and the sentiment set from Melissa Francis called Simply Said. Cardstock is Bazzill, paper and buttons are Making Memories and the Spellbinders dies are Labels 2 and Octagons.