Watercoloring

Thank the Lord, the heat has really broken! Last night it got down to 61 degrees and I even slept with covers on me for the first time since I don't remember when! The house is a lovely cool 72 degrees, and it is only supposed to get up to 81, so I'm leaving the windows open today. I did yesterday too and it was wonderful! Last night we made a family outing to Trader Joe's after dinner and walked all the way down and back (2 miles round trip). I have to say, after that walk, this 9 months pregnant mama felt like a total rock star! My hips are killing me today, but it was totally worth it. Besides, maybe that walk will get things a movin'!

One of the numerous cards I made last week was this simple card using Greeting Card Kids. I don't always take the time for watercoloring (even though I like the process) and was looking for something simple yet stepped up to make. I really like how this came out! It was different from how I envisioned in my head, but the end result is rather cute, I think! Love those in colors!! I seem to be gravitating to Crumb Cake a lot for card bases lately; better make sure I have a good supply stocked! I also went back to watercoloring with a blender pen and markers after receiving a good lesson from "Aunt" Karen Barber a while back. I still like my aqua painter, but for fast watercoloring, a blender pen, some watercolor paper and our marvelous markers are great! I'm actually thinking I might just stamp a bunch of line images and bring my marker box with me to the hospital to have something to keep me occupied. Well, occupied in between the nursing and night wakings. :)

Supplies:

Island Indigo, Calpyso Coral, Crumb Cake cs, watercolor paper, Island Indigo dsp

Greeting Card kids, Friendly Phrases stamp set

Staz-on ink

Island Indigo, Calypso Coral, Real Red, Crumb Cake Soft Suede, Daffodil Delight, So Saffron, Blush Blossom markers

blender pen

dimensionals

calypso coral ruffled ribbon

circles #2 die

circle cutter (non-SU!)

Fruit Challenge

I know, second post of the day, but I can't help myself! Click HERE to see the first post of the day. I noticed that this week Our Creative Corner is hosting a fruit challenge, and since one of those 25 cards I mentioned features fruit, I just had to post it before the challenge ends! It is a CASE of a card I saw around the blogosphere, so if it looks like yours, drop me a line and I'll give credit where credit is due. I did tweak the design quite a bit, and I may have overdone it on the vines (my husband said it was "too busy" when I got done with it), but I still like the overall effect!

Supplies:

Real Red, So Saffron, Whisper White, Wild Wasabi cs, Washington Apple dp (retired)

Just Believe stamp set

Real Red, So Saffron ink

sponges

Open Scallop border, Boho Blossoms, Ornament, 5 petal flower and 2 step bird punches, 1/4" circle punch

Swiss dot emboss folder

dimensionals

Happy Birthday to Me...

It's my birthday today, and the heat index is supposed to top 115. My heat-positive thoughts for the day are a) I'm glad I'm not in labor, because I wouldn't want to be laboring at home (or trying to get to the hospital) in this wet hot mess! and b) I'm VERY grateful not only for the little window unit in my office, but also that the rest our house seems to be holding steady at 85-86 degrees. We had one summer where the third floor was routinely topping 90 and not cooling down at night, so we'll take it! (Besides, Boo and my husband are still sleeping up there at night, and Boo doesn't do so well in the heat--he's definitely my son, what can I say??)

We actually did the birthday dinner part last night because I wanted non-fasting food for my celebration, and also because at a mere 106 heat index, it was relatively cooler yesterday. That said, I still made everything on Wednesday and just had to heat it up in the toaster oven, so it wasn't too bad. I made a chocolate zucchini cake for our dessert and it was yum-O. That cake is one of my favorites! Both my kids gobbled it up, and hubby (the resident foodie in our household) really liked it too!

On to today's card. Remember I told you my mom wanted to learn a bit more about brayering while we were visiting a few weeks ago? I taught her the easel card with the ship, and then she said she wanted to have another go the following day, so as to cement it all in her brain, so we made a version of this card, using Michelle Zindorf's tutorial, and then spent some time playing around with the stamps and inks that were already out. My mom's card came out quite differently from mine, even though we started with the same basic idea, but it was fun to watch our designs diverge. I came up with the card below, which I admit owes a bit of debt to another design of Michelle's, but honestly, when I was putting it together, her card wasn't in my head at all. I just kept fiddling and adding things, and that's what came out. Goes to show how few original ideas there are out there! I once read that Billy Joel doesn't listen to any music but his own so as to avoid outside musical influence. With the stamping world being what it is, I don't know how to avoid that particular pitfall, so I'll just say a big thanks to Michelle's creative inspiration and get on with it!

Sweating with Dignity

I'm trying to think positive thoughts about this heat, so my positive thought for today is that I'm grateful that all the rooms in our house have ceiling fans. My other positive thought is that I'm starting to learn how to (as one of my sidelines put it) "sweat with dignity." She is from Houston originally and finds the weather around here to be a definite step up from that soggy mess! I've also given up on wearing shirts with sleeves; I made a pact with myself to try to get away from sleeveless shirts/dresses because a) my upper arms aren't so pretty (esp. when pregnant) and b) because I do try to dress modestly. But this summer has cracked that one right out of me! So I'm sweating with dignity in tank tops and spaghetti strap dresses. I can get back to my ideals when it is cooler and I'm not 8 months pregnant. :)


I was so energized to work today--I made a ton of cards. (My craft area is a total disaster at the moment, which has to be evidence of creative genius, right???) I recently rediscovered Nancy Leedy's blog, and was seriously inspired by her work. I CASEd a bunch of her cards, and then found I had generated enough creative energy to try an original sketch! I pulled out this week's Mojo Monday sketch, some dsp scraps, and had a go. I'm loving these 3D flowers! They are so easy to make and look so cool on a card. (I'm still trying to work out how to mail it, but maybe it will have to be one of those special delivery-type cards...) I had enough dsp scraps to make five of them! The top card is my Mojo Monday entry, and the card below is one I CASEd from Nancy that gave me the flower inspiration.

Some of the distressing and details didn't come through on the photo, but I inked all the scallop circles for the flowers with the Vintage Vogue jumbo wheel in Early Espresso before I spritzed them with water and scrunched them to make the flower. Gave it extra dimension (Nancy used a color spritzer on hers, which works just as well) and I like the extra texture it adds. I also sponged the leaves on the edges with Crumb Cake, as well as around the oval at the top. Looking at it now, I should have punched one more hole in the scallop border, but oh well. Sometimes it is hard to know where to stop on those borders...

Mojo Monday Card Supplies:

Marina Mist, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Whisper White cs, Paisley Prints dsp
Occasional Quotes (hostess level three set, retired)
Old Olive ink
mini brads
2 3/8 scallop circle punch, water mister bottle, 1/16th handheld punch
Bird punch
dimensionals
Chocolate chip satin ribbon (retired), Marina Mist 3/8" satin ribbon

CASEd Vintage Card Supplies:

Crumb Cake, Night of Navy, Marina Mist, Very Vanilla cs
Because I Care (hostess level one, retired), Charming stamp sets, En Francais background stamp, Vintage Vogue jumbo wheel
Crumb Cake, Night of Navy, Early Espresso inks
Victoria crochet trim
Pearls
Scallop edge punch
pewter brad
Victorian wallpaper emboss folder
Extra large oval, small scallop circle, bird punch, decorative label punch, handheld punch
sponge wedge

Calm Waters on the Open Sea

I know I spend a lot of time discussing the weather on this blog, but seriously, when it is close to 100 degrees for nearly a week (and doesn't cool off at night), there really isn't much else to occupy the mind except how hot you are. My husband seems impervious to heat. (Personally, I'll take cold over heat--you can always put on a sweater, but you can only get so naked...) The man sleeps under the quilts when it is 85 degrees in our bedroom at night! I'm drowning in salt and sweat and he's blissfully asleep under the covers. Go figure.

A newly renovated playground just reopened in our neighborhood--less than 2 blocks from our house! It has a great play area that has something for little kids and big kids, and has a wonderful splash ground, all courtesy of the city. The splash ground sprinklers come on at 11 a.m., which is a little late in the morning for us, but I took the boys to play there on Tuesday and had a lot of fun. Our sitter took them this morning and they had a great time again. It might just be our new go-to place, since it is close, has some shade, and water for splashing. I'm quite excited about the whole thing as the other two playgrounds in our neighborhood aren't as nice (and don't accommodate a range of ages as well) and are a bit of a pain to get to when the heat is high (and one is very pregnant!)

Today's card is one that I showed my mom how to make last week while we were visiting. She wanted to learn a bit more about brayering, and had suggested learning one of the Open Sea cards I've been teaching to my brayer classes, but given the limitations of luggage and traveling with two small children, I had to limit my supplies. I designed this card knowing what ink pads and papers she had and went from there. Plus it needed to be a card that would take less than a hour to demonstrate. I really like how it came out, actually! I tweaked the final design a little and added the score lines around the edge to create a frame and I like it better, I think.

Invitations everywhere...

Happy Monday! I spent this morning grocery shopping, going to the post office and working on a project for a client. I am hoping to get caught up this week after last week's inefficiency. Luckily my to-do list isn't too bad, and I don't have much going on this week (at least not yet!). I directed our church choir this weekend (Saturday night and Sunday morning), which meant a long time on my feet, so I'm a bit tired and swollen today, but at least it isn't so hot as it was. Last night, we celebrated Father's Day with M's godparents at Zahav, our favorite restaurant in Philly. They are very good about accommodating all my allergies, so it is nice to go there for special occasions.

My project this morning was to make birthday party invitations using the (retiring, sniff) Choo-Choo set. I think this is one set I'm going to hang on to--it is so handy for little boy cards and projects. Unfortunately, it was difficult to photograph this project--the Pacific Point looks way darker than in real life and all the colors seemed dark. I did my best editing the photo, but there you have it. You get the idea anyway. The invites turned out very well, I must say. They are postcard style and have spaces on the back for the time, place, etc. I made a version of this invite a LONG time ago, and perhaps posted it on the blog, so if it seems familiar, it probably is. I made a few tweaks to this version and like it much better than the original.

I probably should have spent the afternoon working on projects with deadlines, but sometimes you have to play to be creative. I actually spent this afternoon playing around with My Digital Studio. I've been wanting to recreate my Sesame Street Punch Pals invitations using MDS, but the last time I tried, I got frustrated and gave up. Since then, I've learned a few tricks about layering with punches and wanted to try them out. I think it is a reasonably good copy of the original! And a lot less time consuming to create. Like them? I'm putting them in my etsy store, along with the Choo Choo Train invitations.



Supplies for Train Invite:

Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise cs
Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Real Red inks
Choo Choo stamp set (plus Hugs and Wishes digital brush set for MDS), All aboard standard wheel
White 3/8" taffeta ribbon
glue dots

Eventful Week

I meant to make time to write a post almost every day this week, but was thwarted every day by some new disaster. So now it is Friday evening and I'm getting in my post for the week. This week was crazy busy! Monday morning, my husband asked me to make some kind of photo gift for my father-in-law for Father's Day. I ended up spending most of the day on it, using MDS (pics to come...), which was not on the schedule! (At least I only had to design one photo book, and then have three copies printed--I figured one for my father-in-law, one for my dad, and one for my husband) I had my monthly Philly Inkers' meeting on Monday night out in the suburbs; Tuesday, I taught a class in Newark, Delaware; Wednesday, I hosted my book club at my house; Thursday, my husband went to Washington DC all day for a reception for Justice Kennedy; and today, I spent the entire morning at my midwives' office for a three-hour-long blood test. I did manage to bake cookies for the class, and had enough left over to serve the book club the next night, but the baking was wedged in between crises on Tuesday afternoon.

Just to keep things interesting, on Tuesday afternoon, Piglet stuck two small rubber tires from one of his little cars up each nostril, necessitating an ER trip, a return visit the next day to an ENT, lots of crying and traumatic procedures to get it out, interrupted sleep because of nightmares due to said trauma, missed naps, etc. but at least the wheels are out! Thursday, I took the boys grocery shopping at Wegman's, and while I was doing the self-check out, somehow a bottle of Soft Scrub opened up all over my cart, my toddler, and half the groceries in the cart. It has been sort of nuts around here.

I entered both of today's cards into the monthly art contest that Stampin' Up! holds for its demonstrators. The contest was to showcase products from the Summer Mini, and I love this set! I'm always interested in new masculine sets, and this one fit the bill. I also like nautical stuff, so this is a great set for me. I didn't win anything this time, but perhaps I'll try again in a few months.

The first one uses heat embossing to create wave crests, and I have to say, I redid this card two or three times (including all the brayering and embossing) before I got a version I liked. I had seen a painting I wanted to recreate, and it proved quite a bit more difficult than I had thought (plus I made a bunch of dumb mistakes on the first go-round). I'm reasonably happy with this version. The second card is one I've been teaching at my brayer classes.  I love how it came out. I know it is sort of similar to the first card, but isn't it amazing how a change of color scheme can change the whole feel of a card? I'm a bit too tired to type up a supply list, so if you want particulars, just send me an e-mail.

Toddlers, Tantrums and Quilts

This week was a frustrating one for me. My three year old is going through a pretty challenging phase and it seems like every day is a new opportunity for him to get into trouble, pick on his brother, throw things, destroy his toys or other objects around the house, defy me or my husband, and generally be a pain about everything. He does all these things at some point in every day, throws tantrums that I can't always physically contain, and pushes all my buttons, and by the end of the week, I'm mentally and physically exhausted from it all. I don't know what I'd do without the relief of my regular babysitter! This week was particularly challenging because in addition to all of the above, Piglet refused to nap all week as well, which meant that by 4:30 in the afternoon, he was beyond tired, and unable to be reasonable At. All. It wasn't that I don't make him go into his bed and lie down for several hours, but he just didn't sleep! Mostly he used the time to fill up his pull up, as we are having major bowel training issues these days.

So when I got up this morning, I mentally geared myself for another awful day. And then I remembered. Oh wait. It is Saturday, and my husband is done with his cases! He doesn't have to work today for the first time in months!! Yippie! He had decided to take Piglet to the zoo, and I would keep Boo with me, but Boo is so easy to have around at this stage that it was no big deal! Boo and I walked to Whole Foods to make a big grocery run, and then he puttered around in the living room playing with toys while I cooked almost a week's worth of meals. I don't usually do that, but I was feeling so mentally light and free from the burden of dealing with Piglet for several hours that I was energized to do so. Plus it means I'm going to have more free time around dinner times this week, which is generally when my children misbehave the worst. (The witching hour, as anyone with small children knows...) I made beef vegetable soup, raspberry muffins, turkey noodle soup, the meat base for a taco pie, and cooked up a bunch of turkey for a turkey salad with peppercorn ranch dressing that I'm going to have for lunches this week (I'm allergic to chicken, for those who don't know). It felt great to get all that made today, even though I was pretty tired by the time I finished! We ate the beef soup with the muffins for lunch and dinner today (my husband was thrilled to have two hot meals in one day!) and there was still enough left over to freeze for a rainy day.

Now that we are past Mother's Day a bit, and my mom has received her card, I can show it to you. It took a lot of restraint not to show it the night I made it, but I stayed strong and held back. I used a great tutorial from splitcoast, but this card took a LONG time. Not because it is difficult to make (it isn't) but because I made some stupid mistakes on the first couple of tries and had to start over. Plus I lacked a 3/4" square punch and cutting all those bitty squares with my paper cutter was a bit pesky. But I'm very pleased with the final result and would like to try my hand at another quilted card soon! I have in mind to try the wedding ring design somehow.


Supplies:
Rose Red, Pear Pizzazz cs, Springtime Vintage dp
Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set
Rose Red Ink
Decorative label punch
pearls
rosettes
pear pizzazz seam binding
petals a plenty EF
sanding block

Putting one foot in front of the other

I must confess, I'm so unmotivated lately. Not just about stamping and creative work, but about everything. I'm having a hard time catching up on lost sleep from Holy Week and Pascha, and all my boys (husband included) seem to be passing a cold back and forth amongst themselves. Kind of draining. On the upside, I got to see Water for Elephants in the theatre all by myself last night and thoroughly enjoyed the movie and the night out. Love Robert Pattinson, can't wait for Breaking Dawn in November!!

The card I wanted to show you today isn't photographed yet because it took me 3 hours to make! I had this vision in my head, but it took three tries to get it (and I'm still not certain I like the result), and by the time I was done with it, the good light was gone. So hopefully I can photograph it later in the week and get it posted for you. Maybe by then it will have grown on me.The card I'm showing instead is one that I'm quite pleased with! I made it a few weeks ago when I was coming up with original designs for the brayer classes that I'm teaching this month and next. This one took a few tries to get right, but I based the design on a very cool photograph I found, and went from there. I'm trying to focus on more original designs, especially for technique-type cards. I sent this card in the mail to my mail swap buddy for April, Nikki, a fellow Philly Inker.

Playin' around with crayons

Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen! Greetings on this Bright Monday. The sun is shining, the day promises to be summer-like, and it is a great start to the Paschal season. We spent the latter half of Holy Week and Pascha (Easter) in Princeton as we usually do, to celebrate with our parish there. Our boys stayed up through the midnight service and through the early morning celebrations! (Well, the baby took a brief nap in the middle of the liturgy around 1 a.m., but he was up the rest of the time!) We got back to our hotel around 5:00 a.m. and I've never been so grateful for black out curtains in my life! We all slept about four hours, and then headed off to a friend's house for a Paschal brunch, and then home. All in all, a lovely weekend and a great Pascha celebration with our church family.

I had an unexpectedly eventful morning today. I had my routine monthly midwifery appointment at 9:30, and ended up waiting in the room for more than an hour before the midwife got there. I had woken up with another blistering headache (they've been plaguing me almost daily for the last month and Tylenol doesn't even take the edge off), and while I was sitting there, I could just feel myself feeling sicker and sicker. I couldn't get enough air in my lungs because my nose was so congested with hormones and such, and my head was pounding enough to make me dizzy and seeing spots. So I mentioned these things, along with the rather extreme fatigue I've been experiencing the last week or so, and, after she listened to the baby's heartbeat on the doppler (a strong 154 beats per minute!), she said, "Get thee to prenatal triage at the hospital!" Luckily the hospital is only a few blocks away on foot, but after waiting an hour at the office, and needing to run several errands this morning, going to the prenatal triage unit at the hospital at 11 a.m. was no on my agenda. But I went, they gave me some stronger meds for the headache, which helped quite a bit (still there, but much more a background noise than the main concert at this point). She didn't want to do anything about the short breathing, but at least an unexpected side effect of the medication was to ease some of the congestion in my face. So while the breathing isn't great, it is better. I was able to run my errands in double quick time on my way home, and got home by 2 p.m. My lovely long suffering babysitter was gracious to stay late, so everything worked out well.

Today's card is one I made in March while playing around with the crayon resist technique. It didn't quite turn out like what I had envisioned in my head, but I think I know what I will fix in the future if I make it again. What I should have done was put the white crayon in the middle areas and left the rims and edges dark, as if it was a rusty old truck. Oh well. That's what experiments are for, right? It is a rather nice masculine card. I'm saving it for Father's Day.


I also just had to share this photo from Spring Fling--it comes from my upline, Claire's, blog, but I think April Boyea, one of our fellow Philly Inkers, took the photo. I'm demonstrating how to make my cowboy lightening card.

(Yes, that is a cheap-o gas station French Vanilla cappuccino--I don't want to hear anything about it! :)

Too tired to tango...

Ever have one of those days when it just seems like too much energy to put one foot in front of the other? The last few days have felt like that to me. My husband has been gone 4 of the last 5 days, and I'm starting to feel it. I don't want to change one more diaper, feed one more jar of baby food, clean up one more mess of toys on the floor, wash one more load of laundry, or carry a 20+ pound child up 3 flights of stairs anymore. le sigh. Boo is getting up at 4:30 most mornings right now and is awake and talking (loudly) in his crib from then, and is also waking up around 10:30-11:00 p.m. with night terrors, so I'm sort of getting it at both ends right now. To say I'm in a creative slump would be to insult creative slumps. I'm hopeful that once my husband's next Supreme Court case is over, and all the attendant chaos, that things will settle and I'll get my brain back. Or maybe not. All my brain cells seem to have done the pregnancy migration south to the placenta. But enough crabbing about all that.


I'm so excited to share these two cards with you today! I finally forced myself to get out my brayer and inks and get creating! I've had a file of photographs that I thought would make good brayer-type cards for a while, and even though I look at the file from time to time, it has just seemed so overwhelming to me to actually get out the ink and brayer and make something. But I was determined to create something original today. I had one spectacular fail that went straight into the recycling bin, but the other two I'm quite pleased with. I was so excited to show them, I had to photograph and post them right away--I'm sure some of you who read this blog will understand that impulse!

Lightening Cowboy

Back on the couch the last few days. I've had a headache that just won't quit and Tylenol is just taking the edge off. So I haven't been terribly productive so far this week. It's probably to do with the spring weather--all those budding trees wreak havoc with my system. At least I'm getting my Spooks fix. :)

I made this card for my display board at Spring Fling. I saw a card on splitcoast that used crayon resist to make a lightening card, did a little searching around, saw this card, and I thought, that streak of lightening needs a cowboy in front of it! The card kind of grew from there.

Supplies:
White crayon
Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Rich Razzleberry, Elegant Eggplant, Basic Black inks
Out West stamp set
Pink Pirouette, Basic Black, Elegant Eggplant cardstock
sponges

One down...

Today, my husband argued his first case before the Supreme Court, Turner v. Rogers. He asked me to be there, so my mother-in-law and I took a very early train to Washington DC this morning and went to the Supreme Court to sit in on the session. After hearing so much about the case after all these months, it was fun to watch both sides argue their case, and to see the whole process up close. (Plus, since my husband clerked for Justice Kennedy many years ago, I knew a bit of behind-the-scenes stuff about the Court and some of the Justices). I will say, in my totally unbiased opinion, that my husband did better than lawyer for the Turner side. But that is just me. Now they have to wait a few months to see what the Justices actually decide as a verdict in the case. And my husband can focus his attention on the next case he is due to argue in less than a month. Suffice to say that it has been a busy few months in our household, with my husband working 70 hours a week since the beginning of January. But the end is in sight! I was very proud of him today. I wanted to point and say to the room, "That one, he's mine!" Ha!

The Justices (I couldn't find a current photo that included newly-appointed Justice Kagan)

Our return train was VERY late (we were stopping every 15 minutes or so for some sort of engine trouble) and limped back into the city two hours late, which wasn't ideal, but at least we made it home! I deemed it a good night for (Middle Eastern) take out to celebrate the day, and my husband and I went out to a local coffee shop after dinner for a nice celebratory (vegan) dessert.


Today's card is another one I made for my display board on Saturday using another of Michelle Zindorf's tutorials. (She's the real talent in the room, I just pretend...) She made her original card with non-SU! stamps and a few retired colors, so I modified the card to use the palm tree from Plant Hope and current blues. I like the line of palm trees in the different blues--I think it quite striking. I wish I had a little bird stamp like her original card used; it would have made a nice accent in the foreground. So many stamps, so little money! le sigh. :) I also substituted rhinestones for the brads because quite frankly, I'm slightly lazy when it comes to putting in brads. So now you know one of my dirty stamping secrets!

Supplies:

Baja Breeze, Marina Mist, Not Quite Navy, Basic Black inks
Plant Hope stamp set
sponges
Whisper White, Marina Mist, Not Quite Navy cardstock
white gel pen, basic black marker
rhinestones

Demonstrating for Renoir

Today was our big Philly Inker Spring Fling--what a blast! We spent the day socializing, eating, hearing a great two-part presentation from Stampin' Up! employee and demonstrator, Maxine Conrad, and, of course, stamping! I demonstrated some brayer and direct to paper projects at the beginning of the day, which was a lot of fun. But, as I said to several people throughout the day, since Michelle Zindorf was actually there, it was a little like demonstrating Impressionism with Renoir looking over your shoulder. Ha!


I had a lot of favorites from the day, and I'll show you more of what I did for my demonstration in the coming days/weeks, depending on how often I'm able to get a post together, but will leave you with one of the cards I made for the display board. I used Michelle's excellent tutorial, but changed it from a direct to paper card to a sponged card, which I think is just as striking. This card is also a good "think outside the box" kind of card, because the cowboy stamp is actually a line-image that is meant to be watercolored. Michelle had the idea to turn him into a silhouette stamp and I think it worked great! I am going to have lots of fun with this little guy now. :)

Supplies:

Ink: Not Quite Navy, Marina Mist, Rich Razzleberry, Early Espresso, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black ink and marker
Stamps: Out West
Paper: More Mustard (grunged up with Early Espresso); Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories: small star punch (retired); hemp twine (recycled from some packaging), antique brass brads, dimensionals, paper piercer, sponges

Daybook

A friend of mine does this periodically on her blog, and I thought I'd give it a whirl today. I promise there is a card at the bottom. Here's a sneak peak just to reassure you.

Outside my window…

Today was a lovely fall day--a hint of chill in the air, fall colors on the trees, bright sunshine and the crisp smell of coming rain. At the moment, however, it is dark and quiet.
I am thankful…
for our wonderful babysitter, who is unflappable in the face of toddler whims, potty accidents, baby spit up, and everything else.
I am hoping and praying…
that cooler weather is finally here to stay (and eager for winter weather!)

that I have enough time to get all my work done and get dinner on the table

that my children grow up to be polite, productive adults who are active in the life of the Church.
From the kitchen…
I'm still keeping on with Weight Watchers and am trying to stay motivated. My mantra these days is that nothing tastes as good as skinny feels. Some days I even believe it.
Towards rhythm and beauty…
I've got a better rhythm of meal planning (although I know it could still use some work) but will be glad when the day comes that my overall housekeeping has a better rhythm. I was doing well in the second trimester with Boo--I was on a laundry and cleaning schedule, in addition to regular weekly meal plans. Since his birth, however, I'm just keeping up with the meals and doing laundry as needed rather than on a particular day. Cleaning, well, I have some help. :)
I am reading…
Blindman's Bluff, by Faye Kellerman, the latest in the Decker/Lazarus mysteries
The Unwanted Sound of Everything We Want: A Book about Noise, by Garret Keizer
One Day by David Nichols (actually, I just finished it, just in time for my book club on Wednesday!)
I am pondering…
C.S. Lewis' thoughts on prayer
My own failures as a parent
I’m creating…
Wedding invitations and birth announcements! Plus a few cards here and there. And gearing up for Christmas cards. Stay tuned for an announcement on how to order yours from me.
I am listening to…
At the moment, nothing. But on my ipod, I'm listening to a mix I've dubbed "coffee shop", which includes Kate Rusby, Sia, Bat for Lashes, Bon Iver and St Vincent, Allison Krauss, Sting, Anya Marina, Iron and Wine, Joshua Radin, Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Elton John, just to name a few.
On keeping home…
See on keeping rhythm. I'm working on it. My house is clean, my dishes are washed, my family is fed, and my laundry is done, but I can't take credit for the clean house. At least I keep it neat and swept myself. Oh, and my bed is made every day.
Around the house…
I've done a lot of canning in the last two years, and this year, I decided I just couldn't do it. We were traveling almost nonstop during the first half of August, and then the last half, when I would normally be canning tomato products, hubby had a big work deadline and I just didn't have enough time with him working 16 hours a day and Boo nursing almost non stop. I feel guilty about it, but I have enough left from last summer to get us through part of the winter anyway. I did make freezer jam at least. I had hoped to make applesauce again this year, but that is going on the list of Things I Could Not Manage With a Nursing Newborn and Needy Toddler.
In the garden…
Um, well, we don't have a garden. We had aspirations at one time of using the community garden, but frankly, I don't have a desire to dig in the dirt when it is 100 degrees outside and I have two little children clinging to my skirts.
This week in the Church…
Nothing special this week, but next week (31st) hubby is being tonsured a reader by the bishop.
A few plans for the rest of the week…
I'm working on a custom order for a baby brag book and going to the gym. I didn't go today because I had to run errands while I had a babysitter and the errands took me all morning. I feel terribly guilty about it. But I have more energy than I have had in the last 3 weeks, so there's something to be said about missing a day at the gym.
Piglet this week…
Yes, we've resorted to bribery on the potty training front. Given the inducement of M&Ms, he went twice on the potty this morning for the sitter. (Yay for that!) We won't talk about the #2 accident he had at the playground in between.
Piglet is such a character--he loves all things related to church and is obsessed with prayer books. He likes to carry them around and chant at the top of his lungs. He likes books of all kinds and is especially into coffee table books at the moment. I have a big album of postcards from my and hubby's various travels and he loves flipping through it and looking at all the churches. The running commentary is hilarious ("blue church! people open the gates! people close the gates! gospel book! icon of Christ! icon of tokos!").
Boo this week…
Boo is one long string bean. He is 5 1/2 months old and wearing clothes that Piglet wore at 10 months! He is extremely social and loves to be around people. He is a smiley happy baby, and as long as he can see someone, fairly content. He has started to grab at toys and likes to exercise his vocal cords by "talking" fairly loudly for a stretch every afternoon. He is a good night time sleeper, but a lousy day sleeper. He prefers to sleep on his belly and has been known to flip over in the car seat for sleep if not properly strapped in!
A picture to share…

Okay, I have to toot my own horn on this card. I made it by request for my dear friend Elena, who wants to send it to her mother. She just asked for a "flower pot card" after seeing something my mom had sent me. I have been eying the butterfly punch pansies for some time and wanted to give them a try. I saw this set of note cards at the post office that featured pansies flowing out of a wicker wheelbarrow and decided to try and recreate it. I'm so pleased with the result!
This is how the card opens--you pull out the top layer of pansies to reveal the card inside.


I'm considering making a tutorial out of this one, but only if there is enough interest. So let me know, okay?
Supplies:
Sahara Sand, Whisper White cs
Elegant Eggplant, Rich Razzleberry, Pale Plum, Almost Amythest, Daffodil Delight, Sahara Sand inks
Sponges
5/8" Old Olive grosgrain ribbon
Gold brads
Paper piercing tool
Butterfly punch
Basic black marker
dimensionals
Circles #2 die
jumbo brad (white)
glue

Summer in the City

Oh man, it is H-O-T, hot today. Supposed to hit 102 with 105 heat index and not break until Thursday night. Bummers, bummers. Did I mention we don't have AC?? I took the boys out to the mall this morning because I had errands to run, and it was an air conditioned space, so that was a plus. The downside was having to get back into the baking hot car. I have to say, the humidity is the worst. I was in Kyrgyzstan in July and August one year, and the northern part gets up to 110 during the day, but it is a very dry heat and more manageable than this wet nastiness here. But Boo did well and Piglet did tolerably well (he is very tired today after the weekend) and we got it all done, which is the important thing.

Fr. A censing the font.

The other big news is that Boo is officially baptized into the Orthodox Church! I'm also churched again as of Saturday, so we all went to church on Sunday morning again as a family and Boo had his first communion. My sister-in-law offered to photograph the baptism and she took a whopping 1000 pictures! I culled them down to 135, and then picked 45 out of that lot to work with for the baby book. The 135 will go into a Shutterfly photo book as a keepsake. She did a lovely job.

Boo's godparents

We had lots of family here over the weekend for the baptism on Saturday and then my family stayed the long weekend, so we went to New York City yesterday to spend the day, since they'd never been. It was hot, but we spent the hottest part of the day at the Met, and tried to take buses instead of walking, so all in all, very manageable. My feet still hurt today, though!

My share today is a card that I made last week using a tutorial from Sophie Landry over at Sunny Stamping Studio by Andrea Walford. The tutorial was for a Christmas card, but I thought that Bob and Larry would work better for a party invitation and adapted accordingly. I'm quite pleased with the result! This card is a great example of how something little makes big difference.

On the original (above) the Tempting Turquoise background was flat, and I kept thinking the card needed a little somethin'-somethin', but couldn't figure out what. It occurred to me that dry embossing the background would probably be the perfect thing, so when I was at Claire's one day last week, I took a Tempting Turquoise panel and ran it through her Big Shot with the Square Lattice embossing folder and voila, that was it! I've listed these in my etsy store if you are interested. :)


Supplies:
Real Red, Glorious Green, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, So Saffron, Whisper White, Basic Black cs
Hugs and Wishes stamp set (retired)
Bravo Burgundy, Old Olive, Garden Green, Tempting Turquoise ink, Glorious green marker, white gel pen
1/4" circle punch, 1 3/4" circle punch, boho blossoms punch
Real Red grosgrain ribbon
modern label punch
large circle die
sponge

Hydrangea

I'm very excited to share today's card--I made it on Monday and had to wait until today to post it. For those of you who follow various stamping-related blogs, I'm sure you've started seeing cards featuring one of the new hostess sets available in the new catalog (available July 1st!). The set has a big hydrangea and a bunch of nice sentiments. Demonstrators get a lot of great perks, and being able to preorder some items a month in advance is one of them. The perk about this set is that Stampin' Up! gave it for free to demonstrators who purchased the new color kit, which included the new core colors of cardstock and ink pads. Unfortunately, my small budget for this quarter was already used up, so I had to pass on the kit and the free set for now.


In any case, with all these hydrangeas floating around the web, I decided to create my own! Sometime before Mother's Day, Connie Babbert posted a card with a lilac made from the trio flower punch. I thought it was a cool idea and saved the card for future reference. As I started thinking hydrangeas, I noticed that our neighbor has a bunch of them blooming in front of her house, and I took a closer look one day to get an idea about colors and shading and such, and realized that the shape of the flowers was similar to the trio flower punch too! And thus a great idea was synthesized. I used Elegant Eggplant and Brocade Blue for my colors with a glitter pen for accents.
Corrected 6/11/10: I should add that two of the elements on this card are on the last chance list, so if you love them, be sure to get them before they are gone! You can shop in my online store by clicking on the "Cherish" card on my left sidebar. The retiring elements are the trio flower punch and the Brocade Blue cardstock. Items are selling out very quickly and only stamps are guaranteed in stock until the end of the month, so don't wait too long!

Supplies:
Elegant Eggplant, Brocade Blue, Naturals White cardstock
Oval All stamp set
Elegant eggplant ink
Large oval, scallop oval, 2 step bird, and trio flower punches
glitter glue pen
tombow monoadhesive glue

Watercoloring with Elements of Style

Hello friends and Happy Friday! "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, it's a beautiful day for a neighbor, would you be mine? Would you be mine?" That was my favorite show when I was a toddler; I have to say, it was the end of an era when Fred Rogers died 7 years ago. I confess I did shed a little tear when I got the news--I was living in Moscow at the time, so it seemed quite remote to me, but nonetheless, a significant passing somehow.

Random nostalgia for children's television programing aside, it is a beautiful day today and I've been a productive bunny! My son and I went out this morning with our Phil and Ted's stroller to get local milk and eggs from the neighborhood coffee shop that carries them. We came home without any fuss, at which time I decided it was time to deep clean the house from top to bottom. (Nesting, nesting, I know!) After I'd finished (and given myself the reward of a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting from said coffee shop), I remembered I was 9 months pregnant. Oops. I'm feeling a bit loose in the joints now and am moving slowly this afternoon, but I tell you, having a clean house is WORTH it when those nesting urges kick in. Sometimes crazy-clean Dutch genes trump third trimester somnolence. I might even bake cookies this afternoon, how about that?


I made today's card last weekend when I was just playing around with the Elements of Style set. I aspire to be a good watercolorer, but am still working on my technique, so I decided to have a go with the big toile image from that set (available May 1st in the summer mini!). I stamped the flowers in Staz-on on watercolor paper and then got out Rich Razzleberry, Always Artichoke and Baja Breeze inks and my aquapainter and set to work. I'm quite pleased with how it all came out; it gives me motivation to keep at the watercolors. I used a little Apricot appeal in the center of the flowers just for contrast.

Supplies:
Rich Razzleberry, Baja Breeze, Always Artichoke cs, Watercolor paper
Elements of Style stamp set
Rich Razzleberry, Baja Breeze, Always Artichoke, Apricot Appeal ink
Aquapainter
Always Artichoke grosgrain ribbon
dimensionals

Custom retirement card: Summer Mini Sneak Preview!

It's a great morning--my son slept for more than 14 hours last night without a peep, woke up completely dry, ate a good breakfast (yippie, skippie!!) and has been in a cheerful mood all morning. Will wonders never cease? We went to Trader Joe's this morning for our weekly grocery run and he even did fine there. He is puttering around with his toys in the living room listening to Chicago's Greatest Hits--I used to have that album in LP format and kind of miss my big ol' record player at times. It fell victim to my move to Russia eight years ago and I couldn't justify replacing it when I moved back to the States. There was something viscerally satisfying about putting the needle down on the record and hearing the little scratchy pops as the table started turning. I miss 8 tracks too--we had a player in our station wagon growing up and I always think of them when I listen to Mac Davis or Gordon Lightfoot or Seals and Crofts. Ever listen to Honeysuckle Magic or Burnin' Thing? Classics. I can't find a embeddable version of either of those on the web, but here is his version of In the Ghetto (love it--this version is better than Elvis'):

I was very slow to adopt CDs and am being very pokey about giving them up for mp3s now. Yes, I know, I'm a peaceful Luddite.


My sister called me earlier this week to ask me to make her a customized retirement card for her husband's co-workers. I had just received my pre-order Elements of Style stamp set (available May 1st in the summer mini!) and knew exactly what I wanted to do. CASE Michelle Zindorf, of course! I'd been eying the set since samples starting showing up on the blogs in January after Leadership, when attendees received the set for free, but was sitting on the fence about it until I saw Michelle's card. Then I knew I definitely wanted the set! It is so versatile--you can use the big flower stamp as a toile background or as the center piece of your card or project, and the flourish stamp is a lovely accent. The hummingbird had to grow on me, as I'm not much of a "bird person", but I like him now too. And, I'm proud to say, after a long period on the outs, that my brayer and I are now officially on good terms. Possibly even BFF terms. :)

Supplies:
Old Olive smooth and textured, bashful blue, very vanilla cs
Elements of Style stamp set
Jet black staz-on, blush blossom marker, Old Olive, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy, Bashful Blue inks, basic black, certainly celery, always artichoke markers
stamp-a-ma-jig
white gel pen
sponges, brayer
large oval punch, large circle die cut

Descent of the Crud

I had hoped to get a bunch of stamping done this week (lots of great color combos to try!) and have a lot of card ideas running around in my head, but this virus or whatever it is (I've christened it the "crud") is nasty and has really taken the wind out of my sails. But mamas don't get a day off to be sick, so I still had to make a quick run to the grocery store this morning and make tomorrow's breakfast banana bread this afternoon. At least my son seems to be feeling better--he slept well last night and his cough is much better today. Honey is a great cough soother, in case you didn't know!My other project this week (which is a little more time sensitive) is getting my son's new room decorated before we move him out of the nursery. His new room (now to be known as the kids room) was my old stamping room, so last night we shifted my desk into the front guest room (we had moved my craft closet supplies there several weeks ago) and I'm adjusting to being in a different location. I'm decorating his new room with the Fox and Friends Decor Elements, and will share pictures once everything is in place. Right now I just have the Decor elements taped to the walls for placement while I put other things up around them. I ran out of command strips this morning (we have a lot of mortar walls in our house and can't nail much in) and have to get more before I can make much more progress in the room.

My share today is a card I made a while back and is CASEd almost directly from the SAB brochure from last year. I didn't have enough bashful blue scraps to make a mat, so I switched the colors around and matted with Rose Red and used Bashful Blue satin ribbon instead. A nice clean and simple card.

Supplies:
So Saffron, Whisper White, Rose Red cs
Polka Dot punches, Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets
Rose Red, So Saffron, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery inks
Scallop circle punch, 1/2" circle punch, small and large oval punches, eyelet lace border punch (borrowed)
Bashful blue 5/8" satin ribbon
Dimensionals