Threads of Time

Happy Birthday, Valerie!!!

I think I made this card the same year that I made the Train Delayed card (see 8/12/2007). It was made for my friend Valerie's birthday that year.

Instead of using any of the pigment powders for this card, I rubbed a Colorbox Violet Inkpad directly onto the chipboard. You have to heatset the ink at that point to make sure you get a good impression when you add the stamps. The assorted images were all stamped in Memories Black (but it turned dark purple during following steps). Then the embossing powders were applied the same way as in the post directly below this. Instead of dropping beads into the hot UTEE like I did on that card though, I had cut some fibers off of a metallic eyelash yarn (hence the name of the card) and dropped a few of those in there. Building up UTEE on top of a background of Colorbox ink, does not work quite as well as it would have if I had used the powdered pigments or painted the background. It tends to fade with each coat of embossing powder applied, but I still like the way it turned out.

Dragonfly Legend

I made this card for my mother-in-law Carol, for her birthday a few years back. I may have made one for my mom also, but if I did I'm not sure she still has it. She once told me that I did such a great job on the envelopes to my cards that it was a shame to throw them away. Horror struck, I asked her why she was throwing them away and she coolly said, "Well, I can't keep everything". Obviously, I did not inherit my pack rat tendencies from her!!! [grin] Carol, on the other hand keeps her card out on display, and also has a box with all the other cards I have made her (and their envelopes, I might add). A cool tip: A friend of mine (who also got this card for her birthday) has a mammoth sized cork board that she likes to hang her cards on. The envelopes she then mounts in a little homemade book so she can look at them whenever she wants, and they are all kept neatly contained. You probably could make these so that the card could be put back in the envelope if you wanted to take it off of display.

This card is made very much like the Train Delayed card. The basic changes are the colors and the choice of stamps.

The central element is a piece of chipboard which I first covered the raw edge with a blue Marvy Metallics Marker. I then covered the top of the chipboard with Matte Medium. While still wet, I rubbed Pearl Ex Pigment powders in Duo Green-Yellow and Duo Blue-Green and Powdered Pearls powder in Blue unto the surface. When that had dried sufficiently, I painted a second thin coat of matte medium to seal the surface. After the chipboard piece had completely dried (best if you leave these go overnight or dry with a heat gun), I stamped Dragonfly Legend P1-622 by Stampers Anonymous onto the surface using a Midnight Blue Memories ink pad. I then heat set the ink with my heat gun. Next I daubed clear embossing fluid over the entire surface of the piece, immediately dipping it into clear embossing powder and heating with my heat gun. Once the embossing powder melted, I sprinkled on one layer of Holographic Embossing Powder and a few blue and green tiny glass beads around the corners and continued heating and adding clear Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel onto the surface until I had an even surface. I allowed the surface to cool enough that it would not stick and then I stacked a pile of phone books on top of the piece and set it aside overnight. This step prevents too much warping of the chipboard. The next day, I made a card out of dark blue paper which I dragged the edge of a Seaglass Colorbox stamp pad across the front lightly to add character. I then glued the chipboard to the front with a Tombow blue glue stick and again set it aside under the phonebooks to dry. When finished I took a metallic blue gel Xtreme pen and drew a thin line bordering the central piece. As a final touch, I tied a sheer iridescent ribbon on the spine of the card.

with this ring...

Twenty four years ago today, two silly kids joined hands and hearts in a small country church with just a few very close friends and family in attendance. Well... obviously we weren't the only ones being silly!!! [grin] Rev. Buell was also a bit silly that day!!!



I want to point out the size of cake that I cut to feed Bob for the cake eating ceremony. Now look at the size that Bob cut to feed me!!! And you just know what he did by that evil smirk on his face. Mind you, this was right after my mother had lectured us about being crass and told us not to smash the cake in each others faces. We always did have a problem with authority figures!!! [grin]

When you read this, Bob... I would share my cake all over again with you.

I Love You!

Feeder Friends

I always liked this card. And I always intended to make more of them. I even have the stamps down in my basement tucked away in a box ready to go. (Don't tell me that you never do this!!!) Anyhow, this was another project of my stamp club. We drew names, and then mailed a card to the person who's name we drew. Mine went to Mari Roberts.

The main image, Feeder Friends HMTR1021 from Stampa Rosa, was stamped and embossed in black embossing powder on white cardstock. The image was then colored using an assortment of Le Plume watercolor brush markers. Now, this was done way back before the stamps came out with the color indexing, so I thought the birds looked like chickadees. Well... they are sparrows. In fact, looking at the stamp now, I'm not sure why I didn't see that right away!!! [grin]

I made a card out of red cardstock and layered the white panel on top. Inside I *think* I stamped and embossed in black the phrase "Live, love, laugh and be happy..." CR1034. I'm not 100% sure because I never scanned the inside, and it has been a loooong time since I made that card.

I then stamped the image, Amanda Writes HMGR1001, on a envelope I made using pink speckled paper. To protect the innocent and the guilty [snicker], I have sprayed over the addresses in Paint. I'm sure you could have all done a better job of this, but I don't know a lot about altering images in the computer! And for those bright people who caught it... Yes, I did mail the card and then I borrowed it back to scan it. I'm shameless!!!

A-weema-weh, A-weema-weh...

I guess the best place to go to the restroom is in the JUNGLE! Jungle Jim's International Market, that is.

First, I must apologize, the above picture is not my own as they do not allow cameras inside the store. However, I thought you just might need an enticement to see the other views of this truly unique bathroom! Go to: http://www.bestrestroom.com/winnerpics.html to see more high resolution photos. Also check out: http://www.junglejims.com/ to see a humorous picture of Jungle Jim with the award. You can then click on THIS to see the official news release by ABR Cintas. (Yes... this is a real award.)

If you are remodeling your bathroom... well, you just might want to start with a port-o-potty!!!

In the Jungle, The Mighty Jungle...

Now just how many grocery stores do you know of that are set up like a theme park? And I'm not just talking about the outside, which will soon feature a monorail ride and has the rows of parking set up with colorful characters to help you find your car again after you leave.

No, I'm talking about a store that has animated characters welcoming you to the different areas inside the store! Imagine a full size firetruck hoisted up above the massive hot sauce display. Penguins frolicking over the frozen food. A talking Campbell's Soup can poised over the American Groceries. What??? Did she say American Groceries??? Why... Yes, yes I did. Because you see, this is no ordinary grocery. Welcome to Jungle Jim's International Market!!!

Every time Bob and I go down to Cincinnati, Ohio, we make a point of stopping there. They have a massive fruit and vegetable section with many exotic selections. Bob and I got a Durian down there a few weeks back and used it to make smoothies. I spied some Dragon Fruit in there the other day, and we are hoping that they will still have some when we go down on Monday. That would make a striking addition to a fruit salad.

They have a map available at the entrance to help you navigate all of the different sections. For that matter, you can make arrangements to go on a guided tour. Explore the Jungle, if you will!!!

As for Bob and I, we always hit the produce section hot and heavy and then pick out an area to explore. Did you know that in England, Nestle markets a chocolate bar that is for men? Yup! It is called YORKIE and the "O" has been replaced with the international no symbol with a woman in it. Their slogan is... IT'S NOT FOR GIRLS! What does that have to do with anything, you ask?!?! Well, you can buy them at Jungle Jim's. Along with all sorts of other strange items lurking among the shelves. It's always an adventure!!!

So follow the hyperlinks and check it out. Don't forget to stop at the restroom!!! It's a hoot!!!

Oh... and for those of you that followed Tera's link to this site, the thing that made her laugh so hard is the post directly below this one. Have fun!!!

Don't You DARE Press That Button!!!

*********Put The Big Red Button on your site

*

For all of you Raw Divas out there, just start tapping this button. By the time you are done, you will have forgotten about any cravings you were having!!! [grin]

A Necklace for Mary

(Click to supersize)
I was planning on posting a picture of my foot all taped up by the podiatrist, but wouldn't you really rather see this!!! Besides, I had a special request from Raw Diva Tera to post a picture of some of my jewelery.

This was the very first beaded necklace that I ever made. Okay... it is the ONLY beaded necklace I have ever made! I made it as a gift for my friend Mary, who throws the absolute bestest birthday parties for herself. It's like going to a children's birthday party! We have games with prizes, an art project, lots of great food, and Mary makes us each a wondrous party favor!!! Mary is an artist, and since all of her friends are artists, too, she gets some really amazing gifts. I think we all try to outdo each other, and it results in a lot of beautiful gifts!!!

All of the larger beads are Swarovski Crystals and the smallest beads were a string of tiny crystal seed type beads. To see the colors, you really do need to click on the picture to supersize it. In fact, all of the pictures on this blog can be viewed at their original size by clicking on them. The necklace sparkles almost as much as Ms. Mary!!!

Train Delayed

Many years ago, our stamp club was asked to submit cards to be displayed on a board at Stampaway USA in Cincinnati. This was my card on the board.

The central element is a piece of chipboard which I first edged with a gold marker. I then covered the top of the chipboard with Matte Medium. While still wet, I rubbed Pearl Ex powders in Super Copper and Aztec Gold, and Powdered Pearls in Jade unto the surface. When that had dried sufficiently, I painted a second thin coat of matte medium to seal the surface. After the chipboard piece had completely dried, I stamped several clock images, a pen nib, and the faux mail mark; mail late train delayed onto the surface using black waterproof ink. I then heat set the ink with my heat gun.

Next I daubed clear embossing fluid over the entire surface of the piece, immediately dipping it into clear embossing powder and heating with my heat gun. Once the embossing powder melted, I sprinkled on one coat of Holographic embossing powder and continued heating and adding clear Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel onto the surface until I had a nice even shiny surface. I allowed the surface to cool enough that it would not stick and then I stacked a pile of phone books on top of the piece and set it aside overnight. This step prevents too much warping of the chipboard.

The next day, I made a card out of black recycled confetti paper and glued the chipboard to the front with a Tombow blue gluestick and again set it aside under the phonebooks to dry. When finished I took a bronze gel pen and drew a thin line bordering the central piece.

This is one of my favorite techniques, and you will see it used in other pieces that I have made.

A Cry in the Night

Phalaenopsis Little Emperor

Have you ever been right on the verge of sleep when you are jolted awake with the knowledge that you had left something undone? Last night, I had just started to enter that twilight state of somnolence when I heard my orchids screaming for a drink of water. It was bad enough that they woke me up. (The fact that I had been tossing and turning most of the night trying to get to sleep made it worse.) But when the Little Emperor and his friends demand an audience, I obey. Once I got up and thoroughly doused all of them, the pitiful cries of neglect stopped and I was finally able to go back to bed and find sweet sleep. Four hours later the alarm went off. Ah, well. Another day dawns!!!

A Knock at the Duir

I have had this link on my computer for several years now. It always makes me smile when I watch it, and fills me with a sense of awe. I hope you will find it as inspirational as I always have!

http://www.duirwaighgallery.com/inspiration_aknock.htm

Now... open the door!!!

Butterfly Wiz Card

I made this card many moons ago when I was working at Art on the Block for a swap in our stamp club, Chips off the Block. The challenge for this exchange was to "stamp cute", no matter what your personal stamping style. The stamp is 1150 T Butterfly Wiz by Visual Image Printery. It was embossed in black on watercolor paper. I then taped down the paper along each edge to a counter and watercolored the background sky and grass and then sprinkled with course salt and allowed it to dry to draw the paint. Then I finished watercoloring the rest of the scene. When it dried, I untaped the edges to expose the white paper and then trimmed it with deckle edged scissors. I used a sea sponge to sponge Pearlescent Ink in Galactic Blue, Moon Violet, and Sundown Magenta over a sheet of glossy light blue cardstock. When dry I cut it to size and layered it onto a card I had made using a goldenrod colored stock. I then attached the watercolored panel "photo" to the card using kraft colored photo corners.

The Best Kind of Medicine!

I got this big box dropped off on my doorstep about a week ago. I could not imagine what it could be, but I deduced from the return address that it was from my friend Sue! I opened the box to find this large roll of paper inside. Intrigued, I opened it!


(click photo to enlarge)
This has got to be the best get well card you could possibly receive!!! I did have to throw it in the fridge for a bit, as the day was over 90 degrees and the chocolates were very soft. But they came out just fine, and started disappearing right away. Remember... chocolate is very high in antioxidants!!! Honestly, you do need to click on the above picture to read the card and get the full impact!!!

As for the foot... the doc said that the sprain is coming along. I'm still having trouble with it though, so he prescribed more meds. He also gave me a heel cup to wear in my shoe. I have a heel spur, in addition to the sprain. I go back next Monday and we will reevaluate the treatment plan. Bad news: crutches and no driving for another week. Good news: Bob has to cater to my needs and do the housework after putting in eight hours at his job each day. He says he feels like a woman!!! :) Oh, and if you missed the drama of how I injured the foot... I was attempting a spin and kick in Tai Chi. Only problem is, I spun but my foot did not!

Memories of Millers

Bob was holding hearings out of town the other day and I went with him. When I got out of the car at the hotel, a wave of nostalgia nearly knocked me off my feet and I had to grab the camera!

When I was growing up, my grandparents had a house in the country right beside ours. Attached to this house was my Grandfather McBride's barber shop. In front of this barber shop, my grandmother (who's maiden name was Miller and who was in the local gardening club) always planted a border of Dusty Millers with Coleus and Flowering Kale in the bed. You don't see these old-fashioned plants as much as when I was growing up, and that is why I got the warm fuzzies just seeing them.

Clyde Beatty Bush

Hi there!

I thought that I would try out this blogging that seems to be so popular! That's my baby up there. His name is Clyde and he has been with my hubby, Bob, and I for twenty-one years. Don't ask him if he can talk. He'll treat you to a rousing song of "Birds Can't Talk"! Yep... you heard that right. Although I taught him to say the phrase, he now prefers to sing it!!!