March 30th Weekly Post

 Happy Sunday, Everyone!

I hope we all had good weeks.

We did, although I ate too much. The meals we had were too good not to indulge, lol.

And we had great weather for our home renovation crew until Wednesday when it began raining.

So this phase won't finish up until next week now.

The same crew will be doing the next phase, so that's good, but we probably won't have a little break now. Or I guess we had one during the rain, lol.

************************

The theme this week at Sunday Postcard Art is Ephemera and is hosted by Cindy.

Now I was going to do a nice safe Tim Holtz-style collage using his ephemera.

But I found these very old green and blue paper ephemera pieces that I've had forever and I think they were originally in an A.T.C. Collection pad.

So, I was like, these need to get used up now.

And I made 2 for my 4X6 art journal album:

This one I collaged the ephemera onto my 4x6 base, highlighted with a green Promarker and added a TH Small Talk phrase sticker.

For this one, I collaged the ephemera, scribbled over it with Shaded Lilac and Chipped Sapphire Distress Crayons and then rubbed them in with a baby wipe. I edged the card with a black Promarker and added another TH Small Talk phrase sticker.

And done.

*********************

And since this is the last Sunday of the month

(a fourth of this year is gone already!),

it's time for me to share the Christmas cards I've made since February 2nd when I shared the 4 cards I had made. I'm happy to say I now have 16 made.

Grouped above are the 7 cards that I made using those 4x6 pieces that I'd made for SPA over the last 6 months. 3 of these are for March's Donner (reindeer) theme at SCS.

(My Besties image)

(LOTV image)

(Gecko Galz image)

(Bugaboo image)

These are the 4 cards I made using February's 12 Drummers Drumming theme at SCS.

(Gecko Galz image)

And here is another reindeer card using March's Donner theme at SCS.

************************

Well, I know I'm being lazy and not providing my usual materials details, but between my bloated tummy and it almost being my bedtime, I'm going to end this now.

I sure hope you have a great week ahead and thanks so much for your visit today.

Hope to see you here again next Sunday.

XOX

March 23rd Weekly Post

 Happy First Sunday of Spring, everyone!

We continue to have awesome weather here, which is a blessing when you are having your home remodeled. One more week and then we will get a little break before the next round of renovations. 

The theme at Sunday Postcard Art this week is hosted by Marion and she has chosen Bicycle.

I used an Impression Obsession bicycle stamp and die on separate white card and colored it with markers and silver colored pencil. For the background scenery on my 4x6 card, I stamped a Nellie Snellen Idyllic scene that's supposed to be Winter but I thought it worked fine for Spring, too. The scene was also heat-embossed with clear powder and colored with watercolors.

The sentiment is from Artistic Outpost's A Lovely Day stamp set.

While I have used the bicycle before, the other stamps were first time use.

Now, wouldn't that be a nice place to take a little ride?

**********************

I used my Katy Sue Designs Flowers 3D Decoupage kit hydrangea image, Prima Pretty Pale designer papers and some navy, periwinkle and brown card stock scraps to make this. The card base is Bazzill.

 

And the sketch I used, stretched to 6x6.

*************************

No, you aren't seeing double, lol. I had found another sketch very similar to the first hydrangea card sketch, so I decided to make another hydrangea card using the second sketch while I had the papers and decoupage images out. On this second card, I tried stamping some Rubbernecker hydrangeas on the brown horizontal strip and heat embossing with white powder. I do like the effect peeking out, adds texture. Everything else used is same as first card.

 

And the sketch I used, stretched to 6x6.

*************************

A new boy baby card for a nephew and his wife.

I ordered the onesie die from Amazon. It came with the cute bib, snaps, bowtie and Sweet Baby words.

I used designer papers by Foof-a-la Peekaboo Collection and SU baby blue card stock. The baby alligator is a Frantic Stamper die I won last year and had not yet used. The blessings sentiment is by Cottage Cutz and the blue and white heart die is by Sizzix. I cut the blue oval behind the onesie using a Spellbinders die.

And the sketch I used.
***********************

Thanks for the visit today!

I hope your week goes well and you get some time to be crafty!

Hope to see ya here again next Sunday

XOX

March 16th Weekly Post

 

Hello and Happy Sunday!

We had great weather this week, which was good because we started some repair work here at Casa Winans. Having workmen under foot all week took some getting used to! And more for the week ahead, but it has to be done. I'm just thankful that so far I haven't had to move any art supplies or creating areas!

The theme this week at Sunday Postcard Art is Bloom and Grow, hosted by Peggy.

I have an Artistic Outpost stamp set named Bloom & Grow, so I used the seed packet frame, the flowers and the sentiment from it. For the 4x6 background, I sponged on Mustard Seed Distress Ink, then Wild Honey DI through a TH Hive Layering Stencil. After that dried, I got out my bees from various stamp companies and stamped them all over the background with Versafine Clair ink. I edged the card with a brown marker. I stamped the frame and then the flowers on some scrap ivory yellow paper, colored the flowers with Promarkers, stamped bees around it, and then fussy cut the frame to adhere. The bottom horizontal strip was cut out of brown scrap using a Spellbinders Torn Edge Rectangle die. I stamped the sentiment and die cut it using a Spellbinders Fancy Labels die and adhered both to the card.

***********************

This is a card made for our mail lady.

SU card base, Prima Melody collection designer papers, mats cut using Spellbinders Labels 2 dies, images and sentiments are from Katy Sue Designs Decoupage kit, and 3 pink rhinestones to finish.

And here is the sketch that I used.

************************

This is a card that I made a brother-in-law.

SU and Basic Grey card stocks, Junkitz designer papers, Impression Obsession bird dies, MFT stamped sentiments on Amazon Nested Arch die cuts (2 used as sentiment strips and the largest is a frame for the focal image). The focal image was created with stamps from Creative Stamping Magazine issue 86 and colored with Promarkers and colored pencils.

 

And the sketch I used, rotating it to the left and then resizing it to 6x6.

***********************

This is a card I made for a girlfriend I've known since first grade.

I used an SU card base, Prima Sasha collection designer papers, Gemini oval and square torn edge dies, deckle edge deco scissors, a Lawn Fawn sentiment die and a Katy Sue Designs Decoupage kit floral image.

And the sketch that I used.

***********************

That's all for today.

I hope that your week ahead is a good one and I hope you'll join me again next Sunday!

XOX

March 9th Weekly Post

 Hello there and Happy Sunday!

Hope everyone has survived the week with Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday.

Then the weekend with its theft of an hour for some of us.

Ah, the jetlag of Daylight Savings Time change!

Last week for us was Faux Spring warmth and now it's Faux Winter Chilly again, lol.

So, the theme of Espresso which is hosted by Audrey this week at Sunday Postcard Art seems made for our weather, something warm to take the chill off. I have two Inkadinkado espresso cup stamps I've never inked up, so I stamped each in a different shade of brown Versafine Clair and clear heat-embossed them. I used a blue Versafine Clair to do the same with a large Inkadinkado sentiment stamp and a small Clear Dollar sentiment Stamp. I used a CASual Friday coffee bean stencil and some blue Distress Ink to create a ground for the coffee cups. I also stenciled coffee rings with some brown DI and a TCW stencil. Then I blended blue DI's around the edges and stippled DI's in the middle. I colored the cups and edged the card with Promarkers. I used a white gel pen to highlight the coffee steam and then finished it with lots of titan buff acrylic paint splatters using my Tim splatter brush.

Edited to ADD: 

Almost forgot, I wanted to share this old journal page I made with a coffee theme and mentioning espresso. I wrote the poem trying to "explain" the Gecko Galz image: 

*****************************

I used a Katy Sue 3D Decoupage kit for the images and sentiment strip on this birthday card for a sister-in-law.

The Crafter Companion green shimmer background cardstock was embossed with a WRMK Next Level Geometric folder. The card base is Recollections. And there is a very skinny sheer red ribbon on the left vertical side and also the bottom horizontal side, largely hidden but there.

 

The sketch I used, stretched to 6x6. I also flipped the ribbon to intersect at bottom.

*****************************

And another card for a sister-in-law.

I used a precut A6/R30 insert card and envie in a light peachy pink for the base.

I found some digital strawberry paper at Simply Cianna Etsy shop and printed out some for the front and back, die cutting them with a Cheery Lynn Scalloped Rectangle die.

I used the black Versafine Clair ink to stamp the Papertrey Ink sentiment and then cut it with an SU label punch. Clean and simple.

And the sketch used.
************************

This is a wedding card with an inset "intarsia" look.

I cut the Sizzix Swirly Heart Frame die 3 times, out of SU winter white, dark pink and lighter pink card. I cut the white card also with a Spellbinders Art Deco Fairmont Label die and drew around the inner perimeter with a gold shadow gel pen. The 2 pink die cuts fit into the white card like puzzle pieces.

I stamped and heat-embossed the Hampton Arts sentiment with Versamark and white powder, and the Visible Image rings stamp with Versamark and gold powder. I colored the rings with a gold glitter brush pen.

For the flowers at the bottom of the heart, I stamped an Avery Elle Modern Floral bouquet on white card with Versamark and heat embossed it with gold powder. Then I colored it using Nuvo watercolor brush pens and die cut it using the coordinating die.

The background striped designer paper is by Paper Symphony and the card base is cut from Bazzil card stock.

 

And the sketch I used, stretching it to 6x6 size.
*************************

That does it for me this week.

I've been streaming episodes of 1923, and also episodes of Nobody Wants This.

Having lost interest in TV and movies for quite a while, it feels weird to watch anything longer than a Facebook reel or TikTok video, LOL.

 I literally have to stop often and put on music (what I'm used to!) or get up and walk around, go to the bathroom, do chores, etc.

It's making me very aware of the time spent sitting in one spot, lol.

Thought I sat a lot when creating, but apparently it can be worse!

Hope everyone has a fabulous week ahead.

Seeya next Sunday!

*************************

March 2nd Weekly Post

 Happy Sunday!

Hope everyone is doing well.

I very much appreciate all the well wishes for my birthday, thank you!

I'm having a great birthday weekend.

Enjoying our daughter's visit immensely, and we are having perfect Faux Spring weather - sunny skies and high temps in the 70's.

😁😎😁

The new theme for the week at Sunday Postcard Art is Spring and is hosted by Annie.

So, I thought this would be a great chance to use a Rubbernecker Hydrangeas stamp set I've had for a while and have never used. I drew the stems and leaves to save masking time, but I did stamp and heat-emboss the flowers, using Lost Shadow DOX ink. I used colored pencils and Zig Clean Color markers on it. I stamped it on a sheet of Webster's Pages designer paper that had a pretty flowery side border, and I cut it to fit my 4x6 card base (which I colored with a dark blue Promarker first). 

I finished by stamping (with Chipped Sapphire DOX ink) and heat embossing the Spring and Garden words using Leave Memories stamps from the Monet's Garden set. These stamps are so old, they were made before clear stamps or even cling rubber were a thing. I have several LM sets that I still love and use occasionally.
*********************

The next 3 cards were made using my Papermania Country Life Die Cut and Paper Pack:

This tag pocket card was made for a niece. 

Here's the tag pulled out of the pocket.

I used a ribbon slot punch to make the belted element at bottom.

(That was fun AFTER I figured out how to make it work, lol. I was going to make the latch as per the sketch below, closing the card by buckling and unbuckling to open, but I decided to just make it look that way, which allowed me to glue down the latch -- I was worried the latch would tear or not last having the card opened a few times, plus it's a hassle for the recipient to have to unbuckle and buckle it - a faux latch!)

DCWV green designer paper and SU yellow card base. The rest is from the kit.

And the sketch I used.
****************************

And this card was made for another girlfriend who loves cats and has a few.

So I went with cats!

Again making a tag pocket card.

The kit has several tag pockets to assemble so that's why the tag pocket cards.

For this one I combined images and papers from the kit with some striped DCWV paper.

 

The tag out of the pocket, showing both sides.

On the tag back I stamped using some EKS balloons and cake and an Avery Elle sentiment.

And the sketch I used. 

***********************

This last card is for a girlfriend who loves shabby chic and "down home" country stuff.

So I went with chickens.

I used a long tag and other items from the kit plus a white doily from my stash and a sentiment I created in PSE and printed out. White Recollections card base.

 

And the sketch I used. I flipped it vertically.

********************

Thanks for the visit today!

Here's to a great week coming up for us all.

XOX