March 27th Weekly Post

 Helloooo! (Or, should I say Hellurrrr, for any Madea/Tyler Perry fans? heehee)

Oy!

This week has been somewhat brutal for me physically. Wrapping china and glass within an inch of their lives, filling and labelling into boxes, taking boxes to the new house (thankfully downstairs), unwrapping and filling shelves in the butler pantry, up and down a rickety ladder. Again and again. Flattening out the used wrapping paper and bubble wrap and rinse and repeat.

Well, I have apparently 'pulled something' in my back Wednesday, right inside my left shoulder blade between that and my spine. The pain has settled there and on up to my neck. So we took yesterday off and I relaxed by making a postcard for this week's SPA. But this morning I woke with my fumble fingers on both hands swollen to the hilt. My ankles and feet are fine, just my fingers. I remembered that one of my rheumatologists told me that a pinched nerve can cause finger/hand swelling, so that talked me down off the crazy ledge, because I was starting to get worried. I can still type, so I decided to make a post while waiting for Honey to wake up so he can Ben-Gay my back.

The theme at Sunday Postcard Art this week is Spring and is hosted by Sarah. 

I used one of my 4x6 pre-cut torn-edge watercolor cards, got out some very old Fontwerks alpha stamps designed by Elsie Flannigan (anyone remember her from like 2009?) called Happy Corina:

Anyway, I stamped Happy Spring using these alpha stamps, heat-embossed and then I also stamped and heat-embossed a Kimberly Poloson for Fiskars border at top and bottom. I used green VF-Clair ink and clear powder for that. Then, I got out my watercolors, painted the background bright yellow. I found two big and little flower stamps and with VF-Clair pink and purple ink I stamped them all around the card. I got out my Posca paint pens, made little blue blossoms on the border and filled in the letters with various paint colors. I added some glittery centers with a Sakura gel pen and then used a fat chisel point turquoise Posca around the perimeter to color the outside edge of the card. And done! Not really complicated or hard at all, just made it to play and participate.

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My online friend Alyson had her birthday on the 21st and this is what I sent her.

I used Avery Elle's Red and Goldie stamp set for the Red Riding Hood characters and the sentiment, stamping with Nocturne VF-Clair ink and heat-embossing with clear powder. I fussy cut Red and Fox then colored with Promarkers. I created a background for them with DOX ink and a Memory Box stencil after cutting the pieces out of white card and green dotted Lawn Fawn card using a Lawn Fawn polaroid frame die. The rest of the designer papers are Pink Paislee Old School collection. I die cut them using The Stamps of Life stitched rectangle dies (and the plaid strip was cut using an LDRS stitched strip die). White Recollections card base. I really liked how this came out. Using coordinated dies for the stitching effect helped the look, I think. 

Happy Birthday, Dear Friend!

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Well, that does it for me this time.

Off to stretch real good and back to work packing boxes!

😝💩😛

Thanks so much for the visit and your patience during these moving months!

Seeya next time!

XOXOX

March 19th Mid-Week Post

 Hey Y'all!

Hope you are having a good week.

Our weather has been great for early Spring, 70's to 80's (F) in the daytime with plenty of sun. 50's-60's at night. And the March wind is still blowing.

Our Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (HLSR) is winding down on March 22.

This year's event has had some controversies.

To quote the Houston Chronicle Editorial:

"The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is the city’s signature event. Nearly 100 years old, it’s our brand, as legible to the world as the cattle brands of Charles Goodnight or King Ranch once were to early Texans.

That brand is looking tarnished these days.

Last week, the rodeo did damage control after a slew of bad headlines and online chatter. After footage of a fight circulated, the rodeo increased security. After revealing getups garnered social media attention, it updated the dress code. That’s on top of the injured steer that had to be euthanized after a steer wrestling event. And the cringeworthy drama involving County Judge Lina Hidalgo that led to a petty back and forth between her and the rodeo leadership."

Now, I'm about as far away to being a country/western fan as you can get. I don't own any of the clothing (hat, boots, etc.), can't even remember the last time I rode a horse, and I've definitely been-there-done-that with HLSR since I began going in 1973 the handful of times I've gone.

BUT, I want it to thrive.

It's a BFD for the Houston area and for many of my friends.

(In fact, our new across-the-street neighbor has volunteered at the rodeo for decades, his father was a founding member of The Black Cowboy Trail Riders.)

So I hope they get past this and do better in the future.

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Today I have 3 different cards made with 2 Stamplorations cover plate dies. I think it's my first use of either of these dies, even though I've had them for a good long minute. I've been experimenting with ways to make multiple cards at one sitting to save me time. I've always been a one-card-at-a-time-each-one-unique kind of card maker, but this year will be different with the move. There are a lot more detailed (and harder) applications of this die, but I've gone with as simple as possible.

For this card, I sized a Bow Arts Etsy Abstract clip art image in PSE and printed it out. Then I die cut it with Stamplorations Zen Doodled Birthday Gifts cover plate. I layered it onto a black base mat and die cut the Stamplorations sentiment with scrap white card.

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For my next card, I used the same dies and different papers from the same collection. But I changed it up slightly. I cut the cover plate die out of white card and layered that onto the clip art image base mat. I outlined the sentiment die with a Sakura metallic glitter gel pen.

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For my 3rd card, I used Stamplorations Zen-Doodled Birthday Cake cover plate die, cutting it out of another great Bow Arts clip art image from the same collection. After layering that onto a base of checkered DCWV designer paper, I added back a few of the pieces and then colored in some spots with Sakura metallic glitter gel pens. Then I cut the sentiment die out of black scrap card.

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Well, that's it for me this time.

Thanks so much for the visit!

I hope you have a great rest of the week and weekend ahead.

SeeYa next time!

XOX

March 15th Weekly Post (A Little Early)

 Hi Guys. Hope all is well with you.

And Happy Mother's Day to those in the UK who celebrate.

Dear Daughter and her Bestie are visiting us this weekend on a girls' getaway.

We've had loads of fun and have gotten some good help moving light boxes and tchotchkies.

Wednesday the March winds showed up and brought us a rainy cool front.

And after it passed through, the weather has been picture perfect.

On Sunday we get another rainy windy cool front for just a day or so.

I don't think anyone down here doubts that Spring Has Sprung!

The azaleas are in full bloom and everything is green and growing now.

This week is my first of four in 2026 to host Sunday Postcard Art and my theme is FLOWERS. Since the UK ladies have their Mother's Day today, the sub-theme is Flowers for Mother's Day.

I used watercolors and colored pencils to color my image (Impression Obsession) which was stamped on watercolor paper. The sentiment is an Avery Elle stamp.

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I will be back later in the week sharing cards, but I'm cutting this post short to make another trip over to the new house to put shelf liner in all the closets and vacuum some more, then more visiting with our guests.

Thanks for the visit and see ya middle of the week.

XOXO

March 8th Weekly Post

Greetings on International Women's Day!

 And it's also the first day of Daylight Savings Time here.

The weather here is perfectly dreadful, everything is dripping with humidity, rain clouds through tomorrow, then a few days of respite, then rinse and repeat.

The theme at Sunday Postcard Art is INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY and is hosted by Mandy.

I used official Frida Kahlo Corporation stamps on this which came with Issue 120 of Creative Stamping Magazine. I stamped them with Nocturne Versafine Clair ink and heat-embossed with clear powder. I colored the images with various Promarkers and Tombow watercolor markers and accented with gel pens. I used Twisted Citron Distress Ink and a Bare Branches stencil from A Colorful Life to add the background. Frida used thorns to represent her pain and broken crippled body, so I thought it an appropriate motif. I then ink-distressed the edges with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink and after it all dried I scanned it into PSE and added the text and dark grey frame.

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I went full-on Frida Kahlo for this and let me tell you why.

There is a new traveling exhibit at Houston's Museum of Fine Arts called "Frida: The Making of an Icon". What it is not is just a retrospective of her works. What it attempts to answer is how she became a worldwide pop culture icon. It's based on THIS BOOK and is curated by the book's author. It began in January and runs through May, after which it goes to London. And the curated shows are all completely sold out, but I am lucky to know someone who has volunteered there for years, so I got to watch a DVD of the curation. They filmed a dress rehearsal to make sure the curator could be understood and also to help the docents understand the exhibit and the ushers know when and where to move the crowd. That's pretty cool that they do that nowadays. Anyway, my friend invited me over to watch it with her. Thanks to my friend who lent me her copy, I'd already read the book, so no real surprises really, other than the size of her artworks. Some I had thought were huge were really small and vice versa. I don't know if this link will work for you because The Houston Chronicle has a pay wall. I subscribe, so I am sharing their sneak peek HERE.

After I came home from watching it, I was inspired to create this art journal spread in my Little Book of Wisdom journal. (I have 5-6 spreads left to finish). I would share it over at Art Journal Journey, but I would feel bad not visiting the other entries and I just don't have enough time for that right now, unfortunately. Plus, I swore off challenges in order to create more art time and that has worked for me. Vicious circle, it is, no matter what.  

I used Dylusions and Tim Holtz stencils with black and white paints, a few stickers from my Antiquarian Sticker Book, painted die cut flowers, enamel dots, my handwritten journaling, some grungy black paint smudging on the edges and a printed quote of hers.

This is how the spread looked when I began, previously painted with a gesso base and then leftover acrylics. I chose this one because it reminded me of the Mexican flag and their colors. Frida was a tireless advocate for Mexicans being proud of their indigenous heritage and unique qualities. She grew up during The Mexican Revolution and its aftermath, and there was a movement to rid or at least mitigate the European influences in their culture (which many newly liberated countries attempt in order to develop their own national character). This is why Frida dressed the way she did and even why she grew her unibrow and let her mustache show, because those were symbols of Mexican indigenous feminine beauty. She saw herself and husband Diego as ambassadors of a new self-governing indigenous nation whose people did not look like their oppressors, the refined fair and blonde Europeans (nor Americans, for that matter). 

For my focal image, I used this very old napkin. I have no idea anymore where it came from so if you want to save a copy, go for it.

The book is not a biography; it's more of a study of her posthumous influence across generations and genres. It really helped me understand her motivations and ambition better. I learned quite a lot from the book I linked, but I really cannot recommend it because it's $60!!!! I'm really lucky that my friend got a huge discount on it (the author is a resident curator at MFA Houston).

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Well, that's all I have today.

Next Sunday is my week to host Sunday Postcard Art and my theme is Flowers for UK Mother's Day.

See ya then, and thanks so much for the visit!

XXO

March 6th Weekly Post

 Hello, Hello!

Hope this has been a good week for you.

Our weather here has been horrible for aches and pains, all week long.

😒

Dear Daughter has been feeling it and so have Honey and I.

I follow Chief Meteorologist David Paul on Facebook. He serves up his forecasts with a side of advice for human barometers, like us. Here's what he posted for March 6-12:

"For you human barometers out there, some notable pressure shifts across the US over the next week could really impact how you'll be feeling.

Starting Friday (March 6), a deep low around 995 mb/29.38" digs into the Central US (Plains to Midwest, like Denver to Chicago), with falling pressure there likely ramping up migraines (sinus swelling, vessel dilation), fibromyalgia pain/stiffness/fatigue, autoimmune flares, or vestibular dizziness/vertigo as the system approaches. Highs hold in the West and East, so rising/stable pressure there might offer some relief.

By Sunday (March low pressure (991 mb/29.26") will extend across the North and Southern Canada, with falling pressure expanding eastward towards the Great Lakes - potential symptom spikes there - while central areas see rising pressure post-low.

Tuesday (March 10) brings another deep Central US low (991 mb/29.26"), so renewed falling pressure in the Midwest/Plains, rising a bit along both coasts.

Finally, by Thursday (March 12), one low moves to the Northeast with falling pressure, while a new one forms across the Northern Plains (both around 996/995 mb/~29.38"). Falling pressure in these areas could hit hard, but rising pressure in the Central/South could ease symptoms mid-country.

If you're in the significant swing zones, prep with hydration, rest, and meds - stay strong, you're not alone!"

And oh yeah, we Americans (or most of us) also have Spring Forward Day on Sunday.

Changing to Daylight Savings Time and losing an hour.

Oh, that'll make us feel even better!

😖

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The theme this week at Sunday Postcard Art is HORSES, hosted by Anne.
I literally have nothing big enough to fill up a 4x6 area except this digital stamp line art so I used it. My files say it's by Angie's Digital Stamps. If I am remembering correctly, this lady Angie was on a design team I was on, and she gave us her images sometimes. I think that is how I acquired it. At any rate, the image is somewhat endearing to me. I chose the text because it looks to me like a mare teaching her foal to obey human commands when to gallop or stop, so she is telling her to giddy up (and we think humans teach them to do this - HA!)

 Anyway, I saved it figuring I might someday need it and lo and behold! In PSE, image was resized and layered onto a 4x6 framed background. Text added and then printed out on white card stock. I colored it with Promarkers.
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Here's a birthday card I made for a girlfriend.
White A2 card base, K&Co. designer papers, Spellbinders Hem-Stitch Rectangle die used on the base paper and also the small diagonal square, MFT wavy lines die cut out of the red dp, Sunny Studio strawberry stamps and dies, Avery Elle margarita and lime dies, MFT stamped sentiment, Wink of Stella and Stickles on the glass, white gel pen on the strawberries.

Angle shot to show the glittery shimmer.

And the sketch I used.
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Okay, that's what I have for now.
I will definitely be back to post sometime on Sunday.
So, see ya then and thanks so much for your visit!
XOX