January 21st Weekly Post

 Hello again!

That week whizzed by for me, how was yours?

It rained quite a bit here today finally. And mild temps for a few days then Saturday and Sunday it's ICEMAGEDDON! Everybody's hyping it. The forecast has it being 56F at 1am Saturday and a continuous drop in temp down to 29F at 5am Sunday. Then down to 21F early Monday morning, before a few days of 40's. Wow, IF that happens, that's a really deep front moving down. We usually get shallow/linear intense ones. It's gonna rain all day Saturday, which is why they are using the ICE prefix. That part's not fun and I'm not even going anywhere. High humidity cold is bone-chilling, so ugh! But seriously, nobody down here knows how to drive on ice and they don't even sell snow tires or chains, so everyone should just stay home IMNSHO!

And along those lines...

The theme this week at Sunday Postcard Art is Blue Monday and hosted by Mandy.

Hey, I've been retired for almost two decades now but I can still feel that feeling.

Mine was the Sunday night anxiety thing, so very little sleep sometimes.

With all this extra house-buying work, I definitely felt it lately.

I looked in my digital files, found that background from The Digital Design Dock Etsy, the not-listening woman from Elena Zinski Etsy and the Polkadoodles snarky sentiment, opening them all up in PSE. I created the Mondays in PSE. I printed out all the different elements after roughly resizing them all in PSE. Then I fussy cut them, arranged and adhered them to the blue base, adhered that to a black 4x6 base and added some orange Art by Marlene die cut border pieces from my stash to finish.

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And now, it just so happens that I've made 2 religious-themed birthday cards lately.

So I grouped them together to share:

First one is for a really good girlfriend. I've used Art Impressions stamps with watercolors and Tombows. The sentiment die cuts are by Amazon and Stamplorations. The verse (cut with a Spellbinders die and edged with a purple Promarker) came with the path stones. SU card base, watercolor paper and the focal image is edged in a tiny border german scrap from my stash. I bought white, black and gold, and am glad I did. Harder to find now. 

And the sketch I used, but I flipped it horizontally.

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For this card to a niece, I used Art Impressions stamps and watercolors again to create the lighthouse scene. I really like how the rocks turned out and how luminous the lighthouse color is. I stamped using a very light Versafine Clair, one of the new ones. And heat-embossed in clear powder so the lines create dams against the watercolor and if you use a light color it will look luminous. Plus I'm digging that color of turquoise, though I've no memory of it, lol. I'd picked up a tip about birds in the sky. If you want white birds against a dark sky like I have here, after you finish your sky then stamp the birds with a light grey ink. Then go over the lines with a white gel pen or white acrylic and a liner brush. Or just draw the birds freehand. So I did the first suggestion here. The card base and mats are white and navy  Recollections, the designer papers are KIMemories, MFT waves border dies and the vertical writing in white on dp is a Dark Room Door stamp in Versamark and white embossing powder.

And the sketch I used...and flipped the front elements vertically.

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Well, that's all for this time, folks!

Thanks for the visit and have a safe and warm week.

Until next time,

XOX

January 13th Weekly Post

 Hey there!

Hope the week is treating you right so far.

Our realtor is holding his own but still not out of danger yet.

Our week was taken up with a ton of paperwork, so he hasn't missed anything.

Appraisal should be next week or the week after.

Otherwise, same old same old. 

The weather here has been consistently cool this week. Today it barely got to 60F in the daytime, which is cool down here, lol. Lows in the high 40's. Every 3 days or so, we get another little front to keep it this way.

I feel kinda confident saying we won't have any snow this winter because we had no hurricane this past summer. Old wives' tale but truthful most of the time (all of the time in my lifetime).

Y'all can remind me if it does snow, lol.

The theme this week at Sunday Postcard Art is Feathered Friends, hosted by Deann.

I need a few more Mardi Gras decorations, so when I saw these crows/ravens at Trendify Designs Etsy, I got them to use. And of course, I had to go with the low-hanging pun fruit of Mardi Caw. Corbeau is the Cajun word for crow, and the groups that form to create parade floats, parties and general mayhem at Mardi Gras are called Krewes. So these crows belong to Krewe du Corbeau (the Crow Crew, translated lol). I have a neighbor who relocated here after Katrina from New Orleans, and she has approved this message. 

😁

I layered the digital image onto a 4x6 blank document in PSE, added the text with the Text tool and printed out. Then using some DCWV glitter card stocks in green and purple, I cut them with an MFT ric rac die to create the top and bottom borders. To finish, I added some yellow gold glitter card stock diamonds that were cut with a Spellbinders die.

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One of the things I have on my 2026 list is to use the Art Impressions watercolor stamp sets I've been buying over the last few years. AI has a specific way of using Tombow markers scribbled on an acrylic block and picking up with a damp brush to paint. Also stamping by coloring the different parts of the stamp with the Tombows. I've watched several videos and decided to make some card front focal images.

This card uses their wagon stamp and various small flower and grass stamps. The card base is SU and the designer papers were in my scrap stash. I used the MFT ric-rac dies again with white card and also an Amazon sentiment die and Memory Box butterfly die.

And here's the sketch I used.

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Okay, this is a Flip-Flap Easel card I made for my friend who lives on a farm on the edge of the Sam Houston National Forest a couple hours northeast of me. She loved this and frankly, I do too, lol. I think it's my best one so far. I used AI stamp sets that had the barn, the fence, birds and the tractor, and also the grasses and wildflowers/weeds. With the help of these, I created the landscape. Lots of layers of Prima designer papers and white card mats on an SU olive green card base. Ink-edging with Distress Inks and a vertical Happy Birthday die that I cut from card I painted same color as the barn. The garden poems are very old rubber stamps, the makers of which I've long forgotten.

Here's the sketch I followed. I went one further and put my flip flaps on a full tent card base, then scored the back across in the middle and glued that shut at the top half. This created an easel which I connected with a stop so it wouldn't do the splits under the card's weight.

The Flip...

The Flap...

Inside sentiment...

Side view of the back easel holding up card. I added some thicker card stock to the bottom inside lip to help it stay straight and strong.

And here is a view of the scored card stop I added. Very low tech, I know, but hey it works!
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Well, that does it for me this week.

I hope we all get some mild weather, whichever hemisphere/season we're in.

Have you made a list of some arty things you want to try or do more of in 2026?

Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for visiting!

xoxo

January 7th Weekly Post

Hey there!

Hope everyone survived the week's weather!

From monstrous snow drifts to record heat, this winter is definitely not a consistent one so far. Just when you think a pattern is forming, BAM! Nope.

We've had a rollercoaster week with our offer on the house accepted on Dec. 30th, then a few minor surprises in the inspection report, but before then our realtor was rushed to the ER January 5th, diagnosed with sepsis and is currently fighting leg and heart infections in hospital. We're just kinda in shock and trying to figure out what to do if anything with the clock running. His Re/Max team finally kicked in today and appointed someone to get up to speed and be our eyes and ears in his absence. Hopefully she will be contacting us soon. And the seller agent came by tonight to offer an extension of 5 days. So we feel we are gonna be good albeit not ideal. It's just stressful for us anyway not having done a home purchase in so long. To have this monkey wrench thrown is even more stressful. We're just trying to focus on praying our realtor beats this and regains his health. He had already done a lot of the heavy lifting.

So, onto a more peaceful and calming home scene, shall we?

This week Anne is hosting a Snowy Landscape/Cityscape theme at Sunday Postcard Art.

Using 4X6 white deckle-edged watercolor card, I stamped the Art Impressions barn and tractor in Versafine Clair and heat-embossed with clear powder. Then I drew two hills and snow drift on the tractor wheels with a Stabilo Aquarelle pencil. I had also stamped and fussy-cut masks and applied them to the barn and tractor, then watercolored the sky, tractor and glitter-brushed the snow with Wink of Stella. I also colored in parts of the snow background with a white Posca. I couldn't find a quote that spoke to me about my scene, so I composed one, written it in my longhand with a blue Posca. Lastly, liberal amounts of Stickles Frosted Lace, Icicle and Arctic Ice were used. 

Angle shot to show the glittery shine.

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This birthday card for a girlfriend features a digital image from Power Poppy called Layer Cake. After printing out on Springhill Digital and coloring with Promarkers, I trimmed it down for my layered center stack of various designer papers in my stash, all ink-edged. I stamped the Creative Visions circle sentiment with Versafine Clair and heat-embossed with clear powder before cutting it with a Spellbinders circle die, then layering that onto another Spellbinders doilies die cut from yellow scrap card.

And here's the sketch I used.

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This birthday card I had a little fun with. I'd never used a stencil and black ink to cover brightly inked colors before, but it works! I took a 5x7 piece of card stock and Distress Inked horizontal bands in a rainbow color order. After that dried, I used my new A Colorful Life stencil and Black Soot Distress Oxide ink to create the focal heat tree. Below it I added a Kat Scrappiness shadowed inset sentiment die cut from card that I'd also inked with the DOX inks, and below that I stamped a Hero Arts sentiment using Versamark and Ranger Magenta embossing powder. To finish, I added 3 tiny Altenew enamel hearts to the tree and colored the center heart with a Posca paint marker.

And the sketch I used.

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Well, that's it for me this time.

Thanks for visiting and I hope your week ends in blessings.

Seeya next week,

XXO

Weekly Post: New Year's Edition!

 Out with the Old and In with the New!

Happy New Year to me and you!

The theme this week at Sunday Postcard Art is Winter Woodland Wildlife and is hosted by Mandy. I went digital this week, using a digital image from Conjurer of Dreams Etsy. 

And I added the sentiment in PSE, which is a play on words, mocking the American reality television series franchises The Real Housewives of Orange County, NYC, Atlanta, New Jersey, DC, Beverly Hills, Miami, Potomac, Dallas, Salt Lake City and Long Island. International versions are RHO Dubai, Cheshire and Athens.

Snarky I know, but I bet my party animals are more interesting!

😛😜

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I needed a few more New Years decos, so in my free moments I made two.

This one features Gecko Galz collage sheet images, a door and welcome mat die, Prima Finnebair Vintage designer papers, pink card cut with MFT photo corner dies and an orphaned red blossom I'd fussy cut from somewhere cut in half and tucked in at top right and bottom left. I used a Micron pen to draw over the images' sentiments to make them easier to read. The message is: Welcome to the New Year.

I wanted to show the stenciling I did on one of the designer papers (you can see the original paper underneath the stenciled one). I used an Artistcellar stencil and Tumbled Glass DI. I love that the yellow in the paper made the ink look more like Peacock Feathers (a little experiment I tried, with success). Distress inking around the edges with some Vintage Photo finished it off.

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And here is the other deco I made. Oy, this took forever due to me not using just one stencil but several with the Stickles Glitter gels (again). I think I will stick to using it only with a single stencil at a time from now on. Anyway, I cut the QK city skyline die out of TH silver Kraftcore and The Stamps of Life sentiment dies were cut out of black card with a gold card shadow. I used some black card stock on gold Kraftcore as the base. I also added little NYE party sequin shapes and used my metallic Poscas to draw stars and make lots of dots.

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Well, that's it for me.

As always, thanks for the visit. I appreciate each and every one of you!

I hope for Many Blessings to all of us in 2026!

XOX

Merry Christmas! December 24th Weekly Post

 Greetings on Christmas Eve!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day tomorrow, be it with family, friends or solo.

We are doing the solo thing this Christmas and having our favorite: steak!

Honey made some carrot raisin salad and we'll also have some au gratin potatoes and Brussel sprouts. 

The theme this week for Sunday Postcard Art is Open and is hosted by Mandy.

I needed another decoration for New Years and used my new-to-me A Colorful Life stencil called Pop the Cork. I added some glittery washi tape and items from my New Years bits and bobs box to create my piece. The stenciling was done with Distress Inks and then I used my glitter markers to highlight the ink. 

I know it's not even after Christmas yet, but I'm all full up with smaller decorations of that theme. Next week's theme is Winter Woodland Wildlife and I'm making another New Year card. 

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I do need more large Christmas decorations, so I created this 7x7-inch Deco.

The dies I used are: Sizzix Impresslits Star, Stamplorations Nativity and sentiment, and Lawn Fawn stitched hillside. The dark blue dp is from the DCWV Pearlized and Metallic Luxury Stack. I used some Stickles Glitter Gel and a Sheena Douglass Rays stencil on the dp before adhering to a silver Bazzil card stock cut slightly larger. The ground was created with some black Bazzill cut with the LF die. I rubbed Tim's embossing ink dauber across the top of it after die cutting, then I brushed Perfect Pearls Bronze powder over that to create the illuminated ground for the Nativity manger (cut out of the same black card stock as the ground). I cut the sentiment die out of a scrap of Tim's Copper Kraft-Core card stock. I used a dark gold card scrap to cut the star.

I had fun using the Stickles Glitter Gel and also the Perfect Pearls. I need to use them both more.

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I had this Paper Nest Dolls digi printed out in my box, so I colored her with Promarkers and metallic gel pens, then cut her out using a Spellbinders labels die. I also used the dies to cut 4 matted panels out of dp paper scraps, which I used my Fiber Friend ruler to punch faux stitching and outlining around the edges of each one before adhering. The Stamplorations sentiment was stamped in Versamark and heat-embossed using Ranger Lemon Yellow powder. The purple card base is SU.

And the sketch I used.

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I still have some die cuts (the bears and trees) from a calendar I bought a decade ago. I also have some leftover card blanks with the pretty edges, so I added some mystery dp cut with a Stamplorations stitched rectangle die, some die cut stitched circles, my calendar die cuts and a Lawn Fawn Falalala die cut sentiment across the top.

And the sketch I used.

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I had one small print leftover of the Art Impressions scene that I'd stamped, watercolored and scanned in to use for some cards the last two Christmases. It was the perfect size for this Sizzix/Tim window die. I used a white Recollections card base, some mystery dp that looks like wood as a base paper layer, and then the elements of my scene on top. The Christmas tree is a CD's stamp Heat-embossed in gold and fussy cut, then colored with watercolor brush markers. I arranged some pine branch die cuts from my stash with a bow I cut out of the wood grain dp. I added the sentiment pulled from Tim's Seasonal Chit Chat Stickers and outlined with a white gel pen.

And the sketch I used.

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That's it for me.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas Holidays!

Seeya next week,

XOX