random reflections

25 Days of Christmas Tags: Part 3

I got caught up yesterday with the latest set of tags for Tracey McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tags challenge. It's continuing to be a lot of fun, and although I like some of these tags better than others, I would have never made any of them if not for the challenge.

I didn't lay them out in quite the right order, because I didn't make them in the right order. I made Day 13 before Day 12, and that's how they were arranged for the photo. Nonetheless, I'll start with Day 12 which was inspired by Melody Rupple. I like her square tags better than the one I came up with, but I'm guessing this one will look OK on the right package. It doesn't show in the photo, but there is Rock Candy Glitter on the branches of the main tag.

Dies: PTI: "Shape Shifters Square 3," Simon Says "Holiday Ornaments," W+9 "Hand Lettered Holiday" & "Woodland Basics;" Stamp: "Holiday Ornaments;" Patterned paper: American Craft

Day 13: Inspired by Latisha Yoast

Dies: PTI "Tag Sale #1," MFT "Deer Love;" Stamp: W+9 "Woodland Wreaths;" Patterned Paper: Lawn Fawn "Into the Woods;" white gel pen

Day 14: Inspired by Ardyth Percy-Robb. This was one of the most beautiful tags that's been posted on the challenge. I had no idea if I could come up with anything that I liked. In the end, I'm pretty happy with it, although it will never rival Ardyth's. 

Dies: PTI "Bookmark," Pinkfresh Studio "Botanical Branch;" Stamp: PTI "Rustic Wreath; pearls, silk ribbon

Day 15: Inspired by Monica Taylor:

I was hoping a tag would show up that would give me the opportunity to use a new die by Essentials by Ellen, "Prize Stag." Here's a better look at it. I know just who's name is going on the back of this one for the gift exchange on Thursday.

Premade tag, December Daily kit sentiment, Spellbinders "Label 4" die

Day 16: Inspired by Kelly Griglione. I've always love this set by My Favorite Things, so I was happy  to have a chance to use it again. This one will definitely go on one of the grandchildren's gifts.

Dies: PTI "Tag Sale #1," MFT "Polar Bear Pals;" Stamps: "Polar Bear Pals," Simon Says "Merry & Bright;" Cardstock: Paper Source; patterned paper: MME "Comfort & Joy"

Day 17: Inspired by Kim Heggins. This one might be my favorite of the bunch, although it really is prettier IRL.

Dies: PTI "Tag Sale #5," Simon Says "Kate Snowflake;" glitter tape, Simon Says "Sparkle and Shine" sequins

I'm entering the Day 17 tag in the Inspired By: Classy Christmas challenge. I focused on the colors (blue, gold, and white) of the beautiful photo for this challenge.

I haven't had a chance today to look at the Day 18 tags, but should be able to keep up this week since my schedule is no where near as busy as it's been the last several. Having a holiday really clears it out. Good thing, since the list of things to do grows longer daily. I'm really ready to decorate for Christmas despite the fact that Thanksgiving is as early as it can be. 

 

 

Take Three Thursday

For this week's Take Three Thursday, I thought I'd share the three purchases we made at the Regal Nurseries in Virgil, Ontario on Friday. We got our first significant snow yesterday (with more on the way tonight!) Although I'm definitely not ready for snow, and there are still LOTS of leaves on some of our trees, I have to admit, the yard looked beautiful covered in the fresh snow. So I pulled on some boots and went out to take these photos.

Tracy spotted this lawn ornament, and we both love it. The bell rings when the wind blows, and there's a red pinecone (covered in snow) to the right of the bell. We've already seen birds perch on the top of the letter J next to the cardinal. 

Actually Tracy gets credit for all three purchases. He took me back to see a variety of bird feeders. We liked this one because it has an "arts and craft" look to it that goes with the light on the front of our house, our porch railings, and a wrought-iron hook we purchased this summer that's also in the front yard.

Although we both liked this feeder we couldn't figure out what kind of bird seed would work since there is no cylinder inside the feeder. Turns out there are suet balls, and we just didn't know about them. We have another suet holder that holds a block of suet and had never looked beyond those.  They look pretty cute in there. 

Turns out the birds like all the feeders. There are now four in front of the kitchen window. Come summer, we'll move some of them to the patio, but we'd never see the birds there in the winter.  

25 Days of Christmas Tags: Part 2

I'm back with tags for Days 7-11 for Tracey McNeeleys "25 Days of Christmas Tags." Going out of town definitely got me behind, but I managed to catch up over the weekend, before falling behind again this week due to a crazy schedule. Here's a look at all the tags together.

Each day Tracey posts a group of tags from which you can choose one as an inspiration piece. Some days are much easier than others, not because there aren't beautiful tags to choose from each day, but because you might not have any stamp or die that seems to fit the bill. That was true for Day 7. Nearly all the tags were created with beautiful and intricate dies of Christmas ornaments. I own not a single stand-alone ornament die. But I was inspired by the neutral color and beautiful gold of Desiree Kuemmerle's ornament. 

Ivory shimmer and gold mirror cardstock; "Winterland Tree" die by Memory Box, Papertrey Ink's "Stitched Tag;" banner sentiment from a past December Daily kit.

Here's a better look at the shimmer and gold:

Day 8: Inspired by Beverly Brown.

Cardstock: vellum, glitter paper; Patterned paper:My Minds Eye "Comfort and Joy" ; Dies:Papertrey Ink "Tag Sale #6- and W+9 "Hand Lettered Holiday"

Day 9: Inspired by Carol Maynes. I ended up making two tags on Day 9. When I stamped the trees the first time, I didn't place them high enough, so the cute polar bear covered too much of the trees. Didn't want the tag to go to waste so I colored it with Copics for a more modern look.

Both tags: Papertrey Ink "Tag Sale #10;" Neenah cardstock; Copic markers
Tag 1: Papertrey Ink "Warmest Wishes" and Hero Arts "Happy Holly Days"
Tag 2: Papertrey Ink: Warmest Wishes

Day 10- Inspired by Joyce Mehlberg. Once again I didn't have any stamps that were much like the cute images on the tags for Day 10. Joyce's tags featured houses so I turned to an old favorite from Papertrey Ink - "Winter Hills." I was also inspired by the window in one of Joyce's tags.

Dies: Papertrey Ink "Tag Sale #10;" Stamps: PTI "Winter Hills" and Simon Says "Merry and Bright."

Here's a closer look at the dimension.

Day 11: Inspired by Kelly Griglione

Premade tag; Stamps: Papertrey Ink "Spruce & Sprigs;" Dies: "Spruce & Sprigs" and Papertrey Ink "Bold Borders: Flurries;" washi tape, red glitter paper, Wink of Stella glitter pen

One of the best things about this challenge is using so many of the Christmas stamp sets and dies I've accumulated over the many years I've been stamping. Off to work on the next few days of tags!

 

Me on Tuesday

Joining in with Mary-Lou a day late. We had a busy week last week, but yesterday was even busier so although I got some photos ready for a blog post, there wasn't an extra minute to write the post!

The mid-term elections were held a week ago today. Many of us were hoping for a Blue Wave, and although we didn't quite see what we hoped for, an unusual number of women and minorities were elected to the House of Representatives, and many states turned to Democrats in the governor's races. One race that particularly interested us was in Wisconsin where Sarah now lives. A friend of mine (who did not get elected) was running for State Assembly, and I made phone calls to get out the vote for two afternoons. A friend and I also participated in a postcard writing blitz organized by a group locally. We've been writing postcards for specific issues for some time now, but for the two months prior to the election focused on getting out the votes. I've never been particularly active politically, but the negativity and lack of cooperation between parties here has driven me to it! Here are a group of us at the Monroe County Democratic Office. I missed the big congregation of all the democratic candidates including an appearance by Kirsten Gillibrand, one of our current Senators.

The day after the election we headed to Canada for two nights. I was quite surprised to read so much in their national paper about our elections, and equally surprised at the frankness with which they expressed opinions about our government. We talked to several people who had stayed up much later than I did on Tuesday night, curious to see the election results. Needless to say, our government policies effect their trade with us in very big ways. 

We had a lovely two days, starting with an elegant breakfast in front of a fireplace on Thursday morning.

From there we headed out to visit a couple of wineries. Two were favorites of ours, but one was new to us. We learned that the Marynissen Winery was one of the first wineries established in the Niagara-on-the-Lake area, and we had a lovely time chatting with the woman doing the tasting. We've never been to NOTL mid-week in the off-season so we pretty much had the wineries to ourselves. I loved the beautiful mural behind the tasting bar.

We drove to Jordan for lunch and a visit to one of our favorite wineries, Vineland, and then headed back to NOTL to sit by the fire and read before having an elegant dinner which was part of the package deal we signed up for. 

Friday we drove home in a steady snowstorm, and by the time we arrived home the ground was covered. Fortunately, it didn't stay around too long. I had been invited to a dinner party for a group of folks who organized a fabulous concert at our church to benefit two refugee centers in Rochester. I volunteer at one of those centers, and made a small contribution to the planning of the event. The star performer was Ayman Jarjour, a professional classical guitarist who was born in Syria. (The man in the red sweater.) He now travels around the world performing for free to raise funds to support refugee settlement. He was joined by three doctoral student in the classical guitar program at the Eastman School of Music. They played both at the Friday night dinner (an intimate gathering) and at the formal concert the next day.

The woman playing the hammer dulcimer is a local musician who has performed professionally in the area for many, many years and was one of the organizers of the concert.

The concert was very well attended, and we raised over $2,000 dollars.

On Sunday we attended a family celebration---Ella's fourth birthday party for her friends. Her real birthday isn't until the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but since so many families travel over the holiday her party was held earlier. No one is more excited than Ella to celebrate a birthday. She chose "Night" as her theme, so Betsy figured out that a space-themed party would meet her expectations. And it did. Here's the birthday girl, "pleased as punch" to be the center of attention. Check out the pattern of her dress!

Our local grocery store, Wegmans, produces the best birthday cakes. They are a lot of fun, and better yet, delicious!

Ella's big sister, Skylar, is on the left, and her very best friend, Olivia is on the right. The party was a big hit with Ella's friends as well. 

I did get some creative time on Sunday before the party and caught up with the 25 Tags of Christmas project. I'll be back with the next installment soon. Today, I need to do more catch-up for yesterday's tag and today's. Hope your week is off to a good start.

 

 

 

 

 

November 5 in 5: Colors in the Courtyard

Heavy winds knocked lots of leaves off the trees here earlier this week. Today is another breezy, cold day, but the snow we had yesterday has all disappeared and the sun is out. We spent two nights in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario this week, leaving on Wednesday afternoon and arriving home yesterday afternoon. The colors there are still a bit more intense. They must not have gotten the high winds.

Usually we stay at the same bed and breakfast, but they are closed for the season, so we took advantage of a mid-week Fall Special at a high-end inn we usually cannot afford. It was lovely. The courtyard there was filled with beautiful autumn color and seemed like the perfect spot for joining in with Sandie's 5 in 5 monthly meme.

I had several more photos from which to choose, all taken within the five minute limit for this challenge. I must admit, I'll be sad to see all the color disappear!

Take Three Thursday: November 8

I'm back again this week to participate in Mary-Lou's Take Three Thursday where she encourages us to be mindful of what we see each week. It's hard to miss these beauties. Our "Christmas" cacti are in full bloom. Although the outdoor foliage is later than usual, our cacti (which always bloom around Thanksgiving) are earlier than usual. They've never been true Christmas cacti. I'm adding two extra photos today of close-ups of two of the cacti.

It's been very windy here the last two days, and the leaves are falling like crazy. We're going to need a lot of indoor color like this very soon!

 

 

25 Days of Christmas Tags

Every year I make tags for the family gift exchange at Christmas. I'm never quite sure how many I'll need, but I am sure it will be less than 25. Nonetheless, I'll have no trouble using any additional tags for Christmas gifts. I've followed along with Tracey McNeeley's 25 Tags project other years, but this is the first time I've participated. I got a late start, so will have to post most of these on Instagram to link them up to the 25 Tags post. Here's a look at the first six:

And a closer look at each tag. Day 1:

One of the requirements is to choose one of the tags on Tracey's blog as an inspiration piece. For Day 1 I chose the tags by Ankita Agrawal. Here's a look at the two layers.

Simon Says "Snowflake Tags," Papertrey Ink "Signature Christmas" & "Rustic Wreath," Studio Katia Clear Drop, printed vellum from stash, Aqua Mist cardstock

Day 2:

Inspired by Norrine Borys- premade tag, Simon Says "Frozen Fractals," Papertrey Ink "Warmest Wishes," Winter Wonderland embossing powder (glittery IRL)

Day 3:

Inspired by Tenia Nelson - Papertrey Ink "Shape Shifter Square 3," "Tag Sale 6," Essentials by Ellen "Mondo Holly," Gold Mirror, Aqua Mist and vellum cardstock

And a closer look at the Gold Mirror cardstock which I just love:

Day 4: 

Inspired by: Audrey Tokach - Neat & Tangled "So Foxy," Simon Says "Merry & Bright," "Stitched Dress Up Tags," & "Diagonal Stripes"

Day 5: 

Inspired by: Zsofia Molnar - Simon Says "Stitched Dress Up Tags," "Merry & Bright," My Favorite Things patterned paper

And, finally, Day 6:

Inspired by: Debbie Marcinkiewcz -  Tag by Graphic 45, Winnie & Walter "The Big, The Bold, and The Merry," Papertrey Ink "Holly Jolly," ribbon by Offray, unknown glitter paper

My guess is I'll be posting these a few at a time. It's already been a fun challenge!

 

Seize the Birthday: Foliage

I have a second entry to the current Seize the Birthday challenge. For this challenge, you can create any birthday card, but each challenge has a "topping" with a specific theme.

The current one is "foliage."

I borrowed a Papertrey Ink Bold Borders: Foliage from a friend recently and die cut a whole slew of them from different papers. I thought I'd try using two of them slightly offset. Since the Bold Borders die covers the whole card front I needed to snip off the outermost border on the second one before I could offset it.

The total frame was die cut with a relatively thin piece of gold textured paper from Michael's. The bronze paper is likewise lighter than the typical cardstock, and I think it, too, came from Michaels. I layered them on a card made from Simon Says "Burnt Orange" cardstock, and embossed the sentiment from Papertrey Ink's "Stylish Sentiments: Birthday" in gold.

It's a bit easier to see the two layers in this photo. I added three gold sequins before I got the card in the mail for a friend's birthday.

Inktober 2018: Botanical Motifs

Using the list provided by Louise Gale, I completed a month of daily drawings in ink. I ended up watercoloring almost all of them; two were colored with markers. I wouldn't choose to do that again. It gave me an opportunity to play with the new Altenew watercolor set which worked well for these drawings. I posted the first 15 here. Here are the last 16:

From top left to bottom right: silver birch, ranunculus, freesia, crocus, pine leaves, Pervian lily (also known as alstroemerias), Douglas fir, echinacea, lotus, peony, Corsican or Black pine, frangipani, cedar leaf, fuschia, hellebore, holly

When I told Tracy I wanted to lay them all out, he suggested doing it like the calendar. Unfortunately, I wasn't as precise as I should have been in cutting the cards since they aren't all exactly the same size. Getting them down reasonably straight was a bigger ordeal than drawing any of them. Nonetheless, I like seeing them all together.

It's another dark and dreary day which meant that the light had to be supplemented, hence the shadows. I definitely don't have the right spot to photograph anything this large. 

This might be the first project of this kind that I've taken on and completed with so little stress. Doing a drawing a day, even while traveling, proved to be pretty easy. I often watercolored several at once which definitely saved time. 

 

Take Three Thursday: Fall Leaves

Days that have been good for a walk outside have been few and far between the last week. But Mary-Lou's Take Three Thursday meme encourages me to pay better attention when I do get out for a walk. One day this leaf with the water droplets (from our seemingly endless rain) attracted me. 

Once I spotted it, it wasn't hard to find a couple more that attracted me as well.

It's rather amazing how the water droplets stay on the leaves for so long after the rain.