random reflections

Addicted to CAS: Silhouette

Recently Altenew had a day or two when shipping was free, and I took the opportunity to order two stamps and their Obsidian Black ink pad. I've already put both stamp sets to use, and as well as the stamp pad which I love for watercoloring. When Addicted to CAS came up with "Silhouette" as their current challenge I knew I had the perfect stamp for it. My one concern was the patterned paper I chose since I wasn't sure it would be considered CAS enough. However, several of the design team showcased cards with ink blended backgrounds, so I'm going to throw this card in the ring. I found the paper (from Pinkfresh Studio's Indigo Hills pad) while I was looking for something else entirely, and set it aside knowing I'd like it with this new set from Altenew, Line Art.

I trimmed the patterned paper down just enough to add a thin strip of black cardstock to a card base of Raspberry Fizz paper (PTI).

The sentiment is also from Line Art, one of many I like and will use with other stamp sets as well.

Hope your week is off to a good start!

Spring Card Camp Fun

I've been sharing my cards and coloring on Instagram as part of the #100DayProject (coloring) and the #30DayColoringChallenge, but it's time to share one of finished projects here. I wasn't quite sure ink blending counted as a coloring technique, so I'll catch up today with that. I'm definitely counting these as part of my 100 Day Project.

 

Yesterday's lesson by Cathy Zielski was one of my favorites. (Today's lesson with Laura Bassett is equally great; there will be more on that later.) One of Jennifer and Kristina's objectives in creating this card class was to showcase techniques that create multiple cards. Cathy's resulted in four cards---one of them went in the mail this morning to Caleb and Hannah!

Cathy used a "Thanks" die cut for her cards, but once I found the Papertrey Ink "Big Hugs" stamp and die set in my collection I knew exactly what I wanted to do. After ink blending a piece of cardstock to put behind the die cut word, I stamped the sentiments, and then mounted it on a Limeaid Ice card (PTI),

For the next card I found a piece of glittery cardstock I purchased at the Broadstreet Paper store in Milwaukee during our last trip to Wisconsin. The second sentiment on the next two cards is slightly different as they'll be mailed locally.

This is another piece of the glittery cardstock. 

After die cutting three pieces for these cards, you're left with three die cut "HUGS" which I stacked together for the fourth card. Cathy used a piece of patterned paper for her's, and despite my rather extensive collection of patterned paper, I couldn't find just what I wanted, so I returned to an earlier class by Kristina Werner who provided two patterns for paper piecing, and found three sheets of coordinating colors from Sunnyside Studio's pack of "Gingham Jewel Tones." I have two more backgrounds from that process to use on future cards as well.

I have a couple more projects completed to share here soon, and a list of several more I hope to try. Spring Card Camp has been a good diversion during these unsettled times. 

Fusion Challenge: Let Us Remember

The beautiful poppy photograph that's one piece of the current Fusion Challenge inspired me to pull out the My Favorite Things "Flowers in Bloom" set I bought several months ago. I watercolored them as part of my two coloring challenges, and then turned it into a card for the challenge.

You have the option with this challenge to use the sketch and/or the photograph. I chose just the photo.

I liked the black edges around the photograph, and die cut Ink to Paper's "Geometric Rectangles" in black to use as a frame for the poppies. Then I added it all to a black Memory Box card.

The sentiment from Sugar Peas "Everyday Sentiments" was embossed in white on black cardstock. Finally I added a few Amuse black pearls that have been in my stash for years.

Coloring has been very therapeutic while observing our stay-at-home mandate, especially since winter still seems to have a grip on western New York. Yesterday we had temps in the 50's but today it's back to the 40's and the 10 day forecast shows no improvement. At least the sun is out today, a big help. Nonetheless, spring is trying hard to burst through regardless. Here are a few photos from our walk yesterday through Highland Park and down a few city streets on our way home.

Our forsythia isn't doing particularly well this year, but the ones in the park are lovely.

On the other hand, we've had gorgeous daffodils, and most of ours are near the end. The ones in the park are just beginning to open.

I'm always happy to see the beginning of the flowering trees. Highland Park is known for its extensive lilac collection. They are just beginning to bud,
and very few trees have begun to leaf out.

The magnolias need some warmth! I was playing around with adjusting the f-stop on my iPhone. It's always been an available option, but I had been unaware of it until recently. Not wanting to hold up our walk, I took this photo a bit quickly. The background is appropriately blurry, but the magnolia blossom isn't as sharp as it should be. 

And finally, these bright red tulips are the first tulips we've seen blooming anywhere. Most of them are just beginning to show their buds.

 

 

 

A New Challenge

By chance, I discovered a new challenge hosted by Penny Black. I don't have a lot of sets from Penny Black, but I do have a few and used one of my favorites to color for my #30DayColoringChallenge, and my #The100Day Project.

I trimmed down the panel just enough to allow a the edges of the Royal Velvet card to create a border. This beauty is an older Penny Black cling stamp, "Botanical Notes." I hadn't pulled it out in a very long time, but it was perfect for coloring with my Polychromos colored pencils.

There really wasn't any need (or space) for a sentiment, so this card is ready for whatever occasion arises. 

We had a lovely, sunny day, a bit warmer than the last few. There's still snow in the forecast, but by the end of next week, it looks like Spring might make a lasting appearance. I'm ready for lovely flowers in the garden, and butterflies in the air.

Spring Card Camp

I enrolled in the Online Card Classes "Spring Card Camp," thinking it would provide some additional inspiration for my #The100DayProject of daily coloring.

The first three lessons focused on stamping rather than coloring, but today's lesson by Julie Ebersole was perfect, and definitely a technique I had never tried before. Each lesson in the camp is focused on creating two cards using one technique. This one was called the "Coordinating Die Cut Trick." It requires a stamp with a matching die cut. I have plenty of those so I was a bit surprised how few stamp and die sets I had that I thought would work with for this technique. I've pulled a few more sets to try later, so you may see more of these. 

The first step is to stamp an image on the front of a card and then die cut. You set that die cut aside for card #2. Then you restamp the image through the die cut on the inside of the card. Here's a look at the front of the card:

Before coloring the inside image, I masked off the cute little elephant and added two other images to the inside of the card.

Here's the second card. I opted to use an A4 card by Paper Source for this card, and added two die cut clouds.

I popped the little guy up with some dimensional tape after stamping the sentiment. All the coloring was done with the Polychromos colored pencils.

Happy Easter!

Well, it's an Easter unlike any other, and with its disappointments as well as its eternal promises. I will miss our annual Easter egg hunt, usually here in Rochester with the three little girls, but on occasion in Illinois or Wisconsin with Caleb and Hannah. And I will miss our in-person worship service. Our sanctuary is always beautifully decorated and the music with full choir and trumpets truly inspirational. On the bright side, it's sunny (for awhile at least) and warmer, so we'll get out for a walk. I splurged and bought a small leg of lamb for dinner. I don't think I've prepared one since my father died in 1998. It was always his menu choice for Easter, and I'll use the same recipe from The New York Times Cookbook. The leftovers won't go to waste as one of Tracy's favorite dishes is Shepherd's Pie, so that's on the menu for this week, too.

All the Easter cards have reached their recipients, so it's safe to share them now, although I'm quite sure none of the grandchildren ever see my blog! First off the cards for the little girls--three here in Rochester, and one in Wisconsin.

I fell in love with this bunny from Waffleflower the minute I saw it! It's called Rejoice Rabbit which is such a perfect name. I stamped it on watercolor paper and cut it with my Cameo. Then watercolored it with Altenew's 36 pan watercolor set. I die cut a piece of paper from My Favorite Things paper pack, "Watercolor Wash," with Reverse Confetti's Pierced Round Top die. Then added that to a piece of white cardstock die cut with the "Pierced Plaid Cover" die by The Stamp Market. Finally it was all added to a Lovely Lady card (Papertrey Ink.)

The next card is exactly the same except for the color choice--purple instead of pink.

That darling bunny was clearly too feminine for a boy, so Caleb got a shaker card.

I love this "Peeking Rabbit" from Simon Says. I die cut it three times and inset the colored cardstock for the eyes, ears, and nose. I found the patterned paper in my stash from a long-ago Simon Says card kit and have no idea who manufactured it. It's perfect, though with Easter sayings, and it determined the color choice for the card---Sea Glass by The Stamp Market. The greeting is from an older Papertrey Ink set, "Bunny Basket."

When I got ready to mail the Easter cards to Wisconsin, I began to worry that Hannah would find her card lacking when Caleb got a shaker card. I called  Sarah to ask, and her answer was so sweet. "Hannah will love her Easter card, and Caleb will share, so don't worry about it!" In fact, Caleb is a wonderful big brother and most likely will share. Hannah always loves her handmade cards, so hopefully she won't be disappointed. 

There are still a couple of challenges open for Spring-themed cards so I'm posting one of the bunnies on the CAS Watercolor Challenge for Spring Flowers. With it's layers, it may not qualify as CAS--but I saw a couple entries that made me believe it might be OK.

I'm posting the shaker card in the Inspired By "Spring is Here" challenge. I wish spring was really here, but I think we have a few more weeks to go. We alternate between somewhat warmer temperatures and downright cold!

Hopefully by next Easter, the pandemic will be a thing of the past, and we can go back to celebrating with our traditions. If you celebrate Easter, I hope you have a wonderful day--home though you probably must be!

 

Made in Minutes

These cards were actually inspired by an article in our local paper on Thursday requesting cards that could be given to seniors who are feeling particularly isolated and fearful during this time of social isolation. Then I saw a post by Cathy Zielski that solved the problem of how to get a group of cards created in a short amount of time. All 12 cards follow the same design---a piece of patterned paper from my considerable stack of 6X6 paper pads, two frame dies ("Nordic Frames" and "Crimped Frames" by The Greetery), and a group of "Hello" dies (two from Simon Says and one from Mama Elephant.) Once the die cutting was done, each card was made literally in a few minutes. Then I remembered that the current AAA Cards Challenge is (guess what?)--Made in Minutes. 

Here are the cards:

Once I find out if Lifespan is planning to mail the cards I'll be able to drop them off at their offices which are just around the corner from me. I'm just not sure if they need postage on the envelopes or not. All these are pretty feminine, and I'm thinking a set designed for men might be appreciated as well.

 

 

A Change of Heart & Two Long-term Challenges

Last night I left a comment on Honoré's blog post saying I wasn't planning to participate in the #The100DayProject this year. The next blog I read gave me an idea, and by the time I went to bed, I'd committed myself to another 100 Day Project. It will be my second one, although I think I did start one that I didn't finish. Today is the start date.

As it turns out, today is also the day Kathy Racoosin starts a second run of her 30 Day Coloring Challenge.

And that's what I'm basing my 100 Day Project on. Instead of 30 days, I'll be working on this for 100 days. For the first 30 I'll play along with both. The goal of Kathy's challenge, and my 100 Day Project, is to devote some time every day to doing some coloring. This means I'll get some practice with my Copic markers, watercolors (pens and pans) as well as colored pencils. When I thought of that last night I realized it's really a perfect thing to do, especially in this time of the pandemic when leaving your house is simply not an option except for essentials and some daily exercise. Kathy makes a point of saying just 10-15 minutes of coloring every day counts for the challenge, and I certainly don't expect to have a card to show for every day.

But today I do. I pulled out my Copic markers and a stamp set that's been on my list to try for several months. Choosing the colors for my project was made so much easier today because I had completed one of Sandy Allnock's Hex Charts with the markers I owned and could see exactly how they would look. The caps on the markers give you a ballpark idea, but the Hex Chart is definitely going to save me a lot of time.

The lovely stamp is from Pink Fresh Studio and the Pierced Plaid Cover die is from The Stamp Market. I love the subtle texture it gives to the background without distracting from the main image. 

In this photo you can see I added just a bit of texture to the sentiment strip using one edge of the Crimped Frame die from The Greetery. I'm going to link this card up with two current challenges: Addicted to CAS: Texture, and Simon Says Wednesday: Happy Birthday.

 

I have to say I'm glad I had a second thought about these challenges. I'm looking forward to a commitment to color every day!

5 in 5 and Watercolor Challenge

Today's the 5th of April, and time for Sandie's meme 5 in 5---5 photos in 5 minutes. Sandie shared some of her projects during this time of isolation, and I thought I'd do a bit of the same. I shared a little on my last blog post, but today I'm focusing on coloring projects I'm working on. I lined up a bunch of projects and snapped away.

Improving my coloring skills with watercolors and Copic markers is always on my list. This increased time at home has given me ample opportunity to watch videos, pull out supplies and practice. Tracy gifted me with two Sandy Allnock classes for Christmas. I finished the videos for the colored pencil class in February, and continue to practice, but have moved on now to the Copic Jumpstart class. The first lessons focus on color theory as did the colored pencil class, but I created a new color wheel with Copics this week, and made notes on the essentials of color theory to add to a notebook I started a year or so ago. Sandy also suggested we make color wheels with a set of darker markers which I think I'll try this week.

I also updated my pages with a few markers I've purchased in the last six months or so.

Last month I focused on watercolors, and I haven't abandoned that effort at all. When a good sale arrived via my inbox a week ago, I decided to splurge and purchased a new set of watercolor markers. I spent one afternoon swatching out the 60 colors. It took a lot longer than I expected, but I learned a lot more than I expected as well. It was interesting to see how the colors blend out, some more easily than others, and to see in some markers a range of tones.

Yesterday I spent some time watercoloring the Wild Rose Stem from Memory Box. It was my best effort so far in no-line watercoloring. It was all done with just three Karin Markers and a watercolor brush to draw out the colors. 

Here's another look at it. I'm taking this opportunity to share this at the CAS Watercolor Challenge which currently is "Spring Flowers."

I hope you're finding time to destress with a comforting hobby. Crafting is the one thing that is able to take my mind off all the terrible news, and understandable fears we all have.

OLW: March Recap and April Intentions

I continue to be grateful that I chose to set intentions month by month this year since March certainly was not the month we expected. By the time we returned from a wonderful week with Sarah and her family, it was clear that traveling to Hawaii and California were out of the question. Fortunately we took care of most of our cancellations before the wait time on phones reached an hour or more. In just a week we were in self-isolation where we have stayed except for a daily walk and a weekly trip to the grocery store. 

Once I realized I was going to be home WAY more than normal, I took a second look at my intentions for my OLW, COMMIT, for March. After about a week of having difficulty staying focused, I made a list of "To Do Items for Imposed Seclusion." Being a list maker at heart, I immediately felt better and began to be more productive. I didn't put organizing, cleaning, or purging on the list, but I've been doing little bits and pieces of that as well.

First on the list were two items that have been on my mental to-do list for months, even a year or two. About two years ago, I realized that I could be cutting my stamped images with my Cameo. I watched a few videos, but frankly I'm intimidated by technology I don't really understand. In August, Sarah gave me a tutorial, but I never felt independent. Finally, with another tutorial from Sarah at the beginning of the month, I have mastered the art of cutting out my stamped images. I'm still working out some details, but here's a look at two bunnies I die cut with the Cameo and then watercolored.

The second task has been copied over and over and over on my weekly lists. At long last, I have all our photos from our road trip in September edited and up on SmugMug. If you're interested, you can find them here. There are a lot of photos, but the format on SmugMug allows you to look at them very quickly. 

I kept up with my watercolor practice, watched a series of videos on layering stamps (and started practicing with those), and kept up with the Photo-a-Day project.

A note on the photo of Hannah on the top row with a Band-aid on her forehead. She woke up in the middle of the night and told Sarah her head hurt. Sarah asked if a Band-aid would help, and she thought it would. She wore it for several days! I must say the hardest thing about this isolation is not being able to see my grandchildren. We stay away from everyone now, although we do, gratefully, get to video chat with everyone. It's clear there will be no personal photos of grandchildren in April, but hopefully I'll get a few from their parents. Although there was snow in March (see the snow on the daffodils on the 23rd), there quickly were signs of spring in the park, and the daffodils on the kitchen table are from our back yard, as is the hellebore. I found the hanging basket of pansies at the grocery store that are now outside our kitchen window. Many of the photos are from our daily walks.

Last, I kept up with The Unread Shelf Project, finishing Ann Patchett's debut novel, The Patron Saint of Liars. It had been on my shelf for years, a paperback copy that I purchased at a used book store somewhere. I also finished four other books: Apeirogon, Tell Me More: Stories About the 12 Hardest Things I'm Learning to Say, The Hope of Glory, and Dear Edward. I enjoyed all of them, but was especially fascinated with Apeirogon by Colum McCann. It's the most inventive novel I've ever read, and a tragic commentary on a true story of two fathers, one Israeli and one Palestinian, whose daughters were killed as a result of the ongoing conflict. The two men now travel around the world telling their stories, hoping to inspire an end to the bitter conflict. 

 

So April. It's going to be a lot of the same: daily walks (fortunately the parks and trails here are still open and people have been great about keeping appropriate distance from one another), lots of reading (I have a list of six--two new and four on the unread shelf), continuing to play with watercolor (I have a new set of watercolor markers I'm anxious to try), and working on the second online course Tracy gave me for Christmas---Copic Jumpstart with Sandy Allnock. So it looks like lots of coloring is in store. The biggie on the list is getting started on making a photo book. Some of you know well, I've been promising to do this for years! Like the Cameo, for some reason I've always been intimidated by making a serious photo book. I figure now is the time. I'm also going to keep up the photography habit, including in my daily search items from Sandie's 30 Day Photo Challenge, and Kim Manley Ort's 30 Days of Perception.

I hope you are well, and keeping busy. It's easy to get discouraged during this unprecedented time. Every day I lift up my gratitude to all those in the front lines of this pandemic, and all the workers providing essential needs. And my prayers for all those who have lost their livelihood, are ill, frightened, overwhelmed, lonely, and in need of comfort. I'm blessed to be where I am, and who I am with right now. And I certainly don't take it for granted.