The Color of Winter

To say I was inspired by the Moxie Fab World Trigger Tuesday this week would be an understatement. I loved the monochromatic color palette, the texture of the sweater, and the quirky dressmakers form. It did have to grow on me until I could create. But wouldn't you knitters (too) out there agree with me...the fun with knitting is watching your work grow with each row.

I knew this Dawn Houser (Inkadinkadoo) dress form would be a good stand in. I have a great vintage light bulb from Gumbo Graphics that I used on top of the form. It was popped on dimensionals. The lace for my sweater was from my stash. I cut it apart and used the top for the arms and the rest for the body. Those tiny yellow buttons are from the vintage button stash. I had drew and colored the sweater collar. The sentiment is the last part of a neat saying about spring being the color of flowers. Thanks Nicole at Prickley Pear Stamps for the RAK. It was inked with Tim Holtz DI in Walnut Stain. Mulberry paper is underneath. The card base was stamped with Stamp Francisco's lace image in VersaMark and embossed with clear ep. A Tim Holtz postage diecut runs up both sides of the main image.

The Color of Winter is in the IMAGINATION. I agree with Terri Guillenets! I can close my eyes and be on my favorite beach in Kauai...then winter would be all turquoise, sea glass, and ocean green...how about you, what is your color of winter?

Enjoy the show...

Happy end 'o October. And onto November. I am not Halloweenie, but I just had to combine this freebie 100 Proof Press image with the lovely Wordsworth sentiment. It was one of those just had to do's! My card uses the Tim Holtz alterable rustic fence die which I inked with various ChalkBox inks and stapled to the dark night panel. The slim beautiful collage panel is from Memory Box 'Twilight' collection. I paper pieced the skeleton with Basic Grey's Sugar Rush. The sentiment is cut with one of the *umpteenth* labels from Spellbinders.

I am blessed to say my husband sees through all my protective layers and love me when I am unlovable. I suspect he is far more saintly in that way than I. And for that I am blessed. How about you?

let's eat...

Dessert, first. I am not quite sure who said that first, a quick search today attributed it to Les Brown. Anyway I thought it would be a great excuse to get a hunking big slice o' cake to share with my coworker (who occasionally reads my blog)! We've been helping out in another department what is desperately short~HANDED. And while we are out of our comfort zone, stressed, I might add, we're taking one for the team!!!

I love this Impression Obsession slice of cake. It makes a great image just stamped on white card stock with black ink. However, as my coworker loves Red Velvet Cake, I thought paper-piecing would cook up a swell cake. The sentiment is also IO. And the coolio serving Hand has been in my 'well, maybe it will work somewhere, someday box'...anyone have a box like that??? It is part of a 100 Proof Press image, actually it is holding a pocket watch. Basic Grey snippets were used for the layers as well as the gorgeous green bg.

I am leaving for work early today in time to stop at my favorite bakery for that hunking big o' slice of cake and 2 forks mind you! Hope you find sweetness all through your weekend.

The Bard of Avon...and Health

I love this Shakespeare quote and use it frequently to create get well cards. Today's Ways to Use It challenge on SCS was to 'Frame' it. This large sentiment makes a dynamic statement, don't you think? I used I Brake for Stamps bamboo frame inked and embossed with Tim Holtz distressing products. The quote was stamped on PTI vintage cream paper with VersaFine Sephia ink. I managed to cut into the yummy Amy Butler paper for the background, cutting an extra peony to use on the frame. It was UTEE'ed for dimension.

This card is also for Stampin Sisters in Christ Challenge #62 in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Scripture: Psalm 73:26, "My health may fail, My spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; He is mine forever." And that has me thankful for the wealth of my health. You can't buy well-being, it is something that is given to you from above. And our attitudes can be sweet content if we remember that.

My prayer today is that you would feel the peace that good health brings.

Delicious Autumn

I've forgotten which Challenge Blog I saw this sentiment last week, but I couldn't resist ordering George Eliot's quote from Prickley Pear. Autumn is my very favorite season and I am holding out for a few more weeks of glorious leaves. The Memory Box Twiggy paper group was perfect for my card. I added a bird and globe to carry the theme of flying the world over to chase successive autumns. Almost like modern day storm chasers.

George Eliot was Mary Ann Evans' pen name. She is said to taken the name of a male to garner more respect for her work. She is the author of MiddleMarch, Silas Marner, and The Mill on the Floss. The quote I used, in case it is hard to read:

Delicious

Autumn!

My very soul is

wedded to it.

and if I were

bird I would

fly about the

earth seeking

the successive

autumns.

I hope today you will be able to enjoy another lovely autumn day!

I am praying for you...Momento Mori

I couldn't resist creating a card for this weeks Tuesday Trigger Challenge over on Moxie Fab World. The inspiration photo was of an old gravestone. I loved the slightly out of focus image and the shape of the focal. I also wondered about the person whose final resting home was under that stone marker.

I used a fabulous paper from Memory Box 'Twilight' collection which really set the scene! Stampington's Triptych Arch with it's spires seemed just the right home for my praying angel. I added bits of vintage lace trim in the arches. The angel (Diva Impressions unmounted) was stamped three times. Once for the base, again to pop her out of the frame and lastly for another set of wings (this time stamped on vellum). She is colored with Copics. I added copper staples at the bottom, another set of three. Don't you think the sentiment, from Wordsworth belonged in my cemetery?

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by. Have a blessed week.

Inspired Prayer

I've wanted to do a Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge for quite awhile. And this was the week. The scripture was Matthew 6:9-13, which contains the Lord's prayer. This prayer is considered a model of how we should approach God. There are many types of prayer just as there is times for prayer. I truly carry everything to HIM in prayer.

the reward...

Yeah, I love to combine challenges! And the Inspiration Challenge on SCS and the 365 Card Day 237 Stamp on a Card and Envelope matched up perfectly tonight. When I saw Leah Giberson's series of travel trailer posters, I knew I had to give it a go using stamps and paper to recreate her wonderful work.

I used the Inkadinkadoo clear Travel Trailer set for my envelope flap, a border stamp of 5 different trailers and the largest trailer for the card. The lawn lounge is a Stampa Barbara image that I cut down from the chaise I used in my 'As the leaves turn'... card to make a chair. It is always nice when a stamp can serve double duty. If you are interested in the specifics of products used on

this card, please go here.

There is a wonderful blog that has showcased the Sisters on the Fly. They are a group of women who have restored travel trailers and have joined together to celebrate a love of fishing. Check out this blog posting, you won't be sorry! Or how about the 'We Can Do It, Ladies'. These gals have me thinking...maybe we could start a group of stampin' artists pulling up trailers all 'round the country. I can think of only one real limitation.....space for all the stuff we need to create!

Happy Weekend, dear readers.

Finding my first blogged Christmas Card

for Amy's Flashback Friday Challenge 4.0!

Other fun around the blog~o~sphere, is Amy's Flashback Friday Challenge. This week is 4.0. You should find your first blogged Christmas card and re post it to your blog (not make a link).

I found mine back in November 2008. It was for a Sketch Challenge on Splitcoast Stampers

I find sketches are the my bugaboo. Think that comes from when I was young and you always heard, "STAY in the LINES"! I climbed outta the box back then and still find that's where I want to play. You either get my art or not. I am not one for the trends. Oh, don't get me wrong, I like to see where colors, patterns, design might be heading...I'll use it as a chance to turn and go the other way! Does that make sense? Perhaps it is I've arrived at an age where I am well satisfied with what I have and I see ways to make the old things fresh. That gives me an idea to dig out this stamp and create something new....back later...

And to my 'old' friend, Amy....thanks girl!

Susan's Letter

I love collage. I love all the little fiddly bits, that lying on your table seem like a mess waiting to be put away. But with a practiced eye can become so much more when joined together. I don't really know how well I 'do' collage, but I do know when it 'feels' I've gotten it right. And some- times it means sleeping on a project and coming back to it with fresh eyes. Today's' card for the Friday challenge on SplitCoast is such an example. You were to create a flap card. I thought an envelope was just the ticket.

The romantic image is from a retired Stampin Up set called Friendship's Journey. My Dear Susan letter stamp was a gift from my BFF before there was all these abbreviations for best friends forever! Of course a letter writer much have a fountain pen and a bottle of India Ink, part of a wonderful collection of writing accessories from Invoke Arts, Pens and Nibs. Other details, if you are interested are in my gallery on SCS.

Happy Fall and Friday, all. May you have lots of time for creating this weekend.

Mona's Joy

I love Mona Lisa. How about you? I think she's got lots of moxie, even being over 500 years old! So I had to bring her out today to pair with the Browning quote from Wordsworth. It took Da Vinci over 16 years to complete her portrait...your smile just might be off kilter, don't you think? Well, it's my quote that looks off balance. When I picked up the stamp, part of it was still on the rubber. So I carefully laid it back down to rub again and now I am seeing double!!!

This sketch is SC303 over at Splitcoast Stampers today. I picked from 'Lime Rickey' Basic Grey papers for my card. The felted black panel is a die from PTI. .

Wouldn't it be a blast to time travel back to 1503? Peaking in on a session with Leonardo...that would be wild joy!

As the leaves turn...

I'm sighing here, my heart is so happy it's Autumn. My favorite season brings such bounty to my senses. The smell of a wood fire, the sound of leaves crunching under my feet, the chill in the air mornings now, the taste of "Pink Lady" apples and the chanterelles are at our Farmers Market, and the sight of my maples putting on their Autumn 'coats'. And if we are lucky, it will be nice until the second week of November.

The 365 Card Blog Super Sketchy Sunday was perfect for a card to celebrate the season. I first decided to use this wonderful Elizabeth Lawrence (Impression Obsessions) quote about the leaves turning. The tree (Paper Inspirations) was inked with Nick Bantock's Sap Moss Green and embossed with clear powder. I used many different chalk inks to color the falling leaves. Now my favorite way to watch the leaves turn is from a lawn chair very much like this one from Stampa Barbara. It was inked with the same NB green. I cut it out, popped on dimensionals and placed a few leaves under the chair...just like on my patio right now!

So if you have a moment, I'd love to hear what your Autumn traditions are...hayrides, cider pressings, long walks crunching the leaves in your neighborhood???? Happy Fall, all.

Herodotus said...

I couldn't resist this quote by 5th century BC Greek historian, Herodotus when I was at our local materials exchange center for community arts (MECCA for short). For the mixed media artist, it is the ultimate candy store. Today was a rummage sale and I tried really hard to stay focused, really I did!

So when the Featured Stamper was announced on Splitcoast tonight, her circle window card was just the ticket to use the Kolette Hall image. I stamped it with VersaColor Black and embossed it with bronze ep. The papers are from Memory Box 'Twilight' paper group.

I feel very blessed to have friends all over the world. I remember a family member telling me if I could count 5 steadfast friends I would be fortunate indeed. Well, I know my tried and true friends and they are prized above any earthy goods. Friends can enjoy the silence between one another and know in that space is wealth. It is wonderful to fall back into place after a long absence of a dear friend. Just knowing someone is out there holding you up in prayer is comfort indeed.

And I made a new friend this week...a cyber gal, whom I discovered lives less than 3 miles from me. We met for breakfast and were delighted to discover we share a love of paper crafting. I can't wait to see where this friendship grows!

Livin' the dream

Those who know me, know I love chairs...I have a dozen different styles throughout my house and that's not including the miniatures I have collected over the years. When I saw the Moxie Tuesday Trigger,

I knew right away I would have to recreate that room! The fabulous chair is part of a set of historical chairs from Michelle Ward's Green Pepper Press. I altered it just a bit to make it more upholstered.

The vase was also hand created and chalk colored and then embossed with UTEE to get the glassy feel. It was such fun, getting the parquet floor with a wood sheet of paper cut into squares, inked with Tim Holtz DI in shades of Black Soot and Walnut Stain. I then embossed to get the glossy finish. The mirrored table was hand cut and shaped with a bone folder.

The spray of orchids came together quite nicely with the skeleton from an oak leaf on my patio and an impatien petal was perfectly colored which I plucked from one of my pots. This fits with SCS Ways to Use It 292. The Memory Box damask paper stands in for the gorgeous wallpaper of the Inspiration room. Lastly, but not least, I had to put a bit of word art on my wall. Something I strive everyday!

How about you?

cramming and Dr Seuss...&D

Don't know about you gurls, but as an artist doing challenges, I constantly stray outta the 'lines'. The rules. It's the out of the box thinking that's where I want to live. So when challenges come around that have defined parameters, read SKETCHES, I always find them the most difficult for me to do. This card proved no different so I just stretched the box...

The SCS Sketch Challenge today can be found here. I wanted to create a card that would offer encouragement for &D as the sophomores are testing on a general knowledge level. Now having been homeschoolers for 15 years, you could say we are outside the box thinkers and doers. So I know all that thinking is rumbling around there, the task is to get it out and onto paper and bullet those answers with just the right intensity!

So that brings us back to Dr Seuss...an original thinker and wordsmith for sure! Had to have that on my card. And the pent up thinker guy...check, he's all set for an explosion of thinks. And he's dressed in the colors of our beloved #2 in the nation team! I couldn't help but include a moon shot and some embossed numbers for measure.

Of course, this morning we oversleep and have 19 minutes to get going...no time to write inside the card all the well wishes I'd have liked. But just the right amount of time, cause I got a hug and smile as my guy hurries out the door.

I do believe I'll stay outside the box, it's nice out here.

Crystal Chandelier...

I am happy I had a chance to case the Featured Stamper of the week over on SCS. I love going back in my memories to recall happy times when life was lived at a slower pace. My grandparents had a Georgian Colonial built just for them in 1935. And the dining room was the heart of the home. It had big bold cabbage rose wallpaper for a time and then toile. You could enter it from either the breakfast room which had corner cabinets for storing her collection of Franciscan 'Ivy' or directly off the living room with a double wide opening. I can almost hear the laughter round the table.

My grandmother finally got her crystal chandelier in 1946. It was much like the one you see. It had silver trim, chain and candle cups. It always hung over the handsome solid cherry table. I remember her carefully washing the crystals in hot sudsy dishwater in her PINK kitchen. My grandparents moved three times and each time the chandelier was moved with them. She loved having family get-togethers, dinner parties and turn the wall sconces down low and light the tapers. I was always enchanted by the effect of the flickering candles on the crystals and people. To this day, I accent every room in my home with different types of light.

It's Sunday, be blessed today and always.

Curtain Call

edited: This card was a Moxie Fab winner in the Perfectly Pleated Challenge!

I love Friday nights...my very favorite challenge of the week is posted early over on SCS. The Inspiration Challenge never fails to stir the artful muse. The challenge hostess selected an English merchant, the John Lewis Department Store. I could be lost in their online catalog for days...but headed straight for the Curtains. I wanted to play with I Brake for Stamps stage image combining it with B Line Designs 'at the movies' stamp. And the curtains fit right into Moxie Fab World Perfectly Placed Pleats.

I stamped the curtains three X's for each side to add width and depth for this card. Memory Box Twilight paper group had a perfect pattern. The Theatre image was stamped onto a gray cs. I added Stickles to the crystal dome light and colored the ocean and sailing ship with Copics. A small sentiment from Making Memories seemed just right for the stage floor.

My girlhood was full of grand shopping trips with my mother and grandmother to the downtown Department stores. The lunch counters on the first floor or the restaurant on the

mezzanine were special treats for Easter or Christmas time. I'd love to hear what your memories are of the old time merchants...well that is if you are of a certain age! If not, were do you remember going to shop with your mom as a girl?

Futtering from the Autumn Tree

Happy Friday all, I don't know about you, but that last look of the night round the challenge blogs, often leaves me burning the midnight oil. This was just the case today with Sharon's ssnotime160, Back to Nature. I am definitely in my element once the calendar hits September. Just as Emily Bronte said, " Every Leaf Speaks Bliss to me fluttering from the Autumn Tree". I love this funky font from Dawn Houser/Inkadinkadoo. Now it has been quite awhile since I've played in Pam's 365 Card challenge, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to create a flip flop card with the video tutorial over in the resource center atSplitcoastStampers.

It was easy to reach for Basic Grey's Indian Summer 6x6 pad. I used the Cuttlebug Leafy Branch to dry emboss the front panel. The bit of chenille trim is wrapped at the top with a vintage lucite/rhinestone button. For the 'swing' sentiment panel I put 7 Gypsies black music paper behind.

For the back, I chose a wonderful rake image from Portifolio, inked with Tim Holtz Frayed Burlap and colored with a silver gel pen and Copics. The small punched leaves are from a HY-Glo 6in1 punch. I used more of the BG Indian Summer.

...and do you do your best creating in the wee hours of the morning or the opposite? Have a wonderful weekend, I hope it is perfect leaf crunching weather!

Soul smiles

I know it's been ages since I posted anything on my blog. Bet you've wondered, a little maybe,

what's up? So I've spent my summer gardening...I suppose I needed more time away from this side of my creativity to contemplate life and losses. Well, I am inking my fingers, one at a time, back into this creative bloggy world.

When I 'happened' on the Moxie Fab Trigger , which was a funky fall scene in the most vibrant colors, yesterday, I could not resist getting a few more digits inky! I was definitely inspired by the colors in the art, the puffy clouds and the curving hills (think smiles)!

My sky needed Basic Grey's cloud paper from the 'Mellow' group. All the leaves in the oranges and pinks were found in the 'Indian Summer' again from Basic Grey. I used the Leafy Branches embossing folder from CuttleBug on this panel. The sentiment panel (Daisy Bucket clear cling) and bottom mat on the main image are from 'Wander'. And about that main image...I so love this Asian beauties' pensive expression. She (Stamp Francisco) was inked with Wild Plum directly onto white cardstock. I used Art Accents Micro Beadz for her hat. I finished my design with a silver butterfly and a snippet of vintage seam binding. The layout was from the Sketch Challenge 301 over at Splitcoaststampers.

Thanks for all your gentle thoughts these past months. I planted my garden with tender loving care over the summer season and it is rewarding me with a glorious array of vibrant blossoms in autumn. And it has shown me that life just as seasons comes and goes and all the best is planted deep within my soul.