Butterfly Card and (unrelated) a Baby Sweater

I've been making things but summer has flown and I don't seem to post much. I keep trying to get into using Instagram but it isn't "my thing", probably because I do much more on the PC than on a mobile device. 

This became a sympathy card for a neighbor whose mother had died. The inspiration was Jennifer McGuire's "Lined-Up Window Card" and her tutorial is HERE.

The stamps (Beautiful Butterflies stamp and die, sentiment is from Natural Silhouettes) and cardstock are from Gina K, the coloring was done with Prismacolor pencils

This sweater will be going to my son's coworker. It is a 12-month size pullover, pattern name is Cable Rings 5336 by Hayfield. This was knit with Snuggly DK weight yarn by Sirdar. The color isn't splotchy, it was drying when I photographed this. 

Father's Day

I helped my grandkids with cards and gifts for their dad, my oldest son, for Father's Day. I stamped the images for the fronts of their cards with stamps from Stamping Bella. Both of the grandkids have red hair. When my grandson got ready to color the dad's hair in the image, he stopped to ask me what color his dad's hair is because he has been shaving his head for ages! 😄

My card used images from Colorado Craft Company. All of us used Prismacolor pencils for coloring. 

and inside:

One of their gifts required a photo of the two of them. Getting the 6-year-old to take a photo without hamming it up is an issue lately as the first photo shows. I asked her not to do that for the next photo and she didn't....but her brother did! The laughter was priceless. I did get the last picture as a keeper for that project, but all three photos went into a scrapbook. 💕

 

My Granddaughter's Mermaid Party

Avery had a belated birthday party for a few classmates right after school ended in June. With a pool and expected hot weather, she wanted it to be a pool party with a mermaid theme. I made these invitations with the pertinent information on the back. The mermaid body is a die from Karen Burniston, most of the fish and seaweed is from various Lawn Fawn sets. 

The guests had mermaid cupcakes after lunch. Leaving a few plain in case someone didn't care for sprinkles, most of the icing was tinted a pale lavender and had sprinkle from an assortment called Mermaid. See the tails among the baubles and bits?

The weather wasn't ideal that day but the girls swam anyway, then came inside to warm up and play. Their goodie bags had bracelets and mermaid-themed lip balm in them with this thank you attached to the bag.

Six is a fun age for mermaids and their grandmas. 

C9 Summer Camp

Concord & 9th, a stamp and die company, just held their first large online class event. They called it C9 Summer Camp. Six well-known paper crafters served as camp counselors to registered members. The camp counselors were Kristna Werner and Lydia Fiedler teaching watercolor techniques; Laura Bassen and Cathy Zileske teaching Turnabout (a Concord & 9th patented stamp method); and Caly Person and Becky Roberts teaching 3-D papercrafts. Greg Cottrell of Concord & 9th acted as the camp counselor and host. All of the cardstock, stamps, dies, inks, and watercolors used in the items that follow were included in the kits sent to registered campers.

Watercolor classes were taught Friday evening. These two cards used the same stamp and colors, but the techniques were quite different. This class was Kristinia Werner's. I haven't added a sentiment to the first card yet as I am undecided. 

Lydia Fiedler showed us how to make gray paint from the shades of yellow, blue, and red used in the florals above. Amazing! The gray clouds and lake scene isn't finished because I haven't decided whether to add the intended canoe (a separate painted die cut) or so something else. Creating the clouds by daubing the still-wet paint with paper toweling was a great thing to learn. So was using a wet into wet technique to creat rust on the VW van. 

This morning's classes featured Turnabout stamps. Check this website here for Turnabout stamps, what is available and how they are used. Laura Bassen taught these cards. The second one isn't a Turnabout, but if you know Laura, you know she loves rainbow color arrays. 

Following Laura was Cathy Zielski who used the same stamp and dies in both cards but achieved a different feel. 

After a lunch break for me (there were campers from all over the world so it wasn't the same meal break for everyone), we had arts and crafts, beginning with Caly person and these cards that had the same card base but featured different settings. I haven't added sentiments here yet either. These do fold flat to fit into an envelope for mailing, but for the time being, they are decorating shelves in my house.

Last, but certainly not least, was this floral wreath, taught by Becky Roberts who is known for making 3D flowers. The wooden wreath frame is 6.5" in diameter. 

I thoroughly enjoyed each class and each of the instructors, both professionally and in the "campfire" moments when they shared a bit about themselves. 

Once upon a time, I enjoyed traveling to classes held a good way from my home, even far enough away that I flew to classes and spent nights in a hotel. Those days are over for a variety of reasons that are my choices. Being able to take classes from home these past two days was absolutely great! I would love to have met these women in person but I know how meeting them actually goes when you are face to face. It isn't just you and them, it is you and anywhere from 49-199 other people with the same goal of talking to them! 

I will definitely do this again if Concord & 9th offers another event, and am already looking at two other events that feature other instructors whose videos and blogs I've been following. 

Valentines for my 3 guys and 1 girl

I spent a bit of time pondering how to make a Valentine Card for my 5 year old granddaughter who can't read most words yet. Connie Stewart from Simply Simple Stamping showcased this card fold on her site  (Click here) and I was sure Avery would like the layers to this card. I am currently in a sampler club from Scrapbook and Cards Today and that is where the birds and hearts print paper is from. The stamped birds on the front are from Lawn Fawn, the red and pink papers are from Stampin' Up.

Her brother is almost 11. He received this card with stamped images from the stamp set Hop, Flip, and Jump by My Favorite Things. The background was made with Gina K inks and cloud and grass stencils.

Their dad is my oldest son. Both he and his brother got cards made with die cuts from Sizzix/Tim Holtz. The first card used the man from The Park, the second card used The Gent. 

Other than the stamped sentiment on the MFT card, the cards for my guys only had a stamped Happy Valentine's Day greeting inside and then a personal note. 

Cards, Cards, Cards....

Another family birthday means another card and another way of presenting money besides just sticking it in an envelope. There is nothing wrong with doing that but I started something years ago and need to carry it through until the great-nephews and great-niece hit the cutoff point for getting cash on their birthdays. 

I used Hinged Alphabet dies from Ellen Hutson to cut out the letters for Josh's name. The numerals are cut from Little Letter dies by Stampin Up. 

I did an online search for origami money folds. Without duplicated a fold I've already used, this sword pattern was the easiest one I could find. En Garde! Happy Birthday!  Search my blog for Money as Gifts to find other examples of origami cash. 

This stamp set is Spring Tulips by Gina K. Designs. It is currently the incentive gift, free with an order of $75. There are three other sentiments included in the set so this is going to be a very useful set. It will eventually be available to purchase when the incentive gift changes.  This card is a sympathy card but the sentiment alone could apply to other situations. 

My hairstylist had been ill at the end of 2020 and yesterday was my first haircut since November. Yikes! That is a long stretch for short hairstyles! I normally give her a Christmas card at my December appointment. We share many interests, including card making and humor. I suggested inside this card that this could be our mantra for 2021. The Snarky Cat stamp is from Tim Holtz. 

And lastly, this isn't a card, just something that expresses how I feel about winter and coffee. The image is Jill from Picket Fence Studios. I added the glasses to look like mine and made the hair gray for the same reason. If only my hair looked like that...but alas, hair that was once full is now thin and my body has done the opposite. Dang it!

Pandas, scarves, gremlins, and cold

First, a Panda themed card for a friend I've known since kindergarten. The stamp set used is Party Like a Panda from Simon Says Stamp. The card design is from Dawn's Stamping Thoughts and is called an Angle Pop Up Wow card. The link should take you to that entry in her blog. I used Copic markers to color the images.

My current knitting is a mindless project but a slow growing one. The pattern is called Zick Zack and is a free pattern on Ravelry. The yarn is sock weight, the needles are US size 2. It is all garter stitch, therefore, easy. This will be perfect with my winter jacket, even if it isn't ready until fall of this year. I'm not that slow a knitter, this is my "between-other-projects" project.  

The first time I used this was after a winning a gift certificate at a yarn store and purchasing a set of smaller balls of hand dyed, variegated yarn and making this scarf that I thought might be okay. That was goal, just "okay". This has become my favorite scarf and gets the most comments when worn. 

Gremlins....we have to blame someone or something for the unexplainable, right? In a roughly two week time period, I've had a bogus charge on one credit card (resolved, thankfully), incorrect items delivered for the first time in a long history of ordering from one company (in the process of getting the correct one and returning the mistake), a break down in accessing my email on my computer (but all is fine on mobile devices), and the handsets on my house phones have been resetting their clocks at random. As I talk to others, many seem to be having unusual inconveniences. Residual 2020 crapola? 

And lastly, it is cold outside. In Michigan, in January. Who would have guessed, right? Better days are coming. Until then, I will continue to make things to keep me sane. 

Little Boy Blue sweater

 This sweater is going to a handsome little guy that is 6 months old already. He is a big boy so I made a size 2-3 (pattern designation on that sizing). It may be right for him by fall according to the photos I see on Facebook. 

Because the garter stitch hem wants to flip up on the bottom of the sweater, I may switch to traditional ribbing on the hems, and neckline also. I think I could eliminate that button placket with a ribbed neckline. 

How I feel about winter

Snowmen images and collectibles are cute. Cold weather and actual falling (and accumulating) snow are not.  The stamp set used is Winter Warm Up by Penny Black. 

 

Out of this world birthday card

My son is not a child, nor is he noticeably interested in outer space, but this is his birthday card this year.  The style is called a waterfall card. When the tab at the bottom (where the silver cord is seen) is pulled, the four panels flip over one by one to reveal a new image or message. I've made this style before, but a die set from Mama Elephant, Mega Flipper, made this easy to assemble. The images and sentiments are all from Hero Arts: August 2017 kit Celestial; and stamp sets Astronomical and Out of This World Christmas.  Backgrounds were done with white, black, and violet inks used on navy blue card stock with a spatter of silver paint to create the galaxy look. Images were colored with a combination of Zig markers and Prismacolor pencils. 

I began this card last Wednesday when I had to take a break from the news. Last Wednesday, January 6, 2021 was when Trump's anarchists stormed the US Capitol and caused 5 deaths in their insane attempt at keeping Trump as president. I never thought this would happen in the USA and yet there it was. I have kept myself busy with crafts, reading, and subscription TV channels to maintain some sense of personal peace during this chaos. 

Put Your Red Dress On Challenge

I have not decided how I will use this card yet so there is no sentiment inside.  The stamp, ink, and card stocks are all from Gina K. Designs. The stamp is Flower Child, ink is Obsidian amalgam, and card stocks are Turquoise Sea and Cherry Red.  The colored pencils used were all Prismacolor. Black and white Sakura Glaze pens were used, along with a Copic multiliner and clear Wink of Stella. 

Welcoming the new year

2020 has ended but the new year still has the dregs of yesterday's coffee stains in the proverbial pot of life.  That may sound negative but is only meant as an observation. All of the changes that need to come could not happen overnight, even if everyone was on the same page and doing their best. 

In my corner of the world, the very small part that I feel I can control, life goes on much as it has for a long while. I talk to the same people although not always face to face, I read, make cards, knit, work on other crafts while maintaining what needs to be maintained. I was alternately busy, not feeling like writing, or wanted to keep cards and projects under wraps for most of the fall so I fell off the grid with posting. 

A plus from this time of the pandemic was finding some crafters on YouTube that have been great to interact with. Before this, I didn't spend much time on YouTube unless I was looking for something specific. Most crafters present themselves as cheerful people and I appreciate that as much as I appreciate them sharing their knowledge. 

Colorado Craft Company is now carrying stamps from Anita Jeram who has illustrated children's books such as Guess How Much I Love You by Sam MacBratney and also writing and illustrating her own books. 

These images are from the Party Time stamp set. I am certain I will use these for cards this year, but these images are going in my personal journal, a new style that was a Christmas gift. 

Coloring was done with Prismacolor pencils on Neenah Solar White 80# card stock. Coordinating dies cut out the images as shown. They now reside on black paper to set them off against my white journal page.