Turner Syndrome Awareness Blog Hop - It's a Girl Thing

 Hello Blogging Friends!

Welcome to the Third Annual 

"It's A Girl Thing: Turner Syndrome Awareness Blog Hop". 

This  year we have added a Card Challenge so that crafters can help spread the word, and enjoy opportunities of winning more prizes!

Visit each of the 12 Designer Blog Posts and leave a comment to become eligible to win prizes from each blog. 

TO HELP SPREAD THE WORD AND BECOME ELIGIBLE FOR 23 SPONSOR PRIZES:

PLAY with any products, create a card using our Inspiration Board theme, describing briefly how your card was made, and share one thing you learned about Turner Syndrome that others might find interesting. Be sure to add your card to the challenge link-up no later than February 28. 

For more information, please see Lori's TS home page.  Thank you for learning about Turner Syndrome.

Our Sponsors:

Turner Syndrome is a genetic disorder where a female is born missing part or all of her second X chromosome leaving her with life-long medical issues and learning disabilities.  This condition occurs one in every 2,000 female births worldwide, but is more common among pregnancies that do not survive to full term.  That is why Turner Syndrome Females are considered MIRACLES!

For details on how you might win any of these fabulous prizes, please see Lori's TS home page.  Thank you for learning about Turner Syndrome.

I am offering two prizes - each valued at $22.00 from Beccy Muir's Store.

The pretty Fantail Goldfish clear stamp set

and

her lovely Cherry Blossom clear stamp set

Our inspiration board:

Products: Inkadinkadoo Image by Nancy Cole #9082, assorted inks, PrismaColor Pencils, Gamsol, die cut, edger punch, punches, Anna Griffin "sentimental statements" stamp set, clear embossing powder.

My gift to each of you today:

Two arrangements of the same sentiment for use on the inside or outside of your projects. Please do not sell the sentiment. Use it on any of your projects, including projects involving any design teams you might be on.

Click on the image to bring it to full size. Because of the changes Google Made with Blogger in June 2020, your image will appear to be solid black. Don’t panic. Right click and do a SAVE. Once it is saved on your hard drive, you can open it and it will have a transparent background. I create PNGs instead of JPGs so they can be placed anywhere on a scene or project, and so backgrounds can be made using them. Please let me know if you have any problems.

Enjoy!

Happy Hugs,

Name This Flower Stamp - PLEASE?

Greetings, dear Blogging Friends!

I hope you are doing well. Summer is in full swing here, bringing with it that "lovely humidity" Florida is known for, but with it, beautiful skies that change depending on the clouds and time of day. 

I wish I could send some of our rain and moisture out West where the wild fires are causing so much damage - my heart is with you all.

I love flowers (gardening is my true passion) - and of course butterflies - who mob me as I water and care for my garden).

Help! Please? Name this stamp!

UPDATE: Thank you Aimes for identifying this stamps as an Impression Obsession stamp which can be purchased here.

Several years ago (5 or 6?) a friend brought this stamp to my home, and I stamped off six images in a variety of Memento inks. It's a large, red rubber image that measures approximately 5" x 4". I asked her for the name and manufacturer to put in my post, but she said she cannot find the stamp now. Do you know who made it?

Leslie Miller and Connie Griffin have inspired me to dig into my gigantic UNFINISHED box and get a grip on the important things in life (giggle). Each card was stamped with Memento Ink and in monochromatic style, colored with Copics and Caran d'Ache Luminance 6901 Color Pencils and Gamsol.

I even had time to stamp the card interior and envelopes!

The cards measure 5" x 7".

The "out of the box" die cutting technique was used on the oval creations:

This antique lace from Great-Aunt Agnes's stash (1940s?) was darkened with Distress ink.

Here it is in blue:

And Pink... it's always fun combining my edge punches with dies:

Challenges I'd like to play in please:

1. Allsorts Challenge - Their 11th birthday with a theme of "I love...". I love flowers and butterflies - my flowers bloom year round except the dead of summer when everything is a bit bedraggled. We provide a year-long habitat for Florida's pollinators including all kinds of bees, wasps, hummingbirds, butterflies and more! I also love MONOCHROMATIC cards. Happy Birthday, Allsorts! 9/18
2. Crafty Friends #144 Anything Goes - 9/18
3. Creative Knockouts #367 "Lots of Layers" I'm submitting the pink cards because the right card has 5 layers and the left has 6. 9/16
4. Cute Card Thursday #651 "No Patterned Paper" - submitting the blue cards, however, of all these cards, only one pink one has PP. 9/16
5. Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2036 "Anything Goes" 9/14
6. Classic Design Challenge #9 "Anything Goes" 10/1

If you know the name and manufacturer of this stamp, I'd love to update my blog post with it! Thanks for stopping by, and for your continued friendship.

hugs,

2 Crafty Critter Crazies with Digi Doodle Love Birds

Hello, sweet blogging friends!
Thanks for stopping by today.

It's time for a new Challenge at Two Crafty Critter Crazies 
where we love to celebrate any project with a critter on it! Critters include mythical creatures, animal toys and everything alive (except humans and flora)! Our very generous sponsor this month is:

Digi Doodle Studios.
My project features this darling Little Love Birds image.

They could not be tweeter, could they?

I especially like the little hearts cascading from the sweet little girl birdie.

Revealing the steps below shows how this image is pretty without much embellishment:

After dry embossing my card and adhering the sweet Little Love Birds image (colored with Caran d'Ache Luminance 6901 Color Pencils with Gamsol, Distress Oxides (Broken China, Cracked Pistachio) with water, I stamped the sentiment with Warm Breeze Versafine Clair ink and heat embossed with Clear Detail Powder:



Spellbinders Scalloped Edge Frame was woven with shiny Really Reasonable Ribbon's double faced satin ribbon in aqua:




Then I added some foliage (Cottage Cutz Greenery 4x4) in turquoise vellum, flowers and a handmade bow.



Such a sweet, texture-laden card which was fun to make start to finish!
Yikes! No glitter! (giggle)

Hope to see your critter entries in the challenge!

Some Products Used: 

Images: Little Love Birds, Hero Arts Mini Sentiments, Dies: SB S5-011 Scalloped Edge Frame (one of the very first SB dies ever!), Spellbinders Bow Elegance, Cottage Cutz Greenery 4x4,  Colored with Caran d'Ache Luminance 6901 Color Pencils with Gamsol, Distress Oxides (Broken China, Cracked Pistachio) with water, Warm Breeze Versafine Clair ink, Embossing: Dry Stone Wall by Crafter's Companion and Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Really Reasonable Ribbon Double Faced Satin in Aqua.

Challenges I'd like to Play in Please:

1. Crafty Gals Corner #188 "Spring Is Here" 4/7
2. The Sisterhood of Crafters (March 27) "Let's Celebrate Spring" 4/10
3. The Alphabet Challenge (Mar 29) "A is for Animals" (birds) 4/11
4. Creative Fingers Challenge #160 Anything Goes 4/6 (check #162)
5. Crafty Friends #106 "Use Spring Colors" 4/3
6. World Wide Open DT Challenge #3 (AG DT) 4/15 
7. Classic DT THIRD BIRTHDAY Challenge (AG DT) 5/1 
8. Craft-Dee BowZ (April) AG with handmade bow 5/1
9. Digi Doodle Studios #15 AG with Digi Doodle 5/1
10. Digi Doodle Studios FB Challenge 5/1

On a Personal Note
What does your family do with Easter Eggs?
I have some tips on my Recipes Blog here.




Happy April to you!
hugs,

Christmas at Sweet Stampin' PSX tags

It's me! I'm back! (giggle)
Welcome to my little blog - And some Christmas tags! Every year I intend to make "to-from" tags, and I never do! So here are three, and if no other tags are made, at least I finally did three (chuckle).

Today begins a new challenge at

Christmas at Sweet Stampin'!

My marvelously brilliant teammates have fantastic samples to share! We hope to see your imaginative artwork each month in our "Anything Goes Christmas" Challenges. The challenge is for ANY Christmas theme craft project. March's Challenge is open until April 9.

This month I'm playing with a virginal "used" stamp gifted to me by friend Paula. Paula and I both went into deep mourning when PSX stopped producing.
Do you remember PSX? Do you have any of their beloved stamps in your stash?
This stamp has been in my stash for years, and I'm guessing that Paula had it for at least 10 years previously.

Sporting blue (for my cold northern friends):



Pretty in Pink for my girly-girl blogging friends:

And red-green for traditionalists:

All the products are "golden oldies" except for the colored pencils. It was fun making these sweet tags!

Some Products Used:
Image: PSX F1321 Christmas Bird House - Ebay has one here.
Dies: Darice Ornate Rectangles, Poppystamps Stitched Main Street Tags, Poppystamps Stitched Festival Tags, Spellbinders Labels 23, 
Colored With: Caran d'Ache Luminance 6901 Color Pencils and various inks.

Challenges I'd like to play in please:

• ABC Christmas Challenge (March) E-F-G (E embellishment, F fabric, G glitz) lots of embellies, fabric ribbons/fibers, glitter & Gold glossy 4/1 (sep post)

• The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #45 AG Christmas 3/26 (sep post)

• Merry Little Christmas Challenge #8 AG Christmas 4/1 (sep post)

• Crafting from the Heart #238 AG 3/18

• Incy Wincy Designs #16 Let's Use Ribbon 3/18

• Colouring in Scrapland (Mar 4) "Critters" 4/1

• Happy Little Stampers (March 5) Christmas Tags 4/2 (winners tag right bar)

On A Personal Note:

(if reading directly from blog post, click photos to enlarge)
Are you familiar with a tropical plant called Platycerium (commonly known as a Staghorn Fern)? Most people see a "pup" in a nursery:


We moved ours from Tampa back in the 1980s and they were already 15 years old. Because our climate has frequent freezes and frosts, we used to "cover them" with many king-size quilts and blankets for weeks at a time to keep them warm enough through the winter. But they have grown considerably, and we have grown not quite as energetic, so they are no longer covered during freezes and frosts. Apparently they have acclimated because these photos were taken last month after 2 days of freezing temperatures (and other frosty-freezing days prior to that):



Hanging in homemade wire baskets that are about 4 feet across with long quadrupled lengths of 1 inch "mule tape", the fronds (leaves) are rather "pale" and beat up from cold northern winds at this time. The fronds are between 2-3 feet long each.

The "shield fronds" cover the base of the plant where the lengthy fronds come out. If a knife or ice pick is used to puncture a green shield frond, more "pups" will emerge. Then the pups can be cut out later and transplated, or left to grow in place, as we have done here. They are about 8 feet across (2.5 meters) and seem quite happy with their home. We never dreamed they would survive here.

In the following photo the bright green trees in the background are wild NON-indigenous cheery trees (no fruit) which are, SADLY, taking over the native oak habitat. Those are on someone else's property. We remove all non-indigenous trees on our property.

We call the oak trees "Live Oaks", although there are several varieties of oaks in our hammock. There are 2 squirrel-proof bird feeders (to the extreme right a box, and left, a cylinder). The one on the left is a dream at keeping the heavier birds and squirrels out of the feed. The right feeder is 30 years old and needs to be replaced. The squirrels can "hang" from the top because of the rust (giggle).

The azaleas in the far back right are twice the height of a person:



At the top left (below) are some white and pale pink azaleas, again, twice the height of a person. Azaleas require shade in Florida due to the hot, sunny summers, and enjoy an acid soil:



thanks for visiting!
hugs,

Flowers for You {Our Crafty Corner #9}{Bugaboo}

Hello Sweet Blogging Friends!
(((((hugs))))

Today begins challenge #9 for Our Crafty Corner!

It continues until the end of the month.

OCC is a month-long challenge, beginning the first Monday of each month.

Every month's theme: ANYTHING GOES

This Month's Sponsor is Karleigh Sue Digitals

My card features Bugaboo Stamp's "For You From Me Flower"

A little twist for my project today...

I've used Bugaboo's Stella Says Sketch #408 on BOTH cards.

In fact, both cards are using...

          the same image,

                    the same colored pencil and distress ink hues,

                              and the same sketch.

                                        But are they EVER different!

(white card = 6"x6"    ----    green card= 7.5"x 5.5")

The first card is highlighted with darker blue tones because the flowers are shaded in Blue Print Distress Ink, and a frame around the edge which has been distressed with the same ink and glitter. The top and bottom of the card are also distressed with the same glitter mixture.

NEVER EVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF GLITTER!

With 3 layers of hydrangeas, the white card is distinctive to have the petal layers distressed with Blue Print Distress Ink, and also inked in the centers, to match the frame surrounding the scene. The white panels of the sketch may be difficult to see even though they are distressed with Worn Lipstick Ink. I should have used dimensional adhesive for the layers. Each layer has a different embossed shape.

The butterfly has also been layered, and then glittered to match the image frame and distressed borders of the card. Prills adorn the hydrangea centers.

Inside of the card:

The second card has a dark green background, with a hint of white around the sketch panels, making them more easily seen. The hydrangea in the corner takes the place of the flower in the corner of the Sketch Pattern.

The hydrangea petals sport pink highlights with more prills.

TIPS:
Because there are so many layers, I die cut leaves and flowers from the layers where only an edge can be seen. This helps with bulk and postage costs.

There is glitter in the self-adhesive lace since some of that clear tape would show.
Once again, glitter comes to the rescue! 

I prefer the white highlights and bright magenta centers in the hydrangeas, compared to the bold blue look in the white card:

Thanks for stopping by today!

Now it's your turn to link up to the 
Our Crafty Corner Challenge!

Products Used:

• Image: Bugaboo Stamp's "For You From Me Flower"
• Dies: Spellbinders: Scallop Labels One, Classic Scallop Squares, Grand Decorative Labels One, Grand Labels One (card one), Cheery Lynn Tropical Flourish (card 2)
• Embossing Folders: Craftwell "Quatrafoil", Counture Creations "Flamingos and Hedgehogs", Craft Essentials "Basket Weave". (card one)
• MS Flourish Lace Punch Around the Page (card two)
• SU printed papers (card two)
• colored pencils, distress inks, prills, glitter mixtures, lace, ribbon

Challenges I'd like to play in please:

1. Stella Says Sketch #408 - 5/6 (check 5/9)
2. Crafting a Beautiful Mess #2 Anything Goes 5/26 (last Friday M)
3. Ellibelle's Creative Moments Let's Color Saturday Linky Party #8 (both cards and images are colored with colored pencils and distress inks) 5/5
4. Jade's Sparkling Butterflies (2 Crafty Girls )- #18 Anything Goes 5/12

Lastly, a share from our front pastureland last week. Ribbons of dew rise from the ground. Sometimes colors are reflected in the layers as the sun sheds light on flowers and its own sunrise hues. The layers are usually caused by the rapid rise of temperature in the morning, depending on the season. This time, the layers are not noticeable. The trees show off their dangling Spanish moss, and their leaves have not yet emerged:

warm hugs,