Oh To Fly A Kite! {Jan's Digi Stamps}

Welcome, friends, to my little bloggie home! Thank you for all your kind words of comfort to Jack and me for our recent loss.

Today's kite-flying card is the kickoff at  February's Anything Goes Challenge at Jan's Digi Stamps!  If you use a JDS image in your card, please mention it. There is a 2nd draw specifically for those who use one of Jan's fun images.

Jan's newest sets and this month's Easter Sale are 25% off.

To create my card, two sets were used (just click on them to enlarge):

Let's Go Fly A Kite 4065J (15 images) on sale for $3.75

Basket of Hope 866J

New (for me) Technique - Double Twisted Ribbon 

My friend Connie is also showcasing this technique today with her lovely card here.

Terri Gaines has a great youtube video for the technique. I thought it complemented my little girl's kite tails (do they still call them tails? or are they now streamers? anyone know?)

Easel cards fold flat for mailing:

Copic Markers and Distress Inks were used to color this cute image using monochromatic coloring. 

Besides, one can be a tomboy and still wear girly colors!

Looking down:

Because this card was originally meant to be 5x7, an inch and a half was cut off the morphed square card. The 1.5 inches was placed on the bottom to give the illusion of a waterfall or sidewalk:;

You can probably see that the tremors in my hands and arms are returning, like the circles on the kite. I have another appointment at the end of February with a specialist to discuss a more permanent way of assisting my spinal issues:

Thanks for stopping by and please check out my teamies' pretty projects in the Anything Goes Challenge at Jan's Digi Stamps!

Products Used: Jan's Digi Images: Let's Go Fly A Kite 4065J, Basket of Hope 866J, Gelly Roll White Pens, Copic Markers, Stencils (for kite, grass and sky); Pumice stone, Walnut Stain, Kitsch Flamingo Distress Inks, Picked Raspberry Oxide (distressed "ribbon"), EK Success border punch, EK Success Rounder Punch, Cuttlebug 5x7 embossing folder, Spellbinders Classic Ovals Large S4-110 and Grand Ovals die sets, Light, Medium & Dark Kraft colored cardstock.

On A Personal Note:

Remember Florida on Christmas Eve just one month ago? Perhaps this will remind you:

The day before this freeze occurred, I pruned some coleus and angel wing begonias to root indoors for Spring, only to discover a hitchhiker Monarch Butterfly Caterpillar:

So I went back outside and cut some fresh milkweed for the little guy, thinking he would need food. As I cut the milkweed, I discovered another dozen of this little caterpillar's brothers and sisters. So I cut a lot of milkweed, brought the family indoors and covered with a home-made tulle netting. I placed the box in the garage, which stays about 60 even on cold nights.

In the meantime, the original caterpillar disappeared! The next morning we found this just beneath the crown molding:

So we made plans for it to "hatch" indoors by making a loose netting, giving it plenty of room to stretch its pretty wings on its eclosion:

Imagine what our exterminator thought when he came through! (giggle)

But alas, weeks went by. We saw wing development occurring inside, but a dreaded thing happened. A tiny white "filament" appeared out the bottom of the chrysalis. If you click on the photo below, you can see the semi-developed butterfly and the tiny filament:

That filament was an indication of a parasite (fly or wasp) chomping away on the dormant Monarch. The thread meant that the Monarch was dead. Sigh. How disappointing. The other caterpillars died as well. Next time, I'll leave them outside instead, and let them find a way of protecting themselves. No good deed.... right?

Back to our regularly scheduled program... 

I'd like to play in the following fine challenges please:

1. World Wide Open Design Team Challenge #1 AG DT 2/12
2. As You Like It Challenge (Jan 26) Favorite (mostly color) and (why) 2/9 I'm mostly a pink girly girl when it comes to colors because it is a sweet color (to my eye), comforting, and with so many shades it is kind of a neutral that goes with most other hues, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, is frequently found in nature. Thanks for the fun challenge!
3. Let's Create and Craft #192 AG + "say what?" - have a sentiment on your card. 3/1
4. Morgan's Artworld #2 AG 3/1 (1/3)
5. Crafts Galore Encore #108 AG 3/1 (1/3)
6. A Perfect Time to Craft Open Challenge #2 AG 3/1
7. Girlz Creative Crafts #33 More Than One Fold 2/14
8. Classic Design Challenge #2 AG 3/1
9. The Paper Funday Challenge #50 AG with lots of layers 3/1
10. CD Sunday + #103 AG from a download (I placed the sun behind the kite and then stenciled the background and the kite, with some hand drawn dots and circles on the kite and the little girl's shirt. The sentiment is from another digital set) 2/19
11. Colorful Options (Feb 2023) Celebrate Pink 2/28
12. Just Us Girls #665 Color Week 2/11 (shown below)

Stamping Hugs,

Friends are like Fine Wine {Sparkle N Sprinkle}

Hello, Blogging Friends! Welcome to today's fruitful post. I hope you enjoy it.

Featuring the pretty Wine Tableau stamp set, the sentiments are perfect for most all-occasion greetings.

republished from 12-27-11

It's a gorgeous stamp set by artist Rosiland Solomon. Lovely sayings made it impossible to choose just one for my card, so I slightly altered the oval triplet aspect of the sketch to rectangles, accommodating as many of the sayings as possible.

Stunning and easy to color, these images avail themselves to any coloring medium! Are you wondering why the background of the image seems muted? It's stamped on kraft cardstock, outlined with white Prismacolor pencil.




This time I used yet another neglected art supply. High on the top shelf the Derwent Water Color Pencils were "whining" (sorry, couldn't resist the play on words). Popped open the large tin of beautiful colors, and decided to make things easy by using a blender pen instead of water for control on kraft cardstock.

The image is heat embossed with Cerulean embossing powder, part of the Shades and Stars of Tuscany EP collection.

Cerulean embossing powder

A strip of ribbon is shown on each panel - one with a strip of Tear-ific Tape holding Navy Glitter. Clear EP has been applied to the cheese knife, wine glass, vase and wine bottle.

Navy Glitter

Have you checked out Sparkle N Sprinkle's monthly Face Book Challenge?

SNS Products Used:
Stamps: Wine Tableau rubber stamp set 00-449P4
Embossing Powders: Cerulean embossing powder, Shades and Stars of Tuscany EP (excellent for detail work)
Glitter: Navy Ultrafine Opaque Glitter G1079
Dies: Creatopia by Xyron and Spellbinders exclusive Badge Nesting Dies frames the scene, Spellbinders Petite Scalloped Rectangles


Thanks for taking time to visit my blog today!
Stamping Hugs,
de

Getting Krafty - Cardz4Galz and House Mouse Challenge

Welcome, Blogging Friends!
It would be great to know you are feeling well and enjoying yourselves.
Today I am featuring two whimsical creations, using the krafty color scheme just in time for

The new challenge at Cardz 4 Galz Challenges today!

Badges are awarded for the Spotlight Winner and Top Picks.

Challenge #55 is chosen by guest designer Julie - and the theme is:

  GET KRAFTY  

show us your Paper Crafting projects using any technique and medium, 

AS LONG AS IT INCLUDES KRAFT CARDSTOCK!

Challenge ends on SEPTEMBER 13th.

My cards are inspired by the House Mouse and Friends Challenge which is pearls and lace.

So glad STAMPENDOUS is still making HOUSE MOUSE images!

This is one of my few HM Christmas images, so I colored it 4 times last month in different schemes. The first one is in candy red colors here.

Today's share includes two sepia tone images with different muted colors (one chocolatey and one reddish) in order to meet the C4G Krafty Challenge. 

Pure Chocolate:

Colored with Copic Markers and embossed with Craftwell's Delicate Dots, I inked with 2 Distress Oxides. To heighten the kraft cardstock in the pretty Sue Wilson Gemini border dies, I inked them with Champagne Sparkle VersaMark Dazzle ink. (Long neglected for YEARS in my stash).


The bell is actually bright yellow with a touch of brassiness. Instead of removing the pearly flourishes from their adhesive backing, I cut around the acetate. Green glitter was rubbed into the exposed adhesive to add a touch of color resembling greenery. The simple layered flower is all made from kraft cardstock. The top layer is inked with Distress Oxide and a little Mousse. The middle layer has nothing. The bottom layer is solid mousse.


My Great-Aunt Agnes's Lace, Spellbinders dies, and old MS punches help make a frame.

CARD TWO: 

Next is the reddish version with lots of coral and deep red tones added and a genuinely brassy bell. Yikes! My little mice look sunburned. Likely they have eaten too much red frosting. (giggle)

To make the pretty frame and card:

The Snowflake border die has been inked with VersaMark Champagne Dazzle. There is a slight sparkle to it in real life, but the watermark effect darkens the kraft cardstock enough to show against the kraft base. The little gingerbread man die cut on the flower is decked out with Antique Rose NUVO Crystal Drops. It looks just like icing!

It's always a pleasure using the laces and trims from my Great Aunt Agnes. She was born in 1902 and was a registered nurse at a hospital in New York until she was in her 40s. How happy she would be knowing her goodies are still enjoyed today.



Rose Gold Microfine Velvet Glitter was burnished into the frame, and also in the pearl flourish so the adhesive would not be as shiny-noticeable.

We would love seeing your kraft-colored projects at the

Cardz 4 Galz Challenge!

On a Personal Note:

One reason why I enjoyed coloring this House Mouse image is the brass bell.
In the 1800's our family had a dairy farm in Wisconsin. This bell is from that farm. Decades and generations passed. My Grandpa fought on the Western Front in World War I and was "gassed" with what was called Mustard Gas. Fortunately, he survived, but he could no longer tolerate the Wisconsin Winters. So the family sold the farm and moved to Southern California where they created a profitable Plant Nursery. Grandpa hybridized many plant varieties, including African Violets, Camellias and lilies. Grandpa's heart and lungs were weakened by the gas, and he periodically suffered relapses. During those "bedridden" days, the bell was at the side table for him to ring. My Grandma would hear the clanging bell, and know Grandpa needed something. Today the bell lives on a bookcase in our home, with fond memories of my grandparents, their amazing property, their beautiful aviary, and of course, the gorgeously hybridized flowers. Oh! And one more memory - for all those who fought in the First World War.

MY SECOND NOTE IS ACTUALLY A QUESTION:

Does anyone know the name of the insect that laid these eggs? Though not clearly visible, the eggs actually resemble clam shells, because they have 2 halves, sliced horizontally through the eggs. Aren't they beautifully arranged so perfectly along the underside of the waxy ligustrum leaf?

Click on the photos to enlarge:

UPDATE: Thanks, Shona! 
They are indeed Katydid eggs, when I looked up that name and saw all the photos, I recognized the culprit immediately - it is definitely not something we need in this area full of citrus trees and other ornamentals. Thank you!

Products Used:

Card One:

• Image: Frosting Gingerboy House Mouse
• Inks: Memento Black, Distress Oxides, VersaMark Champagne Dazzle
• Copic Markers
• Papers: Neenah Solar White, Kraft, Chocolate Brown
• Embossing Folder: Delicate Dots by Craftwell
• MS Punch: Daisy Edge
• Spellbinders: Labels Four, Elegant Labels Four
• Sue Wilson Mini Gemini Dies - ARA (border on sides)
• Vintage Lace, Ivory Pearls, Tonic Green Meadow Glitter (in the pearls)

Card Two:

• Image: Frosting Gingerboy House Mouse, Hero Arts CL722 (sentiment)
• Inks: Nuvo Hybrid Ink Acorn Brown, Memento Black, Distress Oxides, VersaMark Champagne Dazzle
• Copic Markers
• Embossing Folder: Delicate Dots by Craftwell
• Papers: Neenah Solar White, Kraft, Chocolate Brown
• Sue Wilson: Double Pierced Squares B, Snowflake Border, Ornate Holly Framed Noel
• Glitter: SNS Rose Gold Microfine Velvet Glitter
• Memory Box Precious Gingerbread Men
• Poppystamps Blooming Poinsettia die #861
• 1" wide Double Sided Tear-ific Tape
• Antique Rose NUVO Crystal Drops 

Challenges:

1. International Art and Soul #15 "Layer it Up!" 9/10 (card base plus lace, frame, several layers of die cuts
2. Christmas with the Cuties #9 "Cute Couples" 9/25
3. Christmas at Sweet Stampin' "Anything Goes Christmas" 9/13
4. Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas #348 Anything Goes Christmas with Something Old (stamp images, Punch, Emb Folder, Vintage Lace, Pearls, VersaMark Dazzle ink, SW, SP, MB & PS dies)
5. House Mouse and Friends #248 Pearls and Lace 9/4 (sep post)
6. My Time to Craft Challenge Blog #353 "Krafty" 9/10
7. The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #13 Anything Christmas  9/4 (C15)
8. ScrapyLand Challenges #72 "Anything Goes with Dies SL Sells" (listed above - SW, MB, PS) 9/5
9. The Merry Christmas Challenge #32 Anything Goes Christmas 9/4
10. World Wide Open DT Challenge #25 "Anything DT Goes" 9/15

Thanks for visiting! As always, I cherish your thoughts and comments.
hugs,