2016 Ready2Fill Calendar - Soft Serenity DSP

Here's another DIY calendar for someone to create photo calendars from their favorite images.  This one features Soft Serenity Designer Paper cut to 5.5x7.5 inches. It's nice and soft colors. The photo on the left is the front page. I've placed a bit of information in the frame. The inner frame makes it easy to line up your 4x6 photo when adhering your photo. If you are giving the calendar you can select a special photo for the front page and cover the text just leaving the 2016 on the bottom of the page.

The photo on the right are the 4 other colors in the designer series which provides a coordinated look to the overall calendar.  The pages are 8.5x11 inches and are held together with a Zutter metal OWire binding.  I've placed a hole in the top centre to hang it.

2016 Ready2Fill Calendar - Black & White

I worked on a DIY calendar for someone to create photo calendars from their favorite images.  I decided to keep the color scheme neutral and went with black and white.  The photo on the left is the front page. I've placed a bit of information in the frame. The inner frame makes it easy to line up your 4x6 photo when adhering your photo. If you are giving the calendar you can select a special photo for the front page and cover the text just leaving the 2016 on the bottom of the page.

The photo on the right are the 4 other B&W textures I found on free clipart and patterns websites. I chose 2 bold images and 2 line drawing images to provide some interest to the overall calendar.  The pages are 8.5x11 inches and are held together with a Zutter metal OWire binding.  I've placed a hole in the top centre to hang it.

Macro - Sunflower

I took more photos at the Community Garden today.  Things are winding down, vegetables are ready to be picked, pumpkins were orange, peppers were red and leaves and stocks whithered.
Sunflowers are my favorites and there were several.

Submitting to the following sites:
Macro Monday 2 
I Heart Macro

Mosaic Monday - Water & Sculpture

I was feeling like a change of pace this week so I chose not organic subject matter.  The large metal sculpture on the left is at the new structure at the entrance of our zoo.  The top centre is the corner of the wading pools at the Legislative Buildings.  The top right is of the large fountain at the LEG and this is of where the water coming down meets the pool and creates this netherland place.  The bottom right is of a fountain just down from my place which has leaves on it's basin and I caught the drops leaving the edge.  The bottom centre is of a in ground water feature near the LEG which is new this year.  It creates a splash park effect as a series of these water spouts start slowly and increase in height to about 5-6 feet tall.  Each circle has LED lights which are likely lit up at night.  Very Cool!

Submitting to Mosaic Monday host by Judith at Lavender Cottage.

All Occasion Cards Boxed

I made a set of All Occasion cards as a donation for an event being held in September.  It will be used for a prize for a golf tournament.  I used One Sheet Wonder 1 and One Sheet Wonder 2 layouts with 2 different colors to create 12 different cards.

I used a black and white double sided card stock by My Mind`s Eye called Lush Black Floral.  This paper as floral on one side and polka dots on the other. I was able to combine it with almost any color.  I cut the neutral strips from a warm white card stock to .5 inch width. They were adhered over the edge of the DSP in the center of the card. Because the white is a white warm I chose jewel toned card stock in cherry and plum. The flower accent is created with the Stampin Up Blossom Party original die.  I cut the center with a warm white circle.  I chose black for the large flower and the same color as the card for the slimmer one.
I packaged them in my standard 6x6 clear box for a nice presentation.

Advent Calendar - Boxed

I've been working on another presentation for my Advent Calendar.  This provides a 6 x 6 inch clear box for it to be stored in every year which will reduce the wear and tear on the pages. A jute cord and pins are used to display all the cards a once. The crystal bead marker allows folks to track the count down to Christmas Day by moving it to the next pin every day.  The list of suggested Advent activities is included.

The left inset shows the calendar with all the parts in the box.

The right inset shows the marker on the pin for a given day

Here's a link to the other one in a frame.  Leave me a comment as to which one - frame or box is more appealing to you.  Looking forward to your feedback. Thanks.

The Advent Calendar Kit - Cards Only is available on my Calendar page.

Calendars - 2016 Photo 4x6

It's been a flurry of activity here. My 2016 4x6 photo calendars are ready, which means a big task accomplished. I've designed these with my photos taken over the last year or so.  I sometimes dip into my archives given a particular subject matter. These are now available on my Calendars page.

Chipboard Calendars

I'm working on product for my sale next month.  I have designed a 6x4 calendar featuring clear embossed vellum sentiments with a 2.5 x 3.5 inch calendar which I designed myself.  These elements are held in place with tiny black brad which repeats the black in the vellum.  I chose a piece of chipboard as the based onto which I adhered a piece of designer paper.  It is well presented in a black metal frame which will look terrific on a desk, file cabinet, or book shelf.
Check my calendars page for more detail.

Snowflake Sparkles

I wanted to try coloring an embossing folder then embossing card stock.  I've seen a few samples in my web surfing the last few weeks. 
I used the Stampin Up Northern Flurry embossing folder and a Night of Navy
Watercolor Crayon on the bumpy side of the folder. I spritzed it and ran it through the Big Shot with Whisper White card stock. The process put the color on the opposite side of what I was wanting because I did not think it through.  I used the really nice colored side but the debossed snowflake side. I was amazed at the variety of colors that appeared.  I mounted it on Soft Sky card with some wet glue and double sided tape in the corners to help the paper flatten out a bit.  I stamped the MC greeting from the Four the Holidays with NofN ink on white. I then cut a piece of NofN card stock and trimmed to the leave a small border. I added rhinestones in the center of 3 snowflakes and on the greeting banner.
Submitting to the following challenges:
Holly Jolly - 54 - Snowflakes and Sparkles
Christmas Cards All Year Long - Snowflakes

Macro - Flower Stamen

I don't usually take pics of petunias as I think of them as plain. But this summer, I have taken several close ups of their middles.  Here's the pollen loaded stamen in the center of a white petunia.  It's interesting how creamy colored the stamen are and the veins in the petals are quite green.



Submitting this to the following:
Macro Monday 2
I Heart Macro - 113

MM - The Zoo

I went to the Zoo this week.  The weather had cooled and it was just a terrific day!
They have made some improvements in overall appearance and quite a few of the habitats have been expanded and enriched.  There is more areas with interactive exhibits which makes it more fun.
Don't you just love those eyes on the ring tailed lemurs.  They were hopping and skipping around and checking themselves out in the mirror in their exhibit.  There is a new area called the Beaver Lodge where they have a large dam made of logs which children were climbing all over so it is more interactive with the visitors. In this area they have several ponds with moving water and that is where the trout are swimming.  The Arctic Shores is where the seals swim. They have Northern Fur seals and Harbour Seals.  A black swan is a new since my last visit.  It was sharing habitat with pelicans and ducks.  What do you think of a skunk at the Zoo?  I guess it's the safest place to see one. I was surprised at how soft they looked. 

Submitting to Mosaic Monday hosted by Judith at Lavender Cottage

Triple Stars

I selected the Stampin Up Well Worn DSP and a Cajun Craze card.  I followed this tutorial for the sunburst. I cut a piece of DSP to 4.5x6 inches which I cut into 4 pieces of 4.5x1.5 inches which were cut in half on the diagonal.  I cut 2 from Not Quite Navy card stock as well.  I marked the center of the card about 1 inch from the bottom edge. I placed the points on the mark and played around with their placement. Once I was happy, I glued them down.  I trimmed all the DSP pieces to the edge of the card. I cut a narrow strip of NQN card stock and adhered it just below the horizontal edge of the DSP across the card.  I cut 3 stars with the Sizzix Stars#2 die; large in Early Espresso, medium River Rock, smallest Cajun Craze. I trimmed the largest star to the edge of the card.  The greeting is from the Itty Bitty Banners Stamp Set which was stamped NQN on River Rock and cut with the Itty Banner framelits.  It was adhered on the right of the star accent.

Submitting to the following challenges:

TGIF Challenges - TGIFC16 - Sunburst Sketch

SU ColorQ - cQc 303

Round Thank You

I started with a Stampin Up Always Artichoke card and I selected the In the Spotlight stamp set.  I cut the large circle from the Painted Blooms DSP with a Spellbinder Smooth Circle Nestabilities thin die.  I then stamped the circle from the set with Purely Pomegranate ink on Rich Razzleberry card stock.  I cut it with a Nestabilities die.  I then stamped the circle greeting with Pacific Point on white which I punched with a 5/8" punch.  I punched a .75" circle in the same blue. I layered them together. I stamped the dotted border in the same blue on white.  I trimmed it evenly on both top and bottom and flagged it's right hand end.  I stamped the same dotted border in Always Artichoke onto the card front creating a working space for my trio of circles.  I then adhered the largest circle in the top left hand corner then the medium Rich Razzleberry next to the right of the first one.  I glued the blue dotted banner parallel to the green one.  I glued the blue greeting over the left hand end of the banner.

I'm submitting to the following challenges:
Come and Get It - Round Things

CAS Colors & Sketches

 - #137 Sketch

Pals Paper Arts
- Color PPA263

Map Hello

I started with a map I purchased at the ReUse Centre. I selected a blue card which coordinated with it well.  Check this post of the process of creating the distress map paper. Once I distressed the map paper I glued it to the card front with a glue stick and pressed it down with my hands lightly trying to keep some of the texture I had added.  I selected some coordinating card stock in a warm amber color and cut that to the right width.  I ripped the top and bottom layer to add to the texture of the card.  With the card on the left I used 2 pieces to make it tall enough and I did not want the join to show so eventually decided to cover it with a strip cut off the map piece.  Happy with that. 

The greeting was cut with the Sizzix Hello Phrase die in dark grey, light grey and a light blue to coordinate with the colors in the map.  These were adhered together offset a just little, the light grey one up and the dark grey one down from the central light blue one. I put the dark grey at the bottom, the blue at the top with the medium grey in the middle of the stack. The stacked greeting was then adhered to the card front over the amber colored strip of card stock. 

I am submitting to the following challenges:

Daring Card Makers - Talking Texture 

City Crafters Challenges - Mood Board
Stampin Celebration - Inspiration Photo












I'm sending these cards off to 2 of my friends in my monthly card exchange group.

How To: Distressing Map

I cut the map piece to the right size before I crunched it into a little ball as part of the process of distressing it.  Once it was sufficiently wrinkled I opened it up and flattened it with my hands. I rubbed it with an ink pad to highlight the high areas.  Some of the edges had tears as part of the crunching process which added to the overall effect. I used a glue stick to adhere it to the card front which allowed me to just press it down with out flattening any more keeping the texture.

Feathered Friends

I started with a used Christmas card from my stash because I did not have a stamp that would work.  I trimmed the chickadee panel from the card front leaving a white border all the way around.  I then selected a card which worked with it.  I stamped the card front with the Stampin Up Itty Bitty backgrounds and Versamark ink and embossed them with white powder to create a snowfall effect. I chose the color printed greeting from my stash as well.  I layered it on the same green as the card then red.  I cut the banner end with the Stampin Up Triple Banner punch.  With the red layer it pops on the green card.  I adhered the greeting with 3D foam tape.

Submitting this card to the following challenges:
Holly Jolly - Feathered Friends.
Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
Craftyhazelnuts Christmas - Anything Goes 
 

B&W - Petrified Wood

I took this picture of a large piece of petrified wood.  It is a very large tree stump that likely measures 3 feet across.  It had this little green plant growing in the middle.  This circle shows the plant in the center.  The other is the side as it is probably 18 inches high.  I thought these shots had enough contrast to convert to black and white.

Submitting to
B&W Wednesday.

Sympathy - Butterflies

I made this card for the mother of a former co-worker Kim who succumbed to cancer recently at a much too young age.

I started with a kraft card and stamped it with SU Itty Bitty Background in Starfruit.  I cut my 12x12 Karen Foster Lime Twist scrapbook paper into nine 4 inch squares.  I ripped the square into uneven pieces ensuring that I did not have a white ripped edge.  I adhered them to the right and left edges of the wide card.  I cut a butterfly with one of the Sizzix Winged Beauties dies which I adhered over the gap between the SCP pieces.  I then added an oval color printed greeting which I ran the same ink pad around the edge to create a bit of contrast.  I mounted the greeting with 3D foam tape.


















I made some cards for her because this is a time when folks are helping and pitching in and it's always nice to respond with a token of appreciation but shopping is not the priority.  I made these tall with the basic same layout as the sympathy card.  With no greeting, they can be used as needed.  I selected 2 colors from the scrapbook paper in the deep red orange and the deep blue green. The butterflies were cut from textured pearl card stock.

Macro - Dandelion

I took this photo the other day.  I just love getting inside the dandelion.  This time I just caught one of the seeds in a perfect circle.  There was a fine dew so it provides some of the sparkle on the outer edges.

Submitting to
Macro Monday 2
I Heart Macro

Mosaic Monday - Nature Mix

I chose a mixture of nature photos this morning.  In the top left hand is a speckled rock I found in a retaining wall with a nice green leave sprig in the top left corner which provides a bit of contrast.  In the center, the fine dew on the multi leaf sprig was delicate.  The red elder berries in the top right give a nod to the dare I say it the Christmas season. Bottom left, is the black mature seed pods of Cicer Milkvetch which I found very intriguing.  Center, a purple sweet pea bloom and last the spiky looking dandelion again covered with very fine dew.   These were placed on a photo of vines on the rock wall to which I applied a filter to try to separate it from the photos on it.

Submitting this to Mosaic Monday hosted by Judith at Lavender Cottage.

Chokecherry Picking - Yum!

I spent some time in the great outdoors today.  The temperature was not too hot but the mosquitoes were pesky. Despite their interference I achieved my goal.  I picked chokecherries in the wild.

Growing up in a rural area as a kid in a large family we picked tons of these.  So, I was reminded of the satisfaction of having my pail get fuller and fuller.  The berries were just perfect for picking.  All were ripe and came off their stems easily.  It was an absolute pleasure to pick them. I ate my fill once my pail was full which was the rule as a kid. We used to eat them with a salt shaker in hand to cut down the tartness.

I will freeze them. In the winter I will eat them as a healthy snack by filling a small bowl and letting thaw just enough to eat. Yum! 

Advent Calendar

I've been working on an advent class which I will be teaching in the fall.  Keep an eye out for more on that later.  Christmas is never from from my mind all year long.  I always have it's music at hand and I enjoy it often. I also do a Christmas Card challenge on this blog every month to ensure I will have the cards I need on December 1st.

This is an advent calendar I have designed for people who want to be more intentional in preparing for Christmas.  There is a scripture reading for every day.  All the cards stay together as when you have completed one day you just flip the card over to the back and the next day is waiting for you.  It is designed to be used starting on December 1st.

The background for this card is my own art work of Bethlehem with a blue starry sky. The card measures 3.5 x 5 inches.  The 25 cards are held in the center of the pedestal frame with a book ring.  Each card has a reinforcement on the hole at the top in a contrasting color. 

I encourage individuals/families to do activities for each day of advent.  With that goal in mind, I have put together a list of activities under several categories such as Serving Others, Faith Based Activities, From the Kitchen, Outdoor Activities and a few more.  You will find the list at the bottom of this post as well as on my Freebie tab.

The calendar is designed so you can choose your daily activity which may be influenced by the members of your family and their ages. I have included an Activity Log for every day in your calendar which corresponds to each card. It is designed for you to record your chosen activity for that day. There are 12 slots on each log so you will have a record of your Christmas activities for that day over 12 years.  How wonderful it will be to review this list of memories from years past as you pull this calendar out every Christmas season.  This log is filed behind it's corresponding reading on the ring.

Gift Calendar - Multipurpose

This is the calendar I put together for the wedding couple.

It's a set of metal hooks with chalkboard at the top in a metal box.  I thought this could be used in a variety of ways.

The hooks could be pulled out and used as a count down calendar for 12 or 24 days before Christmas, 7 days to birthdays, 6 weeks before vacations or  9 months before a baby arrives.

It could be hung on the twine provided being sure to knot each one seperately or they could be hung on nails in a group or installed on a nice piece of wood then permanent attached to the wall.

It could serve as a place to leave notes for each other, hold family photos, hold mementos, or other reminders of grace and gratitude.

The chalk can be used to write anything they want on the small chalkboards above the hooks.

Wedding in the Pines

We had a family wedding on the weekend.  It was a wedding in the pines in the great outdoors. We had great weather and it went really well.  I'm very happy with the family photos I got taken in the pines.  It was good see most of my family, aunts & uncles, nieces & nephews.  We had delicious Ukrainian food for supper.

Silver Sparkle Joy

I started with a piece of very sparkly decorative paper.  I punched stars in it with a Creative Memories star border punch.  I punched on each edge.  This decorative paper has so many colors depending on the reflection of the light.  I chose a light aqua card which shows up the stars very nicely.  I then needed a central element.  I checked my collection of stamps and chose this Posh Impressions Joy stamp that I have owned for years!  I stamped it in black on vellum then embossed it with Silver Sparkle embossing powder.  I cut it down with Spellbinder Smooth Oval Nestabilities thin dies. 

I then cut a piece of silver foil paper with the coordinating Scalloped Oval by Spellbinder.  I mounted the vellum to the silver oval and then adhered this layer to the center of the card front.
I love the sparkle of this decorative paper and the silver sparkle coordinates really well with it.

I'm submitting this card to following challenge(s):
Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Card Challenge - Anything Goes