Fresh Spring Color

The colors for Color Throwdown #488 are so beautifully fresh and I decided to go with a clean and simple take. Funny how CAS can take almost as long as something more complicated! ;)

Supplies used: 

Paper: SU Whisper White thick and regular

Ink: SU Daffodil Delight, Pool Party, Cool Cucumber; Versafine black

Stamp: SSS Thankful Hearts sentiment

Miscellaneous: SU Pattern Party Decorative Mask; SU Lovely Words Thinlits Die; Big Shot

Since Spring is still struggling here in the Rockies (see photo at the end of this post), I was inspired to do some more with the CTD 488 colors with this lighthearted card:

I had the Stampin'Up Pattern Party Decorative masks out anyway, so I stenciled the clouds on a piece of Pool Party cardstock, made up the sentiment in Silhouette (using Bodoni MT font), then stamped and cut kites and bows from SU Swirly Bird. This was lots of fun to do and I might just keep it around for my own enjoyment! haha!

Can't wait to see this next week's colors . . . this challenge has helped me get my mojo back! 8)

Spring in Northern Utah

Thanks for stopping by!

Color Throwdown 478 Fun

Hi, hi!

I've been having some fun trying out different techniques - things I've pinned here - using the colors for the latest Color Throwdown challenge, #478.

The direct link to the Color Throwdown can be found here.

First up (and the card I am entering in the challenge) is this Distress Oxide Ink blended and white heat embossed bouquet of flowers.

Sending Best Wishes

I blended the ink onto the cardstock prior to stamping the bouquet and white embossing it; hence the confusion of color! I did go in and add ink to the individual leaves and flowers to brighten things up a bit which helped some. When I was splattering the Copic opaque white drops, things got a little wild but whatever!

We were blessed with a new great granddaughter on the 19th of January and I wanted to 1) make a special card for her, and 2) try Yana Smakula's iron embellishment technique. I remembered that I have a stamp set for babies acquired many moons ago that had the sentiment "Welcome Little Star" which became the basis for using my nesting star dies for the technique. Of course, my star is really not iron-looking since I used another old item in my stash, rainbow sparkle embossing powder, to coat it.

Welcome Little Star

Here is a closeup of the star:

So, I was kind of on a roll with these colors and took out my Stampin'Up! re-inkers in Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, and Soft Sky. A couple drops of water in each one in my little palette got them close to the colors in the challenge. I then stamped out the cute little gift in SU's Weather Together stamp set in black Versafine onto a 5-1/2 x 4-1/4 inch piece of Bristol smooth watercolor paper and stamped the mermaid and seahorse from Magical Day with Versamark and white heat embossed it on another piece of Canson XL. I then set to watercoloring . . . 

The gift background turned out great I think! However, the mermaid was NOT the best choice for this technique because, I came to the conclusion, it has too fine of lines. Anyway, here are both attempts; the gift background made into a birthday card for a special friend, and the mermaid background, uh, nothing memorable! Haha!

Happy Birthday Friend

Mermaid Booboo

Supplies:

Sending Best Wishes - SSS Let Us Rejoice stamp (bouquet and "best wishes"), SSS Sending die, Distress Oxide inks in Picked Raspberry, Twisted Citron, Fossilized Amber, Salty Ocean, Bristol smooth CS, SSS fine detail white embossing powder, Versamark ink, Copic Opaque White.

Welcome Little Star - SU star dies, various CS from my stash, unknown Little Star stamp set, Versamark ink, rainbow sparkle embossing powder.

Happy Birthday Friend - Bristol Smooth CS, SU re-inkers in Pear Pizzazz, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Soft Sky, SU Weather Together stamp set, HeroArts sentiment, Versafine black ink, Zing yellow embossing powder, Versamark ink, black and white stripe paper I made.

Mermaid Booboo - Canson XL CS, SSS fine detail embossing powder, Versamark ink, SU re-inkers as above, SU Magic Day stamp set.

I think I've exhausted further card ideas using these colors! I need to make some Valentine's Day cards, especially for my grands and greats.

Just a note - I've signed up for the Family History Writing Challenge which started February 1st. Of course, like most things, I am behind; however, with some encouragement from my older sister (who is our family research wizard), I have gathered my wits and am determined to begin writing about my chosen ancestor. . . our 94-year-old father. I am considering writing on this blog but we will see about that!

Bye for now.

Aging and Being Okay With It

Today Clare and I went into the City to have lunch and close out 2017 with Clare's three remaining siblings. Clare, at 70 years old, is the youngest of the eleven children born to and raised by Frank and Esther Allred. The three other siblings at the table were James Milton at 85, number seven, Anita Gwen at 80, number eight, and Burton at 73, number ten. Myself, 68, and Burton's wife, Vee, 74, are the only two spouses alive. Why I'm bringing this up is that it struck me that not only are we aging but of the six people gathered together today, to a person, we are okay with it. Oh, sure, each of us has his or her aches and pains, and grievances about how things just aren't like they used to be . . . but all six of us wear the laugh lines of having led happy, blessed lives. Another thing that struck me was the genuine and deep love that each has for each other, for our children, our children's children, our families and our friends. I am sure that many people have these same traits but I am reminded that, even though we don't get together very often anymore, there is always a glow left when we do. It is just good to know that with aging there is the comfort of being loved.

On that note, here are two older people grinning into the IPhone camera. Happy New Year!

Hazel and Clare - December 25, 2017

After a full couple weeks prior to Christmas Day, it was lovely to spend a restful and fun weekend with each other and some of the children. The week after Thanksgiving and visiting with Dad in California both of us had a head cold that lingered until just before we left for Las Vegas on the 11th. I used my illness as an excuse to not do any crafting (Christmas card-making in particular) and very little Christmas decorating. And then we were away from home from the 11th through the 18th, and then, POOF!, it was Christmas Eve and the start of the last week of the year. I had gotten gifts posted to my sisters and three of our out-of-town grandchildren and managed to wrap gifts for our children and grandchildren here in town. The only card I made was a special one for friend Judy (our daughter-in-law Jennifer's mother). She is fond of giraffes and I just couldn't resist making a funny card for her:

Dashing through the snow . . . 

Giraffing all the way! Hahaha!

The giraffe is a cut pattern from the Silhouette Design Store,  #109957. 

This is short but I wanted to say "HI" and send out wishes for a worry-free and happy new year. I don't generally make resolutions but after opening my fortune cookie at the end of our lunch today, I thought it was funny that the one thing I want to do this new year, DECLUTTER, would be spelled out as an adventure . . . "You will discover an unexpected treasure." Hoping!

    

On the Sixth Day of Christmas . . .

. . . I am home with a "code in my dose!"  Miserable but looking forward to clearing!

Just a short drop in to show off the fun Christmas cards I made and sent this year as well as a few photos of December happenings. (I suppose this could be my "month in numbers" - see Julie Kirk's very entertaining blog here - but, it would make me have to think to hard!)

 

Although tonight it is quite foggy, this is what the view is and has been since Boxing Day, December 26. Beautiful really; crisp and for the most part, pristine. On the other hand, it is quite a bit below freezing and going out takes one's breath away . . . since I have this head cold (flu shots don't touch this menacing little bug!), I haven't been outside except to run to the bank and grocery store. At that, it is bitingly cold and I find myself cranking up the heat (throwing another log on the fire!) after each outing.

On to some of the lovely, in my humble opinion, cards made for Christmas 2016.

This one I made six of which was the most of any of the various designs. Fortunately, we send out maybe 25 cards each year, so it was not difficult to experiment with different layouts, etc.

Fairly simple. I used stamps and dies from the 2014 Essentials by Ellen Christmas release.

The other cards I made were one of's or two, mainly because I was having fun with my supplies/stash. All of the designs were CASE'd (Copy And Share Everything) from cards I "pinned" one or other of my Pinterest boards; I just can't help myself, especially when I see designs done up with supplies that I own!

I made three of this style, two using Stampin' Up Christmas Pines stamps and dies

I used Winnie and Walter's In Bloom: Elsa's Flora stamps for this one of.

Last year Stampin' Up came out with Christmas Designer paper that had these adorable little Bambi's on it, so I spent an hour in front of the tube one evening fussy cutting them out with the intention of using them on cards . . . this year, it happened!

The pines on the first card are from the same Winnie and Walter stamp set used above but the pines on the second card are from Stampin' Up's Christmas Pines. The greetings are from random stamp sets in my stash.

All of the next cards were made for special people, so they were one of's.

For my sister in New Zealand, a flamingo!

This for my younger sister. I've had this wood block stamp for years and finally inked it up and watercolored it. What fun! I have stamped another one of these little guys and colored him in with my new Prismacolor pencils.

This was a tad labor intensive but I like how it turned out. The sentiment is from Essentials by Ellen 2015 Holiday II release, Holly Jolly, and the ornaments are from a very old wood block stamp set from Close to My Heart. I like the retro feel of this card and thought it perfect for my other sister. 

I actually made two of this design but smooshed my hand into one before the Stickles were dry - uh, oh!

I couldn't resist this image for my dad, colored in with Prismacolor pencils. It is from Penny Black called WinterTime Cheer.

A really simple card made for our 18-year-old grandson who actually would dress in a sweater such as this, with a bowtie!

I will wrap up this post with a couple photos from Christmas Eve. My granddaughter helped me take poinsettias to the church to place on the altar in preparation for Christmas Eve service. They look very pretty I think.

The candlelight portion of the Nine Lessons and Carols service at First Lutheran Church. Truly beautiful.

When we went into the church at 5:30 p.m., sunset, there was a light rain falling and by 7:00 p.m. it had dropped in temperature and snow was beginning to stick to the roads. By Sunday morning, Christmas Day, there was an accumulation of about 10 inches of snow, it was snowing until nearly 11:00 a.m., the roads were impassable, parking lots were unplowed, and worship service was canceled. I was so glad that we were able to make the Christmas Eve service.

Bye for now!

"
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Crafty Fun and More Scavenger Hunt Photos

Hello again!
Stopped into Janna's after grocery shopping (not my favorite activity!) and couldn't resist snapping this gem:

Oh yes indeed! May your coffee be STRONG and your Monday be SHORT!

Just brightened my day - as did the coffee!

Anyway, wanted to stop in and share a couple more finds for the 2015 Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt; particularly, #19 - A ticket booth (well, office in this case), and Alternate B - Someone with an umbrella. 

At the Oakley Rodeo and Fairgrounds.

No one was actually IN the ticket office - rather, they were around the corner. But, how could I possibly pass up this very obvious place where tickets are sold to satisfy #19 on the list?!

I've circled my sister-in-law there so it is obvious that she is holding an umbrella...for shade!

I took this photo for a couple reasons - 1) To add Alternate B because I really doubt I will ever find #4 - people playing a board game or card game; and, 2) This is my sister-in-law as Grand Marshall for the Stockton (Utah) Days parade in my nephew's vis a vis (face to face) cart pulled by his matched pair of spotted draft horses, Cisco and Pancho. My nephew is driving. This was a fun day in a small county town which I will tell more about in my August Month in Numbers post . . .

So, the list now looks like this:

SCAVENGER HUNT LIST

1. A bouquet of flowers
2. An ornate door knocker
3. A person walking a dog (or other animal)
4. People playing a board game or card game
5. Architectural columns
6. A metal bridge
7. A turtle
8. Someone "plugged in" to social media 
9. A tent
10. A college or university
11. A cellular tower or television satellite dish
12. A public restroom, bathroom, or toilet
13. A merry-go-round or carousel
14. A traffic signal
15. A flag pole with at least three flags on it
16. A panoramic view, taken while standing someplace high in the air
17. At least two people wearing matching outfits or uniforms
18. An overloaded truck, car, bicycle or other vehicle
19. A ticket booth
20. A natural body of water
21. A photograph of you with a sign reading "2015 Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt". Note: you may not use a substitute for this item.
If you find something on the list too difficult, you may substitute one of the following items for any one item on the list, except for Item #21:
Alternative A: People eating outside
Alternative B: Someone holding an umbrella
Alternative C: A rocking chair

There's still a month left to hunt and, who knows? I may just get lucky and even find #4!

I've been having some crafty fun this last month, making cards for various occasions (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.) and trying out different techniques. Most of these cards I'm going to show are inspired by and/or lifted directly from awesome crafters/bloggers/YouTubers/Pinterest-ers. Unfortunately, I can't remember (or re-find) them all but I give them all the credit for incredible ideas. Thank you!

Warning! Photo heavy coming up!

This card I made for my granddaughter to accompany the bicycle her grampa and I gave to her to take to college. I cut the bicycle design on my Cameo (Design #27587) from Glitzy paper manufactured by Pressed Petals. Cut like a dream and is every bit as lovely as glitter paper by DCWV. I love the background paper and wish I had more; it is a 6x6 sheet from the August 2015 Simon Says Card Kit (Simple Stories Summer Vibes collection). I added sequins from Stampin Up! and my stash. Inside, I wrote her a note with grandparent kind of encouragement and advice as she goes off to her first year of college. 

This card I made for my son's 45th birthday. I used the mad scientist stamp and die from Paper Smooches Great Chemistry, and a balloon I fussy-cut from an older Hero Arts stamp set. I foam-tape mounted it on a grey cardstock which I think is Simon Says "Fog," I added a "floor" of  another paper from the Simon Says August 2015 Card Kit, splatters from Dylusions White Linen ink spray, and various enamel dots from My Mind's Eye. I also colored the little fellow and balloon with my newly-acquired Zig Clean Color Brush Markers, which I LOVE! (Gosh! I just noticed that I forgot to color in the little dude's eyebrows!) Oh yes, I added Glossy Accents to his glasses.

This next card was made for my granddaughter and her husband's 4th anniversary. I originally wanted to gold foil the bicycle but decided it might be a mess using double-sided adhesive and cutting a small, intricate design on the Cameo. Instead, I found this older Stampin Up! set, Enjoy the Journey (retired) and gold embossed the bicycle-built-for-two. The hearts are from another SU retired set, Road to Happiness. The two tags are tied with SU gold baker's twine and mounted on a die cut rectangle of paper from Crate Paper's Maggie Holmes 6x6 paper pad (the first collection). I had alot of fun with this card even though it took forever to finally figure out how I wanted it to look! My granddaughter texted me to say she really liked it. Whew!

This card was made for my brother-in-law. I did a technique I saw on Pinterest but which I failed to actually pin. Anyhow, I cut a zig-zag on my Cameo from various adhesive-backed cardstock, then mounted on four 3-inch pieces of cardstock in varying rows. Then I cut those pieces at the points of the zig-zig and rearranged them to look dimensional (if any of that makes sense!). The "happy" is die cut from adhesive-backed cardstock using Avery Elle's Simply Said Happy die. I like how this turned out; however, it was a bit tedious trying to get the rows to line up!

This card for my aunt was totally lifted from Nichol Magouirk's Stained Glass Butterfly card post here. I didn't have the Lawn Fawn butterfly; however, I did have an older Basic Grey stamp set with this lovely butterfly. Other than that and the colors I used, the watercolor technique is all Nichol's, as is the inlaid panel and sequins. The sentiment is an older Stampendous stamp that I have in my stash. This was quite challenging but something I'd like to do again.

These two cards are just about identical to the card JJ Bolton did here. I made the one-eyed Minion for my grandson's girlfriend and the Genius Minion for my grandson (not the same grandson).

The glittery octopus card was lifted from Lucy Abrams here. I just couldn't resist the extreme cuteness of this for three of my greats. It accompanied the just-released Dr. Seuss book, What Pet Should I Get? that I bought for them. While I was under the sea, I cut this whale out of glittery paper too. It is Silhouette design #61979 here and the octopus is here. I could spend hours just cutting and pasting fun designs on my Cameo!

Lastly, this card using Distress Inks and a stencil. This was also a Pinterest-found card. I added the green stripe because I masked too skinny for just four like on the inspiration card but I do like how it came out and will be doing this technique again using different stencils, ink colors, sentiments, etc.

I'm on a roll I think! And . . . today I received the MISTI stamping tool I ordered from Simon Says. Cannot wait to get using this! 

Going to Boise tomorrow with Clare to pick up a pipe trailer. Who knows? I may just spot a merry-go-round! Ha!

Hope you had a SHORT Monday. Have a happy week!

Mid-August Ramblings

Hello, hello!
Already mid August and the ordinary days are whizzing by! haha! I can't even remember how August began but I do know that taking photographs sure helps keep me on track; I should take a photo-a-day (or more) in order to document this passing of time . . .
Last week, Wednesday the 7th, Grampa Clarence drove off with son Doug, grandsons Tee, Ty, and Johnathon, Tip the dog, three of the mules, five of the horses, and a bunch of camp gear for a four day pack and camp trip on the North Slope of the High Uintahs.

The Hillsboro stock trailer looks pretty beat up but makes a good "ranchy" backdrop for Doug, Tee, Johnathon, Ty, and Grampa Clarence. Three mules and two horses are in this trailer; the other three horses in the small trailer that Doug pulled with his truck.

   They lost phone signal at about 2 p.m. (MDT) that day and were out of contact until Sunday the 11th at about 1 p.m. (MDT). We're talkin' OUT IN THE WOODS here! They set up camp at the China Meadows trailhead.

Thursday they packed mounted up and made a 28 mile trip up to Lower Red Castle Lake; it started to rain pretty hard at the upper bridge just before the lake, so they didn't attempt going to Upper Red Castle. Doug snapped this really great picture of Clare with the three grandsons and Red Castle in the background.

Johnathon on Ranger, Rooster the red mule, Clare on Willie, Tee (kind of grumpy!) on Dolly, Wilbur the mule with his nose in the grass, and Ty on Hollywood

Friday and Saturday were spent fishing two different locations and then Sunday the broke camp and journeyed home. Although Clare caught a bug and had a sore throat and headache most of the trip, it was a memorable time for everyone.

While they were gone I did anything I wanted! Which was . . . Wednesday I cleaned house and went and had a pedicure; Thursday morning I went and picked up my friend Heather and a couple bags of her crafty stuff and we spent the next two days doing a card-making marathon! Whoa! It was pretty darn fun for us both. I'll compile a slide show (or something) of the creations we came up with but here are three cards I made which went in the mail already:

2nd Anniversary card for my granddaughter and her husband. Modified a Mason jar Silhouette cut file to a print and cut. Papers from Dear Lizzy 5th and Frolic.

This jar was stamped on vellum using the SU Perfectly Preserved set and diecut. Modified flowers and stems from a Kerri Bradford freebie cut file. Papers from Doodlebug Flower Box 6x6 pad.

Birthday card for my son using AdornIt Nested Owls papers. Medallion and happy birthday banner from SU Blue Ribbon and Itty Bitty Banners stamp sets.

After Heather left I hadn't had enough and went a little berserk with the AdornIt Nesting Owls paper I had left over (had the coral collection too) and ended up with six cards! Had a card-making mojo going! Now if I could find my scrapping mojo!

Since Sunday the 11th there's been a very bad fire over in Skull Valley which has caused some very gloomy days in our valley. Last night there was a rain of ashes giving everything a dusting of greyish white. Hoping that it can be contained soon.

Instagram photos of the smoky sunset.

Going to Oakley this Friday and Saturday for grandsons Ty's and Tee's first Fall High School Rodeo. Grampa will be hazing for their steer wrestling runs. Fingers crossed!

Nighty night!