Birds and a Card

 We had a very pleasant weekend but today is another scorcher….hot and humid. So we packed up a lunch and headed to Mitchell’s Bay for the afternoon. The wind comes off the lake and it is so much cooler there. I always take my camera with me “just in case” and I’m so glad I did. We noticed a very small bird under a bench and wondered what it was. It turned out to be a baby Cedar Waxwing. I don’t think it fledged but fell out of the nest. Here are a couple photos of it.

 

 Here's a video of it trying to fly and the mother happened to show up to feed it. Hope it opens. 

I was very busy in my ‘lower studio’ last week but not crafting! I was purging! I have a whole box of crafting supplies that I decided I was not going to use and they are going to sold or donated.

I do have a couple of cards ready to post though. Here’s one.

                               

 This is an old Art Impression stamp (I think) so not sure if its available anymore. I had a stack of old greeting cards someone gave me and this one with the funny flowers was one of them. I decided to repurpose it. Not all the flowers had stems so I added stems and gems in the centre of each one. The lady was stamped, coloured and then I hand cut her out and attached her with dimensional dots. The two sentiments were stamped - the top one from my stash and the one by her came with the stamp set.

That’s all for a hot and humid Monday with hurricane Beryl expecting to hit us tomorrow with torrential downpours. Stay safe everyone!

Cheers

Violet

Ps: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply over over the image until the “Pin It” symbol appears and then click …. be patient, it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

Scrapbook Layout

 The horrible heat and humidity finally left us earlier this week….and was replaced with rain and thunderstorms but much cooler temperatures. We had a vicious thunderstorm yesterday with almost 2” of rain falling in about an hour. Lots of streets and fields were flooded.  Canada Day falls on Monday this year and its our celebration very much like the USA’s 4^th of July. We always watch the mega fireworks that is a collaboration between Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario on TV….too loud and too many people to go in person...just before our joint celebrations

 A couple of weeks ago, my daughter, her hubby and one grandson came to Chatham to watch a ballgame with us. We have a new team in Chatham that belongs to the Inter-County Baseball League - very, very minor- but the team is a nice addition to the city.  They are called The Chatham-Kent Barnstormers. In the 30’s and 40’s and up to the 60’s, I think, successful sport teams and theatre acts were known barnstromers, especially baseball teams in the Negro League  which Chatham certainly had. This area is one of the many stops for the Underground Railway so we have a huge black population. In fact, the MLB All-Star, Fergie Jenkins, who is also in the Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame, is from Chatham. So, anyway, they decided to name the team the Barnstormers to honour those who played in the Negro League.  Whew, end of history lesson.  

Here is the scrapbook layout I created with the few photos I took.

 

I did struggle getting this layout finished and I’m blaming it on working on it during the heat and humidity as I was suffering from an attack from the brain disorders I deal with…caused by the humidity. I changed the background 3 times before the third one stayed as plain blue. The back of the blue behind the other paper was gutted so I could use it to mount the photos on the right page and the strip behind the photos on the left side. I always do this as it saves paper and is less bulky. The title was die cut from black cardstock. The baseballs and popcorn bags were free clip art from the Internet. I didn’t have very many baseball themed  stickers or paper. The yellow tag and the arrow were die cuts as were the letters. I have a nice variety of alpha dies so they come in handy. The words on the tag, “summer here and now” are from a Tim Holtz sentiment die set. 

The red tag on the right page is from a pack of tags I picked up at a thrift store likely years ago. I forgot I had them, pulled them out, and found the perfect tag. The only sticker I had was the sun and the baseball sticker that is on top of the computer generated journaling which I printed on velum. The ticket on the right page is one of the admission ones from that day. I didn’t have many photos of us so I clicked a few of the open grandstand …..hot, hot, hot…and the batting cages and the mascot, Lefty.

I like to scrapbook the every day and little things in life as well as the big occasions.

That is all for a sunny but cool Thursday, June 27, 2024.

Cheers

Violet

Ps: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply over over the image until the “Pin It” symbol appears and then click …. be patient, it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

A Masculine Card

 Our heat wave is continuing! Hopefully the humidity will be less in a couple of days. The most uttered statement in Ontario right now is, “I love the heat but hate the humidity”.

Today’s card was made using stamps from a variety of companies. The birds on the shore are from Stampin’ Up but I have no idea where the others come from. I don’t keep packaging.

 

The sky was sponged in a variety of Distress Inks, as was the sand. I used a grunge stamp that I think came from Stampin’ Up for the dark dots in the sand. I’m not sure where the reeds are from but they were stamped in a dark brown than the sand. I didn’t want them to be the focal image so I kept them brown. The birds in the sky and the sentiment were stamped as well. It was mounted on a dark blue card base.

That’s all for another hot and humid day.

Cheers

Violet

Ps: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply over over the image until the “Pin It” symbol appears and then click …. be patient, it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

 

 

 

Heat Wave and a Card

 We are having a heat wave and it’s a wicked one. Close to 100F every day this week and its so humid you can hardly breathe outside…. and it will continue well into the weekend. This, of course, triggers thunderstorms too and possible tornadoes. So far, only thunderstorms.

 I don’t get quite as much card making, quilting or scrapbooking done in the summer but I still manage to get a few hours each week in. Here is one card I made.

I was just in another playing around with some stamps I bought and never used and this card was the result. I wasn’t sure if I really liked it all that much but my friend loved it so it went with her. The background was all sponged with various Distress Inks. I stamped the lady first and the flowers in an arc to her right. Then I decided to sponge some ink to create the background sky. The area around her hand was inked in light yellow and also down the arc of flowers but it is very light. The sky and ground are various Distress ink…and possibly some Stampin’ Up ink as well. Then the flowers were stamped on the top left corner and a few on the top right. Some of the flowers, which are really small circles, were coloured with markers in a variety of blues and purples. Then I decided she needed something in her outreached hand so I die cut and coloured those tiny butterflies and glued them on. The sentiment was stamped. It could use some improvement but for an experiment its not too bad.

That’s all for a very hot and humid Tuesday June 18, 2024.  Oh, and today is our 36^th wedding anniversary but we decided it was way too hot to get dressed up to go out for supper. We’ll celebrate on another night. No big deal for either of us. We are each other’s best friend and we spend about 90% of our time together, which we love! So the actually anniversary date is secondary to how we love each other.

Cheers

Violet

Ps: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply over over the image until the “Pin It” symbol appears and then click …. be patient, it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

Old Dies, New Card

 Hello All! Its been awhile since my last post again. Life has been busy. The weather is still cooler and rainier than it normally is for this time of the year but the good news is, we haven’t had to turn the A/C on very much at all. I have been busy making cards - I made and donated 48 to the local hospice so that was quite a lot of work but they do appreciate handmade cards to send out. I did make a few for myself as well, including this one.

 I’ve had this flower die for more years than I care to admit and have seldom used it. Time to dig out the old dies! It does not come with the stems and leaves but that was an easy fix. The background was pure white so I sponged on some light blue ink through a stencil and did some extra sponging as well. The ribbon was wrapped around the card before it was mounted on a dark brown card base the same colour as the top of the flowers. Then the butterfly was glued on. No sentiment was added as I’m not sure what it will be used for.

That’s all for a very cool Sunday, June 9, 2024.

 Cheers

Violet

Ps: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply over over the image until the “Pin It” symbol appears and then click …. be patient, it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

 

 

Wild Flower Card

 It’s been quite a week here again in Ontario with the weather all over the place. The rain and thunderstorms continued but we dodged the tornado….and we were close to having frost the last two nights. Its not unusual to have to turn  the furnace off and on during April but usually in May the furnace is off until we turn the A/C on in June or July. We had to run the furnace a bit the last two mornings just to get the chill out of the house. We did enjoy coffee in the backyard today - first time this year!

 Today’s card was a bit of an experiment - nothing new there, right! But I did like how it turned out.

I love the wild flowers die set - I think from Tim Holtz - and I’m trying to use them more often. I also have the jar stamp that I seldom used so I decided to put them both to use on one card. The flowers were all die cut from white cardstock and then  various colours of inks were used to colour them. I like this look better than die cutting them from solid cardstock…except the black ones in the background. I had to hand cut the vase as there is no die for it but that’s okay. It was easy to hand cut and I actually enjoy hand cutting things. I tried laying the vase and flowers on a variety of paper for the background and rejected all of it. I didn’t want a busy background so I kept it super simple but using a dark blue card base and the came colour cardstock die cut with a stitched rectangle die. A bakers twine bow as added and the stamped sentiment on a die cut banner was added.

That’s all for a sunny and fairly warm Friday May 31, 2024. Have a wonderful, safe and creative weekend everyone.

Cheers

Violet

Ps: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply over over the image until the “Pin It” symbol appears and then click …. be patient, it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

 

 

 

Gate Fold Card

 The April Showers have persisted all of May! It has been a very wet spring so far. The other night we were under a tornado threat but it missed us and stayed over the lake. But rain! Wow! It has rained almost every day or at least every other day in May. We enjoyed seeing our peonies bloom for about two days and then the ‘Peony Rain’, as my mother used to call it, came and flattened them. Happens every year. Joe’s ready to pull them all out but I’m just not ready for that yet.

Oh well, sunnier days are coming I’m sure.

 Today’s card is another gate fold card. It’s so much fun to make these.

 

I found this pretty flowered paper in a 6” paper pack and luckily had the matching purple cardstock in my stash. I love having stashes! The flowers on the front are from a dollar store and the sentiment is a gold peel-off. The little flower on the lower left keeps the card closed. It needed a little more so I added the sequins and gems.

That’s all for a rainy, thunderstormy Tuesday, May 28, 2024.

 Cheers

Violet

Ps: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply over over the image until the “Pin It” symbol appears and then click …. be patient, it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

Turning 100 Card

 Its been awhile since my last post! Life is busy this time of the year. We are having a holiday long weekend right now in Canada called May 2Four or May Two4 or Victoria Day which it used to be called. It was originally called Victoria Day after a Queen in England but somehow people started calling it May 2-4 and it stuck. We had a lovely day bird watching yesterday at Rondeau but because the weather has been so much warmer than usual, the leaves are out full - about 2-1/2 weeks ahead of time. It made it very tough to find the birds but we just enjoy being out in nature so it was nice. Today was planting the annual flowers day - big, big job but the garden is going to look very colourful!

We also had rain about every other day the last two weeks so I did get some cards made. Here is one of them.

  A friend asked if I could make a card suitable for an aunt turning 100! Here’s what I came up with.

                            

The card base is a lovely soft pinkish beige with embossed leaves. The panel started out as white cardstock and I stamped the music notes in VersaMark ink and heat embossed in gold.  Then the panel was  dipped into some Distress Inks - not sure what colours I used now….some blues and browns. I just smear them on my glass mat, spray water, smear and start dipping. Dry between each dip! Then it was mounted on a gold panel but offset a bit. The middle of the gold panel was gutted and I die cut that tag from it. No one knows if you remove the middle of a panel that is glued down to something else! Well, I guess they know now if they are reading this! The sentiment is a peel-off. Once I liked how it looked on the card base and was glued down, the flowers were added. These came from the Dollar Tree but the leaves I die cut myself. My friend was thrilled with it so all is good. Whew!

That’s all for a beautiful Sunday on May 19, 2024.

 Cheers

Violet

Ps: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply over over the image until the “Pin It” symbol appears and then click …. be patient, it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

Under the Weather Card

 The April rains have decided to stay in May. It’s been raining every other day here including some real down pours and thunderstorms. I planted some grass seed the other day and I’m pretty sure most of it got washed out. Oh well, I’ll try again… easy to re-seed.

 Today’s card is one made from a bit cut off from an old greeting card. I’ve had this small piece sitting in my “to use someday file” for about 5 years I think. I finally used it.

This little animal, not sure what it is, was so cute in the yellow rain coat I just had to save it. The background is the same pattern as the larger focal piece with a white with pale green flowers in between and the same white between the focal image and the darker green focal paper…so four layers all together. The image was glued to the white background with a fancy green strip underneath to ground it. The sentiment was computer generated and on a die cut banner. My friend saw this and immediately asked if she could have it. I had no immediate use for it for it so I said sure and off it went.

That’s all for a warm, windy and maybe some rainy Wednesday, May 8, 2024.

Cheers

Violet

Ps: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply over over the image until the “Pin It” symbol appears and then click …. be patient, it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

 

 

 

Sympathy Card

 This has been a very upsetting year so far. Hopefully, it will start getting better now. Let’s see, we lost Joe’s sister in January; terrible weather that set off my brain disorders all winter and spring; Joe had a cold that lasted 2 weeks; last week I had a 2 hour dental procedure for a risky root canal…success, he saved the tooth; and then this week it was very bad and sad as my brother died. Now, mind you, he was 85 and has been paralyzed from the arm pits down since he was about 33 so he has not had an easy life but he never got down about it. His wife was expecting their 5 child when he was in the motorcycle accident (that was not his fault) and it changed their whole life. He ran his own body shop and wrecking yard until he retired. Unfortunately the last few years were filled with health problems and his body finally gave up. We shall miss him but he is now free of the wheelchair. May he rest in peace.

 So in honour of my brother, I am posting a sympathy card today.

 

I’ve had this little rose stamp for years and seldom ever use it but I think that is about to change. It was coloured with alcohol ink markers. For the background I took a piece of cardstock and splattered red and blue and I think gold watered down ink on it.Then the piece with the focal image was done the same way. I just covered up the flowers so they didn’t get splattered. I used a stitched rectangle die to cut it out and glued it to a piece of gold cardstock and then to a piece of royal blue cardstock that was also die cut with a larger stitched die. I wanted some gold on the front of the card so I added the gold strip but it wasn’t enough. So I added a piece of double sided adhesive to the back of another gold strip and ran it through the lattice die. I punched out all the centres but kept them to be used on another card - some day! (famous last words). I liked that look so I added the focal image and then the gold sentiment.

That’s all for a rainy predicted weekend.

Violet

Ps: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply over over the image until the “Pin It” symbol appears and then click …. be patient, it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.